Study, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

It's that time of year where everything happens all at once. It's not like I haven't done this before. I know this annual routine of panicking and flailing, but I can never get the better of it. (Though, this year includes the added fun of a thesis proposal. How did I get here?) As a result, my knitting time has taken a beating. Since I don't really have much time, I've been relishing the stockinette tubes laying around my room. My Stasis pullover gained a good 1.5" this weekend, but at the expense of my Gathering Stripes. That sucker is going nowhere fast.

But I'm dreaming of new and better things, so I better get finishing!

My new (and awesome) LYS, Needles in the Hay, had it's birthday sale a couple weeks back and among the things I picked up were these two balls of Berroro Blackstone Tweed. My initial plans for it was Stephen West's Pom-Pom It! hat, but I've since changed my mind to his Raxtur hat. I kind of love the texture and versatility of Raxtur, and I think these colours would work really nicely together. Different enough to be stripey, but similar enough to not be weird. Just my style.

This weekend James is coming all the way out to Toronto from Edmonton, so I'm gleefully anticipating exploring a city with him again. I can't wait to eat all the good food! It will be a welcome break after this week (which has been bananas), and it will take lots of work to catch up, but 4 days off will be lovely. Now, to get a couple stitches in before bed!

Fellow students, how do you balance your crafting with schoolwork? I really need to work on maximizing my time in an effective way. I have big plans, after all!

-H

Nearing the home stretch

Well, I've lived up to my previous post guaranteeing silence. It's kind of hard to imagine that I'm only a month away from being finished my degree! That also means that I have a gazillion things to do, am suffering from lazy-college-senioritis, and have found myself enthralled in a bunch of TV shows. I have reviews to compose, posters to put together, and (most terrifying of all) my honours thesis to finish. Not to mention exams and the serious need to keep up my GPA.

Needless to say my crafting has gone by the wayside. I can't focus on anything, and have screwed up everything I touch. So far, I've messed up the decreases on a cardigan, dropped a bunch of stitches on a scarf, miscounted the decrease arrangement on a hat.. it's a sad place around here. It's a good thing I have an endless stream of UFO's handy, because I get the jitters or something when knitting isn't nearby.

I did, however, pull out my sewing machine for the first time in ages. James needed his pants hemmed, and I miraculously pulled it off! I'm no professional, but at least he's not walking on his pants anymore. While my machine was out, I finished up a project I had prepared weeks ago: A Bodum cozy!

I loved the Lauren Moffat coat for Anthropologie last year (here it is on the lovely Keiko Lynn) but couldn't afford it and failed to meet it on the sale rack. The least I could do instead was to deck out my french press, right? It was really easy to make, it's just two pieces of felt sewn together with the arrow trim attached to one side. I painted some ugly yellow buttons with some coral nail polish from my collection to match, and used a hair elastic as a closure. Not the classiest, but it certainly helps my coffee stay warm longer which means less wasted bitter cold coffee! If I were to do it again, I would add another layer of felt in the middle for even more insulation. Live and learn, right?

Now, I'm off to hit the books some more. Do you guys lose your crafting mojo when stressed out? I need to get over this, spring is coming and I'm not finished my winter knitting!

What I'm listening to today..

I like to think that I have diverse musical tastes, but my standby favourite thing to listen to has to be a good combo of female leads and some simple guitars. Since I'm already entering go-hard-or-go-home study mode, I've been trying to pay extra attention to new releases in this category. To my delight, First Aid Kit released their (I think) third record last week and I couldn't resist it's charm. It's a great album, quirky lyrics and stunning harmonies. I adore these two. Bonus points for sporting some amazing knitwear.

Photo via Dentoneer

So enjoy my favourite (at the moment anyways) song from the album and title track, The Lion's Roar! The video feels very Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings meets some jealousy inducing hairstyles.

I've got to get some serious note-taking dealt with, so I'm planning on curling up in my sweats with a fresh press of coffee and going hard! I'd love to hear some of your favourite music, I've recently cleaned out my music library and it needs some serious filling in.

-H

What have I done to myself?

This term is shaping up to be a doozie. Between my full course load, trying to prepare my Honors thesis, applying to grad school, being the VP of the undergrad department organization and participating on a number of committees, it's not surprising that I haven't been around the internet.

My knitting time has been small, mostly working on WIP's hanging around my basement, so nothing to report. I did, however, just place my orders for Ysolda's new books Whimsical Little Knits 3 and Saturday Treat. My outstanding favourites from the collections are the Narwhal Mittens and the Barley Sugar cowl. I  took a look at the Fyberspates yarn that Barley Sugar was written for and was pleasantly surprised to find that the yarn I had dyed earlier in the fall matches the specs and dreamy colour almost exactly. I had planned on making myself a nice circular scarf, but the boring stockinette stitch pattern I had in my head just wasn't exciting enough. Don't you love when designers read your mind?

One department I have been rather productive in is the kitchen. I spent an hour or so this afternoon making my own wontons, which resulted in the most delicious and satisfying soup ever. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart, but modified it slightly. I think my meat to other-filling-ingredient ratio was too low, resulting in a pretty meaty dumpling. This is my big meat meal of the week, so I'm not too worried about that.

Now I'm off to grab another bowl of soup, some tea, and knitting to refresh myself before getting my study on tomorrow. Are there any patterns you're excited about making? I'd love to see them!

Happy Saturday!
-H

I just wanted to say..

..thanks! I know that Thanksgiving has lapsed for both Canada and the US, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who is reading this. More and more of you have been coming around my little corner of the internet in the last few months and I'm both amazed and totally grateful. So thanks!

Now, I must resume my emergency paper-writing position. (Term paper due tomorrow. It's only half-done. I'm freaking out) But at least I have some awesome coffee and Hannah Georgas is playing in the background. If this isn't a formula for getting things done, I don't know what is!

Happy Wednesday!

Madelinetosh Roundup

My efforts to formulate complete thoughts about Wovember have fallen to the wayside over here.. so for now, I've got 2 FO's to show off. (They are made of wool, I promise!)

The first and oldest is the hat I made for James last month for his trip to Europe. (Rav Link) I pretty well made up the pattern as I went, but it was 120 stitches in 2x2 ribbing for about 8.5 inches, then I took the decreases from Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat and modified it a bit so it would accommodate the ribbing pattern. I'm quite pleased with it, and James seems to be too as it's been on his head almost constantly since the weather turned. In a perfect world,  I might have made it about 1.5 inches shorter. The yarn was Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Fig and I used almost a full ball.

The second is the Rikke hat from Happy Knits. (My Rav Link) I was a bit hesitant about making a hat with garter stitch in the round, but it was totally worth it. It's absolutely lovely. It stayed on my head all day without slipping around and saved my ears from the chilly breeze of the library. I was also hesitant about the colour I chose, Calligraphy, as it was a bit more pink than I expected. No matter, it's a great neutral that will pair great with most of my wardrobe.

I'm quite charmed with the Madelinetosh yarns I've had the pleasure of working with so far. Fig and Calligraphy were both such subtle and interesting colours, and I've got some more vibrant colourways sitting in my yarn shelf.

They're both Tosh Merino Light, on the left is Robin's Egg and on the right is Mansfield's Garden Party. I haven't intentionally bought as wild a colour as Mansfield, and I hope I can come up with something neat to do with it. Any ideas? I'm thinking of a shawl or cowl, but I'm unsure.

Yet again, my day will be full of research and writing. I stayed home today, and I had to force myself out of my cozy cupcake pyjama pants and into real clothes to motivate myself to work. It's a good start, right?

Happy Wednesday!

Copycat

I've eluded to my epic procrastination skills before, and I'm sure this is something any student reading this can relate to. Here we are, at the end of October, midterms and assignments looming, schools to be applied for, supervisors to befriend, and I started a new project. 

When I was small and first started playing with yarn crochet was my go-to skill. My ten-year-old self found the two needles far too clumsy and slow so I learned to crochet like the wind. Since I picked up knitting seriously in the last 4 years my crochet hooks have been covered in dust and languishing in a jar. After all, I certainly can't multitask while crocheting the same way I can with knitting. I found myself at a breaking point last weekend where my brain literally felt full. I had spent an hour reading a single page of a journal article and absorbed nothing, so I abandoned all schoolwork and picked up a hook and some fat yarn to re-create a cowl I saw on Tania over at What Would a Nerd Wear. 

The yarn is Bernat roving, an 80% Acrylic and 20% wool blend that leaves something to be desired. I bought it mostly for the lovely teal colour that I imagined in a highly textured cowl, but I didn't think I'd be crocheting it, that's for sure. I've been experimenting with different stitch patterns to little avail. Trying to find the balance between loose and fishnet, firm and rigid, seems to be something my brain isn't doing too well. Also, there's the problem that my swatches have been lying to me. The micro scale just isn't working out in macro, and so far I've crocheted the equivalent of 1.5 cowls and I still haven't settled on a stitch pattern I like. In the photo above I was experimenting with a linen-type stitch that came out to be so stiff I inadvertently made myself a Miss Universe sash. 

Hopefully I'll find time to make some progress which will probably mean picking up a new hook in a size between what I have handy. That is, if I can finish my paper, study for my next skeletal anatomy exam, read a book and prepare a presentation. 

Happy Wednesday! And happy midterm/paper/project/surviving to all students!

New Favourites

I don't have much in the way of knitting content to share. I've been plugging away on my Kerrera but some of the shoulder directions are seriously messing with my brain, so it's in the timeout chair. Given that the weather has taken a turn for the autumnal around here, I've picked up my Fiddlehead Mittens and am burning through them.

I'm using some Manos Silk Blend as a contrast and Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran as a main. I picked up both while on holidays and didn't have anything in mind for either when I bought them, so I'm pleased with this mini stashbuster project. Not to mention the soft hand of the silk is a great contrast to the roughness of the Scottish Tweed. I'm not sure what colour I'm going with for the lining, but I'm thinking a light grey might look nice, but that's a bit boring. Maybe a green? If you guys have any suggestions that would be awesome.

The only other thing I have to share with you my new favourite breakfast food ever. Quinoa.

I use it a lot for dinners and salads, but today was the first day I tried it with a breakfast spin. I used the recipe from Dinner at Julie and it came out perfectly. Hopefully it will fuel my day of writing grad school statement drafts and reading my neglected sociology textbook.

Study Study

In continued new-school-year efforts to procrastinate at every turn, here I am on the eve of a terrifying bell-ringer exam on the upper skeleton. The whole thing. All the little bumps, grooves, tubercles and epicondyles. Add to that the stress of endless readings, my honours project looming in the background and the even bigger, darker cloud of grad school.

Nonetheless, I'm still knitting.

That's a swatch I worked on last week for a hat for James. He's heading off to Europe for a week on Friday, and it's my duty as knitter and girlfriend to keep that head warm from afar. I had him choose a yarn from Mr. Yarn and he chose Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Fig. It's great to work with, and I even got a skein for myself to play with later. The hat's coming along nicely as well. It's morphed into a hybrid of the Jacques Cousteau hat and the decreasing in Turn a Square. He's tremendously picky and never wants to be knit for, so I hope it comes out to his liking in the end.

Apart from that, here are some small joys around these parts:

A fancy and beautiful new necklace from Kate Miss of For Me, For You. I spent way too long admiring her jewellery and took the plunge.

My new latte making suite. I also invested in a Moka pot and an adorable bowl from Anthropologie. I'm hoping to accumulate a set of them over the next year, and 1 is a good start. Not to mention it's the perfect size for a sleep deterring caffeinated treat! This weekend's project is to perfect the pumpkin spice latte as I just can't afford to buy them every day at Starbucks.

Autumn in the river valley. Simply the most beautiful thing. It was also quite hilarious to watch Birch try and get the boats full of rowers coming down the river. (Don't worry, we kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't get taken away)

Happy Monday!
(Also, most of the photos were, as you guessed, taken with the Instagram app. I drank the Kool-Aid and it's oh, so sweet)

Learn Learn Learn

Winter and I have gotten off to a rough start. On the first really snowy day, I wore my not-too sensible shoes and took a massive wipe-out in front of a library at school. In the process I managed to not only dent my laptop (thankfully on the non-LCD side) but also give myself a rather nasty bruise, whose accompanying bump makes it look like I have the largest knee ever. Then, in the -20C weather it struck me. It's almost December. The term is almost over. All the problems (ie: term papers..) that I left for Future Hannah have finally caught up to me. So, now fueled by fear,shame, peppermint mochas and fresh pho, I have 3.5 days to finish a term paper on Galileo and Pope Urban VIII. Then on to 2 presentations and another paper...


My study knitting, thanks to the $5 bookstand propping up my book of correspondences in the photo above, is Elizabeth Zimmerman's garter stitch blanket (rav link) in Cascade Eco Wool. I bought this yarn over a year ago, shamelessly stealing the idea from Jared Flood. It's not portable, since the pieces are pretty huge, so it's perfect for sitting at the desk. I'm getting slightly unreasonably excited for my Christmas break, which starts in exactly a month, since I'll be able to knit non-garter stitch things! And sleep in! I found a little graphic which sums up my next 4 weeks completely..


Happy Sunday!