what I did with my winter vacation

Stripes, actually, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Although school has been out for almost a month, I still cannot say that my knitting speed has picked up much. So really the only thing I have to show for my "time off" is this cowl.*



Pattern is Duotone Cowl on ravelry.
Yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino almost exactly one skein each of dill and purple mystery (I brought 2 of each and I really truly thought I was going to run out of the dill towards the end but it made it with just yards to spare!).
Mods: none, except for that pesky extra row that showed up uninvited. Since it's only on one side of the tube it can be turned to the inside and never seen again!

*OK, so I did do some academicky things, like go to a conference and interview for several jobs, work on proposals/papers for conferences, finalize syllabi for the new semester, etc etc... which on paper actually looks like a lot, but the knitting was scarce amongst those others.

last 2013 knit

garter shawl, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

2013 (especially the second half) was not great for knitting production. New jobs, moves, etc all kept me away from the needles. Not that I'm complaining... a job is a good thing, even when it doesn't afford one much time to knit.

My last finished knit of 2013 was a shawl for DH's grandmother. Just a simple garter triangle (start with 3 stitches, increase on one side until out of one ball of yarn then decrease on same side until out of stitches) made out of Patons North American Classic Worsted in Natural. I didn't get any other pictures, so unfortunately this one of her unwrapping other gifts will have to do.

In 2014 I'm hoping I'll have a little more time for knitting. I'm only teaching 2 classes in the Spring instead of 3, and one is a repeat from last semester, which will also help. So I'm returning to my beloved sock swap, moderating and swapping for the 12th swap. Sign ups are open from Jan 1 - 31 and swapping will take place from Feb 1 - April 30. There's also a special deal from yarn mountain for swappers, so be sure to sign up soon (offer is only good until Jan 15, I believe).

Happy new year of knitting!

extra rows

extra rows, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

See that one line of purple in the midst of those 3 green rows there? That is not supposed to be there. Or maybe it's the first row of green that is out of place? Either way, I somehow picked this back up in the middle of a round and started over with one or the other when I was supposed to. The other side looks fine, you'd never know that there was a huge, honking error staring at you from behind. But there is.

So, do I rip back a considerable amount? Or just wear that side on the inside of the cowl? I'm inclined not to rip it out, but maybe it'll look worse in the light of day...

Last year's & new year's stashes

Duo tone mal cowl, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

From last Christmas' yarn acquisition, I'm finally making a cowl out of the two colours of malabrigo silky merino that DH gave me. He gave me similar yarn this year that might make a hat or mitts to match... sadly no pics of that yarn yet.

What I do have, however, are pictures of two (yes two) knit picks samplers gifted to me by my in-laws. They were very generous and got me the Autumn Stroll Sampler and the Monochrome Sampler (which appears to have been discontinued/is no longer on the website).

My own pics of the yarns can be found here for the autumn set and here for the monochrome.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday and got all the yarn their heart desired!

Cabled <3

Cabled , a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

An (almost finished) Christmas hat for my niece. All that is missing is the pom-pom and a couple of i-cords to tie it under her chin. We won't seen them until after New Years, so fortunately I think I have more than enough time to finish it off!

Pattern is I heart cables and yarn is Drops Alpaca held double. Did the toddler size, since niece is 1.5 years and already wearing 2T clothes.

Haven't knit much this year (teaching and researching is time-consuming!) but I did get a lot of knitting-related stuff for Christmas! Will try to show it off soon, including the awesome light-box/tripod set-up DH got me! (Didn't bring it along with us, so a background of monkey-knitting-pjs will have to suffice for now.)

biased, garter, baby blanket

biased garter blanket, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I do love me some garter stitch on the bias. Not to mention using up all those little, soft, leftovers of sock yarn held together... perfection!

This is going to be the much-overdue present for a babe who joined my circle of friends and family this past year. If I'm this behind on baby things I'm not sure how I'm going to get to any of the holiday things I planned to make... but I'm going to try anyway! 26 days until Christmas.... although I do get an extra 10 before we actually head home to see my side of the family!

swedish stripes yellow toes

swedish stripes yellow toes, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

DH lived in Sweden, once upon a time, and very much likes all things Swedish. Ikea, meatballs, and the combination of yellow and blue. (Yes, I know, there are lots more things about Sweden, and he likes most of them too... especially fish paste in a tube—no, really, it's a thing.)

Anyway, I got some yellow and blue sock yarn in my most recent international sock swap package and I thought it would be the perfect combo for him.

No pattern, just cast on 64, knit 10 rows of twisted 1x1 rib, and then 2 rounds of yellow, 4 rounds of blue. Jogless joins for the colour changes.* Short row heels and yellow toes (per his request).

*To work stripes so that the jog isn't quite so noticeable, do the following: Knit one round with your new colour. When you return to the beginning of the round, lift the first stitch in the previous colour onto your lefthand needle and knit it together with the first stitch of the second round of your new colour. You'll still be able to see a bit of a change if you look carefully, but it won't be so glaringly obvious...

mini prof

profe vest, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

As a distraction from the sweater that may never end (although it has gotten sleeves since last seen, so that's something... but it doesn't take away from the fact that I'm going to have to do some major surgery in order to add more length to the body), I cast on one of the several baby gifts that I've been meaning/needing to make for the many babies that have recently come into the lives of my friends...

Thus the baby professor vest for the baby of a friend who is also in academia. I'm hoping it will fit him around Christmas time, and they happen to live in a part of the world where they won't necessarily need much more than this, even in their so-called winter.

Yarn is knit picks swish worsted, less than 1.5 skeins.
Needles: US 7
Mods: None

so far, so sleeveless

sleeveless, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

I've been knitting away on my colourblock sweater in all my spare time (aka none), but I've finally bound off the shoulders and started the sleeves.

I'm trying to decide if I'll need to add any length to the sweater, but I might wait to see if it grows with blocking. The sleeves will be purple, and I might also use that for the collar but I also have enough grey (if I don't add length to the body).

Not very interesting, I know, but stockinette is about all I can handle right now!

thank gord for forgotten packages on a long Monday

Forgotten packages, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Today felt long. Longer than long. I don't really know why except that maybe it had something to do with my students not doing as well as I hoped on an assignment (yes, those things bum out profs almost as much as they bum out the students receiving the marked-up papers...) or perhaps because of the lunch meeting that was not really as stimulating as one might hope (although there was free food...)

In any case, whatever the reason, today felt extra long, and it was, of course, a Monday. But I did return home to find a package that I had almost forgotten about! I bought some yarn that a friend of a friend was destashing on Ravelry last week and it showed up today! Two skeins of blue moon fiber arts "socks that rock" (one lightweight, on the lower right and one mediumweight, upper/left) in mill ends colours. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but the lightweight screams Christmas to me, so I hope that by December I'll have had the chance to make myself some Christmas-y socks, perhaps?

I had almost thrown out the packaging before I felt a little bump in the bottom, and when I felt around inside, I found these:



Adorable earrings shaped like balls of yarn with needles stuck in them!! I'm so glad they didn't get thrown out! The destashing raveler in question apparently makes them, so I'll try to get the name/url of her shop so that I can pass it along to anyone who is interested. ETA: her shop is Double Dee Designs!

Now to find some food and then to collapse... at least Tuesdays are generally short around here!