Coming along

Coming along, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

It might not look like much, but this baby sweater is really flying off the needles. One front and the back are complete, and the second front piece is about 1/2 done.

I'm posting this from my newest "toy".... er, "productivity tool".... My new iPad!! I've already downloaded goodreader on the advice of the yarn harlot, which is a great PDF reader, that should be useful for making annotations on knitting patterns and academic articles alike.

If anyone has any suggestions as to other apps that might be useful, I'd be happy to hear about them!!!

lavender and plum

swap socks 2012 #1, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

Finally! My swap socks for the first swap of 2012 are finished! I started these Feb 20, but other, bigger projects (aka the dissertation and defense) took precedence and so the second sock, especially, hit the back burner for a while. Coupled with my forgetfulness (I was nervous and didn't pack ANY knitting for the defense trip!), these poor socks languished on the needles longer than necessary.

But no more! They're done and I'm quite happy with the way they turned out.

Pattern is Feather and Fan Socks (Rav link; also available online and free w/o rav login).
Yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Deep Waters and Blue Violet. (Approx. .5 of a skein each.)
Needles are US 1.5 dpns.
Mods: Decreased to 68 sts over foot... 72 just seemed like too much. Decreased to 16 before grafting toe.
My pair raveled here.

Hope my partner enjoys her new socks!!

ETA: The next swap is fast approaching. Sign-ups will begin in early May. If you want to take part, check out the International Sock Swap Group on ravelry!

coming up for air

Red Thread Front, a photo by gradschoolknitter on Flickr.

My apologies for the long, unannounced break... it wasn't planned, but a mixture of unseasonably warm weather (and therefore a lack of desire to knit) and then a flurry in work-related crazy (more about that shortly), meant that I was really without much to post about in the past few weeks!

This past week and a half I was back visiting friends and colleagues at my home-institution. I had a phone interview (fingers crossed) and, more importantly, I defended my thesis! Successfully, even! So it's been a whirlwind, with little time to knit. In fact... I was so nervous, packing to go to my defense that I forgot to pack any knitting! I didn't even realize until I was on my way to the airport!!

So, what's that up there, you ask? Well, I got to visit my favorite LYS while I was there and I picked up a few things to keep my mind occupied as I counted down the days... above is the front side of aphrodite in Neighborhood Fibre Co's Studio Sock. And here's the back:



I also picked up something for another special baby about to come into my life:



I'm not going to say which special baby it is, or what it is, since there are a couple and I think that some of the mommas read along.

Speaking of special babies and mommas, we had a baby shower for one of our other soon-to-bes. I made sure that baby got some hand-made love (although his momma is also an excellent knitter!):



Super Easy Baby Blanket in rainbow colours of Knit Picks Stroll Tonal.

and:



A super cute baby friend from Meep!Craft.

Ok, sorry for the super long post, but I need to make up for such a long period of absence! I promise it won't be such a long time before I post again!