The main intention of this post as I embark on it, is to write about some of the knitting process that I've made of late, but there'll be other related bits of news. I'm feeling kind of guilty about the fact that I more or less completely forgot about TealArt last week.
I've gotten a lot of knitting in of late, and believe it or not it has become a balanced part of my life. There were times in high school where I knitted while being avoidant of my work (both school related, but more often personal related), so I'd end up going through phases where I'd knit compulsively for a few days or a week, and then I'd put everything down for a while, while I got actual work done.
Since I've gotten here, my knitting progress has been steady, and I haven't used it to avoid my school work (as you might have noticed, TealArt and Another Round have suffered, but alas.) I knit a little in class. All my teachers are quite alright with this, and I think it helps my absorption a little. This isn't to say that my absorption rate is perfect, but taking compulsive notes (as opposed to the more limited kinds of notes I take now) is a lot worse than knitting during class. In addition to that, I knit during a couple of club meetings, and then I sneak in a little knitting time during movies, and other laid back sort of times.
I know what you're saying at this point: That's real nice Sam, but what cool things have you been knitting?
Well, I thought you'd never ask.
I finished the sweater I was making before school during convocation (I'd been in Beloit for a week at this point). While I suppose a technical re-evaluation of my previous statement will show that I said I wanted to finish the sweater before I got to Beloit, I don't think it'll be unreasonable to say that I really meant that I'd finish the sweater before classes start which I did. It fits really well, but the bottom band flares a little. I think it might block out, and if it doesn't I'll figure something cleaver out to do with elastic and ribbon. I still have to dye it, but I found a friend who said she'd help with the dying, so depending on our respective work loads, I'll get that done soon and start wearing it soon.
I finished the funky shawl thing, and I might wear it once I get it dyed, which will happen at the same time.
I also made two and a half hats (which took about a week each): two and a half because, one is a double thick hat and while there are two hats, that I had to make, it's only one hat in the end. Both of those hats are made out of the same yarn as the same wool as the sweater. So that's cool.
When I finished the second hat, I was itching to start some sort of real project, something sort of biggish. So I cast on for a world famous circular shawl, using some mercerized cotton cone yarn that my mom going (in a huge quantity), and I'm going to use a third of it or a bit more on this shawl. I started it the Monday before last (tomorrow will be the third Monday that I've been working on it.) I'll probably finish it on Tuesday or Wednesday. The last time I made something this size, it took me a month of serious knitting. The lace pattern makes it go faster. On the outer most section I've inserted 7 repeats of Snowdrop lace, a traditional Shetland pattern, which I really like, and I like how I memorized the pattern perfectly after the second repeat, and I know how to fix and fudge it, and I don't even need markers to separate the repeat. I'll probably make another shawl with lacey patterns soon again (possibly with the same yarn, but I need a break for my continued knitting health).
I am currently in ownership of a sweaters worth of very nice locally produced (or at least locally milled and dyed), wool/mohair (but it's so soft!) in a wonderful red color. I'll probably make a fun plain raglan pull over with it. The dye job isn't perfectly even (an error) but I'm going to maximize it by showing off the yarn with the pattern.
I also got a 14 oz cone of fairly fine yarn (dk-fingering?) on eBay that I should get sometime soon. I'll probably make a drop shouldered sweater out of it. (The alternative is to make a shawl.) Oh, and my mom I think might have found the perfect yarn to make the Turkish patterned sweater (and I can't decide weather to make a pullover or a cardigan like it says.) But that's down the road a bit.
There's other news, but I think I'll leave you all in suspense for a while.
Love! Cheers!