Tuesday: self-portrait and weekend fun

I had a truly fantastic weekend, but did absolutely zero knitting. I was slightly distracted... here is my self-portrait Tuesday photo, taken this morning before my boyfriend had to fly away back to CA.

Some weekend highlights included:
Going downtown to Water Tower Place

Walking by the lake in the freezing cold

Taking pictures of my finished embossed leaves socks
That's right! Here are the socks

And here are some details...
Knit on US3s with KnitPicks Essentials sock yarn in Ash - I used 2 skeins but have lots leftover - using the Embossed Leaves sock pattern from the Winter IK; I really like this pattern, and I'm sure I'll be using it again... as soon as the yarn I ordered for my sock pal gets here later this week! I chose a really pretty blue/green combo, since she said she likes those colors, too, and I can't wait to get started.

Hope everyone else is having a lovely week so far. We just started Spring Quarter, so I've got exciting new classes, a new work schedule (more hours = more money, hooray!), and some new knitting in mind. I'll keep you updated!

Inspiration Wall... er, Door

I finally took all of the things I've been clipping from magazines and organized them into a collage on the closet door next to my desk. Those really dark doors have been driving me nuts, so this is much better!

Here's what my room looked like while it was in progress (eep!)

And here's the finished product, with close-ups of a few favorite items (all three of which are from Anthropologie...hmmm).
The second embossed leaves sock is almost done, and I gave myself a haircut (well, shorter bangs), so I'll have more pictures to share tomorrow when my photographer gets here...

Meme-tastic

In the spirit of crazy re-reading to write papers (I should be able to finish them tonight or tomorrow morning! Fantastic!), I found a book meme floating around... Ah, fiction! I'm so looking forward to a chance to read something other than school books - as soon as the new quarter starts I'll have a bit of time to read for fun. Anyway, here goes:

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, put an asterisk by the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you've never even heard of.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown*
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger*
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald*
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman*
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling*
Life of Pi - Yann Martel*
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell*
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller*
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien*
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon*
Lord of the Flies - William Golding*
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen*
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling*
(One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden*
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini*
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold*
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
(The Secret History - Donna Tartt)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte*
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis*
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides*
(Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte*
(Atonement - Ian McEwan)
(The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert (imagine my computer can cross stuff out and I probably wouldn't read this one)

I also have a music one! I put my music library on "play random" and answered the questions with whatever song came up (in order)... It's sorta funny.

How does the world see me? Country Comfort - Keith Urban (yikes, must be that hay stuck in my hair...)
Will I have a happy life? Leaving Las Vegas - Sheryl Crow (does this mean I should never go there?)
What do my friends really think of me? I've Got to See You Again - Norah Jones (hooray!)
Do people secretly lust after me? Say - the Corrs (ummm...)
How can I make myself happy? All the Love in the World - the Corrs (yes please!)
What should I do with my life? Poem to a Horse - Shakira (awesome. my new goal is to write poetry to animals... forget that teaching business.)
Will I ever have children? When the Sun Goes Down - Kenny Chesney (hahaha)
What is some good advice for me? Rules - Shakira (eep!)
How will I be remembered? Lonestar - Norah Jones
What is my signature dance song? Big Star - Kenny Chesney
What do I think my current theme song is? Speak - Nickel Creek
What song will play at my funeral? Addicted - Kelly Clarkson (yikes)
What type of men do I like? The Christmas Song - Bing Crosby (not really sure what this says about me... :))
What is my day going to be like? All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow (no kidding! All I wanna do is NOT WRITE PAPERS! oh well)

Can you guys tell I'm totally procrastinating? Oh well :) Take a stab at either of these if you feel so inclined.

Sockalicious

Life is completely sockalicious right now. As in I've been wearing all of my handknit socks over the last few days because I was out of regular clean socks :) It's been really great and comfortable at least for wandering around the house, even though they're not the best for walking long distances in tennis shoes since they're such soft wool (the reason I don't usually wear them). I've gotten so many compliments, and a few tentative requests for me to knit socks for others! I'm looking forward to it, and I'm planning to let them pick out their own yarn.
I'm also knitting socks, as usual. I have two socks to show you! But they don't match... I think this last week in knitting has been modelled on my paper writing techniques. Or habits. I'm not sure they are really effective enough to be called techniques. Anyway, I work on a little bit of one and then jump over to another one so that I don't get bored.
In similar fashion, I started the pink ankle sock after finishing only one embossed leaves sock, and now I'm back to the second embossed leaves... but here are some pictures of the first sock in each pair.

I love both the toe and the heel on this sock, and I'm really pleased with the height on my leg. It's perfect! I think I'll use this pattern for my sockapaloooza pal as soon as I pick yarn (I know, I'm slow...). It seems like something she would like, too.
This one is just fun. Because I love pink.

Loving:

• Candleholders. Wow!
• Organizer boxes (March 17th entry). Hooray!
• Tea set. And super cute shirts. Can you guys tell I'm in nesting mode at the moment? :)

Alright. That's all for me today. Happy Tuesday, all.

Are you wearing green?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of green things to show you... I finished the Embossed Leaves sock, and it fits wonderfully, but my camera is out of batteries so here is a picture from the day before I finished it.

I have started a pink (PROJECT SPECTRUM!) toe up sock with a half skein left over from my Jaywalkers, and I'm planning to turn it into my first pair of ankle socks! This has been a great project for me to cart around to the library this week.

The exam on Tuesday went really well! I felt prepared for all the surprise questions, and I wrote a ton about each of the ones we'd been semi-informed about ahead of time. Since then I've been (you guessed it) in the library working on papers every afternoon and evening. One paper down and 1 and a half to go! Finals week is officially over today, but I have some more work to do for a class that met this week and has things due at the end of break.

And that's all for me today! Don't forget to wear green :)

Loving:

Little bags (rows 1-3) here

A bunch of this art (scroll down!)

The combination of serious and funny sketches

Charcoal ...

For drawing, and filtering water, and (apparently, if you believe my buddy Rachel) completing the vodka purification process.

And also for making Embossed Leaves Socks!
yesterday morning:

and now:
KnitPicks (would it really be anything else? this is me, remember) Essential sock yarn in gray on US3s, using the pattern I've seen all over the internets and which I have in the Winter Interweave Knits magazine.

I may have mentioned this already, but my aunt got me a subscription to Interweave Knits for my birthday back in December. She has it delivered to her own house in CA, and I have heard through the grapevine (well, by talking to my mom on the phone yesterday) that she's received the Spring issue and has put together a care package for me to send with it - exciting!!! I think a care package is just what I need right about now, considering my lack of sleep and anxiety about this final tomorrow. So at least I can sort of keep that in the back of my head while I continue to freak out today and study late into the night.

And take mini breaks to work on the socks - this pattern has totally sucked me in!

Loving:
This BUNNY!
The Little Helmet Friend
My new art bought from Amy at foundbirdstudio on Etsy (I couldn't take a good picture, so here is the one I saved from her shop)

The Sockiness Continues

Finals week starts in 2 days! I don't feel ready (do I ever?)!
I'm actually in good shape for 3 papers and 1 exam - the exam is Tuesday, so I shouldn't be freaking out. I think it's just the general atmosphere on campus. You can smell the anxiety and the stress as soon as you walk into the library.
Or maybe that's just students who haven't showered for a while. Ew.

At least I have new socks to fortify me!

Regia umm I threw away the ball band :(

My typical sock pattern - 3x3 ribbing on US3s, toe up with short row toes and heels. I sort of tried to get them to match up, and they sort of do! The only place they are really different is on the bottom of the foot, but no one will be looking there, right?

I ended up using maybe 2/3 of the 100g/42om skein, so I'll probably make some little armwarmers, too. Because I love those things. Here's another picture for good measure!
I'll try to post again soon - no more of this letting almost a whole week pass between posts!

This Weekend Socked :)

I started a sock in my nice purple sock yarn!

I'm actually a bit further along than this picture suggests, so expect a finished pair within the week!

It seems there are more socks in my immediate future, and since my sockapaloooza pal likes pink, the next pair can be part of my Project Spectrum pinky-red knitting for March. I'm on the lookout for the perfect yarn...

Other than that my weekend was filled with homework (we're in the final stretch before spring break, so I'll be working mainly on projects that are portable and which have a high percentage of mindless stockinette or ribbing - things I can do while I read). Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Just some words...

A new meme I saw today that got me thinking (and since I don't usually get tagged for these things, I just do whichever ones I want!)

3 Things You Wish For (Just for you…)
1.time and supplies to decorate my place - more art and photos for my walls, and new sheets and curtains especially
2.my sewing machine here instead of in CA
3.more magazines

3 Things You Would Do To/For Yourself If There Was No One To Judge You (…or if you had the guts to do it!)
1.put a streak of blue dye in my hair
2.use up my next paycheck entirely on crafting supplies
3.start over and go to art school (this is way more about guts than about other people judging. i actually really do love what i'm doing right now. it's just a fun thought for maybe later)

3 Bad Habits You Have
1.procrastination
2.biting my fingernails when i'm nervous
3.letting the dirty dishes pile up

3 Insecurities You Feel
1.money. always with the money - financial independence
2.living far away from family and everyone else and fearing that i'll get too detached
3.that's actually it.

3 Talents/Skills You Wish You Had
1.better public speaking skills
2.makeup application :) so fun, yet i'm so bad at it
3.patience for things involving convoluted logic (philosophy, logic puzzles, etc.)

3 Things That You Would Do If You Had More Time
1.explore new places in this city
2.read more books just for fun
3.think more seriously about research projects that interest me

3 Things That Bring You Peace/Relaxation
1.long conversations with good friends
2.milky coffee and a chocolate chip cookie at the cafe
3.sunshine and green grass

3 Things That Spark Your Creativity
1.colors and great color combinations
2.textures, especially in paintings or fabrics
3.working out, anything that involves using energy but letting my mind wander

March - Project Spectrum!

Today we get to start working on the brilliant Lolly's Project Spectrum, and March is for pink and red.
I thought the first thing I'd do this morning, while I'm hanging out waiting for my laundry to dry so that I have clothes to wear, is pick out some pieces of inspiration to ponder over the next few weeks while I'm knitting and otherwise crafting in shades of pink.
Preliminary thoughts:
I've started this with leftover mitten yarn, and it reminds me of strawberry milk. I also have more of the darker pink left - not sure what to do with that yet.
I'm really liking the combination of red/pink/coral with turquoise and sky blue! I'll have to get the markers out this weekend. (Clothes from anthropologie. Wish I could own them)
These are pretty much my favorite pink characters from a book. If you haven't met Toot and Puddle, run (don't walk!) to a bookstore and see how cute they are! I mean, look at their clothes! Awww.
Oh, and have you met my muse? He sits on my crafty table, but he's especially appropriate for this month, when I want to work on pink circles and rosy cheeked critters and birds.
Are you all ready to start crafting in color? Can't wait to see your projects :)