FO: Like sands in the hourglass...

I've never watched a full episode of Days of Our Lives in my life, but I always liked that narrator with his booming, authoritative tone telling me that these are, indeed, the days of our lives.

With that melodramatic start, I now present an unfussy, plain ol' stockinette FO.

Mossy Hourglass Sweater
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Karabella Aurora Melange, 12 balls
Needles: US 7 bamboo circs
Mods: Seed stitch at wrists and hems; contrast color at inside neck lining; row gauge recalculation; extra decrease/increase on body

Verdict: Love. It. To. Death. At first, the yarn seemed clingy and didn't drape very well. But after a good wet-block, it really blossomed into a beautifully bloom-y, softly draping fabric that feels luscious and falls flatteringly. And I have used up my adverb quota for the day.

I admit, the photo is a bit lazy. I realized I wanted to blog about this sweater before moving onward to exciting things, but by the time I remembered and found someone lying around the apartment to take the picture, the sun was already setting and I knew I'd lost out on prime sunlight. Whatevs. It fits, it's soft, it's purdy.

The length worked out to perfection and I really can't ask for more considering it'll be a casual sweater for me to slip on over t-shirts and tank tops as the weather grows chillier (which it's choosing to do at a maddeningly slow pace). I lengthened the top half (the increase half) of the body in order to accommodate my, um, assets and I'm starting to see the really wonderful aspect of knitting something specifically for one's body type. The yarn...I cannot say enough about the yarn. I know 12 balls of Karabella Aurora ain't cheap, but it's highly worth it and I got a great deal on it. It feels wonderful to knit and looks wonderful to wear.

A Bad Case of the Blahs

I am running around frantic half the time trying to get things in order for MFA sundries such as letters of rec, requesting BA grade reports, narrowing down the list of schools to apply to, streamlining my creative submission, writing a personal statement, etc. That last one is pretty amusing since half of my work involves editing other people's personal statements and I can be a pretty harsh critic.

On top of all this, I started working two/three days a week at an LYS, Annie & Co. Needlepoint and Knitting. The needlepoint store has been there for ages, but the knitting part is new and has only been open for about six weeks. I took the job because I work from home and hardly ever see anyone unless I'm going "out." Also, I am no longer in denial and admit that I am absolutely obsessed with knitting. While I love working there, I'm going to have to be more productive non-knitting-wise during the other days of the week.

Also, I've swatched a bazillion times with the Kid Classic and I cannot get gauge to save my life. Boo. Gauge is suggested on US 6 needles. I've tried 4s, 5s and 6s. I sort of fall in between the 5s and 6s, so I'm trying it this time around on US 6 Addi lace needles as opposed to regular Addis.

And for whatever reason, I am just sad this week. You know, when nothing's "wrong" but you just aren't really at peace with the world? It usually passes within two weeks, so I'll just have to bide my time until it lifts.

These make me a teeny bit happier, though:

The pattern is the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks from Favorite Socks. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Visual Purple. The yarn is, indeed, smooshy. And every time I say it, I think of that part in Finding Nemo when Dory finds a baby jellyfish and says, "I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy." I can only say that I loooooove this yarn. I want to eat it. And make a mattress out of it. It's also a tremendous value. It was $22 for 450 yds. Yowza. I finished one sock and have one repeat done on the second.

Complete non sequitur: Doesn't this look like Bart Simpson wearing a big purple turtleneck???

Maybe it's because I caught an Inside the Actors Studio last night while finishing the first sock. Instead of one guest, they featured the entire regular voice cast of The Simpsons. It was highly amusing. Watching Nancy Cartwright while the voice of Bart Simpson comes out of her mouth is really interesting. Same with Dan Castellaneta and the voice of Homer.

I did make some progress on Hourglass:

What you see here is one finished sleeve and one just-started sleeve which is now actually a one-third finished sleeve. So I just have to finish two-thirds of that sleeve and join everything up for the yoke.

The Weather Defense

Today's post is brought to you by the letter V (as in vitamin) and the number two (as in bottles of Vitamin Water consumed today).

This craptastic photo basically sums up the entirety of my life over the past four days. Ew. Apparently, this Hurricane Dean or some such weather phenomenon has been dumping the Northeast coast with a heavy, solid dose of grey. It feels like I am in the middle of the frickin' Mists of Avalon. Only without the cool medieval costumes and magical powers. Yesterday was, according to many old farmer's almanacs, the coldest day in August in maybe 90 years. It's interesting to feel literally "under the weather."

Unfortunately, whether the symptoms are psychosomatic or actually connected to science, my body does not hold up well to alarmingly sudden shifts in the weather. If one day's high temp is 60 and the next is 90, my body decides to short circuit. If one day is 90 and the next is 60, my body decides that Ice Age is not a charming animated movie but the state of my skin.

So last night, my friend hosted a small dinner party with some quiche and a good strong doctor-recommended dose of Gene Kelly:



This movie makes me so happy that I could just curl up with glee. If Gene can brighten my day by tap dancing with such joy through milky water with a temperature over 100 degrees, then I can overcome this durn cold to knit, goddammit...

These are the fronts and back of Central Park, post-blocking. They've been seamed at the shoulders and the hood is in motion. Due to aforementioned greyness of the local atmosphere, there is no achieving any sort of pretty photography with my sadly out-of-date camera. So I fudged it in honor of Gene. Black & white hides so many multitudes of sins, no? I think this is why all those film stars of old seemed to have such porcelain skin.

Also, I bought some yarn. I actually bought more than this, but this is what I will talk about today. I went to String the other day when it was pouring out and I just wanted to take refuge in some yarn. They're not going to be carrying Karabella Aurora anymore and so all this soft, petting-friendly yarn was half off. There was plenty of Aurora Bulky and Aurora 4 left, but the aran weight was only available in Melange. Which was fine with me, because this turquoise, green and brown blend was beyond gorgeous.

I decided to purchase twelve skeins and the lovely owner, Linda, asked if there were any more left of the colorway. I said there were two more left in the basket and she threw them in for free! So, basically, I got fourteen skeins of this deliciosity for about $3.80ish each. I heart String. Seriously.

I started a swatch...That's not technically starting another project. It's preparation. Yup. Not cheating. The left of the purl row is on US 7s and the right is on US 6s. The 6s give me gauge for the Hourglass Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but I'm going to have to wash my swatch because I've heard that Aurora grows like a Chia Pet when it hits water. With the extra yarn I got (for free!) I think I might try to fiddle around with putting a big cowl neck on Hourglass.