in which there is a photoshoot

It's getting to be that point in the semester when everyone's stressed, and it seems like the world is crashing down around you. Projects and papers and tests seem to all clump together on similar dates, and if you look into the deepest darkest corners of the library, students can be seen sitting on the floor with their knees to their chest, rocking back and forth with wild eyes and wilder hair.

I have a project, a paper, and a test tomorrow. This exact thing happened to me a few weeks ago, on the other day this semester that I didn't attend Stitch n' Bitch. Depending on how much I get done today, I may be able to come for a little while. Here's hoping! Meanwhile, last week!

Jordan was busy making epic progress on her new crochet granny square bag (which I have heard is finished, and will be displayed tonight. Due to a lack of desire to follow gauge, the bag is smaller then anticipated, but Jordan is still very excited about it, and it is now her new project bag!

Madeline was looking pensive while Jordan regaled her with tales of buying stamps from actual people- this is probably the build up to Madeline telling Jordan that there is such a thing as a 'Stamp Machine' where one may buy stamps without ever interacting with another human being. Technology!

Meghan was working on a soon-to-be-felted pokeball, the white yarn for which was left behind last week, but has since been reunited with its owner:

The lonely yarn sat and mingled with us for a while, and after a long journey, it has made its way back to be turned into said pokeball!

 I thought about ransoming it, but decided that would not have gone well. Jordan also suggested a dead drop, followed by a series of mysterious text messages (maybe containing clues to its location?) but it's been a long week and I had homework. Such a lame excuse, too....

Clara, meanwhile, was patiently chugging away at yet another unidentified thing- this time with stripes!- while Mary worked on organizing the students in one of her classes into research groups, instead of knitting. I wonder where she is on Fred's handknit chess set?

 Katherine, clad in matching blue warm things, has finished all the yellow squares for her blanket, and has moved on to new colors to continue the process. She had better hurry up, or the weather will be too warm for that blanket!

And then there was me, photos courtesy of Madeline:

I am currently (if by currently you understand that I mean in this picture, as  I also have approximately five other projects going on right now...) working on a Malabrigo short-sleeved sweater, which I will hopefully happily wear all the time, and will definitely be a very good garment to have for spring. I'm about 2/3 done with the body part (there's an edging as well) and am contemplating two things: 1.) There is the distinct possibility that I will run out of yarn, and 2.) the colors are pooling in a very unusual way- the blues, greens, and purples are striping consistently, and the golds and purples are striping between them. I've never seen that occur, so I am currently figuring out a way to stop it from happening. Meanwhile, there are other projects.

 There! So many pictures of me (also my awesome hat that I finished a week or so ago, minus the pom pom that is going to happen hopefully maybe this weekend?)

In which there is a 'learning face'

It's been so long since our last meeting, but do not lament, there's one tomorrow!

Seriously. You should be there.

Last time, some pretty epic things went down, including, for starters, my tendency to take pictures at weird angles that makes them look sort of unusual no matter which way you rotate them...

Clara, once again, does not know what she is working on, and we have come to expect nothing less.

Lauren is working on Emma's socks:

Flounder socks! Look at that heel-in-progress! Well, you can't see it...but it's there! I promise! It was done by the end of the night!

This is Jordan's 'stop making fun of me' face- and also the very first time in the history of this semester at Stitch n' Bitch that we have captured Jordan in a non-smiling state. It will most likely also be the last, as upon closer inspection it becomes evident that Jordan is in fact, still slightly smiling in this picture. She's working on her daffodil bag, but we'll get to that again later.

Madeline, wearing a very warm and wonderful looking shawl-shawlette-triangular scarf- thing (I love them all, but I never know what to call them....) was making some pretty epic progress on a sock with a slip stitch pattern, using Knit Picks' Stroll (I think the color is kindling?) It's such a pretty color- I have some and am going to pair it with blue to make a truly epic pair of colorwork socks. Eventually. The slip stitch pattern is really cool looking- I like the texture when combined with the tonal yarn!

Katherine was working on a yellow blanket, following her usual trends of using exciting, brightly colored yarn! I'm not sure, but it looks like all that's left here is sewing the squares together! That's pretty exciting, given the current temperature trends.

Katharine is SO CLOSE to being done with the second sleeve of her cardigan- in fact, she might have been so close to done with the second sleeve at the end of our last meeting, that it is highly possible that progress will have been made on the yoke portion of the sweater by now! I can't wait to see it done! I'm also curious to see how the construction goes.

Here's me- with one finished Six Sheep Sampler Sock, and the toe of the second one started. The sock is super-thick, really warm, and not quite all the way knee high, but high enough to stay up. I'm pretty pleased with how my handspun is knitting up! Progress has since been made on the second sock: I'm a few inches past the ankle, about to start the calf increases. Since our last meeting, I have also started and completed (minus the pom-pom) the most wildly colored hat I will probably ever wear. That makes it officially my first handspun project seen through to completion! The socks are still the first yarn I've ever spun (on the wheel, at least...)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!

I really hope this works: I hope it's not all grainy and weird. Sorry if it is. Also, sorry for the ambient noise in the background- it seems as though my camera has a pretty non-directional built in microphone. However, it looks like there's a microphone plug in my camera- so if Jordan wants to make a habit of reading her patterns aloud to us, I could probably obtain a microphone from somewhere.

For the record, my favorite part is 'Look at that learning face you just made!'- if the blog title this week wasn't a dead giveaway on that....

Sargent Pepper's Lonely Yarn Club (something goes here to replace 'band' and I don't know what it should be...)

I like where the title is going, but I don't know how to finish it. Oops.

We were missing some folks at Stitch n' Bitch this week. It may have had something to do with this:

Snow Day!

Just one day before our meeting, Campus looked pretty much like this.
And this:

Blocked sidewalk in front of Kirk Memorial

And the Sunken Garden was particularly creepy:

But, some would say cold weather is knittin' weather- at least it makes you wish you had knit more warm things to wear...

This week, Meghan was working on a hat:

She claims to have just started this hat, but I seem to remember her casting on for a white hat the last time we saw her at Stitch n' Bitch. I cannot be completely sure, though- and she was pretty sure I was wrong. I probably am- it's hard enough to keep track of my own knitting, let alone everyone else's!

Katherine was working on a bright red vest:

The nice thing about big projects like this is that they behave like blankets while you're working on them!


Lauren is back up to speed on her sock, after having to restart the whole thing:

Maybe the pair will be done when we all get back from midterm break!

Jordan started work on a new bag, which she is understandably very excited about:

Then again, maybe that's just how excited Jordan is whenever she's around all this yarn. Yay! Yarn! The picture in the pattern for her bag looks pretty exciting too, except that the colors Jordan chose are totally cooler.

I made some progress on the fourth sheep of the Six Sheep Sampler. I started the sixth sheep this morning in class!

It's a really stiff sock, because my gauge is crazy-tight. These socks are going to be like ovens for my feet: waterproof ovens, at that. I'm very excited about this!


Hopefully the rest of our lovely Stitch n' Bitch peeps will be back to join us this week- especially since it's the last Stitch n' Bitch meeting before spring break! I'm curious to see if progress is being made on Clara's Tubes and other assorted yarn things!