Ugly Pinky Jumpsuits, among other things

Salutations devoted readers! Please stay tuned for a Stitch n Bitch update! First, I'd like to share some exciting personal news. The day after finishing my last blog post, in which I whined about not knowing what to do after graduation, I received an email that would result in exciting graduate school plans.

I've been accepted as a graduate student in the lab of Howard Whiteman at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. (Save your Kentucky jokes for someone else!) During my time in the Whiteman lab I'll be working towards my Masters in Watershed Science. My research will involve the role played by tiger salamanders in a stream food web. The particular stream I'll be working in is located at the High Lonesome Ranch in western Colorado. Less than two weeks after graduation I'll be heading to Colorado to begin the field season. I'm am so thrilled that I was offered this position and can't wait to get started! I'm sure I'll be taking lots of yarn with me to keep myself preoccupied during downtime. (Good knitting segue, no?)

And now for some SnB pictures!

Clara has proven to be quite the entrepreneur. She's been selling "Ugly Pinky Jumpsuits" to her classmates so they can cover their least important fingers. They are selling like hotcakes!

Clara modeling two UPJ

Kat has returned to knitting with a vengeance. In addition to working on a sweater for herself (finally!), she turned out these adorable felted bunny slippers. Kat has proven to be a more reliable blogger than yours truly, so I encourage you to check out her many projects over on her blog. 

Adorable. In-progress sweater in lap! 

 Kat and her friend Lauren are currently enrolled in a printmaking class. They've been wowing us with a few of their recent projects.

Lauren's creation. Drawn with a BIC pen!

A print by Kat. 

 During Wednesday's meeting a representative from the Residence Hall Association stopped by to tell us about an event they're hosting this week. This Wednesday and Thursday they'll be holding blanket making events in the Georgian Rooms from 12-3pm. The blankets will be donated to Project Linus, which provides blankets to children in need. On Wednesday the event will be in Georgian Room B and on Thursday it will be moved to Georgian Room A. They will have sewing machines and fabric available. You can also drop off your knitted or crocheted creation (measuring roughly 36"x40").

Before I leave you, here's a shot of an (alleged) Southern Bog Lemming we trapped during my mammalogy field trip this weekend. It was so calm and sweet!

A lack of knitting

(If you missed knitting on Wednesday, you might not know that boy bands are making a comeback. This was basically the best news Katharine had ever heard)

I'm going to distract you from the fact that I don't have any new SnB photos to post by sharing some pictures of my dogs when they were puppies. Plus I kind of miss them right now. 

They were so sweet as puppies! 

Baron and Dad, co-napping. They have the same color hair!

Obligatory Santa pic

Benny was as adorable as his father (who is Baron, if you're not up to speed with my dogs' genealogy).

Probably why we picked him

This captures the dog I'm familiar with

They're still moderately adorable these days. Mostly they do this: 

Or this: 

And occasionally I'm lucky enough to receive picture messages like this one:

Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever requested an explanation.

You don't even miss the knitting pictures, amiright?!? (Apologies, I'll be more diligent at next week's meeting!)

I run a knitting blog, but I haven't been doing a lot of knitting. During the last Stitch 'n Bitch meeting I spent the majority of the time untangling a ball of yarn. I'd say I'm working on the hat for my sister still, but honestly it has just been sitting neglected in the corner of my room. Like a few of my friends, I'm in full fledged "I'm graduating and I don't really know what I'm doing after May 5th" mode. After several applications went unanswered (believe me, not hearing anything is worse than hearing no) I'm basically a ball of nerves. My friend Donald is in a similar boat, and we often discuss a need to eat pancakes and cry (I don't even like pancakes very much and it still seems like a good idea!).

 I know you're all fascinated by this peek into my psyche, but I swear I'm going to bring it all back around to knitting. Because that's what I SHOULD be doing! Knitting has calmed my nerves countless times before, yet here I am flat-out avoiding it. My current evening routine involves compulsively checking my email and every ecology job board I know until I push it all aside to escape into whichever television show Netflix has recommended for me. I think I've avoided knitting because I do some of my best thinking while knitting and, frankly, the future isn't something I want to think about right now. 

But personal crisis aside, my sister still deserves a hat! So this weekend I'm going to make an attempt to knit a few rows. This should be easier since I'll be camping with my mammalogy class and unable to mindlessly watch television. Who knows, I might even finish the damn thing! 

30 minute power post!

Hello! Prepare for another 30min procrastination blog post!

First let's look at a bunch of projects other knitters at SnB have finished!

Katherine's perfectly slouchy hat.

Kat brought in some silk she dyed with indigo.

This one was my favorite. 

Some of the knitted squares Clara and Mary made for the animal shelter!

Clara in her new sweater! Awesome work! (And props to Mary for seaming the whole thing)

Jordan III, Pom-Pom Queen

Mary acting nonchalant, but in reality barely tolerating the musical guest that took over the SUB and made conversation near impossible at the last meeting. 

I have nothing new to add to the finished projects photo stream right now because 1) I still have not bought blocking wires for the stole (snowy conditions meant I had to drive right through Columbia without any stops) 2) My sister has been finicky about her hat.

I suppose that's not being fair. She wasn't being intentionally finicky. I will say that when someone sends you two pictures of the same hat with varying degrees of slouch and you say "The first one," make sure the picture shown first is actually the one you meant. When I showed up at her apartment for my birthday visit I probably only had an hour of knitting left. When I let her take a look, she mentioned she wanted the finished hat to be extra slouchy. I blinked a few times before reminding her that the picture she indicated was actually the less slouchy version. Texts were reviewed to see who was correct (yours truly). To make a long story involving the location of extra yarn and annoying decreases very short, Jackie didn't get her hat that weekend. To pacify her, I gave her an extra hat I had with me. I actually made two of these suckers since the pattern was so fun and I had extra yarn. After spending five minutes deciding if she liked it, Jackie finally came 'round when she realized the colorwork made little hearts. I believe her exact words were, "THERE ARE HEARTS ON IT!?!?"

Content with her substitute hat. We are now non-matching twins with matching hats. 

Time to get back to my mammalogy review. I must admit I'm more of a fan of invertebrates, but I see the importance of certain mammals, if only for their contributions to the yarn industry.

I wrote this to procrastinate.

I'm writing in an attempt to keep from studying (or really, to take a break from it) so I only have 30 minutes to churn out a satisfactory blog post! 

Today I finished my stole (cheers! ovation!) while watching season two of Downton Abbey (watch this!!!). Given that I have a moderately stressful week ahead, I really shouldn't have been watching TV at all and I should have been saving the knitting for times of great need. Despite knowing this, I could not help myself since both the pattern and show are so addictive (why do you stir up such trouble Mrs. Bates?!?).

It's off the needles! Now to block to the "Six feet by 17inches" dimensions

Anyway, it should be no surprise that to further delay studying I dunked the stole in the bathtub as soon as it was off my needles. Only afterwards did I remember that most of my blocking pins were at home and I only had one box with me. Since I had a soggy mass of wool, however, I had to figure something out. 

I tried to block best I could using Madeline's "edge of a towel" trick. The truth of the matter is that I'm just not very good at blocking. The pattern insists that you use blocking wires to achieve the best results but of course I ignored this (why didn't I order them with my yarn shipment?). In the end I got an undesirably scalloped edge. Arg! I remembered reading about the Yarn Harlot using string to block her shawls out (I'm sure this is a widespread practice, this is just where I learned of it). I decided to try that on one side at least and use the rest of the pins on the other. By this point I was sick of the blocking process, but I rather enjoyed threading my scrap yarn up the length of the wrap. The lighting in my room isn't great right now (reminder: replace two lightbulbs that have gone out) so I had to dig out my headlamp to do a proper job. In the end the yarn helped, but it was impossible to stretch the project wide enough. Things weren't looking particularly neat around the edges either.

Threading up one side

One straight side + one wonky side= fail

For the next few days I'll have a room I can't walk in that smells of damp wool. I don't mind the smell really. I associate it with achievement, perhaps because of how long I was trapped in a room with my first sweater as I tried to block it out. 

The whole experience was a bit annoying, but the brilliant thing about knitting is that I can just reblock it later! I plan on stopping by Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe on Friday to pick up some blocking wires (here's hoping they have some!) and frustrating my mother by blocking on the guest bed at home this weekend. I'm rather excited to do a proper job at blocking it. The pattern (Guernsey Wrap, in case you don't recall) has been a blast to knit. I could see myself making a few more as presents, especially after I've invested in blocking wires. 

Up next on the knitting docket is a hat for my twin sister who has a birthday on Thursday (I'll let you connect the dots). The yarn shipment came in on Saturday and I have to admit it helped motivate me to finish my stole. 

Okay, back to studying plant anatomy. I promise an update on SnB activity will come soon! For now, look at Katherine's finished sweater!

Note to self: knit sweaters that fit this flatteringly

My 30 minutes are up. I was only able to proofread twice, so pardon any grammatical errors.

In which Kat amazes, as usual

I was prepared to write a post about how there really hadn't been any new knitters at SnB this semester, but that was probably to be expected since we changed nights and I hadn't bothered to hang up the new posters (which I have leftover from several semesters ago- score!).


But then something remarkable happened. When I arrived at SnB last Wednesday, there were six new faces. Six. I was gobsmacked (British, informal. Get on my level). Of course, as fate would have it, I left the beginner materials at home and promptly had to run back for them (I walked once I had the needles in hand. The axe scene in Where the Red Fern Grows taught me to never run with anything remotely pointy). Four of the newcomers were experienced knitter/crocheters and Katherine II was teaching one of the new faces to crochet so I sat by Jordan IV (yes this really did happen, four Jordans in SnB's history) to teach her some knitting basics. 

We're getting big again!

The rest of the time I found myself being easily distracted by other group members


Kat is working on a slew of hand-beaded flowers for her sister's prom dress. Oh the patience she has. 

She's also wrote a pattern so her friend could replicate a pair of mitts. 

Purchased pair on right. 

Kat is taking a flat patterning course this semester (I hope I got that right. Sewing terms are foreign to me). She brought in her magical "body block" to show us. The intricacies of sewing are beyond me. 

I'm pretty sure she doesn't sleep. 

I've been working diligently on my stole and can proudly report that it is over halfway finished. It is now a bit too large to take a picture of the whole thing with any ease. Success! The pattern (Guernsey Wrap from Brooklyn Tweed) is quite addictive and I foresee the last half of this baby flying off the needles.

Will you just look at that texture!

In celebration, last night I spent two hours yarn shopping online. It should be no surprise that it took me this long, considering that online yarn purchasing involves pattern consultation, reading yarn reviews, texting future gift recipients about color preferences, and wondering if the color on the screen with look anything like the yarn in person. It's a miracle I ordered anything at all. 

Before I return to stole knitting, I have one last exciting bit of news to share. Christine Bowles stopped by SnB to talk about the Snuggles Project with us. Knitting security blankets for shelter animals in Kirksville- what a great idea! Each animal gets its own personal blanket. They can be either knit or crocheted in the following sizes:
14" x 14"- Small*
24" x 24"- Medium*
36"x 36"- Large

There was a great response to this idea at the meeting (I half expect Mary to show up with 10+ blankets next week). It's a great way to use up scrap yarn as any stitch/color combination is accepted. To donate a blanket to the Kirksville Animal Shelter, email Christine Bowles at crb6258@truman.edu

*indicates sizes that are especially needed

The beginning of the end!

Okay, so that title might be a little overdramatic. It is true though. On Wednesday night Stitch 'n Bitch met for the first time this semester. For me, it's the last  first SnB of my college career. But I'll save the sap until May. Before then I still need to hang posters, teach a bunch of people how to knit, and figure out who's going to continue the blog after my graduation. There are several possibilities (I'm still waiting on your guest post Clara! You're nearly 11 so I'm going to treat you like an adult!) but right now I'm going to try to pressure Katharine into it.

Katharine is the quiet, diligent sort of knitter at SnB. If last week is any indication, I'm the sort of knitter that talks so much that I don't get any knitting done.

Knitting diligently, as usual.

And let's be honest, the girl gets stuff done. Katharine may tell you that I taught her how to knit, but in reality I think I showed her the knit and purl stitch a few times. She was the perfect first pupil and has started to surpass her teacher. Take Katharine's latest creation, for example.

Blanket perfection

Notice how in the second picture I appear in a shadow while Katharine is lit brightly. The knitting gods have spoken! In an attempt to get my act together, I just downloaded the stole pattern discussed previously. It's go time.

There were a few other projects completed over break by other knitters.

Katharine II crocheted this little bag. I'm a big fan of the blue.

Madeline knitted her own Wurm. It looked infinitely better than my own. Likely because she actually had the amount of yarn called for.

I'd like to retract the "not cold enough for handknits" comment I made in the last post. One of you blabbed to Kirksville and it brought on the Kirksville winter I know and fear. A recent trip out of the house to see friends began with dumping all of my handknit accessories out on the bed for inspection. 

I have to admit this is a favorite task. I try several combinations and then spend some time admiring the rest. It makes the winter a bit easier to suffer through. 

Are you there knitters? It's me, Kaylin.

If you're reading this, I'd like to congratulate you on surviving another holiday season. If you're like me, you barely snuck in the last few knitted gifts in the eleventh hour. And even if you didn't, if the holiday season totally snuck up on you, guess what? You didn't spontaneously combust because your projects weren't finished. Your brother can wait a month for his knitted hat and your whiney child/uncle/cousin/in-law can wait until next year.  It's not even cold enough in the midwest right now for most knitwear.

The problem with rushing to finish so much knitting is that I got burnt out. After the last beret was finished blocking, I had no desire to cast on for anything new, not even the stole I had planned on knitting myself over break (I have this vision of me fighting away a chill in a classy stole. I'm sure the reality of stole wearing is much less glamorous since if it is cold enough to wear a stole, I'd likely be wearing a jacket already. It's a dream, okay?! And clearly I just really like using the word stole!).

Most of my holiday knitting consisted of, no surprise here, hats. I also knitted up a few super simple headbands, modeled by my sister below.

She's a doll, no? Except when she tries to take knitted things that were not meant for her. Though this headband was given to her specifically. Stay away from my hats, Jackie! 

The absolute best thing I made all break had to be this little guy:

He now lives with my friend Cassie, who won him at our White Elephant gift exchange. Besides the obvious adorable factor, I was really proud of myself for whipping one up on the first try without a pattern. This may not have been a daunting task for many knitters, but I'm more of a pattern adaptor than designer. The ability to shrink the little bugger in the dryer to get a better bottle fit helped a lot.

So, clearly, my break knitting peaked on December 18th. Not that I haven't enjoyed some time off. Mostly I spent the time I would have been knitting flipping through knitting magazines, books, and websites. I have a lot of pattern inspiration and, thanks to the holiday season, a small yarn budget to work with. But first, to work on that stole. Which will likely be made using this pattern from Brooklyn Tweed. They call it a wrap. Pffft. We know the truth, friends. We know. I will look "casually sophisticated!" I will! And I will keep it with me until I find optimum temperature conditions in which the stole provides the perfect amount of warmth. I've got sixty or so years. It'll happen.