The Doctor Will See You Now

I finished my shawlette! (I really hate saying "shawlette." People sometimes think I'm trying to say Charlotte. From now on I'm saying "hip triangular scarf" instead.)

The pattern is Multnomah and the yarn (I doubt I need to remind you) was inspired by the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith (if you are very confused, go watch Doctor Who before continuing). I could not be more thrilled with how it turned out! I gave it a quick soak and let it dry in the only acceptable place in my dorm room: my bed.

Finished Soakin'

Of course, I didn't actually block it until 4:00 in the afternoon so I forced myself to stay up fairly late to ensure optimal drying.

Yes I have a bunk bed. Don't judge me.

I can't help thinking how much I'd like to see Matt Smith wear my "Matt Smith Hip Triangular Scarf". He seems like the stylish sort of fellow who could pull off a pink lace scarf.

Golly, it looks like he already has.

Jordan II also finished a hip triangular scarf recently. I'm a big fan of the lace patterns.

Kassie is nearly finished with a huge baby blanket. I applaud her. Crocheting the trim on a hat last week was enough for me.

I also made significant progress on the colorwork hat I mentioned in the last post. In fact, I finished it. Unfortunately, I kept thinking my friend had a really big head while I was knitting it. "Knit just a little bit more. His head is huge," I kept telling myself. Imagine my suprise when I realized his head was quite normal in size the next time I saw him. Here I was knitting a hat that would fit Jimmy Neutron when he really had a normal sized head all along. Consequently, I'm now reknitting the bottom portion of the hat to get a better fit. The lesson is this: always know the size of your friends' heads relative to your own. If I appear to be sizing up your head the next time we meet, I probably am.

Get Yo' Knit On

I'm proud to report that Madeline completed her March socks over the weekend. The color is appropriate, but I'm not sure if it was an intentional selection.

The pattern is "Par 5 Socks" by Ingrid Hiddessen and Madeline showed them off in an appropriately "golfy" outfit.

"Just give me a second to check my tee time."

Over midterm break, Kassie ventured to the wild state that is Wyoming and brought back some yarn souvenirs.

It's baby alpaca. One touch of this stuff makes you want to have your very own alpaca cria (yes, that is the technical term). We discussed this at length and decided the demand for baby alpacas would just lead to an alpaca population explosion we simply couldn't handle. All SnB members have decided to stay baby alpaca-less for now.

A hand-dyed Merino-cashmere blend. Truly drool worthy. Luckily it's machine washable for easy drool removal.

Jordan III took a moment to show off a scarf she is working on for her boyfriend. Obviously there are perks to dating a knitter.

Bonus: Expression of green hoodie girl in the background. Sass-tastic

About a month ago I finished a pair of leg warmers that I never really...warmed... up to. In the end I decided Anna is more of the leg warmer type to I pushed them off on her during last night's meeting. She claimed to not be the leg warmer type either, but tried them on to humor me.

The pattern is "Some Cloudy Day" by tinyowlknits

Somebody cue the drumroll. There are exciting things in SnB's future and it's all because of the contents of this bag:

It looks pretty unassuming, right?

In reality, it's a veritable cornucopia of knitting goodness.

The mother of my friend Julia is a prolific knitter. She heard of our little SnB group and offered to donate some of her yarn stash. I hadn't expected such a bounty to arrive, though! She also included over a dozen sets of needles. With these supplies, we'll finally be able follow through with an idea that has been thrown around in the past. Hold on to your seats...

We're. Having. A. Workshop.

DOES THE CAPITALIZATION HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW EXCITED I AM???

Details are formulating. More information to come. I want borderline obnoxious posters though. Like this one. Can you believe it only took three minutes to make in PowerPoint?

Okay, so it lacks key information. Or any information, really. It's a work in progress.

Was that midterm break?

Well, midterm break flew by. I found myself dogsitting for a friend of the family the whole week. That's right. Two straight weeks of dogsitting. These pups were geriatric French bulldogs. The characteristic raspy breathing of French bulldogs was helpful during the week. At night I just listened for their labored breaths to make sure they were both still alive. I'm not usually a small dog person, but they grew on me as the week went on. It's hard to complain about dogs that sleep 90% of the time.

Mr. Biz and Ms. Brighton

I've spent significantly more time with dogs than with people during the past few weeks. It's likely my social skills have begun to suffer. On the bright side, I was able to get a ton of knitting done and watched every romantic comedy movie on HBO. I'm pleased to present my finished Sedum:

I'm very pleased with the 3/4 length sleeves. I was terrified that it wouldn't fit in the end but was pleasantly surprised with the final product. I'm most proud of the color. Mustard yellow is so bold for me.

I received exciting news over break that I was selected for a summer internship in Boulder, Colorado. Aquatic mountain ecosystems might not interest you, so I'll stick to knitted related things: I've already searched for yarn stores in the Boulder area. There are three.

On Sunday I cast on for a hat.

This one is for a friend. I warned him that if I made a colorwork hat for him, we would have to be friends forever. There was no escaping it. He seemed fine with this agreement. When I realized I wouldn't be able to travel with the project easily (too much yarn to juggle) I panicked and cast on for a new shawl. Yes, I'm using the 11th Doctor sock yarn. I'm quite excited.

You might think, "Okay, Kaylin's knitting two projects. Whatever." But whatever is not an appropriate reaction, dear reader. I have never worked on two projects at the same time. Sure, countless knitters do it without incident. I'm just worried that I'll neglect one. In fact, I can't work on one without feeling guilty about the other for a second or two. I know this sounds strange. I'm working through it.

MOOG

There's yarn, and then there's yarn.

Anna's aunt mailed her some yarn. Actually, it was more than that. In my opinion, it was a Magical Orb Of Goodness (hereafter referred to simply as "MOOG"- sorry if you thought this post might be about a synthesizer).

We don't know who made it or what it's made of. We just know it's magical. How could it not be? Rumor has it there are more MOOGs on the way via the US Postal Service. Of course the MOOGs could probably just levitate all the way from Oregon to Missouri, but they don't want to freak everybody out.

Another treasure appeared at SnB. It's completely unrelated to knitting/crocheting, but humorous enough to warrant a mention.

"How to Defeat the Huns"

It's in black and white to enhance readability (yes, that is an actual word). The creator is obviously a humorous sort of person, so I'll excuse their affinity for hot pink ink on hot pink post-it notes.

I finished the Risk Management Hat but have yet to mail it off. I love receiving mail but, as a rule, I am very bad at sending it.

Perfect hint of slouch.

I'm dogsitting this week and it turns out Bella and Tilda don't like to be left out of photographs. They are skilled at popping into the frame.

Sometimes it was affectionate:

Other times it was just sneaky:

Creepers be creepin'

I relocated to the dining room to capture a shot of the Calorimetry I finished last weekend. You might recognize the K'acha yarn of Ugly-Cute hat fame. I considered referring to it as the "Phoenix from the Ashes" headband but thought that might be a bit much. A simple relocation could not deter the pups. Can you spot Tilda's nose in the photo below?

I also started a sweater over the weekend. I'm really enjoying the top-down construction. The seed stitch is yielding a wonderfully squishy fabric.

The pattern is called Sedum. I'll admit that it was the name that first caught my eye. Sedum is a large genus of succulent plants commonly known as stonecrops. They were some of my favorite plants to see last summer in Montana. I spent several weeks intrigued by a mysterious plant I kept spotting during field work. I knew it was a succulent, but no one could tell me exactly what it was. Finally my co-worker brought a field guide with him and the mystery was solved. It was roseroot, or Sedum integrifolium. Unfortunately the only picture of the plant I captured all summer was from the field guide.

I'm so excited that my midterm break starts in 24 hours. I plan on devoting much of my time to this sweater. And Doctor Who. Yup. Pretty much a repeat of Christmas break.

The Curious Case of the Ugly-Cute Hat

I'm being driven to madness and it's all because of a stupid hat. During my trip to Columbia, I picked up a wonderful skein of K'acha yarn. Spun in Peru, it's a multi-tonal blend of Merino wool, Suri alpaca, and silk. Truly beautiful stuff.

"Remember me?"

I made a rookie mistake and didn't really think about what I wanted to make with it. "A hat," I told myself in the car, "I'll make a hat." When I parked and looked at the tag, I recieved a rude awakening. I only had 98yards. Of course I only had 98 yards. How much did I think there could be in a cute little skein?

For the next few days I searched Ravelry for a pattern that would allow me to combine the beautiful but limited supply of K'acha with some leftover brown tweed from the Sideways Grande hat. To makes things more complex, the friend who requested the hat desired a slouchy one with cables and/or lace. Harrumph.

I finally settled on a pattern and cast-on Monday night. While knitting, I kept reasuring myself that the yarns did indeed match, the pattern was a winner and that the project had all the other necessary properties of a cute hat. Despite my constant reassurance, a gnawing feeling began building in the pit of my stomach. I ignored it. I was still convinced of the hat's cuteness when I bound off Tuesday afternoon (yes that was some fast knitting, especially when you consider that Tuesdays are my busiest days). The second I put it on, however, it dawned on me.

The hat was ugly. Ugly, ugly, UGLY. I tried to convince myself otherwise. The yarn was beautiful, after all. I even went through the trouble of blocking it. That was a mistake. Made it even uglier. Too slouchy. I would only look good on someone with huge dreadlocks.

I discovered it's harder that one might think to capture ugliness on camera when that is the goal. You'll have to take my word for it. U.G.L.Y.

By this point I had already sent a text message off to the recipient and recieved an excited reply. Thankfully I had refrained from including a picture. I quickly performed some damage control. In the knitting world, this means I cast on for a new hat. It's a rather delightful number with texture and subtle slouch. I am a believer in its cuteness 100%.

Risk management hat, also known as Molly

In on last sad attempt to save the ugly hat, I attempted to wear it to the library today. I quickly took it off the second a stranger neared. Thankfully, I had thought to bring a backup hat with me. This one is gray and inoffensive.

The rejected ugly-cute hat just stares at me from the armrest.

"Why don't you love me, Kaylin?"

I'll pull it apart this weekend. I think the K'acha is destined to be a nice headband or something. Some of you will no doubt try to convince me that this hat is not ugly, but I have come to terms with the truth and cannot be convinced otherwise.

Sometimes bad knitting happens to good people.

The Panic Inducing Yarn Store Trip

Last Friday, I decided to make a rather impulsive trip to my favorite yarn shop. The weather was beautiful, I didn't have class, and it was Gluten Free Friday at the Main Squeeze in Columbia. Without really telling anyone (okay, I sent my mom a text) I set off to buy some yarn.

Little did I know, my impulsive trip sent my friends into a panic. You see, when you're planning a surprise party for someone, you don't want them to leave town. While I was deciding between buying a sweater's worth of Cascade ECO wool in gray or yellow (shocker! I boldly chose yellow. Who do I think I am? ) my friends were frantically texting each other in crisis mode. One friend was even ready to fake an emotional meltdown if necessary to ensure I came back from Columbia that night. That's love.

Although I considered just driving home for the weekend, I eventually made my way back to Kirksville instead. To the relief of many, I showed up to the party and was, indeed, surprised.

So, the lesson is this: When planning a surprise party, you can't plan for the yarn buying appetite of the guest of honor.

Well enough about that. With this addition, I have successfully constructed a three post arc featuring my birthday. I'll shut up about it now.

The yarn store that was worth driving three hours round trip is called Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe. It's located just off Rangeline in Columbia, Mo. I was so eager to reach my destination, I even navigated the interstate. That's a sign of devotion if I've ever seen one. The staff is super friendly and the yarn selection is topnotch. Here's the yarn that was lucky enough to go home with me:

Here's the same yarn with the Eleventh Doctor yarn. It's to pretty no to be photographed.

Could I be shifting to a new yarn color obsession? Is mustard yellow the new charcoal gray? I used Madeline's swift to wind it all up. I figure I have enough yarn to last me through midterm break. So, three weeks.

This weekend I finished a hat for my friend Gina. It was a cool pattern called the Sideways Grande Hat from Boutique Knits. As the name suggests, it was constructed by knitting around the body of the hat, rather than from the bottom up as is the case for most hats.

Ready for seaming

The finished product. Gina will look much more posh in it.

I had planned to send it home with my sister during her visit this weekend, but I lost valuable knitting time during the surprise party and didn't complete the hat until this afternoon. Oops. Sorry. I said I'd stop mentioning my birthday.

All That Jazz

I hope you've had a great week since we spoke last. Not to rub it in, but I certainly did.

In honor of my birthday, my parents came to town.

My mom, taking in the local culture.

With the help of Sarah Cramer, I successfully crashed John and Madeline's Valentine's Day dinner plans. Okay, we were invited to partake in the sushi "Love Boat" experience so it wasn't technically "crashing."

Rock the boat (don't rock the boat, baby!)

Rock the boat (don't tip the boat over!)

As punishment for making a "Rock the Boat" lyrical reference during dinner, I've had the the Hues Corporation hit stuck in my head all week. It took all of my willpower not to title this post "Get Down With Ya' Bad Self."

Wednesday's meeting started off fairly normal.

We oohed and ahhed over Teresa's new yarn and roving. Soon she'll have a new pair of thrummed mittens.

I took a bunch of blurry pictures of Sarah and Sarah from across the circle

Kristen brought some of her cross stitch projects to be admired.

I obtained an awkward shot of Sarah's first Lupin sock.

The first two hours passed without incident as I talked about hedgehogs and John made everyone watch videos of bears licking each other (he just showed us the bear-cam, he couldn't control what those rowdy bears were doing).

Things got crazy around 9:00, though. That's when the jazz started. Thanks to a poorly charged camera battery, I was only able to obtain this low quality shot with my phone.

I believe Katherine's boyfriend is one of the blurry jazz musicians.

According to the Truman Master Calender, we were suddenly attending "Jazz Combos." Turns out jazz is loud, yet still manages to lull me to sleep. To keep myself awake, I randomly interjected my own scat singing, "BE BOP DOOOO DOOO BE DA BE BE DOOOOOOO BOPITY BOOOOOOO!" I thought my embellishments added to the experience. Madeline made it clear this was not the case.

Get outside and enjoy the weather! (Except if you're an international reader. Please use discretion when venturing outside. I am not familiar with your home climate- in neither the weather nor political sense.)