Now what?

Before I start the post for real, I want to thank all of you for leaving such kind comments. I was a little concerned that since I dropped off the face of blogland that I would have lost all of my readers as well. So, thanks!!

Anyway, so what have I been up to in the last few weeks? Well, school has definitely been a little slower - with the summer break and all. Still keeping up with the research - but it makes a big difference to not have classes constantly.

So, I sent in the baby gift and it was very well received. So, now it's onto the next set of baby gifts for my sister-in-law. We don't know the sex of the baby yet - so I decided on something gender neutral:

You're looking at the Cot Blanket from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I just love this book - and this looks like the perfect gender neutral project.

So, I started working on it - and have completed 3 squares. By the way, I will not be doing another 49 square bonanza. Oh, you know you remember this. No, I will never be doing that again. This baby blanket is much more manageable. Only 12 squares. That means that I've completed 25% of the squares for the entire blanket. Not bad!! Those are squares that I definitely can handle...plus, it's kind of fun to knit.

Check out the squares I've knit so far:

So, on the left is the Six Heart Square (can you see the 6 hearts? It's a little tough w/the lighting). I've done 2 of those - they're all done (only 2 squares of each color, yay!). On the right is the plaid square - and I still have one more left of those.

Well, I'm enjoying it so far. By the time you get sick of the square, you get to move onto a different stitch pattern. The only thing that you get an opportunity to get sick of is the seed stitch border - and while it's annoying, it does look great.

That's it for now - enjoy the weekend everyone!

Boy! It has been forever!

I can't believe that it's been over one month since I've blogged. I can't really explain it - except that I had a really busy few weeks and then...I just didn't feel much like blogging. Have you had that feeling before? I just wasn't in the blogging state of mind, and I honestly didn't have all that much to report.

Our little trip to the Northwest was really great. We had a wonderful time - we were in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. It was just fantastic to get away for a few days, and we really had an opportunity to relax.

Since we got back though, it's been pretty uneventful. I've been working on a few things for work, doing a little bit of knitting, a little bit of reading, catching up on some research, etc. etc.

So, in terms of knitting, I finished the gift set for my brother-in-law's brother's new baby. Actually, they just had their baby this week - and I just finished the gift. So, it went in the mail today. Anyway, so check out everything in its finished glory:

Harvey Kimono Wrap Sweater

Didn't it come out nice? I'm really happy with it. Plus, I got extra special buttons for it. I went to this specialty button store in the city (all they sell is buttons!!!). I think I picked the perfect cutest buttons. I won't tell you what I spent on them b/c it was outrageous - but it really makes the sweater. So, here are some closeups of the buttons:

Can you see them? They're little bears!! I think they're just adorable - so those are right on the outside of the sweater..and then, on the inside:

Little flowers!! So cute!!

Amelie Dress

Next up, the Amelie dress. I decided to add way fewer flowers than the original. I just thought it would get to be a little over the top. So, I randomly added flowers to the front and back - I also got special buttons for the dress too - it's hard to see so I'll just describe them. They're little mother of pearl heart buttons at the top by the strap. They really just seemed perfect for the dress. Anyway, here's the front and back of the dress. It didn't photograph nearly as well as it looks in real life - but you get the idea:

Marshmallow Bonnet
And...last but not least, the marshmallow bonnet - this was also a little hard to photograph but hopefully, you get the idea. I did end up knitting this as suggested with Rowan Cashsoft and Rowan Kidsilk Haze - and it really makes a big difference. The bonnet just ends up looking delectable.

So, the baby knitting is done, right? I can actually knit a little something for me! Well, not quite. We just found out that my sister-in-law is now pregnant. So, the baby knitting just doesn't stop. Since this is my husband's only sibling who is pregnant, I'll be going all out with a bunch of different things....so, it'll be all baby knitting, all the time!!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy July 4th and the rest of the weekend!

It's been another busy couple of weeks

Sorry it's been another two weeks since I've updated my blog. It's just been a busy few weeks - as I predicted. Also, I'm sorry I haven't been as good about commenting on your blogs as usual. I just haven't been able to keep up recently with everything on my plate...but soon, things are about to quiet down.

So, about a week ago I was in Israel. Everything on the trip was fine - but exhausting. I was basically advising students all week from 8 in the morning until 5 - it was a very long week. Plus, Israel isn't my favorite place in the world so I was just very happy to come home. On the bright side, I managed to get quite a bit of knitting done due to the extremely long plane ride (on the way home it was 12 hours!!!).


Once I got home, things didn't exactly quiet down b/c my students had exams that needed to be administered and graded and then there was commencement. So, it was very busy. The good news is that everything is graded - my final grades are all in. So far, no complaints about the final grades either - but we'll see how long that lasts.

So, I think things are about to get a little more manageable. Right now, my husband is away at a conference in California - and on Thursday I will be meeting him in San Francisco for our little vacation. We'll be spending a little over a week going from San Francisco to Portland to Seattle. Even though it means getting on more planes and packing yet again, I'm very much looking forward to getting away for a few days. I think I deserve a little vacation.

In terms of knitting news, I have managed to get a nice amount done in the last two weeks given the circumstances. So, here's the progress on the Amelie dress:

So, looking at the picture, the back (on the right) is finished - and for the front, I need to just shape the neck. So, we're almost there - then it's seaming and creating the little flowers. I think it's really looking good - but I'm getting tired of all of the st st. By the way, in case you're wondering, that's Sam's paw in the upper left corner - he just can't help himself whenever I try to take a picture of my knitting.

Anyway, that's basically it for now. I'll be sure to update before leaving for my trip. Until then, enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I've been tagged...again

So, earlier this week while I was in the midst of grading papers, exams, etc. I was tagged by The ADD Knitter for the 7 random facts about me meme. I feel like I've already posted a bunch of these on the 100 things about me- but let's see if I can come up with a few others.


1. When I was a young child, I had this strange bump on the inside of my wrist. The doctors called it a ganglion and said that it would mysteriously disappear. It did sometime in my teens.


2. I am left-handed - although not entirely. I prefer to use scissors with my right hand - but that's probably because they never had any left handed scissors in art class.



3. I took both French and Latin in school - and learned up through the AP level. I even won several national awards for each language in high school. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take foreign languages once I got to college.


4. I do not wear glasses or contacts. This is a pretty weird/random fact for me because everyone in my family wears glasses. Somehow I managed to escape - although I know I'll probably need them when I get older.


5. I am a young professor but I look even younger. In fact, I was recently carded for buying an "M" rated video game...um, that means that the woman behind the counter thought that I was under 17!!!


6. I am obsessed with time and being on time. In fact, when I was about 6 my parents decided I needed to get a watch because they couldn't handle my constant questioning of "what time is it?"


7. I often prefer a quiet night at home with my husband and my cats to going out for a night on the town.

Well, don't say I didn't warn you!

Didn't I tell you that my posting would be more erratic than usual? I'm sorry to say that my predictions were correct. This really is the only free few minutes I've had to stop and blog. Plus, it's not like it's any quieter right now either - I'm leaving on a plane to Israel tomorrow and I haven't even packed yet!

So, two weeks ago (geez, has it really been that long??), I was telling you about the conference that I was about to have. Well, it was really quite a success. First, it was great getting some warmer Florida weather. But, I really didn't get to sightsee so much. I did get to present my research, and it was a lot of fun and very well-received. So, it was pretty successful - and I got some work in and a little knitting on the plane. Here's the progress I've made so far on the Amelie dress:
I think it's looking pretty cute - but the miles of st st is starting to get to me. Too bad I still have the back to finish and the entire front to start.

I know the progress I've made so far isn't terribly impressive - but it is impressive given everything else that's been on my plate.

So, I got back from the conference on Sunday and since then it's really been a whirlwind as I tried to fit everything in before leaving again. To give you a sense, I was up until 1am on Wednesday this week working on a paper that's due today!!

I just had a ton of other meetings along with the last day of classes this week, exams to prepare, papers to grade, etc. etc. Lucky for me, this will all be behind me soon - and then things will be back to "normal".

I still have a bunch of things to deal with this summer - so it's won't be a cakewalk - but not having to worry about lectures for the time being will make things a touch more manageable.

Okay, so that's it for now. Sorry for all the craziness - believe me, it's no fun living it!!

Ever have one of those weeks?

Well, boy did I have one! It was a brutal week this week. I got very little knitting done - so I will have to bore you with a pictureless post. I should have predicted it though - I am about to embark on a series of very crazy weeks. So, this was the last week before I'm all over the place which meant I had a lot to get out of the way first. What exactly am I talking about?

1. Well, this week was "normal". Meaning that I had my normal classes and was home.

2. Next Wednesday, I leave for a conference in Florida (yea! sun!) and won't be back until late that Sunday (4/29).

3. Then, I have a semi-normal week except that there's reading week and the last day of classes - but on Saturday night (5/5), I leave for Israel for school (don't ask).

4. I'm away in Israel until the following Sunday (5/13)

5. The following week, my students have exams and commencement (I can't believe the school year is almost over - this is actually very scary b/c it means that I will have been through 2 whole years as a faculty member. Woah!)

6. The week after that starting 5/24, hubby and I are going on a little vacation to the West coast and I won't be back until 6/4

Did you manage to get all of that? So, basically it's going to be very crazy and I will be living out of a suitcase for the majority of the next month. As much as I love travelling, I'm kind of torn about all of this because I usually prefer my routine of being home and snuggling with my cats...but I guess there's always time for routine.

Anyway, so about this week - yes, so it was crazy. I was getting home very late each night - and really had no opportunity and was too tired to knit. I assume you get this way as well, right? It was just too much to grasp those needles.

So, what was I doing? A lot of different things...mostly meetings. I ended up serving as a last-minute judge for a speech competition over here - and had to sit in on a few job talks for another department - and had meetings with students...it was just crazy.

I'm just very happy that it's the weekend - I have a lot to do before I leave, but at least I'll be able to get in a little more sleep.

So what does all of this means? Well, most likely, my blogging will be even more sporadic than in the previous few weeks. However, there is some good knitting news in all of this - lots of plane rides means lots of knitting time. I can't wait to catch up!

Gimme a break!

Sorry it's been a little while since my last post...I'll explain.

As I mentioned last time, I'm on break right now...classes begin again on Thursday. During this break, I had envisioned getting some extra sleep, extra work done, and of course, some extra knitting done. Well, I actually did get a lot of work done and some sleep in...but unfortunately, I came down with a cold!! Yes, it always seems that whenever I have a break, I end up sick..and of course, that happened here. It's such a shame because I hate being sick on break!!

So, I didn't get nearly as much knitting done as I would have liked. But, I did nearly finish the Harvey Kimono. Check it out!!

I know it looks finished, but I still need to seam one side and block it. Once I do that, I'll post more detailed pictures. But, it's soooo close to being done. What do you think? I'm really happy with how it came out.

So, I started working on the Amelie dress too. There's still a lot ahead of me for that one though so it's not worth taking a picture of yet.

Anyway, that's basically it for now. Just one day let and then it's back to the grind!! Lucky for me, the end of the semester is right around the corner!

Now, I know I said I'd show you a completed back

Well, it's official - I'm on break!!! Thank goodness because I really need a break. Today, I am happy to say that I did nothing. Well, not nothing - I did a little knitting...but nothing for work. Of course, that's quickly going to change - I have a lot to get done during break..but I figured that I deserved one day truly "off". I haven't had a day of no work since probably winter break - so it's long overdue.

So, onto the knitting...I know I promised I would show you a completed back for the Harvey Kimono. Well, I actually have something better! I finished the back AND the front!! That means that all I have left is the sleeves, edging, and seaming. Here's what it looks like so far:

Doesn't it look great? I love the color - the picture is a pretty accurate depiction - it's this very soft subtle pink. Do you see the picot trim? I just love it.

In terms of the knitting itself, I'm really enjoying working on the kimono. It's not the fastest baby sweater to knit (like this or this) but it's very enjoyable to knit. So, I think that's why I was able to whip through the front of it. Anyway, this pattern definitely gets my two thumbs-up because it's so cute and very fun to knit.

In other knitting news, I forgot to mention a few of my new finds. First, I got that new Favorite Socks book. If you haven't gotten it, you should. It has so many very very lovely patterns. As soon as I get out of this baby knitting, I will definitely knit up some of those pairs.

Also, I found a new site that I thought would be of interest. If you haven't seen it, check out The Walker Treasury Project - at this site, people are contributing color photographs of swatches from the Walker treasuries. As much as I can appreciate the treasuries, the black and white doesn't quite do it for me. So, this project is just very very cool. Enjoy!