The Zoo

So I've got two pairs of socks going right now. I'm about 2 inches into my Hogwart's Pal's sock, which I have to rave about briefly. This yarn has got to be the most nonpooling thing ever. Which is both good and bad. I love pooling. This looks beautiful though. So here's the etsy seller. All her colorways look just gorgeous and the stitch markers are unique (which is saying a lot, many start to blend together when you etsy surf). Her handspun is gorgeous too. I also like her use of white and/or black in her colorways. Every now and then the Hogwart's sock will pop up a little white stitch and then fade back to yellow or red. Gorgeous! I'll put pictures up soon. I'm all pajamanated right now.

My animals are driving me nuts. I thought Mr. Lulu might have another blockage. This worried me because it's painful and expensive. I've also done everything I can do as far as switch food, etc. Several times I caught him trying to "go" in inappropriate places, but then producing nothing. Today though, he took a squat on his Kitty Pi, looked me dead in the eye and peed all over it. So obviously, he is unblocked. I'm on a weekend mission to figure out why he is not using the litter box and why Pollycat has decided to poop on the dog bed or in DH's office. It's real fun around here.


Today is DH's and I's 4 year anniversary. We are 26 and 28 and met back at boarding school when I was 16 and he was 17. We've been together ever since. Our 10year "dateversary" was this year back on February 9th. We got engaged on July 27th, so our 10year engagement anniversary is this year as well. If you count things like that. Which we do, because we're saps.

12/17

After listening to Con Law CDs all weekend (I'm still only on CD 4 out of 7 of the suckers), 6 hours of Christopher Walken on Constitutional Law last week, reading 100 pages of outline, and making a ridiculous amount of notecards, I started taking some MBE (Multistate Bar Exam for those playing along at home) questions today. Last week, I got 22/50 right. Tonight, 12/17. That's a drastic improvement from a failing score, to a more than passing score. I'm doing another 17 tomorrow morning and hopefully another 17 in the afternoon or evening. I hope today wasn't a fluke. I'd like to think all this effort is causing something to stick up there!

I decided on a simple rib sock for my Hogwart's Pal. She's got a rather large foot, and I want this thing to fit. That's the simplest way I know how to make sure it fits. It feels like a copout though. I tried casting on for some Jaywalkers but that was 92 stitches for the right size and I got very confused with that much going on at once. I'll keep it simple and throw in some fun random goodies.

The nice thing about these CDs is that I can knit while I learn. It also seems to be working.

In stash enhancement news, I bought my first skein of Socks that Rock off of the Destash blog. Barney Rubble. It's hanging out with my Yarn Love which I realized I don't have pictures of either. Maybe I'll take a study break and take some Ravelry pictures. So pretty.

Some more pictures. Josh and Evie.

Me at the graduation post-party with my grandma and some Indian beer.



The usual. Send office supplies and caffeine. I have dreams about finding the "perfect" Post-It notes and notecards, pens and highlighters. Yes, I've reached that point in studying. I'm disgusted that I've been through 3 expensive highlighters already.

I wear the pants..

Who wears the pants? That's right, me. My husband would have thrown up several times, or just hired a plumber on Tuesday. Our dishwasher has not been washing dishes correctly and tonight I found the problem. The sink stopped, would not plunge out whatever was ailing it. So I removed the twisty part of the pipes under the sink (yes, that's a technical term). Other than the ridiculously gross smell in our house, I think I removed all the clog. Somehow a popsicle stick got in there and everything else stuck to it. I used every bath towel and my bathrobe when my brilliant idea to catch all the water in a garbage bag failed as I tried to transfer the water to a huge bucket (the bucket wouldn't fit under the pipes). Now I have to clean the kitchen, because it is a disgusting smelling mess. But hopefully, we will have clean dishes.

I have spaghetti bubbling on the stove. Some women prefer chocolate, others, like the Golden Girls, prefer cheesecake. For me, I am mesmerized by the pasta aisle in the grocery store. We recently had a Fresh Market open up. My little brother works in the back making vegetable kabobs and fruit displays. I chained myself to a $7 bottle of marinara this morning and refused to let go. Some artisan pasta also slipped into the basket.

In knitting news, I ripped the mock cable sock. It was way too small. I have the worst trouble figuring out what will fit. So I am going to stick with ribbed socks for my Hogwarts pair and my next pair. I've recast on in a simple 3/1 rib for my sock and will probably do a 2/2 for my Hogwarts pair.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Show and Tell

After last week's fright at having both wrong colored yarn and stitchmarkers (if anyone is running behind and needs both yarn and sock markers for a Hufflepuff, drop me a line) I have regrouped and am casting on. Again. In the correct color. I checked three times. That is Ace up above showing what he thinks of all this Harry Potter talk.


Squishy, cuddly, it's almost a shame to knit it up. I will, but look how innocent it is in it's happy little skein. And yes, those are cat nail covers in the picture.




And those are mine. The etsy buyer I bought from did a buy one get one free. Totally unexpected! I now have two sets of stitch markers in non-Slytherin colors. Only two more houses left to collect!

Christopher Walken on Constitutional Law

Imagine Christopher Walken giving a 4.5 hour lecture on Constitutional Law. Imagine him doing it again for another 4.5 hours tomorrow. Imagine me having to sit through it, paying attention like my professional life depends upon his knowledge, because it does, my bony butt aching from the hard plastic chair.

You have just envisioned both my personal hell and my current fate.

I also got $2,000 worth of books today. It's about 2 feet high and 50 lbs of books. In case you wondered what that big of a pile of books looked like. Personally, I'd rather see a pile of yarn worth $2,000. I guess that would only be 100 skeins of Socks that Rock, or 1,000 skeins of fun fur, or somewhere around 350 skeins of Manos Del Uruguay cotton stria (the yarn I both love and loathe). But no, instead of squishy yarn, I have books.

In other news, I worry that I may be ripping out another sock soon. It looks like the mock cable socks are too narrow. I'm near the middle of the foot. I could put some increases in, but I just don't know.

Inspired..

I decided what to make out of the bumblebee yarn. I have to have something in mind for the odd skeins in my stash or it bothers me. Now that I've decided to turn them into Babylegs, I can mull over what to do with the bulky acrylic I rescued. It'd be too easy to do a bunch of hats and scarves in my favorite pattern (seed stitch for four inches, garter stitch the rest of the way) for Christmas backup presents. So I am still mulling.

I should make flashcards for Constitutional Law, but I long to mindlessly knit in garter on my pink and blue sock.

I am now on Ravelry. I have no idea how to link to it, but you might find me on there by blog address.

My package from my Livejournal Secret Pal has inspired me. Yes, I've been inspired by a washcloth. Well, it's more than that. I think I understand now why knitters really love handknitted gifts. I would never have thought to have knit up a washcloth. Now that I have one, in it's simple organic cotton, bone colored goodness, I'm a bit obsessed. I want more. I want to know what yarn you used to make that Secret Pal and I want to know NOW. I had a dream about a bath mat and a bath cushion cover last night. I've reached that point. I have yet to dream of organic cotton Kleenex box covers though, so I doubt my bathroom will become that level of covered in knitwear. Though it's possible. I hate to rule anything out. I dreamnt of CONES of the stuff. Are you scared? I know, me too.

And the soap...somehow my sneaky Secret Pal either figured out, guessed, or had sheer dumb luck to know that soapmaking is my lurking in the shadows possible hobby #3 (DH has threatened things if I pick up anything else besides knitting and scrapbooking until after the bar exam) that I have been reading up on, fantasizing about, and stalking. Yet I had not taken the plunge into an actual purchase. Begin the slippery slope! I've been washing my face with the almond soap that came in the package and the soapiness (is that a word?) has dried my overstressed skin out leaving it almost perfect.

So, I've been inspired. It's hard not to be when you take a good long soak in some ylang-ylang cinnamon bubble bath, with a good book, a candle, perfect soap, and a fascinating washcloth. I know, I'm fascinated by washcloths. This is troubling. This is almost as strange as folks who obsess about miters, stalk the Loopy Ewe, or....oh who am I kidding...I give up. I am officially a strange yarnburglar.

In other news, I wanted to make brownies but needed to make banana bread or toss out the bananas. The result? Chocolate banana coconut muffins. I'd post pictures but they look like poop muffins. I assure you, that they taste like a banana split.

Graduation and a surprise...

Here's the pictures from graduation..


That's me and my brother. You love the hat, admit it.

I got this awesome package from my Livejournal Secret Pal.

There's two books, three bars of handmade soap, a candle, a handknit organic cotton washcloth, Jelly Bellies and my favorite Aura Cacia foaming bath. How did she know that's my favorite? I just put in a $1,500 coop order and my (tiny) part of it was a big jar of the stuff. There were also my favorite Lindor truffles, which melted. So I put them in the freezer and wiped them off the cover of one book.



They still look yummy. Wasting chocolate is a felony. I don't remember much about criminal law, but I remember that much.

Oh great.

So I started knitting on my black and yellow Harry Potter socks. Knit knit knit. Two inches done then something struck me. Something wasn't quite right. Wait a second... I checked my pal's blog and sure enough, she was not a Hufflepuff, she was something else. So now I have bumblebee colored yarn and stitch markers and the correct colored yarn and stitch markers coming in the mail.

That's what happens when you buy things during finals.

I frogged the bumblebeeness and put it back in the closet. I keep trying to convince myself that I will at some point want that color of socks. I remain unconvinced. It's gorgeous yarn, great to work with, wonderfully soft, but not my color.

My house smells like bleach. The poor cats are wandering around sniffing as if to say "What is this clean we smell?" The dogs are shaking their coats, trying to get another layer of dirt on the clean, looking annoyed at me for undoing all their handiwork. Typically, I use crunchy-granola type hippie cleaners, but for DH's disgusting shower (think 5 months of me refusing to clean it because I don't use it..I gave in) I had to cave and buy a bottle of Tilex. It works, but my throat burns now. Lovely.

I graduated yesterday. There are pictures of me in a tam soon to come. We had a lovely dinner, I received cash that I'm trying to decide what to do with, and a fun readymade scrapbook for dog pictures.

Tomorrow I start PMBR and Barbri classes. For those unfamiliar, be glad. Think 8 hours of videotaped lecture.

My phone has been ringing off the hook for the lab rescue. So many dogs, so little time and money. I'm getting back to cleaning and sorting for next weekend's garage sale. My poor puppies need some cash for boarding and lovely things like heartworm treatment.

I made my husband walk down to the LYS with me from our Sunday brunch spot. They've moved into a bigger space. It's HUGE. Fortunetely for my wallet, they were closed. I keep reminding myself that they don't have the things I want (Peace Fleece, Blue Sky and Socks That Rock) so I should stay out. If I wander in there, I'll convince myself to do something silly like make something out of the Big City Knits book or buy sock yarn that I really am not wild about, and I don't want to do that.

Memes

Instead of a photodump. I bring you a meme dump. I found these here, so blame her, after checking out her blog.

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Finished Longies..

With all my whining, I really have had time to knit. I finished these today...

Simple ribbed waistband, the next pair will be drawstring.


Convertible leg for growing room...

And like magic...


I reinforced the crotch since the last pair had gaping holes at the edge of the kitchener. It's a bit sloppy but improving. I'm getting there.

These are on the needles. Lorna's Laces in Crazy Stripe in a Mock Cable sock pattern I found on the Tofutsies website. I'm about to cast on for my Harry Potter Swap socks.

Underwhelming..

I finished my last final and am left with a feeling of being underwhelmed. Maybe it will sink in on Saturday when I don my jaunty doctoral tam in royal bright purple and get my diploma. Actually, I think the diploma comes in the mail and I just get the case for it.

I'm most looking forward to the afterparty. My parents are renting out half of the local Indian restaurant and we'll be enjoying some curry and naan. Yum. Hopefully there will be lots of presents. I will admit to my faults: being greedy and being mean.

I am a mean person. I did a happy dance when Jerry Falwell died. I also joked about Jeff Corwin's death last year. On the day of. That surely does not make me a nice person. However, it does make me honest. I am not sad Jerry Falwell died, and you cannot tell me that a guy who torments animals that are poisonous isn't going to get his ironically in the end. I'm not happy that Jeff Corwin died, he did amazing things for the animals and their habitats even though I thought he was careless and sometimes mean to wild animals for entertainment. I am however, on the fence about Jerry Falwell. But I'm not glad, I'm sure he had people who will miss him and I can't be happy about that. Still, I'm not sad. So that's the mean side of me.

The greedy side of me loves presents. I beg for them, I look forward to them and I pester about them. I'll even go to Target and buy myself a present, usually a tshirt. I get so much joy out of my husband coming home from Kroger with apples or my favorite magazine. It doesn't have to be big, I just love things picked out for me.

So there you go. I think it's important to be upfront about your faults. And those are my two big ones. How do they relate to knitting? Well, sometimes I think mean things about certain patterns. Usually they aren't things on blogs, but things on say, the Lion Brand website. Ahem. I have occasionally thought mean things about the socks on display at my LYS and some fun fur scarves that live in there as well. Generally, I think nice things about things knit by people I know. I even ended up liking Wendy's miter sweater, in the end. I will admit though to have mean thoughts about it during the process. There's my confession of the month. It was about the color though, not the talent or the pattern. Eventually though, the shape and the quilt-like nature won me over. That sweater looks so comfortable. I've been in a sweatshirt and pajama pant mood lately and that is the dressed up talented gorgeous version of a sweatshirt. It looks so cozy!

And greediness in knitting? I have decided one of my goals is to knit a Cookie A pattern by Christmas. I'm leaning towards Rhiannon. Bright red sock yarn... Instead of thinking about dying up some Knitpicks since it's going to take a vast amount of yarn, I think about how many pennies I'll have to save to make it out of Louet Gems or Cherry Tree Hill Supersolid. Once the brilliant frugal idea hit me thanks to my Harry Potter swap partner, the green eyed monster went away. I'm excited to dye my own yarn. There's nothing wrong with buying 1200 yards of Cherry Tree Hill or even Socks that Rock, but I need to be honest about my sock yarn budget for such a major project in the works. I have $900 in vet bills to pay off before Tick is officially ours, a car that's on the verge of dying, the rescue is always short on cash, and if I can save $30, I am sure I have something to put it towards instead of complaining about not having cash all the time.

The good thing about being a greedy knitter is that my end of the swap is very generous, it is a bit vicarious sending that package out and it feels good.

So there was my true confession. I feel better now, but still underwhelmed.

Thank you everyone for all the well-wishes. Law school is the hardest thing I've done, though I expect preparing for the bar will surpass it.

Not quite dead yet..

I'm exactly that. Not quite dead yet. I'm about to take my second to last law school final ever. Tomorrow is the very last one, and Saturday is graduation. Then the studying begins in earnest.

With all this studying, all I want to do is knit. I sound so forlorn, don't I? I think my Hogwart's Pal socks may end up being a simple rib so I can knit during video sessions.

I spy with my little eye..

Randomness from my websurfing today. Oooh, shiny things!





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SAFF?

I'm debating going to SAFF after I pass the bar exam. It would be a nice present to myself, a fun long weekend get away. I'm trying to decide what I need to pay for in which order: flight, classes, hotel room. I'd try to find someone to carpool with, but I don't know anyone who is driving halfway across the country. I found at least 10 hours of classes I'd want to take. I'm not sure what else is in that part of the country to tourist about. Anyone with any North Carolina connections?

I stocked up on the goodies for my Secret Pal packages. Now I'm just waiting on a squishy package with their yarn in it so I can get these boxes out on Wednesday.

Mail call!

I arrived home to two packages today. One was squishy..filled with five huge cakes of Wool-Ease light blue acrylic goodness. I am a self-professed yarn snob, but this gorgeous yarn from Free Acrylic Wednesdays that I adopted/rescued will make great socks. Don't those look warm? I'm the cold feet queen. That looks to be the quickest pattern ever, I'll be whipping up stocking stuffers (pun intended) for the Christmas closet. Yes, I'm "that girl" who stocks up on gifts way before the holidays.

I'll be ignoring that contrasting color bit though. It looks a bit too Flashdance for me.

The other package was cat toys. They were very excited, since the dogs get most of the spoiling around here. Cat and dog secret pal is just as fun as knitting secret pals. Well, almost. Ok, not really.

Poor Tiny..

"Tiny" is my overnight guest for the night. He lives two doors down and is anything but "tiny". He's easily 150 lbs of dog, with a huge St. Bernardish head and jowls, fat Labrador looking body and a tail that curls up like a fancy question mark. His hair is a bit like a poodle that's been cut too short. Slightly wooly. Perhaps he's one of my reincarnated brown recluses?

To make a long story short, I think his family is on vacation. He dug out of his yard, then dug out of my other neighbors yard and is now here. Tomorrow he'll go into the backyard dog pen. He has storm anxiety, we're expecting rain and I can't risk more property damage (this is the point in the blog in which if my husband were here he'd go "MORE? How could there possibly BE more dog-related property damage?"). So he'll be stuck with a doghouse in the rain. I don't know what else to do. The shelter isn't open before I leave for work, the dropoff for the shelter is insecure (so someone could take him) and I know if I were in the same spot, I'd want someone to keep him safe. So it's the pen for "Tiny" in the morning. Hopefully his folks appear soon, or I will have to check him into the shelter or boarding. He drools immensely which makes Mr. Earnknittoownit completely furious and grossed out. Did I also mention he's huge? He makes Ace's 90 lbs look shrimpy.

Book Review: Debbie MacComber - A Good Yarn

I got this book from my Secret Pal from SP10 (It's hard to keep this straight now that Livejournal SP4 is going on) and I'll admit was skeptical. I am a serious reader people. I read things about regulatory mortgage compliance and jury nullification. Sounds a bit like cat yak, no? Yes, yes it does, but I love it.

Anyways, I was skeptical but put this aside for my bathtub reading. This book was so so so good. The characters came alive, the knitting quotes at the beginning of each chapter made me nod and smile in agreement. It was about sock knitting, complete with a pattern at the beginning of the book.

The book was about four women at a sock knitting class and how they worked through their problems together and became lifelong friends. My only problem was the nonrealistic ending. We're grownup women who can solve our own problems, without any fairy dust. So that's my only gripe, and I do enjoy a fairy tale, I just have to remind myself from time to time.

Apparently last month, Debbie MacComber published "Back on Blossom Street", which I think I'll have to find. It's about a prayer shawl class and sounds like a bit of a tearjerker. She also has two pattern books out as well, one focusing on charity knitting.

I am ashamed to say this was my first non-serious book since the Christmas before last when my mom gifted me a ton of chick-lit. I can't wait to pass the bar so I can get back into books, of both the serious and non-serious variety. I think though, that I shall always keep by the side of the tub, a tub book, there's always time for books.*

*Cheesiest thing I've ever typed, but I'm leaving it in for posterity.

Itchy and Insane

I'm itchy and have started in on the heel flap of my second pair of socks. I think finals studying and paper writing has me delusional. I am researching the Bohus. This is with NO experience with more than one color of yarn. Insane, I tell you. Send help!

I should probably pick something more, well, LESS Bohussy for my first major colorwork project. Maybe Anemoi mittens? Not to mention the price difference, $160 for the Bohus kit v. 3 skeins of Lorna's or Koigu for the Anemoi. Yeah, I think I've talked myself into it. I'm thinking blue and white, like a bright dutch blue and a silvery white. Pretty!

Whew, that was scary.

HELP!

Anyone know where I can get a nostepinne besides ebay? Help! I'm hunting one down for my Secret Pal. I bid on an ebay one, but it'd be more helpful if I could find one on a website that sold other knitting items so I could get some other items for a beginning knitter.

Ok, since I posted twice today, I give you this:



It's about knitting and it's work safe.

Spiders to Sheep to Socks

Let's see. Last week Hobby Lobby had all of their knitting needles half off. So I went and bought up some sock DPNs for me and my secret pal.

I've been killing lots of spiders. When I do, I say a little prayer that they'll be reincarnated as a sheep. A nice, woolly sheep on a farm where they can get fat and old and their fleece can get dyed all kinds of wild colors to make socks and scarves for boys and girls.

It's finals time, so the knitting has been low. I've typed a ton of papers and will commence studying for my two actual finals soon. I've also been working a ridiculous amount to keep the paychecks at a decent level to fund me through the bar exam period.

Brown Recluses

Don't worry, there are no pictures. However, our house is overrun with brown recluses. Normally I consider myself a bit of a Buddhist about animal killing. Yes, usually I extend my mercy to spiders. When I was travelling in Tibet I was in a temple, which smelled of yak butter candles, incense and was so peaceful, I felt like I was dreaming. All of a sudden, a monk screamed and ran towards me. I stopped, my foot in mid-stride. There, under my foot was a little mouse, eating a crumb. He picked him up and cradled him. We had a long talk about life, there under the thousand Buddha painting. Whenever I run across a pest, I think about that moment and trap and release the critter.

However, I feel compelled to kill these little devils. Yak butter candles be damned, I find nothing worse than poisonous spiders. I'd catch and release, but they'd end up in my neighbor's garage. The pinnacle of my rage occured when I was sitting in my nightgown, drinking a hot cup of tea. I glanced down and there, on my right boob was a brown recluse. I threw the hot tea all over Mr. EarnKnittoOwnIt and screamed. So, to the monk I met in Lhasa, I'm sorry.

I hope to finish sock one of socks 2.0 this weekend. I'm into finals time and it's been rather uneventful.