Let the knitting begin

My cohort Molly has arrived in Bozeman and we have begun to seriously churn out knit items for the fair. Every night since she has arrived (on Monday) we have spent knitting hats (after study time of course). It's so great to have company and design advice. Here is another recently finished item and I've got two more in progress. I'm hoping after my exam on Friday I will still have enough energy to get some fiber dyed this weekend.

Near brain meltdown

This past weekend I took the first 4 hour session of a practice exam for the PE exam I am taking on Friday (yikes thats really close). Problem #1 was easy and confidence boosting. Problem #2 was slighly more obscure but the answer was obtainable. Problem #3 had me sweating and frantically paging through all my books. Talk about demoralizing. Maybe I think they ought to make the practice exams really easy so I could have a false sense of security and at least sleep in peaceful ignorant bliss for the next few nights.

A day in the field

I Spent yesterday about 1 mile north of Ennis, Montana digging soil test pits. I think that in this picture it looks like the backhoe might reach out and scoop up Lew and Brian. There was a small herd of antelope running around out in this field that didn't seem very afraid of us.



I finished another hat last night. I finally feel like I'm making some progress toward being ready for the craft fair. The photo Ryan took of me wearing the hat was really frightening. I was pretty windburned when I got home and that is exactly what I looked like in the photo which I deleted imediately after seeing it full size on my computer screen. This photo is of a hat I finished last weekend. I think I might make quite a few of these. It is knit from handspun thick and thin yarn on size 13 needles which makes for a fast hat.

Exam Anxiety = Nightmares

Two nights ago I had a dream that I had driven to Helena (where my PE exam is...1.5 hours away) and realized once I got there that I had not brough my calculator, ruler, books, etc. for the exam. Of course you cannot really pass the exam without these things as it is an open book exam and you must bring all your own reference material...so the rest of the dream was spent frantically trying to figure out how to acquire these things.

Last night I had a dream that I was driving somewhere with a bunch of people and suddenly the car went out of control and we were spinning and flipping in the car for what seemed like 5 minutes before landing on our side. From there I had to climb out the window full of broken glass. Then there was a random ending where one of the women in the car actually performed one of those adrenaline maneuvers and flipped the car over all by herself. Then one of the reporters on the scene asked to arm wrestle her.

Yes, I think I have some anxiety going on. I also work up this morning with what feels like the start of a cold. Can't wait to get this exam over with.

Questions answered

In answer to Alison's questions (thanks for making me feel smart)....

I hold the yarn over my right index finger so I'm not going to be much help there. Somehow the idea of switching the yarn to the other side makes me feel out of whack though I am interested in this technique called combined knitting. You can see the technique for combined knitting here. It just looks like it could be super fast. Still the idea of changing my knitting technique is a little scary. Just ask my friend Molly who two years into her knitting life accepted the fact that she was producing a twisted stockinette stitch and had to change how she was knitting. Poor Molly.

To keep edges from rolling you need to incoporate knit and purl stitches into the edge by using rows of purl stitches, ribbing, or some other pattern on the edge that has knit and purl stitches OR you can knit a little extra at the beggining to be used as a hem that you would fold under and stitch in place in the end.

Personal Day

Last night I decided to try night off from everything. I didn't go to my yoga class, didn't spin, knit, play the guitar or violin, study, nothing...it was a struggle. I felt so antsy sitting on the couch trying to "relax" that around 10:30 I allowed myself to spin one bobbin full of yarn. I had no idea I would have such a problem with doing nothing. I do have some progress to share on the spinning of the marigold yarn. It's so soft and wonderful. Like butter....more like marg actually. We are addicted in our house right now to Canoleo. Also a photo of a small hat I finished to see how some "self-striping" yarn I dyed would knit out.

The struggle continues....

After asking Ryan's opinion on why I am having so much trouble getting any studying done I've decided I need to leave the house to study. So last night I packed up my backpack and headed to the library. I felt like a schoolgirl again. So studious. Except that I have never studied at the library, not in high school, college, never. Always in the comfort of my own home with all the distractions I could ever want. Of course I can knit, study, and watch TV at the same time...right? Not so much, says Ryan so off to the library I went.

Well who knew that the library is full of distractions as well. I had no idea I could get the Poisonwood Bible on tape. I also had no idea that the Bozeman Public Library (which is about the size of Bay Village Public Library) would be full of so many strange and distracting people. The man sitting in the cubicle across from me was listening to a crateful of cd's so loud that I could hear the music coming out of his earphones. And he was tapping and occasionally singing. Is this allowed in the library? Apparently. So in go the earplugs. Then there was the librarian who from 7:30 on would occasionally stop to remind me that the library was closing in 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes. Yikes. Once she realized I was wearing earplugs we had to make eye contact so she could be sure I was understanding that she wanted me OUT. I think the co-op coffee bar might be a better option next time.

Winterized

New Bike Fenders

And not to soon either. We had a storm roll through last night that dumped a couple inches of snow in town and 16-24 inches in the mountains. I was so happy riding to work this morning knowing I wouldn't get sprayed with slush at least from my own tires. My old fenders left something to be desired but these new ones are spectacular and offer full coverage.

Following are some works in progress.....getting ready for the Fesival of the Arts.

Handspun Yarn

Marigold Dyed Wool

Ryan's 3 Year Socks

Handspun Lace Scarf

Finished Object

Lace Leaf Sweater

Don't ask me why I'm holding my pinkie like that. Ryan caught it and took some more pictures without the strange hand positition but this photo turned out the best. I finished this awhile ago while the camera was with Ryan in Minnesota. I like how it turned out though I'm not used to having such a bulky sweater. I'm not sure I'll wear it alot.

Facing reality

I think I've been avoiding writing anything here for a reason I can't quite verbalize. I am working on projects, three (or four) to be exact but they are not the right projects. A month ago when I found out I would be taking the PE exam at the end of October and then having a booth in the Festival of the Arts I promised myself that any free time would be spent studying or working on projects to sell. So here is what I have done in the last four or five days. Attended a weekend long yoga workshop, fnished one of Ryan's socks, attending knitting group and worked on the Branching Out lace mohair scarf, watched movies, made bread and spent maybe one hour total on studying and if I strech a little another hour on spinning yarn for sale. Yikes. My priorities flew out the window. I have no excuse.

And here is what brought it all home for me. I'm sitting at knitting group last night and this trio of architects is talking about how they studied for 18, 12, 6 months for their professional exams. 18 months!!! My test is at the end of this month!! And I'm spending my free evening knitting on my lace scarf. Oh my god.