The Confessional

So...I have a few confessions to make. First of all...I am an ignorant knitter. Why do you ask? Because I came to the realization that for the past year I have been going to school just over 2,500 feet from Windsor Button. This is sad given the number of times I've gone shopping in Downtown Crossing...and the fact that I take the train from Boylston out to my lab twice a week. Care to see how pathetic this is? In the picture below you will see the approximate walking path starting at the bottom and going toward the top...this will take less than 10 minutes. I virtually live less than half a mile from WINDSOR BUTTON...I have failed as a knitter.
Second confession: I found the knitting section of my public library while I was there this past weekend. I took out three books...I have already photocopied several patterns and have been neglecting my school work in favor of reading Knitting Rules. Part of this confession is my contemplation of using the Interlibrary Loan System to get copies of certain IK patterns...especially since the Fall 2007 issue is sold out. Not so bad as confessions so...all things considered.

Third confession: There is a significant part of my stash that I have not been owning up to. This wasn't on purpose. It wasn't in with the rest of my stash in the big Rubbermaid bin...and it's all jumbled together in a bag such that it's a bit difficult to figure out what's what...and I'm clearly making excuses for myself. So here it is:What I'm assuming to be about 6 hanks of Cascade 220I can't believe I forgot about it since I was thinking about making a striped tube scarf with it...Not sure when I'm going to do that...but I'll post the pattern when I do. I hope you don't think poorly of me for keeping these things from you :P Happy knitting everyone...I need to go learn about fastidious bacteria...

Ultimate Me-Time

As some or all of you may know. I take the commuter rail into Boston everyday. Depending on my level of exhaustion and the amount of room I have I usually knit on the train (there is another knitter on the train that I usually take home that seems to be making a sweater in a very pretty orange). This past weekend I saw on SouleMama's blog mention on Librivox, an awesome website that offers free audio recordings of books in the public domain. Well after my recent run-in with Jane Austen I felt compelled to listen to all of her novels. So now I have turned the train into the ultimate me-time: knitting and Jane Austen. My mood has improved remarkably...despite having class at 8AM all week. I can't show you much for knitting since I am working on Christmas presents and I do not want the recipients to see the finished product ahead of time. But I do have one thing I want to show you:
Not only am I knitting something that isn't gray...but I'm using the beautiful stitch markers that Alicia made for me.

I got all of my finals back today...I passed everything...no honors again *le sigh* (Medical school is honors/pass/fail) hopefully someday soon I will stop missing honors my mere fractions of points. Back to work! In the hope of maybe getting honors in something this block.

Now With More Knitting Content!!

It's been a helluva week over here in med student land. Way too much studying than is good for anyone's mental health and three finals. Have no fear though...I start three new classes next week...and this is supposed to be a much more difficult set of classes. The things I have to look forward to hunh?

So much knitterly stuff has happened since the last time I gave you anything! I finished the Gray Dashing that I had been working on...after running out of yarn and having to buy more. I bought some really pretty yarn while I was at JoAnn's getting the yarn I needed for my Gray Dashing...because I am dangerous when in the presence of yarn. I started a new set of Dashing...now with gussets! And I have a couple funny stories for you. So let's start with some pictures...

These are the Dashing that ran out of yarn. In a desperate attempt to not run out of yarn I shortened most of the hand portion of the gloves. I did 20 of the 24 suggested rows between the last cable and the opening for the thumb; and 10 of the 18 rows between the thumb and the top of the glove. I still ran out of yarn...so off I went to JoAnn's where I purchased: I got some acrylic fingering weight yarn in a pretty lavender to try my hand at socks...I also picked up some US1 DPNs for the same purpose. I was also unable to resist the shiny white Wool-Ease or the pretty pretty colors of the Decor. I have no concrete projects for either of these but I'm thinking a simple scarf for the Decor to show off the colorway. Here's the first funny story: As I was going through the check-out at JoAnn's the cashier said "Wow, you're one of those really talented knitters!" I have no idea what she's talking about since I do not think of myself as all that talented...I mean c'mon I haven't even made a sweater! She indicates that I must be talented if I can use all of those needles...I tell her that I plan to teach myself to make socks. I think I may have become some sort of idol for her in that moment...it was more than slightly unnerving. As I was leaving I found myself thinking...I know they're supposed to be friendly...but that was just odd.

After my exams were all done I started in on my next pair of fingerless mittens. My friend Sarah had expressed interest in my first pair of Dashing so I decided that I would make a pair for her for Christmas. She also expressed her dislike for the gap-y thumb that is built into the pattern. So I've opted to use a gusset thumb. I'll give more details when I've finished the pair. But here you can see the first one finished: I suppose I do have some level of talent hunh?

Since this was the long weekend and my break from studying I spent a fair amount of time out and about with friends this weekend. Friday involved a little bit of morning drinking celebrating the end of hell week...followed by a very yummy and very cheap lunch in Chinatown. It was on the way home from the train station that my second funny story happened. Let me start by saying that my dad drops me off and picks me up at the train most days to save money on parking ($10/week adds up!). But because I was coming home early on Friday and my Dad had taken some of his use-it-or-lose-it vacation I got to take the car. On the way home from the train I drove home the same was as always and I looked at one of the stores across the street from me. "Fancy Purls"...I thought "Hey, that's spelled like a knitting purl!" I continued down the street trying to look in the window to see what's inside while not getting myself killed...and I see shelves full of yarn and I scream "Ohmigod YARN!!!!!" At this point I had to remind myself that I was driving and that I should pay attention to the road...but YARN!!! Later that night Aaron took me out to dinner for my birthday to Aculpoco's. It was good to catch up and see him again. Saturday I went to the Cranberry Harvest Festival in Wareham with Enid and her adorable son Adam. It was so pretty! We went to dinner and did a little shopping at the Wrentham outlets. It was fun and I was definitely glad to see them again. Then last night I want to see The Jane Austen Book Club with Alicia. It was cute...decent movie but I wouldn't go see it in the theaters again. We then went to dinner and talked and went back to her place and knit and talked. I love her so much! She gave me shiny pretty stitch markers too!!!
*sigh* Now I have to get back to med school...since I should really read ahead for tomorrow. Happy knitting!!!