Holidailies: Day 1

Evidently Michigan needs to get its act together. I woke up this morning and it's snowed. Again. I mean, I like snow. I didn't see much of it last year since Europe was freakishly warm. However, this is getting ridiculous.

So I'm done with finals and have moved on to a position as part-time physics lackey. Between now and when I go home for Christmas, I'm going to be organizing physics labs, painting stuff, organizing outings for next quarter, and probably doing more paperwork than I've ever wanted to see, ever.

Also I just found out I got Honors on my SIP! For those of you who aren't in the K Bubble, my college (Kalamazoo College) requires every senior (that's me) to do a Senior Individualized Project. This is a large and impressive-looking paper. I did a 2-unit summer SIP- the rarest kind, because mostly you get one credit per term worked on a SIP.

I can't find my camera cable, so knitting pics after I get the Putnam done tomorrow.

Oh, the holidays.

I spent a very worthwhile few days at home, sleeping, eating Polish food, and getting through one of my final papers, all of my grad school applications (yay!) and rereading the book for my other final paper. Yesterday, I drove home from Detroit to Kalamazoo, in the icky yucky snow which evidently sent the fear of God into everyone on I94 and backed up for miles with no evident reason, and wrote my other paper. Two classes down, one class, one hearing, and one thesis defense to go. If I ever convince myself to get out of bed, I'm going to take my laptop over to the bagel place, nosh on a delicious bagel and drink some coffee, and spend about an hour getting my thesis defense together. Then, back to the house to snag my trumpet and go warm up for my hearing at 11:30, then to the library for more preparation with a break for a health center appointment at 1.

Because I am mildly crazy, I am going to be doing Holidailies. Watch me add the button now. Anyhow, the point is to write every day between Dec 5 and January 6. Since I normally write about my knitting, I may have to actually knit things between then too. Essentially it's Nanowrimo for those of us who are too busy in November and too ADD anyway. Hopefully it'll all be awesome 'n stuff!

Soooo um...

Yeah, I fail at blog postings. To make it up for you, you're going to get a photoessay: what Jax does when she's NOT at school! It'll be awesome.

Wild Developments!

So my computer went *kerbreak* which meant that I eventually shelled out for a new one. This one, unlike the old one, has a built-in camera and Photo Booth. So, I will be taking a few pictures.

First, Bayerische Socken.



Only a little into the third leg repeat on the first sock. They're still freaking GORGEGOUS.

Second. Remember the Shapeless White Thing?



Now it is a Shapeless White Thing with a Hood:



AND has two friends:



This is a sweater. It just needs to have the ends woven in and be washed and blocked. Sooooooo yeah. That should be happening soon... exciting!

Back from the dead!

I'm back from the dead- a.k.a, writing my SIP, a.k.a. researching and writing 30 pages of original photonics work, a.k.a. having my brains smashed out with a gold brick wrapped in a slice of lemon.



If I haven't linked her here before... this is the fantastic Holly, a.k.a. knitwithsnot. I was trying to give her big hair like the streetwalker lovely, beautiful high school student two tables down from us at Applebee's.

Holly is a professional zombie hunter. I, if you did not know, am a professional vampire slayer. This was a friendship that was simply meant to be.

We'd heard rumors of undead lurking in West Branch, MI, at the Northerm Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival. Since we have collectively cleared Kalamazoo of undead, we figured we would go lend a hand to anyone further up in the mitten.

After lopping off a few heads and staking a few vampires, we settled in to enjoy the fiber. We contributed our mad crochet skills to assembling a blanket for Hope Lodge:



I also checked out this little gal for Shannon :



Nope, not a vampire bunny. This little "broken chocolate" angora bun's going home with her :D

Shannon also had a surprise for me...



... the RAMMSPINDLE :D :D :D I am soooooo happy to have this. It's one of her awesome Spinsanity Spindles, and the fiber is from Fibers by Em. I learned to spin by firelight (so no pictures of that awkwardness), and here is the product:



Mah first yarn! I dunno what I'm going to make with it, but it will be awesome and I know it. I also got some other goodies from the fiberfest-



Big, floofy, denimy batt of merino.



My sweater. Yes, right now it is yarn, but it is my sweater. Briar Rose Fibers, lovely stuff... and that's 1200 yds.



Two precious ounces of black alpaca. I'm going to get better at spinning before I try this one, it's going to be a cravat so I want a thinner yarn than I'm spinning on the Rammspindle now.

Also, since it's been a while, I owe everyone some project pictures. Since I'm lazy, I'm not digging up all my projects right now, so you just get my works in progress.



I took these socks with me on the drive to West Branch and I have about 15 more minutes of work on them. This translates to, "Jax, just finish your Japanese homework and GRAFT THE TOE!!"



A shapeless thing. This is actually the majority of the body of Rogue. It's made from recycled yarn so it is very eco-friendly and cost-effective.



Bayerische socks. These actually take concentration, hence they go slow.

I'm fatigued now... more entertaining later :D

The Return of the Yarn Dragon!

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The yarn dragon is returning from his lair with a new acquisition... Breeze, from Knitty. The socks are Regia Silk in the leftover 0.9 of a skein from D.A.V.'s socks, knit on size 1s. They took me about 5 days to knit, and I'm quite enamored with them. Now I need to knit some proper, by which I mean over the ankle, socks!

I'm a bad Jaxy.

Note my extreme lack of posts.

But, now I have my camera cable (it was in my sock box?) and I'm ready to show off a little of what I've been doing!

For example, two out of Three Tams.

This one is for the College Knitters swap. Very classy, in maroon and white Cascade 220.



I made this one for me out of some Kureyon and the leftover white.



I also have most of what I've dubbed the Design Feature Cami done. This is not representative of its finished size- it is in fact finished except for the straps. I just need to break down and go to the bead store and get some beads for the strappyness.



Also, 70's-tastic Noro Legwarmers. These are finished, I'll get a proper pic up soon.



And this is a Mouse.



And this is my hair! It's finally a color I'm happy with :D



As for what I'm working on now...?

Homework. And midterms. And poems for class. And homework.

I have one project on the needles atm- some fantastic red Moseys- but I haven't knit a stitch in a week. Which is sad because I also have some really gorgeous sock yarns- ArtYarns Super Merino in a blue/grey colorway and Jitterbug in Sahara that I still need to wind off. Well, I'll bother Mouse about that when I can breathe.