it's all gravy

I'm in a really good place mentally right now. I'm two days into my last semester (sort of, I'll explain that some other time) of college and feeling really good about the whole college experience. Surprisingly I haven't started freaking out about graduating yet. All I'm really focusing on is how much I love where I live (geographically) and how much I appreciate the opportunities my education has afforded me. Not just the opportunity to get a good salary or an impressive internship, but the privilege to engage directly with really diverse, mentally stimulating and personally enriching information.

In all of my getting ready for the new semester business my knitting has suffered a little. Luckily I've been lagging at posting for kind of a while, so all of the 2 and 3 week-old works in progress I've got going will seem new to you.

A couple of weeks ago I started some fingerless gloves. Actually, I finished one of them already; it only took me a day and a half! I was inspired by the Rowan Tapestry yarn... the color transitions in this yarn are unbelievably subtle and the colors in one ball are beautifully complimentary. I found one lone ball of this stuff at the worst LYS in Dana Point (while still at home for Xmas). Even though the shop was lame, the yarn was on sale for just $4.99. So if I ever get around to finishing glove number 2 I'll have a cheap, custom fitted, warm, gorgeous pair of mitts!

Around the same time I started the gloves--actually maybe 1 day before--I started a blankie for the most precious baby on the planet, Blake. Because Blake and his momma and pappa live in Tennessee now Christmas break was the first time I got to meet him. I'm totally enamored with him now, and I have a feeling this blanket is just the first of many knitted items Blake will get from Auntie Netty. No photo of the half-done blanket just yet, but here's a picture of the recipient fresh from a nap. Look at those eyes!


Other than the blankie and gloves, I've got some other small projects that will get cast on for in the next week. My mom and I picked out some really saturated variegated-color Noro yarn for a scarfish thing for her. I have yet to decide on a stitch pattern for it, but I do know whatever it is it'll be kinda lacy and on big needles. Gotta squeeze a scarf out of one skein!

I also finally got the Farmhouse Yarns Lumpy Bumpy I ordered for the hat I wanna make Sam. The color isn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it's still pretty. I just had in mind that it would look like the photo of the "Olive" color... very deep aquas and copper and some deep green hues. What it ended up looking like is kind of forest greens and olively blues with a few lighter colored bits here and there. Still pretty, and probably suited better to the intended wearer anyway. He's really more of a muted colors kinda guy.

I've got a nail in my bike tire, so I'm off to get that fixed and return some overdue DVDs of The Office to the video store. If I have time before my evening class (Environmental sustainability, cool right? Maybe I should only knit with bamboo yarn from now on. . . ) I might bike down to a yarn shop I've never been to. And that only means one thing. . . more yarn.