Oct 16 2006
A Little Stress Relief
"Bitten off more than you can chew"
"Too many irons in the fire"
Clichés that mean the same thing: BUSY. You see, on top of all of the Socktoberfest bliss (and it really is!), I am preparing for my graduate comprehensive exams - they are less than two weeks away, and while I feel pretty confident about my knowledge of the Library and Information Science field of study, I also know that it is important to review, and to prepare accordingly, and a little part of me is beginning to freak out. For the last 5 weeks, I have been meeting with 4 other students to study, and this weekend was no exception, despite the brilliant blue sky above.
…I spent way too much time inside the buildings of Catholic University on a beautiful Sunday afternoon…
I needed a little down time, however, and that came in the form of a great Friday night party (and a little wine…), a beautiful Saturday with friends in the city, and a restorative (yet productive) Monday. Since Lolly forgot her camera (this rarely happens) you have to see Coleen's photographic account of the party! And since I did not make the mistake twice, I have a great photographic record of Saturday's events.
Heather, her amazing Pixie daughter, and I met at the train station and set off for Capitol Hill / Eastern Market. Heather and Pixie model their Socktoberfest progress on the train. 
Pixie is quite anxious to have her own handknit pair of socks!
Taking pics of socks on the train is quickly becoming my new hobby.
We perused the goodies at the Eastern Market before heading over to Stitch DC for Shannon Okey's book signing. We also hooked up with the amazing Jenna there!
Shannon was so great - Super friendly and she even gave little Pixie a spin lesson on her handy dandy wheel. She also signed my copy of her new book, Spin to Knit. I also had the great opportunity to meet Shannon's tour companion, Kim Werker, editor of the online mag CrochetMe, as well as author of the new book, Get Hooked. She snapped this little pic of Shannon and me!
…and what I left Stitch DC with… (they were having a small 15% off sale): 2 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in Loden and Teal colorways (destined to be Nancy Bush patterns), a signed copy of the book, and the Holiday 2006 edition of Interweave Knits!
We had such a fun day too! Heather and I were sporting our handknit socks (her: Tess Designer Yarns, me: Trekking XXL) while little Pixie and Jenna were into the pink Chucks. We were quite the four-some pounding the pavement of the capital! 
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Saturday night and the whole of Sunday were spent cramming my brain with information about databases, copyrights and intellectual property, federal legislation affecting libraries, etc. While very interesting and very pertinent to my education, I have to say I would rather have been knitting…
Today started with more of the same. I had some deadlines hanging over me for school-related work, as well as several household chores, but Kris surprised me with a little excursion… and it cleared my mind and allowed me to refocus on the tasks at hand. In other words, it was the perfect remedy and stress relief. Nature has that effect…
1. Rock Formation, 2. Trees, 3. Leaves changing…, 4. Jenny and Bella
Kris and I have passed this reservoir dozens of times on our way home from work. The reservoir is temporarily dammed on one side, and this meadow with low-lying vegetation has formed in the absence of the water. It was a beautiful area to trek with the doggies (somewhat noticeable in the last picture) and to see the changing leaves. We allowed the dogs to run free, and Kris and I had the chance to relax and take in the beautiful scenery.
It was just the restorative trip that I needed before coming home to attack more homework.
Tomorrow, sock news, I promise
Stay tuned for some amazing tutorials and interviews… and if you have a tutorial that you are dying to share, please let me know! (and I will try my hardest to get back to you - I am a little [okay, a lot] behind on emails)
PDA! Ewwwww! Um, just kidding, it was cute really…
Good news to report: I have a wearable pair of socks off my sock machine. This is one of my Soctoberfest goals. I posted a pic of the socks and also the sock knitting machine as requested. I am a happy camper today. Sounds like you had a super weekend despite the school work.
Every time I see pictures of you, I think of how good you look. So healthy and those glasses look so hip!
Just a random thought.
Lolly, I really don’t know how you do it! Eleventy million Socktoberfest participants, the Socktoberfest Flickr group, a job, grad school, comprehensive exams…PLUS knitting? And house-type things? Do you ever get a chance to sleep? At least you’re never bored!
Awww, you and your hubby are a very cute couple!
And goodluck on your exams!!!
You’re the incredible shrinking woman!
It seems like your weekend had a good mix of fun, yarn shop time, friend time and school time. Probably, just what you needed. I hope that you’re feeling a bit more like your priorities are in the right place now.
You neglected to mention that even though my socks weren’t handknit, they were Jew pride socks!
You and the K man are so cute. I’m glad that you were able to have some restorative time today. Enjoy this lovely autumn before the real cold rolls in.
I feel you on the exams part, I’ve had 7 exams in 5 weeks straight! Fortunately there always seems time for socks. Good luck!
oh comps. how i hated them. actually they weren’t so terrible in retrospect. i like written better than oral. what are they teaching y’all in library science these days? i went to UNCG in the days that dinosaurs roamed the earth and we got very little online skills, and those were the ones we craved. i was in dc last weekend and didn’t get by stitch dc, but hope to next time.
Good luck on the exams! I’m sure you will ace them!
You guys are such a super cute couple!!!
Good luck on your exams - I know you’ll do great!
I can’t believe the leaves are changing already and I’m missing it!!! I need to get back to the east coast before they all fall off the trees!!
-Jody
Lovely pictures. Geoff and I always do one of those “hold the camera in front of us and click” photos whenever we go anywhere. I always end liking them the best.
What a nice little break he planned for you! Awww…
Good luck on your exams!! You’ll do great : )
what a fun day! i miss dc…and stitch dc! i love your cherry tree hill yarn - i didn’t even know they made solid color sock yarn. that blue/teal is my new favorite color. see you on the blog tour next week!
Your weekends always look like so much fun!
Color me impressed! Handling Socktoberfest and having a graduate exam in 2 weeks? Wowzers! I have mine in three weeks and believe me, no running of a major blog-event!
I think you must be the most efficient person I know. Good luck with the exams - I’m sure you’ll ace them!
Beautiful fall pictures. You look so good Lolly and you and C make such a darling couple. I’ll miss reading you while I’m away but I’ll be knitting socks!!
I keep telling you, the comps will be a breeze. You’ve been reading Library Journal, right? That’s really all you need.
It always makes me happy to see pics of you and Kris. You make a sweet couple, and seem to make each day special. That’s heartening.
Good luck with comps.
Looks like you had a nice respit from studying! Good for Kris for taking you away for a little while!
Glad you were able to take a little time off! Love the pretty fall pics!
Oh what a wonderful time overall! Good for you!!!
Good luck with the exams! Isn’t learning about databases, indexes, classification schemes, etc. fun? Riiiiight. My classes this semester don’t have exams but lots of papers. There is only so much you can write about library website usability.
What a great weekend! I wanted to go to Stitch DC this past weekend but things kept getting in the way. Oh well….
First of all, you look fab-u-lous! Looks like fun w/Heather and Ms.Pixie! I so love Stitch DC..great store. Good luck with your exams : )
I’m glad to hear that you are taking time for yourself during such a busy time. Keep up the good work. The comp will be done before you know it!
awwww! what a great husband you have!
i’m glad you’ve been able to get out and enjoy the last nice days of the year while still keeping up with the studying. you don’t want to burn out!
Looks like you had a nice time! You’re lucky to have free time while studying for comps, in my program you’re expected to do nothing else for a whole summer. My turn comes this summer. Yikes!
Thanks for the compliment on the sweater. I’m so happy with it!
Awwwww. You and Kris are so cute! That yarny party looks crazy — glad you had a restorative weekend!
Awww….you guys look so cute together!
I miss Fall in the D.C. area as I spent much of life there. The reds, browns and golds. My first year of college was at George Mason Univ (before transferring) and the drive home everyday was so pretty. I will just have to settle for the gold of the aspens…no reds….no browns….no acorns to pick up off the ground….
Good luck on your exams! You DO have a lot on your plate.
Hooray for some relaxing! I know the feeling, and the relief. Good luck on your exams. I’m sure you’ll do great! xoxo.
Awww - so cute, all of you!
Cute pictures!!
it was a pretty darn fabby way to spend a saturday.
awww..you guys are so cute!
Sounds like a great weekend! It’s always nice to get a break from studying, too much can just burn you out. Good luck with the exams, I just started grad school and am already worrying about my qualifying exam that I have to take next August. Oh well, much better than writing a thesis IMO. Looking forward to sock news!
This old librarian wishes you well as you finish library school. Good to know the next generation of librarians is full of blogger-knitters!
Lolly, good luck with comps, just remember to cite some class discussions or journals. Mine were really technology focused. But don’t worry you will do great! I went to knit knite last night and I missed you!
Awwww, cute pictures of you and your boy…
And good luck on your exams. That is one boat that I am glad not to be in! I have no idea how you do it all!
serious action-packed weekend! wow! how fun!
Oh, and good luck on your comps! I’ll be sending extra good library thoughts your way
Great pictures! Your hike looks very relaxing. I’m sure you’ll do great on your test, you smarty!
Aahhh! Too sweet, I think my tooth is hurting now! J/K Sounds like a great time.
this little day of yours is an inspiration! i am going to be taking the train to DC this weekend–i am hoping to make serious progress on my 1/3 finished first sock ever on the way up–and now, i know the name of a fabulous sounding yarn store to go visit while i am up there! yay!
What a fun weekend! Sure beats hanging out in the hospital, waiting for your boyfriend to emerge from surgery…
It sounds like a fun weekend. I like the colors of your Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn. I love that stuff. The socks I have in Cherry Tree Hill yarn have held up very well. Good luck with your comprehensives!
Deary gracious me, I think that may in fact be the only photo of me from tour in which a. I’ve got non-messy hair and b. I don’t look violently ill. Bravo! xoxoxox