The good news came in the mail! Over two years of work, and now I have my Masters in Library and Information Science.

Now, I am trying to figure out if I wanna go back for more… (glutton for punishment?)

—-

…I guess this means I should pay my fine at the public library…

The view from here is quite pleasant. The goal I have been working towards for over two years is nearly complete: I finished my Library School comprehensive exams successfully on Saturday afternoon. While I will not officially find out the results until after Thanksgiving, I am not terribly worried as I feel pretty good about what I wrote and what positions I argued in my essays. Most importantly, it is over. If all goes well, and as planned, I will graduate this December with my Masters degree. Things are "coming up roses"!

Life is definitely good.

Exhibit A: Without a weekly study group to attend, I had the whole Sunday free to do whatever I pleased. So, Kris and I made a nice breakfast, I read a book in its entirety, and I knit for most of the afternoon and evening. It was absolutely cathartic. It was still hard to break the thought that I should have been doing something else (namely, studying!)… because that was not the case!

… and this is what I accomplished yesterday afternoon…

This is the Basic Mitten pattern from last fall's Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine. It is such a fast and easy pattern, and I couldn't be happier with the way this one turned out. The yarn has been in my stash for so long - it is the beautiful Ironstone New Wool in colorway 5011. I bought it over two years ago - that is ancient history in my stash - and I was so excited to cast on for a project with it. After using it, I wondered why I waited so long. The colors are magnificent. Now for mitten #2 and then I will have Warm Hands!

My, how Fetching! Yep, I joined the craze - I saw these little darlings popping up all over the blogosphere, so I gave it a whirl. A few hours later, I had an adorable mitt! This pattern is fun and addictive. More in my future, no doubt. I am using a random ball of Karabella Aurora 8 that I picked up a few months back, and wow, what a yarn. I had never worked with this before. I love the "sproing" of the yarn. It is so cushy. Very cozy. Needless to say, I didn't waste any time casting on for its mate.

Yes, I realize they are not socks

Exhibit B: Knitty rewards for hard work. It's good to give yourself a little "pat on the back" after you accomplish something big, right? So, to congratulate myself for completing my grad school work, I treated myself to a pretty Fair Isle knit kit.

When I asked you back in September for some advice on where to start with colorwork, many of you mentioned that a hat was perfect for a first project. So, I listened. After seeing Keri's beautiful Flenten hat last week, I decided a Bea Ellis kit was the way to go. I chose the Kristen hat, as I really liked the snowflake motif. My colors are slightly different than the model, more of a navy and an ecru. I hope I can do it justice! I am very excited to try this!

My other big reward comes this weekend, as I will be going to Stitches East on Saturday and Sunday!

I don't have an exhaustive shopping list or anything - I am really hoping to find some Noro (Norovember, anyone?) for the beautiful Lady Eleanor wrap from Scarf Style, and some laceweight yarns.Of course, if I see something else that stops me "dead in my tracks", I reserve the right to purchase it. Going to Stitches? Let me know! and say hi if you see me, I would love to meet you!

Exhibit C: I leave for vacation in 10 days! Kris and I take one big vacation a year, and this year we are headed to San Francisco and Napa Valley. I am very excited to see this part of the country - I have only been to SF's airport! I am looking forward to exploring the city, checking out some museums, yarn shops, and hopefully meeting some knitters! For the latter part of the trip, we will be staying just outside of the town of Napa. I will celebrate my 26th birthday with some delicious wines and beautiful scenery!

Exhibit D: I think I found my life's calling. I am not saying that lightly! It may require some more schooling… but that is something that I am completely willing to do if I can make my passion my life's work. I am so excited about this opportunity. Yes, I know this is all very vague, but I feel this is the best way at this point so I don't jinx myself! More details as they come in, my friends

Exhibit E: Socktoberfest has been an utterly amazing project: Fun, successful, inspiring, rewarding, and educational. I could not have hoped for anything more. Thank you - strike that -

THANK YOU!!!!!

for the wonderful month. Yes, I know it is not over, but I just couldn't post without saying how grateful I am for your participation and support.

…and finally, one more exciting reason why life is good right now: I am going to see one of my favorite bands tonight! The Decemberists are in DC and you bet your bippy I am picking up their new "Sublime Stiching" limited-edition embroidery kits! I can't wait

*Knit, crochet, and be merry, my friends,
for tomorrow Socktoberfest is over!*

"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!

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)

Eat, drink and be merry… for tomorrow we start school. 

Its not like it was a long honeymoon.  I finished my summer class in the beginning of August and luckily had a brief respite before fall semester courses begin tomorrow, and I have been working at the Archives the whole time… basically it just meant that I didn't have to feel guilty for knitting instead of doing my reading assignments…  fall semester always seems so much harder to me, for some reason.  This semester I am taking my last Library Science class, and a French Revolution class for my history degree.  Since this is my last semester in the Library Science program, I will be taking comprehensive examinations the last weekend in October, and if everything goes well (as planned!), I will complete my Masters of Library Science in December - Lolly, MLS! (yeah, still have a few more classes before the History is done - but one has to celebrate each step along the way!)

So, with hours of homework just a few days away, I decided to have a fun weekend! a little hoorah before the brunt of books, papers, and day-long exams hit me full-force.

Jen, Coleen, Minty, me, Diane, Heather, and Sarah (not pictured)

Minty was in town visiting family, but she was able to sneak away for a few hours to join the Maryland girls at All About Yarn and the local café for some knitty action! It was a great time!! 

I managed to get out of the yarn shop without any damage to my wallet, and to my Summer of Stash commitment! (despite all of their sale bins and new yarns and samples…ah, one more week…) 

Lest you think that I only destroy sweaters… I put some good time in on my Sesame cardigan while knitting with the group. 

I am working the left and right fronts of the garment at the same time, and it is going pretty quickly. They look like sleeves at this point, but when I pick up stitches for the button band, it will be wider.  I can't wait to wear this cardigan - it will definitely be a staple in my wardrobe.  And I already have the perfect accessories to match it, many thanks to dear Anjo!  Anjo sent me a lovely Project Spectrum package with so many neutral goodies, and she sent out goodie bags to all the commenters on her blog - how generous is that?? This black and white fabric pin, and the purse in the background were part of my package.  Thank you so much, girl.  Your creativity and generosity are a real inspiration!

And as Project Spectrum comes to a close (can you even believe that six months went SO fast?), I just want to thank all of you who participated in this project, and shared your energy and creativity.  The Project Spectrum Flickr group is a constant source of inspiration for me - please check it out if you want to see the work of other participants, or if you would like to include your project photos for any month.  September will be a Project Spectrum Clean Sweep month - pull out any of those lingering projects you have from color months past and get cracking, my friends! I will be working diligently on some of my previous projects, in particular my Sesame, and my Pomegranate Hoodie… September will be a virtual Craft Parade of Color! What are you planning to finish?

Knitting is obviously "where it's at" - centuries of craft, and the most recent revival started as a fad craze a few years ago has gained great strength and welcomed many new hobbyists.  I am one of the many knitters who learned to knit within the last five years, and I think it is pretty obvious (the blog, the incessant knitting, etc.) that I am head-over-heels in love.  This is not a short-lived love either… I will undoubtedly die with knitting needles in my hands… and sock yarn…

I spent the majority of my Wednesday (my day off from work) churning out my final project for my summer term graduate class, Media Services.  Our assignment was to make a webpage with multimedia elements surrounding a theme.  I knew once I saw the assignment that I would do my project about knitting (Prof said it could be about anything!)… I made a video, and some animated .gif images, and these step-by-step tutorials.

Me. Knitting. Durrow. 

It took a few shots to get this right - I had to slow things down considerably for Kris to snap these pictures over my shoulder.  I hold my yarn in my left hand.  I throw. I basically learned to knit at a 30-minute class at the craft store, and then taught myself the rest from books and from observing others both online and at knitting meetups.  I think every one of us has a special hybridized knitting style, and this is mine.  I am not sure about all of the technical stuff, or if I am doing this in a weird way, but this works for me, so I will stick to it.  There is not a "wrong" way to knit, right?

Me. Purling. Durrow.

I wish I had learned to knit earlier, but that probably would have required me to put my book down!  I used to read dozens of books a year, and now, not so much. It is not something I am particularly proud of, but it is a reality.  I miss reading, but not enough to put my needles down for a night.  Of course, reading about knitting, well, that is a different story. 

I was catching up on Lisa Shobhana's blog, My Life in Stitches, one that I have enjoyed since my early blogging days. 

I have read about her design process, her knitting deadlines, and yesterday, she unveiled the cover of her new book, Yarnplay: Colorful Techniques And Projects for the Creative Knitter.  I think I can judge this book by its cover! Look at the lovely cover sweater! I can't wait to see more. Congratulations, Lisa!!

And where there is one new fall knitting book, there are 20 more… some of the ones that caught my eye?  Yeah, it was the subversive titles that really got me! 

Knitting + Pseudo-sexual Innuendos = Memorable Book Titles

Knitting With Balls looks pretty darn good.  I love to knit sweaters for Kris (like the current Durrow knit, by the brilliant Jodi), but there are not many sweaters that we can both agree on - hopefully this book will help us out.  (The one on the cover may pass the Kris-test!)  It was written by Michael, another DC-area knitter, and a friend of my friend, Jenna.  Too bad I have not had the chance to meet him yet, maybe at the book signing?

…And Not Tonight Darling, I'm Knitting?  Well, the title made me laugh… but I was rolling my eyes at the same time.  I don't know what else to say… without being too snarky.

Not quite as subversive, but an interesting and humorous title nonetheless: Never Knit Your Man a Sweater (Unless You've Got the Ring). Not sure if it is just men's patterns, but I will flip through it at the book store when it hits the shelves.

Any knitting books that you are looking forward to this autumn/winter?