I've been knitting - honest!

to the right, the purple blueberry mash color, overdyed with some brilliant blue. On the left is a hank of (twinkletoes?) sock yarn that used to be bright, bright, bright (think obnoxious) red and purple; thanks to some blue dye now it's a toned down maroon color and blueish purple. (note to self: do not dye any more sock yarn blue or purple. You have enough. Really.)



on the needles is a sock in Lorna's Laces "Crazy Stripe." I'm past the heel and working on the gusset now. The flowers are on loan from my parents; the blooms will be wintering here this year.



it's a sleeve! This is not for the faint of heart, or experienced knitting critics. I used a generic top down raglan pattern for the body, and then lost the "pattern" I'd created. This sleeve was a study knitting project yesterday; my chant when something like this: if it looks too big, decrease on a few rows. If it looks too small it's probably just about right. I didn't write any numbers down, didn't keep track of the decreases and only did rough "fittings" to see if it was long enough. I made the decision last night (around midnight) that it has too much studying knit into it, and that if it fits I'm just going to leave it. This sweater has been an exercise in many, many things and right now I just want it done!


the reason why I didn't get a very good "natural light" shot: I'm tied to the chair I've been studying in.



I forgot how fast these little hats went! Studying 8-10 hours a day means that I have lots of time for "mindless" knitting, and so I've started working on charity hats again. The colors are off because the sun is gone from the sky and natural light is hard to come by. (the ones on the right are various shades of purple, teal and seafoam - who says bargin partly acrylic yarn store yarn isn' t good for anything!?)

My studying is still going but I'm ready to be done with the books. The boards are next Tuesday and Wednesday - two 8 hour days of questions and filling in bubbles that I will (hopefully) fly through without any problems. Right now I am tired and most of the knowledge I have in my head is beginning to get mixed up, which isn't helping my stress level. I've had a few moments of feeling completely out of control with this situation but thanks to a cleverly timed acupuncture appointment and the cats I'm taking care of I've come out of them okay.

Life has a funny way of getting in the way though, and my emotions have been all over the map for other, more personal reasons. A friend of our family - someone I've always known and loved as a family member - is living with or dying of cancer. She's young, has three children that stairstep my brothers and I and has been doing the best she can to stay on top of her illness. Unfortunetly the illness is getting the best of her. She has had a few hard days this week and I've been there to do what I can - which in some cases is nothing more then sit nearby and knit a sock. Knitting seems natural in this situation and I thought back to how some rediscovered yarn and knitting needles while helping a family memeber through this end of life process. I will not regret the times I've spent with her instead of studying, but when I do sit down to study it's hard to focus on the page and learn what is in front of me. My mom is stepping in to be on duty tomorrow and other family members will be in so that I won't be called again until after the test is over, but truth be told I'm still with her in spirit.