Starting to Shape Up

So after knitting those 36 rows I totally missed in the instructions, the back of my Rogue pullover is now even with the front and I could bind off the shoulders together.

I even tried it on and it fits fine so far.  I'm very pleased with my work on this.  I'm still terrified of seaming it all up later.  

This is why an upcoming project will be the V-Neck Man's Pullover from Knitting Pure and Simple.  No seaming!  Jake picked out some Rustic Wool for the project and it's really soft.  I'm in the process of swatching it now.

No, this nothing to do with my Sekrit Project.  That project still remain sekrit.

I have cast on for the May Sockdown project.

When I'm done, my sock should look just like the one on the cover of Sock Innovations.  A sock pattern that shares the same name as me AND has cables.  I couldn't resist signing up for the sockdown.  I'm also glad I learned to read charts early in my knitting career.

The semester is winding down; one more week of class and then finals.  I will be taking Intro to Plant Biology this summer so I can keep my student employment.  I want to get my biology out of the way anyway.  I don't have too much of an issue with dissecting plants.

Gearing Up For May Sockdown

One of the themes for the May Sockdown on Ravelry is cable or or twisted stitches.  I just bought both Sock Innovations and Socks From the Toe Up from Cookie A. and Wendy Johnson respectively.  The sock pattern on the cover of Sock Innovations is called 'Kristi'.  It's hard to resist not knitting a sock with the same name as me (Kristina really, but everyone calls me Kristi).  It fits the theme of the Sockdown and looks pretty challenging, so this is what I'm going to be knitting for the next couple of months.

Still on Rogue and the mystery project, but I always need something portable.

I'm so indecisive on the yarn to use...

I asked the folks at Ravelry and decided on the Acero on the lower left.  Acero is from Brooks Farm.

For whatever reason, the yarn looks really washed out in this photo.  It's more of a denim color.  I purchased it at Maryland Sheep and Wool a few years ago when I went with my mother.  At the time, Acero was called Limited Edition I.

In other news, I did score some Numma Numma from The Loopy Ewe last Monday.  That order got me into the Loopy Groupies club, so I got fabulous goodies with the Numma Numma.  Photos forthcoming.   I'm feeling extra tired and lazy today since we took Nugget to the dog park.  I'm supposed to be practicing my speech about the Mars Science Laboratory....but no.  

Nugget had a great time wandering around and sniffing trees at the park.

A Gaming Site & Photos of the Consolation Kit

Storytime!

Before I went back to college, I worked for a few months in Volition QA.  I was testing Red Faction Guerrilla; I worked with art and activities, but mostly audio.  This meat that I wrote bugs for my husband, which was cool.  We had a really great time working together, even though stress was high

There weren't many women at the company. In QA specifically, there were much more men than women. I worked with two other girls who started a website about gaming recently.  There is also information about zombie survival, but I don't know much about that.  I think Janette would be the expert.

So, check it out!  Thoughts From A (Girl) Gamer

There are actually four contributors to the website.  It kind of reminds me of when I wrote for The Rabid Monkey and UGPO.  That was around 1999.  I really miss working with those guys.

Anyway, I didn't attach any photos of The Loopy Ewe Consolation Kit because people still had not received them.  I think it's safe now; the color isn't true anyway.

It's much darker than this.  More like a wine color. VERY soft.

Here is the entire kit.  The totebag was a surprise; I didn't think they would throw in anything that nice. It's already full of stuff I'm working on.  The pattern, by Wendy Johnson, is nice too.  I don't think I'll use the yarn for it though.  Oh yeah...the yarn. Nugget got ahold of it and shook it up a bit.  Lucky for him, it's still usable...

Rogue Sans Back

I received my Loopy Ewe "Don't Be Blue" kit in the mail last Friday and it really made me happy that I at least tried to get in.  Handmaiden dyed a really beautiful yarn just for this kit.  It's so soft too; that bit of cashmere added in really makes a difference.

This past weekend Jake went to Cleveland for a demoscene convention and I had no schoolwork to do.  That equates to a free weekend, so I cleaned up the house Friday night so I could go to Needleworks early to get help with the Rogue pullover.

(On a side note, Jake won all of the music competitions except one and came home with money, books, tshirts, and a top of the line gaming computer.  It was awesome.)

I was ready to seam the shoulder together and pick up stitches to start the hood.  That is, at least I thought I was ready to do that.  Matthew was there on Saturday and was happy to help me out.  He pointed out, to my embarrassment, that I completely forgot to knit 36 more rows after the armhole shaping.  The back was much shorter than it should be.

He said that that particular direction looked like it was snuck in at the end of a paragraph when it probably should have had its own paragraph...like all of the other important instructions.  He undid the bind off for me and set me up to knit those last rows.  Then I'm going to undo the bind off at the front shoulders.  Instead of seaming, I'm going to do a three needle bind off with the front and back shoulders at Matthew's suggestion.

Here is a photo of the back.  The back was about as short as where the two strands of yarn are.  You'd think I'd notice something like that, but I haven't knit anything like this before.

In other news I managed to get a net score of 100.8% on my latest chemistry exam.  I got 100% on the polyatomic ion quiz which is added on to the exam.  So...wow.  As a reward to myself, I'm stalking the Loopy Ewe for their Numma Numma and will get some if I can catch it.

Double Casbah

Nothing much to report about knitting since I've been spending my afternoon studying for two exams tomorrow.  I did manage to get not one, but two skeins of Handmaiden Casbah sock yarn mailed to me.

Yarn4Socks was having a 'stash stimulus' sale yesterday which included their Casbah yarn.  I decided to treat myself and pick up a skein; I thought I deserved something nice after getting 100% on both my algebra and chemistry exam this week.  I had never tried it before.

Incidentally, I had also signed up and failed to get a spot in The Loopy Ewe sock club.  They always offer a consolation kit for those that didn't get a spot.  I got an email from them telling me that this new kit was ready.  They could have picked any kind of yarn to use.

They picked Casbah.

I can't complain about that.  They're also including a pattern from Wendy Johnson just for this kit...and surprise extra.  I didn't have to pay or it either;  I used the rest of the gift certificate my mother gave me for my birthday.  Two skeins of Cashbah, a Wendy Johnson pattern and extra goodie for about $20 total. Good day.

In lieu of any knitting photos, here is a cute picture of Nugget.