April 29, 2004
Happy Day!!!  Today was the last lecture for my class.  Some of my students seemed disappointed (how sweet!), but I'm sure many were like me and very happy.  I don't have to give any more lectures until July.  I also had my last statistics class tonight and the professor let us go early (very awesome).  Now if I can just make it to May 13th life will be so much calmer.  Between now and then, I have to write the study guide for my class, write the exam for my class, read their papers, and calculate their grades.  I also have to give a talk on Wednesday (for which I have no topic yet!!), take a final for my statistics class, and edit a paper for my advisor.  Once all that is finished, then I can move onto working on my quals (not fun) and preparing for my summer class (very fun).  After the semester ends, I plan on taking several days to be very lazy... I'm thinking knitting while watching trashy daytime tv, knitting in the park to get some fresh air, knitting while watching baseball, and sleeping lots!!

I haven't knitted yet today, I'll pick up my needles after this post and knit while the Mets are on, although if they are sucking, I'll go watch ER instead.  I need to start something I can take pictures of and show you all.

Oh yeah, we might have found a new apartment... we have to call tomorrow with our decision.  I'm all for it, Kevin is still a little hesitant, so we'll see...  **fingers crossed**
 

April 28, 2004
I did a little bit of knitting this morning and this afternoon on my project for SnB2.  Due to a few design changes and wanting it to turn out really good, it is slow going.  I'll work on it some more tonight.  I had cast on and knit about 10 rows for my BellyTime Knitalong project, but I took it off the needles (needed them for SnB2).  It was seeming way to big anyway.  I'll start over on that soon.

I took some pics of the lime scarf I knitted up sometime last week.
Lime scarf hanging out next to our Mets Bobbleheads!

A closeup of the pretty, pretty yarn.  So soft and fluffy!!

I also took a picture of myself in the mirror modeling my awesome pink shirt from the march, but silly me the words are all backwards now!!  Besides, I took the pic in our bedroom, which currently looks like a small bomb exploded.  Ugh!  Which reminds me that Kevin's brother and his brother's friend are coming to spend the weekend on Saturday, gotta find some place to stash all our crap and clean the apartment.  Anyways, I'll put up a pic of the t-shirt eventually.

I should get back to finishing tomorrow's lecture (the last one of the semester!!!) while it is quiet here because Kevin's playing soccer.

Update... I just added a Tagboard so people can leave comments!!  Thanks Jody!!!!!
 

April 27, 2004
No knitting today... how sad!  I'm feeling a bit better, but still coughing a lot and blowing my nose constantly.  My students cheered when I wrote on the board that class was canceled for today.  I'm glad I could make them so happy!  Hahaha...

Speaking of funny... I couldn't stop laughing over The Ziering.  It is good to see that Steve left some impression on the entertainment industry!

April 26, 2004
This update has very little knitting news because I've been so sick.  I went back to the health services today and they seem to think I have a sinus infection, so I now have some medicine and hopefully will get better soon.  I just signed up to join some other sassy knitters at KnittersAgainstBush.com.

Along that same vein, we went to the march in DC yesterday.  Despite being very ill all day, it was an excellent experience.  It was so awesome to be in the crowd and with some many like minded, yet diverse individuals.  It took us about 3 hours to get down there (we left at 5:30am).  Once we got to the mall, we found that there were people from NOW, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and more handing out free pins, stickers, signs, t-shirts, and much more!  We got some signs and pins, and I even managed to get one of the last free t-shirts from Planned Parenthood.  As we were standing around waiting to march (we got ourselves positioned near the front), Madeleine Albright walked right past us.  Then several minutes later Howard Dean walked by and Mary called out "We miss you Howard!" and he turned around and looked right at us and said "Thanks!"  It was so cool!  (I know, I'm a dork).  Ok, enough talk... let's see some pictures...

April 23, 2004
I wore Kate again today (considering I only wore her for like 2 hours yesterday, I felt ok wearing it again).  I got a lot of compliments on it!  Lots of "your sweater is so cute."  I very much love this sweater!!  Yesterday I wore it with capri khakis and today I'm wearing it with black jeans.  I can definitely see this sweater being dressed up with a little black skirt, or worn casual with jeans.  I love the little opening at the shoulder; I think it is totally sexy and flirty.  I definitely need to make another...

But before I do that, I just got a great surprise in the mail!  Debbie Stoller ordered me a bunch of yarn for my project for Stitch and Bitch II and it arrived today.  I wish I could show you all because it is so beautiful, definitely the nicest yarn my needles have seen.  (Someday when I have money and live closer to a nice yarn store, I'll stop buying cheap stuff at AC Moore).  So it looks like I'll have to focus most of my knitting energy on that.

I started working last night on my tank for the Belly time knit along.  I've only knitted a few rows in plain st st, so not much to show yet.  We are going on Sunday to the march in DC for Women's Rights.  It is almost a 4 hour drive, and since I can't drive a stick, I get to sit in the back and knit!!  I plan on taking this tank because it will be easy and I won't have to concentrate much (don't want to get car sick!!).

Speaking of sick, the mysterious sore throat has turned into a stuffy nose, stuffy sinuses, and bad cough.  I guess it is just one last cold before the weather gets nice.  I've been feeling very crappy off and on all day, so that's why there aren't any new pictures of Kate today (y'all don't want to see my red nose and puffy eyes).

Also, just a general, this whole blogging thing is so cool comment... I love getting emails from people who stop by the site!  (Sorry for no ability to leave comments, I tried having comments, but it kept crashing).  I think the whole community, common-interest of knitting on the web is so terrific.  I certainly spend enough hours just surfing other people's blogs!!  Anyways, just wanted to say knitting and blogging kicks ass!!
 

April 22, 2004
Kate is complete!!  Of course she had to give me a good scare first!  So I finished the sleeves and started seaming her up.  Added the neckband (it took me 5 tries to pick up close to the right number of stitches, and even then I picked up 84 instead of 80); the neck band certainly got rid of the ugliness of cast off in the front.  Then before seaming the sleeves and body, I figured, I should put this on and make sure everything will meet up.  Don't you know, that there was no way it was going to close at the armpits without being extraordinarily too tight!!  So I seamed up one side and one sleeve leaving a 1.5 inch opening on both to the armpit area.  At that point, I was exhausted and went to bed.  This morning I got up and figured, I can knit a little square and insert it in the armpit region and that will solve my problem.  Fortunately, this creative solution worked!!!

Here is me wearing Kate!

I'll take some more pictures later to show the button and neckband closer up!

April 21, 2004
I've been working hard on Kate's sleeves, I should be finished with them in another hour, then we can do some seaming, and a neckband, and some more seaming.  I'll post some pics later.

I've had a sore throat for the past 4 days and finally today I decided to go see a doctor.  I went because I have a sore throat, but no other symptoms, it is really weird.  So I had to go to the Rutgers Health Services because my real doctor is over an hour away.  How come right before seeing the doc you feel great and then afterwards feel like crap again?!  Urgh!  Anyways, the doc was really nice, but has no clue what is wrong with me.  It is probably just a virus.  If things get horribly worse tomorrow I need to go back because it is probably strep throat; if they don't get worse, I should be better this weekend provided I drink lots of fluids and get some rest.

Ok, off to finish up Kate!!
 
 

April 19, 2004
I finished the front of Kate yesterday and started on the sleeves.  Here are some pics of the front...

Kate's front.

Kate's Closeup

So Kate is coming along quickly.  I'm through the first two increases of the sleeves.  I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time.  I'm 99% sure that I'll have it finished by the weekend.  Too bad it was like 89 degrees today and going to be warm the rest of the week.  I'll finish Kate and not be able to wear her!!

I met with the woman about teaching knitting at Rutgers.  We got it all set up.  In the Fall, I'll be teaching Introduction to Knitting on Mondays from 6:10 to 7:30 for 6 weeks.  Hopefully, that will be long enough to teach some skills and complete a simply project.  If anyone has any ideas or pointers for teaching knitting, I'd appreciate an email from you!  As I get the class planned, I'll fill you all in as to what I'm going to do.

We went to the Mets game yesterday and they lost... lost bad!!  I've never been to a game where they win!!  At least, they came back and won tonight.

Countdown to the end of the semester... 22 days (including weekends)
 

April 16, 2004
Kate has a back!

Oh, here's a close up of Kate...

 
 

April 15, 2004
Super great news!!!  It looks like I'm going to be teaching a knitting class in the Fall.  How cool is that?!  I am so excited.  I'll know more about it after Monday when I meet with the woman in charge of the recreation classes here at Rutgers.

I'm joining the Bellytime Knit/Crochet Along.  I'm going to knit the Reverse Diamond Fringed Tank from Family Circle's Easy Knitting Spring/Summer 2004 (pattern 6, page 31).  Since I just got my refund check from the gov't I can afford some more yarn!

In non-knitting news, if you missed Bush's "press conference" Tuesday night, you should check out the synopsis posted here.  It is "A Busy Person's Guide to the Bush Press Conference."  It is very funny, but very sad because it just reinforces how dumb he is.
 
 

April 14, 2004
I really ought to be writing my lecture for tomorrow or reading/editing the chapter my advisor sent me over the weekend, but I just keep thinking about knitting!!

Yesterday, I went to the AC Moore.  Before going there, I stopped at the Rag Shop because I'd never been there and their sign mentioned yarn.  Well, talk about crap!  They had hardly any yarn.  The only thing that made it worthwhile was that I found these...

So, I continued down the road to AC Moore with my fingers crossed for some Lion Brand Cotton Ease for the Kate-Along.  Of course, they didn't have it!!!  I was so furious!  So I looked around and around, and I finally found TLC Cotton Plus.  It's content is slightly different from the yarn required in the pattern, but it has the correct gauge and feels nice.  I've already knitted about 6 inches (even though the Kate-along doesn't start until the 26th, I can't wait!!).

While at AC Moore I also picked up two other skeins of yarn for a scarf.  I just couldn't resist this yarn...

April 13, 2004
Right after posting about joining the Kate-along, the magazine showed up in the mail!  I'm going to head over to the AC Moore this afternoon and pick up some yarn.  One of the others in the knit along suggested using Lion Brand Cotton Ease as opposed to ordering the yarn from Germany!  I figure the yarn I can get the easiest and cheapest will be best for my budget.

I finished the tank I was working on that was using up some yarn in my stash.

It is just a simple stockinette stitch.  I knit the body as one long piece so I only had to seam one side.  It was a quick and easy project.
 
 
 

April 12, 2004
Well, I gave my mom her shawl yesterday.  Her first reaction was "Oh, isn't it too small?"  ARGH!!  I didn't want to knit her a huge shawl that wraps all around, especially not out of Homespun!  That thing would have weighed way too much, so I made a smaller wrap for Spring/Summer.  Oh well, I guess that's why I normally stick to knitting things for myself!

I should be finished with the tank I'm knitting sometime this week.  I'm not using a pattern, basically winging it.

Also, I joined the Kate-along.  I still haven't received the magazine, but I've got my fingers crossed for it arriving soon.

April 9, 2004
I finished my mom's shawl!  Here it is:

April 7, 2004
Look at the yummy Easter Treats Kevin's parents sent us!

In knitting news, I am quickly losing time to complete mom's shawl by Sunday and still have not touched it!  I think I will try to work on it tonight while watching the Mets game.  Instead I have been working on this...

I thinking about joining in on the Kate-along, but I'm just waiting to get the magazine with the pattern to see if I can actually do it first.

The Mets won last night in Atlanta, 7-2!
 

April 5, 2004
I am sooooooooo excited!!!  Debbie Stoller wants to include my pattern in her new book!  I can't be more thrilled.  I wish I could share it with you, but you're just going to have to wait and see.  There's still details to be worked out and a final version to be knitted, but I've been dancing around the apartment so happy.

Mom's shawl is still on the needles.  Despite wanting to finish it by Sunday, I have no motivation to pick it up.  Last night I took it off the needles and I probably need to add another 5-10 inches.  I don't want it to be too long, but it needs to be long enough.

That's an old picture of it, but it doesn't look much different than it does now.  I really want to knit a tank top, so I'm trying to decide if I just go it alone or find a pattern to follow.  I don't really want to follow a pattern because I just want to use yarn I already have, but we'll see.

In other life news, Kevin and I looked at apartments on Friday and were very discouraged.  We purposefully went to the ones on the list farthest from where we are now.  One place I thought was great, but Kevin thought was claustrophobic in its layout; that place would never happen though because it is too expensive and the drive too far.  Our rule is that if we are moving farther away, it better be cheaper.  Hopefully, we'll go look at some others this weekend that are closer.  I'm glad we are starting this search early because it seems like it will take a while!

April 2, 2004
Not too much knitting news.  I've been working on finishing a new demo for Debbie.  I still have to finish mom's shawl before Easter, so I have a little over a week.  Before doing more work on it, I need to take it off the needles and see how wide it is.  When I do that, I'll post some pics.

I have some more pics of the poncho I crocheted.

I so love the pom-poms!!  I looked through the new Knitty!  Lots of good new patterns, I always love seeing new patterns.

Tomorrow Kevin and I are going to look at several apartments, since moving day is approaching in a couple of months.  Hopefully we'll find something nice that has a balcony and allows pets.

April 1, 2004
A new month and a fresh blog page.  March has been moved over to the archives.  Check it out for details about Capsleeve, the Pant-along, the beginning of mom's shawl, and a poncho.

Oh my god!!!  Incredible news!!!!  So Debbie Stoller was accepting ideas for Stitch 'n Bitch II, so I sent her a silly little thing that I created, and she liked it!!  We've been emailing for a couple of days seeing if we can work out a good design.  I can't tell you how excited I am.  I definitely have my fingers crossed that this all works out well, but I still have a nagging part of my brain warning me to not get my hopes up too high.

In other good news, my advisor and I are soon to have another published article.  This one is in JPSP (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) which is probably the premiere journal for social psychology.  The article is called "Reactions to Counterstereotypic Behavior: The Role of Backlash in Cultural Stereotype Maintenance."  If I can, I'll put a link up to it sometime, in case some is ever interested.