sheep for brains

i meant to post this weeks ago but forgot. My mom was recently visiting and noticed my growing collection of "sheep things". i laughed when she said "oh, i didn't know that you were collecting sheep..." I know what i'll be getting for holiday presents now!
Since I know i'm not the only fiber freak out there obsessed with sheep and lambs, i thought i'd start to share my sheepy finds. maybe 1 per week? we'll see.

I recently traded some spinning fiber with Tracy, the creator of Happy Owl Glass Works. I got this adorable little lamb pendant:

surfacing quickly

just popping in to show y'all the fibery things i've been up to in the past two weeks. I am creeping along on St. Moritz. Creeping is good though, it has NOT been thrown into the UFO-basket-of-doom. I completed the pieces for "super easy boatneck 2 : baby sweater boogaloo". I just need to make myself seam it up and get it in the mail! I also finished spinning a few skeins of that bluefaced leicester i was working on in the last post.

I have been a good girl and finished beaucoup de schoolwork as well. I haven't had a chance to read anyone else's blog in weeks, though. I feel very out of the loop. I hate it when i don't know whats going on in the rest of the yarniverse! (yes, it did occur to me that i could've saved myself money and time if i had been ignoring blogs the week that stephanie announced the KO. ha!)

For those of you who are also scientists and/or familiar with the grad school jargon, here's a bit about whats going on in my life. Yesterday i started my 4th (and final) rotation. I have to write a rotation report and give a presentation about the 3rd one on monday. I also have a big midterm in one week (tuesday). I've started writing my qualifying proposal and have to turn in a rough draft next week (also tuesday). I have to decide which lab i want to join for thesis research by may, then defend the qualifying proposal in early june. *sigh* In general, i am enjoying grad school immensely. And all this stuff will get done. But i feel constantly overwhelmed and stressed out and i think about quitting regularly. I'm not sure why, but the worst day is always monday. I guess i relax on the weekend and then i have to face all the stuff looming over me and have a hard time dealing with it.

ok, i would really like to be knitting right now, but instead i will exert self-control and write a report.

must do school work.

i got spanked at school for not turning in a report that was due a while ago. damn. That means i have to buckle down and do more school work (and less crafting). I convinced myself that the down could really be buckled this weekend... so i had a date with my spinning wheel last night.

Spun 3 bobbins full of bluefaced leicester that i dyed sunflower yellow / gold / cranberry colors. I forgot how much i heart spinning BFL. To quote rachel ray: "mmm, mm, mmmm, mm, mm."

FO: skinny cabled scarf

my pretty, pretty distraction scarf.
Specs:
170 yards of handspun yarn, approx heavy worsted weight.
Yarn started as washed coopworth and polypay fleece. Dyed in the lock, blended on the drum carder. Spun up 2 ply.
cable pattern improvised.

I finally have a scarf that matches my felted mittens!

move along, nothing to see here

Obviously, i didn't finish my St. Moritz during the knitting olympics. I'm not terribly devastated by it. I took on a huge challenge; something that i've wanted to knit for a long time and never had the balls to try. I learned that i COULD do it and i WILL finish it. Fellow Moritzian Roberta will keep me honest. Cognrats to everyone who finished. And also congrats to everyone who tried something beyond their normal comfort level, even if you didn't finish!

I had a great time on sunday afternoon at the Team Boston closing ceremonies party. Big thanks to Cara for organizing such a fun event! It was so nice to chat to a whole new group of boston area knitters. And there were at least 3 other Science Knit members there too. (not a big surprise that boston has a disproportionate number of the world's knitting scientists. hehehe.)

I have been debating whether to take a short break from St. Moritz or not. I decided not to, because i know my own M.O. If i take a break, it will become a stash-monster and not get finished for years. So i decided to make myself keep knitting just this until its done.

mmmm yeah.... That lasted exactly 1 day. Woolarina Kate invited me to knit with some of her friends in somerville on monday night. I knew i was less than an inch from starting the body pattern, so i was extra careful to pack one skein of every pattern color, the pattern, stitch markers, tape measure, etc. Once there, i settled into my stockinette rhythm.... and ran out of background color! I brought a skein of the other 4 colors, and not the background. grrrrrrrr. Since i had a skein of my handspun with me, i cast on for a simple, mindless scarf. so much for not working on anything else til this is done.

No worries, I finished the little scarf last night and am back to St. Moritz today. Re-enthused, with all the colors that i will need to start the colorwork.