Friday night view

This was the view from my front door on Friday night:

Seascape complete!

Done done done!

Pattern Seascape Stole

US 4 / 3.5 mm

Yarn Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud 1.2 skeins

I did 7 repeats of the center chart, but otherwise made no changes to the pattern. Once I got into the groove I enjoyed it. It took me just over 2 months to complete. I was working on some other projects, but this was my main (knitting) focus. I also had a lot less knitting time while working on this project. This was my "keep me sane" knitting.

Thinking of Kay

. . . who has shared lots of laughs and some lovely books with us knitters, and sending her strength.

Where did the weekend go?

I heard it was nice outside.
I spent it staring at my computer, just like last weekend and the weekend before. On the plus side, I just sent off a (final?) draft of my thesis to my committee. There is still much to be done--like the appendices, and the dreaded formatting, oh yea, and the presentation, but I'm hoping the bulk of the brain bending work is done.
Oh, and I did manage to waste 3+ hours driving into Boston to pick up my graduation gear--must be properly attired. Nothing like a squishy velvet cap. The driving and parking around Kenmore square is hellish as ever.
On the plus side, since I really haven't been able to sleep with all these thoughts I've been sorting in my brain, I've gotten a fair amount of knitting done. I finished all but the thumb on the first Dashing, while waiting for analyses to run yesterday. Since I couldn't sleep at night, and woke up way too early, I managed to knit 30 rows on the Seascape shawl yesterday, which should make up for the fact that I haven't touched it today. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this pattern :)
And it is Patriot's Day tomorrow. We used to have it as a holiday, but as of this year, it has become a floater. We can take it if we want, or save the day as a personal holiday to use at another time. Since I've got child care coverage for the day (since it is J's day off) I'll be working. I need to focus on my current report anyway. And then . . . the appendices sigh

I'm still here!

Though I have been neglecting the blog and my knitting buddies (hey, Monday night gals, I miss you), I have not been neglecting my knitting.
Though the vast majority of my "free" time is spent working on finishing up my dissertation (defense coming up fast), I have been working on my Seascape and Dashing projects--mostly because I plan to give them as gifts on the day of my defense. This is an excellent excuse to get in some knitting time, which I really need to relax my brain.
No pictures at the moment (just look at the last post and imagine the projects a bit longer), but I promise to take some before I give everything away. I'm looking forward to test driving my new Knit Picks blocking wires on the Seascape!
And I have all sorts of plans for what to start once I am done with all this madness!

April Progress

Well, first I here is a picture of one of the cute lambs we saw and Woolapalooza--finally got those pictures off the camera.

Meanwhile I have been doing some knitting.

I've been working consistently on Seascape. I have an impending deadline. To meet my deadline I need to knit at least 7 rows a day for the next 24 days. I think I can manage this.

But I also need to finish Dashing by the same deadline. I should be able to finish these off in less than 4 days. So if I cut the Seascape deadline by 4 days, I need to knit at least 8 rows a day. Still manageable. My goal is 10 rows a day. It is a manageable goal, and should leave me plenty of time for other things, including blocking and finishing off Dashing.

I'm not usually so structured about my knitting goals--I've actually got a spreadsheet set up so I can fiddle with the calculations--but I've got these firm self imposed deadlines, and I don't want to miss them.