So I know I 've been a bad blogger, buuuut . . .

I finally got a package from my family of stuff I'd forgotten & stuff they wanted to give me, like my favorite kind of tea! (Although I don't have a mug . . .) and some pens! and so on.

The main things that I wanted from them were my camera cord & a bunch of my political t-shirts--I don't know why I thought I wouldn't want to wear my political shirts at school? FOR SERIOUS.

But now that I have my camera cord, I can share some pictures of knitting with you guys! Hooray?

Although frankly I haven't taken that many. But I had a few on my camera, from my Hurricane Gustav evacuation, and I took a couple today of something beautiful I'm going to have to frog.



Two dishcloths on the floor of the Jackson State gym, where most of the knitting took place . . . I bought the yarn at the Jackson Wal-Mart, and cast on in the parking lot while we were waiting for the shuttle back to the gym. (I had the needle I pretty much only use for dishcloths--the bamboo's a little splintered, I'm afraid to use it for anything softer than dishcloth cotton; and I like the gauge I get.) There is a very complicated story involving some boys which I could tell, which is tied up with these dishcloths; however I would rather share some close-ups with you. the story with the boys is mildly interesting, except when you consider that this was a month ago and I've hardly talked to any of those guys since.



I knit this one first. (For the record, this is Peaches & Cream; the variegated yarn is Fiesta Colors, and the solid color is Camel.) Normally I'm not a variegated kind of a girl, but this was a lot of fun. If you look closer (clicking the photo will take you to the Flickr page, where you can see a bigger version), you will notice that in the bottom stripe (the first stripe I knit), the repeats in the variegation line up very well. I was really excited by this--I imagined a similar effect occurring but with slightly different start points--but then my gauge loosened up after we left the parking lot. (By the way--one of those boys realized how fascinating, how serendipitous, that variegation lineup was. But I apparently fail at sociability and am good at manufacturing awkward. I . . . I really don't feel like elaborating.)



I knit this one second. In terms of which "variegated effect" I like more, this dishcloth definitely wins; however the first one was a little bit more fun to watch the colors as I was knitting. I guess I now have a little more sympathy for knitters who knit with truly ugly yarns--it's so much fun to see what happens!

By the way, the colors are not exactly true-to-life, and the ends have since been woven in. I just didn't really feel like weaving in ends while living in a gym with all sorts of other people absolutely everywhere . . . Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of just, you know, the living circumstances, so I can't convey to you the utter oddness of that time.

. . . You know, I had been planning on blogging the dishcloths as well as my Versatility, then attacking some homework, then getting to bed early. However it is well past getting to bed early time, and obviously I haven't blogged my Versatility yet. Or in fact anything at all recent . . . I'll try to blog an average of 1 photo a day with a minimum of 3 posts a week, although homework does need to come first. So. We shall see.

The Sock Saga

So remember how I messed up my math on a sock calculator pattern & therefore frogged it? But I was going to re-check the gauge first? Yeah, I forgot to check the gauge when I frogged, and re-cast-on, and in the meantime the gauge has loosened. Goddammit. I want to finish these plain ordinary socks so I can make Yes We Can socks. I mean, I want to know things like my actual foot circumference before I attack some knee socks that are full of things I only know about in theory, like stranded colorwork and duplicate stitch. And I really really want to have those socks to wear by election day. Because they're kind of amazing like that.

Anyhow, I'm trying to decide whether or not to soldier on with these purple socks, but in the meantime I really ought to do my schoolwork.

As always, more later!

So I have my own computer now

Hopefully this means I will be able to become a better blogger! However, I do not have the cable for my camera here (or if I do I don't know where it is, which amounts to the same thing, except worse, because I can't e.g. nag on my brother to mail me it), although probably I have a friend with a card reader if I look a little harder.

I know that photos really "make" a blog something special; especially if loverly yarns are being used to create awe-inspiring patterns. (There, I said "loverly". I talked like a pirate. Arr & avast.)

And I shall include some knitting-related content so that you all do not whither away and die of boredom. Specifically, I shall tell you the tale of my Quest to Knit a Sock.

Back in June, when I posted but had no readers, I discussed at length a sock knit with purple yarn. That got frogged. But I still really really wanted to make a sock! I tried again with that yarn. But it got stupid. I decided to try a different pattern, so I attacked Dobby's socks with a vengeance. (Ravelry link to pattern.) Except I was knitting really really loosely, so I decided to be lazy and go down a size. Then my knitting tightened up. I wasn't concerned at first, but once I had finished all the knitting and was about to embark on the grafting, I tried the thing on. And it didn't fit. At all. So the thing is hibernating. (By the say, this was the stripy sock, not one of the colorwork socks. So the inevitable frogging will not be *that* painful.)

But the purple yarn has returned--I decided to go with a plug-in-your-numbers sock pattern, namely the Universal toe-up sock pattern from Knitty. However I misread the math, and so my toe is too big. However! I tried it on and caught the problem early, and so will be re-casting-on, maytbe after double-checking my guage. For luck.

Oh, and I also have no social life in college. I'm not quite sure how that happened. And today I skipped a class and called in sick for my job for no good reason. But more on that later--I must needs head to the dining hall, for it closes at 8.

Just a quick update

So, I'm back on campus after my week-long evacuation to Jackson State (which was so much fun -- we got to sleep on the floor, and there was no privacy in the showers! whoo!). The evacuation could have been worse -- I attacked my schoolwork with great good will, met a cute guy, and got some knitting done! Specifically, 3.5 ballband dishcloths (two with yarn purchased at the Jackson Wal-Mart, 1.5 with yarn bought all the way back home). There are some pictures, but due to my computerless situation and lack of camera cable or card reader, the pictures aren't on Ravelry, and likely won't be blogged. But! The dishcloths themselves are super amazing. Stay tuned for Fiesta Colors and Camel, among other colors. (Also I had an almost 100% finished ballband dishcloth which turned out to be useful due to I hadn't packed a washcloth . . .)

Anyhow, I am determined to make it to at least one NOLA area knitting shop before Ike hits. I'm thinking the Quarter Stitch, as it's about 1 block from Jackson Square, so it will be pretty easy to get to. I hope. I'm gonna ride my bike to the Quarter? Whoo!

An Update

So I know nobody reads this blog. Especially when there aren't any pictures. But I still feel the need to give an update on my life -- I totally will end up connecting it to knitting, too!

As some of you know, I am going to school at Tulane, in New Orleans. As probably many of you know, New Orleans is a hurricane-antsy city. And as those of you who pay enough attention to the news know, Hurricane Gustav is headed, slowly but surely, into the gulf, and at this point the projection is that it will veer slightly to the west of us but we will be hit by the edge. Anyhow, the university has ordered an evacuation, and I (not having the sort of family tat can afford to drop $699 on a plane ticket on the drop of a hat, especially considering that I want to come home for Thanksgiving) am getting on a university bus and heading up to Jackson State university to stay in a gym. I have packed essentials, really random shit, and too much knitting and too many books. Including my schoolbooks. I'm going to remove the random shit. Because really, it's not going to be that bad. Really, it's not. I put my bike up in the room, though. And in the event of an extension of the evacuation, I am 100% flying home out of Jackson. Because really I do not want to sleep in a gym.

More later,
E

It's been a while . . .

And I do mean, wow! It's been a while. Last I wrote, I was recovering from being out of town. Well, now I'm permanently out of town--I'm away at college. I have been doing some knitting, and I received the futuregirl purse from this giveaway (technically, the purse was given away by Sister Diane . . .) I would show a picture of this darling handbag in its new dorm room habitat, but I don't have a computer of my own, and I think my camera connector cable is at home, anyhow. But if you want to know what it looks like, just follow the link to the contest page--it's the orange one.

I would love to stay and chat, but I have a 10:00 class, & it's already 9:40--more later!

Just a meme . . .

1. "Baby Eleanor", 2. fruit salad, 3. 1st away football game, 4. The Grotto, 5. Leaves, 6. Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper Cooling off in a Glass of Diet Pepsi, 7. So Tender, 8. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 9. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam - HDR, 10. grand grand canal, 11. flickr.com/photos/zitakamugira/2254521713/, 12. Eagle Falls

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name? Eleanor
2. What is your favorite food? Blueberries
3. What high school did you go to? Madison West High
4. What is your favorite color? Green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Brandon Bark (president of the National Junior Classical League. Yes he counts as a celebrity, in my world anyhow.)
6. Favorite drink? Diet Pepsi
7. Dream vacation? Latin convention (at the moment, at least . . .)
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? In love
10. What do you love most in life? Movement & expectation
11. One word to describe you. Smart
12. Your Flickr name. undeadgoat (Searched undead goat for results . . .)

Doing this meme was a lot of fun. It's pretty awesome one, not going to lie. It's really lovely seeing so many photographer's creative work, and a little disarming to realize the extent to which the Beatles and a knitting pattern have internet-taken over my name. Also, um, I know those cheerleaders. Not every single one by name, but seriously. I know them. Over half are in my graduating class. And they were on the first page. o.0

I've been out of town for a while--I was at Latin Convention, AKA Nationals, AKA JCL (Junior Classical Leauge), AKA amazing, AKA the very last hurrah of my high school career. I'm headed down to Tulane in less than two weeks, and I'm struggling to catch up in terms of finalizing paperwork, cleaning my room, packing, etc. I'm hoping to do the Ravelympics, but honestly I don't have time right now to pick out patterns/buy yarn/etc. So we'll see. I have a few knitting pictures from convention, which I'll hopefully post later