Still Alive and Knitting!

      Hm, yes, despite my thesis' best efforts, I am still alive.  My apologies for the disappearance, but the past year has been hard.  For anyone who has done a doctorate, I hit the rough patch where nothing works and there is no plan and I wake up at 4am and wonder what am I doing AAAAAHHH!!!  I kept swimming and got past it.  Knitting was there for me and it was either that or take up some rather unhealthy habits.  Things are slowly getting better.  I am hoping for Transfer Panel in the next month.  For anyone unfamiliar with academia, this is when you meet a panel of three people and present the revised version of your thesis project and a sample chapter for feedback.  It's the halfway point of the Irish Ph.D.  While things will still be stressful, and I'm sure I'm going to have more 4am freakouts, I will get a vote of confidence in my project.  I can't wait to get it over with.

     Back to the knitting . . . the last several months has been using knitting as a coping mechanism.  I have no mental bandwidth at the moment, so I have been focusing on garter stitch shawls and vanilla socks.  Coming up is The Knitgirllls Stash Dash.  This is a craftalong run by two podcasters that runs from late May to late August.  The goal is to craft a certain amount of stash yarn; the set levels are 3km, 5km, 7km, 10km, and 15km.  Goodness knows I have enough WIPs and balled yarns lying around from the autumn, so here we go!  Normally I compete in the 5km category, but I will challenge myself this year and aim for 7km.  I already have an almost-completed pair of vanilla socks, but I've already made a list of current and hibernating WIPs to complete:

Current WIPs:
  Mithral in Fyberspates Cumulus: 30% completed
  Meriboo Cabled Cowls in Louisa Harding Orielle: 0% completed

Hibernating WIPs:
   A Second Chance for Mr. Rushworth Socks in Knitpicks Stroll: 45% completed
   Winterchild in Zitron Fil Royal: 75% completed
   Innsmouth Bodice in Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK: 0%
   Hurricane Ridge cowl in Malabrigo Finito: 0%

Also on the list because the yarn is already balled up:
    Bonny in Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace
    Cobweb in Malabrigo Silkpaca
    Almost Autumn in Malabrigo Merino Lace Superwash
    Narcissis pseudo-narcissis cuffs in Arucania Botany Lace 
    Riyito in Malabrigo Sock
    Pomme de Pin Cardigan in Wollemeise Pure 100% Merino Superwash
    City of Roses in Drops Baby Merino
    Maia Fingerless Mitts in Arucania Botany Lace
    Raitahullannus in Malabrigo Finito
    Heaven Scent in Manos del Uruguay Lace
    Cheddar the CraftLit Critter in Hedgehog Fibres Sock
    Florac Pumpkin in Lousia Harding Trenzar
    Geek Socks in Knitpicks Felici
    Leonore Socks in Knitpicks Stroll 

It's a long list and I know I won't get to it all, but it's nice to have some options and to clear out the WIPs.  I doubt I'll even get through this list before classes start again in the autumn, but it would be nice if 80% of it was completed by the first day of autumn (September 22).  Onward Knitty Soldiers!

It's time for a fort

I really should not invoke the unholy power of evil bacteria and foul Irish weather.  It's been pretty cold here this week, with showers on and off, and I am still sick.  The doctor at Student Health Services has told me that if I am not better by Tuesday, she will refer me to the Ear, Eye, and Throat Hospital for examination.  Since that sounds expensive, I've been trying to stay home, keep warm, and take my meds, or at least as much as it is possible in the first week of classes.  And I wonder why I am still sick. 

This has been good for my knitting, though.  The socks are finished.

These are the Chrysanthemum Frutescens socks by Hunter Hammersen, from her book Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet.  Considering I accidentally knit these at a tighter gauge than called for, they came out really well.  I love the bright color (Foilage, Knitpicks Stroll Tonal), although now it is discontinued.  I found the picot edge a little fiddly, as it's the kind where you have to knit the current live stitches to the stitches held in the provisional cast-on.  Nevertheless, it's a very nice picot edge that lies flat against the leg, so the effort is worth it. 

As the weather is being particularly unhelpful, I've cast on a sweater.  Currently it looks like this:

     It's the Falling stars sweater that Knitpicks originally put out two years ago as a kit.  At the time, they only offered blue and grey versions, and since I love color, I choose the blue.  Now they have a purple and a green/natural version, which you can get as kits here.  The sweater uses elements from the Bohus style of colorwork, which uses fine gauge and purl bumps.  I love it.  The colors change every couple of rows, which keeps things interesting, but the motifs aren't that complicated so you can do it at 5AM while trying to get back to sleep because you are tired and sick.  Not that I would know anything about that. *cough, cough* 
     This sweater will be for the Knitabulls Sweater KAL for January and February.  I love the Knitabulls podcast and try to watch it every week.  I want to adopt the host Diane for my aunt; she is always so happy in her shows and enthusiastic about her various crafts.  She's always a beam of sunshine in my week.
     As I'm housebound for the rest of the weekend,  I'm starting to assemble a fort of yarn and books.  The sweater should be enough to hold me out on the yarn end, and I have plenty of books to read.  In addition to my reading for my normal classes, I've started doing the background reading for my thesis.  My book fort looks something like this:

I'm excited.  This is going to be fun.