Anyway, the point of the story is that I got a netbook to replace my Macbook.  His name is Niblet.  I like him a lot.

The university mascot is the Matador, hence the title.  Our mascot's name is Matty.

Since I'm on a sort of schedule now, I'm going to try to regularly update.  I'd like to try and post Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but that all depends on how busy I get.  I only have two classes this semester, but they are five credits each and I expect them to demand a lot of my time.

Today wasn't so bad though.  First days of a class usually aren't; most of the time is spent on the professor's policies.  I'm trying to get a head start by reading about limits for tomorrow.

I decided to call it my Sloppy Hat because it's knitted a bit loose.  I used size 11 needles to knit it up since my wraps per inch tests came out to about ten.  I could have easily knitted this more consistently with a size 9 or 10 needle.

I don't mind.

For the most part it fits and it didn't come apart while knitting it up.

I used the Big Bulky Bucket Hat pattern for this, but instead of crocheting an edge I did a few rows of seed stitch.  I don't have a crochet hook big enough for this yarn.  I had a little bit left of my estimated 80 yards of yarn.

In other news, Jake and I went to the local quilt shop for the first time.  They were having a Fat Quarter Frenzy sale for President's Day.  25 fat quarters for $25 and any more were just a dollar each.  Jake, ever the enabler, helped me pick some out.  I also got a little kit for a future gift.

I ordered a book of fat quarter patterns using the Amazon gift certificate that my uncles gave me for my birthday.  Yay!

Then again, we're not dealing with the snow like Illinois and my home state of Maryland is.  A small price to pay depending on who you ask.

While I'm waiting to be accepted at CSUN, I've been using the free time to catch up on projects and getting re-acquainted with my wheel.  The really neat thing about living in our new place is, I get my own crafting table and space!  I'm working on getting an entire bedroom to myself, but for now the extra space is awesome.  I can leave my sewing machine out...yes I got a sewing machine.

I now own a Bernina Activa 220 and I've already made a small quilt with it.

I pieced it together and sent it away to be quilted.  This turned into a Christmas gift for my parents.

The Paintbox Hat way back in August was frogged because it was too big for Jake.  Instead, he got this.

I call it the Sunset hat, which is really the Pismo Hat.  Jake dyed this yarn back at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival.  He's not into socks, so I decided on this instead.  It's obviously a bit big for me, but it's a nice skullcap for Jake that doesn't keep him too warm.  We're in California now after all.  It's February and sixty degrees out as I write.

The decreases for the top make the hat a bit pointy, but it smooshes out when Jake wears it.

This is for a friend.

It is 50% complete, has cables, and is made with superwash.   That is all I will say about this...for now.

I also spun up some yarn that didn't fall apart...for the first time!

It's about 80 yards of 3-ply.  The white singles are wool and the green is alpaca.  I don't know how many stitches per inch I can get with it, but I'm determined to turn this into something.

I hope it holds up

Lastly, I've started my own Noro striped sock.  Jake picked out the colors.

This is a fun knit to watch because the colors gradually change.  I'll keep the cuff, heel, and toe as one yarn.  It's a little itchy to work with, but I'm certain it'll soften up a bit in the wash.

For those of you out in all of the snow, stay safe!

It looks like a painting, so Paintbox Hat is an appropriate name.  I'll take this and my sock to Lake of Egypt this weekend.  I'll probably be too busy to work on either, but one should never leave home without any knitting.

I've decided to act on my opinion that sock yarn is too pretty to keep in bins and made a trip to Target.  I got some Itso cubes and rearranged my stash.

The bottom two cubes hold non-sock yarn, needles, notions, and some knitting related books.  I'm hoping I don't regret leaving the yarn out in the open like this, but it's so much better than having them stuffed in bins in the closet.

I also got some shoe cubbies to organize our shoes instead of just throwing them in the closet.  It was a mess...

SHOES?!

I went to a local shoe store that sells brands like Keen and Dansko to look for that perfect mary jane shoe to wear with my hand knit socks.  I didn't get anything because the saleslady told me their fall inventory will be on sale in a couple of weeks.  If I wait, I'll have a bigger selection.  I don't have a problem with that.  I wore socks made with different yarns to test drive the shoes.

I think I should just do this more often anyway because it's fun.  No pressure on getting that second sock finished.

When there is downtime at work (and there has been a lot of that over the summer), I am allowed to knit at my desk.  I've been working on my Promise socks mostly and the new lab assistant really liked it. She told me that she does know how to knit, but she just hasn't been interested in socks.

Now she's knitting socks with her daughter.

She told me that she was impressed with my socks and it would be a great project for her daughter to do for an upcoming 4-H competition.  In order to help her daughter, she is working on the same sock pattern ahead of her so she can offer help.

How awesome is that?  Mom and daughter knitting socks and spending time together.  I told her that I would be happy to help with anything they needed.  It makes me feel warm and fuzzy when people tell me that my knitting inspires them to do something creative.  Another good reason to knit in public.

SPINNING

In other news, I'm trying to spin again.  I own an Ashford Traveller and have for about five years.  After several falase starts, I think I'm starting to get it.

This is undyed Romney.  I'm told it's a great beginner fiber.  My single is starting to look more even. When I started, it was much more thick and thin than this.  Maybe after more practice, I'll try out some dyed top I have.

MORE HATS?

Of course!  Jake is sort of a hat fiend.  It makes up for his fear of wearing socks.  I haven't made him one yet this year and I always knit at least one so he has something new to wear to MAGFest.  Here is the latest creation in progress.

We agreed that a plain stockinette hat would be best and would allow the colors to stand out.  I may put some icord on top.  He gets a kick out of that.

Enjoy Nugget...

He loves you!

The weather was awesome; low 60s to mid 70s all weekend.  The fair itself was half outside in tents and half inside at a local community college.  Not a bad idea in case it rains.  The very first place I visited was Creatively Dyed.  How can you not?

I wanted to show Dianne the sock I have been working on in her Calypso dyed yarn.  This is in the promise colorway.  She really liked it.  I got eight stitches per inch on size 1 needles.

After raiding her booth (I think I bought about nine skeins total), she was nice enough to have her photo taken with Loopy and I.

Inspired by Dianne's gift for dyeing, Jake decided to dye a skein of his own at Ewe Dye It Yarn.  We saw a fantastic prairie sunset while driving to Crystal Lake and he wanted to emulate that in the yarn.

This was lots of fun.  I'm positive that Jake would get into dyeing if he wasn't so wrapped up in his music.  Here is the end result; I'll probably make a lightweight hat for him.  He isn't too crazy about socks.  He's afraid he'll ruin them.

We called it Prairie Sunset.

We also had a yummy lunch while listening to live music...

...and visited some alpacas that were from a local farm.

I also tried knitting on size 50 needles.

When all was said and done, this is the yarn I brought home with me.

That's just yarn.  Oddly enough, Jake and I fell in love with a quilt kit and bought it.  I don't have a sewing machine or know how to use it if I did.  We've already signed up for lessons and are shopping around.  I also got some handmade jewelry and a little project bag.  Jake took home some roving for felting.  He wants to make a felted Nugget.

I had a fantastic time at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Fair.  It's smaller than Maryland Sheep & Wool, but I didn't get nervous trying to navigate though the crowds and all the vendors had time to talk with us.  We had a relaxing weekend and drove home with renewed creative inspirations.

All of the photos of the fair can be found here.

Here is a progress photo of the 'Sekrit Project'.  The Ella Rae Superwash and soft and the project itself is almost mindless.  There are a few cables thrown in to keep it interesting.

I sort of hard an epiphany after frogging the Kristi socks.  I have a lot of variegated sock yarn.  A lot...  In fact, I should probably sell some (No, that wasn't my epiphany).  I don't want to sell any of it; a lot of it I picked out with Jake and I remember how almost each skein was purchased.  Picking out a perfect pattern for my sock yarn, especially when its variegated, is frustrating me.  I'm tired of trying.

I'll just knit plain vanilla socks.  No worrying about the pattern being lost in the coor and I don't care so much about pooling or identical socks.

I recently purchased some Creatively Dyed Calypso yarn from The Loopy Ewe.  I picked up the Promise colorway from the Calypso line.  I'm going straight to her booth at the Midwest Fiber Fair; I love her colors and she's really nice.  I started a Yarn Harlot plain vanilla sock and am enjoying knitting again.

The truth is that I had to frog my first attempt and start over again.  I was getting 9 stitches per inch instead of the 7.5 suggested on the ball band.  I had to add an extra tweleve stitches to cast on in order to compensate.

Is anyone else going to the Midwest Fiber Fair?

I even tried it on and it fits fine so far.  I'm very pleased with my work on this.  I'm still terrified of seaming it all up later.  

This is why an upcoming project will be the V-Neck Man's Pullover from Knitting Pure and Simple.  No seaming!  Jake picked out some Rustic Wool for the project and it's really soft.  I'm in the process of swatching it now.

No, this nothing to do with my Sekrit Project.  That project still remain sekrit.

I have cast on for the May Sockdown project.

When I'm done, my sock should look just like the one on the cover of Sock Innovations.  A sock pattern that shares the same name as me AND has cables.  I couldn't resist signing up for the sockdown.  I'm also glad I learned to read charts early in my knitting career.

The semester is winding down; one more week of class and then finals.  I will be taking Intro to Plant Biology this summer so I can keep my student employment.  I want to get my biology out of the way anyway.  I don't have too much of an issue with dissecting plants.