Let the Games Begin! (and let the blog resume)

I didn't blog at all in 2013. That year was kind of crazy. I learned that I passed the bar, I got a job that I truly love, and I got married!

But now that things have been in place for a while, I've been knitting a lot, and I've been thinking about knitting a lot. The college thesis that I finished writing almost eight years ago is still on my mind, and twenty-two year old me would be fascinated with a) the knitting world as I call it, and b) the knitting skills that I have learned over the years, and the skills that I want to improve. So my blog is still a good place to write down my thoughts about knitting.

And no better place to start than the Ravellenic Games! I remember 2006 when almost all of my knitting groups were swept up in what Yarn Harlot termed the Knitting Olympics. The idea was to pick a project and try to finish it, casting on at the opening ceremony of the Olympics and trying to finish by the end of the closing ceremony. I was fascinated that members of the various knitting groups I attended were so into the project. I really wanted to participate, but I was too busy with school. Over the next six years, there was always something keeping me from participating in the Knitting Olympics. I can't remember what happened in 2008, but I think I may have been visiting my family in Australia, but in 2010 and 2012, it was definitely law school. After Ravelry started, people started calling this thing this thing a cross between Ravelry and the Olympics, but then Ravelry apparently got a cease and desist letter. So now it's called the Ravellenic Games. (Get it? Like the Hellenic Games?) Now there are events to enter, and sub-events, and team captains. It's so organized! So I decided to be team captain for my knitting group! We had cast on last night (and I must admit, I was exhausted after a crazy week at work, and I wasn't at my knitting best - drifting into naps during the second half of the opening ceremony until I finally gave into my sleepiness and went home a little early). But I started the Sporty Cardigan, a little hoodie for my baby nephew. Already it seems that finishing by the end of the 16 days may or may not happen, but I really want to give this to him before he turns 1 (especially since I'm making the 12-month size) and at the very least, this will definitely give me a good kick start. I'm so excited to finally be an Olympic knitter!!

Summer Goals

I should have posted my summer goals at the beginning of the summer. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might know that, at least when I'm not immersed in the life of a law student, I'm usually working towards goals in four different arenas - knitting, beading, hiking, and running. So here is an update on how these different things are going for me.

Beading: Right on track! I completed an EBW Challenge piece that I'm really proud of. I listed two pieces that were on the back burner forever. I experimented with shapes, like I wanted to. I have two pieces that are almost ready to list and another piece that's about half finished right now. Now that I have a brand new camera, these pieces will be displayed here and on my Etsy site very soon. I also made a new piece for myself, and as a bonus, Sam found a piece I'd made for myself years ago under the radiator!

Knitting: I kind of told myself that I would finish one sweater this summer. Unfortunately, it looks like that is not going to happen. I've been working on my double v cardigan, but after I messed up and had to unknit for many rows. This was really boring and caused me to avoid the project for a while. So I'm still on the first piece - the back piece - though I'm almost done with it. I'd have to really struggle to finish by the end of the summer, and really, that's not a challenge I feel like undertaking right now. But I'll keep working on it, because it's true that I can't wait to wear it!

Oh, and also, my crocheting is on hold. That one stitch I was doing got very tedious. Hopefully I will get the patience to pick that blanket up again soon.

Hiking: This is a hobby that's never really materialized as much as I would have liked. I did some backpacking in high school, which I absolutely loved, but since then, I haven't hiked very much at all. Sam and I went a couple of times before I started law school, but especially since we live in the city, hiking is an all-day adventure for us, and I simply haven't had time to go on an organized trip. It's true that I had an internship this summer and had weekends off, but law school doesn't really end when the semester is over - there are still things law students need to be working on over the summer (like, you know, finding a job). BUT Sam and I are going hiking in Virginia for two days in about a week and a half! I'm super excited about it!

Running: This was a lost cause this summer. After years of knee pain, I found out a couple of years ago that I had tendinitis and cartilage damage. I can still run, but I have to build up my quads first. This past year and this summer, I was pretty bad about going to the gym. So for now, I have to work on my quads before I can even start running again.

My internship is over now (which is sad, because I really loved it) but I don't quite feel like I'm on vacation. I do have some things that need to get done ASAP. Still, I have two more weeks to work on my goals. But they're really only loose goals - I have enough stress in my life already and I'm not going to let my hobbies add to that stress!

A lifeline would have been nice...

As was pointed out to me last night at my knitting group, a "lifeline" really could have saved me a huge headache. For those of you who don't live, eat, sleep, and breathe knitting, a "lifeline" is a piece of yarn threaded into live stitches of knitting (stitches that are currently on knitting needles) that can be easily removed. If you make a mistake and you've given yourself a lifeline, you can rip out the stitches up to the lifeline, and the lifeline will keep the stitches in place so you can just put the needles back, instead of painstakingly unknitting for hours, as I have been doing for the past few weeks. I always remember to use lifelines when it's too late. That's how most of my lace projects have ended or been indefinitely postponed. I'm determined not to let all this unknitting stand in the way of my current project, Double V Cardigan, but it sure is making the process a whole lot slower!

Camera Saga Continued (and other news)

So I wrote to the camera company (Olympus), and they sent me a program to download. So now I will be able to take pictures AND upload them to my computer/blog/website. The problem? Sam accidentally took the cord that hooks the camera to the computer to Chile (along with the old camera). I have to wait a few more days to get it back.

I did finish another bracelet, but until I am able to get my camera back, I'll just have to leave this as a cliff hanger.

In other news, I seem to have been ignoring my knitting. The reason for this is that a few rows back, I made a couple of mistakes on the sweater I'm knitting. Because it is lace, I'm not going to chance frogging it - I'll have to unknit. That will probably take a couple of hours, and I'm not looking forward to it. So I'm kind of procrastinating.

Soooo....

I had my last day of trusts and estates today. Got on the subway and it was having signal problems. At the next stop, I got out and walked to a different subway line, about 10-15 minutes away. Got on the train and of course, there was an announcement that it was running on a different line. There was an announcement that the next one was running on the correct line, and since with my shortcut that would be so much faster, I got off and waited. The next train was the wrong line, so I waited some more. And then there was the right train AGAIN running on the wrong line. By this time, class was starting in 10 minutes. There was no way I could get there on time. I jumped out of the subway, and started running around looking for a taxi. And of course, because it was raining, combined with the fact that I live in Queens, I couldn't find any. FINALLY, I found a taxi. A very nice taxi. But I was still half an hour late!
The worst part of all? I left my Ishbel shawlette in the taxi.

Krista Tee

It's finals crunch time, but I did manage to take some exciting pictures of my completed Krista Tee. (And by "pictures," I mean "get Sam to take for me"):

Passover Break

starts today! (Well, for me it started yesterday because I don't have class on Fridays.) My law school is at Yeshiva University, so we get Passover off. It's also kind of our spring break. Passover is really late this year, so I'm pretty focused on outlining for my exams.

Nevertheless, there is always some time for creativity! I'm finally finishing up my Krista tee from two years ago. I worked on it obsessively the last time I was home in Sydney, and it's been sitting there waiting for me to weave in the ends, block it, put it together, and crochet the edging for the past two years. So yesterday, during my study breaks, I wove in all of the ends and blocked three out of four pieces - quite a feat for me!

Crafting Woes and Silver Linings

Even before I went to law school, I felt that there was never enough time in the day to make as many things as I wanted to. Before I got my Etsy shop up, I had a strict routine of designing and making as many jewelry pieces as possible so that I would have merchandise when I opened up shop. Then, there were always deadlines for the EBW challenges. I entered most of them (actually, all of them) during the months between opening my shop and the beginning of my law school application process. They were great because they really forced me to expand my craft and come into my own. My Etsy street teem requires entry in one challenge a year, and so far I've managed to comply with that rule, but I wish I had more time to design.

And I also wish I had more time to knit! There are so many adorable patterns on Ravelry, I just want to knit them all! Right now I'm making a hat with some yarn that I bought on Etsy. I love the yarn, and it's nice making a hat because it's nice and relaxing and uncomplicated, but I do wish I could make a dent in my Ravelry queue.

This summer, I did finish Butterfly Bush, and now that warm shawls are apparently "in," I have even more occasions to wear it than I thought I would! It's so versatile - I can wear it every day, but also to formal occasions - which I have done! I just wish I could make more of the things I want...instead of just dreaming about them! I've been meaning to make a beret for literally years, and there are some adorable sweaters that I've just been itching to make!

Is it April Already??

There's not much new going on here, as far as crafting. Today was one of those days when I looked at some of the murchandise in my now closed-for-finals shop and thought, man, I wish I could make some more of that now. Instead, I'll be outlining all day.

The good news is that my last final is May 17. After that, well, I have the writing competition. But then after that, I'll be starting my summer internship at the DEC! I couldn't be more thrilled and excited! Can't wait to start!

As far as knitting, earlier this semester, I made my very first shawl - an Isbel shalette. It was sooo much fun. I might just go on a shawl binge this summer - we'll see.

Here is one of the only pictures I have of it. Will try to get another one up here eventually.

The Most Well-Travelled Socks

I started my first pair of socks here in Astoria. Then, in April, when I went to visit my family in Sydney, I finished the first sock (my first ever!) and started the second. When one of the family dogs mistook one of my needles for a stick and chewed it, I had to make do with the four needles I had until I got back home and could by another one (well, a whole new set.) The sock progressed slowly after I started law school, and a little more quickly during my trip to Costa Rica. Then, one day, months after I started my first pair of socks, I finished it! I messed up the kitchener stitch at the toe of the second sock, but the pair is entirely functional, very warm, and very pretty. Here is a picture Sam took of me knitting the second sock in Costa Rica:

G'Day

I'm in Sydney! I've been here for a month and I've spent most of my time knitting! I knit all of the pieces for Krista, a camisole from Knitting Lingerie Style, but I left my blocking stuff at home so I have to wait to block the pieces before I can sew them all together. And I also finished my first sock! It's the 8 stitches per inch sock from Ann Budd's Getting Started Knitting Socks (which is awesome, by the way) and it took FOREVER, but it's done! And now I'm working on its twin. I have about an inch done, so I'll undoubtedly be working on it when I get back to New York.

My two knitting buddies have been Misty, and labradoodle, and Diva, a cotton de tulear, aka the family dogs.

In other news, I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before, but about six months ago, I found out that the seasonal knee pain that I'd been having for three years was tendinitis (which is weird, because I had had tendinitis in my ankle two years earlier and it felt a lot different). Oh yeah, and I also found out that I have minor cartilage damage in my knee. (Fun, fun, I know.) So now I'm finally able to start running again! And I'm training for a half marathon! I'm really excited because although I've been running on and off since high school, this is the first time I've set a half marathon as my goal. And after a week and a half of jogging every two or three days, I can feel that my fitness has improved a lot and that I'm finding it easier and easier. I think that this will be a great way for me to ease stress while I'm in law school, and it's totally boosting my confidence.

My family took a quick trip to New Zealand, and it was the first time Dev and I had ever been there (and this only time I got to see my sis the whole time I've been here, since she's working in Canberra). It was really fun, and we all noticed that the people there were all so friendly!

I haven't really seen much of my friends, but everyone's been busy with work and exams and going to Thailand and weddings. And I've been really, really lazy (the calm before the storm that I'm sure will be law school). But when I was snooping through my mom's computer to find pictures of the dogs, I did find these:

That's me and four of my bestest friends in my parents' loft during winter break my senior year. Ah, memories!

so much to make, such little time!

I'm still working on my top down cardigan. I'm at a point where it's just a lot of stockinette. I can't wait for the arms...oooooh! Variety!

And then I have my non-knitting, non-crochet, non-beading Valentines day gift, which I have yet to start, although I have most of the materials. Everything else can be bought at the discount store across the street.

Then there are the "little" projects I've volunteered for. The feminist knitting swap; the afghans for Afghans item (most likely a child's hat, possibly two), the neutral colored wool squares that my Heifer International group on Ravelry is using to make an afghan. All extremely cool, fun, encouraging things, all at the same time.

And now, I'm off to finish the laundry. Wish me luck! :-)

It's been a while (again)

I have so many blog posts in my head but I haven't blogged in so long! January was crazy - I had four Australian friends staying with me at different times (sometimes overlapping), and I finished 8 out of 9 law school applications. I also spent two days in DC to see Sam's dad receive the French Legion of Honor.

I've been knitting like crazy. Once I finished Sam's scarf (yes, I can finally announce that it's a scarf), I went on to finish my dad's scarf that had been in the works, like, forever. I finally knit myself a hat, and I'm a little over halfway done with my first cardigan. Unfortunately, I put my camera somewhere and am unable to locate it. Luckily, facebook exists. Here is a picture my friend Dave took of me knitting my lovely Thorpe hat (pattern downloaded from Ravelry).

Notice it was knit from the top down. Something about that was incredibly exciting and fun.

This next picture was taken at a bar in Park Slope (Brooklyn) after a hard day of football. It normally sits a little lower on my head, but it was kind of pulled up.

I've kind of been neglecting my beading, and I've felt bad about that, but I'm slowly getting back into promoting my Etsy store and supporting my Street Team. I've still been receiving hearts, and that's very encouraging.

I also have another little project up my sleeve that I hope comes into fruition. Here's a hint: what's exactly eleven days from now?

Guilty Pleasures

I've developed an addiction to reality TV shows on Bravo. In the past, I would never had admitted to this, but we're all friends here, right?

My all time favorite, of course, is Project Runway. I've also really gotten into Shear Genius. I love watching the challenges and the wonderful and awful things that these people come up with. I love choosing my favorites and least favorites and imagining myself wearing those outfits and haircuts. My favorite "character" is Stella, the wonderfully ridiculous designer of all things "leatha."

I rush home every Wednesday to watch these favorite shows of mine. If I can't be home to watch them, they'll always be on the next day. And the day after that. And pretty much every day until the next Wednesday, the next episode. But then, all the episodes are on that day too...

This all got me thinking. What if there was a Bravo TV show about the type of designing that I do? What if there was a show just about beadweaving. Or about knitting and crocheting. The camera focuses on me. I'm beadweaving, and you hear a voiceover. "I decided to do a peyote cuff. So I started with some beads. And then I put on another bead. And then I put on another bead. And then I put on another bead. And then I decide to change colors." Or "I did a row of knit. And a row of purl. Then I did an intricate lace. Yarn over..." Maybe it's just that I've been watching too much TV and frying my brain, but this concept makes me laugh! Just imagine how entertaining that would be to the outside world! (Not!)

But it also got me thinking about the people I design for. I always design with a little piece of myself in mind. After all, who could love something I make that I don't even love? In their own way, the Etsy Beadweaving challenges are kind of the same concept. The last challenge in particular got me out of my comfort zone, but I was determined to make something beautiful within the guidelines that was still true to my own sense of style, and I'm pretty sure I pulled it off.

And of course there are the people who wear my jewelry. I just love opening a package in which there is something wearable that I ordered from Etsy. (Lamp work jewelry is another guilty pleasure of mine.) And when I put it on, I feel amazing and beautiful. That is exactly how I want people to feel when they wear my jewelry. I want them to feel like the powerful women they are, or to feel like princesses. Whatever makes them feel best, that is how I want them to feel. Whether I give pieces I make away or people purchase them or even have me custom make them, I just want my pieces to be loved, and I want the people who wear them to feel just that little bit more amazing.

An Almost Knitting Night...And Other Adventures

For exactly a year now, I've tutored GED students every Tuesday after work. I used to only tutor math, but now I almost exclusively tutor reading. This is something I look forward to every week, and I always come home invigorated. Like many who volunteer, in many ways, I learn more from those whom I teach than they learn from me.

Everyone knows that on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 8:00, I am not free. So yesterday, when Amna and I decided to see the New York Philharmonic play a free concert in Central Park, Amna got there a couple of hours early to stake out a spot. The plan was to knit in the park while we listened to amazing music. But, in typical Adina fashion, I forgot to bring my knitting needles to work! Luckily, I live right near the site of the concert, and when I got to Central Park West around 8:30, I ran home to find them! But (sadly!) I haven't knit for months! I have three scarves on the needles right now - all were going to be gifts last December! - and I was determined to work on one of them! But I couldn't find the matching needle to ANY of them! I scarfed (seriously, no pun intended!) down a bowl of cereal (I am NOT a pretty sight when I am hungry!) and tore through my apartment, looking for any one of the three needle mates. Finally, I found one! But that scarf was a cable pattern, and I couldn't find my cable needle (of course)! Finally, I grabbed a crochet hook, figuring I could improvise and use it as a makeshift cable needle, and bolted out the door.

When I got to where the concert was, there were droves of people walking towards me, and I was sure the thing was over...but it's wasn't! It was just intermission! I found Amna with surprising ease and, armed with my quarter-finished cable scarf, sat down on her huge picnic blanket to knit. And then I realized that it was too dark to knit. (It was even too dark to take pictures!)

Well, at least it was great company and amazing entertainment. And I hadn't seen Amna in over a month and I missed her! So it was great seeing her again. And, well, the New York Philharmonic! Enough said! Even without our knitting, we had so much fun! And then we went to Pinch for pizza. Yuuuuuuuummy.

Then, tonight, I had a tutor appreciation dinner. Also so much fun. I think I surprised the other tutors because I'm usually so quiet when I see them. But then, I'm usually concentrating on tutoring when I see them! Get a glass of wine and some good food in me, and I can't stop talking! Like our students, the tutors themselves are all so diverse, and getting to know them better was a pleasure!

some entertainment

from ihasahotdog.com

I've been knitting a little (as in, a few rows little) and beading a lot. I've been coming up with lots of ideas, which make me think of more ideas, which make me think of even more ideas...but I had forgotten how long these things take to make! I'm thinking way faster than I'm beading. Up until this past weekend, I finished every single thing I started to bead (unless I didn't finish it at all). But I've begun to leave my beaded works unfinished! (My knitting habit is spreading!!)

Wow. I am such a dork.

<3

I love making things. It's like my comfort food. My chocolate cake. (OK, well maybe that's taking it a little too far, but you get my point.)

And that is why I spent my Friday night making myself a necklace. It's the same one that I made for Angela and Hilary, but in olive green. Back in the day when I used to sell jewelry, I always made quite a few pieces for myself. So while I have some new ideas up my sleeve, the first few things will probably be for yours truly. Besides, I use them as measuring devices. (Who needs rulers anyway?) It's just the same as using an old sweater to take measurements for a new one when knitting.

I used Japanese Delica beads that I got with my mom at an expo in Australia a few years ago. As a rule, Japanese seed beads are more uniform than Czech seed beads, and that is why I mostly bead with them these days. But these Delica beads, though freakin' expensive, are the most near-perfectly uniform beads I have ever used. I love love love them!

Olive green has always been a comforting color for me. I know that that is really silly, but it's true! When I was a little kid (like, three years old) my mom put me in a pottery class. The teacher's only complaint about me was that I refused to paint anything any color other than olive green. I can only imagine how strange it would have been to see me come home with a clay sculpture of a bowl of Cheerios, painted olive green. That I, at three, had chosen that color, is pretty bizarre.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my UFOs. I've been working on Sam's mystery item, but I think I don't have enough yarn, so I went back to the place where I got it last weekend to see if they could get that dye lot in, and I still haven't heard back from them. (So I should probably follow up on that.) If they can't get it in, I will probably have to incorporate stripes of some sort.

I swear, this is totally not cheating, but I am counting long overdue gifts that I haven't exactly started yet as UFOs. Hence my dad's fiftieth birthday sweater come-post-fiftieth birthday scarf. I am using Misti Alpaca, which is amazingly soft. I looooooooooove it. I using the pattern I mentioned before. It looks pretty cool and it's not as tedious as seed stitch. My only minor annoyance is that it isn't quite symmetrical. On both sides, it starts with garter then knit, and ends with purl then garter. Even though I am a very messy, cluttered person who loves olive green, asymmetry to this magnitude annoys me. But I'm not starting over. And I still love the scarf so far. I just hope my dad isn't allergic to alpaca!

Life After LSAT

It's done done done!

After the test, Sam met me at a coffee shop, where he had some yummy Hungarian coffee waiting for me. On our way to lunch, I spotted Yarntopia, a yarn store I had never seen before or heard of, even though I spent the summer of 2005 at Columbia, where I spent my days going to class, wandering around Manhattan, and knitting obsessively. That summer, I walked to every knitting store I could find, and believe me, I would have remembered Yarntopia. I find that in New York, a lot of the stores have a lot of really beautiful yarn that is extremely expensive and for which I couldn't really find a project unless I were to buy a ton of it and go broke. Not so with this place. It's a New York LYS, so of course it isn't cheap, but I could see myself making something with just about everything in the store. Upon some internet research, I learned that the store just opened in December, so that's why I didn't already know about it. I assure you, it rocks. They even give paper bags instead of plastic, which is super cool.

As my post-test retail therapy, I decided to buy a book instead of yarn because I really need to finish my UFOs. But when I found Son of Stitch 'N Bitch I just had to buy it! I could finally have a choice of patterns that I could use for my dad's long-overdue sweater! And stuff I could make for Sam! I'm a little hesitant to make him a sweater because knitting a sweater for your boyfriend is said to curse relationships, but the book talks a lot about the curse, and I think that our relationship could withstand a sweater. Besides, he wants me to make a sweater for him. And I think he would like a lot of the sweaters in this book (though I would have to alter a lot of the color schemes). But now I'm getting ahead of myself. So many projects to finish first!

Speaking of Sam, the first review of Worst Case Ontario's first Album, Burning Politely, came out during my LSAT hibernation. It's on Frederick Foxtrott. Check it out!

Back to my Roots, or, Reclaiming my Mojo

I learned to knit in December of 2005. I learned how to crochet in December of 2006. I learned how to needlepoint in 2000 or thereabouts, I think. But when did I learn how to bead? Some time in or around 1991. My mom taught me how to make daisy chains, and from there, there was no stopping me. At sixteen, I sold my jewelry at a little market (making next to nothing). I sewed beads onto paper, making a sign that read "Beaded Bijoux." That was probably when I found my place in the crafting community. My friends came to my house for "bead days." I was in bead heaven. In college, I taught my friends how to make beaded lizards. I have pictures of a lot of these things, which I will put up here some time. Some of them are at my mom's house in Australia, so that makes them slightly inaccessible, and others are *gasp* not on a digital camera, and I don't have a scanner at home.

For Christmas, I made the other paralegals I work with beaded necklaces. The center of the necklaces are little hexagons.

There is a story behind these hexagons. I adapted them from the base of a pattern for a beaded box. This pattern was published in Bead and Button Magazine in the late '90s, right around the time when Austin Powers, the Spy who Shagged Me, came out. My friends and I loved that movie, and my mother proclaimed that everything was "Very shaggadelic!" It was the Austin Powers movie where Austin Powers "lost his mojo," so I decided that I would make a box for my mojo - it was my mojo box!

I want to start making jewelry that is really fun, but still wearable for people who are not as eccentric as I am. The mojo hexagon was perfect! And their new owners said they love them, so it all paid off!