New Apartment! (And Some Graduation Photos)

Here I am in Bellevue, huddled at my desk while the sounds of battle rage around me. Swords clash, guns explode, and everyone is shouting, grunting, groaning.

Curtis, supposedly trying to get some work done on his
accounting class.

Or it's Sunday and Curtis is playing some role-playing monster-defeating game on the PlayStation.

Either way, I'm mostly moved into the new apartment in Bellevue! I officially moved out of Walla Walla last Monday (May 23, 2011) and have been moving into the apartment since then. It's been a very, very long week. My mom came and helped me on Tuesday and we plowed through almost all of the boxes, but now I'm stuck with all of the things that I don't quite know what to do with. And the closet. It's sort of a disaster area, but it's obvious (to me) that a lot of progress has been made.

Also, as I'm sure you guessed, the blanket for the apartment that I hoped to have done so I could move in with it... not done. I'm hoping by July 4.

Once everything is set up, I'm going to try to make a little video of the apartment and I'll upload it to YouTube. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with these pictures of the mess.

Kitchen. The sink is in the middle of this island. Can you see it? Me neither.

Living/Dining area.

Living/Dining Area.

Front Door and Kitchen.

Bedroom. We now have a bed frame, bedside tables, and the nice bedding. New pictures later.

Bathroom. We desperately need some shelves.

I suppose I should also put some graduation photos up here, though I think my dad has most of them on his camera. But here I am, in all my graduation glory:

Whitman! Here's to You!

I'm the hat second from the right.

I'm the hat second from the right. Again.

Aaaaaand.... Diploma!

So that's all my news for the past two weeks. I've been packing and cleaning in Walla Walla (I get my whole deposit back!), graduating, and unpacking and cleaning in Bellevue. I'm sure there will be more graduation and apartment pictures soon.

Spring Pasha Hat in Lemon

I wore my spring toque for the first time two days ago since the weather was finally nice. I know the sky in this picture looks pretty menacing (and it did rain and get pretty windy later that night) but when I was outside it was perfect: sorta sunny, not cold, no breeze. And I'd just gotten a free lunch from the library employee appreciation luncheon.

Grumpy clouds, but a happy hat!
Made from 52% bamboo, 43% merino wool, and 5% combed silk

I am particularly pleased with this hat, because I knit it up in a day and a half and was super disappointed. I wanted a slouchy hat to wear in the spring and what I got was a super tight beanie. My gauge was right, but it just wasn't how I imagined it turning out. I didn't want to block it because I was afraid if I pinned it to my blocking board that I would get creases or it wouldn't be the right shape anymore. But then! Ravelry to the rescue! I sent a woman who had also made this hat a message asking how she got her hat to be so slouchy. She did block her hat, but rather than pining it to a board, she stretched it over a dinner plate. Genius. And now I have a slouchy hat.

Even better? Lauren M. wants one too!

Want to be my Ravelry friend? My Rav name is kmknittinsmitten.

Swirly Headband in "Sami"

My freshman roommate (well, one of them... I had two!) Sami just commissioned and bought this headband. It's the same Swirly Headband, but she wanted it in teal and off-white... and here it is!

Sami P. sporting her lovely new Swirly Headband

Made in 100% Peruvian wool.

Latest headband sold! Swirly Headband in "Sami" color scheme (teal and off-white).

Want your own? Email me at knittinsmitten@gmail.com

Queen of Minor Maladies

I'm finally better! I'm left with just a little allergic cough (thanks Walla Walla!) and have mostly gotten my sleep cycle back on track. I've been able to go to my classes and work again, just in time for the end of the semester. This means that I'm back into knitting-shape and have been working diligently on some commissioned headbands (thanks Sami & Katie!), but have been struggling against the Velcro.

That's right. I said Velcro. One of the worst substances in existence for a knitter because it catches and pulls and ruins the fibers. Now I'm fighting a daily battle against it since it's what keeps my wrist brace on.

Wrist brace? Yepp. Because I have tendinitis. From knitting too much. Apparently it really can happen.

I've been working on coming up with a better story (I fell on it climbing over a fence after I saved a baby from a rabid dog?) but it seems my friends know me too well. Most of them haven't even had to ask what happened; they already know. Maybe this injury gives me some knitting street cred.

I have to wear the brace for about three more weeks and then see how it goes from there. The brace is slowing my knitting down considerably, but I'm still chugging along. Sami's headband is almost done (in teal and off-white) and I'll post pictures of the finished product tomorrow or Tuesday.