Just one more project....

So I've decided that I want to add just one more thing to my WIPs.... Since Dave and I will be going to Cancun in May, I thought it would be nice to have a fun poncho to wear in Mexico, and I found the perfect one! Check out this poncho by Rowan. Has anyone worked with R2 Paper and R2 Rag Print before? I love the pink color (although it looks pretty purple to me!).

YAY FOR PICTURES!!!!!

My first hat and scarf!

Jenna's (unfinished) scarf

Big Bad Baby Blanket

BBBB

BBBB

Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda is an absolute must see.... (go to the link for a preview) It's such an incredible movie that is both heart-breaking and moving. I saw it with my roommate last night -- it's definitely very difficult to handle, but I think it is just so important that people go see this movie. I actually traveled in Africa last June, and absolutely fell in love with it! Even though the film is extremely moving, I think that having been there, it meant even more to me. My brother studied abroad in Namibia last spring, and the rest of my family (my parents and other brother) met up with him at the end of his program and traveled the country for two weeks. Africa is so beautiful and it is filled with such wonderful people and amazing wildlife. I will most definitely go back there again. My next destination will probably Botswana - supposedly it is absolutely gorgeous there. I'll have to post some Africa pics on here sometime!

A New Look -- Part II

Dave and I have been playing with the formatting and backgrounds and such.... so we'll see if this becomes the final color scheme :) The Big Bad Baby Blanket (I should just call it the BBBB) is coming along nicely. I'm finally done with the seed stitch border section! Now it's smooth knitting from here.....

Big Bad Baby Blanket (update)

So the baby blanket is coming along.... very slowly. I suppose the reason is that I am not the fastest knitter (quite slow, actually) and I am so worried about making mistakes that I have definitely been taking my time. It just seems to take forever to get through one row! But I absolutely LOVE how it is coming along. I chose an awesome light green Bernat Baby yarn that I love! It is just so soft and I can tell that it will be a real quality blanket when it's finished. I am only like 15 rows into the seed stitch and it feels like it is taking forever. My roommate, Anne, finished the seed stitch border and says that it moves along much faster once you get past the border stage. I'm trying to decide whether to follow the pattern exactly, or whether I should modify it a bit. This is what the pattern calls for: (I didn't include the pattern for the seed stitch border because I am definitely going to continue that throughout the piece) row 1: k53, p53 row 2: k53, p53 (repeat until measures 14 ") then... row 1: p53, k53 row 2: p53, k53 (repeat until measures 25") I'm thinking that having the four "quadrant" type things might create lumpy lines in the blanket where the pattern switches that may not be so comfortable. So instead I could just do regular stockinette stitch for the whole blanket (and keep the regular seed stitch border). Anne is doing it the modified way. I'm thinking of doing it the way the pattern calls for, but I want it to be comfortable. Hmmm.... decisions, decisions, decisions. All other projects are on hold because I just found out about ANOTHER pregnant friend! Looks like I'll be making more of these blankets! :)

Lots to do....

Whew! Busy day! At least the work that I have to do tonight I can do while watching American Idol -- my tv habit has slowly crept back in this semester. It began with The O.C., then 24, then American Idol, and now it's back into full swing! Oh well, I have to have something to keep me sane through all this school work. Speaking of school work, I am going to be swamped with thesis stuff for the next few weeks. We have to have our proposals due by March 1st. Thank god I have an absolutely awesome thesis advisor and we are so much further ahead than everyone else, but it's still a lot to get done.

Happy Valentine's Birthday to Drew!!!!

With my two bro's at Drew's 21st birthday party last year! (Megan, Drew, and Alex)

What kind of sheep are you?

Which flock do you follow? this quiz was made by alanna

A New Look

So I gave my blog a bit of a facelift today! :) I had actually posted on the knitting bloggers message board asking how to re-vamp the ordinary templates that blogger gives you.... and instead of following their advice to take a course in HTML, I kinda just taught myself some stuff. I wouldn't be able to tell anyone how I did it, but I just did some trial and error, and IT WORKED! YAY for me!!! I'm so proud of myself.... Oh, and another great thing today... some of the tests we designed for my masters research is going to become a subtest of a real neuropsych battery of tests for children! So we have to hurry up and submit our stuff so that it can get published and normed. I still can't believe it, I'm so excited! I love my advisor... she's the best! Well, I have hours and hours of Stats to do tonight, so I suppose I should get some of that done before I get interrupted by The O.C. - the best show on earth!

What a busy day!!!

I thought this semester was going to be easier than last semester, but I was so so wrong.... there is definitely less reading, but I feel like I am much busier and my brain is much more tired at the end of the day. Today my brain was way overloaded by 2pm. At least it is overloaded with interesting stuff (as opposed to last semester when I really had no interest in what we were learning). At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel (well, semester) -- Dave (my boyfriend) and I will be going to Mexico in May.... the day after final exams end! I am so excited for this trip. My parents had an extra timeshare week, so they gave us a nice end of the semester treat! We're going to be staying that the Mayan Palace Resort, and it's about 30 minutes south of Cancun and close to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. It will be beautiful!!! So I've been working on getting in shape for this trip. I figured I better get started early and give myself enough time. So I've started going to the gym again and eating much healthier... so far so good. I just have to keep myself motivated! I guess that periodically going to the resort's webpage will be motivation enough :)

Finally.... I've been inspired!

So I've finally come out of my knitting slump. I've found something that I'm really inspired to knit. The pattern, the colors, the general concept of it really has to grab my attention for my to be interested enough to actually complete the project. So I've finally decided to knit a baby blanket for one of my friends who is due in June. She isn't finding out whether it's a boy or a girl, so I found this really great light green yarn... and I'm going to use the baby blanket pattern from my Stitch n' Bitch book. My roommate is also making the same thing in yellow for one of her pregnant friends. So it will be nice to work on it together. I still haven't posted any pics... hopefully I'll get to that soon!

I'm Bummed....

So I thought that I was going to join the "Hourglass Sweater Knit Along" but I just realized that the yarn it calls for is like $11/skein! And it uses about 10 or so skeins!!! WAY out of my price range.... I look for the cheapest, yet nice looking, yarn I can find. I guess I will have to substitute. However, I would really like to avoid that since I am not so experienced at this to begin with, nevermind re-sizing things. This would be my first sweater, so I want simple... yet stylish -- something I would actually wear. So I haven't written in here for a while. I was so afraid that I would work so hard on getting this all set up and use it for about 3 days straight... and then never use it again. Well, I am determined to actually keep up with it :) So classes are now in full swing! I really enjoy my classes (unlike last semester!). This time they are extremely relevent to what I want to do: Child Assessment, Neuropsych Assessment, Child Clinical Neuropsych (@BU)... and then there are the requireds: Stats and Theory/Practice. So far, so good. Plus, things are getting underway with my Master's Research.... very exciting! I will post pics of my finished projects later on tonight.... :)