Quills and Needles

I Have Been Up To Things

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:18:53 GMT

Hello, Internet. How are you? I've been okay. And fairly busy. I made some things! Want to see them?

So the thing about my job is that I have a lot of time for stuff. Not much going on at night. This means I have hours and hours every week to knit my heart out. I'm also getting some good reading done—I'm in the middle of NK Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. Actually I'm avoiding it a little because I can tell it's going to break my heart into pieces. I have odd avoidance habits. I'm also slowly making my way through Liu Xiaobo's essay collection, No Enemies, No Hatred. It's overall a surprisingly productive time considering how slow actual-work is.

I made this Hemlock Ring blanket (a Brooklyn Tweed adaptation of a doily pattern):

I wear it like a shawl. I wanted something more substantial than a lot of the lace shawl patterns one sees on Ravelry, and semi-circular in shape. This fits the bill nicely, and used less than 2 skeins of Cascade Eco+.

( More pictures and projects... )

I'm in the middle of knitting a basic sweater out of Berroco Vintage (I love this yarn!). Given how much knitting time I have, and the fact that all it needs is sleeves, I expect to be done by next week. Then I can work on, hmm, socks maybe?

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Sometimes, It's Just Not Meant To Be

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:30:53 GMT

Internets, let me tell you a sad story. A story of woe. A story of despair. A story without a happy ending. It's also kinda long.

Once upon a time, I decided to make a pair of pants. They were going to be very nice pants (or trousers, if you prefer.) I bought some lovely dark blue linen/rayon that had a nice hand, didn't wrinkle too much, very comfortable-feeling. Did all my prep work: prewashed the fabric, made a muslin.

Oh, that was really where it started. The Muslin Disaster. Now Simplicity provided some measurements so that one could choose which fit they might fit best—provided with the options of "slim", "average", and "curvy". As someone with a long torso, most of it between my waist and hip, my measurements (I think they asked for crotch length and depth, measured from the waist) were not anywhere on their chart. I chalked this up to the aforementioned proportions and chose the "average" fit, and sewed up a muslin. I had my handy "Pants for Real People" to guide me through the fitting process.

Oh, there were tears then. The muslin fit horribly. Awfully. It was too tight in some places and far too loose in others. It ws completely wrong. I made changes. Many, many changes... and I cursed my book and Simplicity and myself and the muslin for not working. I was never, ever going to have pants that fit me. That was a dark moment, the first of many. Actually it was many moments... I had to take long breaks in between alterations, because of the despair of them NEVER WORKING.

In frustration I emailed Simplicity, because apparently you can do that when you have problems with their patterns. The person I spoke to asked me for some measurements and helpfully suggested I try the "curvy" fit. I have never considered myself "curvy" (pear-shaped, yes; curvy, no) but I was willing to try anything. So I cut another muslin. It was a miracle. It fit almost perfectly. I made a few adjustments to the inseam. I started cutting my fabric. It was going to be brilliant.

I started assembling. Knowing I wanted these pants to be awesome, I had practiced putting in a fly on my first muslin. (I used the HotPatterns fly front tutorial, and I recommend it.) Zipper went in fine. My next mistake was to trim the top of the zipper, and not sew in some stops. It wasn't an issue until...

I somehow snipped a hole in the right front, right near the crotch. Time to panic. Time to completely freak out. I went to the internet; maybe I could fix it somehow. I bought fabric glue. I tested it. I glued a patch behind the hole. It was really, really obvious. I had some extra fabric—I'd been hoping to get a pair of shorts out of the yardage, but I cut a new right front instead. Managed to pick out the ruined right front and put in the new one, even with the fly already sewn in.

Then I pulled the zipper tab off. I was beginning to wonder if these pants wanted me to develop a drinking problem.

After several choice words and some tricky finagling, I got the zipper tab back on, and immediately sewed on stops at the end of the tapes. It would be okay. I could still pull this off. I continued construction.

I made pockets that failed. They were too small, placed badly. The pattern does not include pockets, by the way. I gave up on pockets. There's only so much you can fight a damn pair of pants.

I thought about including the belt carriers I was originally going to leave off. I need somewhere to put my hands, whether it's pockets or belt loops. I stalled. Then I got a job and didn't have time to sew for almost a month. I decided that the pants were not worth stalling forever. I decided to move forward without the belt loops. Might as well finish the pants and move on.

I started to sew on the waistband and realized some of the seams hadn't been finished. Linen can be really fray-ey so I wanted to overlock them. One outseam, fine. One inseam, fine. And then I realized I'd accidentally sewn some of the seam allowance to some of the main fabric. Guess where? Yep, the right front crotch. I didn't think it was a problem... until I picked it out.

Two neatly-cut lines. And as I'd already discovered, impossible to fix. No more fabric.

( Cut for sad, sad photos. )

And that, as they say, was that. There was nothing else to be done. The pants won.

I'm kinda sad, I admit. I liked the fabric, I liked the (eventual) fit, they were going to be comfy and roomy and stylish. But you can't fight these things forever. If I had my heart forever set on these, I'm sure the fabric shop has more. But for now I'm just going to leave them be. I don't need to tempt fate anymore.

I thought people were exaggerating when they said sewing pants was difficult, but damn.

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Update

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:20:54 GMT

Hello, world. I'm still around. I got a job, which is cool, but which has reduced my available free time somewhat significantly. It's a night-shift job, which is okay, but since I have neighbors living downstairs of me, it does cut down on my available spinning wheel/sewing machine/noisy activity time. I will update crafty stuff soon.

However, I would like to ask the universe a question. Why is that, when I assemble pasta on my own, the sauce never ends up entirely satisfactory? Whether it's from a jar, a packet (I am not the most industrious of cooks, it is true) or from scratch, I always finish my pasta with a tinge of disappointment. *sigh*

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lazy

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:39:28 GMT

It's truly lazy summer again. I love summer. It means that I haven't been blogging, though—that would be the "lazy" part. Oi.

Stuff I've been working on:
job applications (sigh)
sewing pants
knitting a giant semi-secret project
organizing and cleaning my apartment (sigh)
sleeping.

I did go to Yellowstone last week, which turned out to be a very successful wildlife-watching trip! I saw four wolves, several bears (grizzlies and black bears), frillions of bison, lots of pronghorn and elk, and some interesting birds. And babies! So many babies.

Elk babies!

( More pictures within... )

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Twill Towels

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:28:20 GMT

So you may recall that back in April I posted a WIP of some towels on the loom. Well, a little while ago I finished them. I think they turned out rather well, if I do say so myself. They're squishy and nice to the touch, and they're my mom's favorite colors. Yes, I finished them almost three weeks after her birthday, but that was because I had the silly sense to graduate three days before her birthday. In any case, she has them now.

How I delivered them.

( More pictures within! )

The draft was a goose-eye and reversed twill, with a goose-eye treadling, linked in case you're curious. I used Louet Cottolin 22/2 in "Cream" and Halcyon's Organic Cottolin 8/2 in "Red" (despite the very different numbers, they're pretty much the same weight/YPP.) The towels were sett at 24 ends per inch and I threw all red weft for Towel #1 (on the right), all white for #2 (middle) and white with red weft stripes for the last one (left.) They came out 20" x 14", except for the last one, which is slightly longer.

Conclusions: my mother loved them, my grandma joked about stealing them, and I wish I had a set for myself! When I make my own set, though, I want it in dark blue and white.

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Works in Progress 25 May

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:55:10 GMT

Mostly, recently, I've been working on pants. Which is not very exciting, I must admit. There's a lot of fit shenanigans. I started with the tissue-fit method detailed in Pants for Real People (I really truly almost wrote "Pains for Real People") and have now moved on to a muslin. The book says with their method you don't need a muslin, but for my first pair of Real Pants I'm going to anyway, not least so I can practice putting in a fly front.

Speaking of which...

( Photos within... )

I've also been working on a swatch for a new sweater. (A Christmas sweater, if you must know.) My local yarn shop was having a sale, and I had a store credit, which meant I walked out of there with 5 skeins of Cascade sock yarn for $1.87. Score!

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Dear UPS Deliverer:

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:38:40 GMT

Please actually read the number on the packages you deliver. If, in fact, you did read the number and just didn't feel like coming up one flight of stairs to deliver it to me instead of my downstairs neighbors, it may be that package delivery is not an appropriate job for you.

No love,

Carrie

--

On the plus side, my neighbors are nice people and were also home, meaning I could claim my package after not too much hassle. (Also, the local UPS hub is looking into it, since that's the second time I've had my package delivered downstairs.) Which means I finally have new books! I bought The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Sarah Veblen and Pants for Real People by Marta Alto and Pati Palmer (Amazon links). I've only glanced through them so far but they look to be excellent references (as they should be, since I bought them on many recommendations.)

I'm not sure what it says about me that I seem to be reading more reference books than other kinds of books recently (do those count on my reading list?) but hey, at least I'll have well-fitting clothes now! I'm about to start a pair of pants—my first properly fitted ones (let's not talk about the last pair) so I anticipate these books being very useful.

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The Graduation Dress (Finally)

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:34:52 GMT

It was, in fact, done on time—finished before last Friday night, so I could wear it for graduation. (Honestly I'm not sure why I picked that event, since I was wearing my graduation robes/gown/thing most of the time.) I have now worn it twice and have Thoughts on its construction and ideas for future projects. I also finally have adequate photos.

( Many, many photos! )

And despite all the fitting issues, I'm already contemplating tackling pants. I may sew a few blouses before I get there, though...

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I made a thing

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:31:04 GMT

I don't have all the photos I would like of the graduation dress yet, so you'll have to make do with this. It's a dress I made over two years ago. I had made it with the intention of wearing it to Hawaii on family vacation. When I got there, I decided it looked silly on me, and I never wore it. (Two major factors went into this: I wear dresses infrequently, so I was unused to the sight, and I probably needed a haircut. My hair length has oddly enormous effects on my self-image.) So I stuffed it in a closet for two years, occasionally contemplated selling it, and mostly forgot about it. Until last week, when I needed something fancy-ish and rediscovered this! (Important factor: I just got a haircut.)

( Pictures within... )

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Finally

Sat, 05 May 2012 04:32:55 GMT

For FO Friday I have only this: I am finally a college grad. Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Chinese. I feel relieved to be done, a little bit sad for what I'm leaving, a little bit anxious for the future. Mostly I want to sleep for a week and then deal with everything else.

The graduation dress got done as well and I have another project to share but I'll save those for next week.

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Losing the will to motivate

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:05:46 GMT

It's finals week, and I think I have managed to get in over my head even more than is usual for this time of semester. Why oh why did I decide to craft so many projects, ON A DEADLINE? On top of finals! Auuugh. I'm graduating on Friday and while I am, and should be, excited, I'm more stressed about getting everything done.

The list:

Final paper, due tomorrow at midnight, for my "Pop Culture of South Asia" class. 2K words, I have not one word written. Also note that I'm writing this post instead of working on it. I still have over 24 hours! What could possibly go wrong?
Final exam to study for, Thursday morning. Not too worried about this, but I do need to review my notes for an hour or so.
The Damned Graduation Dress. I'm stitching the lining in right now, by hand. I chose entirely the wrong fabric for lining and yet am stubbornly sticking with it—it's extremely lightweight silk habotai which I dyed at the same time I dyed the center panel fabric. It's too light, slightly transparent, and slippery as all hell, but I dyed it and it's silk, and I won't put a poly lining in a silk sleeveless dress, and now it's too late to get anything else. And I paid for it already. (See also: sunk cost fallacy.)
My mom's kitchen towels. Now fortunately these are due on Monday (her birthday) and could potentially be pushed back to Sunday (mother's day) if needed, but then I'd have to buy something for her birthday or figure something else out. I only have 8 inches of the first towel woven, and once they're woven they'll have to be hemmed and washed and pressed.
Socks for my grandma. She's coming tomorrow and they won't be done yet. I think as long as they get done before she leaves, next Tuesday, I'll be okay.
Stuff I have coming up, that will take mental and physical energy (both in prep and during) which cannot be devoted to the above: picking up my grandma tomorrow, spinning group (maybe? if I have a decent amount of my paper done), Phi Beta Kappa initiation on Thursday, big university graduation ceremony Friday morning, college graduation ceremony Friday evening, informal horse show on Saturday morning (my first!), graduation party Saturday evening, horseback riding lessons on Sunday.

I'm tired just thinking about it. I'm having a really hard time motivating myself for the paper. I've done well on all of my previous papers for this class but I've also felt that they were terrible while writing them, which is never fun. Why can't I just fuck around on the internet and wind up with my paper magically written? (By me. I realize there are ways I could do this and end up with a paper that's not by me, and that's not really the goal.) *sigh*

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WIP Whoops It's Thursday

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:13:53 GMT

Yesterday was the last day of class of the semester—(and of my current college career, eeee! I'm feeling both excited and weird. Sleeping in this morning was nice though)—so I was a little distracted from posting. But I do have a new WIP this week! Technically I have two, but I didn't photograph the other one. It's not very visually exciting.

So! On the loom, FINALLY, is a warp for kitchen towels for my favorite mother. She likes white and red, and I just worked out an interesting goose-eye twill draft to go with that. Honestly the warp is not one of my favorites. It's got the most ends I've ever worked with in a single warp—395—and they liked to stick together, so threading the heddles was awful and irritating. (The yarn is 22/2 Cottolin.) I feel a lot better now that it's ready to weave, though. My ebil plan is to weave off one towel, pull it off the loom and use it as my "sample" (and keep it for myself, bwahaha), then fix the two threading errors I found, then weave off the next three for my mom. She'll never know!

(She might know that I'm weaving for her, though. My loom lives not at my apartment but in her basement. It has a very nice nook there, but it's not terribly helpful for keeping things like this a secret.)

I'm also knitting some worsted-weight socks for my grandma, who is coming out for my graduation next week, but like I said, they're not terribly visually interesting, at least not on the needles.

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FO Friday April 20 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:21:08 GMT

Woo, I actually have an FO to share! I finished and blocked my Haruni (Ravelry link). I love it. It's so pretty with the leaf borders and the tonal colorway. Those kinds of blues are perfectly suited to me and they are my favorite colors. I knit the pattern straight, not adding or subtracting anything; it turned out surprisingly big. I knit it in Knitpicks' Stroll Tonal sock yarn in the colorway "Blue Yonder."

( Photos! )

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WIP Wednesday 18 April 2012

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:36:51 GMT

Not much going on this week—it's getting close to finals and I've been writing a lot of papers, alas. I have less than a week of class remaining in my current college career and all I can think of is how tired I am. Blah.

Sewing: at the moment this is my main focus. I really want to get this dress done by graduation. I might have to put in a lot of hours during finals week, but I only have two exams, plus one paper, due then, so I should have time. (A couple of my classes end before finals week.) I'm presently working on catchstitching the seam allowances of all the seams. I'm hoping to get the zipper in and start working on the lining by the end of the weekend.

You can't see it too well, but that's the innards of my bodice. You can see the silk organza underlining (all written on!) and the catch-stitched seam allowances. I still have the skirt to do.

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Yay Fabric!

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:37:29 GMT

Yesterday my cousin and I went to check out a little fabric shop in town, Yellow Bird Fabrics. Fantastic little store. It also happened to coincide with my registering for another Craftsy class, "Sew Retro: The Starlet Suit Jacket" (classes are 50% off this week!). Less because I'm into vintage or vintage-inspired patterns and more because I want to learn to make jackets. I had this idea that I wanted an eggplant-purple jacket because I love purple (almost as much as I love blue!) but casually perusing a few online fabric shops did not turn up anything quite right. However, at Yellow Bird I found a wool suiting in exactly the right shade of purple! Also some slate-blue linen/rayon that I bought to make pants.

The print on the left is a poly charmeuse I got at Joann today. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, but could never quite convince myself it wasn't too much for a blouse. I think it'll make a fantastic jacket lining, though. Overall I'm quite pleased (though I spent quite a bit more than I planned to!)

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WIP Wednesday 11 April 2012

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:35:31 GMT

Okay, so, I have 2 weeks of classes left and then finals. First of all, lots of assignments due, therefore stress. Second of all, it's spring! So I want to be outside and stuff. Third, I'll be graduating soon, eep! And I'm so swamped by "I can't wait for this semester to be over" because of 1 and 2 that I can't appreciate that I'll be moving on to something else. I'm sure I'll probably freak out the day after graduation, or something. I did after high school graduation.

Stuff I have been working on! Other than school, of which there has been a lot. Mostly the graduation dress.

( Pictures )

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Haul

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:55:10 GMT

Went to Joann today to hit up their Simplicity pattern sale. Apparently I'm back on a sewing kick; I've recently decided that once school's out and I'm full-time job searching, I'm also going to sew myself some nice office-appropriate clothes, in the hopes that I will have a chance to wear them in an actual job. I'm still working on the graduation dress, too. So:

S 1881—I plan to make the halter view, but I'll have to adjust the pattern to use woven fabric because it's drafted for knits.
S 2305 — love the sleeve, neckline, belt, curved hem, all that.
S 2860— pants are good. I like pants. I like them better than skirts. This pattern is labeled "amazing fit" (and though the last pair I made from an "amazing fit" pattern did not fit at all, let alone amazingly, that was 100% user error. And by error I mean "rushing things, not taking or trusting measurements, and not reading fit directions.)
S 2512— I like the interesting tie/belt detail on this.

Also I got a bunch of new machine needles, a thimble (hand-basting my graduation dress is poking holes in my finger), and a zipper for the graduation dress.

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WIP Wednesday and Magic

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:04:23 GMT

Just truckin' along here. It's starting to be the End of the Semester, which means finals are approaching, which means my free time will decrease slowly and then increase rapidly (after finals are done.) This week, I have mainly been working on The Dress, with a little spinning thrown in. (I also knit the first four rows of Chart B on my Haruni before deciding it wasn't very good movie knitting, and set it aside for later.)

( Pictures within... )
I was hand-basting last night when I couldn't sleep, and got to thinking about magic stuff—in Tamora Pierce's books (I'm thinking of Circle of Magic, specifically, but also in the Tortall universe) the characters have special magics in their particular areas of interest. (I find it interesting that the magics correspond to what the characters love, but of course that may be a correlation = causation situation.) If I lived in that world, I'd like to have either textile or animal magic (so, either Sandry or Daine, basically.) But of course, I don't. I have to put in all the slogging hours hand basting this dress, and I can't just order the thread around or demand the organza stop slipping and lie flat. (Silk apparently likes Sandry, so I assume she wouldn't have this problem.) I'm still pondering the economic implications of that. And, you know, in worlds with craft magic, you might meet someone who doesn't have magic but who excels in their field, because they're exceptional. But never anyone else. "This is Sandry, who is awesome with textiles and has magic. And this is Sally, who is incredible—and she doesn't even have magic! How incredible! (Oh, and this is Carrie, who is sorta middling with textiles and doesn't have magic, and isn't worth mentioning, even if Sandry might have been sorta-middling without any magic.)" Doesn't happen.

"Not everyone who loves a thing has magic with it, you know," Rosethorn said. (Tris's Book, p. 49)

On the plus side, no one here has magic, so at least that's one even playing ground.

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no-fo friday

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:39:33 GMT

This weeks FOs:

a 3-page response paper to some journal articles on the modern issues of Japanese health care

a 4-page partial review of Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler

... so no crafty things. School's been busy and I've been lazy. And tired, because I apparently no longer go to sleep at any kind of reasonable time.

Also, last night I saw the Hunger Games movie. It was everything I'd hoped for.

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FO Friday March 16 2012

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:14:42 GMT

The twill scarves are done! The stripey socks are done! A sweater is done!

( Picspam anon... )

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WIP Wednesday March 13 2012

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:16:02 GMT

Normally there would be an FO Friday somewhere in between WIP Wednesdays (and I say normally but really this is my second of my attempted-regular posts so there is no "normal" yet) but I was out of town on Friday. It's spring break for me this week (my last one at least for this school go-round, as I'll be graduating in May) and I went on a family trip to visit my nana in California. It was lovely and warm and relaxing.

Onward to projects!
( Two pictures... )

I'm hoping to use my spring break to work on all these projects and then some—I have fleece to wash and process, too, and I might start warping the loom for my next project (kitchen towels for my mom.) Having time to craft and ~~no homework to worry about~~ ignoring my homework? Sounds awesome to me!

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Work in Progess Wednesday

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:58:32 GMT

In an effort to make myself post more, I'm trying a couple of things. One of these: WiP Wednesday! Here is some of the various stuff I'm working on.

( Knitting, weaving, and spinning: cut for pictures )

Normally I would be knitting one or two more projects but I happen to be between projects at the moment, unusually enough. But I've started winding some balls of yarn to cast on this weekend (when my spring break starts!) so I expect the next WIP Wednesday will show a rather different set. Until then!

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2011 Wrapup and January Optimism

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:47:04 GMT

Well, internets, 2011 was not my best year, I think, but it wasn't too terrible for me personally. I started my senior year in college, lost my military scholarship for medical reasons, but got my medical crap mostly under control. I decided to double major to give me more post-college opportunities, and right now I'm crossing my fingers that it works, because the terrifying thing about 2012 is the prospect of finding a job. I also taught myself to spin, first on spindles and then I bought a spinning wheel and learned to use that. I took a class on weaving and loved it. I improved my horseback riding skills and started to learn to jump, which I have wanted to do forever. I failed to finish a draft of a novel I'm working on. I didn't get a job (though I had a couple interviews.) I got a 4.0 in my most recent semester.

All in all, a mixed year.

( My goals for last year and this year... )

So there they are. I hope 2012 is awesome. I don't know if it will be, but I hope it is.

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Alas

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:19:27 GMT

So two weeks and two days ago, whilst I was at a weaving class, my car was broken into. Passenger front window smashed, schoolbag taken. In the schoolbag: my laptop (what the thief was looking for, I assume). Also in my school bag: a textbook filled with handwritten notes, two or three folders of assignments and such, a notebook filled with notes for two classes, a paperback I was borrowing, some paperwork. The bag itself was an old Harry Potter Hogwarts book bag which is no longer manufactured, to my knowledge. Three other cars were broken into; at least one of those had items stolen as well.

It sucked. I was more devastated by the loss of my school notes and book bag than the computer. I have renter's insurance which covered the window damage and my property loss; I had my data backed up on an external hard drive which was several miles away from the site of the theft. I was not physically harmed. It could have been so much worse.

What characterized my reaction to the theft most was sadness. I was angry at first, of course. The police, to my awareness, have not been able to recover the computer nor do they have any leads. All I was left with was my loss, and a resignation. Life doesn't stop just because bad things happened. I had to figure out how to keep going. It felt like being knocked onto my back, picking myself up and finding that my original path had now been diverted somewhat. I could keep going forward; but every so often I would stumble onto new obstacles. "That was on my computer." "I hope I do okay on this quiz since my notes and textbook are gone." "I think I edited that file after my last backup, so that edit is gone."

I've gotten through okay. I don't have a lot of anger anymore; I didn't have much to start with. It's a waste of energy, anyway. I can say this much: after having gone through this, after having been robbed, I would beg before I would steal. It's clear that the thief never thought about how their actions would affect the lives of their targets; I now know enough that I would never willingly put someone through that. Even if they had my experience, where everything worked out okay.

I got my new computer today. Time to move forward.

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Goal Refresher

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:17:38 GMT

At the beginning of every calendar year for the last few years, I set goals of things I'd like to accomplish during that year. Not resolutions per se; those have the connotation to me of ongoingness and repetition, like "exercise x days a week" or "stay within a good budget" or whatnot. My goals are the get-it-done-and-cross-it-off type, because I like crossing things off lists. It's almost September so I want to reevaluate where I'm at in my goals and make some priorities. I also want to prioritize finishing my current works in progress so I can move on to other things.

Works in Progress:
Brocade "Madison" dress—It's a Chinese brocade, black with red flowers, and this pattern. I need to finish sewing it, it's in pieces on my sewing room floor.
Falling Stars cardigan—a fingering-weight, colorwork yoke knitted cardigan. I've been working on this pretty steadily and want to finish it before casting on another sweater. It needs six or so more inches on the body, both sleeves, and finishing work. Falling Stars pattern (Ravelry link).
White Witch mittens—baby alpaca colorwork mittens. I've been working on these slowly and will definitely finish them in time for winter. White Witch pattern (Ravelry link).
"Vladimir"—my current novel-like writing WIP. Maybe 40% done? I want the second draft written by the end of the year. I've been slacking, need to get back to work on that.

Goal review:
Write in my journal 2+ times a month: success so far, but I need to make another entry and haven't gotten around to it. (My physical journal, not a blog.)
Officially resign from my former church—(it's a statement thing.) Haven't done yet. I was waiting for this month and my birthday, but I've been distracted and haven't done it. Bit nervous for if my mother hears about it, though she knows of my plan.
Knit at least one sweater: my WIP cardigan is #2.
Knit at least 3 pairs of socks: I've done one pair. I'll probably cast on a pair of "Quidditch socks" when I'm done with the mittens. I can knit those in class fairly easily.
Knit at least 3 pairs of mittens/gloves: I've done one pair, WIP mittens are #2. I have some handspun in mind for pair #3.
Translate at least 6 Chinese short works (poems, songs, etc.): Have done zero. :P That is, into English. I could go back and translate my Classical Chinese homework, but as I've sold the textbook, it wouldn't be ideal.

So. There is still much to be done. Plus I really want to knit sweaters, so I must knit like the wind—but I will be warm for winter, at least. And winter comes early here.

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