3:47 AM

It is 3:47 am. I started dyeing at around midnight with a plan to get through 44 skeins: 14 for the September club shipment, 16 of a new superwash BFL base, 8 Elementary, 2 Elementary DK, and 4 skeins of laceweight-just a fraction of the 24 lbs I started with at the beginning of the summer. Now, 38 skeins in and three days away from leaving for college, I sit here typing away at something I may very well not remember when I wake up in just a few hours to continue packing my entire life into boxes and spacebags. So, should I wake up in the morning wondering why I'm so tired and my entire house smells of vinegar, here's a little "note to self": Congratulations, Molly. You have conquered the 24 lb yarn pile.

Alright, I'm off to go finish up the last 6 skeins. Let's just hope I can get these all photographed and sold before I run out of food money. I haven't heard good things about the meal plan.

25 Days

So I'm leaving in 25 days. I started packing up some sweaters, some handknit hats and scarves, and other things I won't need for the rest of the summer, but as of now, there isn't much else I can pack. One would think, with all my supplies (yarn, beads, paints, etc.) just waiting to be used, I'd be busy all the time, and I have been. I've been knitting like crazy, spending time with friends, shopping for dorm stuff, and (finally) shopping for some new and much-needed clothes that, get this, aren't covered in paint...yet. That said, I can't seem to figure out what to do with myself. Sure, this week I helped throw a birthday party for my grandma, went to see Funny People, threw a quasi-spontaneous dinner party, and invited some friends over for pizza and movies, but when I look at the New Student Orientation website or talk to my new college friends, I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting to get in the car and go. I feel like I won't truly be productive until all of my clothes, books, and yarn have been packed away into boxes, my new, polka-dotted laptop has arrived and been outfitted with the latest version of photoshop, and my wheel has been safely tucked into the seat next to me.

On that note, here's the shawl I'm working on:



Fountain Pen Shawl - Interweave Knits Spring 2009 out of Knit Picks Gloss Lace

Here's where it gets deep.

The day I realized there'd be 52 days left before I left for college, I started counting down with a deck of playing cards, arranged from 2s to aces: spades, diamonds, clubs, hearts. When I first clipped the two of spades to a hanging magnetic basket next to my monitor, I was about as gung-ho about leaving as anyone could be. I was going to Philly, my already-adopted new home, and away from everything I considered a "problem". In Philly, my mom couldn't get mad at me for not putting away the laundry, my art teacher couldn't tell me I was devoting too much time to academics (even if I take an art class, I'm going to an Ivy League school...), and I wouldn't have to watch my grandparents suffer and die. In Philly, I'll have a great gelato place within walking distance, classes that interest me, opportunities to date some of the brightest young gentlemen in existence, and a roommate who has agreed to put up with my yarn stash.

I'm up to the five of hearts now, and I'm not so sure. I don't know what it is that prompted such a change. Maybe it's noticing how sick my grandma is or how much I miss my friends, even when I've only not seen them in a few weeks. Hell, maybe it's the idea that my entire stash just can't come with me. I can just envision it: My parents show up after a 3-hour car ride, bag of yarn in hand. "Nooooooo, mom! It's not THAT purple merino. It's the superwash! Now I won't be able to start my sweater for another month!" Perhaps, though, it's the idea that I'm going to have to start over again. Everything I've established during the last 18 years just won't mean much. It's time to start over, make new friends, develop new interests, and prove myself to a whole new set of people.

This should be interesting.

Tassel Malfunctions

Yep, there's me fourth from the right in the front not throwing my cap because I couldn't get the tassel off. Sometimes I question the Ivy League acceptance. But hey, I GRADUATED!

And now I shall knit.

I'M BACK!...and I have a shameless plug.

I've out-nerded myself once again. I'm doing a Shakespeare-themed yarn club as a last hoorah before I go off to college. The club will last three months and will include sock yarn and some stitch markers, and it should be a ton of fun! More info can be found here.

Aside from that, I don't have much to talk about. I finished school last Friday, but graduation isn't until the 28th, so mostly I've been trying to relax and start getting ready for college. I already met my pre-major adviser, peer adviser, and RA via email, and I got my roommate assignment a few weeks back. She's really cool, and she wants to learn how to knit!

I've decided to set a knitting goal for this summer, since my knitting goal last summer was, well...just a little unattainable (Ravelympics, first sweater/really big project, giant summer assignment...yeah, that didn't work out). This summer I am F-ing Os. That's finishing objects. Get your minds out of the gutter. I'm also going to try to blog more, especially since I hope to get into writing more in college, and I figure writing little bits about knitting isn't a terrible place to start.

The Best Nondenominational Winter Celebration Gift EVER!

I got a wheel! Well, I ordered one, and it should arrive hopefully in not too long. With the help of my parents and my grandma, I was able to order a Schacht Ladybug from The Loopy Ewe partially as a holiday present and partially as a YAAAAY! COLLEGE! present. I still have to pay for some of it and figure out how it works, but YAYAYAYAYY!

More on this later.

I also saw Slumdog Millionaire with the boyfriend today. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. The ending is a little bit cheesy and easy to guess, but the end end after the story actually ends was totally unexpected and hilarious. The movie itself was absolutely fabulous, and the sets were, as is to be expected from a movie shot in India, absolutely beautiful. If anyone was looking for a movie to go see on Christmas while everyone else celebrates, this one is a great choice. I can't, however, help you with Chinese food.

And a short post just to say...

I GOT INTO COLLEGE!!!!!

(University of Pennsylvania, in case you were wondering :D )

I only blog when I have homework.

So it seems I only blog when I have homework and don't want to do it. Oh well, here goes.

I recently started looking at base yarn to order for dyeing over winter break. Just a couple months ago, I figured I'd be spending winter break putting together a yarn club for the new year. I then, of course, realized that I couldn't do a yarn club this year because any club requiring me to send out a monthly package wouldn't fit in with my school schedule, and any club requiring me to send out a package every other month would mean that I'd have to be dyeing and sending out yarn as I prepare to leave.

That's when it hit me. In less than a year, I'm leaving. It's one thing when you're a freshman or sophomore and the people you occasionally hung out with leave, and it's another thing entirely when you're a junior and some of your oldest and closest friends leave (My boyfriend leaving at the beginning of this year wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be, since he's only a half hour away, but still...), but being a senior and realizing that you're going to be leaving your home, your family, the ability to drive for five minutes to see your best friends, and the easy 30-minute wait to see your boyfriend...

What if I get to school and can't find other knitters? What if my roommate or suitemates don't understand the big piles of stash or envelopes? What if somebody sees my dyepots and decides to make pasta and then everybody gets sick and there's a lawsuit and GAHHHHH!

Anyway! What was it like when you left home? Share your stories, advice, stash space-reducing (not stash-reducing!) secrets?

While I was gone...

The last month and a half have been busy. During that time, I did a ton of schoolwork, produced ridiculous amounts of art, applied to college, not slept enough, and definitely not done enough knitting or dyeing. Actually, I haven't done any dyeing in a really long time. In conclusion, I'm just really tired, but I wanted to let you know I'm still out here and see how the rest of you are doing.

So...let me know!