Meet Mackie!

I got a new toy! Okay, a crazy expensive new toy. Actually, it's not even a toy but a tool for grad school, especially the potential thesis project I'm looking at with another student. Anyway, I have acquired a MacBook Pro. I have named him Mackie. He and I are beginning a wonderful relationship. Just look how happy I am with his PhotoBooth feature with it's fun effects options! Who wouldn't be happy?

I'm surprised at the Mac/PC debate that is initiated by my open love for Mackie. Some profess their mutual admiration while others declare their detestation or confusion with him. I have to tell you something. I realize that Macs and PCs are different but to me, they seem to do the same things. The commands seem to be the same, just in different places. I had a Mac desktop at the theatre for a year and a half and a PC desktop at home and although I did experience confusion it wasn't with one or the other systems, but both equally.

Mackie wanted to show you the sock I've started. Mackie will probably show you all the knitting from now on as the digital camera is out of date for him. I'm thinking of getting a new one, but next semester. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Superwash Wool in the Icehouse colorway. They are a Christmas present for my friend Renee. Don't worry, she knows she's getting them. I hope you like the colors Renee! I was happy to find this colorway in the Superwash due to a little mishap that took place in her household. I knit a stranded colorwork togue that ended up going home with her daughter, Lauryn, and it accidently found it's way into the wash. You all know what that means. The hat is now big enough for the Barbie doll to wear! It happens to all of us at some point in time - that or pink socks. Maybe I should knit a little strap and it could be a Barbie felted handbag.

There is progress on Momma Snug, but nothing worth showing at this point.

Have a great weekend!
Tschuss.

A post with no pictures

Sorry! I will have some knitting progress pictures soon but grad school is keeping me busy so I've not been home except to sleep. That is not entirely true, I was home some over the weekend. We're still trying to get the last boxes unpacked though so I spent a good deal of time organizing space to put things away.

Enough with the boring! Sunday was my 30th birthday - Hooray! Friday night That Guy surprised me with a rented convertible to drive in the Hill Country and go to dinner. After eating a boatload of seafood I commented on how nice it was and what a perfect way to celebrate my birthday. Then he surprised me with my actual birthday present which is a beautiful necklace from Tiffany & Co. He evidently spent a huge amount of time picking it out online. He even asked his coworkers to vote on the three he narrowed it down to. I'll be sure to include a photo of it in the next post.

Saturday afternoon I joined the Austin Knitting & Crochet Meetup (north group) for some knitterly fun. At the bookstore next door I discovered a magazine called Selvegde. Go to this website. Drool over it. I bought it even though it was $20 because every page absolutely facsinated me!

http://www.selvedge.org/

It's a UK based magazine that covers all kinds of textiles. The photos are beautiful and the writer's know just how to write about textiles. I'm thinking of getting a subscription as it is a substantial savings over the cover price.

Sunday was great fun! I met up with the always fun Kelly from Kelp! (I'll get this link listed in my sidebar, I'm on a Mac on campus and the link function is not present on my toolbar as I'm writing this). We met at the Yarn Harlot book signing. She and her hubby were in town to visit with a myriad of people so I'm thrilled that we had time to get together. The Elisabet Ney Museum is on my block so we stopped in there first - she was a german sculptor that immigrated to Austin in the mid to late 1800's. Her goal was first to sculpt the great men of Germany, and she did. Richard Wagner and King Ludwig II of Bavaria for example. Her statue's of William Travis and Stephen F. Austin grace the south foyer of the Texas State Capitol.

Then we moved on to the main function of the day - Hill Country Weavers. Brace yourself. I bought cashmere. CASHMERE. Actually a laceweight cashmere/silk blend in hand-dyed greens. It was my birthday! And I plan to knit a shawl to wear at my wedding. So at this point I'm custom tailoring a suit for That Guy for my tailoring class, building an underdress for the existing lace dress, and knitting this shawl, all for the wedding.

I can hear you all laughing in disbelief and I can't say that your reaction ISN'T well founded. But I still believe I can do it all. ALL I TELL YOU!

Tschuss!

Austin City Limits Knitting

I have now experienced the orderly chaos that is the Austin City Limits Music Festival. As a musician That Guy went for all three days last year and upon seeing this year's lineup immediately purchased three day passes for both of us. I had to be at work until 6pm on Friday and was only able to take in a little bit that first night. Saturday was focused on getting great seats for the Raconteurs.
Here I am squating (with That Guy taking the picture) to keep our position towards the front. We had to catch the end of the previous set in order to move in to position when those crowds started to peel off. It kind of felt like the Mad Hatter Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland - Switch places!!! We sat for about 45 minutes and stood up with 15 minutes to go before the band began their hour long set.
This is the crowd behind us when we stood up. That Guy felt like we could have sat 5 minutes longer but to be honest I was starting to get a little claustrophobic. Also, the girl standing up behind me had begun to let her bag rest on top of my head and no amount of shifting was giving her the picture that this was possibly annoying.
Given that this was how close we were and the band gave a great show made it all worthwhile!
All that sitting and waiting for bands to play, or in this case sitting in the back of the crowd for Ween allowed for some precious knitting time. The Hook 'em Horns socks have been steeped in the heady musical waters of Van Morrison, KT Tunstall, the Raconteurs, the Flaming Lips, and a little bit of Tom Petty. I say a little bit because there was rain. Rain with LIGHTNING. That Guy is not a fan of rain with lightning when you add the risky factor of being in an open field, so we hightailed it out of there 25 minutes into Petty's set. For those that braved it I've heard he came back out to play an extra long set for them. Cheers.
Tschuss!

The eyes of Texas are upon me

WOW. It has been crazy around here since my last post. I am now officially a graduate student at the awesome University of Texas at Austin. Hook 'em Horns! I've only been at it a week and I'm seriously afraid I'm not going to get to knit for three years. This is not really true though because real Knitters will find time to knit! This past week was not a good indication of what the rest of my grad career is going to be like because I had the added stress of our move over this past weekend. We live in the cutest, funniest, slantiest house ever!

We only had three days to move. That Guy had two of those days off, access to a large van, and a couple of buddies that pitched in on the last day. However, I had to go in to work (I'm a teaching assistant, more on that later) for 6 hours, and during the other two days of the move I had to go to the library for hours at a time because I had a ton of homework and our internet was down for the Labor Day weekend. AH! (Side note: I ordered a laptop - a MacBook - I'm so excited! It's got to be the single most expensive thing I've ever purchased with the exception of my car and my education). Needless to say there are still boxes everywhere that have not been unpacked yet. I feel like I'm starting to catch up though. Once I can get ahead on my reading I'll be in good shape. I'm a person who likes to incubate thoughts before I have to put them into an action like writing about or discussing them.

During this time I have managed a few more rows on the gift blanket (so close to being done!) and the Hook 'em Horns colorway socks from Hill Country Yarns. Once the blanket is done I'm looking forward to cranking on Momma' Snug as I'd really like to have it done by the end of October for my sister to get some good use out of it (she's due early February -in Wisconsin!). The frightening thought that entered my mind this past week though was this: can I get all the Christmas knitting done that I had planned? I'd hate for that to be the case. Many of them are admittedly for my family members, and most of them know what they're getting, so it might be alright for me to work on them over the Christmas break. We'll just have to wait and see.

About that Teaching Assistant thing...I have to say that my position may be a little different than the traditional assignment. Rather than being assigned to a specific class I'm assigned to one of the staff members in the costume shop. There are several reasons for this that I won't go into but I have to say I'm relieved. Plus, I like the person that I've been assigned to. Today I did research on sources for lace which for me is kind of fun. My classes are Tailoring, Research Methods, Millinery, and a lab class in which I'm assigned to a draper for a specific production. In Millinery I elected to build one of the tricorne hats for one of the plays this semester. I'll also be making a bonnet. Tailoring spans both fall and spring semesters and during the course of that time we'll tailor a three piece man's suit. That Guy is my model so if all goes well this may be his wedding suit! I will be sure to share pictures with you.

So. Tired. Must. Read. More.