Sara In Geneva, NY

Oh Dear

Question: Can knitting keep me sane??

Answer: No; if anything, it is my downfall. I am attracted to projects of all kinds. If I am faced with something that has the potential to hold my interest until some end has been met, I will focus on it with just about all of my energy. Under this kind of definition a project can include, a class assignment, a recipe, an entire television series, and of course, a knitting project. This is problematic because I never get any work done. There is an infinite number of potential projects waiting for me. Sometimes, more often than I would like, two or more projects will coincide, fully consuming my attention. In fact, this incident occurred earlier this week and I am currently trying to fight it off.

Project Number 1: BBC's Doctor Who television series, Seasons 1 through 3.

Project Number 2: Second knitted sweater.

Result: Hours upon hours spent in front of my computer with headphones on and balls of yarn winding around me, practically tying me to my seat.

Status: Addiction, both slightly embarrassing and slightly destructive. Homework is put off, my eyes are exhausted, my finger are freezing and tired. I have not slept more than six hours each night so far this week. All I can think about is green wool yarn and Doctor Who, and dirty dishes are piling up in the sink. Herein lies the problem.

Rectification Efforts: Less television, and therefore less excuses to knit. My sweater is almost finished and only needs refinements. Pending deadlines for multiple classes are drawing near. I have to get to work. I am still trying to figure out how to shift my energies and project devotion to required projects instead of chosen ones, but so far, I haven't had much success.

Meditative Knitting: Not this week.

Erin and her Dr. Who

My wonderful friend Erin is currently working on her very own Dr. Who scarf. It is a replica of the infamous scarf from the BBC television show Dr Who, which Erin loves passionately. It is ridiculously long, and will probably swallow her head completely when it has grown to its full size. She has been working on it for a couple of months and is about half way finished.

Pattern: (thanks to www.doctorwhoscarf.com)

Needles: US size 5 or 6, straight needles
Yarn: Sport or DK Weight

Color Scheme:
8 purple
36 tan
14 brown
10 yellow
18 red
8 yellow
18 green
8 yellow
24 tan
12 red
8 brown
16 purple
36 green
10 yellow
14 gray
8 red
44 tan
8 purple
16 green
12 gray
8 yellow
16 red
8 purple
44 brown
12 tan
8 gray
36 red
20 yellow
16 green
8 purple
36 tan
12 brown
20 gray
8 red
16 purple
8 tan
20 yellow
44 green
14 red
10 gray
10 yellow
18 brown
10 purple
10 tan
28 gray
8 red
12 yellow
32 gray
12 tan
10 purple
22 brown
10 yellow
14 gray
16 red
54 green
16 yellow
8 tan
14 purple
8 red
22 gray
14 brown
44 tan
8 purple
42 red
8 gray
12 tan
50 brown
8 purple
8 yellow
14 gray
22 green
10 purple
54 tan
10 red
18 gray
10 yellow
44 green
12 purple
8 brown
16 red
30 tan
8 yellow
22 green
8 purple
22 red
10 yellow
16 brown
2 tan

CO 60 stitches, work in garter stitch following the color scheme (the number indicates the number of rows for that color block). Slip the last stitch of every row. Always change colors on same side of scarf.

Finishing: Attach 4-inch tassels consisting of all seven colors to each end.

Current Occupation

My current knitting occupation: Homespun Medley Throw Blanket

(I will try to get a better quality picture)
I am knitting this blanket with all of my leftover homespun yarn. In my experience, a knitter either loves or hates Lion Brand's Homespun yarn. Fortunately, Homespun and I have a long and loving history, leading to a wide variety of scrap skeins in almost every available color. I have been itching to knit a blanket for a couple of months now, and when I again came to the conclusion that I do not have money for more blanket yarn, I decided to bust out my scraps and go from there. The great thing about Homespun is that you can pretty much throw any colors together in a jumble and create a cozy-looking crazy blanket. On top of that, it's incredibly simple seeing as it is entirely knitted in the garter stitch. So there you have it.

Needles: US size 13, straight needles
Yarn: infinite amounts of scrap Homespun (by LionBrand)
(In my experience the total amount of yarn adds up to about 4 full skeins for a nicely sized throw blanket)

Cast on 130 sts. Work in garter stitch, tying the ends of new (scrap) colors/skeins on to the ends of old ones (Basically changing yarns whenever you run out, even in the middle of a row). Continue until the blanket has reached the desired length and then cast off. I have been knitting the ends in as I go but they can just as easily be woven in at the end of the project.

Blog Re-Vamped

Hello :)
It has certainly been a while since I've written, and at this point, this blog is probably never checked anymore. Fully aware of this, and wanting to use this site in a more interesting way, this is the beginning of an attempt to re-vamp "Sara in Geneva".

I think it's fitting that I start with a post that extends from the last one as well as showing how much time has passed. Therefore, I am posting a recent picture of one of the children, Pat the turtle. Both Pat and Sara have grown a lot since April and are now happily living in a 40 gallon tank at home under the watchful care of my parents. (I think a tank of that size would be frowned upon here at school.)

Here is a picture of Pat in the old tank. Unfortunately it is hard to see how big he really is. I will post a picture or two of both turtles in the new tank as soon as I can get my hands on some.

From here on out: Lots of yarn. I am going to start posting my knitting and crochet projects and patterns. No doubt the turtles will still make their way into posts now and then, but this blog is officially becoming my knitting log. Hopefully some of the diligence that I have with knitting will rub off on the fickle posting aspect of my personality.

The Children

While in Florida over spring break, Pat and I bought two yellow-bellied Sliders, who are named, appropriately, Pat and Sara. It is late and I need to get to bed, so I will leave you with a couple of pictures instead of descriptions of them. Aren't they beautiful?

Oh yeah, and I have a tree frog now, too. His name is Little Richard (Little Dick for short):

Six Things

My crazy brother tagged me, so here are six wierd things about me:

1) I am happy with my Mac computer.

2) I really hate spiders but Spider Man is my favorite super hero.

3) My feet sweat if they are warmer than my hands, no matter what temperature it is.

4) I do not usually feel like I have wasted my day after watching three or more movies in a row.

5) I melt chocolate before eating it. It tastes better.

6) When Hey Ya comes on, I cannot help but dance, just like Dan.

Spring 2007

A new semester has finally begun, and the work is already piling up. I am taking four classes this semester: German Bildungsroman (German literature, in English), German 371 (German in German), Star Trek Physics, and Tudor Stuart Britain (British History from Henry VII-Queen Anne). I am also working nine hours a week. This semester is definitely going to be a lot harder than last.

Christine is still my roommate and it is wonderful. My friends and I have been planning for next years housing already though, and we have plans to get a German house up and running. There are a lot of theme houses on campus, including a French house, but there isn't a German one, so my friends and I (most of which take German) are applying for one that would begin in the fall. Hopefully it will work out, thus increasing the German Area activities on Campus, etc.

Anyway, break was wonderful, and I got to see Pat again, not to mention seeing all of my other friends, living at home, and sleeping in my own room, but the work has started again, and I am sensing less time for posting (not that there was a whole lot last semester).

Finals Week and Pictures

Finals are now upon me.
Christine and I put a little tree up in our room (with the help of Erin, and dessert provided by my wonderful baking father)
I have been cramming mass amounts of research into papers.
My German class and I are trying to finish a video project by Tuesday.
There is collected snow on the ground today for the first time.
I am getting more tired each day.
I get more accomplished each day.
The weather is getting colder every day.
Christine and I are eating a lot of ramon noodles.
My last class is over.
I only have 1 (maybe 2) days of work left.
I get to see Pat in less than a week.
Christmas is only 17 days away.
Every day feels like a week.
I cannot wait to go home.

Now for the pictures:

Our mini HWS Christmas tree: