The Homestretch

Life has been a little bit crazy here at Purdue. I'm down to one more week of classes (woot!) 2 finals, 2 lab reports, and 2 final papers (not so woot!). And I have been sick as a dog and down for the count. It turns out I had a mono-like virus but not real mono, so I basically had a condensed version of mono that was really bad for a week and just won't leave me alone. I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't mono (despite the three tests I had) because while I felt absolutely miserable, had raging fevers and the nastiest tonsils I've ever seen, I wasn't exhausted. I would get really tired suddenly and need a nap NOW (and am still doing this) but I wasn't overly lethargic (until I tried to write a paper or go to French class).
So that's what I've been up to. Class, homework, papers, and lots of naps. Notice how knitting wasn't in there.
But that being said, I'd like to give a big shout out to Paisley Penguin for being the blog contest winner! Yay! Your super sexy set of potholders will be arriving shortly after I finish them. And lets be honest- that might be a while.

But now, as promised, a Christmas Craft!
Okay- now go dig through your stash and find all those odds and ends of green and red (or the colors of your choice) novelty yarns. Or just plain yarn. But this is a stashbusting activity, and I absolutely forbid the use of new skeins for this project.

Got your yarns? Great! Go to Joann Fabrics, Michaels, or Hobby Lobby and get yourself a wreath frame. They're about $3, so it's not a big deal. You're also going to need a bunch of Styrofoam balls that fit this wreath frame, and enough of them to go all the way around. You will also need some good old tacky glue, about 15-20 yards of Christmas ribbons and some fairly thick wire. You might also need a third hand at this point. If you have an Adam handy, they work really well. If not, then anyone will do.

Here we go (I really wish I had pictures of all of the steps but my hands were covered in tacky glue and I really didn't want to touch my camera. Extra hand was nowhere to be found at this point in the project). Take one of your spools of holiday ribbon and wrap it around your wreath frame. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just hides the fugly wires that might peek out from behind the balls. Got your frame all wrapped in ribbon? Score. Now take a Styrofoam ball and cover it with tacky glue. Realise that you have just covered yourself in tacky glue and the ball is starting to drip. (I suggest putting down a newspaper beforehand). Call your third hand to wipe one of your hands off so that you can start to wrap your scrap yarns around this yarn ball. Keep winding until you've got what looks like a perfectly normal yarn ball with no Styrofoam showing. Cut the yarn and secure end with a dab of glue. Set to the side (very carefully!) to dry. Repeat until you've got enough balls to go all the way around the wreath. Go knit for a couple hours while they are drying out.

Take your wire (and wire cutters and pliers) and stab the ball, going all the way through a small section. Fasten the ball to the frame using the wire, hiding the wire in the ribbon that you've wrapped around the frame. Repeat until your frame is full of yarn balls. Make sure they're nice and tied down and not going anywhere as soon as you pick up the wreath. Then with the remaining holiday ribbon, loosely wrap the spaces between the yarn balls (entirely optional) to hide the rest of the pokey-out wires. Other ideas for decorations are mini-stockings, mini-sweaters, mini-whatevers with little toothpick knitting needles glued on to one of the yarn balls, or a giant bow made of all or several of the yarns used in the wreath.

Apologies for the bad picture- it was late and very dark outside.

Cloudy with a chance of potholders (blog contest!)

Hello there from Purdue!


I *think* that the credit transfer thing has sorted itself out. Or the head of Study Abroad needs to give that box of chocolates back. I have faith in Nancy, and I'm sure things will work out. They have to, right?

I'm about to enter into my final month as a student! Yay! Which is great, because it means I'm down to 4 Hort labs, 12 French classes, 11 Hort Classes, 11 Black Lit classes and 8 Contemporary British Fiction and Rhetoric classes. But who's counting?


Unfortunately this does mean that I've got 2 really scary Black Lit papers, 2 much scarier BritFic papers, 2 French exams, a Hort exam, and 7 lab reports due. 4 of them on the same day- next Thursday. So I probably won't be writing very much for a little while. That, and I haven't been overly creative. I'm still stuck on potholders. One could even say it's raining potholders in here. Seriously. And every time I make a pair and check it off my Christmas list, someone else demands a set of potholders. And since they are so flippin' awesome, I've decided to give a set away! Yay! It's my 200th blog post today and everyone reading has a chance to win a set!

I know- you're so excited you could pee your pants. It happens. The rules are easy. Leave a comment below. Be sure to include a way I can get a hold of you (if I know you personally, it's not a big deal, but if you're new or don't normally comment, make sure I have an email address or Ravelry username). In your comment, say something. Say something nice. Say something funny. Say something sad that happened to you at work. Say something knitting related. Say something about your dog. Actually don't say something about your dog, it's a touchy subject right now. But say something. I will randomly select a comment and you will win this super-duper set of potholders (that I haven't finished yet). I will take any comments received before noon on Thanksgiving, or November 26th for all the Brit Knitters reading. So write something and get your super-sexy set of potholders.

These could be yours. Seriously. Dreams come true. Sometimes.

**if you are deeply offended by potholders or deeply offended by my color selection and win anyway, I understand. I will find another prize to give you.Amber, my R.A., lover of plants, small children, and rainbow potholders.

But anyhoo....some potholder pictures for you. And a sneak peak at my next project in super-delicious Alpaca With A Twist Temptation. It is one sexy yarn. Seriously.And stay tuned here at knitpurldrop! The next post will be a Christmas Craft for knitters/crocheters/muggles of all skill levels, and will use up your red and green yarn scraps! Have a great day!

Knitting for Peace

Or really just knitting so I don't kill somebody.

I've you've been reading for a while now, you'll know there's been a little drama about Study Abroad/Credit transfer, which I thought was over with in July when I got a letter from Purdue Study Abroad saying that my credits had been transferred successfully and I am now a candidate for December graduation. Done, right?

Of course not. Apparently just because Study Abroad approved and brought everything in doesn't mean Liberal Arts did their job (in this case, sign a single piece of paper Dr. Gupta!) and it turns out that while Study Abroad has me down as done and over with, Liberal Arts never actually accepted my credits which for me means....no diploma in December. Apparently my transcript has been sitting on someones desk since July, needing only a signature. I contacted Liberal Arts after the Office of the Registrar notified me that I was no longer a candidate for December graduation and they said I needed to make an appointment with Dr. Gupta to have her sign the papers (do I really need to be there for that? Plus I've already gotten a letter saying that all this shit is DONE WITH!) and of course the next open appointment is....December 16. I graduate on the 19th- maybe.

So instead of breaking down and crying (which I might have done a little bit) or going postal on the Liberal Arts building (frankly I'm surprised someone else hasn't beaten me to it), I'm knitting. I'm finishing things and I'm casting things on, and it's wonderful. I finished a hat but it makes me look like a chemo patient so I'm not going to show it off, I finished a scarf for my friend Lauren's birthday (and Adam volunteered to model it- isn't he faaaabulous!) and last night at 4 am after tossing and turning and swearing at Liberal Arts, I grabbed a pair of circular needles and some Patons Classic Merino that I bought this weekend with Janet (it was on sale so it doesn't count!) and I casted on. And knitted. And purled. And knitted. And purled. And threw in some increases. And life is a little bit better today.Thank you, new red sweater. You might just be the project I've been needing for a long time now.

Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a blog post!

Hi everyone! Life has been a little bit crazy here at Purdue...so let me give you a few key updates and a few answers you might have questions about.

The last post: There is a tradition here at Purdue that is called "Breakfast Club" like the Molly Ringwald and guy in plaid shirt movie from the 80's. Pretty baller movie, so someone decided that to honor it Purdue students should dress up in costume and hit the bars at outrageously early hours (Adam and I started at 8, but most people hit the bars at 6. There's just something not right about drinking at such an hour, even if there's orange juice in your booze). Anyhoo, it was my first Breakfast Club, and it was a pretty big deal for me. It's something I always said I'd do, but didn't think I'd actually get around to it. Luckily there was a Boondock Saint there to drag me out of bed and put my Fairy Godmother crown on for me and drag me out to the bars. Glad I went- I think I might do it again in a couple weeks.

Knitting: Still not doing so hot. After cutting off all my hair, I decided that it was time for a hat (because I'm really flippin' cold now!) so I headed down to River Knits, the Lafayette knitting store and quickly fell in love with a deep red yarn from Mountain Colors, and immediately cast on for a Bucket hat. It didn't work. Then I tried making a top-down cloche/bucket hat thing that I was calling "Clucket", but that also didn't work. Since it was top-down, I was able to save some of it and am being all wild and crazy and knitting...a beanie. I know. The most boring of the hats, but I'm cold and tired of frogging. I might go nuts and put a flower or two on it. Maybe.

(sorry for the crap picture. Apparently Purdue doesn't think that dorm rooms need light. Someone should talk to them about that before someone goes blind. Or has to start wearing reading glasses their Freshman year. Too late!)

Boys: Still going strong with Adam! Yay! He's even mentioned getting me my own motorcycle helmet, which I think is a big step for biker boys. I said the only way I'd wear one is if it had Hello Kitty on it and I don't actually have to be on the bike to wear it. I'm a little terrified of motorcycles.

And...Adam met the parents! And Aunt and Uncle. And cousins. And Grandparents. And he didn't run away! He's awesome!

School/Graduation/The Hunt for Employment

School is going as well as can be expected. This semester, as you may or may not know, is my last semester here at Purdue, and I am forced to take all the classes I have put off since my freshman year here. So that means I'm taking French 4, a lab science, Literature of Black America (in which I am called a racist before I even sit down- not cool) and Contemporary British Lit and Rhetoric (actually not that bad). So I'm really over the whole student thing. And now I'm even over the whole job-hunting thing. Really! I had an interview on Monday and got a call on Friday afternoon saying I got the job! Since I plan on keeping work out of the blog, I'll just tell you that I will still be located in Indianapolis and I will be doing something knitting-related.

The Twitter Account: has been shut down. I was never really all that great about posting, and I tired of trying to think of TwitterWit, so I just gave up. I'm better about updating my facebook status, so if you're on there, feel free to add me so you can keep up with me when I'm not blogging.

It's just so weird when things start falling in to place. Three months ago I was really panicking about the whole perpetually-single thing, graduation (and the subsequent adventure into adulthood) and jobhunting. It's a great feeling when things start sorting themselves out. All that's left for me to do is finish my papers, hang out with Adam, work on my knitting mojo, and figure out how to style the back of my hair on the left side- it's tricky.

Some things are better than yarn.

He's one of them.

Help! There are alligators in my knitting!

Hey everyone! It's a miserably wet Friday afternoon here at Purdue, and I've spent it reading, beading and even knitting a little bit!

Adam had a test today so he came over after that go out and we worked on a couple rosaries for tomorrow night's Superhero party. He and his friend are going as the Boondock Saints, and so between Adam and myself, we came up with a couple rather awesome (and very cheap) rosaries for the party. I'll be sure to get a couple pictures of them tomorrow in full ammo, tattoos and Irish Catholic pride. I'll be going as Catwoman. Purr...

But anyhoo, then Adam left for work for the day and I decided that I wasn't quite done playing with beads, so I went down to Vons in search of a fun necklace for Catwoman to wear tomorrow night, and somehow ended up with alligators in my knitting. Six alligators in my knitting to be exact.

They're little glass alligators! Aren't they so cute! I saw them and just knew they had a future in stitch marking, so now they're mine! Love them! I also got some nubby blue beads which may end up as a future blog prize (that 200th post is rapidly approaching!)

That's about it for now- I've got to get a little Black Lit done before I go over to Adam's house to work on his costume for tomorrow (how do knitters with significant others get any knitting done? Seriously! I had to go to Starbucks for an hour yesterday and work on the orange sweater so that it would stop blogging!)

I'll post catwoman and Boondock Saints pictures after the party! Have an awesome weekend!

Have you seen Paige?

Hi everyone!

Unfinished Sweater #7 here, wondering if you've seen Paige? You see, all of us in knitting bag #2 haven't seen her in about 3 weeks, since this thing called "Adam" started. If you see her out being social, going to parties, or God forbid knitting something we don't know about, please tell her that I could really use a yoke. And sleeves. And everything else. And the ruffle scarf is making fun of me and if it could be moved to a different knitting bag, that would be great.

Thanks,

Unfinished Sweater #7