The Post

The opportunity for this post came sooner than I'd hoped! I've been sort of holding out on you guys since October, though I left hints here, here, and here if you have microscopic vision and hella-great perception. :D And if you are my Ravelry friend, you've likely seen me favoriting and queuing more hints every few weeks since. It's not really a secret, just something I haven't gotten around to telling anyone who isn't family or a close friend...or anyone who has prying eyes. :)

Way back in October, the day before he ran the Chicago Marathon, John proposed to me. It was really sweet and an absolute shock to me. Of course, I have known for a long time that we would get married, I just had no idea he would ask when he did! He asked me under a willow tree near the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago with the skyline behind us. Chicago was our first trip as a couple. As a matter of fact, I was wearing the sweater I knit with yarn from that first trip when he asked me. It was all too perfect!

Okay, okay, enough gushing. Here's the big news: I received yarn in the mail a few weeks ago so I can begin knitting my wedding dress! I was super excited until I held the yarn in my hands and realized how much knitting it will take to use it all up. O.O

I've changed my mind about what the dress will look like 3 times, but yesterday, looking through knitting books at the library (looking for dress idea #2), I found The One. I realized immediately that I had gotten too ambitious and complicated for a dress only a handful of people will see on the big day. Remember, I'm a relaxed, easy-wear sort of knitter. This dress is much simpler! I could even wear it for more than a wedding (though I think I'll keep it white). I'm sorry the picture tells you absolutely nothing. I don't know whose idea it was to do a lace dress with dark yarn on top of a dark slip....

In any case, don't worry that this space will suddenly become a wedding-planning pit. We plan to elope probably next year, so not much planning needed besides the dress I don't necessarily need anyway. I also know myself well enough to promise the dress won't turn into my only knitting project for a year (you have seen the WIPs bars on the right?). I will share my progress as I go, though, nice and slowly. No need to hurry when you're knitting with alpaca-silk yarn. Mmmm. I will likely need your help, since the collective knowledge of my beloved readers is much greater than mine alone! I have sewing and modification questions piling up already. And I'll be damned if I'm going to frog thousands of yards of lace yarn even once!

I'm actually very excited to finally be sharing this with you! All of my knitting friends have been the most excited and most willing to help. I was going to do a collective effort on the dress, but I won't inflict this lace on anyone else. :)

Because I don't say it enough: thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thank you for caring. You all are the very best, honestly!

Where's the Sorting Hat When You Need Him?

It's Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! School has suddenly become nearly unbearable, so I can't promise I'll keep up with it, but I will try very hard. :) I will also find a way to get the big post I promised Friday in this week (this is a thing that happens when I make promises, in case you haven't noticed :P).

Now, if you're a first-timer to the Bunnies and Bettas blog: welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope you like our little space. I'll try to get some bunnies in here so you can get the whole adorable, fuzzy experience, but I know better than to promise bunny participation. We're down to only one betta these days, but maybe I can get an angelfish to appear, too.

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Today, I'm supposed to share with you which of the four crafting houses I fit into. I've been mulling this question over for quite a while. I'm going to rely on my readers and friends to help me decide officially, but I do have an idea. Here are the choices:

The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest.

The House of Manatee: Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. Relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet.

The House of Monkey: Intelligent and with a fun loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting.

The House of Peacock: Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details – like a Peacock's Tail.

National Geographic

At first, I thought House of Bee, because, well...look at my WIPs bars on the right! But my finishing rate is quite high and I do have incredible self-control when startitis sets in. I've settled on House of Manatee. It might mainly be because I love manatees, but I do also think that I'm a really laid-back crafter. I don't get bent out of shape if something goes askew and, though I am a very quick knitter, I do thoroughly enjoy a large project that takes some time from time to time. I'm not always drawn to new and interesting techniques, mostly just whatever I love to knit, even if I've knit it many times before. I also don't strive for perfection and beauty, though I do want my knitting to look mostly polished once it's done. Manatee has to be the perfect fit.

Take for example Falling or You, Me and the Moon. Neither is terribly flashy, the second wasn't terribly fast, and both are extremely cuddly. I'm all about easy-to-wear and good-for-lounging knit garments. :)

I do like to indulge in flashy knits from time to time, but nothing so difficult that it forces me into a vacation from from knitting. Knitting is a vacation!

For more Day 1 posts, just Google the tag 4KCBWDAY1. You'll see every post from every participant. It's a great way to find new blogs to read or to reconnect with those you might have read last year. I hope to be back tomorrow (and to see you back too)!

Rain, Rain

I cast on a hat because it's been super rainy here and I don't really have any spring hats. This is the Sublime I posted last Monday. It really is sublime to work with! As I think I mentioned, I'm using a new stranding technique. My friend gave me the directions from a class she took. The hat she made is perfect! The stranding was perfectly even. I hope mine comes out that nicely.

I've decided Deco is the sweater I'll cast on this week after Sybil is finished (soon!). We have a conference going on at the university this week for Classicists in the region. I'm really excited. I've never been. It's so much fun to hear everyone's ideas and mingle with like-minded folk. Knitting will keep me concentrating on the papers I'll be listening to, which, in turn, I hope to jump-start my paper-writing bug. I'm struggling with the three things I have to write. I have almost-ABD*-itis bad. It's like senioritis, but not quite as bad because the dissertation looms beyond, ha.

I shall be back Friday with some super fun news! I suspect I'll be too busy Wednesday, but if I get a free moment or two....

Don't let the rain get you down. Spring is here(ish)!

*All-But-Dissertation

Deciding

I don't have anything to share today but Sybil, which only has a little more sleeve than I showed you last week. I'm really close to finishing a sample knit, which means I'm that much closer to casting on something brand new! I still can't really decide what, but I'm leaning towards Buckwheat in this lovely yarn.

Sundara Yarn Petite Sock

My only hang-up is that it's not as springy a color as I'd like. So maybe I'll drag out this stuff instead and whip up a Deco.

Yarn from Korea!

Decisions, decisions. I'll probably cast on both, honestly. :) Aren't you ready for me to start knitting something and stop dreaming about it?! Me too! Next week. Next week....

It has thunder-stormed here every night this week. I really, really, really love a good Midwestern spring! I wish the trees would start to bud. That's my real spring cue.

At the rate I'm going, it's slightly possible that I might have Sybil for you Friday, but if not, I'll find something around here I haven't shared yet. :) For more WIP Wednesday posts (ones with works in progress), go to Tami's Amis!

P.S. Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is fast approaching and I intend to participate! Will you too?

I Need a Nap

I'm exhausted! The exam went very well (I think, we'll have to wait and see), so now I just want to veg out for the rest of...my life. Saturday, I camped out on the couch, caught up on The Following, knitted, prayed for the dark clouds to start thundering, saw Jurassic Park, finished Walking Dead season 2, and...thought about how much more work I have to do this semester. :P After I get a couple big things out of the way it will be much easier. I just have to keep reminding myself. :)

Let's talk about something more pleasant, eh? Knitting. Springtime. What to knit for springtime? I got some Sublime for Eliza's hat pattern, As The Leaves Begin to Fall. I know it's technically an autumn hat, but the green I have is very springy and I just acquired some directions for a new stranding method that I can't wait to try out. I've never knit with Sublime before. Everyone I know loves it, so I'm excited. :)

I just had a very vivid image of myself knitting outside in the hammock when it gets warmer (like today!)....Where are you going to go when it warms up? Or, if you are lucky and having a nice spring already, where are you hanging out? I just discovered a really neat prairie preserve right by our place. I can't wait to check it out. Pictures when I do, promise.

Waving, not Drowning

I was drowning and didn't post, but here it is a day later and exam done! :)

I'm only now climbing out of an avalanche of books (and only for a short while!), so forgive my broken promise that I'd be back Wednesday! Instead of showing you John's poorly photographed (and knitted :P) socks, I think I'll just show you Sybil's progress! She's getting bigger (though it is very tiny...) and very cute. ;)

I must now re-devote myself to Latin literature. The big exam is tomorrow. :S Cross your fingers! I feel pretty good about it, but only time will tell. I can't wait to come right home and cast on a new sweater (after I write an article introduction for the #&$*th time, work on an incredibly tedious presentation, and work on another exam :P)!

Are you going to Jurassic Park this weekend?! We are SO EXCITED!!! Can you believe it's been 20 years?! So classic....

And if you're really upset about the socks, you can see them here. They're really kind of boring. Just some brown dress socks. Go look at everyone else's prettier FOs. :)

Pink

I picked this yarn up at our yarn shop's first annual stash-busting event. I got it for $3! There's almost 500 grams of 100% worsted weight wool here and I haven't quite decided what to do with it yet. I don't usually gravitate towards pink, but this is just the perfect muted shade of pink that I couldn't say no. I don't know what brand it is or anything, so I don't know what yardage I have either. Some of my friends think it might be handspun because each cake is a very different weight, but I just don't know.

In any case, I was thinking either Flowing Lines or Sullivan. What do you think? Can you think of any other sort of simple sweater patterns for about 900-1000 yards? I was also thinking just a simple stockinette sweater would really show off the heathered pink. I guess I should just do a swatch and see what happens! Maybe I'll design something...hmm....

I'm itching like crazy to cast something on, but I have to finish a sample shawl (almost there!), study, and finish a couple other stray projects. Whatever the pink yarn wants to be will have to wait until late summer or fall. Sybil is back on track, just needing sleeves and a band. I'll show you Wednesday. She's gorgeous and well worth the time-out. There are a couple other things I might pull out again, but I haven't decided yet. Depends on how springy spring decides to be. If it stays cold, I'll pull out heavier stuff, if it warms up, I've got some lovely legwarmers that need some attention. :)

I'll be back Wednesday. I hope I won't forget to post this week. :P Keep knitting! I'll see you soon!