Which, hey, give me some credit here, has worked out for me in the past. I have yet to turn out a garment that didn’t fit due to gauge problems: it was a pattern sizing issue the one time I made a sweater that didn’t fit.

But with knitting socks, it’s not such a big deal. You don’t really have to swatch, you can just pick up and knit. Same with scarves, hates, and most other winter-esque clothing. Maybe not so much with the fair isle fingerless mitts, but you get my drift.

My method of no finishing and no swatching has been my staple, my stand by. Until now.

But recently, I purchased some nice sweater quantities of yarn (Dream in Color Classy and Malabrigo). If I’m going to be a knitter, I’m going to be a knitter, dammit. I want to get a sweater finished before October so I have something to wear when it’s chilly. I do go to school in San Francisco, after all. A nice wool sweater is a must. I also purchased an amazing book that has so many patterns I want to knit that I couldn’t decide where to start. But, I finally decided where to start: Favorite Cardigan using Malabrigo Merino in Buscando Azul.

So I swatched Thursday night to make sure I got gauge.

I did.

Then I cast on Friday morning and started working through to pattern to make sure I liked the way it knit up. I was going to swatch my cables, but I’m not changing my ways that much.

And I liked it, so I kept on trucking. And in between homework cram sessions and during my breaks from eating, I managed to…

Finish almost all of the raglan increases for a size small. Not an extremely impressive amount, but if you saw the amount of time I spent writing a paper accusing Virginia Woolf of being privileged and classist while simultaneously studying for Spanish and reading an article on queer women of color, then you’d understand my massive amounts of YAY at completing this much of my sweater today.

While it’s not yet a wearable project, I’m still really excited to see how much I’ve accomplished. I’m planning on having a knitting spree tomorrow - inbetween homework sessions, errands, and the final bits of unpacking I have to do, of course.

But it looks like this swatching business is paying off. I’ve been stopping periodically to take measurements, and the garment is standing the test of time. Go team Liz!

On a side note, I apologize for my short and unineresting posts lately. I’m still getting used to the swing of things with grad school (more to come on that soon!) and living with Boyfriend (more on this one, too), and I’ve got a lot going on at the moment in all the other parts of my life as well. I post more frequently, and with much more depth, at BitchBuzz.com, the site I edit with the most amazing blogger of all time. I’ve been a bit MIA from all of my online projects and groups for the month of August, but I’m officially back in action.

But shh, it’s a surprise, he isn’t home yet! They’re chocolate chip cookie cupcakes, and they’re delicious. They are even better than chocolate chip cookies - they’ve got a slightly fluffy texture to them, and oh man, they’re just delicious. You can check out the recipe here. I’d recommend making them as mini cupcakes (as the recipe calls for) because they’re really rich. That, and, uh, the recipe makes about 10 regular sized ones…

I’ve been working hard on Cate’s mitts, and I’m only a few rows away from doing the thumb:

I’ve got some quality OJ to keep me company while I knit. And yes, that’s my Rav cup.

Pomatomus mitts, for my darling Cate when she visits in September!

It feels so good to be knitting again. I can’t believe I went so long without it. Never again will I abandon my knitting!!

I’ve been so busy moving and starting school that I haven’t picked up the needles in (gasp) a week and a half!

Thankfully, my Custom Knits arrived last week, and the football KAL starts on Thursday, so I’ll have a definite excuse to get in some quality knitting time.

My poor cats are petrified, but they’ll be okay in a few days. I hope…

I started my Master’s program today, so I’m a bit busy at the moment. I should be back by the end of the week!

Make sure to check out the 2008 Football KAL!

But back to my dilemma. What do I do while the football games are on, and his friends are over? Do I put in the noise canceling earphones and attempt to study? Do I head out and do some laundry? Do I hike to the library and try to study there? Do I give up on peace and quiet entirely and just deal with it and watch the endless amounts of football games?

And then it hit me: I can knit something big. I can block off that time every Sunday/Monday/whatever to knitting something big that I can’t carry around with me on public transportation. I have enough yarn to make 2 worsted weight sweaters, and one bulky weight cardigan. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of Wendy Bernard’s book, and it’s finally out and on its merry way to my house. I have so many items in that book tagged as favorites, I’m not quite sure where to begin.

So I thought “hey, why not see if anyone is interested in doing a football season KAL?”

So, are you interested in doing a football season KAL?

The KAL would start on Thursday, September 4, with the start of the new NFL season, and would end on Sunday, December 28. We could potentially extend the KAL (or start another) for the play offs and through the superbowl in February.

The rules would be as follows:

1. Cast on your project after 9/4/2008 and end by 12/28/2008.
2. Your project must be something large - which totally depends on your definition of “large.” This could include almost anything: lace wraps, blankets, sweaters, cardigans, baby wardrobes, a sock collection, etc.
3. Blog and post pictures about it in the KAL blog, interact with your fellow knitters on the blog. You can also post pictures to the Flickr pool.
4. Join the Ravelry group (to be created if I get enough interest) and participate in the forums, etc.

If you are interested, leave a comment with your Ravelry username and email address!

And yes, this is open to crocheters, too.

That’s my tire, after being removed from my car. There was a humongous pothole, and my tiny car got pwned by the rural roads in Yolo county. I pulled over because I heard a frightening sound when my car slipped into the pothole as I was getting on the freeway, and you definitely don’t want to get on the freeway with a potentially flat tire.

So I pulled over, heard the air coming out of my tire and actually saw it deflating in front of me. So I called my dad and he came to look at my car. The conversation went something like this:

“Your tire is not flat!”

“Well, Dad, it’s losing air. I’m afraid to drive it!”

“Ok, I’ll drive it to the gas station and we’ll put air in the tires.”

When we get to the gas station, the tire barely has any air in it. It was practically flat, and not drivable. He puts more air in it and we drive back to his house, where the tire has returned to its deflated state.

“Oh, I guess something is wrong with it…”

“I TOLD YOU SO!”

Then my dad taught me how to change a tire, which is a lot easier than it looks, by the way. I love my little Honda: those Japanese engineers are so amazing! The little jack and tools were packed up in my trunk and worked perfectly. So now, this is what my sad little car looks like:

The good news is I’m driving my parents Acura around town with the fancy heated seats, leather interior, and navigation system!

And! It’s my last day of work! I start my TA position tomorrow (officially, I start on Tuesday, but whatever) and am going to be in San Francisco all day. Woohoo!

I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving - that pesky stealing of land, raping of women, and killing of an entire race because they scare you think tends to make it difficult for me to enjoy.

I don’t celebrate Christmas because I’m an atheist and not into superficial holidays that exist solely because people want to give and receive gifts, rather than recognize the religious significance. I’m don’t celebrate any of the other winter holidays because I don’t subscribe to their particular belief system or belong to their culture. I may, occasionally, observe the Winter Solstice, but not in the weird new-agey way that people do. I just say “yay, winter is here!” and eat lots of food. Nothing special. I don’t give gifts for the winter holidays since I don’t celebrate them, but my knitting does tend to pile up around this time since I spend more time indoors, and have more time off from work/school. So, yes, I do give gifts during the winter - but I also give them during the spring, summer, and fall without a specific holiday, occasion, or birthday to associate them with.

[Major bonus to this plan: no last minute feverish holiday gift knitting! Only enjoyable winter knits.]

I try to do something special for New Year’s, but my plans tend to fall through, or I just want to stay home. I actually slept through midnight last year - I didn’t have anything else to do (all of my friends went out of town and no one invited me because they thought someone else already had, always a fun experience).

So it really boils down to Halloween being my big holiday of the year. You can imagine my excitement when I opened my favorite etsy shop and saw these amazing Halloween collections:

Not one - but two - Halloween collections! I had to pick one as my birthday gift from my mom (she is an appreciator of the fiber arts), but I pay save up and buy one of the others later on. I picked Spooky Socks (picture #1), but I absolutely love Monster Stash, too. It was a tough decision to make. The happy news being, of course, that Halloween comes every year, and I can grab another collection next year for my birthday.

I FUCKING LOVE HALLOWEEN.

The view from our window. Every room had an ocean view, but we also had a balcony, which was nice because we could sit outside at night with our margaritas and talk.

I got a lot of serious reading done while I was laying on the beach, but not much knitting.

Boyfriend got to release a rehabilitated baby turtle back into the ocean. We named him Herman. It was quite the experience. Little Herman kept wiggling like mad, trying to run away, and then Boyfriend set him down and he kind of just sat there, quite literally an awkward turtle.

The sunset view from our balcony on our of the prettier evenings.

And even though our hotel faced the ocean, the bug bites on my leg led me to never forget that I was in a jungle.

It rained every night that we were there, but it was the perfect end to the evening. Around 4 or 5 we’d start to feel like it was time to go upstairs and change for dinner, and the temperature would start to cool off. Eventually, the rain would come, and it would bring the most gorgeous clouds with it. On our third night there, we had quite the torrential downpour, but it was still gorgeous.

Some pictures of me with Boyfriend, sitting on our balcony and getting ready to go to dinner.

The fire show put on by the hotel staff.

We went on a hike up a freshwater creek and there were the most breathtaking things (not to mention the giant bugs trying to eat me while everyone swam in the fish infested lake).

We went ziplining on our last full day there, and at the end of the ziplines they had some pythons, which the staff proceeded to wrap around my head and demand that I kiss. Yeah. I took this picture so my stepdad would have something nightmare worthy.

Cutest. Baby. Ever. Boyfriend’s niece, Timnah.

Our last dinner and last day on the beach. We did not want to leave!

I was greatly amused by the cigarettes at the Duty Free shops.

So there you have it! My trip, in pictures. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of me going on the ziplines just yet - I’ll get those as soon as I can and post them.

For those inquiring minds out there: we stayed at Dreams Resort and Spa in Puerto Vallarta and it was absolutely gorgeous! The views were amazing, the ocean was fabulous, the private beach was wonderful (especially since we went right on the cusp of the off and on seasons), and the food was to die for. Two downsides: my mudslide tasted like Pepto Bismol, and the beds were hard as rocks. Other than that, it was a wonderful vacation. The resort had a lot of fun pre-scheduled activities (which is great, if you’re into that - I’m not, I just did the beach) and plenty of ways to entertain yourself without the assistance of their friendly and fluent in English employees. The service was amazing (except for when food service never delivered our food that one time…) and I would definitely consider going there again.

I had an awesome trip in Puerto Vallarta - and I wish I was still there. Now I’m home, not feeling so hot, and elbow deep in a to do list of things I don’t really want to do.

1. I am grateful for toilets and sewage systems that allow you to flush your toilet paper, rather than tossing it in a wastebasket.
2. Always always have a few items in your carry on in case Southwest manages to lose your bag. They were able to get me my bag the next day, but you can be damn sure that I didn’t check my bag on the way home.
3. One simple thing in life I never thought I’d miss: clearly painted lines on the road indicating how many lanes their were. Our taxi driver definitely had a handle on things, but I was pretty sure we were headed for incoming traffic a few times.
4. DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT - drink the water. Learned this on day 1.
5. Ice is a rarity in Mexico. I asked for extra ice in my mineral water and got 2 cubes. This was a difficult adjustment, seeing as how I normally fill the cup half full with ice prior to adding any liquid.
6. They really like their tequila. And lots of it.
7. Almost everyone speaks English. Granted, my sample was a bit skewed as we stuck to tourist spots, but I didn’t speak any Spanish the entire time I was there, except for the occasional hello, thank you, etc.
8. No bug repellent in the world could have possibly saved me from being eaten alive. Total mosquito bite count is currently at 13. 15.
9. Alcoholics Anonymous is alive and thriving - and sponsoring tiny stretches of highways.
10. The roads are very similar to a Mario Kart course, especially when you’re riding around in a tiny taxi.
11. Flirting and sexual innuendos come second nature to Spanish men.
12. Sand really does end up in the weirdest places.
13. Flying internationally is a pain in the ass, especially when you’re the only one in your family for customs purposes. I got grilled by the customs officer for about 15 minutes about the purpose of my trip and how long I was there. Everyone else breezed through in about 20 seconds. Do I really look suspicious?
14. Coming back to a house with absolutely no toilet paper in it after a trip to Mexico is not a fun experience.
15. My cats do not function well without me. Abbie was very angry with me, but after several treats and cuddles, she gave in. Chappelle is still running around the house like he’s on cat crack. I walked out the door to get something out of my car both of them proceeded to cry until I came back in.
16. Trying to read 118 emails on your iPhone at LAX is no easy task.
17. Humidity does two things to my hair: make it extremely curly, and make it extremely frizzy.
18. I am so going to fail Spanish this fall.

For now, you can view pictures on Flickr - I’m still waiting on the rest of them to be sent to me by our various traveling partners.