It was dire, my friends.

Awhile ago, I cleaned (part of) my room. But my desk, quite intimidating, was left a disaster area:

Until today. I got home and for some reason was inspired. So I hauled everything off my desk, took out the drawers, etc. and began. I went to Staples and bought a drawer organizer. It was epic. In that monstrous pile of a ‘before’ picture, there was quite a treasure trove…

Among the goodies encountered (and this is just ON the desk, excluding the floorspace and drawers):

• iPod and earbuds
• $5 Canadian
• a $50 gift certificate
• 512MB flash drive
• 512MB SD card
• 4 cookies and a 2/3-eaten bag of Tostitos
• my Stitches East 2009 confirmation!!
• some paperwork for college and stuff
• this hat
• 2 balls (partly used) and 2 skeins of Mmmmmalabrigo
• some booklets I was supposed to read for school aaages ago
• AAA batteries
• knitting design sketches and miniature prototypes
• so many crumbs I’m surprised I don’t have a resident ant colony yet (ETA: I later found 2 ants, so the jury’s still out on this one…)

Also, I addressed a design flaw in my room that had been bugging me for quite some time, that flaw being that my nightstand sits right in front of the only heat/AC vent in the room. So my dad and I cut a hole in the back of it aaaand…

But I know all you really want to see is the desk afterwards, so I won’t keep you waiting any longer.

Tada!

How long will this insurmountable miracle last? Only time will tell…

P.S. The drawers inside the desk are (basically) organized, too! I just was lazy and don’t have pictures.

A New Beginning

Remember this?

The first of many goodbyes.

We’ve hosted a Korean exchange student all this school year. At the beginning of the year, we didn’t really connect – she’s the type of girl who, given the choice, would spend hours and hours of free time at the mall, whereas I’d prefer…well, lots of things, but I’m not a big fan of shopping. There wasn’t any animosity between us, but we weren’t really friends either – we basically just coexisted. But recently, as she’s become less shy and more conversational and I’ve gotten to know her better, it’s been different. It started with a really interesting conversation about differences in education between Korea and the States (which are HUGE), which led into a similar one about music (she’s a fabulous pianist) and, as they say, the rest is history.

Anyway, she’s leaving in a couple weeks, and I wanted to make her a goodbye present. Behold:

Pattern: Narragansett by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Rustic Silk (held double), left over from prom shawl (live pictures soon!)

Needles: US2 for ribbing; US5 for body

Ravelry: pattern page here

Since I haven’t given it to her yet, you get to see it on a rather unconventional model:

It’s amazing we got her (the dog, I mean) to sit still long enough for this picture.

Just in time for summer…

I finished a blanket.

(Incidentally, I also finished HIGH SCHOOL! I took my last two AP’s today, and though they didn’t go as swimmingly as I’d hoped, I think I did decently, and all I have to do to graduate now is remember to hand in my PE paperwork and do my internship!)

I’m not particularly proud of the photography on this one. I’m wanting a dSLR more and more, but I’m saving it as a personal reward for if/when I get a pattern into knitty (and I’ve got a prototype on the needles now and several more in my head).

(I know flash is generally a no-no, but this really showed the lace pattern)

Pattern: Hemlock Ring, as adapted by Jared Flood (aka brooklyntweed)

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica, either 5 or 6 skeins

Needles: US #9 – did you know addi makes 60″ lace turbos in big sizes too? I was also excited.

Ravelry: project page here

It’s so curvy!

I threw it on my sister.

I don’t think she even noticed. I don’t blame her; Phantom Tollbooth’s good stuff.

It looked snazzy against her jeans. This one’s pretty close in terms of color.

Random observation for the day: I have an uncanny talent for eyeballing the size of needles. I invariably am within 1 US size, and usually get it right on. Perhaps I need a new hobby? Not that I’d ever consider that, of course.

The Three Things I’m Most Looking Forward to for College

1. Being a little fish (academically speaking)

2. A clean slate (socially speaking)

3. Living somewhere new!

Just random thoughts.

Also, the Hemock Ring blanket is done, and I blocked it, but I didn’t stretch it enough, so it’s currently blocking again. That is all. Over and out.

Sparkly!

Phew! Three days in a row of AP’s, and two more plus a final this weekend to go! I’m halfway through the gauntlet!

But I DID finish the shawl I’m going to wear to prom!

Here is is blocking:

(on my sister’s bed; she’s on a 3-day field trip so I pounced on the opportunity)

And then the sun finally came out so I took some pictures with the apple blossoms and lilacs:

Pattern: Lattice Lace Wrap by Lou Schiela

Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Rustic Silk

Needles: US #3

Mods: I added a half-repeat so the ends would be symmetrical.

Ravelry: project page here

Whining: The combination of these beads and this yarn, although pretty, was not a pleasant one. First of all, the yarn was really a bit too fat for them, and since it’s ‘rustic’ silk, it wasn’t slippery like normal silk, and the beads didn’t really like to slide over the yarn. I had to push them along a couple inches at a time, which got really tedious after awhile. This was definitely a ‘product over process’ knit, but I’m really happy with it nonetheless!

But neither of those pictures adequately captured the exquisite sparkliness, so I tried yet again:

Which seriously does not do it justice either, but I promise I’ll post some pictures of it on a real live human come prom next week.

I don’t have an exam tomorrow! Huzzah!

radio silence

AP Week is upon us!

Just thought I’d let you know, because I’ll probably be pretty quiet the next week and a half or so. May resurface next weekend with pictures; this shawl is SO CLOSE to done. But other than that, not much since I’m taking 5 exams. I’m actually not too stressed though because it’s not like my college admission hinges on these or anything. But for all but English I can get exemptions from intro courses so it’s not like they’re meaningless either.

Over and out for now!