"Just be cool and everything will be cool"

So I don't normally feel "chill" enough to start a blog with a quote by my brother that pretty much defines him, but today, I get it. I got back from St. Neots yesterday morning after my perfect, restful, and totally (academically) unproductive weekend. I unpacked, cleaned my room, made a quick run to Tesco, made lunch and got cracking on my Dracula paper. I nearly finished it too! I wrote over 2,000 words, which really doesn't sound like much, but you have to remember that there's a good 10 pages of reader per 2 sentences written...so writing a term paper is a very long process- for me at least. So I'm pretty darn pleased with yesterday's progress. Another 2 days of fact checking/revision/rephrasing and I should be able to turn that beast in- and get working on the other 5.

Since it's been a while since I actually posted knitting content (due to lack of mojo, which has since returned) I figured I'd catch you up with what I'm working on. "The Clash" hoodie had some issues which have since been sorted out- nothing a quick trip to the frog pond couldn't sort out. Once I finished the first arm and had a few inches of the body knitted, I tried it on again to make sure things were going well. They weren't. I had made the yoke about a stripe too long and as a result, the body and sleeves were baggy. I got angry and threw it in a corner and left it for about a week. Then after a particularly stressful day, I frogged the sleeve and ripped a stripe out of the yoke and picked up the rest of the stitches and started again. I think it's just about perfect this time. I'm just a little angry that I made a whole sleeve before I figured out it was too baggy. Anyway, it's better now and I made a bit of progress during my perfect weekend- it nearly has a body. I think I'm going to do something a little different for ribbing and a button band...instead of a 2x2 ribbing or garter stitch at the end of the sleeves and as a button band, I think I'm going to do a knitted hem. I love the way they look and I think I'll have a ton of turquoise yarn leftover- so why not? The only problem that I can forsee is that the buttons I bought aren't going to be tall enough to go through the 2 layers of knitting that will form the button band, but that can easily be fixed with new buttons, right? Nothing a trip to Franklins can't solve- or Joann Etc...depending on when I get there. I'd really like to finish before my Spring break trip...but papers come first.

I've also got a sock on the needles- some of Lucy's yarn. The pattern is called "Snicket" after the Series of Unfortunate Events, and while it's taking me absolutely forever, I quite like it. I need to hurry up and finish it so I can use the needles in the knit-along I'm about to do with Jaclyn...eventually. I didn't take it to St. Neots because one of the needles was starting to splinter and I didn't want to deal with it. Today I stole Sere's nail file and took care of the splintering, so I'll work on it tonight at the knitting group. I need a new name for these socks, the person who leaves a good "terribly British" sock name in the comments has a terribly British prize with their name on it! Get your thinking caps on! I need a new name for these!

In non-knitting news, I somehow got into the last open space on a trip to Stonehenge and Bath this Saturday...which excites me to no end. I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get to see Stonehenge- my weekends are litterally all booked until Spring Break. This also means that I don't have to devote 2 days to Bath on my trip, and can add another stop, spend another day in Stratford-upon-Avon...or...I don't know. Do something. But it frees up a day, which is great. That's about it. I'm going to go rest my eyes for a bit- something in the air has got them all itchy and dry-blegh.