A new city, a new blog, a new set of Christmas knitting

So, here I am, almost a year to the day after I first learned to knit withmy very own, brand-spankin' new knitting blog. My plan is that it shall be awesome.

And who am I? I am a brand-new grad student in the University of Michigan's psychology Ph.D. program. I moved away from my comfortable nest of friends and knitting companions in Ohio and I've been feeling a tad bit lonesome out here by myself. All I have for company is my big goofy boyfriend and our two cats, Mittens (the littly gray one) and Jonnikins McFattington (the orange one), whom we call Fatty for short.

In general terms, I'm a huge dork, which I have come to accept and treasure. Need proof? I enjoy statistics...a lot. I titled my blog Captian Knitpicky because my compulsive rationality soemtimes gets me into trouble. I once went off on how much the space-time incosistencies in the Chronicles of Narnia bother me, to which a friend of mine responded, "That's ridiculous. You're the most illogically logical person I have ever met." Which, I think, makes me nitpicky. Add a K and you get a nerdy pun!

Anyway, this blog is supposed to focus on knitting. I have tackled the Christmas list, because I am too poor to buy proper presents. Knitted gifts would be acceptable, except that most of the people I knit for live in Texas, and my family keeps the air conditioner on even in December. Here are the things I have already completed:

A Clapotis for my mom. I used about 3 1/2 skeins of Katia Ingunea Print in color 5652 and knitted it on size 7 needles. I started on a really awful pair of pink plastic ones, but I lost one at some oint in an airport coming back from my friend's wedding and finished them on wooden ones. Honestly, how do you lose a 14 inch knitting needle without noticing it?



Also, a pair of socks for my mom. Although, technically they were for her birthday. But whatever. I used 2 skeins of Artyarns Supermerino in color 105 on 40" size 3 addi turbos. You can't really tell, but I used a traveling eyelet pattern that looks really nifty. The pattern is my own, although this is certainly not the first time someone has used traveling eyelets.





Here's a pair of socks I knitted for my boyfriend. I knitted them on my size 3 addi turbos and used 1 skein of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Amish and another in Black Watch because he demanded that the socks be complementary, not matching. So, I chose a basic rib with stripes based on the Fibonacci sequence. See? I told you I was a dork. Anyway, the colors overwhelmed the stripes, and they turned out looking suspiciously like a Cosby sweater.

Here's what I have yet to knit:

• the second cabled sock for my stepdad (one down, one to go)
• felted bags for my sister and her best friend and her best friend's sister, who are like sisters to me
• fingerless gloves for my boyfriend
• socks for my Other (see I Heart Huckabees)
• felted slippers for my bestest buddy

Wish me luck.