Procrastination Station

I'm supposed to be taking advantage of having a day off from my internship to work on my thesis. Our first major deadline is next Saturday and I promised myself a trip to the LYS if I turn my stuff in on time. PLUS, Saturday is my birthday so I can get my birthday month discount at Alamitos Bay! Woohoo!

But first I have to actually do the work, which means of course that I'm logging substantial numbers of hours updating my Ravelry page, reading over all the blogs I missed over the past few weeks (I burned through them all!), and generally doing anything I can to avoid actually working on my thesis.

So of course I was thrilled when my doorbell rang this afternoon and I found a package from my brother on the doorstep:

He built me a swift! What a great little brother, huh? I have to admit that I did email him a couple weeks ago and sent him the plans for it (free, thanks to the FABULOUS Anne at Crafty Diversions), and told him that it would make a great birthday present for moi. And he came through! (What would a brother with his own construction company be worth if he couldn't build a yarn swift?)

So now, in addition to the ball winder my wonderful husband, The Brain, gave me for a late Christmas present, I can wind up all those hanks of yarn that I have been hankering to knit with! (Bonus points if you noticed the bad pun. Even more points if you noticed the bad pun, snickered, but then concluded that my dorkiness should not drive you from my blog.)

Hmm...an afternoon of winding up yarn, or an afternoon researching the viewing habits of various age and gender groups? It's a toss-up, I tell ya.

In other news I finished my sister's baby sweaters last night! Go me!

Here they are, blocking. Yes, those are balloons holding the hoods up, but it was the best thing I could come up with.

Pattern: Hooded Sweater from Debbie Bliss Special Knits
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash in Deep Ocean and Dublin
Mods: None, except that somehow I managed to make all the sleeves waaaaaay longer than the pattern called for. Since my sister does not have monkey arms like me and her husband is kinda short, I'm thinking that might be a problem. But she can just roll them up and that won't hurt. Besides, it's cold in Minnesota and who doesn't like extra sweateriness to snuggle up with?

The green sweater is for the newborn size, and the blue sweater is for ages 6-9 months. She had the baby a week ago Sunday so I hope the kid doesn't grow out of the green one before it gets to him. I can't even tell you what they named him because the name just makes me crack up, but I'll give you a hint: it's in the title of an old Disney movie featuring banshees and death coaches and leprechauns.

I really like this pattern and am planning on making another hoodie for my other sister's baby, but I don't have time to start just yet. The sweater takes a monumental amount of seaming for something so small, but at least they're short! I like how the hood grows organically out of the front panel of the sweater, but I have to admit it took me a while to figure out just where to cast on the stitches so that the hood was made inside out. I would also prefer it if the seam for the hood was on the back instead of running down the top of the head, but I'm no designer so I'll just take what I can get!