I don’t really have any knitting news. In April, I pretty much only worked on two projects, neither of which are finished yet, though one is about 8 rows from being complete. And my knitting has slowed down in the past 2-3 weeks due to certain unfortunate circumstances.
However, I do have two new hobbies which have slightly eaten into my knitting time: belly dancing and a new (to me) bicycle. I started taking belly dancing in the beginning of April and I love it so much, I’m continuing into May.
The bicycle is a used 1998 Bianchi Eros that I purchased via Ebay three weeks ago. I’ve been cleaning it up and servicing it with the help of my friend Elisabeth. Last week we managed to make it positively luminous. I’ve added new tires & tubes and ripped out the rusted dérailleur cables, which I will replace soon. I can’t wait to get her (yes, I’ve decided it’s a she) into working condition.
rather silly photo
And of the Peace Corps.. I had my blood tested again last week and finally, my thyroid levels are normal! If they stay normal, I should be medically cleared mid-July. My “close of invitation” date is August 8, which means that I will most likely leave in September. 
We had a yarn swap on Saturday and I snagged a skein of Misti Alpaca lace, which I dyed on Sunday in a color I’m now calling Goiaba — guava em Português. (The title of this entry is the Portuguese word for guava paste, which is de-li-cious.)
And to end this rather incongruous post, I will be in New York City/ Brooklyn from May 24 - June 1!
So I had my blood test last week and my thyroid levels still weren’t normal, so I started taking a lower dose, again. I’ve changed doses 3 times in the past 5 months! Because the Peace Corps wants me to show stable levels in the ‘normal’ range for three months, I’m definitely not leaving in May or June. Or July. I’m going to continue to get my blood checked every 4 weeks. Hopefully in May, I will finally have stable levels. July will be three months from April, so if indeed my levels are normal, I can turn in my documentation/lab results then. That would mean that the earliest I could depart would be late August - September. So that’s that, for now.
I’ve been a good knitter this April! I haven’t started anything new and I haven’t bought any more yarn! I’ve also been mostly working on one thing: Terra from Stitch Diva Studios. So far, it seems like I should be able to finish this within the month.
A brief history..
I’m bad, bad blogger. Bah.
Since my last post, I’ve had more of a delay in my Peace Corps application process and I’ve finished a number of knitted items. Probably a sewn one as well. There’s a lot of March that sort of seems a blur. Another reason to write in this blog more often!
Next week, I’m getting my blood drawn again to see if I’m ‘normal.’ If not, well, I can basically kiss goodbye the May and June departures, which is why I’m becoming ever more anxious and nervous.
On to the parade of finished objects, which help diminish said anxiety.
First is my second “My So Called Scarf.” I knit one last year for a swap partner, but this one is for me. I saw the yarn online and just knew it had to be made into this scarf and I think it came out gorgeously. It is wonderfully long and wide and cosy. I have two skeins left of this yarn (I fell in love with the colors, what can I say?) and, when I bought it, I intended to make a hat with it, which I may still do.
Pattern: My So Called Scarf
Yarn: 2 skeins handpaintedyarn.com Colonia 140 in Cronos
Needles: US 11 dpns
Ravelry
Next is Verity by Ysolda Teague. It’s cute, but I don’t know how much I like the band. I may rip it out and add a simple ribbing. It verges on looking a bit ragamuffin/moppet on me, but that may just be my skewed opinion. By the way, I didn’t knit that scarf–my mother bought it for me in the Netherlands several years ago. It’s 100% acrylic or polyamide? and really, really, long.
Pattern: Verity by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: SWTC Optimum in Turquoise
Needles: US 7
Ravelry
And last, but not least, the garment finished last night, Nob Hill. I absolutely love this yarn and this colorway; both are spectacular. The yarn is a delicious saffron and it is deliciously soft. I loved it so much, I ordered more, but in a different, yet equally gorgeous color. I still need to find a button for it, but that shouldn’t be too hard. It’s such an interesting piece and I can’t wait to wear it somewhere. It needs to be blocked first.
A note about the yarn: even though I ordered all three skeins at once, they were slightly different in color. Skein #2 didn’t have the rich orange that skeins #1 and #3 had, but this is not surprising, as it’s hand painted yarn! I think I employed the color differences well and though you can see a difference between front and back, they sort of make a faux raglan sleeve, which looks kind of cool.
Pattern: Nob Hill (Knitty Spring 2008) by Ashley Adams Moncrief
Yarn: 3 skeins handpaintedyarn.com Merino Bulky in Sunflowers (The title of this post is the French word for sunflower!)
Needles: US 11, 10.5
Mods: I didn’t like the openness of gauge that I got with 13’s, so I went down to size 11 needles. Because my gauge was smaller, I decided to knit the medium directions in order to achieve the small size/dimensions, which worked out pretty well. However, I did have to add a number of extra rows to acheive the given length for the small size. The other major modification I made was to add a few short rows to the collar so that it would stand up in the back. (They were done 13 sts from each edge and then 18 sts from each edge; 13+5 = 18)
Ravelry