Huge Life Changes

So after so many years of being a college student, that phase of my life has come to an end.  I think that this is one of the most nerve wracking changes in my life that I have ever experienced.  A label that I have had for so much of my life has all of a sudden been taken away from me and unfortunately the university that I attended did not have the resources available to make a successful transition from being a student to an employed member of society.  I honestly did not realize how hard it would be to find a job with a Sociology degree.  However, in an attempt to earn an income before my student loans start coming due I have been using my crafting abilities to sell skirts out of re-purposed jeans.  I can only hope that I am able to make enough that I won't have to take a job that is meaningless and far below my education and skill set.

I have been knitting a lot since I have graduated and finished many projects as well as working on some very long term projects.  I have been working on the Beekeeper's Quilt and a scrap sock yarn blanket which are both projects that take a lot of time to complete.

 

Another long term project that I am working on is the My Year in Temperature Scarf which is a very interesting project that has to take a year if you are doing the current year, which is what I am doing but many other people that are making this scarf are doing a year which was significant to them such as the year that they were married or the year that they were born.  The very interesting thing about this project is that no two people will have the same scarf because of where they are located.

I have also been pushing my knitting ability by adding new skills.  I am currently learning to knit socks on one long circular needle, which I am like very much and am finding it very handy for the sock patterns that I have that are not easily divisible by four which had stopped my previously when I was using only dpns.  I am also learning to knit lace from charts.  I have used charts for small stitch patterns but never for something as large or complicated as lace shawls.  I have found that it is not nearly as complicated as I had once thought that it was.  I am going to continue to expand my knitting skills so that when I am able to open a yarn shop in the future I will have a wide range of skills and abilities.

Knitting Has Saved My Sanity

So I am now in my final semester of my college career (until I decide I want to go to grad school) and I am in that pre-graduation freak out about I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when I am done.  My way of combating that freak out is to basically spend any time that I am not doing homework, I have been knitting.  I also have been knitting while doing homework if I am reading something that will lie flat and doesn't need to be held open. 

What I have found so nice about knitting lately is that the act of knitting has been enough to quiet that worry.  This also means that I have been able to finish quite a few projects so far this year.  So far I have finished 28 different projects, 19 of those projects have been dishcloths and most of them with pictures in them.  I have also finished 9 hats, 5 of which are going to be sent to Wool-Aid which is a charitable organization that sends woolen items to children in poverty stricken, extremely cold climates.  It is a great way to put your wool scraps from other projects to a good use.

I have also finished a pair of boot socks, which unfortunately for me are too big and will be going to my sister who also just recently got the boot cuffs that I made.

But my current knitting addiction is baby items.  I love how fast they knit up and even though I don't need them, I am coming to the point in my life when my friends and cousins will be having babies and it is nice to have items on hand and not have to try to whip them up at the last minute.  Last weekend I was able to knit an adorable green baby vest in about 4 hours.

Today I started a new baby vest that is in Sock Yarn Studio called the Golden Lace Baby Cardigan, which is so cute.  Instead of knitting it in the tonal gold (or any tonal yarn) that they show it in, I am knitting it out of a yarn that looks like a tye-dye shirt and I love it so far.  The lace pattern looks so nice on the edge and is really easy to do.  I have a feeling that I will be knitting more than one of these because with a little variation it could also be a vest suitable for a little boy as well.

So now I need to either find a way to start my own yarn shop, which I have wanted to do for years, or get a job in a yarn shop, which could be problematic because I have a feeling that I wouldn't bring home much of a paycheck then.