knitting school dropout

i managed to remove 2 projects from the WIP list recently, despite feeling like i haven't had a free moment. luckily there were meetings and lunch breaks to knit through, so i am finally able to present you with these:

first up, my cloudy day bolero. the pattern is ysolda's, from yarn forward. it's a great pattern, well written, and easy to follow.
i made only minor changes. i (obviously) lengthened it a lot. i had 3 balls of yarn and just kept knitting until they were gone. i also used us10 needles, when i think the pattern called for 11s. this was pure laziness, i couldn't muster up the energy to look for 11s for more than 5 minutes, and the 10s were right in my bag. i also used noro iro, color 63, which is half price at webs right now!. after finishing, i had only a few scraps left.

i apologize for the not-so-great front shot, the other photos were making me feel a little self-conscious about my post quit weight gain.

i also finished a hat, inspired by the one my 93 year old great aunt has been making for years. i really like the finished result, and the beautiful "bobby blue" malabrigo i used, but i still plan to make another that looks a little more like hers.

here's a shot of the very flat top:

next up, i'm finishing the stranded hat that i mentioned once before. that is, if the small furry animals will let me. i'm knitting the top of the hat and the lining at the same time. i switch to the plain lining during subtitled films, then back to the stranded knitting when i'm watching crappy t.v.

after that, i hope to finally finish my swallowtail shawl. i kind of gave up after the p5togs started slowing me down. i would have eliminated them, but i really like how they look. i think a break was all i needed.

i have been terrible at responding to comments/returning emails lately and i apologize. i was temporarily swamped with other stuff, but i'll be better from now on.

for those who asked, i really liked miranda july book it has a really neat website you can check out here.