FIngerless mittens make gang signs a snap

You can't tell from the photo, but there are made from the most beautiful turquoise silk-merino blend ever. All the mermaidz are jealous. The pattern is "Fetching" from Ravelry, which is a lameass name that does not underly the fact that this is the most popular free knitting project on the internet. Whoa. I've joined the wooly masses and decided to make my own yesterday, and they knit up so fast I can barely remember casting on. AHHHH.

Inching closer to the realm of things that don't bore the rest of the world, my last day of work is Friday (or Saturday, technically, since that's clean-up day when we completely kill camp). This summer has gone by really fast, probably because I have a job I actually like. Last summer took years to complete because I was a useless lump of unproductivity, and I had the Unemployment Tan the first week of Vassar to prove it. I will never not do anything for that long again.

I may love my job, but I'm ready to not get up for anything anymore. I have this routine where I wake up at 7:45, get up at 7:55, make coffee, start the crossword, get ready, yell at Matthew, then speed off to camp at least five minutes late every single solitary day. I'm turning middle-aged and I don't like it. Time for some good old-fashioned teenage irresponsibility and no damn alarm clocks!

Vassar!

I just got back from a lovely lovely weekend at the Vass. I visited Sam and Jake and Tess and Brose and I drove three and a half hours each way to get there. This was the longest consecutive journey I've ever taken by about three hours, and so now I am disproportionately proud of myself.Driving makes me ten different kinds of nervous, but having my friends at the end of the Taconic State Parkway was as good an incentive as any to just get the fuck over it. The world feels a little smaller now.

P.S. Keep an eye out for "Hello, My Baby," the dazzling new musical that will clearly be all over Broadway in a matter of months. Twenty-two songs with absolutely nothing to do with the plot, kids forgetting their lines even though they were carrying their scripts, and such stellar writing as "The saloon died...just like Papa..."- what more could you even want?

Also I am making kneesocks right now. They are a sexy combo of goldenrod with blue stripes, and it was only after I finished the first that I realized those are my high school's colors. Too much school spirit.

The Newsies soundtrack is blasting at full volume down the hall.

My boy and my grandma just came, saw and conquered the sleepy town of Needham. I thought this strange pairing would be unfortunate given Grandma's tendency to judge swiftly and harshly, but they ended up being best friends and she told him her entire life story. But now he is back in Chicago and I'm having trouble sleeping again. Serious case of whine flu up in here.

Second Session has begun at camp. The kids are older, smarter and more well-behaved this time around, but don't have that same ridiculous energy and lack of self-consciousness that the younger kids do. An eight-year-old doesn't think twice about jumping onstage and making up a song about rogue gorillas on the spot; an eleven-year-old twists her hands and smiles embarrassedly before whispering a few words and running off. That said, it's only the second day, and I think it'll still be a bitchin' session. I don't actually feel like I'm making things up on the spot anymore! First time for everything...

Mittens!

Do you know how hard it is to press the camera button while wearing mittens? Now you do.

These are a combination of knit and crochet. I basically just made up the pattern as I went along, ergo they will fall apart before the temperature drops below 60. Oh well.

In that vein, I'm really excited for Vassar winter. It's cozier than winter in the real world, considering you're stuck in building with your nearest and dearest and a whole bunch of alcohol for something like six months out of the year. It's also the only time of year you can feel somewhat dignified for having Christmas lights wound around your entire dorm room.


Subnote: I look like a serial killer in that picture. No regrets!

Slouchy Beret (aka Urban Outfitters knockoff)

This is the beret I just finished and have been wearing everywhere. It's actually starting to smell.

It was knitted in the round with Manos del Uruguay yarn (again with the Uruguay. Who knewruguay?) and a size 8 circular needle. I got the pattern at http://laurennell.com/knit/?p=16. Woohoo alright.

Distinctive Features of Today

- I have been fantasizing about Manos del Uruguay yarn. I'm not kidding- it's 70% merino wool, 30% silk, 100% sexy.
- A tiny girl named Willow Funkhouser told me at camp that she has crush on my brother. I hope they get married just so I can receive that wedding invitation. However, this is unlikely considering he, at the age of twelve, only eats chicken nuggets and chocolate milk, doesn't shower on the regular, and still carries his blanket around. Don't let the newly-purchased Pink Floyd shirts and guitar skillz fool you.
- I love my job. I don't know a whole bunch of people who get paid to write musicals with titles like "Bloopy Bear and his Woodland Friends," or to play Yogi Says for literally half an hour every day.