The Call to be Frugal

In the May 2010 edition of The Reader's Digest, they feature an article highlighting some of the most frugal people in the United States and the difference between being frugal and being a cheapskate.  This made me think about myself and where I would fit on this scale of frugality.  I've been raised by parents who shop the sales and the thrift shops and my mother's prowess with the art of sale shopping is unparalleled.

Now, as you all probably know, I'm a college student.  I need every spare penny I can get.  I save change and look for the highest possible re-selling price on my used textbooks.  When it comes to knitting, is it wrong of me to go for the free patterns?  I save the links of patterns too pretty to be lost, but too expensive to be bought in addition to the already expensive yarn.  In the end, I always go for the free pattern that may not be exactly what I wanted, but close enough.  It's not for a lack of desire to support designers.  If I won a million dollars, I'd probably run to the yarn store after I finished paying for college, a car, and some savings.  (and for the record, the car would still be cheap.  I still need money for yarn!)

On a somewhat-related note, I'm almost done the lace part of my second sweater sleeve.  Hopefully, I'll have pictures soon.  We're moving into the warm-weather season where no one wants to be anywhere near worsted-weight wool.  I'm also planning to embark on several smaller projects.  I've realized that I really don't have any fun accessories for those rare days when I want to dress up.  More on that later, though.

And It's Come to an End

Classes are done as of two weeks ago.  After being in a dorm room for an entire school year, I'm still trying to adjust to being home.  I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything in the room I share with my sister.  I managed to make the pile slightly smaller, but there are still two massive piles of stuff: one in front of the closet, and one in front of my desk.  The one in front of the closet involves my luggage and the crates I used for books, decorations, and dishes and cleaning products.  The other pile is a bunch of random stuff and my knitting supplies.  Speaking of knitting, I understand that this was meant to be a knitting blog, but I honestly haven't been doing that much knitting lately.  Most of my time in the last two weeks have been spent cleaning, sleeping, doing laundry, watching little siblings, and reworking a story I've been writing on and off since 6th or 7th grade.

However, while thinking about knitting, I stumbled upon a knitting kit on KnitPicks.  And it looks kind of amazing.  No, it looks really amazing.  KnitPick's Sock Cocktails.  Lately, I've been in the mood to knit a pair of socks.  There's just one problem:  I don't have sock yarn. This must be remedied.

Peace out, people.  Have a nice summer.

The Conundrums of Life

It's reached that time of the year when it feels like everything should be winding down.  There are two and a half weeks left of the school year, three more classes and the final exam for my twice-a-week classes, and (relatively) sunny, spring-timey weather.  Yet . . . everything just seems to be speeding up.  Classes are coming to a close, which means final exams and final assignments.  English Club is having its final meetings, which means that elections are coming up (Am I running for an office?  Yes!!!)  The leaders for next fall's Getaway Weekend have been chosen, which means that we're meeting to get things organized for that.  Some jobs on campus are getting ready to hire people for next year, which means that I have an interview with the admissions department to become a tour guide.  Stress is high, energy is low . . . and the smells of summer vacation and a summer job are calling me home.  There's so much to do, yet all I really want to do is curl up with a novel and spend the afternoon being swept away by stories of knights and dragons and damsels in distress.  I mean, who wants to read about DNA and phonics in this kind of weather?

Random Tolkein Quote of the Day

"I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you.  If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes.  There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself." -Gandalf, The Hobbit

Last week, I found out that I get to be involved in an awesome weekend for freshmen again next year as a leader.  As a result, I've been thinking a lot about  the qualities of a leader and how I can become a good leader lately.  Then, I was on a bus to New York City on Saturday, and I was reading The Hobbit again.  It occurred to me that Gandalf, Thorin, and even Bilbo are leaders in one way or another.  I think Gandalf and Thorin are kind of obvious, but Bilbo grows a lot over the course of The Hobbit, and takes the lead when other characters start to lose faith in themselves.

But, Gandalf is one of the more obvious characters who shows leadership qualities in Tolkien's novels.  I love the faith that Gandalf puts in the characters he interacts with.  Throughout both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he sees the potential for growth in other characters; and, he's not afraid to tell them when they fail to meet up with his expectations.   He frequently mocks or ridicules for errors they make.  Though his comments may come off as harsh or mean-hearted, I think it can really be interpreted as tough love.  In the quotation above, Gandalf stands up for Bilbo when the dwarves question his abilities.  Although he implies that Bilbo may not quite be the "burglar" they need at the moment, Gandalf expresses confidence in Bilbo's ability to grow into that role.  According to Gandalf, Bilbo has "a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself" (19).  The truth is, we all need someone to see the potential.  Everyone has some aspect of their life that is in need of improvement.  To have the ability to see the potential in others, no matter how obscure or undeveloped, is an admirable quality and one that will lead to success in whatever endeavor the group is working to achieve.

That's all I have to say on the topic for the time being, folks.  I'm thinking about making another blog where I can discuss Lord of the Rings and Tolkien exclusively.  What do you all think?

Reasons Why I Like School (Because I Really Need to Be Reminded Right Now...)

1. I enjoy learning; I really do.  Reading a book for a class is fun to me because it means that we're going to take it apart and discuss it.  The problem lies when I don't get anything out of the discussion as a result of a variety of reasons.
2. I like being with a group of people who also want to learn.  When you actually have a good group (like I have with my Early American Literature class at the moment), I feel useful and we actually get something done.  In the end, I think we all come out of it understanding the topic more thoroughly.
3. The professor has a certain amount of expertise in the subject you're learning.  As a result, being in a class taught by that person means that you get to hear an expert talk about their field of study.  The issues only begin when that person cannot effectively communicate that expertise in an understandable manner, which is disappointing because, and I said in #1, I enjoy learning.
4. I've had the opportunity to meet a variety of different people from all different backgrounds.  When we all come together to work in a group, that means everyone has something to contribute, even if it's simply a different perspective on the assignment.
5. I have some awesome people to call friends.  Between the groups that are or were in my classes--such as my Art Ed peeps--or the people who live in my building or from Getaway Weekend, I have some fun people to talk to and hang out with outside of class.
6. I have fun stuff to do outside of class.  No more hanging around at home for me.  If I tried, somebody would probably drag me out to do something fun.

Unfortunately, I must cut this short as I need to finish some things for the aforementioned Early American Literature class.   Don't stay up too late tonight, peeps.  There's places to go and people to see tomorrow.

Hat-ness

Alright, I'm not going to lie... I've become a little bit obsessed with hats over the course of this school year... Not only have a made a few of them, but my cousin gave me one she made for me for Christmas, and I rediscovered one that another friend of mine made for me for Christmas last year.  Let's recap my year in hats, shall we? 

 Hat #1: Imagination Beret

I started this back in August, about two weeks before coming to college for the first time.  This hat was one of my safety-net projects.  For at least the first month of my first semester, I had a knitting project in my backpack.  I made it with KnitPicks Imagination yarn in "Unicorn."  It took one skein and US 6 circulars.  This is the first hat I've ever made and opened up the doors for the other hats that I made over the course of this school year, as well as the hats that I want to make.

 Hat #2: Winter Hat

This hat was inspired by the cold weather that we had this year.  It suddenly dawned on me that it was cold . . . and I need to walk from one building to another in order to get anywhere on campus.  As a result, I need something to keep my head warm during the commute from one building to the next.  It's not a difficult hat to make . . . it's really just a whole bunch of ribbing . . . and fuzzy stuff along the hem.  I made it during the time before Christmas Break.  When it was done, it was just missing something, so when I got home, I found this fuzzy eyelash-type yarn that was perfect.

Hat #3: Slouchy Hat

This is my most recent hat.  I felt the need to make another hat towards the end of Christmas Break.  The only challenge about this hat was what colors to make it in.  It called for worsted-weight yarn, but I only had one wool yarn that I wanted to use, everything else was the wrong weight or wrong material or something to that effect.  However, I realized that, when I hold two lace-weight yarns together, it forms a thickness that was pretty similar to the worsted weight.  The colors were kind of a shot in the dark; I wasn't sure whether the blue-purple combination would work.  Fortunately, it did and it's one of my favorite things to wear.

So those are the hats that I've made.  I also want to make a few other hats . . . at the moment, though, I'm embarking on another sweater.  It's going to be really nice.  I'm using Paton's Classic Wool Merino in the colorway "Dark Grey Mix."  The sleeve-length of my sweaters seem to be gradually getting longer.  My first sweater (the blue "Diamond Mesh" sweater) was short-sleeved.  This one is three-quarters length.  I'll upload pictures soon, hopefully.  I'm almost done with the first sleeve.

10 Things I've Learned at College

College isn't just about what you learn in class . . .

1. The world does not revolve around you.  Period. Some people just haven't learned this yet.
2. Life would be miserable without good friends there to pull you up when you're down.
3. Courage and perseverance are necessary if you want to get anywhere in this world.
4. Being drunk is overrated.  Being able to go up the stairs without stumbling is such a good feeling.
5. Overthinking only makes things worse.
6. Crying doesn't solve any problems, but it definitely makes you feel better.
7. If you want something to happen, you need to make it happen.
8. Life's tough; get over it.
9. There are some people you can be friends with, and there are some people you can life with.  These two groups don't always overlap.
10. Enjoy where you are in life; you never know what may happen tomorrow.