Random Order

I have exactly six days before my licensing exams begin. Suffice to say that there are many learning objectives that have yet to be met. As my stress level slowly mounts and my available knitting/spinning time continues to dwindle, I find myself seeking some form of fibery life balance (try explaining that to a non-knitter).

Enter a relatively new niddy noddy and our heroine quickly finds herself measuring, re-skeining and tagging much of the leftover yarn in her stash.

I'm not sure what was more therapeutic: the tactile experience of manipulating the yarn, squishing and sniffing each new hank after it came off the niddy noddy; or the flexing of a metaphoric organizational control muscle with each "changed" bit of yarn as it was systematically classified and labelled.

Although I'm very diligent in all of the "mandatory" areas of my life, I'm not a colour coded sock drawer or labelled spice rack kind of gal. To be perfectly honest, about half the socks in my sock drawer are not even folded into pairs. I love frantically digging around every morning while trying to find two that match. It's refreshing to have some of the more insignificant aspects of my life be a little less regimented. It's almost like my own private social rebellion.

This quirk is what makes my organizational response to stress especially disorienting. I have no idea why a quick cupboard reorganization makes me feel like anything is possible.

On the knitting front, I managed to finish this while spending 8-hours in an under ventilated room listening to people with three years of legal education ask "What is probation?"

Project Specs: Fancy Fisherman's Cap (my own pattern)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Swirl Chunky in Vera
Amount: 1 hank
Left over: About half
Needles: US 11 Circs

I saw a picture of a similar cap in a fashion magazine way back in October and finally decided to try a little intuitive knitting with some yarn I had marinating in the stash. While cruising around the Internet today I found a free pattern that is very similar to what I did here (it's called "The Republic" on the right-hand side if you scroll down). My version uses fewer stitches around, fewer garter stitch rows and less length before starting the crown decreases (although I didn't actually take any notes - bad habit, I know).

I also managed to find this absolutely perfect button at my LYS. Here's a close-up to capture my enthusiasm.

As per your wonderful feedback on the silk tank, I have decided to go ahead with the v-neck once I get a chance to work through the necessary math. The first sock-in-a-day sock is nearing completion as it patiently waits for a toe (scheduled for tomorrow when I bring it to part 3 of 8 of "When bad air circulation happens to good people" a.k.a. the licensing exam prep course I'm taking).

I can't wait to survive these exams and get back to knitting. I have so many great ideas running around my head that I can't wait to share!