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Thanks so much to everyone who played along in my blog contest! We have some winners! Danielle will be taking home some Shadow in Sunset, and Jeanne will find herself with some tweedy blue-green!
And thanks, all of you, for your sock suggestions! I was truly amazed, at first, at the number of "monkey!" requests that came rolling in, and (though they are certainly on my list) was nonetheless pleased to see things start to diversify. I'll have no end of possibilities for the Summer of Socks!
My research trip was good, if inconclusive. It was especially nice to see so many friends, and to make a spontaneous, if out of the way, trip to my college town for dinner at my favorite restaurant. I really actually meant to go to WEBS while still sort of in the area, but I also wanted to visit my "old stomping grounds," as the waiter in the restaurant said. The timing made it such that I couldn't do both, and instead of stocking up on yarn, I stocked up on popovers with apple butter, salad with almonds and poppy-seed dressing, and seafood bisque for dinner, with many years' worth of happy memories to keep me company. I'm usually uncomfortable having dinner alone in a restaurant, but in this case I was so happy to be there, the first time in years, that I really saw all my old friends, my family, my professors, at all the tables in the room, and strangely enough, the memories really did keep me from feeling alone.
In terms of research, it ended on a happy note, as I "had" to go to that shrine of learning and books, the Boston Athaeneum! Wow, was that a lot of fun! However, it was a bit inconclusive, for several reasons. One, I wasn't quite as focused as I've been on previous trips, so it seemed less immediately helpful. Two, I think that the topic I'm interested in might not quite be the best one to address the broader questions I'm interested in, so the question becomes: to switch topics, or to switch questions. Either are possible at this point. I need to mull things over for a bit... perhaps while redoing the upstairs bathroom. This has been on our "to-do" list for over a year, and finally we're both caught up enough with school to permit another venture into the wild world of tiling, painting, and plumbing!
This week I'm headed off to Boston for a semi-spontaneous research-and-visit trip. I need to see if there are enough sources to pursue a particular possible dissertation topic, and Harvard (not to mention Boston more generally) is one logical place to start looking in detail. It's off to the big university I go! While I'm there, I'll also be visiting old friends and favorite yarn stores, so it should be a nice trip.
Contest update: less than 12 hours to go! But we're well over the magic number of 15, so two prizes will be drawn! Enter your comment on this post by midnight tonight for a chance to win a prize! I'll be able to inform the winners and post sometime during my trip, but it might not be immediate, especially if the archives kind of suck me in. I'll be in touch with the winners over the next few days to get your addresses, and will put the prizes in the mail after I return.
I'm really excited about this trip. It's been a while since I did anything archival (reading for generals kind of got in the way of that) and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm especially curious since I really don't know exactly what I'll find. I'm hoping to find enough sources to be able to say "yes, I have a topic!" which would just be very exciting.
Of course, I'm also bringing knitting - two socks, to be specific! They are neither of them ones recommended in the contest post (though many of those are ones I do want to knit!):
 The Gentleman's Fancy Sock by Nancy Bush, in Knitting Vintage Socks, for a certain Professor Coffeeboy and
The Embossed Leaf Sock, from Interweave's collection Favorite Socks (and from the, what, 2005 edition of Interweave Knits, right before I started subscribing?). These will be ankle-length as I only had one skein of the, yes, pretty soft blue-and-green Koigu. Yum. They're going to a very lucky recipient at some later date this year... For now, though, it's time to hit the road! See everyone in good old New England! (Or something like that.)
That's right, today this blog is 1 year old! Happy Blogiversary to me! I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started out on the whole knitblogging thing. I've had some dry spells, but on the whole, it's been an enjoyable way to meet new people, chronicle my projects, and pass my time. You all have reminded me that the world can be a very generous place: you've given me yarn, praised my finished (and offered encouragment over the unfinished) objects, and even encouraged not only mine, but also my spouse's, academic pursuits, embracing such non-yarny things as books as an integral part of this blog.
In some small payment for what I've gained from all of you - and because I'm moving in a couple of months and some destashing is in order - I'm having A CONTEST! Here are the details:
What you have to do: leave a comment on this post telling me 1) a sock pattern (or other pattern, if socks aren't your thing) I'd be a fool not to knit (regardless of whether or not I've already done so) and 2) which of the two possible prizes you're interested in, or both.
What you'll win: Here's the tricky part: I'll draw one winner if there are 1-15 entries. If there 16-30 entries, I'll draw a second winner! So, the more people who enter, the more likely you are to win something! (And if it gets above 30 (which would be a real milestone for this blog) I'll add something else... to be determined. The current possibilities, though, are:
 A ball of Rowan Felted Tweed, color SH 152, 191 yards. The color is a bit more bluish-green than represented here.  Two skeins of Knit-picks Shadow in the color "Sunset" - enough for a full-sized shawl. The color is a bit darker and less fiery than shown here (appropriately enough, in the sunset). Random number generator. Deadline: midnight, Sunday, June 3rd (for no other reason than it's about a week away, and it's my half birthday) Enter away!
... and thank you!
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