Procrastinating

Here are three things I know about criminal law:

1. Burglary is the unlawful entry into a dwelling at night with the intent to commit a felony therein
2. Depraved heart murder is murder committed with an abandoned and malignant heart (that certainly clarifies the matter, doesn't it?)
3. I should know a whole lot more about Crim if I am supposed to take a closed-book exam tomorrow....

It's not looking good for me, is it?  And next week is going to be even worse with Administrative and Constitutional Law Exams waiting for me.  AND people keep sending me interesting things in the mail.

My mom sent me the Free-Range Knitter, the 2008 book by the Yarn Harlot/Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  I don't get all the references to the perils of trying to raise kids, but still makes me laugh out loud.

Jha sent me this one for my birthday.  I had never heard of it before.  The patterns in it are nothing super-exciting, but the discussion of knitting's juxtaposition with feminism is pretty thoughtful.  I'm enjoying it.

Basically, my friends and family want me to fail at school.  Thanks, guys.

Why I Haven't Been Doing My Homework

So, you're like, JoAnna hasn't been here for a while, so she must just be studying a lot lately, right?

You would be incorrect.  Instead I have been watching all of Downton Abbey and knitting this:

Wippoorwill Shawl by Carina Spencer

I would just like to say that, if for no other reason, I am pleased I went to law school just so that when Downton Abbey talks for an entire season about how terrible a fee entail is, I can turn smugly to the person sitting next to me on the bus and say, "let me drop a hot piece of info on you I learned in my property class" and give them the explanation of inheritability of estates they have been craving for the last week (because, you see, they were like me and hadn't discovered Downton Abbey on Netflix until last week and then spent ALL of their free time since catching up).

But I digress.

You really can't see how nice this shawl looks from so far away.  But I am including these pictures anyway because who doesn't want a solid picture of their booty up on the internet? 

Am I right?

For the knitters out there, the shawl really is symmetrical, it is just inexplicably.  off center in this pic.  This is a size medium.  There are way too many "make ones" in the pattern to make it a total joy to knit, but overall, pretty fun.  The yarn is all from local yarn shops from two different sides of the country.  The black is Star Castle Fiber Mill Alpaca Sock Yarn from So Much Yarn in Seattle, Washington.  Apparently the alpacas that donated their fleece to this skein were named Jengo and Gabrietta.  I am very grateful to them for making this shawl possible.  The orange is Starcroft Nash Island Fog Yarn in Lobster Bake colorway brought to me from Maine by someone who knows what kind of souvenirs I like best.

Ok, back to "How I Met Your Mother."

Procrastination Knitting Part II (of many, I'm sure)

I took a three and half hour exam today.  Three.  And a half.  Hours.  And it is just the first of four.

My brain is fried.  So I am making pop tarts (obviously) and continuing with my procrastination knitting.  This is what I made last night:

I'm kind of in love with it.

I started with 10 100yard balls of yarn.  It was a bit of a mess.

Most of it is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted...some of it was random wool I had (probably Cascade 220) and a little bit of the white is Red Heart Pound of Love acrylic because I ran out of white wool...shhhh...you can't even tell.

I wound it all up in a big ball.

So pretty!

A really big ball.

And then knit it up on my Size 50 knitting needles.  And got this:

I quite enjoy it.  Big and squishy.   I think I would use just eight strands next time because it is pretty bulky.  But it has also inspired a new idea.  I think I might see how some fat knitting like this felts up in the washer.  Rugs, maybe?  Also going to make headbands and a matching hat.  

Soooo many options for proscrastination.