Class Rings, (gratuitous pictures of) Emma, and the Best Class Ever

This week has been a happy interruption to the endless cycle of school work and real work in my life... I got some time off of work, I finally felt ready to begin writing my paper (which I am sure I will write about soon - it's kind of all I can talk about these days!), and I got my class ring! 

My mom and dad came to the ceremony on Wednesday evening, which was, predictably, mostly calling out names and posing for photographs.

I'm up there somewhere! See me?

The eyes of Texas are upon you, all the live long day...

We sang The Eyes of Texas, which has become my favorite song over the last few years here at UT.

And after the ceremony, I posed with my new ring. 

It's silly, but I keep looking at it. It's a visual representation of what I have done at UT. Even though I'll leave in a few months with little more than a slip of paper and what's in my brain (the latter is the most important, of course) it feels really good to have something shiny to show off. 

Isn't it beautiful? You can hold it if you ask me nicely!

-----

In other news, LOOK AT EMMA.

Next year, I won't be looking after her regularly because her mom will be on maternity leave. Of course, I will miss my Emma... but I'm getting my dose of her adorableness while I can! 

And lastly, a lifelong (okay, college-long) dream I've had is to have class at Starbucks. Well, I suggested it a few months ago in my Lexicography class and...

AT STARBUCKS!!

YESSSSSSSSSSS!

Thank you for my coffee, professor! Best class ever!

(We have a rather small class, and only seven or eight of us showed up that day anyway. Thank you, Professor!)

----- 

I lied. That last one wasn't exactly the last lastly.

I'd like to say thank you to my mother for giving birth to me 22 years ago. 

Obviously not a picture of my birth. I'll spare you the gory details, and instead present you with the messy details of my first birthday.

And yes, I know I'm not actually 22 until 11:55pm.

"It's not my birthday without you reminding me of that!" I told her on facebook.

"It's hard for me to forget, you know," she replied.

(Touche.) 

A Knitterly Post

Last week was really stressful for me - I had my last short story for my creative writing class due, I had a test in my history class (and the first exam we had I didn't do as well as I had hoped I would, so I tried to study a lot more for this one) and I have been feeling a lot of pressure from my various and sundry occupations of babysitting and teaching that I felt like I might break by the end of the week.

Well, everything that I was fearing ended up passing like no big deal. I knew that I would be able to tackle everything I needed to (and less important things would fade to the background), but it was sure a big relief when I came out intact. I spent the weekend relaxing, cheering on UT on Saturday night (WHAT A GAME. 43-0 win!), and knitting.

I have been knitting so much stockinette and garter stitch lately (for you non-knitters - all just flat, plain, boring ole knitting, no fun things like cables or lace), that I literally exploded into a fingerless mitten pattern with all the cables I could want on Sunday afternoon. I knitted all afternoon, and even the finicky cables couldn't stop me from adoring the whole process.

(Pattern: Evenstar Gloves)

I've only knit the first one, and it was delightful - and I can't wait to knit the second one and wear them! Texas is giving us its version fall right now, where it's kind of moderately chilly in the morning and moderately warm in the afternoon. It feels a lot like Oxford did over the summer. Maybe someday I'll be able to wear a sweater in the morning AND the afternoon!

About a week ago, I also started a long-promised present for my stepsister Katie. Remember my Wealsey sweater? Well, she wants one too! Here is the beginning of that!

I'm going to try and knit the letter into hers as intarsia, instead of sewing it on as a double stitch after the fact. I figure that K is a lot easier to chart than S was. S was awful. S defeated me.

Emma's little sister's blanket is progressing, though I've taken a break from it for a while. I have edges and weaving in ends still to do. But I am super proud of it. :)

The other project I've been working on for a while is the Sunday Market Shawl, which I knit with some Malabrigo that I've had just laying around for a while.

It was a super easy knit, and I am definitely going to knit another one sometime! It's not so much a shawl (though it stretches out wider to be a kind of wrap) as a scarf, and I know I will be warm and toasty all winter (if winter ever comes!) with it!

I finally visited Gauge, the other yarn store in Austin, and that's where I bought the yarn for my mittens, and this baby. Because I simply couldn't help myself.

(Dizzylettuce, Peacock Bronze)

Oh baby - you're going to be 420 yards of something BEAUTIFUL.

-----

Now, it is off to class I go! My roommate woke me up this morning with a conversation that went something like this:

Leslie: "Stefanie! Stefanie! Wake up!"

Me: "What?"

Leslie: "I have a pumpkin spiced latte and I don't know what to do with it!"

I have the best roommate EVER. She brings me coffee. :D