It's been a busy one, still waiting to hear back about the job but as it's something I very much want to do I've been crossing fingers, toes and just about anything else that it's possible to cross (which makes knitting somewhat difficult I can tell you). I've finished my final assignments and have them all ready to hand in. I've also finished my final square of last year's mystery blanket and the strips are sat in my knitting bag waiting to be sewn up this afternoon. I've also got about halfway through my first Toe Jazz sock, and while I'm not one for rocking the socks and sandals look as a rule sometimes it's just a little bit too chill to venture out in my flip flops - plus they have a lovely cable that runs all the way down the back of the sock right to the base of the foot, and I'm sure you'll agree dear readers. It would be such a crime to hide such lovely stitch work away in my every day shoes. Pictures of both blanket and socks to follow, but now it's off to hand work in for almost the last time.

The faceted rib socks are coming along quite nicely, and so far I'm impressed. The pattern really seems to suit the yarn, I'm not sure why the colours are all muted - perhaps it's just my monitor, but in the flesh it's actually a very bright sock, which of course suits me fine as my taste in socks seems to be the brighter the better. The slip stitch pattern also makes a very thick fabric, which will hopefully make for a good pair of winter socks provided they're not too thick to fit over my heels. I've been half hoping that they might turn out a little small so I have an excuse to make a Jaywalker scarf after being inspired by seeing a scarf done in Lorna's Laces shepherd's sock rainbow on ravelry where the colours looked fantastic.

I've also started looking at a few larger projects as well, I find socks and other small projects quite satisfying and more suited to my lifestyle at the moment. But with a bit of luck this time next year I'll have a job and won't have to do quite so much studying so I'll have more time to knit, and knit larger more satisfying things. Lsb and I sat down a few nights ago to peruse the latest Debbie Bliss magazine and between us managed to come up with 2 or 3 projects each that may be going on my to knit list (all of them cabled I might add, which seems to be my new thing). I'm looking forward to having a bit more time on my hands as I'm so busy at the moment it's unbelievable, though out of the two assignments that have to be handed in in January I have just over half of one done and just under half of another which makes me feel a little more relaxed. For me the first two weeks of the year tend to be the worst as every tutor seems to throw an enormous amount of work at you before you've even had time to figure out what each module's about. To me my head just goes into panic mode because everything seems to be due in at the same time and there never seems enough time to get everything done. After the first few weeks everything starts to fall into place and once I actually sit down and start writing I tend to get work out of the way fairly quickly. Of course that's half the battle as I'd much rather be knitting, or running, or climbing things. Hmm as you can probably tell concentration isn't one of my strong points when it come to things I'd rather not do. I love pretty much every element of my clinical placements, I just hate the academic bit.

today's seen some more knitting on the dratted scarf (progressing well so far, fingers crossed), a lot of fighting with the nhs student grants people, the progression of my last university assignment of the year and the rediscovery of an almost forgotten scarf project.

as a student nurse money is always tight (but it's always funny how even if there's no money for food the yarn still gets bought), as anyone in the same situation or with family members training to become nurses will tell you. and as such i'm trying to apply for help with healthcare costs which involves getting in touch with student grants to try and get an awards notice to show the amount of bursary i currently get. this is the award notice they were supposed to send out last september but forgot. after much hassle they finally agreed to send something out to me over a week ago with the promise it should be here by the weekend at the latest, so i waited, and i waited. then today i got fed up with waiting and got in touch again to find them reluctant to send another notice out to me, and then when they did i found out the cause of all the trouble. they were sending it to the wrong address. well ok, the correct address really, but the actually only had my house number and street and the name of the city i live in. completely missing out the name of the village and post code. now the city i'm from isn't a big city by any means, but by missing off half my address anything coming to me is going to be very very delayed. so eventually after rectifying this i went back to my knitting.

with having the house to myself dratted scarf's progressing very well indeed (i will not be defeated!) i've probably got something like half a metre or more done now, and for a knitter new to lace i wouldn't say that was too bad. although of course once my brother got home from school any chance of peace and quiet to concentrate on that went out of the window and i had to hunt round for something else to occupy my time with. and after much pleading from my boyfriend i said i'd look for some more yarn to knit him another pair of socks as i think he's started to love the ones i gave him a couple of weeks ago more than anything else, i almost had to prise them off him on the sunday night to get them in the wash. his demands were clear, something fairly plain in colour so he can wear them to work and to his bowling matches without feeling too embarrassed if anyone looks at his ankles. so after much searching through the stash i settled on some of the regia silk in a navy blue, quite conservative but at the same time a little bit special. while on the hunt for some sock wool though i came accross an almost long forgotten scarf project of my mother's that she started over two years ago for me, when i was but a very very novice knitter hardly able to do much beyond cast on, stocking stitch and rib, of course i was no good at casting off, sewing up or doing increases the "right way". thankfully i'm somewhat more confident and the idea of slipping stitches and knitting into the back or front of this stitch or that one seems a lot less daunting. so i decided to help her out on this one seen as the scarf's mine anyway, and if left to her own devices my mother will never, ever finish it. the problem is she has a project for every occaison and like me it's easy to lose interest part way through or when some shiny new yarn arrives on the site or shelf of your favourite yarn store. thankfully though i love knitting with debbie bliss maya (now called soho i think, i'm sure someone will correct me if this isn't right), i love the thick and thin texture it gives and all the shades of red this particular variation has that i'm just itching to get stuck in and make it up (pictures to come once it's finished). of course i've recently also been distracted by all the fabulous wares on the numerous knitting sites i've been introduced to, i'm particularly in love with all the gorgeous stuff my mum found for me on pearlescence. i think the leopard print needles are a must have, or would be if i didn't need to be sensible and go book a driving lesson or two over the next few weeks.