Midterms- and a new blog!

Midterms have a lot of crazy influences, a few of which I am just beginning to discover.  One of the most interesting developments is the constant itch to cast on new projects (procrastinate).  In the last week, I have cast on for Heart for my Dad for the holidays, and Spiral Cowl to utilize the gorgeous grey variegated yarn I had in my stash, and I still have my Aran Gauntlets, unfinished, to work on.

The beginnings of my Spiral Cowl- I would love for it to be done by Thanksgiving.  My family has a tradition of walking the route of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year the night before the parade- the day of the parade is always freezing and crowded, but the night before, you can watch them inflate the balloons, guess what they're going to be, and then watch the festivities the next morning from your warm, cozy home (accompanied by the smell of cooking turkey!)  There is a slight flaw in this logic, though, as it is always even colder in the dark the night before the parade than it would be the next morning.  Therefore, I needed something warm and cozy to wear to match my new winter jacket!

I've decided that for my immediate family this year, my holiday theme is going to be 'stuffing isn't only for Thanksgiving!'  Everyone in my family has received a knitted gift from me except for my little brothers, so their present is going to be the most intricate (but it can't be too intense- with twins, you have to make two of everything!)  They're going to get Smith by Ysolda, at David's request, the yarn for which should arrive in the mail shortly.  Mom is going to get something small since she just got a hemlock ring blanket for her birthday.  But Dad- for him I wanted something funny but still meaningful.  He's a doctor, so I figure he should appreciate the general idea of Heart, but I also didn't want a knit that would be too time consuming, because not only do I have a ton of schoolwork to do, I also have other projects going on.

Hopefully I won't cast on anything more until at least one of these projects is done.  But I already know that when my yarn comes for Smith, I will want to cast on right away, and then my friend Melissa's birthday is coming up, and after seeing Hemlock Ring Blanket blocking in the common room, requested 'something that beautiful.'  I'm thinking a hat.  See, it's cast-on-itis!  And I haven't discovered a cure!