The Need for Hobbies

At some point last school year I decided I needed to get some hobbies. The nature of teaching is that you are never finished with anything, and I was finding that incredibly frustrating. I just wanted something to be able to hold up and say "I'm finished!"

So, I took up the viola and started knitting again. Both are going better than I expected them to. I'm about halfway through the first Suzuki book for viola, and here are some of my latest knitting projects:
This is a baby blanket I'm knitting for one of my nephews. I started it in August, when I was sick at my parents' lake house. Each square probably took about 4-5 hours worth of knitting, maybe more at the beginning when I wasn't as quick.

After this photograph I wove in all the ends you see hanging out at the edges of the squares.

The next step, which I've just started on is to sew the squares together with yarn and a plastic yarn needle--quite tedious in my opinion. But after that, it's finished!

My next project is a technicolor cell phone cozy. I know it doesn't look like a cell phone cozy quite yet, but it will be. It'll have some fancy shmancy finishing touches like velcro and a button to accent the green and fuschia.

So, friends and family, I hope you all like knitted goodies. I'm thinking that I may knit some or all of my Christmas presents this year. I saw a pattern tonight at a bookstore for a beer bottle cozy. What could be better than a knitted beer bottle cozy?