I have been thinking this for a while and i am pretty sure that no one reads my blog anymore so I almost feel like I am saying this in secret. I would like to not make this about me... but this is a blog so it is completely appropriate. I debated putting this online. But for some reason I feel like it is important to put out there.

The past two years has been filled with a lot of ups and downs: took a risk and applied for graduate school, left my job/home/friends, moved crossed country and started graduate school. I have seen friends take on new adventures in life, become closer with family and all in all I am developing a different view on life. I have found topics that I enjoy learning about and I am enthusiastic to see what is to come in the future. During the past year or two I have also had a lot of hard times. I've cried too many times to count. Cried from sadness, worry, anger and frustration. But I have also cried because of overwhelming feelings of happiness and joy. I have spent sleepless nights working on assignments (not too many!), going over and over in my head about what I could have done to change the outcome of some event, thinking about the type of person I want to be and how that compares to how I see myself, and yes even stayed up just for the fun of it.

So what have I learned from this? Well... I am blessed. Sounds strange for me to say, even stranger to think when times are going rough (and boy to they seem to get rough quick). But I have found myself saying that more and more as I step back and look at all of the opportunities I have had. I am sometimes overwhelmed by the thought of how my life could have turned out differently. I think about how easy it could have been to give up when it felt that I had to work harder than other people just to do ok (i should put the word "perceived"somewhere in there. I mean sometimes there is just no evidence). But I also have received a great deal of help and support from family, friends, colleagues and people in general who saw something in me that I often didn't see in myself. For that I am most blessed. I say the word "blessed" without a hint of irony or cynicism. I don't even say those words with a single idea of how I came to be blessed. But lately,I have come to feel that it is more and more true.

So people I know. If you find this and read it let me say one thing: Thank you! 

Fall is here... and going so fast?

So this fall has been sudden and quick. I feel like it was only two days ago when I was taking cold showers at night just to lower my body temperature enough to get some sleep. Now I am busting out the boots with the boiled wool lining and the mittens. It is possible that sometimes I am overdressed for the weather but honestly I am not used to 40 degree weather. By the way, if you want to know what to get my for Christmas or my birthday: winter base layers, long johns and even if you want, snow pants!

Of course fall is beautiful. Right now the leaves in the Boston area are in the midst of turning. There is still a lot of green around but teher are ints of red and brown all around.  But the weather is also very confusing. One day the temperature is in the low 50's and then another it in this high 60's. One day it's sunny the next it's pouring rain. Luckily I have a thing for coats and I some how have worked out a way to have an appropriate jacket for the random fall temperatures.  

Asside form  the random weather all of the changes are also signifying a change in the school year. It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. i have a number of large projects that I must do and everyone is wondering what to do during the winter break. This will be the first time that I am not going home for Christmas so I will have a lot of time to think about what to do. I will spend a bit of time working.

I started my new job a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty fun. I am realizing that i may want to read up on some new topics. I am beginning to realize that I really have to use my reference interview tools, mainly because my frame of reference for subjects and titles are different than that ot he patrons of my place where I work.

First week on the east coast and I encounter two natural disasters

NOTE: This paragraph was written before the Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene:
 So right now the whole East Coast is under a hurricane warning. Earlier this week there was an earthquake and now this. So far I don't really know what to do. I did go to Trader Joe's and picked up some non-perishables but really my NERT trainers would laugh at what I picked up.... If you ever hear of those old-timey expeditions where they bring 500 wigs, coo coo clocks and beads I got a small scale modern equivalent. The storm isn't supposed to hit until Saturday night/Sunday. Or at least that is the rumor.

Update Post:

So I survived the tropical storm. There were no power outages or floods in my neighborhood. Luckily the worst that happened to me was that I got antsy due to staying in all day.  
This is the first week of school. Well, I don't actually go to school until the end of the week but hey, that just means that I am no longer in vacation mode. So far I have a few articles to read but it's more exciting than stressful. I am nervous, excited and anxious about this new start. It is exciting but I really wonder what it is going to be like to go back to school. It has been five years since I was a full-time student. And this time around I am a graduate student. Now, unlike during undergraduate school, I know that I have to take responsibility for a lot of my actions in and out of the class. Don't get my wrong, I was a good kid, but now I understand how clueless 20 year old people are...or how clueless they can be..  

The other interesting thing about my program is that all of my classes are once a week. I don't even have things spreed out so I have to make sure that I don't just think of my days off campus as days off. That would be a really good way to fail my first year. I am ready to have something to do with my time. Although I enjoy my time getting lost in Boston I do find that without a place that  I have to go to at least twice a week.  Once school starts that is exactly what I am in for. It will also be exciting to start my internship. I am taking intro to archives. Part of that  course requires that I have an internship. This will be a real change form what I am used to doing on a day of work. CRAZY! 

I have been knitting. I started working on my winter cap. I think that finishing a winter hat will inspire me to finish my big projects...you know... like my shawl or my two sweaters! Ekk. Well I guess that I will eventually just have one post where I talk about nothing but knitting. The pattern that I am using is Pollen and Bubbles. I am using Mademinetosh Vintage yarn. It is really nice to work with and I really want to finish it. So this is what I am keeping with me at all times. It is a good distraction from making sleeves on my sweater (which I really should do now rather than when it gets cold). I will get to make pom poms for this hat wich I think is pretty fun. I still haven't mastered knitting with both hands but the results aren't that bad, just a little on the puffy side. I am still in love with the hat nonetheless.
 
I guess that like all of the choices that I have made in the last year everything may not be perfect but the results are generally good and I am happy with what I can do.

Changes

So I am currently house sitting..."Why?" you might ask. Well I am technically homeless. I have a home... but it is across the country. I think that at this point I should just say what is going on with me. I am moving from San Francisco to the Boston area. Yes, this west coast girl is moving to the east. I am moving because I will start graduate school for library science. I am pretty darn excited. The past year has been full of ups and downs and now I am finally taking a little time to stop and look around me. My things are being shipped out to my new home and with the kindness of knitters I am able to stay behind in my hometown and enjoy my time off. So far I have met up with friends and had some wonderful food. I will miss both (SF friends and food!).

During my two year program I will study cataloging and reference, as well at take courses like the history of the boot k and user services. I am going to be be a general MLS student. But my hope is that by the end I will graduate with a lot of classes in user services. I hope that with hard work that I will complete my program prepared for a new career path.

Although I will be on the opposite coast for a little while I will still knit. And well for a while I will have projects started on the west coast to complete. I am currently working on a great number of projects. Socks, hats and even a sweater. I really wish that I could finish at least one of them, but right now I am at that odd tedious point (ex: sleeves)  of most of my projects. One project that is a constant challenge is the Phostosynthesis shawl. The combination of lace and beading makes this a very involved project. I think that most of it is coming out nicely. I am excited to see what will happen in the end. I highly recommend this pattern. It looks great with AND without beads. I would love it if I could get just a bit further in this pattern before I leave. I guess that means  that I will have to hunker down and knit! Well so long till next time.

First Post of 2011

Why hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted. I since my last post I have worked long hours, completed a couple of personal projects, moved and become a year older. So far 2011 has been a busy one.

One thing that I am very excited about taking a Dreamweaver course! So I hope that in a few months from now that I will try a few new trick on this blog. The class is very basic. But I plan on using this site for my final project. I don't really know how this whole thing would work. But it would be nice to show off what I am learning. The class starts off very basic. I learned where menu items were and how to save files. It sounds minor but it also seems that not knowing the basics can cause some really annoying or even major problems.

Craft-wise I was pretty busy at the end of the last year and the beginning of this year. Two of my cousins were pregnant at the same time! Since they were both due in January/February I felt that it would be a good time to work on something small as a gift. The result were two pairs of baby booties. One set for a girl and another for a boy. This was my first time making booties. I used the sock yarn from my diagonal lace socks and Charade. I used the magic slippers pattern. I was pretty close to not having enough yarn but lo-and behold, these bad boys barely use any yarn. These are done in on piece (first the sole and then stitched are picked up for the body of the booties). I am pretty sure that I could have done these two at a time. But I did not. They still worked fast.

This winter I also worked on a couple of hats. The first that I completed was a lace and cable number called the Ashley. I did this project using sport weight yarn. And although it came out pretty good it was also a little on the thin side for me. So of course I decided to work on another hat.


The Selbu Modern came out very nice. This was my first fair isle project. It went fast and it was the first time that I ever knitted while holding yarn in two hands. This hat fit perfectly and was comfortably warm. The sad part of this story is that I lost it! I tried to retrace my steps but I just couldn't find it. I do want to another one. But I feel like i should use a different color. BUT I also don't want to go around buying large skeins of sock yarn and not using it all for one project.Today I started a new Selbu. I am going to use the contract color as the man color for this one. I just hope that I have enough yarn. I forgot how hard it was to start this project. I think that I must knit really tight.

When not knitting, reading, or watching movies I have done a bit of canning. The first thing that I made was apple sauce. I used Macintosh and Honey Crisp for a nice sweet sauce. I spiced it up with cinnamon and brown sugar. This gave it a nice pink color. I think that next time I make applesauce I will add some raspberries. That would have to be good. My second attempt at canning were pears. So far so good. I made the pares last month and so far I have had three out of the five small jars (one pear per jar people). And well so far I have not gotten sick and the paers are still not brown. Yum! My favorite part of canning is hearing the pop made as the cans seal while cooling. That is pretty exciting.


I have a number of projects to finish: Alice lace top, socks, secret gift knit (the secret is what the gift is, not that it exist), a lace stole and well... I hope that is it. I guess my next post will be an "in progress" post. Hopefully THAT wont take me three months to write.

Tis the Season

So, it is the holiday season now. Yup, it starts with Halloween (which seems like a big deal here in SF) and ends in New Years...and well for good measure my birthday is thrown in right after...Yes, I know that my birthday is not a holiday, but it is still an event in which I try to be around people and celebrate. This year went by very fast, and the closer we get to the end of the year, the faster it seems to go.

This has become the year of the sock (and lace) for me. These are my third pair of completed socks. I am very proud of this pair. I did them top-down magic loop. This time around I got to learn kitchener stitch. I guess that now that I have finished a project I can start another non-lace project??? Or do I have to finish the projects that I already have on needles...hmmmm.

Feather and Fan and all the rest

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, this past week I was sick (first a sinus infection, then a bad reaction to antibiotics), and I have been working on five projects... well I have five projects on needles (six if you want to count each sock that are on circular needles). Before I proceed to talking about knitting I will blog about something that more than just knitters will enjoy.

This weekend was a knitting group weekend. The thing about my knitting group is that we love doing activities that are fun and adventurous. We actually go out and do stuff. This weekend we went to St. George's Spirits in Alameda for a tasting.

We all crossed the bay and braved an unpaved road to get to the distillery. The weather was actually pretty nice. So I was able to take a number of pictures while on the ferry. It was nice to see San Francisco from the view of the Bay. It's not very often that i get to see the sights that so many tourist come to see.

St. George's is the maker of Hanger 1 vodka. They also make liqueurs, whiskey and absinthe.  The tasting menu was a bit lengthy but the host guided us through with humor and insight. This was my second time there. I just have to remember to start taking visitors. Sure, many people come to Northern California for wine tasting, but I think that St. George's Spirits offers a fun experience that most people don't get to have. I mean how many people knew that swirling vodka is a no no and that there is a specific way that you should breath while tasting.

Now, to the knitting. It is strange how I have become one of those people who sees a pattern and the says to themselves "You know what? I can knit that! I even that some yarn and the right needles (not always, let's just say the me and Addi are quickly becoming friends )!! That is what has happened this year. And the other strange thing about my knitting habits this year is that I have done way more lace projects this year than I have ever done in the total however-many-years I have been a knitter.

I find that I really like how lace looks, but I have a problem with sticking with one thing... the moment that charts get a little complicated and I start to loose count I get a bit frustrated. For example: My Alice top is currently on hold because I have to decrease while maintaining the pattern to shape the waist.... yeah, for me it is as complicated as it sounds. So I have distracted myself with projects that seem a little more doable.

Does this count as being half way through?

What does that mean? SOCKS! Socks that don't have a lace pattern or cables. I am working on the Charade sock pattern. I am doing two at a time using magic loop from the top down. I was worried about doing a slip stitch heel flap rather than a short row. But it seems to have worked out fine and I think that i might even prefer it. But these bad boys are knitting up at a good rate.

The knitting goal for the next few months is to actually organize my stash (i.e. get containers form Walgreens and store my skeins in my closet rather than stuff them randomly on my bookshelf), and to not start any new projects until I finish the ones that are currently on needles. Wish me luck people... wish me luck.