So what's next?

So some of you may be wondering where I go from here.... I've finished school, I've finished my internship, what's next? My answer to that question is: absolutely nothing... for at least a month. My time in school was hectic because I was going to school and working at the same time. I literally didn't have a single day off from either school or work while school was in. Then it was straight on to the internship. This whole year, up until the end of my internship, has seemed like I've done nothing but go, go, go and it's time for a rest.

I can really tell I've been busy, I've hardly posted at all this whole year. When the blog starts falling behind, you know I'm busy! It just seems like the right time to take some time for me.

There's another thing that makes the timing of this time off very fortuitous. While I was up in Canada, my Dad called me. He called to tell me that he and my Mom had decided to separate. I won't really go into the details other than to say, he met someone else.

I've never been all that close to my father, he's always been so emotionally cut off from his children, also, I'm no longer at the age where this sort of thing would have torn my world apart. Granted, had this happened while I was in high school or younger, I probably would have totally flipped out. But in all honesty, it doesn't affect me or my life very much. My mom, however, is deeply affected by this. I want nothing more than for her to be happy. One way I can help with this is to be there for her and this time off gives me the freedom to do that. We've talked a lot about all this, there will definitely be her okay days and her not so okay days. Ultimately though, I think she'll be just fine. She has so much support and love and really, isn't that all you need?



Ok, the serious part of this post is over. Time for some knitty stuff.

I actually have quite a bit of knitting to show... or at least knitting related things. Hmmm, I suppose I should start with a project I started in Canada. I mentioned before the I couldn't finish the Print 'O the Wave stole because I basically ran out of yarn. Well, if I couldn't finish one lace project, it only seemed logical to me at the time to start a new one!
It's another Candle Flame Shawl from Knitpicks. It's one of their free patterns. The yarn I'm using is Knitpicks Shadow. It's a laceweight merino. The last time I made this pattern I used a variegated yarn and you just couldn't see the pattern as well as you can when you use a solid color. It's a solid color, but it's heathered...
There's just nothing like a good macro setting... Anyway, this picture is closer to the true color of the yarn as well. Maybe a little less bright, but still close.

It's hard to believe, but that is the only thing on the needles at the moment (aside, of course, from the unfinished Print 'O the Wave... we'll not talk about that one...) I discovered this past weekend why it's a really good idea to have a mindless project as well as an intricate project. I went camping with some friends and during the day, it was no problem working on the lace shawl.... at night however, knitting lace to the gentle, and totally unreliable, glow of the firelight was just not the best of ideas... I'm feeling a new project coming on...

Bittersweet...

My last week in Canada was fantastic. It was one of those weeks that, even if the rest of my time in Canada was utter crap, that week made up for it one hundred fold. The keepers I worked with bought me not one, but two cakes. I was given one the second to last week, then another on my last week!I can't resist a good chocolate cake. Another keeper brought in a dessert that was absolutely heavenly... chocolate, caramel and cream cheese that you dip apples in.... I'm drooling a little just thinking about it.

They also took me out to dinner on my last day. It was really wonderful. It's always nice to know you're appreciated. In fact, I was appreciated so much that they threatened to steal my passport so I couldn't leave!

As much as I loved it, I was ready to go. I was happy and sad all at the same time. I will say I'll miss the people quite a bit and I'll miss the animals too. They really grow on you.

(Cue the animal montage!)
Yeah... I'm gonna miss 'em...

Zoo, poo and a couple of socks.

My sister and her family came up to visit me. It was a great time seeing my nephews and I was really excited to show them some of the awesome animals I get to work with at the zoo. Like Aasha...And the tigers...And my favorite, the rhinos...It's so much fun to see the kids get excited about the animals I work with. It only helps to make me that much more excited! Kinda like how going to a stitch and bitch makes me excited and inspired by knitting because I'm surrounded by people who are just as obsessed with knitting as I am!

The boys really loved all the things I showed them up close, though they seemed to get the biggest kick out of the elephant going to the bathroom (admittedly it is rather impressive, poos the size of soccerballs and all) Why is potty humor the funniest kind?

So in knitting news, I actually finished a pair of socks that I don't think I ever showed any progress pictures of. Some might say, they're the longest socks I've knit.By the way, the black speck in the middle is supposed to be there. The yarn is something I picked up during that yarn crawl I went on and it has those dark specks all through it, though that one showed up particularly well in this picture.

I decided to go plain in terms of pattern, mostly because the yarn was great all on it's own. I bought two skeins and basically knit a whole skein for each sock, toe up. They really turned out great and they're super comfortable. So far, it definitely has been the summer of socks for me!

Only slightly behind....

A couple of weekends ago (hence the slightly behind bit), my best friend, Jill, came up to visit me. It's always nice to see friends, especially in a place where you knew no one when you first arrived! We had such a fun weekend.

I took her to the zoo where she met Aasha, the Great hornbill.It's always an awesome experience for people who don't work with animals to get that sort of one-on-one interaction. Jill was thrilled.

I also took her back to meet some of the Orangutans...This is Ramai and her baby. Come to think of it, I forgot to include the baby orangs in my baby post... I guess it's cause they were all born last year but they stay little and dependent for a long time compared to other animals!

It was really great spending the day walking around the zoo with her. The funny thing is, I don't see much of the zoo other than the area I work in. If you've been to the Toronto Zoo you know it's huge and it takes some time to see everything. In fact, you're lucky if you see everything in one day...if you did, you probably rushed... So when Jill and I went, there were things I hadn't seen before... like the huge fish tank in the African Pavilion...And I'd never seen these animals either....They looked like they wanted to tear me apart!

The day at the zoo was great...But the next day..... YARN SHOPS! They just don't compare.

I took Jill to Lettuce Knit.I'd originally planned just to look, but when this is staring you in the face:It's so hard to resist doing this:Ummm, so yeah, I totally bought some Lorna's Laces.... Honestly, I only wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I've tried Koigu, I've tried Trekking. Now it's Lorna's turn.

I also took her over to Romni Wools in order to completely overwhelm her inner knitter. After all, what knitter isn't overwhelmed when confronted by the wall of knitting books? Or floor to ceiling yarn? You show me a person like that, and I'll show you a non-knitter.

Over all we had a great couple of days in Toronto. If you ever have a chance to visit, I highly recommend it!

Nothing says cute like a bunch of baby animals!

We've had some babies born at the zoo recently... there's nothing cuter than baby animals, I don't care what kind of animals they are, if they're babies, they're cute.

Baby birds for instance....These are roul roul chicks and their parents. The dad is the one with the funny red fluff on top of his head and the mom's the green one.

Then there's the marabou stork chick...Who, by the way, is even cuter from the side...Tell me that's not the funniest mop-top you've ever seen.

Even baby reptiles can be cute, like this painted turtle...To put it into perspective, it's about the diameter of a quarter!

The last one I have a picture of is the baby sable antelope...She has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen.

There were also baby snow leopards, a baby preswalski's horse and a baby caribou born, but I have yet to see them. Maybe next week!