This is a knitting blog, right?

Two posts in one week, what's wrong with me? Now that I have a working computer again, I just can't help myself! You don't realize how dependant you are on the internet (and a virus-free computer) until you don't have it anymore!

So I finished to socks that I was working on during the yarn crawl...I really love them. They are a little tight on the leg, that is to say they're hard to get on and off. Kind of like the Jaywalkers if they're done a bit too tight. I kind of don't care though. I still love them!

I've been working quite a bit on the Print O' the Wave stole too...This is just a little section. I'm still working on the border, but I'm realizing I'm not going to have enough yarn. I'm on the last side and I have barely enough for another couple of repeats... I guess I'll just have to put it on hold and order more when I'm back in the States. I'm a patient girl, I guess I can wait!

Finally, part two

Ok, here we go. I have not had a working computer, that is to say a computer without a crippling virus, to use here in Toronto this entire time. I've been wanting to post but just haven't been able to. This post would have been up a long time ago if it weren't for that. Ok, enough with the excuses...

Here's a picture post all about the zoo...

This is the main pavilion that I work in.

These are just three of the nine orangutans that live in the pavilion.
I sort of can't handle how cute the babies are!

These are the Sumatran tigers. The two smaller ones were just babies the last time I was at the zoo which was in March. They're just a *bit* bigger now!
This is Asha. She's an Indian hornbill and she lives in the keeper room. She's blind and we use her as an outreach animal for disabled children.

These are two of our Indian rhinos, Indira and Shakira. They have been out in their yard for three weeks while the contractors have been working on their indoor pens. Naturally there was a mountain of crap to clean up... let's just say my pants have seen better days...
There's a mini pavilion where they keep some birds and butterflies.

These are only a few of the animals, I guess I'm just showing the highlights here. Hope you enjoyed them!

Finally!

Here's the post you've all been waiting for. I finally have the capability to post pictures (only because I'm back home for the weekend... sigh) so I decided now would be a good time to fill you in on my adventures.

First and foremost... it seems my appearance on the Yarn Harlot's blog has made me pseudo-famous... that is to say, famous by association! Stephanie is one of the funniest women I've ever met and she really did a great job with including everyone and being interested in everyone. Not an easy task when there were well over 20 of us.

Let me start at the beginning though. I went to the book signing downtown. Keep in mind, this is the first time I've travelled to Toronto on my own, and definitely the first time I've driven in a large city on my own. I'm quite proud to say, I didn't get lost or frazzeled in any way and I found my way to and from the signing just fine! I even arrived with lots of time to spare. This worked out to my advantage because I ended up being seated in the second row!
If you saw how many people showed up, you'd understand why being in the second row was such an amazing thing. There were people everywhere. I think she drew the biggest crowd for any book signing at this store.

Let me just tell you, she was funnier than most stand-up comedians I've seen. True, her humor may not be universal, after all, how funny would knitting jokes be to someone interested in say politics or underwater basketweaving? The humor just might be lost on them.

Anyway, I met an awesome knitter, Danielle, while I was there. She and I went to the afterparty where she convinced me to go on the yarn crawl the next day. I'm so glad she did!

We started at The Naked Sheep at around 11am.This is a cute little yarn shop on Queen Street. I did end up making a purchase there, but I think I'll hold off on showing you the haul until I'm done.

Next we went to Americo.This was definitely a unique shop. Everything in it was handspun yarn from Argentina (I think it was Argentina at least). I thought it was all very beautiful, but I don't think I'd shop there regularly because if I want handspun, well, I spin it myself!As you can see, the inside was very nice and the knitters were everywhere taking pictures (like myself!)

Moving on... Next we went to Romni Wools.... Oh...My....God.... I really can't explain this yarn shop in words.... I must let the wall of Rowan speak for me.Keep in mind that this is just one wall.... there were many, many walls and several rooms, all packed to the gills with yarn. It was overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time!

After quite a while, the knitters were rounded up and we headed to Lettuce Knit to take a break in Kensington Market for lunch. This by far, is the cutest yarn shop I've ever seen.They set up chairs for us to take a break and knit outside. We definitely needed a break at this point. I think we were high on wool fumes by then so some fresh air did us some good.

Our final stop on this journey was Alterknit, the cafe/yarn shop. Brilliant!This is where we all wound down. Drank some coffee or tea in my case, chatted, fondled more yarn and said our goodbyes. Before leaving though, Stephanie modeled the sock I finished that day.... on her hand... why not?If you're wondering, her shirt said Wool Pig. Gotta love it.

So the haul... it was not as large as most, after all, I am not making any money at the moment so I had to keep my senses about me.There are two balls of Rowan Country which is destined to be a thin scarf or hat. Four balls of angora, on sale at Romni for $5.00 a ball! Sweet! Two skeins of Nature's Palette for some socks, and the other two things are self explanatory.

There you have it. Now you have the yarn crawl from my perspective. Perhaps before I leave this weekend to go back up to Toronto I'll post again, only this time there'll be less yarn and more animals!

The Yarn Crawl

For those of you interested, there's a detailed rundown of the yarn crawl here. I still can't upload pictures, so I hope that it will be a good substitute for now!

The rundown...

Long time, no see! I don't know if I could properly begin to describe all the crazy things that have been going on with me in the last week and a half. I think the best way at this point is to just give you a list...

1. I graduated on Friday, last Friday that is.
2. Moved all of my stuff down to my new apartment on Saturday
3. Spent the day unpacking and going to dinner with my family on Sunday
4. Repacked and left for Toronto on Monday
5. Started my internship at the zoo on Tuesday
6. Spent the week learning the ropes (of which I'm still learning)
7. After the zoo I went to the launch of the Yarn Harlot's new book on Friday.
8. Went on a yarn crawl around downtown Toronto on Saturday with the Harlot and a bunch of very fun knitters.

..... This is the part where, if I were telling you all these things in person, I'd take a minute to breathe...

It's been an overwhelming couple of weeks, but I have to say, despite the stress I may have felt at times, it's all been an exciting adventure that I'm so glad I've been a part of.

I really wish I could share some pictures with you and go into a little more detail about these things, but I'm using a computer that I can't upload my pictures on. Hopefully we'll get the wireless internet working here in a few days (though it may be longer than that) and I'll be able to share some great picture with you, including what I purchased on the yarn crawl!

So it ends.... or it's only just beginning....

Yesterday was the last day of classes. If I decided to never go to school again, then it was my last class ever. I can't say that thought makes me all that upset. Maybe someday I'd like to take some classes again, but right now, I'm just ready for life. School tends to make me feel like I'm in limbo!

Anyway, I have three finals to take, a graduation to attend, and I have to focus on this as well...That's right... moving. I have to pack up the apartment and move to a new one before I head over to Toronto for my two month stay as a student intern. Now that I have time to think about it (rather than the hundred and one projects and tests) I'm really starting to get excited. Not only am I excited about the zoo, but I just found out that the Harlot is having a little shindig at on of the bookstores in Toronto just three days after I arrive. If I'm feeling adventurous and not too tired, I may just go!

As for knitting, there's been a little. I had to rip out the sock and start again because the pattern didn't fit over my foot. I added one more repeat to the pattern and now it seems to fit just fine.

I'm still here!

You'll be happy to know I'm not dead.... yet. The school work is kicking my butt at the moment, not to mention all the traveling. I'm sitting here wondering where the heck April went! The end is in sight though. Just a week and a half of classes left, then finals and then it's graduation time. *sigh* I can't wait.

I didn't get nearly as much knitting done as I thought I would. Probably because a lot of the driving was at night... I guess I didn't account for that, but oh well. Right now I'm working on the edging to my Print 'O the Wave stole. I just wish I had known before I started it that there was an error in the pattern. I kept thinking I was crazy because I was counting it and redoing it and counting it again and according to the pattern it was supposed to work out, but according to my knitting I had one extra stitch. Let me just tell you, the internet is a wonderful thing. I found the error through a quick google search and now I'm back on track and in no danger of pulling my hair out from frustration.

I also started a pair of socks on the trip, because as we all know, socks are the best for traveling knitting.The yarn is Trekking and the pattern is pretty much just one I'm making up. It's just a traveling rib cable pattern. I plan on making the second sock a little different by knitting the cable in the opposite direction. In my head it's gonna look great, we'll see how it looks in reality when I'm finished, and let's be honest, that won't be until well after school's over.

Before ending this post I'd like to show you my favorite picture from the trip to NYC. We went to that American Natural History Museum on our last day there and they had an exhibt all about butterflies. You basically walked into a room filled with live butterflies from all over the world. I have to admit, I have a thing for butterflies so naturally I took a lot of pictures. My best one I didn't even realize was my best until I got home and looked at the pictures on my computer. I was just randomly snapping a picture of the butterfly in the foreground only to find out later my camera focused on the one in the background. Sometimes mistakes can be good things!

On a sidenote, I just wanted everyone to know I haven't been commenting on anyone's blog because right now I just don't have time. As soon as school is finished I plan on reading up on what everyone's been up to this past month. I just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you!

250th!

I just discovered that this is my 250th post! Unfortunately I didn't plan any great 250th post celebration. I've been a bit busy recently. As anyone who's ever been a college student knows, things begin to pile up and get crazy towards the end of a semester. Especially towards the end of your last semester. Not only are you dealing with the projects and assignments due after class, but you're also dealing with where you're going after school.

Needless to say, there's been a lot on my plate. It certainly has contributed to my lack of blogging recently and I'm sorry for that. I love blogging, but sometimes, since I have all these other projects going, it feels like just another thing I have to do. I don't want it to become a chore, so I only do it when I feel I have a bit of spare time or am inspired by something I want to share with you.

This time the inspiration is my current project...The Print 'O the Wave stole. I pinned out a small section of the first panel I finished (It's made in two panels that are grafted together so the waves are pointing in opposite directions from the center; genius!) Mine is a bit thicker than the one shown on the pattern because I'm using laceweight and she used cobweb weight yarn. I actually really like it this thick. It's warm and the yarn is nice and soft (Shadow by KnitPicks).

I'll hopefully be working a bit more on this because I have some traveling in my future. The best kind of traveling too, where I'm the passenger and I get to knit! This weekend we're headed down to DC to the National Zoo. I'm really looking forward to this trip because the last time I was at the National Zoo I was about 10 and still living in Maryland! I'm sure things have changed a bit in 15 years and I'm really excited to see it.

Next weekend we're off to NYC to see the Central Park Zoo and the Bronx Zoo. I haven't been to either of them so it should be fun.

And lets not forget the best thing of all... Lots of knitting time in the car!

The week in Buffalo

Where do I even begin?

Last week I spent my time job shadowing/mini-interning in Buffalo at three different facilities. You saw the picture of the beluga, well that was just the beginning. There was also killer whales (orcas)...
Not to mention the humbolt penguins I got to feed. Unfortunately my hands were all fishy so I couldn't take a picture.

At the aquarium, I fed the cutest harbor seal known to man...I know, I know... she's killing you with cuteness.Other highlights would be giving enrichment to the giraffes.The buckets are filled with hay, vegetables and "giraffe biscuits" and there are holes cut into the sides of the bucket. Basically it's designed to make them use the long tongues to get into the buckets and get the goodies.

I also enriched him and his playmate (Kodiak & Grizzly bears).Basically we went into their enclosure (obviously not while they were in there) and smeared peanut butter on the walls and hid their food all over the enclosure. It basically makes them use their noses to sniff out the food.

My trip had so many highlights, but one of the best was getting to give two elephants baths.This is just a picture of the rinsing off. The keeper gave them the command to lay down and once they were down we went in and scrubbed them down with elephant soap (actual soap designed specifically for elephants!).

All-in-all, it was a great week with a ton of great experiences. Of course, the highlights I'm telling you about are just that, highlights. I'm totally leaving out the majority of time which was spent shoveling ____ (I'm sure you can only guess what goes in that blank) and cleaning. But I tell you, it's so worth it when you get to work with some amazing animals.

I'll be posting some knitting stuff soon too, that is, when I find the time, this week has been crazy too!

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea...

This is just a quick update. Yes I'm still alive, no I haven't been knitting (and to be honest, it's killing me!!!) What I have been doing is spending the week job shadowing as a part of my program. Today I got to meet this little guy...He's a baby beluga whale. This picture is pretty fuzzy, but you can sort of see his teeth haven't even grown in yet! Too cute!

I'm too tired to even throw together anything else that might resemble a descent blog post, so I'll catch up again when I have more time... and the energy to keep my eyes open for more than two minutes!

It has been a busy week, but somehow I've managed to find the time to finish up the Candle Flame Shawl.Here's just a tiny corner of it all pinned out and blocking. Don't get me wrong, I love this shawl, but the variegation makes it a little too distracting to see the actual pattern. At least I thought so while it was blocking.

Then I took these pictures and I guess you really can see the pattern given the right background color, namely my white shirt.I would love to try this pattern again, only next time use a solid color. Also, I might make it just a bit shorter as well. This thing turned out huge! I know my mom will love it though!

Here are some specs:
Pattern: Knit Picks Candle Flame Shawl
It's a free pattern, and as free patterns go, I was quite happy with it. I didn't find any errors and it gives you the option of either reading the chart or following written directions.
Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer - Alpaca and silk, very yummy and it feels great.

Overall, it was a fun pattern and I'd do it again.... but not for awhile!

In other news, I'm going to be on TV tonight. Surprisingly, I'm not nervous or worried or anything. I'm more excited than anything else. All the same, wish me luck! It should be fun!

(The tv link doesn't work anymore. Apparently they only had the info up for a couple days)

A letter to my lace shawl....

My Dearest Candle Flame Shawl,

I don't know if you realize just how much I love you. You taught me how to love lace, how to become one with the pattern. I love how you play with negative and positive space to reveal a picture. You've been nothing but good to me, even when I've been somewhat less than good to you, like the time I threw you in my bookbag so I could take you to school with me and you got snagged on one of my spiral bound notebooks. But did you get mad? No. With a little manipulation you returned the snagged piece back to it's original spot. No fussing, no crying.

All these things I love about you are what make it so hard for me to tell you this.... I'm ready to move on. I'm ready to try new things. I want to get to know a new pattern the way I've gotten to know you. I also want to try new yarns... these in particular.Now don't go telling me I've cheated, I haven't even wound them into little yarn muffins yet. (not that the idea hasn't crossed my mind.) Besides, how could I resist when Knit Picks makes them so affordable?

I wonder sometimes if you're picking up on my vibe because recently, the more I work on you, the less you seem to grow.

Please don't be upset. I'm just being true to my feelings. It wouldn't be fair to either of us if I wasn't. Just know that you will always be in my heart.

Love,
Erin


On a side note, my leg has been particularly fascinating to watch. It's changing colors have been like that of a sunset... or something...
You have to admit, it's very impressive.

The opposite of eye candy...

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I had the busiest 4 days at work that I've ever had. I suppose that happens when the restaurant is understaffed and they decide to schedule six servers for the dinner rush. To say the least, I busted my butt. There's no question it payed off, but I'm definitely hurting for it. I suppose I didn't realize how much I was hurting for it until this morning when I was toweling off after my shower and found this on the back of my leg...

(Please excuse the white, pasty skin. It is winter here still, just consider yourselves lucky that my legs are shaved!)

Back to the bruise... This picture washes it out a bit, but it's every bit as purple and ugly as you might imagine. Anyway, it became increasingly apparent to me just how busy we were when I realized that I didn't remember what I did to acquire such a lovely souvenir from work. I cannot for the life of me remember how I did it. I suppose it just happened and I was so busy it didn't even register. I suppose getting drink orders for the fifth table I was sat at once was a little more important to me than thinking about why the hell the back of my leg hurt so badly.

Tonight was another lovely one at work. In fact, I actually got to use the emergency eye wash station. I was grabbing some salad dressing from the cooler when the whole shelf came down which in turn made the huge bottle of Thousand Islands dressing fall to the floor. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal. The bottles are plastic, sure they're about a gallon or so, but when the lid is screwed on they could practically be punted and not break open... I guess the key words here are "when the lid is screwed on."

Apparently whoever used it last decided it would be quicker not to screw the lid on. So the dressing hit the floor and splashed up into my eyes and my hair. Let me tell you, there's nothing greater than greeting your guest with a lovely Thousand Islands aroma, crunchy hair and blood shot eyes. You're sure to get a big tip then! And if you had any doubt that Thousand Islands dressing stings when it gets in your eyes, let me put your doubts to rest... it definitely does.

A question of motivation...

The incredible lack of things to do in this town that don't involve stuffing my face with greasy food or getting hit on by military guys has given me an awful lot of free time to work on some knitting. True, I have school work, but even that hasn't been taking up much of my time. The first half of the semester has been somewhat of a joke. I feel like I have senioritis, not because I want to, but because more than half of my classes get let out early or cancelled all together and now it's what I'm used to.

I have to push myself to get motivated to do something, but there's always seemed to be one thing on the back of my mind that I never have to push myself to do...

Lace knitting...50 inches down, 20 more to go. I am officially addicted. I've even gotten to the point where I've practically memorized this 36 row repeat pattern. It sounds amazing, but it's not as impressive as it sounds. There's a flow to the pattern that's easy to pick up.

I'm thinking about spending a bit more money at KnitPicks and getting myself some more lace weight to make some other patterns, and then possibly (if my addiction continues) try to design my own pattern.

And he strikes again....

After seeing my knitting books ripped to shreds, you'd think that I'd learn not to leave books out in the living room for the very rambuncious kitty to gnaw to pieces. Sadly, I didn't learn my lesson that day.

Instead of a knitting book, this time it was my other passion... an animal book. A very nice animal book I might add. One of those Smithsonian, cost-you-more-than-it-costs-to-make-a-nice-scarf type books.

Here's a bit of the evidence...The inner pages have definitely seen better days...I've done my best in taping it, just so I don't lose that page altogether.

I particularly like the corner where it looks like he just took a bite right out of it.You'd think that I wasn't feeding this cat and that he's just looking for sustinence elsewhere, but his sizable waistline tells a different story...

And the wait is over.

I managed to get down to see Jill and pick up that extra ball of yarn I needed to finish Va Va Voom. It took me a little while to actually find the time to do it though. Classes are beginning to get crazy. I have some really exciting things lined up which I'll get to in a minute... Without further ado...

Let me present Va Va Voom:The yarn I used is a lot sturdier than the yarn it called for (Kidsilk Haze) so it isn't as flowy as the pattern's picture, but I still really like this sweater. It fits well and it's classic looking. I always go for the classic looking sweaters. All I need to do with it now is sew in the ends. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you already know how much I dislike sewing it ends. I think it's my least favorite thing of the whole process of knitting something. But it must be done so I'd better just suck it up!

Now for what's been going on this semester. In so many words, the program I knew last semester no longer exists. There have been major upheavals at the zoo that we learned at, so much so that students are no longer allowed there until they work all their own issues out. My poor professor has been scrambling to try to pull something together for us this semester instead. What that has ultimately turned out to be is for us to go to different facilities and job shadow there.

What I've been able to set up is very exciting. I'll be spending three days shadowing at the Buffalo Zoo, then two half-days at the Niagara Aquarium and (here's the part I'm most excited about) two half-days at Marineland in Canada to watch research on the killer whales there! I've also, just recently, found out I get to spend a day at the Syracuse Zoo as well. So I have some pretty cool things lined up.

All of these things aren't happening until March but we've had some projects we've been working on such as getting prepared to go on TV....TWICE! I'm going to be on the local news here for a quick 5 minute spot. Then I'm going to be on the PBS station for close to an hour talking about animal enrichment. (It won't just be me on either of these, but I'm still gonna be on TV!)

This is all well and good, but what happens when school is over? That question has been churning around in my head for several months now. I just didn't know and I couldn't figure it out. Well, just the other day, an opportunity fell right into my lap that I would be a crazy person to pass up...

I'm going to be interning at the Toronto Zoo this summer! I'll be living up there, working at the zoo and spending my free time knitting with the Yarn Harlot, how lucky am I???

Averting disaster and playing the waiting game...

You may be wondering right about now why I have yet to show you any finished pictures of Va Va Voom... There is a reason for this. As I was knitting along on the collar I began to get the sneaking suspision that I wouldn't have enough yarn left. You know the feeling, you keep measuring the piece, and eyeing the ball of yarn, sometimes giving the ball a squeeze to see how much is really there. I thought I would have enough yarn seeing how I had an entire ball to work with. Sure enough though, the tail end of yarn snuck up on me and my collar still has another few inches left to go. This is where I averted disaster...

I got the yarn from my wonderful friend Jill. She happens to have several balls left so I will have no problems finishing the sweater. This is the part where I start playing the waiting game....

You may have heard in the news about all the snow that NY has been getting. Well, I'm on one side of that snow, and Jill is on the other. I had planned on going down to see her and pick up the yarn but the snow had other plans for me.

It gave me a day off from school on Wednesday. Granted, this was very nice and relaxing, except for the shoveling that had to be done. I was able to get ahead of a lot of school work and knit a little bit on something else.It may not look like much all bunched up like that, but believe me, it's so much more than just a heap of knitting...This is my first attempt at lace knitting. So far so good. That is, if I have a nice quiet space with no distractions. This is not something to knit on at a stitch n' bitch or with the TV on. Nope, too much the pay attention to. I think that's why I'm really into it right now though. It's not a mindless knitting project and I feel like I've been doing nothing but those lately. This particular piece is the Candle Flame Shawl from Knitpicks. I plan on giving it to my mom since the colors are very much her colors and I know she'll love it.

But all this lace knitting has gotten me thinking about making some lace for myself. In fact, I was thinking about the Print O' the Wave stole. It would really be gorgeous in a dark color. At least, that's what I'm thinking at the moment. I have yet to buy any yarn for it. Maybe when my tax refund comes in!

Cats: Love them, hate them

I truly can't imagine ever living without cats. There's just something about them. They're independent, but will seek out your attention. They're aloof, but can only hide the fact that they want to be near you for so long. And there's nothing quite like knitting while a cat sleeps on your lap. It's undeniable how much I love them.... however, they have a dark side.

They steal your yarn. Not only that, but one cat I live with in particular will pull finished sweaters off my shelf and drag them into the living room. As if the yarn itself was not enough to appease his curiosity and playfulness, he needs the finished product. And now, he's turned evil... pure evil. He's taken to destroying my knitting books. Case in point:I'm sure many of you know how expensive Rowan books are. I won't even ponder that particular fact at the moment. Right now I'm concentrating on not killing him.He looks so innocent looking up at me doesn't he? Don't let him fool you. He's got a devil inside and it's hell-bent on destroying my knitting things. I've taken to putting everything even remotely knitterly up on high shelves. Luckily that's deterred him for a little while. But books??? Seriously, what's so fascinating about a book that would make him want to rip the crap out of it? That question will probably go unanswered. After all, I don't speak cat.

I haven't let it get me down though. In fact, I've finished all the pieces of my sweater.Hopefully I'll be showing you a finished Va Va Voom very soon. We'll see if I get my schoolwork finished with lots of time left over to sew this thing together.

Snow day!

It is a rare occasion when work calls and tells me not to come in. Today, it was because of the snow. Lots and lots of snow. Feet of snow in fact. It seems winter is finally here. The driveway has been cleared a total of three times today. During one of those times I thought I'd take a picture of my car...It's under there somewhere.

The kindness of neighbors never fails to astonish me. Our neighbor has used his snowblower on our driveway twice today. We never asked him to, he just did it out of the goodness of his heart (or an insane desire to be out in this:I believe a batch of cookies is in order.

As for what I've been doing with all this extra time... I started the sleeves. In fact, I'm nearly finished with sleeve number two. You may have guessed by how quickly I'm finishing them that I decided to go with the 3/4 sleeves. I'll spare you a picture since we all know what sleeves look like.

There's only so much knitting I can do in one day though. At least, this mindless sort of knitting I've been doing. Surprisingly I haven't quite gotten cabin fever yet. A bit of homework got my brain working for awhile and shoveling the driveway got my blood pumping, plus some much needed house-cleaning have all been keeping me busy. I guess having a snow day isn't all bad.

Va va voom dilemma...

I'm nearly finished the front of my va va voom sweater.Of course, as I was working the second side of the neck I realized that I made a bit of a booboo on the first side. Since I'm the perfectionist that I am I can't just leave it like that... It will be ripped some time this afternoon I'm sure.

So the dilemma I have once I finish the front is moving on to the sleeves. I have the option to make them either full length sleeves or three-quarter length. It's a toss up for me. Three-quarter would be cute, but full length would be warmer.

So, friends, what do you think? Full length or three-quarter?