Ludo.

Well, I promised you a story about a cat...

Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ludo.

Last week my roommates and I decided we couldn't live without a cat. We went to the SPCA on Thursday, but didn't end up taking this bundle of love home until Saturday. I have to tell ya, it nearly broke my heart to go there and see all those animals, the majority of which were incredibly sweet and deserving of a loving home.

Lucky for Ludo we showed up. He's two years old (approx.) and found as a stray by a woman who, just the week before, adopted a cat from the SPCA. I'm thoroughly convinced that he was raised in a home and someone either threw him out or he ran away. What leads me to believe this is I have never seen a cat so well adjusted to being in a totally new home and who loves people as much as he does. And when I say he loves people, I mean he LOVES people. He doesn't care who you are, if you pet him, you're his new best friend.

I'm quite sure he has Maine Coon in him judging by his big mane, big body, long whiskers and ear tufts. Not to mention he has such a laid back personality. He's just a big lover and I'm so happy we have him.

We named him Ludo after that big furry monster in Labyrinth. You remember that 80's movie with David Bowe. I used to watch that movie all the time when I was a kid. One of my roommates had never seen it and last week we ended up watching it. Well, the name Ludo stuck out and it seems to be a great name for our new cat.

Here's another great picture of him. You can really see his mane in this one, and his beautiful green eyes. As you can see, he's totally made himself at home. No hiding under a bed for him. He's only been here for two days and if you didn't know any better you'd think that he's lived here his entire life.

In fact, he's sleeping on my bed as I write this. *Sigh* I love having a cat around. Any stress I had is non-existent at this point. I've just now realized the keys to a stress-free life:

Knitting & Cats.

Can we say busy?

Yes, I've been busy. And really, the word 'busy' wouldn't really even begin to describe it. I've had four quizzes this week. Not just those dinky little 'I-really-don't-need-to-study-for-this-quiz' kind of quiz, but full blown mini-tests. Next week is looking to be about the same. I already have three quizzes lined up for next week, we'll see if a fourth one gets thrown in there.

Also, I've been working. Great for the checkbook, not so great for my 'free' time. I say 'free' time, but what I really mean is time I should be studying. My usual day consists of me going to class until noon or 1, then a couple hours later I have to head off to work. One might consider that time in between as down time, but not me. It's the time I get to study for the quiz I have the next day. This is mainly because when I get home from work I'm so tired the only thing I can even contemplate doing is changing into my pj's, possibly knitting a row or two, and going to bed.

Throw in a little volunteering and you see why my week has been one of the busiest I think I've ever had. The days are flying by in no time flat. Before I know it I'll be in Colorado! By the way, I only have to wait two more weeks until I get on that plane and go. Considering how quickly these past two weeks have gone, I'll be there before I know it.

Despite being insanely busy I have been knitting. I'm still working on the socks that won't be named, though I came across a bit of a snag after I turned the heel. Turns out what I thought was loose enough, really, really wasn't. It's the same problem I had the first time. Rather than take it out, I decided to try a little experiment. First I tried it on one needle size bigger, which only produced a sock so huge a troll could fit its foot into it. Then I tried it on the same size I'd used on the first one, but consciously thought with every stitch "LOOSEN UP!" That seemed to do the trick.
Here's a side by side image. Both are knit on size 1 needles. The one on the right is the tight one and the one on the left is just right. You can see how differently the stripe pattern turned out on both of them. I think on the first one I was so concerned with getting the stripe pattern to look good, that I wasn't really paying any attention to the fact that my foot would have to shrink a couple sizes to fit into it.

All's well now though and I think I may actually have this first (read: third attempt, but first of the pair) sock finished by the end of the weekend. Don't quote me on that though!

We took a trip out to my friend's parent's house a couple nights ago. Their dog just had puppies a month ago. Ummm, can you say cute? They were flopping all over the place. It was too adorable. There were nine puppies total. it seemed that everywhere you looked there were little white fluffballs. As much as I wanted to take one home, I knew that the apartment is not only too small for this type of dog (they get pretty huge judging by the size of their parents) but neither me nor my roommates have the time to take care of a puppy.

A cat, however.... well, you're just going to have to wait for that story...

Peace of mind

To say the very least, I am feeling and doing much better with the waitressing. I was experiencing a moment of feeling extremely overwhelmed, and then, when I had to be on my own without my trainer something just clicked into place. My first night alone they stationed me to a two table section which I was confident I could handle. And I did. You have no idea how much better that made me feel!

And I guess you could say I must be pretty good at it because last night (my second night alone) I made $50 in three hours. That translates to roughly $16/hr. Of course, it was a Saturday night, very busy and I had three tables in my section (which I felt I handled fairly well). To say my mind has been put at ease now that I've been "tested" so to speak, would be an understatement.

I owe it all to the knitting I've been doing! It's kept me sane about the whole thing. No matter how busy I get, I force myself to put things down for a few minutes and knit a couple of rounds. It's amazing what a couple of rounds can do!

And here's what I've been working on. I know everyone is making these socks. I almost don't even want to name the pattern because you all know what they are!

The yarn I'm using is KnitPicks Sock Landscapes. It's striping so nicely and really showing off the pattern. And I've made sure to try it on because I know the disaster that was my first attempt at Jaywalkers (there I said it) and it's still a little snug getting it over my heel, but not so much that it would be annoying to put them on.

It's kind of funny, I'm really liking how the inside is turning out almost more than I like the outside. I'm tempted to order some more of this yarn and just knit a plain sock inside out to show off how awesome the stripes look from the inside. Of course that would involve me spending money on something other than necessities which I am just not comfortable with doing yet.

Hopefully I'll have more knitting content for you soon, but I've been scheduled to work 5 nights this week, not to mention classes and homework (I already have three quizzes I have to study for and it's only the second week!) So posting is going to be somewhat sporatic for me for awhile. Don't worry though, I'll be around!

The liberating effects of ripping.

First off, thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. I appreciate them all so much. If any of you are wondering, the pattern is from the Rowan knitting magazine #30, modified slightly to fit me better.

School has started and so far classes are excellent. In fact, at this point, I'm more stressed about my new job than I am about school. I feel like I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew. I knew it wasn't going to be easy at first, but I'm a perfectionist and it's really hard for me to accept that I'm just not that good at waitressing yet. My mom brought it to my attention that I've only been doing it for three days and I shouldn't be so hard on myself, but unfortunately, it's in my nature!

I realized today just why I might be so stressed and it has nothing to do with work. It has to do with the fact that I haven't knit a single stitch since I finished that sweater which was Sunday. I don't know about you, but I'm used to knitting at least a little bit everyday and when I go three or four days without knitting anything, my perspective goes a bit haywire.

So I picked up my needles and some sock yarn and cast on for a new pair of Jaywalkers. Ah, it felt so good to knit again! I wasn't even discouraged when I had to rip the whole thing out because of a mistake made almost at the beginning. In fact, it was sort of liberating! I knit all my stress into the beginning of that sock and ripping it out freed me. I'm definitely feeling better. And having a couple days off of work doesn't hurt either.

So next time you get stressed, find out how long it's been since you knit, and if it's been awhile, just put down what you're doing and knit! You may just find it'll be the best thing you can do for yourself!

Last free weekend...

I had a great weekend. I know it's Sunday and it's technically still the weekend, but I have to work tonight so I don't really count today as a weekend day.

Anyway, Jill, Liz and I got together on Saturday for some fiber fun. We went to the LYS where Jill ended up practically buying the place out. Liz is on a yarn diet. I don't know if you've seen her stash, but for those of us that have, we can definitely see how a yarn diet would be beneficial to her if for no other reason than there is no more space! I am also on a yarn diet. Acutally, diet isn't the word, budget is the word. A strict budget which includes, but is not limited to, not spending money on yarn.

Just because I couldn't spend didn't mean that I didn't have a great time drooling over some great yarns! After the shop we went out for dinner for Jill's birthday. We all had a great time. Jill was particularly excited about her salad. Presentation at this place was great.

We must have looked crazy because we were all taking pictures of our "pretty" food. You'd think we've never gone out to a fancy restaurant in our entire lives! Well, at least we were enjoying ourselves.

Today is actually Jill's birthday so Happy Birthday Jill!

There wasn't just eating and yarn buying, on no, there was also knitting. Believe it or not I finished up the sweater I've been working on. I know it only took me a week and a half to knit, but I was working on 11's. Anything goes quick on 11's! I finished up the seaming when I was home then I knit the collar at Jill's. Once I got back up to the apartment today I was determined to sew in the ends. God I hate sewing in ends. I loathe it. I love to seam, but I hate to sew in ends. Well, I sucked it up because I want to wear this sweater tomorrow for my first day of classes.

So I finished it and tried it on for the first time and I gotta say, I love the way it turned out. It's very me. I love the classic, basic sort of sweaters. Anything too out there is just not going to work for me. But this one, it's pretty perfect. And being in Polar, it's incredibly warm. The original sweater was warm, but it was baggy and unflattering. I love this version ten times better!

So what do you think?

A meme I couldn't resist.

Before I go off on another hiatus, Katie tagged me with a meme that seemed pretty interesting. Basically it's to list off 5 weird habits you have. It might take me some time to come up with all five, but I'll do my best.

1. I'm not a huge jewelry wearer, but I have worn the same ring on my right hand since I was in the 8th grade. It may not look like it to you, but one side of the ring is different than the other. Back when I was in Jr. High, I used to believe that if I flipped the ring, put it on and it happened to be on the way I liked, then I would have a good day. I've long since stopped believing that this would in any way affect my day, but I still wear the ring with the side that I like facing the way I like it to.

I recently aquired a new ring and I've found the side I like on this one too. I just realized I have another weird thing about these rings. I've tried several times to find a ring to wear on my left hand (I'm more of a one ring per hand sort of person) and all the ones I bought for myself never really did it for me. They never lasted nearly as long as the first one from 8th grade. Well this newly aquired one looks like it's passed the test and I'll be wearing it for a long, long time. Why is this weird you ask? Both rings were given to me by my mom.

2. Ok, this one is really weird and I don't know when it started or why but my inner monologue speaks in a British accent sometimes. It seems to come more naturally than my American accent. I think by all accounts that's pretty weird.

3. I think I mentioned this one a long time ago, but if no one is home and I'm alone in the house and I'm in a particularly good mood (it's imperitive that all these conditiong are met) I will dance all over the house to whatever song pops into my head. And if it's not dancing, then it's singing and singing loudly. But again, only if no one is home. That's very important!

4. I've kept a journal since I was in the 8th grade. This in and of itself is not that weird, lots of people do that. What might be slightly weird about it is I've signed the end of each and every entry with my first name as if I were writing to a friend.

5. It's been hard to come up with this last weird habit, because let's face, how many of us honestly think our habits are weird? We don't know they're weird until someone tells us they're weird. My last weird habit is when I'm alone in the car I tend to talk to myself. I think I do this mainly to keep myself occupied so the drive doesn't seem so long!

That's it folks. I'm not going to tag anyone with this meme, however, if you found it as fun as I did then you're welcome to try it!

Short and sweet

School starts on Monday so I thought it wise to take little trip back to the parent's house seeing how it might be my last chance to get down there for awhile. I'll be going down tomorrow morning and staying till Sunday night. Should be fun because I'm probably meeting up with my knitting buddies!

I haven't posted much in the last couple of days because work has started up. There's a lot to know, but I'm sure it will eventually become second nature to me. I actually think it'll be pretty fun once I get the hang of it. On top of work, I've been volunteering at the zoo more too. It's been a blast!

Oh, before I let you go (I realize how lame and short this post is, forgive me) I just wanted to let those who asked know that the pattern I'm using to make the sweater is from Rowan Magazine Number 30. It's made out of Rowan Polar. Good stuff.

And another thing. Thanks to metamay and g for commenting. It's always nice to hear that non-knitters enjoy my blog just as much as knitters!

Damn that hat!!!

I did finish the socks just in time for my parent's visit. Mom loved them. And of course, as is the case with variegated yarns, the stripes did not match up, but not nearly as bad as some of the others I've done.

So mom was happy with her socks, but my brother and his hat... that's a whole other story. I was surprised when Mom brought it up with her. Turns out it didn't fit him. Apparently it was too short. So all that "winning" energy I knit into the hat meant squat and I'm thoroughly convince that the Redskins lost because I had to take the hat apart at the same time that they were playing. Ah well, I finished it pretty much at the end of the game and now my brother will have it for next season. Of course, hats are meant to be used and there is a whole lot of winter left so it doesn't necessarily have to sit in a box until next season!

So what am I working on now that the socks have been finished? Finally, I'm knitting a sweater. And I wouldn't even call it a new sweater. It's actually yarn from a sweater I made a long time ago that I just wasn't really all that happy with. The fit always seemed a bit off. So I took it out and now I'm re-knitting it to fit me better.

This is the back all finished. I worked on it all weekend. It's on 11's and boy does this just fly. I'm halfway through the front already. Another couple days worth of knitting and I'll be finished with all the pieces! You just gotta love those big needles.

One thing about this though, it's going to need some major blocking because the yarn still had a bit of crimp from when I took it apart. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I may need to do some real hard core blocking, I'm talking submerging the pieces and letting them dry. We'll see though. Sometimes I'm just not patient enough for that.

Warm wrists and cool socks.

Can you believe I've actually been busy for the past couple days? I could hardly believe it either. The sad part is, I haven't been busy with working (this is sad because I could really use the money) but I've been busy with volunteering. Yesterday my roommate and I spent the entire day at the zoo. We really had a great time actually, even with both of us knee-deep in donkey turd at one point. There's nothing like being knee-deep in crap that really puts your life into perspective. More to the point, there's nothing like a days hard labor, labor that you love, to really make you sure you're on the right path. I'll be volunteering again in the afternoon today.

Since everyone seemed really interested about Colorado in the comments I guess I'll clear a few things up. I'll be going out there in February during my school's mid-winter break. My friend lives in Boulder and I've been assured that there are plenty of great things to see and do in Boulder, even in the middle of February. Also, the Denver zoo is only 45 minutes away. I may have to drag my friend there... and possibly a yarn shop or two if we have the time! I'm really excited and I can hardly wait.

I'd also like to thank everyone for you wonderful comments on the hats I made. They were really fun to make. And definitely quick. You know what else are really fun and quick? A set of wristwarmers.

I know the yarn is dark and it's hard to make out the pattern, but it's from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I was thinking to myself the other night as my fingers were nearly freezing off, that a pair of wristwarmers would be just the thing I need to keep my hands warm while I'm working on the computer. Of course, now that I have them finished the weather has decided it wants to be in the 50's. Typical. (though on a side note, this is some of the weirdest weather. It's like spring and it's only January. I wonder how many more times in the next few years I'm going to be saying how weird the weather is being....)

Anyway, mom's socks are continuing right along. In fact, I'm hoping to finish them tonight or tomorrow morning because mom and dad are coming up to visit and it would be great if I could give mom her Christmas present... I'm such a slacker!

So what do you think? Do you think I can finish these socks by tomorrow morning? Keep in mind I have errands to run today as well as volunteering at the zoo.

Yeah, I think I can too.

The other day I was bored beyond belief and you know how when you're bored beyond belief you fell stir crazy and you just need to get out of the house/apartment? Well that was me the other day. It was such a dangerous thing too because I decided to go to the mall to walk around... The self-control I had was astonishing. I bought a belt, which I actually needed seeing how mine deserted me during the move and I spent a good hour and a half in Borders looking over their knitting books. I may be the last person in blogland to buy it, but I bought this.

I took it with me when I went to do laundry the other day (sad that at that point the only thing exciting in my day was doing the laundry, but I digress) and I really had to hold myself back from laughing out loud a couple of times!

It really is too funny because I can totally relate to some of the things she's talking about. Not the stash size, mind you. I could only aspire to have the sort of stash she does. Damn my poor college student status!

The Redskin's can't lose now.

Last Saturday night a couple of my knitting friends, Jill and Liz, drove all the way up here just to visit and knit awhile. The funny thing was, the only one knitting was me! They both decided to take advantage of the wireless internet we have at my apartment (no more dial-up for me!!!) and write some blog posts. Despite the highly computer based visit, we still had a blast! They both ended up staying until past midnight and they both had to work in the morning! Truly the best kind of friends! We had so much fun and I hope we can do it again soon.

You may not believe it, but I wasn't working on my mom's socks when they were over. Nope, I decided to put the socks on hold for a little while for a more urgent project. My brother's Redskin's hat. After all, the Redskins did win on Saturday, so to give my brother (and I suppose the team) some extra luck, I knit on his hat. In fact, I finished his hat.

It's actually a bit big on me, but that's a good thing because it's for my brother who definitely has a bigger head.

This hat only took me about 5 or 6 hours to make. I'm telling you, when you've been working on nothing but size 1's for the past few months, then all of a sudden go to 8's it's like knitting magic with how fast the projects get done.

Case in point, I liked my brother's hat so much that I decided to make on for myself, not to mention, there was tons of extra yarn left over. Of course, a few modifications were in order. I'm not what you might call a football fan, so the stripes were out. Plus, I was thinking I'd use this hat for the coming semester where I'd be spending a lot of time outdoors in the freezing cold, so making it longer and folding it up would give my ears some extra warmth. The end result, turned out beautifully, and not a bit itchy!

You just gotta love alpaca and silk. Pretty much the most non-itchy fibers known to man...that is of course, if you're not allergic to them, which, thankfully, I am not.

So my brother's hat is in the mail, it will probably get to him just in time for the next playoff game. The Redskins are totally going to win now. I knit winning energy right into that hat!

As for other goings on, there really haven't been any. You have no idea how boring it is when you have no work, no commitments, no school, nowhere you have to be. I'm barely keeping it together over here. I never thought I'd say this, but I just can't wait until I have a regular schedule at work! I know I'll be kicking myself for saying that once the semester starts, but as for now, it's totally true!

One last thing before I call this post finished. The tickets have been booked... I'm going to Colorado!!!

For Sh*ts and Giggles

Because I've been so lazy I figure the least I can do is post more often. Even if it is just a meme. This one I found over at the Stoned Knitter. Go check her out, she just got a very cute kitten! I'm such a sucker for the animals. Anyway, let the memeing begin...

Have you ever...?

Smoked a cigar: Can't say that I have.
Crashed a friend's car: That's a no.
Stolen a car: No... are you seeing a trend here?
Been in love: Absolutely! It's wonderful.
Been dumped: Ummm, I'm not sure. I suppose if you count being dumped by a kid in 8th grade after we'd dated for a week.
Dumped someone: Unfortunately yes.
Taken shots of alcohol: This is honestly a question? Ok, yes, I have I was a college student after all.
Been fired: Nope, I'm a good girl.
Been in a fist fight: No, if I was, I know I'd lose
Snuck out of your house: Never needed to. My parents were awesome and really weren't that strict
Been arrested: Can't say that I have
Made out with a stranger: I'm not proud of this, but yes.
Gone on a blind date: Yes, twice. One was good and one was very, very bad.
Lied to a friend: Nope
Seen someone die: Thankfully no.
Thrown up in a bar: No, I've only thrown up once from drinking... I totally learned my lesson that night!
Miss someone right now: Yes
Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by: Oh yes, as often as I can.
Made a snow angel: Ha! Absolutely, in fact, my friend in college and I would make a regular routine of making snow angels on our way home from going out.
Cheated while playing a game: Not that I can remember, but I may have when I was a kid.
Been lonely: Haven't we all at some point?
Fallen asleep at work/school: Only one time in one class, but I have an excuse. The professor was the most boring teacher I've ever had!
Used a fake id: I've never needed to.
Felt an earthquake: Yes, it shook me right out of bed. I totally freaked out, I didn't know what was happening having just woken up, I was totally disoriented. I laugh at myself now thinking back on my reaction. It was really only a little earthquake, nothing serious at all, but I ran out of bed and to the door frame because that's what I remembered you're supposed to do!
Touched a snake: Many times.
Run a red light: Probably, but I was just trying to make it through the yellow light!
Been in a car accident: No
Hated the way you look: Um, yeah, pretty much every day of junior high and most of high school
Been lost: Spiritually or physically because I'd probably answer yes to both.
Been to the opposite side of the country: No, working on that.
Felt like dying: Yes but I'm so happy I didn't
Cried yourself to sleep: Yes
Played cops and robbers: Yep
Karaoke: I'm too chicken for Karaoke
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't: Oh man, yes.
Laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose: Oh yeah. Kind of hurts when that happens!
Caught a snowflake on your tongue: Absolutely, it's tons of fun
Kissed in the rain: *sigh* Yes
Sang in the shower: Oh yeah, especially when I know no one's home. And then it's not limited to just the shower!
Made love in a park: It's on my to-do list.
Had a dream that you married someone: Yes
Glued your hand to something: No!
Got your tongue stuck to a flag pole: Again, no
Worn the opposite sex's clothes: yes, but it was for a play... can you believe they wanted me to play a boy??
Been a cheerleader: Nope
Sat on a roof top: Yes, I used to do that a lot during the summer when the sun was going down...
Talked on the phone all night: I certainly have.
Ever too scared to watch scary movies alone: Oh yes, in fact, I never watch scary movies, ever.
Played chicken fight: Ummm, I don't think so.
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on: No
Been told you're hot by a complete stranger: Actually yes.
Broken a bone: Does a toe count?
Dipped snuff: Yuck, no
Lived overseas: No, but I'd love to someday.
Ever passed out/fainted: No, but I've come very close. Dayquil is not my friend!

Hope you've enjoyed it! More to come in the near future

The paradox of having nothing to do.

Yes, I realize it's been a week, if not more, since I last posted. And it's not that I've been incredibly busy... To be perfectly honest, it's that I've been incredibly lazy. After all, I've only "worked" one day at the new job and am not scheduled again until the end of next week. I say "worked" because it was only orientation with a lot videos to watch, papers to fill out and computer learning stuff. Also, school doesn't start again until the 23rd so I have no studying to do. There's only so much daytime TV I can watch (in fact, I don't watch it, I'd rather the apartment be silent than watch soaps)

It's one of those crazy paradoxes where the less you have to do, the less you want to do. But the busier you are, the more you get done. So I've had very little to do and therefore have wanted to do very little. I spend my days trying to decide what to do, sometimes what to cook for myself. Seriously an entire day is planned around what I'm going to cook and whether I need to go to the grocery store for anything. Though it's great to cook for myself, it's sad that that constitutes my entire day. It better be one fantastic meal!

So you wonder why I'm not jumping for joy because of all the free time I have to knit right? Well let me tell you. I'm an thoroughly uninspired by what I'm working on. Mom's socks... completely unispiring. After all, I've knit a much cooler version of socks, only to rip them out. These are just plain, slightly boring and not nearly doing a good enough job keeping me interested.

I just want to knock them out so I can move on to something different. Preferably non-sock. Though I have a ton of sock yarn left, I think I need a bit of a break from the socks.

Lucky for me, my brother requested something while we were home for Christmas. Take a look at the yarn, it just came in.

Some of you might think "well, those are Harry Potter colors so you must be making one of those new HP scarves." Oh, dear reader, I wish that were true.

Instead they are the colors of my brother's favorite football team, the Washington Redskins, and he'd like me to make him a hat. I must be bored with socks, because I'm actually looking forward to knitting this hat!

Hopefully after the hat, I can move on to knitting a sweater. It has been far too long since I've knit myself a sweater! It is winter after all, I should be knitting a sweater.

Anyway, when I ordered this yarn from Knitpicks, I also ordered a bunch of their color cards so that I know what these colors actually look like in person. The computer screen is such an unrelyable gauge of color.

Look at this one for variegated sock yarn. Isn't that awesome how they knit up a swatch for you just so you can see how the colors look together. I may not be buying yarn from any other supplier! Ok, who am I fooling? There are so many good yarns out there, I can't just buy from one. Though I can when my yarn budget is next to nothing for the next year and a half. Ah, the joys of being a broke college student!

So I have some really exciting news. At least, it's exciting to me. But nothing's final yet so I really don't want to jinx it. Ah, what the hell. A plan is in the works right now for me to fly out to Colorado in February to visit a friend of mine! How cool is that? I've never been that far west. Though I've been all the way around to the other side when I went to China, I still haven't even seen the western part of the country I live in. Well, this will be my chance to go farther west than the Mississippi. Woohoo!

Mom's socks Update and various other things...

Well, I had to totally rip out mom's socks. If my intention was to totally strangle the life out of mom's feet and ankles, then I definitely should have left it and went on to knit the other one, but since I value my mom's good circulation, I decided it'd be best to just rip it out and start again. The only thing is, that wonderful elastic that's in this sock yarn is throwing off my gauge. Not only that, but the Jaywalker pattern is not very stretchy to begin with. So, after talking it over with mom we've decided to go with a plain old, plain old pattern and perhaps with some different yarn I'll give Jaywalker another try. Ah well...

In other news, I recieved the coolest gift from Amy. Turns out I won one of her twelve days of Christmas contests and just look at what she sent:

Not only did she send hot chocolate, but it's white hot chocolate, I can't wait to try it. There are also little candy bags, YARN (which you really can't go wrong with, though now I have to think of what to make with it!) and her very own Limited Edition stitch markers. Look at how cute these things are:

Seriously, how can you deny that these aren't the cutest things you've ever seen? I tell you, the girl is too creative for her own good! Thanks so much Amy! I absolutely love it all!

My new year's was certainly the most uneventful new year's known to man. New Year's eve was spent in a car, driving back up to NY. By the time we got home I was dead tired. I didn't even stay up to watch the ball drop. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to 2006, I just wasn't willing to be awake for the first few hours of it.

Today I moved the rest of my stuff up to the new apartment. I was convinced that I only had a little bit more left to bring up. Turns out I was wrong. When did I accumulate so much crap? Ok, so not all of it's crap, but seriously, I have a lot of stuff. More stuff than I probably should have. And then I think to myself, I just threw out and donated several boxes worth of stuff... How is it possible that I still have so much? Crazyness...

I've been unpacking all day long. It always takes me a long time to unpack because I'm a total nerd. Not only a nerd, but an anal nerd. I'll unpack things and figure out where they will go, carefully deciding what the optimum spot would be based on usage. Once it's put in it's spot that will bascially be it's spot forever (or at least until I get tired of it). Serious nerd over here! But anyway, my room now looks like someone actually lives here. With all of my decorations out and posters up, it feels more like my room, comfortable and cozy, just the way I like it.

I did promise pictures of the drapes, well here you go: I think they look so fantastic. They're another thing that makes my room feel nice and cozy. I just gotta love my mom for that!

My room looks crowded from this picture, but actually it's just the angle. There's quite a bit of room around my bed and between my bed and dresser. Speaking of my bed, I'm so looking forward to sleeping in it. Couches have been my horizontal surface to sleep on for the past week and half. Sure, couches are fine sometimes, but I definitely missed my bed and the million and one blankets on it! I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it...

Mom's socks

So this year I was a little bit behind on my Christmas knitting. In fact, my dad did receive one finished sock and one half finished sock for a gift. I was even knitting on it Christmas morning before anyone woke up, but it still didn't get finished.

As for mom's present. First she got a Branching Out scarf I made way back in the summer. Second, she got two balls of yarn with an IOU for a pair of socks to be made out of the yarn! Erin's been a busy girl this Christmas season and really should be cut some slack. I really had no time to even start them and mom understood.

Well, this nice (or you could also call it mind-numbing) car ride from NY to NC has provided me with some excellent time to start on her socks. (Incidentally I finished my dad's socks on Christmas day).
I decided I really wanted to try Grumperina's Jaywalking socks, plus mom really liked the pattern, so I tried it. It's very easy and pretty quick. The only things I've changed, and am planning on changing for mom's socks is instead of knitting a heel flap and all that, I decided to make it a short-row heel. It's my favorite and it just tends to fit better. Also, mom seemed to think that the "seams" made by the pattern might be uncomfortable on the top of her foot while she wears shoes so I only did the pattern for the leg. It still looks cute I think.

By the way, the yarn is from KnitPicks. It's called Dancing and it's made out of cotton, wool, nylon and elastic. It's a bit stretchy and pretty easy to work with. I'm sure mom will love them when I'm finished. I think her favorite part is that they'll be machine washable! Anything to make life easier right?

A Very Merry Christmas

It's almost been a week since I last wrote. I feel so disconnected! Anyway, my mom loved all the comments you left. She definitely got a kick out of them.

So where do I begin to catch up on my past week. Well, Christmas Eve, my family and I drove up to my apartment to move up my larger things (also to put up the drapes, which of course, I forgot to get a picture of. Don't worry I will definitely get one!) That was quite the trip. It turned out that my matresses wouldn't fit up the stairwell so my brother and dad ended up hoisting the things up over the balcony to get them in! Don't ask me how they managed that!

Christmas day was wonderful. It was very festive and everyone loved their gifts. Some of my particular favorites were this:
It's a mix of some type of wool (I can't remember but it's similar to Corridale) and mohair. It should be interesting to spin up. And of course, as fate would have it, my spinning wheel was moved up the day before... Ah well. I had this to play with:

My mom and dad actually went out on Black Friday at 5am to pick this up. It's an mp3 player. It's one of those things where I probably wouldn't have bought myself one of them, but now that I have one I absolutely love it (and it's come in handy on the 13 hour drive to NC!)

I also got a bunch of kitchen things for the new apartment which will definitely come in handy. So the day was spent with the family and I spent the night hanging out with an old friend who was home for the holidays. All-in-all it was a fantastic day.

A bit of a side story here. I was going through the stash to try and separate what was mine and what was my moms when I came across a project that apparently has been in the bottom of a bag since this summer. What's crazy about it is the only thing left to finish was to bind off for the armhole and sew in the ends. Don't ask me why I didn't finish it. I must have gotten sidetracked. Well, I decided to finish it up and now I actually have a finished object to show you, however it's extremely out of season (and out of focus... sorry about that!)

At least I'll be able to wear it when the summer comes around again!

Anyway, yesterday we drove down to MD, spent the night at my grandmothers, then today we drove the rest of the way to NC to visit with the relatives. I actually only got here a few hours ago and I think one of my first question was "do you have an internet connection?" They do. Wireless no less and now I'm feeling slightly more connected!

Well, I hope everyone's holiday was wonderful. I'll be updating again soon now that I have an internet connection.

The Drapes Story aka Why my Mom is the Best Mother in the World.

It is time for the long awaited, much anticipated drapes story (or maybe I'm just fooling myself into thinking it's much anticipated!)

This past weekend my mom and I went to JoAnn's because they were having a huge 50% off sale and we had been throwing around the idea of making some drapes for the three windows in my room. We discussed what I wanted, then she let me loose in the home decor fabrics section. I went up and down every aisle trying to find ones that "said something" to me. Just when I was about to call it quits and go with a somewhat plain, slightly boring solid hunter green with green swirlies on it fabric, I came upon the section that really did it for me. Not only the section, but the perfect fabric. It had an antique, sort of tea-dyed beige background with green and eggplant purple (though both were sort of diffused and not so solid) squares on it, along with antique looking butterflies on it. I was in love with this fabric. And I mean in love. I was prepared to spend the $100 on it because I loved it that much.

So we took it to the cutting station where my heart was broken because there weren't enough yards on the roll that they had. Not only that, it was clearance, so they couldn't order me more... Slightly disappointed at this point, I trudged back to the section that "spoke to me," though now I'm not so sure it wasn't telling me to "kiss off, you can't have the fabric you want!" Anyway, I found a similar fabric with the same sort of unevenly tea-dyed beige background, only this one didn't have the squares of color, it just had colored leaves on it, the leaves were the same sort of green and purple that was in the butterfly fabric so I went with it. It still spoke to the nature lover in me so I took it knowing it wasn't my first choice and I settled on it, which has never been something that sit well with me.

We cut the fabric, I paid the (now seemingly ridiculous because it wasn't what I really wanted) price of $100 on fabric that I settled for and we came home. We didn't get to work on the drapes until Sunday afternoon, and then it was just me. Mom told me to cut the panels so she could get to sewing them the next day. She explained to me how she wanted them cut, so I laid them out, showed her again just to make sure I was doing it right. Then I cut. I wasn't really comfortable with it though because sewing is not my forte. Ask me anything about knitting and I can tell you everything about it, but the language mom was using on me about sewing was like Greek.

The next morning I see that mom had started working on them after I had gone to bed. Mom got up to see my dad off to work and she comes into the living room with 4 little words... "We have a problem..." Turns out I cut the panels wrong. Instead of cutting 6 2yd panels I cut 4 3yd panels. To say I was slightly upset would be an understatement. I just spent a ton of money on this 2nd choice fabric only to cut it wrong and need to buy more fabric just to make up for it. I think I may have been more upset with the fact that I was uncomfortable cutting the fabric, mom knew I was uncomfortable and yet she still made me cut it. And she told me I was cutting it right, trusting in the fact that I'm a "smart girl" and could figure it out myself. Kind of childish, but I couldn't help what I was feeling at the moment.

I decided to get down to it with a pen and paper and map out exactly what it was that she had in mind for the drapes and see if we couldn't work with the mistake I made. Turns out we could. So I went to work relieved knowing that I wouldn't have to buy more of the settled on fabric. At one point during the day Mom called me and we talked a bit about the progress she'd made on the drapes. Turns out not much, I guess she was waiting for my help (possibly not the best idea in the world seeing how well I "helped" with the cutting).

I got home from work to find mom, sort of in a bubbly mood, saying she had to show me the progress on the drapes. So I went into the sewing room which was scattered with panels of fabric on every surface it seems. She held up one of the panels and smiled at me. Obviously I was being dense, a long day of work can totally do that to you, because it took me at least a minute to realize that the fabric she was holding up wasn't the 2nd choice leafy fabric, but the first choice antique butterfly fabric! I was totally taken back. Mom explained to me that because we found a way to make it work with the panels I accidentally cut, it turned out that the orginal fabric would work, so she spent the morning out at JoAnn's buying me the fabric I really wanted.

This is just one of many reasons why my mom is absolutely the best mother in the entire world. So what's going to happen with the 2nd choice fabric that I bought? The fabric that does match my most beautiful drapes? Mom's going to make me a bed spread... Totally the best mom.

Sock progress update

Still not a ton of progress on the socks. This is how far I've gotten so far. My dad may end up opening a present with one finished sock and a promise for the other one to be finished in the near future. This wouldn't be the first Christmas where I've given him an unfinished knitted object. The last time it was a Dale of Norway sweater that was given to him in pieces. Though in my defense, I did finish that sweater before New Year's. I'm sure I can do the same this time. But again, I don't want to push it. I've given my wrists a good day or two off now and as we all know that's just a crime when Christmas is only 5 days away. Yikes...

Oh I have an excellent picture to so you.... This is why my final was cancelled last friday. And yes, I was driving and taking a picture at the same time, however you can see, not only was the road just fine, but there was no one else on the road, so I only would have hurt myself! It was actually quite a nice ride home, it reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia. I just went to see the movie with my mom that past Wednesday and the woods with the snow sticking to every branch of the trees definitely reminded me of the snow covered woods in Narnia! I imagined some fairytale creature would come walking out of the woods at any moment. (Cut me some slack, it's a boring ride so I have to entertain myself somehow!)

I have an excellent story to tell you about some drapes. I know, a story about drapes sounds pretty dull, but this one is really great. However, it's going to have to wait. I have my final tomorrow morning and I need to do some more studying. I promise I'll have the drapes story for you soon!

Walking down memory lane...

Thank you to everyone who congratulated me and my new job! I have to say, I'm pretty excited about it. What I'm not excited about is moving all of my stuff up there. I've gotten a little bit of it moved already, but now I have a lot of the big stuff left to move, i.e. my bed, dresser, bookshelf. Speaking of my bookshelf, it was a complete mess, full of old papers, miscellaneous things and pictures. I spent most of the weekend cleaning it off so that I'd only take up what I absolutely want to take up.

I ran into some pretty interesting things while going through everything. Things that I haven't seen in years and some things that I had totally forgotten about. It's funny when you find a letter from a guy who you knew in high school professing his love to you and how he's always had a "thing" for you... and you don't even remember getting this letter... hmmm.. And then there was "the box." You know the one, the one where you keep all the old letters and pictures of old boyfriends, not to be opened for at least a year or two after you've broken up. Boy did that bring back memories. Luckily it only brought back good memories. It's funny, I know for some of those my heart was totally broken, but now when I think back on it and look at all the old letters, I don't feel anything but nostalgia and fond memories. It's interesting how after a few years you completely forget the bad times and all that's left are the good.

And then there were the pictures. Oh my god the pictures. Some made me cringe, some made me smile and sigh and others made me laugh my butt off. Those all went into a box to be sorted someday in the future when I'll cringe, smile and laugh again at them.

It was fun and frustrating at the same time to go through all of those things. Fun because it's always fun to go down memory lane, frustrating because everytime I ran across something I'd take a few minutes, sometimes more to reminisce on it, all the while knowing that I really didn't want to spend all weekend going through this stuff. And then there were times when I would stand in the middle of the room, look at the piles of crap all over the floor and feel so overwhelmed because I didn't know where to go from there so I'd just stand there, for minutes at a time not doing anything and then I'd get mad at myself for not doing anything and then I'd feel overwhelmed again...vicious cycle. Those were the times when I just had to walk away for a little while and do something else. God organizing and purging your stuff can be frustrating.

All-in-all, it turned out fine. I got rid of the things that basically made me say "why the @#$% do I have this?" And kept the things I thought I could use or were really sentimental. It really felt good to finally get rid of some of that stuff. Sometimes you just have to sit on those things for awhile, because you know after a few years, they are no longer sentimental anymore so you can get rid of them then.

So, in a totally unrelated topic, we had a huge ice/snow storm here last Friday. I'm a bit peeved about it because the final that I had on Friday has now been rescheduled for this Wednesday. I just wanted to take it and get the whole thing over with, now I have to drive back up there just to take the one test. Oh well, I suppose it's ok because it just means that I won't have to spend as much time at work on my last week! It feels so good to say that this is my last week of work here! Thank the lord!

As far as knitting goes, I finished my brother's socks and started a pair for my dad. Unfortunately I didn't work on them as much as I wanted to because I spent most of the weekend organizing and not only that, but my hands started hurting a little when I was working on them. I think it's because they're such tiny needles (size 1's) and I'm trying to go faster than I should. I've got to be careful with that. Don't want to put my hands out of knitting commission, where would I be then?

Doing the happy dance because today is a great day!

I have so much to tell you and so much to show you, so sit back and relax, cause this is gonna take awhile!

First off, let us all rejoice. Sing praises and throw your hands in the air, by all that is good, the mondo mittens... they are done!
I hope this will be the last pair of mittens I make until next year at the very least. Of course, we all know deep down I love making these mittens, I suppose what I don't love are deadlines...

They are now wrapped and ready to go. I finished these well ahead of schedule, but wouldn't you know it, because I'm now left with a week and a half until Christmas I seem to think that a week and a half is plenty of time to finish my brothers pair of socks, which it is because I'm close to finished...

Do you see how the stripes are so entirely different? I don't know if I was more tense on the first sock or the second, but judging by the evenness of the second sock I'd say it's probably the second. I think I subconsciously know that Christmas is only a week and a half away and that's screwing with my tension... and yet... I'm planning on just one more pair of socks. I have to make my dad something because I really haven't done any Christmas shopping (though shopping in general is hard for a poor college student!)

So I also wanted to show you pictures of the apartment... Be warned, it's quite sparse at the moment. None of us have entirely moved in our things!
This is my room. Obviously the TV won't always be on the floor and the room will have more color by the time I'm through, so ignore the glarringly white walls.

I am in love with this room. I have those three windows that let in so much sun. I tell you, sun makes me a happy girl! All this room needs is some plastic on the windows. I stayed here last night and thank the lord I had about a million blankets on my bed or I might have froze solid!

This is the living room. Again, the white walls will eventually be taken care of! Don't mind the books either, major studying was going on last night. As for the room itself, I think our little Charlie Brown christmas tree really warms the room up.

Oh and you'll be happy to know I fixed the bathroom door handle and now the door shuts all the way! It's amazing what a screwdriver will do isn't it?

I have very exciting news. First off I'd like to thank everyone who had their fingers crossed for me because guess who got a job? That's right! Yesterday I got a call about an interview, today I went to the interview and now I have a job. It is so exciting. What's really funny about it is, during the interview, the manager was looking over all of my past experience and I was telling him all about the things I've done and he looks up at me with a straight face and says "Do you want to be a manager?" I thought he was kidding! He was completely serious though. He said he started out as a chef and ended up being the manager 12 weeks later! Ha! So we'll see where that goes. For now, serving is just fine for me! Another perfect thing about it is I have to give my current job at least a weeks notice (though I'm not sure they deserve it!), then my family and I are going to North Carolina to visit relatives so I can't start until the 3rd of January, but he was happy with that, in fact, it worked out better for him. Woohoo! Doing the happy dance over here!

To say the very least today has been a great day. I went to the interview and then had one of my finals (not to say the final was great by any means, but it's over and that's great!) And now I get to lounge around, study for my final that I have tomorrow and knit a bit because I deserve it!

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

Wow, can you say busy? This past week was the last week of classes. They are officially over. All that's left are a couple of finals. Then I'm done for the semester.

So, we got the apartment, officially (seems there's a lot of official things happening here!) and I've been moving some of my stuff up. Mostly the things I'm not using like kitchen stuff, dishes, glasses, etc. A few things for my room, but not many. It's funny how the character of a place can really come out once you start moving in. For instance, the bathroom door doesn't shut all the way. I found this out on my first day there. I went to use the bathroom and tried pulling the door shut. When it wouldn't shut all the way, I tried pulling harder and only succeeded in ripping the door handle off. Either I don't know my own strength or this wasn't the first time the door handle has been ripped off. My roommate rolling on the floor laughing her butt off pretty much confirmed that this has happened before.

Second, there are feathers in my room. Pigeon feathers. Haven't got the slightest clue how they got there. I checked all the windows, they're good and shut, I look around the ceiling (not really sure what I was looking for there...) and around the room, and the only thing I can figure is either they've been there for awhile, or they were blown in there through the heating vents... It's a mystery at this point and hopefully won't become a problem. I can see it now, some night I'll wake up and there will be a pigeon in my room!

Anyway, the job hunt is on. I have a couple of leads but nothing confirmed at this point. All I need is an interview to convince them I'm perfect for the job. That should seal the deal. Then I can officially move in...There's that official thing popping up again!

I have been knitting, but not nearly as much as I've wanted to. Luckily this weekend I'll be meeting with the knitting friends downtown at the coffee shop so I should be able to catch up. I'm working on the last lining of the last mitten...hopefully the last mitten for a long time. Also, the pair of socks I started for my brother are coming together nicely, but the variegated yarn is definitely striping in a swirlly sort of pattern. I suppose I can live with it. Once those are done my christmas knitting is done...officially.

Big News!!!

I am so excited about this big news that I was barely able to sleep last night. In fact, I spent the better part of two hours trying to convince myself that I really should be sleeping and I'd have plenty of time to think about all the things going through my mind later. Preferably during a time when I'd normally be awake.

I did finally fall asleep only to wake up early and start right where I left off... thinking about how exciting this is and trying to organize in my mind how it would all go... I do that, I'm a mind organizer. I think of all the possible angles of a situations, what could go wrong, how will I do this or what will lead to that, etc, so that I'm fully prepared and not taken by suprise if any of the things I thought of happens. Of course, the down side of this is that it's very exhausting, especially when it's your bedtime and you really have to sleep so that you can at least be a half-way functioning human being at work the next day.

And then I thought, screw work! this exciting news directly affects work and how long I will actually still be there. Which, in my perfect world, would only be another two weeks, but in the real world I'm sure will end up being a month to a month and a half.

So do I have you on the edge of your seat yet? Are you just dying to know what is so exciting that it could keep me up all hours of the night? Ok, I'll tell ya. A couple of friends and I have put down a deposit on an apartment. A really nice apartment, with new carpets, a new fridge and stove and a very lovely and quite large livingroom. And did I mention we have our own balcony?

It seriously couldn't have come at a better time. One of my roommates is desperate to move out of the apartment she's in because her current roommate is terrible (think: leaves dishes in the sink with food still on them for weeks at a time). My other roommate is also desperate to get out of her apartment, if you can call it that. It's basically a medium sized room with a tiny galley kitchen and a bathroom without a door. That's it. And me, I need to move up there for lots of reasons. The weather is starting to turn and the thought of driving through lake-effect snow seriously gives me a mini-heart attack. Also, I'd save a ton of money on gas and I'd be able to volunteer more at the zoo. And a ton of other reasons.

We just turned in the application today and if everything is alright (which I'm sure it will be) the apartment will officially be ours! It's the perfect location too. Halfway between the zoo and the school. Talk about perfect!

The reason I can't just go to my boss right this very minute and tell him I'm done!, finito!, no more!, is because, at this point in time, it's my only source of income and rather than rely on my nest egg, I should work until I find a job up there. I think it shouldn't take too long especially since I'm looking for a waitressing position. It's the only thing that will get the money I need for the hours I can put in.

So, my dear friends, wish me luck in finding a job quicker than the Yarn Harlot can whip up a sweater for Rhinebeck!

It's December... Is everyone ready???

Though there is only a week and a half of class left, they have decided to put us through docent training. If you don't know, docents are animal eduators (I didn't know what they were when I started this program, if you had asked me before the program I would have told you it had something to do with music). They're the people you see around the zoo or in a school presenting animals to kids, etc. Totally cool because yesterday we got to handle all the education animals (education animals are animals that are used to being handled and are used to teach kids about animals and conservation). Many of the animals are reptiles, like Lucille the Ball Python, obviously we have some real comedians there!

These snakes are seriously easy to handle, even if you're afraid of snakes. They just sit there, curl into a ball (hence the name) and chill. Then there was the water snake which was much more active and would crawl all over your arms if you let it. The trick is to just let it crawl through your fingers and not squeeze it or anything.

We also handled the salamanders which were really soft and slimey. Very cool. Then the blue-tongued skink. He didn't do much but sit there, flicking his blue tongue. There were also geckos that we held. Those suckers are quick! (Edited: I had to take out the skink picture, it was mucking up my sidebar!)

If you're into the cute and furry types and not the cold-blooded scaly types, then you'll like these next pictures.

This is Chi-Chi, the chinchilla. Pretty much the softest animal you will ever feel in your life. Some really cool things about them are each hair follicle has 6 hairs growing from it, making their hair very dense. If a predator tries to grab them it will be left with a mouthful of fur instead of a mouthful of chinchilla because they have the ability to loosen their hairs when frightened. I could go on, but there's more to show!

If stinky and furry are more your thing, then this guy will be perfect. He's an oppossum. A very, very stinky oppossum. And he drools... apparently it's normal! The ferret was pretty stinky too.

Most of the animals we handled were given to the zoo by people who owned them as exotic pets then realized how much work they are to take care of and that they really don't make good pets. Don't buy exotic pets people, or at least do your research before you do. Grrr.

Anyway, it was a very cool day! So knitting, yeah, there has been knitting. I'm just now working on the thumb of the second mondo mitten. I was extremely bad though. I actually started a pair of socks. Don't get excited! They're for my brother, for Christmas. More Christmas knitting. Just 25 days. I have to start knitting faster.

More fun than you can poke a stick at.

This past holiday extended weekend has been a blast. Not only did I get to sleep in, stuff my face and knit like crazy, but I got to have the most awesome behind-the-scenes tour of the Seneca Park Zoo by probably the funniest zookeeper known to man.

First off, the knitting. After I finished most of my schoolwork I did nothing but sit on my butt and knit. Friday was one of those marathon knitting days where I just put in movie after movie. Not only did I finish another pair of mittens (which I think I mentioned already), but I finished half a pair of mondo mittens too! Woohoo!
These are the pair I was telling you about. I finished them in just a few days. Don't ask me where I found the time because even I don't know that answer. It's pretty much a mystery.

I'm telling you, as soon as this Christmas knitting is over I am going to be so happy. Don't get me wrong, I love to knit things for other people, but I hate the pressure and having a deadline. No one to blame but myself of course, if I didn't want to knit things for people I wouldn't. Anyway, I'm just really looking forward to knitting a sweater. I haven't in a very long time, probably since the England sweater. That was back in April. Yikes.

So I also had a ton of fun on Saturday. Meet with my knitting buddy and we spent nearly the whole day knitting down at the coffee shop. Too fun. I love it down there. Then Saturday night a friend of mine from my class came down and we went to see that new movie Just Friends. I haven't laughed that hard a movie in such a long time! Sure it was completely unbelievable, but sometimes that's what makes movies good.

And today. Today was completely and utterly fun. Anytime I get to go behind the scenes anywhere is always a great time. First we got a tour of the zoo, complete with hysterical stories and anecdotes. Then we were given some behind the scenes looks at the wolves, mountain lions, polar bears, sea lions and penguins. Too damn cool. I can't upload all my pictures now because I'm working off of dial up (I know, stone-age right?) but I will show you this completely adorable picture of a baby penguin:

The zookeeper is checking to see if it's feet are developing properly, but it just wouldn't walk forward for him no matter how much he tried coaxing it! It's hard not to fall in love with these animals what with how fluffy and cute they are, but judging by the stories he was telling us about them, when they grow up they can bite, and bite hard. This picture is at a funny angle, but that's because the chick was literally by my feet so I could only really get a top-down shot of it. Still very cute.

Going to this zoo and getting a behind the scenes tour was a fantastic way to end my fantastic long weekend. I hope everyone's holiday (for those of you who had one this week) was as excellent as mine!

Happy Turkey Day!

This will probably be my last post before Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has an excellent holiday. Mine looks like it will be fill with projects that need completing before the end of the semester, but I don't mind. I'm still getting a 4 day weekend which is extremely needed at this point.

As for knitting, you're never going to believe this and unfortunately I don't have the pictures to prove it, but I finished another pair of mittens in just three or four days! Ok, well, almost finished. I've completed the outer part of the mittens, I just have to knit the linings. I think all that sock yarn that I bought is calling my name. It's whipped my butt into gear. I was starting to really dislike knitting those mittens, but now I just have one more pair left and I am dying to make a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalker socks. Of course, the pair of mittens I have left to knit are of the mondo variety...I suppose I'll live.

I'm so looking forward to this holiday break. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm so thankful for this break, because for the first time in a long time I get to sleep in for four whole days (for someone who gets up at 5:30am most mornings, this truly is something to be thankful for). Also, on Sunday, a few classmates and I are heading out to the Rochester zoo to get a behind the scenes tour. This isn't an official school trip, but we're a dedicated bunch, so if there's a possibility of going to a zoo we jump on it, even if it's during one of our holiday breaks. Anyway, it should be fun and I should have some great pictures to share when it's over.

Again, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and don't forget to sign my Frappr map!

Updated to Add: Also, if your concerned about global warming and want to take action, join the virtual march to help stop global warming. Stepping off the soapbox now!

Longest Post Ever

This is just a warning that this is going to be a very long, very picture-heavy post. I've been really busy recently and I'm just going to throw it all out here in one post.

Last weekend I was sick as a dog, but that didn't stop me from getting together with my knitting buddies for some much needed knitting/relaxing/coffeeshop time. Though this time was slightly different. Jill wanted to learn how to spin up the roving she bought at Rhinebeck. So I brought along some drop spindles and some practice roving and the spinning fun was had by all!
And when I say all, I mean it. Liz, who swore to us she couldn't start spinning, she didn't want to, she didn't have the time for it and a million other excuses, decided after watching me teach Jill that she just wanted to try it.

Not just try it in fact, but take it home. Yep, she's hooked. And when she found out just how hooked she was, she realized that she was probably going to be spending money on some roving in the near future.
This is how most people react when they learn they're addicted to something. Don't worry Liz, it's perfectly normal!

After knitting Jill and I went to the mall for a bit of shopping and I found these... Not only are they the most hideous pair of boots I've ever seen, but when you look closer you see they're outer shell is knitted. I don't know about you, but I can think of about a million better uses for knitted fabric than for a pair of quite ugly, ugg-like boots. But then, maybe that's just me...

So I mentioned elephants too didn't I? Yes, elephants were involved this week when my classmates and I took a field trip to the zoo in Syracuse. We all were given a behind the scenes tour of the elephant barn and the tiger holding area. To say that it was awesome, would be an extreme understatement! First we went to the elephant barn and actually got to be in the pen, with the elephant, no bars or anything between us and this huge animal.
You really don't have an understanding of just how huge these awesome animals are, until you're right there, right next to them. A picture just doesn't do it justice.

The keeper was showing us a lot of the different behaviors they have her trained to do so that they can perform basic husbandry. For instance, he had her turn around and lift up her foot to have it worked on, because elephants feet are very sensitive and need care just like horses hooves.

One of the most spectacular moments though was when we each got to go up to her and pet her trunk. Of course, we had to be behind the bars for this because of safety issues. It was the coolest experience and hopefully just the beginning of what I'll experience in this program.

We really had an awesome time. After the elephants, we went to the tiger enclosure and went behind the scenes of where they sleep at night. That was pretty interesting to see.

Then we had a couple of hours to tour around the zoo. We had some fun playing with the tigers through the glass. They were really interested in my friend's umbrella. He would run from one side to the other and the tigers would chase it and get up on the glass. I took some video of it, unfortunately blogger doesn't upload video!

The penguins were incredibly cute too. They were really interested in our fingers and would follow them while we moved them back and forth along the glass. Too cute.

The whole day was such a great experience. It pretty much confirms how much I love this program and that it's definitely the direction I want to go.

So, you want to know where the mondo-mitten comes in? Well, I finally finished them up, including the linings. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of them. But I do have a picture of all the sock yarn I bought from Knitpicks. I went a little sock-yarn-happy. Don't you think?

Knitblogger Geography

Hey everyone, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and starting up my own knitblogging map. So...where are you guys?

I'll be posting tomorrow about the million and one crazy things I've been doing this whole time I've been neglecting my blog duties! Want to know what I've been up to? I'll give you a hint... It invovled drop spindles, elephants and a mondo-mitten thrown in for good measure! Gotta love the combination!

Last weekend's rewards...

As I said in my last post, I treated myself to an entire day of knitting and spinning last weekend for being such a good student who finished her reports on time. I have to reward myself with something or I think I would go a bit insane with the amount of work I have to do for school.

I finished plying the dyed corridale that I bought at Rhinebeck. I love the color in this yarn. It has all sort of purplish flecks that really make it interesting. I really haven't decided what to do with it yet, but socks are coming to mind. That is as soon as I finish all the Christmas knitting I have to do.

I started spinning up the second color way of the Merino/Tencel I got at Rhinebeck. I'm spinning it very fine (probably because I have socks on the brain and I can't help myself!)

I think what I like best about spinning finely is that the fiber lasts so much longer than it would if you spun it chunkier. That way you guarantee more hours of spinning enjoyment out of less roving. (I'm such a geek....)

I think I'm most excited about the knitting I got finished this past weekend. I'm already to the thumb on the second mondo mitten! As soon as I finish the thumb, it's all downhill from there!
Of course, I haven't gotten a single stitch knitted this entire week. I've just been too busy. Thankfully the weekend starts in just one more day. Good thing too, I feel a cold coming on and I'm going to need to recouperate.