Mysteries and a super secret crafter handshake

I'm back in North Carolina ready to get back to work!  I enjoyed my vacation up to New England with my family.  We spent some time working on the new house which had several surprises for us (it is 113 years old).

The night we arrived the floors were littered with dead bugs (I had a carpenter bee in my room) and I woke up the first morning to the sound of my parents trying to catch the resident bat.  Later that week, my brother was in the process of gutting a room when he discovered something that completely puzzled him.  It appeared as if there was a room above that one that was not visible.

My father found evidence of stairs hidden in a wall and then uncovered this in the basement stairwell:

A secret staircase leading to two secret rooms.  There was even a window up there!  We didn't find anything interesting, although I firmly believe that if you are going to go to all the trouble to make a secret room, you should leave something mysterious up there.

In other news, a few weeks ago I saw this jacket in the Ravelry store and just couldn't get over how adorable it was!  Needless to say I needed to have it and justified buying it because of all that Ravelry has done for me.  I'm not sure I would have gone beyond knitting distorted squares without the community and collection of great patterns.

Please ignore the flour on the front, I was baking cookies for a friend and didn't notice it until after I took the photos.  

The front has a cute little bunny snoozing and the back features what I would consider a jamboree of animals.  

I wore it during my recent Webs visit and obviously fit right in.  But I fantasize about moments where I'm casually wandering down the sidewalk when I meet a fellow crafter and we exchange secretive nods before continuing on.

Also, ever since I got my beloved Namaste bag I've definitely noticed that I've had less experiences where the yarn store owner follows me around being openly rude.  I've actually had several experiences like that in the past, I assume the owners think that the only reason a young person would be there is if they wanted to shoplift, needless to say they don't get any of my business. 

Have you had any fun surprises in your life lately?

Holiday knits?

I spent the last two weeks at my childhood home in central Kansas where I spent time with my family and made some good memories.

Some highlights were my mother making Steamed Red Bean Buns (which were super yummy) and watching the full, 312 minute long version of Fanny and Alexander directed by the talented Ingmar Bergman (it was still just as profound and confusing).  I was also able to meet up with my close friend Lisa and knit with her, which is always wonderful.

My mother and I visited one of our favorite yarn shops, Oh Yarn It! in McPherson, Kansas.  In addition to having a hilarious name, it is run by a super nice woman who tries to carry mostly U.S. and local yarns.  The store is also a few shops over from a pretty, old opera house.

Uncharacteristically, I also quickly knit up some gifts for my cousin (although I didn't finish them quite in time). 

The hat is Opus Spicatum, a pattern I've knitted before and loved.  The matching gloves were to use up the leftover yarn, I now wish that I had used a pattern to knit them.  Both projects were made out of Cascade 220.  Hopefully my cousin likes them!

I also went flying with my father, which is always fun because we are both private pilots and he has some great stories.  I was able to take some gorgeous aerial photos during the flight, Kansas looks super pretty after it snows a little.

That was my vacation home, I hope you all had a memorable and relaxing break as well!

What I've been up to lately

Traveling:
I drove down to Charleston, South Carolina to meet up with my family for Thanksgiving.  It was nice and warm during our time there and so we were able to get out and see a lot of the city.  It wouldn't be a family vacation without several trips to different old churches and graveyards (it is just our thing for some reason).  We also ate at several of those amazing, cute little hole-in-the-wall restaurants that are scattered around the city.

Visiting local yarn stores:
While I was in Charleston I finally got to visit a LYS for the first time in months.  I probably looked strange running around stroking all of the yarn excitedly.  Knit was very friendly (my siblings loved playing with the adorable little dogs) and had an amazing selection of Madelinetosh, it was a wonder I didn't walk out of there with more yarn than I did.  I ended up leaving with a sweater's worth of Berroco Vintage as a birthday present from my mother.


Watching Moonrise Kingdom:
I recently rewatched this movie by one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson.  Each of his films are so meticulously made and aesthetically gorgeous, but this one may be one of my all-time favorites along with The Life Aquatic and The Royal Tenenbaums.



Listening to Radiolab podcast:
I've been working away in lab as always while trying to keep up with coursework and writing that journal article.  If you have any interest at all in the area of science that my article is on (perhaps more for my family members who want to know), you should check out this new RadioLab episode.  They explain epigenetics in a very understandable way and make it interesting for people who aren't science nerds like me.


I've also been knitting away in my spare moments.  I should have a finished project to show you soon, as well as my latest crafting success!

Thank you as always for all of your encouragement and friendship!

Recent Stash Additions

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with my good buddy Lisa (Wickedly Artsy).  Among many of the other exciting things that you can read about over at her blog, we found some time for some fiber shopping!

I know, I'm a poor student preparing for a huge move, but fiber is just as important as food right?

First we headed over to Wildflower in Manhattan, Kansas, which has a great selection of Berroco, as well as some yarns that I have not been able to find at any other yarn store.  I found some yarn that I have been dying to get a hold of for a while now, two skeins of Mini Moshi (Crystal Palace Yarns) in a muted rainbow colorway:

After that we visited Wicked Stitch in Wamego, Kansas, which is one of my favorite stores because of the amazing fiber selection, friendly people, and adorable location.  It took me a little while to decide what to get because of the overwhelmingly diverse selection, but I ended up purchasing two types of fiber that I cannot wait to spin up.

I went straight for some reasonably priced and super soft Blue Faced Leichester.  I will likely end up hand dyeing this at some point.

I also couldn't resist buying some Romney wool (which I don't think that I have ever tried before).  According to the owner, this is from one of her own sheep, Daisy.  I can tell that this is going to be loads of fun to spin up!

Isn't it wonderful the sort of treasures that can be found at yarn stores across the country?  If only I could visit them all!

Knitting at the airport

I really dislike flying commercially. I've been flying at least 10 times a year for the last seven years while attending boarding school and then college out-of-state. So I have definitely seen the painful decline of air travel in the US first hand.

Due to the extent that flying stresses me out, I'm not sure how I could do it without knitting to help relax me.  I always knit socks at the airport, it is tradition.  It is also a great type of project because I'm less likely to elbow the person sitting next to me.  Today I brought this pretty project along:

My connecting flight today was at Chicago O'Hare Airport (KORD), one of the cleaner and less stressful of the larger airports.  It has some really fun little things to see while waiting for an inevitably delayed United flight (every time), such as the light tunnel and a hydroponics garden:

On this particular trip I found something that made me really happy, a cafe called Argo Tea.  To me, being able to find properly brewed tea and yummy, healthy salads at an airport is pretty much the best thing ever.  I'll certainly visit them again the next time I fly. 

Things I've learned as a frequent flyer (in the US): 

- Be very nice to the TSA, especially while taking needles in your carry on (contrary to common belief, they are allowed during domestic travel and I've never had them taken away) or when traveling with children.  This is also one of the few situations where standing up for yourself is not a good idea, they will punish you.

- Never ever fly US Airways. Ever.  Among other things, they refuse to gate check your carry-on if the overhead containers fill up, and will likely lose your luggage if they check it later.  Also avoid United if possible, they will cancel your flight up to 30 minutes before boarding due to "mechanical problems" which is usually just their way of saying the flight was not full enough, also they are always late.

- Southwest is my favorite airline by far, even if the seating situation is a little crazy.  Delta is generally acceptable except for in weather situations. 

- Bring your own goodies, the snacks there are never worth the premium and you will have exactly what you want for your trip.  In case of a delayed connecting flight sprint I always bring nuts to help keep up my energy.

-  If possible pick out a carry-on bag that looks like a purse, not a roller-bag.  If you get stuck on a smaller plane or if overhead space runs out, you will be less likely to be forced to check it even if it is the same size as a roller-bag. 

- Frequent flyer point systems are rarely ever worth the effort, I don't even bother anymore because most of them reset every year now. 

- International concourses usually have the best food and minimum noise (KATL --> Concourse E). 

- If a flight is cancelled or rescheduled for the next day due to mechanical failure, the airlines are usually contractually obligated to pay for a hotel room. This is not true for weather cancelations.

- If you find yourself in a terrible situation caused by an airline company and need help, call the people at Flyer's Rights.  They are a non-profit with a 24 hour help line and will help you.


Have any good tips for surviving commercial flights?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and for those of you traveling tomorrow, good luck!

Road tripping along

I've been very quiet here for a while because I have been traveling with my family.  I've still been trying to keep up with you all using my phone because I've been at places with no internet until today.  As a tip to those of you Blogger people with Captcha enabled, it is incredibly frustrating to comment by iPhone and you may be losing some comments that way.

Graduation was fantastic!  I ended up graduating with high honors and a few other awards, which was the perfect way to end my undergraduate experience.  Jane Lynch was a great speaker and very funny, although she was nothing like the characters she typically plays.

Right after I snagged my diploma, I jumped into the truck with my dad and all of my moving boxes, and headed off to North Carolina!

Eleven hours later we arrived and shortly after that I found the perfect apartment that even has a little garden (which I'm planning to fill with lavender)!  It is such a wonderful feeling to have everything falling into place and I'm excited to move there in the Fall. 

I'm now in upstate New York for my sister's graduation (12 hour drive back up) and have been knitting away any chance I get on my super womanly strength something-or-another sweater.

As I initially suspected, it is almost impossible to be sad while knitting with Madelinetosh.  Everywhere I go I have people comment on how beautiful this yarn is.

For the pattern, I chose Ambrosia, a very pretty, fitted cardigan, with some nice cabling along the front. The best part about this pattern is that there is no seaming!  I'm thinking that because I am using Merino wool instead of cotton, that I might make the sleeves a little longer. 

The most disappointing thing about this trip is that no matter how hard I try, I have been unable to visit a single yarn store!  Hopefully I'll have better news along that front in a few days.