Movin' and Rollin'

Last month, with copious amounts of help from two of the best friends a girl could ask for, I packed up my flat in London and headed back to the States. There may also have been a horrific amount of Starbucks' DoubleShots drinks consumed...but I'm not going to go into the details. After ten days at my Dad's, my Mom flew in and we drove out to Michigan to get the ball rolling on that whole 'life' and 'going back to school thing. Oh what a drive...

There is a phrase that there are only two seasons in Michigan: winter and construction. Here's a little protip for you - this is actually true for the majority of the Midwest. Particularly Western Pennsylvania, which is also known more commonly as one of the inner circles of Hell. Picture twenty MILES of single lane construction. Hello Barrel Season.


Oh yeah....there was also a gigantic truck with half of my Dad's apartment and the entirety of his storage locker packed in there....


My Father is what one might kindly refer to as a pack rat. Okay no, that's an exaggeration, he'll hang on to *anything* if he thinks there might just possibly be a use for it at a later date.

This includes the coffee filters to a coffee maker that he owned (and got rid of) in 1975.

Before my parents met.

I am not even exaggerating.

Other gems included a 3 foot tall, mirrored plinth (circa 1980, it was apparently very stylish back then), two 12 x 16 bright purple, shag carpets, and a file cabinet that I think belonged to my grandfather before he married my grandmother (and doesn't open). Somehow, despite my vigilance, all of these things ended up on that truck.

....I love my family. But sometimes, they're nuts.

Letters from Across the Pond

Dear Yas and IQ,

Because of the time change, I'm figuring this is as good a way to write to you kids and let you know what I've been up to on my trip home. The trip started out with my flight back - which was mostly okay, complete with a vociferously-swearing, dual-blackberry-wielding American Businessman with a cold and a couple of screaming babies. On the whole though, it wasn't too bad, and the sunset we landed in was gorgeous, i just wish i'd be able to capture all the colors. This is the best one I got, mostly reds and blooms, the greens just simply wouldn't cooperate. After getting home from the airport....I promptly passed out. There may have been a brief foray into laundry before that happened, but I don't quite recall. I blame the jet lag.
The next day Mom came in, and we had some amaaaaaazing sushi for lunch, followed by general hanging out and enjoyment of life. There was also a serious amount of cleaning out my closest and room. I know that wherever I end up next year, the reckoning is nigh and I'm going to have to deal with all my crap that is scattered across the 4 corners of the earth. My hope is that I can minimize enough of the other stuff, that when my family figures out just how much yarn I own they won't have me committed. Or drowned.
The day after Mom left, sadly the weather was not nearly as fun. It's so weird waking up inside of a cloud.
Thankfully, the fog burned off (though it didn't on Monday or today) and Dad and I took a trip down the park underneath the GW Bridge. You'd never know it was there if a local didn't show you. Lucky me, I had an in!










































Last but not least....I'm sure I've mentioned "The Dog" .....there are no words, other than "Soda can added for scale"


So that's part 1 of "What I've Been Up To", what about you folks? Anything interesting on your end? In my next letter: Dinner and night shots of the city, and the aweeeesome Lego exhibit.

Places I Won't Be Going.....

So, I was going to write this blog post about how excited I was to be going to Shanghai and to see my Dad. Except, I won't be going. So instead I'm going to have a bit of a whinge about it.

About four weeks ago, my Dad calls me up and says he's finalizing plans to go to China at the end of February, and would I perhaps be interested in coming? Well...obviously the answer to that one was a big Yes, but there was a slight catch. See, to go to China, you need a specific visa, which takes roughly 3-4 working days to get. Additionally, I still had to send off for my Tier One UK Visa (aka the Post Study Visa) which I'd had the forms filled out and ready for several weeks, but hadn't sent it off yet, as I was waiting until the last possible moment to do so.

Cue the drama. Obviously I sprinted to the post office and sent my visa application (passport included) off, but would there be enough time? In order to make it to China, I had to not only get my passport back in time to board the plane, but in time to go and get a visa from the Chinese. It was all very close.

Or not. Technically, I should have been packing for China today, but I am not. Sadly, my passport didn't show up, and the UK Home Office are still twiddling their thumbs and working on applications submitted a week before I sent mine in. In a last ditch attempt to make it happen, I spent last Friday at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square getting an emergency/temporary passport, in the hopes that I could then go to the Chinese Embassy on Monday and get the visa. It all went off rather swimmingly, despite it being Half-term, and "Bring your Baby to the Embassy" day... babies and small children EVERYWHERE

The folks at the Embassy were great however, minus the part where the (also very nice) security guys took all my electronics...aka, 90% of my planned entertainment while I waited. But, two hours, a panicky trip out to a local pharmacy when their photo machine broke, several chapters of "Underground London" by Stephen Smith, and a couple of Sudoku's later, I had a temporary passport. Awesome. Step One of "Go To China" completed.

Sadly, Step Two was not remotely successful. On Monday morning, after a very soggy slog down High Holborn to the Chinese Visa building, I was informed (again by very fast, polite and efficient staff) that I had to have my original passport, with my UK visa in it, because the embassy would need proof that I was allowed back in to the UK. Even if I were to re-reroute my flight through the States they still couldn't do it.

Side note - Did I mention that when I first tried to book the flight, all the US airlines had me routed through the US? I.e. Fly to Shanghai via ATLANTA?? Turning a 10-11 hour trip into a 46 hour trip. Oy vey.... but I digress.

So, at the end of the day, there will be no trip to China. I briefly held hopes that my passport might show up in time for me to sprint to Manchester and do the one- day visa processing there, but no dice. Sigh.

But, I'll be switching my China ticket to a US ticket for some time in May/June for a visit home, and Dad is making plans to come and visit in March. So, it's not all that bad, because that was the important part, seeing family, going to China was just a bonus.

Signs of Life

Happy New Year kids, I'm still here. After a tumultuous end of the year, including graduating and an absolute nightmare of a journey across the United States (remember all that Snow-nonsense just before Christmas? Guess who was in the airport then) I am now back in London and attempting to "Get my Life in order". I put this in quotes, because frankly I have no idea what that will entail. In the meantime however, I present you with more of my Christmas goodies! After all the nonsense of stress, insanity and 'I can totally knit a project a a week" I did, in fact, manage to complete all of the various knittery I had planned for the holiday. Albeit in a slightly rushed manner. I even managed to finish an extra project. So, without further ado -

Mom's Cowl:
Pattern: Green Sea Cowl
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka shade 222 (4 skeins)
Needles: US 8
Probably my favorite FO of the Christmas season.


Yaz's Evangeline Gloves:
(Photo Forthcoming)










Dad's Hat: (#2, didn't like the first one)/ Harry's Fingerless Gloves
Pattern: none
Yarn: Sirdar Big Softie, 2 skeins/1 skein
Needles: US 13
Also, a gratuitous cleavage shot...sorry.















Rufus' Biking Gloves:
Pattern: None
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Chunky Tweed, 1 skein
Needles: US 10
Previously Posted:
Irfan's Hat











Kiera's Mittens











Erika's Socks














And for my last item, my very dear friend Kaitlyn, whom I have known since we were 11 is expecting! Therefore, BABY clothes are a requirement. Unfortunately, the silly girl was so inconsiderate as to time it that I had very little heads up as to her happy state prior to visiting, so I didn't have much to work with....but, this is why BABY clothes are awesome, ...they go really fast. They're also really easy to make gender neutral.

The Anticipatory Handsome Hoodie (for the as yet unnamed BABY)
Pattern: Handsome Hoodie
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (2 skeins)
Needles: US 9

KBC - Week 3 - In which feet are warmed

My project this past week was particularly special and important for me(That's not why I'm posting it late....that's just because I get distracted by *new* projects very easily. But, it's yarn....it goes with the territory). Specifically, because the week's project was for Erika, my 2nd brother's girlfriend. When I think about it, I realize that she's been around since I was in high school, and is currently the longest continuing relationship that any of the siblings have had. I'm fairly sure at one point they'll get around to getting married (in whatever form it takes), and I really am quite fond of her, although I don't see her all too often. But there is something about Erika's steadiness that I have suddenly realized has gone under appreciated amongst my family. We are not a subtle or quiet bunch, and neither is she really, but when we all get together she generally (and rather sensibly) tends to sit back and let the madness ensue rather than trying to control it. As such, I feel like she deserves more. After all...like i said, we're a crazy bunch and she's been with my brother for seven or eight years. That's a long time. She's also funny, very smart and crafty, which I always appreciate. She and Harry have done some absolutely incredible collaborations.

To the right you see the beautiful bird feeder of DOOM. They got tired of the squirrels jumping up and down on the bird feeder, thus crashing it to the ground and letting them eat all the seeds. This was the result: That sucker is copper and stained glass and has to weigh something like 30 lbs when full of seeds. I watched the squirrels trying to figure out how to bring it down, and they were not pleased when they realized it wasn't happening. I absolutely LOVE this piece, and I drool over it whenever I see it.

SO! Because of all this (pretty bird feeder photo included) I decided, seeing as she's been around so long, that Erika is fully deserving of some knitterly goodness for Christmas. It's a small token, but I want her to have it, as in previous years only my sister and my mother have really gotten stuff. Plus, what with her Craftiness, she'll appreciate what it stands for, and care for it properly!!
(If I'm going to take all that time, I like to know they aren't just going to be trashed). I took the time to call up Harry and ask what he thought would be a good idea, since I want this to be something usable, and after a bit of a chat (and some catching up as well, always fun) we settled on a nice fluffy pair of house socks as being the best choice.

I was a bit worried about this, since socks are famous for taking FOREVER and I am no exception to the 'Second Sock Syndrome' epidemic. But, bulky yarn came to the rescue once again. Behold: Erika's Irish-Wellington Socks.

Project Profile: Erika's Fuzzy House Socks
Pattern: Irish-Wellington Socks by Aileen Cahil
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka in colorway 222, 4 skeins
Details: Knit on US 7, 4.5 mm DPNS, for roughly a US size 9/10


Thoughts: Easy, straightforward and fast. I knit the first one in less than 24 hours, the stitches just flew by! Plus, i turned the heel in under 5 minutes, I'm not a particularly fast knitter so that's a big deal for me. I'm a big fan of these and may make myself a pair at some point. They're very basic, and I may add some embroidery later to try and liven them up, but I haven't decided. I wasn't sure what size feet Erika had, and Harry was a bit useless on that topic (he's a guy, it's to be expected) so I went for roughly a US size 9 as a guess, since that's average. They're slightly larger than that, so should be nice and comfy, and if need be can shrink a little in the wash to be a better fit. These will definitely be nice and toasty in the Denver winter.

This week's project (Week 4) - is a bit different....look for many an update this week!

Knitting Bootcamp: Week 1

Okay, so I have a tentative project in mind. Christmas is coming, and as every knitter (and non-knitter) knows, Christmas is Crunch Time, and almost everyone gets caught unaware ( to that one person who got all of their shopping done in August? Yes, YOU. I hate you). For one who aims to gift knit items, it's even worse because of the time involved in making all these things. All you have to do to get a good idea of this is read the Yarn Harlot's annual Christmas panic blogs, complete with her very own Schedule-Nazi to get it all done. Unfortunately, I do not have a Schedule-Nazi, I have only myself, and myself absolutely sucks at deadlines and that thing called 'discipline'. I'm also terrible at knitting speedily in a crunch. In light of that, my tentative plan is this: between now and Christmas (allowing for a few slip-ups, and life getting in the way). Knit 1 object - glove, hat, scarf, sock etc (extra time allotted for larger items) per week. Fingerless gloves and hats count as half an object (or basic gloves) given the speed and simplicity involved.

If I stick to this, that means I have 14 weeks, (Or 7 pairs of socks) to get everything done. This means if i play my card right i could actually gift everyone in my immediate family (Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother 1, Brother 1's girlfriend, Brother 2, Brother 2's girlfriend and my Grandmother) ((okay that's 8)). If I'm super efficient about this, I could possibly muster up a couple of extra items for some friends (who happen to read this blog from time to time).

I only plan on making 1 pair of socks out of all this, since my mother specifically requested a pair. Additionally, I found a project i'd completely forgotten about, complete with a 3/4 knit sock, in a color i know she would like....some may call it cheating, I just call it recycling.

So, here we go - I'm setting the deadline for each project to be Sunday night, with a new project started on Monday Morning. I will use up as much of my stash yarn as possible and must always check The Stash Monster to see if I have something I can use *before* I look into buying new yarn for it.

Today I declare to be Knitting Boot Camp: Week 1, Day 3 (Monday being Day 1).

Here we go.