Stitches and Sutures

Little Puffs of Happiness

2011-11-09T20:37:00.001-05:00

I've been feeling a bit like a nomad these days, splitting time between my temporary apartment in a new city, my husband's house, and my parents' house. What gives me a bit of comfort at the end of the day, often alone? The box of knitting projects and yarn I brought that sits next to the couch.

It's been an interesting month so far; new city, new hospital, new attendings. One of the perks? An awesome LYS! I've been itching to knit a pair of the Angora Baby Booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The yarn is a delicious angora from Fleece Artist.


Yarn: Peter Rabbit by Fleece Artist

Just looking at these little guys makes me happy. Working in a city with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Canada, that's a nice thing to have at the end of the day.

I picked my father-in-law's name for my husband's family gift exchange. He's a sweet, quiet, salt of the earth man who loves to spend time working their land and working in the wood shop. I decided to make him a hat, and therefore had my first foray into colorwork. The pattern is Machu Picchu Earflap Hat by Nichole Reese.

Machu Picchu Earflap Hat

Location: Irving Nature Park, NB

The yarn is Berocco Peruvia Quick, which was easy to work with and rugged enough. I've got a few more things on the needles, and hopefully more FO's soon!

Blessings in Disguise

2011-09-18T19:54:00.000-04:00

When you're used to going flat out, slowing down can take some getting used to. One day last week I went to work, and a few hours later found myself admitted to hospital for four days. I was told I needed to take a month of sick leave. A whole month, as a medical resident, without working? My doctor pointed out that we expect things of ourselves that we would never ask of our patients. We expect to keep ourselves going when we're sick, to push ahead, to not leave our responsibilities to our peers. She told me this environment needs to change, that we need to start taking care of ourselves. It's hard to do, but in the end I was showered with support from my peers.

So, in the past week, I've been learning to slow down. Reminding myself that I don't need to speedwalk everywhere, that it's ok to lie on the couch and do nothing but rest and recover. Best of all, I'm appreciating the blessing in this. With a wedding coming up in 3 weeks, I have a time to spend with my family. Time to read for fun. And time to knit!

In fact, the kitting needles have been calling to me. In the past two weeks, I started and finished a scarf for a friend, and knit most of a sock. There were supposed to be photos, but I lost my camera cord. Instead, I'll leave you with this little project I finished a while back.

Duet

It's Duet, from knitty The yarn was given to my by my fiance, after he surreptitiously bought it for me on an outing to Cricket Cove in Blacks Harbour, NB, because "it looked like me". It's an angora/alpaca blend, so soft! The buttons were found at a discount store in the states. The photos don't do justice to the lacey pattern. It won't be long until it's cold enough to wear this!

Stay tuned for a new quilt:)


Photographed in Prospect, NS

A Country Quilt for a Country Boy

2011-08-12T18:48:00.000-04:00

I'm getting in married in two months, to a lovely boy from a small town in Quebec. He is the perfect match for me! He patiently comes with me to the quilt store, and our first time there he fell in love with this quilt. He and I dug through a box of scrap squares, and picked out enough to make this quilt. We both love the warm country colors and simple style of this quilt. Nothing fancy here, but it made us smile nonetheless.

M.E. gave me a quarter inch foot for my machine, and boy has it made piecing so much easier. I love that he takes an interest in what I do, he's even learned to use a rotary cutter, and likes to help with the layout :)

His mother is a quilt maker, and he grew up in a home with lots of lovingly made, beautiful quilts. We both dream of having a little farm someday, or a cozy house in the country with lots of handmade love inside.

We can't live in the same city because of our jobs, so it makes me feel better knowing that there's a quilt from me at the foot of his bed when we're apart.

The pattern is called Country Patch, and it's made from scraps using some Kansas Troubles for the border. It's backed in flannel, and quilted in an all-over vine pattern.

My desire to knit had somewhat petered out, however these days I find it's been creeping back. I've started to troll Ravelry once again for patterns, and have a few new projects in mind:)

You know you're a resident when...

2011-08-04T20:31:00.000-04:00

You know you're a surgical resident when:

You wear your pager like it's the hottest new fashion accessory
You have a geriatric bedtime
You dream about colostomy bags and cheering when a patient passes poo for the first time
You think about having lunch while examining a big, gaping foul-smelling wound
You joke with your favorite old lady while wiping green stool off her stomach
A 70-hour work week is considered light
You can identify your patients by the smell outside the rooms
The dirty bedding in the call room doesn't matter because you're so tired you'd lay down anywhere
Putting in a chest tube is the highlight of your day
Your frequency of showering declines
You start chewing gum in the morning instead of brushing your teeth because it's faster
Coffee is your lifeblood
You wear the same scrubs for 48 hours

Despite spending 90 hours in the hospital this week, I have finished a quilt! I'm off this weekend, so hopefully there will be pictures to come:)

Kiddos and Quilts

2011-07-25T19:10:00.000-04:00

In our med school grad year book, I was voted "most likely to be found knitting socks instead of studying for her Royal College exams". Indeed, I cranked out a pair of socks and two quilts while studying for my licensing exam. What they don't know is that all of this crafty business makes me study better... read 5 pages, knit 5 rows, and it all works out in the end.

The quilts I made were for my little cousins, who have to be the cutest 2 and 4 year olds I know. These were incredibly gratifying to quilt and give.


Happy prints for a sweet girl.

The first quilt I made was for Holly, who loves to be wrapped in blankets and cuddle after her bath. It's from this pattern. It came together quite quickly, and I was initially afraid that it wouldn't be colorful enough but that wasn't the case!

Fabric: Love U by Deb Strain, Kona white

Hidden Hearts

I free-motion quilted this one in a meandering pattern, with a few hearts hidden along the way. The binding was pieced from scraps.

Holly loved her quilt. She apparently likes to get wrapped up in it and point out all of the little critters in the fabric.

Elliotts quilt was made from this pattern. I loved the vintage feel of the Lollipop line of fabric, and decided to pair it with brown sashing for a 70's vibe. This quilt was fun to make, and a great distraction from studying:)

This kid loves handmade stuff... when I was visiting he proudly pulled out a sweater my mom had knit him and lovingly pointed out the details. He then proclaimed, "but I never eat supper in it because it's too special to get dirty!".

What could be in here?

My very own quilt!

Mmm, soft and cozy :)

It was sad to move away from these guys, especially since they're growing up and changing so quickly. It made me feel better to leave something lasting behind with them. Elliott sleeps on his quilt every night, "warm (flannel) side up".

I saved scraps from the quilts and cut them into squares so that the kids could play a matching game with the quilt blocks. It was a hit!

Getting busy with matching

There will be more quilt pictures in the coming days, and hopefully some knitting ones too!

Cross-country adventure

2011-07-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

Hello again folks :) Lots has happened since my last post, and although I thought about the blog lots, it just hasn't been the right time to take it up again until now. In keeping with all the recent change in my life, I've given the blog a do-over too.

I finished med school and recently drove a U-Haul 1500km across the country to set up shop for the next five years of training in OBGYN. How was driving a U-Haul all that way? Never again! I decided to move all by myself, oh I don't know, to have some independent-woman-transitional kind of roadtrip. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Driving a 14-foot truck was hunky-dory on the highway, but that quickly turned into a nightmare when I reached my final destination.

I am not a city driver, no way. And suddenly here I was getting turned around on a bridge in major traffic, getting lost, trying to follow strange traffic patterns in a new city. I finally made it home, and then drove that baby all over again to the grocery store, etc, etc. After getting lost twice, I finally found the return station and barely parked the thing in the lot. The attendant proceeded to tell me that I was 1/8 of a tank short on gas, and instructed me to go fill up at the nearest station. Well, I didn't know where that was, and he directed me to one on a road I actually knew. So off I went. It turned out to be a small and very busy gas station. I pulled in and, CRUNCH! Yes, I hit a car parked at another pump. I was so embarassed, luckily the guy was nice and even helped me back the truck out when it came time to leave.

Since then, I've been learning to like this city. The people here actually stop for pedestrians and the work environment is great. We'll see what the next year brings.

In other news, the quilts have been hopping off my machine. After learning how to free-motion quilt, I've started to love the process even more as I don't feel like I'm ruining my quilts during the final steps. Here's one I finished a couple weeks ago:


Pattern: Madeline - Miss Rosie's Schnibbles

I loved making this quilt. The fabric had a wonderful feel to it, and the pattern was gratifying. The pieces were cut from fat eights, instead of using pre-cut 5" squares.

Fabric: Maison de Garance by French General

This quilt was finished while I was home visiting my parents. My mom fell in love with it so it now sits happily in her living room.

I had a lot of fun with the quilting on this one, and did a meandering vine pattern. In retrospect, however, I would have chosen a tan color instead of off white for the quilting.

And to end, I stumbled upon a nest of three baby robins under the deck. The babies have since flown off, and there are three new eggs waiting to hatch!

A surprise under our deck!

Friday Night Sew-In

2010-09-18T08:58:00.005-04:00

The busier I get, the more I fantasize about knitting/sewing/creative pursuits. It's a general rule around here that during exams I do more blog browsing or knitting than at any other time! Since clerkship started, my creative output has taken a bit of a hit. I'm currently on a surgical rotation, and after spending 80 hours in the hospital this week and coming across a "Friday Night Sew In" on Heidi's blog, I knew it was the perfect way to end the week.

My initial plan was to work on this quilt I started earlier this summer:

It's the Stacked Coins baby quilt pattern from Moda's Bakeshop. Despite lots of efforts, my quilting is still a work in progress.

However, after getting invited a birthday party for my favorite set of 10 year old triplets, I decided to make them wallets instead. The idea came from a wallet I made for myself a few weeks ago, as I was desperate to replace the ugly first aid kit medical recruitment propaganda turned change purse that I'd been carrying around since the zipper broke on my last wallet, oh, about a year ago.

This was the result:

Scrounging through my newbie fabric stash, it was a bit of a challenge to find something suitable for three very different 10 year olds!

I finished stitching the top of this owl pillow:

And here's a kitchen mat I made a few weeks ago to replace my old ratty one:

I took a knitting break to work on a little neck scarf:

Other knitting projects on the go include a second Ishbel done in Malabrigo Lace, some plain socks in Trekking XXL, and a pair of Hedgerow socks knit in some Regia sock yarn that has been kicking around my stash for about 8 years now.

The verdict: a Friday Night Sew In is the perfect antidote to a hectic week. I'll have to do this more often!

The View From On-Call

2010-06-20T15:54:00.007-04:00

I'm sitting by the window of the NICU call room, gazing out over Lake Ontario at a) the hospital smokestack, and b) what appears to be a lovely Sunday afternoon. I'm on my second 24-hour call shift in three days, and am hoping that my pager will be a bit more quiet than the last night I was on. I'm grateful for this little spot by the window, where I can come for a brief moment of comfort, away from all of the beeping monitors, hurried voices, and high tension.

Over the past week I've had a giant paradigm shift - one that I'm trying not to let disturb my inner core. I didn't realize, on the beginning of this journey into the world of medicine, how much of myself I would give up. We see it on TV, and in the media; the doctors, residents and med students who are sleep-deprived and constantly working. I expected to work hard, but I didn't know how it would feel, how hard it could be on the human spirit. I feel guilty when the busy yet very kind resident stops to ask me if I've had anything to eat, when it's 8pm and I know they probably haven't stopped to rest or eat since much earlier in the day, and that they probably won't stop for many hours yet.

A room with a view, at least

I love working hard - I'm happy as a clam to have a list of things to do as long as my arm, be it scut work, seeing patients, a busy emerg clinic, or admissions. What I don't like is the fact that my apartment is dirty, I no longer have time for hobbies, I barely see friends unless we run into each other on-call, and being chronically tired/feeling dull and unprepared for teaching sessions because there just isn't enough time to study.

Please feel free to disturb me occasionally... just not that often

It's with mixed emotions that all of this has come about - it's hard not to feel lazy, weak, or like I'm letting myself and others down. Ultimately I'm trying to reassure myself that I'm choosing to "work to live", not the other way around. I love medicine, and I care about patients, but there are other things in life I like too, and I think I'm a person who will be happier with a better balance in life over an intense career. The kicker was being at a BBQ with classmates last night and overhearing a conversation that went something like this: "yeah, I'm gunning for specialty x. What's the point? I'm single, have no responsibilities, and what would I be making time for in my life if I did something less demanding?". I could come up with many things I would be making time for if I did something less demanding. Now to get over the guilt of "only" wanting to work 50 hours a week instead of 80...

All of this to say I haven't knit, sewn, or embroidered much in a very long time:)

Knitting on the Road

2010-03-14T10:41:00.004-04:00

Oh poor blog... I've come thisclose to paying attention to you over the past 3 months. I can't believe it's already 10 weeks into clerkship - it's been a whirlwind indeed. I'm currently on a 9-week, three city electives tour, away from my cozy, crafty nest of an apartment. Of course, one could not hit the road without packing a few compact knitting projects, namely a new Ishbel, and two pairs of socks. Clearly I overestimated the amount of time I have to knit!

Here are a few projects leftover from Christmas:

Crispy-white quilt top... before wreckage

This quilt was started in August, with the top finished just before school started. I was really pleased with how the quilt top turned out - everything seemed to be going well. Then I made mistake #1 - after frequenting the local fabric store to find material for the backing, I could not justify spending 11$/m for plain broadcloth. So, I scrimped and bought 3$ worth of red flannel. Oh man. It fell apart like paper both when I cut it, and when I had to rip out a seam after sewing parts of the backing backwards.

I meticulously taped the layers to the floor, pinned it within an inch of its life, hoping that better basting would eliminate my puckering problems while quilting. Not so. It puckered like crazy, to my disappointment, despite using a walking foot and solid basting.

Crinkled, pinkish finished quilt

Dissappointment #3 - being a cheap student, I had not spent the 4$ to wash the red backing before sewing the quilt. After excitedly putting my finished (yet puckered) quilt into the wash, I was left with an antique pink and red quilt top. I wanted to cry. Fortunately, my parents still liked it, and if you use your imagination the colors sort of work.

Christmas project #2: handmade sheep and yarn stitch markers. These were really fun to do, although somehow making a dozen turned into making 50-60, and it took a lot longer than expected.

And some beginning-of-clerkship knitting: traditional thrummed mittens made with Briggs and Little Heritage wool and roving. I love love love this yarn, it is so rustic and wholesome. The bits of vegetable matter in the wool, and lanolin smell bring it all home. These were gifted to a friend for her birthday.

Mmmm, thrums!

I've got one week left in Ontario before heading off to the Maritimes for elective #3. It will be nice to be closer to home!!

Warm and fuzzy

2009-12-28T17:33:00.004-05:00

A hectic end-of-semester, 4 exams in 5 days, a week of pre-clerkship classes that did more to discourage than reassure, a 24-hour train ride, and one week of vacation later, this blog post is finally happening. Being home has been a wonderful, relaxing, reprieve; and I'm once again reminded of how much I love my family and miss them when we're not together.

The past few days have been spent curled up by the fire with my favorite furry friend, good books, warm beverages, and knitting (photos to come!).

Finding a cozy place to nap...

Which turns into perusing the tree...

"What, me? Steal ornaments?" Don't believe the cute face - she's a yarn thief too!

I decided to forgo the usual Christmas cookie baking, trying out chocolate-dipped pretzels instead. The effort was rewarding - less time and energy required, but still lots of fun.

Melange

2009-11-16T20:48:00.007-05:00

Stumbling across the following phrases has kept me amused while studying this week:

From an endocrine lecture: "To reduce your dietary intake of saturated fats, eat very little that had a mother."
In Lawrence General Surgery: "crackers and peanut butter" listed as a treatment for a surgical complication.
From a Gastrointestinal Review article: "Functional diarrhea is the neglected stepsister of IBS".
"ADCVAANDIML is a simple mnemonic to organize...." uh, right.

Please excuse the hastily taken photo!

I know it's exam time when:

MVN (medical variety night) is over. To see a clip of the musical medicine vs. surgery smackdown from our class skit, click here (the first 30 seconds are black).
I want to bury myself in a pile of sheepy wool, and fall blissfully asleep.
I suddenly start dreaming of the many, many complicated lace and cabled projects that I want to make. And I have the urge to start them all right now.
I attempt the above and fail miserably (note to self - do not try to learn and implement new techniques when tired and already learning-saturated!!!).
I spend too much time on Ravelry trolling for the perfect sock pattern - not lacy, slightly cabled.
I realise that all this time spent on Ravelry could have been spent knitting a plain ol' sock.
I give in and cast on said sock, and make a promise to myself to start interesting socks after exams. Ah, now that's better.

Creative Festival

2009-10-21T21:54:00.008-04:00

One report begets one handknit sock

My research report is finally done - we did a study of physicians looking at whether being a musician influenced medical specialty choice. I'm very very glad to have it over with, as interesting as it was. There is next to no literature out there on this topic, however the one existing paper that was even remotely related mentioned knitting, go figure!

Mom was kind enough to come visit for Thanksgiving, after which we set off to Toronto in search of some fiber related fun. We visited the Textile Museum of Canada, which had a special exhibit of antique quilts from the 19th century. Surprisingly (to me), only a small proportion of them were cotton, and quite a few had extensive embroidery.

Close to 6000 hand-pieced hexagons!

My favorite, a very random cotton quilt from Canada (late 19th c.)

Creative Festival, a massive trade-show/conference of sorts for knitting, quilting, beading, sewing, etc. was also going on over the weekend. While the knitting displays were only average, it was definitely quite impressive on the quilting front. We met Sammy, a Latvian who extolled to us the virtues of real Latvian knitting, while also passionately pointing out errors in authenticity that are frequently made in what has become mainstream Latvian knitting (no variegated yarn allowed!).

Sammy

While knitting inspiration was lacking, the quilt displays did re-motivate me to get back to work on the quilt I had started a few months ago, that has been collecting dust as of late. These emergency birthday-gift earrings were also a by-product of the weekend. It was so nice to spend time with mom and briefly get away from school... now it's back to the grind until Christmas!

Not fibery, but still fun to make

Squashed

2009-10-01T21:30:00.004-04:00

Hi. This is where I've been hiding for the last little while...

There has been a palpable change in our class; it's more somber, more solitary, and just somehow different. I don't know if it's that we're now working toward separate goals rather than common ones; if our collective summer experiences apart have put us on diverging paths; or if we're just tired and focused, simultaneously terrified and excited about the fact that we're hurtling toward clerkship at warp speed.

The initial challenge of getting back to the daily grind has passed, and now I'm left with a challenge of a different sort: juggling clinics where I'm expected to know stuff learned a while back that has long since been forgotten, keeping up with readings, writing a research report, trying to keep active/cook/play music and see the occasional friend. Needless to say, there isn't much knitting that gets done at the end of the day, and when it does it's nothing fancy. Pulling out a chart and concentrating on counting ends up seeming more like a chore than a relaxing activity, so the red sweater and any sewing has been pushed aside for the time being.

The best thing right now though is the season - despite being heat/sun loving and always cold, there is nothing that beats the crispness and visual warmth of fall. I've had the urge to bake with zucchini, apples and pumpkin, and to cook squash after squash. The other weekend while babysitting triplets, we decided to do some needle felting. Their eight-year old attention span held just long enough for me to make three wee pumpkins, which can keep the real gourds company for the next few months.

In front of tonight's dinner, a local acorn squash... yum!

Sock Roundup

2009-09-13T01:30:00.007-04:00

It's only been a week back at school and already I feel swamped/overwhelmed. I forgot what this was like. As expected, the only crafting I got around to this week was finishing up this plain ol' pair of socks, knit from yarn that was generously given to me by my aunt. I'm happy with the way they turned out, finished just as it's getting a bit too chilly for flip-flops. The yarn is Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock (100% merino), which has apparently been discontinued.

I've knit over 20 pairs of socks with several different brands of yarn over the past few years, so I thought it would be fun to do a mini-review of some of my favorite/least favorite yarns.

Of those pairs, here are the ones that have stayed with me:

Sock family in chronological order: Sheepjes (2), Opal, Meilenweit cotton (2), Trekking XXL, Casbah Sock

Over time the length of my sock legs has shortened; when I first started knitting I would follow the pattern to a T, which called for an 8-inch leg, and a toe grafted over 11 stitches. I now do a much shorter leg for myself, and always graft the toe over 34-36 stitches to give it a more rounded look.

Of the socks that I've kept, they've all worn pretty well, with the exception of the two pairs that aren't in the picture. Those two pairs were 100% merino with no nylon content, and the only two I've had that have bit the dust. One pair was done in Artyarns Ultramerino: not only did the yarn pool like crazy, but the socks only lasted a few months before getting gigantic holes in the heels. The other pair was done in Koigu KPPPM, and met their untimely (and accidental) demise in the dryer.

The only other pair of socks that I've knit and heard of wearing out were done in Trekking Pro Natura... and that happened after only a few months of wear.

Some other yarns I've used:

Paton's Kroy Sock: I used this for the first ever pair of socks I knit, and for one subsequent pair, but will never use it again. It splits like crazy and doesn't have as nice a feel as other yarns.

Scheepjes Invicta Coloris: Again, I used this yarn in my early sock knitting days. It pills somewhat, but 4-5 years later my pairs show no signs of serious wear.

Opal Rainforest: I've knit two pairs from this. It's a rougher-feeling yarn, and the colors aren't that saturated. The yarn softened somewhat with washing and has pilled considerably, but has otherwise worn well. These are my itchiest socks.

Lana Grossa Meilenweit cotton blends: this yarn (and the socks) definitely have a different feel than the wools, but win the award for zero pilling. I've thrown these in the washer and dryer multiple times, and they look brand new. I find they don't stretch as much as wool socks, but are nice for warmer weather.

Trekking XXL: This is, hands down, my favorite yarn (in the non-handpaint category). I've knit 3 pairs with this, and all turned out beautifully. I love the subtle color variation! The pair I've kept have become my favorites, and after much wear they haven't pilled, but developed a cozy halo of fuzz. It's also low-itch compared to the others. Love.

Handmaiden Casbah Sock: I loved knitting with this and the socks feel like a dream. As for wear, we'll have to wait and see - it's a merino/cashmere blend with 10% nylon, so I'm hopeful!

Dream in Color Smooshy: I've knit two pairs with this, and both were given away so I can't comment on wear. Considering that both pairs went to people I know will wear them a lot, I'm a bit nervous about the 100% wool content (I'm 0 for 2 in past experience!). I thought maybe this yarn felt a bit coarse compared to some others, but it grew on me over time. I do love the short color repeat that virtually eliminates pooling while still looking handpainted.

Lorna's Laces Sock: this yarn had a noticeable sheen to it, and felt finer than some other sock yarns. The color pooling was a big turnoff however, so if I did use it again I'd go for a solid.

Regia Sock: I gave this pair away, but found the yarn soft and nice to work with. It also had a bit of a finer gauge.

Apple Laine yarns: this yarn comes from a Canadian company, and is a combination of merino, mohair, silk, and nylon. I was excited to try it out but really didn't enjoy knitting with it, as it split and felt quite thick. The finished product was fine, however.

Austermann Step: My dad chose this out of my sock yarn stash a few years ago. He's really hard on the socks I make him, and these have worn quite well. The other day I caught him proudly wearing them (inside out) inside his sports sandals... The yarn has built-in jojoba oil and aloe... which you can definitely feel while knitting.

That's all I can think of for now... next on my list to try is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. So, in sum, the 100% merino yarns I've used haven't fared as well in terms of wear, although to be fair I've only started knitting frequently with the handpainted yarns in the past year or so. The Pro Natura (which is a bamboo-wool blend with no nylon) wore out, and rather quickly at that. All of the nylon blends have worn very well, although they pill for the most part with the exception of the cotton blends and Trekking XXL. I'm curious to see how the Dream in Color will wear in the long run!

Looking at the upcoming semester, I have the feeling that there will be much sock knitting to come.

Jumping Right In

2009-09-08T22:12:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day of class, and a stark kick in the pants that made it apparent that I've kissed the past laid-back and indulgent month of crafting goodbye. Soon, I will be relegated to mindless sock knitting in an attempt to stay sane... While extended holidays are good, they always make the abrupt return to crazy school life a bit more interesting.

When I was a kid, nothing was better than going back to school, and getting new school supplies. Oh, to have perfectly sharp pencils, new-smelling notebooks and duotangs with blank pages brimming with the possibility of perfection! And to meticulously put my name on everything with a black marker... type A perhaps?

I love September: it's the true new year, when it's still possible to do everything the way you want to. The weather is still warm, but with that fresh hint of crispness. The produce is cheap, local, and abundant. Even though I love the warmth and freedom of summer, there is something special about fall that just warms my heart.

Anyhow... in the spirit of fall, here's my first quilted "thing". It's supposed to be a table runner (using this pattern), but I doubt that it will ever be used in that capacity. The quilting itself was a bit of a disaster, as I ran into quite a bit of puckering despite best efforts. It seems less apparent after washing and drying, and I like it a lot more now that it's done. Hand sewing the binding on was definitely the most enjoyable part. For now, it will help make my study chair seem welcoming :)

Love-Hate Sweater, V. 4.0

2009-08-31T23:12:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I've already been back here for a week. Leaving home was bittersweet this time, as it's the last time for quite a while (indefinitely?) that I'll be home during the summer, or for any considerable length of time. That's alright, however, because it was quite clear to me this time that life is changing for so many of my peers who now have jobs, spouses, babies... and that going home isn't quite the same any more. It's making me feel like I should feel like an adult (I don't, I'm just excited to be starting grade 19 in the fall).

I thought I'd throw a picture of this sign in for fun: I passed it on a bike ride last week, and it makes me laugh every time. It's on a small island in Lake Ontario, right by the customs office at the ferry crossing to New York state. It always makes me wonder who in Ontario is taking action to actually make me feel incredible...

Anyhow, I digress. Mostly because I'm procrastinating talking about this sweater, as I have with pretty much everything else concerning it. Sometimes I feel like this blessed sweater will always be a pox on my body of knitting... it just won't end.

Version 1.0 occurred back in January of 2006, over the course of a week. I loved the yarn, but wasn't impressed with the sweater. The button band rolled in, the neckline was weird, the rolled edges were much more exaggerated than in the pattern's photo, the shoulders were lumpy, and the whole thing looked boxy and short despite having added waist shaping and length. Long story short, I never wore it, but kept it in the closet anyway because it was hand knit, and the color was nice.

Version 3.0 - still blech!

V 2.0 happened sometime in 2008. I took the arms off the sweater, and decided to rip out and re-knit the neck. It didn't work. I felt stupid for (maybe?) misreading the pattern twice. V. 3.0: fall of 2008 to spring 2009. I ripped out the entire body, added a seed stitch button band, made up the neckline, added more waist shaping. Things looked a bit less bizarre after that, but it was still boxy, and the two times I wore it I couldn't stop fuming over my dissatisfaction with how it turned out.

So, earlier this summer when I had nothing on the needles and a severe case of knitter's block, I started V.4.0, with a totally new pattern (Fireside Sweater by Amber Allison), mostly because the pattern called for the exact yarn I had (Valley Yarns Berkshire). I'm not convinced that I'll wear this sweater, but at least it *should* look a little prettier sitting in a heap in my knitting basket, and it may provide amusement along the way. However, I'm not totally convinced the curse is gone, as I've already managed to lose the pattern (and my place) a few times. I think my gauge is off, and I'm quickly realizing that I'll need to order more yarn. What are the chances that the colorway will still be close after almost 4 years?

Oh, and in an act of lazy defiance I'm knitting it straight from the old sweater. We'll see how that goes!

Sew Fun

2009-08-22T11:09:00.005-04:00

In a last-minute scramble to finish up a few projects before leaving home for the fall, I decided to make my sister's Christmas/birthday gift. When we were kids, she had a thing for vintage paper dolls, and now she's all about vintage-retro clothing. Her room is full of bright oranges, reds and fuchsia, so when I stumbled across this fabric I knew it was perfect for her. Here's the result:

Fabric: Snippets by American Jane

The throw pillow was fun to make; the pattern was improvised using bits of different tutorials. I love this fabric! While I don't find the process of sewing all that fun (there's a machine in the way!), the fabric choices and creative possibilities are quite enticing...

Paper dolls on the back!

Another project finished up: two of my dear, sweet friends are getting married to each other today. I had no idea what they needed, so I made them some cheery dinner napkins. Off to the wedding!

Whales and Tails

2009-08-17T19:51:00.008-04:00

With great summer weather out in full force and the company gone, Mom and I decided to head off to Grand Manan island for a day of fresh air, hiking, and of course some bonding over the new Interweave and our knitting. I managed to get this done:

Ishbel by Ysolda Teague, in Malabrigo Lace Velvet Grapes

I've wanted to make mom a shawl for some time now, but couldn't picture her wearing something large or elaborate. The Ishbel pattern provided just the right amount of lacey goodness for her to drape around her neck come fall/winter. I've pretty much knit exclusively on this project for the last few weeks, and am pleased with the result - now it's back to some other neglected projects!

Thanks to my sister for modelling!

The yarn is Malabrigo Lace, in the color Velvet Grapes. It is so, so, soft and buttery to the touch... although I'm a bit wary of how it will wear being a single ply and all. In real life, the color is a bit darker and less red than photographed, and the variegation is more subtle. I knit the large sized stockinette portion of the pattern, and then did the smaller sized lace repeat. There was a fair bit of yarn left over, so I'm left wondering if I actually could have done the larger lace repeat, but I didn't want to risk running out!

I also uncharacteristically broke my "no more than three WIPs at a time" rule and cast on a sock. It just felt wrong not to have one on the go, especially since everything else I'm doing at the moment requires reading a chart. The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino Sock, which has been sitting in my stash for a while. Looking at the skein, I wasn't sure how the colors would work together, but as soon as I wound the ball everything clicked.

And... because I love New Brunswick so much, I thought I'd share a slice of Grand Manan (a fishery-based island off the Fundy coast). NB has unfortunately earned the nickname "the drive through province", because often people coming for vacation from outside the Maritimes will drive through it on their way to Nova Scotia and PEI. However, there is so much natural beauty and history to be found here as well! Consider Grand Manan: going there is like stepping back in time, to a simpler, untouched place. Although the trails are less well maintained than in provincial and national parks, there is ample scenic coastal hiking dotted with friendly handmade signs. It's a place that feeds the soul.

Old Smoke House, Seal Cove

Hike from Southern Head to Flocks of Sheep

Sunset at The Whistle, Grand Manan NB

Alpaca 101

2009-08-11T22:35:00.006-04:00

Dad and I recently returned from a camping trip in Maine. I love the East Coast, love Maine, and will miss it all when I go back to Ontario, so it was great to have a few days of fresh air and hiking. Our first stop was Acadia National Park. It was soooo crowded with tourists, but once we got out onto some of the trails, the scenery was awesome.

Acadia National Park, ME

Our next stop was Recompence campground, just outside of Freeport, ME. It was a pleasant surprise- a quiet, peaceful campground nestled between a farm and Casco Bay. But perhaps one of the best surprises was the Alpaca farm we found just down the road!

Casco Bay, ME

Indulging my someday-fantasy-mini fiber farm dream, we visited the farm, and the very welcoming farmer obligingly fielded my many questions about alpaca rearing. It was an educational visit, and left me feeling like it's not such a far fetched idea after all.

Tripping Gnome farm specializes in alpaca breeding services. They also focus on keeping their yarns and fiber products 100% alpaca, which has not proved easy when trying to find a place to get their fleeces mill-spun. It was so neat to get such a friendly tour of the farm, and to talk about how they got started, and what's involved with the whole process. I don't know what it is about farms, but they have some sort of intoxicating effect which always leaves me daydreaming and yearning for a simpler life. Maybe it's the quiet, fresh air, natural beauty, animals... sigh.

Snippets

2009-08-04T19:12:00.006-04:00

While walking home today, I ran into the librarian who taught me how to cross-stitch in the seventh grade, and she asked me if I was still at it. I no longer enjoy the process of doing cross-stitch, but last year my mom put me on to embroidery via Sublime Stitching. It's perfect when you're in the mood for something quick, different, and instantly gratifying, or need something mindless to do while chatting. I did this bib for one of my little cousins who's visiting.

The patterns are quirky, retro, and fun. Whenever I start one of these projects I find that I can't put it down until it's finished, probably because finishing it in one sitting is somewhere in the realm of possibility (unlike with knitting where I'm usually resigned to the fact that it won't all be done then and there!). Plus, the stitching reminds me of surgery...

This tutorial for box pouches caught my eye, and I decided to give it a whirl. I liked the way they turned out, so I made another longer one to replace my ratty old dollar store pencil case. I'd been lovingly saving that piece of brown fabric for about 10 years, and now it will make going to the library that much more exciting!

Homework Happiness!

There is still knitting going on here, partly the same old stuff, with a new project or two. Now it's off to Maine for some outdoor fun, and hopefully a farm visit:)

New projects, TBA!

Excursion Around the Bay

2009-07-29T12:54:00.006-04:00

I have an aunt (and several other relatives) visiting at the moment. She's a brand-new knitter, and mom and I are so proud of how she's caught the knitting bug. She's lost her taste for acrylic novelty yarns, and is hardly seen to be sitting still without whipping out her project. Since Fredericton lacks a good yarn store, as does the city she's coming from, the three of us decided to take a road trip to Black's Harbor, NB, home to Cricket Cove yarn store.

I had only heard of this store before, but didn't imagine it to be as incredible as it was. Black's Harbor is a tiny community (pop. 950), where you'll find the Brunswick Sardine packing plant, the ferry crossing to Grand Manan Island and surprisingly, a store full of high-end, hard to find, and unique yarn. While the internet makes it possible to get your hands on just about anything, there is nothing like spending a few hours in a good yarn shop petting all of the yarns you hear about and read about in knitting books and magazines.

Mmm... tweedy wool. Top: Cricket Cove wool, Bottom: Briggs and Little Heritage

My aunt had a true knitter moment when, for the first time, she spotted a pattern from a book knit up in the wild. It had been a while (maybe a year and a half?) since I had purchased yarn, and I came away with some heavy fingering weight tweed wool (it had no label, so I'm assuming it's their own line of yarn) destined to become Selbu Modern, as well as some Arequipa sock yarn.

We were going to drive to St. Andrew's as well, but the pea soup fog convinced us to head home. On the drive back we randomly decided to stop at the Briggs and Little outlet/mill, in Harvey (yet another small town with a big yarn). The mill only runs during the winter, but the shop was full of dirt-cheap Briggs and Little. I picked some up to make a pair of thrummed mittens for a friend. I love this wool... it's tweedy, rustic, and smells like lanolin.

Traditional Thrummed Mitts at Briggs and Little

I asked the lady working there where the sheep were that supplied the mill with fleece. She told me that they need about 26,000 sheep to meet their demand. This all happens through the Canada Wool Grower's Association, so the sheep are scattered all across Canada. Briggs and Little happens to be the biggest buyer from them.

Briggs and Little Outlet Store, York Mills, NB

The car ride gave me time enough to finish off Nanny's Lorna's Laces socks. I really wanted to get these done, because I find the colors quite garish. This pair used exactly one skein, so much for getting it out of my stash! She will love them, however, so they're off to the gift pile until Christmas.

Anklets for Nanny, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock

Diversions

2009-07-23T18:39:00.004-04:00

I've got quilts on the brain. Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way a sewer! The extent of my past sewing experience pretty much involves making my own hair scrunchies back in the seventh grade (hey, it was the nineties, they were still cool!). I'm always impressed and awed when I see beautiful handmade quilts posted on other people's blogs (check out these adorable potholders!), and wish that I had the same talent.

So, since there is an overabundance of rainy days and I've got the free time right now, I decided to work on a few projects.

Back in high school I made a t-shirt quilt as a semester project. Essentially, it was a solution to the problem of having many many oversize t-shirts hanging around, that I never wore but couldn't get rid of because they came from an event or had sentimental value of some sort. I wanted the quilt to take with me when I started university, and it sat happily on my dorm room bed for four years.

A few years ago I decided to make a second one, and got as far as piecing the front panel together. Admittedly, I did a sloppy job of the whole thing, mostly because I bought the wrong type of interfacing, and didn't have a rotary cutter or good way of cutting the pieces evenly. It's been sitting in my closet for three years now, waiting to be finished... mostly because I wanted to track down the rotary cutter and mat that I had borrowed in order to cut the strips for the binding. I gave in and went to Fabricville today, and bought a cheap mat/cutter set (hopefully it works and I won't regret skimping!), so I no longer have an excuse not to finish this!

The store was also having a very good sale on some of their fabrics, so I picked up some material to make a few knitting needle holders. I made one for myself and one for my mom several years ago, and was quite pleased with the way they turned out. The lady at the store commented that I must like muted tones, and that the fabrics reminded her of Little House on the Prairie. It's true, no matter how hard I try to like the bold, fun fabrics, I'm always drawn to the more earthy and natural tones (case in point - the last four things I've knit have been green).

Prairie-esque?

We shall see how this goes, this time around I vow to read up on proper techniques instead of just trying to do things right off the bat!

Picking up the Slack

2009-07-21T18:36:00.003-04:00

It finally feels like summer! Today was hot and sunny, and since I'm done work I had the luxury of sitting out on the deck to knit for the afternoon. For the last two weeks, work had pretty much drained me of any motivation to do anything at the end of the day other than sleep and study, so knitting took a bit of a back seat. However, having just spent the weekend at a wedding and family reunion in Maine, I had the time to finish up one of Nanny's socks.

This yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock) has been sitting in my stash since early 2006. I had meant to use it to make the Dublin Bay socks, but the pooling had been so bad that I frogged them not far into the project. I was weary of pooling this time around, but it hasn't been too bad other than around the gusset. The yarn does have a smooth drapey feel to it, however!

There are so many lace shawls that I would love to be knitting right now... so many that I couldn't make up my mind as to what to start. I had been planning on knitting the Waves of Grain scarf as a gift for someone, so I decided to get that out of the way. I had some Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace on hand, in a color that reminded me of the intended recipient.

I think I need to invest in one of those magnetic chart holders! While the lace pattern itself isn't difficult, the whole process of threading tiny seed beeds onto the stitch with 32-gague wire slows the knitting down considerably. I don't mind for the moment, as I'm enchanted with the whole process and love the subtle way it looks!

I have a sneaking suspicion that this will become a tedious project when I reach the middle section, so while I'd like to have it done by the fall I'm not going to pressure myself to work on it!

I've finished up another project, which you can see over here (Ravelers only, it's a gift!). I'm quite happy with the way it turned out, so it's off to the closet until Christmas time!

Green Sleeves

2009-07-04T13:18:00.005-04:00

It's Saturday, and despite the fact that it's now July the sun has yet to come out, and it's cold enough to curl up with tea, wool socks, and a sweater. While I'm frustrated with the endless rain, it is a good excuse to hunker down to read and knit. I feel particularly bad for the farmers around here who are having a hard time with their crops because of it. Sun - please show your face!!!

Enough about the weather...it stopped raining long enough for me to finally snap a few outdoor photos of my finished Gathered Pullover. For the last few weeks I had been feeling a serious lack of knitting motivation; the endless stockinette of the pullover's sleeves was boring me to tears, and I couldn't figure out what project to start next. Now it's done, and I love it!

Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason, Interweave Knits Winter 2007

A while back Whitney posted about the sweaters she's knit (I love her taste in sweaters), and which ones she wound up wearing. What she said rang true with me- the sweaters I'm apt to wear will probably be the simplest ones, which I also don't like to knit as much. Finally I've managed to knit a sweater that I think I'll wear often, which I can't say for the other four knit tops that sit in my closet and never see the light of day.

Mmm, cozy long sleeves

I love the simplicity of this pattern, and the ease with which it can be modified. Being a longish gal, I added quite a bit of length in the body and arms. A sweater that's too short is irksome, and I enjoy having sleeves long enough to tuck my hands into when it's cold and I'm hibernating in the library basement. I also left out the bust increases and decreases, and widened the shoulders a bit so that the V-neck wouldn't be quite as wide and deep. The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, in the color Peat Mix. I love the deep, heathered green, and soft feel of the yarn. It's lightweight enough to be worn comfortably indoors.

No rain, for the moment!

This was definitely a project that I knit more for the finished product than for the actual enjoyment of making it, but I like the sweater enough that I would do it again!

Lies and Ties

2009-06-30T20:19:00.007-04:00

When you were a kid, did you ever accidentally break or lose something of your parents, grandparents, or friends, only to not mention it in the hope that they wouldn't notice it was missing? Tonight the truth came out, and I had a good laugh over it (maybe because today was the 16th straight day of rain we've had, and I'm starting to feel stir crazy). My grandparents were visiting, and Nanny was gushing over how she adores the little ankle socks I knit her a while back. I hauled out my sock yarn stash (it is a bit of a beast) so that Nanny could pick out some yarn for a future pair of socks. Grampy was examining the yarn, and inquiring about washing directions. Mom was explaining how some yarns can go in the washer/dryer while others can't.... and then looked guiltily at me.

Nanny's choice

Last year I had knit myself a pair of plain socks out of some light blue Koigu. I loved them... and then, they dropped off the radar. As it turns out, mom had done some laundry while visiting me last fall, and had accidentally shrunk my socks. Shrank them so much, in fact, that they wouldn't have fit a little kid (and I have BIG feet). She felt so badly that she just didn't mention it, until it leaked out tonight! I had a good laugh... moral of the story being that Koigu does not do well in the dryer!

And now for a final bit from the farm...
Chris is really into natural dyes. She has a dye "kitchen" in the back yard, where she holds workshops and dyes her yarns. One afternoon, she was running a Shibori workshop for a local weaving and knitting guild. Shibori is basically an ancient Japanese form of tie-dying, in which fabrics are stitched, tied, and folded to create a resist, and then dyed with indigo. Indigo is the only naturally occurring blue dye, and has an interesting mechanism of action. Indigo "vats" have to be reduced using something like uric acid. When an item is dipped in the vat and then removed, the dye becomes oxidized, and the molecules form a mechanical bond with the fabric. The fabric comes out looking lime green, and then transforms into a deep blue over then next minute or so. I tried to take a video of this happening while remaining unobtrusive...

Untying the goodies

Finished silk scarves and fat quarters

There is also a lot of interesting folklore surrounding dye vats. In some areas, fertile women were thought to be able to 'spoil' the vat, so only women past childbearing age were allowed to tend to it. Anyhow, the workshop was fun, and I got a neat wall hanging out of it. Honestly, however, I don't really have the patience or interest to get into the dyeing end of things... but it was educational nonetheless. We dyed some merino roving with the leftover vat, and I was able to spin 100g.

Wetting the roving before dyeing

Fresh out of the vat

Conditioned roving, waiting to be spun!

Finished indigo skein

I have a FO and a new project to show... maybe tomorrow!

You Spin Me Right Round

2009-06-25T20:02:00.008-04:00

So finally I've mustered up the energy to document my spinning journey on the farm! Chris wasted no time getting me started with spinning. She was a spinner first and a knitter second, and enjoys spinning immensely. She sells some of her handspun, from her own animals' wool, in the Joybilee store. The rest of their fleece gets sent off to be mill spun, after which Chris dyes it on the farm.

The Dalziel's son is a professional sheep shearer, and had sheared all of their animals last fall. The fleeces needed to be sorted and cleaned to be put in the shop, so I got to learn how to tackle a raw fleece.

First, the fleece is unrolled and placed on a wool sorting table (basically a wooden frame covered with chicken wire). The goal is to identify the neck wool and bum region. The neck wool has a really fine crimp and a different feel to it (it was traditionally used in Shetland knitting), whereas the bum region has lots of "dags", which are basically clumps of poo. The fleece is then "skirted", which involves separating off the edges with dags. The midline, which corresponds to the back of the animal, is usually covered in chaff (bits of hay and dirt that have been dropped on the animals); this is removed as well. The remaining fleeces is bounced on the wire table so that short "second cuts", where the shearer has passed over the wool twice, fall through and are separated out. Any large bits of vegetable matter are also removed. We wore gloves to do this, as the wool has a lot of lanolin and dirt at this point. It feels greasy and wet, and has quite the odor as well! Once the fleece has been skirted, it's ready to be weighed and washed.

Chris and Sarah skirting the fleece

Leftovers make good puppy toys!

Chris very generously gave me my own fleece (!!!), from a Romney cross sheep named Platinum. I washed the fleece at the farm, which was quite the process. I didn't realize how much work went into this! I used a double sink filled with extremely hot water (it should be too hot to touch). One sink serves as the washing sink, the other as the rinsing sink. A handful of the fleece is plunged into the washing sink along with a good dose of dish soap. It is left to soak for about 10 min, so that the dirt and lanolin can come loose. You can swish it around a bit, but I started to run into problems with felting the fleece from handling it too much. It was hard to strike a balance between getting the tips clean, but not felting it! The fleece is then transferred to the rinsing sink, which should be of equal temperature. The wash-rinse cycle is repeated 3-4 additional times for each handful of fleece. It took 5 long, patient hours to get the whole thing washed, and mine was a small fleece. After it has been washed sufficiently, the handfuls of fleece are left to drain in a colander. It was then spun dry in the washing machine, and left to dry further in wicker baskets.

My fleece before washing

I'm sure there are many ways to wash fleeces (Chris sometimes also does each lock by hand, which takes much longer); this was just the way I was shown. Before spinning it, I'll have to hand-comb each lock with my dog's old flicker brush - an acceptable substitute if you don't want to buy a hand carder. Spinning my fleece will be a long-term project, one that I probably won't get going on for a while.

After washing!

Chris started me off spinning with some white wool roving on an Ashford drop spindle. First off, take a look at the living room- what fiber artist/knitter/spinner/weaver wouldn't drool over this? I made myself a little nook on one side of the room, with a basket Chris gave me to hold my fiber. She taught me the park and draft method of spinning on the drop spindle, which I found to be quite hard on my back and shoulder. If I do keep spinning on a spindle, I'll likely look for another method to try.

Soon after, she had me going on the Ashford Kiwi. It felt quite awkward at first, but as soon as I felt more comfortable with the mechanics of it, things went really quickly. I was amazed at how fast yarn can be made - much more instantly gratifying than knitting, and so meditative as well! In a few days I had spun two bobbins of worsted singles. Sarah then showed me how to ply on the Lendrum wheel (which I found much more difficult to use). We wound it on a niddy-noddy, and then washed the skein in lukewarm soapy water.

A few days later, we dyed some roving with indigo (more on indigo dyeing later), which I then spun. My main problems were with having too much twist in the yarn, and then when I tried to correct it, winding up with singles that just fell apart. My final plied yarn wound up fairly well balanced (this is measured by holding up the skein and seeing if it twists one way or the other). The blue skein is finer than the white, but I'm thinking that I may still knit them up together.

Too twisty...but less lumpy

Overall, I loved spinning and would really love to have a wheel. It will be hard to go back to a drop spindle after the ease and speed of the wheel, but that's where I'll be for a while yet. I'm very grateful to Chris for her generosity, and love the idea of bringing a fleece from the raw product to a finished knit item! This could be another fiber addiction coming down the road... danger!

Wooly Goodness

2009-06-20T18:15:00.004-04:00

I've always been curious about what it would be like to live on a farm. Immersion in life with the Dalziels at Joybilee farms definitely satisfied that curiosity - one of the things that struck me right away was how different the rhythm of the day was. We're used to regimented schedules, having to show up for work etc. at certain times, having a rough idea of what our days and weeks will hold. On the farm, no one wore watches. The day's activities were dictated by nature, the animal's needs, things that would occur unexpectedly such as a customer or sick animal.

The flock going out to pasture

I slept in a small trailer behind the house, and would wake up at 5 or 6 am to sunlight and the sounds of roosters and chickens (usually the cold would keep me from getting up for a while yet!). I felt a bit like Chris in the Morning from Northern Exposure, and it was kind of fun! Robin would usually be up early doing chores. We'd convene for breakfast at 7:30, and then start our chores at 8. Chores were things that were done every day, usually at 8 am and pm. These were the things that had to be done, such as feeding the animals and letting them out to pasture. My main chore was taking care of 30 Angora rabbits. After chores, we would do whatever work needed to be done around the farm: if it wasn't raining, usually this involved weeding and mulching the gardens, clearing the orchard, or shovelling manure out of the barn. I loved the meditative, physical nature of the work, especially being down in the gardens.

Topaz, an Angora rabbit we brought in to be groomed

Other times, the work would involve fiber-related stuff, like plucking the angora rabbits, skirting and sorting fleeces, or getting ready for workshops. In the afternoon, when it would be too hot to work outdoors, we would do lighter indoor work, or go into town for errands. After dinner, sometimes we would do some more work, or do something like go for a walk on the acreage. By the time everyone finished up evening chores it would be 9pm or later, and we'd meet up in the living room for an hour of rest before bed (often this involved watching documentaries while spinning). Some days were lighter than others, and often we'd all be exhausted at the end of the day.

A kid Angora who got separated from his mom

I learned pretty quickly that you can't be type A or a perfectionist with farm work, or you would never rest (you can't pull every weed out of the garden or pick up all of those little twigs!) . Things can also change at the drop of a hat, so you have to be pretty flexible as well. It was neat to see how the Dalziels had figured out what worked and what didn't, and that they are still learning daily.

Amaretto and her brand-new cria Latte

One of my favorite things at the farm was spending time with Chris. She was so knowledgeable, and perpetually cheerful despite whatever calamity may have been happening. She understood what my goals in being there were (to learn how to spin, and to see if having a hobby farm would be something I'm interested in in the future), and catered to that. She was a total task master when it came to getting my spinning done, and I loved it!

Donder and Gelato

By the end of my time there, I had a solid sense of how wool processing works from the ground up. The Dalziels have a flock of over 100 sheep and goats. Their sheep are mostly Romney and Rambouillet. They have several Angora goats (which produce mohair), as well as Sanaan dairy goats. They also had seven guard llamas, 8 dogs, over 50 chickens, ducks, two turkeys, the Angora rabbits, and a few cats. That's a big brood for one family to take care of, on top of trying to garden and run a business!

Llamas sauntering by: Cappuccino, Latte, Amaretto, Mocha, Saline, and Espresso

I absolutely loved the animals, but had a special fond spot for the dogs, especially my good buddy Gelato. Gelato is a 1 year old Maremma (livestock guardian dog), who at his less-than-full size still outweighs me. These dogs will sacrifice their life to fend off cougars, bears, and coyotes, but have only gallons of goofy love for humans! He and Donder, a Great Pyrenees, had five puppies. I would find myself hanging out with Gelato, only to be surrounded by six other affectionate dogs seconds later. It was awesome.

A happy moment of dog love with Donder, Gelato, and brood!

The goats and sheep were more aloof, and aside from the three "bottle babies" who were used to being fed by humans didn't really care to interact with me all that much. The llamas on the other hand, were very curious and expressive, and would saunter right up to say hi. One of the llamas, Amaretto, had a baby cria while I was there. It was so cool to see her interact with it in such a loving way right after it was born!

The flock coming up from pasture

I have to wrap this up, as I'm leaving for home tomorrow and still have a lot to do. I will get to the fiber stuff soon, I promise!!

Mission Accomplished

2009-06-18T14:46:00.008-04:00

I'm back - having indeed had a great dose of the outdoors, animals, fibery stuff, and learning. The farm experience was difficult, interesting, educational, and wonderful all at once. I have to say a huge thanks to all of my friends who pitched in somehow to make this trip as great as it was; they fed me, housed me, drove me to airports, train stations and bus stops, gave advice, and lent encouragement and support. I feel so lucky to have all of you in my life!

I'll separate the fiber stuff into a separate post so that you can read only what interests you! The trip started off with a train ride to Toronto, and an overnight stay with a friend. The next day I took off to Kelowna, BC to stay with another friend. I was flat out in love with the city from the moment I got there - it was hot, desert like, and looked like a Californian suburb (as seen on TV) surrounded by mountains. We hiked around Myra Canyon/Kettle Valley and Knox mountain, taking in the wonderful sunny day.

Views from Kettle Valley/Myra Canyon, Kelowna BC

The next afternoon I headed off on a bus to Greenwood, BC, which is in the Kootenay boundary region. The bus ride itself was impressive, winding through mountains on roads that looked down on valley ranches. Greenwood is Canada's smallest city (pop. ~700), which used to be a bustling center during the gold rush era. There, I met up with Robin and his daughter Sarah, who took me to the farm. It was definitely challenging to get used to being so isolated on the farm, being plunged into a new family, with no time to myself. However after a few days of adjusting and getting to know the Dalziels, I started to really enjoy all the farm had to offer. More about that later!

After the farm, I took the bus back to Kelowna and flew to Vancouver, where I met up with a friend to do some camping and hiking. We stayed in Alice Lake Provincial Park (which was impeccably well kept), and hiked the Stawamus Chief trail as well as Garibaldi Lake. Both hikes were well worth the strenuous effort, boasting awesome scenery at the summit. The "Chief", which is supposedly the second largest granite monolith in the world, was a shorter but more strenuous hike, involving scrambling over steep boulders, chains, ladders, and steep stairs. The trail up to the first peak was fairly populated with tourists, but that thinned out considerably as we hiked to the second and third peaks. We found a lesser used route down from the summit, which took us through a pretty neat fir forest.

View of the Puget Sound area from the 1st peak of Stawamus Chief

On the second day, we hiked up to Garibaldi lake. This hike was considerably longer, but other than the first few hours of leg-burning switchbacks, not as difficult as the Chief. We passed only a few other hikers, which made for a peaceful experience! The trail was still snow covered near the summit, and the scenery at the top was breathtaking- a glacier-fed, turquoise lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks. We had planned to do another big hike on the third day, but our bodies were protesting from the previous days' efforts, so we took in some sights around Vancouver instead, hiking around Lynn Canyon, Stanley Park, and UBC. We also drove out to see Whistler, the site of the 2010 Olympic nordic events. The next morning it was off to Montreal, and then home to Kingston via train.

Lookout point on the way up to Garibaldi Lake

Garibaldi Lake, BC

I'm head over heels in love with BC- for some reason Vancouver, despite being a big city, doesn't elicit in me the same gross gut reaction that other big cities do. I also love how people there seem to universally embrace an active, outdoor lifestyle. The Squamish area was stunning, and I would love to go back and do more hiking there in the future! I'm glad to be back home, if only for a few days before leaving for New Brunswick (just for fun I made a map of the whole trip).

Off to Fiberland

2009-05-30T01:16:00.003-04:00

It's late, and I should have been in bed long ago. Today was long and productive - I got my papers for the research ethics board submitted just under the wire, confirmed my job placement for later in the summer, crossed 16 things off my to do list, and packed. Ahhh, it feels good to be done.

Tomorrow I head off on an adventure of sorts: after many failed summer plans I decided on a whim to take off to BC for a few weeks. I'll be at Joybilee Farms exchanging my labor for a place to stay, and hopefully some lessons in spinning, weaving, homesteading, animal rearing, and whatever else I can get my hands on. Joybilee is a fiber arts farm, run by a husband and wife team who rear their own fiber-bearing animals, spin the fleece, and dye their yarn using natural methods. They also do some other nifty things like making their own cheese and goat's milk soap. I've been wanting to learn how to spin for quite some time now, so hopefully this will be a good chance to get a firsthand look at how it's done. I also have a pipe dream of moving somewhere out in the country and having my own hobby farm with fiber animals and dogs and vegetables... for now I'll just escape to my dream life temporarily:)

Not much knitting has been going on here lately. The gathered pullover now has a sleeve, but I'll admit to being a bit bored by all the endless stockinette. For the trip, I'm taking along a mystery project (it's a gift, so I'll add a Ravelry link later).

I'll be back in three weeks, hopefully with lots of pictures and stories. Here's hoping to get a healthy dose of dirt, animals, fresh air and sun before returning to the sterility and order of the hospital!

The Breakup Shawl

2009-05-24T21:25:00.011-04:00

It's done, it's finally done! I present to you the Pacific Northwest shawl, aka "the Breakup shawl". I can tell the story now, as almost a year later there's some humor to be found in it.

Pacific Northwest Shawl By Evelyn A. Clark. Yarn: Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk

This shawl has sentimental value to me for several reasons. I first saw the pattern knit up by one of my college peers as a sample at WEBS. It was one of the most stunning things I had ever seen (having not had much exposure to lace), and on my last visit to Northampton a few years ago, I picked up the yarn and the pattern to make the shawl. This was to be a long-term project, and was my first go at anything beyond a simple lace pattern. However, in the year that followed I couldn't find a good reason to cast on, as I didn't know the right person to fit the shawl.

And then I met her: a bold, striking, intelligent woman who lived on the west coast, who looked like the shawl-wearing type. She also happened to be the mother of my now ex. I loved this woman dearly - we had many frank and wonderful conversations, and she treated me like part of the family. Having finally found the right reason to cast on for the shawl, I began knitting, thinking of giving it to her on a happy occasion somewhere down the road in our relationship.

Did I in some way insult the knitting gods so as to prompt them to smite me? Had I found myself some perverse permutation of the legendary boyfriend sweater curse? No later than four days after I had cast on for the shawl did I receive an email ending my relationship. Darn it. After that email, I just couldn't stop knitting. Counting YO's and k2tog's was so much easier than thinking. The shawl provided a source of comfort and focus during the months that followed when being alone with the thoughts in my head was too hard.

I shall certainly be more wary of knitting for future relationships, having also knit three lovely pairs of man-socks into the cavernous hole of no return. However, when knitting is for some of us one of the strongest ways to say "I care about you", that's easier said than done.

The shawl is still going to the originally intended recipient (it's not her fault things turned out the way they did!). Part of me doesn't want to send it off knowing that I'll never see it again, as it reminds me of those marvelous Northampton days, and because it's been a fixture in my knitting basket for so long. At the same time, it also reminds me of less-good times, and clearing out the closet might just be best.

Now that the shawl is done and blocked (what a cool transformation), I'm itching to start a new lace project. What should it be?

View From Saturday

2009-05-23T16:59:00.009-04:00

Gould Lake Conservation Area, Sydenham ON

Nothing like a little summer fun with a borrowed dog on a Saturday afternoon.

Gone With the Wind?

2009-05-19T16:34:00.007-04:00

My poor little plants. I had so much enjoyed seeing that little bit of green life come to be on my balcony. The other day when I went to see how they were doing, I saw this:

There were twelve pots the night before... and more mysteriously, the eight other pots were nowhere to be seen in the parking lot or adjacent lawns. It had rained the night before, and the only logical conclusion I could come to was that the wind must have blown them off the balcony before it rained, and someone cleaned up the parking lot early the next morning. I'm mystified. There's no point replanting them now as I'll be gone in a few weeks :(

Over the long weekend, I had the good fortune of going to Ottawa to visit family and friends. As an added bonus, mom was there too! I thought I'd recount a funny story concerning my almost three-year old cousin. He's quite the talker, and very into imaginative play right now. We were playing a game which involved going to different stores of his choice in the "double stroller" (the couch). He asked if we could go to Chapters to read stories. I said sure, so off we went in our imaginations.

I started to tell him a made-up story about dinosaurs in the park. It had the typical brontosaurus, stegosauraus, T-rex, trieceratops, etc. After the third dinosaur story, he said: "Jess, can you tell me the one about the nineracops?"

I said, "do you mean triceratops?"

"No, nineracops"

"Ok, well, what kind of dinosaur is the nineracops?"

"One that goes really fast under the water." So, I made up a story about the fast swimming nineracops. After that, he asked me to tell him the story about the cliceratops. When I asked him what kind of a dinosaur that was, he said "It goes really really really fast under the water."

If there was one thing I learned while working at a science center, it was not to question the dinosaur knowledge of young boys, because when in doubt I would always be wrong. A bit of google-ing later revealed that there was no such thing as the nineracops or cliceratops (which I had suspected), but it made me quite happy to think about what must have been going on in his little imaginary world to create such things.

Inside and Out

2009-05-14T13:54:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I ticked off a med student first: I learned how to do a pelvic exam. I think many of us head into this with some apprehension - fear of causing pain, fear of making a mistake, and the pressure to do it right right off the bat. Fortunately, we have a great program here - GTAs (gynecologic teaching associates). GTAs are trained patients who, in pairs, teach us (also in pairs) how to do this exam. These women are incredibly knowledgeable about their bodies, and provide us with an idespensible first-time experience. What better way to learn than on a real person, in a relaxed enviromnent, where you can take your time, ask questions, and receive live feedback?

In the past, (and present for some schools), students were required to learn the pelvic exam on rubber models or anesthetised patients. Or, they may be required to perform an exam for the first time on a random patient in clinic who is just about as scared as they are. The GTA program was developed in the 1970's by the Boston Women's Health Collective. This group worked to bring women's reproductive health issues out into the open, and made it a misson to educate women about their bodies so that they could be advocates for their own health care. The GTA program teaches us how to do "educational pelvics", which I had only read about in the Boston Women's Health Collective's seminal book, Our Bodies Ourselves. I've never seen anyone do an educational pelvic in practice. With an educational pelvic, the examination table head is raised so that the woman can make eye contact with the examiner, and observe the exam with a mirror, hopefully building a sense of participation and empowerment with respect to the exam and her health.

The whole session was wonderful, and got me ruminating over the idea of an educational pelvic. Arguably, most of us never get to see our cervix. Perhaps if women have the chance to see a vital part of their anatomy that remains perpetually hidden and mysterious, they would be more motivated to seek health care on an annual basis (pap smears, STI testing, well-woman exams). Would this be an extra 5 minutes well spent on the part of the physician?
If you've never seen a cervix and are curious, I'll direct you to The Beautiful Cervix Project, bravely made by a midwivery student who did a daily photo documentary of her cervix over an entire menstrual cycle.

To end on a lighter note, I've started the Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason. The yarn is Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light, in Peat Mix. So far, so good!

Yoke Pullover

2009-05-11T22:06:00.004-04:00

It's the end of what's been a quiet and moderately productive day (I actually went to the library-it's been a while!). After exams were done, I cleared out my project box and finished up a few things. However, I thought I'd share something I finished earlier this semester, that was just in its beginning stages when I started this blog. Remember the Vogue Yoke Pullover? Here it is, 3 years later. It didn't take me that long to knit it, but I procrastinated weaving in the many ends for, oh, a year.

Yoke Pullover by Krisien Cowan, knit in Cascade Eco Wool

The yarn is Cascade Eco Wool, and it only took 2.5 skeins making this a very economical knit. I love the yarn, and don't want to block the sweater because it still smells natural! The only problem with this sweater is that it turned out to be very, very warm (this coming from someone who is ALWAYS cold), making it difficult to wear anywhere. Stay tuned for more!

Heart Health

2009-05-10T15:06:00.006-04:00

A recent article on Medscape caught my eye: a new study has shown that a Mediterranean diet significantly reduces the risk of heart disease. While it has been known for a while that such a diet is healthier than the way we tend to eat in the western world, this new study is noteworthy because, as a meta -analysis combining close to 200 studies, it ups the level of evidence to support this claim. A meta-analysis is a type of clinical study that combines other types of studies in order to get a stronger answer to a question.

The Mediterranean diet is generally characterized by a higher intake of fruit, veggies, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and fish, whereas the Western diet is characterized by red and processed meats, eggs, refined grains, and high fat dairy products. Foods with a high glycemic index and foods with trans-fatty acids are particularly associated with an increased risk in heart disease.

I feel quite passionate about choices that we can make as individuals to improve our health. Not all disease is preventable, and sure, we could make every "right" decision regarding our health and still wind up with an illness. However, it is our responsibility to be keepers of our bodies!

So, I leave you with today's lunch: a Mediterranean chick pea salad on mixed greens, with whole wheat pita crisps. The salad is simply a tomato, cucumber, 2 peppers, garlic, green onion, parsley, chick peas, and a few olives, with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. I use stale pita to make the crisps, simply tear it into pieces and microwave on a paper towel for 2 minutes!

PS- Happy Mother's Day Mom! I feel so blessed to have a mother who is both my best friend and a great parent:)

Exam Socks

2009-05-07T17:22:00.006-04:00

Today was the perfect rainy day. I spent the morning helping a friend with some school stuff, but then came home to find out that frisbee practice was cancelled. With my research project stalled and nowhere to go until evening, it was just dreary and cold enough to justify curling up with a blanket, tea, some reading, a movie and a sock-in-progress.

I'm prone to knitting socks during times of stress, such as exams. In fact, I probably think more about knitting during the weeks leading up to exams than at any other time... Exams can be a pretty isolating period for many, as there is a certain (large) number of hours you need to spend on your own studying. That, combined with the stress of knowing you can't learn everything makes sock knitting an essential pacifier.

Exam socks: Handmaiden Casbah (1 skein), 2.25mm needles

While I was home over March break, mom gave me a ball of Handmaiden Casbah, perhaps the most scrumptious yarn (both in feel and in color) I've ever used for socks. So, I present the exam socks of 2009- started right at the beginning of the descent into study madness, and finished a day or two after exams. These are my new favorites - thanks mom! Now on to some of those other projects I was dreaming about....

Kitchen Success

2009-05-06T13:11:00.004-04:00

While I don't often choose to eat white bread or bake it, I really wanted to try my hand at making something from yeast dough. I've had several failures on this front in the past, resulting in unrisen dough and hard, dense baked goods. Finally, I had some success with this relatively easy recipe found here. The bread tasted good, smelled good, and was a hit with the 8-year old crowd! This has definitely motivated me to look for some whole wheat recipes and give it another whirl.

Knitting content to come soon- I've finished up a bunch of projects and have started some new ones- oh, the joys of being done exams!

Growing Roots

2009-05-04T18:50:00.003-04:00

I dream of someday having a backyard with a garden, where I can grow my own produce. For now, a concrete balcony will have to suffice. While this isn't an actual attempt to grow my own food, I was curious to see if I could get anything to sprout in pots on my balcony. To my surprise, the dollar-store seeds that I planted with an 8-year old friend popped up within a few days, and I've been contentedly watching their growth since.

I'd love to have an herb garden, grow some tomatoes and enough lettuce to feed my salad habit, and maybe some flowers for a little cheer. However, life does not have me staying in one place for any period of time sufficient enough to do this, and I'll have to give my baby lettuce away before it's fully grown.

Having lived in 4 cities in the past 6 years, and having never been able to stay in the same city for more than a few months at a stretch has made me really want to plant myself somewhere and just take root. I really love where I am living right now, and would love to be able to stay and just grow! The nature of my program has me uprooting myself more than I would like- a frustrating thing for a homebody.

At the same time, I know that it's a priviledge to experience all of these different places, and that someday the time will come when I have a job and don't have the luxury of picking up and going without consequence. So, for the time being, I'll enjoy my little plants, as well as all the other things I'll get to see and do!

Snow

2007-02-22T07:12:00.000-05:00

Well. When people ask me how I like living in Newfoundland, they always say something along the lines of "the weather must be pretty bad there, eh?" A statement I usually counter by asserting that no, the winters (from my experiences) are typically milder and a lot less snowy than in New Brunswick, and that really, the weather's not bad.

This week we had a blizzard that shut the city down. I have never seen anything like it before... there is SO much snow here. Nobody moved for a day and a half - no taxis, busses anything, because the roads just couldn't be cleared. It took two days before the sidewalks around residence were plowed. It feels a bit like living in a hedge maze where the walls are made of snow. Most of the residences are connected to the other university buildings by underground tunnels, which is very convenient at times such as these. However, some houses are not - and the day after the storm people were hopping out their second floor windows to get to dining hall because the doors to the house were blocked by snow.

Here are a few images taken by a friend. It's hard to capture the magnitude of the snow, and what it feels like to walk around amidst all of this! The kicker is, it's supposed to happen all again on Saturday:)

On the Rock

2007-02-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

Streets of St. John's, Newfoundland

Has it really been almost a year? Alas, the Nerd is no longer in Northampton. Simply put, I had reservations about keeping this blog, as it was so specific to what I was doing last year. However, maybe it will encourage me to venture out and capture a bit more of Newfoundland during my final two months here. Life also hasn't been all that exciting lately, just a whirlwind of school, med school applications, interviews, and thesis writing... all of which makes for dull stories. But, I think I will bring back the blog, if not just to try and reflect on interesting things going on around me.

I miss Smith dearly, think about it every day and can't wait to go back for a visit. It has certainly been a challenge to readjust to the environment at MUN, as they are at entirely different ends of the spectrum. However, the year has flown by and there are only two months left until I'm done my degree. Scary, considering I remember the first day of first year, wandering alone around campus excited and scared senseless about being in a new place!

Washington

2006-04-23T16:06:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a brief break from a mountain of homework to write this post. Last night I got back from Washington, D.C. Wow. That's about all I can say... the whole experience seemed surreal, from the places I went to the people I met. I loved D.C., what a beautiful city! It was also wonderful to meet the other scholars.

Thursday we had a lecture at the Canadian Embassy (beautiful), followed by a reception, at which the Canadian Ambassador introduced himself to me! I was so amazed that real-life important people wanted to talk to us, and were incredibly friendly as well.

On Friday, after a day of lectures, four of us went walking down Embassy Row. We got lost, and stumbled upon this:

The National Cathedral (Woodrow Wilson is buried inside!). It was absolutely stunning, and incredibly large.

Saturday we did the tourist thing. Unfortunately, my pictures didn't turn out well because it was pouring rain.

The Capitol

The White House

Run, Forrest, Run!

So that's my trip in a nutshell, I would love to write more, but for the sake of school I'll refrain. I loved D.C. so much that I'll be going back for another visit in two weeks' time, as a part my program's mobility initiative. My blog will be on holiday until classes are finished, so until May 6, goodbye!

Lady in Pink

2006-04-10T08:15:00.000-04:00

It has been a while... the past week consisted of exams, papers, assingments, and a few random things like dinner out for a friend's birthday and a squash tournament (be still my heart). At one point I had a lot to say, but since various blogging attempts were thwarted by technical difficulties, I've forgotten most of it by now. It must be that time in the semester when brain parts stop functioning normally...

Last Sunday on my way to the lab I spotted this, and had to go back to take a photo:

In memory of a beautiful life is one of my favorite statues on campus, and I think someone found her corset to be a bit outdated.

This is the boathouse, where last week's kayaking took place:

Ingrid's 21st birthday was on Monday, and we went out for Thai food.

In this photo: Ludmila (Moldova), myself, Ingrid (Norway) and Becca (MA)

In this photo: Xi "Doris" (China), Katie (CT), Anastasia (Ukraine), Ludmila, and Veselina (Bulgaria - she was my roomate during international orientation).

Ludmila is my closest friend at Smith. I sat down beside her to have dinner one night during orientation, because I didn't know anyone in the room and she was wearing our group's T-shirt. After dinner we went for a walk, discovered that we were going to live in the same residence, and the rest was history. She is an incredibly strong woman - sarcastic, generous, smart, and sensitive. She has worked hard to get here, and I've learned a lot from her (sadly, I had never heard of Moldova before I met her). Getting to spend time with international students has been a great experience that I'll definitely miss next year!

String Theory

2006-04-10T08:08:00.000-04:00

I've decided to separate knitting content from other stuff, so that non-knitters can just skip over it. The Opal fish socks are finished just in time for Easter:

I started on Nancy Bush's cable and rib socks for mom, but the colors of the Ultramerino 4 aren't quite as subtle knit up, and seem to be pooling. They also seem a little small. They will likely be ripped out when I find a replacement yarn or pattern. Since my real sister won't wear handknits, a special pseudo-sister will be getting socks (Opal ladybug) for Christmas instead. She is the owner of the first pair of socks I ever knit, and told me that she's wearing holes in them. And I haven't completely forgotten the Vogue sweater... it looks the same as last time, only a bit longer.

Beaver Spit

2006-03-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

Warning... the following contains serious bio-nerd material.

I love Fridays, not because it means the school week is over, but because it means plant systematics lab! Yesterday in class my professor was talking about pollination mechanisms. Orchids are particularly interesting: one species has evolved such that the insect drinks its fermented liquid, becomes intoxicated, slides down the flower and picks up some pollen along the way. Another species is slightly bee-shaped and shakes in the wind on thin stems, resembling a swarm of bees. Other bees see this, get mad at it and attack, pollinating the plant in the process.

Back to today... the weather here is unbelievably warm. People have come out of the woodwork and are sprawled across campus in sunglasses and their summer skivvies. For lab we went to the Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. What could be better than hiking through the woods on a sunny afternoon while botanizing? Well, maybe getting to see woodfrogs mate. They make loud duck-like sounds during the process which can be heard from hundreds of feet away..

While hiking along the trail, one of my classmates pointed out a tree that had been partially chewed by beavers. The chewed area appeared wet and sticky, and I excitedly thought "Oh cool! We're hot on the trail of beavers - the bark is still wet with their saliva!". This only to feel really stupid when my professor pointed out that it was sap flowing from the tree.

After the field trip, my classmate Allie and I decided to go kayaking on paradise pond. It was beautiful... what else can I say?

Random

2006-03-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back from spring break, and the week is flying by. Break was relaxing - once I was home I didn't do much of anything, except go see the STU jazz concert (good job guys!). Oh how I miss STU jazz... the CD we recorded in 2004 is finally out! On the trip home, I met a PhD student from Paris who was doing a one-year teaching stint at Mount Holyoke College. She was seriously freaked out by the itty-bitty plane we were on, apparently in France they don't even consider the small ones to be planes! The poor girl got even more confused when we went through Canadian security in Montreal. She repeatedly asked the officer: "are you sure you don't want me to take my shoes off?" It was her first time in Canada, so we navigated the airport together.

I did manage to finish mom's birthday present:

It was my first attempt at knitting lace. Yep, this year is all about trying new things...

This week has been tough so far, today was the kind of day where everything I seem to touch breaks or stops working. My lab group spent two and a half hours just trying to get our preparation to work, and the problem is that we don't know enought about the equipment to troubleshoot effectively. Oh, and I think I should have done a different degree. Now I'm going to retreat to my basement cubicle in the library to see if I can make sense of life...

The View From Saturday

2006-03-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

So why would a college student be crazy enough to get up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning?
To see this:

Rather, the view of the sunrise over the Connecticut river from atop Mt. Sugarloaf. The air was fresh and the company was excellent. Ah, life is good.

This week has been a whirlwind of schoolwork, but somewhere in there I finished Nanny's ankle socks. Toe grafiting round #2 went much, much better. I decided to do the Family Sock Challenge, which involves knitting socks for family members and a good friend or two. I was all ready to start on socks for mom, when it occured to me that perhaps I should let the wearer choose their sock pattern and yarn, thus avoiding the production of unloved socks... and Dad, I know you don't get the knitting thing, so I have special plans for you.

Meanwhile, I started Opal socks that are supposed to stripe like tropical fish (James Watson included for scale). Yes, I suppose this would be taking the fish collection to a new level...

And randomly, I got to do this super-cool lab last week:
This is an action potential recorded from the nerve cord of an earthworm. It's so cool to be able to visualize what's going on in their little brains! My prof joked that we should make printouts to mail home to mom and dad. Of course, I couldn't refuse the offer...

Spring break is finally here, and tomorrow I'll be heading home. I can't wait to see this little girl:
Rumor has it that she's been rather mischievous lately...

Exhibit A: Canadian Exchange Student

2006-03-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, I meet people who are intrigued by my Canadian citizenship, or the fact that I'm a foreign exchange student. This often leads to a barrage of questions, and occasionally they will pull out the "Oh I know someone from Canada" line. When this happens, I always feel a sense of responsibility - what I tell Americans about Canada could either propagate stereotypes or debunk them. (It is sometimes tempting to play a little bit with this one:)

Today was one of those days. As the snow melts, Smith magically transforms into a space for the public to enjoy. Families with young kids and babies galore, dog-walkers, older couples, and skateboarders all take advantage of the sprawling lawns gardens, and paths. I was on my way home from the gym this afternoon when I encountered one of said older couples. This is what ensued:

Man: Excuse me miss, is Smith a coed school?
Jess: No, it's a women's college.
(Couple asks more questions about Smith)
Man: And what year are you in?
Jess: Well, I'm actually an exchange student...
Man: Oh, from where?
Jess: Canada
Man: I should have known, you talk funny. (really?)
Man: Where do you go to school?
Jess: In Newfoundland.
Man: Ooohh, Newfoundland! Wow... we were just in..in... Nova Scotia. Yes that's it. Please tell me, what is it really like? It just seems so... out there. (Wife tugs on his elbow)
Jess: (extolls the virtues of Newfoundland and it's physical beauty, and proceeds to answer questions about how to get there).
Wife: So, what do you think of the United States?
Jess: Well...

And so it goes. I actually don't mind this answering of questions. I've found that either A) people have never heard of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, or anywhere other than Toronto and Montreal, or B) people have heard of Newfoundland, but in the context of: "is that the one they always make fun of?" What I tell these people will influence how they think about their neighboring country, and I'm honored to have a chance to set the record straight. It's always interesting to find out how people perceive Canada, and I'm curious to know: how do you perceive the US? And do I really have an accent?

Still nothing on the photo front. I had an alternative planned for today but it will have to wait until blogger fixes this. I'm writing from the Science library where I *will not* be distracted by the lovely row of books next to me. No, I will not succumb to the alluring glossy covers of "Medicinal Chemistry", "Chinese Drugs of Plant Origin", or any of the many plant books. I will not give in... (this is why it is generally not a good idea for me to study in the library). Hopefully the plant books will somehow (through osmosis)inspire me to write my lab report. Just maybe.

Tree Embolisms

2006-03-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, trees can have embolisms too! Except, unlike humans, they have neat adaptations to prevent and fix their own embolisms. Yay trees! Anyhow, I seem to be unable to add photos at the moment. The settings on my blog have mysteriously changed, and since I'm a relative neophyte at this it may take a while for me to figure it out. Not much has gone on this week, I've been doing homework at a leisurly pace, reading, and enjoying the warm weather. Have a great weekend!

Spring Splendor

2006-03-04T11:22:00.000-05:00

Wow. I think I'm in heaven... the spring bulb show opened at Smith this morning. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview yesterday, so as to avoid the hoards of people who flock to this thing! I've never seen anything like this... Grampy, I wish you were here to experience this - you would love it! When my lab group entered the greenhouse there was a collective gasp followed by ooohhs and aahhhs. So much work must have gone into growing these flowers and putting together the display. Whoever did it is an artist; the color combinations in the displays are stunning.

On a side note, please let me rave about my plant systematics course for a moment! This course was something I begrudginly added at the last minute for extra credits. Yes, I thought learning about plant names would be boring. Perhaps at another school, but not at Smith! This is my favorite course, and it has been enough to make me reconsider my career path. My prof has been teaching us about the history of botany and plant nomenclature, starting with the ancient greeks and working up to Linnaeus. We studied authors of different herbals that were written in the middle ages, and the characters behind them. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Burke brings us to the rare book room (apparently Smith has the #2 collection of herbals in North America), where he showed us actual copies of these books from their times of publicaton! The earliest one was from the 1484, and one of my favorites was the huge english herbal from 1653, which reflected what was being grown in Elizabethan gardens at the time. I love the history behind these... some of the books had notes added in by later owners, who wrote in the proper scientific names after the publication of Species Plantarum in 1753. Maybe I should become a botanist or curator...

So yesterday, Dr. Burke took our lab to the bulb show. I spent the afternoon basking in the warm colors and fresh scents, and took over one hundred pictures. Here are a few, although they don't come close to reflecting the actual beauty of this display!

Is this not the coolest tulip ever? I think it's called a "Guinea Hen" tulip, the patterned coloration is really neat and unusual.

The little bells on this hyacinth remind me of bloomers...

Pensive

2006-03-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

Pensive, that's how I've been feeling lately. I've been thinking about where I am in life right now, and how much I'm enjoying it. At Smith I've found the rare place where I am both wholly content, confident and comfortable, something I've experienced only once before at Shad Valley. I've finally found somewhere that I fit. This post was supposed to happen on Monday, but somehow it's already Friday. Howe cup was an amazing experience (more to follow), and it took a few days to come down from that high. However, now that the season is over, I feel like I have my brain back - I no longer think about squash every moment of the day, and was able to study. I knew life had returned to normal when I woke up Tuesday morning thinking about membrane potentials and ionic gradients...

School pretty much ate me alive this week, I had two physiology exams and a presentation yesterday. Neurophysiology was a tough beast to tackle, but by the time early Thurday morning rolled around, I hit the sweet spot where all the complex, abstract concepts gelled, and I finally got it. That's the moment I love about tough courses - when this happens I want to explain it to everyone around me (this is when one turns to their dog, or James Watson bobble head in order to avoid strange glances from people). It was slightly comical to see my entire class flock to the campus center for hot, caffeinated beverages after Wednesday night's review session...

Monday night I went to see Sarah Harmer perform at the Iron Horse Music Hall. I'm not a close follower of her music, but one of my housemates (who loves Canada and Great Big Sea) asked me to go. Wow. Not only was the venue perfect (an old yet large and cozy resaurant/pub), but her music held me in a trance for the full two hours. Most impressive though is the fact that I conceded to going out on a Monday night during a week that I had a lot of homework - this is really an accomplishment! Those of you who know me will understand this... It also made me suddenly realize that I'm only here for 2.5 more months. That's a scary thought, I don't want to leave this place, and there is so much I haven't done yet!

And now for one final ramble about squash. Howe Cup - it's what we've been working toward since September. Physical training, mental preparation, nothing could have prepared me for the adrenaline of being there. 30 teams, 16 courts (including a really cool free-standing glass one), parents, and some of the best college players in the US made for an intense atmosphere. While I only won one of my matches, the whole experience was great. Some highlights: catching the ball from a match between the #1 from Trinity and Williams (Trinity is the #2 US women's team) - to which my teammate exclaimed "you touched greatness!", meeting a super-cool 8 year old who was the son of the Harvard coach - this kid had loads of personality and mad squash skills that put me to shame, watching a documentary on dinosaurs and the women's olympic figure skating final with a teammate and laughing the whole time, seeing my captin win one of the most prestigeous awards in women's college squash, being in Harvard square on Friday night in a sea of college students (I love Boston!), bonding with my teammates, and oh yeah - seeing a man walking around the squash courts with a Tim Horton's box!!!

When I got back on Sunday my mind was racing from the weekend. Really, who needs drugs? Just play sports and study hard - it will do the same thing to you.

I'd like to end with a little tribute to my teammates: I've never played on a team like this before, where I so fully enjoyed the friendship and company of my teammates. You made me laugh (a lot), you made me always feel welcome and wanted, you made me a better person and a stronger athlete. I learned from you; you exposed me to new ideas and different cultures. You made a good experience great, and I truly value the friendship that you've given me. I love you guys! And so without further adieu, Smith Squash 2005/2006 (photo credits go to my teammates).

One of our many post-match dinners at the campus center

Getting focused at Seven Sisters, Haverford

The infamous squash cake, made out of marzipan (that's supposed to be my coach after a tough match). Someone pointed out that this would be a good place to mention that every time we drove by the pond at Haverford, my coach would open the window and yell to the geese: "Heelllooo.. go Canada!"

Post-Smith Invitational antics - that's a Smith Tennis trophy from the early 1900's...

Getting coached up between games at Vassar invitatonal

Waiting at Vassar (above), and courts at the Murr Center at Harvard (below)

Accepting our non-trophy from the president of the College Squash Association

And a final, lighthearted goodbye to the season:)

Harvard Bound

2006-02-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Harvard tomorrow night for Howe Cup - the women's collegiate national squash championship. I'm just a little bit excited... we're seeded in Division D, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of the top teams play, and just spending the weekend on campus.

One thing I love about Smith is the random holidays. Take, for instance, Mountain day - the college president chooses a nice fall day upon which to ring the college bells, cancelling class so that students can enjoy the outdoors (my house went apple picking). Today was Rally Day - a chance for seniors to wear their hats and gowns, and for the rest of us, a day off.

After finishing some homework I thought it would be a good idea to graft the toe on the first of Nanny's socks, knit using Paton's Kroy. The yarn gave me some attitude while knitting, splitting and twisting like crazy. I'm not a fan of grafting, but how could things go wrong with Sally Melville's excellent instructions and diagram? Wishful thingking. I would like to blame the yarn for the sock saga that followed...

Things were going along well until I got to the point where I had to go back and tighten stitches. Apparently the yarn had split while grafting, which resulted in a bit of a mess. Then I saw the line of instructions that read: "Be very careful not to split the stitches, or it will be IMPOSSIBLE to go back and tighten."
The next 45 minutes was spent gritting my teeth trying to follow the yarn through the grafted stitches, a process not helped by the dark colors. Then I got the bright idea that, if I cut one of the plies of yarn, I could get around the split stitch. Yeah, good one Jess. I wound up with this:

Sigh. And many frustrating moments later, this:

A cute, sturdy ankle sock for the coolest grandmother ever (seriously, this woman wears Harry Potter toe socks). Just don't mind the messy looking toe. The sweater and Branching Out scarf were temporarily cast aside, as I discovered I could knit socks and read at the same time. Hooray for multitasking! And for that reason, socks may be all I knit for the next few weeks, judging by the large pile of homework looming in the corner...

Trivia

2006-02-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Jessica!

South Australia was the first place to allow Jessica to stand for parliament!
In Chinese, the sound 'Jessica' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
The Jessica-fighting market in the Philippines is huge - several thousand Jessica-fights take place there every day.
Apples are covered with a thin layer of Jessica.
Owls cannot move their eyes, because their eyeballs are shaped like Jessica.
There is no lead in a lead pencil - it is simply a stick of graphite mixed with Jessica and water!
Jessica can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated!
The Church of Scientology was founded in 1953, at Washington D.C., by Jessica.
Plato believed that the souls of melancholy people would be reincarnated into Jessica!
Grapes explode if you put them inside Jessica.

Jazz with Jess

2006-02-17T19:14:00.000-05:00

Woo hoo! I can't believe it! I've actually managed to get my own two hour radio show on campus. I've been excited about it all week, and now that it's actually materialized I'm a bit nervous. CBC After Hours always made me want to do a show... and now I can. Yikes. And, they gave me a good time slot, Friday nights from 6-8. I guess I'll have to do a good job. Tomorrow I have to attend a four hour training session, much needed as this is all new to me. Yay! I love it when I learn stuff in University that I never expected to...
No pictures tonight, but there might be a knitting and plant update after this weekend.

Terrific Tuesday

2006-02-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's already Tuesday. Ever since classes started the days have been whipping by... school continues to be interesting. Today I gave a presentation on a paper that reveiwed whether or not exercise has effects on cognitive function. I also found out that we might get to go to Boston to observe a Women in Sport learning cluster.

We had the weekend off from squash, which kindly allowed me to catch up on school work (and knit, of course). I started reading The Penelopiad, in which Margaret Atwood gives the narrative of Homer's Odyssey to the wife of the hero and her twelve slain maids. It's been a while since I've read Atwood, and her literary genius never ceases to impress me. Go Canada!

So, here's a knitting update: on Monday I mailed this to Memaire, hopefully it will keep her warm for the rest of the winter! For the grandmother who doesn't have to endure east coast climate, I've cast on a pair of ankle socks which will be for her birthday (photos on Friday).

I managed to get guage for the Vogue sweater and started on that as well. I think it will be a long-term project, as the twisted rib stitch doesn't seem to go very fast.

Well, I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day (thanks for the cards Mom and Dad, they make me smile) and enjoy the rest of the week.

Physics You Can See

2006-02-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

I wish they had let us play with oscilloscopes in first year physics. While I had a firm grasp on the theoretical concepts of electrical circuits, it makes so much more sense when you can see the current on the screen! Wednesday we got to play with resistors, capacitors and amplifiers in Neurophysiology lab. Totally cool. And today in Plant Systematics we read translations from the writings of the very first botanist, Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle. Not surprisingly he mixed superstition with science: if a woodpecker sees you cutting a peony, you will lose your eyesight and get prolapsus ani.

On other academic fronts, I'm really not motivated to do work right now. Maybe I shouldn't be panicked about this, because it's only two weeks into class. Maybe I feel this way because I have no immediate goals. I won't win any scholarships for what I do this year. My GPA doesn't transfer to MUN. I'm not looking for a new job or internship. Of course I have pride in my work and will always do a good job, but I've just stopped feeling obsessive about studying constantly. Any tips on how to overcome this? Will I burn in hell if I give myself some slack?

I am extremely motivated for squash however, but I could ramble on about that for days. My biggest acheivement of the week was figuring out how to fix the mistake I made while knitting this:

The "Branching Out" scarf from knittiy, in Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool. This is my first real lace project, destined to be mom's birthday present (it's ok, she knows about it). I'm forcing myself to read from the chart as a learning experience, instead of reading the words. However, I wasn't paying attention and started to knit wrong side rows on the right side, which resuled in several rows needing to be torn out.

I also wanted to knit a swatch for the Yoke Sweater from Vogue, until I realized that first I had to wind the 475yd hank of Cascade Eco Wool. By hand. I picked up the wool from Webs; it is environmentally friendly, and student budget friendly. Gee, it even smells natural. Well, it's almost Friday again, have a great weekend!

Getting Settled

2006-02-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

Having just returned from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, I am very thankful that Smith is located in Northampton. The tournament was good; although we lost, I probably had my best match of the season. Saturday night we went bowling at "HoeBowl" (the name obviously prompted many wisecracks, especially upon witnessing the local culture) with the men's team from Penn State. Unfortunatlely, I missed a match on Sunday because of injury and sickness. Ironically, I quit playing rugby because I was afraid of getting injured, and now I seem to have a chronic use type thing going on in my wrist. Then I had a scary thought - the month of Januray consisted of nothing but knitting and squash - what if I knit my way into a squash injury? Guilt....

This week was a snap back to reality. I forgot how hard it is to balance squash with school. I finally got my courses all settled away, so this is what I'm left with: Neurophysiology, Plant Physiology, Plant Systematics and Youth Sports. They all seem super interesting, and If on occasion I ramble about class content it's only because I find it exciting, and lack someone to share my nerdy enthusiasm.

The best part about starting a new semester is a trip to the bookstore, resulting in shiny new (or used) textbooks and two brand new yellow highliters:

And for some knitting content, I cast on a scarf upon completion of my socks. This is the third lacy scarf I've knit from Plymouth Yarn's Baby Alpaca Brush. I like this project because it's easy to pick up for a few minutes here and there, knits up quickly, and the yarn is incredibly soft. The scarf won't be for me (I'm not a pink person), so if there are any interested takers just let me know. Happy Monday!

Tea Parties and Great Big Sea

2006-01-31T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today was the second day of classes; it went alright for the most part. However, I dropped Health Psychology as fast as the instructor could say: "This course will be hellish if you don't like group work". Yes, those were her exact words. Sorry folks, but I work hard for my GPA and come close to having an anyeurism anytime a fellow student takes a crack at it. So, I have yet to finalize my courses. Luckily, my feet were happy while the rest of me suffered through Health Psych, because last night I finished these:

Socks knit using my standard sock pattern and Sheepjes Invicta Coloris yarn, which was a gift from Mom last Christmas. This is my favorite sock yarn, I love the colours and the way it knits up. And thanks to Marie, I now have two more balls waiting in line to be knit up.

One thing about Smith that has amused me is the prevalence of the tea party on campus. Houses have formal teas every Friday afternoon, to which faculty are sometimes invited. In addition, tea is something that is frequently used as a social get together among Smith women. Last Saturday, it was the girl across the hall's birthday, and I found myself in her room with six other girls drinking tea and eating chocolate, which she had brought back from her Christmas travels to Switzerland. Not your usual Saturday night dorm-room party...

I also talked to a girl who lives on my floor, and it turns out that her absolute favorite band is Great Big Sea. She is from New Jersey, and was quite enthralled that I go to school in Newfoundland (to Alan Doyle's alma mater no less), and have seen them in concert. It also turns out that Great Big Sea is coming to Northampton in April. She has tickets but can't go, so guess who gets to be the lucky beneficiary! Well, I have many course syllabi to go through tonight, so that I can decide what my future will entail...

Squashed

2006-01-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last night was awesome. Did I mention before how much I love my team? This weekend, we're hosting our invitational tournament, and our first match was last night against Middlebury College. While we lost, a great time was had by all - the match was followed by Thai food and good team fun. Sometimes I like to think of the random events that brought me here. It was luck that I wound up on the squash team, that I didn't know my way around the gym and accidentally walked in on the varsity team meeting. It was lucky that the team captain worked as a door checker at the music building, where she encouraged me to go out for the team every time I went to go practice.

Now, I'm hooked on a sport that I enjoy more than anything else I've tried. Maybe it's because squash is so new to me that I see progress every day, and it's gratifying. Maybe it's because I get to think and strategize while I play, or because it's a team sport with a strong individual componenet. I alone am responsible for what goes on in my match, yet get to have the support of a team. Mentally and physically gratifying, it also has a social aspect that I was never able to experience while in highschool.

Enough about squash. My five weeks of total brain vegetation will be coming to an end on Monday, when classes start. I'm more than ready, although this break was nice as it was the first I've really had since summer before last. I still have to finalize my course load, although it will include a Health Psychology course, as well as a few plant courses. I'm looking forward to those, because we get to work in the amazing plant conservatory here at Smith. Well, it's beautiful and warm outside, so I'm off to enjoy the weather before heading to a squash match. Have a great weekend!

Lyman Plant Conservatory, Smith College

Released from the Sweater

2006-01-25T17:57:00.000-05:00

The red cardigan has finally released me from its unruly grasp. Last night I hated the sweater. I was mad at the hours of plain knitting, the fact that I thought it wouldn't fit, that I couldn't figure out how to assemble the set-in sleeves, and that for some reason I just couldn't move on until it was finished.

Ooops. Perhaps it was just a little crankiness and fatigue that was making me see red. This morning, I magically had the ability to sew in the sleeves, and wow. It has to be one of the cooler things I've done! I like the way the sleeves look, and amazingly, the sweater fits me perfectly. There are still things I don't like about the pattern (namely the neckline and rolled edges/lack of button band), but it turned out better than I thought it would.

The patternd was the 38 " size "Must Have Cardigan" from Hip to Knit. I added waist shaping, as well as four inches in body length and one inch in sleeve length. The yarn is Valley Yarns' Berkshire in the color wine, slightly more than four balls (this makes for a very economical sweater, cheaper than store-bought). The pattern had some issues, and it's not the first time I've had difficulties with patterns in the book. I like the yarn, although the sweater is very heavy. However, I think it will be wearable. I did learn one thing from knitting this sweater: as much as I like how they look, knitting a plain sweater in a plain yarn may not be for me. Please throw me just a bit of texture, color, shaping, something to keep my mind engaged! Now I can move on to the next project (note the first season of ER, excellent side dish for many hours of knitting).

In other news, we had a "Raquetlon" today, instead of normal practice. This involves playing table tennis, badminton, raquet ball, and tennis doubles. Each game goes to 21 and the team with the most points after all four games wins. On the B side (middle of the ladder), we played introverts vs. extroverts. Despite the trash talking confidence of the extroverts, the two introverts pulled through for a win. That's right, slient but deadly. As my principal said during my high school graduation ceremony, "Be nice to nerds, because someday, they will rule the world".

Seven Sisters - An Adventure South

2006-01-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

Late last night, I returned to my cozy little dorm room after an exhausting and amusing team trip to a squash tournament in Pennsylvania. It was the annual Seven Sisters squash tournament, hosted by Haverford College. The Seven Sisters originated when the Ivy League schools were all male, and each had an affiliated women's college. Only five of the original colleges remain, three of which are still women's colleges (Smith, Wellesley, and Mt. Holyoke). I believe that Smith was Yale's sister school, although I am not certain.

One of my side motives for playing on the squash team is the travelling component - I love visiting universities. Having never been further south than Conneticut, the longish drive down was spent mostly gazing out the window. I got to see the Hudson river, along with lots of traffic! Haverford College was beautiful, as was Villanova University, which we passed by several times. I continue to be impressed by the American colleges I've visited, and the money that supports them.

Friday night we visited one of the largest malls in America. I normally hate malls, but this was an experience! I saw stores for things I've only read about, like Versace, Burberry... it was a little intimidating. I was accosted by a saleswoman who wanted to teach me how to "do my nails", when she saw they weren't fake. Even the food court was fancy!

Team events are always interesting as well - my teammates are wonderful, funny, talented people, and travelling with them exposes me to different aspects of university life. My two roomates decided to climb out the window onto the hotel roof, and systematically scare every person who came into our room. Unfortunately, our team was plagued by injuries and illness this weekend - after every pre-game high five, our team would run to wash our hands. I was playing at ladder position seven, which constantly challenges me. Needless to say, I lost all of my matches.

Saturday night we attended a banquet in the Great Founders Hall, where each team performed a short skit. Ours was a parody on a dating show, called "Next", which involved finding a date for one of the top squash players in the world (he's also Canadian!). Each contestant was from one of the sister colleges, and upon introducing them we played up the school's steryotype. For example: "Our next contestant is from Wellesley. She enjoys wearing pearls and bows in her hair, and recently broke up with her MIT boyfriend because she refused to get drunk." Or, " Our next contestant is from Smith. She drives a purple truck, loves Melissa Ethridge, and plays rugby..."

We returned safe, exhausted and sore (but only after getting lost in New Jersey). I love getting to see different states, but travelling always reminds me of Canada's beauty and how much I appreciate my home country.

Taking the leap

2006-01-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well, a sweater-in-progress that involves knitting miles of stockinette stitch has finally prompted me to set up a blog. It was my original intention to establish one at the beginning of the school year, in order to share my experience in the US with friends and family. I'm not sure if I want this to be a knitting blog, or one that encompasses all areas of my life. While I have certainly been inspired by the vast network of knitting bloggers, I think I want to also focus on other interests. So, here's to a wonderful, productive, interesting semester!

Beautiful St. John's, NL, Canada