Knitting Progress

I have been absent for a while but I thought I would post on my recent accomplishment. I just finished my first shawl! It is a very simple feather and fan pattern but I love it. I keep it at work for the nights that it gets really chilly in the building.

I started the shawl in December of 2007 but I let it languish for a long time because I just didn't like the circular needle that I was using. Of course, I didn't know that was why I wasn't working on it. However, as I have gotten more comfortable with my knitting and more in tune with which projects and supplies work for me and which don't, it occurred to me that I should try a different needle. Once I did that, the project just about finished itself. The colors are most accurate in the close-up but you can see more of the finished work in this picture (please forgive the harsh florescent lighting):

In more exciting news, it is officially baby season! Several friends and co-workers are having babies and I am just thrilled for all of them. It is a little weird when the highlight of my week is the fact that the McRib is back at McDonald's and the highlight for some of my friends is announcing their pregnancy. It is the life I choose but still, sometimes it strikes me as a little odd.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world. Until next time...

Vacation Wrap-up...The Roadtrip

Many adventures were had with my friend K on an epic roadtrip to New York City. We saw a lot of the Pennsylvania back country on the way out so she could stop by and see a friend in Altoona and we learned that in Pennsylvania, the signs lie. Where was that Wendy's again? Um...we never found the Wendy's and ended up eating at a Burger King that evidently specializes in after-dinner dug consumption in the bathroom. So...I would recommend skipping Mt. Pocono unless you are looking for a very specific type of dining adventure. We did see some fun road dots that seem to be specific to the state...white dots in the road to help you remember the 2 second rule while driving...Pennsylvania is definitely anti-tailgating. Also, they would like you to know that bridges may be icy.

After a detour through an area that looked pretty sketchy in the dark (thanks for the bogus directions Mapquest) we managed to make it to the hotel in Jersey City that served as home base for New York City adventure. The next day we headed into the city and did some people watching and Statue of Liberty gazing. It was unseasonably warm in the city and the wait for a ferry off of Ellis Island in the blazing sun made for a bit of a grind but all was forgiven once we made it to John's on 12th Street. The best lasagna and dessert that I have had in a while. I highly recommend it if you are in the city and I can get you there like a real New Yorker thanks to K's excellent cabbie instruction. Just say "I need 12th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue" and you will be whisked away to delicious food.

Overall, great ending to my vacation. I would highly recommend the roadtrip with a friend especially a friend that you haven't seen in far too long. And thanks to K's indulgence, I managed to get three states that I had never visited crossed off my list of 50 states. So goodbye Pennsylviana, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Yep, thanks to a Wendy's Kids Meal in Triadelphia...West Virginia is off the list. Not to mention, Wisconsin was crossed off during the unblogged about trip to Madision...so four states during this two week vacation!

So tell me, are you a roadtrip fan? Do you care about seeing all 50 states? Is there a method to your vacation madness?

Vacation part one

On Wednesday I went on the first part of my three-part vacation. Yes, three parts may be a bit of an overkill but I figure that it makes up for all the times that I take a vacation and don't do anything other than sit at home. I headed over to Indy for a few days and got to spend a little time with some friends. I also got a little shopping done since there is no local Sephora or Aveda. I was going to head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art on Friday but I wasn't feeling well when I woke up so I just headed home instead. I was pretty disappointed since I was really looking forward to seeing the special exhibition on European design that is at the museum right now.
Obviously, the highlight of my trip was spending time with Brett & Denisa and their fabulous kids. It always amazes me how much kids change in a few months. The boys have gotten so big and their personalities are out in full force. Jesse is quite the little performer and I was very fortunate to be on the receiving end of a goodnight hug and kiss. Jesse is very verbal and even though I had some trouble understanding everything he said...I can tell you that he is one smart cookie. No...I'm not being biased...well, maybe a little but I'm telling you he is smart! Jonah is much more serious and reserved so when he smiled or laughed it was great...I felt like I really earned it. He is still fairly young so I wonder how much he will change or if he will remain a little more reserved than his brother.Tomorrow I leave for the second part of my vacation...Madision, WI...so if anyone has any vacation ideas for Madision, feel free to post them in the comments.

I don't think it will be long enough for help to arrive...

I could survive for 1 minute, 9 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

Who doesn't love a care package?

I know that I loved getting care packages in college: it made me feel connected to home which sometimes felt very far away and I was only in the neighboring state, not half a world away. So today I spent a couple of hours helping put together care packages for a local organization, Toys-for-Troops to send a little love and support from home to those who are serving our country overseas.



A little bit of everything went into each care package: t-shirt, socks, playing cards, letters from little kids, DVDs, beef jerky, candy, toothpaste, soap, granola bars, snack mix, homemade cookies, hand sanitizer, bandages, and silly putty to name a few. We wrapped the big stuff and the smaller stuff went in as is. Here are some of the DVDs that I wrapped...there were at least 150 DVDs so I grabbed a quick photo of a few while I was wrapping.



Here is part of the line of boxes that we filled. They are the military flat rate boxes and they look small but you can jam a lot of stuff in them!



Honestly, the biggest challenge of the days was trying to avoid the news cameras that were there to collect footage. I turned down two requests to be interviewed on camera...um, no thanks! There is a reason why I am the person who takes the pictures...so I can avoid being in the pictures! I did agree to answer a couple of questions for the man from The News-Gazette as I have a soft spot for print journalism from my time working at The Daily News when I was in college. I was not the most coherent so thankfully I don't think I will end up in the article.

If you want to help this organization, it isn't too late. If you go the the website, you can still submit a donation to help cover postage.

'Tis the season

In my family, December has always been the time of year that we actively do something charitable. We give money to various causes throughout the year but in December we like to be a little more hands on with our giving: putting together food baskets, adopting a family for the holidays or buying gifts for kids who are wards of the state. This year my mom got two names off the DCFS tree at her workplace and tonight we went shopping and bought presents for a 17 year old (who wanted items for her baby) and a newborn. I think my mom always picks babies to buy for because she has no grandchildren and won't be getting any grandchildren anytime soon! In addition, I purchased some items for the Crisis Nursery which is a privately funded local organization that provides 24-7 emergency help and respite care for families.

As some of you may know, for several years I have been trying to convince my parents that I don't need presents during the holiday season. I have suggested they give the money to charity in my name or buy things for a charity instead of getting me something but every year I get shot down. They are my parents and they want to get me gifts. This usually leads to a feeling of guilt during the holidays. I am very fortunate and I don't really have any needs, just wants and I feel bad when I get more stuff every year. So this year I finally came up with a win-win solution and I talked with my mom and she agreed to go with it. My parents will be buying me yarn so they can give me something (which makes them happy) and I will use the yarn to knit for charity (which makes me happy). I think that most of the items that I make will go to Warm Woolies, an organization sends wool clothing to children in need all over the world.

I am interested in hearing what you do to support charities around the holidays. Do you do something new every year or do you have a charity or two that you always? I am sure there are lots of great organizations that I don't know about and lots of creative ways to help that I haven't thought of so please leave a comment and educate me!

Unoriginal Me

I have been in the hat making mood lately because hats are in need due to the winter weather we have been experiencing and because hats are a quick knit that keep me motivated by allowing me to feel super productive. I broke down and made the Yarn Harlot's An Unoriginal Hat (ravelry link -- if you don't have ravelry there is a link to the pattern pdf on the Yarn Harlot's blog) which I know has been made by eleventy billion other people but this hat is cute so I joined the rest of the lemmings and took the unoriginal plunge. Here is a picture...of course, since it isn't on a head, it looks kind of deflated and you can't get the full beauty of the cable work but I don't have a hat form and I didn't want to model the hat myself so this will have to do.



In fact, I liked the first one I made so much, I made another. I was able to get two hats out of one skein...but just barely. There was about 4 inches of yarn left when I was done pulling the stitches tight on the top of the second hat.



I think these hats might be a wee bit addicting to anyone who has a fondness for cables. I am planning on sending these two hats to the local homeless shelter as I am sure that someone there needs a hat to warm his head.