Of Family and Photographs

My grandmother passed away. And I am sad. In moments, it feels like it happened just a few seconds ago, and in others, it feels like it has been years. Really, it has been three weeks. Part of me isn't sure how the whole world didn't crack the moment it happened. I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that that I will never hear one of her stories again. So I find solace in my knitting, and try to think of what must come next in life.

I am still playing with my camera. I was trying to find the right time of day to catch the fall colors I wanted to. After a couple of cloudy days, I think I caught it.







Last weekend, a friend and I went into Old Town Alexandria expressly with the purpose of visiting the yarn store, fibre space. My expectations were very high, and rarely does a place actually ever meet those expectations, but this place did. Not only did it carry my favorite brands, the atmosphere was everything you expect out of a well-run store. Friendly, knowledgeable staff and a great selection of patterns. I am very much looking forward to going again. While in Old Town, we also grabbed lunch at a nice Italian restaurant and an antique store (B&W Art, Antiques & Jewelry), which specialized in vintage jewelry.

One of my finds at the stores was a skein of Malabrigo Rasta in Arco Iris. I did a twisted drop stitch scarf, unsurprisingly called Instant Gratification.





I have knit two more since this one...each only takes about an hour of dedicated knitting, which makes for an easy Christmas gift. I am not as happy with the pictures I took of this scarf. I am still having trouble with my angles and lighting inside. Maybe once I move and have a little bit more space to operate in that might change. Still no luck finding an apartment though; I didn't realize it would be so difficult to find a decent place. I will be setting out again this week to visit some apartment communities. Huzzah. I am going to do my best to resist early pessimism and withhold any judgment until I actually see the places.

Wish me luck..

Not really here...

I haven't been much of a blogger recently....mostly because I haven't been much of a talker recently. There is a good reason, but not one I am interested in talking about.

Since I last posted, I have gone to Otakon in Baltimore. It was a lot of fun, and I was in good company. However, a fire alarm at the convention center and the subsequent evacuation kind of pushed me to the edge on the stress level. After some sleep though, I was happy.

I also went to see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center, which was fantastic in a thousand different ways. And again, I was in good company, which made it even better. (The only disappointment is that I will never EVER win a game of Yellow Car.)

I have been apartment hunting. The search could be going better, but I will find something eventually.

I am still knitting along, and playing with my new camera.

Pictures with the new camera:







I still need to work on figuring out the lighting and all of the camera features...

Here are some pictures of recently finished knitting projects (photos taken with the old camera). Links are to Ravelry (no membership required to view).

Kerchief started at Otakon.


A hat using some leftover yarns.


Another hat with some interesting construction.


I also managed to practice some of my crochet skills with flowers. I still need a lot of practice, but I can at least do more than chain now.

Flowers for Grandma.

Two Sad Days

Two years ago, when I moved from a decent sized apartment to a tiny room in a townhouse I rented with two other people, I had to downsize my book collection. The first time was frustrating. I was a little sad, and pretty annoyed that I had to give up so many. All of my books except for those for class were stored in boxes in a tiny closet. Gearing up for a move now, I recognize that I still just have too many books that I will never read or read again. Most of my belongings are currently stored in plastic bins in a basement (yay...), so I need to go through them primarily to assess what I need to get when I move and how it all should be stored. The first victims of the purge are my books. I slimmed down a double stacked bookshelf and four boxes of books down to a proper bookshelf and three boxes. And I was sad. I am not typically a sentimental person, but I found myself looking at the copy of The Call of the Wild, or a copy of The Civil War (Julius Caesar), and remembering the first time I read them, and the good days associated with them. Sentimental value or not, they books can't stay. There just isn't room. Next up will be kitchen supplies. They will be MUCH easier to go through. You can only miss crappy college kitchenware so much. And I am looking forward to upgrading.

NOW. On to the knitting. First up is The Eleventh Hour Scarf [Ravelry Link]. I held some Rowan Big Wool doubled throughout on US 35 [19.0mm] needles. I will probably not use this yarn again. In 87 yards of one skein, I found 4 knots. Knitting on the huge needles was weird. My broomstick was across the room giving me the evil eye the entire time. Jealousy is not a pretty thing.



Next up is another Odessa [Ravelry Link]. Knit in Malabrigo Silky Merino on US 5 [3.75mm] and US 7 [4.5mm] needles. Used size 6 seed beads, strung graciously by Elizabeth.

My hair is still wet from the shower in the first picture...







Still not sure about the new blog name. Waiting for inspiration to strike.