Home again!

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but lo and behold, here I am once again in my dear hometown of Melbourne. Hmm, that sounds more dismal than it should. Actually, I'm very happy to be home - I love Melbourne dearly, and though I (obviously) adore travel and do it as prolifically as I can afford to, the places that I've been where I would be happy to live can probably be counted on one hand, and I don't honestly think that any of them can compare to my current place of residence. I wouldn't rule out longer trips, or even extended stays elsewhere, but I can't help but suspect that Melbourne will always be my home. I do love it so - it's a wonderful place to live.

Anyway, enough of that waffle - I'm now going to subject you all to a different kind of waffle: what I did in the latter third of my trip!




On July 5th we shoe-horned ourselves out of bed painfully early and made our way to the airport, and by mid-morning found ourselves in New Orleans. I honestly think that of all of the places that I visited on this trip, New Orleans was my favourite - it's beautiful, has so much character, and a really great vibe to it. Also, when I compared to some of the other places I'd already visited, it really drove home to me again just how diverse a nation the US is - New Orleans and Boston are very different places!

Unfortunately we only had a few days to stay, but we packed as much into our days as was humanly possible. Of course, we started by wandering around the French Quarter and seeing the sights there. We also met up with the very lovely Cadence, who was awesome enough to meet up with us and show us around to a few places (thanks again!). One of the places we went was The Quarter Stitch, a yarn shop in the French Quarter. I bought some lovely yarn there, which is not particularly surprising, but what was surprising was how beautifully our purchases were wrapped up for us. Alas, I don't have a photo that entirely does it justice, as by the time this shot was taken the poor package had been squished into my pack for over a week, but to give you a rough idea:



Why yes, those are ribbons, and those pink things on the left are cut-out tissue paper hearts inside the bag. I saved the tag, and it now has its own little place on the wall next to my desk. Yarn shopping aside, over the next few days we wandered far and wide through a couple of other areas of the city, ate gumbo and beignets, and did a tour of some nearby swamps (alligators!).




On Thursday it was off the airport again, and by mid morning we were in Houston. We had a poke around the Space Centre, and then went out for delicious tex-mex and margaritas in the evening. The next day it was off to San Antonio. We saw the Alamo, so now I can remember it (sorry, lame joke I know...)!




The next day we looked at some of the missions in the San Antonio area, and then went tubing on the Guadalupe River. Tubing was tremendous fun (how can you really go wrong with floating down a river, drinking beer and nibbling on fruit and snacks), though things did take a turn for the somewhat dangerous near the end - I collided with a girl stuck against a tree, was thrown from my tube, and got my foot stuck in some underwater tree roots, which had the unfortunate effect of making it rather difficult to come up to the surface for air. Thankfully I got free quickly - once again, I'm so thankful for being a strong swimmer. So that was some excitement at least!

The next day we packed up and headed back to Houston, where I was equipped with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and turned loose at the airport. I sat through four (yes, four) flights, and then, some enormous number of hours later, found myself back in a rather wintry Melbourne.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. I got to meet some wonderful people and see some amazing places - I know this is getting repetitive, and I'm beginning to run out of positive adjectives, but long story short, I count myself extraordinarily lucky that I was able to have some of these experiences, and I definitely left a lot of places thinking 'Wow, I have to come back here...' The wanderlust, it is strong in this one.

As for the yarn I acquired along the way, and the knitting I did on the road; I'm allocating them separate blog posts, because I don't want to weigh too heavily on everybody's attention spans, but hopefully they'll be up soon enough. So now all that's left to do is go and finish unpacking, and to say thanks again to everyone who I got to catch up with (especially Rebecca, who drove me countless places and never strangled me, despite my irritating tendency to talk to inanimate objects). Thanks again everyone - should you ever find yourselves in Melbourne and need a couch, a tour-guide, or a personal baker, you know who to call on!

Posting from the US: North Carolina edition!

Greetings all! I am officially still alive, and haven't been swallowed up into the pit of travel oblivion. Right now I am in the abode of the lovely Rebecca, resting after a spot of baking. Oh, and it's the 4th of July, which is a complete novelty to someone not from America, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the day holds. But first, a (brief!) outline of what I've been up to.




Alas, my experiences in New York City were not what they could have been. I believe I mentioned in the last post that I was experiencing blisters? Well, they only got worse, until it finally got to the point where one got kind of infected, and I actually couldn't walk more than a block or so. If that wasn't fun enough, I also managed to come down with a very lovely case of strep throat (which eventually meant a trip to the doctor, something I had very much been hoping to avoid, as I am a spoiled - and obviously not insured in this country - Aussie who is used to free health care). Still, what are you going to do? Not much, really. I did my best to enjoy what I could of NYC. On the day I couldn't walk, I took the subway down to the Staten Island ferry and rode that around for a little bit. On my last day I went out to see the Chelsea Market and the Highline Park (pictured above), as these were two things I'd had my heart set on, and they were a short train ride from my hostel. Alas, I didn't get to do museums, or even see as much of Central Park as I wanted to, but these things happen I suppose. Guess I'll just have to come back!




After NYC, I made my (feverish) way to Washington DC, where Rebecca finally carted me off to the doctor and supplied with antibiotics (and man, was I grateful). The next few days were spent convalescing and staggering my way feebly around the Smithsonian museums and the Botantical Garden, but by the weekend I was well enough to take in some of the sights properly. We were there during the Smithsonian International Folklife Festival, which was fun, and we got to see some traditional dancing, cooking, and even spinning (which was exciting to two fibre nerds like us). We also checked out the American History Museum and the Holocaust Museum. The thing is however that I don't tend to take many pictures in museums - I've never really seen the point. You can find a much better picture of a triceratops skeleton by Googling it, after all. So above is a picture of the DC subway system, which I thought was super cool and vaguely reminiscent of the sets of 1970s/80s British science fiction shows.

Oh, and we went kayaking on the Potomac, which was as awesome as you'd expect.




After DC it was off to North Carolina and then to the Smoky Mountains National Park, which was just as awesome as I'd hoped. We camped and hiked our arses off - we did over 20 miles in the three days we were there, which is none too shabby considering I'd been feverish and virtually unable to walk only a little over a week earlier.




I took a whole pile of photos, but all you really need to know is that the mountains are completely gorgeous. Go see if you don't believe me. We even hiked a small part of the Appalachian Trail, which was completely awesome. And, as you can see, I did not get eaten by bears. I didn't even see one, and I'm still not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed about this.

Anyway, so now we're back in North Carolina. We went to the baseball last night. Baseball! Can officially say it's more interesting than cricket! And then tomorrow it's off to New Orleans for a few days, and then to Texas for the last leg of the trip. Can't wait!

Oh, yeah, and I've knitted stuff too. I promise! I'm still going on my shawl, but I've finished two other pieces - I'm just too lazy to take their picture, or rather, I've been saving my camera battery for things like the Smoky Mountains!

And apologies to all of you whose blogs I haven't commented on in a while - there's just too many other things to do here, but I'll catch up when I get home, I promise!

Holiday: Part One

Well, the wireless gods are kind, so I get to update my blog! Greetings from NYC, faithful readers!


Disclaimer: This is probably not how New York City looks all of the time. This was the Coney Island Mermaid Parade...

The trip has awesome so far! It was a very long 24 hours getting to the States, but get there I did. Boston was lovely - a really nice place. It was a good way to start off the trip, I think, as the temperature wasn't too crazy-warm, and it's a similar size to Melbourne. So I got to adjust at a nice rate. I saw lots of things in the time that I was there - probably too many, as I seem to have crippled my feet something awful, which is not enhancing my NYC experience so far. Still, it's hard to feel too regretful about it.




Boston Common is so pretty. I also did the Freedom Trail walk, climbed the Bunker Hill monument, had a quick stint on the USS Constitution, wandered around the Fens, went to the Museum of Fine Art, sauntered around North End, ate chowder and sweets from Modern Pastry (as instructed!), squizzed at Harvard, and went to the Natural History Museum. I also met up with some lovely knitter type people and got taken to a gorgeous little local yarn shop. Not bad for only three days, right? The weather was gorgeous the entire time I was there too - sunny, with a nice breeze. And I loved the Boston subway system - so much clearer and better than Melbourne's trains (not that that is particularly difficult most of the time *grumble*)

On Friday it was time to head south. I was sad to leave, but the upside was that thanks to the assistance of a few generous knitting friends, I was escorted to WEBS on the way down. WEBS! I was a little overwhelmed at first, given it's probably at least five times the size of any yarn shop we have in Australia... but I got over it fairly quickly and got stuck in. It was great - and Northampton was a really lovely town as well.

After getting a generous ride down to New Haven, I plonked myself on the commuter train to NYC. I was really tired by the time I got there, so it was a little overwhelming at first, but once I'd found my hostel, dumped my bags and foraged for some food, I felt a lot better.

I had a very pleasant sleep in on my first day and then travelled down to Brooklyn to attend the aforementioned Mermaid Parade, though not before being fed bagels (real New York bagels - squee!) and mimosa by a friend. The parade itself was good fun - lots of outlandish costumes and floats, with a lot of commentary on the BP oil spill (somewhat unsurprisingly, I suppose).

I think this is my favourite picture, even though it isn't of a mermaid:



Today was a bit more low key, as my feet were sore and it was rather hot. But I got to walk around the Midtown area a bit (including around The Strand Bookstore, which was as awesome as you'd expect), and in the late afternoon I checked out part of Central Park, which was absolutely lovely.

Two more days in New York, and then it's down to DC! Whew!

Knitting has been slow, because I've been doing so much walking, but I am doing some (and not just hoarding yarn from WEBS). I cast on for an Annis shawl, and then promptly made a mess of the fifth row and had to begin again. But the second version is coming along. I also cast on for a second Wisp, as I wanted to have a mindless project that I could work on while chatting.

And that's about all I've got for the moment. I'm having a great time - if only my feet would heal up, it would be hard for this trip to have been any better so far!

A Shrug and an Adventure

Whew! Essays are now officially finished! It nearly annihilated my brain - just the sheer stress of having them all due on consecutive days - but they're done now, so can turn my attention to more enjoyable things! Like long neglected shrugs!




You are looking at: The Kypria Shrug Without a Name, designed by yours truly. It's knitted from Sanguine Gryphon Kypria in 'The Deep Bosomed Earth' and Sundara Sock in 'Brambleberry' on 4.5mm needles.

Anna says: I am mostly happy with how this one came out. The yarns are really lovely, and I'm pretty keen on the way that the colours work together.




For all those playing along at home, this is just a basic top-down raglan, except without the front part. I wanted to make something really light, loose and drapey that I could just throw over my shoulders when it was slightly too cool for just a singlet. Kypria has a lovely drape at this gauge, so that part definitely worked out well. Honestly, it's a little bit too large for me, but thankfully this is the kind of garment where that doesn't matter a whole lot. It slips off of my shoulders occasionally, but that's okay.




One other thing: I'm not sure it was the best idea to try and do a picot cast off on the sleeves. The loose gauge makes it look kind of weird. Still, you live and learn, don't you? I like that I still make mistakes to learn from.

The other, more obvious thing that I'm turning my mind to now that essays are done is travelling! I'm off tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Bright and early. It's going to be a hatefully long day: I get on the plane in Melbourne at 11am, and then it's a 15 hour flight to get to LA, at which point it's morning again. And then I hop on another plane to Boston and get there late in the evening. Urgh. But I'm still completely psyched! I have so many awesome plans, and hopefully plenty of awesome spur-of-the-moment things to look forward to as well. I just wish I had time to do more, and see more people while I'm there.

On the note of travelling, there might be blog silence for a while. I'm going to try and update while I'm away, but that will obviously depend on the internet gods smiling on me at the right time, and I am a big believer in Murphy's Law. But I'll try. Until then, take care all, and wish me a happy trip!

Open Minded Knitting

Yes, I'm still alive. Essays haven't destroyed me yet. And unsurprisingly, the forces of procrastination have seen me get a surprising amount of knitting done. I even tackled a mini scarf - a species of knitwear that I've always been profoundly skeptical about. I always thought cowls and neckwarmers and scarflettes to be something that I'd never really wear, for all that they looked seductively quick and easy to make when compared with normal length scarves. But then I saw the Bainbridge Scarf and it was just too cute to resist. I made it, and found that it definitely pays to be open-minded about what patterns you think you are "into", because I am very happy with the result.




Pattern: Bainbridge Scarf, by MintyFresh, made from Louisa Harding Grace (50/50 wool and silk blend), on 3.75mm needles.

The extended rambling: This is a really cute pattern! I modified (as some other Ravellers have done) it to have i-cord ties with leaves on the end, but the original pattern is just as lovely, and a little less precious looking. It was a fast knit too - I think I took about a week and a half to finish it, but you could do it in two days if you were pressed for time (and this would make a dreadfully cute gift). I have every intention of making more of these. I'm thinking perhaps with a couple of different variations on the ties, perhaps in red or gray... *muses*

I loved the yarn as well. I bought it last year, was gobsmacked by its gorgeousness, and then foolishly tried to turn it into a beret, a beret that ended up looking far too much like a showercap for me to be happy with it. So I frogged the misbegotten hat, and the poor yarn languished in a drawer until I picked it up for this. It's lovely though - the softness and sheen are amazing, and I would love to work with it again.




This pleasant little diversion having concluded, I am now back to working on that raglan shrug I've had going for the last while. It's nearing completion though - with a bit of luck, I might even knock it on the head this evening. I'm quite happy with how it's coming along, although if I make it again, I'll definitely make some alterations (note to self: picot bind offs and loose gauge are not good bedfellows).

When I'm not knitting, I'm fish gazing (I have guppies now, and they are cute as hell), essay writing, or travel planning. Particularly the latter: I'm off in a little over a week! This is terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I'm looking forward to it, obviously, but I've also never travelled overseas on my own before, so I'm a little nervous. Still, I am firmly of the opinion that it's does you good to push out of your comfort zone from time to time. Plus, my younger brother visited New York on his own last year, and if he can do it and not manage to drown or get eaten by squirrels, then surely I can too!

My rough itinerary is as follows: I'm spending some time in Boston, and then heading south to New York for a few days. Then it's down to Washington DC, where I'm meeting up with Rebecca (as made famous by last year's trip to Tasmania). Then we're heading back to her neck of the woods for some national park adventures (ignorant Australian that I am, I'm firmly convinced that I will be eaten by bears). I'll get to be in the US for the 4th of July - this will definitely be an experience, as nobody here really gets too excited about Australia Day (our closest equivalent).

After we're done letting off fireworks, drinking beer, or whatever else it is that you do on July 4th (hey, I'm sure I'll be educated), we're heading down to New Orleans for a bit (to hell with oil spills!), and then on to Texas. Then a very tired Anna will clamber back aboard a plane and head back to Melbourne, having effectively dodged nearly a month of vile winter weather. Win!

Hopefully I'll squeeze in at least another blog post before I leave though. After all, I have essays to write, so procrastination will definitely occur - I just have to channel it into blog form!

Tea Leaves: Not Just for Teapots!

Happy weekend everyone! I'm pretty tired - I spent last night baking 60 blue and yellow iced cupcakes for a fundraiser at work. However, bearing in mind the promise that I made last post regarding more knitting and less food, I did not take pictures. Perhaps I'll take a few shots of the second batch. And following up on the other half of that promise, I give you the (finally completed) Tea Leaves Cardigan!




What, this old thing? This is: The Tea Leaves Cardigan, by Melissa LaBarre, in Dream in Color Classy (November Muse), knitted on 4.5mm needles.

Anna says: Wow, this felt like it took forever, especially since I normally burn through patterns with this much stocking stitch! But I'm rather happy with how it came out. I had a few reservations about the pattern and yarn choice: I don't wear a lot of brown, I'm not convinced about these buttoned-at-the-top, loose-at-the-bottom cardigans that are so in at the moment, and so on. But all that aside, I quite like the finished product, and I've already worn it out and about!

The pattern was very well put together. I made a few modifications, but not many: I shortened the body a little bit (hip length things don't tend to be particularly flattering on me), and made the garter stitch band at the bottom a little narrower. I had heard people saying that the upper arms were a little snug, so I picked up two extra stitches at the arm hole, and did not do any decreases while working the sleeves. I made them 3/4 length, and once again, I made the garter stitch bands a little narrower.

The yarn is just lovely - but we we all know I have a bit of a thing for Dream in Color (jeez, I'm never sure whether to write 'colour' with the 'u' as we normally would down here, or without because it's a brand name... *gripe*). There wasn't that much variation between the skeins, thankfully. One was a little darker, so when I was working the sleeves I alternated it with one of the lighter balls, and there's no pooling to speak of in the end product. For some reason, one of the other skeins decided to break a lot, which was a little disappointing (and made for a lot of ends to weave in), but I've never had this problem with DiC before, so hopefully it was a one off.




See that? That's the yoke that felt like it took forever! Worth it though - I really like how the gathered pattern looks in the semi solid yarn. I even managed to work a semi decent button band - I'm gradually conquering my phobia of picking up stitches!


Okay, now that I've discharged my knitting-update duties, I can talk about other things! This morning I staggered out of cupcake servitude and made my way to the Handknitters' Guild Wool Show in Brunswick. I saw lots of lovely Ravelry people, and had a good chat with many of them. I went home earlier than I was expecting to in the end, as I wasn't feeling very well, but not before picking up a few lovely, lovely bits and pieces from lovely local spinners/dyers like Ixchel (angora! Whee!), Ms Gusset, and a couple of others.

It was a crafty week in general actually. On Tuesday it was a good friend's birthday, so she came around and we tried our hand at making candles! We started small - just little beeswax tea lights - and they came out beautifully. They have a lovely subtle honey smell when you burn them. I've also been sewing lots of rice packs (as in the kind that you heat and then apply to aches and pains). They're quick and easy, but rather satisfying. I made one for a friend with lavender in it, and another for myself with chamomile flowers.




So, the above depicts my week in craft! Rice pack and candles in the middle, some lovely acquisitions from today at the sides. Okay, fine, there were a couple more acquisitions at the wool show, but they're a secret for the next few weeks *is mysterious*.

And now I'd probably better try and be a good student and get some of my essay done before I renew my assault on Mt Cupcake. Wish me luck!

Food and Hats: Both Good Things!

Life is going on, and alas, I am no less busy. But it's a good kind of busy - the kind where you feel like you're getting somewhere, where none of the tasks are loathsome, and where at least you have time to stop and pause once in a while, even if it's not for very long (just long enough to read a few chapters or eat some cake or knit a few rows).


Anyway, to business! First off, here's the hat I knitted for my brother:



Specifics: Pattern is Turn a Square, by Jared Flood. Yarn used was Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12ply in 'Redcurrant' and Cleckheaton Merino Supreme (black). I used 5.5mm double pointed needles.

Comments? This is a great pattern. Followed unaltered it makes a rather nifty, very wearable hat, and it also provides a useful template to work from when you want to do something a little bit different. This is the second time I've made it, and both times I actually ended up using a different weight of yarn, but it's a great starting point, and very easy to adapt. This time around I decided to do some colourwork instead of stripes (my brother already has a stripey hat), so I just made up a very, very basic red/black chequered pattern (didn't bother drawing up a chart or anything - it's not like you really need to with something this basic!).

I managed to make the entire thing in a day without having to stress about it too much - the heavier yarn makes it a very fast knit, and the colour stranding doesn't slow you down too much since you don't have to be forever consulting a chart. Brother seemed quite happy with it, so I'm calling it a successful project!

My other knitting is coming along well. I have high hopes of finally finishing the Tea Leaves cardigan today, so stay tuned for that one in the next few days. I also started a cute little mini-neckwarmer in the lovely Louisa Harding yarn that I found squirreled away in a bedside table drawer.

Still, the last few days have really belonged to essays, work, and kitchen!



On Saturday night I made baked felafel, and then proceeded to eat nearly the entire batch, dipping them in Greek yoghurt and hummus as I shovelled them down. Even though the ingredients are pretty humble, they are really, really good, and I foresee many more batches in my future! Possibly starting tonight... And for all those omnivores out there who never know what to cook when they have to entertain vegetarian/vegan friends, I strong suggest these - they're very easy.

I also made the cupcakes to end all cupcakes. It was a coworker's last shift on Sunday, and she had requested something chocolatey. So, I complied... and then some.



The base was Nigella Lawson's chocolate cupcake recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess (amazing book - I have made so many wonderful things from her recipes). Some are iced with basic chocolate butter-cream and topped with a Malteaser, and the others have a cookies and cream icing (made by folding roughly chopped Oreos into vanilla butter-cream) and are decorated with an Oreo quarter. They were actually very easy to make, despite the fact that they look pleasingly fancy. I got out my piping bag. I love my piping bag.

More knitting and less food next post, I promise!