Yankees Logo Chart!

Whew, I have not updated this in FOREVER. I can't believe I've gone the entire summer without blogging about the bees!

Anyway, to business:



Enjoy!

Well, here's a story for ya...

I went to Chicago last week! It was such a blast! We stayed in the city for a day before driving down to U of I for some investigation.

Here's the story: I don't see big buildings that often. Therefore I spent a substantial amount of time looking at them on the drive to the Airport (JFK). Every building I looked up at sort of made me think of the building(s) on the cover of the Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - probably because of the angle. The cover looks like this:


The airport control tower particularly made me think of these buildings - since it was rounded. and had edges. Every building I saw - even those completely incomparable in shape - had to be compared to the fuzzy mental image in my brain.

So... of course. After the plane and car journey to our place of lodging in the city - what do we pass? Yeah. We pass THIS - YES! THIS:

The moment I saw it I freaked out. It was totally, TOTALLY the one I kept thinking about. I had no prior knowledge about these buildings and had no idea that Wilco was first based in Chicago.

Isn't that just freakin' weird?


And of course... as I'm writing this, a song from the album starts playing...

I LOVE coincidences.

A Resolution

As a blogger, I suppose I face a lot of meaningless little decisions. These are the considerations that often push me to write out a compelling and well-formed entry, only to feel a need to start over and rethink, which usually ends with me closing my browser and finding something better to do. How much of my life do I really want to share with a random, humble public? How many pictures of knitting are too many pictures of knitting? What will actually make a web address worth visiting regularly?

Stitchery and plants are not my only passions. Those may be the grounds of a "fulfilling" domestic life, but please believe me when I say there is much more to me than that. I enjoy art in all forms, particularly in how it can communicate the complexities that one-dimensional speech cannot.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Grace: Amateur Film Scholar/Enthusiast.

Although my proficiency with the many, many levels of film history and culture are limited (I am only 17, afterall), I've spent long hours plopped in front of the Turner Classic Movies station, honing in on token actors, directors, screen writers, themes, genres - how films are affected by historical circumstances, the comparisons between foreign and domestically produced films, the journeys that actors and directors take throughout their career. I love it. And despite how so very unrelated to my chosen career path it may be, I expect that film will always be a huge part of my life.

So that's my plan. Weekly UFO and FO updates are all right and good. But on top of that, I will watch movies. And I will blog about them.

More to come.

Today's Sandwich:



2 slices whole wheat bread
Vegetable hommus (Cedar's brand? I think?) I like it - you can see huge chunks of tomato in it.
Chopped green onion
Pea shoots
Pine nuts
Cashews

It was very satisfying - the only thing I didn't like about it was the bread! I should investigate a different bread to buy... or perhaps I could try toasting it first. There's a ton of stuff I could try.



I learned magic loop sock knitting! These are Soybean Socks by Christabel Seneque, who has several lovely sock patterns. They're for a KAL with the Vegan Sock group.
Magic loop is pretty damn fast! I think I'm all caught on.



I bought the needles and yarn for this sweater pattern (Arbor by Melissa Burt) my freshman year (3-4 years ago)! I've started and frogged it at least twice, but this time it's chugging easily. I guess the biggest problem was that I got bored with the stitch pattern, but my improvements in speed and obedience have made it possible. It's a really neat design - I can't wait to finish it!




A lot of my friends have been home from college these past few weeks - including my brother. He turns 19 today. Happy birthday, Ben!




I love winter.

Holiday Wrap-up

So I suppose the holiday season is over. I have a couple projects to finish for friends (socks!), but other than my uncle, all my family is accounted for. I'll have to make him something extra nice to make up for the late-ness.
Note to self: Next year, START EARLIER.

I went to my grandparents' house on Saturday, which allowed me to distribute a few more gifts. My grandmother liked the purple beret I made her, however it was too small. Luckily, my Aunt Aileen came to visit with us and she went home with it. I'm going to start a different one for my Grandmother - one a little more floppy.

Some pictures:

My aunt brought me a couple cases of seaweed! I've never eaten it plain before, but it's delicious!


This is me trying to find a flattering angle that will make these ridiculous socks look a little more "fun-ridiculous" and a little less "I'm going to puke-ridiculous".



I tried to design a hat for my cousin Marie with evergreen trees on it - looking back, it probably would have been a lot better to knit it on straight needles and seamed so the yarn wouldn't put stretches in weir places.


She didn't seem to mind. Actually she walked in wearing a hat I made for her when I was 12! I wish I'd gotten a picture - it was some (actually really cool) variegated acrylic worsted weight.


I managed to bang out a skull cap for my uncle while visiting with them for the day - just 2x2 rib with a squared decrease on the top.


My aunt Eileen loved her beret - I'm thrilled with how great it looks on her!


These are some cookies I've been making recently using a really simple recipe (AKA the first google result you get when you google "vegan peanut butter cookies"). They're quite unhealthy. Especially when I add extra oil and sugar to them so they can keep their shape a little better.


Oh, yeah! My mom got me these labels as a Christmas gift (genius!). She ordered them around Thanksgiving hoping I could sew them into things I was planning on gifting. They arrived in the mail on December 26th. Go figure. Regardless, I love them and can't wait to use them!

I should get back to this term paper now... I'm running out of ways to procrastinate.

Christmas and some Upcycling

I got a camera for christmas, which essentially means that blogging can happen again.
I wasn't able to get pictures of all the gifts I made, but here's my sister in her beret - an improvised pattern that I'm highly pleased with. She looks so hip!



Today (Sunday), I was able to hit the Westport Goodwill store. I saw my very own uncle John pulling in to the parking lot. Inside I found the perfect upcycling sweater:



I'm actually getting good at breaking down the construction - I was unraveling the right sleeve in no time.

Here's a half a sleeve's worth before washing:


And, after:


It's shaping up to be a nice smooshy fingering weight. I'm thinking socks and a shawl.
Saturday is my new favorite day of the week (I suppose it is for most people. I've just never particularly enjoyed them before discovering a wonderful knitting group at Einstein's Bagels).