What's up, May?

Well, spring is happening in Ontario and it's awesome. I'm feeling refreshed after a couple weeks of low-key working time with plenty of knitting, coffee and open-window time. I even got to crack out my beloved sandals today!

This is going to be a huge month for me. The biggest thing is that I'll be heading to Italy for a three month research trip! This will be my first time really travelling by myself, which is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I have a ton of work to do before I go, including a bunch of lab work (fish maceration for the win!), bidding adieu to my current sardine can of a house and moving into a new apartment (THANK GOD) and deciding what to pack in a tiny suitcase. The most important packing decision is, of course, what I'm bringing to knit! I have a couple candidates that I'm working through, I'll post more about those soon! I'm also turning 24 which is terrifying. I remember when I thought I'd have my life together by now. Ha!

For now, I have a (typical) date with an iced americano, Parks and Rec (how have I not watched this before?!), and the never ending edging of my Rock Island shawl. Seriously, this thing is going on forever.

Happy Wednesday, and here's to an awesome May!
-H

Currently

I've been appreciating reading short little updates around the blog world, so here's what I'm currently up to:

Watching: I'm getting ready for a Harry Potter marathon to celebrate the completion of my first year of grad school! I've been eating up House of Cards on Netflix on the side as well. (Kevin Spacey is the man. Also, Princess Buttercup is his wife, so there's that.)

Eating: Since my housemates are slowly leaving the house (thank goodness!) there has been extra space in the kitchen for real-food cooking. I just made a big batch of this pasta salad from Pioneer Woman. I added some artichoke hearts and omitted the parmesan. Delicious! I've also been drinking my precious coffee from Stumptown that I picked up in NYC. Can't wait to make some iced coffee out of it!

Reading: I'm trying to line up some summer reads to take to Italy with me. Now that I'm relieved of course readings, I'd love to get some fiction back into my system. I think the first on my docket will be The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. I'd also like to check out Big Bang by Simon Singh. I saw his lecture at NECSS by the same name, and I'd love to see what the book is like. I've read Neil deGrasse Tyson's take on a similar topic, but you can never learn enough, right? Does anyone have recommendations for summer reads?

Knitting: I currently have a UFO infestation in my room. I'm working on Cardamom, a Stockholm cowl and the Rock Island Shawl as a part of a knitalong with my LYS. My lace skills have turned up the suck and it's taken me a good 5 knitting hours to get a single lace repeat done. Of the ~15 stitch border. Hopefully I can dedicate some time and brains to it in the next few days!

Hoping: That the world calms the crap down. I've had it with disasters, natural or otherwise.

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend! I'm going to continue the celebration of being done my first year by hanging out in my sweatpants and knitting all day Monday!

-H

More adventures!

This last weekend I had the pleasure of heading down to New York City to attend NECSS. I had such a great experience attending my first skeptical event! It was great to be around like-minded people that aren't directly associated with archaeology. (I adore my anthropology/archaeology community, but it's fun to see what people who come from different backgrounds have to say too). I also got to see my favourite podcast, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, be recorded live twice, which was a whole other amazing thing on it's own. So many good things.

Apart from the sciencey side of things, it was also amazing to see NYC for the first time. It's overwhelming, loud and ridiculously fast-paced. But for all the honking and sirens, there is a ton of amazing stuff going on. I had a great time visiting Warby Parker, Purl Soho, the Lion Brand Studio, Stumptown Coffee Roasters and a ton of other places. My feet have barely recovered from the torture I put them through.

I had my final presentation for my thesis project, and only about 20 pages of writing stand between me and my summer! I'm furiously planning for my trip overseas and trying to keep focused. Clearly I'm doing a good job..

What are your favourite travel knits? Of course this is the issue at the front of my brain. To pack lace? Or not to pack lace. That is the question.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I don't have much to talk about on the knitting front. I've been working on a sock (hereafter to be referred to as the Sock of Hate) out of Berroro Comfort Sock during what little knitting time I've had available. I hate that thing. I think I'm one of those people who just shouldn't knit socks, but I'm determined to finish, since I only have the heel and foot chunk of the second one to go. From here on out, I pledge to knit only worsted weight socks. Ever.

In happy news, I got to spend an amazing almost 5 days with James in Toronto. I think we saw all the big things the city had to offer and were even lucky enough to catch a 16 piece band playing Radiohead songs. (I should add that one of the trombonists was a dead ringer for Matt Smith, so I'm pretending I saw the doctor take a sweet 'bone solo) Of course, I managed to make a trip to Romni Wools and, as you can see above, James snapped this photo of me in my natural habitat. Handknit toque with pompom? Check. Cat purse? Check. ALL THE YARN? Double check. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of visiting this shop.. note that I'm about 5'8"tall. That's a lot of yarn in there. And this was only 1/4 rows. On the first floor. Amazing.

I'm off to hit the hay and work on some reading for school. I can write 2 papers this weekend, and still have time to cast on Christianna's lovely new cowl, Jessie, right?

-H

Study, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

It's that time of year where everything happens all at once. It's not like I haven't done this before. I know this annual routine of panicking and flailing, but I can never get the better of it. (Though, this year includes the added fun of a thesis proposal. How did I get here?) As a result, my knitting time has taken a beating. Since I don't really have much time, I've been relishing the stockinette tubes laying around my room. My Stasis pullover gained a good 1.5" this weekend, but at the expense of my Gathering Stripes. That sucker is going nowhere fast.

But I'm dreaming of new and better things, so I better get finishing!

My new (and awesome) LYS, Needles in the Hay, had it's birthday sale a couple weeks back and among the things I picked up were these two balls of Berroro Blackstone Tweed. My initial plans for it was Stephen West's Pom-Pom It! hat, but I've since changed my mind to his Raxtur hat. I kind of love the texture and versatility of Raxtur, and I think these colours would work really nicely together. Different enough to be stripey, but similar enough to not be weird. Just my style.

This weekend James is coming all the way out to Toronto from Edmonton, so I'm gleefully anticipating exploring a city with him again. I can't wait to eat all the good food! It will be a welcome break after this week (which has been bananas), and it will take lots of work to catch up, but 4 days off will be lovely. Now, to get a couple stitches in before bed!

Fellow students, how do you balance your crafting with schoolwork? I really need to work on maximizing my time in an effective way. I have big plans, after all!

-H