Sleep and Waking

I've been so worn out the last couple of days, on Wednesday it got so bad that a half hour nap turned into a seven hour snooze, with a rude awakening at midnight and then after about a hour of reading I went right back for another seven hours or so of sleep.
But the good news is that I convinced my preceptorial professor to let me hand in an illustrated series of poems rather than an essay (hooray). Blake doesn't really lend himself to the essay form, and I'm sort of sick of writing essays at the moment.
Also tomorrow is the Agora art fair, which I am very excited about and they are predicting some snow for the weekend ( thats always good news).

Kristina Knits

Lots of knitting and writing going on. With winter pretty much here, the weather dictates that I must knit and I follow its decree with the utmost sense of duty :) Also working on an essay about light for my lab class. Its going pretty well I already have most of it down.



I got my brand new rain boots in the mail today! YAY they are full of rubber goodness perfect for those dark, rainy days; during which it seems women (including myself) feel the need to look like their former six year old selves as they dawn their pink and green duck patterned boots---mine are not so drastic--- and prepare to explore the puddles. E., does not understand this overwhelming need and just shook his head as I paraded up and down the room. They are surprisingly comfortable for being made almost completely of rubber, I think they are well lined inside with some sort of soft fabric. Anyway I love them and I'm hoping it rains tomorrow.
I've started the tychus hat. Thank you very much Eliza for your help!

Past and Present

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a
book known to him by heart and his friends
can only read the title.
-Virginia Woolf

Routine

Its back to classes today after a nice week off. Its sort of funny to be back because there are only two more weeks until winter break ( which I long for ). However there is much (too much) to do and I unfortunately could not bring myself to do any work over break. So here I am ready to take on a nice long winter break with a stack of work by my side! Oh well, I like class and thats what I plan to keep repeating to myself until December 12.
My shawl is going well, I've sort of not been working on it very much but I'm nearly done with chart one. Also if anyone has ever made a Tychus hat, or is familiar with the pattern or with using short rows, I need help, I just don't seem to understand how to alternate the colors.
Hope everyone has a happy monday. Good luck with all the holiday shopping ( I know I'll need it)

Change

I love fall, it is my favorite season, but nevertheless it is sad to see the flowers go and the leaves laying, brown and crisp, on the ground. They always remind me of the passage from Milton's Paradise Lost where he is describing the fallen angels.

"Of that inflamed Sea, he stood and call'd
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans't
Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades
High overarch't imbowr; or scatterd sedge
Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion arm'd"




The first time I read this I lived in Florida, and the image didn't really stick out, but now as I drive through the country roads in autumn and see the forest carpeted with these fallen leaves, I think of Satan's newly banished legions and try to comprehend there number.



Winter, I think, has its own beauty because with winter comes snow, fires, cider, scarfs and boots. And there is nothing quite like the stillness which is felt when crossing a freshly snow covered field late at night and seeing the stars, bright and far away. On those nights it is as though the atmosphere had dissolved with the cold and that there is no barrier between heaven and earth. And as I look up at the sky and see my breath, I am struck by the vastness of it all.

Sitting in the Park

I am a park sitter. I bring my books along and my softest wrap, and find a bench preferably near some lovely trees. There I will stay sometimes only for an hour and sometimes for five, depending on my mood and the weather conditions. Today was a perfect day for us park sitters it was crisp, bright and the benches where moisture free, I had my new shoes on, my camera, a well loved shawl, as well as Blake and Baudelaire as my chaperones. Didn't get a stitch of work done but was relaxed and happy at the end of it.



While I was at my parents, I framed and matted all the photography that will be sold in the up coming craft fair my college is hosting -its official name is Agora which is greek for marketplace. It was a lot of work but I did it, all 35 pictures framed and matted (and anxiously awaiting their new owners). Oh which reminds me, if you ever get a burning urge to own one of my photos all you have to do is email me and we can work it out as far as pricing, size and frames are concerned.

The Road Home

Oh, how nice it is to be back again. No more airport pushing and shoving, dragging enormous bags, 'handling' strange relations, eighty degree weather, or dealing with odd bus drivers who seem intent on telling you all about how the British once ruled America and then how the settlers rebelled, as if all this were news to me. He seemed very much to expect me to gasp and say WOW really? You mean America was not founded at the beginning of time?? The fact that we had about eight other stops before mine didn't really help matters, his deep southern accent made it near impossible to help him navigate ( the GPS thingy was down). But then again thanks to all of this we went through some really beautiful back roads where there was a carpet of orange leaves on the ground and bright yellows and reds still on the trees. At one point I saw this large clearing with a lake and the forest line on the other shore, the setting sun's rays were hitting the trees and the lake in such a way that everything took on a golden hue, there was even a deer at the edge of the water (and this competed the postcard beauty of it all). So I was appeased and decided to calm myself even though a half hour of navigating was ahead of me.
I finally got back at a very decent hour even with the strange bus ride ( thank you nice man at the check -in- counter for moving me over to a better flight- I did not relish waiting five hours in the Georgia airport even with icarus to knit and a french poem to memorize). I bought myself a few goodies, like some maple tea, mint hot chocolate mix, and a movie, before I settled in for the night. So here I am cosy and warm ( with a bunch of work screaming my name ) but the important thing is that I don't have to take off my shoes again and go through the puffer ( the newest in airport security, if you've never had the pleasure imagine a glorified metal detector that blows air at you and has doors).

Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, from Florida. :) Eats lots of turkey and mash potatoes ( I know I plan to). Sorry to people who are trying to leave comments but can't. My tech incompetence is very high so I will fiddle with it some more. New Pictures soon...but for now here is a nice picture of a faux liberty tree.

Progress

Hi, this might be the last post I do for the next four days. So I wanted to show you a few things I've been working on. There is Icarus which is coming along very fast, almost done with the back. I've also been working on this pencil drawing (its actually pretty big in real life), which I mentioned before, and finally remembered to take a picture of. I've got a lot more in the works but nothing really photo worthy.



Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Strolling Sunday

Relaxing, slow, Sunday. Is there anything better? There was a chill in the air as E. and I walked to get breakfast, the sky was sort of grey but the yellow leaves brightened up the atmosphere. It was like being in a postcard walking down the quite streets. I really do love the northern east coast, changing seasons seem so much more natural than the perpetual summer of Florida. We both had coffee and a croissant with eggs, cheese and bacon inside of it. All was warm and crispy and I am healthy as well as relaxed.



Blake needs to be read, but that is all, classes are off all of next week so I have a nice long break to look forward to. I also need to memorize The Albatross by Baudelaire in french, to recite in front of everyone (scary). But right now I'm dreaming of lilacs, wool, sheep, England, Virgina Woolf, and Christmas. Strange combination I know.

Happy Birthday!

It's E.'s birthday today! He suckered me into giving him his present at the stroke of midnight, not that I could stop myself from doing so. See I have this thing with presents, where I can't wait to give it to the person, this makes me awful at keeping surprises. This year, however, it was a complete secret, he had no idea what it was. Unlike last year when I made the mistake of googling the item on his computer and he "accidently" saw it. Anyway happy birthday!



While shopping/scrambling for E.'s wrapping paper at the last minute I decided I needed some retail therapy in the form of fancy pants chocolate. I bought two kinds, dark lavender and jasmine green tea milk chocolate both were amazingly good. And as I strolled down the street eating this fantastic chocolate and looking into (the already up) christmas displays while debuting my extra long fetching fingerless gloves ( knitted this summer ) I felt quite content. This feeling was heightened by random women stopping and cooing over my "lovely" gloves. Don't you love it when people notice things that you made? Some even started to pet my hand, because you know even non-knitters know the importance of squishy yarn. And then to make my excursion complete I ran into a dog that squeaks named Stella, who promptly jumped on me. The owner jokingly (much to my regret) offered her to me. But don't get the wrong impression, after pretending to shoo her away the woman promptly picked her up ( like a little kid) and started to swing her around and give her kisses. That dog, my friends is loved. All this made me eve more happy as random dogs, cats, birds, children often do.
My plan for today is knitting some, and then going out for a birthday dinner at a sushi place which we both love. Hope you have a happy weekend!

Tonight, Today, Tommorrow

There are days which we all want to forget and days which we fight to remember. And then there are the ones that just pass by and we tip our hat to them, but let them go their merry way without a single word spoken. Today seemed one of those silent days. Not much was planned, E. and I might go to a lecture given by Andrew Young tonight, but otherwise its just more of the usual relaxing after a long week.
I have been working on my Icarus shawl a bit more, no real picture worthy progress though but it is coming along. I have also been drawing more, currently I'm working on a large pencil sketch of an old man's face. I think I'm going to call it Man's Veil, alluding to the passing away of the human body ( this fits because I've made the skin look almost cloth-like ). I have yet to take a picture of this, and hey look the sun is down! which means the light is gone and I like my drawing too much to take it with indoor light only. (Plus its upstairs and I'm feeling lazy )



Although I did take a picture of something else I made...look clay ducks! I remember making a whole series of them a long time ago and I'd line them up by size. Thinking of making more, maybe selling them? Or just for fun, who knows with me. Well tell me what you think. You know how I love comments...I really do... hint...hint

Fog

The fog rolled in last night, and has stayed thick throughout the morning. The leaves are strewn all over the ground and the brick buildings and streets look very picturesque today. There is silence all around me, which is rare in a dorm, usually someone is playing their music or stomping down the hall. Yet I can't seem to settle down, a desperate urge to create has taken over.

College is a strange place, one in which you meet yourself, shake hands and then proceed to change. I feel as though the girl who came is no longer, there is another in her place, different and yet the same. And as my time here draws to a close, I panic and yet am happy. The future is not yet clear but the fog is lifting, slowly.

The Art of Resting

Resting is an art, one which I have never been very good at. I am constantly worrying about what to do next or what I'm missing by "just laying here". The only way that I can tune the world out completely is by making something but then some professional resters may argue that this is not really rest in its purest form. Never-the-less rest is required of me this week, I am sick, and yet it is still highly guilt laden because its the sort of sick where you don't feel to bad just laying there but an hour after leaving the bed your mind gets sort of loopy and your body just sort of slumps over. Its always easier for me to justify staying home if I'm hacking out a lung or have some obscene fever. But reason tells me (aka E. tells me) that I need this. So here I am resting.

Icarus is coming along well, I've just started on the second repeat of chart 1. There is a lot more to do but I feel happy with its fast growth. Lace is amazing that way, you look at the tiny thread and the tiny needles and say to yourself "OK, I'll be knitting this for a few years" but then you start and it just blossoms, seemingly of its own accord. I love this, and plan to make many more lace shawls in the future. In fact I have my eye on the metaphorical white whale of lace knitting...the wedding ring shawl from heirloom knits....If you don't know what a wedding ring shawl is its a very large lace shawl which is made of such fine thread that it (even when completed) can be pulled through a wedding ring. I sort of want this to be my wedding shawl (NOTE: I have no plans to get married in the near future nor has anyone asked me) but it would be nice to have when I do and I could pass it on to my daughters. But then again I fear that I would be so happy to have completed it that I would take it off repeatedly to show people the cool trick my creation can do (very undignified ;) ) Fate seems to have stopped me from any foolish dreams of starting it now because heirloom knits does this weird thing where they don't sell a pattern for three years. But if anyone wants to fuel my whimsical dream and has the pattern, I would be happy to buy it from you ( if thats legal I'm not yet well versed in the knitting copy right laws).

I'm going to my parents house for Thanksgiving early next week, much knitting will get done so as to hide from the usual onslaught of advice and questions. Not sure how much blogging will take place seeing as how my folks don't have wireless and the PC they use is extremely virus filled and hence very slow. But I will take many many photographs to compensate for my absence.

I'm going to attempt this resting thing (which means I'm going work on Icarus some more).

Sunday fever

So sick today. Not much knitting went down, although I'm hopeful that I'll get a bit in before bedtime. Rough homework assignments coupled with an unwillingness to do them didn't really help me get anything done, but after a trip to the math assistant, I was alright. However my sleepy-lazey state has determined that this is going to be a very short post (sorry). So I will say goodnight, and thanks for visiting!

Look Lace!

As promised I took pictures of Icarus today, or the mossy looking blob that will be Icarus after blocking. I'm excited, its my first lace project and I'm already fantasizing about where to wear it and what to wear it with. I seem to immediately fall in love with a lace pattern if it suggests that this particular shawl would be perfect for an afternoon stroll around the garden. Images of pebbled paths, roses, large trees, trimmed hedges, an ever so slight fog descending and the slowly setting sun start dancing through my mind along with flashbacks to all the Virgina Woolf books I've ever read (especially To The Lighthouse). Hence I loose all will power and reach for my credit card to purchase this item which is clearly all my favorite things in concentrated form. The problem is that this happens at least five times a day, now usually I only go so far as the put-in-cart option but sometimes I hover dangerously close to the place order button after having filled in all my information. Usually this graceful dance ends in my bowing out but recently my yarn resistance has been extremely low, resulting in a consuming fear of my credit card bill.




One step closer to reaching semi-prepared art fair status. I got all my photos printed today, with much assistants from the photo people. The machines seemed to keep breaking when I walked into the store, first friday when the machine had just broke and today when the machine would not enlarge to the one size that I needed. After a half hour of fiddling and slight cursing the employes were able to subdue it once more. And after a cup of coffee my prints where out and beautiful. I'm very excited now and glad that I did not throw in the towel. Well thats all for now, I'm slightly sickly at the moment so I'm going to go drink my ginger peach tea and do some calculus problems( or knit more or gaze lovely at my glossy photos)

Knitting and Pomegranates

Its Friday! Which means as much knitting as my heart desires, or that my hands can stand (which ever comes first). It was a nice rainy day today, my schedule was a bit hectic and my nose a bit snuffly but I managed to do everything I wanted and after two o'clock in the afternoon I was free (which of course meant that much knitting was going to be done) .

Eric and I also went to a lecture this evening, it was on the golden ratio. It was enjoyable mostly because of the speaker's sense of humor, which made up for his lack of any real content. Icarus ( which was worked on during said lecture) is coming along fairly quickly. I really like the pattern, I know some people find it sort of monotonous but I find it relaxing as well as calming. Can't wait to actually wear it!




I recently bought two pomegranates, mostly because of their staggering beauty both with their peel on and off. I love the way the seeds look and taste. But the problem is that it takes me forever to peel them, and I do know the 'correct' method of cutting off the crown and soaking it in cold water..etc but there is something just wrong about this to me. I can't really explain it, but it seems to somehow violate the beauty of it all. (Maybe I'm just a weirdo?) So instead I sit there for 45 min. peeling and at times getting sprayed with red juice ( which stains ). This time it must have been very ripe because I walked into the bathroom to wash my hands and there in the mirror I saw that there were little red dots all over my face. But all my toil was well worth it when I dug into my full bowl of seeds. I usually eat them this way but I've also been wanting to try some recipes which call for pomegranate, I think I've heard of some soup made out of them.


I will leave you with some pictures of my past knitting projects. (Sorry there are not pictures of Icarus, I promise I'll take some tomorrow) :)

Earthly Delights

Hello! I was thrilled to get my first batch of comments. I can honestly say that they made my day! Much to tell you about, first of all a story: I was walking through town the other day and I heard all this rustling inside a bush, so being curious I stopped and tried to see what was making the noise. As I gazed into the shadowy depths I realized that another pair of eyes was also watching me, in fact there were many pairs, I had stumbled upon a flock of sparrows hiding from the wind and as I stood there, one after another would grow bold and peep their little heads out. Now wanting to show all of you I slowly raised my camera to take a few shots, this didn't really disturb them (in fact it heightened their curiosity) of course it also did not make for a terrible good photo. So pushing my luck I got a bit closer--and closer and then I heard a loud PEEP and out all of them flew. In a matter of seconds they were eyeing me from the safety of the trees. I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, they looked so cosy in their bush and I really had no intention of bothering them. Oh well, I'm sure they returned to their little haven the moment I turned my back. But while I was watching them, I kept thinking I was in some sort of fantastical story or painting complete with magical creatures(aka the sparrows) and the unsuspecting mortal (me). For some reason it reminded me of the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch, only much (much) more innocent.



Yesterday, after my exciting bird adventure, I started my Icarus shawl! Its going well, not as difficult as I expected, but then again I am only just starting. I've already gotten lazy about the stitch markers, but I think the amount they recommend is a bit ludicrous (about four in every single row). I'm using Jagger Spun Zephyer wool-silk 2/18 in juniper. At first I wasn't too sure about the color, the intense blue green is not exactly my usually style, but as the shawl began to grow I started to like it more and more. And hey who doesn't need some variety in their closet? ( I am a very monotone sort of dresser, usually black with some earth tones and if I'm feeling jazzy I'll throw in a dark red or dark purple.) It has gotten to the point that when I hang my clothes out to dry it looks like I've just done laundry for a large party of mourners.



In other news, I consider it officially November in Maryland the light is golden, the air is crisp, and the leaves are orangey-red and the urge to knit is overpowering. On the down side it gets dark pretty soon after my last afternoon class is over, which is somewhat depressing. But I think night ( as well as rain and cold weather ) add something to tea drinking that sunny days just don't. One of my best friends once said that only the really dedicated tea drinker can be found sipping his hot brew in the summer months, this was said as he fixed us some tea in a room with no a/c (in the middle of August). So I plan to compensate for the lack of sun with an overabundance of tea.

Well, I have a Blake preceptorial to go to fairly soon, and so I will say goodbye for now.

Plans

Beautiful days and math homework do not mix well. This combination is particularly distressing because I often find my homework interesting and (gasp) fun. However when the sun is shining and I feel drawn to gaze out the window with a cup of tea in one hand and my sketchbook in the other, nothing seems to get done, not even the sketching because I am so torn between the two. Total distraction can best describe my state at the moment, where my brain flits from one idea to another with no particular direction.
Blake also sits unread at my side, but fortunately the readings tend to be on the short side. Speaking of which, ever since I've started reading Blake I've been having the strangest dreams about walking through the woods with him, and he is telling me about lambs and tygers. Then the trees start wrapping around each other. This isn't as random as it sounds if you've ever read any of his poetry but its still a little strange.
In other news, I've signed up for a craft fair which is on Dec. 1st. I'm sort of freaking out about it because I feel unprepared. I basically have all the objects that I plan to sell (mostly photographs and a few drawings) but I need to get the photos developed and the drawings framed. This shouldn't be hard, in fact I've done this many times before, but for some reason its really eating away at me. But I'm staying clam, and refuse to back out. I'm also flirting with the idea of selling stuff on etsy, maybe not very soon but say in a few months.
The guilt of procrastination is setting in, so away I go to do math/stare out window.

Blue

I'm tired. Long day of class and much too much homework. The only thing I seem to want to do right now is curl up and sleep. So despite the sweet siren call of my lace project, I will resist if only to save the last thread of my sanity. Hence I will distract you from the obvious lack of posting with pretty pictures of yarn and other such things.

Autumn, Poetry, and Icarus

Its gotten cold outside, all the heat of the past month seems magically drained away. And the days seem to be sinking further into night. Yet around three o'clock in the afternoon there is still that golden fall light, the one that I love the most. It casts beauty on the mundane and makes the world seemed edged with gold and during this time men seem to have flames about their heads as if bearing halos. And I sit and gape at the world like an infant, drunk with the color and smell of it all.
With the darkening and coldness winter steps closer, knitting seems a more apt activity than it did in the high heat of August or July. As I drink my rose tea, a new favorite of mine especially with milk and equal, in the evenings I feel comforted in the warmth of my room and the softness of my bed.

Tonight I went to another Blake precept which is basically 7 students, a mixture of juniors and seniors, and a tutor, sitting around a table and discussing the text. It was our second to last class on the Songs of Innocence and Experience. Its been really great so far, the poems while at first appearing to be songs addressed to children prove much darker carrying a sense of mortality in them. This sort of contradiction has always fascinated me; beauty and ugliness, death and life seemingly standing hand in hand.
It is also nice to have Blake's engravings which always deepen my understanding of the poem. They are so bright and vibrant, each seems to capture fluid motion and yet each retains the done- by- hand feel. T.S Eliot said of Blake's work that it, "resembles an ingenuous piece of home-made furniture." A description with which I tend to agree with. Next we are moving on to his Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
On another note, everything my heart desired seemed to come in the mail today yarn( 2 skiens of JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 in juniper), a pattern book ( The Best of Interweave Knits), yummy lotion (Avalon lavender), and needles from knitpicks. I can now start working on the Icarus shawl which I have been dying to make. It will be my first lace project and I'm hoping I take my new books warning of do not work on lace when tired seriously, or else I fear there will be much ripping and cursing. But hey if things get too intense I always have my new lavender body lotion to calm me down, sigh. Maybe, I'll start it tomorrow, that is unless Eric wants me to go to fencing practice (which by the way I should go to). So if not tomorrow then Wednesday. Oh by the way another exciting thing is scheduled for Wednesday, my first knitting request. One of my friends wants me to make him a hat, he has even offered to pay for it. This has never failed to thrill me, that someone would want to pay for my art.
I'm starting to ramble and I've been slouching further and further into my pillows, a sure sight that it is time for bed. So goodnight hope to see you soon. Oh and if you get a chance please leave a comment :)

Hello.

It was inevitable. I tried to warn myself that reading blog after blog would only lead to this, but alas I did not listen. And so here I am starting my very own. Hopefully someone will read it besides myself (although the idea of this boggles my mind).
Now that I've signed up and named it I feel a certain buyer's anxiety the kind I imagine one would get after buying a puppy. Thoughts such as....will I forget to feed it?....will it hate me?.....race through my head. But the blog wont die (right?) if I miss a few posts. Puppies are hardly so forgiving.
Anyway enough of my anxiety fit. I hope to show you many pretty things such as photographs, knitting, art, etc...
So welcome and wish me luck. :)