Viking Tea Party

How I Learned to Knit and All of the Wonderful Things That Came With It

No finished projects or places to post about.  I could take a picture of any room in the house to show you the upside down and inside out state it's in but that would just depress me.  So what does one do when you've nothing to write about and your last post was five days ago?  Delve into the past. 

I recently celebrated my fifth knitting anniversary!  It feels like I've been knitting much longer than that.  I don't remember why I wanted to learn to knit - probably a blog that I read - but I remember buying one of those seven dollar "Learn to Knit in a Day!" books from JoAnn Fabric, some cheap yarn (some itchy blue TLC yarn if I remember correctly), and, I think, some metal needles.   All of it was put aside in frustration pretty quickly.  Eventually the mother of a friend even tried to showed me how to knit but I just couldn't get the hang of it.  

Determined to learn, I asked for Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch for Christmas. 

And I learned to knit!   

I then bought two skeins of Homespun (the last two skeins of Homespun I ever bought) and some giant pink size 15 needles and knitted my first scarf in Pepto Pink and Blackish-Gray - the Go-Go Garter Scarf from Stitch 'N Bitch.  One end is wider than the other due to many, many picked up stitches but I wore it (a few times), loved it and, of course, still have it.

I soon joined a Yahoo Meetup group for Columbus knitters and met up with one of the members.  I remember that it felt really awkward - meeting a stranger you have potentially one thing in common with.  The cafe downtown where we were going to meet was actually closed but she waved me down from the sidewalk, thinking I looked like a knitter, and, since she had ridden the bus, I drove us to a Caribou Coffee.  She was twice my age and I can't remember what we talked about but she helped me out when I dropped a stitch on my second scarf, Ribbed for Her Pleasure.  Later on she mentioned the meet up on her blog and that's when I received my first knitting compliment.  I gave good gauge. 

I met up with her and a bunch of other knitters another time at a cafe a few blocks from my apartment but I only met up with them once.  Living in Columbus was a strange time for me.  It wasn't exactly a friendly city to begin with and, even though a knit group is a great opportunity to meet friendly people, I can be kind of shy.  Plus the parking stunk and I hated to go anywhere if there was a chance I would have to struggle to find a place to park in an area I wasn't familiar with.  Freakish, I know.  That strange antisocial part of me still has a fear of calling people - I can answer the phone with no problem (thankfully, my nine year receptionist job was more about answering the phone than making calls) but I get a little nauseous when I have to call someone, especially a stranger. Anyway, I digress.  About the only thing I remember from that night was that a girl there was knitting an ENORMOUS bag. That was when I first heard of felting.  

I knitted a lot of scarves that year for Christmas.  Scarves that I would deem HORRIBLE now but they were made with love and I had lots of fun making them. 

It was nothing but scarves for a long time.  Eventually, though, I knitted the Chinese Charm Bag, again from Stitch 'N Bitch.  Of course, all of this was knitted with the limited supply of yarn you could find at JoAnn's.  It wasn't until I took a vacay to Sanibel Island, Florida that I first ventured into a knitting shop (this one, I think).  I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with a very small, very expensive ball of novelty yarn that eventually used in two projects that I never ever wore (a head band an a wrist band). 

It wasn't until I moved back to Dayton that I really learned what yarn was all about and, strangely, I bought my first skein of useful yarn online.  I had no idea that there was a yarn shop - albeit not one of my favorites - right down the street from my office.  That yarn, Noro Kureyon, became one Kolenya Fingerless Glove and gave me my first taste of Second Anything Syndrome.  

Ravelry changed everything for me like I'm sure it has for a countless number of knitters.  There I not only found a wealth of patterns and ideas and the ability to try new things, I, most importantly, found friends. Some I already knew but got to keep in touch with in a different way - Delly, Miss V and Bertha (I first heard of Ravelry through her blog).  And one particular new friend - a fellow Alan Rickman fan.  And then there were the real life friends - a maid of honor, a photographer and a small group of people who met every Sunday night for coffee and knitting.  I loved the silliness, support and camaraderie of the group and the drive home chats with Ginny and the way my yarn would smell like coffee when I brought it out at home later that night or the next day.  

Now I knit nearly every day and am making more new friends via Ravelry and another Sunday knit group here in Salisbury.  For all this I think I'm very lucky to know what to do with two sticks and a ball of yarn.

Doesn't It Feel Good?

Doesn't it feel good when you take a moment to sit down after a strenuous task - in my case, getting the kitchen back in order after finishing the painting this afternoon - and you look up too see your cat hurrying down the stairs towards you? And doesn't it feel doubly good when that cat hops into your lap, turns around a few times (butting your hand with her head as she does, asking for a little love) and then settles down with her little head on your knee?

Yeah, I think so, too.

Have It Your Way

Can I have a number one, large, with cheese and everything but onion and tomato with a diet Coke, please?

I was kind of picky when it came to fast food restaurants even when I lived in the states - Wendy's, Burger King and the occasional Taco Bell - but hadn't had any since I moved to Salisbury.  Out of the corner of my eye, I would peer into the windows of Burger King as we walked by, wondering if it would be as different as, say, the Doritos I keep harping on about (odd but edible).  I was afraid to try it - searching for something familiar, only to be disappointed.  Recently, though, I'd started thinking a little more seriously about giving it a try and when we woke up late on Monday and had a huge list of things to do in town, I suggested that we have a BK burger and fries for lunch.

It's pretty much the same except that mayonnaise is a little different here and there was a lot of it so I'll hold the mayo next time.  Ketchup is sweeter, too, but I'm used to that.  It felt really good to eat something that was almost familiar and, strangely, I loved the feel of that universal wax cup in my hand.  I love fountain diet Cokes and missed them since also hadn't had one of those since I got here.  All in all I think it was the best trip to BK ever.  Also, though, the most expensive as the cost converts to about eleven dollars for my meal alone.  Hard to think of BK as a treat but it's not eleven-dollar-once-a- week good, that's for sure.  

After lunch Matt and I walked over to Waterstone's because I wanted to see if they had a copy of Virginia Woolfe's Selected Diaries in stock (they didn't).  As we were browsing I heard an older gentleman at the counter asking about Patrick O'Brian - author of the Master and Commander series and Matt's favorite - which I thought was really funny since we had just had a long conversation about his books over lunch.  I wondered if Matt had heard and, sure enough, when I wandered over that way, there was the gentleman, a bookseller and Matt.  It turns out the man had recently lost his wife and a friend and recommended the series to him as a way to way to occupy his mind and deal with the grief.  I stayed out of the way but as the man walked to the cash register with the first book I heard him exclaim, "How amazing!  That chap knew all about them!"  It was really touching and I hope he's enjoying the book.

2010: Color

January 1, 2009: I'm not going to say what my future is going to be like or make any resolutions this year - instead I'm going to take the advice of a few blogs I read and focus on a word.  My word is simple, "Forward".  Everything in 2009 is about moving forward.  Moving forward to things that I've been waiting years, maybe all my life, to do.  Big things, teeny tiny things, but all very meaningful - and this is the year I'll, hopefully, get to accomplish some of them.

The above is from my first blog entry of 2009 and I have to say that, even though I may not have consciously focused on the word "forward" as much as I could have, I certainly moved forward.  I'm not sure what teeny tiny things I was thinking of but I know I accomplished the big things.  Getting married and moving to England were really beyond big and we have our fingers crossed that this year will bring even more big things forward. For now, though, it's time to pick out a new word for this new year.

My word is a few days late this year because I've really been feeling a bit indecisive. The word I finally settled on, though, is the one that came to mind when I first started thinking about it. 

I've been working on this post for two days now because it's incredibly hard to think about color in the dead of winter when everything is some shade of white, gray, brown or black.  That said, there are two blogs - do you mind if i knit and Attic24 - that I've been following for a few months now that are a daily dose of colorful inspiration and also part of the reason I chose the word 'color' this year.  When I scroll through Google Reader I almost always look first to see if they have new posts.  Not only do they post beautiful (and well lit, I have to add) photos but their writing is so positive that it's hard not to feel good once you've finished reading.  These two women also make me want to cover my couches in colorful granny squares.

For Matt's sake, though, I think maybe I'll just start with a cushion cover or two.  

Adding color to my knitting will be a little hard since one of my new year's resolutions is to save money by using yarn from my stash as much as possible and, as Chris said, learning to "work from the yarn end, and not the pattern end of knitting."  I already have a lot of green yarn because I Love Green so when I do buy yarn I'm going to go for colors I don't normally use - blues, pinks, reds, yellows and oranges...pretty much any color of the rainbow that isn't green.  I'm going to do the same thing with my wardrobe - no more black and brown and maybe a little less green there, too.  I was trying a bunch of things on a month or so ago and even the woman who showed me to my dressing room commented on the fact that everything I had was green.  

I also want to make color a state of mind, too, and channel some of the positivity that color inspires.  That's the kind of color I could really use right now while there's snow on the ground and the temperatures are in single digits.  That and a handful of crocheted flowers....

In closing, a colorful palette of talented inspiration! 

1. finished hexagon baby blanket, 2. Stack of happy crochet, 3. Crochet flowers, 4. ♥ colors, 5. Untitled, 6. petals, 7. Flower Power, 8. Flower Brooches (Bloemenbroches), 9. Granny squares, 10. Untitled, 11. Crochet Flowers, 12. That potholder., 13. prize winning rosettes, 14. rainbow acorn color wheel, 15. grannylicious, 16. Colourful cotton bag.., 17. granny garland, 18. All 5 Potholders Together, 19. Pastora, 20. Scrapghan - Progress Photo #2, 21. Granny squares, 22. Winter Project, 23. Mum's cushions, 24. Festa do Divino, 25. Babette Progress

A Very Lucky Woman

I took this photo - my very first in England - of the cathedral close one year ago today.  When I took it, I had no idea that I'd be living across the street in less than a year.  By the time I flew back to Ohio two weeks later I knew that I'd be living there eventually but could have never imagined it would all happen so fast. 

On the Way to Fishterton Mill

Yesterday I decided I didn't care if I looked like a tourist and took some photos I've been meaning to take for awhile along our walk to Fisherton Mill - a place that I've been meaning to blog about for awhile. 

I love these clever flower pots.  It's a great idea garden idea for those of you who happen to have a couple of cracked kayaks and a tiny, leaky rowboat just lying around.

 

This is my favorite storefront - abandoned or otherwise - and not just because it's shades of my favorite color although that's probably what initially caught my eye.  I wonder what it looked like inside when it was still open for business.  I'm afraid it's going to be purchased one day and, unless it's bought by a family called Knight that wants to sell fish and poultry, the front will be destroyed. 

To the right is a cute little gift shop/Cath Kidston reseller called Lulu's.  We stopped in yesterday to see if they had her cute mini agenda books in stock but, unfortunately, that's one of the few things you can only buy in an actual Cath Kidston shop. 

Now on to The Mill.  Matt and I went to Fisherton Mill on my very first day in Salisbury back in November of last year.  I guess you would call it our first date even though we'd known each other via email and phone calls for a little over three months.  

I remember sitting across from him, just as nervous as can be, wanting to hold his hand as it sat there on the table top, just an inch and a half from mine, but just being too afraid.  We'd only hugged at the airport, after all.  Even though it was clear that we were crazy about one another before I'd arrived, it was a little different once we met in real life.  I was mad about him in person as well and attempted to put out little signals but I wasn't sure how he felt.  Matt was too gentlemanly to be too forward and make a move and, obviously, my signals must have really been a bit weak because he wasn't picking them up at all.  We worked it out eventually - although, considering that we're married and I've moved 4,000 miles to a new country to be with him, that's probably pretty obvious.

Up until yesterday we've managed to always sit at that same first table.

The Mill is half cafe, half gallery and gift shop with works by local artists.  My favorite thing about the Mill, though, is their flapjacks.

I've yet to make my own flapjacks but I have a tin of Golden Syrup downstairs that's just waiting for some oats and a good recipe.  I tried making them when I lived in the states using honey, I think, because we don't have Golden Syrup and they were disastrous.  Little burnt hockey pucks.  Tomorrow, though, I'm hoping to have a post about the honey toffee I made with GS and an insane amount of honey but we're still waiting for it to harden.  I wanted to make some to take to Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night and am glad I decided to give it a test run (i.e. excuse to make something sweet) otherwise I would have made it the day of and it never would have been ready to break up and take with us. 

That other chocolaty thing was a hedgehog cake.  Good but not as good as the flapjack!

Here's another kind of blurry shot of the cafe.  The gift shop part is the glaringly bright section.

 

Matt bought me a cute pair of tiny heart shaped earrings and these adorable buttons/badges (more things are called something else here than you realize).

 

Speaking of cute - there was an insanely cute King Charles Spaniel (I only know this because there was one in Buddy's puppy class) under the table next to us.  Matt even offered to ask if I could take a photo because I was too shy but I just don't think they would've understood why I wanted to take a picture like that - something mundane yet, I think, as cute as a well behaved dog under a table.  I need to get over worrying about what other people think and being shy because now I wish I had taken the photo!

I avoided being the Uber Tourist and didn't snap one of the red telephone box in the close on our way into town.  I have to admit, though...I did take one of those on that very first trip nearly one year ago but I really was a tourist back then. :)

Matt needs to get to back to work so I'm going to surrender the computer - maybe tomorrow I'll actually catch up on my emails....

Heading Home

Maybe I was getting too comfortable.  Yesterday I found four good books at the library, started a scrapbook of Buddy for Mom and Dad, shelved Buddy's sweater for a bit to start a shawl and I even sat down last night and wrote a page and a half of something that wasn't an email or a blog entry.  Giving up and settling in just a little bit further.

I didn't expect the phone to ring but there I was, walking Buddy, when I heard Glen Hansard singing "Falling Slowly" from my pocket.  When I pulled it out, it was a 312 area code.  A Chicago area code.  Then there was a female voice with a British accent telling me that she was calling from the consulate, she had my settlement visa and would be issuing it by Friday.  "When were you hoping to travel?" she asked and I answered, "Any time.  I'm ready to leave any time."

I've been saying for weeks that I wasn't sure how I would finally react and when it actually happened I still wasn't sure how to react.  I smiled, I think a tear or two welled up in my eyes but...it didn't seem real.  It still doesn't seem real.

I think it'll sink in tomorrow.  When I sit down and make a list of loose ends I've been dying to tie up, people to visit, airplane knitting yarn to buy for real this time....

Letting it sink in isn't all smiles and happiness, though.  It's like I told Matt today when we were talking about homesickness and adjusting to life in a new country, "It's not being there that I'm worried about, it's not being here that worries me."  I have lived in Ohio all of my life.  The furthest I've lived from my parents' was an hour and a half.  The thought of finally really leaving here is devastating - hello tears - and I know it's going to be so hard to get on that plane but when Matt finally gets to carry me over the that threshold, the life that I've been waiting 35 years for will finally get to start.  For that I am so thankful. 

So, if all goes well and my visa arrives when I hope it does, it looks like I'll be boarding a plane late next week and heading home.  Finally.