iamsarah

Good lord, it's been awhile.

2010-11-21T15:14:00.006-05:00

I kind of abandoned the blog. I'm sorry. Man, lets see, last time I posted I was still living in Roch, and working on my thesis. I am pleased to say that I finally finished that fucker. It was sketchy for a while there, my first reader and I had some pretty serious disagreements, but I was rescued by the program director, and my awesome second reader, and it all got done.
I am terribly proud of it, and I think it will be useful to the Eastman House. I will put a pdf of it up somewhere. Basically, I catalogued 25 years worth of Kodak ads from the collection, and categorised them into seven sections. It included an analysis of the themes, and time periods. It ended up being 45 pages of writing, and 200+ pages of appendix - the data from all the ads.

Here it is all bound and pretty and official, when I graduated a few weeks ago.

Here`s me and my awesome Rochester roomie, D`Arcy all hooded and gowned, at the graduation ceremony. It`s all over. I think it was worth it.

You can just call me Sarah Fay, MA.

Now I`m looking for a job, but it`s super slow going. I`m working at a computer store in the meantime, and not totally hating it.
I`ve been knitting, but it`s been slow, as I`ve got to be honest, lots of my knitting time is being swallowed by my new hobby: World of Warcraft. I think they put subliminal messaging in the game to make you addicted.

and a cat toy:

and a beret:

and a sweater:

and I`m now in the midst of Christmas knitting.

I`ll try to post more regularly... I hope.

Between 2nd and 3rd.

2010-07-15T16:38:00.002-04:00

Hello again. School and life are hard, and so I haven't been blogging. I'm between second and third drafts of my thesis right now-- it's currently with my advisor, and I'm waiting to hear back from her.
I'm moving back to Toronto for good July 31st and will be starting that terrible thing that all recent graduates must do: The job search. With the shitty economy, and the saturation of Torontonians in my program I might have to settle until I can find something good. Life sucks.

Anyways, here's a photo dump of life in between thesis drafts.

Cheryl and I visited the ROM a few weeks ago. Post-secondary students are free on Tuesdays, and free was within my budget!

Then I did a photoshoot of Cheryl and her pup in Allen Gardens.

Then the G20 came to our city and turned it into an abandoned police state. Cheryl and I walked around all day during the summit and did not run into any trouble, but we were lucky.

I finished two sweaters - The Bellevue Cardigan

and my bunny sweater: They've got them Hoppy Legs and Twitchy Little Noses

Which I worked on for a YEAR -- well I procrastinated on it for a year, anyways.

Then I went back to Rochester, where I polished off my 2nd draft in a major heatwave, and then my uncle, aunt and cousins came to visit me.

We did all the Rochester attractions.

Eastman House

High Falls

The Erie Canal
and a bunch of other things.

Oh, and it's summer, and my bunny is very hot. Or he was. Now he's just
NAKED

Poor boy.

I'm sorry to say that posting will continue to be sporadic until the end of August-- that's when my final draft is due.

Can't Talk. Writing Thesis.

2010-05-21T00:53:00.003-04:00

First draft due June 4th... Must have to editor (ie my sister) June 1st.
Panicpanicpanicpanicpanic.

kitty.

good things.

2010-04-28T16:09:00.002-04:00

Everyone survived the thesis presentations. I got (slightly) ripped apart by the faculty, but was expecting it, so I wasn't shocked or anything. As soon as the presentations were over, we fled to the pub:

I may have followed the pub up by going to a party at my classmates house and drinking many gin and tonics, but I think i deserved it.

Then on Sunday we had fake graduation:

Basically, we've finished the program, EXCEPT writing the theses, and so the Eastman House wanted to throw us a party before we all fled away from Rochester back home. It was fun. The parents came down. So did Cheryl, but she came down a few days early, to hang out.

Class photo.

Now it's nose to the grindstone, trying to get this freaking thesis done. There's nothing BUT thesis work to do for the next month. Yay me.

In slightly better news, I'm heading home next weekend for the frolic! Yay! I'll be working in the Sheep's booth, as per usual, and am looking SO FORWARD to it.

Tired eyes.

2010-04-14T22:48:00.002-04:00

I've noticed a trend in my 365 photos lately. Tired eyes. School is hard.

End of the term.

2010-04-08T21:42:00.004-04:00

So. It's April. April means lots of nice things. Spring, Easter, Doctor Who. But unfortunately, in my world it means OMFG THESIS PRESENTATIONS ARE TWO WEEKS AWAY!

Our teacher keeps telling us that these aren't Thesis Defense's, and they're not big presentations. They're ten minute "progress reports" (followed by fifteen minutes of questions). That's not that bad, except they're in front of the WHOLE FACULTY both Toronto, and Rochester, and there's some real critical prof's in that bunch. I'm terrified.

They're the 19th and 20th of April. Then we've got a month to write our first drafts. Ironically, that doesn't seem so hard compared to these presentations. I don't even hate presentations, we had to do, like ten last year, and I got used to it. It's just this one. It's so intimidating.

Anyways. That's what I'm doing. Knitting has come to almost a standstill. I'm working on a stockinette curtain for my sister out of Noro Laceweight. That's all I can handle.

In other news: here's my recently overdyed and buttons-sewn-on Moch Cardi.

The dying isn't perfect. There are blotchy areas on one arm, and on the back, but I don't think it's very noticable. So meh. I like it. Also, I love the buttons. They're not the ones I originally planned to use, but these are also vintage, larger, and shinier, from Courage My Love.

Here are some photos:

This is my life lately, working on the massive ad database I'm making

This is what spring looks like in Rochester. It's pretty nice.

Today we went on a tour of the nitrate film vault.

We saw some awesome stuff, like original camera negatives for The Wizard of Oz:

And screen tests for Gone With the Wind:

It was pretty fun. Nitrate film is really flammable, so it needs very special storage conditions, away from residential areas.

Well, that's about all I got for you all right now. This knitting blog is sadly going to be missing knitting content for the next month. Oh well.

I am hard at work. I swear.

2010-03-26T00:02:00.001-04:00

Observe this awesome comic which I stole from my friend Tasha, who stole it from somewhere else. It sums up my life right now.

NYC.

2010-03-24T22:43:00.003-04:00

Back from New York! and OMG, what an awesome time I had!

We (my friends Soo, D'Arcy, and I) were supposed to stay in a hostel in the Financial District. We got there late last Wednesday night only to find out that they double-booked our room (!)

But, they had a better room available in their other location in the Upper East Side. So, their driver came and picked us up and drove us there. We went from a two bed room with no bathroom, to a FOUR bed room with private bathroom, and shared kitchen and shower, and second bathroom which we didn't have to share with anyone! AND, they gave us a discount. It was awesome.

NYC as always was beautiful, especially because it was so warm! I didn't even wear a jacket the whole time!

We saw A LOT of art. We went to the Met, the Museum of the City of New York, 10-ish smaller commercial galleries, ICP, Sothebys, Swann, and AIPAD. We basically walked around from 9am 'till 10pm. It was exhausting.

It was awesome, because we didn't just do the tourist stuff; we toured the vaults, we got to talk to curators, and gallerists, and got to see things that other people didn't. Plus we just got to see A LOT.

By the end of most days, we were blind with gallery fatigue, but it was so worth it!

Plus, we did a lot of other fun stuff too! Galleries close eventually, and when they did, we mostly ate a LOT! Every night D'Arcy and I went to a different veggie restaurant. They were all awesome.

The only yarn store I had time for was Purl, which was teeny, but awesome! Also, they're moving at the end of this month, so they won't be teeny anymore!

I was restrained, and only walked out with one skein of an organic merino sock yarn, in this amazing colour. There's over 500 yards, and it's going to be a shawl sometime soon.

We got invited to a party at a private photographer collectors house. It was so cool seeing his collection on the walls.

we took the subway (a lot!)

I took a photo of a daguerreotype at the Met which is displayed on the wall terribly.

(come on, that's Southworth and Hawes! and you can't even see it!)

We took photos in awesome art deco elevators on the way to see galleries.

We did cliché tourist stuff!

and tonnes more.

Basically, New York is one billion times better then Rochester.

Drive by blogging.

2010-03-16T00:36:00.001-04:00

This video is amazing! I'm impressed with the detail, and especially the lighting! it's so like the originals.

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Eighty Percent

2010-03-13T00:53:00.004-05:00

A long time ago I knit this hat for Dave. He requested an alpaca hat with colourwork, and this was what I came up with. A while later I knit another one for the shop.

I'm finally getting around to putting the pattern up! I am slow.

It's knit with less then a ball of each colour of Baby Alpaca Sport from Diamond Yarns, and it would make a great first time fair-isle hat.

and yes, that's crochet along the edge, but if I can do it, so can you!

(i suck royal hippogriff at crochet!)

You can download it here!

Andromeda shawl.

2010-03-09T16:02:00.002-05:00

I love this shawl.

I love the structure, it's modular, and not like other shawls. I love the edge, even though it's a pain in the ass to knit!

and I love the yarn! It's Viola Sock, dyed by my awesome friend Emily who has an amazing colour sense.

The shawl took me just under a month to knit, and that's with the knitting olympics thrown in. It's not a hard knit, but you do have to pay attention. Every row the chart only repeats once, so you're stuck looking at the chart the whole time. And it's a big chart. But oh so worth it. I love it. Have I said that?

The one bad thing is that I really need blocking wires. Pin blocking just doesn't cut it for this shawl. I'm itching to block it again, properly, with wires.

In other news, lest you all fear I'm still stuck in the middle of a snowpocalypse, Spring has arrived in Rochester. (kind of.)

Aren't they beautiful?

Heading to Toronto for the weekend tomorrow. I can't wait!

Then NYC next weekend! for AIPAD and massive amounts of museums and galleries. Also, I'm thinking Purl Soho, and Brooklyn General.

Snowstorm aftermath.

2010-03-03T17:55:00.002-05:00

Apparently, that was the biggest snowstorm in three years. The snow was crazy!

Here's what it looked like when D'Arcy and I went out on a walk the next evening:

It came up to my knees!

The Eastman House gardens.

GEH

Then, despite the snow, Cheryl came to visit me!

It was fun. We ate too much, and watched Heroes and Supernatural, and on Sunday we went to a concert!

It was Frank Turner, and Flogging Molly. I love Frank Turner, and it was awesome because we got to meet him:

But things got shitty from there. During Flogging Molly, there was a crazy crowd. Now I've been going to punk shows since I was fifteen and thought I was badass. I'm old now. Cheryl and I just wanted to have a few drinks, dance, and enjoy the concert.

The security guards went into the crowd (i'm not sure why, everyone was being very friendly) Someone pushed me, which wasn't an unusual thing, I got pushed around a lot, but this time, I got pushed into security. Hard. They grabbed me, one on each arm and ejected me from the frigging show dragging me the whole way, despite me trying to explain that I was pushed, that my younger sister was in there, and would panic if she couldn't find me.

So I stood outside, in the snow for 45 minutes, in a t-shirt until the show was over. They wouldn't let me back in for my coat, or to find Cheryl who was panicking. Finally, after Cheryl had accosted all the security guards inside telling them that she couldn't find me, she walked by the door and I saw her.

Long story short: Don't go to concerts at the Main Street Armory in Rochester. I'm a fucking 26 year old grad student. I didn't DO anything. The security are assholes.

Nice to pay for a concert you only got to see half of though.

Gold, and snow.

2010-02-25T13:41:00.002-05:00

Ok. so scratch what I said in the last post. Apparently, once I challenge myself to knit a sweater for the olympics, I must finish. Because I finished a week early.

Behold: The Olympic Moch Cardi

Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, 10.5 balls.

Mods: My gauge was off by a stitch, so I made a smaller size then I would have otherwise. Also, I added a full buttonband after finishing the body, instead of doing the half button band that the pattern calls for. Also, when there's buttons, they'll be all the way down. I didn't want another top-buttoning only sweater - I already have two.

The knitting is finished. However, it's not ready to wear. You see, I hate the colour. I ordered the yarn from Knitpicks, and when it arrived, the blue-ish teal colour I thought I ordered was plain, boring, bland blue.

Not the end of the world. I'm going to overdye it. But I don't have a big enough pot. Well, I do, but it's in Toronto, and I'm not. So, if I can't find one (pot) at the thrift store this weekend, I'll just have to wait 'till I get back to TO.

All is well here in Rochester, where unlike Toronto, we actually are having winter. Check out the snow! (we're supposed to get 12-15 inches in the next day.)

Knitting Olympics.

2010-02-09T23:48:00.003-05:00

The Knitting Olympics / Ravelympics / whatever you want to call them start this Friday. I've always participated. I've got a team canada jersey from four years ago, and this Friday I'll be casting on as part of team Naked Sheep.

I'm going to make the Moch Cardi, out of knitpicks Wool of the Andes. I've wanted to make this sweater for a while, since it was released. I'm excited to finally have an excuse to knit it, because I think it'll be a very wearable sweater.

However.

I'm feeling ambivalent about the whole deadline knitting concept this time around. I am always up for a challenge, but life is hard for me right now. I'm up to my ears in school, and while I'm not going to lie, I still fit in more knitting than I should in any given week, I'm still really busy. Yes, the Olympics fall at the beginning of reading week, so while I'll have more time then normal to knit, I also have a literature survey for my thesis due at the same time.

So yes I'm participating. I'm excited for the sweater, to spend time with my Naked Sheep teammates, and to brag to non-knitting friends about the knitting olympics (it always makes me look like an even bigger freak then I am to them!) But I'm not going to stress the deadline aspect. I'm not going to pull all nighters to finish the sweater, and I'm not going to put knitting ahead of grad school.

6 more months. I keep telling myself that.

Vintage photographs.

2010-02-07T19:00:00.006-05:00

Today D'Arcy and I went to Bloomfield, a nearby town with a lot of antique markets. I spent 11 dollars total, but walked away with some awesome photographs, and some vintage buttons.

These are the buttons. I'm thinking about them for my upcoming olympic Moch cardi, or perhaps for the Vine Lace cardigan.

I've never posted photos of my vintage photo collection. I've managed to amass some awesome things.

This I bought today. I think it's an early photobooth portrait.

Those three photos came in a set, and all of them have the same woman in it. They are all postcards, and from reading the back, we determined her name is Ellie.

This one i've had for awhile. It's a photo from an old Kodak #1 - the first point and shoot camera -"You press the button, we do the rest."

This is a hand coloured postcard. I have a set of postcards that I keep meaning to frame and hang, all of which are hand coloured.

This one is a portrait of two men in a studio (I'm assuming) in Niagara Falls. There's a painting of the Falls behind them.

I keep all my photographs in an archival box that I made with trays for different sized prints. As a rule I don't pay more than a couple of bucks for any of them, and I choose whatever interests me, either because of the process, or the image.

Damson or, why my thesis is not evolving as fast as I'd like it to.

2010-01-31T23:14:00.003-05:00

I finished another shawl:

It's Damson, from the amazing Ysolda whose designs I seem to knit quite often. (this is the 7th Ysolda project I've knit in the last year... granted I did knit 2 liesls, and 2 ripleys, but still!)

The yarn is Malabrigo sock, and it used just under a ball. I was concerned I was going to run out, but in the end I was fine.

I'm just not sure if I like it on me. I might end up gifting it to my sister for her birthday.

Speaking of my sister, she want's me to KNIT 2 small curtains for her new apartment. I'm thinking of using 5mm-ish needles, the new Noro laceweight from the sheep, and just doing them in stockinette. What do you wise knitters think?

School is kicking my ass this week. I just had to submit a thesis outline, and I STILL don't have a solid research question. Part of the reason is that I didn't get to look at my primary research materials (Kodak ads from the early 20th century) 'till this week, but I'm feeling lost. I know I want to work with the ads, and I kind of know what I want to say, but I just can't get the research, my thoughts, and the material to all make sense together. It's very frustrating.

Reading week is less than two weeks away. I will be home for a week and a half- it'll be wonderful! I miss my sister, and my boyfriend, and my kitties, and my knit night ladies. It'll be NICE to get back to Toronto.

I'm on a roll

2010-01-24T22:11:00.002-05:00

I finished a shawl!

It's Springtime Bandit from Kate Gagnon, and I knit it out of two skeins of Malabrigo.

I know I never use Malabrigo for myself - I don't like the way it pills if you just look at it, but this is a shawl. I figure it's the least likely to get pilly. We'll see.

What else is new? Hmm....

I went home last weekend, to see Rent. It was awesome. This weekend I am buried in reading for my thesis.

Fun stuff.

Also, I cast on for Damson right after I finished the Springtime Bandit, and it's almost done! Two shawls in two weeks (hopefully)

Then, I'm going to start on the Andromeda Shawl using Emily's gorgeous new yarn - Viola.

It's ridiculously warm in Rochester. I can't even wear my Fiddleheads - My hand's get too hot. I've gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. I was all geared up for the EPIC Rochester winters, and then we get hardly any snow. Boo!

Bad photos of a new hat

2010-01-16T01:59:00.005-05:00

The other night, I knit a hat in three episodes of Supernatural, and some course reading. It was pretty awesome.

It's called Capucine and it can be found on Ravelry. I used Briggs and Little double stranded. Honestly, I think B&L is THE best yarn out there. I LOVE it.

Also, the colour is fucked up in these photos. Man, you'd think with a degree in photography I'd understand things like colour balance. Well, I don't. : )

In other news, I am in Toronto this weekend, because Cheryl bought me tickets to see Rent this weekend. We are going tomorrow. It will be awesome!

And check out the epic icicles outside our house in Rochester:

They are awesome, even if it does mean that the house is losing crazy amounts of heat. Every house in the neighbourhood is like that... likely because they are all ancient houses.

I am mean.

2010-01-13T02:06:00.002-05:00

You see what I did in the last post? I went away for a month, finally blog again, and it's a clip show! What a douche I am!

Well, not to fear, today I have NEW content.

(unless you are on Ravelry, which, everyone is, so I'll try to post something even NEWER)

I finished mittens last week:

And what pretty mittens they are!

My Fiddleheads are knit with Diamond's Alpaca Peru on the outside, and pure cashmere from School Products in NYC on the inside. They are beautiful, and almost too warm! I love them!

I almost ripped them out while knitting, because after I had finished the first two colours, I didn't like the way they looked together. But I stuck it out, and I'm glad I did!

They were part of the Fiddlehead KAL @ the Sheep, and took me a little longer then a month, including Christmas knitting, finals, and H1N1. So, not bad all in all!

Today was the first day of class. Tomorrow is the second day. Then Thursday, I'm heading home (already) to see Rent (it was a christmas gift from my sister!) Which means...train knitting! Yay! I'm currently on season 2 of Supernatural - excellent knitting TV. I think I'll bring my Springtime bandit to work on.

Oh Hai! Remember me?

2010-01-10T23:15:00.007-05:00

Oh dear. I went home for the holidays, and forgot all about my blog. So sorry.

(but in my defense, there was christmas knitting, then I got H1N1.)

To make up for it, here's a montage of ALL my FO's from 2009:

That's 33 Finished objects, for those who are too lazy to count!

Including:

8 shop samples

7 grown up sweaters

3 little sweaters

3 pairs of socks

6 hats

2 blankets

1 ginormous scarf

1 penis

I consider that quite an achievement, considering I've also been in grad school this whole time.

Other interesting things that happened to me in 2009:

• Trip to NYC in February

• Internship at the Royal Ontario Museum in the summer

• Knitting classes with Annie Modesitt, and Fiona Ellis @ the Naked Sheep

• The big move to Rochester NY

• Seeing many many amazing photographs in real life, and not behind glass, including Talbot's Pencil of Nature in Ottawa, Atget's at Ryerson, and Lewis Hine, Julia Margaret Cameron, Timothy O'Sullivan and many, many more at the GEH.

Am back in Rochester now. Expect more from me soon! promise!

See you all in a week!

2009-12-07T21:36:00.001-05:00

The end of term.

2009-12-01T01:34:00.003-05:00

Oh crap do I hate the end of term. School is hard and busy all the time, but at the end of term life falls away, and is completely taken over by reading, and writing papers.

So, of course, to prepare for this, I've gone home to Toronto for the last three (!) weekends!

Last weekend, it was American Thanksgiving. I dicked around, didn't do any schoolwork, and worked at the Sheep on Saturday and Sunday. I missed working at the Sheep! I bought yummy yarn, and got to spend time with fantastic people!

The weekend before, I went home for my mother's surprise 50th birthday party. She didn't know I was in town for the weekend, so the party truly was a surprise!

I knit her a blanket which I haven't taken photos of yet! so more on that later. But, I also did all the baking for the party, I made cookies, and this awesome cake:

It was my first time making a cake with fondant icing, and I think I did a pretty damn good job! It tasted yummy, and got rave reviews from the family too!

The weekend before, I went home too, and my Mom and I went to the Royal Winter Fair, as we do every year. We eat alot, watch the fiber demos, have a beer (or two) and go to the cheese tastings. It was fun!

Here we're having a beer at the horse ring.

And I'm hanging out with a sheep!

Back to paper writing hell now. This is all over on the 11th - 11 more days, then I get to go back to Toronto for almost a month! woot!

Ripley!

2009-11-15T00:29:00.003-05:00

I made a hat. I am stocking up for winter, in case you hadn't noticed.

It's Ripley, and holy crap does it knit up fast!

I have been wearing it pretty much non-stop since Thursday!

I made the lace band, and the less-slouchy version. It used much less then one ball of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes bulky. I made the large size, but my gauge was also screwed up (despite my swatch) so it came out small. But meh, wool stretches anyways.

In other news, I shrunk my Selbu Modern (purposely) because it was too big for my non-dreadlock head. I threw it in with my laundry, on warm, and it came out perfect!

This is, unfortunately the only photo I have of it at the moment, before I blocked it again. But it's awesome, trust me.

Also, just for reference, my hat is made in Rowan Felted Tweed. The label says is is machine washable. I consulted Ravelry, and there's a lot of pissed people on there saying that it's not washable, and my felting of the hat proves that for me! Always do a test wash, don't just throw your knits in the washing machine willy-nilly!

I'm in Toronto right now! Tomorrow I'm going to the Royal Winter Fair with my mom. We will eat a lot, drink, look at pretty bunnies, sheep, and fleeces, and have a lot of fun!

I made gloves!

2009-11-10T23:28:00.003-05:00

Back when I was learning to knit, my grandmother used to tell me that mittens were easy to make and gloves were impossible. She used to tell me that she could never figure out how to make the fingers.

So, I have made many pairs of mitts. I have made sweaters, toys, lace shawls, and socks. But I always overlooked the glove patterns. I dismissed them as "too hard." Despite the fact that I had become a much better knitter, and I guess if I thought about it, I realized that I was not lacking any of the skills needed to make them.

Well, I finally made gloves.

And they weren't hard!

They're from the fall 09 Vogue knitting. I was reluctant to make them, also because they're from Vogue. But the pattern was well written, I had no problems!

They're made from Socks that Rock lightweight, gifted to me from Sue before I left for Rochester. I've actually never worked with STR before (I have two more skeins in the stash though!) I found that it bled a lot! I had marks around my fingers where the yarn wraps. But it's a pretty colour!

I know they won't keep me warm in the crazy winter, but I've got fair-isle mitts for that... these are for fall!

I wish I could show them to my Grandma.

Have you seen the knitty fall surprises?

2009-10-27T22:10:00.003-04:00

There's the new pattern - My Vampire Boyfriend by the wonderful Kate Atherley.

I took the photos for this awesome pattern months ago, and have had to keep quiet!

But I can show you now!

The photos were taken at U of T, and my sister was the model, it was a lot of fun! I especially enjoyed the looks we got for parading around the campus, and taking photos of socks and stakes. Messing with people is fun.

Now I've got to knit the socks, as we all know I'm definitely one of the vampire-obsessed.

What is there to do in Rochester you ask?

2009-10-26T22:49:00.004-04:00

Well, my parents and sister came to visit yesterday, and we found out!

First, we went to High Falls.

High Falls is a giant waterfall in the middle of downtown. You'd think a tourist attraction like that would attract many people on a unseasonably warm late October day, right?

Wrong. There was no one there!

Rochester's downtown is deserted though.

After High Falls, we went to Wegmans, the local grocery store for lunch. Unless you've been to Wegmans, you cannot understand why a grocery store is on the agenda for visiting family. Apparently, the Wegmans near my house is the biggest one in the US, and it's got sooo much! Even my father, who hates grocery stores could not shut up about it after he ate "the biggest sub ever!"

I had a tofu burrito. It was yummy.

Then, we went to the Eastman House.

I took stupid photos, since I'm there everyday, and it's nothing new to me!

Here's Cheryl reading the newspaper over George Eastman's shoulder.

And us outside the Discovery Room, which is the best room in the house!

And Cheryl on the grand staircase.

After GEH, we went to Target, because obviously, my sister and my mom wanted to go shopping! I bought some clothes!

Then we went to dinner.

Then they drove home, and I wrote a paper on Nicole Richie. Grad school is fun!

Remember me?

2009-10-22T00:19:00.002-04:00

Yeah, No excuse. I'm going to blog more often. I swear!

Well, school is going well. I've been home to Toronto twice so far, and am planning two more trips home before the end of the semester. Also, I'm planning on going to NYC in a few weeks for the weekend, to see both the Robert Frank show at the Met, and some other stuff. It'll be fun!

Studying at the George Eastman House is pretty awesome. I love working with the collections material- the stuff we get to see on a daily basis is pretty great. Also, all the instructors are great.

I'm beginning to think of ideas for my thesis project. A Masters thesis is only about 30 pages - max, and so it's not as involved as a PhD dissertation. It can be a research paper, or a practical project. I always thought I'd do the practical project, it's no secret that writing essays aren't my favourite thing to do. But I've come to realize that I actually like research, and I've got a few good ideas that I'm tossing around in my head. Plus, if I ever want to do my PhD, getting accepted will be pretty tough without a research-based thesis. I'm not saying I want to graduate and apply for more school, but it's a possibility some day.

In knitting news, I've been designing a few things. I'm waiting to get my SLR back before I put them up on Ravelry. (it's currently back in Toronto... I'll have it back this weekend!)

Also, I'm working on some deadline knitting. A christmas gift, and a birthday gift. So, in true Sarah fashion, I cast on some gloves for me tonight! I needed a break from deadline knitting. I have enough stress in my life, knitting should be fun!

This is the first time I've made gloves. I'm still on the cuff... we'll see how they go.

Ok... that's all i've got for now, class at 9 tomorrow morning, got to get to sleep!

Neglect.

2009-09-28T22:51:00.003-04:00

I have been neglecting the blog terribly. You would think that being away from my family, friends, boyfriend, kitties, and yarn stash would give me lots of time for blogging, but the truth is... grad school keeps you busy. Somehow I forgot this over the summer.

(plus, lets be honest, I did bring a lot of the stash, so there's still lots to do here!)

What have I been up to? Here's a short list.

I finished my Heather Hoodie Vest. just in time for it to be cold enough to wear it!

Went to the Finger Lakes Fiberarts Festival, hitching a ride from Deb, a very kind fellow raveller. It was fun! I bought roving! (big surprise.)

My sister came to visit!

My mom came to visit!

School is busy!

we've got readings every night, and at least one paper (usually more) due every week. Also, we have to do a certain number of ISO's (institutional service opportunities) every term... it's basically volunteering around the museum. For instance, this morning, I helped to take down the New Topographics exhibition and pack it into crates for it's journey to Arizona.

This weekend, I'm heading back to Toronto! I will be shooting Nuit Blanche for the city saturday night, and hitting up a photo show on sunday. Friday I plan to walk around holding my kitties all day. I'm not letting them go.

I'll be in Toronto the following weekend as well for Thanksgiving. Two weekends in a row! yay!

Rochester. Grad School.

2009-09-16T20:49:00.003-04:00

Ugh. I have a stupid cold. I hate being sick, and it's especially not fun in the first week of school : (

So. I've been here for a week now. School officially started yesterday, and I've already got a paper and presentation due Friday, and another paper due Monday. *sigh.* Grad school is hard.

But I'm liking Rochester so far. You know, in an i'm only here a year anyways, kind of way.

The apartment is awesome. D'Arcy and I spent the first few days making multiple trips to Target, Wal-Mart, Salvation Army, etc, trying to make the apartment livable. I think we succeeded.

Sirius is adapting just fine, and so am I, I guess. I miss Toronto, but whatever, it's just a year.

I built Sirius a kick-ass new cage! it's awesome!

Also, I am desperate for a job. It seems that no one @ Eastman house is hiring, and that's the only place I can work legally. This could be a problem!

Ok. Off do do massive reading, and paper writing now!

More packing, and FAN EXPO!!!!

2009-09-04T23:13:00.003-04:00

I am moving three days. THREE!

holy shit.

I took a load of furniture down, with my amazing friend Becky the other day. Also, my visa was processed successfully, after a little glitch - my original form mistakenly said I was born on Bouvet Island - which is an uninhabited Antarctic island (I was born in Canada) and I had to have a last minute form FedExed to me, from the SLOWEST Fedex delivery truck in existence.

I move on Tuesday. I've got Sirius' health certificate ready, and am planning on building him a kickass new cage. I'm excited, sad, terrified, and stressed. wah!

But, in other news, it's the end of summer, and that means it's time for Fan Expo!!!!!

Cheryl and I went last Saturday. I was dressed as the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who, Cheryl was dressed as young Voldemort.

Cheryl and I are pretty nerdy. We wait all year for this, it's so much fun!

We saw Leonard Nimoy:

We saw Helo, Athena, and Hera:

Come on, Hera's a TOASTER!!! ha ha ha ha ha

We also saw the cast of Star Wars:

and Capt. Jack!

It was a pretty fun day. However, walking around a convention with thousands of people in August in wool scarves is really, really frigging hot.

9 days.

2009-08-30T19:43:00.003-04:00

I am moving to Rochester in nine days.

To say i'm panicking would be putting it lightly.

I've got a visa, an apartment, and a bank account. My student loans are not here yet, making me poor as dirt in the meantime. Also, I haven't started packing, and I have to bring Sirius to the vet this week to get him a health certificate. arrrggh.

Anyways, lots has been happening, here, lately.

Last week, Lisa, and the amazing knitters at the Sheep threw me a going away party!

I was overwhelmed by the kindness of the people who came out, it was lots of fun! I'm going to miss everyone so much! (I can't believe I only have one shift left!)

Also last week, Sirius and I went to Bunfest! it was so much fun! Sirius was the only Angora bunny there, and we couldn't walk two feet without someone stopping us, and saying how adorable he is!

but come on, he totally is adorable:

This week, I went to Stitch and Pitch at the Skydome. I even competed in the fastest knitter competition before the game. I totally lost (I did 93 stitches in three minutes - the fastest knitter in the competitive category did 250 stitches.)

but it was pretty cool just being on the field before the game, and we even got our own dressing room!

And, I was on the Jumbotron!

Jays lost, but it was still fun. Also, beers were $9.50! that's so excessive, it's not even funny!

But my daddy still bought me one!

Look - a hat!

2009-08-18T20:57:00.003-04:00

I've wanted to knit this hat for awhile. But I couldn't find glittery metallic yarn (Romni is good for things like that BTW.)

Once that hurdle was crossed, I cast on, and in two days, I had this badass hat.

I got the best reaction ever from Dave. I showed him, and he burst out laughing. Now dave's gotten pretty good at ignoring my geekier traits, but I guess this crossed some kind of line. He asked me where I was going to wear the hat - I guess he though it was for a con or something. When I told him I planned on wearing it everywhere in the winter he just looked at me like i was insane. I loved it.

The pattern is the Cylon Centurion hat and I used lambs pride bulky, and some scary metallic stuff from Romni.

Come on, I rock.

Photography on TV.

2009-08-12T02:58:00.002-04:00

I was watching True Blood tonight, (arrgh... so addictive) and there's the scene where the mayor gives Bill a photograph of his family in, like, 1867, and I thought as I heard this aw, crap, another TV historical photograph FAIL. But, actually, I was pleasantly surprised. The mayor gave him a tintype, in a case, and whoever made it did their research. There was period-specific mats, and overmats, and there was even a photographers inscription on the brass. It was cool! And, it even looked like a tintype. And, best of all, Tintypes are the proper photographic medium for the time, and location. I was impressed!

On the other hand, there's this episode of Torchwood, when they end up back in WWII, and Tosh needs to leave a message for the team in the future, and so she's trying to find something that will last through time, and they imply this is a big challenge. So, they find a Polaroid camera, and take a photo of the piece of paper that they need to last, and then put that Polaroid in a metal box OUTSIDE exposed to the elements, and it's miraculously there in 2008.
Now, this is really stupid. 1. because it's only 50-odd years in the future. Plain old paper and ink can last that long, no problem. 2. Because, really? putting a photograph in a box outside will make it fade fifty million times faster then in a stable environment. and 3. because Polaroid is one of the LEAST stable photo materials, ESPECIALLY in the 1940's. If Tosh is supposed to be such a tech genius, she'd know that.

grrr. do your research people.

(and yes. I'm nitpicking about photographic historical accuracy in TV shows that include time travel, aliens, and vampires. So what? I have an imagination, but I'm a smart girl too.)

O Hai!

2009-08-04T23:18:00.003-04:00

I am beginning to realize I will be a US resident soon. I have a bank account, and an apartment:

The whole second floor of the beautiful, huge Colonial house.

with yard, and parking, and laundry, and TWO bathrooms! (one for each of us.)
Oh, and the grocery store? Across the street!

I think I love it.

Rochester, and Rochester again!

2009-08-03T22:13:00.002-04:00

D'Arcy and I went to Rochester yesterday to check out that apartment. it sucked. Also, we failed at getting any other places to look at. Therefore, we are going BACK tomorrow. Because 6+ hours in the car a day is fun!

Tomorrow, we've got three places lined up, and dammit, we will take one of them!

Did'ya see the better photos I took of my Liesl?

...see, knitting content. It's getting regular again! Just in time for September, and grad school hell to start again!

In weird news for today: last night I had a dream that I was at a house party with some vampires from Buffy, and suddenly, the Cullens walked in, and the Buffy vampires all scoffed, and were like, "meh, we're outta here." it was bizarre.

More car time tomorrow. weee! can't wait.

Last Day, Lists, and Lace.

2009-07-30T22:36:00.002-04:00

Today was my last day @ the ROM!
I had a great time at my internship, but I've got so much freaking things to do this month, that I'm happy it's over.
Well, I'm going back on Wednesday to have lunch with my supervisors, but that's it.

On Sunday, my roomie D'Arcy and I are going to Rochester to check out an apartment. It's furnished, reasonably priced, and close to Eastman House. Fingers crossed!

Now, A short list of things I need to do in the next month. (to make me keep my ass in gear!)
1. Figure out what the hell I'm doing with my Canadian cell phone plan.
2. Make sure that there will be no problems bringing Sirius across the border.
3. Find out how to get my OSAP early, since I'll be in Rochester by Sept.
4. All the visa crap (paying the fee, dropping it off @ Eastman House, whatever else comes up.)
5. Apply for the library position @ Eastman House, so hopefully I can make a little money this year.
6. Figure out what the hell I'm bringing with me.
7. Pack.

I'm sure there's ten billion things more, but that's all I got right now.

And lastly, I finished a hat.

Details here.
Oh how glad am I that hats fit me again. This is one of many coming up!

Work tomorrow and Saturday, Rochester on Sunday, then I've got Monday and Tuesday OFF! Bliss.

FO's, computers, and Rochester

2009-07-25T23:32:00.003-04:00

I got my mac back!!!!!!

It works great, and I couldn't be happier! (well, i'd be a little happier if it hadn't wiped out some of my iTunes purchases, and my Adobe licenses.) Hopefully, this is the end of my bad technology luck. fingers crossed.

In other news, I finished Liesl today:

Better photos when it's actually daylight out.

This knit up in six days! out of three balls of Cascade 220! Honestly, those two facts alone make it an awesome sweater, but I love it, and I think it looks great! I just need a few cool brooches to wear with it now. Time to go shopping!

One more week at the internship. I've had a good time, but I'm ready for it to be done. I need to find an apartment still, and figure out what i'm bringing with me. Also, I need some time off before the hell that is Grad school starts again.

The ongoing saga of my computer.

2009-07-19T00:43:00.002-04:00

So....
We get dave's computer back, and when I looked at the repair sheet, I found out that they had replaced the whole logic board.
Dave and I have the same computer. Bought on the same day, same make, model, everything. If his computer had a faulty logic board, chances are good mine did too... right?
So I took off to the Apple Store, again, to see what they thought. The guy at the genius bar agreed that both computers failing within a week of each other was pretty sketchy. So he ran the graphics card test on my computer, which of course, didn't work, because with a fried logic board, it won't even start up. He gave me the number of Apple customer relations, and told me to give them a call and explain my case, since, without the record that my computer failed the graphics test, he couldn't authorize a replacement of the part.
So I called. I explained my case to the guy, and he said he'd look into it for me.
Yesterday, I got a call back from Apple, telling me that since the test on my Macbook was inconclusive, they were going to AUTHORIZE A REPAIR FOR FREE!!!
I took it in today. It'll be ready in a few days. I'm thrilled! I just saved myself 2,000 dollars by doing some research, and standing up for myself.

Apple has amazing customer service. Even if they didn't replace my part, i would have been satisfied with the service I got. The genius bar people are always friendly, honest, and helpful, even though they must see many pain in the ass people. The guy on the phone actually listened to my issue, which is rare for customer service people. Then, once they OK'd the repair, they arranged it all for me. I am so impressed. Not that I was EVER planning on switching to PC, but this experience has just left me feeling even better about Macs in general.

A few more days... then I'll have a computer again. Just like a real person. Dave will be very relieved!

grrrr....

2009-07-12T23:15:00.002-04:00

So, I got home on Tuesday evening, and Dave tells me that his computer isn't working. It's not. I couldn't get it to work. It was starting up, but the display wasn't coming on. Apparently, I'm a technology jinx, or the gods are punishing me for not buying applecare, but Dave's computer wasn't working.
Off he goes to the Apple Store on Wednesday after work. The verdict : some faulty graphics card on the logic board thingy. Luckily, this is a manufacturers defect, so it's getting fixed FREE! (which is all we can afford right now.)

So, we're 3-5 days without a computer. This is day five actually, and it has been TORTURE. we're not sure if weekends count in this, so it could still be two more days. IT IS HELL.

I'm blogging right now, courtesy of my dear, darling, amazing, wonderful sister, who lent me her computer for the night, since she saw how desperate I was getting. as we speak I'm downloading Torchwood - which it's been KILLING ME not to watch all this week! But i've got to give it back to her tomorrow night.

Today was my Dad's fiftieth birthday party. I finished the sweater in time, and it fit, which is the most important part:

Terrible photo, but you get the point!

Anyways, more in 3-5 days, when we get Dave's computer back!

This week:

2009-07-07T00:09:00.008-04:00

Another week. Four left at the ROM, then I get three off, then I move to Rochester. We've started apartment hunting, but there's not much available for Sept yet. (In case you didn't know... we doesn't mean me and Dave, Dave is staying here : ( We means me, and my friend D'Arcy, roommate to be, and classmate.)

In other news though, Today at the ROM, I switched focus. I have thus far been working with the Chinese photography. Today, I began working with the Indian photography. So, I'm back to researching, learning what I can about Indian photography in the 19th century. It's interesting.
Also, after work today, I wandered around the ROM for two hours. They're open late all week, for the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's interesting that what interests me in a museum isn't where the crowds are. I mean, the dino's are cool, but what I really like are the European, Greek, Egyptian, and Canadian galleries, and those were all empty except for your token morons laughing at Greek statues penises and staring at the mummy then leaving, without learning about anything else. grr.
I liked finding spindles in the gallery of Cyprus, and looking at the Death of General Wolfe painting, and looking at the Book of the Dead - paper that is over two thousand years old! That's preservation! Yes. This is why I'm a museum nerd.

In further other news, Tomorrow is my Dad's 50th birthday! I've knit this much sweater for him:

and the party is on Sunday. I just might pull it off.
I just finished reading Sunshine, by Robin Mckinley, and found it... alright. Nothing special. I just started reading Gods Behaving Badly, and even though I've only read 20 or so pages so far, I've already LOL'd once!
I also caved, and bought the next two Sookie Stackhouse books today. shhhh.
Oh, and in Nerdy news... the first part of Torchwood was awesome! despite me being very apprehensive about it. Can't wait till tomorrow.

Meme. iPod shuffling!

2009-07-04T00:48:00.002-04:00

Yvette Tagged me!

1) Turn on your MP3 player. (2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode. (3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please. (4) Choose some people to be tagged. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about your musical tastes, or at least a random sampling thereof.

1. Which Side Are You On? - The Dropkick Murphys

2.The Dundee Cat - Shanneyganock

3. The Imploding Voice - The Smashing Pumpkins

4. Harm of Will - Bjork

5. Space Oddity - David Bowie

6. Say it Ain't So - Weezer

7. The Workers Sing a Song of Mass Production - Matthew Good Band

8. This is the Best Day Ever - My Chemical Romance

9. California Sun - Rancid

10. Appels + Oranges - The Smashing Pumpkins

11. Clumsy - Our Lady Peace

12. Shame and Scandal (in the family) - Unknown Artist

13. Imagine - John Lennon

14. My Hotel Year - The Ataris

15. The Torch - The Dropkick Murphys

I am surprised that in 15 songs, no Wizard Rock came up, especially considering the huge amount I have!

anyways, I'm not tagging anyone, but if you read this, consider yourself tagged!

Happy Friday!

Canada Day Spinning

2009-07-02T00:10:00.003-04:00

Today was Canada Day. Really, to be honest, it just means a day off. I'm not very patriotic, I don't like fireworks, or crowds, and in fact just wish all the people would get out of my neighbourhood.

However, I do appreciate a chance to sleep in! Also, I got in a few great hours of spinning!

This is a roving braid from Dyed in the Wool Handmade. I seriously love spinning up her stuff - it's so easy to spin, it's like butter!

I split the braid in half, and spun half onto each bobbin. When I was finished (after Zoolander, half of Battlestar Galactica: Razor, and one episode of Blackpool) the singles looked like they came from two different braids:

I plied them together, and this is what I got:

150-ish yards of worsted-ish weight yarn. It's pretty!

I've decided to do the Tour de Fleece again this year, and my challenge is just to spin a little every day, as thin as I can. I'm aiming for a nice sock yarn.. we'll see.

Tomorrow I have off as well, and I'm so thrilled about it. Another day to sleep in!!!!!

Also, I need new books to read. The library isn't bringing in my holds fast enough. That, or new fanfiction. Most of mine is (sadly) stuck on my Mac. : (

Niagara Falls!

2009-06-28T22:59:00.004-04:00

Today mom and I went to the Falls. Since I'm "working" at the ROM, I get in free at lots of Ontario attractions, through the reciprocal program.

First, we went to the Skylon Tower.

It wasn't very busy, which was nice, though it was raining.

We also saw a lame-ass "4-D" movie, which was lame, and we were glad it was free.

Then, we went on the Whirlpool Aero car.

It was also really cool. We went over the whirlpool, and apparently crossed the Canadian-US border 4 times in the process.

Then, we attempted to go to the butterfly conservatory, but they told us that we could only use the pass Monday to Friday. So we walked around the botanical gardens. It was fun, but since it had stopped raining, I wished I had a better camera.

All in all, really fun day.

RIP

2009-06-27T19:51:00.002-04:00

My laptop died.

I tried to start it up on Wednesday night and nothing. Well, something, a little light, which I suspected was worse then nothing. (This was what happened last time my laptop died.)

So, off to the Apple Store genius bar on Thursday after work where the very nice guy confirmed that yes, it's the logic board. The fucking logic board, that costs a thousand dollars to replace.

i. am. so. screwed.

So, I walked out of the Apple store, barely keeping it together. My laptop is very very important to me. As a student/photographer/internet addict/ravelry addict/designer/technophile I use it all the time. And now I can't. I'm broke, I'm working at an unpaying job the majority of the time, and I can't afford a new laptop (or the part, but let's face it, a new one is a better deal) until September when my student loan money comes through.

So anyways, Cheryl and I walk to Pickle Barrel, where she treated me to dinner, in a quiet booth, where I started crying. The waiter came and took our order, pretending he didn't notice I was just crying, and then later, i realized that we were eating at almost the same time that news broke that Michael Jackson died. The waiter probably thought I was just a REALLY big Michael Jackson fan; crying over dinner at the news!

So yeah. No computer till Sept. It's going to be an even longer summer now!

I'm currently on Dave's, but he's very possessive of it, and I can't use it for long. Cheryl is going to lend me her 8 year old G4, but i don't know how well it'll work. We'll see.

boo. I suck.

365, books, and such.

2009-06-23T22:53:00.002-04:00

Not much going on here. I'm feeling sick, and should really go to the doc tomorrow, but I feel guilty calling in sick to my UNPAID job. WTF?

In other news, I've started Project 365 - in which I take a self portrait every day for a year. I'm on day 6. We'll see how this goes, but I think it would be cool, especially when I'm all the way in Rochester and everyone I love is here in TO.

Check out my 365 pics on my Flickr page - you can just click through from any photo.

Today I finished the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. it was a good book. I was smiling on the streetcar on my way home tonight reading the ending. This seems to be a theme with me: making an ass out of myself on public transit whilst reading.

Anyways, I do recommend it. it's a great book that really gives a sense of the time (post WWII, UK)

Also, please don't ask me about my knitting. it's not coming along so well. I realize I have deadlines, and I need to get going on them!

Going to bed now. I'm feeling poopy, and tired. I'll see how I feel in the morning, maybe i'll go to the doctor after all.

Hey Look! I lost five pounds!!

2009-06-19T21:56:00.004-04:00

....of hair!

From this yesterday:

To This today!

It was a long process! First we had cut them short, since I wanted a short cut anyways. then we had to soak 'em, then I sat there, knit and watched movies (Mulan, 10 Things I hate About You) while cheryl yanked on my hair for three hours. She put deep conditioner in each one as she got to it, and then eventually I had hair again!

this is the halfway point.

It feels so weird. but I am very excited to wear hats again!!! I haven't had regular hair since i've been a "real" knitter!

Off to Ravelry now to look at hats to knit! I've got some sportweight bamboo, and I think a slouchy hat is in order!

sneak peak...

2009-06-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

OMG.

more tomorrow!

we're so cool it hurts.

2009-06-15T23:02:00.005-04:00

Cheryl and I are nerdy. This is not surprising to anyone who has known us for any length of time. Especially if you know both of us, and have witnessed the way that we speak to each other. It's half normal talk, and half references and inside jokes so obscure no one but us can understand it. (for example, I am sure that the image of a pizza slice does not send you into uncontrollable giggles when thought of alongside the new Star Trek movie.)

We have had some new highs of nerdiness however, and the other day we decided to pose with a few of them. This is Cheryl and I attempting to act badass.

Note the cliched graffiti background, and the way Cheryl's intimidating nature is brought out by her Starfleet insignia.

Same goes for me, except with a much more awkward pose. There is a reason I'm a photographer, I'm hella-awkward in front of the camera. For this reason i'm thinking of starting a 365. But I'm most definitely scary and intimidating as a member of the Colonial fleet.

Not much else is new. I finished re-housing all the photographs at the ROM:

and am now scanning glass slides.

I'm working on the neverending black raglan birthday sweater of doom for my father.

I just finished reading Deathly Hallows (sob)

and I am about to start reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society on the recommendation of several people.

Also, Dave has been working at Nestle, and I swear, if he brings home any more chocolate bars I'm going to kill him.

One year.

2009-06-09T22:28:00.002-04:00

One year ago today, our beautiful, amazing kitties, River and Gabby started living with us.

River and Gabby are sisters, who have had a number of close shaves in their lives that they are blissfully unaware of.

They were found, abandoned at two weeks old, too young to really remember I'm guessing. The woman who found them brought them in, took them to the vet, and took care of them for eight months. They were spayed, had all their shots, and as far as I know were taken good care of.

Then, their owners decided to get rid of them. They placed an ad on Craigslist, which admittedly, let them bypass the shelter, but since they were given away for free, they could have ended up with anyone. (crazy medical testing, for instance) I happened to be trolling Craigslist obsessively at the time, looking for some kitties to take home. Their old owners cited allergies as the reason for getting rid of them. I believed them, because they seemed like nice people. We took them home, changed their names (really? Molson? Phoebe? who names a cat after a corporation?) and in less then a week they were completely comfortable with us. I later checked the Facebook page of one of the people who had given them to us (I was looking for photos of them as kittens) and it turns out that the day after they adopted out the kitties, they got a puppy. Looks like they weren't allergic after all, they just wanted to "upgrade"

I named River (after River Tam from Firefly) and Dave named Gabby (after some character from Xena?) and then they chose their favourites themselves. River is Daves kitty, for sure. She climbs all over him, meows at him in the morning, and wraps her paws around his leg when he's standing up. She hardly ever comes near me. Gabby on the other hand, follows me around the house. When I get home, if I don't sit down and pet her for at least five minutes, she gets upset. She waits until I'm awake in the morning, and climbs up onto my chest, purring.

They were really lucky. They have passed through unfortunate circumstances without really noticing. We will never abandon them. They are our kitties, and we love them to little tiny pieces.

No Pressure

2009-06-06T00:33:00.002-04:00

I have just realized that both my Dad's and my cousin's birthdays are a month away, and I've got to do projects for both of them. (shit)

My Dad is turning fifty, and I'm making him a sweater. I really need to get my ass in gear for that one.

Grace (my cousin) is turning two, and so the sweater for her (FBS) will be much quicker in comparison. Also, more portable. That will be my new streetcar project.

In other news.... um. ROM is fine. I finished the Time Travelers wife. It's very good. Go read it. Just don't read the end on the streetcar like I did. Or, if you do, bring kleenex. Am now re-reading half-blood prince because I'm too poor to buy a new book, and too lazy to get one from the library. Oops.

more handspun!

2009-05-30T22:58:00.004-04:00

This yarn was spun up using two FA Merino Sliver roving braids - one yellow, and one green. I spun each up and then plied them together. I like the look, but am not crazy about the colour.

I am finding more time to spin now that school is over, yay!

In other news, I finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It started out pretty slow, and then the middle was pretty good, then it ended equally slow. In some parts, they didn't think of ways to make it interesting, and just copied the original dialog, adding in mentions of zombies every once and awhile. A good read though, especially if you're a fan of the original, and have a sense of humour.

I am now reading The Time Travelers Wife, as recommended by my sister. It's good so far. I need more book recommendation though, people! otherwise, I fall into the reading fan-fiction trap, as it's too easy.

Tomorrow is my last day off until, possibly, August. I am going to the Photographica Fair!

I plan to buy many, many old photographs, and hopefully a new flash.

Quickie

2009-05-26T23:22:00.002-04:00

I was going to take a photo of my recent spinning, but I turned on my camera, and realized the battery was dead, and I am tired, and don't want to bother dealing with it, so spinning photos later - maybe tomorrow!

Today was day two at the ROM. I am enjoying myself. The work i'm doing is really interesting, as is the collection I'm working on, and the people are very nice. Yesterday i was inventorying the collection and it's current housing, and noting what could be improved in terms of housing it better for long term preservation. I'm waiting to hear back from the conservationist about some of the housing used - to see if it's archival, and then I will re-house what needs to be.

Today I begun scanning the collection. I did about 1/3 of it. After it's scanned, it will be able to be searched more successfully. I'm going to number each print and it's location so that they can be tracked, and if someone is doing research, it can be found easier.

This may sound boring to some of you, but this is what I go to school for. To me it's really fascinating, and it's great to be putting what I learned to practice, and also it's fun!

However, the getting up at 7 am thing is hell. Also the going to bed at midnight thing is equally annoying. How do people get things done on these hours? You know, personal things: knitting, writing, spinning? it's annoying.

Oh, and also, after this weekend, I will be working SEVEN days a week, either at the Sheep or the ROM. No more free time for me. ever. I'm already dreading it. It's tough, but when you work an unpaid internship four days a week, you gotta pay the rent somehow.

a FO and thoughts

2009-05-23T22:05:00.003-04:00

Hey look! another Tomten jacket!

This one took forever to knit, for a variety of reasons:

-I only knit it at work (it's a store sample)

-I knit it during the end of term hell

-it's plain garter stitch. easy but boring!

But, it's finished now, and it looks beautiful. it's so soft too, which surprises me, as I'm not usually a fan of cotton.

Yarn: Estelle Cloud Cotton 5 balls (three MC, one of each of the others)

I spun this yarn up ages ago, but never blogged it. it's a light worsted, and it's been so long, I forget how many yards. There's lots though. It's Dyed in the Wool Handmade roving, which I bought back in September and spun up. It needs to be something. I'm thinking maybe mitered handwarmers, or part of a scarf.

Next up: I'm thinking of jumping on the Whisper Cardigan bandwagon. Because I don't quite have enough mindless projects on the go, right? This is the yarn I have in my stash that would work:

I think it might be too variegated. Thoughts?

I can't really justify shelling out any money for another ball for it (say, of the Tanis laceweight we just got in at the Sheep!) because I'm painfully broke this summer due to working for free, and paying tuition, and all the money I have left has to go to things like rent, and food. So, if this yarn won't work for it, I'll just have to do it another time!

Last week of freedom : (

2009-05-19T16:31:00.002-04:00

I start my internship on Monday at the Royal Ontario Museum - in the Chinese culture section. I will be working with 19th century Chinese photographs for June - scanning, and re-housing them, then in July I will be working with a collection of Indian photographs - cataloging and researching the photographers. I am looking forward to it, but it does mean that my staying up all night, knitting and watching Battlestar Galactica, and sleeping all day will have to come to an end.
I'm only six episodes away from the end of BSG anyways!

Gabby, the classiest kitty around, is having a rough month. First, she cut up her toenail, and it was bleeding, and raw, and I had to wash it out with salt water every night. Then, lately, she's been losing her winter coat, i guess, and that combined with her eating fleece whenever I turn my back on here whilst spinning means that she's been coughing up hairballs all over the house, most notably, on the loveseat. grr.

Long weekend

2009-05-19T00:29:00.005-04:00

Every weekend lately has been a long weekend for me! No school, my internship hasn't started yet, and only working at the Sheep 2 or three days a week means I've got a lotta free time on my hands!

What have I been doing? That's a good question actually, as I don't have much to show for it!

On the knitting front, I'm working on a fair-isle sweater that is not photo-worthy, as I'm only working on the body, and 250+ stitches of stockinette in the round isn't that interesting to knit or photograph.

I'm also working on an Ishbel, in Koigu, and am afraid that i'm going to run out of yarn. And... the infamous Dr. Who scarf is about 7+ feet long... getting there!

I have been sleeping in - one of my favourite things to do ever, which I never get enough time to do. I could seriously sleep all day and be perfectly happy!

I've finished reading three of the vampire books that True Blood is based off of, and while they don't suck entirely, they are pretty trashy reading. Tonight, i am starting to read this:

I will let you know how it is!

Mothers Day FO's

2009-05-15T00:52:00.004-04:00

I made my mommy two pairs of socks!

Socks the first:

plain socks

Yarn: Regia

Needles: 2.5

Socks the second:

Pattern: Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (rav) From Vintage Socks

Yarn: Tanis Fibre Arts Fingering Weight

Needles: 2.5mm

Mommy liked them, and I got them done in time! (it was hairy there for a while!)

I like my socks simple. I do a lot of streetcar knitting, and TV knitting, and I like to be able to do both. These lacy socks were a good choice- they were very easy to memorize.

Currently, I'm working on Spring Forwards from Knitty, also in Tanis (which is a dream to knit with) and have started a fair-isle yoked pullover of my own design featuring bunnies (!)

Early Morning

2009-05-13T08:52:00.003-04:00

Dave goes for a jog every morning. This morning, when he woke up, I was still awake. He asked if I wanted to go with him, and I agreed, but we went for a walk, not a jog.

The beach is beautiful in the morning, there's no one around.

It's almost 9am now, and i'm starting to get tired. I don't know if I'll go to sleep, or just suck it up and wait till tonight, to try and reset my sleep cycle- i've been going to bed later and later every night.

missing from this photo - thankfully is one billion dogs without leashes running around and generally being annoying. Dogs off leash in the off leash park RIGHT NEARBY = fine by me. dogs of leash here - where it's NOT an off leash area = a pain in the ass. Well, only badly trained dogs i guess.

Hello Blogger

2009-05-13T03:56:00.002-04:00

Hmm. I think i will switch over here from LJ. So much is better. LJ has begun all kinds of evil things, like forced ads in the blogs, it's so annoying. Plus, I can't customize, and have cool headers, and stuff on the side, like my tweets, and links, and fun stuff like that.

So, I'm going to move over here, see how I like it.

For reference, my old blog is here