And the knitting spree continues

This has to be the most labour-intensive and most difficult project I've ever actually finished. The number of four-inch-long, never-to-be-legwarmers knitted panels I have lying around is astounding, so I'm probably prouder of myself than I should be for finishing this hat. I used a pattern from ravelry.com called Intuitive, although I used bigger needles and yarn than the designer did, and didn't adjust the number of stitches to cast on - I've always been of the belief that I have this unfathomably huge head, but it appears this isn't the case. So the hat is kind of big; I think I'll have to put some elastic in the ribbed part so it stays on my unfortunately-normal-sized head.

The BF is in Japan for the week, and as such missed out on the second annual Dannygiving (which also happened to be my first proper Thanksgiving celebration), during which I drank no less than half a gallon of Grown Up Eggnog (I made it myself, and, I don't mean to brag, it tasted like it was made by the gods themselves) and ate my weight in turkey, candied yams (henceforth known as "yammy pudding") potatoes, green bean casserole, and many, many pies. Thus far Thanksgiving is my favourite American holiday, by a mile. It is the one time a year that you're actually encouraged to not hide the fact that you're a fat-ass glutton. Obviously, this sits well with me.

When I was 22

First ever F-Off huge pumpkin at a pumpkin patch in Lafayette, IN

At the age of 22, I:

-       moved overseas

-       spent time in three countries

-       Visited more than twenty cities, in more than 15 different states.

-       Lived in a college dorm (FML)

-       Navigated my way through NYC, Toronto and Ottawa, as well as countless airports all by myself.

-       Studied abroad for a year

-       Was accepted to complete my degree overseas

-       Joined a roller derby team

-       Overcame my crippling social retardation and can now almost function in most social situations

-       Saw Spoon in concert

-       Lived without a car for one year, for the first time since I was 17

-       Lost 15 lbs

-       Met more incredible people than I could even possibly count

-       Learned to really appreciate good beer

-       Didn’t die

When I was 22, I

-       saw snow

-       ate pulled pork

-       ate smores

-       experienced Thanksgiving

-       experienced Halloween

-       experienced Fall

-       got stitches

-       played dodgeball

-       got an A at university

-       competed in an actual team sport

-       saw a huge pumpkin

-       went to Homecoming

-       went to an apple orchard

-       went to Canada

-       sang karaoke

for the very first time in my life.

My favourite bands when I was 22 were The Smiths, The Cure, Beck, Spoon, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds, The Hives.

My heroes when I was 22 were David Sedaris, Suzy Hotrod, Eddie Izzard, Bonnie Thunders, Michael Cera, Quadzilla, Kristen Wiig, C. D. Payne, and your mum. 

My favourite foods when I was 22 were pulled pork sandwiches, French fries, bacon, and beer. Ha ha! Thanks, America, you sonofabitch. I’m confident that when the novelty wears off, I’ll go back to normal food again. I have this strange thing with eating food that isn’t normally available to me, even if it’s really bad. For instance, I really don’t like stuff that’s pumpkin flavoured, but I’ll buy it every chance I get and choke it down, just because I never had the option before. Same goes for root beer. Jon says he won’t be allowing me to buy either of these things anymore, now that he knows the truth.

I feel as thought the enormity of the last year makes up for the mediocrity of the previous 21. One of my friends who is quite a bit younger than me told me how I had done and seen so much more than she had, but I reminded her that this is literally more than I did in the first twenty one years of my life put together. 

In any case, I'm kicking myself and trying to figure out why I didn't decide to do the 365 project, because this has been an effing amazing 365 days.

Well, I guess there's always next year.

Feelin' Knitty

I have been feeling knitty over the last couple of weeks. I think it's because I find the repetition and the act of physically making something soothing, when I'm constantly up researching and writing papers and reading exorbitant amounts of fiction for the literature classes I over-ambitiously chose three months ago. Or, maybe it's because it's cold as shit and I'm too poor to buy clothes. Either way, I'm really enjoying it. I just finished this divinely chunky scarf with a wooden button, a pattern by Jane Richmond, who I now officially have a craft crush on. 

I'm currently knitty a slouchy beanie; my first foray into circular needles thus far looking promising. I'll upload a photo and a link to the pattern once I'm done! I don't want to show you what I'm aiming for yet, because if and when my hat turns into a tangled clump of wool resembling a soggy pancake, I don't want people ridiculing me and making my immense shame any worse.

As I sat on the bus last week on my way to have coffee with my super cool new friends, knitting my scarf and listening to Pomplamoose covering Mrs Robinson, excited to see Jon and full of butterflies for that weekend's bout, I realised something important: my life is awesome. And, surprisingly, it wasn't the huge deal of living overseas that made me realise that - it was silly little things, like laughing and drinking coffee and fawning over my half-scarf. 

Speaking of being overjoyed, it's my birthday tomorrow - look at the present I got from the sweetest girl in the world. Literally, Steph is the sweetest girl in the world - and I can say that now, because I've been to the world. I'm going to take my new Diana camera to Chicago with and me and buy some 120 film so I can get some great photos of the WFTDA roller derby Championships, and of Jon, my friends and I buffooning around the city.