oddities... or, reintroducing myself.

Inspired by Kylie at effervescence, I decided to get back into this blog by thinking/talking about my oddities...

There are so many things that I used to consider odd about myself but I've sort of forgotten what is odd and what is not these days. Now, I guess these are just the things that make me who I am. Some of these are funny little simple things, and some of them are are traits I fight with daily and have been working to articulate in order to get along better with.

1. I often wear mismatched socks -- on purpose. It didn't used to be on purpose, until I got some fantastic reactions from the kids I babysat for. Now I enjoy mismatching colorful socks for fun.

2. In my world, make-up is only for special occasions.

3. I am terribly disorganized with things but I have a good memory so I can get away with it. I am also pretty good at organizing my time, so I compensate there too. (my old boss used to call me a "process person" as opposed to herself, a "product person") I know some people rely on a calendar or date book to run their lives--I can't do this, because I inevitably lose the calendar. It works better if I just remember everything... better, but not perfectly. I'm still working on developing a system that will work for me.

4. I have to whole-heartedly believe in what I am doing or I have a really hard time forcing myself it. This is probably why I am now happily teaching kids how to read and count instead of climbing the corporate ladder my degree prepared me for. It's easy to believe in empowering the small people.

5. I cherish "silence." When I am home alone, I rarely listen to music or have the radio or TV on, because I like to hear every little sound around me.

6. When I am reading something or concentrating visually or even just lost in thought, I often cannot hear or see what goes on around me. I didn't realize that this was odd until very recently.

7. I really don't like going out with groups of people, especially when it involves alcohol.

8. Nick and I have a standing date with his entire family to make pizza at his parents house every Tuesday. Its been a while since we all showed up, and I miss it. Based on the reactions I get when I tell people about this, I gather it is odd to spend so much time with your family.

I'm back to stay

I am hereby making a commitment to this blog. I started this while in school, but I have been done with that for over a year now and I have decided I really would love to get back into blogging. Or, rather, actually start blogging regularly. I like the name of this blog, so even though the prior 11 posts bear little resemblance to what's coming, I am not going to start a fresh new blog.

I have been slacking off on even posting pictures of my creative endeavors, but here are a few to whet the appetite:

knitting events and wips

Well, I just got back from a very fun little event at Third Place Books. Larissa Brown, author of Knit Along, came to talk about her book this evening. It was great-- and I bought the book! I haven't bought a knitting book in a while... or, ever, really, but I love this book. Great concept. Plus, I really want to make the bicycle sweater.

In other news, this is an old FO just because I want to show something pretty.



This is a more recent FO, sent off yesterday to my friend Jessica in San Francisco.


I think she will like it. I love it. so soft, so squishy-- and it's cotton-- you wouldn't expect it to be so squishy.

I was planning on finishing a hat tonight, but I am having some counting problems...i might just need a break from it.

here is a little detail from it, to show the colors, but not the scary counting.

Where have I been?

I looked back at this blog and laughed when I read, "I will try to update every day"... back in September. Well, it's April, and here I am.

The blue image with dots is an example of what I have been working on. It's actually a detail of a poster that I designed for school-- and got a surprising 4.0 for! First 4.0 in my life as a design student.

I have also been working a lot on stuff for my cousin's wedding.


I have about 3 or 4 very promising projects on the needles that I haven't photographed yet, but I will very soon.

One last note before I sign off to go work-- I went to the coolest yarn store ever! More on that later.

i'm back

Its been a while, and it doesn't even matter because I am changing gears. I am currently a senior in a brand new design program called Design Studies at the University of Washington. I am in the beginning of the process of proposing and executing a year-long capstone project.

I fell back in love with design over the summer. I remembered why this is what I want to do, and now I am not sure I will ever get there, which is scary. I have to do this capstone, and I think it could be great. But right now, all I can think about is book design, and I am not sure if there is anything all that controversial or groundbreaking I can say or ask about book design.

I am going to try to blog every day or at least about 3 times a week, because something I realized over the summer is that reflection is a part of the design process that I am missing.

Here are some things I want to talk about, someday:
What is design, to me
Craft vs. design
reflection as a part of the design process

OK, back to searching for some kernel of innovation...

Finally, an overview of my trip thus far

It has been a while since my first post, and I feel like its almost impossible to catch up on all the things that I have done since then. I have been in 5 different countries, and over 10 different cities. I will share a few pictures from my travels and probably go into more depth about Rome, where I have been staying/studying for the last 3 weeks.

Leisha and I traveled from London, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Basel, Geneva, Siena, Sorrento and finally landed in Rome on August 21. I cannot believe that I have been gone so long! Here are a few pictures from the backpacking portion of our trip...

L O N D O N


People waiting for the bus in London


The London Eye, the Thames, and a souvenir vendor seen from one of the many bridges.

A M S T E R D A M


Architecture in Amsterdam.


Bikes are huge in Amsterdam. I love this type, also.



B E R L I N

At the Gauklerfest


At the Berlin Wall

B A S E L

Flea market in Basel

V I T R A

While in Basel, we went to the Vitra museum, which is actually just across the border in Germany. There was a special Eames exhibit in the Zaha Hadid fire house.

G E N E V A

On Lac Leman.



At the United Nations Building.


S I E N A

This is in the baptistry in Siena.


At the Palio! This is just a small section of the crowd...



S O R R E N T O

This is actually not in Sorrento, but at the beach in Amalfi.


Sorrento lemons, from the garden outside our hostel.

And from there, we went to Rome... which will be a different post.

Hello from London

I am in europe! Wow. I can't believe it. I got here about 10 hours ago, and I am about to go to sleep, but I just wanted to say that I am here and having fun. I took so many pictures today, but I don't have time to upload them. Maybe tomorrow. We went out walking and ended up crossing the Thames and going to Westminster Abbey and the palace. We didn't pay to get in, so mostly I have pictures of the outside of these things. Fun walk though. Its crazy how many tourists are out and about, and how touristy everything is. I have pictures of that too.

One of my favorite things so far-- piccadilly circus. Not that its my favorite place, but the fact that its called a circus. you see, its actually a little bit like a mini times square-- lots of ads, neon lights and people. And LOTS of american influence. Anyhow, I jus think its great that its called a circus, even if that means somethign different to the UK.

Well, I am almost out of time and about to fall asleep while typing, so I am going to go now. I will try to update about my travels regularly, so keep checking back.

well, goodnight!