sights and destinations.

i have decided upon everything i want to see while living in the uk. i'm sure there is a lot more to see, but as i only have three months here, i had to narrow it down. i am focusing primarily on the uk. once i move to paris, i'll travel around the continent. i'll mark them off the list as i come to them. hopefully, i'll be able to see them all.

1. all of london, i want to see everything there.
2. wales
   
3. stonehenge.
4. bath.
5. the surrey hills. 
6. dublin.
7. manchester. 
   
8. land's end/cornwall/penzance.
9. cambridge.
10. stratford-upon-avon.
11. brighton.
12. york minster.
    
13. loch ness.
14. edinburgh.

don't worry, i'll be back another trip to see more :D but by the time i'm finished here, if all goes according to plan, i will have seen a significant portion of england, ireland, wales and scotland.

greetings from england: week one

my first post while in europe! (the first of many!)

i can't believe i am actually here, that i am actually studying abroad. i have been dreaming about this trip since i was in seventh grade. i never thought i would end up doing it. even though the timing couldn't be worse (the economy, my pregnant sister,) i am so glad i am here. this is something that will define who i am and who i become. to help me remember everything that happens, i want to use this blog as a journal. also, i want to use this as a way to connect to friends and family back home. rather than writing emails constantly, they can use this to check up on me. so i will try to post something at least every other day. i also want to do weekly highlights, so i can look back at them, see how far i've come, and how far i have left.

i also have a personal goal. i want to do something new, meet someone new or go somewhere new every week. by this i mean something i have never done before, not a variation on things i've done in america. i want to actually meet someone, have a conversation with them, and get to know them, not just exchange introductions. i want to actually explore the new place, not just pass through it for an hour or so.

in order to help me remember, i have set up a basic guide for me to follow with each post.

each post i will address:
what i've been doing
what i miss about home
what i am enjoying
people i have met
where i've been going


i am currently in guildford, england. i'm staying with family, until i can move into my flat in london on sunday. i spent monday traveling, and my plane touched down in london on tuesday morning. i haven't yet explored london, i have only driven through it. after arriving, i spent an uneventful half hour going through customs, i think i might have even skipped something... then it was straight to guildford, where i amazingly managed to beat jet lag and stay awake so i could go exploring with my cousin. to my delighted surprise, exploring meant "going into town" and shopping. i love british stores, specifically "topshop" which i guess we have in the us, but i have never seen it. all the clothes and shoes were so cheap, so cute, and so utterly desirable. i'm trying to save my money until i actually get to london, so i managed not to buy anything, despite the rows and rows of shoes that were desperately calling out my name. i did however cave when i found a dress to wear to the clubs. thanks to it being on sale, and my student discount, it was only 12 pounds!

so, here's days 1-4!! (21 september - 24 september)

day one was spent traveling, filled with tearful goodbyes and butterfly-full stomaches.

day two was passed in an excited, foggy blur. after i received my first passport stamp (left), my uncle met me at the airport and drove me the forty five minutes into guildford. i went shopping with my cousin, watched british soap operas, and knitted a sock. i also ate at my first british pub! the numerous choices in drink were very tempting, i finally decided upon a pear cider. the choices in food were not quite as good. in fact, they were terrible. i resorted to pasta carbonara. the food was mediocre, but the drinks were amazing. fortunately, i enjoy good drinks more than i enjoy good food!! i then went home and crashed, exhausted from jet lag. i laid on the couch while the family watched tv. british shows are hilarious, but mostly we watched the same shows i watch at home.

day three, i figured out how to convert my appliances! i know many people have done this before, but i have never needed to. i am very proud of myself as my computer, my phone and my hair stylers are all still working. i didn't short them out! i found the knitting store and buried myself in there for a while. i explored the town for a bit by myself, i rode the bus for the first time. i spent some time in the park by their house. i really need to start taking pictures.

day four, i woke up really late. everyone had already left for work and school by the time i woke up. i stayed in the house today and tried to get everything ready for the upcoming move. i figured out where  my flat and my school are. turns out they're quite close and connected easily by the underground. perfect! i'm also right by king's cross station, so traveling will be really easy. upon finding that out, i decided to plan out where i wanted to go!! once i have finished the list, i'll post it later. i also figured out which sim card i'm going to get. tmobile here has a pay-as-you go plan that has unlimited texts. hopefully they offer internet as well.


day five,  my cousin and i decided to do a pub crawl with all of her friends. it was so much fun, all the pubs are in one part of town so it's easy to go back and forth.  all of her friends were really nice and a little punkish. i felt very tame next to them. they all kept talking about my accent, which got even worse the more i drank. when drinking, my voice tends to get higher and higher. i knew my voice got really squeaky, but i had no idea i had an accent! i'm from arizona, which is one of the few states that truly have no accents. i've been told many times that we all speak like news casters, so it was weird to be told that i "speak funny". my cousin ended up getting too drunk and becoming sick, so one of her friends walked her home. i have quite a high tolerance for my size and decided to stay on. when given the option, i will never choose to end the night. because of this, there were some issues, stemming mostly from the facts that i didn't know how to call or text internationally, and i had no clue where i was. but it was all sorted out the next morning. i managed to find a safe place to stay the night, i just feel bad for making them worry.


day six, we went to the devil's punch bowl in the surrey hills. it was some of the best scenery i've ever seen, and supposedly the rest of england is even better. i can't wait to see more. after last night, my uncle tried to give me a talk about safe sex. i cut him off rather quickly, explaining that i don't have casual sex and i don't date, so i truly just didn't know how to find my way home last night. he seemed almost offended by the thought of waiting until marriage, or at least a true commitment. he said he wouldn't judge me, but whenever someone says that, you know they are. he was also surprised that boys were okay with this.  i'm quite confused, because in america it is really common to wait for love. it isn't seen as prudish or odd, it is accepted. i refuse to get an std, to get pregnant or have my heart broken. sex opens you up to all those things.  now it is a little odd that i don't date, i have no problem admitting that. but i don't want to get distracted, i want to stay on track and accomplish all the things on my list before i settle down. for example, if i had a boyfriend, i would have never studied abroad.  so, in my head, it's really rational to avoid commitment. i still have crushes, and i'm open to possibilities; i still go on casual dates, but never anything serious. and oddly enough, boys are more okay with not having sex than they are with the "no commitments" clause.  however, i'm worried that i'm going to come into contact with an entirely different breed of boys in both london and paris.

anyways, here are pictures from the devil's punch bowl!

it was basically a huge hole in the ground, but it was so green! that's the second time i've worn my truffle cardigan. i wore it out last night as well. it's really comfy and really warm, my only problem is that it's already started to pill. after all the money i spent on that yarn, you'd think it wouldn't pill. i'm still totally in love with it though. speaking of knitting, my aunt has a monthly subscription to a magazine called "the knitter".  i've already found so many projects to make!

[eta] day seven, i hung out with my cousin. we went to see the castle ruins, and the alice in wonderland garden.  the castle was quite impressive, the first castle i have seen! it wasn't as big as i had expected, but i've been told the biggest ones are in scotland. the garden was nice but not as interesting as i expected, it was created in honor of  lewis carrol, who used to summer in guildford. afterwards, we hiked up a very steep road, reminicsent of the uphill slopes of san francisco. at the top, there was a large hill where we could see all of guildford. we sat on a bench and ate lunch. it was very peaceful, the weather was very bright and clear. according to lucy, the weather has been uncharacteristically enjoyable lately. usually, it's storming and cold. i'm hoping it doesn't change too soon. i saw the stereotypical british phone booth! it was so bright and red. i snapped a really quick picture. i hate looking like a tourist, but i just couldn't help myself. 

weekly highlights:

dates: 21 september 2009 - 27 september 2009 (i cut the week short, so this post would only be about guildford. that way, i'll post about the move and orientation all at once.)
sights seen: guildford, surrey, and the devil's punch bowl

somewhere new: guildford, england
someone new: i made a friend, her name is kelsey. i resisted the urge to tell her she has the same name as one of my dogs. we exchanged emails since i don't have a phone number yet.
something new: i flew across an ocean. that was a really big deal to me.  if that's not new enough, i made coffee for the first time, in a french press.

what i miss: dogs laying at my feet, legible street signs, navigable streets, and free music. turns out free streaming is pretty much only available in the states. here in the uk, you have to subscribe or buy if you want to listen to more than thirty seconds of a song. after days of searching, i finally found a streaming website. i've started listening to a band called wolf parade. i highly recommend them, they're a little raw and a bit off-key, but they can certainly make me cheer up! it's crazy, but just a few days without music and i was already going into a slump. is music necessary for your happiness, like it is for mine?

what i love: the coffee is amazing, i can actually stand the taste of it. i don't have to dilute it with flavorings. the weather makes it truly enjoyable to be outside, and everything is so green. i'm also really enjoying british soap operas and comedies. i'm sad i won't have a tv in london. the bottles here are different as well. they are tall and skinny and easy to pour.

what i'm not so sure of: the food is very different, the portions are so tiny and the jury is still out on whether i enjoy the taste or not. the humidity is what makes the weather so enjoyable but my hair is an unmanageable mess.

plans: i move to london on sunday. orientation starts monday and continues through the whole week, then classes start the monday after that. depending on my course schedule, i might start traveling right away. i have decided upon where i want to go, while in the uk. i'll post that list later. i want to go to the knitting and stitching show!! i'll probably only go for one or two days, i doubt i'll be able to make it to the whole thing. 

i'll start taking more pictures, my blog is so wordy.

owls, truffles and anticipation of a new beginning.

well, i leave in two days!! come monday, i will be at the airport. come tuesday, i'll be in london. this whole thing has been very exciting, but, needless to say, rather nerve wracking. i tend to procrastinate very badly, so only one of my suitcases is partially packed. i still have to sort through mountains of boxes, leftovers from the last few times i have moved. it is very hard to imagine every single thing i will need for the next year. i'm trying to avoid buying anything over there because the pound outweighs the dollar, and i want to spend all my money on traveling, not toothpaste. speaking of traveling, does anybody have any suggestions as to where i should visit?


well, not only i am not packed, i haven't finished all the knitting i wanted to do. i still have a photo prop to knit my sister. i have an unfinished cardigan and a pair of socks, which i must finish here because i have no idea if i bought enough yarn. i can buy more here, but i don't know if i'll be able to while i'm abroad. also, does anybody have any yarn stores i should visit? doesn't matter the country, i really hope to going all over western europe.

i woke up early today, and have already been packing and sorting. i have to do some laundry, so i figured i'd post to calm myself. this will most likely be my last post while in america!


FO: Truffle Coat

 

dates: 8 august - 25 august
pattern: truffle cardigan tutorial
yarn: debbie bliss cashmerino chunky, 15 skeins
needles: US 10 and US 10.5


i finished the truffle cardigan, it is, in my opinion, absolutely gorgeous. the yarn feels like a baby blanket, and the fabric it made is just so warm and toasty. i love the cable design paired with the texture of the seed stitch, there is no boring space on this sweater. because i chose a bulkier yarn and larger needles, and added a lot of inches to the length, it turned into more of a coat than a cardigan. i changed the pattern a lot, but i kept the basic stitch patterns.

modifications:

• i cast on two repeats for the yoke. later i decided it wasn't full enough, so i added one more.
• i knit the yoke until they almost made a full circle, i didn't have the patience to keep going.
• i picked up stitches from around the yoke, rather than knitting the torso separate. set-in sleeves are not my thing, especially when i have to figure out the math for them myself. i'm good at math, but no way.
  
• i did a few raglan increases, then put the stitches for the sleeves on holders and knitted the body.
• every four rows, i inserted two short rows. (to make up for the difference in gauge of the cable and the seed stitch)
• i used a twisted knit stitch to create a seam on the sides between the cabled front and the seed stitch back.
• i knit for 18 in, then put it on to see how different in length the front and back were. in order to make up for the curve of the yoke, i think i did four or six short rows (until the front and back were the same length)
• i knit two inches in 2x2 ribbing, but changed it to match the cable pattern in the front.
• the sleeves were basic and i made no changes. 

notes: so that's how i made my sweater!!! i finished it in the middle of august, it just took so long to figure out the after details.  i did make a button band, with holes on either side of it. i was planning on doing a double inside button band, but i needed twenty two buttons! so i scraped that idea and used snaps instead. they look like buttons when unsnapped, but, when snapped, they won't pop out and there is almost no pulling and not even a centimeter of gaping between them. i am very very happy with my sweater. my only complaint is the cables in the yoke pull away from each other and create holes, due to my needle size. i could go in and sew them together invisibly, but i just don't have the time. i have the extra yarn saved and i'll do it eventually, but i am content for the time being. 

also, i finished sewing eyes onto the owl mittens. and with the leftover buttons, made an owl hair clip, like ysolda.

 

the pictures are grainy, something's wrong with my camera. add that to the list of things to do. another addition: dye my hair. i just noticed that my roots are atrocious. yes, i am naturally a blonde. isn't it weird???

old baggage and explanations.

there has been a recent change in name, you may have noticed. the reasons are neither simple nor straightforward, but i will try to explain them nonetheless, if only for my own clarity.


three years ago, i stumbled upon the metaphor of a yellow bird, an icon symbolic for the one specific thing that inspires inside a person the will to live. in essence, a yellow bird is what one lives for, whatever keeps you going. it's an evolution of the relationship between the canary and the coal miner, i suppose. to me, the yellow bird has come to represent the opportunity to truly live. i am unsure which i will enjoy more: the search or the realization.


two years ago, i arrived at the frightening conclusion that my yellow bird could never be a person, as i would only  be left with an empty cage. So thus began my search. As art has always commanded a rather significant portion of my life, i decided to start there. i experimented with pottery, painting, and photography. i bought a guitar and a piano. i wrote every day for a month. however, in all my art, there was a common theme: birds. and even though i would become completely enveloped by every project, every song, every page written, and though i truly enjoyed each endeavor, i found the fascination they held for me was in their role as a conduit, a means to an end. in fact, none of these outlets were what i thought about in those brief but revealing moments before sleep. so, although i will continue to pursue these interests, i was no closer to my yellow bird than when i started.


so, naturally, i have turned to the only constants in my life: knitting and traveling. in 2003, i first learned to knit while visiting the green towns of rural ohio, so unlike the desert where i grew up. every year since then has been spent either knitting or traveling. they inspire the plans and thoughts that lull me to sleep and preserve my sanity. they are the closest i have come yet to my yellow bird, although i am still looking.


which brings me back to the change in name. in light of my coming year of studying abroad, i have decided to dedicate this blog to those things that weigh the most on me: knitting, traveling, and the endless pursuit of my yellow bird. because, in the words of milan kundera, "the heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to earth, the more real and truthful they become."


now that that's settled, here's some knitting!



FO: bow headband

yarn: bristol yarn gallery buckingham in black
needles: US2
pattern: none
notes: i knitted the bow, then i cast on for an icord around one side of an elastic hair tie. i knitted the rest of the icord until it was slightly shorter than the circumference of my head. i bound off around the other end of the hair tie, so it stretches tight to fit my head completely. i just sewed the bow onto the band and it was done!


i've been reading people's blogs lately, and many of them say they buy their clothes at thrift stores. i wanted to give it a go. i still haven't found many clothes, but i did find these amazing suitcases!! 

aren't they great?? twenty dollars for the pair. the shoes are just from payless, ignore them. the interior in the green one desperately needs revamping, but the blue one is in great condition!


oh, the image in my header is from lydia. they are a brilliant band, i listen to them almost daily. i'd suggest giving them a go.