Crazy Caryl Strikes Again

So, last September I had to have surgery on my left leg and my running had to come to an end. I'm pretty much healed now but I've just not been able to get back to my running. So with all the million life changes I'm undergoing, I thought why not another. I've just signed up for the NY marathon. I'm going to run it for CAMFED - Campaign for Female Education. I'll need to raise at least $3,500 so any blog lurkers - I'm counting on your help. I do plan to come up with some prizes. I just need to think some up - feel free to make suggestions.

As a training run, I've signed up for the Quad Cities Half-Marathon in Moline, IL. I'll be doing that with a close friend and I'm really excited to connect with her again and do something we both love.

Cheers to me and running and finally conquering the marathon!

I've just created my fundraising page. I'd appreciate your support: http://www.firstgiving.com/carylpierre.

Catching up

I haven't blogged in a while...but I have a good excuse, I promise!

I'm getting ready to wrap up the UK portion of my life and start afresh. The plan is solid now (and should be since it comes into action on Saturday), go to Ghana for 7 weeks and then move to Madison, WI. I've been trying to pack this past weekend and crikey I have accumulated lots - lots of yarn that is. I can't bare to give up any of my stash... I've started mailing myself stuff but there's still so much...

Obviously my brain isn't fully functional as I can't seem to finish a sentence. I've been knitting as always and following will be an array of recent FOs.

Scarf-sized clapotis - knitted in Malabrigo Silky (2 skeins)



Minimalist Cardigan - knitted in 100% merino wool I got in Estonia. It was from a huge cone and a lot of that cone still remains.






Swallowtail Shawl - knitted in Malabrigo Dos (3 skeins)



I've also been doing a lot of charity knitting but I'll upload those pics another day.

Knitters' Day Out

6 June 2009 was the first annual UK Ravelry Day and I must say I was ridiculously happy to be there. I woke up at 6:30am (very early for me - I generally don't wake up until about 8am most days) to get myself ready and head off to Euston station to get the train to Coventry - a place I'd never visited or even considered visiting. The weather in true English style was rainy, windy and altogether crappy.

Vendors set up at UK rav day:


But the weather did not deter us knitters. There were workshops to be worked, yarn to be stashed and Meg Swansen to be adored.

My friend and I hopped on the train and chattered happily while knitting our way to Coventry to the annoyance of probably many in our carriage. But who cares about them, how often do knitters' get to have a day out to simply revel in our craft!

We arrived at the venue at 10am and you might think we went into the hall, had a cup of coffee, surveyed the goings on and you would have been wrong. No! First thing, to the yarn stalls, batman! (play batman music) Actually first to the cash machine. London-liver that I am, I didn't think to carry cash so after a first abortive attempt at some yarn purchasing, it was to the cash machine and then up up and away, to shop our hearts out. I had an introduction to spinning class from 11-1, then Meg Swansen talk from 2-3:30 and I wanted to get my yarn before all the good stuff was gone.

It was quite nice to have so many locally-sourced vendors and I made sure to buy British all day.



I had my spinning class and I should add that I suck at spinning.

Points for trying?


Diane - our awesome spin sensei.


Here's a pic of my first bit of spinning. Eek! Don't quit my day job, right?


I plan to persevere though and even bought some tasty fiber to keep me inspired. Or one might argue that I'm just a shopaholic and I've found yet more crafty things to purchase...



Then we had the talk with Meg Swansen. That's her at the book signing afterwards. She was absolutely lovely to everyone.



I found it a bit weird that she read excerpts from her mother's book for her talk (I mean we could do that for ourselves) but I enjoyed the Q&A section. I kept asking myself though how she could enjoy being a representative for her mother when I think she is quite the knitter in her own right. I would have liked to know a bit more about Meg Swansen; I wasn't there to revive Elizabeth Zimmerman in the guise of her daughter.

I did have a quick chat with Meg Swansen though. She heard my American accent during the book signing and then she started asking questions (what was I doing in England? Where I was from in the states? etc etc). Seems she lives in Wisconsin and often visits the Madison guild and seeing as I may move to Madison, it would be cool to hang out with Meg and even get an invite to see her sweater and stash warehouse. How amazing would that be!?!

Pic of myself and Meg. Eeep! I'm touching her...


And after that, more shopping... ;-). I got this lovely yarn to knit Maplewing by Anne Hanson. Can't wait to cast on!

Bring Your Children to Work Day

Today is 'Bring Your Children to Work Day' at work and so there are tons of toddlers running around the office and young singletons enjoying the time to play with kids that they don't have to take home. The parents are loving the free baby-sitting (it's half-term this week and kids are out of school). The Company hired a clown who did face painting and me, channeling my inner child, got in on the face painting action.



Other than that, it's a rainy and very windy day today. I went outside to get some photos of my new knitted FO and it was a bit crazy.



Pattern: Sexy Vesty by CanarySanctuary

Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool 2.6 skeins

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm

Greatest Day

After all the craziness in my life of late, this day so far has just been absolutely fantabulous!!!

Last night I finished another Ulmus shawl and it's just gorgeous! I love everything about it!





Pattern: Ulmus by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Louet Gems Fingering Wt. (Aqua) 1.7 skeins and (Paisley) 1.2 skeins

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
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Anyhow, I get to work and I'm pretty stoked because finishing a project that you're in love with is pretty much enough to have you walking on air for at least 24 hours. But my day had more happiness in store for me. I got my malabrigo swap package and oh my god is it amazing!!!

I've been so giddy about this package that I've lost my appetite. I couldn't even get through a salad for lunch. I've just been super happy!

Package arrives:



Awesometastic tissue wrapping; I didn’t even want to open it.


Handmade Item 1: Felted Nalgene bottle holder with Nalgene bottle inside



Inside Nalgene bottle, yummy choccies, tea and hot chocolate . I can’t wait to try it but I’m so happy I’ve lost my ability to eat.



Yarn: 3 skeins of Ravelry Red worsted. OMG!!! I’m in love!!! Caked so that I don’t have to go to my LYS and buy something so that I can use the winder :-)



Not the best pic but a mini skein of 100% silk with beads yarn from Planet Earth Fibers:



THE KNIT KIT (Need I say more!)



Here you can see handmade item 2, an ipod cozy with the most amazing detailing of iphone icons and a $15 itunes gift card. Also, interweave knits spring 2008 which i need for many projects in my queue.





And last but not least, this awesome tote:



This whole package has been so amazing. Thank you Thank you stashmore for such a happy day!!!

Knitting - the Ultimate Coping Mechanism

I seemed to have opened a can of worms when I quit my job recently. I know that I made the right decision. Life is just so much more worth living now that I see an end in sight. However, by making this one decision about my life, I'm finding myself doing a lot of thinking about other aspects of my life. My brain is a turmoil of this and that and overthinking. Thank God for yarn and knitting! How amazing it is to knit, purl, yarn over, k2tog and so forth (I'm making lots of shawls lately so lots of yo, k2tog, ssk). I feel like this is a monumental year for me (not just because I'm turning the big 30) but because I feel like a lot of my short-term future will be set by this year. That worries me a bit. I have so many decisions to make and paths to forge and I have no clue what the road not taken is. I don't know if the conventional path is actually the unconventional one because I've never been conventional and doing something conventional might actually blow my mind. Now I'm just blabbing but it's my blog and I can blab if I want to :-).

Ok - here are the projects I've completed since my last post. I seemed to have become shawl obsessed somewhere along the way.

I test knitted another shawl for Kirsten Kapur.



Pattern: Jeanne by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock (Botticelli) 0.8 skein

Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm

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I also finally paid off my library fines and found some nice knitting, beading and crochet books there. I've also checked out a couple of audio books which is a lovely crafting companion.

Anyhow, in one of the crochet books I checked out, I found this pattern for a Jagged Stripe Scarf which I thought would be perfect to use up a lot of my Malabrigo Worsted leftovers.





Pattern: Want Not Waste Not Scarf (Jagged Stripe Scarf by Gayle Bunn)

Yarn: Various Malabrigo Merino Worsted (see ravelry project page for details)

Needles: 5 mm hook / H

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I also made some granny squares which I sent off to the malabrigo swap ravelry group mods in charge of making wedding blankets. After making these squares I'm thinking I need to work on collecting squares to make an afghan for moi.



Pattern: Granny Square by Purl Bee

Yarn: Various Malabrigo Merino Worsted (see ravelry project page for details)

Needles: 5 mm hook / H

8. Make a bold career move

If you keep up with my blog, you might have sensed that I was desperately fed up with my job. After the long weekend (ended 5 May), I felt refreshed and was willing to let myself believe that maybe I was over-exaggerating how bad things were. Barely an hour into being back at work, my manager confronted me in an unreasonable manner and in less than a minute my entire joie de vivre disappeared. I felt sick and I knew that I couldn't put up with my job any longer. So I wrote my letter of resignation, went to speak with HR and then later in the day to my manager. For the next two days, I just felt completely and utterly drained. Then all of a sudden I felt like this weight had fallen off of my shoulders and I could see opportunities that I hadn't been able to see before.

I've since decided to head off to Ghana for a couple of months to do some voluntary work before I'll probably head back to the US. I don't know what life holds in the US for me but my 30th birthday is approaching and I'm tired of this itinerant lifestyle I lead. It's time to settle somewhere and while I'm not sure what my next step is, I know that Britain is not somewhere I can settle.

I bought my tickets today and I'll be heading to Ghana on 27 June returning on 17 August. I'm mainly following Barry who will be doing field study over there but now that I have my dates I'm going to look into volunteer opportunities. I feel a bit now like I'm taking control of my life. Other moves need to be made but for now I'm happy with where I am.