An Unusual Crowd

Part of the "excitement" of getting married in the United States (and I would think in many other places it is similar) is going to the Social Security Administration office to legally change your name.  It is one of those final steps to creating your own family should you chose to take your husband's last name or do as I did and hyphenate.  It is an event that can inspire thoughts on the nature of identity and the ever evolving and beautiful uniqueness of what makes a family.

It is also an event that involves fights for parking spots and really long lines in a lobby full of people who are there for less exciting and much more life changing paperwork.  There are people there from all different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages (not to mention health).  There was a grandmother working on her custody battle for her grandchildren, a young pregnant mother applying for food stamps, and a mental health patient who was struggling to wait her turn while terrified of the people around her.

Into this glimpse of humanity I brought my knitting.  While others fidgeted and read, I sat silently, respecting the no electronics rule and working on the front to my Holla Back Tank.

What I quickly realized but tried to ignore was that the one empty chair I managed to snag was actually facing the crowed, rather than lost in its midst.  And when you are facing everyone, they quickly take note of what you are doing.

First a man about my age tried to catch my eye from a few rows back.  He was there assisting an older gentleman, and so in my mind he was the grandson, driving his grandfather on errands and helping him with paperwork.  He mouthed to me "What are you making?"  I told him a sweater and waited for some kind of adverse reaction.  Instead he simply smiled, nodded, and gave me a thumbs up.  He went back to chatting with the older lady who had come in to sit next to him and I returned to my knitting, pleased to know that at least someone outside my sphere of influence thinks that knitting is cool enough to merit a thumbs up.

About ten minutes later I heard the older gentleman across from me tell the girl he came in with "You know, she's not even looking."  I glanced up at him, smiled, and went back to my knitting, which he took to be an invitation to start a conversation.

Gentleman: "How long have you been doing that?" (gestures to the knitting)
Me: "Oh, a few years."
"What are you making?"
"A sweater"
"How long will it take you?"
"A few weeks, maybe?" (if I only knit on this and only this)
"Wow.  You're not even looking.  If I tried to do that it would look like this" He gestures diagonally across his midsection to indicate an asymmetrical hem.

At this point we had the attention of the family sitting next to us.  I grinned at him and told him that this may be the case but at least he'd be fashionable.  The oldest daughter started giggling at this remark.  They had a good laugh with the gentleman and then we all went back to what we were doing.  Pretty soon my name was called and I went to the window to take on a new identity.

What I found fascinating about this exchange was a few things.  First, no one was shocked that I was knitting.  No one made comments about how unusual it was, or asked if I was pregnant.   The only part they found different was the fact that I could make eye contact with them without stopping.  At the same time, they were extremely friendly.  Despite the fact many were obviously there for unpleasant reasons, they all smiled, joked with each other, and expressed a genuine interest in passing the time together as amicably as possible.

I don't know if I happened to stumble into an odd crowd of knitting relatives or just happened upon the most pleasant government waiting room ever.  But I like to think that maybe, just maybe, knitters are starting to be recognized.  That the kindness and peace many knitters maintain (many maybe because of their knitting) has started to impact those around them.  Either way, it gave me hope for the world at large.  That even in some very dire circumstances, people can still smile.  And if I can help pass the time for someone who is dealing with paperwork that is less than pleasant, I feel I have done something worthy with my day.

Cemetery Musings

The other day I did something that I am horribly embarrassed to admit -- I locked my keys in my car.  Fortunately I have a spare and a roommate who is willing to come rescue me when need be.  This left me with half an hour to kill before she rode in, and so I indulged my curiosity and wandered a cemetery.

This is the same cemetery that I wrote about last year.  While it has been reopened, there are still signs of tornado damage.

There's something peaceful about old cemeteries.  The way the stones have been weathered, the inevitable loss of text on each, the mystery as to who is who.

One could almost forget that this was in fact the middle of a city.

But not quite.

There was a wedding going on across the street, so I had great fun watching all of the different outfits that have become popular this season.

I did a little reading and knitting under a tree and enjoyed finding a place that felt so calm in the midst of our chaotic downtown.

It was probably my most peaceful afternoon in a long time.

Wishing for Autumn

So that was an unexpected time away from blogging.  I don't realize sometimes how much I enjoy communicating with the nicer side of the internet until I have to be gone for a while.  My dad went back into the hospital last week so I had to go home to help out.  He's ok and home now, but it was scary for a while so I needed to concentrate on my family rather than put my angst out in a public form.

I don't know about where you live, but here it has been insanely hot for what feels like forever.  Yesterday was the first day in a few months that I can remember the temperature not reaching the mid to upper 90s.  Of course what can one do in the dead of summer heat than turn to air conditioning and cold weather knitting?  I guess my knitting mojo has decided that it doesn't care what the weather says, it's time for hats and scarves and such.

Two hats out blocking on the porch yesterday.  Sadly it was too dim outside when I got back from work to get any photography in, but hopefully I'll have some assistance in this soon.  In the meantime I am quickly knitting away on another cabled cowl.  It seems my hands were in need of a break from the small needles.

Bonus points for ID-ing the trashy teen girl novel.

While I was home I spent my days with my dad so that other family members could do all the things that needed to be done. (Side note: my mom, sister, and brother all started school in the past week and it has bummed me out a little because it is the first time in my life, like since I was four, that I'm not going back to school.  It's the most bizarre thing ever).  In between walks he slept a lot and so I got a ton of reading and knitting done.  One doctor, upon observing me there at 7am knitting for the third day straight, asked me if I was having a baby because I knit so much.  I was a little offended, but mostly just surprised.  I know other knitters have reported a lot of strange comments on their knitting, but I've never had the stereotypical responses.  I got a lot of them in the hospital though, which is a little surprising because people do so much waiting there.  I can only conclude that in small towns like where I grew up mainstream knitting is still less visible than I like to think.

Just wait till it gets cold.  Then they'll all come to my side of things.

WIP Wednesday: Spoiled

Please take the time to check out other, more productive WIP Wednesday posts over at Tami's blog.  She's so nice to run this every week.  And May the Fourth be with you!

It's the last week of school!  Well, almost.  I'm a TA, so the last week of school lasts until the grading is complete.  But as I'm moving in a mere seven days I feel pretty confident in calling this the last week of school.

Part of finishing up a semester is that last mad dash to complete lagging projects and assignments, as any caffeine-driven, under-rested student can attest.  I give my first exam today, so my mad dash starts this afternoon.  Fortunately I've had a brief lull in the semester due to the fact I passed comps last semester and will not be defending my thesis until next.  Aside from packing I have been using this time to finish one of my lingering projects that is crucial to the successful formation of my thesis -- scanning.

Meet Goodale.  A little top down stockinette cardi that has been my constant companion this week during the untold hours I have spent at the scanner with my bag full of primary documents.  (Side note: If you hear about that bounty the library has out on me, please note that Goodale and I are armed and dangerous.  We have returned all of the books now but the scary ladies in the back seem to have taken no interest and are out for blood.  Many a Bothan died to bring this laptop to our super secret police box hideout).  I counted yesterday and determined that I can pick up my knitting and purl five stitches or knit eight before I have to turn the page and start the next scan.  I look spazzy crazy during all of this, but it was the only thing keeping me sane.  (There was an incident with a 336 page book that did not save and a temper tantrum and a tangled ball of yarn, but I'd rather not talk about it if you please)

Despite all the scanning, Goodale already has a lot of good memories knit into her.  I knit the gauge swatch the night my dad and I introduced my brother to Dirty Harry (again, sorry Mom).  The first several rows were knit while shopping with my mom and sister during Easter break.  The yoke was knit during one too many Top Model reruns while I stayed a few days with Mom at the beach.  Overall, Goodale is a very happy cardi.  Even the yarn (Cascade 220 Sport) is deliciously squishy.

I am a little concerned that Goodale is turning into a bit of an attention whore.  She has spent most of her formative rows out in public and now she's so big she takes over her own seat in public spaces.  Last night one of the girls told her boyfriend "See, my friends are cool.  They knit in bars."  But I swear the subtext was "I can't believe she's allowed that cardi to get such an inflated ego.  Whatever happened to bringing socks out for a nice evening with friends?"

I blame the packing.

Tornado Derby

In case you have not picked up on it from recent posts, in the midst of end-of-semester craziness I am getting ready to move again.  My TA contract is up in May, and so I am moving to Raleigh in about 3 weeks.  I am super excited about the move because I will be living with my best friend.  We have been talking about living together for what feels like forever and now we finally are!

Because I am moving, over the weekend I went up to Raleigh to pay the deposit on our new place and get everything set for next month.  Unfortunately the leasing office closed early the day I was there, but we left our checks and went on to find other adventure.  And boy did we ever -- we decided to go to roller derby.

The weather was kind of bad when we got there, lots of wind and the threat of rain.  We were at an indoor arena, so we were not too worried, but that's just because we don't have this one particular form of weather around here very often.  That's right.  Tornadoes.  I can only remember one time when I was really little that there was even a real threat of a tornado.  It's more foreign to my experiences than snow on the beach.  When we left for derby we heard on the radio that there was some concern in surrounding areas, but nothing serious, and nothing where we were. Right before the first bout the announcers said that though they usually use the air raid siren to start the first half, they would not be using it unless there was a severe weather concern in which case we were all to go to the tunnels under the arena.  No big deal.  This is Raleigh, NC, right?  Wrong.  

About five minutes into the first half the siren went off.  With an almost surprising amount of civility everyone filed down into the tunnels to find a spot of concrete wall to sit against.  Derby girls, volunteers, and spectators alike.  While the tornado passed to the south of us, we stayed down there for almost an hour.  So I did what I always do when I have to wait for a long time, or any length of time, really.  I took out my knitting.

And a funny thing happened.  While I was knitting I glanced around and noticed I was not alone.  In the midst of the bored, concerned crowd were other knitters.  The woman sitting next to me was working on a sweater.  A lady across the hall was knitting what appeared to be a dish towel.  It's improbable that all the knitters ended up in one place (though we were near the bathroom.  In a long wait it's always about location), so one can infer that there were at least a few other knitters around the arena, patiently knitting their concerns to maintain a level of peace in the hallway.  Sure, I have had the opening bars of Twister stuck in my head for days (our family is on some sick level obsessed with disaster movies), but the knitting seemed to do what we all know knitting can do, provide the outward appearance of patience while inwardly calming restless concerns.

It is very rare when I knit in public that I am near other knitters.  And I've never seen another knitter at the sporting events I have been to.  Maybe knitting and roller derby mix on some subcultural level.  But it was nice to see, in potential (albeit unlikely) disaster that other knitters were there to converse about fiber and stitch pattern, rather than stew in our impatience.  I guess knitters in some way always find one another.

Just know, if I had died, it would have been with the finest of Malabrigo clutched in my hands.

Oh, and we won!

Unorthodox Knitting

I have a confession to make. I knit during church. Not flagrantly (though really, how does one knit flagrantly?), but I do bring some small travel project that I can keep on my lap. I do it to keep my hands busy and maintain concentration. Kind of like taking really detailed notes, only this way I'm not absentmindedly chewing a fingernail or something. It helps me to keep my attention focused and usually I don't have to look at my knitting so unless you see my hands you probably would not notice. I fully participate in the service, the standing, the singing, the praying, and only knit during the sermon.

For the past two Sundays I have been working on my Dihli Wrap (no pictures because I won't take any in church and the lighting has been bad today). I've never had anyone have a problem with my knitting, which I've mostly attributed to the rather giantish size of the church. One of the first times I did this a woman two seats down from me actually pulled out her knitting as well. She has not sat near us since, but it has been nice to know that there is some other knitter somewhere in the congregation.

Now I don't know if it was the very bright color of my knitting (I'm using the same colorway as the pattern sample) or what, but I had a very different experience today. Today when I pulled out my little ball of yarn and circs the couple next to me almost lost it. The woman sitting next to me kept staring at me (which was quite a feat, let me tell you, because she was almost sitting on top of me) and then whispering to the man who was with her. Then they would giggle loudly, whisper some more, and keep moving around in their seats. All the people around us kept looking at them. Actually other people would look over because of the noise and then look disapprovingly at me. I didn't say anything, but I really wanted to turn to them afterwards and ask them if they found my knitting distracting.

Honestly, if I thought I was a distraction, I would not do it. I keep my knitting very contained in my seat (I'm a firm believer in taking up as little space as possible in a crowd) and because my hands are busy I maintain a pretty steady focus on the minister. No looking around, no whispering, no jostling the people next to me. I find it very interesting that I work very hard to maintain a respectful and quiet manner during the service, but am viewed as the distraction, while people who are not paying attention and making noise are at most ignored. I guess this to be expected, but I really view it as just another case in which knitting could make the world a better place. When you are knitting, your hands are busy and if you are working on a small, simple project, presumably your mind is clear to receive information. When your hands are not busy, however, it seems the vast majority of the population becomes restless and even irritable. This is why knitters do so well in lines, on hold, and even, in some cases, in church. I'm not comparing being in church to being on hold, but it is a significant amount of time in which you are expected to be quiet and pay attention. I just find it a lot easier to absorb the information when my hands are busy and knitting is a better alternative to doodling.

I'm not going to stop knitting in church, but I do think I'll be a little more hypersensitive to other people's reactions. No matter if I was knitting or not, being noisy and disruptive is not appropriate to the situation. And don't get me started on people who feel the need to sit in my seat as well as their own. It just makes me wonder. Am I the only one who has run in to this problem? Not just in church but in other public situations?

Lost in Austin

If you were paying attention at all to the news last week, I'm sure you saw that we had a spot of bad weather here on the East Coast.  As in roads flooded out and school closings.  Despite a slight delay on the runway, we were able to leave here and land in Charlotte with minimal delays.  And as I raced through the Charlotte airport (cause dude, that place is huge) I happed to glance at the arrivals board.  Seems my flight to Austin was delayed by over an hour.  End result?  I arrived in Austin around 1130 central time, had to find a cab (thank God for nice security guards), proceeded to get lost, found, lost again, and then crashed thankfully onto the floor of a very nice couple who allowed me to sleep on an air mattress.

I have a really hard time on planes.  It's not that I get motion sick, though I do, but I get really claustrophobic. It has a lot to do with the tiny planes more than the bigger jets, and of course I got stuck in a tiny plane on the way to Austin and back.  Fortunately I had Jackie from KIPing It Real to keep me distracted.  I downloaded the first 18 episodes or so, something I tend to do after I've listened to a podcast for a while, and they really kept my brain preoccupied.  She's a great host and really engaging to listen to.

Austin was a lot of fun.  On Friday I went in search of an LYS, as I do in every city.  I went to Hill Country Weavers, a  shop on South Congress that is in a house.  They had a great selection of yarn in every room.

Koigu,

Malabrigo,

Just shelves and shelves of yarnie goodness.

But did I buy any?  Surprisingly, no.  I did carry around a skein of Manos that I may have to buy someday, but I went there for needles and that's what I got.  Along with this really cute Knit Happy water bottle.

Oh! And they had the Ysolda books!  I already have them in pdf, but I'd never seen them in print before.

And next to the shop is a lot of food trailers.  A staple in Austin, don't you know.  If you ever go there, you need to walk to the end of the lot and go to the Giant Cone.  Their hot and spicy avocado cone is delicious.  

All the food in Austin is amazing.  On Saturday night we went out for tex mex and margaritas.  I told my mom after I got back that I'm never going to be able to eat what people here call "mexican".  I've been ruined.  I mean, they make breakfast tacos!  They're amazing concoctions of eggs and peppers and salsa and soooo good.

I did a lot of knitting in public on this trip.  Airports, planes, buses, stadium steps.  Even in the LBJ presidential library museum (you think I'm kidding).  As a result I finished the featherweight.  It's currently blocking in the hallway.  I can't wait to show you guys.  On the plane from Austin to Charlotte the stewardess actually stopped to ask what I was making and pet the yarn.  It is alpaca lace, so I can see why she was unable to restrain herself.  And because I finished the featherweight in Austin I pulled out that perpetual WIP -- my mom's socks.  I did get a bit of work done on them.  Maybe I'll finish them before the end of the year.  Maybe not.

Oh, and the conference?  That thing I went to Austin to do?  It went well.  I even wore one of my own hand knits one day.

Panthers Forever

Yesterday Chris, my parents, and I went to the Carolina Panthers' first home game of the season.  I've mentioned this before, but I am a huge fan.  My parents live about an hour from Charlotte, so we were almost inevitable fans.

We engaged in many of the rituals of football obsession.

Tailgating:

Walking a mile to the stadium because we wanted cheap parking:

And sitting in the upper deck of the stadium (this is where true fans sit, after all):

Unfortunately, Chris was not raised as well as I was, so he's a . . . *shudder* . . . Tampa Bay fan.

We had a great time.  We yelled until we were hoarse, tried not to throw things, and jumped out of our seats so much that I may have re-aggravated my knee (injured, if you'll remember, when I took that celebratory leap into the kitchen wall).  Mostly we just had a good time spending the afternoon together.

And I continued to prove that I will take knitting anywhere, though not much was accomplished.

Who won the game?  You don't want to know.

Very Un-American Football

In case you were wondering what grad school is like when we're not spending five million hours in the library surrounded by a fort of dusty old books:

See all those tiny people?  That's our history department intramural soccer team.  I played on the softball team last semester (which was a funny sight, let me tell you), but I do not play soccer.  I don't even like soccer.  But it was a lot of fun sitting and watching my fellow grad students run around.  And the girls kept me entertained.

Our team is the Red Scare, because we are, obviously, a bunch of history geeks.  And yes, I had some hand in the name.  That's what they get for putting together everything and asking the two Soviet students for their input.  So those of us not on the team show up in our obnoxious jerseys and, if you're me, yell unrelated Russian words at the players. Though mostly I focused on taking goofy pictures with someone else's camera (never leave a camera in our possession unless you want "foot + ball = soccer" pictures).  

And the featherweight cardi made another appearance.  Sadly, no one commented on the appropriateness of the color.  I felt very themed.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I'm sorry, dear blog readers, for my neglect these past weeks. Actually, it hasn't been that long, really. I've been busy. I promise, you have not been a summer fling. I'm actually finishing up a week long research trip to the national archives. Pretty cool, huh? But . . . among the many things I forgot to bring is my converter card for my phone. Because yes, my phone takes better pictures than my digital camera, so you won't get any pictures until I get home.

While I was home (for like 3 minutes), my family and I did a lot of running around. One of the great standing traditions of August is a trip to Spartanburg South Carolina for the Carolina Panthers' training camp at Wofford College.

My mom and I have been going forever. My summers for almost as long as I remember have been marked by these practices and the trips they entail. The first one we went to John Kasey picked up my little sister and let me mom take pictures of her on the field. A few years later I stood next to Todd Saurbraun (pre-steroid bust) in the cafeteria. Then Muhsin Muhammed came whipping around the corner in the parking lot in his tiny sports care, almost to be squished by my Mom's minivan. We're pretty sure the next year he got a hummer because he developed a fear of soccer moms. Then there's the year I finished the last few pages of Anna Karenina, the year we were interviewed for the radio, the year they played on the soccer field and everyone was cheering and all excited.

These practices mean a lot to me. Training camp keeps getting shorter and every year it's a question of what day, who's available, and will we even recognize any of the players. It used to be a small event. Kind of like a mini-localized fanatical community. Now it's gone corporate, with special brochures this year and Monday night post-practice movies. But it's still our guys. Still our training camp. Still the 90% guarantee that I will go home during the first few days of August.

And yes, I did clip my knitting bag to my jeans and knit away while wishing Matt Moore would come to my side of the fence. He's a beautiful, beautiful man.

Some Local Color

The craziness of summer school continues! But this week we have a new addition in the form of a visit from the boyfriend. Chris is here for the week and occasionally rescues me from my studies in the form of some local culture. On Sunday we went to my first ever major league baseball game (I know, baseball, the game I claim to dislike, but it was so much fun!). His grandfather works at the stadium and Pirates games are a tradition in his life he wanted to share.

We walked from my apartment in Oakland to the stadium in uptown (a little over 3 miles).

This beautiful building is actually a major court in town. This particular section encompasses the family and juvenile court as well as other areas. As Chris said, they really do send the kids off to Hogwarts!

We stopped for pizza and then walked over the bridge.

Yes, we're really on the road. They close the bridge down for the game and hundreds of people pour across it.

This dude played the sax before and after the game. Evidentially he's another tradition

The game was a blast. We had a great view.

Especially when the manager got ejected from the game (everyone was so stoked).

I even managed to get some work done on this.

And we won! It was a great afternoon.

Yarnie Adoption

Wow what a week. I started school and then there was just no time to do anything else. That's not to say that I haven't been doing other things, but there really should not have been enough time.

For those of you wondering where I am, I'm taking an intensive Russian summer program at the University of Pittsburgh. It's almost full immersion five hours a day five days a week. I'm behind my classmates and struggling a bit, but I love it. Russian is such a beautiful language. One of the things I'm really excited about is the Friday afternoon singing class. I know it sounds lame, but it is taught by a woman from St. Petersburg and it really is going to help my pronunciation a lot. And on Wednesday afternoons we have Kino (movie) Wednesday. This week we saw Sonny (English translation) which won all sorts of awards last year. It's excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes movies.

Plus, I'm taking classes in the second tallest academic building in the world, the Cathedral of Learning, which is gorgeous.

I love this city. Pittsburgh is just a really fun place to be. My lunch breaks are spent sitting on a park bench outside knitting (because I eat too fast). The side of the cathedral I sit next to is across the lawn from this beautiful chapel. Such a nice view to relax in front of.

On Thursday I used my student ID to get my free bus ride over to Knit One, the yarn store Mom and I found last week. I spent a nice hour just sitting and knitting on the couch with some lovely ladies. Rochelle, the woman we had met previously, introduced me as "Faith. We're adopting her." This is why I love yarn shops. For the most part they welcome you in to their community and make you a part of their family.

Speaking of yarn loving communities, today was World Wide Knit In Public Day. This is the day that around the world knitters grab their knitting and go to the park, coffee shop, or anywhere else they want to sit and knit. Some cities do coordinated events and lucky for me the Pitt event was held next to the Cathedral, a short walk from my apartment! It was held by the Three Rivers Crochet group (they welcome knitters too). They gave me one of the warmest welcomes I've ever had.

These are crochet socks worn by Christine, who was working on another pair while we were there. I'd never seen crochet socks before, so I had to snap a picture.

And did I mention that they had a raffle? They had enough for everyone and when your ticket was pulled you got to go pick something off of the table.

These two darlings are from Sheep Shop Yarn Company. I picked them because there is over 300 yds per skein and they are 30% silk / 70% wool. And the colors are so fun! I was certainly surprised to find out when I got on Ravelry that this company has actually gone out of business. That makes this yarn even more valuable and me even more excited to have it. I'm already making plans for what to knit with it. I think the green is going to have to be a scarf, maybe Ysolda's Scroll Lace from WLK2.

We'll see. For now I have to run. There is much homework to do and things to accomplish and yarn to play with.

And remember, needles are for knitting. Which apparently mesmerizes tourists when they are on campus tours.