Crazy Squares!

Finally! A knitting update!

I'm trying to catch up on blog posts for FOs that I've posted to Ravelry. I guess I'm kind of working backwards with this one. Instead of posting about something I made, oh, 6 months ago, I'm posting about my most recent completion.
CRAZY SQUARES!
(Plus Toby)
I started this what feels like eons ago now. Back at the beginning of July. After feeling a little less despairing, I decided to knit a mitered square blanket. At least that way, if I felt really lazy and didn't want to knit again for a long while, at least it would be something that I could easily pick up again down the line.
It started out as a 3x3 square (of 4x4 little squares) blanket. It was going to be a little kitten blanket for Toby. Which, in retrospect, it's probably good that it didn't turn out to be that because Toby just sort of lays wherever he pleases and doesn't care what is specifically for "him". However, by the time that I set down my needles, took a step back and counted my squares, I had more than the 36(?) squares that I needed to make this little blanket.
Then I started to feel artistic with it all. I decided that it would become a 3x4 square blanket (which was quickly updated to 4x4). I knit a "center" square that would be composed of two solid variegated yarns and two of the standard striped squares and decided that I would knit one solid square for each of the 4 corners. Alas, with this plan in motion, I would have to make the blanket 5x5. I did the calculations and I had a whopping 64 more squares left to knit! (Shoot me now, right?!?)

So I knit, and I knit, and I knit some more. I decided at a couple of different times to lay down the knitting needles and pick up a couple of different projects (like my sweater to be posted at some point here...). I was also at a loss of anything except for towels to block the pieces on so the individual squares remained unblocked and unseamed for a long time as well.
I finally bought some "blocking boards" (toy foam puzzle pieces from Toys 'R Us!) and got to work with blocking all the pieces. Then I got into seaming and was having a great time seaming them all up. Once I had seamed up all the squares I had knit, I stopped again. The basket of squares went back in the closet and they remained untouched until probably November when I finally decided that I was going to finish the blanket once and for all!

Counted all of the squares, laid all of the squares out on the floor. I can't even count how many times I did just that. And the worst part about laying this thing out on the floor was that Toby went nuts for it and would roll around in the squares and drag them off in all sorts of different directions. Crazy feline.

Once I counted it out for the last time, I had something like 24 or 25 squares left to knit and I think that I breezed through those pretty fast, really. Then I blocked some more, then I seamed some more. Then I laid the squares out on the floor again and tried to figure out how I was going to pattern it. Really, I could have planned the patterning a lot better but...whatever. At that point, I just wanted it to be finished with and I really didn't care anymore. As long as there were no two same colors matching up together, I was happy.
(Unfortunately, there are maybe 2 or so spots that do match up with the same color...kind of a bummer, but oh well)

Seaming together the 4x4 squares went so fast, I was really surprised. It also kept me really warm as it stretched across my lap while I was sitting in my freezing cold bedroom! It probably only took me a couple of nights to get all 25 pieces together and believe me, when I was finished with all of those seams I just about threw myself a party.

...Nevermind that I still needed to weave in the ends and trim away some of the excess yarn that spilled out of the center of each mitered square.

So finally, this past weekend for the holidays, I took the blanket up to my grandparents' house with me so I could weave in all of those ends. I ended up tying a lot of knots (because good lord that was a lot of little loose ends!), but it looks good now. Though the front looks much better than the back. ;)


I'm still contemplating whether or not to add a back onto the blanket. I'd really like to add flannel or something back there. I realize that it would make it super warm (and even heavier than it already is!) but at least it would hide those icky knots and little bits of loose yarn.
I'll keep it as it is for now though. It's a great afghan. I absolutely adore it and I'm already in the process of planning what I'm going to make next...another blanket. Though the next one will be made from a machine washable cotton. Or maybe a superwash wool if I can find some for a relatively inexpensive price.
Now the boring stuff (or interesting if you're a knitter!)
Pattern: Mitered Square Blanket from the book Mason Dixon Knitting
(I found a free copy of the pattern at this website. I used the pattern for the smaller squares.)
Yarn: So many I lost count (not that I was keeping count to begin with). Most of it is Cascade 220 and Cascade Heathers. There is a teeny bit of Patons and Knit Picks dye your own. There's also a ball or so of a hand dyed wool yarn that my mom gave to me for Christmas one year that she colored herself. That is what the two center squares are knit of.
Needles: My trusty ol' Crystal Palace US Size 8s

*waves*

Hello Blogger land!

I haven't updated in forever. I realize that.

Since my last update, I have gotten promoted at the library -- I no longer shelve books, I work the desk at a little place away from Main.

I moved away from downtown, and brought my kitty in tow (he's so big now!). I'm currently hoping/planning on moving to Chicago in the next month or two. Good luck to me! I think the main obstacle will be finding a one bedroom apartment for under $800 a month in the neighborhoods that I like/want to live in.

And I've been knitting a lot! Most of my things are posted to Ravelry now that I have an account there, but I'm going to try and keep this updated more often once again with the things that I've created over the past few months!

So until then...I'll probably post my blanket since that's pretty successfully finished at this point.

Where Have I Been?!?

No list of loves update, just an update to introduce my kitten to my little blogging world.

This is Toby
He is my handsome, bluepoint Siamese kitten. :)
He's almost 4 months old and he is a randy little fellow.
I already have enough pictures of him to fill a photo album. I certainly won't post all of my pictures here in this post (actually the one above is the only one I'm going to post).
If anyone is interested in seeing more, there are plenty more to be found in my Flickr Album.


In non-kitty news: I finally found a job!
Meet Auna, Library Page! Woohoo!

In other non-kitty news: Season 4 of The Office starts in a little over a month! I am going crazy in anticipation!!!

#19: Siamese Cats

So we've come to #19!
Except I'm not doing these in any particular order, so #19 means nothing!
In any case, #19 on Auna's List of Loves is Siamese cats.
Why am I doing Siamese cats today?
...You'll see.
This is a picture of my Willow kitty. Willow is no longer with us. She passed away a couple of months ago, just a week short of her 18th birthday. :(
I've had Willow since I was 4 years old. She was a Christmas present to my brother and I from my parents. I think at that age I wanted a tabby, I'm not positive. But Willow didn't look like all of the kitties that you see on TV. Little did I know, my Dad sucked me into the trap of never, ever wanting another breed of cat for as long as I live.

Siamese cats are a curious breed. I like to say that they are smarter than the average feline. They're extremely intelligent. They're independent like a cat, but loyal like a dog. They talk to you when you talk to them. All around, they are an awesome cat.

Willow was the greatest pet, ever. She slept with me at night when I was living at home (she'd usually hog the bed which is pretty impressive for a ~10 pound cat) and when you were sad or upset, she was there to cheer you up or cuddle with you when you were sick. And that's what I like about Siamese cats.

When Willow recently died, I was grief-stricken. I handled it a lot better than I ever thought that I would, but even now, if I think about her a lot, I cry. I really, really miss her.
But in any case, her death meant the opportunity for me to get a new cat. I was never able to actually bring myself to get a new cat while Willow was still alive because it felt a little like betrayal.
So what did I wish for my birthday?
A Siamese kitten.
What did I get for my birthday?
A Siamese kitten.
XD
And I just found him today. :D

I went out to Holland today to go see a Siamese breeder (who apparently has been breeding for 35 years) and has some of the most beautiful Siamese cats I've ever seen: Van Scholten Siamese
She had one blue point Siamese left that is ready for adoption, and I put down my deposit, and I will be picking him up this weekend.
So with any hope, I will have another Siamese companion until I'm 40. (Hey, Willow lived 'til I was 22! I have high hopes for my little boy!)

And I will be sure to post pictures of the little guy when he comes home. :)


UP NEXT! On Auna's List of Loves:
#4: Knitting

#16: Creme Brulee

I don't know how to make accent marks on the internet. So sad.
#16 on Auna's List of Loves is Creme Brulee
Now if that picture doesn't make your mouth water, I don't know what will.
I never even thought about adding a dessert to my list of loves, but when I had birthday creme brulee the other night, I couldn't resist adding it. After putting that first spoonful of sugary, creamy, crispy custard into my mouth...oh man.
I believe it was Amelie (or the narrator of the movie, at least) who first introduced me to the wonder that is creme brulee. One of Amelie's favorite things was cracking the hard sugar shell on top of the custard. I can say without hesitation that it is one of my favorite too. There's something so...satisfying about breaking through the hard outer shell and having your spoon sink through the custard underneath.
And the taste...OH the taste!
I should put up a warning right here: I have only had creme brulee TWICE in my life.
Creme brulee experience #1 = a famous bistro in Paris, France
Creme brulee experience #2 = a local Italian eatery in Grand Rapids, Michigan
I can say without hesitation that they rivaled each other quite a bit. I don't know which was better.

In any case, there's nothing that I love more than a good creme brulee. I'll have to go back to this restaurant that I ate at the other night and eat it more often. :D


And in very, very happy news...
I GET A KITTY!!!!!!!!
My landlords have agreed to allow John and I a kitty cat. I am ecstatic.
Now begins the long, arduous process of trying to find a Siamese kitty that suits my liking.
Which is also why the next post on Auna's List of Loves will be...
#19: Siamese Cats

#12: Ask.com's Commercial "Chick's With Swords"

#12 on Auna's List of Loves is the new Ask.com commercial "Chicks with Swords"



There aren't many commercials that are able to capture my heart.
This one? This one takes the cake. :)
I saw it at the beginning of June, I think. I first thought it was an eBay commercial (you know, the singing eBay commercials, where people sing about all of the crazy shit they've found for sale on eBay). As soon as I realized it was not an eBay commercial (or GAP, I like GAP commercials too), I scoffed it off. That was until...
...the "chicks with swords" search bar popped up.

Greatest commercial ever made? Quite possibly, yes.

Since, they've made at least one other commercial, but I don't think it's anywhere near as funny as this one. This is definitely my favorite. Almost makes me want to use Ask.com!
Almost.


Next up on Auna's List of Loves!
#16: Creme Brulee

Presents!

Happy Birthday To Me!

That's right, it's my birthday. Hooray! :)
I hope I can get a kitten like...
this
(SO CUTE!!!!)
or this
(EEEEEE!!!!! CUTENESS!!!)


List of Loves will be updated soon!

(My font is messed up on this post, and I don't know why. I apologize for that.)

#9: Astronomy

I was going to do astronomy next, right?

YES!
#9 on Auna's List of Loves is Astronomy! (Note: NOT to be confused with astrology. I don't like astrology)
There isn't really any reason that immediately comes to mind why I like astronomy so much. I always have. Part of my blames my astrology (oh goodness, astrology coming into play here...). I am a cancer, which means that my astrological sign is the moon and evidently, if the internet is not lying, I was actually born under a full moon. Go figure!

Now if I'm going to be truthful here. My first love was the moon. The rest of the stars didn't come into play until later. Me and this moon thing, we have a weird connection. When I was little, I used to howl at the moon (like a little wolf!) and I don't know if this is something that my family taught me and then convinced me to do often because it was cute or if it was something that I picked up on my own.
Yes. I do howl at the moon.
No. I am not crazy.

Next came the stars in the sky.
If you read the last post that I wrote, my 10th love was sailing. It is no secret that people who sail at night sail by the stars. Well, I couldn't read constellations until I was in middle school at the very earliest so that doesn't really apply to me. However, stars are pretty.
I became obsessed with seeing shooting stars though. I don't think I actually saw one until I was a teenager. My parents would always point them out to me, but shooting stars are fast little buggers and when you're looking in the wrong part of the sky, it's very likely that you're going to miss them.
However, the thing that I love and the thing that mystifies me the most? The Aurora Borealis (i.e. Northern lights).
I didn't actually see one of these until I was in high school. The first time that I saw them was during the Perseid Meteor Showers at it was probably four in the morning. Let me tell you: amazing. This was also one of the most spectacular meteor showers that I've ever seen too. The sky was literally flickering orange and yellow and there were falling stars everywhere. It was awesome.
The most amazing Aurora Borealis that I've ever seen was in my own backyard (which is amazing considering that I live in the city). There was some crazy solar flares going on that day or something because the entire sky was pink and red. It was...beyond amazing. AND! It happened at 10 at night! I mean, seriously! That does NOT happen!
My favorite thing about summer is traveling off into the wilderness to hopefully get a glimpse of the brilliant night sky and northern lights. Unfortunately, I am absolutely a city girl and it's hard to see the night sky when you're downtown.
Around the end of high school, I started to contemplate studying astronomy. Hell, I still contemplate studying astronomy. The only unfortunate part in all of this is that I am not mathematical. Or scientific. Actually, the only kind of science I know anything about is rocks and very basic elementary astronomy stuff.
Doesn't matter. I still love it.

I love it so much, that two years ago, I got a tattoo of it.
(Apparently I don't have a better image of it, and I'm too lazy to take another right now)
I knew from the age of probably...15 that if I ever got a tattoo it was going to be of the moon. It's one of the only things in my life that I have actually loved for as long as I can possibly remember. The other few things are: my teddy bear Baba (which frankly, would be a really creepy looking tattoo) and my kitty Willow. And of course my family and all that unconditional love stuff.
I waited until I was 20 and finally decided that I was going to get this tattoo whether or not anyone else liked it.
And I love it. :D

So now I can carry around my love for astronomy for the rest of my life and when I die and archaeologists unearth me in a few hundred years and see the ink pigments left on my remains they can know a little bit about me and the things that I loved. :)
Or they'll think that I was a pagan and worshiped a blue moon.


And that finally brings me to the next topic for my next post:
#2: Archaeology!

'Til then!

Auna's UPDATED List of Loves

I figured that since I'm adding some more things to my list as I go along that I would update it!

Auna's UPDATED List of Loves

1. The Office (US) - DONE
   
2. Archaeology - DONE
   
3. France and all of Europe - DONE
   
4. Knitting
5. Food
6. Arrested Development - DONE
   
7. Spinning
8. Underwear
9. Astronomy - DONE
   
10. Sailing - DONE
    
11. Vanilla Vodka
12. Ask.com's commercial: Chick's with Swords - DONE
    
13. Sleeping
14. Anthony Bourdain
15. Closer (the movie)
16. Creme brulee - DONE
    
17. Cherry pie
18. The number 8
19. Siamese Cats - DONE
    
20. Writing
    

#10: Sailing

Number 10 on Auna's List of Loves is sailing, and appropriately so. I have been sailing (quite literally) my entire life.
Don't believe me? Here's a picture of my family's boat.
(Hey mom! Look at that! You now have a picture in my blog!)
I should note though that they no longer own this boat. It blew over in a windstorm about a year or two ago and they now have a different boat -- that I have only been on once.

Now I know what you're all thinking. "Auna, go back to what you said before about quite literally sailing your entire life!" And yes, it is true. Provided that my parents have not been filling my head with lies all my life, my first time on a sailboat was when I was 2 days old. Two days. Yeah, I'd like to see someone else stake that claim.
This isn't to say that my life and the sea were all sunshine and puppies though. I quite hated sailing through my teenage years -- and quite honestly, who wouldn't? Sharing a space on a 36' sailboat with your mother, father, brother and kitty cat. But people always told me, "Auna, you'll love it when you're older..." "Auna, you'll miss it when you're older..." and you know what? Damn it all, they were right.
Would I go on another 6 week vacation with my family on a 36' sailboat? No, actually, I probably wouldn't. But that's just because that's a mighty small space to share with three (four including the kitty) members of your family.

And certainly, I do love sailing more than any other recreational activity of the sort. And I love all kinds of sailing: sailing big boats, sailing little boats, windsurfing, parasailing, pirating...okay, so those last two I'm lying about and I have never done, but the rest are honest!!

And there is no place that I'd rather venture by boat than the north shore of Lake Superior (which my parents are re-visiting this summer which. Me = jealous).

Maybe someday when I have a job and I get my summers off, I'll buy a nice livable sailboat. Because really, I do love sailing. :)


On a completely unrelated note, I am going to be in a comic strip! My good friend from school, Carl, writes and illustrates an online comic and after a lot of persuasion from me, he agreed to make me one of the characters! So check me (and the rest of his comics) out!
http://crazycstudios.com

Next up on Auna's List of Loves:
#9 - Astronomy

#3: France and all of Europe

That is right ladies and gentlemen. I am in a writing kind of mood this summery evening so I am going to write about #3 on Auna's List of Loves: France and all of Europe!

Ever since I was a wee little girl, I wanted to go to Europe. I think it is probably one of those common goals that most everyone has in life.
"Oh someday, before I die, I am going to go visit Europe and see all of the sights!"
I got to do just this (almost exactly) two years ago.

Let me tell you all the story of my life. :)
I have studied French since high school. Unfortunately, the foreign language programs at my high school were probably the worst that you could ever imagine a foreign language program to be. In the two full years that I studied the language, I learned about as much as a person would learn in one semester at college.
So when I went to college, what did I do? I studied French damn it!
Initially, I signed up to take 101 and 102 French my freshman year of college. My dad told me that I should take a placement test to see where I place, but I decided not to even bother. I knew my French was crap. I had a couple of friends that went to other high schools in the area and were in French classes and were EONS ahead of me as far as the learning process went.
101 was pretty easy for me, it was basically review and when 102 rolled around, I started learning some of the good stuff. Because I liked it so much, I decided, "What the hell!" and I kept going and signed up to take 201 and 202 the next year.
It was sometime in my second year of French at college that I realized learning the language was almost a waste of my time. Really, I was just taking it for fun. I had no need for it (going for my B.S. at the time). By the time I reached 202, I had efficiently passed my B.A. requirement (keep in mind, I was still aiming for a B.S.) and I had no intention of not taking French classes.
It wasn't until one day in the anthropology lab while sitting around talking about those damn French classes of mine (I secretly loved them) that one of my friends pointed out how utterly useless it was that I was taking a language. So what did I do? I upped the anty and decided that I would study abroad.
Oh wait, but it was still utterly pointless for me to study abroad, with the exception that it would look good in the future. So what did I do next? I went ahead and added a French minor. I vindicated my existence in the French program, wahoo!!!

I made a lot of people jealous with my trip to France, and I bragged about it a lot because let's face it; I was really freaking excited.
Late June of 2005, I boarded a plane to Paris -- my first plane trip ever (my mom will disagree saying that I flew as a baby, but what do I remember of that? Nothing), and I made my way across the great blue ocean.
I hated Paris. The city that I had wanted to visit my entire life and I hated it. Note to all of you people out there thinking about planning vacations and trips to distant cities and countries: Do not go with a group of 20+ people.
Now don't get me wrong, we saw some really cool things, and the time that we had that we could spend on our own was really great. Without that time, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to see places like Pere Lachaise (and yes, I realize there are no accents in there) Cemetery which is quite possibly one of the coolest places I have ever been to. And I certainly would have gotten completely lost on a number of occasions without my professor getting us place to place. Still. It was a very unpleasant experience with so many people.
We were in Paris for a week, and I celebrated my 20th birthday in the city. It was a very crappy birthday, believe it or not. It rained that morning if I remember correctly, I went back to the hotel, took a nap and when I woke up there was no one that wanted to go out to do anything with me. Very disappointing.

The study abroad was not in Paris though, it was in Nice.

I hate Nice.
The only thing that I like about Nice was Fennochio's ice cream and my host mother. My host mother was an amazing woman (with an amazing home) and was one of the most gracious and kindest women I met in France. I still miss her a lot, two years later.
The problem with Nice (and the program in general) is that it's during the summer -- during tourist season. Now really, maybe there's no good way to do a summer study abroad since that's when people travel. But for the love of all that is holy, a study abroad program should not take place in one of the biggest tourist cities in France.
Bastille Day was pretty awesome though.
I won't lie either. The little towns around Nice are really awesome.
For exampe:
Antibes (I love Antibes)
Ville Franche


Although I hated Nice and wish to never return, I was very sad to say goodbye to my host mother.

However! In departing Nice, I traveled to Italy!!! :)
My friend Kate and I traveled together. We were both kind of the "outsiders" of the group. We weren't big fans of going to the clubs or the bars, so we had kind of separated ourselves from everyone else. We both were spending two more weeks in Europe and we had no one to travel with.
So where did we go?

Rome!
Rome is an awesome, awesome city. Especially for the archaeologist inside of me. ;) We spent most of our time around the Forum and Palatino because it was such a cool place (and close to our hostel). We also spent a morning and afternoon at the Vatican museum, but the highlight was definitely the archaeological aspect.

From Rome, we traveled to Venice
Venice is the most beautiful city in the world. And it rained the ENTIRE TIME we were there. Now that's saying something.

From Venice, we traveled to Florence
Don't really have a lot to say about Florence to be honest. We were only there for an afternoon.

And from Florence, we traveled to the second most beautiful place in Europe: Cinque Terre
I'd go back here in a heartbeat.

Sooo...remember how a little while ago I said that I hated Paris?
Yeah, that changed completely.
Kate and I had to go back to Paris to catch our flight back to the United States at the end of our trip. We arrived in Paris two days before we left, just so we could have a little bit more of a chance to sight see, check out some of the things that we didn't get to when we were there the first week and go and re-visit some of the things that we liked.
I fell head over heels in love with the city. It was amazing. Leading me to believe that studying abroad with a group of more than 10 people really sucks ass.
Kate and I spent an entire day walking around the area of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre (note: we did not actually go inside the Louvre) and Notre Dame. We got some great photos in the process too.

The picture of me and the crazy mysterious clown man is my absolute most favoritest picture in the entire world.
We also went to the Musee d'Eroticisme! That's right ladies and gentlemen, The Museum of Eroticism. Hands down, greatest museum in the world -- greatest museum you will ever visit in your lifetime. I guarantee it. We also walked around Montmartre and just had a fun ol' time doing whatever the heck we wanted.

So all in all, the last two days of my month and a half abroad made up for all of the really bad experiences.
Now, don't get me wrong, I had a great time abroad and I have some really great memories from it, unfortunately, most of those memories are from when I was off on my own. This leads me to believe that it is much better that I go back on my own accord and do what I want instead of letting people dictate what I do.
I really want to go back to Europe, I really want to go back to Paris. There are a lot of other places that I want to see and there are a lot more things that I want to do.
I loved this area of the world.

Next up on Auna's List of Loves!
#10. Sailing

#1: The Office (US)

#1 on Auna's List of Loves is The Office (US)

I don't even know where to start with this one to be honest. Just flat-out, this is the absolute best show on television. If Arrested Development were still on the air, I might have a major conflict of interest. Thankfully, I can say without hesitation that The Office, is the absolute best show currently on television. Which of the two is the best of all time? Now there you have a sticky situation.
Anyway, down to business...
Let me just start by saying that my mother is a genius. Without her, I would not be exposed to the plethora of amazing network programming that has been produced over the past five years. Like Arrested Development, my mother is the one that coerced me into watching The Office. During my college years, I was hooked on cable television -- mostly crap. I didn't have cable at home, and suddenly having the opportunity to watch Comedy Central just seemed so much more appealing than NBC.
After moving back home at the end of last April, my parents watched My Name is Earl and The Office every Thursday night. I had no idea what the big deal about the shows were, really. My boyfriend and I would watch old DVDs of Northern Exposure (another great television show from the early 1990's) and really couldn't care that much about what was on television Thursday nights.
I'm not sure if it was "Drug Testing" or "Conflict Resolution", but I watched one episode one evening with my family and I was hooked. And if this gives you any indication of how quickly I was sucked into the show -- I nearly shat myself when I watched "Casino Night".

So this leads me to the #1 reason why I love The Office.
That's right. Jim and Pam.
Never, ever in the history of television -- since The X-Files (Mulder and Scully) at least -- has there been an on-screen male and female combination that are SO FREAKING COMPATIBLE! I mean, to be fair, the entire cast is just beyond amazing and they all compliment each other better than almost any other show on television. But these two: John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer...holy crap. If I could be in a polygamous relationship with anyone in the world, it would be these two.
That sounded a little creepier than I intended it to be.
But in any case! These two characters totally sucked me into a truly amazing show.

So throughout last summer, I spent every Thursday watching re-runs of The Office. By September 2006, I was about ready to jump off a cliff in anticipation for what was going to happen. Mostly between Jim and Pam. Meep.
Of course, to any of you that watch The Office, I was dragged along on a string until around...April or so. But! The point is! I became so unbelievably hooked on this show that I officially crossed over into the "religious viewer" stage this past year. Remember "religious viewer" from last post? Yes, that point in which that I would not do ANYTHING within the time frame that the show airs.
I love the show so much that for the first time EVER in the history of television (for me), I actually bought the first and second seasons of the show on DVD. Yes, I did this for Arrested Development, but the show was off the air by that point. Once I had caught up with the first couple of seasons (and watching shows that I had never actually seen before!), I was even more in love.

My love affair with The Office was only further solidified at the end of Season 3 with the episode "Beach Games" where Pam made her big speech that I had only been waiting for the whole damn season. Now not only do I have a secret lust for Jim and Pam, but I have a secret lust for just Pam.
Pam Beesly is my hero.

So uh...that about does it, I guess.
Now I have to spend a very, very long three months waiting for Season 4 to start.
My last words about this show: The cast, the writers, the producers, the directors, the entire damn team are the most absolutely brilliant people in the entertainment business in this day and age.
Here's hoping they never jump the shark.


Next up for Auna's List of Loves:
#3. France and all of Europe

and
#12 on Auna's List of Loves: The Ask.com commercial "Chicks with Swords"

#6: Arrested Development

I know what you're thinking: Auna! What are you doing? Starting at #6 on your list!! But listen, just listen here. It's my list of loves, and I'll start wherever I damn well please to start.
So...#6: Arrested Development
This is the best damn TV show that has ever been written and aired. Unfortunately, I had to be aired on Fox, which basically meant that it never had a chance to survive in the first place. (And believe me, if I had a list of hates, Fox would be on that list for the sole reason that it canceled this brilliant program).
I didn't start watching Arrested Development until well into the first season. My family started watching it on Sunday nights while I was in college. I normally just watched The Simpsons and then would turn the station over to some VH1 countdown that I had already seen a million times. My mother persisted though, she'd e-mail me every Monday morning and say, "Auna, you should really be watching this television show, it's absolutely hilarious. It's brilliant! You will love it if you just watch it!"
Normally, I listen to my mother because I'm a good daughter like that. I didn't for a long time though. It wasn't until I was visiting them on a Sunday evening for dinner that we all watched it together like the good American family that we are and I immediately fell in love. Like, head over heels, engagement rings and marriage kind of love. This show was the absolute best television show I had ever seen.

When the second season rolled around, I watched it religiously. Now, there are VERY few shows that I watch religiously. When I say religiously, I mean, I will literally ignore anyone that tries to contact me during the time period the show is on. I will actively make plans revolving around the show. It's kind of sad, really, but hey, when I'm hooked, I'm hooked (there were a lot of commas in that sentence).

Then the cancellation rumors started to fly around. I signed every single online petition that I could possibly find. I joined Arrested Development support groups (okay, not really). I could not believe that Fox was actually thinking about canceling the show.
I was elated when it was revealed that the show would indeed come back for a third season. Yes! It's not over yet! But I became so pissed at Fox because they would constantly move the show around in their schedule! The station didn't even give the show a chance!!

I almost missed the very last episodes of the series because they played them on a Friday evening and didn't publicize them at all. But you know what? I watched those last two (or was it three?) episodes. And you better damn well believe that I cried when it was over.

Now I get my Arrested Development fix via G4 when I'm too lazy to put in a DVD. G4, although a pretty crappy channel (in my opinion), is really awesome for picking up the re-runs of this show. You would think that Comedy Central would have or something...
I also have all three seasons on DVD -- which were NOT illegally obtained because I want to show all the support I possibly can to the show. Every once in a while, I hold onto the fleeting hope that they might bring it back like they did Family Guy.

In the meantime, I like to amuse myself by playing, "The Final Countdown" and thinking of GOB. Because honestly? It makes me happy inside ... and I'm a little in love with Will Arnett.


So that's all that I will write for now on my love for Arrested Development. Next up: #1: The Office (US)

And to add to my list of loves:
11. vanilla vodka

'Til then!

Knitting MIA

So I've decided.
Since I have been knitting MIA for the past month or so. I'm going to change this blog around a little bit. I'm going to (until I get back into the swing of knitting again) start a series of posts about "The Things I Love" -- mostly material things. Why do this? Because I feel like it.
What I will do is make an ongoing list, and each post I will focus on ONE of those things from the list. This could really go on and on forever.

So...starting with the list!

Things that Auna Loves

1. The Office (US version)
2. Archaeology
3. France and all of Europe
4. Knitting
5. Food
6. Arrested Development
7. Spinning
8. Underwear
9. Astronomy
10. Sailing

And I'll just start with those 10 first. I might do an in-depth post on #1 later on in the day. Depends on how bored I become. :)

MIA Apparently

So my blog posting skills are quite lacking I see.
I'm very...slow on the knitting these days. Now that I've finally graduated from college, it's like...what else is there to do? There's really not a whole heck of a lot. There's nothing to stress me out (well, the search for a job, but that's just really depressing) so...not a whole lot to inspire me to knit.

I am in the search for a spinning wheel right now though. I'm hoping to find one/decide on one by the end of the summer. :) I have all the money, I just need to make the decision.

In much, much, much sadder news, my kitty died this past week. :'( She would have been 18 years old next week. She's been my kitty since I was 4 years old. So I've been dealing with that over the past few days (leaving me to REALLY not want to do anything). She's somewhere in/around the house, my parents haven't been able to find her at all, which makes the situation even sadder.
But hey, maybe I'll get a new siamese kitten for my birthday next month, that would be a slightly happier affair.

Hope that life you well (to everyone who is reading this)!

No Yarn, Too Much Thinking

So I haven't heard anything from the yarn website where I bought my spur of the moment Lorna's. I thought that they would have shipped by now...I'm concerned.

In the meantime, I'm trying to keep my wits about me. I'm graduating in less than a month, I have a 30 page paper due in 2 (3?) weeks, I have a presentation (15 minutes long) in 2 weeks, a paper to coincide with that presentation in 3-4 weeks, and another paper for another class due next week.
And after that, I'll be 100% unemployed and struggling to get by.

Kids, don't study anthropology. Unless you have a real solid plan. :)

No, I'm kidding. I love my major more than it's worth!

Yarn Obsession

I spent about $30 today on 3 skeins of Lorna's Laces (on SALE!!!!!!) from KnitHappens.com
I really shouldn't have. I couldn't resist. I have a problem.

Teehee!

What am I going to do with just under 600 yards of pink and purple yarn??!?? Worsted no less! It's not enough to make a sweater (by any means), it's too warm to make something summery. Too thick to make socks. Maybe a bag. Maybe matching hat and mittens for next winter. I DON'T KNOW!!!

Why do I do these things? :)

The Cursed Socks Are Finished!

Oh yes! They're done! They're done!!!!!!

I will regale you all with my tale of the cursed socks:

My mother gave me the KnitPicks sock yarn for the socks. I really love pink, and since I don't look so great in pink, I can get away with making lots and lots and lots of pink socks. :) I decided that I might make toeless socks (like Knitty's pedicure socks), it was summer, I love handknit socks, I don't usually wear socks in summer because I tend to get by wearing only sandals, so that was the plan. I started the socks -- using U.S. size 1 needles and the sock yarn. I cast on too few stitches, when I finally got to the heel, they were too small to even go over my entire foot. So I ripped it out and started again. Second try -- still too small. Ripped them out, started again. Third try -- too loose, way too loose. Ripped them out, started again. So I knit them with the amount of stitches I figured would work. At this point in time, I was living at my parent's house, waiting to find an apartment downtown that I would like. Well, when the woman that cleans my parent's house came, the sock and needles disappeared -- completely. I looked everywhere, under furniture, in all the closets, in all the cupboards. They were gone.

I gave up looking, but told my mom that if she ever moved the basement around, or did a thorough cleaning to keep an eye out for them. She never found them ... UNTIL February! She found them, I rejoiced. I got them back! So I received the cursed sock back and to my great dismay...the sock doesn't fit! NOOO!!! So I rip it out again, start over. I cast on doing a long-tail cast on and start knitting with the tail of the cast on! WHAT MORE CAN I DO WRONG???? So I start over one last time. And that was the last time that I restarted them.

Now they're done! And they're beautiful! And they're soft! And they don't really quite match, but who cares?!??? :) I'm happy with them.

Beeeeeeautiful Yarn!

I need to figure out some better layout for these pictures...
Here's the finished product of my lovely Yarn Hollow roving! XD I loooooove it!
I bought some merino/silk roving at Loopy Yarns in Chicago earlier this week while I was there. I'll probably post some pictures of that later. :) For the time being though, I'm working on socks. The cursed socks of doom! Dooooom!!!

Oh God! So Yummy!

*Explodes in a fire of roving love*

So I went to City Knitting today to knit and what-not. My mom came and joined me later on in the afternoon, and I decided that I needed to buy something. I haven't bought any yarn this month -- that I know of. Maybe? I loose track.
Anyway, instead of yarn, I decided to splurge on some roving since I've often admired the Lorna's roving that they have in their back room. Instead, I bought Yarn Hollow...delicous, delcious Yarn Hollow roving. I couldn't help but take some pictures of it and start spinning it as soon as I got home:

Isn't it all gorgeous?? :) I love it to pieces.