New York companions

I've learned the Cingular doesn't have the best reputation on Manhattan island. Calls are dropped left and right. It was so frustrating for me, waiting to hear back from my prospective employers and not knowing if my phone would pick up the call. So I switched to T Mobile, which is much better. I even get reception in my apartment! Hurrah. And I love my new phone, too. I feel like such a New Yorker. It's sleek and high tech and most importantly, wearing all black.

I picked up the book Gotham on my last visit here, and in recent weeks I've been totally absorbed in the history of New York. It's something that I didn't learn much about in school, since our studies focused on northwest history. I'm finding it fascinating. I've never lived in a place this old. I love walking around the neighborhood and discovering a new historic plaque.

Celebration

I think it's safe to reveal the reason for my happy mood now:

I GOT A JOB!

Hurray! I'm so relieved and excited. I'm especially happy because the job search was relatively painless, and I really was trying to prepare myself for the worst when I moved here. For all I knew, I would be jobless for the next 6 months. Anyway, the job I'll be starting is just my speed- similar to what I was doing before, but different enough that it'll be a terrific learning experience with a great organization. When I got the promising news earlier this week, Jeremy surprized me with a celebration chocolate cheesecake. Mmm. Now that the news is official, panna cotta is sounding delicious...!

In knitting news, I was feeling the need for a satisfying and fast project. I stayed quiet about it here, but in the past two weeks I've been trying to finish the Clap and also my old Hot Lava project, but I ran out of yarn for both VERY close to the end. Arg. The feeling of defeat was too much, so I just zipped my lips...er, fingers...and didn't mention it. (Wow, I'm really coming clean in this post!) Both will be finished at some point (though due to the rare nature of my Clap yarn, I will probably have to start the whole thing over, making it slightly narrower than the original pattern), but for now I've hid them from view.

Anyway, I felt I NEEDED to finish SOMETHING, so I used a skein about 1/20 of a second to knit myself a "Headline News" Cabled Newsboy Cap from Stitch n Bitch Nation. I used Handpaintedyarn in Rocha bc, which is lovely, though as I've mentioned before, it smells a bit like vinegar before a good rinsing, and my batch didn't have very much navy blue in it. It was much more orange, ochre and brown. Still lovely. Here are some pics of my newsboy cap as modeled by my knee. (Please ignore the partially unpacked state of the room my knee is in.)

I wanted this cap to be larger than the one pictured in SnB, so I added another cable repeat. This makes it not quite "rasta", but more "street urchin", and I'm happy with it! I also ditched the idea of stiffening the bill with plastic mesh, so my bill is nice and squishy, which adds to its attitude, I think. The cap is really stretchy, so even though it looks like it accomodates my knee nicely, it can fit on my head with plenty of room, too. I suspect this cap will get a lot of wear when fall comes around.

glad shoes

I'm so happy today, folks. I'm not quite ready to reveal the reason for my happiness, but let me just tell you, I'm so happy I went out and treated myself to a pair of comfy gladiator sandals. Okay, so the fact that I bought shoes today doesn't really prove anything. Since I got here on July 3, my shoe collection has grown significantly. But they were mostly all good deals!

In knitting news, the Fall issue of Vogue is previewable online right now! I love so much of it, especially the gray v-neck with braided neckline, the croppped cardi in knitted check, and well, ALL of the socks.

Give a Little Bit

In my last job, I was fortunate to have worked with a group of experts who've dedicated their careers to helping solve some the world's biggest health challenges. When I decided to move to New York I knew I'd be leaving behind an amazing opportunity to continue learning from these people. And now that I'm here, I do feel a melancholy separation from those issues that were becoming a part of my life in Seattle. I've comforted myself by knitting a ton, another big part of my life from Seattle.

The report State of the World's Mothers 2006 was put out by Save the Children and showed that 4 million newborns die within the first month of life, mostly in developing countries and mostly from complications that could be avoided with lost-cost solutions such as training birth attendants, immunizations, and education of mothers.

I've just learned of a way that I can both knit and get involved again in the issue of newborn, child and maternal health.
Caps to the Capital is a project devised by Save the Children and Warm Up America! Foundation to show that Americans care about newborn, child and maternal survival in developing countries, and want more the of the U.S. budget to go toward helping this high-risk demographic. You can get involved in several different ways, but the main part of the project is knitting or crocheting a baby cap and writing a note to the President showing you care, and then sending it to Save the Children by January 2, 2007. I'm so excited to get started! If you're interested too, you can download the Knitters and Crocheters for Newborns: Caps to the Capital Action Kit from Save the Children's website.

I'm not in Seattle Anymore

Okay, so I'm still the same crappy photographer, but dudes, it's coming DOWN here! And it's still hot, and the lightning and thunder are CLOSE. This is not the northwest rain I grew up on.

Clapotis of Thunder

My Clapotis is finally growing! It is so satisfying to drop stitches in the 3rd section of the pattern, let me tell you. Sundara's yarn is so beautiful. I think this is the perfect pattern to show off the luminocity and variation in the strands.

I haven't stepped outside yet, but it sure is dreary out there. Both overcast and humid. It looks like the sky could open up at any moment and start dumping rain and steam on us. There are continual thunder rumblings outside, and tomorrow's forecast is not looking better.

I've walked so much in the past week, I've done some sort of damage to my left hip! It feels like a strain right in the joint. Since I have nothing on my agenda for the day (I'm waiting with fingers crossed on two different positions I interviewed for yesterday and Monday), I'm taking advantage of the free time to knit and pretend I'm on vacation instead of job hunting. Oh, and I'll need to unpack the rest of my boxes sometime today too...but for now let's ignore that.

killing time

Have 10 minutes? Like cats? Understand or at least get a kick out of Japanese television? Go here.

Mother of Exiles

Greetings from New York

I've arrived! I was thinking that once I had landed at JFK and had a chance to decompress, I would finally be able to get a hold of my feelings about the move. But this first week has been peaceful and underwhelming. I've shopped a little (for a suit for interviews), cooked, unpacked, and hung out with my new roommates. Nothing out of the ordinary. On July 4, my first full day in New York, I watched the walked around the lower eastside with Jeremy, ate pancakes in a diner, had a beer in a Irish pub, and then watched the East River fireworks from our apartment building with friends and roommates.

Tomorrow morning, Jeremy and I will go to the Statue of Liberty and officially ring in my immigration to New York with a tour. I'll post pictures later this weekend.

For some knitting content- look what arrived at the apartment today! Four colorways of laceweight merino and two colorways (2 skeins of one) from Handpaintedyarn.com. I treated myself to this stuff the other week, while on a packing break. I love the beautiful and unusual colors this stuff comes in. Smells a bit like vinegar, though....