barcelona, part uno.

all right, ladies and gents, i'm going to attempt to do a series of photo-laden, story-heavy entry on my trip. this first part of my trip was my favorite, even though i lost a tooth in barcelona.

barthelona es una ciudad muy bonita... i pretty much loved barcelona. i think the biggest reasons were:
1) it was a "sleeper." i really didn't know what to expect and, at first glance, it appears to be any other big, bustling city. but then you explore and all of these untold treasures start emerging right before your eyes.
2) i could sort of understand what people were saying to me and i could sort of talk back. the one night i went out (the night i knocked out my tooth), i was talking it up with all of these barcelonian guys in spanish. and i felt rad because i could say things in response to questions like, "i learned spanish in school," and, "i'm 29 years old and from the united states." etc. etc.
3) not only could i kind of talk, but people were really gracious and sweet about letting me practice spanish on them... even though most of them did, indeed, speak english. like the guy at the post office - i found out the word for postcard stamps is "cellos," and, although he could have responded to me in english, he spoke slowly in spanish, and i understood what he was saying. "cellos a canada y los estados unidos - egualmente" - postcard stamps to all of north america were the same price. rad!
4) gaudi is the man. you'll see from the pictures. it's like he was told to build a house, a park, a cathedral, and he had never seen any of those things before. he broke the mold, yo!

so i got in the night of 5/20, and immediately decided to go for a little saunter. la pedrera, one of gaudi's apartment blocks, was a block and a half away from my hostel. the roof is designed to look like insanity - plus, it was a beautiful day, and it let me get a better lay of the land. this was my favorite rooftop decoration:


barcelona from the roof of la pedrera:


my shadow's the one on the far left.


crazy penis-shaped/storm trooper looking chimneys.


oh!


me and mi audioguia.


then i walked down las ramblas, this big pedestrian mall. with chickens and bunnies! and people dressed up as statues! and pickpockets! i found the most awesome market ever - la boqueria.


the best stall - the candy stall!


chocolate frogs!


that night, i ended up going out drinking with this kid from perth, australia, against my better judgment. fell into bed late, then got up around noon and headed out. i walked ALL over barcelona my first full day - and hit a couple of my new favorite places, la sagrada familia and parc guell. la sagrada familia is this cathedral designed by gaudi and still very much in the works. it is this insanely ambitious design, and it was just... amazing. one of the facades of la sagrada familia:


even the doors were freaking cool.


you walked inside, and it was just... staggering.


dudes at work in the sunshine. gaudi sunk all of his money into this cathedral and ended up living his last years in it because he couldn't afford his own place.


the second facade had a totally different look - this is the nativity facade. (the third facade hasn't even been started yet).


then i went up to the roof - ohmygod, amazing. when asked why he was putting so much detail on the towers where no one would see them, gaudi said, "because the angels will see them." i find that so romantic.


random mosaic-y berries from the stairwell.


crazy weird undersea creatures... on the roof.


me in front of the awesome stained glass... but from the outside.


the stairwell down from la sagrada familia was very, very scary.


after la sagrada familia, i decided to trek it up to parc guell, gaudi's one foray into landscape design. it was ridiculous. he didn't even break molds, he just didn't even have a mold from which to work. you can see la sagrada familia in the distance here, too.


i want to live in that gingerbread house in the background.


you know... just your average walkway.


seriously?! the roof under the plaza in parc guell.


la guitarra.


gaudi's house in parc guell. 'nuff said.


okay, there's still more barcelona, including documentation of my lost tooth... but this is way too much already, and i'm sleepy. so barcelona, part 2, will be next, my loves! one thing that traveling solo in europe taught me about myself... and i don't quite know if i can put it into words, but i want to at least try to get it down. i am a planner. i had my maps printed out and with me for how to get from each train station/airport to my hostel/hotel. i had that planned out. but once i got there... i just went. i walked and walked and walked. and i got to the point in each and every city where i got landmarks. i knew where i was, and i was never afraid. i was cautious, yes, but i gained this greater faith in myself and in my own senses. i had no fear about, say, dropping my bags at my hostel in rome, then hitting the streets to see trevi fountain, then the pantheon just because it was close, and i wasn't dismayed when i took a wrong turn and ended up at the colosseum. maybe i just relaxed more? i don't know... i didn't think about how "i am woman, hear me roar" i was at the time, but i was. i was a fucking badass setting out on uncharted streets, missing a tooth, and taking it all in simply because that is what i had to do. not too shabby.

quick european update.

barcelona is awesome! it was most awesome, though, before i fell in a very slippery placa (placa catalunya, to be exact), landed on my face, and had to get one of my front teeth extracted at a 24-hour emergency dentist at 5 in the morning. that was thursday night/friday morning. i look quite funny now and am on antibiotics. i have one fierce smile, and iºve taken tons of pictu res of it so far. one big gap surrounded by two very chipped teeth. iºm not even letting myself think about the dental work iºll have to get when i get back to the states. *cringe.*

this keyboard is awful.

in a few short hours, i will be heading to estacio franca para el tren a paris anoche. iºve gotten really good with my spanish this trip, and iºm not ready to leave a country where i can sort of get by with the language. one thing i love about barcelonians - they let you practice your span ish on them and are totally gracious about it. before i lost my tooth, i was chatting it up with these two guys in a bar. quite fun. as far as language goes, paris will be a different story altogether.

parle vous anglais? that will be my standby, sadly.

we gonna party like it's your birthday.

tomorrow's my birthday! (but my party was last night).

the most beautiful cake ever, made by amelia. it tasted like grapefruit!


cake cutting is serious business.


amelia and will - post-sushi, pre-cake and pre-drinking.


i kind of forgot to take pictures, until the very end of the night. thus, the ridiculousness. this is smoove (who i love and adore and is absolutely insane) and thomas.


my old coworkers from eppley came! i love those kids. here's me and jc.


i think i was trying to channel america's next top noodle here. me and matthew. aw!


i finished my clapotis scarf on thursday night! yay. i wanted to get it off the needles before i left for europe. i was afraid i'd get back, forget about it, and find it years from now, slightly mangled. it was time, and i love it! made with dive autunno yarn.


details:


hi!


so today i managed to sleep in a bit, went and got an oil change in preparation for my drive to chicago tomorrow, had a helluva time getting boombox to sally's (he puked AND pooped in his carrier on the way over, poor little guy), hung out there for a while to see if he was going to eat the kittens, then stopped at the bank, and finally made it back home. cleaned out my car, finished packing (!), watered the plants, and now i'm uploading photos and being a little lazy. i can't believe i'll be on an airplane in two days!

mom, if you're reading this...

STOP READING RIGHT NOW (at least, stop if it isn't after mother's day by the time you see this)! anyone who is not my mom can continue on.

today has been an amazingly awesome, productive day. and it's sunday! who knew i could be so productive on a sunday? here's what i've accomplished thus far:
- went on a four-mile walk.
- perused the summer interweave knits magazine, which arrived yesterday.
- went to vote (i can't believe indiana actually counts for something this year! how bizarre... i voted for obama, among others, of course).
- mailed my mother's day package.
- returned some yarn i didn't need for the shrug i made for my mom (and got some more to make this gorgeous u-neck tank top thing).
- dropped a box of old office stuff at the new office.
- bought groceries for the week.

whew! and it's only 4:00! i am good. let's get to the photos, shall we?

here is the first article of clothing i've ever knitted for my mom. i followed the knob hill shrug pattern. here's the little beauty blocking.


it's pretty big on me, but i'm hoping it will fit my mom (and that it looks good!). i'm definitely going to get some really cool handpainted yarn and make one for myself one of these days.


on to the other day-to-day stuff: they gave out stickers at the polls! i'm so proud of my sticker. also, on a slightly related note, i got a campaign sign for my friend, geoff mckim, at the farmers' market yesterday. i put it proudly in my yard, and about four hours later... it was gone! someone took my mckim sign, which is ironic because i really wanted an obama sign, too, and they were all out. on the way back to my house, every house we walked past that had an obama sign i joked about taking the sign to put in my yard.


thomas and i went to the farmers' market yesterday, and i had a bit of a plant shopping spree. look! i will have roma tomatoes! (i need to go get tomato cages).


and we have baby basil, baby lavender, baby rosemary, and two different baby cherry tomato plants.


i decided i missed having succulents all over the place - so i got a new little succulent, too. senor gnomey is watching over him. so far, boombox has not decided to try eating it, which makes me happy.


and one other thing - after reading thomas' latest blog about music (okay, that isn't too specific since ALL of his blogs are about music, but whatever), i decided to do a little searching on the magical youtube for some good ol' john darnielle of the mountain goats fabulousness. and behold! a gem emerged. matt kennedy and i spent an entire winter in our san francisco flat fighting over which one of us would get to marry john darnielle.

it's a bright and shiny day!

i finished the bright and shiny grandpa cardigan! i am pretty much in love with it. i modified the pattern for the anthropologie-inspired capelet, so i'll go ahead and just post my pattern (after the pictures, of course) in case anyone wants to try their hand at it.

oh, and don't mind the bedhead. it's saturday - i haven't actually managed to shower yet today, between the wandering about town and button sewing.


the back:


details, details. i got tired of doing nothing but stockinette stitch, so i added a bit of checkerboard knitting, too.


i love the bright, saturated colors i picked. when i first started knitting it up, i thought i'd never wear it due to the extreme brightness. yeah, no... i pretty much love it.


okay, and the pattern. the original pattern is here. here are my edits/updates to make the full-sized version:

Full-Length Version of Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet
Yarn used: Plymouth Encore (worsted)
Quantities: About 1.5 skeins of pink, .5 skein of light yellow, .5 skein of orange
Size: Small/Medium (to fit about 35-36" bust)
US 10, 4 sts=1 inch

Set-Up
CO 100 st. Knit in 1 x 1 rib for 2 inches (or 18 rows) to create neckline. Start buttonholes on second row of ribbing.

Buttonhole Info
RS: On buttonhole rows: On last k6 stitches, k2, k2tog, yo, k2. Repeat buttonhole row every 16 rows.

Raglan Increases: (you will need 4 stitch markers to separate the body into 5 sections: left front, left sleeve, back, right sleeve, right front).

Row 1, RS: Buttonhole row: k6, p12, yo, pm, p1, yo, p14, yo, pm, p1, yo, p32, yo, pm, p1, yo, p14, yo, pm, p1, yo, p12, k6
Row 2 and all WS rows: knit all stitches
Row 3 and all RS rows: k6, *p to next marker, yo, sl marker, p1, yo* repeat from * 3 more times, p until last 6 st, k6.

Continue raglan increases until sleeve measures the circumference of your upper arm. End with a WS row.

Split sleeves and body:
RS: k6, p to 1st marker, move all st from 1st to 2nd marker onto scrap yarn (right sleeve). P to 3rd marker. Move all st from 3rd to 4th marker onto another piece of scrap yarn (left sleeve). P to last 6 st, k6.
WS: Knit all st.
Continue in reverse stockinette stitch.
Continue with buttonholes every 16th row.
Knit until nearly desired length. Switch to 1 x 1 rib for last 4-5 inches. BO all st.

Sleeves:
Pick up all st, one sleeve at a time from scrap yarn. Pick up 4 extra stitches in the underarm. Knit in the round or work back and forth in reverse st st until nearly desired length. Work in 1 x 1 rib for last 4 or 5 inches. BO all st. Seam ribbing on sleeves if not knitted in the round.

i also added a little checkerboard pattern at the bottom of the sweater, just because i got sick of the continuous KNITknitknitknit, PURLpurlpurlpurl. this could be easily modified to make it bigger - just keep doing the raglan increases to make the body and sleeves wider.

would you get back to the knitting already? sheesh.

what with earthquakes and changing jobs and general craziness, i haven't posted much about the crafting aspect of this journal. which is, of course, supposed to be the whole POINT of this thing.

i'm making a top secret housewarming gift for my friend, carrie, who bought her very first house and is closing on it... today? friday? i can't remember. that's horrible. anyway, can't post pics yet, of course, in case she happens upon them. take my word for it, though - the final product will be awesome beyond awesome.

in other crafting news, i have nearly finished the bright and shiny grandpa cardigan. i based it VEEEERY loosely on the anthropologie-inspired capelet (as you can see from the pictures... really quite different end product). maybe i'll post the pattern notes once i get it all done.

look! just a few more inches to go on the arm. huzzah.




and, because i can't resist, here are some other pictures from life lately. this is how my cat, boombox, sleeps on a regular basis. look! it's like two kitties in one! this would be him resting up for his nightly ritual of pawing at my hair, meowing incessantly, and walking across my ribs as i try to sleep. he's lucky he's cute.


last friday was my last day in the biology department. i am currently "between jobs," which is really fun to say. unfortunately, it's beautiful outside, and i'm supposed to be putting in tons of hours working on job number 2 stuff from home. yeah... anyway, last wednesday, i went out for lunch with the little work lunch crew one last time as a fellow employee. my friend christian saw me walking to work that morning and has since threatened to break my legs in order to steal my coat.


for some reason, i love this photo. face? weird. hair? looking good! and jeremy and ryan look cute.


we also went to the rock and roll prom last weekend. i won't overload you with pictures - suffice it to say, they're on my flickr account. we're waiting on the photo booth shots to come back. those are usually far more awesome than i could have ever hoped to shoot myself. prom recap? i danced. i drank beer. we snapped silly pictures. i got all sweaty. i lost my wallet. i also really wanted to hear "double dutch bus." heath was dj'ing, so i ran up and placed my request. he goes, "you mean this?" and holds out the record that he was just about to put on. great minds, lemme tell you.


okay, i totally lied - i'll post one other picture from the prom.


finally, i purchased the last of my europe trip stuff. overnight train tickets! a new pack! a rain jacket! a plug adapter! a little wallet!


i also decided i needed to start training for my crazy european walking tour. i plan on walking everywhere while i'm there. however, i've been really lazy about staying in shape for the past, oh, six months or so. since last week, i've been walking 3-5 miles a day. today i accidentally went 6 miles! i'm not too proud to admit that i'm tired. walking affords such a clear idea of what's going on in the world around you, though, such as the realization that things are finally, suddenly turning green.


also? today i had the most gigantic wasp/hornet/scary looking, flying, buzzing thing in my apartment. they're getting in somehow, i just have no idea how. i took out my vacuum, nearly hyperventilated a few times, and finally managed to vacuum it up. i also killed a gynormous spider last night. wanna know my method for killing spiders? they psych me out so much that i pretty much have to mutilate and totally incapacitate them before my hand gets anywhere close. so i sprayed him with hairspray first. i am a huge baby when it comes to large insects. and oh, man, was that bugger ever fast!

i felt the earth move under my feet...

earthquakes! now, if i still lived in california, you'd be like, "yeah, big deal, christie." however, we're talking indiana here, people.

i was awakened at 5:36 this morning. i live in the upstairs apartment of a historic house that was built in 1850. for anyone who has never taken a science class, you might not get this reference, but my bed felt like a beaker would feel on a shaker - just swirling around and around. it seemed to last for about 15-20 seconds? maybe a little longer? nothing fell off the walls or anything, but apparently that first one was a 5.2 on the richter scale, and the epicenter was not very far from here (100 or so miles from here, i would guess? maybe less than that).

with the distance at which a 5.2 scale earthquake was felt in this part of the country (michigan? atlanta? FLORIDA?! really?!), it boggles my mind to think what would happen across the midwest if a big one hit.

also? it was LOUD. i heard a lot of rumbling - don't know if that was my house itself or the ground or just everyone's houses up and down the block shaking or what.

then at around 11:15, i felt another one from my office. that one was *just* a 4.5 in the same area. a 5.2 and a 4.5 earthquake? in illinois? huh? i always knew that there was a fault line in the middle of the country, but in my 18 years of life growing up in the midwest and the last five living in bloomington, i've never felt a thing.

(that red one is the one that happened at 11:15 am... the big blue one is the one that woke me up at 5:30 this morning). i'm in bloomington, for reference. not too far, eh?


on an even stranger note, on my last day of work in the bay area, i really wanted an earthquake to hit. i felt them often in arcata, but hadn't experienced one in the bay. well, lo and behold, i'm standing at the front desk, and suddenly the floor was shaking. today also happened to be my last day of work at the biology department. coincidence?

obama takes on kirkwood...

i wish i was there! this was on his way to nick's - takes a lot of effort to get from the corner of kirkwood and grant to nick's when you're barack obama.