Apparently My Head is Enormous

So I started up knitting again with a vengeance about three months ago, and I've been moving through this beret pattern with modifications to fit the Noro yarn shown --> Went to the knitting night at This Is Knit in Blackrock, met some awesome ladies (*waves*), and then finished up the hat once I got home.

Except I didn't because apparently my head is enormous. I know that won't be surprising to you mom, but seriously, the yarn I'm using knits up larger than the yarn originally called for (meaning that doing the pattern the way its written would mean my hat was bigger than the sample hat) and it still doesn't fit. Now I'm not completely freakish as it fits just fine circumference-wise (I swear!) its the depth of hat that's the problem. I have to tug at it to get it to barely cover my ears :( So I've decided to just undo it (ie 'frogging' in the knit world) back until before the decreases at the crown and do another 10-ish rows. A little disappointing but oh well!

Belfast Christmas Continental Market

Went to the Christmas Continental Market on Wednesday evening, and is, as my wannabe Bostonian sister (loooove you Liz) would say, wicked awesome. The grounds around city hall are transformed into a tiny magical village of deliciously gourmet and wacky food, painfully tacky gifts (personalized diamante belt buckle anyone?), fragrant beer gardens (one in a teepee!) and all garnished with the amazing Christmas lights I've discovered they do so well here in Ireland. Unfortunately the best stuff for sale is the food (so many fudges and cakes and sausages and wines and ciders etc etc!) which doesn't transport particularly well in the hold of a plane across an ocean in checked baggage, or else I'd be bringing a ton home with me.

Mmmm savory baguettes

The enormous tree

The joy of pick & mix = too much fudge for Katie

My long procrastination!

I need to be papering right now. I really ought to be papering. Classes are finished since last Thursday and I've got until December 15th to get all my final papers (or assessment as they say here) done.

Created by OnePlusYou

So of course what am I currently doing, given my proclivity to procrastination? Why I've joined Ravelry, am playing MouseHunt on facebook, picking out charitable christmas gifts, and am fiddling around with the new camera I bought with birthday money from my parents! (Oh and I'm clearly writing a blog post and playing with countdown generators.)

Although writing this post has gotten me to close some of those tabs, not to mention that the generator's really freaking me out, so I think I'll go read!!

PS- The beau and I are going to this tonight btw! So I really better get to work so I feel like I've earned it.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

(This will be an all-day post that I'll update as the day goes along)

2:15 Pm

I am thankful for ....

These Women

These Women

And THESE!

7:50 Pm

I AM THANKFUL THAT CLASSES ARE DONE!

and for these!

Almost Turkey Time

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow! Thankfully one of my classmates (Rob from Belfast) has an American wife (Julie from Seattle) so we're not going to let Thanksgiving go by uncelebrated. They're inviting about 20 people (!!!) over to their house for a big ol' dinner - turns out she's doing two turkeys, way to go Julie - and the boyf (as my across the hall neighbor awesomely calls my boyfriend) got work off on Friday so he could come join us. Yay!

In the spirit of my recent cooking expeditions, I've decided to be bold and make a few dishes. I'm making a kidney beans dish, sweet potato casserole and Kentucky Derby pie! I'm using family recipes for all of them so the Derby pie isn't exactly like the one in the link, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of the ingredients. Sooo I went grocery shopping today and here's what I discovered:

• Pecans are expensive
• There is no such thing as corn syrup here, rather they use this
• Pecans are shipped from the States
  
• Contrary to belief they have ready made pie crusts so I only have to worry about the filling
• Pecans are still unbelievably yummy
• Irish sweet potatoes are shaped funny
• Screw baking I want to eat my pecans

Alack and alas I can't though. Tomorrow I'll have a running "I'm Thankful for.." post that I'll update throughout the day (who knows, you might get a shout out). In the meantime checkout what happens when turkeys are on the loose!

Photo Friday

Its Friday! woot! Except that I need to be practically glued to my desk this weekend because of paper writing. Bleurgh...

Ye olde timey sign post leading into Phoenix Park

Transgender Day of Rememberance

I haven't been particularly political on this blog yet, but I wanted to let everyone know that today (Nov. 20th) is the International Transgender Day of Rememberance. Transgender people throughout the world have a horrifically high chance of experiencing violence and murder; in fact the Human Rights Campaign states that American Transgender people potentially have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered. Even if that's an inflated number the conservative estimate is that transgendered people are murdered at 10 times the rate of everyone else. These are hate crimes. This shouldn't be happening. Period. So today is a day to remember the wrongfully dead among the transgender community. It's still early enough in the day for most of y'all to find an event in your city and attend in solidarity, in mourning, in rage, or in respect. And if you're in Ireland and want to know more check out the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI) here, or Si here. I'd particularly recommend TENI, as I've met the amazing Chairperson Cat McIlroy. Thanks for reading.


Remembering the (reported) victims of 2008

ps- I apologize for turning the comments moderation on, but ... I figured I needed to.