still catching up~ (June... only 3 months late!)

Visited MoHonk Mountain Housein June for my friend Matt's birthday- err a month late due to my crazy travel schedule (thanks guys for waiting for me!!).... the Lovely Brunch followed by wandering around the grounds... seeing lots of snakes~ a good time was had by all (except maybe the poor folks who were out on the late when it started POURing rain!)


Also... in June... during my trip out to Portland, my buddies and I were able to get ourselves to the International Rose Test Garden Which really was an amazing experience~ I never thought visiting with Roses could have been so rewarding! Seriously... the most beautiful/spectacular Roses ever!! and I learned something new that day- not all Roses smell like boo-boo-boo (a la OutKast) oh... and the water droplets... are from rain~


Also in June... while in Portland, we were able to get out to Multnomah Falls... which I think was more beautiful this time around... probably because I wasn't feeling sick, as I was the last time I was there~

Back in May...

So... for Memorial Day... my parents and I road-tripped it up to Seneca Falls, NY to visit my sister~ I can't say I'm familiar with all the entertainment/tourist options available at Cayuga Lake... but the one the activity that stands out for me (besides the usual joys of hanging out by/on a lake).... is the Wine tasting. NY wines really are getting better and better... and it was an affordable, interesting, and tasty way to spend the weekend~ I can't recall which winery's these photos were taken at... (I did know where I was at the time the photo's were taken~)

Way back in May...

So... I'm going through my Flickr account and looking through my photos... realizing I never posted any of it here... so the next few posts will be my attempt to catch you up on my life... in photos~~

May... in Portland... my buddies and I visited the Japanese Garden after class one day... we paid like $8 each (with our student discount)... and it was an amazing evening~ really so beautiful!


Immediately following my "weekend" in Portland... I flew back into NY... only to fly out the same day... to Guatemala- to provide Acupuncture and other medical services to the Locals- living in the Mountain villages outside Antigua. We worked in some of the Best and Worst conditions I've ever visited in Central America. I personally had the opportunity to treat over 120 patients in the course of 24 hours of direct service. It was exhausting, but beyond rewarding~ we left Guatemala city- just before the Sink Hole occurred~


Acupuncture:

arabella

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Originally uploaded by cornchowdery

So... i guess I've been really distracted... so much so... I didn't even realize I had posted last month!! (perhaps I'm doing better than I expected!)... So... the Arabella shawlette... is done... actually its been really done for a while now... really done- meaning I un-did the bind-off and re-did it~ its pretty... its gone into the christmas stash.


... so the new look of flicker... is still a bit confusing for me... I can't decide how I feel about it... but for now... its just plain old- confusing!!

dysfunctional Bind-offs

Its happened before... and it will probably happen again~ but really... I hate when bind-off just don't work out the way I want!! Specifically, I'm referring to my Arabella Shawlette designed by Kristen Hanley Cardozo... the design is really pretty... the body makes me feel like an excellent knitter... However... the bind off... had totally turned me off. Really, its me, not the shawl~ and its not a difficult fix- i just have to un-bind and re-do it using a stretchier bind-off, but i'm just not motivated to rip it out! Why couldn't it have worked the 1st time!! The bind off I did... was the P2Tog, back to left needle, P2tog~ continue~~ I even went up- 4 (!!!) needle sizes~ and its still too tight~ UGH!... so for now... its sitting on my desk... waiting~

to knit it- I did the set up chart, then chart A-2- 7 times, C-1, C-2 and then rows 1-3 of chart C-3~

On to more satisfying knits... the Juneberry by Jared Flood.



Pattern: Juneberry by Jared FLood
Yarn: Nordique by Classic Elite Yarn in the Ruby Wine colorway
Modifications: None... I'm sure it can be done... I just haven't thought about how to do it!
Comments: I bought the St-Denis magazine issue #2- for this pattern alone (P.S- Jared said he will be releasing it on his website in a few months)... and I personally think it was worth it! ITs beautiful!! The pattern itself... was... totally a breeze to follow... outside of chart 2. Unfortunately... chart 2- is the bulk of the body~ I'm just not knit smart enough to have made it work for me... and recharting it... never even crossed my mind!! Instead I e-mailed Mr. Flood, who was beyond helpful~ he "hooked me up" with the more user friendly chart #2... and I sailed along smoothly.

well there goes that new years resolution!

Well, there goes that new years resolution to blog- once a month~~ I didn't realize my 1st quarter would be so busy!! Its hard to give an update as so much, and yet so little has happened!! so lets just move on from there~

I decided I was going to try an complete 10 shawls in 2010~ so far... I've done... 0~ ok well really I finished one- but its not off the blocking board yet- and I haven't taken any photos- so it mite as well be 0~

in the meantime, I've been doing alot of travelling~ mostly school related but~ some for fun as well...

I attended to Society for Acupuncture Research Conference- last month (I can't believe its already been a month!)... where I got to listen to some amazing researchers and the biggest brains in my field talk about where the medicine is headed and all about the intricacies of acupuncture research~ I really respect these researchers who are out there trying to prove a medicine, which is difficult to prove in the parameters defined by contemporary medicine and with minimal funding~
Dr Streitberger (as in Streitberger Needle) discussing the Germany acupuncture studies

my buddy Marina Ponton, of Greenville Natural Health, Greenville, SC and the amazing Misha Cohen, of Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine


After the conference I had to opportunity to visit Greenville, SC and Marina's office~~ to glean from her Acupuncture business expertise~ and a good time was had by all (all being Marina and myself... perhaps her hubby and doggy as well--> PS- go team JACOB!) Who knew Greenville was so cute!?



Hmm... During this mini-trip~ Marina and I visited 2 yarn shops - 1 was in Chapel hill, NC and the other was Hillsborough, NC~ both were soo cute~ but I was sticking to my STOP buying yarn policy~ and I don't know how I survived! (I have purchase yarn since... but I'll tell you about that later)... All I got was an Interweave Knits magazine and a size 4- 47" Addi Lace needle~ shocking I know~