New Hampshire, hats and bookmarks, moving

Phew, I'm finally settling back into lab. Last week I was in Squam Lake, New Hampshire with my family and boyfriend, which was a welcome break after my qualifying exam the week before. I suppose my exam went well, though none of my committee members has given me definitive feedback on my answers. Meh. As long as I don't have to do it again, I'm happy.

I suppose a couple pictures are in order.

This is Evan on top of Mt. Rattlesnake on Sunday morning:
As my dad says, Rattlesnake really is the best in terms of the view you get for the amount of climbing you do.


Here is the view from the boat coming back from the Loon Island picnic last Tuesday:

And here's a short video of Jonny (my brother), Nathan (my cousin), and Brooke (a girl who also goes to Squam Lake the same week we do) in the wacky canoe races, demonstrating a rather successful switch:


I've resumed crocheting a bit recently, mostly (well, exclusively) making lacy book marks that I suppose I'll have to try to sell, because there are quite a lot of them. And they're pretty! In my knitting, I've been mostly working on hats. I've come to a bit of a standstill on the pi shawl, now that I'm pretty much at the edge. I know I want to include beads and some sort of a pretty border, but choosing which one is difficult.

I'm also trying to psyche myself up for a big push on Etsy. I've been making hats and scarves for months now, waiting to get a little closer to the cooler weather and the holidays before posting them. And I think I'm about there. I also want to publicize a bit, probably by (1) buying one of Etsy's promotion spots for a day, (2) posting fliers, and (3) maybe making promotional bookmarks, which I read about in an article from Etsy. I think that's a great idea, but I'm blanking on a design. I'm thinking card stock rectangles with stamps and a ribbon or tassel. Somehow I want to get information about my shop on there... maybe I'll print up little info blurbs separately and glue them onto the card stock... Yeah, I'm still at the drawing board on this one.

I'm delaying the Etsy push, however, until I'm at least mostly moved in to my new apartment. Well, I should say, Evan's and my apartment. Yes, we're moving in together. Exciting. Over the last couple days I've been coming to the unpleasant realization that I really do have entirely too much stuff. I'm not filtering as I pack, but I plan to keep a Good Will box handy as I unpack. Evan has been an angel, generously using his dwindling vacation time to haul my stuff from my current apartment. I owe him a tremendous back rub at the end of this week.

Oh, and this weekend is the Knit and Crochet Show in Buffalo! Can't wait! I'm taking classes on creative knit/crochet (stash bust!) and improvisational lace knitting, both offered by Myra Wood (what a beautiful name). The problem is that my car needs an oil change, which I would like to get done before I drive back and forth to Buffalo, but that only leaves a couple days.