misc.

Yet to be categorized.

Wandering.

| Betsy

Wandering down the canal.
Discovering new nooks and crannies.
Roaming without a map.

Back at my house after wandering wherever my feet wanted to take me around DC, I’m reminded of the Prologue to “Off the Map” by Hib and Kika,

This is what it means to be an adventurer in our day: to give up creature comforts of the mind, to realize possibilities of imagination. Because everything around us says no you cannot do this, you cannot live without that, nothing is useful unless in it’s in service to money, to gain, to stability.

The adventurer gives in to tides of chaos, trusts the world to support her- and in doing so turns her back on the fear and obedience she has been taught. She rejects the indoctrination of impossibility.

My adventure is a struggle for freedom.

The last time I was reminded of this quote was September 5, 2005, writing about moving to a sheep farm in England. Nervous. Excited. Hopeful.

And now 5 years later, feeling somewhat similar. Wanting it all. Somewhere new and wild and wonderful. Wide-eyed and older now, I’ve crafted the solution to a wish made so long ago. And still, I’m nervous. Excited. Hopeful. For all the new adventures about to come.

And some craftiness (and randomness) for Friday:
*Local Harvest
*Knit Not War 1,000
*Bulgur Veggie Burgers!
*Giver’s Log (via Supernaturale)
*Vintage Bollywood superstar ads
*How Monopoly Helped Defend the Free World
*The Jak Pak: the jacket that turns into a tent!
*Sketchy Web Icons: 20 Hand Drawn Icon Pack
*Things That Are Not Steampunk (via Regretsy)
*How to Make Swatch Portraits (via The Purl Bee)
*An incredibly awesome clip of Grover singing a catchy Pakistani tune (Brilliant!!)

35, and other random things.

| Betsy

So as of Sunday, I am now 35. A number, which I’m totally okay with, but just seems, well, overwhelmingly adult. Things are so much different with my life than when I started this little site at age 28! Yikes!

But a few things have stayed the same, like my interests. The top photo is my favorite craft badge in the whole wide world, which I bought in Brighton, England in 2004. The bottom photo is of Teneek women from Mexico working on their embroidery at the recent Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Yes, that’s yarn on their heads, gorgeously wrapped up with their own hair.

If you’re wondering why my blog may seem a little, sparse, lately, it’s because I’ve been keeping up with lots of things simultaneously. Volunteering recently at the Festival. Writing about Afghan war rugs. Volunteering my communications skills to help Emerge Global aid Sri Lankan girls start their own jewelry businesses! Meeting all sorts of amazing new people! And, of course, continuing to discover the layout of my new hometown, DC!

As they’re easier to update on the fly, you can also find me over at Tumblr and Twitter.

Do come say hello!

Greatest video ever by a 9 year old knitter!

| Betsy

When I was 9 years old, my biggest worry (seriously) was how I was going to tell people I was 11 with only 2 hands, even though I still wasn’t even 10.

Thankfully, kids of today are more sophisticated than myself. For example, the following video sent to me by a 9-year-old girl named Heather. After the video, I’ve posted her email about it, along with links to the projects she mentions.

Heather, you are awesome! Thanks so much for sending me your awesome video! I’m not sure who else you sent this great video to, but I hope the whole world gets to see it!


My name is Hannah and I am nine years old.

Could you please link my YouTube video on your blog?

I’m trying to get knitters to donate a hat to Hats for Hunger.*
All money goes to Heifer International to buy livestock for poor families.

I knit on a loom. I unravel sweaters for hats sometimes. And I dye the yarn with koolaid.

I made the video as a 4H project and it won a blue ribbon, a purple ribbon, a trip to the state fair and a Best of Show ribbon.

Hannah

*Hats for Hunger was started by a 9 year old in 2008. He’s now 11, and I’m betting has better things to do than tell people his age by displaying his fingers.

Manifest Destiny, the Ultimate DIY Experiment?

| Betsy

My first thought when I saw this was, WTF? Seriously. Laura Ingalls-style move vs. a U-Haul? My second thought was, isn’t all moving (without paid movers, that is) pretty much DIY? And isn’t moving pretty much universal? Why should America get to claim it as a “tradition?”

But I digress. It takes a lot to stop me in my tracks* (HA!) when it comes to advertising, but I really would have loved to have been in the room when the marketing team was pitching this idea:

DIY = Cool.

Moving = DIY.

U-Haul = cool…

Then apparently the dialogue turned into “Little House on the Prairie” = Cool.

And when it passed the team then decided that: “Little House on the Prairie hit it big on TV, so why not juxtapose that hard-scrabble life where everyone was extra-feisty and tough with today’s “pioneering” spirit of moving? Y’know, when you pack up 8 million boxes and then carry them to a truck you drive yourself and then unload yourself and then have to return the truck? Perfect! Beat that, Penske!”

*Get it? Wagon tracks?! Did I mention that moving means lots of lost sleep?