Lavender Season

LAVENDER!

It's lavender season!

It's beautiful color and inviting smell is my favorite part of our rather plain front yard.

I won't pretend that I am a botanist, herbalist, or even an amateur gardener, though if you indulge me I will share my average knowledge (most gleaned from my plant enthusiast mother) of lavender harvesting.

Step one: 

find a lavender plant. I highly suggest growing one of your own rather than clipping off of store front decor or your neighbors garden sprig

Step two: 

acquire a cutting instrument, gardening shears work really well but plain scissors will do just fine.

Step three: 

cut off the top half of the "stalks", it should be about 8-10 inches down to the more bushier part of the plant. 

IMPORTANT: the plant should be harvested just before the flowers bloom. 

(the plants that bloom may be more colorful but they will not smell as strongly)

Step four:

once you have gathered a desired amount split the clipped portions into small bundles and tie together

Step five:

hang these bundles upside down in a dry environment. I simply hang mine in our dining room, but the drier the place the faster your lavender will dry

Once your lavender is sufficiently dry hang it around the house for a welcoming fragrance or include as decoration on summer time gifts :)

Cheers,
Cristyn

Summer freedom

I'm off school!

I finished in style, as per usual  ;)

Now I'm home with my family and taking some time to relax between shifts at my summer job.

Currently working on: 

a granny square shawl

Currently reading: 

Dune- odd but engaging

Currently listening to: 

my sister's Italian music- very good
"The Hollow Kingdom" one of my favorite books

Its been so long?
What should I say?
What do you want to know?

I have fallen in love with pastels, sweet teddy bears, floral and Greengate.
These things are calming to an over active mind. No classes also means an endless search for something to satisfy the endless wanderings of my brain. All the more reason that continuing my education forever.
Suggestions?

My summer beach shawl. It's only a three by three square right now but growing fast.

An adorable teddy bear pattern. Knitted unfortunately, but still possibly do-able in the midst of summer boredom.

A few of my favorites from Greengate!

Cheers,
Cristyn 

Baby sheep, finals, and coffee addictions

My first  year at William and Mary is almost over!

This means more time for blogging as summer approaches

but it also means the arrival of finals and the need for a coffee IV

Much like the frenzied atmosphere of the college library the world outside has also entered Spring in full swing.

The temperature has finally become warm (dare I say even hot at time?!)

and our friends in Colonial Williamsburg have a couple new family members <3

Spaceman and I decided to pay them a visit in a celebratory in of classes moment

By the time I return from break this little guy will be much bigger, 

but I'm sure just as sweet

(we formed a real bond :) )

and I will have survived a three month long caffeine detox 

so I can start my addiction fresh in the Fall.

Cheers,

Cristyn

It's been a long time....

I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't

I've been swamped and crazy

So much has happened

But I certainly should have had time to share it with you

So here is everything you missed:

Holi Festival

A spring ball

(Not for me but still sweet)

An Inauguration

SPRING!

Cheers,

Cristyn

Bear's Birthday!

Today my little sister Bear is turning 18!

It feels incredibly weird to realize that my sisters and I are all officially adults.

This year Bear will start college and begin to have lots of new experiences and I will have to learn to step back and let her go.

She has really become a stunning, intelligent young woman and I am a very proud older sister!

So to mark the end of her childhood and the start of the rest of her life I made her a teddy bear :)

This is the pattern I used, and it worked wonderfully! I did add the embellishments from my imagination, but I would highly suggest it this pattern!

H A P P Y    B I R T H D A Y    B E A R !
xoxoxo

Cheers,
Cristyn

Frozen...

...Virginia Edition.

Fresh snow and newly dyed hair,

Happy Spring Break (?)

Cheers,

Cristyn

Ta-dah!

I finally completed one of my to-do projects today!

Using some fabulous new colors I got off on Knit Picks 

I made Lemur a set of coasters for her apartment.

I used a variety of different patterns so I pinned them all to my Pinterest crochet board for your enjoyment

Happy crocheting from a very snowy Virginia!

Cheers,

Cristyn

Where HAVE You Been!

That, my dear friends, is an excellent question.

I've been studying, studying a lot!

(Being an Anthropology/Middle Eastern studies double major is even harder than it sounds!)

I've been coughing and sleeping far to much

I've been thrifting

and drinking tea tea tea!

I've not been crocheting very much at all

(so I did this just to prove I still could!)

Though I've been playing with colors!

I've been packing for home

and waiting for Spring to finally arrive.

I've been planning adventures.

I've been applying for internships.

I've been watching the steady pace of my blog visitors rise!

And most importantly I've been sick and away and am glad to be back!

Cheers,
Cristyn 

Wanderlust...

Being young and college makes you want to explore.

It causes you to want to road trip to Canada

attempt to run a marathon

spend every day singing loudly at the top of your lungs!

I watched Pocahontas last night and now all I want in this world is to run through the forest serenading John Smith

Obviously this can not happen
but a girl can dream.

Cheers,
Cristyn

Insert excitement here!

Life has become a bit mundane.

Class

Practice

Homework

Repeat*

For added enjoyment add intern application or Flat Hat article.

The best way to end this tedium?

MUSIC!

Here is my playlist for the week:

1- Wavin' Flag by K'naan

2- Get on Your Boots by U2

3- Everybody Loves Me by One Republic

4- We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel

5- Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chile Peppers

6- Fix You by Coldplay 

7- Human by The Killers

8- Hey Soul Sister by Train

9- I Choose by India Arie

Photo courtesy to my friend Carol, a fellow Flat Hatter!

DANCE, LOVE, ENJOY!

Cheers,

Cristyn

Sunshine and Tea

I have found a new love

It has been a long time in coming

A slow, drifting fall from which there is no return

I can't keep it a secret anymore

I LOVE YOU, TEA!

I love Chai. I love lavender and honey. I don't mean to sound like a polygamist but I love them all!

I have been really trying to lower my abnormally high caffeine intake of 

two to three cups of coffee a day 

and what better outlet than frothy, creamy, spicy Chai tea?

or calming Lavender? or Irish breakfast with honey?

Today, students sit outside the Daily Grind to drink their mid-morning fixes.

With spring break coming up for us over-stressed college students in just under two weeks, the sun has decided to grace the campus of William and Mary to remind us that we still don't have time to laze around outside and soak up the glorious rays.

Soon, soon. 

It will be warm and I will be out on the grass everyday and strolling CW in summer dresses and shorts.

Sorry to pine away, but I really miss the warmth and the freedom that comes with spring weather.

This winter has endured too cold for too long

A mid-February weekend

There are two feet of snow on the ground at home, but here it's fifty degrees and beautiful!

This weekend included a lot of studying, much stress, a film festival and the making of my spring gloves!

They are thirty-three stitches round all the way up with a hole created for the thumb.
(for help on that view my Colonial Celebration entry)

They are actually a bit lighter in color that this picture shows, but they are just as comfy, cozy as they look!

With midterms coming up and fencing tournament underway
I have had little time to blog.
Though hopefully life will calm down soon
and I will be able to write longer posts more often.

Hope you are having a lovely February!

Cheers,
Cristyn

A perfect shawl day

I finished my cloudy day shawl!

Well I actually finished it a few days ago and have just been waiting for a sunny day to take it out for a photo shoot.

The weather, however, does not want to cooperate...

It has been cloudy for days and they keep calling for snow, though we have yet to see a single white flake.

Though the weather has been really great and has given me plenty of opportunities to wear my shawl.

Needless to say I couldn't wait any longer to show you my work!

I based this shawl off of a pattern on Ravelry. I apologize that I cannot find the pattern now :/ , however most of it is my own development and is a repetition of  three rows of dc ch (dc into hole created by chain of last row) and two rows of a similar sc ch.

The lace edging is bases on the second pattern here.

My parents also came this weekend to teach me how to drive the newish (aka not mine so I've never driven it) manual car, because my car is at school with Lemur.

They also took me to get real food and we walked around CW with Lucy,
 who made a friend Mr.Grey one of the CW cats.

Here he is ignoring us like a cool cat, but he let me pick him up after I took this and he is so soft and squishy! Man I really miss having all my kitties to snuggle with!

Cheers,
Cristyn