You might have noticed that I haven't updated my blog in a couple of weeks, mostly because life has gotten substantially busier and more interesting for me of late. Last week, I started my new job in the young adult department at the Allen County Public Library, and I can tell it's going to be a good fit for me. Of course, I already had experience there from my internship this summer, but this time I'm working as a REAL librarian, for which I'm being paid REAL money - definitely an improvement! I even get my own email account and phone extension - wow! My coworkers in the department are all great and have been very welcoming and willing to answer any dumb questions I have as I start to settle in. The teens there are pretty much made of awesome, and it's been fun to catch up with a lot of the regulars I remembered from this summer. They seem happy to see me back, too - one kid told me the other day that I'm a "pretty okay librarian", which I think was a huge compliment coming from him (By the way, if you want to get a taste of what our teens are like, check out the YA department's blog - it usually features some, ah, interesting discussions in the comments).
There are only a couple of downsides to the new job - one, of course, is the long drive back and forth between Bloomington and Fort Wayne every week, but that's only going to last for the next couple of months until I finish up grad school for good. The other is that it's only a 15-hour a week position, and there's no guarantee that there are ever going to be any more hours available. I'm keeping an eye out for other positions within the ACPL system, because I really like the library and it'd be nice to live close to my parents, but I also need to be making a lot more money than I'd make if my hours stay the same as they are. So I'm hoping that something will come up that will enable me to stick around - even if it means going back to Mitchell Books or taking another part-time retail type job - definitely less than ideal, but we'll just have to see.
I've been trying out a couple of new stitch patterns lately, and they're turning out so well I feel like showing them off:
First off: this is a lace pattern called seafoam stitch. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden, which is gorgeous, with beautiful colorways, but a little rough to knit with. 
This is herringbone stitch. The pattern I'm working from is called My So-Called Scarf. It was a little tricky to knit at first, but eventually I stumbled upon a shortcut that gives a result that looks the same and saves my poor hands. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay, and it's a much richer purple-blue than this photo shows.
Finally, this last one is a beret-type hat I just finished for myself a few days ago. The yarn is alpaca and so cozy and warm...too bad it's nearly 60 degrees outside here right now! I can't wait for it to get cold again so I can wear it.
Last week a group of nearly 400 Croatians attempted to break the world record for number of Smurfs gathered in one place, only to discover that what they thought was the current record (290 Smurfs, set in the U.S.) had already been beaten by 451 students at Warwick University in the U.K. last year. If only they'd properly done their research. Maybe, say, checked with a librarian?