Whoosh, time is moving quickly, especially as October begins all the job application stuff.
In the next week I want to:
1) edit my research statement (by Monday, to send to the committee)
2) make a website (even if it's rudimentary; not just linkedin)
3) do laundry
4) work on my error/uncertainty estimates for at least 5 hours
5) write for at least 5 hours
6) schedule a doctor's appt
7) get through the orange part of my current spinning project
there, that should be good for both fun and work.
Friday, September 18, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
AUTUMN IS COMING
Fingers crossed of course, but lately the mornings and evenings are nice enough to have the windows open, and the shade is pretty pleasant.
I've been enjoying my tomatoes as I pick them, one at a time, and eat them right off the two plants. They are doing pretty well but I can tell they would like to grow a lot taller. I will not repot them--they are already taking over the porch. They are enjoying the rain from the weekend.
My potatoes are ready to be dug up, and I'm excited because this means soon I will have tasty little oven roasted potatoes :) It is almost soup season, too, so roasted veggie soup is coming up. The weather is still hot and humid during most of the day, so it's just a little hint that those things might be coming soon, but it's nice to have a reminder.
I have my first draft of job application stuff completed, and am editing/working on improving it before the first applications are due (end of Sept). Meanwhile, I am also ankle deep in programming. Kind of fun, though.
I finally got oil for the spinning wheel and spent last night happily spinning my Loop Bullseye Bump
I've been enjoying my tomatoes as I pick them, one at a time, and eat them right off the two plants. They are doing pretty well but I can tell they would like to grow a lot taller. I will not repot them--they are already taking over the porch. They are enjoying the rain from the weekend.
My potatoes are ready to be dug up, and I'm excited because this means soon I will have tasty little oven roasted potatoes :) It is almost soup season, too, so roasted veggie soup is coming up. The weather is still hot and humid during most of the day, so it's just a little hint that those things might be coming soon, but it's nice to have a reminder.
I have my first draft of job application stuff completed, and am editing/working on improving it before the first applications are due (end of Sept). Meanwhile, I am also ankle deep in programming. Kind of fun, though.
I finally got oil for the spinning wheel and spent last night happily spinning my Loop Bullseye Bump
Isn't it pretty? It's got flecks of copper and green sparkle (angelina) in it as well. It's mostly merino, so it's slick, but it's spinning up nice and fine. I am aiming for a fingering/sport weight 2ply, and for the second ply I picked up some chocolate-colored corriedale when I went to Stony Mountain Fibers yesterday for the oil. It's a bit springier than merino but it should work well as the second ply and I can't wait to see what sort of yardage I end up getting! This is the last thing in my Spin the Bin 2015 challenge box as well, so when I finish this I'll have met my year's goal.
There's one more thing I want to spin, though, and that's a 3 ply sock weight. I have 8oz of lilac colored corriedale from Highland Handmades and 4oz of a blue-lavender BFL/silk blend from Frabjous Fibers and I think they'll go well together.
Knitting continues apace, but there really isn't enough time in the day. I have some plans for a beautiful geometric lace shawl, but I don't know if I will get a chance to start it before the end of the year, much less finish it. Oh well!
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
When work gets overwhelming, make a list
Actually that's terrible advice--the best advice is to sit down and do things for as much time as you can instead of worrying about them for as much time as you can.
Buut it's break time so I'm gonna blog about knitting. or potential knitting.
I am feeling the need for shawls all of a sudden. I picked up that intricate lace shawl in August and I want to just pound away on that sucker for 4 hours a night (note: I do not get that much time to work on it. Usually I knit two rows right before I pass out). I ripped out my Vacillate color shawl (it was too wide, and I was gonna end up with a square rather than a rectangle) and I want to go home from work right now to cast it on and get back on the horse (it's a very very fun knit. Surprisingly addictive and easy). And I found a wee nubbin of a crescent Summer Flies shawl that I really want to start again (mm, pretty purple yarn)--I didn't get much past the garter tab caston for that one but I think it's awesome regardless. I also need to wind yarn for my next Piper's Journey, and I think that I finally decided I am going to knit a Nurmilintu with my luxurious purple silk yarn I got two years ago for my birthday. I also have 4 glorious skeins of Dragonfly Fibers DK yarn (traveller is the base) in the Titania colorway, and I think they'd make either a great Rococo Shawl.
I want to do a Striped Study or Different Lines or something like that in my two skeins of madelinetosh tosh merino light in the copper penny and oxblood colorways, but I also recently got gifted Oak Park pattern and I think if I picked up a dark brown and full skein and a partial of something like tart or another red or purple variant in mtl I can make a really fantastic version of this shawl.
There are a thousand crescent shawls awaiting me, and I still don't know what to do with some of my precious shawl stash. *sigh*.
Similarly, yarn for socks continues to breed even though I knit with it incessantly. Perhaps next year will be a knit-twelve-pairs year.... much needed.
The holidays are coming up faster than I expected. I am taking a relaxed approach to their knitting this year, though. I want to make mittens and socks for everybody, and a poncho for mom and a hat for my brothers, but I might just do mittens when I can and skip everything else. It's busy around here.
That's enough fun for now. Back to work.
Buut it's break time so I'm gonna blog about knitting. or potential knitting.
I am feeling the need for shawls all of a sudden. I picked up that intricate lace shawl in August and I want to just pound away on that sucker for 4 hours a night (note: I do not get that much time to work on it. Usually I knit two rows right before I pass out). I ripped out my Vacillate color shawl (it was too wide, and I was gonna end up with a square rather than a rectangle) and I want to go home from work right now to cast it on and get back on the horse (it's a very very fun knit. Surprisingly addictive and easy). And I found a wee nubbin of a crescent Summer Flies shawl that I really want to start again (mm, pretty purple yarn)--I didn't get much past the garter tab caston for that one but I think it's awesome regardless. I also need to wind yarn for my next Piper's Journey, and I think that I finally decided I am going to knit a Nurmilintu with my luxurious purple silk yarn I got two years ago for my birthday. I also have 4 glorious skeins of Dragonfly Fibers DK yarn (traveller is the base) in the Titania colorway, and I think they'd make either a great Rococo Shawl.
I want to do a Striped Study or Different Lines or something like that in my two skeins of madelinetosh tosh merino light in the copper penny and oxblood colorways, but I also recently got gifted Oak Park pattern and I think if I picked up a dark brown and full skein and a partial of something like tart or another red or purple variant in mtl I can make a really fantastic version of this shawl.
There are a thousand crescent shawls awaiting me, and I still don't know what to do with some of my precious shawl stash. *sigh*.
Similarly, yarn for socks continues to breed even though I knit with it incessantly. Perhaps next year will be a knit-twelve-pairs year.... much needed.
The holidays are coming up faster than I expected. I am taking a relaxed approach to their knitting this year, though. I want to make mittens and socks for everybody, and a poncho for mom and a hat for my brothers, but I might just do mittens when I can and skip everything else. It's busy around here.
That's enough fun for now. Back to work.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Today's mystery
The mystery of the day is: what is this thing?
fyi, I do not have a solution to this mystery. It has plagued a group of mine for nearly two years now, so I thought I would share it with the world. Leave a misguided or informative answer, whichever you prefer.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
WIPsplosion averted
So, it's inevitable that startitis sets in after a big event like Stash Dash. This is especially true this year, as I made my Stash Dash 2015 all about working on WIPs and as such, cast on nothing new the whole summer. By the end of SD, I had three projects that needed their ends woven in and some seaming, and one pair of socks on the needles. everything else was done, or in deep hibernation.
Immediately upon finishing, I did a pair of fingerless mitts for my aunt out of Road to China by the Fibre Company (note to self: add this to the review list, ung it is so decadent) and then promptly made a pair of wee baby shoes out of the leftovers. But after that little spurt (a mere weekend's time) I felt all lost and fumbly. Usually this means I need to do some spinning until my projects settle themselves in their mind.
But nothing really felt settled, and instead of casting on something new, I went digging through my old hibernating projects and came out with a tricky lace shawl in very delicate yarn that I'd started in January 2014. The pattern is Madli's Shawl from the Knitted Lace of Estonia book, and I'd gotten halfway into the edging and lost myself about 20 stitches into the third or fourth row. Really not a lot of progress at all. This was one of those projects that demonstrates how much I've learned and improved over time, because not only did I not know why I had stopped, I found a mistake and dropped it down and fixed it in the lace (including dropping and recovering a nupp!), I was able to figure out where I was in the pattern and keep right on going with it, and I plowed my way through into the main body section while it had my attention. It has helped me to use the crochet hook method for nupps, which is to use a small crochet hook to knit or purl all the seven stitches together immediately after making them. Technically this makes you off by a row with that stitch, so you can slip it the next time you get there or just ignore it and move on, as it makes little difference. The hook I am using I originally purchased for beading. I think it's something like a 1mm, very small (fit through the center of an 8/0 bead), but my yarn is so thin that this is not a problem.
After I worked on the lace shawl for about a week, I suddenly cast on for a sweater. What? what is this madness? I had only just finished the last sweater and I felt the urge to make a new one? But I did. It is a crocheted sweater called Anzen from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 7, starts with a double-crochet-stitch yoke and then appears to be mostly half-double-crochet for the body. I immediately modified it in a thousand ways and had to rip out twice (three times now, I separated for the sleeves too soon), but it's proceeding and I'm almost into the body.
So, apparently what I crave after finishing so many things, this time, is a pile of big awkward tricky projects.
who would have thought?
Immediately upon finishing, I did a pair of fingerless mitts for my aunt out of Road to China by the Fibre Company (note to self: add this to the review list, ung it is so decadent) and then promptly made a pair of wee baby shoes out of the leftovers. But after that little spurt (a mere weekend's time) I felt all lost and fumbly. Usually this means I need to do some spinning until my projects settle themselves in their mind.
But nothing really felt settled, and instead of casting on something new, I went digging through my old hibernating projects and came out with a tricky lace shawl in very delicate yarn that I'd started in January 2014. The pattern is Madli's Shawl from the Knitted Lace of Estonia book, and I'd gotten halfway into the edging and lost myself about 20 stitches into the third or fourth row. Really not a lot of progress at all. This was one of those projects that demonstrates how much I've learned and improved over time, because not only did I not know why I had stopped, I found a mistake and dropped it down and fixed it in the lace (including dropping and recovering a nupp!), I was able to figure out where I was in the pattern and keep right on going with it, and I plowed my way through into the main body section while it had my attention. It has helped me to use the crochet hook method for nupps, which is to use a small crochet hook to knit or purl all the seven stitches together immediately after making them. Technically this makes you off by a row with that stitch, so you can slip it the next time you get there or just ignore it and move on, as it makes little difference. The hook I am using I originally purchased for beading. I think it's something like a 1mm, very small (fit through the center of an 8/0 bead), but my yarn is so thin that this is not a problem.
After I worked on the lace shawl for about a week, I suddenly cast on for a sweater. What? what is this madness? I had only just finished the last sweater and I felt the urge to make a new one? But I did. It is a crocheted sweater called Anzen from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 7, starts with a double-crochet-stitch yoke and then appears to be mostly half-double-crochet for the body. I immediately modified it in a thousand ways and had to rip out twice (three times now, I separated for the sleeves too soon), but it's proceeding and I'm almost into the body.
So, apparently what I crave after finishing so many things, this time, is a pile of big awkward tricky projects.
who would have thought?
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Stash Dash 2015: results
This summer, I did a 5km. in knitting, of course.
I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it and when I had finished the last of my WIPs on Thursday the 13th, I realized I was short about 50 yards. So I pulled a half-ball of acrylic out of stash, estimated its yardage at about 73 yards, and crocheted it into a (rather ugly) baby hat. I forgot how fast crochet is --that was just about an hour and a half for a project. Simple,simple, and with that I hit my goal.
What sorts of things did I finish?
1) The Sweater
This is my first "real" sweater. It's a pretty good fit (I might need to re-do the bindoff) and it turned out almost exactly as I wanted it. I have the ends to weave in (as you can see) and I also need to put buttons on the sleeves (they are the major modification to the project--3/4 length instead of full, fitted instead of loose, knitted on edging, sideways garter instead of downwards garter for a pulled-in rather than belled-out effect, with a button). Finally I think I may do some sort of crochet chain along the neck ribbing--it is a bit open.
The pattern is Harvest, by tin can knits; this is a free easy pattern, part of their Simple Collection, which is designed to guide beginning knitters. I found it easy and informative to follow up until a certain point--after I took the sleeves off, I did pretty much my own thing, but upon reviewing, "my own thing" was basically "instructions" without a few decreases, plus the sleeve thing. I would recommend this pattern for anyone looking to start their first cardigan.
I knit the second-biggest size without huge concern for gauge (I had swatched three or four years back and this fit in the region of "close").
The yarn is by Dragonfly Fibers, their Worsted base, which is discontinued (it's essentially the same as their Traveller base though) in the 'That Ol' Chestnut' colorway. The color is not dyed the same way any more (it's much darker now), but a close color alternative would be 'Copper Cloud' by Leading Men Fiber Arts (though I have not seen this in person to compare). I alternated skeins of That Ol' Chestnut throughout after carefully selecting the 5 balls that were closest matched, and as of yet there appears to be no noticeably different sections.
2) The Blanket
You may remember me knitting this last summer for Stash Dash. Unfortunately after I finished it I just was not as happy with it. It was too small. So I picked up two balls of a close-but-not-identical gray and knit an edging onto it
I was going to take a great picture of it but Sunshine has claimed it as hers. Surprised? no. Anyway, the slightly darker gray border that you see on the top edge extends all the way around and gives it a much more completed look. I need to weave in the ends too and then block it and get a good, cat-free picture.
3) Clapotis
I have tons of fingering yarn that's destined for projects that I haven't touched in years and years. This summer I decided to knit up one of my precious deep stash skeins of Handmaiden Casbah, a merino-cashmere-nylon blend of fingering weight yarn. Casbah is like my kryptonite: the MCN base is exquisitely plush and wonderful, and the colors that Handmaiden dyes up are to die for. I have 5 skeins in my stash yet and I still have no idea what to do with them--I just had to collect them.'
mm. beautiful. This was the Masala colorway and it turned out perfect as a Clapotis.
those are the majority of the things. I also knocked out a pair of socks, a cowl, a hat, a pair of mitts and a pair of mittens, and 16 oz of spinning. and the ugly baby hat
So, now that I finished all that stuff, I've been puttering around from project to project. I pick up yarn and just put it down again. Not sure what I want. I was worried until last night, when I found myself pulling my Baruffa Cashwool out of hibernating and starting my intricate Estonian Lace shawl again. Apparently what I am craving is "fiddly" and "laceweight". We'll see how long this trend lasts
I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it and when I had finished the last of my WIPs on Thursday the 13th, I realized I was short about 50 yards. So I pulled a half-ball of acrylic out of stash, estimated its yardage at about 73 yards, and crocheted it into a (rather ugly) baby hat. I forgot how fast crochet is --that was just about an hour and a half for a project. Simple,simple, and with that I hit my goal.
What sorts of things did I finish?
1) The Sweater
The pattern is Harvest, by tin can knits; this is a free easy pattern, part of their Simple Collection, which is designed to guide beginning knitters. I found it easy and informative to follow up until a certain point--after I took the sleeves off, I did pretty much my own thing, but upon reviewing, "my own thing" was basically "instructions" without a few decreases, plus the sleeve thing. I would recommend this pattern for anyone looking to start their first cardigan.
I knit the second-biggest size without huge concern for gauge (I had swatched three or four years back and this fit in the region of "close").
The yarn is by Dragonfly Fibers, their Worsted base, which is discontinued (it's essentially the same as their Traveller base though) in the 'That Ol' Chestnut' colorway. The color is not dyed the same way any more (it's much darker now), but a close color alternative would be 'Copper Cloud' by Leading Men Fiber Arts (though I have not seen this in person to compare). I alternated skeins of That Ol' Chestnut throughout after carefully selecting the 5 balls that were closest matched, and as of yet there appears to be no noticeably different sections.
2) The Blanket
You may remember me knitting this last summer for Stash Dash. Unfortunately after I finished it I just was not as happy with it. It was too small. So I picked up two balls of a close-but-not-identical gray and knit an edging onto it
I was going to take a great picture of it but Sunshine has claimed it as hers. Surprised? no. Anyway, the slightly darker gray border that you see on the top edge extends all the way around and gives it a much more completed look. I need to weave in the ends too and then block it and get a good, cat-free picture.
3) Clapotis
I have tons of fingering yarn that's destined for projects that I haven't touched in years and years. This summer I decided to knit up one of my precious deep stash skeins of Handmaiden Casbah, a merino-cashmere-nylon blend of fingering weight yarn. Casbah is like my kryptonite: the MCN base is exquisitely plush and wonderful, and the colors that Handmaiden dyes up are to die for. I have 5 skeins in my stash yet and I still have no idea what to do with them--I just had to collect them.'
those are the majority of the things. I also knocked out a pair of socks, a cowl, a hat, a pair of mitts and a pair of mittens, and 16 oz of spinning. and the ugly baby hat
So, now that I finished all that stuff, I've been puttering around from project to project. I pick up yarn and just put it down again. Not sure what I want. I was worried until last night, when I found myself pulling my Baruffa Cashwool out of hibernating and starting my intricate Estonian Lace shawl again. Apparently what I am craving is "fiddly" and "laceweight". We'll see how long this trend lasts
Sunday, August 9, 2015
I finished the sweater!
The sweater is done! I may at some point need to: affix buttons; weave in ends; remove life line; re-do the bind off edge if it is too tight. But the knitting is complete so I give it a big fat FINISHED stamp. This with my other FOs and spinning brings me up to 3601 yards
Now, if you have been paying careful attention, you may have noted that Stash Dash 2015 ends on the 14th of August and that I still need to make it to 5469 yards. To you I say, do not fear, for I still have one huge WIP that can turn into a FO of many yardages. The lovely blanket pictured in an earlier entry is in its last stage, gaining a border, and I am into the last ball of worsted weight as I knit that. I also have a pair of mittens that are just an inch or two from being done (an hour or two's worth of work, surely no more). So fear not! with those two combinations I will make it to... drumroll, please... 5417 yards.
crap. yeah. that's right. I'm gonna be short of stash dash by 50 stinking yards.
I'm sure I can crank out a 50 yard something (bulky hat, anyone?) but at this point I'm so bitter I don't think I want to even try any more.
Anyway, I still have 5 days left, so instead of blogging, I'm off to poke this blanket and see if I can't bang it out real quick.
Now, if you have been paying careful attention, you may have noted that Stash Dash 2015 ends on the 14th of August and that I still need to make it to 5469 yards. To you I say, do not fear, for I still have one huge WIP that can turn into a FO of many yardages. The lovely blanket pictured in an earlier entry is in its last stage, gaining a border, and I am into the last ball of worsted weight as I knit that. I also have a pair of mittens that are just an inch or two from being done (an hour or two's worth of work, surely no more). So fear not! with those two combinations I will make it to... drumroll, please... 5417 yards.
crap. yeah. that's right. I'm gonna be short of stash dash by 50 stinking yards.
I'm sure I can crank out a 50 yard something (bulky hat, anyone?) but at this point I'm so bitter I don't think I want to even try any more.
Anyway, I still have 5 days left, so instead of blogging, I'm off to poke this blanket and see if I can't bang it out real quick.
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