hooray for barnes and noble.

oh look, I'm in a bookstore. surprise, surprise...

...although it comes to my mind, albiet slowly and sheepishly, that I've forgotten my camera at home. the memory card with all my happy photos is in the camera. bother. oh well.

I started knitting a pair of cably wristlets for my secret pal in this newfangled yarn I got from the lovely Michelle at funwithyarn. it's Ingeo, which I gather is some sort of extruded plant goo that's nicely recycleable- or -ed and happily vegan. (I have to confess that I don't really care about its being vegan. I like wool, and I really don't think sheep mind being shorn, as long as it's not me doing the shearing because I have no idea how one shears a sheep and honestly, I have enough trouble shaving my legs and remaining nick-free. I like leather. I have a whole backpack made of leather. yay, norway. anyway. I do have friends who are vegan to varying degrees, which made me happy when I heard of this ingeo stuff.)

and actually I have to confess that I more went "ooo....pretty..." to the colors and then went "uh? ingeo? what?" to the actual fiber-stuff. anyway. yes. the wristlets!

began knitting. not so sure about the ingeo stuff now. it's...interesting. I had a horrid time with getting a decent tension and while the ball feels great, the three-quarters-done wristlet feels kinda...strange. almost like plastic. the cables have nice definition (it's a fine-to-bulky weight, so they look a little funky at times, but still good) but the feel is making me sort of twitchy. yeah. so that's project one right now, although it looks as if the wind is blowing towards making it project one-to-rip-out. sigh.

project two: am consulting a higher power about my miracle yarn shoalwater shawl. my yarn supply is dwindling in my accent colors and I'm staring another two and a half pattern repeats in the face going...uh...crap. I know I bought enough yardage to finish, but did I buy enough to finish without making unbalanced color bands? curse the storvick OCD.

I've decided that the drawback to learning to knit without using patterns is that you look at a pattern and go, hey, that's cute, but what if I make it x or add a y or work this pattern from this sweater into that hat and before you know it you don't know what's going on and you gently put the book/pattern/slip/whatever back on the shelf, bring all the UFOs to your mind, and tell yourself "no." or at least that's what you say you do, and it's what you believe you did, at least until you get home and realize there's this thing in the bag that you didn't remember purchasing. it's a strange twilight-zoney thing.

lots of munchkins in bnn today in varying stages of awareness and dress. there's an adorable escapee from the napping woman on the sofa who is now naked but for a diaper because who wants to wear a clingy jumper on a day like today even if it's got purple butterflies on it, a burgeoning bookworm in one of those front-baby carrier-pouch things who is staring at all the books mom's standing in front of with this look of fierce concentration, or at least concentrated drooling, and an angel claire type who is definitely going to be trouble as soon as dad takes little brother off to the bathroom and mom blinks.

stopped at petco for some water goo to make Ovid happier when he enters the land of northern minnesota iron water and there was a guy with a newfie ooold puppy and a baby newfie puppy. they were so cute. big newfie was going grey all down his chest and little newfie could manage about four bounds before tripping itself/walking into a case/bumping old newfie/simply going splat. it would then look up at the nearest human and go "....buh?"

sigh. now I want a newfie. ok, I've wanted a newfie since mom and I were biking on the path and saw a pony in the distance- a pony that turned out to be a dog upon closer inspection. still. ah well. eventually. maybe.
look! my Jterm class. we so crazy... hehe.

hello, blog. long time no see.

you know how in cartoons like Tom and Jerry there will sometimes be a flurry of activity set to music like Flight of the Bumblebee? that's been my life for the past week +. since my last post I have:
1) taken a jazz history final
2) driven to rochester and taken the GREs
3) finished my bronze globe
4) finished the triage on and the finishing of the bronze hands
5) finished my alabaster sculpture
6) written a 7 page paper on the art of caesarea maritima
7) taken a written comp vikings history final
8) given a presentation on the art paper
9) finished cicero's pro caelius speech and handed it in
10) taken inventory in the sculpture studio
11) begun packing
12) gotten food poisoning during baccalaureate and the day before graduation
13) gradumatated from college whee!
14) packed
15) drove home
16) been to doctor's ("oh, rosacea. welcome to the greater part of the population. it'll go away in at least six weeks." so yay, I get to keep explaining "*sigh* no, it's not a hickey." even when I leave for camp. boo.)
17) started preparing for graduation party. which is today. in...two hours. eeeep.

fie on goodness, fie!

Camelot's stuck in my head again because Rob and I were talking about whether stealing darts from the small unparented children was a vice or a virtue. bah.

only eleven hours and twelve minutes until I never have to deal with my history of jazz prof again! ever! *cue triumphant brass and full hallelujah chorus...go!* but for now...ooh, how I want to just...just....gr. *cue Ms. White impression...go!* (you know, the one from Clue. "I hated him...so much...it was like...it was...Flames. Flames, on...on the side of my face...breathing, heaving, breathless breaths")

but I have found a wonderful evil timewasting turn-off-brain game. it's called CuberXtreme. it's very addictive and deceptively evil. you look at it and go "oh, it'll be nice and easy and cuddly...wait...what...how?...?!aaaa!" I heartily recommend it. you can find it here.

and now I have to go study. again.

one more day of school!

as promised, the kanji wristlets. (and Chad.) also, because I'm random, a picture of skiing with my dad in canada. I really really really want to go telemarking right now. and be in norway. actually I want to be in norway telemarking right now. not that there's any snow up there now. spring snow, sure. not great snow, no. maybe in svalbard, but that's waaay up and inaccessible. although I could always just call tove and beg. mmm...tele...mountains....norway....finnmark.....










broke out my molds today...looks like the casting of the ball went well but the hands fared not so well. big shrinkage hole and my texture was basically destroyed by hasty repairs in mid-investing...we'll see what dale says tomorrow.

now time to write the one page paper I forgot about that's due tomorrow. honestly- what's the point? last day of classes, and a paper is due? what? bah.

one more day of classes! ever! ...at least until grad school. or at least until the SEA semester this fall if they love me. hm.

I have discovered podcasts. (well, downloaded, anyway).

Finished kanji wristlets. Chad was most pleased; I'll have a picture for you as soon as I clear it with him.

having issues with my "most important women in jazz you've ever / never heard of" CD- funny thing about wartime/early recording/women recording in that it really didn't happen much. or if it did...it happened on LPs, none of which I can turn into a CD because while I do know how to...
...I'm really just not willing to put in the effort. Not for this class. Not for this professor.
Although if you want a quick way to blow about 30 bucks on Rhapsody Online...be slightly OCD on projects of this sort. ah well.

warning: old and crotchety rant.
so for the past several days (if not weeks) the campus cafe, which is supposed to close at midnight with fryer food going closed at 10pm and oven food going closed at 11pm (which leaves you with blended slushies/shakes, espresso based beverages, whatever's left of the bagel sandwiches/sushi/bottled juices/yogurt parfaits etc (which is usually sad and sketchy), soda based beverages, cookies, and nachos. makes sense. whee.
however:
lately they've been closing the kitchen at ridiculous times. like 9pm. today at nine: no food of any sort from kitchen. not even nachos, which (as we all know) can be made in 30 seconds by a single-celled organism with access to a microwave. tissue paper-chips-cheese-nuke-throw in basket-done. With four students and a manager working (even if they're two people short) you should be able to manage nachos. they closed blendy drinks at 1030. so...no kitchen. no blendy drinks. and 2 and a half hours left before closing. gr. so bitter. our post-taekwondo testing tradition of nachos and coffee/soda was broken. sad.
end old and crotchety rant.

going to knit a DNA scarf in Noro Transitions. someone tell me I'm crazy.

the merry wives...

Went to Merry Wives of Windsor opera today. Twas interesting. I know the guy running lights so I was prepared for the ...unique (read bad) style, but was pretty unprepared for the costuming. I kept getting distracted from the singing by the lengths (ankles? girls? Elizabethan? I don't think so...) but it grew on me and all was well until the elves appeared. Wearing essentially burgundy burlap sacks. You can't be light and flighty and elven in burlap. Well, you can, but it takes years of training- which a few of the girls had, which made things worse because they were believable and all I could think of the rest of the cast was "man, they look so uncomfortable in those..."
But still. entertaining show.

My main resource for my Jazz History final project is, I have just discovered, going to be most annoying to read. Anything that spends 20 pages detailing the difficulty the author had in making the switch from calling female swing musicians and their groups "Women Bands" to "All-girl bands" to just plain all-girl bands is painful. especially when she was forced to make the switch in empowerment at the request and insistence of the bandmembers themselves.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Science Museum with Erilynn and Kirsten for some BodyWorlds fun. whee!

Found out La Rana has Hansa, and now I am happy. mmm Norwegian beer.

finished a kanji wristlet; just have to rip out a bit so I can make the edges "not all...rolly" as per Chad's request then knit the other.

secret pal stuff

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love knitting with anything that feels great. Wool is probably my favorite, or a wool blend. Knitting with fuzzy stuff can be fun too. I don't like the fake-sticky-plasticky feeling yarns. never tried ribbons.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
at the moment? whatever they're currently knitting and a big plastic baggie.
3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting since 2001. I'd consider my skill level to be intermediate-advanced unless I'm supposed to be reading a pattern. then it's closer to intermediate. (I learned from friends in norway who learned from their grandmothers of the "look at it and knit it" school.)
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have an amazon list, but it hasn't been updated in forever. I'll get on that, I guess.
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
clean woodsy scents- actually pretty much anything not overly powerful or sweet
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Hi-Chew is my current favorite- it's amazing taffy kind of like starbursts but better. it's japanese and hard to find though, so I content myself with interesting chocolates and peanut M&Ms.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I crochet, I make my own knifehilts, sew sometimes, I weave fringes on shawls, and I would dearly like to spin but all I've done so far is rough "spinning" with the kids at camp using downweighted drop spindles.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like pretty much everything except really drawly country and really hard rap
9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I tend to not like baby pinks and pastels, but anything can be great when paired with the right colors, so there really isn't a color I can't stand. I tend to wear more saturated colors and fall colors, I guess.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a fiance and a fish.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
yes, yes, yes, and not really.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like knitting wristlets and mittens and scarves/shawls- thought I have a few sweaters/vesty things that once I muster up the courage I'll try.
13. What are you knitting right now?
a pair of wristlets, a Dr Who scarf, two shawls and a scarflet, and another jayne hat
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
yes
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
both, actually. circulars for scarfy/shawly/hat things, straight for everything else. I love bamboo, plastic's ok, and aluminium is okay but it makes a lot more noise when you drop an aluminium needle than when you drop a bamboo in class.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
my mom has both and I can't remember if one of them is stealable. so...no?
17. How did you learn to knit?
moved to norway, lived with two knitters in my dorm, and they were able to make knitting stick in my head
18. How old is your oldest UFO?
if you count the lost other photography glove as a UFO, then 5 years.
19. What is your favorite holiday?
hm...17. May, and Halloween, I suppose.
20. Is there anything that you collect?
interesting random music, interesting rocks for inclusion into jewellery, chopsticks (for hair or food)
21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I don't really know- probably a good encyclopaedia of stitch techniques and their abbreviations. I don't have any subscriptions.
22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
armholes. better thumb making techniques.
23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I haven't yet, but not for any reason other than I've never done it before.
24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
05/29

factum esse.

finally. it's done. my globe is ensconced (that looks wrong, but I'm at the point where the part of me that cares is overruled by the rest of me.) in investment. my hands are rather harrowingly encased in investment. they separated as I was pouring. much panic. wailing, gnashing of teeth, etc. but- I think (hope/pray/beg/plead/sacrificing may be in order) I may have saved it. one, at least, will pour for certain. sigh. anyway.

around 300 pounds of investment later...they're done.

I thought I had until thursday to invest the models, but came to find out at 1100 this morning that nope, they need to be done by wednesday morning. Josh and I have been working on and off all day today from 1100 and we just finished at 0100. thank you ron the security guy, you saved our lives. (he let us stay in the building an hour after we were supposed to be kicked out. I suppose looking desperate and being covered in plaster and white goo adds to your case.)

also moved around 5000 pounds of various powdery things today. two pallets, one of plaster and one of silica. coerced matt into helping. ran the cart over my heel. it looks...interesting. purply and gooshy. we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

now, it's time for shower. then finish the caesarea presentation roughcut and the 40 or so lines of cicero to translate (though...I might just ask Shari if we can translate it in class. we'll see how long the coffee lasts.).

as my baritone prof said:
"well, you can sleep when you've graduated. well, you're a bio major. you can sleep....well, you can sleep when you're dead."

absolutely nothing to do with knitting.

I heard of this through Gretchen. the original is to be found here.

A brief history of Bath.

LOCAL PAGANS: Oooh, hot water comes from the ground! It is a divine miracle! We devote it to our goddess Sulis, who brings wisdom and health!
ROMAN TROOPS: What ho, this wellspring is indeed a wonder of nature!
LOCAL PAGANS: It is sacred to our goddess Sulis, who brings wisdom and health!
ROMAN TROOPS: Hmm, that is like our goddess Minerva, who brings wisdom and health. We claim this spring in the name of... *drumroll* SULIS MINERVA!
LOCAL PAGANS: *headcolumn*
ROMAN TROOPS: And now we're going to build a big-ass shrine, temple, bathhouse, steamroom, strip mall, brothel, and maybe a Starbuckus Maximus over there.
LOCAL PAGANS: We can't wait until you guys get angl0sax0red in a few centuries.
ROMAN TROOPS: What?
LOCAL PAGANS: Nothing. Hey, is Russel Crowe with you?

hehehe.
also, fun with chemistry. lots of fun. the words "imagine a hand grenade dropped in a bathtub" and "cesium, the emperor of alkali metals" are used. quite possibly too much fun.
...nah.

my O-chem prof told us a story about how they would steal bits of sodium from the store room and drop them out the window onto the snow by the sidewalk in winter when people would walk by. they get to have all the fun.

do you know where your towel is?

Okay. It's May. Officially.

Yikes. (run away! run away!)

I have cabled! whee! and thanks to big poofy pretty yarn, I finished a wristlet over the course of two classes. see?

I've also plotted out my pattern for Chad's wristlets. I can do fair isle kanji...right? suuure.

Still trying to find a yarn that Matt will wear that I will knit that isn't "skritchy."

Roommate and boy are watching Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. time to flee before I get distracted by it.

farwell 432- the capital city of procrastination

whee. time flies? sure. japanese quiz check. latin, mostly check. not even the caffeine was able to combat the effect cicero has on my brain at a certain point: oh well, that's what half-blocks are for. map quiz tomorrow shouldn't be a problem (thank you, 8th grade geography).

I started knitting these wristlets in a gorgeous gorgeous yarn from Michelle who is my new favorite person (newly replacing gretchen, who told me about this and oh man, am I in her debt) (whee, link-happy!). My first ever attempt at cabling. cable-ing? cableing? ah, the 0100-induced inability to spell...at least my paper is done. So far, so good. Picture tomorrow.

knit another three color bands of Dr Who the other day. siigh. so unending. nono- bad attitude. Yay! I knit another three color bands! only 36 left to go! er...yay?

still haven't touched the saami shawl or the other things, but finished the slippers (gave them to my mum, whose sanity is in dire straits what with the explody-house-of-fun, but at least she'll have happy feet.) Mom, don't fall down or up the stairs while you're wearing them. I probably should have made soles for them...oh well. my leather is buried...somewhere...at home.

anyway. time for sleep.

woops

Sat down to write about the gorgeous new yarn I just got and realized I have yet to take my japanese quiz that's due tonight.

soo...while I do that, you'll have to content yourselves with checking out http://www.funwithyarn.com and looking at "calm" and "santa fe." yeah. drooly.

it's a cow day.

If the wind is from the south, it's a pig day. Today, we are fortunate, for it is a cow day with winds from the north. whoo.

ready to invest my hands and ball as soon as I gate them. that'll have to wait for thursday. have to get creative with forging, though- Jack and I were playing with it and the blower leapt to its death. The prospect of repairing it is...dim, to say the least.

but! I finished the slipper! sort of unique and odd-looking but hey, what can you do?

I think I'm going to add some trim around it- it still looks not-quite-right.

knitting and GREs and crapfourweekstograduation, oh my...

ha-ah! I'll make up for the lack of crafty stuff in the last post by overloading in this one.

'tis a joyous day indeed for I have finished my hands! huzzah! now all that needs to be done is to gate them...and invest them...and burn them out...and cast them...and clean them up...

ok. still. rejoicing is still in order. see?














and now, for something completely different.

Saami shawl: fringe needs to be finished, ideally by June- but if I work on it for too long my fingers start to feel like they're bleeding internally.

To make me feel less ashamed for its long period of dormancy: proof of my dedication (read insanity) in the form of a Dr Who scarf.

And look! a Jayne Hat for Lisa. and a slipper that I'm kind of sort of not really following the pattern for which is really notsogreat of an idea because I've crocheted a grand total of oh three things. a shawl/scarfy thing, an mp3 carrycase, and a baglet.

I know. Doesn't look very slipper-like. Ah, well. We'll see. The first one I tried would have maybe fit an eight year old. With wonky feet.

we didn't start the fire...

Drove home this weekend to get some summer clothes and to give Kates her hat. Learned several things:

1) people give you weird looks when you stop and climb up to the "welcome to X" sign and pose in front of it in a funny-looking (but cunning!) hat. silly people. It's a Jayne hat, and it's Canton...though I am no hero of Canton.

2) a mini bag of popcorn + microwave preset popcorn button = (see below.) poor Katy. So distracted by the Jayne hat that I don't think her basement will ever be the same.

3) Barnes and Noble is the best store ever because they have blackberry green tea frappachini and books and cozy chairs and asiago pretzels and because they're open on Easter Sunday, unlike everything else. See? a little cluster of happy cars sitting in front of the happy store while parking spaces in front of Byerly's and Target and all the other stores in the little strip mall-let languish untaken.

4) mini-breaks always go far too quickly. Matt's lizard laid an egg. Ovid survived me forgetting to close the window and my room getting a bit chilly. I am sorely tempted to get a spotted puffer fish. that, however, requires another tank. sigh.

I have another inch knit on my next Jayne hat (lisa) and knit another row on my shawl...it just takes so long! I don't think I want to know how many stitches I have now. too many. Maybe I'll work out a system where I knit a row, then go crochet something to give to someone random just so I don't have to feel like I'm in a time warp and that I can actually finish projects. whoo.

it's Gretchen's birthday today. Happy Birthday Gretchen.

finished things!

Look! Jayne hat done! Kates, I'll get it to you...sometime? P'raps I'll drive up this weekend. Hooray for four day weekends. Oh, and Easter. That too.

Finally fixed up my pattern and submitted it to Knitty.com. We'll see how it goes.

Worked on my stone for too long again. Now my wrists hurt and I have no desire to work on my wax models. arg.

Jayne hat and Jazz

Studying for Jazz History listening exam. Hopefully this one will go better than the last.

but look! Jayne hat!
and now I must flee to go eat and get ready for taekwondo. Gave blood today and feeling funky now so might not accomplish much at tkd but that's ok, I suppose.

Fish!

I reversed the background to the shiny blue from the mirror that I had on Ovid's tank earlier- the contrast is much much better. I'd go so far as to say that the contrast is sexy, which might lead people to the wrong impression- but how can you resist blue vs orangy-gold and black? complementing color families whoo!

Don't worry. I've only had the fish a few days- I promise, in a few more I'll stop going "fish!" and staring at it and inflicting photographs of it on you.


My paper on the chronology of viking art is half done. If I hustle I can get it done in time to turn it in early and get a preliminary grade. I haven't had a professor who actually pays attention to papers and demands quality writing in so long. We'll see how far I get in an hour and 45 minutes.

About two inches of hat done. Nice to be knitting something that doesn't take much attention so knitting while staring at notes on Duke Ellington and bebop and Lady Day is possible. The goal is to finish the hat and then go crazy on the Dr Who scarf. (Maybe that should be go crazy with, I'm not sure). Then finish something that's not actually knitting but if I don't get this fringe done it's just sad. I've been working on this saami shawl since 2002. eep.

learning has occurred.

well, at least some learning has. I could get one of the buttons to show up, the other doesn't, for reasons that elude me but whatever, it's technology- I'm amazed it worked at all. Had to change my layout away from the pretty one but maybe next weekend I'll be able to figure it out again. also going to try to figure out why the finished product looks different from when I write it. hm....

A jazz history exam and a first draft of my viking chronology of art paper are due monday, so that takes priority. ...sort of. I did spend most of Saturday going "fishy!" and playing outside.

Speaking of fishy, I've decided to name the fish Ovid.

My viney thing is taking over my desk, but I'm just happy that it's not dying. This is the first year it hasn't lived by a window.

Another thing to add to list of things-on-needles: Swatch for Jayne Cobb Hat for Kateswiegehts! whee!


must...resist...urge...to...continue...

and another monster is born

Having been inspired by my mother finding knitting blog upon knitting blog upon spinning blog and being continually frustrated with the difficulties in putting pictures on my previous blog, I decided to begin anew. Also hoping that it will force me to finish the various projects on needles, in bags, on the floor, in the closet...eep. Also because I feel that I need yet another outlet for randomness and inanity and insanity. So...blog.

hello, blog.

Today, I bought a fish to go in my early-birthday-present fishtank (thanks to Matt). It's a Calico Ryuking, and it looks like this:

(apologies for the snapshot. flourescent lighting leaves much to be desired when you're shooting a moving object with a macro lens, and flash photography + aquarium = no.) still. fish.

hello, fish.

it doesn't have a name yet, and as of yet has pretty much just been referred to as "fishy!" generally spoken in a highpitched voice. Matt now has "land fish" living in his room, otherwise known as an emerald swift and two green anole lizards. (the swift is also a lizard of some ilk.)

Fish has left the "aaaaaahwhat'sthat what's that what's that" stage and is now in the "food? not food. food? not food. food?" stage, although that might just be goldfish standard behavior. not sure. I haven't had a fish since I killed my pickle jar guppies in...grade school? junior high? A long time ago, anyway, and my other experiences with fish behavior have mostly been over fall semester.

What? Knitting? oh yes. I have at present in my dorm room about 6 projects on needles or in the dreaded skeins-of-yarn-inna-bag stage. I have two Fiber Trends Shoalwater Shawls in various stages of development- the one that's been languishing on the needles longer is the Classic Elite Yarn Miracle alpaca/tencel (left) and the one that I started because I needed small and portable to take with me to the TCI is an Artyarns Regal Silk (right).

I've got one scarf in Dale Tiur (mohair/wool) based off of the Dale pattern Gerbera (upper) and then another Dr Who scarf (lower) in mostly Rauma 3tr. Strikkegarn (wool) that will be done by graduation, I swear. Honest.

And then there's the wristlet I'm thinking of submitting to Knitty.com, which means I have to take my "knit until done" and turn it into a legible pattern. eep.

I think this has gotten long enough. Besides, pizza-and-boy calls. Next time: my other works-in-progress, ranging from my sculpture to my saami shawl.

If you haven't read Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books (The Eyre Affaire, etc), then you should do so.