The Occasionally-Illustrated Adventures of Owlie, Vol I

Fark.

2007-12-01T21:41:00.001-05:00

Today was decent until about 6pm. Went to bed at 1, woke up at 4 for no reason, went back to sleep. Woke up again at 6:15 by my alarm clock, went back to sleep and woke up (properly) at 6:45. Oops. I had to be at the gym at 7:30 today. That's...half an hour to do everything necessary, plus eat breakfast, with the end result that breakfast consisted of a container of coffee-flavored yogurt and a cup of hot chocolate. Yummy. Not to worry, since I can't eat anything before fencing. I have to snack.

I walked to the gym with one of the foil guys that lives in the building next to mine, and one of the sabre guys who lives at the bottom of the hill. Of course, no one else was there. Just a note: When you say "get there at 7:30," that means YOU need to be there at 7:30. And then we spent more time waiting around for the guy with the key to the equipment room to get there. (I love fencing. It's so disorganized sometimes.) And then more time waiting for the rest of the drivers to get there.
Unlike October's tournament, this one was three schools (us and two others) and local--20 minutes away from campus. We were still there from 9:30 to 3:30. We had some equipment issues (dead body cords, and for some reason all but one of our sabres is two-prong, and some flying masks) at the beginning when we tested our gear (hurrah for crappy club stuff!) but we got it ironed out in the end. We fenced the "easy" school first.Their women's sabre squad had two people on it; ours had three, so we only needed to win two bouts. (For every person missing from a squad, they forfeit the bouts the missing person would have fenced.) The sad thing is, they didn't really seem to know what they were doing, and I was the only reason we beat them, not trying to brag or anything. My teammates...one of them only started this year, and the other started last spring. We can chalk one up to inexperience, and the other...she has some good instincts, but she gets very nervous when fencing and it all goes out the window. So guess who won those two bouts? And unfortunately, they were the only ones I won all day.
The host school is a division II school with a varsity fencing team. We are...division III with a club team. The men had a much harder time than we did (the men's foil event was a bloodbath), but we still lost all our bouts (at least, sabre did). A lot of it was "where the *%&! was my brain in all this?!" Lots of touches that I missed, and lots that I should have known how to deal with. J was unusually sympathetic to me today--he usually isn't. He doesn't try to be nasty or uncaring, but he takes his fencing very seriously and so is usually too wrapped up in his game or what's going on on the strip at the moment (for some reason, only the men's events get his attention...) to be particularly sympathetic. He wasn't fencing today because he sprained his ankle the week before, so I guess he was more into providing coaching, equipment and support today. I was beating myself up about my performance on the strip, and he came over, patted my shoulder and said "Hey, don't worry about it. We're all in the same boat, and yeah, there are some things you've got to work on, but it's getting better. That was the most aggressive I've ever seen you. That's good. Keep it up and come to practice." Last bit is a tiny bit awkward since I've been missing practices due to...me not sleeping and exams. (Not that J can talk on the first front, because he doesn't sleep either.)
Anyhow, we got back to campus at 4:15ish, I had a sort of late lunch/snack thing. Tea-- only without the tea--is the best description of it. Then I hiked up the Stairs of Doom so I could take a nap...which was interrupted by the fire alarm going off. Again. Why are the people in my building idiots? At least this time they called security and told them to tell the fire department not to show up. And then I got dinner. Somewhere between my room and the dining hall, I lost my brand-new, just-bound-off Foliage. It had been in my pocket until I realized this, so I guess it's in the dining hall, from where I either fished my ID card or gloves out of my pocket. But it makes me sad, since I'd only worn it for a little while and I hadn't even gotten to take a picture of it. I'll be checking the dining hall tomorrow, as well as the route down there (for a third or fouth time). If it's not there, it may be in someone's car (I hope that's the case.) And if still nothing...I guess I'll be casting on...again.

Since someone asked...

2007-11-11T02:14:00.000-05:00

Midterms went. How they went varies by subject. I got B's on my genetics and biology midterms, dunno on calc (she doesn't give them back and I have yet to look my grade up online) and chem...the less said about it the better.

And I have another set coming up. Why are they all at the same time? I have a calc exam on Tuesday, a chem exam on Thursday, and both bio subject exams are the following Monday. I don't think I can handle that. *Hides under her desk*

In Blogstalking...I'm sorry I didn't get the stuff up. I wound up having less time than I thought I would. I'll try to get you "A day in the life" either tomorrow or Thursday. (I'll have a reason to leave my room other than the grocery store tomorrow, and Thursday is my Day Off.) And I can almost certainly get you the statues tomorrow. I have the perfect one in mind. :D

In the meantime, look at some pictures of knitting!

The Gryffindor bookscarf. It should be a quick knit, but no. It's been languishing on my "bookshelf" for the last couple of months. And this is part of the reason why--My first actual sock-weight sock! Toe-up sock, knit in Tofutsies (the color name/number escapes me for the moment.) The top of the foot (and eventually, the leg!) is in Irish Moss stitch, with four-stitch cables at the edges.
This is also part of the reason why. The sleeve for Mariah. The same sleeve from the last picture. And yes, I know that there's that huge gap right there, where I think I knitted an extra row or two between the repeats of the cable charts. I'm not going to frog. I'll just knit the other sleeve the same way and call it a "design element." So there.

What's this? Something else new? Yep! Lace! Pattern is Foliage from the Fall 2007 issue of Knitty (sorry, to lazy to link at the moment), in Patons' SWS (color: Natural Plum). This is an enjoyable knit--quick, yet interesting enough to keep my attention. Knit, as are many things, on 5 of my trusty 20 (it must be somewhere around that...) size 6 DPNs. My alarm clock is graciously modeling this partly finished hat for me. I do wish I could have gotten a better picture of the stitch marker. It's one of my favorites. (It's one I made myself out of a couple of jump rings and a charm thing I found lying around my house.) Because it's hard to tell from the picture, it's a silver elephant on top of that purple glass ball.
Am I the only one who must coordinate their projects and stitch markers?

3 Things...

2007-11-03T15:30:00.001-04:00

3 things I love:
(aside from the obvious--family, friends, chocolate...)
1. Science! (in case that wasn't obvious enough.)
2. Baking.
Mm....pumpkin muffins!
3. Weekends, which are far too short.

3 things I hate:
1. Math.
2. My far-too-messy room.
3.Never-ending road construction.

popping in briefly

2007-10-18T03:15:00.000-04:00

If you Blogstalkers have been wondering where I've been for the past week or so...I've been hit by midterms this week. And for some reason, all but one have been this week. (WHY do the science and math departments do this? Are they trying to kill us?) I have an organic chem midterm tomorrow at 11:15...and I can't sleep because I'm a teensy bit freaked out about it. But I did get my lab report done (due tomorrow)!
I'm done with most things tomorrow after the lab, so I have some time to update/take pictures/catch up on blogstalker business. And then...fall break! (More time! I'm going home, but I'm probably going to do homework.)

These boots were made for walking...

2007-10-06T02:26:00.000-04:00

This last week's Blogstalker theme was "How I get from here to there" or something very similar. I think this picture basically does the trick:
Believe it or not, that did not take too much effort on my part to compile. (And my feet aren't usually that unhappy with everything. I had just gotten back from class when I took that picture.) Being a college student with no car (and on a relatively small campus), I provide most of my own transport--I walk nearly everywhere. Class, activities, grocery store. Yes, there's theoretically a shuttle system...except that by the time it gets there, you could have been in class five minutes ago. It's a 10-15 (depending on how lucky I get with the traffic lights, of course) walk to most of my classes from my dorm. Unfortunately, my dorm is at the top of a hill, which is accessible by the a set of stairs. Whoever built these stairs was a freaking idiot. The treads are all different so that it's hard to get a rhythm going, and it takes me two steps to clear most of them. They're not terrible to walk up or down...until you try it with a backpack full of books or a computer and an organic chemistry textbook.
For anything further afield than class, activities and the grocery store (about a 10 minute walk from the dorm), I utilize my "free" (read: $25 but they include it in the housing charges so you don't see it) pass and take the city's public transport system. Hence that collection of papers--it's a bunch of bus schedules I grabbed on my last trip.
My hometown, however, is not nearly as enlightened as this one when it comes to sidewalks and public transportation. So I resort to the usual suburban mode of getting from point A to point B--The Car.
(which I don't have a picture of. But it's a silver Honda Accord.)

Look, knitting!

2007-10-04T03:50:00.001-04:00

Because you know I'll be putting something up when I have something major due the next day. In this case, a biology lab report. (It's nearly done. Just need to add figure legends to the graphs and put my group members' names on the word document.)
So, almost fittingly--a modified DNA scarf. I'm using the DNA cable (I am too lazy to look up the link right now), but I must have had Mariah on the brain when I started this. Rope cables, ribbing...look familiar? The bottom 3 or 4 rows are 1x1 ribbing. This makes excellent lecture knitting.
Is ANYTHING I knit not nerdy in some way (apart from Mariah)? I have this scarf, the Periodic Table scarf, the Harry Potter scarf (back at home), the matching bookscarf...I have the penguin! (Know what's pathetic? Last Monday, I was sitting in a review session for biology...and was trying to figure out how I'd knit a benzene ring using cables.) I have some SWS for socks (courtesy of a shopping trip to Joann Fabrics 2 weeks ago), so I might cast on and hope I don't try to put an alkane-looking cable on there. I think a nice mistake rib or basketweave pattern.
Mariah...it's very much a matter of "one step forward, two steps back." (Reminds me of all the footwork drills we do in fencing.) Short attention span? What short attention spa--ooh! Sleeve! This thing has been frogged I don't know how many times. Numerous times at the beginning for messing up cables. The first major one was because I knit about 24 inches of sleeve and then realized I had forgotten to increase. Riiiip. Then, more ripping because of cables. And then....nearly a full cable repeat that was mis-crossed, probably the product of...knitting in lectures...or bio lab (what? it was a lot of waiting around while stuff was in the centrifuge! And then an hour sitting around doing nothing...)

See that mistake? I'm NOT fixing that...at least, not at the moment. And is it just me, or did my gauge change over the course of this sleeve? I wouldn't be to surprised.

Er, stuff.

2007-09-27T13:16:00.001-04:00

The answer to this week's Knittyhead Blog Stalker 2 prompt ("what's in your purse?"). I don't carry a purse normally, so I shall show you the innards of my backpack...ooh, scary.

The Monster and the Generic Dorm Furniture:

I'll do this by pocket. What's in Pocket Number 1?

Well...that's nice. But what IS it?
Ah. Much better. That would be...my organic chem textbook, notebook for o-chem, notebook for o-chem homework, the Notebook That Gets Used For Random Things and a Catch-all for Miscellaneous Paper, my biology notebook, and what looks like random paper and some escaped biology notes. On the left is a chem textbook I borrowed from my professor from last semester (and I need to give it back...) and my planner. In case I have to be reminded how busy I am.
Onward to Pocket Number 2!
It would appear that it happens to contain the bag that would otherwise function as a purse. If I weren't lugging the Monster around, that is.
The contents of that bag:
My wallet, $1.50, a receipt, and a copy of the bus schedule.
And the rest of Pocket Number 2:
A WIP (the periodic table scarf), a dime, a wrapper to a cough drop, an eraser, and my flash drive (I was wondering where that went).

And now...the Pocket that Needs to be Emptied:Not too bad, right? Au contraire.
From left: chemistry flashcards (is there anything in this bag that is not somehow related to chem?), some random trash-type stuff, calculator, a pen cap, a bunch of abused post-it notes, pens on a keyring, index cards, a green pen, a mechanical pencil, 4 crochet hooks of varying sizes, another receipt, Vash keychain, owl keychain, scissors, a highlighter, clicker thingy for biology.
But wait! There's more!
From the left--the highlighter and clicker thing from the last picture, a huge number of writing implements of different colors, dock adapter for my iPod, jingle bells, 2 tubes of Burt's Bees lip balm, more writing implements, 2 AAA batteries, various pins that either fell off or never ended up on the outside of the Monster, and $0.67. I didn't include the "supplies" (do you really need a picture? Honestly.) or the two containers of bubble liquid, which I only just found. My backpack must be some kind of bottomless pit or something.
And I just discovered that I had actually folded the gold wrapper into an origami crane...

...I'm late. Is that an answer?

2007-09-21T21:21:00.000-04:00

This week has been the Week from Hell, so I haven't been able to get this past week's theme for Blog Stalker 2 up until now. I blame midterms. Anyway, last week's theme was "Who am I?' I don't know if I can answer "who?," but I can answer "what?". Those are two different questions. Funny how we tend to define ourselves by roles we play.
Back on topic...
I am first and foremost a student at an Ohio college. And yes, I have three majors--BS in biology, BA in chemistry, and a second major for the BA in environmental studies. This means I'm insanely busy. The tools of the trade:
Calculator, pile of chemistry textbooks, homework, coffee cup, laptop, printer, iPod.
And all the rest of my books (apart from the ones in my backpack).

And a bag of Hershey's Kisses. I think I went picture-happy in this post. Incidentally, I hope you appreciate it--I cleaned especially for this! (Not that my room didn't need it.)

Since I got here last fall, I've become something of a chemistry nerd. I live on a floor full of chem nerds. You should hear the conversations. We somehow manage to compare things like homework and eating lunch to chemistry. It's terrible, and really funny at the same time.
My bulletin board, with pictures from home and something every chem major should have (in my opinion) on their wall--a periodic table.What? It's relevant to two of my majors!
Okay, I think I have a life outside schoolwork. I'm a fencer (with swords, not stolen objects, thanks). Fencing owns the part of my life that higher learning doesn't. Here's a picture from a tournament my college's team went to last year:

Terrible picture (I didn't take it, obviously), but not bad considering it was taken at about 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and I'd gotten three hours of sleep the night before. (I cropped it to remove my teammate who probably wouldn't want her picture plastered on the internets.) I'm primarily a sabre fencer, but I'm learning foil in my phys ed class.
I'm also a violist, and have been for the past...nine years. Well, nine years had I actually practiced for most of them. Unfortunately, this was the hobby that had to go when I came to college because practice time was so limited. I didn't even bring it up with me this year, so I don't have current pictures, but here's one from my high school "senior spotlight" concert from two years ago.That's all I can think of to say about me. I'll be back for this week's post on Thursday, probably. (Biology and o-chem exams next week.)

Oh yes. I knit too.
Sometimes.

AAAAH!

2007-09-09T18:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, I am now thoroughly convinced that college is trying to either kill me or drive me insane, whichever comes first. My course load is not exactly taxing, it's just that my schedule sucks:

Calc II: MWF, 8:30-9:20; Tu 11:35-12:25
Bio 215: MWF 9:30-10:20, Th. 1:15-4:15
Fencing: MW 10:30-11:20
O-chem: MWF 11:30-12:20
Genetics: MW 12:30-1:45
Chem lab: M 2:00-5:00

On top of this, I have fencing practice (for the club) on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30, and Fridays at 3.
The work isn't hard (yet), but the volume of reading is huge. I have another chapter to read for bio, and 2.5 chapters of genetics to read. For Monday. As well as my o-chem homework to rewrite so it's actually legible (resonance structures are evil!), calc homework, and the video to watch for lab. For Monday. What HAVE I been doing all weekend?

The tale of the Second Hedgehog.

2007-09-02T16:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, friends. I have another FO, and yet another stuffed hedgehog. Only this time, I documented the entire process. So, without further ado:
Here is the knitted-up, un-felted hedgehog. Poor thing, doesn't know what's coming.A watched pot never boils. Or does it? And is this going to turn out a bit like Schrodinger's cat? (I'm probably misremembering that...)

The tools of hedgehog torture--the shampoo and a potato masher. Don't worry, my friend. It won't take too long. I hope.

Since I shall refrain from quoting Macbeth (too easy), I shall instead quote The Goons. "He's fallen in the water!"A partially felted hedgie. Elapsed time between this picture and the last one: 1.5 hours. Yup.
And here he is, all finished!
Specs:
Everything is the same as the last one, except that I used both Copper and Chocolate Fun Fur for the back.
Comments: He didn't felt nearly as well as the last one. I don't know whether it was because I got sick of trying to felt it, or because I used Burt's Bees shampoo rather than dish soap or because of the much thicker fur on his back, or a combination of these. He is rather more huggable, though--I used up all my polyfil on him.

In other knitting news:
Periodic Table Scarf: Through knitting in lectures, I managed to get started on the bottom row of the main part of the table.
Mariah: Slowly working the sleeve again.

Sigh....

2007-08-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

I had most of one sleeve of Mariah done this afternoon. Then I went back and looked at the pattern...and discovered that I had forgotten the increase stitches. So off to the frog pond with it. And it was working up so nicely too. Can I go cry now?

FO Friday!

2007-08-10T18:02:00.001-04:00

Hedgehog

Pattern: Fiber Trends Huggable Hedgehog
Yarn: Patons' Classic Merino in Natural Mix (body), just under 1 skein; and Chestnut Brown (paws), leftovers; Lion Brand Fun Fur in Copper
Needles: Clover Bamboo circs in US 10.5 and 11
Started: July 2007
Finished: August 6, 2007
My first felted project! I washed the thing three times, and apparently the water temperature isn't high enough to felt anything. So, off to the boiling cauldron of death with him. It took about two hours of soaking in hot soapy water and rubbing the thing to death, but it felted. Eventually. I had to resort to a less dignified (but far more effective) method involving a towel and the family room carpet to get his back to felt under that fur.
Fun fur doesn't seem to have such a thick "eyelash" component as the recommended yarn. Hence the somewhat sparse fur on his back. So for the next one, I'm thinking of doubling it and then going up a needle size for the back.

My parents have dubbed him Ginger...

Irish Hiking Scarf

Pattern: Hello Yarn's Irish Hiking Scarf.
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk) in Green Acres; just under 3 skeins
Needles: Bamboo US 8
Start Date: October 2006
Finish Date: August 3, 2007
Another one of those embarrassing range of dates, methinks. Good mindless knitting for lectures, though. I screwed up the cables because I just stopped counting rows, so they ended up being crossed when I thought it looked right, rather than every eight rows as the pattern says.
The yarn was nice to work with--nice and squishy, if a little splitty, but I'm not going to use it again for cables, and it's slightly itchy. There are a bunch of guard hairs in with it. I've found myself plucking them out of the scarf. Sigh.

A close up of the cables. The color's closer to the first picture.

And a WIP:
Gryffindor bookscarf!

Remind me never to do that again.

2007-08-06T03:02:00.000-04:00

Stovetop felting, that is.

Details later, when my the skin on my fingers doesn't threaten to crack and bleed at every keystroke.

uh...

2007-07-31T19:41:00.000-04:00

I want this shirt.
(or I could buy a cheap-o shirt from Target and freehand it...)

Done...

2007-07-23T15:49:00.001-04:00

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at about 3:00 this morning. I'm trying not to give anything away, but...

Wow. It doesn't seem 759 pages long. It's very fast-paced, and there are a bunch of twists and turns. There's one chapter that you don't expect at all. It's good. And now I'm sad that I don't have anything to look forward to.

Midnight Mischief Managed!

2007-07-21T01:55:00.000-04:00

I solemnly swear that I was up to no good.
That's about as far as I got on the Gryffindor scarf. Oops.

So I went to the midnight release of HP7 last night (this morning?) wearing the garter stitch version I made last year, my black spider shirt, jeans, and my black cloak.
For reference, I'm 5'6", the scarf is wrapped around my neck twice, and the tassels still reach my knees. It's a very long scarf.

I spent the day psyching myself up. Lots of Potter Puppet Pals (yay!), and I listened to the PoA soundtrack (my favorite) in the car on the way there.

My local Barnes and Noble held a release party, of course. I originally wasn't planning to go, but I figured I'd never get that chance again, so I went. They had food and the cafe had "butterbeer" and "polyjuice" frappucinos. They also had a little scavenger hunt (except someone stole one of the clues...), crafts, and other activities. A pet store in the same shopping center brought over a rat (aww), some frogs, and various reptiles. Here's the non-book Potter loot from last night:

And because I forgot to include it in that photo:
The tassel was for answering a trivia question, and most of the rest was for the scavenger hunt--glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses, and the "7" temporary tattoo. I also included my wristband for fun (I've become an expert at getting them off without tearing them). The big black thing is an "amulet" sponsored by one of those "paint your own ceramic XYZ" places. A little tile, some acrylic paint and 12 minutes, and we have...I was initially going for a dragon, but since that wasn't working, I decided to be totally unoriginal and painted a little Golden Snitch on it. It says "HP 7: 7-21-07" on it. Note my pathetic attempt at shading. People liked it though.

After that dried, I hung out with my sister and her friends and went to be Sorted. I wound up in Slytherin. (Which is funny, because I was wearing a Gryffindor scarf). My sister went as a pseudo-Death Eater and was assigned to Hufflepuff. I laughed. I ran into some of my high school friends, did the scavenger hunt and all manner of good stuff. And bought him because I couldn't resist:
Dragon!
Getting the books was organized chaos. But I got my book. To quote Hagrid (in SS/PS), "An' here's Harry":
And Book 7 in its rightful place on the shelf with the rest of its fellows:
I didn't start it last night, because I was exhausted (fell asleep at 6 on Friday morning, woke up at nine). And now I can't bring myself to start it. I've been looking forward to this, but I don't want it to end. So I don't want to finish it. Sigh. I'll bite the bullet and get reading tonight. (My sister was up until 6 or so reading. I'm staying away from her.) The other reason I didn't start reading was this music video. So I had "Music of the Night" stuck in my head. With Lucius Malfoy 'singing' it. It makes me want to take a shower. Methinks Potter needs some bookscarves too. And my sister wants one too. Another trip to Michael's is needed.

I'm off to barricade myself away from the rest of humanity.

Owlie and the Mad Dash

2007-07-20T01:12:00.000-04:00

Right. I have about thirty percent of the Gryffindor scarf done, and twenty-three hours to finish the other 70 percent. Can I do it? Without getting carpal tunnel?

Here is the progress as of 1:19 AM, July 20th:

Yes, I realize that last yellow stripe is a little too wide (or it looks that way), but at this point, I'm not going to rip it out. I don't know if I'm going to the midnight release this year (I didn't for the last two books; I only went to the midnight release of GoF.). I have a cloak. It's awesome. Black crushed velvet, and a purple satin lining. Only problem is that it's a little bit loose. Okay, very loose. I (or rather, my mum) didn't put a piece in the collar area, so the seam where the hood connects to the rest of the cloak slips down my shoulder. (Partially to blame is my slippery choice in lining material.) Any quick fixes? It needs a proper clasp as well. I might get one at the Renaissance Festival next year if one catches my eye.
Back to the knitting. I'll keep updating this...

And now, for something almost entirely knitted.

2007-07-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

Warning: Picture-heavy post!

Amazingly, I have finished stuff since the start of the year. Really. Here they are:
The Socks

Specs:
Pattern: Knitty's Universal Toe-up Socks
Yarn: Paton's SWS (70% wool, 30% soy silk), Natural Earth, 2 balls
Needles: US 6 metal DPNs, of some unknown brand.
Started: November 2006
Completed: Feb 2007
Notes: Um, that's an embarrassing range of dates right there. Especially the fact that I'm posting a picture NOW, in JULY. And my excuse? I started the first one over Thanksgiving, frogged it, started again, but left the crochet hook for the cast-on at home, which delayed the start of the second sock. And yes, I am aware that the stripes don't match up. Who needs matching socks anyway?
The yarn wasn't bad to work with. One of the skeins (from the first attempt at the same sock), had several knots in it. It was also a little splitty. It's not exactly cuddly, but soft enough for the wool-sensitive me, and the colors are beautiful. It doesn't frog at all well, though. (It was bad enough that I went and bought another one.)
As for the pattern, the instructions were pretty clear, and that's all I ask for in a pattern. It was my first attempt at short rows, so once I got past the toe on the first sock, it was smooth sailing (if a little boring because of all the stockinette!)

On to the next one:
DNA iPod Cozy:
Pattern: Made up as I went along; cable chart from here
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool), Leaf Green. Less than 1 ball
Needles: US 6 metal DPNs, D crochet hook for finishing
Started: April 2007
Finished: same week.
Notes: Quick little project, used as a nerdy stash-busting exercise in cables. The hard bits were finishing and starting. Before I cast on, I was deciding between knitting it from the edge of the flap down, or from the bottom of the pouch up. (I went with bottom-up, so when you fold the flap down, it appears that the spiral is backward.)
This was one of those projects where stuff clicked--as I went, I discovered that I didn't actually need the chart. The knitting and the shape of a DNA molecule told me what to cable and where. I couldn't find the tapestry needle when I finished it, so I...used a crochet hook to seam it (not ideal, but it worked), then chained around the edge of the flap to neaten it up a bit. This is the picture of it blocking in my dorm on my makeshift blocking apparatus (a towel and a bunch of push pins. Isn't it lovely? :P) I don't have a better picture, unfortunately. You can still make out the double helix of backbone cables, but the base-pair purls are kind of obscured because it's so dark.
Paton's Classic Wool. Decent yarn, generous yardage, and fairly cheap. And it's a very pretty green, I think.

PENGUIN!
Pattern: Pasha, from Knitty
Yarn: Patons Decor (75% acrylic, 25% wool) (black); Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic) (white), Paton's Classic Wool (100% wool) (yellow)
Needles: Clover Bamboo US 5
Started: May 2007
Finished: May 2007
Notes: A fairly quick knit. Apparently my stuffing, seaming and finishing skills leave something to be desired, but I think he turned out rather sweet. (My penguin is a he. It's my penguin, after all.) The eyes took forever to get in the right place. There are a number of little imperfections on the belly (which is unfortunate, because it's white and they show up), and I had a little trouble with the increases. Ah well. I've got a second one in the works, though, so I think any of these mistakes should get ironed out in the process. And it's a penguin. Penguins are cute in any form. So there.

Two squares of the scrap blanket:
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in Corinthian (Purple-ish) and Colonial (blue), Caron Simply Soft Thick in Dark Sage (dark green), Lion Brand Lion Suede in Olive, Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes in Autumn Harvest (yellow/orange) and Lion Brand Chenille Thick n' Quick in Terracotta (orange). Don't worry; the fug fur edging will be gone.

Yarn (to center): Caron Simply Soft Quick in Autumn Red, Lion Brand Lion Suede in Orchard Print, Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes in Autumn Harvest, Lion Brand Homespun in Mexicana. Those ends will get woven in, eventually.
Needle size for both of these were US 10.5.

And for another WIP:
My progress on Mariah.

That would be the back. I'll get back to knitting that. Really.

I am busy, therefore I blog.

2007-07-05T01:11:00.001-04:00

I have a physics exam on Friday. 17 chapters. I'm working through chapter 4 at the moment. (So, am I going to get this done?) I have a 76% in that class at the moment. 75% is her cutoff for a B. Think I can keep it? The final is worth...24% (random, no?) of our grade. Given my past performance on exams, I am assured of a C, except that I have no idea how many points the exam is worth.
No knitting news to report, except that I'm going back home Saturday, so I can hopefully take pictures of things.

Back to physics.

And look what I found:

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Science/Math Nerd (Absolute Insane Laughter as you pour toxic chemicals into a foaming tub of death!) Well, maybe you aren't this extreme, but you're in league with the crazy scientists/mathmeticians of today. Very few people have the talent of math and science is something takes a lot of brains as well. Thank whosever God you worship, or don't worship, so thank no deity whatsoever in your case, for you people! Most of us would have died off without your help.
Literature Nerd
Social Nerd
Musician
Anime Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Drama Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Coming Attractions: A Preview

2007-06-27T17:51:00.000-04:00

The Periodic Table Scarf, in all its unfinished glory:And a close-up:

I apologize for the awful picture quality--these were taken using my camera phone. Still, you get the point, right? I just finished the lanthanide series yesterday. It's my first attempt at stranded knitting, so there's quite a bit of puckering going on. I'm hoping that blocking it to within an inch of its life will help when it's finished (whenever that might be.)

The Physics of Fainting

2007-06-09T01:02:00.000-04:00

I wound up in the ER yesterday. Long story short--dehydrated. Blacked out in bookstore. Spent 3 hours in the ER with a saline drip in my arm.

Physics is driving me up the wall. It's a chapter a day, basically. And I have an exam on Monday. So I'll be spending tomorrow and perhaps part of Sunday where I can't get so distracted--Starbucks.

I have an FO to show you all. Very cute. I don't have my camera with me, so you'll have to wait until I get home. (July 6th.)

The knitting I have with me is something I started back in March or April, and got sick of knitting. So, a fiber change, a needle change, and life is better. What is it? Let me tell you a tale:
Back in March, I was hanging around outside my chem professor's office, knitting one of the SWS socks. There were a bunch of people already in his office, discussing test corrections and such, so I- along with a bunch of other people- just sort of stood there outside his office. (Very narrow hallway, so it's not conducive to doing much.) The prof came out of his office, told the assembled masses that he'd be back in a little while, then saw me, knitting away. "Knitting again?" he asked rhetorically, in a somewhat disparaging way. I usually get ignored or "Ooh! That's so cool!" when I knit in public. This little comment was annoying. I think he meant it as a joke, as I don't think this professor is the type to be nasty to people just for the heck of it, except that it didn't quite sound that way.

So, on the advice of some Knittyheads, I set about looking for something chemistry-related to knit, just to...I don't know, be strange. It'd be very Case of me anyway. :D I was pointed towards this chart, so I modified it to include Sg-Rg, cast on 260 stitches (that was a nightmare) and got knitting. My first foray into colorwork of any type. Might I add that I was using Clover's Bamboo circs (16"). Terrible joins. And might I also add that I was using Red Heart Supersaver. That was no fun to knit with. It was initially a very Oberlin-spirited scarf (maroon and gold). Fitting, as that was where I bought the yarn while I was visiting a friend. I hated knitting it, if only for the yarn and needles. So, when I went home, I made a trip to the LYS and bought 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in a purple color. I'm still using the gold (Paton's Classic Merino) from Oberlin. (It's very Imperial Rome-ish now, I think. And, as an added bonus, it goes with both my coats.) I also bought an Addi Natura circ in a size 5. So much easier, apart from the fact I can't seem to read the chart anymore! And the yarn keeps tangling.
And, as a bonus, an amusing story about it (which I posted on the Knittyboard, so I'll just copy and paste):
[Originally posted Wed April 18, 2007]
"I had a few spare moments after class today, so I pulled out the periodic table scarf and knitted a few more rows, with the chart balanced on my bookbag. While I was doing this, my professor walked over and asked conversationally how my day was. He then happened to see the chart, said "Is that what you're working on?!", picked it up, looked at it, and then: "That's the coolest thing I'e seen all week!" He then told me not to leave out seaborgium."
[end]
Of course, the man also asked if it was a cross-stitch pattern. :| I think I'll go back and annoy him when I finished the scarf. I'll post pictures when it's recognizable. (Right now, it's about two rows into the actual table part of the chart, with a gold border.)

I'm HOOOOME!

2007-05-16T00:46:00.000-04:00

Actually, I've been home for nearly a week. Then I get to go back to Cleveland in June, so I can take the first semester of physics--in five weeks. I'm nuts.
I made my decision about majors: I'm doing a BS in biology and a BA in chemistry, with possibly an add-on major in Environmental Studies. Yes, I AM nuts. Well, it's not quite so bad: I have an extra semester of physical chem plus lab, a semester of quant. analysis, and another semester of o-chem lab. In addition, I have whatever electives I need to take. But since I'm doing a BA and a BS, I get out of 6 credit hours for the BA. Now, the question is, do I want ACS certification? If I do, I need to take a semester of biochem, a semester of inorganic chem, and five hours of research. Given my combination, the biochem might be a good idea. The research...we'll see if I can wrangle something that fulfills that and my research requirement for bio.

I actually scraped an A in chem this semester!!! When I went to pick up my final, my professor handed it back to me and said "Congratulations! Well done!" I looked at it, and discovered I got EXACTLY the number of points I needed for an A. Ended up with an A in anthropology, and a B in my seminar and chem lab. Not surprised. Next semester, I'm taking:

Introduction to Organic Chemistry I
Cells and Proteins
Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies
Organic Chemistry Lab
Calculus II
Fencing.

I'm thinking of signing up for the orchestra for non-music majors, but I'm not 100% sure of it yet.

I do actually knit, in case we'd forgotten. I'll get some pictures of the WIPs up tomorrow. (And maybe an FO or two...hmm....)

An FO and an almost-FO!

2007-03-31T01:53:00.000-04:00

The SWS socks are finished! I'm wearing them now. They're on the big side, but they're fine for lounging around in. Depending on how I like them, I might give them a conditioner bath.

Pics when my camera cooperates with my computer.

The almost-FO is the IHS. I'm down to the last little clump of alpaca. This is DEFINITELY getting a conditioner bath when it's done. The stuff feels so good when knitting with it and the fabric is all squooshy (yay! I made up a word!) but when it's around my neck, it's a little scratchy.

Wow.

2007-03-28T16:49:00.000-04:00

Well, the last chem test (not the last one I mentioned x_x) went really well. I left the room feeling pretty good about it, but I didn't expect a 99% on it! And the single point I lost was something stupid--I forgot to write the percent dissociation for HCl. That was brilliant. I have another one on Friday. Same kind of thing, but you have to do it three or four times for each problem. Hopefully my prof will be nice and not put four of the same kind of problem. I might die of boredom otherwise.

And now, some more interesting news. (Or not.) I seem to be at the center of some intra-familiar and inter-disciplinary conflict. When I filled out my college applications, I wrote "biology" as my intended major. And then I looked at the course requirements for the BS in bio (two semesters of general chemistry, two semesters of organic chemistry and a semester of physical chemistry). Turns out that's essentially a minor in chemistry (two semesters of gen chem plus lab and two semesters of o. chem plus lab) So I decided I was going to go for a BS in biology, a BA in environmental studies and a minor in chemistry. Until I took a bio class this semester. I was in it for a grand total of two weeks, because a) the university decided they were going to grant me credit for my AP grade after all, and b)I hated it. As much as I loved bio in high school, I can't seem to muster the same passion for it a year later, if that. Trouble is, that goes for basically anything. I don't have a strong enough interest in any of the humanities to do any more than dabble. I also don't know if I have a strong interest in any of the sciences to major in any of them. And this is where the parental units come in. Mum wants me to give bio another shot. She's really trying to push me away from the physical sciences. My dad, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care so much, though he was pushing me in the chemistry/biochemistry direction. It's sort of what I want to do, but I don't really know. And that means I have to work out what that means for the math requirements. I need to talk to someone, but I have no idea who. My adviser is the head of the English department, which is not good if I want to talk to HIM about something, science major that I (still) am, but he does know who I should go talk to. The other person who I think I could talk to is my chemistry professor, but he's probably sick of me, not to mention the fact that he has a class of 250 or so students to deal with as well. Now I just have to buck up enough courage to talk to SOMEONE...

Grr...

2007-03-18T03:36:00.000-04:00

Why do I decide it's a good idea to blog when I have an inordinate quantity of work to do?! I have a 5-to-6-page essay for my seminar class to write for Monday (it was due either the 9th or the 19th--I didn't have it finished for the 9th because of midterms), another essay for anthropology for Wednesday, plus math, chem and lab stuff to do. Speaking of labs...I have no idea how much I have to make up for that. Two titrations for the aspirin analysis lab, printing the results for the iron compound lab, and solution 4 for the spectrography thing. Yuck. So, when is makeup week again? -_-''
On top of all that, I'm supposed to be leading the seminar discussion on Wednesday. I have to watch this movie in order to do so. Go figure, neither my laptop nor my home DVD player will play it. Guess I'll watch it when I get back. I have no idea when my discussion post for that is due. Probably Monday. I hate Mondays, and I hate that class. It's completely pointless. The whole program is pointless. (It was probably designed to get science/engineering students to take humanities classes. Or because someone decided that they couldn't write.)
I'm supposed to be heading back to Cleveland tomorrow. Today, actually. I still haven't completely packed. My anthro book is who-knows-where, I'm still using my laptop, there are various cords everywhere, my chem book is next to me on the floor, and my room is an almighty mess. On the other hand, I did manage to fit everything else I'm taking back up with me in my fencing bag. Amazing!
There is some good news in all this. My chem prof finally (okay, yes, I know he's on break too) got around to posting the exam scores. I got a 99 percent. Which is amazing, considering that I failed the one before that. I wonder what I lost that point on. I know that's insignificant, but I can still wonder. If it's only one point, then it's probably a rounding issue or something small.
I went to the LYS on Thursday. They were out of the Fiber Trends' Hedgehog pattern I wanted, but I treated myself to a (don't tell my mother!) $16 circular needle and 2 skeins of sock yarn. I then went to Michael's and bought myself 8 skeins of Paton's Classic Merino in chestnut brown. Why? I'm planning on knitting Mariah from Knitty. Hopefully my attention span will be kinder to me this time around, now that I've got cable-y goodness to keep my attention. The SWS toe-ups are about 60% done. One is finished and looks good, even if I did bind off a little tight. (I seem to have inherited my grandmother's problem in that.) I also sense another scrap yarn scarf in the future, to go along with my scrap-yarn blanket. And this time, it'll have wool and alpaca in it to go along with the synthetics. :)
Crap. Why is it 4 AM? I have to get up in 5 hours, pack, call my friend to see what the final plans are (he hasn't made them yet. Genius.), drive back to school, then finish the remaining 4/5 of my paper. *headdesk*

Bloody weather.

2007-02-20T00:40:00.000-05:00

I'm an Ohioan, for all practical purposes. I should be used to strange weather. But I think this takes whatever baked item you would like. And eats it. Last week--6-12" of snow on Tuesday night-Thursday morning, on top of whatever was already there. (I stopped caring. It's white stuff). Right now? It's 48 degrees (F). What the heck? I like how my college sent out an e-mail telling us to be aware of falling icicles. You'd think that'd be obvious. But this is the same school that built a giant ugly building for its business school, and now has to close the sidewalks around it whenever it snows because snow and ice has a nasty tendency to fall off its hideously modern curving metal exterior. Yup.
Other than that, I'm supposed to be working on my prelab for chem tomorrow. Why did I register for the 8:30 lab? What was I thinking, exactly? Oh, and I have a chem test on Friday. Joy. I was up until 4 AM yesterday studying for my anthropology exam, which turned out to be something on the order of "explain the structure of DNA." 10 pt questions, pick 5 of 7. All of them were like that. :(
Knitting...I'm afraid I haven't done much of that lately. I'd post pics of my January Socktopia socks, except that a)I can't find the socks, and b)I don't have the connecting thingy for the camera here. The "Furry Fetchings" are about 55-60% done. I have one glove done save the thumb, and the cuff on the other mostly finished. Ribbing is getting really boring right now. (The cuffs are 2x1 ribbing, the body is 4x1, and there's another band of 2x1 above the thumb. ) And did I mention it's FUN FUR? And I need them done by Friday. Lucky me, I have 4 hours of classes tomorrow and I'm done by 12:30. Guess what I'll be doing?

Half-Price Books=Love

2007-01-12T00:23:00.000-05:00

Drat. How did I get sick now? I haven't gone anywhere. =(

Hung out with Michelle today. We went to Steak n' Shake for dinner, which wasn't too bad, surprisingly. Anyhow, we were bored, and went to Borders. In a fit of nostalgia, I bought myself one of the installments of the Redwall series. I used to love those. It was my goal to own the entire set at one point, but somewhere along the line, I stopped reading them. I think it was after I finished Lord Brocktree for the second time. (Of course, this was probably back when I still had an attention span.) Or was it Triss? Anyway, I still have Rakkety Tam, Loamhedge, and High Rulain (or whatever) to read. The book I got was Rakkety Tam, and--get this--it's a SIGNED copy! Squee! And my day got better. We went to Half-Price Books, because Michelle wantedto see if she could find a copy of Howl's Moving Castle (the novel the movie is based on). Couldn't find it there, but she did get a copy of the next book in the series she's reading at the moment. I snagged a boxed set of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a two-dollar CD (the Pocahontas soundtrack). I was aiming for the old covers from THG (before they made that movie), because my sister lost that version (and refuses to admit it :/) As for the Pocahontas soundtrack, we have it already, on cassette. (Somewhere. Anyone who wants to look for it can be my guest.) But I think it was pretty much the last good soundtrack Disney had. (Hunchback of Notre Dame had some good bits, as did Mulan, but overall, meh. Of course, Lion King had the BEST. It's Hans Zimmer. Of course it's amazing.)
We also watched The Illusionist at her house. I liked it, more than I thought I would. Andthe ending...I won't give it away, but--wow, I was not expecting that.
Anyway, I'm leaving either Saturday or Sunday. It's been nice being at home. A nice, long break from school and thinking. Not to mention--real food! However, yes, there have been times that it's been strained, made worse because of the fact that I didn't have access to my/the car. It's been a little irritating, getting used to doing things on my parents' terms rather than my own. That, and the fact that most of my friends left last week. (Tasha went back on New Year's Day, basically.) Michelle has January Term (Obies...), and is interning at the county environmental services thing. Last Friday, I just went and visited teachers (I had NOTHING better to do.) It was nice seeing them again, though. I often wonder whether they're actually genuinely happy to see old students. :P Thing is, I haven't been able to do as much stuff as I wanted over the break. I WANTED to go back to the salle and pester people there, read, knit...it would help if I had the car (at least for part of it), and that I hadn't spent who-knows-how-long on the computer. Yeah. I suppose it will be nice to see people again...maybe not my econ prof, but...

Projecty-ness and new books!

2007-01-07T02:54:00.000-05:00

So I thought I'd get some knitting done over the break. Of course not. I don't know what I spent it doing.

Project breakdown as of 3 AM, January 8th 2007:
Gryffindor Scarf (SS/CoS-style): 16% done (3 and a bit of 19 stripes).
Irish Hiking Scarf: 75-80% done.
Fetching 2: 66% done.
Stockinette scarf: 45% done.
Toe-up socks: 40% done.

What happened to the hoodie? I think it died. It's not working. Any ideas as to what to do with 4/5 balls of Homespun (in a discontinued color)? :P

Things that need to be cast on:
Fetching 3 (Will be in Lion Brand Wool-Ease (worsted) in Blue Heather)
Fun Fur Fingerless Mitts (Fetching-based) (Patons' Decor in Black, Lion Brand Fun Fur in Copper)
Second toe-up sock (Patons' SWS in Natural Earth)
Socks for Socktopia.

Yes, I joined a knit-along. Unfortunately, I need to decide NOW what I'm doing so I can at least buy the yarn and/or needles. The themes for January are "Celebrate good times", "blue monday", and "snowflakes and starry skies". The "snowflakes" would be a perfect opportunity to learn Fair Isle, I think. Or I could do a plain pair of blue socks, maybe with some cable-y things. I don't have sock yarn in the stash in any color. I have a skein of off-white wool, and a dye-able skein of the same stuff in white, so I'm thinking white socks with snowflakes around the cuff. :)

In other news, I have some new books, both fencing-related. One is The Inner Game of Fencing: Excellence in Form, Technique, Strategy and Spirit by Nick Evangelista. It's an interesting read, if at least for some different perspective. (I was taught by a "trigger the light"-variety coach. The instructors at the salle (I miss them!) and Evangelista are technique-oriented.) (Not that I don't like my high school coach. He was great, just not necessarily as a sabre coach.) The other is By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions by Richard Cohen, a British(!) sabre fencer(!!). I've flipped through it, but I haven't had a chance to actually read it yet. Looks good, though.
I have a giant list of books I need to read:

Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
Against the Grain (Richard Manning)
Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
and now, these. (and whatever else I have lying around)

I'm not going to get a chance. I'm back in Cleveland in a week. I did get my biology textbook...

what did I expect, anyway?

2007-01-03T17:40:00.000-05:00

I went back to my high school fencing club today, and was somewhat disappointed. Crappy footwork, minimal discipline, and people who are generally apathetic about the whole thing. Not to mention last year's sabre newbies...weren't there.

I don't know why I expected anything different, at least on the footwork and discipline. Hoch (the coach) isn't very big on form or footwork. He'll teach enough so that people sort of get the idea, and then moves on to bladework. (He's very much a "whatever gets you the point" type of fencer. And coach.) He left correcting up to the upperclassmen, most of whom had at least a year of fencing under their belt. And that leads to the discipline. Back in the day, we had some authority--5 seniors who knew what they were doing. We could look after ourselves and the rest of the sabre team. I can't speak for the foil squad, but at least we did work for most of the time. And people actually listened. This year, there are 3 seniors. Two of them know enough about fencing to lead at least footwork, but only one of them shows up, according to my sister. And they're all foil fencers. The sabre team would be okay if the people from last year showed up. I know they're busy, but I'm in college, have far more work than they do and I go to practice more often than they seem to! So that leaves a bunch of n00bs trying to teach themselves with minimal instruction from Hoch. (He was an epee fencer in college, so he works mainly with the foils.) It's UGLY.

On the bright side, there is one girl who's pretty good. Now Hoch just needs to get her a jacket and mask.

The Kool-Aid gods must hate me. :(

2007-01-02T16:41:00.000-05:00

Or, how to get pink variegated yarn without trying.

I have been playing with Kool-aid over break, trying to dye myself some nice dark red. It's worked, except for the dark and the red. The first batch (1 skein Patons' Classic Merino in Aran, 2 packets Black Cherry, one packet sugar-free Cherry) turned out a salmon pink. Nice, except that I hate pink. And it's a subtly-variegated salmon pink, because a)I don't have a pot large enough, and b) I tied it too tightly. It was dyed at three AM, so maybe I have an excuse, but I suppose that it might have to turn into a Liesel for my sister. (She looks good in that color, anyway.)

The second batch (dyed in the hopes of a purple--most of one skein of the same yarn above, with 2 packets each sugarless Cherry and Grape) turned out mostly a dusty rose/washed-out wine color, lighter in some places (I used the same pot...) and with the same skein-tying issues. I have no idea what to do with it. I wouldn't wear it, and neither would anyone else I know. But knitting with it is out of the question at the moment--it's horribly tangled. I am vaguely reminded of intestines. I'm thinking of overdyeing it with black cherry or grape, but I don't know.

If I'm not intended to have either red or purple yarn, would the Kool-aid gods kindly tell me?
I'm going to buy several packets of black cherry tomorrow. Hopefully it'll go better next time...

Knitted stuff...and the rest of life.

2006-12-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

Or, more accurately, stuff in the process of being knitted. On the needles, I have:

-Irish Hiking Scarf in Alpaca Yarn Company's Landscapes (will be finished when I run out of yarn)
-Toe-up socks in Patons SWS (one done, partly frogged; one started)
-Hoodie in Lion Brand Homespun
-Gryffindor scarf in Caron Perfect Match and Red Heart Supersaver
-Striped stockinette scarf in Lion Brand Homespun

My ongoing project is a garter stitch patchwork scrap blanket. I have one finished square at home, and one on the needles here.

And, on top of that, I have two pairs of Fetching to do for Christmas presents, and the commission Fun Fur version to do for a friend of a friend. Yay for a month-long winter break.

In other news, I have two more finals to go. One is a take-home for Environmental Studies, the other is for Microeconomics. For the former, the professor expects four to seven typed pages per question. If that's the case, I'd rather take an in-class exam. At least that way, they only care about content and not about how you write the essay. The latter...I'd rather not think about. I don't even know why I took that class (yes, it's a prerequisite for Environmental Economics, but I don't have to take that either. I can get away with taking History of the American Environment.) I have at least 8 chapters to read by 12:00 on Tuesday. Not counting the fact that I'm going to have to write that other final. But then I get to go HOME.

Ooh, look.

2006-12-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, I now have a lovely Blogger-thing. My plan is that it'll serve until I can get my proper website back up and running. I somehow doubt that will happen over winter break (I wonder why...) so I'm afraid this will have to do until May or June...or whenever I get around to it. :P