May 30, 2004
I finished all my SnB2 projects!!!  Now back to Belly along, Candy along, and wrap!!

May 29, 2004
NERDS!!!

Nerds (candy) + Coke (soda) + 5 hours of "I love the 80s" = halfway finished final version of SnB2 project.  (as well as pain in my right pinky finger, left forearm and shoulder)

Ok, a break for dinner, and then knitting through the Mets game.  I will finish this tonight!!!

(Oh, I totally love Loni Love in "I love the 80s."  She is soooo funny!! "Ain't no one watching you Rockwell!!"  "Go ahead Tina!" ...Can you believe that VH1 is going to have "I love the 90s" in July?!  Don't they understand it is too soon!!  I mean, 1999 is only 5 years ago.  You need at least 10 years for people to have the "Oh my god, I remember that!!  I haven't thought about that in forever!!")
 

May 28, 2004
Ugh!  I did my happy finished dance too early!  I completed version 2 of the SnB2 project this afternoon and happily danced around wondering what to pick up and knit.  But alas, it was too soon as Debbie wants one more version.  Well, I've cast on and will try to get a couple of inches tonight and power it through tomorrow.  Pray my hands don't fall off!!!!!
 

May 27, 2004
Being stuck knitting the same pattern repeatedly has led me to daydreaming beyond the 3 projects (wrap, candy, belly) awaiting me...

First, socks.  I've never knitted socks (that's a bit of a lie... I knitted a sock out of crappy yellow yarn when I first started knitting... I got bored with it and knitted it too small just to be finished...).  So this desire is starting to build in me to knit some socks.  I think at this point I have the skills to do it and maybe even the patience.  I know Kevin wants me to knit him some socks (there's no curses of boyfriend socks, right? not like the curse of the boyfriend sweater).

Second, Kool aid.  I really want to try this dying thing.  I'm figuring that I'll wait until sometime in July or August after we've moved into our new place and then pick up some wool and lots of Kool aid and give dying a whirl.
 

May 26, 2004
Sorry I've been so bad about posting.  Knitting away on version 2 of my SnB2 project has frankly got me bored outta my mind, and why pass that along to you?!  Not that my pattern is dull, but making the same thing over and over is just no fun.  Hopefully, I can power through today and get it near finished, and then I can start again on my other projects.

I know many of you also get the Daily Candy in your email.  Did you check out those bathing suits?  For some deranged reason I found myself very much liking this one...

May 23, 2004
Just a quickie post... I'm back from the beach and happy to say that aside from one small area of my ankle, no sunburn!  I'm nearly complete with one of 2 (3?) final versions of my SnB2 project (deadline June 4th).

On a sad note, our hamster has been sick the past couple of weeks, and today when we came home this afternoon he wasn't looking so great.  I took him out and held him and we both petted him.  Then this evening, he died.  He was a very good hammy; he loved cheese balls and corn.  Here's a really cute picture of him eating a cheese ball.  His name was Tone Loc (yes, named after the rapper!)

May 20, 2004
Ack!!  I just got an email from Debbie that the SnB2 projects need to be finished and sent to her by June 4th!  June 4th?!?!  So officially, all other knitting projects (wrap, belly along, and candy along) are on hold until SnB2 project (2, maybe 3 versions) are finished.

The Meetup last night was fun!!  It was nice to be in the presence of other knitters and check out their projects and knitting styles.  I completed the brown section, so I'm beyond the halfway point on the wrap.  I can't wait until next month's!

I'll be at the beach this weekend (probably knitting till my hands fall off) so I'll post again on Monday or Tuesday!!
 

May 19, 2004
Ok, here are the pictures of the wrap that I promised...

It looks more like a small blanket than a wrap!!  Here's a close up of the color change...

I'm basically just using the three colors I have (blue, tan, brown).  The color pattern I came up with is 2 balls blue, 1/2 ball tan, 1 ball blue, 1 ball brown, 1 ball blue, 1/2 ball tan, 2 balls blue.  As you can see in the first picture I'm just starting the brown ball.  So while I'm nearly half-way finished, a new project is calling me....

For my candy-along project, I've selected this...

This cardigan is from Family Circle's Easy Knitting Spring/Summer 2004.  Why did I choose this project?  Well, I searched through all my knitting mags and books for something to make and couldn't really decide, but memorized the yarn amounts and gauges for several things I wouldn't mind making and headed off to Michael's (remind me next time to go to AC Moore, they have a slightly better selection).  Anyways, at the Michael's I found this...

Tonight is the knitting Meetup!  I need to figure out who is going with me... belly along project, wrap, or new candy along... maybe SnB2 project?

In non-knitting news, has anyone else been watching Colonial House on PBS (I know, I know... major nerd alert for watching PBS for fun).  I've watched all their "Houses" and I find the shows so interesting.  Yeah sure it is reality tv, but they are living as though it is the 1600s!  I would so love to go on one of these shows... I could provide the knitting skills!

Thanks to all the great folks emailing me about the "Open to Sharing" button and post (scroll to May 13th).  Knitting is community!!!

May 18, 2004
"I find the most erotic part of a woman is the boobies."  --Kiff on Futurama

Sorry for the weird quote, I'm watching Futurama right now and I find that line so funny!!

I meant to take a picture today of the wrap, it is progressing nicely.  There is a nice brown stripe in between the blue now.  I'm realizing that I may have over estimated the size because it is becoming huge!  But that's ok, the more to wrap around myself the better.

In the meantime, you can check out my Psychology of Women website.  Right now, it is basically the contents of the syllabus.  I plan to add more exciting stuff in the future.

Oh oh!  And I found this today.  It is RateMyProfessor.com where students can posted ratings of their professors (duh!).  The link is to MY RATINGS!!!  Hahaha!  Apparently the students liked me (and I even got some hotness points!) Hahahaha!  I love the third one that says "but she also has a great sense of fashion."

More Futurama... "Me want SNU SNU!!"
 

May 16, 2004
You know, when I first started knitting, I had this idea that you start a project and you finish a project, then you start the next project.  This idea had lasted for nearly a year with several times that I had 2 projects at the same time, but one was usually a skinny scarf and that barely counts as a project.  (This mentality is basically how I flew through the pant-along and Kate-along so quickly, they were basically the only thing I was working on at the time).  Now, I find myself knitting something for the Bellytime knitalong, making a wrap, and needing to knit 2 (maybe 3) more versions of my SnB2 project, AND joining the Candy-along (hosted by Erica) with a project to be determined!!  I'm not complaining... I finally feel like I'm starting to fit in with this knitting crowd!  I used to read people's blogs and wonder how they could have 6 projects started, 3 waiting, several on long-term hold, and a ton wishing to be made.  I'm starting to break out of my mindset of "must accomplish A before starting B."  I think this stems from my entrenchment in academia.  This new way thinking could wreak havoc if I let it creep into my academic life... "Hi, advisor... yeah I started this research for my PhD, but I think I'm going to work on this other project for a bit... and I'll finish writing that journal article in a couple weeks, after I get this other project under way..."  I better be careful!!

Haha.... anyways, I'm rambling today.  Having lots of knitting projects is awesome... now if only I had the money to indulge the necessary yarn requirements....

So come on... join the candy-along!!  You know you want to!!  We all want to knit something that is sweet and bright, sugary and fun!  (I'll fill you in on what I'm making as soon as I figure it out!)

In the spirit of candy, here's a list of my favs...
1. Kit Kats (I eat at least one a day!)
2. Sour Skittles
3. Sweet Tarts
4. Reese's Pieces
5. Mr. Goodbar
6. Almond Joy and Mounds
7. Peanut M&Ms
8. Jolly Ranchers
9. Twizzlers
10. Cupcakes!!  (Ok, cupcakes aren't candy, but I've been obsessed with cupcakes recently, but since the really good ones are only at Wegman's Grocery Store, which is over 30 minutes away so we only get to go once a month, I don't get to eat that many.  But when I get 'em it's like Homer Simpson... *drool* "Mmmmmmm Cupcakes!!!" *more drool*)

Ok, end of ramblings...
 

May 15, 2004
My suede wrap is about 10 inches long now.  It is knitting up incredibly fast.  I'm going to my first knitting meet-up on Wednesday!  I found out about the meet-up site from Jody (thanks!), so it will be fun to knit with a group.  I'm very excited.

Today we went to see Super Size Me!  It was an excellent film.  Basically it is about a guy who decides to eat only McDonald's for 30 days.  It is also a documentary on how awful the fast food industry is and how bad the overweight and obesity problem in America is getting.  As a documentary, it is very informative, but balances that very well with humor and a personal story.  I highly recommend you go see it.  On the same line, you should read the book Fast Food Nation which deals with some of the same topics.  Between the two of them, you'll definitely stop eating fast food forever.  (So far Kevin and I are approaching two years of being fast food free!!)

May 14, 2004
I started a new project!  I have a bunch of Suede yarn that was supposed to be for the S&B2 project, but it wasn't working for that, so now it is just sitting here.  Since my stash box is full, it can't go in there, so I figured I oughta use it.  I guess I could start a new stash box (and believe me, I'd love to!), but for now it is best to not tempt myself to fill a new box and work to use up what I have.  (Especially since we just put down a security deposit on a new apartment and will be paying rent on two places for June, any leftover money is for bills and food, not yarn).  But I digress... my new project is a wrap.  I'm envisioning a very large rectangle that I can wrap around myself.  I'm using size 10 needles and just knitting every row to avoid any curling.  Here's what I have so far:

I took that picture in the sun, so the color is really pretty!  I've also finished several more inches on my Bellytime project.  I think I'm leaning towards tube top.  I'll probably be finished this piece in another couple of inches.

May 13, 2004
While the semester is now officially over, I have to still deal with the aftermath of students unhappy with their final grades.  So between answering tons of frantic emails and sweating to death (it is so hot in our apartment), I haven't done much knitting.  I've got a couple more inches of my cable project completed.  Soon I'll have to decide if it is going to be a tube top or a tank.  I'll post some pictures soon!!

I've noticed recently that a lot of bloggers have been posting about the issue of posting stuff from other people's sites... in particular about posting pics and instructions taken from other's blogs.  In every case I've seen, the blogger has credited the original blogger or owner of the picture, but then been told that they were "stealing" or "plagiarizing" and forced by the original blogger or others to take the pictures/instructions down.  I find this absurd and completely against the comaraderie of blogging communities.  I completely understand that taking someone else's work and claiming it to be your own is plagiarizing and taking someone else's work and not crediting them is plagiarizing, but showing someone else's work on your site and linking to their page, mentioning whose site it is from, and complimenting it on how wonderful it is, is not plagiarism.  In the spirit of community, I say that sharing is the key!  When someone else shows your work on her site and links it back to you, that will attract more people to your blog, and hell, if you don't want people seeing your blog, why do you have one?!  I think so long as you give credit where credit is due, then there is nothing wrong with sharing fun, cool, wonderful things from other people's websites.  So let's honor the spirit of sharing and community and make our blogs open to sharing!!

Take this button to show you are open to sharing your site following the guidelines that:

1. Your work, pictures, blog text, instructions, patterns, etc. will be appropriately credited to you and linked to your blog.
2. You promise to appropriately credit stuff you show from other people.
3. Knitting is about community!  Sharing is fun!
 
 

May 11, 2004
ARGH!!!!  Sorry for not updating as frequently, but apparently my computer, maybe Rutgers, and definitely WS_FTP Pro are conspiring against me!!!!  For some reason FTP PRO refuses, absolutely refuses to upload any of my pictures.  So I tried deleting some old ones thinking maybe Rutgers is mad because I have to many, reached limit, yada yada yada.  Well, now I'm missing a bunch of pictures in my archives and I still can't upload any!!!!!!!  As you can see, I can upload changes to the html file for the blog, just no pictures.  I should be happy and relaxed now, I just have to calculate my students' grades and read a paper for my advisor and then I get some time off to be lazy and knit, but NO I'm freakin' pissed about this FTP PRO thing, it has been like this since Saturday (which was the last time after a lot of fighting, I was able to post pictures). Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Update 10 minutes later... WTF?!?!?!  Now pictures are transferring again, so the ones I deleted are back.  I'm utterly confused.  I think my computer is possessed.  I'm going to go knit and leave this blasted machine alone!
 

May 8, 2004
So I've completed a couple more inches of my S&B project, it is still slow going, but in another two inches I should be to the point where it will pick up and go faster.  My Bellytime project has grown a little but not enough to warrant a new picture.  So instead I have some pictures of our hamster...

He has a little box in his cage that he sleeps in, it seems his favorite position is on his back with his little legs in the air!  How cute!!!

And of course, after I took a picture of his butt, he got angry and woke up and poked his head out of the hole in his box.  When he wakes up after sleeping, his fur is always all ruffled and messed up.  Cute little hammy!!

Other things I've been up to include, trading movie stocks.  This site is so much fun, you get $2 million to invest in any movies (current or merely ideas) you want, as well as movie stars, and you try to make lots of cash.  I've only been doing it a week, but I'm so addicted!!

Ugh!  And our new neighbors have a motorcycle which they use to claim one of the parking spaces that are unassigned.  You see, everyone gets one assigned spot, but for those of us with two cars, we have to share the unassigned spots of which there are very few.  And these new people just come in and decide to claim it with their motorcycle, which they rev at all hours of the day (and night) and speed around on in the parking lot despite all the little kids who live around here.  Argh!!  They are so annoying.  Sorry for complaining... hopefully we'll have a new place sometime in June!

Oh, and I finished Oryx and Crake, I could barely put it down for the last 100 pages.  I highly recommend it!

Ok, Kevin and I are going to watch But I'm a Cheerleader, a very funny indie movie mocking gender roles and stereotypes.  I showed it in my psychology of women class last year and they loved it!
 
 
 

May 6, 2004
I just got back from completing my statistics final.  I think I did pretty well, but at this point I really don't care, I'm just glad it is one less thing on my to do list!!

Here are some pictures of the eyemask I knitted two days ago.

Here's a picture of the lined side...

I changed my mind about my Bellytime Knitalong project.  I'm now just going to knit something of my own design.  I'm not sure yet if it will end up being a tube top or a tank top.  I'll show you what I got so far...

Here's a close up...

I've never really done anything with cables before, so I'm excited about this.  You can see on the left where I made a little miscalculation and have a couple of extra stitches, but since I figure the back will match the front (especially if it is a tube top) then I'll just put those extra ones on the other side and it will all match up.

Ok, seeing as it is now 8pm, I'm going to go watch the finale of Friends like everyone else.  I haven't seriously watched the show since college, but you can't miss a finale that will be talked about everywhere!

Coming up in next post... fun with trading (fake) stocks and complaining about our annoying new neighbors and the thrilling conclusion of Oryx and Crake.

May 5, 2004
Well, I changed my blog set up a bit again.  You'll see that I got rid of the tagboard.  While I liked the idea, I was very annoyed by the pop-ups and I'm not about to pay for that service, so for now, you'll just have to email me your comments.  April has been moved over to the archives, so my blog looks a bit empty right now!

I got my students' final exam written, which is a bit relief.  They actually take it on Tuesday at 8am.  Ugh!  So early!!  Today, I participated in the department's data blitz (essentially several people give 7-10 minute talks followed by 10 minutes of questions).  I talked about the lack of sex research in social psychology.  I was really nervous at first since it was in front of other grad students and professors (I can lecture to 300+ undergrads with no problem, but freak out when faced with 15 or so grad students and professors).  My advisor said I did a really good job, and another professor who I always fear doesn't like me (though I know he's just a tough professor and has high standards and probably does like me) said I did a great job of picking an interesting topic and including humor to keep it fun.  Needless to say I've been quite happy all day from the praise!

Right now I really ought to be studying for my statistics final which is less than 24 hours away, but I feel so unmotivated since I have all morning tomorrow to study and the exam is open notes.

I haven't done too much knitting.  Yesterday I got the new Interweave Knits in the mail.  Lots of cute projects to add to the list of things I'd like to someday knit!  Online they have a pattern for an eyepillow to go along with the shawl in the magazine.  I printed out the pattern and knitted a modified version because Kevin likes sleeping with a sleeping mask, but his current one (that I sewed for him) is not working so great.  So I knitted one up in about an hour and then spent about 2 hours lining it.  I tried it on, and it works for me, but he wants something that leaves more nose room and comes down lower on the cheeks.  I'll take a picture to post tomorrow or Friday.  I should keep working on my project for S&B II since I've been working at a pace of 1 inch per hour (which is impossibly slow for me!) and Debbie wants me to make three of them!  I love the pattern and get better at it each time, but I need to speed up!  I think tonight I'll recast on for my tank for the Bellytime Knitalong.

Oh, the other thing that's been taking away knitting time is reading.  When I get into a good book, I just don't want to put it down.  I've been reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.  It is in line with books like 1984 and A Brave New World.  I used Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale (which I also recommend) last summer in my Psychology of Women class, so the publisher offered me Oryx and Crake for free.  Who can say no to a free book!?  I'm about halfway through, so I'll probably be finished by the weekend.
 
 

May 3, 2004
Sorry I've been MIA recently.  Kevin's bro and friend are visiting, so I've been busy juggling having fun with them and getting work done, which has left little time for knitting.  I have a bunch of crazy days coming up, so I'll try to post when I can and shift April over to the archives eventually.