Knitting meme

Bold = Have already tried this
Italicized = Plan to try this
Unemphasized = Have no desire to try this

- Afghan
- I-cord
- Garter stitch
- Knitting with metal wire
- Shawl
- Stockinette Stitch
- Socks: Top-down
- Socks: Toe-up
- Knitting with camel yarn- if the opportunity presents itself
- Mittens: Cuff-up
- Mittens: Tip down
- Hat
- Knitting with silk
- Moebius band knitting
- Participating in a KAL
- Sweater
- Drop stitch patterns
- Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn (unless yarn purchased at tag sales or found while cleaning out someone's house before they move to a nursing home counts, that I've done.)
- Slip stitch patterns
- Knitting with banana fiber yarn (interesting!)
- Domino knitting- meh
- Twisted stitch patterns
- Knitting with bamboo yarn
- Two end knitting (I don't really get it)
- Charity knitting
- Knitting with soy yarn
- Cardigan
- Toy/doll clothing
- Knitting with circular needles
- Baby items
- Knitting with your own handspun
- Slippers
- Graffiti knitting (lol)
- Continental knitting (just so I know how)
- Designing knitted garments (do socks count?)
- Cable stitch patterns (oh so many!)
- Lace patterns
- Publishing a knitting book
- Scarf
- Teaching a child to knit (if I have a child, it's going to knit)
- American/English knitting
- Knitting to make money
- Buttonholes
- Knitting with alpaca
- Fair Isle
- Norwegian knitting
- Dying with plant colors
- Knitting items for a wedding
- Household items (do coffee cup cozies count? I'm not really into washcloths)
- Knitting socks on two circulars
- Olympic knitting
- Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn (I'll take any yarn I can get!)
- Knitting with dpn’s (honestly, this is my favorite- it's probably why I knit socks so much)
- Holiday-related knitting
- Teaching a male how to knit
- Bobbles (I have an irrational hatred of bobbles)
- Knitting for a living
- Knitting with cotton
- Knitting smocking
- Dyeing yarn
- Steeks (I'm afraid)
- Knitting art
- Fulling/felting
- Knitting with wool
- Textured knitting
- Kitchener BO
- Purses/bags (I'm really surprised to realize I haven't actually done this yet)
- Knitting with beads (I should, what with all my beads)
- Swatching (aren't we always supposed to?)
- Long tail CO (I need to learn another way)
- Entrelac
- Knitting and purling backwards
- Machine Knitting
- Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegated yarn
- Stuffed toys (I should add this to the baby knitting list)
- Knitting with cashmere
- Darning
- Jewelry (I tried... and frogged)
- Knitting with synthetic yarn
- Writing a pattern (I've made a few patterns, I just haven't written them down)
- Gloves (so far, only fingerless- but I should go all the way)
- Intarsia
- Knitting with linen
- Knitting for preemies (well, I would if there were a preemie to knit for)
- Tubular CO
- Freeform knitting
- Short rows
- Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
- Pillows (ok, this could be cute)
- Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
- Rug
- Knitting on a loom
- Thrummed knitting
- Knitting a gift
- Knitting for pets (I've knit all the pieces for Pansy's bed, but I haven't assembled it yet)
- Shrug/bolero/poncho
- Knitting with dog/cat hair
- Hair accessories
- Knitting in public (constantly)
- Double knitting (interesting, but I'm not sure I see the point)

Celebration!

Friday was my thesis defense. I successfully defended my doctoral thesis, and now just have some revisions before it's really official.

Pansy-versary!

Today we celebrate one year of Pansy!

Pansy then (11/17/07, 6.5 months old)Pansy now (11/17/08, about 1.5 years old)
(note significant increase in fluff)

FFE Swap Question of the Week #7

What foods do you like to bake this time of year? Are there any that are traditional to you?

I like to bake anything apple or pumpkin. I drink gallons of mulled cider (ok, not exactly baking). The most traditional thing I'll make is Thanksgiving pies, which I've been in charge of for the past 10 or so years. My mom will mail me cookies made from our old family gingerbread cookie recipe (at least, she'd better!). She always makes turkey shaped cookies, and uses a recipe that's pretty much the same as it was 350 years ago- yeah, we're very old-school. They unlike any other gingerbread cookie I've had, incredibly mellow and soft, almost cakey.

After Thanksgiving, we'll get into Christmas cookies! I'm still working on the to-bake list. In January, I'll get into Christmas bread- I have to get inspired by all my mom's fresh loaves while I'm home for the holidays to actually make my own. (hers is usually better, but mine's definitely good enough). The Christmas bread is definitely a tradition, though, it's a very old Danish recipe my ancestors kept with them when they came to the US.

Well, ok, speaking of tradition... but this has nothing to do with baking. In my family, even more important than the turkey on TG day are Grandma's peanut butter-stuffed dates. These are simply plain old dates, sliced open and stuffed with a dab of peanut butter, then rolled in sugar (or not, for the diabetics). It's the simplest thing ever, and there's really no reason to have them only at Thanksgiving, but we do only eat them at Thanksgiving.... and by eat, I mean devour. Grandma usually uses 3 tubs of dates, and 8-10 of us will finish them off in just a few minutes. And every year I wonder, why can't we have these at other holidays? It's not like dates are out of season at other times. But, that's the way it is. I'm looking forward to some peanut butter dates :)

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

This is how I celebrated this momentous, Christmas-like holiday:
Magnolia's vanilla cupcake and vanilla buttercream recipes, topped with fondant stars.

The cupcakes were made using a pan given to me by my colorswap partner, which is so appreciated!! I think mini cupcakes will work better for me than regular ones, just because of the reasons I make them (for example, half the time I bring them anywhere, there's so much other food that people can't handle a whole cupcake, so minis will be perfect- then they'd really replace a cookie).And in thesis news, I'm starting to get really nervous- butterflies nervous. My defense is 10 days away, so I guess I'd better throw myself head-first into preparing, to help reduce the butterflies.

Think good thoughts for me on Friday, Nov 21! 10am is my public presentation, 11am is the private defense.

/Phase1

, as Clint put it.

I handed in my thesis yesterday. Two weeks from today, I will give an hour-long public seminar on my thesis project and have a 2-3 hour private oral defense.

Rather than being nervous about that, however, I'm listless and have no idea what to do with myself. Thesis filled my time such that I didn't eat meals, but snacked while writing or revising. I have a good deal of work to prepare for the 21st, but I'm taking a mental vacation today.

And last night, I celebrated. I left lab super early (4:30!) to go shopping, and I bought gifts for swaps and for friends for Christmas (including one item I bought 3 of, but would have bought 6 or 7, if only they'd had more). I spent $80 on groceries, which included nice crusty bread, a pound of gruyere and a bottle of sauvignon blanc, and dined on cheese fondue (I've lost weight from the thesis, so I figured I could have fondue for one night, and not have to worry that I won't get to the gym). I knitted (finished 2 items, one for a swap and one for Christmas) and baked cowboy cookies. The cowboy cookies weren't that impressive, yet I'll share the recipe anyway. I found them rather bland, even with chocolate chips, coconut, oats and pecans. The dough was pretty good, though (and cookie dough goes nicely with pinot noir), but mostly because I love oatmeal cookie dough.

And during my absence from blogging, we had an absence of FFE swap questions of the week- nice coincidence for me.

Question of the Week #6

“What seasonal knitting projects are you looking forward to?”

I don't think I'm really doing seasonal knitting projects, I'm really just trying to pump out all my Christmas and baby gifts asap. After that, I may start my wedding shawl, because I'm getting close to choosing a pattern. Also, in February, I will be living in Massachusetts, so there's a move in there to interfere.

So, lame answer, but nothing specifically "seasonal".

Oh, except maybe a christmas tree hat (ravelry link) that my SnB is doing as a KAL- although they're meeting to decorate the knitted hat a week from yesterday, and I'll never have it done by then. So I'm not sure I'll knit it, but it's so cute.

Yay!

Look! It's my thesis!


Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled life... for the weekend, at least.

This is turning into a thesis blog.

Ok, update.
Chapter 2: check.
Chapter 3: Version 3 form (maybe final?)
Chapter 3 Appendix: same as above.
Chapter 1: version 2 is with Charlie
Chapter 4: version 2 is coming along and will get to Charlie sometime tomorrow.
Abstract: version 2.0, needing some more tweaking before it gets back to Charlie.

Figures
Chapter 2: check.
Chapter 3/Appendix: minor tweaking, adjusting brightness/contrast, fussing with labels, etc
Chapter 1
1.2: almost check.
1.3: borrows heavily from 1.2, so won't take too long
1.1: um, not started yet, hopefully won't take long- it's all mindless ppt cartooning, though.
Chapter 4: one figure, almost check.

Then I have to do the intro text: table of contents, list of figures, acknowledgements, dedication. Then assemble the entire thing.

Non-thesis update: um, the GSC Halloween party was rather dismal. Bad music, lots of drunk 23-year-olds (apparently everyone pregames, although everyone only get 2 free drinks now, and it's expensive to buy, so I don't really blame them.) Although I had cheez balls, and I love fake cheez flavor. I liked my costume. I wish I'd had friends there so there were pictures of me that were not solely for the purpose of photographing my costume.

I cast on my color swap knitted item. I stayed up too late last night and got quite a bit done- I should get to the 50% complete point tonight.

I baked more apple cupcakes yesterday. However, no time for frosting, so they're more like apple muffins. Still, yum.

I'm exhausted. I'm tension headache-y. My headache meds take the headache away but leave me nauseas- so which is worse, headache or nausea? Yesterday was nausea, today I'll go for headache.

Charlie said this is the hardest part of my graduate career and he was so right.