Well, hello,there!

I know, I fell off the face of the planet. But, I did warn you a while back that this would happen. It's going to happen some more this year, I'm afraid. But today I'm here and I've got some things to show you.

Blame my appearance on Gator. I've been telling him about some things and he thought I ought to just blog about them so he could see them. That was the point of starting this blog, after all. What a novel idea to use it for its intended purpose!

I still feel like I disappeared only to pop back in just to show off stuff. Oh well. I am really kind of like that, after all. Be thankful most of you don't have to live with me. (Hi, sweetie! Thanks for wanting to live with me anyway!)

Part of my absence has been business, but not all of it. I've been in a funk (missing my sweet husband a lot, mostly -- and I'm not just saying that for Gator's benefit, it's really true), I've been sick (there has been some nasty stuff going around up here), and I've been in that place where I don't really know what to say so I just don't say nuthin'. We've all been there, I'm sure.

I'm supposed to be studying for qualifying exams which is a totally overwhelming prospect where I have to come up with two research proposals by the middle of May for my committee to judge, question me on, and then they pick one of them for me to write a 30 page grant proposal that I defend at the end of June. On any subject in molecular biology or genetics that isn't too close to the project I actually do. I haven't even really found a good topic yet. So I stress. And, sometimes, I escape into X-Files DVDs and do handwork. But I really need to stop that. And, no, there isn't sufficient molecular biology or genetics in handwork to officially fit that into my proposal. I've looked into it.

So, I finished the afghan I started for my labmate, who is due with a baby boy in July. The late afternoon sunlight makes the color come across more true than the picture in my last post. It's a mellow gold.






(Click to embiggen -- they look better!)

Lots of Love afghan from Kraemer Yarns made with Cotton Ease in Maize on size US10 circulars. My first knitted (as opposed to crocheted) afghan. It was pretty fun and I think it's very pretty. I just love working with Cotton Ease -- it's so soft and nice.

I came across this new dishcloth pattern -- the Squidge cloth. I've made a couple and sent one to my sister, Jane, for her birthday, but I haven't used one yet so I can't really report on their effectiveness as actual dishcloths. But they're great fun to make and I like the feel of it made up. And I lurve this giant ball of brown ombre Bernat cotton that I've been making dishcloths from. Neato.


My latest project was going to be a wedding present. But I don't think it's going to pass muster. My friend is getting married this fall and I want to make her an afghan. I am also poor and I also have a gigantic stash. So, I thought I would make a crazy ripple afghan, use up stash, be funky fresh, etc. But, really, I think it's probably just fugly. In retrospect, I should have tried the random stripe generator and I probably could have made it become cooler, but I didn't think about it until about two stripes ago. It's far, far too late. I, personally think it's kind of cool, but I don't really think it's wedding present caliber. Later this summer I'll rustle up the dough to get some yarn for a better design for them. They're huge Packers fans (and Anne's favorite color is green) -- I'll probably do a funky Packers ripple. This one will become mine!


So that's my life. Frantic reading and studying, making knockout strains of Tetrahymena, more frantic reading, sudden overpowering need to escape and ignore all responsibility, watch X-Files and crochet.

Now you know my every waking move. I'll wait til you stop shaking with excitement.

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