Who are you, again?

Howdy! I'll just get right to the angst.

I simply don't know who you are, anymore.

Ah, melodrama. But it's very true, in a way. I started this blog when I found out that I would be moving away from my husband for a matter of possibly years and I wanted to show him what I was up to in the big city known as Beer Town. I invited the world along, and we had a great time. I met new people and they seamlessly became part of the audience. I found out that other family members were relying on this blog as their main method of knowing what I was up to. Friends that were often featured in my posts from Milwaukee are now reading to keep up with me now that I'm back in College Town. But I've lost my main audience. Gator is here with me everyday and we share all the wonderful little daily things that make marriage awesome. So I don't have to show him what I'm up to via the innernets, I just turn around and say, "Hey, Honey!"

I have no intention of giving up the blog. But I just haven't figured out who I'm talking to, exactly. Crafting blog buddies are always supportive of my handwork show-and-tell and I figure they are interested in the minutiae of my crafts, because I'm interested in theirs. But I don't assume that my sister is all that enthused about snowflake after snowflake and pictures of my dinner when I go out with friends. Okay, I don't assume anyone is enthused with pictures of my dinner, but Gator always thought it was pretty cute when I did that and now he's only, like, six feet away from me, and I don't know what to say on here anymore.

This is going to be a process. And it's still going to be mostly show-and-tell, because that's what I do. I make things. And there's just no way a blog about me is not going to be heavy on the things I make. And until I figure out what else it's about, that may be about it. I don't blame anyone who gets bored. But I figure no one will get as bored as they would if they came by again and again and saw nothing but the Olympics post. And the Olympics were a long time ago, I know. I mean, Evan Lysacek is already halfway through Dancing With the Stars, fercryinoutloud.

Plus, putting the angst right out there makes it smaller, so they say. We'll just see how that works out, won't we?

So in the meantime, show-and-tell, it is!! I've been very busy throughout my blog silence, but as it is Monday, we shall, of course, focus of Snowflake Mondays!

It's certainly been snowing up in here, as evidenced by numbers 4 through 11 from 99 Snowflakes!


It's kind of odd to see flakes all lined up like that, I think. And some of these, I must admit, are not shining examples of flawless blocking. But I bet they're awfully lovely on someone's tree this winter, regardless.

But that's just a teaser -- an aperitif, if you will. Back in February, I stated that I wanted to design two snowflakes this year. Well, one down! It was super fun and I think I'll be doing more than just one more this year. It would be great if I found time to design one a month, but I'm not going to hold myself to that, especially once it gets really nice out and I'm out and about more than crafting. But I'm very happy to be back on the design end of things, even if it's something as small as a flake. Instead of winging it, like I did with the Fancy Star flake, I was guided by a photograph of an actual snowflake. I like the idea of that because I'm a little turned off sometimes by snowflake patterns that are really just small doilies and not reminiscent of any snowflake ever found in nature. Not that they aren't beautiful, but it's just not the road I want to take.

So, without further blathering on about crap you don't care about, I present:

Crystal Fantasy Snowflake
(available as a PDF file in the sidebar)


Finished Size: Approximately 4 1/4" diameter using size 10 cotton and a 1.6
mm (US 6) steel hook.

Note: This pattern uses American crochet notation.

STITCH GUIDE
Picot Cluster: (Ch 7, slip st in fifth ch from hook) 3 times, (ch 5, slip st in
fifth ch from hook) twice, slip st in ch below third slip st from hook and in next
ch, ch 5, slip st in fifth ch from hook, skip next ch, slip st in ♥ next 2 chs; repeat from ♥ once more.
______________________________________________

Ch 6, join with slip st to form a ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 9, ♥ dc in ring, ch 6; repeat from ♥ four times more; join with slip st
to third ch of beginning ch-9. 6 ch-6 sps.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in same st, ♥ ♪ ch 3, dc in next ch-6 sp, ch5, slip st in second
ch from hook and in next 3 ch, ch 3, dc in same sp, ch 12, slip st in fifth ch
from hook and in next 6 chs, work picot cluster, ch 11, slip st in fifth ch from
hook and in next 6 chs, ch 1, dc in same sp, ch 8, slip st in second ch from
hook and in next 3 ch, dc in same sp, ch 3, ♪ sc in next dc, repeat from ♥ four
times more, then repeat from ♪ to ♪ once; join with slip st to first sc; finish off.

Block and stiffen using a 6-point blocking pattern.

This design was inspired by one of the over 5,000 micrographs taken of
snowflakes by amateur photographer Wilson A. Bentley in the late 19th
century. He was the first person to photograph snowflakes and the results are
still stunning.

Photo by Wilson A. Bentley. Property of the public domain.

And there you have it. I like it much better than my first snowflake design, which I figure is how it should be. Happiness!

Super huge hugs, thanks, and kudos to my awesome blog buddy Judy who beta tested this pattern and made me sound more competent than I am. You totally rock, girl!!

Next time I'll tell you about the non-snowflake related things I've been doing! Won't that be fun?

Whoever you are.

_____

Olympic snowflake Monday

I'll probably be a little quiet for the next couple of weeks while I watch a lot of skating and skiing. It's not personal, I promise. You should probably just go enjoy some skating a skiing too. It's pretty fun.

It is Monday, howver, and snowflakes are appropriate to the Winter Olympics, so I'll show off the latest - #3. Riveting, I'm sure, but that's what you get around here. If you haven't figured that out yet. :)


Ooh! Skiing! Bye!

_____

When you procrastinate your ways to procrastinate, what does that make you?

Yes, it's true, sometimes I can't even procrastinate efficiently. Remember waaaaaaay back in, oh yes, March, when I told you about the fun little game I played on Facebook wherein I made gifts for five people by the end of the year?? Yeah, that one! Well, the last gift was received earlier this week! In February! So, either "end of the year" meant December 31st and I failed miserably, OR, "end of the year" meant twelve months from the day I joined the meme, in which case I made it with weeks to spare. I'm just going to put the blinders firmly on and say it's the latter. Even though I'm pretty sure it was originally worded in such a way that I don't really get that out.

I already showed you Byron's java jacket, but I'm going to re-show so it's a complete set. And, you're a rather captive audience, hmmmm? Hehehe. I also made small modifications in the same pattern for gifts for Julie and I'm Still Calling Her "New Friend" Veronica. I love these so much. I can't believe I haven't made myself one yet. The little cable is my favorite. :)

Quick and Basic Coffee Cozy by Andrea Piernock
Patons Soy Wool Stripes and Classic Wool
Size US6 dpns

I also showed you the beginning of Don's gift, but it went through a bit of transformation after it's last cameo... Don's a cool guy and a bit nerdy (which is why I love him so). I remembered him talking about a certain graphic novel many years ago when it first came out. And when the movie version of that graphic novel came out last year, I hoped that a commemorative hat would do the trick! Turns out I was right! I'm so glad he likes it. :)

Time Thief Watch Cap by Antoinette Buchanan
Unknown yellow acrylic blend with felt applique
Size US8 dpns

Speaking of nerd boys I love, Gator's best friend Wiggins was also on the list. Yes, we call lots of people by the last names around here. We're fun that way. Anyway, as a classic geek, I figured he could always use another place to stash some dice. And a dice bag shaped like a die was just too good to pass up.

D4-Shaped Dice Bag by Claire Nordlow
Red Heart Super Saver yarn
Size US8 straight needles

That's five! Whew! In the interest of full disclosure, it was the dice bag that did me in. I wanted to finish it before I started the last two gifts, but I was stymied. It was a little big fiddly to put together and get the numbers even. So I procrastinated it. I only finished it around New Year's. It turned out it wasn't so bad in the end. And I love the finished project. It was totally worth it, I think.

That's how one procrastinates the procrastination. You'd think it would take more talent than that, frankly.

_____

Flurries of fury!!

I swear, people are crazy. When I was a kid, we got a snow day about once every four years. And it's not because it didn't snow! I remember getting stuck in the school bus on hills, in driveways, in ditches. We were late sometimes, and sometimes we all got off the bus and went into the student's house whose driveway we were stuck in and their parents gave us all hot chocolate, but school wasn't canceled. If it was, you could bet there was a drift in the pasture twice as tall as I was.

It snowed last night, an inch or so, enough that Gator had to brush it off the windshield of the truck. So, of course, there was no school today in about four counties. It did snow all day, but by 8:00 a.m. it was melting faster than it was falling. I came home to less snow on the ground than there was yesterday. There's already talk of no school tomorrow. Who are these people?? I know, I've fully entered curmudgeondom and will soon be talking about how far I used to walk uphill both ways. But really!!!

Once again, I have snow of a different variety to show -- #2 of 99 Snowflakes.


It's a little bit larger than the last one -- certainly larger than I thought it was going to be. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a mini-flake. It might be an actual grown-up.

I've been thinking about flakes a lot. I realized recently that my own design, the Fancy Star Snowflake was on the Snowflake Crochet-a-long at Crochetville last year. I liked designing it, but I totally winged it. I just picked up a hook and started. I'm very interested in sitting down and planning one out. I've been looking at pictures of real snowflakes for inspiration. I'm setting myself a goal and you are witness to it: I would like to design two more snowflakes this year and offer the patterns for free here and on Ravelry. I would also like to design one other thing, but I'm not sure what yet. I'll keep you posted.

I've actually got lots of things to show you, but I've been waiting because some of them hadn't been sent and received by their new owners yet. I'm still waiting just a bit but then I'll bore you with endless show and tell as is my wont. :D

In the meantime I'll update you on the cross stitch which I've spent quite a bit of time on this week. Again, I'm realizing how slow I am at this.


I like it, though. I just hope I can finish it without getting stressed. I hate for my hobby to stress me out. That's kind of the opposite of the point.

During the Super Bowl (Oh yeah! Geaux Saints!) I started Baktus. I'm gonna love this. Easy peasy knit, awesome and useful little scarf when you're done. And perfect for in front of the TV.


It's great for showing off fun sock yarns somewhere other than on your feet. If you're into that sort of thing. It appears that I am. Hmmm.

Punch Tow Truck!

We were on our way home from work and stopped at a red light. All of a sudden Gator punched me in the arm. As this is actually not usual behavior from my beloved, I said something along the lines of, "Hey! What the -- ??"

"Slug Rooter," he said nonchalantly.

"What????"

He pointed out the front window to a van approaching the intersection. "Slug Rooter."

Sure enough, there was a van just like this crossing in front of us.


I just didn't realize you get to make up new Slug Bug variations on the fly.

Now I know.

Amy Amy!

Since I've moved back to Columbia, I've spent very little time with my friends here. Partly it's because I just kind of holed up with Gator for awhile when I first got here. Conflicting schedules are to blame in some cases. But, really, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I just kind of drifted out of contact with a lot of folks over the last three years. They got new routines with other people, got into new relationships, moved, had kids, etc. And now that I'm back, I'm just not a normal part of their lives anymore and it's hard to find time to smush one more thing into a busy life. I get it. I don't take it personally. Technically, anyway. I know I'm as much to blame for the drifting as anyone. I went off and had an adventure. I made new friends. Just because I decided to pop back into town is no reason for anyone to drop everything and accommodate me. But, even though Gator is awesome and my very best friend and I like him better than anyone on the planet, he's... Well, he's a delightful homebody. And a tiny bit antisocial. (Those that know him can stop chuckling now. I know. I understate.) I like to gad about! I like to do fun things with all manner of fun people! I like adventures! I'd like to have adventures here in College Town and then maybe, maybe, I can learn to love it more and not pine endlessly for Beer Town. And as much as I love being with Gator, not having girlfriends to gad about with makes me lonely.

So I became determined to hook up with my old friends, even if I had to become a nuisance. The other problem is, I lost my old address book with everyone's phone numbers in it. If their number wasn't programmed into my landline phone (and it only held 10 numbers, so those were mostly family and almost none of my friends were in it), I didn't have their number anymore. I didn't have a cell phone before I moved to Milwaukee. Yes, I know. I wish I still didn't have one, ridiculous things, but that's another post, I reckon. ANYWAY, I had to pester my friend Amy via Facebook for weeks and finally we managed to exchange digits (I know, it shouldn't be so hard but somehow it was!) and set a day and time to get together!

Last night we went to Murry's, an awesome little restaurant here in College Town that I had not been to in almost four years. It's exactly the same as it was, which is kind of comforting. We had one of their most famous menu items: Green pepper rings. They are like onion rings, but green peppers. And they're covered with powdered sugar. Yes, you read that right. Powdered sugar. Oh, I know what it sounds like. It sounds horrible. It sounds like the worst idea ever. But. They. Are. AWESOME. There's some sort of magic that happens when the ingredients touch each other and they are transformed. It is a delicious example of something being far greater than the sum of its parts. I should have taken a picture of the dish itself but I did not because I was too busy eating it. But I did take a smooshy face picture of me and my AmyAmy (that's what I call her):


Our hair didn't used to match that well. Hehe. We picked right up like we hadn't been apart at all. It was really great. We talked and talked and talked. And ate, of course. The seafood linguine is really great there, too. :) We've already got plans for more fun!

So the College Town adventure has begun! Next I'm going to pester my friend Sarah, again via Facebook, into seeing me! I'm gonna get all re-friended up in no time!

_____

Let's try a little Snowflake Monday, shall we?

Awesomeness of awesomenesses when I got home tonight -- broken hot water heater!! I never thought I would miss the creaks and clanks that thing used to make whenever I washed dishes. Oh, but I do! Not that I will be sad if it has to be replaced with a brand new one that doesn't make all those noises, mind you.

Only light yoga tonight, 'cause I'm going to work dirty!! (Yeah, like that's never happened before. Ha!)

Now back to your regularly scheduled handwork discourse! (I know you were worried I was going to further discuss my hygiene.)

So last year I totally fell off the Snowflake Monday wagon (pretty much everyone else did, too, so I didn't really feel too bad). And, come the holidays, guess what? I had no snowflakes to give to people! Amazing how that works! So I'm going to try to get back into the habit of making one flake a week and posting them on Mondays. I've got a copy of the book 99 Snowflakes and I've decided that this year I'm going to start with number 1 and see how far I get. The only problem with that is that the first several flake patterns are for small flakes...


That's just fine though because, as we must always remember, size matters not. Next week there will be another little tiny cute flake! And I will love it and stroke it and pet it...

I was at Hobby Lobby on Saturday to get a pillow form for the now-finished Not Terra Cotta Pillow (pictures coming later) and I "stumbled" upon the clearance section. I have a serious thing for clearance yarn. Pretty much, if it is marked way down and it's yarn, I will buy it. They didn't have any regular yarn, but they did have crochet nylon, which is awesome because I just saw a pattern in a magazine (Gator sweetly got me a subscription to this odd little 'zine) for an awesome little purse made of nylon -- and I had none in my stash! Whew! Glad that was rectified!!

But that is a project for much, much later! I also found a cute little cross stitch kit for $4 that will make an awesome mother's day gift! I haven't done a serious cross stitch project for some time and it feels a little foreign, I must admit. And, apparently, I am really slow at stitching these days. This is several hours' worth of work from Sunday:


It seems pretty pathetic to me. But it will be very pretty when it's done. It even came with a pre-cut mat board and I got the frame for it and everything (they were 50% off!)! So, now all I have to do is stitch! After I do some hopefully-non-sweat-inducing yoga.

_____

Saturday Sky

More alliteration! w00t! Plus, the resurrection of a meme I haven't participated in for... well, a long time.

It's about 19F and clear as a bell. Pretty day.


And yes, those are Christmas lights. We are classy like that. Snap.

_____

WIP Wednesday

Alliterative blog post titles make me happy, so I'm taking this opportunity to regale you with a view of my works in progress on a cold and grey Humpday. In other words, WIP Wednesday!! w00t!

I don't actually have many WIP's right now, unless you count that needlepoint heron picture that's been halfway done in a bag for eight years or the candlewicking picture I started making for my Grandmother in 1982. And we're not counting those, mmmkay?

Right! So on to the only four WIP's I have going right now!

This is a pillow and it's a wedding gift. The sides will get tied together when the back is done and that will make a fringe. I quite like the design.


The pattern said it was "advanced" and I thought, "that simple geometric pattern is considered 'advanced'?? Pshaw!" And, while I still wouldn't classify it as "advanced" necessarily, it is much more challenging than you'd think. The way the chart is followed is veeerrrrryyy different and takes a lot of getting used to. But I think the result is worth the aggravation. As you can see, the front is complete and I'm just finishing up the back. I'll get a pillow form this weekend, tie and sew her up, and voila!

I started this tissue box cover, but I knew it was going to get put on hold when I started it. So it may remain in this very primitive state for some time. But it is officially "in progress" so I must include it here. :)



If my sister is reading this, then she is waiting for me to acknowledge the very existence of this next WIP. It's her tablecloth that I agreed to make for her several years ago and it is far, far, far from finished. It was in time out for quite a while, but I've taken it out and have worked on it off and on again. The pattern comes from an old pattern book that she got from an aunt's estate and has the redonculous name "Square-a-Day Tablecloth". I have spent a Saturday doing little else but working on a square for this thing and let me tell you: If crocheting this were my actual job, on which I spent a solid eight hours in a day with no lunch or bathroom breaks and didn't stop to chat with anyone or pee, there is no way on God's green earth I could make one of these squares in one day. There must have been some supremely awesome Speed in the 50's, and all the grannies must have been on it. Although, I suppose technically a day is 24 hours. So, sorry, Sis. It's out of time out now and I'll keep plugging away at it, but it's gonna take some more time. I've almost completed three of the twelve squares.


Who knows, maybe I'll find a groove and just start crankin' 'em out. Stranger things have happened.

Now, this is the one that absolutely kills me. I started a purple (of course!) afghan for Gator over ten years ago. I got about a third of the way done and we moved. The afghan and the rest of the required yarn ended up stored in a trash bag. And then we moved again. And again. It ended up in a storage unit for awhile. When I went to get it out of storage, I couldn't find it. Now, this storage unit was one we shared with my In-Laws, so things got shuffled around a lot when I wasn't looking. So I looked some more. I asked my In-Laws. I looked some more. We emptied the storage unit a few years ago and it was nowhere to be found. I figured, hey, it was in a trash bag after all, somebody threw it away by mistake. Disappointing, but far from the end of the world.

When I moved back to Columbia from Milwaukee, I went to my In-Laws to get some stuff of ours they had stored. Guess what? It was in the bottom of a closet! No one really knew when or how it got there! So now I can finish Gator's Amethyst Blankie!


This photo is actually pretty tragic -- the color is waaaay off. It's really a very rich plum that I like very much. But mostly I lurve the combination of crocheted cables with the super cushy waffle stitch. Yum!

So there you have it! I've spent Wednesday evening showing off my Works in progress and now I'm Wiped and can no longer remain Wakeful as I need my Wits about me tomorrow at Work so I can earn my Wage.

Hee!

I crack myself up!

What I do 2.0 (sorta)

You may be wondering just what I do in my sparkly new job. Also, you may not care a fig. In that case, all is not lost today because I'm really only going to describe my work in about two or three sentences. Maybe four. Just skip down to the pretty pictures now. I won't mind.

Actually, I'm going to let the rest of the innernets give you the details -- then you can read as much or as little as you want. Ready? Basically, I'm an aerobiologist and flow cytometrist in a core facility for researchers who study pathogens and the immune response to infection. In reality, it's a brand new facility and we're still just setting up and don't have any real pathogens yet and I'm still learning to run my $1,000,000 worth of equipment. In case you were wondering where your tax dollars are going. I take really good care of them, I promise. :)

Make that $1,000,250 because I also got a new digital camera for the lab and I've been playing with it, checking the best settings for extreme close-ups, playing with the lighting, etc. You know how people take photos of ordinary things very close up and/or from an extreme angle and then it becomes "Art" photography? I really think these types of photo are pretty predictable and uninspired. I usually end up liking them anyway. I never claimed to be a particularly sophisticated art lover.

I went off on this artsy tangent because -- surprise! -- I took some of this very type of photo in my aerobiology lab. I want to blow them up really big, frame them, and hang them in the lobby and front hallway of our facility. This probably won't happen, but I can at least share them with you! Aren't you the lucky ones! ;)

Tunnel of Glove -- the inside of one of the gloves on my glovebox.

Triumph -- a row of glove ports on the box.

Rabbit Row -- animal cages.

Aspen -- the lid of the sonicator.

Parade -- rivets around the pass-through port of the glovebox.

And yes, I do find them predictable and uninspired. And yes, I like them anyway. Don't worry. I'll be keeping the day job.