Yarn Dyeing!!!

I'm not sure if I'm tearing up from the watching the inauguration or from the fumes of dyeing.

I've decided to celebrate my last day with no classes and the new president by dying up some yarn. This is how it came out.

And this is what my hand looks like.

Yep, that's my Christmas Tree in the background...I like to keep it up until Easter.

We won't even get into what the kitchen looks like. I'll be spending the rest of the day trying to make it look like nothing even happened before my boyfriend gets home. Maybe I can convince him that our cabinets have always had a green tint to them.

One chihuahua is cute, two is an infestation

Although it is the cutest infestation ever! We're dogsitting and my life is very chihuahuaful at the moment. That's all...I really should get back to working on my thesis.

Mwah!

iGoogle How to of the Day, or How Does Google Know So Much About Me?

I don't know if everyone who signs in to igoogle has this, but on my page there is a section called "How to of the Day". How can a person like me resist seeing what is up there everyday? I mean, I obsessively watched DIY network to the neglect of my school work, apartment, and personal hygiene until all of my favorite shows got cancelled. Needless to say, I usually end up reading whatever article is up there. I am a little concerned though, and I am fully aware that expressing this concern will make me sound like a conspiracy theorizing narcissist.



I feel like google is trying to tell me something.



It was all fine and great back when the topics coming up were things like "How to take better pictures" ( http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Better-Photographs) or "How to make a yarn octopus", (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Yarn-Octopus). You know these are things that I genuinely want to know how to do.

But

Lately, the How tos of the day have been getting a little personal. "How to Lose Belly Fat" (http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Belly-Fat), "How to Stop Being so Needy" (,http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Being-Needy) "How to Stop Procrastinating"(http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Procrastinating). Then, the worst one so far "6 Ways to be More Feminine." (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Feminine) OK, igoogle I get it...hints taken.

jeez.

Scrumble is now a hat

That little scrumble piece that I posted a picture of a few back is now a lovely little had. I'm really pleased with it, and it was so fast to make! the entire thing is crochet, which may be a first for me.

So I haven't knitted anything for my boyfriend ever because I've been afraid of the knitter's myth. For the uninitiated the myth is that as soon as you finish a knitting project for a signifigant other, he/she will leave your life. The only other boy I've knitted something for did leave soon after I finished it (although, I did kind of know that it would happen). Now I've been with my current boyfriend for nearly 4 years so I'm probably just being silly. I was wondering if there is any crocheter's myth? Could I crochet him a hat without any fear?

Fractal Necklace

I've noticed a trend: As soon as I post something on this blog of about a work in progress, I instantly loose any interest in working on it. That being said, I'm kind of scared that the flower I knitted up and posted yesterday was a little too normal for my sensibilities. I just didn't put in the amount of creativity into it that I like to. Not to say that it wasn't a usefull experience because I was playing with some new increasing/decreasing techniques while working on it. You see, other than the knit stitch, I've mostly taught myself to knit so there are still some things that I'm still picking up on. Here's what I just learned K2tog and SSK are mirror images of eachother, K2tog and sl k psso are NOT.

Speaking of getting technique down, I've noticed that my DVR has started showing up with Knitty Gritty episodes again. They're not new, and are coming on in the wee hours of the morning, but I'm still happy to watch it again!

This has all been preamble to present the Fractal Necklace that I knitted yesterday. I picked up the coral-colored yarn to add on to the darned flower, but ended up with this. Its very much inspired by one of my favorite classes I've taken at college: Plan II Math. Or as I like to call it "Math for Hippies". We learned about all kinds of fun math like fibonacci numbers, platonic solids, topology, mobius bands, the fourth dimension, and fractals. Here's my knitted
interpretation of a very simple fractal:

Update: Knitted Virus

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I wanted to attempt a knitted virus, so I've done some more searching into what had already been done.

Here are some fabulous virus doilies

http://laurasplan.com/ (click doilies)

They are based on images of viruses and made by sewing machine

She really captures the intricate beauty of the viruses.

I found a couple of other pictures that look sort of like knitted balls covered in bumps.

Most of what I found are based on pictures of viruses, and I would like to work from the protein structure of it, which I think would fit in nicely to my modular style

but first I need to finish this project:

hopefully it will eventually look like this, but more knitty:

New Things

I hope everyone had fabulous Christmases and New Years!

I finished another scarflette over the holidays and just got it listed to etsy

I started to fall in love with it during my "photo shoot" but lets face it, I have a scarf for every scarf-worthy day of cold we get down here in Texas.

I also started working on something else using the same yarns, but I'm not sure what yet.
Another Scarflette or purse? I was also thinking maybe hat...it would be some work to figure out the geometry, but I think that it could end up being quite aesthetically pleasing.

I'm trying to embrace the crochet more. I'm just coming to realize that the things that I want to make just make more sense with crochet than knit. Its more willing to be formed around the curves and corners that I love to make. Maybe I'm having a fiber identity crisis.

I also got a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully I can post more often because I won't have to wait for my boyfriend to bring his home from work anymore. Likewise, I am trying to improve the pictures on my etsy page. It is not going all that well so far because I haven't been able to get the light right yet. Honestly, I think the best ones are the ones I've taken in the bathroom! Oh well, practice practice practice.