Gallium Arsenide, Old Lace

More than a year...

2010-09-14T14:24:00.002-05:00

I should just plagiarize one of these posts.

National Poetry Month

2009-04-02T11:04:00.005-05:00

Inspired by Samurai Knitter, my favorite E.E. Cummings poem. A line from it was printed on our wedding invitations:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

It is, at the same time, a satire of love poems and a beautiful love poem.

Methods vs. Products

2008-06-18T15:36:00.006-05:00

I've been reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and was delighted to read this truism about welders:

I have heard that there are two kinds of welders: production welders, who don't like tricky setups and enjoy doing the same thing over and over again, and maintenance welders, who hate it when they have to do the same job twice ...

In the knitting community, this is a very common dichotomy, referred to as process vs. product. Stereotypically, process knitters are interested in new or challenging techniques, or uncommon ways of knitting common items. On the other hand, product knitters are interested in the finished item itself, no matter how boring it is or how many other times they've knit it.

Of course, there are shades of grey. Among popular bloggers, Wendy considers herself to be a process knitter, and admits that her knits just sort of pile up in the closet! However, she has no problem kitting 45 different pairs of socks last year! On the other hand, The Yarn Harlot knits to survive long Canadian winters, but she'll also try to mix up wearable items with complicated or innovative techniques. But still, it seems like most knitters identify with one side or the other.

Is this common in other production-based jobs or crafts? Is there a similar dichotomy between decoy-duck carvers? Decoupage enthusiasts? Bookbinders? I'm dying to find out.

(Book cover photo courtesy of sharpwits)

Nothin for Christmas

2008-01-12T11:35:00.000-06:00

I'm a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad knitter.

Faced with the prospects of knitting Christmas presents, I approached the project with the same "tool" I always use - procrastination.

In other words, I knit nothing for Christmas. Nada. Zip. I haven't even picked up the needles since the beginning of December. Furthermore, I suppose I've been a bit ashamed of this fact - for awhile, I stopped reading knitting blogs, and I don't think I've logged on to Ravelry in over a month.

So what have I been doing since November? Well, I've got some pictures, but the camera's currently Not Here. Hopefully I'll post them tomorrow.

Fifteen steps, then a sheer drop...

2007-10-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

Yay, Christmas yarn! More specifically, yarn I've bought to make Christmas presents for others. It seems like many bloggers and Ravelry users are starting their Christmas projects - hopefully I'm not too far behind. This will be my first knits Christmas, so I don't really know how long a few scarves and gloves will take me. I'm also planning to make a pair of thick wooly socks for a certain someone, despite my earlier complaints against them. Hopefully, thick wooly socks will be much more forgiving of gauge and sizing problems!

Lately, my biggest difficulty has been deciding whether I should work on current projects (to be discussed later), do finishing on projects that have been set aside (wristbands for Andy, another project to be discussed later), or swatch all these yarn goodies I've got in my stash. So far "current projects" have been winning out, because they're so much fun!

For example, the Brea Bag. I admit, this bag is NOT for Andy (although he's joked about wanting a "murse"); nor is it a Christmas gift. It's all for me, baby! I couldn't resist the yarn or the cute shape, and I want to learn how to line knit projects. This is also my very first attempt at cables, and I'm learning a lot about their construction. I'm knitting with two strands of Cascade 220 held together, so it's gone super-quick. I've probably spent about 4 hours on it so far, not counting an hour or so for the swatch.

I also started knitting a little robot for my friend, 2nd Lieutenant Smart Guy. He's currently stationed in Iraq, and I want to make him something that will remind him of brighter and more hopeful times. Smart Guy is a big fan of the Autobots (but sometimes he roots for the Decepticons), so I'm trying to make the robot look like Optimus Prime. Hopefully, I finish it by the beginning of December, so we can send it off in time for Christmas.

Catherine has released the pattern for the sweater I test-knit - it's called Samantha and I love it. Except, I blocked it way too big and I'm too ashamed to post pictures for the internet to ridicule. Someday, I'll fix it. Someday.

Physics and Knitting: Which way does yarn wrap on knits and purls?

2007-09-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

(This post was inspired by a discussion on SamuraiKnit's blog about Western vs. Eastern vs. Combined knitting)

I've been seeing a lot of confusion on the knitterwebs about whether we wrap our yarn clockwise our counter-clockwise for knit and purl stitches. This confusion stems in part from popular books like "Stitch and Bitch", which a lot of knitters (including me) learned many techniques from; when I look at those tiny little diagrams in books and read "wrap the yarn counter-clockwise," I can't imagine how anyone DOESN'T get confused.

From my perspective, as I'm knitting, knit stitches are wrapped clockwise - under the needle from my right-hand-side to my left-hand-side, then over the needle the other way. But, in relation to the tip of the needle (and who takes that perspective?), the yarn is wrapped counter-clockwise! See, CCW from the perspective of the tip of the needle is CW when looked at the other way.

Let's complicate things further: when I turn the needle around to point towards me(i.e., to purl), I wrap the yarn counter-clockwise: from my right-hand-side over the needle to my left hand side. If you think about it, the yarn is wrapped around the needle exactly the same direction each time, but it's often described differently in books. It seems like this confusion of terms causes some new knitters to start knitting Combined without even realizing it, since they're "following the directions in the book."

Thankfully, scientists and mathematicians have faced the same problems, and developed standard solutions for describing the direction of rotation. Anyone who's taken a physics course should recognize the Right-Hand Rule, which is actually more like a convention. They needed a way to communicate the direction of rotation without all this, "well, it looks clockwise to ME - it's going from your top LEFT to your bottom RIGHT" and so on. For example, a wire charged with electricity also produces a magnetic field around the wire. Scientists who study that field take the convention that the magnetic field curls "right-handedly" around the wire, meaning that if you point your thumb in the direction of the flowing current, your fingers curl around in the direction of the magnetic field.

So lets get back to knitting. Point your right thumb along the needle from the base to the tip (the one that you knit with, if you're using dpns) and think about making a knit stitch. Look, your fingers curl around in the direction of the wrapped yarn. (if you knit Western style) Now do the same with a purl stitch - it's "right-handed," too.

I've got a stitch stuck in my head.

2007-09-10T15:05:00.000-05:00

I got within 40 stitches of finishing the bind-off around the collar of my raglan sweater last night. I was so desperately tempted to stay up another half hour and finish, but my fiance was sighing, rolling his eyes, and complaining about how he was so tired. He could hardly keep his eyes open. What a baby!

So now, I'm at work and I cannot concentrate at all. I keep imagining those stitches, waiting at home for me. I can feel how difficult the bind-off is, how I'll have to push the tighter stitches off the needle carefully, making sure I don't drop any stitches. I like watching my very last ball of yarn slowly dwindle, and basking in the knowledge that I bought just the right amount (well, the second time...) Also, I'm looking forward to finishing it and getting some good pictures - I'm ridiculously proud of how well this sweater is turning out, especially given the knitting disasters I've suffered recently.

In other words, I want to go home, and its only 3:30. This day will never end.

The meaning of haste

2007-09-05T18:31:00.000-05:00

Hurrah, I've finished the body of my first raglan sweater! I'm absolutely enamoured with this style of construction, from attaching the sleeves in the round to the matched ahoulder decreases. I tried it on for a few minutes, until I started dropping some of the stitches at the neck, (hence the lack of pictures), and it fits well in length and around my mid-section. I'm guessing it'll block much bigger if I do the traditional "soak and pin" method, which will be much closer to Catherine's original sweater.

The last piece of the sweater is a lace collar. Right now, it =ooks a little bit like a blurry, green pomeranian, but trust me, it'll soon be so delicate and pretty. It's such an ingenious little pattern, and I love how easy it is to "read" what to do next from the previous row (with a little help from the chart).

I've also been "working" on Jaywalker Socks: Take 3. No pictures, but imagine this sock, with longer stripes. The heel flap is STILL 3 inches long! It seems like I've got three options:

Keep going and assume it'll turn out OK,
Rip back to the heel flap and start turning 1 inch earlier, or
Frog the whole sock and try a more elastic, possibly toe-up pattern.

You know, Grumperina recently confessed that she's not a sweater knitter, meaning she prefers knitting socks, scarves, and other fast-but-challenging projects. Maybe I should accept the fact that I don't particularly enjoy knitting socks, especially when I can't seem to make a pattern work to my satisfaction.

Gaucho Trousers

2007-08-27T14:22:00.000-05:00

I'm reading a collection of Jorge Luis Borge's short fiction, translated from the original Spanish by Andrew Hurley; I've really been digging the sort of philosophically fantastical style present in Borge's writings. One of his favorite topics seems to be the lives of South American gauchos and brigands. Hurley, for his part, has been kind enough to note certain phrases or historical references that English-speaking people might miss, but would be so evocative for Borge's contemporaries. One such end note deals with so-called "gauch trousers". Hurley explains:

"This is the chiripá, a triangular worsted shawl tied about the waist with the third point pulled up between the legs and looped into a knot to for a rudimentary pant, or a sort of diaper. It is worn over a pair of pantaloons (ordinarily white) that "stick out" underneath. Sometimes, incredible as it strikes Anglo-Saxons that the extraordinarily machista gauchos would wear such clothing (but thing of the Scots' kilts), the pantaloons had lace bottoms."

[Borges, Collected Fictions. Translated by A. Hurley. Penguin Putnam, Inc. 1998; pg. 537]

Well, that's a novel way to wear a shawl!

Love it, Like it, no way!

2007-08-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

A meme from Gruperina, although megaknits reminded me that I wanted to post it.

Love it! This is my thing:
* Knitting, Gift Wrapping Inventing, Balloon animal making, Silly pictures in Paint, Photo editing

I do or have dabbled in it:
* Music, Cross-stitch, Crochet, Brewing (mead), Brewing (wine), Sewing, Beading, Jewelry Making, Creative programming, Painting, Drawing, Writing, Poetry, Photography, Graphic Design, Story Telling, Acting, Stage work, Cartooning,

Would love to try:
* Spinning, Dyeing, Quilting, Stamping, Paper Making, Calligraphy, Video / Film Making, Candle Making,

I've no interest in:
* Needlepoint, Macramé, Scrap Booking, Cooking, Flower Arranging

Apparantly I'm a dabbler. I think it comes from growing up in a crafty and artistic family, although I suspent the artistic gene skipped me.

Sorry that this is such a non-update. When I've been knitting, I've been working on The Sweater, which means I'm almost up to the neckline. But I'm also in the middle of moving out of my apartment, which has been limiting my knitting hours.

You know what's also limiting my knitting hours? Ravelry. It seems like looking at patterns can sometimes be more fun than actually knitting them. At least, it's a lot easier on my hands and my budget!

I almost made it... (non-knitting-related)

2007-08-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

I was so close! Close to finishing Harry Potter 7 without spoiling the ending, that is.

Since I was taking a big, important test last weekend, I decided not to start HP7 until this Monday. I've been so scrupulous about anything Harry Potter related; since it looks like I'll finish it tonight, I thought that I would finally be able to read one of the books without having the ending "spoiled". All I had to do was make it through this work day, and there's only 30 minutes left.

Except, I made the mistake of logging in to Facebook, where one of my friends had been so kind as to join a bunch of groups with names like "________ Memorial Society" and "My Life Is Meaningless now that __________ has been killed!" (names removed to protect people who are in the same position as me). If you're not familiar with Facebook, let me tell you that any changes to a friend's profile, such as joining a group, show up on a news feed that I see when I log in. That means that I could immediatly see the groups she had joined.

Now, I generally don't care too much when the ending of a movie or book is spoiled before I see it. A good movie movie shouldn't rely on a "hook" or a trick to get viewers - I tend to prefer interesting characters over interesting plot devices (although a good surprise ending can really kick a good book up to great book territory). However, when it comes to series like Harry Potter, most of the pay-off is going to come from the plot - many readers (including me, I'm sad to say) have been intellectually and emotionally invested in finding out "What Happens Next?"

And that's why I was a bit disappointed to read some of the titles of those groups. Since the end of Book 6, I've been imagining all these endings: Snape could be innocent or he could have been guilty all along. Harry Potter could die at the end, or his friends could die, or Neville could turn out to be the real hero, and so on. There's really not much to these books BESIDES that. And finding out the real ending before reading all the set-up which gets the characters there is unsatisfying.

This also raises questions about how long a book, movie, or TV show needs to be out there before it can be discussed in general society. This is complicated by Tivo, Netflix, and other subscription services. Will we ever be able to discuss the ending of Harry Potter without it being a spoiler? I don't know.

Absense makes the heart grow...

2007-07-31T10:15:00.001-05:00

I'm shocked. Over the last 6 days, I've been monogamously knitting on my sweater, to the exclusion of every other project (what? those needles by the computer desk? it was nothing, I swear! a harmless fling).

I finished the left arm about a month ago, and this weekend I knit the body up to the armpits, where I'm supposed to join the arms before I start decreasing for the shoulders. The only problem is that, as far as I can tell, the right sleeve is the one I need to attach first.

Sleeves knit up very quick, and I'd definitely finish it by tomorrow night, except The Dude is coming home this evening and he'll probably want a lil Me Time.

This yarn is Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran, which is a wool/alpaca blend. This apparantly means that it's got all these fibers coming out all willy nilly, but it's surprisingly soft and supple when knit and I know the frizzy parts will matt down a bit when I block it. At least, that's what happened with the gauge swatch.

Two of the skeins (out of about 7 used so far) have had small knots joining the yarn. I'm pretty much OK with that - I wind the yarn into balls first to catch this sort of thing. But, I'm less ok with this:
No, that's not a shadow. It's a little piece of black thread in one of the plies. I'm afraid that if I cut it out, the yarn will start to unravel. If it was on the back of the sweater, I'd probably just ignore it, but it's going to end up being right smack dab in the middle of my chest. Not attractive!

My options, as I see them:

Cut out the offending spot and darn it up with some leftover yarn,
Try to excise that one part of that one ply and hope it doesn't start to unravel unattractively, or
Double-stitch over that spot and hope it doesn't show.

Really, all of my options seem pretty lousy. As they say, "A stitch in time saves nine." If I had caught this before I stitched it in, I could have broken the yarn around the spot and split-spliced it back together.

The Donner Debacle

2007-07-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

I'm not dead, just dormant. The Dude and I spent a week in lovely Tahoe/Donner, California, where we did much wedding planning and such. Now, he's back home visiting his high school friends, and I'm starving to death in piles of my own filth. I know I wasn't this helpless before we moved in together.

One would think that a devoted knitter like me would spend a week with no 9-5 job working on various projects. Well, I didn't - I think I managed to knit 3/4" of ribbing for the Jaywalker's I've restarted. No picture because, well, it's pitiful at best.

But now I'm back, and instead of studying for GRE II: Electric Boogaloo, I've been working furiously on the Test-Knit Sweater. With The Dude gone, I knit about one skein (97 yards) every two days, which means I'll be finished 3 weeks. Just enought time to meet the September deadline, if nothing slows me down... Don't bet on it yet...

Ummm ... I accidentally started to swatch for a pair of Sidewinders while sitting at my computer, but I resolve that those size 1 needles will stay by the keyboard!

Not My FO: A Knit Ferrari

2007-07-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

"Lauren's Ferrari is not just a car that happens to be made of wool. This is a carefully considered object that questions the relationship between male symbols and feminine craft to suggest the relationship is more complex than first thought. The car also cleverly plays on the hard smooth object being transformed into a soft textured one. The result is visually stunning."
- Bath Spa University Press Release

I appreciate the fact that Lauren is wearing a cocktail dress with flip flops. Very James Bond.

The Curse of Circular Swatches

2007-07-11T19:11:00.001-05:00

My in-progress knits have suffered from the heat, my fickle nature, or severe gauge problems. First up, I knit through the Soleil waist decreases, and was about to start increasing for the bust. I stopped to measure, which is when I saw a problem.

My stitch gauge is spot-on the pattern, but my row gauge is way off - the pattern calls for 33 rows per 4", and I'm getting 26! The waist would be at my hips! It's not too late to modify the pattern for my row gauge, and it might be flattering to have a more gradual slope over my tummy. Or, I could frog it at start from the beginning of the lace section. What really angers me is that my faux-circular swatch, where I knit exact stitch and row gauge, was so misleading!

I also started (and gave up on) Grumperina's Jaywalkers.

It looks fine there, but this is my second iteration. My first sock was knit on size 3 needles, using the large pattern. These, of course, based on my faux-circular swatch. Those socks would have fit my fiance! I started over, on the same needle size but with the smaller pattern (what can I say, I assume the pattern is wrong before I assume my swatch is wrong). When turning for the heel (see: the photo), I realized that the heel flap is so long, it's grotesque. You can't tell from the photo, but it starts above my ankle; it's about 3-1/2 inches long. That's 1-1/2 inches longer than the 2" guideline listed by nearly everyone. In other words, my row gauge is way off.

I'm also test-knitting a sweater for Cat. She has a picture of her FO here. I'm absolutely drooling to finish it, despite the 95°F temps and the 90% humidity - wool is no fun when it sticks to my sweaty palms. A sneak peek at the sleeve.

I love love the sleeves, and the collar, and the lace pattern on the hem (you can't see that in Cat's picture). I'm using Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran, which is fine, if a little splitty. It blocks like a dream, and my gauge is perfect. Why, do you think, that in this case my swatch played nicely with my finished product? Easy: I didn't use a faux-circular swatch! I just cast on to 3 dpns and made a tube about 4 inches in diameter and 5 inches long. It takes a little more time at the beginning, but a stitch in time...

Crafty Mom

2007-06-29T16:04:00.000-05:00

My mother, who has always been much craftier than me, expressed an interest in knitting while visiting my humble apartment a few months ago. "But," she said as she worked diligently on the world's smallest and tightest-knit swatch, "I simply don't have the time to knit at home, what with your Graduation Quilt that I haven't finished yet." (I graduated 5 years ago)

Oh, how well I knew the siren song of knitting. Not one month later, she called me, frantic for pattern-reading help. Then, last week, she sent me a picture of her first almost-Finished Object - a pillow cover. Posted here with her permission, because I'm so proud of her.

In her own words: The story is, I found the pattern on the back of a Caron Wintuk 100" Acrylic Yarn wrapper. You're suppose to knit 2 of the pattern, sew them together and stuff it with a pillow form. The pattern is very simple, just knits, purls, and slips, you don't even have to count. I already had a pillow with an ugly side and just 2 large skeins of this brown color, (not enough to do two sides) so I decided to experiment. I knitted the center section and tied up the bows. I then sewed the patch onto the stretched out pillow cover. Well, I still have several inches of the ugly material showing so . . . I am crocheting a open weave pattern around the edges, (mostly cause I don't know how much of this brown is left on the skein.)

Wow, doesn't that look great? I didn't even know my mom could crochet! Of course, I've always known that she excels at whatever she puts her mind to. Renaissance dress for me, circa 7th grade? No problem. Re-frame and reupholster half of my broken couch? Easy peasey.

I'll have some updates on my own projects soon.

First Finished Object

2007-06-23T11:55:00.000-05:00

Lotus Knits! is giving away hand-died wool in two beautiful colorways as part of a bloggy yarn contest.

My mother bought me a Caron Simply Soft Learn-to-Knit kit for Christmas. I knit this scarf (which I gifted to my friend. He wore it once before it was too hot).

I made a lot of mistakes on this scarf. It's one stitch too wide, which screws up the ribbing. I did't really know how to count the rows, so the section lengths are more-or-less random. But overall, it's soft and comfy around the neck.

In the picture is a palm tree that Andy and I rescued from the dumpster.

Completed: Fiance's Socks

2007-06-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Pattern: General sock pattern cribbed from around the internet. Thanks to Silver's Sock Class and Kate Atherley's Socks 101 from Knitty.com.

Yarn: Regia Stripe 5377 - about 3/4 each of two balls, which means I have 1-1/2 balls remaining. Fiance's suggested matching striped wrist and headbands.

Needles: US-0 aluminum dpns for the cuffs and US-2 for the rest of the sock.
Dimensions: A bit too loose on Mens US Size 13 feet (His foot is 10.5 inches around the ankle, I think)

Some Notes:

Perhaps my I should have tried making socks for my feet (size 9, womens) before I attempted to make them for Fiance. It seems like he's got twice as much foot as I do, and he's a lot more picky.
I had some problems picking up stitches for the gusset. On 4 sides, I managed to do 1 gaplessly. The other three look like this:

I guess I have to darn up that hole before Fiance rips it open any farther.

Overall, I've really enjoyed making socks. So much that I wound up yarn for my next pair:

I wonder if anyone can guess which pattern I've got in mind?

PS: This Kitchener stitch reference card was super-handy on the toes.

Progress, with pictures

2007-06-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

My mamma, who called me out of the blue a few nights ago, remarked that I never update my blog. I wanted to wait until I downloaded all the pictures from my recent trip to fabulous Dallas, TX, but I suppose I can make a little filler post right now.

I've mostly been working on my first pair of socks, graciously modeled by my lovely fiance.

Perhaps it's not a good idea to knit your first set of socks for your large and masculine boyfriend. First, he has very big feet. Secondly, his feet are shaped like semi-circles. Just after I took that pic, I realized I had to start the toe decreases, even though his actual toes don't start for another inch or so.

Furthermore, I recently started another Knitty.com pattern: Soleil.

I've finished the second repeat of the pattern at the bottom. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I should add length by adding pattern repeats or by lengthening the stockinette before the waist shaping. And, do I have enough yarn? What you see is pretty much one skein, and I only have 6 more remaining...

As for the Double-knit scarf, here's a progress pic:

Yeah, there's no pic there. I picked it up last weekend, stared woefully at what little progress I had made, then ripped it out, to the dismay of my dear fiance. My problems were threefold:

1) The scarf was way too wide,
2) The stitches were way to big, and
3) I had forgotten where I was in the pattern.

I'm going to do 2/3 of the pattern repeats and knit it on size 7 or size 6 needles, whenever I can get the motivation to restart it. My fiance, by the way, keeps making snide little comments: "Oh, it's so COLD in here. I wish I had a BIG THICK SCARF to keep my neck warm." Shut up, dude, it's 90 degrees outside!

7 or 8 Things Meme

2007-05-22T17:48:00.000-05:00

We've been tagged by, oh, everybody for this meme! StitchyWitch, bunchkin, and another one that I can't find. I'll write 7 quirky facts about me, and tag no one else, so there!

1) Last winter, I tripped off a curb and sprained my ankle so badly, I couldn't walk for two days. It took 3 months to completely heal. Now it sort of aches the day before a big thunderstorm!

2) I learned to knit with this kit. We made a scarf, and I donated it to a friend of mine, who wore it once and pronounced it to be "too girly". The yarn (Caron Simply Soft) was very soft, though.

3) I played violin for 9 years as a kid, from 4th grade to my senior year in high school. I was never very good, but I now have dexterous fingers and a fine sense of rhythm.

4) I designed my first webpage in middle school, after teaching myself HTML. It was a geocities page, and it included a "summer camp purity test". Oh, the style was green text on a black background. Tres chic!

5) I bowl. I currently have an in-league handicap of 80, although I suspect my non-league game average is 10-20 pins higher.

6) My fiance told me last week that my favorite color is blue, since all my work shirts are blue button-ups. I think he's been tricked - ALL women's button-up shirts are blue!

7) I've been taught to crochet 3 or 4 times in my life, but I can never remember how to do it whenever a pick up a hook.

That's it. I'll tag whoever's reading this, and hasn't done it yet (ha, I tricked you!)

Completed: Knitty's Branching Out

2007-05-12T12:18:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Knitty's Branching Out, Susan Pierce Lawrence (yes, my second Knitty.com pattern).
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Color 24: Claret.
Needles: Vintage aluminum 7" straight needles (bought from ebay.
Dimensions: 6" by 32", unblocked (see below).
Cast-on: April 23rd, 2007

Notes:

I deliberately knit the "scarf" very short - I still have half a skein left! I don't wear scarves much, but this pattern was perfect for two uses:

Head Scarf, and

faux-ascot

Because it was so short, I finished this one super quick, blocked it, and wore it out the next day. After a night keeping my neck warm at the local, it came home limp as a rag and smelling like cigarette smoke. I'll have to re-block it every time I wear it!

Branching Out has taught me:

If the end-of-row count is off, it's faster to knit back rather than frog back to a lifeline.
Use a lifeline!
The sharper the needles, the easier it is to k3tog and (my least favorite) sl2-k1-p2sso.

Bent out of Shape

2007-05-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

I pulled my current project out of my bag after work today and saw this:

WTF! I just bought this set! In other news, it's hard to knit with a bent needle.

My ball winder came in last week. Here it is:

I bought that yarn on eBay for a couple bucks. For a while, it was all mysterious and cool, but finally tracked down a labeled skein. It's like, 95% acrylic 5% nylon, and I have yards and yards of it. I think I'm going to make tons of throw pillows or a big hideous blanket. Any ideas?

Yarn Pr0n

2007-05-03T19:28:00.000-05:00

I ordered some sock yarn from The Loopy Ewe, and let me say I'm very impressed with their prices and service! I ordered:

Regia Stripe 5377 - Blue/Green 3 skeins,
Regia Stripe 5399 - Lg. Rainbow 2 skeins,
Russi Argyle 480 2 skeins,
and some sock needles, size 2 and 3

She sent me a handwritten note and some special extras as well. The Blue/Green striped socks are for my Andy, who has big misshapen feet! Then I want to make some Jaywalkers with the rainbow-striped ones. After I have some sock-making experience, I'll use the creamy tan yarn to knit something fancy with cables, so I can wear them at work.

I bought some smaller needles from Joann's, as well as a ball-winder, with the half-off coupon; hopefully that will come in tomorrow.

Completed: Clapotis

2007-05-02T08:40:00.000-05:00

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, published in Knitty.com
Yarn: Jojoland 100% wool, worsted weight
Finished dimensions: Uh, I didn't measure. It was 20'' x 54'' before blocking
Cast on: March 26, 2007

I decided to block it lightly; it needed to be washed, anyway, and the heavy yarn looked terrible pre-washing.
If you're looking for a fall or spring scarf, wool is too heavy. If I'm going to make this again (fat chance!), I'd use yarn that's lighter and more slippery, like silk or cotton.

Clapotis has taught me:

I need to cut and rejoin the yarn if there's a knot in it. At first, not knowing better, I just left them in! Then, when I dropped stitches, one dropped right through a knot; it's less noticeable after blocking, but I'm afraid it will catch on something.
I need to cut and rejoin yarn around thick sections where one ply wasn't completely spun, which is apparantly somewhat common in hand-spun yarns. I don't know what I was thinking on that row; blocking did help even those stitches out, though!
Small ouchless hair elastics are great stitch markers, although they're my least favorite kind of hair elastic!

All in all, I can't say I'm completely happy with it. It's nothing like the light, flirty scarf others have made with bamboo and silk. This Clapotis is entirely too warm for me to ever wear in Texas! You can't see it in the photo, but I'm making a funny face, I'm so hot! But I suppose it's pretty; I'm going to store it for the summer and re-evaluate in the fall. Maybe I will gift it to a friend in a colder climate.

Novel Tubular cast on

2007-05-01T12:51:00.000-05:00

Real quick post to point out a tutorial I found to make tubular cast ons with no waste yarn. This was very helpful as I was practicing my double-pointed needle skills at work, with no waste yarn in sight.

I found it a bit difficult to keep the tension consistent down the row, but as always it became easier with practice.

2007-04-23T12:01:00.000-05:00

This week has been rather eventful! I've made swimming progress on my Clapotis - there's an old in-progress pick here. Since then, I've finished the straight rows and started on the decrease rows.

On Saturday, my fiance and I went to our local library, where we applied for and received library cards. I checked out Shawls and Scarves, which contains EZ's infamous Pi Shawl. I really love the "Dayflower Daydream" circular shawl, but I probably won't be starting it for a long while.

Afterwards, we stopped by a new LYS on my side of town, Yarnivore. I bought this:

you might not be able to tell, since I rewound it, but that's one skien of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, color 24. Some knitters may be able to guess what I'm using it for; as I'm almost done with it, I won't post pictures yet.

The Ring

2007-04-18T13:46:00.000-05:00

I finally found a photo of my engagement ring.

OK, I admit that those are diamonds in the setting, but they're wee, tiny little ones, I swear. Hardly even chips. More like specks, really.

Can I express how much I love the stone? Doesn't it look so green in the picture? Usually it's very blue! It's absolutely exactly what I wanted. I am continually amazed by my beau's ability to read my mind, along with the completely obvious hints I drop on a near-daily basis.

Knitting Progress

2007-04-09T18:40:00.000-05:00

Computer wankery prevented my posting progress this weekend!

Anyway, I swatched the Chul'lu scarf from Knitting with Balls, except I'm double-knitting it, for my boyfriend's sake.

I started with stockinette stitch instead of garter, since it works up much better in dk-ing. Nice swatch, eh? Note that the gauge is almost twice as big while double-knitting than in traditional stranded knitting.

"right" side

and the "wrong side"

My swatch grew up! Instead of the single-color diamond pattern called for in the book, you can see I'm using alternating colors to create a simple diamond lattice. I originally drew up a pattern for a sort of faux-argyle, similar to what Eunny talks about here (the second pattern), but straight diamonds seemed more manly! It's pretty slow going, since I only use one hand (stupid lazy left hand!)

In other news, Clapotis progress!

By now, I'm even farther along than this picture (3 straight section repeats!), but I wanted to post this to show the awesomly random purple stripes in this yarn. I was sort of obsessing about it at the beginning, since it's sometimes blueish and sometimes purple, and even a little pink, but I just lined up the balls randomly and grab them now. This picture was halfway through ball 2, and I've just started on ball 3.

Ennui

2007-03-30T14:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Clapotis is completely kicking my ass. I spent more than 3 hours of dedicated knitting last night to finish 2 increase repeats, and I still have one left. I just exhausted my first ball of yarn, and my Dear Fiance is the only thing preventing me from ripping it all out and restarting with more stripes ("Uhhh...are you ever going to finish a project?").

I'm dreaming of stripey socks. I'm dreaming of trying to double knit that really fetching fair isle scarf from Knitting with Balls. In essence, I'm dreaming of anything but endless rows of purl and (k, ktbl, k3, ktbl) on repeat.

Mmmm...scarf. I cast on for the scarf ages ago - it was my second project, actually - but I had to quit when I lost one of the needles in the couch. The intended recipient (my DF) didn't like the backside of the fair isle, and I reallly wasn't looking forward to knitting two whole scarves and seaming them together on the side, or attempting fair isle in the round (remember, second project). I saw this double-knitted star scarf, and I immediately wondered why I couldn't replicate fair isle with this technique? Why isn't the whole world doing this? Am I completely crazy to think this is possible?

Well, it's been done by other bloggers, so maybe I'll take a Clapotis break tonight and knit up a practice swatch. Just the thought of throwing that damned triangle back in the UFO box makes my fingers tingle.

Clapotis

2007-03-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

My yarn for the Clapotis came in the mail today (I'm only, say, 2 years behind every other knitter online)! I knitted up a little test swatch today, to see how the dropped stitches will work.

In short, they're a pain in the ass! I had to coax them along all 3 inches of the swatch. Someone from the Craftster KAL reccommended dropping stitches every few rows, but if I'm lazy I'll just procrastinate all the hard work until the end.

I've got 10 balls of JoJoland 100% wool - I don't really want to knit up 3 balls at once, so I'm going to try and see if it'll stripe up nicely without mixing all the balls.

Eeek!

2007-03-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

I've been shopping for an engagement ring "in my spare time" (imagine me doing those sneaky finger quotes). I've finally decided what I want - no diamonds! I'd like just a pretty simple sapphire stone with two little cubic zirconium stones on the side, in white gold or silver. Gah! Stupid diamonds taking over everything! A pox on debeers!

Too much paperwork, I guess.

2006-11-08T23:48:00.000-06:00

Haha, long time no blog. I've been busy. Playing Guitar Hero.

So I had this dream last night, and I'm gonna write it here to see if anything grows from it. Basically, my dream starred an older, pudgier Tom Hanks as the quiet but slightly eccentric physics genius, and that pinchy-faced British actor as his good friend and co-researcher. Co-starring some blonde bombshell as their secretary, who happens to be banging pinchy-faced dude. It opens as Hanks wakes up, and discovers that walking through his bedroom door does not lead to the hallway, as it has every time in the past, but instead leads to British dude's bedroom (where the secretary is 'taking dictation'). Tom Hanks realizes - their experiment was a success! They've successfully folded space (sort of like those tesseracts from "A Wrinkle in Time", I guess).

Tom Hanks runs up to the attic, where he's apparantly been building a space ship to house this FTL drive he's invented (or perhaps stolen from the aliens, or the Russians. He wasn't clear). There's a cargo bay with hundreds of those elementary school water fountains and an aquarium full of frozen spiders, that needed to be thawed out. The dream ended with Hanks detailing all of the bureaucracy necessary for the first launch - it couldn't happen on Friday, because the Quality Assurance dude that worked on Friday was annoying, and if something went wrong, they didn't want to be drifting through space with him.

That's it.

Close to the Edge, Down by the River.

2006-07-06T22:33:00.000-05:00

I admit. I'm a YouTube addict. Where else could I watch this?

It just rained again, briefly, for the second or third time today. Phew, good thing I brought my cactus inside.

i'm thinking about my doorbell...

2006-06-02T23:41:00.000-05:00

What do nerds do when they have a baby? They data mine the everloving shit out of it.

Melancho

2006-05-12T00:28:00.000-05:00

I spent today running all those errands that have been building up, but that need to get done before Friday at 5pm - getting a replacement drivers license, getting a replacement student ID card, etc (I lose a lot of things).

I also took a big box-load of former hum books down to Huntley and cashed them in; all the books I didn't give away to future classes, or lose, or destroy in a fit of frustration. It made me really nostalgic - listening to all the DJs say their goodbyes on KSPC radio, playing sad slow tunes. I looked over each book, remembering the classmates I never see any more, all the assignments I sweated over and poured my life into. I feel like I just sold 4 years of my life for a measly 30 bucks.

Now, I'm in my room, drinking some beer and preparing for the moving guys, who come tomorrow at 8:30 ish. This mostly involves throwing away 4 years of accumulated crap, including class notes, pay stubs, etc. One half of me says "Good Riddance" to all this junk I've been carting around for so long. The other half is trying to convince me that I really need to hold on to those Numerical notes - they could be useful some day! But the notes go in the trashbag, and the trashbag goes in the dumpster, and I go to Texas, and next year, will I really miss any of this?

I ain't seen the sunshine/Since I don't know when

2006-05-10T20:48:00.000-05:00

When I hear that whistle blowin/I hang my head and cry.

Now that I'm D-O-N-E done (only 3 days after senior grades were due), I can't wait to get away from this place. I went to San Antonio this weekend and found an apartment to live in for this summer, and I went to the bank and applied for a crappy credit card that should get me through the moving process, and now I'm just waiting for the piece of paper that says I'm a free woman.

In other news, watch these.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

2006-05-04T00:52:00.000-05:00

I have a 10-15 page paper on Kant due tomorrow at noon. For various work-related reasons I haven't started yet (this means it's due in 13 hours). I just found the motherload: a 10-oz package of Dark Chocolate-covered Coffee Beans from Starbucks. See y'all at sunrise.

Wii? You've got to be joking.

2006-05-01T20:39:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to quickly link to Day Without an Immigrant, which I'm sure everyone knows was today. I hope everyone takes a few minutes out of their busy schedules to think about the past and future of American morality.

I'm sure I've mentioned Congressman Dreier before, more specifically my distaste for his politics and methods. His mailings only make me support the cause of undocumented immigrants more. Look, crossing the border is illegal, as is owning fake documents, but closing the border isn't going to solve the underlying problems that led to their crossing in the first place! Amnesty for current workers is all well and good, but a more transparent immigration process wouldn't like, invite terrorists in! The Dreier propaganda that pisses me off the most is when he insinuates that terrorists sneak across our border. News people: they don't have to sneak - they get in the same way everyone else does - ON A PLANE.

Network Neutrality

2006-04-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

Save The Internet

Too many cooks spoil the soup

2006-04-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

I just found this interesting critique of Wikipedia, written by Jason Scott of textfiles fame. His opinion pretty much tracks my own. Although I think successful collaborative knowledge-making ventures are possible, there needs to be a directive voice, a common mission and theme. Too many people (myself included) see Wikipedia as the chance to mine an ocean of knowledge, rather than a place to provide the same content as various Encyclopedias.

Wikipedia also begins to break down when users begin to add collegues who happen to still inhabit this mortal coil. For example, when everyone's favorite eccentric youth researcher, danah boyd, got her own Wikipedia article (written by a collegue and friend), she almost immediately blogged about it. Her complaints: much of the information was inaccurate, and the accurate information was removed because there were no "popular media sources" to cite. The talk page is a small mirror of almost all Wikipedia talk pages - the defenders vs. the deletionists/revisionists, who cite multiple Wikipedia policy pages to defend their arguments (the last article, about notability, is particularly relevant).

On danah boyd's side, we have some examples of ridiculous "consensus decisions" made by "Wikipedians" who choose to participate in certain articles. For example, the "Wikipedia policy" that wikipedians should record knowledge about people that are "Notable". This article (which seems to be just a suggestion) cites some pretty strict guidlines for "notable person". In today's day and age, why limit notability to "published authors, editors, and photographers who have written books with an audience of 5,000 or more or in periodicals with a circulation of 5,000 or more", when many (even C-list) blogs get over 10,000 unique pages views a day? Another one: should she be "danah boyd," because that's her legal name, or "Danah Boyd", because that's what Bill O'Reilly called her? Verifiability points to the latter, which is obviously ridiculous.

Jason Scott recently gave a sort of sequel talk at Notacon 3 about his views on Wikipedia. He points out this long list of previous "Featured Articles" - articles that were once considered "the best", but now don't hold up to standards, in many cases because the standards changed, but also because the content simply degraded. He says that the biggest problems with Wikipedia are it a) drives away real academics with knowledge in important fields, b) encourages users to obsess over their own little knowledge-space, and c) allows people NOT in the know to edit content placed by those IN the know. Take, for example, the notability guideline: if Professor Norvell was to make a long post about some obscure Brazilian musician, I could delete it with the comment "never heard of him. NN (not notable)", and I would be supported by many Wikipedians.

For me, Wikipedia's purpose has become so befuddled, it fails to have little relevance outside a tertiary resource used for quick browsing or internet memes like Flying Spagetti Monster.

PS. There's a great discussion/debate going on on danah's own talk page.

Just

2006-04-07T04:34:00.000-05:00

A famous band once sang:

"You do it to yourself,
You do,
And that's why it really hurts..."

I concur, whole heartedly. I have a bunch of work to do this week, but I could have done it earlier, but I was lazy, so I didn't, so now I'm screwed. I hate this.

Night, y'all. Don't mess with Texas.

Edited to add: I don't remember posting this. In fact, I saw it on the feed and asked myself "Who else in that class likes Texas???" I'm pretty "forgetful", apparantly.

Long time, no comment.

2006-03-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

It's been a while, huh? I've been thinking a lot recently about "lurking" behavior in online social spaces. A lurker is someone who, in an online web forum, reads a lot of the content regularly but rarely or never contributes new content. I admit to lurking on a few forums, mostly because I don't have the time or inclination to join in the discussions. Lately, I've found myself lurking even in communities where I am an established and known member. I recently posted at my "home forum", and recieved many comments such as "where have you been?" and "welcome back!" This was a bit disconcerting - I felt as though I had never left! I'd just been lurking for a while...

The only word worse than "blog" is "blogosphere".

2006-03-22T18:07:00.001-06:00

Spring must be in the air. I'm falling in love all over the place. Later on, I should make a quick post about "imaginary" capital and the economic ramifications of virtual assets.

Some links you online video lovers might enjoy:
Google Idol (vote for Pomme and Kelly!) and the lower-quality YouTube Idol.

I have a big problem with lots of humor video sites on the internet. I don't really care about the copyright infringement, but the blatant exploitation of user-submitted content is pretty lame. The fact that these sites are signing contracts to show this content on TV without compensating video creators is pretty lame (interesting - I don't care about bilking millionaires or corporations, but I do care about bilking the average Joe). Also, videos get spread around without attribution, which is also lame.

some bright morning/when this life is o'er/i'll fly away

2006-03-20T21:06:00.000-06:00

I get to read about the historical underpinnings and social implications of Darwinian evolution this week. Fun.

I can't quite find the motivation to complete this semester. All I need is a degree. 7 or 8 freakin' weeks, then F.Y.I.O.H.

Over spring break, I went to Old Town Temecula with some friends, where we ate barbeque, drank honey-root beer (delicious) and bought some ostrich jerkey. Then, we went wine tasting at 4 or 5 wineries (we bought at least a bottle at each one, too! I especially recommend the cream sherry from Mount Palomar). On the way back to Claremont, we stopped at "Old Tom's Happy Fun Park" (or something like that - it's on the 15 - hard to miss) for some bread and cheese. Overall a great day.

On St. Patrick's Day, I drank a bunch of green beer.

Why do my line breaks disappear on the feed?

Identity and Validity

2006-03-10T18:08:00.000-06:00

Some interesting links I've come across today:

Strategies of Online Moderation (Wiki) - its name is pretty self-descriptive: also explains "design patterns" and "design language" (which sound like buzzwords to me). Includes an uncomprehensive list of social sites and applications with linked descriptions of registration/posting/moderating policies, etc.

Hmmm... I thought I had more, but I don't. So I'll like to this awesome example of pre-CSS web design... with layout tables and everything! All it's missing is useless frames!

Just one note/Could cut my throat

2006-03-09T22:26:00.000-06:00

So, predictably, I'm sick. I was planning on posting a bit about gender roles on the internet, but my head is fuzzy. and my throat hurts. So instead I will whine and moan. I'm having trouble communicating, recently. In real life, I can't link to corroborating evidence, or justify my arguments with proper quotations. Sometimes I feel my own words aren't enough, and, face to face, they have to be.

Furthermore, it has been difficult to avoid conflict and drama recently. Online, I can dismiss inflammatory posts and comments (which is, perhaps, a bad thing - if distasteful ideas can be avoided, how can they be corrected?), but offline, walking away is considered rude. Better than having me stab you with my pencil, I should think!

In the words of Anthony Kiedis, so fucking what?

MySpace Developments

2006-03-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

A couple of MySpace news stories I've read today:

From CNN.com: MySpace.com to booster security.

From apophenia:Many teens are frustrated by the press' account of their behavior, but they have no voice. They are frustrated by their parents' fear, but they have no power. Parents are scared, and their fear is misguided. There are more actions against minors in San Francisco on a daily basis than there have ever been in the 3-year history of MySpace. More and more cases are failing to pan out. Yet, there are more kids on MySpace than in any single state. I wish i knew how to reach out to parents and say, "It's OK... your kids will be OK... just teach them trust and love." In statistical terms, MySpace is safer than going to school. It is safer than being in a car with your parents. It is safer than going to the mall. And yet, we are more scared because we don't understand it and we're afraid. This makes me so sad because this kind of fear is anxiety producing and culturally dangerous. :-(

Every Dog Counts

2006-03-01T17:24:00.000-06:00

In class on Monday, one group described a web site where dog owners could post as their dogs, and discuss doggy-issues. Today, I found this: Dogster.com. You'll thank me for this later, I promise.

The stats page is pretty interesting:

Total dogs on Dogster: 145,005

Average new dogs a day: 200.88

Dogs added yesterday: 476

Dogs added so far today: 251

Be Well

2006-02-23T22:03:00.000-06:00

Everyone's talking about this inflammatory NY Times article about academic emails. As someone who tends to write formally in all spheres, I found the article to be both trite and mis-informed. Yes, perhaps this so-called "information age" has lead to more hastily-written communications, but I don't think this is the end of academic professionalism in general. As educators, it is the professor's job to develop and maintain a healthy working relationship with their students. Although I will not argue that some students see college as yet another item to consume, I doubt many students have been shown otherwise. I was frankly appalled that some professors admitted to not answering questions posed by well-intentioned students simply because they were delivered via electronic methods, instead of in-person. Frankly, doesn't email take less time for both parties? I can understand the frustration with countless fatuous communications, but surely these have been around long before dARPAnet.

I Wanna Be Your Dog

2006-02-18T16:40:00.000-06:00

I love Southern California in the "winter." The temperature hits 80 degrees, and everyone forgets that it's actually February. Then it rains and we all remember that sunny February's are hardly normal.

I went to Sushi Cruise for lunch today. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it - don't be dissuaded by its Boat Shape. The all-you-can eat sushi lunch special (for $20) is a great deal for the amount of good sushi they serve. I would order the volcano rolls and the spider rolls. Set aside a few hours for lunch, and then another couple hours afterwards for the sushi coma. According to a friend, all-you-can-eat sushi is like running cross-country - you have to push through the wall to really discover how much you can take.

But now I'm at work in the midst of a Sushi Coma, and I have more than 300 pages of reading to do, a Numerical assignment, midterms to study for, and jobs to apply for. And the Olympics to watch. *Sigh*

It's like, I never had to see it in your eyes, or feel it. I could tell When You Smile.

2006-02-14T15:50:00.000-06:00

I didn't need to say anything, or do much, I could tell When You Smile.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. The culmination of the consumption-worship season. I support flowers and cards and candy and dinners whole-heartedly. I for one got a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and will probably go out to Viva Madrid tonight for tapas and sangria. Even if the flowers do make me sneeze, and I'm really too busy to go out to eat, I am determined to enjoy this fake holiday as much as possible. Viva Capitalism!

women and children first

2006-02-13T12:34:00.000-06:00

I think I've mentioned apophenia before. Last week, she wrote a very timely post on the hassle of IRB's, and her advisor's views on institutional ethics. Her post has sparked some interesting debate in the comments on whether IRBs protect primarily the informant or primarily the university. I for one don't think Boyd's advisor was advocating "throwing the baby out with the bathwater," but that we all must be personally and deeply responsible for the research that we do: we shouldn't follow the IRB guidlines because the are "the Rules", but because they are a set of integrated personal ethics that we have considered, debated, and shaped ourselves. There will always be grey areas and loopholes in Rules; a violation of personal ethics is much harder to justify.

Psss...check out her other post on that day for a great summary/critique of the whole "GLBT-friendly WoW guilds" debate.

I just lost five bucks...to myself!

2006-02-09T18:15:00.000-06:00

I watched the ninth episode of Project Runway, and super-cutie Danny V. revealed how he came out to his parents only last year. Nick commented that he thought, in this progressive society we live in, it's a little ridiculous that gays and lesbians aren't coming out to their family until their 20!

Comments:
1) Not my Danny! How could it be! I should have seen this coming - if I am attracted to a guy, he must be gay. What a radar!
2) My good friend didn't come out to his parents until he was twenty, and his sister was already out! It's difficult in any situation to reveal something personal and sort-of-still-taboo to your family members.
3) He is so wise and a seems like a great competitor and friend.
4) They're all great competitors. That tall swedish dude helped sew up a dress once. Kara helped Chloe finish her intricate outfit. Danny V. gave Nick that pep talk. They seem like such a nice group of people...

Hahaha...

2006-02-06T20:57:00.000-06:00

...troll cap...hehehe

Internet discourse often lacks negative reinforcement of deliberately anti-social behaviors (trolling, flaming, snarking, whatever). The anonymity the internet provides only worsens the temptation to treat others not like people, but as some sort of inanimate robots programmed to respond. As one notorious troll revealed to me once, "they're not real to me unless I know their names" (referring to "newbies"). Also, some people who are unfamiliar with internet conversations unintentionally invite and respond to trolls, which only feeds their behavior.

However, sometimes a "newbie" is labeled a troll simply because he does not yet understand the rules of the community. Such an insulting label (like an actual dunce cap) would probably only confuse and anger him, sometimes causing him to resort to intentionally trollish behavior. Also, a troll-warning system probably won't help those trolls who are just small, rude, selfish people.

37signals.com sells simply web-based organization software. They also run an interesting and diverse collaborative blog.

edit: dude, the aggregator doesn't show carriage returns on my post, for some reason. There are totally 3 paragraphs.

Communication on the Internet...

2006-02-01T21:17:00.000-06:00

I read this on cnn.com a few days ago. Adam reminded me of it in his entry today.

...well, OK, it's kinda shady that "people who e-mail most of their closest friends and relatives at least once a week are about 25 percent more likely to have weekly landline phone contact as well." Doesn't that just mean that people who keep in contact with their family are more likely to...keep in contact with their family? Damn you cnn.com for your misleading headline!

But it also concludes that "Internet users tend to have a larger network of close and significant contacts -- a median of 37 compared with 30 for nonusers -- and they are more likely to receive help from someone within that social network." So that's good :)

American Science Education

2006-02-01T20:04:00.000-06:00

Last week, I had the priviledge of attending a lecture given by Pinky Nelson on the state of the American public education system, and his efforts to reform science and math education in a Washington State school district. It was very entertaining and informative, and has left me questioning what I can do to further the love of learning among young people from all backgrounds.

Then today I read that Bush "didn't really mean" what he said in his speech last night, and in fact only mentioned "Middle Eastern" oil because "one of the biggest concerns the American people have is oil coming from the Middle East. It is a very volatile region...". How we are supposed to raise kids who trust their elders when we can't trust ours? (Ok, I know this is a pretty puerile example of the administration's deceptions - "This was purely an example")

they'd chase her footsteps across the sands of mars.

2006-01-30T21:39:00.000-06:00

I know Ms. McLaws is interested especially in reading and creating webcomics, so I thought I'd link to some of my favorite dailies (or at least weeklies) that are often overlooked:

- Whispered Apologies, especially this strip: A collaborative comic - artists submit the comic (with or without empty voice bubbles) to the authors, who add the text. The first strip demonstrates the shear beauty of this method.

- PhD - Piled Higher & Deeper: because my friends think getting a PhD will be a) quick and b) relatively painless.

- I used to read Wigu and Overcompensating, until I tried to catch up through the archives of both at the same time, and got rigorously lost. Now I see Wigu isn't updating daily any more - maybe I'll have time to finish catching up.

- Completely off-topic: Randomized Garfield comic-strip panels.

2006-01-26T14:43:00.000-06:00

I think my spring organization kick is starting a little early; I'm organizing my schedule, organizing my room, organizing my computer, organizing my life. So an article by Clay Shirky on tagging vs. traditional ontological organizational structures is somewhat relevant. He also touches on a point we covered in my Science and Religion class the other day: the conflict between realists and instrumentalists: "It comes down ultimately to a question of philosophy. Does the world make sense or do we make sense of the world?" He has about a million other excellent essays covering life online on his website.

apophenia is another interesting blog (I'll post later about how much I dislike that word) that used to comment heavily on social software. Her studies have moved more towards Western youth culture, but Boyd's commentary is always insightful.

"Capital and Stratification within Virtual Community: A Case Study of Metafilter.com"

2006-01-20T18:49:00.000-06:00

A grad student and the University of Lethbridge (in Southern Alberta, Canada) recently defended his master's thesis in Sociology, wherein he studied the social constructions of a community "blog" I frequent,
Metafilter.com.

In his own words, "My thesis is fairly straightforward: it examines the emergent way that Mefites have become either socially stratified over time or simply socially differentiated (the difference being more of a visual one - are certain users higher up in the social ladder - or are they all at the same level, with some users simply being more visible than others?)" (Ref). Furthermore, "the focus was on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of class and capital which I attempted to duplicate in an online setting, to varying degrees of success." (Ref)

His thesis can be found here. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds interesting.

My First Post

2006-01-20T13:04:00.000-06:00

The ubiquitous introductory post. Hello, World!