Happy Day After Christmas!

As a Christmas present to the world, I took some pictures of the hedgehogs! The babies eyes opened on Monday, and today when we cleaned their cage they played in my mom's bathtub. Okay, so I videotaped them playing and Warren cleaned the cage. Details.

Baby Girl was kind of a fussguss, but Baby Boy was very curious and friendly! Both of them like to gum hands, which might be a problem when they get teeth but is just adorable now. You can tell them apart because Baby Girl is bigger, and Baby Boy has brown hands and feet. Also, Baby Girl is more of a Momma's Hog, following Lotus around and calling for her if she's alone to long. Baby Boy is more independent and mellow. Sorry the lighting is kind of crummy, I thought it was bright but you can't really see their eyes.

Also, after they went back into the cage, Baby Girl went right to sleep in their blanket, but Baby Boy tried to stay up to explore the new cage! Lotus attempted to control him, but he fought her off and ran about, being very spoiled, which is unusual for him. It's actually usually the opposite. Anyway, after Lotus got a hold of him she ran on the wheel with him in her mouth, which he took like a trooper. When she does it with his sister, Baby Girl usually screams like the world is going to end.

P.S. - All of my Christmas knitting was finished, except of course the socks for Ashley and the socks for my uncle. I'm knitting my uncle's socks two at a time though, so they should be done readily!

As Advent Starts, I'm Seeing Stars!

Soon it'll be December first, which means that the days to knit up Christmas presents are fading fast. This year I've set a lofty goal of four presents, one of which must be finished (the others being surprises or gifts for understanding friends!).

The most important project this year is a pair of fingerless gloves for my sweetie. He's wanted these a lot, and I'm pretty proud of them! The first is almost finished, so I'm not exactly racing against the clock but if I don't finish it, I know that I'll never live it down... hehe. Everyone has someone like that they knit for I think.

My second favorite project is, of course, a sock. It's a slightly modified version of the Rapunzel Stocking from Knit 1 magazine... but this stocking is beastly. The heel is completely fucked, to put it gently. I don't wnat to complain about it now. Although the going is tough, Ashley will understand if I don't finish it- and she'll appreciate the cable-lace pattern and picot edging on the cuff :)

For my cousin, I'm making a hat like the one that I made for my mom for her birthday. My mom told me that my cousin was seriously jealous of her hat, so I decided to make it again... eeks! I hope I'll be able to finish it, but she doesn't know that I'm making it so, I shouldn't suffer if I don't meet my deadline. I really like these two colors!

My last project is a pair of socks for my uncle. They're just going to be plain, hand knit socks. I know he'll like them... he's been having a tough time for the past two years, since my grandmother and uncle died.

So there you go, my crazy December. I also would really like to make my mom a new hat, the one that's in the Alice and Wonderland spread in the current Vogue Knitting. I LOVE all of those patterns to death!

Glad you appreciate the updates. Here's some doodles from the meeting I had earlier today.

I find strange things at school o_o

In Occupational Health, we're covering toxicology and dermatoses. I needed to look up if keratin was involved in botanical disease response, and ended up finding this site.

The Skin Rash Hall of Fame

Ew, right? But oddly fascinating...

In other news, I'm not really knitting anything. I'm spending most of my time working or searching for a Co-op! If you want to hire me, let me know, haha.

(P.S. - I also found this site on pathology which actually helped a little bit, even though I still got the quiz question wrong.)

Octopus!

For my birthday, my bff Ashley gave me a copy of "Amigurumi Knits" by Hansi Singh. Let me say, that's an awesome book. My first project from it is... the common octopus! I made it for the secretary of Hooks and Needles, whose birthday was yesterday :)


While making this cute little guy, I realized how much I missed knitting (having knit barely anything over the summer...) and how much I missed making dolls. They're so quick to make... so easy... so admired by other people. I guess the reason I originally fell away from knitting amigurumi was because I ran out of ideas... which is a pretty pitiful excuse, if you ask me.

Also, in making this dear, sweet cephalopod, I've realized a technique that I've been totally underutilizing in making my own amigurumi- short rows. I've got to get on these, internet!

Houston, Prepare for College!

So this week has probably been the most hectic week of my summer. Classes start Monday (that's RIT saying "Screw you, bank holidays!") but I feel like it's already week 10. I guess that's because this is my last free week, when things aren't scheduled out and days aren't divided up like I'm in Zamyatin's We.


So, without further ado, here's my obligatory post of pictures of my dorm room for the family members that check my blog (I'm so cool... My mom's bookmarked my blog.)

Also, I wanted to point out the irony of my current plant situation. Before I left home, I pluckeda mint cutting from my garden and stuck it in a tin can with some rocks and potting soil. The cost was absolutely nothing, and the plant is thriving! I'm so proud. Contrast it with my gerbera daisies, which I over-watered... whoops. There's $8 down that drain. I just think that it's funny that the free plant was much easier to take care of then the grocery-store one.

Remember This?

Back this spring, I made the dolls to this video! It's finally found a place on the internet, so, give it a look-see and tell me what you think!

Tweet Tweet from Warren Sheetz on Vimeo.

Eco-Craftiness

I've been getting ready to go back to college... I can't believe that RIT is only 4 days away!

Anyway, I had a list of things I wanted a mile long, which doesn't really jive for me at the end of summer. At school, I have two jobs along with being a full-time student, so I don't have to worry about money (unless my Dad forgets to pay the tuition bill!)

Item number one: A magazine file. I desperately wanted something to put my knitting mags in. Last year I had a ton of problems with piles of magazines. The problem with buying a magazine file? A decent, interesting-looking one sells for over ten bucks!

So what's a teacher's daughter to do? I made my own out of a cardboard box I was going to recycle, water, flour, and a magazine that I saved from the RIT library's junk pile.


I think for my next file, I'm going to invest in a roll of duct tape to hold it all together at first. It's a little fragile, but I'm sure that'll clear up after it dries.


I also made some pretty sweet baskets out of old food boxes, fabric, and ribbon. Oh, and I covered jars that were going to be thrown away with scrap fabric so they can be used for storage. And I used some old cans to grow lavender and mint for my dorm room.

I'm excited to have a crafty dorm room! I'm also excited to be traveling with less.

I took the day off from my job today to go through my worldly possessions and decide what to take and what to leave behind. Now that it's my second year, I'm a little wiser to what I'll need in the Brick City. Four different jackets? No. Hydrocortozone cream and Tums? Yes, please!

Oh Hey, I Do This Thing Called Knitting Sometimes.

I am proud to present to you my first finished summer project. Potentially, it's my only finished summer project.

Today is the day of my boyfriend's driver's test, so everyone say a prayer, ok!? Not because only prayer can help him now, but because he gets so nervous. Thankfully these socks will be waiting for him, regardless of whether he passes or not.


Oh and they look big because they're not made for my feet. Duh.

Insomnia = Things get done.

Long Times, No See.

Sorry I haven't posted at much. Things have just been HAPPENING. My mom is going to be closing on the house soon, and we're overhauling her yard. Eventually it will be lovely, but right now it's a disaster area. I'm knitting, but I'm sort of between things.

And Monday, I start interning at Friends of Chemung River, a nonprofit that recently started in teh Elmira area. I'm really excited to help them out!

Oh, and Warren's been staying with me for a week, which is awesome. Yesterday, we went up to Tanglewood and what did we see? MONOTORPA UNIFLORA.


I love this plant. It's possibly my favorite plant of all time, and I've only seen it once, when I was small. I immediately searched books for what it was, and found an article on it in a very old book on northeastern plant life- the internet didn't really exist for me then.


Back then, it was believed that the plant was saprophytic, but now I guess it's common knowledge that they live off of fungus under trees. Fungus, fungus, fungus... the internet of trees.

Anyway, because of the moist, cool summer these babies were ALL OVER. Everywhere. I'm glad I didn't scare Warren off, because I was really freaking out.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Look at this one! Ah! I'm stepping on one! Oh no, that's a mushroom- HEY, THESE ARE PINKISH!"

Moral of the story: Take a walk, and you'll never know what you see.

Here are some other close encounters of the Natural kind:

Two young bucks :)

A Luna Moth Caterpillar- Look at the bugger!

A lovely ladybug

A Japanese beetle on some Yarrow

Summer.

I felt this point should be recorded. Currently, I'm on the phone with Warren, and he's talking about "How stupid it is that single serving cheese is individually wrapped. It's a waste of plastic."

He used the word secondary packaging.

I was proud.

Anyway, I haven't knit anything worthwhile. I've been trying to make something everyday, but I don't feel that it's very interesting.

Also, I'm going to New York City in a week to be with my dearest Ash. On my birthday. Everyone in my hometown is out of town on my birthday. Warren, my brother, my godmother, my hometown best friend, Christine... it's a popular vacation time I guess.

How's your summer?

A week in PA

So, the past few days I've been Wabu's house near Mt. Pisgah. I love their house for several reasons:

A. It's in the country between two parks, a state and county.
B. They recently remodeled their kitchen, and have a pantry stocked with things that have a high chance of being spoiled before they are used (which, aside from making me a little sad inside, means I have free reign as the items most likely won't be missed.)
C. Their couches are irresistably leather and comfy.
D. They have a small blue car that they don't mind us driving.
E. They sometimes give Wabu money.


So, we went to Corning to the glass museum. This October, Wabu will be 20 and unable to get in for free. Not that we couldn't lie... but, that wouldn't be honest! Anywho.


We also went ATVing on roads near the surrounding farms. We tried to get to the park, but the road was blocked by a tree! Boo.


I also made the most marvellous cupcakes in the history of history. I filled them with chocolate chips and made homemade vanilla icing. Yum!

Anyway, I'm back at home where the wireless is plentiful, and the yarn roams free.

More ends to weave...

... and I don't have a yarn needle. I really don't know where mine went, but they all disappeared when I migrated from Rochester back to Elmira.

Anyway, I really like how these socks came out! I used some Knitpicks Kettle Dyed that my dearest Ashley bought me for Christmas. I saw some bad reveiws of the yarn and got worried, but they were all wrong! This yarn worked out swimmingly, and there was no dye lot problems at all.



Also, I'm making SABLES today... Mango sables. I just tasted the dough before letting it sit in the fridge, and it's SOOOO GOOD. I love mango things. With real mangos inside? Yes.

I'm squeefully proud. I'm also working on some hats with ear flaps for the sweetie and I to wear and be TWINS IN :B (... if he'll wear his...)

Of Cats and Rabbits

Sunday, my sweetie's mother and stepfather rescued a poor little bunny from their barn cats. She lived in a cage and refused to eat anything.

Monday I opened her cage up and she ventured out. She hopped around a little in their sunroom, and I picked some greens from the garden and fed it to her, and she ate three platefuls of dandelions, clover, and timothy (luckily, Warren's family grows Timothy in their fields and gives it to the neighbors.)
She was so cute! After it was obvious she was eating, we decided it would be ok to send her back... only to find that she couldn't use her front leg! Poor Little Rabbit!

Sadly, Little Rabbit died yesterday... Warren's stepfather found her dead. She probably went into shock, or died from her injuries. It's sad, because she seemed to be recovering...

First Day of Summer!

Although summer doesn't start officially for a while, I'm back in my hometown with my family. My dad's house is kind of a wreck, but I think I'm going to clean it up in a while. It seems like everywhere I go gets clean... which is nice.

First, I went to Tanglewood to see Roxy. I took a little walk and found some nice lichens. I wanted to walk some more, but I realized how lonely it is walking alone- after taking walks with all my friends at RIT, being in the woods and being quiet is a little depressing.

I got some awesome pictures though! Check out this sweet foliose thallus, found on an oak (I think) by the teaching pond:
I also found some really nice cyphellae on a lichen just by the parking lot... I didn't put the picture in, though, because it didn't look very impressive small-size.

And, of course, some glamour shots of Roxxors! Isn't she a doll? I got her at a good time, she played around, I cut her nails, and gave her plenty of FerretVite. She was so happy :)

I also made some super sweet iced tea... it's a little weak, but it's very sweet and addictive! I used 5 bags of blueberry tea, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 quarts of boiling water. The tea seeped for 10 minutes, and the whole thing took about 2 hours to chill.

I'm having a picnic with my mom tomorrow, so I'll perfect the recipe :)

Where I Produce Some Movie Stars!

So, for my sweetheart's final film project for this quarter, he asked for some puppets! I made these birds in about two weeks, and he added the pipe cleaner faces and rigged them with armature wire.

I'm really proud of my work- perhaps I'll show his project up here when it's finished :)

Knit a scarf: hug a tree

Knit a scarf: hug a tree

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Keeping you Updated

I always feel a little guilty when I do something cool and don't blog about it. So here you go. A nice picture for you.

Right now, I'm working on knitting puppets for my boyfriend, who is a first-year film and animation student at RIT. He's going to use them in a stop-motion short!

Here's the blue bird, where my work is finished. I knit the body, and he will stuff it with armature wire so that it stays put, add the face and legs, and essential make it look nice.

I'm pretty proud of the composition, though it was mostly ad-libbed. The head is a separate piece so that it's movable, held in place by the gray cuff.

Perhaps I can show off my work by posting the animation when he finishes!

Oh, by the way, have no noticed the poor quality cell phone pictures? My camera charger disappeared. I plan on buying a new one this weekend.

Wanna see What I'm Doing?

Every so often I try to get away from knitting, because of things like family or schoolwork or just work in general. Then, it sneaks up on me in the night. It starts with the occaisional doodle, usually in class. I think, "Hey, that would be a cute doll!" Then it becomes schematics. Then I think of another doll, and another, and then a pair of socks, or a sweater, or maybe a stylish hat.

Then BAM. Superbam. I'm doing things like picking up projects that I "put down."

Then I'm deciding they aren't good enough.

Then I'm frogging them.

Then I'm staring at the yarn, and I'm thinking "Why did I have to play god?"

My love me knot socks before I decided they needed to be improved:

My love me knot socks after I frogged them.

Then, to add insult to injury, the yarn tangled up and attacked me.

So, now I'm a zombie. What a weird day.

The "Price" of Being Environmentally Friendly

So, as you can assume from looking at my profile, I'm a student in Environmental Management. I'm looking to go into consulting, and a potential minor of mine is accounting. Why? Numbers fascinate me, especially when they tell you things you ought to pay attention to.

Well, I recently lost my Sigg waterbottle, and have spent the first week of classes without it. Instead, I've been using all debit and buying plastic waterbottles, under the assumption "It's too expensive to buy a new Sigg, I'll wait until the end of the month until my mother comes up with it."

Well, before class today, I did some number work. I've purchased an average of 4 20oz bottles everyday (I drink mainly water.) I reuse them once, then recycle them. Each bottle of water costs $1.75 from a vending machine- that's the cheapest way to get them, since I'm on a college campus and can't go off to buy bulk or on sale at Wal*mart. If you buy bottle water from the cafeterias, you'll be charged about $2, with tax.

Let me explain the math. Four water bottles each day at $1.75 each is $4.50 each day off my student debit account, about the price of a strawberry parfait, my favorite dessert. So, every day, I'm giving up a strawberry parfait. I'm fine with that. But spending 4.50 every day adds up to $31.50 each week, just on water.

Here's some more perspective: I go school in New York, where the minimum wage is $7.15. I have to work 4.41 hours every week to pay for the water I'm drinking. Since I'm a full-time student living on-campus, I can only work 10 hours each week at my job. That means that 44% of my income from my job this week will go to buying water.

Water, people. Something that I could have just gotten for free out of a fountain. Something that the United Nations deems a right. A 16oz water bottle costs about $16.00, meaning it will pay for itself before the first week is over. If you actually use it, you'll end up saving yourself a pile of money in the long run, not to mention make your life a little greener.

Kitten Mittens

Kitten Mitten
I will not hesitate to admit it: this started out as a joke. I wanted to make a cute little kitten, but someone scoffed and said I should make it “at least useful.” Well, here you go! They’re mittens, shaped like kittens, ready to smile at you while you play in the February snow.

Although they have a distinctive look, these mittens aren’t a pain to knit up. If the snow gives you a long weekend, you’ll be ready to rock these at the bus stop on Monday. If your intuition says there’s a good chance of a snow day tomorrow, you could probably whip these up for a little one in an evening of work.

Update

I feel pretty sick and depressed today. It's strange going from a noisy dorm to the sleepy-quiet house.

Anyway, the humidifier and tea are helping a bit, along with freezy-pops. I missed freezy-pops!

I'm also watching reruns of America's Most Wanted. I didn't even know that had that. It's actually pretty surreal, but I like it more than the normal AMW. Normally, America's Most Wanted makes me a little scared, I've been creeped out by it since I was a child. But this show always has a "happy ending." Well, a happy ending karmically.

Example:
TV: Update! Since the original airing of this show, the rapist was sent to prison where he was gang raped and is now serving life... in prison, as well as in the bed of a man named Bubba.
Me: :) I love happy endings!

Meow Meow Meow Mix <3

So, I finushed this cute little guy, but I don't really want to make his mate right now, because the chilly Rochester weather has turned to a warm and happy spring weather. Who says groundhogs are right?

Why aren't I typing up a chemistry lab?

Anyway, if the people speak I will probably post the pattern up, as I am in love with him and would like to see an army of kittens... mwahahaha.

I feel like I'm stating the obvious, but the thumb is supposed to be his tail <3

BLARGMONSTER.

I finally got off my butt and got myself some polyfill to finish the panda! Isn't he adorable? I've also spent way too much money and yarn as well, but I've yet to think up anything awesome to make with it :( Oh well, I have yarn, so whatever!

I've also made another hat, but I want to photograph it on the person I made it for! It's out of Twinkle <3

In other news, I put off chemistry to make this tiling pattern. Sex much? I love it, I think I might put it on a sock or something some time in the future...

Here's the problem with me. I make all these designs, I think up cute things, but I get lazy and never actually knit them! I could probably write up the pattern without actually making them, but I just never get around to it. Mayhaps I could get some sort of person to knit things for me, and have their credit in the pattern. *COUGHSAUCE* Oh, my email is lynough@gmail.com by the way. Just thought I'd make that clear.

Anyway, it's my first Winter Quarter Week 9, officially. I'm not happy. I have too much to worry about.