Cookies and lasers - random musings and knitting adventures

On information and application

2011-11-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

In starting to write a new blog post today, I found this one I wrote a few months ago and forgot to post. So I'll post it now :) Better late than never!

A friend of mine made a comparison today that I thought was quite apt. He was visiting another university to look into their religious studies program, but found that there wasn't much being done to implement what was being studied. He likened it to the difference between studying physics and engineering. Physicists learn a lot about how the universe works, but for the most part the focus is on knowing theory. Engineers on the other hand learn how to apply the principles they learn to make something that works. They may not understand all the theory, but that doesn't stop them from attempting to build something useful. My friend made the comparison with regard to Islam, but I see this being just as prevalent within Christianity. We have too many scholars, and not enough do-ers. So many people are eager to debate theology, but the practical application of that in their lives is mysteriously absent.

Many people think that since I've been in school for so long that I like learning things just for the sake of learning things. But that's actually not true. I like learning things that are applicable and relevant to my life. Otherwise, I just get bored. For instance, if you had told me a few years ago to learn about chemical surface modifications of polydimethylsiloxane, I would have fallen asleep after the first sentence. But once I started research, I had a problem to solve and suddenly that information was relevant to me, and I started reading up on it in my spare time. For the information I couldn't find, I ordered some products and conducted some tests to see what would work.

Some people think that the solution to all their difficulties in Christian life is to learn more. If only the Pastor gave more insightful sermons. If only they read that bestselling new book. If only they go to seminary or Bible college. I submit to you that our problem isn't with knowing, it's with doing. We're a culture that's over-educated and under-experienced. Learning more theology isn't going to make you more loving towards that coworker who gets on your nerves. Studying Bible commentaries won't give you the courage to go volunteer with the homeless. Christianity is not a theoretical field, it is applied. Maybe it's time to stop trying to have everything figured out and be responsible for what we know. Once we're willing to act, it's easy for God to correct our misconceptions and adjust our direction. For those who aren't willing to act, no amount of information will ever be enough.

Now the irony of this is that right now it's only a blog post. Just another piece of information floating around on the web. So here is my challenge to you this week: take a piece of theory you know, even if you're not sure if it's 100% correct, and transform it into action. I guarantee that through experience you'll learn far more than studying could ever teach you.

Thesis of DOOOOM!

2011-11-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

Every so often, I need to stop in and make one of those "I'm still alive" posts, for everyone in blog land that might be wondering (or not wondering, as the case may be) what has happened to me. The number of half-written blog posts in my drafts keeps increasing, and meanwhile my actual blogginess keep decreasing. But I do have a very legitimate excuse at the moment! That excuse happens to be a 40-pages-and-counting behemoth of text and figures known as the fearsome enemy of grad students everywhere: the thesis. Ok, so it's not actually my enemy. In fact, there are times when I'm downright chummy with the thing, but after spending the bulk of my days staring into a computer screen typing out words, I need to take my free time elsewhere. Alas, that means away from you, my friends of the blogosphere, but be consoled by the fact that very soon I shall be graduated, and very soon I shall have all manner of wonderful things to share with you! And speaking of wonderful things to share, here's a picture I snapped on my street this week (plus a bonus contrast-enhanced version that I'm using as my desktop background right now, so feel free to snag that if you like it). I love rainbows so much! I've been sharing this pic with everyone, because some things are meant to be shared :)

What do you really really really want?

2011-05-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

Last week, when chatting with my roommates, one of them shared how she has started to recognize the things that she wants, and her tendency to avoid those things when there wasn't a guarantee of success in order to avoid being disappointed. Looking at my own life, I saw that this is true for me as well. I always go for the things that I'm relatively sure will work out. But are those the things I want? How do I even learn to see the things I truly want? I've always tried not to want the things I want, because the more I want them the more I'll be disappointed, so I tell myself that I don't need anything and that I can be happy with whatever.

You see, this has been a question God has been asking me a lot lately. "What do you want?" And most of the time my answer is, "I don't know." And when I do decide I want something, how do I know whether this is a desire of my heart according to how I have been made, or merely a product of fear or selfishness?

Regardless, any revelation is only information unless it is transformed into action in one's life. So I decided to start with something small. I want a cat. I've wanted a cat of my own ever since I moved away from home 10 years ago. Somehow, circumstances were always against me, and I kept putting it off. But now, newly determined to chase after this dream, I set to work.

I was actually very surprised at how easily my roommates agreed to this plan. My landlord was not enthusiastic about the idea, but seemed as though she could be convinced. I decided that an adult cat would be best, and scoured craigslist to find a suitable kitty.

Before I knew it, I was driving home with Kitty, complete with her food, toys, and automated self-cleaning litterbox. All free to a good home where kitty would be loved. The owners and I agreed on a one week trial period, since there were a few potential obstacles to Kitty being happy here. The first being this:

Meet Chopper, my roommate's Boston Terrier. He's a cheery little guy who is content as long as he can be around his people. We weren't sure how Kitty would react to him, and at the beginning it was all growls and hisses from her, and whimpering and shaking from him. However, after a while they seemed to become somewhat indifferent to each other. First hurdle passed!

The second trial was that of allergies. Would Kitty prove too allergen-producing for another of my roommates who has a mild cat allergy? After a few days of watching, it seemed she was fine. Second hurdle passed!

The third trial was that of Kitty's consideration of the property. Would she pull up the carpet, scratch the hardwood floors, or pee outside her litterbox? Because that would give her an immediate eviction from the landlord. Once again, Kitty passes with flying colours.

Fourth hurdle is that of the unknown. That which cannot be predicted. Kitty developed an obsession with the outdoors. She meows at both the front and back door when anyone is nearby there, and tries to sneak out at every opportunity. Last night she succeeded and disappeared, frolicking in her freedom for a good two hours before coming back home. This, unfortunately, is a deal-breaker. My house is on a very busy intersection with heavy traffic at all times of day. It wouldn't be long before Kitty's carcass would turn up on the side of the road. So, she shall now be returned to her owners, who will continue to search for a loving home for her.

There was a day where I was getting depressed and thinking that I shouldn't have gone ahead with this idea in the first place, that it was a stupid idea that was doomed to failure, and that I could have saved myself the disappointment if I'd never gotten my hopes up in the first place. But, I felt like God was saying that He could handle my disappointment. That even if things go terribly awry, He still works all those things together for my good. Typically, in this kind of situation I'd try to convince myself that I hadn't really wanted a cat that much in the first place, so it didn't matter if it didn't get to stay. And in denying my disappointment, I'd deny God the chance to comfort and heal in this situation. So I let myself be disappointed. And I gave that disappointment up to my loving Father, and He in turn gave me peace enough to cover the whole situation.

There's another lesson I've taken away from this experience. One night at the kitchen table, Zana asked me, "Why do you love cats so much?" There's all the typical answers one might give that I rattled off - they're clean, cute, independent, fuzzy, companionable - but the question stuck with me over the next few days. In observing Kitty around my roommates, I finally put my finger on the answer. One of the biggest reasons I love cats is because my family loves them too, and growing up that was something we shared together. Anytime the cats did something cute or funny, we'd run to tell each other, and laugh about it together. It brought us closer together, and joy shared is joy magnified.

I have decided to abandon the quest for a kitty at this juncture. Not because of logistics, but because my roommates are just not really into cats. They tolerated Kitty just fine, but in the words of Pastor Steve, "Toleration is a passive form of rejection." It was a little bit painful to me to see Kitty being rejected by my roommates whom I love. My happiness is having Kitty here was only the small happiness of my own self, lacking the magnification of having others to share it with. Kitty has helped me to see that the true origin of my desire for a cat lies in the desire for greater connection with those I share my home with.

I'm glad I had Kitty for this week. I'm glad I took the risk to go for what I wanted, despite the fact that it didn't work out. I learned a lot that I never would have known otherwise. And I think this is just a small object lesson for me, that I can now apply to other areas of my life. I don't want to just take the cautious route of guaranteed success anymore. Perhaps there's no way to find out exactly what I really want until I just go for something that I think I want, and chase it until the things I truly want become clear.

So how about you? What do you really really really want?

Living in a world of words

2011-05-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Much of my life lately has been spent writing. Now, normally I would enjoy such a task. Writing, after all, is the medium in which I best express myself. However, my style of writing is... well, it's this. What you've been reading on my blog, for however long you have followed. It's not just a string of bland statements, but it's a conversation between us. This is my element, where I am most comfortable. I love to communicate things in a way that makes sense to me, and hopefully to you as well.

The writing that I find myself doing now is Academic Writing. Not just any kind of Academic Writing, but the sciencey stuff. That means cold impersonal sentences stuffed full of incomprehensible jargon. There's no life in it. It's painful to me, to have to put my words into such a form that I disdain. Alas, the culture of academia gives me no recourse, and I must struggle on, editing and re-editing, to find the exact precise form that will make my paper as publishable as possible.

If only I could be a science journalist. Now THAT would be much more fun. Perhaps after I'm done with this manuscript and it gets published somewhere, I'll write you all a fun and interesting summary in real-people language.

In the meantime, I've been getting out to enjoy the weather as well. Recently my brother came to visit from Ottawa, and there was much fun to be had as you can see from the above picture of playing in the cherry blossoms. What this picture doesn't show is the crazy hailstorm that happened 10 minutes prior which completely soaked us all from the knees down. Never a dull moment in Vancouver!

Los Angeles Excitement

2011-05-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Know what I love? I love meeting people who challenge me to see the world in a different way. I had the privilege of that experience on my recent trip to LA. The trip was for a conference, but I went a day early to visit my cousin who is interning at the LA Catholic Worker. They're a group devoted to social justice and serving the poor in downtown LA. They live in a big community house and practice living in community with each other as well as serving the poor. Community is something I've been thinking a lot about lately (more to come on that later in another blog post) so I was really interested to see how their community is structured. But in my time there I learned a whole lot more.

Let me take you on a chronological tour of my day there. On Wednesday morning, we woke up at 6:30am and went downstairs to have breakfast with the rest of the residents of the house. This includes not only the staff and interns, but those who are staying there for a variety of other reasons. I talked over breakfast with a woman who had moved there when one of her loved ones was in the last stages of terminal cancer (if I remember correctly). The house also serves as a hospice for those who are dying. She shared with me about the pain of watching him pass on, but told me that his ashes are buried in the garden and she walks out there to talk to him regularly. She herself is an ex-convict and hasn't been able to hold down a steady job recently with so much turmoil in her life, but I could tell that at the Catholic Worker house she was loved and supported. I could see that she still has an amazing future ahead of her, and that the LACW is helping her to get there.

After breakfast we all piled into a couple of vans to drive over to Skid Row and pass out breakfast to the homeless there. There was tension in the air as we pulled up because earlier that week the police had basically told them that if they came back, they'd take all their stuff. However, there's nothing that can keep them from fulfilling their mandate of feeding breakfast to the guys on Skid Row twice a week as they have always done. They came armed with a letter from their lawyer stating that nothing they are doing is illegal, nor does it violate food safety standards. The police didn't show up however, so we didn't have to implement any of the emergency plans they'd come up with, and everyone had a very peaceful breakfast.

Following that we walked over to the government buildings for the LACW weekly vigil for peace. There was a giant bag of protest signs to choose from, including such slogans as "Stop the war in Afganistan!" and "Who would Jesus bomb?" I chose a sign that I felt I could agree with completely and wholeheartedly (see below) and my cousin likewise had her favourite Spanish sign.

Perhaps I've just been in the charismatic church for too long, but I was expecting a prayer vigil to involve like, praying out loud, maybe making declarations of God's peace or something. So I confess to feeling a bit judgemental when I found out that it involved silent contemplation and very slow walking around the block where the government buildings are. But as we were walking, I was praying about it, and I felt like God wanted to teach me about faithfulness, by seeing the faithfulness of these people. Maybe it didn't look exactly like what I imagined a prayer vigil to be, but they have a level of commitment that's far and beyond anything I've ever done in my life.

After circling the block of government buildings, we stopped out front, and one man read out a name of all the soldiers who had been killed in the past week. Then he offered up a prayer for them and their families and a prayer for a peaceful future. I thought that was a really cool way to honour the soldiers and not to minimize their sacrifice.

After lunch back at the house, we went to the weekly community Bible study, which actually turned into a strategy meeting about what to do when the police arrived next. There was talk of chaining themselves to oatmeal pots, how to best accomplish such a task, and whether a practice run would be helpful. Despite all the differing opinions in the room, when the question was posed who was prepared to be arrested to continue serving breakfast to the homeless, nearly every hand went up. (An update from their website indicates that there has been one arrest so far. The full story will likely come out soon in the next issue of their newspaper publication, the Catholic Agitator.) Discussions were concluded with glasses of wine for everyone.

Reflecting on my day with the LACW, I was thinking about how much Christians like to talk about helping others, but how little we actually put that into practice. Sure we do sporadic events, but let's face it, we haven't been very good at building long-term relationships with people that need it and walking with them through the hardships of their lives. Making someone a sandwich is easy, but building a relationship and investing time into them is much more difficult. Preaching someone a sermon is easy, but standing with them in the midst of divorce, grief, addictions or whatever else can be hard and painful. I might not completely agree with the theology of everyone at the LACW, but regardless of that they are not people of talk, they are people of action. They are people of love. Not only that, but they are incredibly faithful and trustworthy. They're not content to sit back and be comfortable while others in the world are suffering. They are prepared to sacrifice their comfort and even their freedom on behalf of those they are serving, to the point of being arrested and imprisoned. I want that for my life. I want that kind of faithfulness. I want that kind of commitment to the kingdom of God, where serving those this world considers the least has the greatest reward. Jesus said that whatever we do for even the least of people, we do it for Him personally. What an honour!

I'm not sure yet how this will tangibly affect my life, but thinking back on this experience unsettles me. It unsettles me in a good way (not in a guilt-inducing way - I live in a condemnation-free zone as per Romans 8:1), because it challenges me to change how I think and how I act. I wonder, what will I pursue at all costs, no matter what opposition comes against me? What will I cry out to God for day and night until He answers me? Who are the people that I can serve, who are waiting for me to stop being self-absorbed and step up into being a woman of action? What do I want to accomplish with my life? Some people have an unmistakable calling of God on their lives to a specific thing which God makes clear to them at an early age. Then there are others of us who find God asking us the question, "What do you want to do? What do you love? I will bless you in the things you choose." I find, I still don't yet know what I want to do when I grow up. I'm still trying to figure out the things that I want, that are most important to me. But when I do decide, I want the commitment and passion I saw in those at the LACW. So that people will look back on my life after I'm gone and be inspired by my faithfulness and perseverance. I want to leave that kind of a legacy for my (potential) children and grandchildren.

Alright, that's enough for tonight. I'll write you again soon, blogland. Until then, be safe, be joyful, and spread a smile to someone else.

Update - in which I am awesome

2011-04-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hi blogland! As Shelle recently commented, it is true that I haven't posted in ages. Not to say that I haven't written anything, in fact, I have about three substantial posts half-written, but need some time to sit down and finish them properly. Time that I haven't really had lately. Haven't even been knitting, in fact. But to distract you, I shall post some pictures of the scarf I finished a couple months ago. It's the latest installment of the knitting request list, which means I'm due to move on to the next one. Though, it seems like everyone is having babies so I might do some baby knitting first.

Scaf specs: Doubleknit, half wool half acrylic. Design by the recipient Reizo Ryuu aka darkshadow aka DS. The design is the emblem of the Hidden Village of the Sand from the anime Naruto.

Even though I've been so crazily busy, it hasn't felt like it. I've been getting lots of sleep, and even started doing pilates with my roommate, as well as intentionally making tasty healthy meals in the house. Yes, most of my free time is filled up with homework, but I'm not succumbing to my undergrad tendencies to throw everything out the window and become an academic workaholic. I'm trying out this new "diligent but balanced lifestyle" thing, and it's pretty awesome.

I write to you at the moment from YVR airport, en route to LA. There's only two weeks left to the semester, and I'm dashing off to sunny California to visit my cousin and attend a conference. I'll probably have to work like a maniac when I get back to finish my term project in time, but for the moment, I shall enjoy this beautiful vacation. Who knows, I might even make some sporadic updates from LA. We shall see. Till next time, be well, be happy, and have a beautiful day.

OWOH Winners!!!

2011-02-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

Hello again blogland!

Well, I haven't yet updated you all on the things that I should be updating, like part 2 of the appendix story (short version: everyone is surprised by my speedy recovery!) but in my defense, catching up on the schoolwork I missed while in the hospital is no small task. Anyhow, don't worry about OWOH, because I am here to announce the winners of this marvelous event! Also, I am overwhelmed by the plethora of comments and kind words you have all given me this past week. I seriously seriously want to give prizes to everyone. Because you are so cool! And you all have these totally rad blogs that I'm still visiting and enjoying! But alas, I have limited finances and resources, so I have to settle for 3 winners. Oh, did I say 3? That's right. BONUS WINNER!

So, here's the deal. I got so into this whole wire and dice thing that I made some more earrings. Is that cool? I just couldn't help myself. So, here are the first two of my randomly chosen winners with new and improved pictures!!!

Congratulations to Gail, commenter #4, who wins the d4 earrings! She is an amazing storyteller and I was definitely giggling to myself as I was reading through her blog. You are such a warmly caring person Gail, and I am so glad to have met you through this event. I also refute your statement that you have no authentic creative talents to share, because your writing is so creative and you share so much of it with us. Hope you enjoy this little doorprize!

Now, since I promised I'd add another prize if I got over 100 entries, congratulations are in order for Deci, who has a wonderful blog called Gem Trails full of copious amounts of information for aspiring jewelry artists and wannabe's like me. I almost feel bad passing off my shoddy beginner work to such a pro, but I've found at least as a knitter that I so often give away all my knitting that it's delightful and so much more meaningful to receive knitting from someone else. So Deci, congratulations, and I hope you enjoy these wire-wrapped d10's (see? There's a crazy unintentional theme going on here with the dice numbers and winners... God totally has a sense of humour) that rather surprised me with how nicely they turned out as I whipped them together at the last minute today. I shall be back to your blog again and again I'm sure, as I branch out into more adventurous jewelry crafting.

And wait, don't go yet, there's a BONUS PRIZE! Yes, that's right, one extra prize, but NOT chosen by random. The last winner is chosen by meeeee, and I feel quite justified in bringing some choosification here at the end cause it was a last-minute decision on my part, and I wanted to do something for someone who left me a really fun comment leading to a really fun blog, thereby expanding my friendships in blogdom. And there were lots, and I love them, but I have to say, my choice this round goes to Sunshineshelle, whose self-proclaimed talent is eating leftovers (LOL!) but is actually quite an amazing artist with a whole family chock-full of artistic talent. So, for you lovely Shelle, just for being you, I present these one-of-a-kind d8 earrings, again just a tad mis-matched because I bet you roll like that too ;)

I'll be contacting the winners momentarily, and hopefully they send me their addresses before the weekend so I can get these all mailed out.

Thanks to everyone who played in OWOH! Hope to see you around! And I really will get back to regular blogging soon, promise!

OWOH 2011

2011-02-12T12:36:00.000-08:00

We interrupt your regular blogging to present: the One World One Heart 2011 Event!

For those of you regular blog readers who may be confused, it's like a giant meet-and-greet for bloggers, where everyone offers doorprizes for stopping by to visit their blog, and hopefully new friends are made in the process as well as everyone has a chance to win really cool stuff. I participated in this a couple years ago, and gained some good friends out of the deal, so I figure, let's give it a try again! This is the fifth and final OWOH event.

So now, for those of you dropping in to visit from OWOH, welcome to this little corner of 1's and 0's that I call my own. I'm not exactly typical of the type of blog you see in this event. I'm a hardcore geek, and consequently a lot of the knitting/sewing/crafting I do reflects that. I love creating things, but I also love creating communities and I'm currently the guild leader of the Order of Pointed Sticks in Guild Wars, as well as a moderator over at the anime forum Gotwoot?, and a part-time member of the fansub staff there (no, I do not speak Japanese, but I speak darn good English and put that to use as an editor).

My blog, which is neither about baking nor electronics (I know, the title may be a tad misleading), started out just as a place for me to post up pictures of my latest knitting projects. This was in my pre-ravelry days, so I had nowhere else to collect my knitting pictures. Since then, it's evolved into a place more for me to collect my thoughts and process some of the things I've been reflecting on. I am unapologetically Christian, and my scattered thoughts here reflect that, since it forms the basis of my worldview and holds together my day-to-day life. Blogs are one of those wonderful things where you can write and say the things that are uniquely you, so this blog here is about as real as it gets. My despair, my struggles, my triumphs, and all the little things in between. With a good dose of knitting and crafting still.

Anyhow, whether you take the time to browse around or are just jumping in for a chance at the doorprize, you are very welcome here and I'm glad to have the chance to meet you! Speaking of prizes, here is my offering:

Yes, the picture quality is terrible. I have temporarily lost my camera cable, so cellphone camera will have to do until I clean my room and locate that missing cable. But you may have guessed despite the blurriness and pixellation that this is a pair of earrings, made from wire-wrapped d4's. I made a pair for myself last year and get compliments on them wherever I go. The 4 is up on purpose because anyone wearing these must be rolling max for style! Ahaha... ok, that was a terrible joke. They're both blue and speckled (again, hard to tell with this picture) though slightly different shades. On purpose. I mismatch my earrings as purposely as I mismatch my socks - different yet complementary in colour while matching in form.

You guys know the rules. All you have to do to be entered in the draw is the leave a comment on this post and make sure I have a way to contact you. The contest is worldwide, and I'll be choosing the winner via random dice roll on the evening of February 17th, after which there will be a congratulatory post with much fanfare. If you're male and earrings don't appeal to you, leave a comment anyhow and I'll make you an alternate prize if you get chosen.

My theme for this year's prizes is DnD. I'm currently lacking a group, alas, but I love the imagination and adventure of pen-and-paper rpg's. Maybe sometime this year I'll find a fun group in Vancouver that fits my schedule, or else take the time to learn how to DM and make my own group. But back to the giveaway, if I get over 100 entries, I'll add a secondary prize, also DnD related. Maybe a knitted dice bag, hmm? We shall see. Comment away darlings, comment away.

Update: Comments are now closed, winners to be announced shortly!

The Exploding Appendix: Part 1

2011-02-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2011 - 4:00am
I woke up from severe pain. Seemed to be around my stomach. I tried to remember the last time I'd felt anything similar, and my mind drifted back to a severe bout of food poisoning. I tried to remember what I'd eaten yesterday that could have caused such severe discomfort. Bubble tea? I logged onto Guild Wars to help pass the time, hoping that I would throw up soon and be done with it.

After a some fun times extinguishing red dots with good friends, I was feeling a bit feverish on top of the relentless pain. Roommate Shirley to the rescue! She found me some Tylenol as she was leaving for work, and told me to call her if I needed anything. I cancelled my morning appointments at work and attempted to sleep a bit more, hoping to make it to my afternoon meetings.

11:00 am
At this point, I was in considerably more pain. No vomiting or nausea. I started to doubt my initial diagnosis. I cancelled my afternoon appointments at work and spent an hour debating whether to tough it out and see if it would pass, or actually choose to think this might be more serious. I tried all sorts of things to see if that might make me feel better. Walking. Sitting. Slouching. Lying on my bed. Lying on the floor. Lying upside down. Nothing helped, and the pain remained. This is when I put out the infamous Facebook status query:

Sarah M
Ok friends with medical know-how, what do you think. I thought I had food poisoning, but now I'm not so sure. Been suffering from constant abdominal pain since 4am and it's getting worse. Had a slight fever this morning. Do I take some tylenol and wait it out or try to skytrain to a clinic or something?

It should be noted that I was in so much pain at this point it took me about 10 minutes just to write the status. All the while thinking to myself, "Is it really THAT bad? I mean, it could be worse right? Is it bad enough that this might be serious? Maybe I'm just being a wimp about it."

One of the excellent responses to my query was the suggestion that I call the dial-a-nurse line. Excellent! I did so, and the nurse recommended I go see a doctor within the hour. Hmm. I also received a phone call from one of my best friends back in Ontario, whose mother had seen my facebook status and alerted her to my condition. If I wasn't already decided on going to see a doctor, I'm pretty sure she would have forced me to over the phone. This is what good friends are for.

2:00 pm
I tottered off the skytrain and arrived at the walk-in clinic. The receptionist is brusque and dismissive. "Care Card. Phone number," she intones. "There's a 2 to 2 and a half hour wait." Well, that was discouraging, but not entirely unexpected. If people left and failed to return, the line could be shorter. I figured I'd take my chances here rather than going to emergency, because my possible ride, aforementioned excellent roommate Shirley, was otherwise engaged picking up Chopper the boston terrier from Doggie Day Care. Chopper's mommy, roommate Marie, had left that morning for a trip to Vegas. And there was always that elusive chance that the line would be shorter than expected. I had brought my knitting but couldn't pull it out. Couldn't do anything except sit still and concentrate on enduring the pain. All the while praying, "Please Daddy, let them call my name next. Let me be the next patient. I can't take much more of this."

4:00 pm
"It seems like it's your gallbladder," pronounces the doctor, "since the pain is a bit higher up. Not unusual, in a young woman. It looks very inflamed. Sometimes these things calm down on their own. You're in quite a bit of pain though, and there's the chance it could be the appendix. You should go over to emergency and get checked out." And so that was that. "Looks like I'm headed for emergency after all," I remark with a rueful smile to the gentleman that's been sitting beside me for the past 2 hours in the waiting room. We wish each other good luck and Shirley drives up to whisk me away to the hospital.

Shirley offered to stay with me for a bit in the ER, but there's no telling how long the wait will be, and she has a number of things to accomplish before CG that night. (CG being community group, the part of the week where the large impersonal mass of people in the church is broken down into smaller 'families' where we hang out, share, and pray with each other.) Due to a recent flurry of changes within the church, CG's have been reshuffled a bit, my CG included. It was supposed to be our first meeting together that night. Our CG leader, Keum, was newly appointed, and that night marked his first night leading. I texted him to update him on my status. After a bit, of conversation back and forth he replies with, "We r coming. B there soon."

5:30 pm
A little boy of about 4 years old stares at me and points. "Sad!" He looks over at his mother, "Sad, Mommy." She gathers him into her arms and says, "Shhhh, just sick, honey. People here are sick. The doctors will make them better." I'm huddled over in my chair, trying to stop the leaks that have sprung from my eyes. I didn't think the pain could get worse, but it has. Constant. Unrelenting. Thank you Jesus for this strategically placed box of Kleenex on the low table in front of me. Other patients in the waiting room keep flashing looks of concern my way, shaking their heads and furrowing their brows. That girl is in trouble, their eyes say.

Keum arrives first. I seemed to have stopped crying by this point, though probably more out of dehydration than anything else. I've had nothing to eat or drink since the day before, and I've been cautioned not to both at the doctors and here in case I end up needing surgery. It's reassuring to have someone there just to sit with me and pray for me. My own prayers at this point consist of, "Can this be over now? I can't take it... I can't stand it..." While we're still waiting, all of a sudden out of nowhere, a wave of nausea washes over me. I jump up and run to the bathroom and throw up a few times, even though there's nothing whatsoever in my stomach. In retrospect, I'm fairly sure this is the actual point at which the appendix ruptured. Not long after, my good friends Sonja and Tyson arrive. We pray together quietly in the waiting room. It's a different kind of CG tonight, but CG nonetheless, doing what CG's do best: being family, being there for each other when you need it most.

?:?? pm
I lost track of time after this. I think I was called in around 6pm but things after this point get harder to remember. Sonja came with me and I don't know if I would have gotten through without her. I was in so much pain that I was shaking and convulsing. I was breathing too quickly and all the muscles in my body started to seize up all at once. I'm not sure how long this lasted for. Too long. Finally, after the doctor had given me a preliminary examination, they hooked up an IV and gave me some morphine and gravol. Why gravol? I thought, until the morphine went into the IV and I felt suddenly nauseous. Oh, that's why. It did nothing for the pain. They gave me more morphine, and it took the edge off enough that I started to un-tense. All the while, Sonja stayed by my side, a constant presence of sweet peace and comfort throughout my ordeal. She took care of all the nurse-fetching, family-notifying, message-passing, and whatever else needed to be done. Though we're not blood-related, I am honoured beyond words to have this deeply loving and sweetly caring woman as my sister.

10:00 pm
My brother Josh came as soon as he could after his opera rehearsal ended. It's been nearly 2 years since our positions were reversed and I had a phone call that he was in Langley hospital getting an appendectomy. By this time, my doctor was starting to suspect the appendix as the culprit. Whereas the pain had been higher previously, it had now settled to the lower right. Not a good sign. The CT scan technician had already gone home for the night, so they had to call her back in. The doctor said that in the case of young men, they'd schedule the surgery right away, but for me they needed a scan because there are so many 'fiddly little woman parts' packed into the abdomen, and therefore a lot more things that can go wrong for women. I already knew what to expect, since I'd had a CT scan a few years ago (long story... involving my own stupidity and a half-pipe). At that previous time, I'd been freaking out about having to get an IV in my arm. Practically passing out the whole time just thinking about it. This time around, I had no problems with the IV or any of the needles they stuck into me. Being in a lot of pain tends to put everything else into a different perspective.

1:30am
The surgeon hands me some forms to sign and a nurse slaps a bracelet around my wrist signifying that I've been admitted to the hospital. As he collects back the forms he reassures me that he does 2-3 appendectomies a night, and that I have nothing to worry about. As we speak, my appendix is spewing poison into me, and it's imperative to remove it as soon as possible. Sonja writes down a list of things to collect for me from my house. Josh shares with me his stories of his own appendectomy. He's so funny, I can't help but laugh. They both accompany me up to the 4th floor where my surgery team is making preparations. I'm completely relaxed. Maybe it's the morphine. I'm more than happy to trust my safety to the friendly and confident team donning their surgical masks. I bid farewell to my companions and am wheeled into the slightly chilly operating room. I have no idea what anyone is doing at this point because I'm no longer wearing my glasses. Everything is a fuzzy blur of colour and motion. The doctors are joking and laughing together, pulling me into their good-natured conversation, asking me with interest about my research, and sharing stories of their own of growing up in Ontario. The last thing I remember saying before waking up is, "You guys are awesome."

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2!

Victory: The Bed Bug Saga

2011-01-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

I have declared complete and total victory. Victory against anxiety, victory against fear, victory against sleepless nights, victory against insidious little blood-sucking parasites.... yes I am talking about bed bugs.

I wanted to write up this post for two reasons. Firstly, this encompassed a large portion of my life last semester, and is one of the biggest factors in my current lack of knitting and thus lack of pretty finished knitwear pictures on the blog. Secondly, in all of my extensive bed bug-related research, I found very few success stories of people who beat the little varmints on their own without calling in an exterminator. I want to let anyone who is currently struggling in a battle against bed bugs to know that there is hope, you can beat them, and I will tell you how I did it.

This story begins in September 2010. My knowledge of bed bugs was limited to the old saying, "Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." I'm one of a large portion of the population who doesn't react to beg bug bites, so I was quite oblivious to the infestation for quite some time. I was single-handedly providing sustenance for a whole colony of them, and didn't have a single mark on my body. This I think, is one of the first signs of the grace of God on my life throughout this situation. As bad as it was, I thanked God every day that I didn't have to bear the outward itchy disfiguring marks of the creatures' nighttime feedings.

Getting back to the story, I had been sleeping less well than usual, and was troubled by dreams of insects crawling over me. There were also strange little rust-coloured spots on my sheets some mornings, and I couldn't figure out what it would be from. Looking back now, the signs are obvious, but at the time I was too busy with school and everything else to devote much thought to it. However, shortly after, on a leisurely Saturday morning I was sleeping in, and had just woken up and was checking my email in bed. I spotted some movement on top of my duvet, and felt a tinge of annoyance that a fruit fly would trouble my morning. But as I inspected closer, looking at this tiny red creature, I realized that this was no fruit fly at all. I squished it out of instinct and it exploded into a bright red smear. Blood. This was worrisome. Not seconds later, I spotted a full-size dark brown adult bug scurrying across the duvet. Upon beholding the horrifying cockroach-like visage of my enemy, I smashed it quickly and bolted out of my bed in sheer terror.

One hot shower and an hour's worth of internet research later, I was feeling both more prepared to deal with this situation, and more horrified about the nightmare ahead of me. If you have had bed bugs or are currently dealing with them you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you have been spared this modern-day plague, let me enlighten you with a few facts about bed bugs. I won't cite this list, you can google the information yourself if you feel so inclined.

They feed exclusively on blood, and need regular blood meals to reach adulthood and reproduce
They come out typically around 2-4 am when their food source is in deepest sleep, and need 2-5 minutes for a complete feeding
A single female bug, transported on clothing or a suitcase or backpack, can start an infestation
They like to nest as close to their food source as possible, hence they usually take up residence in bed frames, preferring tight enclosed spaces
They are VERY hard to kill, and most pesticides have no effect on them similar to cockroaches
They can fit in cracks the width of a credit card
They can live up to a year without feeding
Newly-hatched bugs are about the size of the head of a pin, while adult bugs can grow to be 1/4 inch long, and like an accordion they elongate after a feeding
They are drawn to heat and carbon dioxide to find their food
Most professional exterminators charge a fortune to treat a room for bed bugs
The only thing that reliably kills all stages of bed bugs is heat

This was full-on war. With bed bugs, there are no half-measures. It's all or nothing.

Armed with my new knowledge I set out to buy some weapons of warfare. First up, a bed bug-proof mattress cover. Any bugs trapped inside would die of starvation, and outside I'd be able to more easily spot and kill the bugs. This was a necessity. It was also $80. My heart sank when I saw the price tag because for a student, $80 is a lot of money. Nevertheless, it was necessary. When I brought it to the checkout, and as the lady scanned it she remarked, "Wow, you're very lucky! These things never go on sale." "Oh?" I said, thinking that I hadn't seen any kind of a sale sign by the rack. "Oh yes," she continued. "In the four years I've been working here, I've never seen them go on sale even once." It turns out that I got it for 50% off. Here yet again is the grace of God in the midst of my troubles.

Back home, now armed with a mattress cover, vacuum cleaner, and portable steam cleaner, I set to work decontaminating everything. I began by clearing a perimeter around my bed. Anything that was washable went straight into the washing machine followed by the dryer. My first round didn't reveal any bugs lurking in the area around my bed. Good. That meant the infestation was contained. Bed bugs are social creatures, you see, as well as being lazy. They only spread out once there isn't any more room for them in their current nesting places. And since my bed frame was wooden, with drawers built into the bottom, it offered plenty of prime real estate for my unwelcome guests.

Still, with bed bugs you can't be too careful. If only a single bug is left alive, they can begin the infestation anew. I needed to be extremely thorough.

I spent the next 12 hours straight taking apart my bed and blasting steam into every nook and cranny. The steam kills the bugs in a second or two, and causes them to lose their grip on vertical surfaces and drop to the ground. So every blast of steam was followed by the dropping of tiny carcasses to the floor which I could then vacuum up. I learned quickly that if the force of the steam was too high, it would scatter the bugs before killing them, and they would run and hide somewhere else. When using a portable steamer, it's crucial to wrap a cloth or rag around the nozzle to absorb some of the impact of the steam. I had to steam every single surface, because bed bugs can leave their eggs anywhere, and the eggs are too small to see. It was 12 hours of slaughter, and the entire time I was fighting the horror and revulsion of what this infestation in my bed represented. I didn't eat all day because being around them made me feel nauseous.

I think one of the reasons bed bugs cause so much trauma to the people who unwittingly contract them is that they prey on you in the very place where you should feel the most safe, at the time when you are the most vulnerable. Also, when dealing with an infestation, it is imperative that you do not start sleeping somewhere else. This will just cause the bugs to migrate elsewhere, looking for food. Then who knows where they'll end up, and if you'll be able to find and kill them. No, you must sacrifice yourself each night as live bait to lure out any remaining bugs and keep them centralized around a single area. If you want to kill them, you must continue to feed them. As you might imagine, this does not lend itself well to peaceful nights. The quality and amount of my sleep dropped dramatically. The fight against bed bugs lasts for weeks, even months.

I implemented strict containment measures. Everything inside my room was treated as possibly contaminated. Any clean clothes which emerged from the dryer I put into a suitcase which I kept in the living room. Anything which came out of my room had to go through the dryer or steamer before I would take it out of the house. I stopped using blankets and sheets, and slept with only my sleeping bag on top of my mattress, covered in its white mattress cover. Any bugs which wanted to get at me would have to walk up to my head where the sleeping bag opening was. Every night before going to bed I put my sleeping bag, pillow, and pyjamas in the dryer for 10 minutes to kill any bugs which may have taken up residence in those items.

Every week I spent hours dismantling and steaming my bedframe. And in the middle of this full-on war, I had to move. I had been planning to move for a while, but the way that it happened is that I couldn't move directly to my new house. I would be homeless and needed a place to stay temporarily for 2 weeks. Ordinarily, this would be a difficult task, but doable. In the middle of a bed bug war, this was a task of monumental proportions. I had to send out my belongings to be stored at other people's houses, and my general fear and anxiety tripled, as I had nightmare scenarios play out in my mind about accidentally spreading the infestation to others. Every single item had to be meticulously steamed before it was packed, and then put into either a plastic tote or a garbage bag inside a box. Those items closest to 'ground zero' aka my bed, were given two, sometimes 3 steamings. Things in the living room and kitchen were designated safe since they had all been in cupboards and shelves.

I ended up having to take 3 days off of work to do all this. I lived in a state of constant fear. The toll that this situation was taking on my sanity was beginning to show. I don't have a lot of stuff, but once you have to steam everything you own, you wish you owned less. The most heartbreaking part was my yarn, all my gorgeous wool and silk and alpaca, which had been closest to ground zero, and was now covered in the dust of shed bed bug skins and surrounded by their filthy excrement. I couldn't even bear to look at it, so I stuffed it in a double-bagged garbage bag and inside a plastic tote. Even though now there are no live bugs left, it'll all need a good soak in some Eucalan before I'll be persuaded to cast it onto my needles again.

I want to take some time to mention my Champions here, my church family who took the time to help me move and pack, and kept me sane in the worst part of this ordeal. I generally have a hard time asking for help. I hate being confronted with things that I cannot do on my own. Even in times when I do ask for help, I have a backup plan of how I can do it myself. There was no backup plan here. If these dear friends had not come to my rescue, I would have been completely screwed. Every person who came, and every minute they spent assisting me was absolutely necessary.

My biggest thanks goes to an amazing woman with a little purple truck. You see, once you have bed bugs anywhere in your house, it's like you're a leper. Everything you own, you must cry out 'Unclean! Unclean!' as a precaution. Even though you assure people you have done a thorough decontamination, and that certain items were far far away from the site of infestation, no one will touch anything. Thus, my attempts to find new homes for my living room furniture failed, and I had to take everything to the dump. I don't even have a car, much less a truck. However, in the moment where I was about to despair, or else pay over $200 for one of those professional junk removal services, my friend Jeannie came to my rescue. Providentially, she was available and had the time to help transport my furniture. Never have I been so desperate, and never has the help of a friend been so sweet.

However, even after having everything packed, stored, and having moved to my temporary residence at my brother and SIL's apartment, I couldn't shake the fear. Every piece of lint looked like a bed bug. The terror that the infestation had followed me still gripped my heart. I still had nightmares about bed bugs. I kept wondering whether I had done enough, whether they were really dead. After moving, no longer sustained by the adrenaline of an impending deadline, I had a little meltdown and spent an entire day crying. I went to work, but couldn't even read my computer screen through the tears in my eyes. I've never cried so much in my life. I'm not a girl who is easily prone to tears, so it takes a LOT to bring me to that point. It was the point of being so completely overwhelmed that I'd used up all of my mental and emotional resources and just couldn't deal with anything else. I felt this war had gone in favour of the bed bugs, because I felt defeated and helpless. But once again thank God for good friends, because on this awful day of meltdown, my friend Mina came and took me out for dinner and made me a silly little card to cheer me up.

During this time of displacement and transition, I finally started to get some good sleep, and was able to look at the situation more objectively. I'd had my doubting moments where I looked at God and said, "Why did this happen to me? Did I do something wrong to have this plague visited upon me? Why did you create something that sucks (literally and figuratively) so much?" Now, I know a lot of theology and can easily dismiss these kind of questions on the basis of sin's curse applied to the natural world, spiritual warfare, etc etc. But in my state of anxiety, frustration, and vulnerability, walking around in a daze of misery, I couldn't even refute my own questions with the truths that I know. I didn't want to bring my friends down by letting on just how badly this situation was affecting me. After all, it was my problem. I had to deal with it myself. Did I mention I have problems with asking for help? At any rate, my victory was not swift and decisive. It was a process of every day choosing to defy fear and declare God's goodness even if I didn't see it or couldn't believe it in my heart. And every day, fear's foothold on my life loosened. I stopped seeing bed bugs every time I closed my eyes. I stopped my obsessive bed bug research. Stopped putting everything I own into the dryer all the time. Started to truly believe that my God is bigger than bed bugs, and that He would protect my home and the homes of my friends where all my stuff was stored. I had done all that I could, and it was time for me to trust and have hope that God would take care of the rest.

It's been 4 months since I've seen a live bug. When I moved into my new house, I put everything through the dryer again just to be safe. I saw one dead bug in the process. Since then, neither I nor anyone I know has been troubled by bed bugs. The stats do say they can live for up to a year without a meal, but that depends very much on the temperature. That stat is for refrigerator-like conditions. The warmer it is, the faster they dehydrate, and the blood inside them hardens and they die. So, I have no qualms at this point in declaring my COMPLETE and TOTAL victory over them, and everything they brought into my life as a result of the infestation. This victory goes to me, and to my God who truly is bigger than bed bugs, and can redeem even the worst of situations. If 2010 was a year of trials, I am declaring that 2011 is a year of victory. This being only the first. So listen up, everything that comes against me: I cannot be conquered. I cannot be defeated. I might be knocked down for a short time, but you better believe that I'm on the winning side, and there's nothing that can come between me and my destiny, cause God's on my side.

Sanity is overrated

2010-12-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Sleep deprivation does weird things to my inner monologue. As I get more and more sleep deprived, outwardly I become quieter, but inwardly, I get crazier. If this blog post sounds crazy to you, it's because I composed half of it while on the bus to school at the height of my sleep-deprived state this week. Just to give you some context to where I'm coming from, I recently finished one of the most grueling school weeks I've had since undergrad. Here's a pie chart of an average normal day juxtaposed with that of my average from last week. Now, getting four hours of sleep in a night is not unusual on occasion, but to sustain that over a week of studying is more difficult.

According to Wikipedia, "The link between sleep deprivation and psychosis was further documented in 2007 through a study at Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley. The study revealed, using MRI scans, that lack of sleep causes the brain to become incapable of putting an emotional event into the proper perspective and incapable of making a controlled, suitable response to the event." This is what it feels like from my perspective: Imagine that the inner monologue is walking down a path. Normally, this path has fences on the sides put up by logic and reason. These constrain things to their proper place, and set boundaries on where to travel. But sleep deprivation is like a rainstorm. When it continues unabated for many days, the ground starts to get muddy, and the fences start to wobble a bit. After a while the fences start to tip over one-by-one. And then the inner monologue starts kicking the fences over and cavorting through the mud wherever it pleases.

This isn't to say that there isn't any reason or logic behind thought processes in a sleep-deprived state. It's just that the links are unconventional. Almost like the stream of thoughts when falling asleep on the bus and slipping into a dream-state. More abstract, more random, shifting much more quickly. If a series of thought processes is like hiking down a mountain, that same path in a sleep-deprived state is like going down the mountain through the forest on a Slip 'n Slide. Point A is connected to point B, but the way you get there is drastically different, and in the latter case the present is so overwhelming that it's easy to forget where you were just a second ago.

As an example, I was standing in line at Tim Horton's last week, and there was a very tall person in front of me. Remarkably tall, in fact, probably close to 7 feet. Now normally, such information would be a simple observation. "Note: tall." And then move on. However, the inner monologue of sleep deprivation commented as follows, "Whoahhh, so tallllll! So tall! Super tall! Like a tree! Like a Christmas tree, with squirrels at the top. If a squirrel climbed to the top of his head, it could ride around there, and the world would look like ants. Then other squirrels could stand on that squirrel's head, and they could make a giant tower of squirrels."

I don't even know why I'm writing this post. It's easy for me now to just pretend that last week didn't exist and dismiss all those thoughts as irrelevant. And yet, I remember the me of last week partially composing this post and being adamant that this post must be published. So, for the myself of last week, I shall finish writing and put this up for all to read. I spend a lot of time thinking about what is real and what is true. So I wonder, which is more real to who I am? Which is a truer representation of myself? All that I have been able to come up with is that both are equally true. If the entirety of who I am is like a box of crayons, then perhaps these different states are just different combinations of colours being shaken out of the box to colour with. And no matter the crayons I end up with in my hand at one time or another, I colour only and always for Jesus, so the picture is bound to be beautiful no matter what happens.

Spring Knitting

2010-07-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, a whole season has gone by, with not much knitting to show for it. However, I haven't yet posted pictures of the things I made way back for the gift exchange with the Langley girls! My secret gift person that I was knitting for was Anna, who is a fellow linguist and a beautiful, sincere and joyful person. It was so fun to make these projects for her! First up, I knitted her the "Musica" fingerless gloves pattern.

Fair-isle really is exhausting. Next glove/mitten pattern I do (which will probably be the Norwegian Totoro Mittens) I shall do doubleknit to save myself the agony of fair-isle knitting. Anyhow, the other sizeable project I knitted was a simple Leaf Lace Scarf with beads. The crochet method of adding beads to knitting has revolutionized the way I do lace. It's so easy! I love this colourway of yarn because it really does look like a dappled forest. Here are a few pictures from knitting to blocking to finished project. Incidentally, I learned that the foam inserts from inside my DDR mats make excellent blocking mats for knitting. The pins stick into them really well. Who knew they would come in so handy? See them in action below!

Lastly, I finally looked up some online tutorials and discovered what the heck a crimp bead actually is, and made a few little stitch markers for her. Yes, one of them is a dinosaur. It's more awesome that way.

Now, in terms of current knitting, I became addicted to the lace-beads combination and have started the Haruni shawl with silver beads placed throughout. The yarn is a gorgeous Malabrigo Lace that I fell in love with at a local yarn shop (while I was just browsing and trying very hard not to buy anything) and might be a good choice if I ever decide to knit the Here Be Dragone Shawl. The first half chart of Haruni is actually quite memorizable so this has become my carry-around knitting for the moment because of its compact size.

I am also so very nearly done DS' scarf, the current project for the knitting request list. This scarf has been sitting at nearly done for about a month now because it has gotten to the size that it's very hard to carry around. But, soon it shall begin its journey to the Netherlands and find a new home there. (Picture only given of scarf in jellyroll form, because it's a surprise!)

I shall soon be finishing a couple potholders that I'm (much belatedly) giving out as prizes for the Retro Sig Week Contest at GotWoot. Grats again to the winners, Archangel and Ryllharu! Feel free to poke me if you don't have any news on this within a couple weeks, because sometimes I forget about these things.

And speaking of GotWoot, we now have our own fansub group. The team is led by the amazing and talented Sapphire, and currently is releasing House of Five Leaves, which is a fun samurai anime with quirky characters and a unique art style that might take a bit of getting used to. We've got an irc channel up and running as well so you can always visit #gotwoot on irc.rizon.net.

Lastly, here is my latest baking adventure. This week I was given the privilege of bringing a birthday cake for an amazing friend of mine at small group. Now, I love these kind of opportunities because I get to try out new recipes and use everyone as my guinea pigs, hehe. Anyhow, I wanted to do something special for her, because she has really impacted my life and blessed me more than I can say, and I feel like this birthday for her is fairly significant, so I wanted to mark the occasion with something elegant and extravagant. What better time to try out making fondant? The base cake was just a basic chocolate cake recipe I found on allrecipes. Rating: satisfactory. I used this online photo tutorial for making marshmallow fondant, and this stuff is fun! By the time I'd finished kneading the different food colourings into my little fondant chunks, my hands looked like I'd been tie-dying all day. The shapes I used to decorate the cake are reflective purely of the cookie cutters I own. Verdict: very fun experience, and tasty fondant!

Oh, and before I bid you all goodnight, I have just discovered that LeVar Burton (who you should be familiar with if you ever watched Reading Rainbow or Star Trek) has just launched a debut comic book entitled "Con-CERNed". As the name suggests, it follows a physicist who is working at the Large Hadron Collider who gains superpowers and is purported to be a tale about "physics, family, and consequences." The geekiness rating of this is off-the-scale, but it makes me oh so very happy. Read the comic here! (As a side note, you should check out the LHC on Twitter too, because whoever is tweeting there is hilarious, as I discovered via my friend and fellow blogger Beth). Have a lovely evening and a fantastic week my friends! Catch you next time.

On Worth

2010-07-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

So, I had a meeting this week with my pastor. This is a meeting that I put off for months, and once set, awaited nervously. I was scared. Really, I had no good reason to be scared. But somehow, the thought of this meeting filled me with fear and trepidation. Lately I have been trying to confront my fear, so finding myself so afraid of this meeting really bothered me. I was praying the night before, asking God why. Why did I have so much fear about this? It wasn't an issue of trust. It wasn't an issue of submission to authority. And then suddenly the answer hit me. I didn't think I was worth his time. My fear came from a lack of value in myself.

Worth is something that I thought I knew about. It's easy to discuss worth academically. It's like a thousand dollar bill, which is created with a value of one thousand dollars. Nothing will ever change that, because it's the nature of the bill. It can never be separated from its innate value, and it doesn't have to do or achieve anything to earn or maintain that value. It was created with great worth. Likewise, you and I were created with great worth. All of our actions, anything we do or don't do has absolutely no effect on our value, because that value was stamped onto our souls at the moment we were created.

It's easy to intellectually agree with such a comparison, but more difficult to truly believe it for our own lives. Even if I said I believed it, I wasn't living as God's priceless treasure. I was living as someone who needed to earn my value. I felt like I needed to prove myself in order to be of worth. Upon realizing this and recognizing it in myself, I saw it for the lie that it is. But still, my heart was unconvinced. The fear settled about me like a heavy blanket, and though I knew I could get past the fear by confronting it, I couldn't think of any way to address the underlying issue of self-worth.

So the next day I wrote down my Google map directions and hopped on the bus to get to my pastor's house. I'd been feeling really tired all day long, and I don't know what it was about that particular evening, but I just wasn't thinking straight. Somehow I got off the bus at the wrong stop and got lost. Really lost. Usually when I get really lost I just phone my brother and get him to look up directions for me on his computer, but he was out at a social function. I couldn't call my pastor either because I hadn't entered his phone number into my contact list. I kept walking, hoping that perhaps just after the next street, or the next one, that I'd reach my destination. I was assaulted by discouraging thoughts such as, "You should just go home. This whole meeting was a mistake. It's way too late to have a meeting now, you better just give up and catch the next bus out of here before you humiliate yourself." It would have been easy to just go home and pretend nothing had happened, but I'd come too far to turn back.

This was the point when my pastor phoned me, wondering where I was. I relayed the situation, and it was determined that I was so far away that he'd have to come get me. Now, as a young professional and a generally capable person, it is rather painful to appear incompetent. I was completely helpless, and just needed to stand still and wait to be rescued. Now instead of just taking up some of his time, I had caused him to have to drive all the way out and find me. However, it was in this moment of embarrassment and mortification that God spoke to me. Remember the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves his flock and goes out searching for the one lost sheep? Every time I heard that parable in the past, the lost sheep was someone else, and I was always one of those secure sheep back with the flock. But that day, I was the one that was lost and my pastor left his kids at home to come out looking for me. God spoke to me, "Because you're worth it." And how much greater is my worth to God that He rescued me while I was helpless and died to save me? He didn't do it begrudgingly, but willingly because I am worth that much to Him. That's a staggering amount of value to hold, and suddenly what my mind had previously known, my heart began to understand. My worth is already given. I don't have to say or do anything to earn it. And you know what? I wasn't afraid anymore. Given a glimpse of my own value, all the fear lifted off of me, and I walked into that meeting completely at peace and unafraid.

There is an amazing amount of freedom in knowing one's own worth. It's not pretentious or self-important worth, because it derives purely from our creator and not at all from our own efforts. That's true freedom. Freedom to be who we are because we were created so amazingly and beautifully. And the more I can see that in myself, the more I can see it in other people. As I learn just how great a value God has given me, I see more and more of that measureless value displayed in the people around me. So, my synopsis of this incident is this: I'm worth it. And did you know? You're worth it too.

On how Christian life is like DnD

2010-06-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers!

I'd just like to take this opportunity to announce a bit of a shift in the focus of my blog. As much as I love writing about what I've been knitting and showing you all my lovely pictures (which I will still do, don't worry....my camera is just out of batteries and I keep forgetting to buy more - I promise there shall be dazzling pictures soon) there are a lot of things on my mind and on my heart that I want to share. I was encouraged this weekend to start writing more often, and what better place to compose my little essays to myself than here on my blog? I know at least God will read them, and maybe a few of you as well might read and be encouraged by the things I have been thinking about.

Today I'd like to talk about how Christian life is like DnD. Now DnD which is of course Dungeons and Dragons might be quite familiar to some of you, but completely foreign to others so I want to begin with a quick explanations of what DnD is, and what it isn't. It is a game where a group of friends will gather together around a table and each role-play a character within a fictional universe, with the core mechanics of the world defined by a set of rules crafted to simulate real life as closely as possible in such a simplified form. The random chance inherent in real life activities is governed by the rolling of various dice. The story is narrated by the Dungeon Master (or Game Master if you use alternate terminology), DM for short. It is a game that is basically a more structured version of improv acting, or a form of group storytelling. The story is guided by the DM, but the choices each character makes can dramatically alter their path at any time. DnD has gotten a lot of bad rap in the past from Christian groups for being 'evil' and 'Satanic', but let me tell you this. The game itself is neither good nor bad in and of itself. By the nature of the way the game is, it is built on imagination and will reflect what is in the hearts and minds of the players. The players decide for themselves what they will do, how they will do it, and what direction the story will take. I believe that not only can this game be a lot of fun, but it also can give you a lot of insight into the lives of different types of people as you branch out and try different characters, and try to imagine how someone different might act and be motivated.

For people just entering relationship with God, they have just become a level 1 Christian. Now, what do people love most in DnD? No, I'm not talking about gold. What do they love more than gold? XP of course! The more experience points you get, the sooner you can move up to the next level. When you move up to the next level, you get new abilities and your character becomes progressively more awesome. From my experience, people will do almost anything for extra xp. This is the heart and soul of the game. If you're not earning xp, you're not really playing at all (or, you have a really stingy DM). The same is true for Christianity. To gain levels, you need xp. What DnD adventurer is content to sit in the village and stay level 1 for the whole campaign? That's not fun at all! And yet many Christians choose to do just that. They're content with level 1 and never seek anything more. People that want to grow in relationship and maturity in their faith, they know they need xp.

The next question is, how do we get xp? In DnD, xp is earned through "encounters", either combats or role-playing encounters. If the players avoid all the encounters the DM brings their way, they won't earn any xp. However, when they face an encounter, even if they're not completely successful, the DM will award each player a designated amount of xp proportional to their level and the difficulty of the encounter. A good DM will tailor the difficulty of the encounters to the level of the party so that they will be challenged, but not overwhelmed. With Jesus as our DM, he does exactly the same thing. So if we're level 1, he brings us level 1 encounters. If we're a higher level, the encounters he brings us are commensurate with our skills and abilities. As the DM, he knows our capabilities exactly, and he also has the story and encounters planned out that will bring us into our destiny. However, we still have the choice to face those encounters or ignore them. The awesome thing about Jesus is that he's a wonderfully generous DM. Even if we feel like we failed an encounter, he will still give us xp for it and bring us that much closer to reaching the next level. Granted, the encounters are more difficult at the next level, but we face them with greater insights, more effective skills, and a greater degree of freedom in how we can come through them.

I can't say enough about what an amazing DM Jesus is. He's always at the table, always attentive to your decisions and moving the story forward. Even if you miss out on encounters maybe because you were afraid or maybe because you simply didn't recognize them, he will always bring more your way. If a certain encounter is getting the better of you, he'll bring in allies to aid you. It's actually really impossible to fail an encounter unless you choose to fail it. Which happens more than you might think. Imagine this scenario:

Player 1: "I walk up to the dragon and let it eat me."
DM: "Wait, what? Why don't you try attacking it?"
Player 1: "I know it's hopeless. I'll never win. So I'm just going to let it eat me now. Here I am, dragon!"
DM: "Ok, well the dragon sees you walking toward it and it grabs you with it's claw. Roll to resist grapple."
Player 1: "I'm not going to roll. I don't resist the grapple."
DM: "Well then you're grappled, and the dragon squeezes you dealing...5 points of damage as he begins to crush you in his claw."
Player 2: "I rush in and pour my potion of Cure Light Wounds down my friend's throat to heal him."
Player 1: "I refuse to drink it. Your potion just spills on my clothes because I keep my mouth tightly shut."

Now, obviously Player 1 is in trouble in this scenario. Is it the DM's fault? Does the DM want to see the player fail? Of course not! The DM wants the player to succeed, but he can't override the will of the player. It's obviously a ridiculous scenario, yet this is exactly what we choose to do in our lives. We are confronted with lies and instead of fighting against them, we choose to believe them and are consumed by them. Then we blame God for all the trouble we're in. One thing I have struggled with for a long time is fear. I believed it so much that I began to think, well this is just who I am, I'll never get rid of it so I'll just avoid those situations that make me afraid. Every encounter where I could have stood up to that fear, I simply gave in to it instead. I believed the lie, and couldn't hear the voice of my DM saying, "Why don't you fight? I have given you everything you need to win this." But now, I'm starting to see the dragon, and my battle cry is, "You are going to add to my xp, jerk! I'll show you what it means to fight, and you will have no more agreement from me, fear!" Is it easy? No, it's challenging. But it's a challenge appropriate to my level, and I'm confident of my success.

So, for those of you who are also adventuring with Jesus as your DM, I encourage you to look for those encounters that he brings your way. It might be anything from writing a note to a friend letting them know how much you care about them, to travelling into the wilds of Africa and raising the dead. Jesus is wonderfully creative and has all manner of exciting fantastic encounters waiting for you and so much xp to give out; all he's waiting for is for you to step out and start running to your encounters instead of away from them. Listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit that says, "Here, this is your encounter today." Maybe this sounds cliche, but the world needs heroes. There are so many people suffering all around us that we can't afford to stay level 1. You have a destiny. Aren't you excited to level up and see what comes next? I know I am!

(Many thanks to my good friend Rachael, fellow DnDer, who inspired this post by making me a fantastic "Jesus is my DM" button. I love your crafty geekiness Rachael, and miss seeing you around the table every week.)

On Joy

2010-04-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

What better time for a blog post than with scant hours remaining before a final exam? My brain is so saturated with Bioprocess Engineering that every additional page of notes I bring in front of my face causes my eyes to glaze over and my brain to subside into thought fragments that are neither coherent nor relevant to the subject at hand, the static white noise of the mental sphere. So, trusting that my brain likely knows enough to be able to pass the exam, I have come here to ramble a bit about things I've been thinking about.

It turns out that I want to talk about joy. Joy is probably the farthest thing from any student's mind directly before finals. The world of a student consists of Studying Diligently and Sleep Deprivation and Stressful Agonizing Hours during exam period. And yet, as my pastor pointed out yesterday, the Bible has the audacity to say "Be joyful always" with the always meaning... well, always.

Now, I consider myself to have a very cheerful disposition by default. Even on Friday when my software crashed at work and I lost an hour's worth of laborious AutoCAD drawing, I sighed for a moment, but resolved to save more next time and thought cheerily about how much faster I'd be able to draw it now that I had perfected the process for that portion of the drawing. However, one thing that has the uncanny ability to bypass all of my innate cheerfulness is being sick. All it takes is a little virus to reduce me to an inconsolable puddle of self-pity, cut off from the outside world and my entire universe reduced to myself, my pile of blankets, and my box of kleenex. A former roommate once commented that I was the most miserable sick-person she'd ever met. When I get sick, I shut down completely. I don't go out, I don't think, I sometimes remember to make meals, but that's about all. So imagine my horror when I started to feel the onset of sickness on Friday, right when I needed to be studying for exams.

So not only am I sick and have to force myself to study throughout being sick, but now I have to be joyful too? That just seems unnatural. Weird. Who does that? And yet, obviously this is something I need to learn to do, as I have set myself on this journey of seeking out the heart of God. Joy is something that I struggle with understanding. It seems to be fundamentally different from happiness, since happiness is an emotion and the experience of it usually involuntary. A command to be joyful, that implies volition. That implies that the choices I make have a direct effect on my level of joy. So how do I choose to be joyful? How do I know whether I'm joyful or not? What are the indicators of a life that is firmly rooted in joy every moment of every day?

I think perhaps I understand it better by coming at it from the opposite side. What robs me of my joy? When I am sick, how do I choose to let go of my joy? Perhaps joy is related to focus, such that when my focus remains on how miserable I am, my misery consumes me and consumes the joy in my life. But when my focus is on God, somehow despite the very real current of misery rushing around me, joy remains the anchor that holds me in place and keeps me from being carried down into greater unhappiness.

Even after chasing these rabbit-trails of thoughts around in my head, I still don't feel like I understand joy any better. It remains mysterious but one day... one day I will catch it and pounce on it and declare to the world "THIS! This is joy!" Until that day, I will keep chasing it. Practically, at this moment, that means that despite the scratchiness in my throat and the sniffles and the exam (t-45 mins now), I will declare that God is good to me, that no matter how I do on this exam, I will pass the course, that even when I feel miserable God is working all things out for my good and that I am abundantly and extravagantly blessed. I want to choose joy, whatever that may be, and however that looks.

Post-Easter Baking

2010-04-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, Easter has come and gone, but the whole weekend was so busy (notable events included JazzyBunny coming to visit from Ontario....awesome times with her!) that I didn't get to do a single bit of Easter baking. Then I took off for California to go to a conference which is a whole other story in itself. But, back to the baking. So this story actually begins last year when my friend ifihadaboat introduced me to the time-honoured Mennonite tradition of making Paska at Easter. What is Paska, you ask? It is a light citrus bread made at Easter that is eaten voraciously by any in sight as soon as it comes out of the oven, usually slathered in icing. My inaugural Paska experience was all sorts of delicious, and the two of us were quite pleased with ourselves for producing such an authentically scrumptious Paska. This year, I was determined to repeat the experience even though my dear Mennonite partner-in-crime is now residing in the Northwest Territories and couldn't just pop over to help me make it.

The most difficult part of this recipe is that it requires a whole blended orange and lemon, and I have no blender. But luckily, it was my awesome brother and sister-in-law Shalyn who came to my rescue and volunteered their Magic Bullet for this endeavour! They even provided me with a container to bring home my orange-lemon sludge once I had sufficiently pureed it. Now that is what family is for, I tell ya. Always there for you in your hour of most dire procrastinatory-baking need.

Behold, here is my Paska dough, ready to enter the fiery furnace! I stole the idea of adding embellishments to the top from a Ukrainian Paska website.

And here is the finished product, right out of the oven and ready for noms! Those Mennonites would be proud. Incidentally, this recipe is huuuge. I had another whole loaf besides this one. Good thing there were lots of people to help eat this up!

Next week is exams. Bleh. But the Langley Knit Night Secret Grinch Swap is coming up, which will be my one scheduled break before exams (no more baking, I swear!), and well worth waiting for. I can't wait for the unveiling of the secret knitted items =D Stay tuned!

Designer and cat news

2010-03-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting like a madwoman. I've even managed to partially get over being carsick so that I can knit on the bus! This is an exciting development that reclaims precious daytime hours for knitting. I'm very optimistic about how much progress I am going to make on the request list this year. I have also been doing homework like a madwoman. It is the nature of the procrastinator to be most productive in the time of highest stress and busyness. As I sit staring forlornly at my textbook, my imagination is spinning with projects to be knit, cookies to be baked, letters to be written, books to be read, etc etc. So, I actually have been doing quite a bit.

One item of interest is that I am officially a designer on Ravelry. I've had a couple charts up for a while, but recently started to compile all my other charts I've made for free download. I do plan to put up my Mario Boo and Question Box charts too, though I'm writing them up into an official scarf pattern rather than just tossing up the chart, because I realized that I wanted to write a pattern that would teach people non-reversible doubleknitting. So stay tuned for that! I know there are people reading this who have wandered over here from my Ravelry page, so if that's you, welcome! Stick around, have some cookies, leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

This also means that all semblance of anonymity is lost since my designer page contains my real name, though most of you know who I am anyhow. So, while we're revealing real life details, I'll let you know that you can find me other places on the interwebs. Most notably on the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research page which has a little blurb about my research if you're interested in science-y stuff and if you wonder what I do when I'm not knitting or baking.

The other news is regarding the only remaining feline at the ancestral home. Since poor Skittles met his untimely end likely in the belly of some coyotes last summer, only Creeper remains to keep my mom company with his chirruping meows while my dad is out working in the fields.

This fluffy bundle of cuteness was found to have diabetes recently. I didn't even know it was possible for cats to get diabetes. The poor little guy needs to have insulin injections now. It's not all bad for him though because he's been switched to an all-protein diet which means SALMON and TUNA every day. Truly, Creeper is eating like a king, and I'm sure will soon become ridiculously spoiled.

When discussing this with Zana on Sunday, she exclaimed, "Your mom needs a backup cat! What will happen if this one dies?" I tend to agree, though my mom seems to think that she's done with having new cats. We just need to conveniently arrange to have a kitten arrive at the house. Mwahaha!

Anyhow, not that this was ground-breaking news, but I wanted an excuse to post some cat pictures. Peace out my friends ^_^

A plethora of crafting

2010-03-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Has it really been so long since my last post? Oh poor neglected blog. What a tragedy to have such a forgetful owner as I. I shall placate you with tales of projects begun and projects finished! Multi-craft stories even! So here we go, this is going to be a fun post, because I have lots of pictures! Not that I've been crafting at a higher rate than usual, I just haven't had a chance to tell you about it of late.

So, let us begin where we left off. I knit a quick dice bag while I was on the plane because I needed a project I didn't have to think about, and the ziplock bag that I usually keep my dice in became so worn out that it broke. (On a slightly tragic side-note, my beloved DnD group has come to an end due to people moving far away. Tuesday nights will never be the same without all the terrible puns, talking in silly voices, interrupting the DM when he's trying to be profound, and crazy antics that our characters would get up to. I miss you guys.)

Now, before I continue, I must digress into some talk about Christmas trees. In the house where I grew up, we have a very high living room. Our old house burnt down when I was 2, so my parents had a chance to design the new house the way they wanted, and one thing they really wanted was a cathedral ceiling in the living room. This leaves a lot of space for Christmas trees, and we used to get HUGE ones when I was a kid. We would go out to the tree farm and cut one down, then put it on the truck and bring it home. Sometimes we would try to fit it up the stairs, but often my dad would just put it in the bucket of the tractor and lift it up to the balcony, so we would bring it directly into the living room through the balcony door. Then my mom would go and get the really tall ladder from the barn, and put on the lights, after which all the kids could put up the rest of the Christmas decorations. A few years ago, my mom decreed that because all the chilluns were far away and nobody got home in time to help her decorate the tree, she was only going to get small trees from now on. I remember the first 8ft tree. We all complained about how tiny it was, that it was just a little Charlie Brown tree, but my mom was not going to be dissuaded. So imagine my surprise when I came home to this tree:

So awesome! 16ft of glorious evergreen goodness. Oh how I love home.

I started some mystery items that will have to wait another month to be revealed because they're for a swap with the Langley Knit Night girls. Suffice it to say though, that they're awesome! In the meantime, here's some not-so-secret stuff.

Here's a quick pair of fingerless gloves. Likely going to mail them off to a friend soon, after I weave in the ends. This yarn and the yarn for the dice bag is Wooly Stripes, which I got at Dressew for an amazing $2/ball!!!! This pair was knit from one ball exactly, and I did the first one bottom-up and the second top-down to match the stripes. I have since spent way too much money at that yarn sale. Such as what you will see below, some Rowan Ribbon Twist that is going to become a sweater, even though it looks like a shapeless blob right now.

Below is a quick pair of booties I made for a coworker who just had a baby. I thought I'd try out this pattern (Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties) because it looked interesting, and I'm pretty happy with the result. Hopefully the baby will be too.

And, I've been saving the best for last, my mysterious sewing project is finished! Remember the post about Minou the cat helping me sew? Well, I finally managed to get out to visit my friend who owns a sewing machine, and managed to finish this sucker! The pattern is loosely based off of the Nintendo Messenger Bag Tutorial on Craftster. This was a gift for my awesome friend who goes by the nickname Lucifus online, and he had signed up on the knitting request list asking for a surprise, so the biggest surprise here was that it was sewn. I appliqued the symbol on the front (the geass symbol from the anime Code Geass) and made the outer part of the bag out of denim, and the inner lining out of green flannel. It's a very spacious bag, and I included a couple of snaps to keep it closed during transit. This is my first real sewing project (not including a pair of shorts I sewed when I was 12, under the supervision of my mother) so I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Lastly, I have begun knitting the Viking Girl Hat, and my friend is making the Viking Boy Hat, and together we shall make a matching pair for her cute twin babies. She will be here to visit soon, so I am SO excited for that!

I know this has been a whirlwind of a blog post, and I have no witty commentary to go along with my pictures, for which I blame Bioprocess Engineering, which is the course that is taking over my life right now. *shakes fist*

Have a lovely week! If it's still winter where you live, you can borrow some spring cheer from Vancouver.

Not Goodbye, but See You Later

2009-12-22T04:17:00.000-08:00

This post is a letter to Kaitlyn Faith Ham, who shared her beautiful life with our community for 35 precious days, and left to be with her Father in heaven on December 17th. The story of her journey is found at http://kaitlynham.blogspot.com/

Dear Kaitlyn,

Is it possible to receive a lifetime's worth of love in only 35 days? We loved you fiercely and intensely, and we will continue to love you until we see you on the other side of eternity. I wasn't able to meet you or to hold you, but I was honoured and privileged to fight alongside you. You showed us that the impossible is possible. You surprised us and overjoyed us with your determination. You taught us how to let go, even though we didn't want to. You are missed so much.

You were so small, but already the ripple effects of your life are spreading outwards, forever changing us. I am praying for your Mom and Dad because even though they are so strong, they miss you most of all. Aren't you so proud of them? God made you part of such an amazing family, and it will be so awesome when you are all reunited. This isn't goodbye little one, because we will see you later, in the place where Jesus will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Love,
Sarah

Wednesday is potluck day!

2009-12-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the last day of my week-long blog series of thankfulness. This doesn't mean I'll stop being thankful, in fact, I feel like after this week I've become more able to recognize all the things that I do have to be thankful for every day, and that each day has new and different things for which I can thank God.

Before we get to that though, I want to show you guys pictures of the Christmas treats I made for my CG potluck tonight. The first is Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies, as found on the Smitten Kitchen blog. Seriously, if you ever need a ridiculously tasty recipe, just browse the recipe index over at Smitten Kitchen. Her posts are so entertaining too!

My other dessert creation was Christmas Nanaimo Bars. Don't ask me for the recipe on this one because I improvised the recipe. The green layer has mint flavouring and the red layer is vanilla. I put the pan in the freezer between layers to make the interface between them nice and smooth. I'm actually quite happy with how these turned out, and love how they look. If I had more time I'd have arranged them on a plate for a more beautiful picture, but I plan on taking the leftovers into work tomorrow for the guys at the lab to polish off, so it stays in the pan.

We had an amazing pot-luck night and every single dish was scrumptiously delicious. Our secret santa gift exchange was uproariously hilarious, and once again the conversation managed to stray into topics of a scandalous nature, whilst people were trying to be serious and spiritual. Seriousness is overrated anyhow. All the gifts were so good, including mine (thanks Cam!!! I've already got my new lamp set up and stationed by my reading chair!) and at the end of the I was sore from laughing so much. Good times.

On the knitting front, I finally got around to taking pictures of my modified Cablerimetry headband. The cables are all freestyle, but symmetrical. Because symmetry is important to this little engineer.

And remember what was supposed to be a headwrap? It's now a circular scarf. Not sure yet what I'm going to do with it.

Today I am thankful for:
1. My friend Vahid who consistently demonstrates a high level of consideration and humility by always being quick to apologize when he realizes he was in the wrong. He's an inspiration for me to aim for that level as well.
2. The past few months I've had to get to know the German exchange students. We'll miss you guys!
3. A freaking amazing pot-luck.
4. Joy.
5. Two well-stocked grocery stores in very close proximity to my house. Definitely makes it easier to do last-minute baking.

Tuesday is a knitting day!

2009-12-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

I knitted today! Knitting times are few and far between lately, so any times I can sneak out my needles and yarn are precious. This was the last Knit-Lunch at UBC for 2009. I'm hoping we'll attract even more knitters in 2010 and be able to book an entire room for our weekly fibre crafts. I'm nearly finished the Blackrose Wristlets. I had some yarn left over from the Blackrose Socks I made (remember the felting disaster those were?) so I decided to use it up on something that I would remember would be a HANDWASH ONLY item. I frogged half of the first glove because it was too long and I ran out of yarn on the second glove, so I knit the second one while unravelling the first until they were both the same length. But then I had to go back and fix the thumb-hole height on the first one. So, those are nearing completion at least.

Things I am thankful for today
1. A break in the rain while I was walking home.
2. My very helpful friend Ian who has been awesome at assisting me in getting my computer issues solved.
3. A wonderful dinner made by my friend Yeon Ju, and being able to meet her husband and share about our lives.
4. Wafer #S122, on which rests all our hopes and dreams for the future of our lab.
5. Willing guinea pigs to test out new and/or modified baking recipes that I concoct.

Belated Monday Thankfulness

2009-12-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

I know it's not Monday anymore. I was so sleepy last night I totally forgot to blog. However, let me tell you what I DID do last night. I went shopping. I know, I never go shopping. Can't stand it. However, Christmas is coming, and there are gifts that need to be gotten. I found that 7-9pm on a Monday night is actually a very pleasant time to shop. No crowds, very little noise, everything is winding down for the day. The mall was practically empty, which is exactly how I like it. AND I made great progress on gift-getting! Only a few things left to pick up!

Things I was thankful for yesterday:
1. Grace.
2. Having a friend who also dislikes shopping accompany me on my mall adventure. Together, we shall conquer!
3. The fact that I get to go home to Ontario in just a few days, to where snow lasts more than 12 hours and doesn't change into rain until spring.
4. Wonderful friends and family members that love getting random gifts. Really random gifts, just to warn you....
5. Getting to throw out 6 months of accumulated devices and molds in the lab and reclaim 90% of our shelf space.

Sunday thankfulness

2009-12-13T23:37:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for:
1. SNOW! Oh so fluffy and white and beautiful. First snowfall of the winter!
2. A snackalicious gingerbread house to tide me over in the absence of lunch.
3. The fact that no matter how big I make my dreams for the future, God has an even bigger reality in store for me. Awesome!
4. Having a fellow knitter as my sister-in-law so that I can admire her latest projects and be inspired to start new ones of my own.
5. Laundry machines in the house. I only have to walk three steps and voila - clean clothes!

Saturday is party day!

2009-12-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

If only I could read with a little more attention to detail. After arranging my whole Saturday to accommodate a guild run to the Deep, I logged on this afternoon to find that no one was around. Going back and reading the planning details, I found out that the run is scheduled for NEXT Saturday. *facepalm*
Ah well. At least that gave me a couple hours to relax and organize my inventory. All my GW characters had their pockets overflowing with useless things, so a few trips to the merchant fixed that up. I also achieved my 'Protector of Tyria' title with the help of a few friends. Yay!

Things I am thankful for today:
1. My awesome brother and sister-in-law. I'm so glad they live nearby so that I can visit them all the time. Huzzah!

2. My crazy and random but ever so loveable little sister who is moving out to BC in January! Oh the shenanigans that will ensue...

3. Getting to dress up for a classy Christmas party.

4. The opportunity to pray for a friend who is going through a tough time. Even though I'm too far away to visit or give hugs, I can totally mobilize the Forces of Good to help, hehe.

5. Sleep. Oh how I love sleep. And on that note, I shall engage in that very activity. Goodnight, dear readers :)

Friday Thankfulness

2009-12-12T02:29:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, I'm gonna be doing this for a week, so look forward to an update every day!

Things I am thankful for today:

1. Public transit. I can travel around the whole city without having to own a car! And Vancouver has a pretty sweet bus system.

2. A considerate and understanding supervisor. I got to take a whole week off to spend time with my parents when they were here, and I get two weeks to fly home for Christmas. Huzzah!

3. God's steadfastness and faithfulness. Even when I'm so full of doubt and fear, God always comes through for me and invites me to place my confidence in him rather than myself, so that I don't have to worry about messing things up because my confidence is not in myself but in God.

4. Spontaneous events with people I love. A little unexpected due to 8:30 apparently sounding like 6:30 in Korean (we arrived and they were like, "Oh....you're early....VERY early..."). Even if I could have used those two hours to sleep or make dinner or whatever, time spent building relationships with friends is so precious and realistically I would have just wasted that time on facebook anyhow.

5. Peanut butter M&M's! 'Nuff said.

Lists

2009-12-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

Things I am thankful for today (in no particular order):
1. My amazing job. It's like detective work! Spent some long hours today in the cleanroom lab, but we're finally figuring out the optimum process to make our devices how they need to be. Nothing satisfies a crafter more than making something with your hands and having it turn out right!

2. Seasons. Winter in particular is one of my favourite seasons, and just being outside today in the crisp cold air fills me with joy. How cool is it that we get half of the year to wear bamboo tops and linen skirts, and the other half to wear wool sweaters and alpaca scarves and merino mittens. No matter what you want to knit, there's a season to wear it here (this is a knitting blog after all....we need to have an obligatory mention of knitting to pretend like I'm not trying to distract you from my unfinished knitting projects).

3. A WARM house to come home to. Mmmm, cozy!

4. God's provision for me, just in general. This past 6 months has been full of crazy instances of everything I need just falling into my lap. Not the least of which is my newest electronic aquisition: my new laptop who is now known as Wavelet. Just in time after my desktop died and the fan on my old lappy went kaput.

5. Hanging out with my roommate. Seriously, she is so awesome and encouraging and optimistic and excited about EVERYTHING and just plain fun.

Suggestions of things I might like to receive for Christmas (in no particular order):
(for interested family members or friends who might be wondering)
1. Second controller for my Wii
2. Oven mitts
3. Wii games
4. Glow-in-the-dark yarn
5. Sock yarn (superwash)
6. Geeky jewelry
7. Clothes
8. Games to play when I have people over like Munchkin, or Fluxx, or interesting board games.
9. A full Bible that's pocket-size. Like, not notebook sized, but extra tiny to easily fit into a purse.
10. Notebooks, the ones that are about the size of a regular piece of paper folded in half. I go through a lot of them.
11. A freestanding lamp for my room. The overhead light drives me crazy, but I have no alternative at the moment.
12. Use your imagination. I like surprises!
For just general guidelines, I like stuff I can use, that is practical. Also, remember that I have to carry things back with me from Ontario to BC, as well as all the gifts for my brother and sister-in-law, so small is good. Suitcase space is limited.

Recipes I want to make for the holidays from the Joy of Baking site:

Hope I have time for all this baking!!

Island Adventures

2009-11-14T01:05:00.000-08:00

*jumps up and down excitedly*

I have one FO!!!! Yes, after so many weeks of no knitting pictures, I finally finished one of those suckers. Guess which one? Aha, trick question, I haven't yet blogged about it! Really though, it was tiny. A friend of mine has a friend who has a store for selling pet accessories so I made this little dog scarf for her. I might make another quick dog scarf tomorrow (a smaller one....I cast on way more stitches than I needed to for the first one). My roommate generously provided a bear as a model of this lovely canine accessory.

Might as well proceed to the bad news which is that I STILL haven't decided what to do with the supposed headwrap that didn't turn out to be a headwrap at all since it was lacking several requisite inches. It's just sitting in a little pile, monopolizing my bamboo knitting needles and sneering at me. I'm going to need to undo my kitchener stitch, and perhaps bind off both ends to make it into a small scarf just to be done with it.

The reinvention of my Calorimetry Headband into a freestyled cabled .... um ... thingamabob? is going well. It's still a headband, just to clarify, but with cables that meander about in a mostly organized fashion.

Anyone else like the changes to Blogger's image insertion interface, by the way? I'm so glad to be able to insert my images as I type, instead of having them appear at the top of my text and having to drag them down to the bottom manually on the ridiculously short window space that Blogger gives us to write in.

My parents came up for my graduation this weekend, and stayed all week long. Actually, they didn't so much stay, as take me with them on a trip to Vancouver Island! I love vacationing with my parents because:
1. It's really cheap
2. My parents are fun people!
3. Did I mention it's really cheap?
We spent some time in Victoria, and met up with one of my childhood friends that I haven't seen in FOREVER. She gave us a marvelous tour of the city. The most blog-worthy mention of that day was the sheer number of rabbits that swarm the campus at the University of Victoria. Holy Bunny Invasion Batman! Most of them are quite tame, having grown up on campus and are used to being fed by students. It was like watching the Star Trek episode 'Trouble with Tribbles' right before my eyes. These little bunnies were seriously everywhere.

After spending some time in Victoria, we drove out to Sooke to check out the birds in the lagoon there (no self-respecting birdwatcher could skip this opportunity! ...and by that I mean my mother, not me....) and it was gorgeous and sunny. I got some great pictures there. After that we went up to Nanaimo, and came home via North Van, stopping off at Lynn Canyon for a bit of a hike.

My last piece of news was that I made a very reckless and spur of the moment decision today. Let me illustrate it for you.

Behold my brand new (new-to-me more specifically) Nintendo Wii! It's snuggled up there with the PS2 so they can keep each other company, but with the controllers in between so that the consoles won't fight. I found a wicked deal on craigslist that was too good to pass up. I wanted to name it 'Nanaimo' since I had just returned from there, but I mis-spelled it as I was trying to type with the remote, and when I looked up it said, "Do you want to name your Wii 'Nanzimo'?" I clicked yes. Nanzimo....it has a nice ring.

On Independence and Inconvenience

2009-11-05T21:34:00.000-08:00

I am in a pensive mood tonight (and again, knitting progress has been minimal, which I wholly attribute to my lack of classes this semester i.e. no lectures to knit through) so be warned, this will be a rather meandering blog post. I'm also positive that this post will sound less impressive than it did in my head when I composed it on the bus ride home from school, but perhaps you can make it sound more grand as you read it. Just imagine it being read in the voice of the Movie Trailer Narrator or perhaps in a posh British accent.

So, what was I pondering? I was pondering what it is that makes me so unwilling to inconvenience people. I do not think that this trait is limited to myself only, but something more ingrained within Canadian culture. I would rather inconvenience myself a great deal than inconvenience someone else a little bit. I ponder this as I need to find a ride to a retreat tomorrow, yet find myself hesitant to ask people that are going, lest they feel like they HAVE to transport me and in the process are consequently annoyed. Now, I'm sure that most of them would be more than happy to drive me if they have room, and yet I find myself thinking about looking up bus times and otherwise avoiding the necessity of being dependent upon someone else.

Because, let's face it, that's what this is really about. Dependence. Our culture places a very high value on being independent, and we push our children from a young age to learn how to embrace independence. While I believe it is healthy to be independent, we have glorified it to such an extent that we no longer know how to be dependent on each other. However, dependence is vital to community. People are not meant to live isolated lives, supplying all of their own needs. This is something that many North American churches in particular seem to have forgotten (for those of you new to this blog, I speak in the context of the church as it is my primary community). We see the Bible verses exhorting us to serve others and contribute to their needs, yet when it comes to ourselves we say, "Oh, I'm ok. Really, it's nothing. You don't need to go out of your way for me." And in not allowing others to help and serve us, we miss out on a great opportunity. Because as we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and dependent, we put ourselves in a position of humility. We are no longer trusting in ourselves, and as we allow other people to serve and honour us in that position of vulnerability, it builds bonds of trust and friendship that are deep and lasting. It also makes us more sensitive and attentive to the needs of others so that we can serve them joyfully with a heart filled with gratitude for the ways that we ourselves have been helped in our times of dependence. And most importantly, it teaches us in a real and practical way how to be dependent on God, because he will always honour the person who positions themselves in humility.

This is really me talking to myself now (or perhaps the Holy Spirit talking to me as I ponder) because honestly I have SUCH a hard time with this. I dread being dependent on others and I'll go leagues out of my way to avoid it. For example, when my sister and I flew back here after Christmas holidays last year, our plane got in at 11pm. The airport is approximately an hour's drive from where I was living at the time. I made my excuses. "It's too late for anyone to be able to drive all the way out there to pick us up." "My roommate who has a car won't be back till the next day." "Everyone else who has cars, I just don't know them well enough to feel comfortable asking them to drive out and get me." And so, I didn't even attempt to locate a ride home. As a result we had a painful all-night journey that involved sleeping a few hours at the airport, taking a night bus all the way downtown, getting accosted by strangers at the bus stop, waiting in the rain and foul-smelling slush with our luggage getting wetter by the minute, taking three more buses until finally arriving home at 6:30am, just in time for me to change and head out to my first class that started at 8:30. It was terrible. I could have saved myself (and my sister) so much trouble if only I'd put down my pride and my independence, and asked someone to pick us up.

Let me give you another story as an illustration of how this attitude is part of our very culture. A friend of mine, let us refer to him as S, who moved here from Jordan told me this story (which I may not remember 100% correctly, so forgive me if I'm fuzzy on some of the specifics). Right after and his family moved to Canada, they got an apartment, and introduced themselves to their neighbours in the apartment building. One of these neighbours was an older man who had lived in that apartment building for 10 years. Now S casually mentioned to this man that he only needed to come by and ask if the man needed anything. Shortly after, this man suffers some sort of severe health failure (I forget whether it was heart or lung-related) and as he's in dire peril, he does not go to any of his longtime friends, but he comes to S. S drops everything that he's doing to bring this man to the hospital. While he was in the hospital for the next week S went to visit this man nearly every day, though he had known him only a very short time. It could have been a complete stranger, and S would have done the same. Muslim culture places a high value on loving one's neighbour, and they actually live that out. In our culture we're very good at being nice to our neighbours, but in the process we have lost track of what it means to love them. We expect people to be independent, and things that inconvenience us elicit complaints.

So how do we as a culture, and more locally, we as a church, combat this destructive form of independence that keeps us apart from each other? I think the first step is to learn ourselves how to be dependent, to keep us from being prideful in our independence and what we've accomplished, and to keep us aware of the courage it takes to ask others for help not knowing whether they'll say yes or no. The second thing we can do is to constantly verbally let the people around us know that we are available and willing to offer help when it is needed. We can learn a lesson from my friend S and make sure to communicate to others that they can come to us if they need anything. Even if we can't provide the help the person needs, we may be able to direct them to someone who can. Often we just assume, "Oh, of course So-And-So knows I'd help them if they needed it" but likely So-And-So does not know unless we clearly tell them so. The third very critical thing we can do is to avoid complaining about helping people. Even if we really are annoyed by that friend that keeps on asking us to borrow Y or do X for them, the minute we complain about it we signal to everyone that hears us that we don't like helping and don't want to be bothered, keeping those people from coming to us about anything in the future. It takes a lot fewer words to tear down trust than to build up trust. Sometimes it's just really hard to find the joy in serving others that we're supposed to have, but I think that learning to be dependent ourselves will nurture that within us, and that even if we serve others purely out of obedience to God and nothing else, he will honour that as well and show us that joy. It all comes back to love. How far are we willing to go to love others? God has already gone the whole way in his love for us. If we're serious about being a community that lives out the love of God, we can't be complacent about it. Love is active. Love slips past all our defenses and boundaries and shows us the world in a way we've never seen it before.

Still, it's tough. As I tell myself these things, I still am faced with the imminent decision of who to ask for a ride, and I have to fight against my willful independence. The difference between knowing and doing....well, that is part of what God is teaching me this season. It's all part of the journey, right? One step at a time.

If you've made it to the end of this post, bravo! Perhaps you found all of this uninteresting and inapplicable, and you are certainly free to take it or leave it, since this is primarily my own meanderings to myself, but perhaps you have found it helpful and so I pray that you will be encouraged and blessed.

(And I really will have some knitting to blog about next time! Honest!)

Best birthday ever!

2009-10-21T23:22:00.000-07:00

Though this is primarily a knitting blog, I take the opportunity every so often to ramble about goings-on in other spheres of my life, and since very little knitting progress has been made (more on that later this post) I shall tell you about my birthday! It's ok, you can ask, don't feel bad. I turned 27, which seemed very old 5 years ago, but now feels just right. And as my good friend David pointed out, it'll be a long time until my next perfect cube birthday, so I better enjoy this one!

So, the first exciting event of birthdayness happened the evening before my birthday, when I went to go see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra playing music from Final Fantasy. It was marvellous. There is something breathtaking about being in the same room as a full orchestra, listening to the varied sounds produced by each instrument that blend together to create a cohesive whole. They closed with a rendition of the opera from FFVI, which was amazing. And then they did 3 encores. Bliss! My roommate joined me and though she's never played a FF game in her life, she really enjoyed the concert.

On the actual day of my birthday, I made a cake to bring in and eat with my coworkers. Yes, I reserve the right to make my own birthday cake, because I wanted to make my favourite kind of cake (carrot pineapple, yum!) and share the awesomeness of it with everyone else in the lab. The German guys from the lab next to mine even sang me 'Happy Birthday' in German. Overall, a very satisfactory day UNTIL I receive an email in my inbox that afternoon.

"Dear Ms. M.,
Congratulations on being a successful applicant from the 2009 Research Trainee Competition and on receiving a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Trainee Award."

WOW! Best birthday present ever!!! Basically, my salary just incresed by about 50%. And my day got even better because that evening we had a special impartation service at church to hear stories from our team that had just returned from a conference in Brazil and get prayed for by them. SO good! Seriously, I'm soooo blessed, and I know that this year is just going to get better and better!

Oh, and my small group from church also surprised me with a birthday cake (this was a couple days previous) so I was well celebrated all in all.

Now, in knitting news, I finished my sweater, but haven't yet decided on what sort of geeky embellishment to put on it. So I've just been wearing it as-is for the moment while I ponder. I'd say it's a pretty solid first official sweater. I'm now encouraged and feel brave enough to start on a cardigan. After Christmas knitting of course, since it's getting to be that time of year again.

I started and almost finished a head wrap for my aunt who is currently undergoing chemo for breast cancer. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and my attempt is 3 inches shorter than the pattern calls for. I started grafting it together to see if it would still work, but I think this one is not going to function. I have it sitting in a corner while I ponder trying to salvage it as a scarf, or attempting to re-knit it into a more traditional hat.

While I was pondering the head wrap, I began knitting a headband (Calorimetry from Knitty), from a project I'd frogged last year. I love the yarn, but the previous headband had been much too loose. This new one has some freestyle cables (I didn't have a cable needle on hand when I started it, so I've been cabling with my crochet hook) and is a much tighter knit which in turn means warmer ears and head. Pictures to come when I actually find my camera.

Also, if you're not tired of me talking about Darker than Black, let me tell you about how awesome the second season is. First of all, the first episode of this season was released on my birthday, and the first episode does not disappoint. This season takes place in Russia, and it seems as though a few years have passed since the incident that ended season 1. There are some new characters, but many old faces and like we saw in the first season, the writers of this show have no compunction about killing people off. I love the new main character they've introduced, a spunky girl named Suou, who looks like she'll provide enough optimism and energy to contrast with the grim contractors who work as assassins for various groups (and from the scenes in the OP, it looks as though she'll be sporting a hunting rifle as her weapon of choice). I made a new forum signature in honour of the beginning of this promising second season. Credit goes to the helpful guys at Gotwoot who provided suggestions for polishing this up into a very classy sig.

I'll post again soon when my camera is found, and I have pictures to share. Catch ya later!

Not Geeky Enough

2009-09-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

I am nearing the end of the last ball of yarn for my sweater. Overall, it looks pretty good so far! I like that it's all knitted in the round. After the horror that was the seaming of my lace cardigan, I look forward to only having to weave in the ends to finish.

However, it bothers me. It's just....well.....not geeky enough. Have you ever known me to knit anything standard, 100% by the pattern? Certainly not, or if I have, consider it a momentary lapse of (in)sanity. No, this sweater definitely needs some geekification. But what? I've been considering duplicate stitching a 'pi' symbol on the front, and fair-isle knitting as many digits of pi that will fit around the bottom. My only problem with that is that my fair-isle tension is significantly tighter than my regular tension, and I'm worried that it won't be stretchy enough. I was also thinking of perhaps duplicate stitching on some computer code or physics equations. Or maybe I should go back to the video games realm of geekery? So many possibilities. Got any suggestions? Here's me trying on the sweater, in-progress.

And speaking of video games, I have heard rumours that the Nintendo Wii is going to be dropping in price very soon. This is a console I have been looking at for a while, but it's always been too expensive. Maybe soon it will actually drop into my price range! In particular, with the imminent cold and rainy weather, I know I won't want to go running in the mornings, and if I buy a gym membership on campus I'll have to drag my clothes and towel with me to work all the time. Not an ideal situation. However, if I had a Wii, I could get Wii Fit Plus which is coming out next month with even more fun games and activities! I do have a $50 Future Shop gift card from switching cellular phone providers this month, and we'll have to see what my budget looks like, but there might just be a Wii in my future!

First though, I need to get a TV. And a bed. And a kitchen table. And a bookshelf. And fix my computer which may have died beyond all repair. I did get a free bike recently (through a very bizarre string of events....ask me sometime, and I'll tell you the story), but it needs a lot of work. When will I be moved into my new place? Well, at the rate things are going, it might take us another month to get all the remaining stuff we need. Until then, it's sleeping on the floor/couch, and borrowing wireless on the laptop to watch low-resolution youtube videos, sitting on top of unpacked boxes. At least we finished painting all our rooms though!

Presenting the Kitten Cam!

2009-09-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

Attention: The kittens are now large enough to escape from their box, so the kitten cam is now offline. However, if you want to look at adorable pictures of aforementioned kittens, please visit this site.

Recently, my brother adopted a new cat. Or rather, the neighbours got evicted and left behind a small army of cats as well as a house completely filled with garbage and cat feces (not even joking here....I'm horrified that they had small children living in that kind of an environment). Anyhow, the humane society carted off most of the felines, but one became friends with my brother and his roommate, so they decided to adopt this friendly little girl. Not too long after, she surprised them with a litter of kittens.

What is a technologically-minded friend of felines to do, but set up a webcam of course, to have a streaming live feed of kittens from anywhere on the internet! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

The Kitten Cam!!!! (click me! click me! I dare you!)

(Note: The Kitten Cam shuts down at night to allow the kittens some sleep, so if you don't see anything, check back in a few hours)

It's so addictive. I keep it open in the background all day long at work. The cuteness is liable to cause you to say ridiculous things and giggle at the screen. Or explode. Much like the following xkcd comic:

If you live in or around the Ottawa area, two of these adorable little fluffballs still need a home. You can send any inquiries about adoption to me (sarahluvscats [at] gmail dot com), and I will pass them on to my brother.

Kitties!

Danger! Danger Will Robinson!

2009-08-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

I am in dire peril. Or rather, my finances and my yarn stash are in dire peril - the former at risk of dwindling away to nothing and the latter at risk of multiplying like a pack of Tribbles. This weekend, there are no less than THREE yarn sales in the area. I know, it's horrifying and blissful, all at the same time.

We'll start with the sad news. Our beloved Knitopia is moving away from Langley and back to White Rock. I shall miss you Knitopia! But, moving means a big moving sale which is ongoing from now until the end of September when they move. I already have so much yarn from the LAST Knitopia sale....but it was such a good deal!

Now, the second sale is Three Bags Full's third anniversary sale. They already have their sale list up online. I've got my eye on some of that 50% off lace as well as the malabrigo sock.....

Third, and most exciting (or most dangerous) is a brand new yarn store opening right in my neighbourhood!
There's going to be yarn deals and cake! Wheeee! Oh my poor poor stash. I'm going to need to get a whole nother shelf to house it all after this weekend is done. A yarn addiction is a terrible thing. I'm supposed to be working on my graduating essay this weekend too, so I can actually, y'know, graduate from linguistics. I'm taking a couple days off work to try and get through it since my parents are flying out here for my graduation in November, which means I HAVE to graduate.

Anyhow, if any of you are in vancouver and want to go sale-touring with me, I'm a great yarn enabler :D

Sewing is irresistible to kitties

2009-08-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's true. Cats have a special internal radar that goes off whenever you get out a brand new bolt of fabric. No matter where they are in the house, nothing will stop them from carrying out their feline duty to walk and roll all over every piece you want to work with. Needless to say, Minou was overjoyed this week when I was overcome by the urge to do some sewing. The sound of the pencil on the fabric and the scissors as they cut put her into pouncing mode, and she was darting in and out, tackling stray fabric folds, and sliding into the pile before running away again. Here's our little sewing helper in action.

I've also started the Wicked sweater, since my last project was making me avoid my knitting. That t-shirt will sit in the hibernation pile until I feel like dealing with it again. The sweater is going much better though. Here's my progress, after using one ball of Cascade 220. I only have two more, so hopefully they'll be enough for the short-sleeved version of the sweater. From here on in it's all boring stockinette, so I'm saving it for working on while I watch anime.

Speaking of anime, one of my most favourite series of all time, is getting a sequel this fall! Very exciting news! If you've never watched Darker Than Black, and you're a fan of sci-fi, you should watch it right now this very moment. It's a show that does what sci-fi does best: it uses a surreal environment to address current issues and ask questions. Star Trek TNG was especially good at this too (although maybe a bit blatant about it at times) where many episodes addressed social justice issues and cultural differences. Darker Than Black is a bit more subtle, and asks what it means to be human. It's an amazing series, and left lots of unanswered questions that I hope we get to explore in the sequel. Check out the trailer on RandomC's blog!

Till next time, dear readers!

Summer fun!

2009-07-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finally returned to the blogosphere! Really, I have no good excuses for being away for so long. Perhaps it is that I find blogging a fun form of stress-relief when I'm very busy, so that I forget to do it when I'm unbusy. Anyhow, here's a brief list of what the past couple months have looked like for me:

visited Ontario for 3 weeks, saw lots of my favourite people, as well as Star Trek on IMAX, opening weekend, with a fellow blogger and good friend (by the way, if you're not hungry, you should see her strawberry shortcake and cinnamon roll pictures this week and I guarantee you'll be starving!)
Moved into my new house in East Vancouver, complete with fluffy kitty, shaggy dog, and gorgeous view
Got a library card and read lots of books
Explored some of the local trails and mountains (I'd say that 2:15 is not bad for a first attempt at the Grouse Grind)
Discovered Wednesday Night Cheap Wings and Music Bingo at the pub near my house
My guild in Guild Wars had their 3rd Anniversary, and good times were had by all
Spent a lot of time job searching and ended up applying for a second Masters degree, this time at UBC
Got accepted into the Mechanical Engineering program and started research
Found a really fantastic local church and began the process of membership there

Yes, I realized that knitting didn't make it onto the condensed list of activities. However, neither did DDR, and I've been putting time into that too! Just not a lot of time. Indeed, knitting has been suffering in neglect lately, and my poor yarn stash is crying out from the closet to be used. I started a knitted t-shirt pattern from a book I borrowed at the library, but the gauge is frustrating me and I've already frogged 3 balls of yarn worth of it. I'm a bit apprehensive because I'm knitting it in cotton, and I've heard that cotton stretches a lot over time. We shall see.

Back when I was in Ontario, I did finish my version of Sartje's Booties. The Presto Change-o however is *cringe* still not finished. At the rate the twins are growing, they may be too big for it by the time I get it finished. But, that just means I'll have an excuse to knit other cute baby clothes in bigger sizes. The twins were absolutely adorable, by the way (although a ridiculous amount of work as well). How adorable? Well, here's a picture of them having a nap with their Mama, as she gets in some long-awaited knitting time.

And the booties:
I also finished the Zelda Toboggan, so here it is modelled by my brother before I mailed it off.

In anime news, I highly recommend you check out Guin Saga, which is airing right now. The premise of a guy with a leopard head might seem kinda weird, but honestly, there are a lot weirder anime premises than that. This series is shaping up to be quite epic, and the highlight for me is that the music is composed by Nobuo Uematsu, who composed most of the music for the Final Fantasy games. A few years back I had the opportunity to attend a concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra playing music from Final Fantasy, and it was magnificent.

And now, I shall leave you with some pictures of the cute fluffy creatures at my house.

Plus the 4th of July cupcakes I made with my brother and sister-in-law, and the view from my window :) Till next time, dear readers!

The end of a chapter

2009-04-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it is with my heart full of joy with all the blessings of this past year, and yet full of sorrow that it is all coming to an end that I write this post. I will have a knitting update for you soon, but I thought perhaps it was about time I wrote about all the crazy goings-on of Real Life.

Tonight, I graduated (well, not technically - I still have to write my graduating essay - but close enough). Two years of studying, of homework, of writing reports and assignments, of reading textbooks and papers, of living half my life in the CanIL computer lab, all this has come to an end tonight. And it has been marvellous. My CanIL friends, you have no idea how much I have been blessed by your friendship and your smiling faces. Going to school has been full of so much joy from getting to know all of you. For those that are leaving, you will be dearly missed. The lab is full of the echoes of your laughter, and all the crazy adventures that we had there. Please do keep in touch! Know that wherever I am in the world, there will always be a place for you in my home if ever you come by.

Also, to my beautiful and amazing knit night girls, I shall miss you so very much. When I was brand new to Langley and didn't know anyone, you adopted me and made me feel like I was part of the group even though I had only just arrived. I know that Vancouver isn't THAT far away, and that we'll still be able to knit together, but I'll miss being a regular at knit night and getting to see all your projects and hear about your lives from week to week. No matter what other knitting groups I may join, you will always be my knit night family.

Now, when one chapter ends, that always means that a new chapter is beginning. I'm kickstarting this chapter with a visit to Ontario. VERY excited to go home and see some friends and family there. I have a little under 3 weeks and it's going to be packed full of visiting, knitting, and all manner of fun things.

I have also begun to apply for jobs. It is rather daunting, but Vancouver is a great place to be if you're in the market to find a job. Ideally, I'd love to work at a job where I could use my engineering background or some of my lab experience. I like a job to be interesting and challenging. I've been keeping an eye on job postings for now, but the real job hunt will begin in earnest when I return to Vancouver.

I know that this upcoming year will be wonderful and exciting and full of all manner of adventures that I haven't yet begun to imagine. So even as I say goodbye to my life as a student, there is so much more that God has in store for my life that I have yet to experience. This will be my first time living in a 'big city' and I'm glad to be able to experience living in Vancouver when the Olympics come here next year. I love global events that bring people together from all over the world. Also, my new housemate (technically my landlady, but that's such a cold and impersonal word) has wonderful plans for us to grow vegetables in the garden and keep some laying hens for eggs and create a little craft nook for us to all be creative! She is so sweet, and I'm really looking forward to all the fun and creative things that we're starting to plan. Sometimes I feel like this is one of the best places to be, with your whole future open to endless possibilities and full of so many opportunities.

And lastly to my blog readers, I'm glad that you're with me on this journey. A journey is always sweeter when you have people to share it with, and I'm honoured that you choose to come here every week to share mine. Your comments have been like little beams of sunshine on some of my most dreary assignment-filled days. You are such thoughtful and creative people, and I'm glad that many of you blog yourselves so that I can see what astonishingly wonderful things you have been crafting. It inspires me to keep at this blog thing myself and continue posting up pictures of all my knitting creations.

Yes, I know, it's been one of those sappy sentimental kind of evenings. If you just skimmed this post cause it was way long and didn't have any knitting pictures, then I shall leave you with a closing summary: I love you guys!

Disaster averted

2009-04-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

It is very important to read the washing instructions on a ball of yarn. In fact, it is critically and crucially important, in order to save oneself from a terrible fate of weeping and agony over an item which represents hours of work. And while we're on the topic, who makes sock yarn that isn't superwash? That's like making an indoor-use only bulldozer, or a car that can't be used on rainy days - oh wait, that's a convertible - but my point is, handwashing a pair of socks is a silly silly thing. As such, it never even occured to me that I should check my yarn label prior to tossing my newly knitted socks in the wash.

When they came out of the washing machine, they looked like misshapen midget socks. A feeling of pure horror pierced this little knitter's soul. Still wet from the wash, I managed to fit them only my feet and allowed them to 'block' dry there, taking them off every hour or so to give them a good tug. Luckily, the size I'd made had been a tad on the large side, so the result is that my socks still fit! They just barely fit, and they're not as stretchy as before owing to the felting that took place, but I shall convince myself that this felting only made them softer, and more sturdy. Here they are, post disaster, looking quite innocent, as if they hadn't tried to felt into oblivion and cause me a heart attack.

Otherwise, this week has been quite busy (all those end-of-semester papers and upcoming exams were sooner than I thought) but really good. I found a couple of unbelievably cheap plane tickets, so I'm going to be spending three weeks home in Ontario. I CAN'T WAIT to see Jenn's little babies, and she says that she's been telling them about Auntie Sarah :D

Also, in a crazy impetuous whirlwind of a decision, I'm now moving to Vancouver! More details on that later, but suffice it to say that the resident cat in the house is a cute and fluffy Scottish Fold (looks like this - and was in this pose waiting for tummy rubs when I visited) *beams with happiness*

Between writing papers and studying for exams and lounging on my porch swing in the gloriously beautiful weather we've been having, I also made some progress on the Zelda Toboggan. Behold, the triforce is taking shape!

The Day of the Cardigan

2009-03-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

It all started back in September. I decided I was going to knit a cardigan. My Very First Knitted Sweater. You may recall this cardigan, and my crazy decision to knit it in lace weight yarn. Well, it sat in pieces in my yarn nook for months and months, however this week there was a new and exciting development for this little UFO.

You see, my sister-in-law is in the theatre department, and happened to be in a play. Not only that, but my brother is the musical director of that same play, and they had managed to get me a complementary ticket to opening night! Now, the tradition at my school is that opening night of a performance is a Fancy Thing. People come looking all Lovely and Sophisticated in their most elegant clothes. I had decided that I would wear this cardigan to opening night, so the day before I brought it back from exile and dumped all the pieces on the floor.

Luckily for me, I had learned mattress stitch and good seaming practices not long before, so I felt confident enough to tackle this project, with the hope that I wouldn't inadvertantly ruin all the hours of work I'd already put into it. What I didn't count on was how horrifically long seaming takes, and how much of it I had ahead of me.

If there is a place of divine punishment for knitters, I am certain that it is full of endless amounts of mattress stitch. I tell you, I did nothing but work on the finishing of this cardigan all day long today. I had my DDR out so that I could play a song or two between seams to shake out my hands and get the crick out of my neck from staring so intently at the rows of tiny lace-weight v's. I almost gave up. There was just too much to do, and not enough time. I was on the point of choosing something else to wear, but decided to try on the half-finished cardigan, just to see what it would look like. This was my undoing, because it looked too cute, and I knew I HAD to wear it that evening. My roommate arrived home and made me delicious dinner, which I hurriedly ate between weaving in ends. The angel that she is, she ironed my skirt for me, while I set about making myself presentable. Time was tight. I went from the shower to the bus stop in 5 minutes. I'm still not sure how I managed that, but I did! I also wore my recently completed Blackrose Socks, since they matched my cardigan, and what knitter can pass up the chance to wear two coordinating FO's simultaneously!

The play was lovely, however I only knew two other people in the whole building, and since one was in the cast, I didn't even get a chance to talk to her after the play before having to rush off to catch the bus home. It was actually a rather anti-climactic end to my day of furiously knitting and seaming like a madwoman. Wearing your new knitwear isn't half as fun when there isn't anyone else there to share it with. So, dear blog readers, I shall just imagine that you were all at the play as well. "Oh this? Yes, I did knit it myself! Let me tell you, the first seam was the neatest, and they got progressively messier as the day went on."

Have a lovely night all! Catch you next time :)

Party time!

2009-03-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, my blogging friends, I have been neglecting you because of excessive partying. I have good excuse though! You see, my sister who has been living here since Christmas leaves tomorrow to go back to her job in Ontario, and my roommate had a birthday. Both very worthy causes, and we ended up taking a road trip to Seattle, as well as ditching class to visit Science World in Vancouver, and generally trying to pack as much fun as possible into the past two weeks.

However, in the midst of this, I have pictures of knitting for you, as I've been dragging some simple projects around with me to work on when I have a moment's time. So, check out my Dragonscale Armwarmers! They really rock. I love them.

I had a bit of yarn leftover after I finished knitting them, so I made a headband. I won't go to the trouble of linking the pattern, but it's super easy and fast to make, and you can check out the relevant details on my ravelry page.

Here are a couple shots of the combo in action today at Science World! Yes, I enjoy setting up silly pictures.
Also, I'm happy to report that Rena's dress arrived in Singapore safe and sound. Huzzah! Here's a couple pics of that one, showing you my 'l33t' embroidery that I busted out after not having embroidered anything in years. I only hope that it proves durable enough to survive baby wear. This was a pretty great pattern, and I think I'd definitely make it again (i.e. I'll probably be making it for Jenn's new baby girl in the near future).

Also, while we're talking about past projects, I remembered that I hadn't yet shown you the Christmas Shrug (take #3) which I made for Shay. So, here is a picture of that one.
For those of you still waiting on knitting requests, I have not forgotten you! Take heart and be encouraged, for knitting never ceases around here. I sometimes just put off finalizing details of patterns, is all. Once I have a pattern and a yarn decided, the needles will start flying.

Ups and downs

2009-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a bit of a crazy week, weather included. We went from springtime to snowstorm to back to springtime, with a bizarre hailstorm that wasn't really hail, but more like mini-snowballs falling from the sky. Exams went pretty well, I think. At least well enough that I should pass. Celebrations afterward included a spontaneous trek to Stanley Park. My DnD character almost died with a single hit of a huge-sized electrified greatsword (thank goodness for being able to use an action point to stabilize). One of my best friends gave birth to two beautiful twins. Another of my best friends had her father pass away. Her family is my home-away-from-home so that was hard to hear. Very mixed feelings about this week.

On the knitting front, I finished (mostly) the dragonscale gauntlets. Pictures to come soon. They were pretty nice mindless knitting for while I was studying. Plans are in the works to do some baby knitting for the newly arrived twins, as well as a pair of Blackrose Socks. I've also been obsessing about cables. I went to Chapters to sneak a look at the book Continuous Cables, because I have plans in the works for designing my own unique cable pattern. I didn't want to pay for the book so I sat down with it for a good hour and absorbed as much information as my brain could hold about the construction of circular cables, then knitted a test swatch at knit night. Slowly, my plan is coming together!

You know you're hardcore when...

2009-02-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

... you get up at 5am just to stand in line outside a yarn store in hopes of getting a door prize on their big sale day. I won't tell you the whole story because I have comprehensive exams tomorrow which I technically should be studying for, but my awesome friend IfIhadaboat wrote down the whole story so please do hop on over to her blog to read about the adventure. I do have corresponding pictures though, which I will post here for your enjoyment. Oh, and I completely forgot to get a picture of it, but we'd brought a tarp to sit on and blankets to huddle under at our campout.

Above is our cheery group, looking remarkably chipper considering that it's 6am and we've been standing out in the cold for half an hour.

And here is the view from the steps of the yarn store. The sun is just starting to rise, and you can see the silhouettes of the mountains on the horizon. By this time, the line had grown to around 20 people.

Here is the jam-packed inside of the store. The first rush to select yarn was over, and everyone had formed one giant line to the checkout that snaked through the whole store (took me about half an hour to get through, but gave me lots of time to think about my yarn choices).

Here is my doorprize! Superwash wool, yum! Totally worth the 5am wakeup.

I had been waiting for ages for an opportunity to buy yarn to make the Rogue cardigan to knitalong with the Langley knitting girls. A 40% off sale was just what I needed! I picked up this Cascade Pastanza to try out, and I've already knitted my guage swatch. I've never knit with wool-llama yarn before, but I think this will be a fun experiment. I love how this yarn looks.

Oh Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Suri Silk.....I could not resist buying it. So expensive, but so lovely.

Sock yarn! After only having variegated sock yarn, I wanted something to show off fancy cables or lacy stitch patterns.

And now, I am poor, but very happy with my purchases. If I can't afford groceries next month, now you know why.

Meanwhile, I've been slowly frogging the ill-fated shrug and transforming it into some Dragonscale Gauntlets for myself! Behold the transformation process!
I also got around to felting a little purse I made more than a year ago. I might run it through the washing machine one more time to felt it a little more.

That's all for me for tonight! Wish me luck on my exams tomorrow and Friday ^_^

Oreos and toboggans

2009-02-19T11:17:00.001-08:00

Oreos are evil. I don't know what they put in them, but it is a powerfully addictive substance. Doublestuff Oreos in particular are liable to cause me to turn from a rational human being into a desperate Oreo junkie. Why oh why were they on sale? Next time, I will walk away from the cookie aisle in the grocery store, and buy more broccoli instead. The photo above is courtesy of a google image search which I have modified in the style of one of my favourite sites, Om Nom Nom Nom.

So there you have the Oreos. But what about toboggans? Well, I have my first commissioned knitting request (it's like I'm a Real Designer now!) and one of the suggested items for me to knit was a toboggan. Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear toboggan, I think of a sled that children use to go down a hill, and the mental picture of knitting one of these to WEAR, well that's just absurd. It turns out that in certain US dialects, the word toboggan actually refers to a knitted hat. So here I go, knitting a toboggan!

Also on the knitting front I have finally, after attempt #3, completed the Dream in Color Shrug for my lovely sister-in-law. She has been waiting quite patiently for her Christmas present, and it's finally done! More details plus pictures to come next post.

Since it's been a while since we've had a post about anime, I'd like to briefly review Casshern Sins. I'm not going to link you to the anidb entry, because it's fairly spoilerish. This is a series that is just wrapping up, and has been one of the best of this past season. It follows the story of a robot named Casshern who wakes up with no memories, but apparently has been responsible for the ruin of the world. It follows his journey as he tries to find out who he is, what has happened to the world, and what he must do. It's a very bleak post-apocalyptic setting, yet some of the landscapes are truly gorgeous and the characters are very vivid. The episodic nature of it is somewhat reminiscent of Mushishi, where not every episode is a feel-good happy ending, but more of a realistic look at how people deal with hardship and find meaning in their lives. It's much more action-packed than Mushishi though, since Casshern was essentially created to be a killing machine, and puts his talents to use fighting off the scores of other robots trying to kill him.

After watching episode 19 I opened up my photoshop (the likelihood of me opening photoshop increases proportionally to the amount of homework I have) to make myself a new forum signature and avatar. I made them as a tribute to Lyuze, one of the recurring characters in the series. I dismissed her in my mind after the first couple episodes as just another angsty side-character, but they've really done some great character development with her and she's become one of my favourites. If you're wondering about the 'KitKat', that's my other online alias (I've mostly switched over to Arzu these days but on my anime forum it would just be weird to change the name I've had there for so long).

OWOH Winners!

2009-02-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this exciting event! It's now time for the super exciting announcement of the winners! Without further ado, our lucky entrants are

*drumroll*

Jenna Z the crafter and swapper extraordinaire who you can find over at her blog CorgiPants

Barbara Cagle, a crafter of words (you can read about her book - the wonderful story of her mother who raised 16 children - over at her blog)

and last but not least, Nairo Sionuill a long-time alliance friend from Guild Wars, who shall one day take over the world with aardvarks.

I had my sister supervise the rolling of the dice (the d8 helped out the d20, because it wouldn't do to give the d20 ALL the credit for determining the winners) and all the winners have been notified. In the event that a winner doesn't email me back within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks again everyone for stopping by! This was such a fun contest that I may have more giveaways in future, so please come visit again!

The Blissful Life of a Part Time Student

2009-02-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

....enables me to knit all weekend long. That's right, I knit with reckless abandon the Whole Entire Weekend. Other related accomplishments include getting most of the way caught up on watching Battlestar Galactica, cooking a Very Delicious Meal of taco pie and impossible coconut pie with 3 of my siblings, walking to the video store and renting a movie that became unplayable in the second half due to a large scratch, and learning how to recount a simple story of "Vinni Pux" (that's the soviet version of Winnie the Pooh) in Russian. Altogether a very satisfying weekend. Homework and job searching can wait for next week.

So, onto the knitting! Well, just scroll on down to last week's OWOH post to see updated pictures of the goodies I'm giving away. That was pretty much my whole weekend. I charted out a pattern for Red Mage from Final Fantasy, to keep Black Mage company. He was a bit trickier to chart than Black Mage, but managed to stay fairly recognizable. I'm also very happy with my 1up doubleknit Mario Wristband. I'll be sad to give that one away. It's made from leftover yarn from the last two pairs of socks I made.

I also have some retroactive knitting pictures for you! I present to you the Dragonscale Wristwarmers, as modeled by their lovely recipient. The yarn is the same as I used for those RPM socks, many moons ago, which you may remember (or may have seen recently, if you're new to my blog). More pictures are up on Ravelry on its project page.

Next up, I have for you a sneak peak at a little item I've knit up for Baby Rena. Honest, I'll get it done and sent off before she grows out of it (which is why I made the 6 month old size of the pattern). Anyways, I won't spoil the surprise of what it is, although those of you on Ravelry can probably see it easily enough, but I wanted to point out something odd about the stitches. Look closely:See that? Instead of being little 'v's, the stitches are like little twisty ladders. I don't know how this happened, because I knit it normally like I knit always, but it looks pretty awesome. It's probably due to how twisty the yarn is, and the direction I was knitting relative to the twist of the yarn. It's lovely bamboo sock yarn and feels absolutely luxurious, so soft and smooth. I learned mattress stitch for this project (I know, I know, I've been a knitter for so long, and never learned how to do a proper seam until this month, making do with sloppy ragged seams for all my projects) and it was a lot of work, but definitely worth it for how wonderful it looks. We'll see if this interesting stitch configuration lasts through the blocking process.

Oh, and speaking of new readers up above, I just wanted to give my greetings to anyone new who may have wandered in for the OWOH contest, and if you're reading this, I'm quite flattered that you've stuck around. Your comments really made me blush. It has been great getting a chance to connect with so many new people, and I didn't think it would, but it really does feel like a global open house event. I wish I could give prizes to all of you!

One World One Heart Giveaway

2009-02-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

Update: This contest is now closed. Winners will be posted shortly!

Yes folks, it's time for my first ever blog giveaway! Many thanks to my awesome friend over at Youvegotmaille for alerting me to this great international event (and be sure to visit her giveaway too!)

The event is called One World One Heart and it is composed of bloggers around the world all giving things away for free. What could be better than free stuff?

I shall be choosing THREE winners for my giveaway! The first two chosen from my random draw will each receive one doubleknit reversible potholder, like these:

You can opt for the Black Mage or Red Mage as shown above, or if you have another video game character/logo you'd like me to chart out, I might be able to work something out. In fact, the design is pretty flexible, as long as it's chartable and fits within the area of the potholder, and is geeky in some way (because let's face it, geeky knitting defines my blog).

**NEW**
Due to the quite unexpected volume of signups (I never knew there were so many people out there who love geeky knitting) I am offering a THIRD prize! It is this very stylish Mario 1up Wristband, as shown below. It's pretty stretchy, and it should fit both male and female wrists. I tried to pick gender-neutral colours as well. It's doubleknit as well and is made with superwash sock yarn, so no worries if you get it dirty, you can just toss it in the washing machine.

So, I'm sure you're all wondering now how you enter. Here are your directions, in convenient numbered format.

1. Leave a comment on THIS blog post
2. Give me some way to contact you (either leave your comment with your blogger ID if you have a blog of your own, leave your Ravelry name, leave me your email address, or make sure your name is recognizable as someone I know in person/on facebook)

That's all! This giveaway is open to everyone in the world, and a winner will be chosen by rolling of my happy yellow d20, narrowing down the list until a winner emerges. The last day for entries is 11:59pm PST on February 11th, and the winners will be announced on February 12th, so be sure to get your entry in before that.

Once you've entered mine, you should browse some of the other 800+ blogs entered in the OWOH initiative and sign up to win some other cool free stuff :)

P.S. If we get all the way to 150 comments, I might even throw in a 4th prize! Wheee!

Poor Skittles

2009-02-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

I got an email from my mom this week that my cat (well, technically my parents' cat now, but I still consider him mine because I chose him to bring home when he was a kitten, and he still takes every opportunity to steal my lap whenever I'm home) had an unforunate brush with a candle on the coffee table, resulting in a little singed whiskers and some slightly crispy fur on this shoulder. Look at how unimpressed my little Skittles looks below.

Hopefully his whiskers grow back soon. He's getting to be pretty old and he doesn't attempt any kitty acrobatics in pursuit of birds at the bird feeder like his buddy Creeper, but he still plays outside and needs those whiskers to keep from bumping into things and getting stuck in small places. Not to mention they don't look dignified at all, burnt off like that.

Knitting this week has been stalled by homework. I'm finally (almost) done my online course, which has been haunting me for the past two months. I just submitted my answers to the exam questions last night. This should make my current semester a lot more relaxing because I'm only taking two courses. My favourite of the two is Tone Analysis which is turning out to be just as much fun as I thought it would be! Also, in less than a month I have my comprehensive exams (testing me on every course I've taken for the past two years) since I'm in the non-thesis track. I actually much prefer studying for exams to writing papers, and once those are over I'll have even more free time!

What will I do with this free time, you ask? Well, you probably don't need to ask. I have so many knitting projects I want to begin that the compartments of my brain are overflowing with yarn. Additionally, I have resolved to get caught up with Battlestar Galactica.

In other news, I'm now a designer on Ravelry! I'm hoping to make a few more pdf's of my knitting charts, most based off of old video game sprites, but modified to reflect the fact that knit stitches are rectangular instead of square like pixels. My first one is the Super Mario Powerup Charts that you can download for free on Ravelry! If you're not a raveler and you still want the chart, just send me a message and I'll email it to you. The charts are made for two-colour knitting, since most of my colourwork is doubleknitting and three colours there just gets to be too complicated.

Secret Grinch

2009-01-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

So, with our local knitting group, instead of having a Secret Santa gift exchange, we had a Secret Grinch. What is the difference? You get to mutter grinchy things to yourself as you're making the presents. Here are a couple of the gifts I made for the person whose name I drew:

Manly socks! Guys are notoriously hard to make gifts for, but you can't beat a comfy all-purpose pair of handknit socks. The pattern (Thuja from Knitty) was pretty basic, although the seed stitch rib required just enough attention to keep this project from being boring, which is good because mens socks take a good bit longer to knit than womens socks, bigger feet and all. I sized them based on my brother's feet, hoping that they'd be the right size, and they turned out just right! Whew.

I also made an adjustable mug cozy, with three buttons to be able to fit small Tim Hortons cups, regular mugs, and large mugs respectively. I liked this pattern so much that I'll probably make it again. I used a self-striping yarn, and the gradual colour changes matched really well with the mug. Sadly, I only have a picture from one perspective, but if I make some more I'll take better pictures.

Now, onto my loot that I got! So, hilariously, the guy whose name I drew, also drew my name, so we ended up making gifts for each other. He's not really a knitter, more of a socializer, so everyone had been expecting that he would just purchase his gifts for the exchange. However, he completely exceeded everyone's expectations, and came up with these wonderfully creative handmade gifts for me.

First off, he made me what will forever be my most favourite set of stitch markers. He scoured the city to find a set of mini dice, and assembled them into stitch markers, so now I can geekify my knitting works-in-progress. Aren't they the most adorable stitch markers you've ever seen?

The other gifts were candles, but not ordinary candles. These are gel candles, with DnD minis embedded inside them! How cool is that! One of them was a female character that I have already freed from it's jellied home so that I can use it in an upcoming DnD campaign. It fits the character that I have planned perfectly!

Here's a closeup of the dragon, by far my favourite of the set.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with this gift swap. I was completely surprised, and the gifts for me couldn't have been more appropriate.

Tagged (delayed reaction)

2009-01-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, Aesderina tagged me way back in December. And since then my poor little blog has been languishing in neglect, thinking about all the wonderful things I've been knitting that it hasn't had a chance to display. But no more! Very soon, this little blog shall proudly display the various and sundry items of knitting made for Christmas gifts and those received over the holidays. But I digress. Back to the tagging.

The rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

So, here are my six random things.

1. I've been to the East Coast, and to the West Coast, but somehow I've never managed to get to those elusive in-between provinces. I almost made it to Manitoba one winter, but then we totalled our car right before the border at 4am, and had to take buses all the way home. I also nearly made it out to Winnipeg this winter, but due to Greyhound being silly, I ended up flying straight to BC instead.

2. I love Hello Kitty pyjamas. I probably would never wear anything Hello Kitty outside of my house, but somehow the pyjamas are strangely addicting.

3. My favourite chocolate bar (or biscuit, depending on your terminology) is the Penguin, sold in the UK. Mmmmm, penguins. One time my friend and I bought a whole pile of them, and took pictures of them all over her city.

4. I have a fondness for heavy metal music. My older brother got me into it in highschool when he was in a metal band, and I found I rather liked the genre.

5. Being in large crowds makes me feel claustrophobic. I'd take the open countryside over a city any day.

6. I've never been 'rebellious' per se, but I sometimes like to show a blatant disregard for certain rules. As such, I'm only going to tag two people. Mwahahahaha!

Now, I shall tag Sean and Susan!

New arrival!

2008-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy week to say the least. It looks as though I'll be working on assignments and essays right into my holidays, because there's no way I'm going to finish everything before Thursday when school ends. The two things I absolutely have to get done are two presentations that I have on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. I wasn't very excited for my presentation for my Survey of Linguistic Theories class at first. However, this whole class has been a discovery for me that I don't dislike theory as much as I thought I did. The theory I'm going to present next week actually makes a lot of sense to me, and reconciles some of the differences between formal and functionalist views in linguistics. So, for those of you in my class, you can look forward to that this week.

As you can imagine, not a whole lot of knitting has been getting done. I've been working on the Christmas present for my sister. It's a secret, but maybe I'll give you a sneak peek next post.

The biggest news this week is that my friend Sean has become a father and welcomed his daughter Rena into the world. Check out the pictures of the new little one on his blog. She's absolutely gorgeous. I've got a knitting project for her nearly finished, but again, no pictures yet, because it's a surprise!! You'll get to see it after I mail it off and it arrives in Singapore. If you're on Ravelry, pictures might appear up there sooner.

2am Adventures

2008-11-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's fairly unusual for me to make this many posts in such a short time, but it's been an unusual couple of days.

I was woken up at 1:30am last night by my housemate shouting, "There's water pouring out of the wall!" And sure enough, their WAS water pouring out of the wall. Around where the water pipes are, to be exact, and the torrent was turning the floor into a floodplain. Luckily, the floor slopes down right about there, so it was taking longer to spread into the kitchen and laundry room. I ran to get some towels to form a barricade, to keep the water from spreading into the carpeted area, my roommate heroically waded into the torrent and found the water shutoff valve, and our housemate went to go find our landlady who lives above us on the 2nd floor of the house.

All 3 missions were successful. Well, nearly successful because our landlady wasn't home, but her son was and he assured us that the necessary calls would be made in the morning to have the water fixed. In the meantime, we were busily sopping up the water with towels and squeezing it into buckets, with our pyjama pants rolled up to our knees. Once the water was stopped, we were fairly efficient in getting rid of all the water, and removing anything that was at floor level to higher ground. Here's an action shot of my awesome roomies working hard to get the water cleaned up.

The morning was fairly uneventful with the exception of a small but persistent trickle of water which refused to stop running, but luckily was small enough that we could contain it. After having an expert in to assess the situation, we now have cold water (a VAST improvement over no water at all) and hopefully should have hot water back by tomorrow.

Also, my other reason for writing is to let you know that my awesome friend who goes by the name ifihadaboat in the online world is having a sale at her Etsy shop! She's offering free shipping for a limited time, so if you have a chance you should check out all of her beautiful handmade jewelry.

Some FO's and some not-so-FO's

2008-11-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

As promised, I come with pictures for you! First up is what may one day be a cardigan. I made a significant amount of modifications to this pattern (the pattern is Stardust from Knitty) by making it in lace weight yarn. When I get around to assembling these pathetic looking pieces, I'll see if I can arrange an action shot, wearing it with the dress I originally wanted to wear it with. The original goal was to have this done for October so that I could wear it to SilverIlix' wedding. Obviously, that didn't happen. But nevertheless I'm sure I'll find a good opportunity to wear this, provided it turns out to be wearable when all is said and done.

Now, this next one was a weekend knitting binge, when I was struck with inspiration. The colours look a little wonky in the picture due to my terrible camera, but the greenish yarn is some lovely Manos del Uruguay that I'd been saving to make a nice cozy wool hat for myself. Personally, I think the white might be a bit too overwhelming, so I might try this pattern again with the colours reversed (which....would require more yarn....but I love Manos so much). We'll see. I charted out the pattern in Excel, and knit the hat top-down so that I could try it on as I went along. It turned out too big the first time, so I had to rip it all out and re-arrange my pattern to make it smaller. Right now, it's absolutely perfect! All that's left to do is fix the placement of one of the ear flaps, weave in my ends, and do a little blocking.

Pattern: Stash Buster Slippers
Yarn: Random stash yarn I had lying around
Outcome: Decent. Not my favourite slipper pattern I think, but it knits up quickly and these will keep your feet quite warm.
Modeled by: Aforementioned stash yarn.
Guest photo appearance: Other spotlight-stealing stash yarn. It's like zombie stash - slowly taking over my desk and converting more innocent fibre into its evil minions.

Lastly, my twisty socks! The pattern is Cable Twist Socks and it calls for worsted weight yarn, so I had to modify it a bit to make these in my sock weight yarn (beautiful hand-dye from Knitopia). In retrospect, I think I would have done my mods a bit differently (added in another pattern repeat, and made less purls between repeats) but I'm very happy with how these came out. I am now a veteran sock knitter, ready to tackle any sock challenge! Maybe one day I'll be able to afford one of those pretty circulars and tackle the 'two socks on one circular needle' method.

And with that, it is time for me to sleep. Goodnight, and have a lovely weekend all.

Coming up, right after the break!

2008-11-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

I went to go make this blog post today, and realized that the batteries in my camera are dead, as are my backup batteries. So, while they charge, here is a sneak preview of what sort of fun pictures will appear later today!

Stash-buster slippers! I made two pairs of these babies. Not the prettiest slippers ever, but true to their name they eat through a lot of yarn, and let you get rid of some of those half-balls of weird colours that you've had sitting around for ages. Made in a one-size-fits-all pattern.

The saga of the lacy cardigan continues. I've had the pieces finished for a few weeks now, and they're just sitting in a sad little pile on my desk, waiting to be transformed into a finished garment. Will I overcome my dislike of seaming to actually finish this project? Will the cardigan actually look nice at the end?

Remember those socks I started waaaaay back over the summer? Oh...maybe you don't remember them, because I don't think I mentioned them yet. Oh oh! I do have a picture of them back when I started them.
I loved that dock. What a nice relaxing summer. So yes, those socks have been finished for quite a while. Pictures will follow!

I designed a hat! It's Mario-licious. I'm still not happy with the earflaps, but that won't take too long to re-knit.

Check back soon!

Summer? What summer?

2008-11-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Oh hi! I guess it's about time to give an update here. You may wonder where the summer portion of my blog has gone. Well, it really has to do with the fact that I'm a sporadic blog-writer at best, and my internet connectivity this summer was rather limited. As well, I played Guild Wars in most of the time that I did have on the internet. I know, I neglected showing all of you my lovely knitting achievements because of a video game, it is sad. However, now that I'm back in school, you may get a few more blog posts due to my addiction to multitasking. Why focus on one thing, when you could focus on 5? Currently I'm tabbing through between writing this post, writing a paper on theoretical linguistics, checking for new anime releases, browsing various forums (I knew joining all those extra groups on Ravelry would turn out to be trouble...), and talking with my roommates. Maybe this is why I find it impossible to pay attention in lecture these days unless I'm knitting simultaneously. Keeping my hands busy helps to focus that scattered and capricious attention span of mine.

If your curious about the summer, well, we'd need a whole nother post on that (the linguist reader will spot the instance of infixation just now). If you, my (two? three?) devoted readers clamour to hear the tales of mosquitos and muffins, breads and bears, canoes and rescues by cute yacht club boys I shall oblige. Otherwise, let's get to the FO's!

First, I finished Jenn's wedding shawl right after arriving home in Ontario. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and it's pretty special to have the bride wear something you've knit. They had one of the best receptions I've ever attended, which was basically an informal barbecue style that encouraged everyone to move around and socialize instead of being locked to their 'table' of acquaintances. Here's a picture of the lovely bride herself, who now, months later, is going to be the mother of twins come March! So exciting! (And yes, those are bride and groom transformers on top of the cake....I love my geeky friends)

Having become addicted to lace in the course of that pattern, I spent a couple weeks making another small lace shawl for a dear friend of mine in the UK. I used the Spiders Web Fichu pattern from the book Victorian Lace Today, although I didn't read their instructions carefully for attaching the beads, which turned out to be trouble. They have a tendency to snag and tangle in the shawl. Not optimal, but it was my first time using beads in my knitting, and a good learning experience. The yarn is more of Lynne's hand-dyed merino from Knitopia in Langley. You can't tell in the picture, but it has subtle variegations between dark and light purple that give the shawl some extra visual interest.

I also finally finished the Phoenix Scarf. Yes, it took a while. It was a pretty fun knit. Here's some of the finished pictures.

Another notable accomplishment in my pre-camp leisurely days on the ancestral farm were a couple of items for my favourite craftster swap of all time, the Make a Friend Swap. It was so much fun to make these! The first is a quilted table runner. *gasps of dismay* Not knitting? NOT KNITTING? Indeed. My wonderful Mama took me with her to her weekly quilting group, and let me raid her fabric stash. That week everyone in the group was making the same pattern, which is called Table Runner with a Twist. It was my first real quilting (besides a mini-quilt I made when I was really young that doesn't count) and I love how it turned out.

The other item I made for this swap was based upon the pattern Intricate Stag Bag. The pattern isn't actually available online anymore it seems, but for anyone who desperately wants to make this, I could send it to you. The pattern calls for DK yarn, and I ended up making this in worsted weight which made it a bit bigger than I expected. Ok, maybe a lot bigger than I expected. I knit it with yarn made from a sheep farm in my local area though, so hurrah for buying local and supporting farmers! The original pattern has an ugly chevron type border though, so I designed my border myself. It's supposed to be a leaf motif, to go along with the natural theme of the bag. In hindsight, I should have added a couple stitches on each side because some of my border got lost in the bag assembly.

Usually I do my colourwork in doubleknitting, so working with fair-isle technique again was a challenge for me. In particular, I always have trouble with my tension, and with securing the unused yarn over long floats. However, I gave this a bit of a tumble in my washing machine after I finished it, and then blocked it out in a square which seems to have helped. I didn't knit the back of the bag, but rather sewed it to a nice matching green plaid material, and used that to construct the bag (had to take advantage of my Mom's high-tech sewing machine while I was there). It's actually pretty huge. I really like this pattern though, and I think it came out great. I'd love to try this in doubleknit sometime, maybe for a placemat.

During the long summer days and stormy summer evenings I knit the katana scarf for Kraco. Camp was super isolated, but knitting helped keep my sanity. Or, most of it rather. Looking back, a lot of that time seems like an unreal ethereal experience that I only dreamed. Maybe because it's so incredibly different than living life at home or at school, my only two points of reference thus far in my life. At any rate, this scarf knit up surprisingly quickly, and it looks great so kudos to Kraco for the elegant design he provided.

Whew! Still reading? That's probably enough of an update for now. I'll write again soon to fill you in on my knitting adventures since the beginning of school. It's that busy time of the semester again, so knitting time is becoming scarce, but not to worry, there are new projects in the making!

Spring is here!

2008-04-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Spring is here! This past week the entire city has exploded in daffodils and cherry blossoms. And surprisingly, we've even had some sunny days to be able to enjoy it. I only have a week left before I have to go back to Ontario where it is still predominantly winter, so I'm enjoying it as much as I can.

This week has also been quite productive for knitting. I posted my craft swap items Ravelry, so those of you signed up there get a chance for a sneak peak at the swap items before I post them here! Also, I promised you pictures of my RPM socks which I finished quite a while ago, but never got around to it. So, here they are, in all their green sockish spiraly glory! The pictures don't quite do them justice. The spirals are much easier to see in 3d instead of you trying to see them on this flat screen. My sister LOVED them, so I consider my first sock knitting experiment a huge success! I plan to get some more sock yarn this week to start another pair over the summer.

I've also been making quite good progress on my Phoenix scarf, pictured below. I was following the chart for the middle bit that I made, but then lost track because I was trying to knit and watch anime at the same time (incidentally, I made so much progress on this because I watched the entire series of Dennou Coil this weekend...really liked it!). So, the mistakes became part of the pattern, and I just ended up freestyling it. I should finish this soon, but I really have to finish Jenn's shawl before I get any farther on this one. Don't mind the random blue spot in the middle of the picture. I think my camera lens needs to be cleaned.

That's all for today! Back to studying for me. I write my last exam tomorrow morning, and then I'm done for the summer! Huzzah! Now if only I can find a job....

sfjkl;sfjl;sfdhsfdjkl;sd

2008-03-31T17:28:00.001-07:00

This is me totally stressing out. I might be spending a night or two this week in the computer lab trying to get my ridiculous papers done. I have lots of awesome knitting pictures for you guys, I promise! You'll just have to wait a little bit until the insanity is over for me to get them posted. I also have some super secret awesome things I made for a craft swap that I can't post pictures of yet until they arrive in Russia. Exciting! I bet you with you knew what they were ~_^

To my knit night girls, I miss you, and I hope to be back soon. Less than a month until school is done! Huzzah!

You know you're on the west coast when....

2008-02-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

...you walk outside and it's +5 degrees C and you hear someone say, "Holy crap it's cold out today." It's the dead of winter, and still feels like spring to me. I didn't even have to bust out my toque until January. Actually, it's been pretty awesome because we've had a few really good snows (sadly no snow days though) this month, and from what my Vancouverite friends tell me, that's pretty unusual for here. I'll definitely take snow over rain any day.

School is busy (I know, what else is new, right?) but reading week is approaching quickly and I'm looking forward to a week of uninterrupted crafting.

For those of you who are anime fans, I've been rewatching Seirei No Moribito recently with a friend of mine, and am reminded of how excellent a show it is. Apparently it's based off of the first of a series of novels. That one has been translated into English, but not the others sadly. Hopefully one day in future I'll be able to read all of them.

As for knitting, the socks are nearly done, they just need to have the toes finished up. I'll take a nice action shot for you all when I get them done. The spiral effect is captured a lot better when the socks are actually being worn.

I know, you want pictures. No pictures of current projects right now, BUT I do have some pics of a few things I made for a Retro Video Game craft swap last semester.

First up, anyone remember Galaga? I charted this little guy from a screenshot of the game. The one side is the good guy, and the other side has two of the baddies. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a bit of a Space Invaders knockoff. Very old school. I did the patterns in duplicate stitch. The pouch has a zipper sewn in (see previous blog post for rant regarding zippers) which I DID get at Fabricland, in a nightmare journey that almost cost me my sanity.

Next up, some perler bead magnets! This was my first time working with perler beads (well, since first grade since I have fuzzy memories of making things with these long ago), and I got one of those giant packages of mixed colours, but regretted it after due to how time-consuming it was to dig through the pile and find ones that were matching in colour. Now I have all these mixed perler beads in 25 colours and no more white ones. Aaaaanyways, these were a lot of fun to make despite that. I once again based them off a screenshot, this one of Zelda: Link to the Past, but didn't have to adjust the aspect ratio, yay! They're fridge magnets of some useful things you might need in case one's fridge finds itself lost in a dungeon in the dark world.

Lastly, I painted a little tetris keychain. Using nailpolish, which might surprise some of you that know me since I never wear nailpolish. I got these awesome little 'nail art' thingies last semester though, that were just too cute, and could be used for making designs on any number of surfaces, and my crafty instincts told me I just had to have it. The keychain is a domino on the other side.

Thanks for reading! Catch you all next time!

Warning: Extreme Geekness in this Post!

2008-01-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a busy week! Actually, the beginning of the week wasn't so busy at all because I was attacked by the flu, and rendered unable to do anything for a few days. Now, you'd think I should have been concentrating on catching up on all my missed schoolwork once I started feeling better. HOWEVER, knitters have other priorities. Specifically, today was our long-anticipated post-Christmas party and gift exchange with my gaming group! My first project that I hinted at in my previous post can be seen below, fully completed.

It's a cute lil' d4 dice bag. The only snag I ran into was crocheting the sides together a little too tightly, so the sides didn't look quite as pristinely flat as I was hoping. Also, freehand embroidery isn't my strong point, so it's a small miracle that the numbers look as good as they do.

The second isn't knitting at all. I learned to crochet, just so I could make this. It's from the pattern Magnetic Crochet Katamari although mine doesn't look quite as awesome as the one in the picture. Canada doesn't seem to have the right sort of magnets, and I didn't have quite enough time (it's a long story involving size G and E crochet hooks, Zellers, and me almost buying a mop) so there aren't quite as many nubbins on mine as are called for in the pattern. Perhaps I shall order some magnets online and tackle this pattern again sometime. I also had issues with my yarn being different weights too, because I was unobservant.....

But enough of that, onto the picture!

I didn't expect the pattern to be so big, but it's a really great size to grab and throw around. Even though the magnets in the nubs are pretty small, they're strong enough to grab fairly sizable metal objects if they catch them at the right angle.

The gift exchange and party in general were a success, and well worth the large amounts of time we spent preparing. I made a pinata too, which turned out to be very durable (although we were punching it, not hitting it with a stick) and the random assortment of candy and toys we'd picked out to go inside seemed to work out well. We also had our gift exchange in a D&D game type format, which is enjoyed more by some people than by others, but it was unique in that we made our 'dungeon tiles' out of gingerbread. Everyone got to decorate a 'tile' at the beginning of the party, which were then used for the game later on. The premise was that each room was 'disintegrating' after the group passed through (i.e. we ate them, hehehe). Lots of great gifts were given, fun times were had, delicious food was eaten, guitar hero was played. Nothing more you can ask for in a party.

Also, the socks I'm making for my sister (for Christmas...retroactively) are almost done, and should be ready for a photo shoot of the FO soon! What, homework you say? Well, I suppose I have to do that too......but it's so much more fun to be knitting in denial!

xkcd strikes again

2008-01-10T22:32:00.001-08:00

Some of you may or may not know that one of my most favourite webcomics is xkcd. I thought today's comic to be especially hilarious. Check it out:

In other news, my camera is having issues, so you'll have to wait for pictures of the latest knitting projects. Christmas knitting was all done in a whirlwind, and therefore didn't really get properly documented. Ah well, that's how things go sometimes. I will tell you though, that I'm working on a super exciting little project for a post-Christmas gift exchange I'm attending next week. I got tired of the ridiculous prices Fabricland charges for zippers (and I didn't really have transportation to get there either, so it was kind of a moot point in the first place) so I picked up a pair of pants at Value Village, one of those pairs that has a bunch of little zippered pockets on the legs. You know the kind I mean. I'm going to rip those out, and use them for my projects, AND have material left over for other crafting projects, all the while saving lots of money. Everyone wins! Except for Fabricland. They can stay over in Loserland, till they either lower their zipper prices or move their store closer to my house.

Zaboomafoo!

2007-11-18T22:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, I still have blog readers! Awesome!

Things in craft land have been pretty slow, because grad school is a surprising amount of work, and I got really sick in there for a while, and was basically floored for an entire week (could have been flu, tonsil infection, or maybe even mono.....regardless, it was highly unpleasant) and had to catch up on all my homework after that....ick. But, crafting has not come to a complete halt. For instance, I finally got around to finishing the Dark Saber scarf, of Arcness' design, and it will be mailed out to him without too much further delay.

The yarn is good ol' Cascade 220, and I knit it from side to side on a giant pair of circular needles (10cm I think?) and it was a challenge. Nevertheless, it turned out pretty well I think. I won't venture an estimate on the time it took to complete since I worked on it pretty sporadically.

The infamous socks are STILL in progress. They're like the project that never ends. Maybe one day they will be finished.

I also have two craft swaps in progress (both of which I'm behind in.....yikes!) but I'm pretty much done making my crafts for those, and I'm quite pleased with how everything came out! I'll be taking pictures tomorrow before I send those packages off, and once my swap partners receive, you guys will get to see the goodies as well!

In the meantime, I want to share with you the awesome crafts I received from my fantastic swap partner Maimun, in the Star Trek swap! Everything she made me was perfect and awesome, and she themed it like an away-mission. The first was this totally cool duct tape bag:

Next, she made me this awesome travel mug:

And a beautiful bracelet:

And lastly, some wicked stitch markers (which I have been desperately needing):
So hurrah! I hope that Maimun likes what I made for her as much as I like what she made for me.

The other craft swap I have in progress is the Retro Video Game swap. Keep watching the blog, cause once that one arrives I'll have pictures up for all of you to see!

I'm still alive!

2007-10-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that yes I'm still here and yes, I've been crafting, but life has been a bit crazy. I'll try to post some pictures for you soon. In the meantime, I'll just say that I love my new place (I can see the mountains from my street!) and though school is pretty intense, I love the classes. Also, plans are in the works for the first official Langley Pie Party, so if you live nearby, you should come!

The coziest ipod in the world

2007-08-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Aren't you lucky blog readers today! You get a post filled with lots and lots of pictures! Details too, of this week's knitting adventures! So grab some popcorn, sit back, and here we go!

A few weeks back, I came across this post on Craftster where the person had created little sleeves for their headphones. "Ingenious!" I thought to myself. And then I bookmarked the link and promptly forgot about it. However, the idea stayed in the back of my mind, and last week I finished up a couple things, and needed some easy and portable knitting to take with me on the train. I figured that if one could cozy their headphones, they could do the same for the other miscellaneous cords. My power cord is always deviously pretending to be my usb cable, and my usb cable far too often disguises himself as my power cord. If I knit them little jackets, they'd never confuse me again! And so the multicolour power cord was born. It was knitted in a 5 stitch i-cord with - you guessed it - the ill-fated sock yarn of froggingness! Luckily I only had to frog this back a few times before I got the hang of knitting an I-cord around a bulky object.

Fast forward to last night. Now, another pattern that I'd had archived was Grumperina's ipod cozy. I was struck with inspiration to make it, since she made hers with Manos del Uruguay, and I happened to have some Manos in a tiny ball waiting for a special project. And after I knit that, my headphones looked so lonely I just had to start knitting them a sleeve too. Anyways, pictures first, details after!

It's glowy!

It's Geass!

That's right, there's a Code Geass symbol on the back. Don't know what Code Geass is? Check out the entry on anidb. The Geass symbol was actually knit with acrylic yarn (I know, I know, don't burn me at the stake please! I'll never mix wool and acrylic yarns again! ....wait, no, I probably will..) and double stranded to make it more visible among the changing colours of my Manos. I knit it on 4mm needles as the pattern says, but I think my thick-and-thin yarn was more thick than thin, and it came out a bit big. If I do this pattern again, I'll likely use smaller needles.

All in all, it took me maybe an hour to knit (maybe a bit more, since I was watching anime at the time....not Code Geass, I was watching the end of Erementar Gerad). The knitting was a breeze, but the sewing.......the sewing was EVIL! I might not even have gotten this done, if not for my brilliant housemate Robin. I wandered upstairs looking for a plastic sheet to use to go over my screen, but alas, there was no plastic to be found. Everything was too pliable, too opaque, or too rigid to be useful for this project. I almost despaired. And then Robin, looking down at a binder, speculated that the plastic binder cover might work. BRILLIANT! GENIOUS! Binder cover is actually perfect, being firm enough to stand up to abuse and hold the sewing stitches, but flexible and clear too, enough to be able to poke through with my needle to sew it on.

The sewing took a long time. I decided to put plastic over the clickwheel aperture too, since my knitted circle was not quite a circle, and I noted that sewing does wonders for getting things to stay in the appropriate place. The pattern calls for sewing up the sides in mattress stitch which I've never attempted before. I tried my best, but it's only really an attempt at mattress stitch and not the clean seaming I would have hoped for. I shall have to practice that. I haven't put the buttons on the back yet, but overall I'm quite pleased with this project. Wheeeee!

And now, my swap partner received her goodies, and took pictures, so here's what I made, courtesy of Zero Cool from the swap gallery! First, the bunny toys, which were mostly Ian's work, since he did the drawing and cutting with the jigsaw and drilling. (Note, I actually did take the first picture, I had forgotten about it until now! It's the fruits and veggies pre-cutting. As an aside, we tried drawing a head of lettuce, that actually looked more like a pork chop, and as a result, our resident feline, Little Boo, has acquired the nickname of Pork Chop.)

And now the Fetchings with the owl cable on them. I used the owl cable pattern for the Owl Cable Hat. It's a bit hard to see the owl on the gloves, since it blends a bit into the upper and lower cabling, but hopefully you can pick it out.

And last but not least, the second incarnation of my socks is progressing. I'm using an ankle-high sports type sock pattern from the book The Urban Knitter by Lily Chin that my friend Lindsay is lending me. These socks use a short row heel, and it was my first time doing short rows. It was pretty fun! I think the remainder of the sock will knit up pretty quickly (as soon as I stop stealing my sock needles to knit ipod accessory cozies....).

A (sortof) busy month!

2007-07-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, July has zipped by. I've spent most of the month in Ottawa, and I'm sad to say that I didn't quite get as much knitting done as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I shall tell you all about it in one whirlwind post! Before we start though, for those of you who don't visit Craftster
I bet you're dying to find out what I received from my swap partner in the Anime/Manga swap. The first item was this lovely pair of wings, which she based loosely off of Haibane Renmei. They're so elegant, and I'm scheming up a complete costume to wear with them for Halloween.

The second and I have to say my favourite item of this swap, was a set of two Bleach patches, which she hand-embroidered. I don't know how she managed to find the patience to make both those patches, but I absolutely adore them, and already had to fight off my brother who wanted to steal them! I think I might knit a pair of black gloves like Rukia's to put them on!

I was asked by another craftster member to do a personal swap, and so I knit these long fingerless gloves with skulls on them for her. Alas, she seems to be MIA, so I don't know if I'll ever get any items in return, but I hope at least that the gloves arrived safely and that she liked them. I tried to knit them as close to her specifications as I could.

And in more swap news, I signed up for a wishlist swap, and put up a wishlist for my sister to surprise her! Two wonderful craftsters chose to craft some beautiful items for her. And as for me, I made a pair of Fetchings for the swap, but modified them to put an Owl Cable on the back of the hand. I used a dk weight wool blend yarn in dark green. The lighter weight of yarn makes the cables a little more flowing, in my opinion, and a little more subtle. Overall they ended up looking pretty elegant. I was very happy with how they turned out but alas forgot to take pictures before sending them away. Ah well. Maybe the craftster who is receiving them will post pictures in the swap gallery when she gets them.

And I have to confess that I still haven't sent Zinobi his hat *cringe* I still want to re-do it, I think. Poor Zinobi, he's been waiting forever. Ah well. I'll make him something super awesome sometime in the future to make up for it. And in other knitting request news, the Dark Saber scarf for Arcness is about halfway done. The chart is so gigantic that I have to really pay attention when I'm knitting it, and keep track of 5 or 6 balls of yarn at a time. It's my first time doing colour work on such a large scale, and it's tricky, but I think it'll come out nicely in the end. I'm knitting it on 10mm needles so I can felt it.

Till next time, blog readers!

Anime/Manga swap

2007-06-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, my swap partner has finally received, so I can safely post up pictures of the things I made her for the swap! I'm still waiting to see what she made me since my packaged arrived in Ottawa at my brother's house, where I was supposed to be right now, but it turns out I won't be going there for a week or so still. *dies of anticipation*

My swap partner doesn't watch any anime, she only reads manga. I themed my swap items on her favourite manga - Kimi wa Petto.

The first item was a scarf. I knit it out of Cascade 220 wool, on 10mm needles. Here's the scarf initially:
It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's insanely long and wide. I then felted it in the washing machine for about 20 minutes (I'd felted a test swatch previously to calculate how much it would shrink) and set it out to dry on the floor. Here's the scarf drying, and a close-up shot of the stitches so you can see how much it felted.

I folded the ends up to make pockets and embroidered them, then sewed them up on the sides using a blanket stitch. The one side has Momo's box on it, with the word 'Momo' on the side of it, and the other side says 'Kimi wa Petto'. I knit some matching wrist warmers to go along with it, using an amalgamation of a couple patterns I found online.

It's hard to tell what the wrist warmers look like on their own like that, so here's me modeling one.

The last item was inspired by this manga page:
I sortof made up my own pattern, and it came out not perfect, but good enough I suppose. I think the sheep in the manga has some sort of gelpak or something inside it, but lacking that, I went out and got some of those ice cubes that are plastic with water inside. My swap partner also adores peanut butter M&M's, so the sheep is bringing them along as an extra surprise.

The sheep was knit with Phentex Merit yarn (acrylic) on 2.5mm needles. The hardest part was sewing the zipper in. I haven't done much sewing in a LONG time and it took forever. Turned out pretty good though, and my swap partner said she liked everything! Yay! This was my first craft swap, and I think I might sign up for another one sometime soon.

Dying is easier the second time

2007-05-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

For my Guild Wars guild members and allies reading this, no I am not talking about being rezzed with Vengeance or Death Pact Signet (although both are marvelously fun). This post, is about dying yarn!

On the holiday weekend, I had the opportunity to visit Philosopher's Wool and tour the farm. The old philosopher himself gave us the tour, with his rubber boots on over his thick knitted socks and his white hair and beard sticking out at all angles from his head. The tour was fantastic, and we got to see the little lambs, and the wool at each stage of the process to becoming yarn. If any of you ever visit there, I also encourage to ask you the story of how they built their house, because that is a fascinating story in itself.

Myself, Jenn, and Jordan each got a skien of undyed yarn and set to work that afternoon with some jars, some food colouring, and a trusty microwave! Due to my previous experience dying yarn with koolaid, I was much better prepared this time, and we each decided to dye our skeins with three colours.
They turned out better than we could have expected! Here are our three skeins drying outside. I sent mine to my sister who is at the moment confined in the middle of nowhere, BC, with no car and no internet. Knit lots, Anna! You'll be a prostar knitter by the end of the summer, sis!

In terms of other projects, the Kon Hat take #2 is almost complete. Details and pictures to follow when I finish it up. I've also cast on the second try at a pair of socks. To be able to knit along with a friend, I'm doing some very basic socks from the book The Urban Knitter. My swap partner from the Anime/Manga swap at Craftster also received her package, so I'll post up the details of those soon.

Exponential stash growth

2007-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

"Are you sure?" my mom asked me. I tried to sound confident. "Yes," I replied. None of the certainty I meant to convey translated through to my voice. My mom asked again, "Can you really live without your computer for two weeks?"
Katie was laughing at me in the background. It wasn't helping. "Yes, I'll be fine," I reassured her.

Upon hanging up the phone, Katie just looked at me, and said, "There's no way you'll survive that long without your computer." I knew it was true. I didn't want to say it. In my head, I began concocting elaborate schemes. It was a simple enough problem. My computer was in Ottawa, as was I. I needed to go back to Hamilton. I wouldn't return to Ottawa for two weeks. My perfect plans to get a ride back was disrupted at the last minute, and my only option was the train. I had my desktop with me. Could I take my desktop on the train? No, that's crazy talk! But, once I started to back my belongings, I came up with a crazy plan.

Materials:
1 computer tower
1 fuzzy blanket
1 roll of duct tape
1 case of pop

And, here we have the result:
Although the whole experience was less terrible than I thought it was going to be, I have resolved to never take my desktop on the train again.

But enough of that. Let's get to the yarny goodness! After the aforementioned epic journey, I stopped off at my parents' house. My mom, who is likely the best mom in the world, had found some awesome yarn deals for me. So very exciting! Here they all are! The first are these four GIANT spools of cotton, fingering weight, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'm tempted to try the Peacock Plumes Cardigan from Elann. I'm not sure how my gauge would compare though. I've also never worked with cotton before, which contributes to my hesitation. These giant spools are motivation enough to get over that though. Secondly, there are two bags of "Fashion Yarn" made of "100% unknown fibre"!!!! Woooo!!!! I can't say I know what I'm going to do with these either, but the fluffy one looks like it might make a fun stuffed animal for when I decide to try knitting one of those. I can't really see myself wearing something so.....er....fluffy. Next, we have some more thrift store recycled yarn! Wheee! And finally, the pièce de résistance, a bag of yarn ends, many of them sock yarn! Check out those beautiful colours! That whole entire bag was a mere 25 cents!!!! I'm going to make the best socks ever!!!

Lastly, I have a pic of the Kon hat I made, but it turned out too big. Additionally, I had to put on a white outline because the brown was too indistinguishable from the black. I've decided I can't give such a substandard piece of knitting away. I might send this hat to my sister because she won't mind the hugeness of it, and knit the entire hat again, this time in the correct size with a lighter shade of brown.

Let the frogging begin!

2007-05-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hurrah, my blog officially has one reader! I love comments! They make me motivated to write posts. So, without further ado, I present to you The Sock
I picked up this fun sock yarn when I was home for my dearest Mama's birthday a couple months back. The sock in question was begun whilst visiting Vancouver for my younger brother's senior recital (which was fantastical, by the way). Since my internet access was limited at the time, I used the convenient pattern out of the front of a novel my Mama was reading, entitled, "A Good Yarn" by Debbi Macomber. That's right, it's a fiction novel about a knitting shop, and it has a knitting pattern in the front! It was all well and good until last week when I decided that I did not like this pattern after all. So, I shall frog the entire sock and start again. Perhaps I shall try Grumperina's Jaywalker pattern. It looks like good fun.

In other knitting news, I have finished my doubleknit Mario Boo scarf, and also some manga-themed items for a swap at craftster forums, which I shall not reveal until my swap partner receives them in the mail! You shall just have to wait in anticipation until then. You may, however, see the scarf. Ta-da!I am also nearly finished a hat, which I shall snap a picture of as soon as its done.

In non-knitting news, I shall finish with a story about the bus.

I take the bus quite a bit, since I don't own a vehicle, and don't wish to own a vehicle. The bus is a very convenient and cheap form of transportation, but has its ups and downs. Yesterday I had the coolest bus driver ever on my way to work. He not only greeted every person that got on the bus and asked them how they were, but did so in each person's native language! If he didn't know a greeting in a particular language, he would ask, and commit the answer to memory. How cool is that! His accent was terrible, but he was remarkably good at being able to find the correct greeting, and he brought a smile to nearly everyone who walked on the bus. The world needs more people like this.

That's all for now. Check back later for more wacky randomness from me!

The beginning

2007-03-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I suppose this is my blog. Perhaps this is a more convenient method of communicating my knitting adventures than randomly IMing half my friends whenever I finish a new project. Will this blog last longer than my previous one? Only time will tell.