So I should be going and having dinner as a reward for actually writing part of a chapter (2700 words!!), but instead I’m rewarding myself by writing a blog post. Yes, I’m rewarding writing with…writing. My ability to reward myself with the same thing that was my task never ceases to astonish me (seriously, I do this a lot).

That said, I thought I’d write a few notes on teaching. I received a couple e-mails from last semester’s students over the weekend (mostly panics about “will I violate exam rules if I do XYZ?” to which I tend to reply “better safe than sorry, so try not to do XYZ”), and I was surprised at how much this made me miss my students.

I really like teaching.

And I’ve started to have a few worries about whether I’m actually good at teaching. I haven’t looked at last semester’s student comments yet (I’m waiting until I rework my syllabus over the summer—I’d like some distance on the semester before I destroy my soul), but student comment sheets can only go so far. Mostly because people don’t know what makes a good teacher until either a) they’re teaching themselves, or b) they’ve been taught explicitly to do or learn something new. Unfortunately, most of the teaching I do is ephemeral critical thinking skills (that don’t involve a workbook like mine did in elementary school), which is a bit harder to measure. I remember the teachers that TOLD me that I needed to start using my brain (yes, this happened…twice), but I don’t remember how they TAUGHT me to. It just happened as we went along.

Which was why this weekend was really nice, because I got to teach something where both student and teacher could see results. A bunch of my country dance friends organized a knitting afternoon, and one friend asked me to teach her how to knit at said afternoon. By the end of the afternoon she was casting on exceptionally well (I wish my tension had been that good when I’d started!) and have several rows of knit-stitch finished. I kept having flashbacks when I taught a friend from home how to knit, and that she’d been successful in learning, too (I should ask her if she’s still knitting). And tonight, I’m going over to a third friend’s to watch Glee (DON’T JUDGE ME), and as she’s just recently gotten into knitting, I’ve been asked to show her how to increase and decrease stitches. And I’m really looking forward to it.

Goodness, knitting, teaching and friends—since when did I have a social life? You’re not supposed to have one of those when you’re writing chapters!

Ah well. Off to have that reward-dinner now. Lysse out!

Tags: academic,art vs. academia,knit,life
Categories: Academia, Arts, knit
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No proper Friday Focus this week, as I will only be properly posting those when I have thoughts on something that moves me. And I don’t think I made that clear… oops.

But moving onward: as promised, updates on my chess set!

I’ve mostly written and tested the pattern.

I’ve finished typing up the edits, but need to knit a few pieces again to test the changes. The knights need to be given manes and ears, and as I retest pieces I need to photograph the process for the pattern.

And, of course, I need to finish the set, which means another knight, and couple more bishops and rooks, and about a baker’s dozen of pawns. Current, this is more-or-less what I have:

But at least they’re all standing!

Also, I need to finish the chessboard.

This is my first-ever intarsia piece. I’m writing the pattern as I go, and it’s pretty simple. Really, it’s the best place I could start for intarsia, as it’s simply big blocks of colour.

Finally, I’ve decided to work out a checkers piece as well—might as well make the board multi-functional! So… how many checkers are in a set?

Tags: chess set,knit,projects
Categories: knit, projects
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Apologies for the radio silence, as I was away for a week-ish and had limited internet access. To make up for it, this week’s Friday Focus will be a double feature (as soon as I finish writing it, eep!). However, on my week away, I managed to finish a TON of knitting in the Hibernation Offensive! First up is a flower which will be eventually turned into a fluffy brooch (once I get a backing):

Next, I FINISHED the chess set!

There’s still a few things I need to fiddle with – for example, the pawn is way too short, and I still need to find a base that will get the pieces to stand up. Still, I’m very pleased with the overall result, particularly when it comes to the knight:

Finally, because I had a bunch of leftover yarn and nothing left to knit, I used an old pattern (whose leaves were adapted for the above brooch) and made myself a much-needed tea cozy:

And that’s about it! Lysse out (until tomorrow).

Tags: chess set,knit,the hibernation offensive
Categories: knit, projects
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Phase one of the finishing hibernating fibre projects is complete; I have finished the chocolate bunny!

I’m mostly pleased with this, though it has some flaws. My ssk’s are not as good as my k2tog’s, which means that any left-handed shaping is bumpy on the left, and has gaps in the fabric on the right. I fixed some of these by manipulating the already-knitted strands with needles, but that only can help so much—it’s definitely something to be worked on in the future. After everything else is finished, of course!

Also, a quick update FYI: I’m going to be running around for the next week / away from the computer. I’m hoping to at least have the Friday Focus put up automatically, and maybe another entry or two, but it might fail. If so, I’ll run a double-Focus next week.

Tags: knit,projects,the hibernation offensive
Categories: knit, maintenance, projects
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Welcome to a new feature: the Friday Focus! These will be blog posts focusing on people who have inspired me in either my artistic or academic lives. These will usually be people I have met, who have had an in-person impact on me.

So, I’d like to start us off with Ysolda Teague. Although I learned to knit before I met her, Ysolda was my first knitting teacher. I took a class with her at K1, where we learned to knit her popular hat pattern urchin. She fixed my twisted stitches (so that’s what I was doing wrong!), and through her guidance in a pattern that uses simple shaping techniques, managed to cure me of my fear of knitting experimentation. I could only knit (twisted) and purl before her class; afterwards was when I started exploring shaping, colour, and felting with such projects as Mister Fuzzybottom and the Stackable Cats.

But, on top of being a fabulous teacher, she’s an amazing pattern writer and blogger. I especially love her blog: with its clean layout and its excellent discussion of the creative process it’s my favourite blog for knitting. Her assistant has recently started posting as well to the blog, and has continued the trend of high-quality and interesting posts on the subject. The blog’s absolutely gorgeous photographs are particularly inspiring, as Ysolda has a wonderful eye for both detail and composition (something that this blog could take a lesson or two from!). Also, her lovely insights into and documentation of the crafty side of life in Edinburgh makes me happy (and gives me new things to explore!).

So if you’re a knitter, a photography buff, or just like to read about Scotland, head on over to her blog, and see if you can find the picture of me post-successful-knitting. I wore that hat today!

Tags: Friday Focus,knit,Scotland
Categories: Arts, knit
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I am really bad at finishing things. This is particularly true if I don’t have a deadline. If I have a deadline—say, costuming needs finishing for a performance, or paper needs written for a conference—then I’m usually quite good at getting it (mostly) done. But things that don’t have a deadline languish. Some things I simply forget to do—like drawing. Others get procrastinated on—blogging is one of these.

That’s why I have a spreadsheet that I call “life schedule”. This is a bit hyperbolic, but roughly true. It sprang from my original outlines for my PhD, which it still contains—including a month-by-month breakdown and a week-by-week. But then this past January I expanded it. Knitting, writing, dance, etc.: if it was a creative or academic project, it was put on there (and that sums up pretty much my whole life). Each received a monthly goal, such as writing one-shots, blogging once a week, or filling two sketchbook pages. However, I made the mistake of thinking of NEW projects for knitting / crochet.

You see, by my bed I have a bag that I knitted and felted. Originally, it was to be my project bag, and filled with anything I was working on. Over the last year or so, however, it’s turned into the languishing bag. Unfinished projects were shoved into there to be promptly forgotten, and on a recent review of the contents (when I was procrastinating on something else), I found eight unfinished projects. This might not seem like much, but I don’t know how long some of these have been ignored. Some may pre-date my move across the pond.

So, instead of picking up the needles then and there and haphazardly trying to work my way through the chaos, I turned to my computer. Everything under “knitting” for my life schedule was promptly deleted, and each month was assigned an unfinished project until August. Hopefully by then I’ll have everything finished, and can turn to working through my lovely skeins in a desperate de-stashing attempt.

On the needles first, hopefully finished by Easter?

A stuffed “chocolate” bunny.

Yum!

Tags: crochet,knit,projects,the hibernation offensive
Categories: Arts, crochet, knit, projects
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Well! Ravelympics is half over, and life has since intervened and given me very little time to knit. However! After a couple tries, the Bishops are created, and Pawns are nearly done!

For some reason even though both of these are simpler designs than the King and Queen they took much longer, being ripped out several times. I still haven’t figured out a proper base that will let them stand, either. After this, the Rook and the Knight remain. The latter will be definitely the most difficult piece, both to create and just to knit—I’m envisioning lots of shaping. The Rook may also prove difficult, as I’d really like to create a square tower. If that doesn’t pan out, it’ll be a round one with crenellations, but here’s hoping.

In other crafts, I’ve been costuming like CRAZY. That would be some of above-mentioned the life intervening—there’s a tribal b-dance performance in three weeks, and I’m making most of my costume from bits and bobs. I’m retrofitting a pair of trousers, revamping a drape, bustling a skirt, figuring out a headdress*, and making a belt. Next week sometime I’ll post exactly how I went about making it, but until then, look at the pretty hip-medallions I chainmailled this weekend!

The one on the left is the “raw” product, while the other is sewn onto a circle made of felt and covered with green stretch velvet. Nice, solid, and just stiff enough that the maille and the circle don’t go floppy. Thinking of branching out into peacock-coloured medallions, and am making a pair of the basic ones for my awesome teacher!

And that’s it for now; Lysse-bird out.

* I’ve got a headdress!**

** Please ignore the inside joke.

Tags: bellydance,knit,maille,ravelympics
Categories: knit, maille
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YAY RAVELYMPICS!

I have a confession to make. I didn’t have the wherewithal to withstand a lack of fiberwork in my life—so on Friday I started asphyxiation from the anticraft. I managed to finish one motif before Ravelympics cast-on, and thus can put it away (without worrying it will fall apart) for the next few weeks.

Shiny crochet thread!

But on to Ravelympics! The first “event” I’m competing in is Designer Original Dance, where one must knit or crochet a design sample (but not necessarily write or edit the pattern). What am I designing? A chess set!

The King and Queen

My inspiration was the fact that I could only find a few chess sets on Ravelry (and only one knittable, the others being crochet), and I didn’t really like the designs. I became a bit of a chess set snob when working years ago at the swordshop (we sold chess sets, too), and thus decided to throw together a design of my own. So far only the king is finished, and the queen is halfway there. The rook should be easy, the knight should make me kill things, and I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen with the pawn. Or the bishop.

If I finish my other Ravelympics events, I might have to redevelop this into a Chinese chess set. They have CANNON.

And on that note, so long and Happy Chinese New Year!

Categories: crochet, knit, projects
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I’m not knitting anything currently, and it’s driving me absolutely mad. I can’t even cast on, because I don’t want to start anything until this next weekend. Why? Because it’s

RAVELYMPICS!

Ravelympics began two years ago (during the last Summer Olympics) as a Big To-Do on Ravelry. Coinciding with the Olympics, there’s different “events”, each representing a fiberworking goal.  I haven’t decided yet exactly which events I’m going to participate in, so I can’t give you an idea of what my updates will look like. I’m definitely going to try my hand at designing something for the first time, and might be knitting a hat, shawl, and/or socks. And I’d feel a bit silly if I didn’t do something toylike, as I started learning more knitting techniques simply because I love amigurumi.

However, I have the conundrum as to when I shall actually begin the Ravelympics. Cast-on is not allowed until the Olympics Opening Ceremony (and to win an event, you must be finished with it by the end of the closing ceremony). But since I’m a landmass and pond away from Toronto, the Opening Ceremony doesn’t start here until 2am on Saturday. I don’t do well with all-nighters. I’d go to bed early and get up early, but I’ve a dance performance that Friday. Alas!

Well, we shall see how this turns out. Will be blogging about the Ravelympics throughout the month. Until then!

Categories: Arts, knit
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Whoo. After that long post on BD, felt like I also owed a quick seperate post on the other things this blog deals with: actual crafting, and academia. On the crafting side, I’ve two things soon to come. First is my first home-made BD costume, finished last week. Secondly,  and currently “on the needles”, is a knitted bag made with my first hand-spun yarn (it will potentially be felted). Also, the Ravelympics are coming up, which means I’ll be knitting like a crazy person, and hopefully blogging about it.

Finally, a few knitting links. There are two sites that I can’t recommend enough. The first is KnittngHelp, which not only has instructions and illustrations for pretty much all the basic stitches, increases, decreases, and styles of knitting, but has VIDEOS. Wonderfully clear VIDEOS!!! The second (which is linked to at the side) is ravelry, which is a marketplace/database/social networking site for knitting, crocheting, spinning, and other fibre art. You can keep track of your yarn, projects, needles, and hooks, organize a queue of projects you want to do (and buy a lot of the patterns and yarn for them!), and wander about favouriting projects and patterns like a crazy person. Oh, and chat about knitting and your other passions in the internal groups. Which sometimes do secret exchanges. SO MUCH FUN. You have to sign up and wait for an invite to join, but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT.

That’s it. Lysse-bird out.

Tags: knit,maintenance,projects
Categories: knit, maintenance
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