Ahh...the weekend...a lovely time to play catch-up.

It has been a crazy week here, but all good things. I have gotten alot of secret knitting done and alot of things have happened at school. First, we have officially retired one of our NMRs, the one that never really worked. We were finally given permission to scrap it for parts. Please watch as Charles and I jump for joy! One of the PhD comics this week kindly summed up my NMR experience:

Here's the link to the comic.
The new NMR has been ordered and should be here by the end of the semester or beginning of next. Another happy event will have to wait for publication...to be continued.

Happy Sunday everyone!

I trust everyone had a good weekend...and got lots of knitting done! I had crafty weekend with not only Becky, but her mom (whose a potter) and sister (who is working on as a post-doc). We had fun going to LYS and the quilt store. Then we took in the almost-last Texas Ranger game. Yes, we all took our knitting.

Here's an update on my projects...at least the ones I can show you. Some are surprises for people, so forgive me for not putting them on. You will see them eventually!

Here is my Icarus shawl. Not as far as I would like, but chugging along, none the less. I have pinned it out a bit to show detail; some of the irregularities will block out...except for the accidental y.o...or whatever it is! :-)



Here are my Jaywalker socks. I was skeptical when I first started these and considered ripping them out. However, the pattern finally began to come out and I really like it! It's really simple and you don't need to pattern for most of it (i.e. easy to remember).

Yes, I am multitalented. I am not trying to be conceited or anything, but it is a topic that was quite popular this weekend. Saturday, our family participated in the Walk for PKD, which runs in our family.

So, there is our lovely group. So, there I was the knitter of the group and what do I do...I pull out my knitting. Yes, for the 100th time this weekend, I can knit and walk at the same time. I can even go farther and say that I can also talk while doing these things too. Yes, I kept up with everyone (and the conversations) and no, I did not stumble and impale myself with my size 19 bamboo needles.

For those wondering, I decided to knit my favorite idiot knitting scarf. Take Lion Brand Homespun double, CO 12, K until you run out of yarn. Conveniently, this always gives the proper length of scarf, which is why I love it so much. And yes, I did finish the scarf

So, back to the weekend. Checked out a new LYS and found some wonderfully soft baby alpaca laceweight that I can't wait to knit. My Icarus shawl is coming along great; I am almost done with chart 1. Let me tell you...I am in LOVE with my lifeline. If I didn't have it, my Lorna's would be back in the stash already. But I think I finally have it figured out and I am LOVING it.

I love crafting, especially knitting, and nothing is better than crafting with a great friend. Enter Becky. Several of you know that Becky and I routinely get together and do crafty things, like knitting, sewing, and quilting, all of this while we "watch" and endless marathon of Harry Potter movies, broken up by the occasional Disney movie. So, we craft alot...maybe too much. This past weekend we had a few "You know you craft too much when..." moments. I thought I would share them with you, since everyone loves a laugh, and unfortunately, these all really happened...

You know you craft too much when...
...you find fabric and yarn in your garbage disposal...and it's not from a kitchen towel
...when your guest bed and all of your clothes, no matter how clean, have pieces of thread all over them
...you start dreaming about a knitting pattern
...you wake up from said dream, and you work on that project

I hope to see folks out at the PKD Walk this Saturday. There is a handy link on the sidebar if you need any information.

Ok, back from crafty weekend with Becky and we had fun as always. Taught her how to crochet and we made some wonderful coozies. During this time we went to the yarn store, which most of ya'll know is not a good place for me to go. I did get some yarn and am starting on shawl, Icarus, that I have hear good things about, and a little sock yarn. Becky also got some sack yarn and will be attempting her first pair of socks. WOO HOO!!

My lovely Auntie Sarilyn informed me that only members get to comment on my blog. I sort of did this intentionally to keep spammers out, but I assumed (you know what happens when we assume) that there was some way of "requesting" to be a member of my blog. Apparently, I have to request that you be a member of my blog. So, send me an email and I will add you.

I hope that everyone saw Katie and Lew at the UT game this weekend. I was told that they were the ones in UT orange. Sadly, it did not end up as we had hoped, but we will beat them at the Rose Bowl!!! HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!

This has been a week of finishing projects. Unfortunately only in the knitting world.

In my research, I have been doing quite a bit of literary searching, which means spending a ton of time in front of a computer or trudging across campus to the library. In work, our big NMR (a.k.a. P.O.S.) "decided" to start working so I have been trying to get that up to par. In other words, I have gotten no where.

On the happier note, I have completed several projects this week. Now, far warning to the yarn snobs out there...these are done with the inexpensive yarn. Remember, I am a poor grad student...it's all I can afford!!

The first is a poncho made of Lion Brand "Homespun". It's quite warm and very soft.

The edging of this poncho came out great and even comes out on it's own without any blocking. I had a lot of fun crocheting this because it had some periods of repetition, but that it also has the periods of interesting pattern. Speaking of the pattern, it is the Martha Stewart inspired poncho. It was designed off of the one she had on when she came home (i.e. got out of jail). WARNING!! People that I have talked to who have done this pattern advised me to do it in a bigger hook size. No kidding....I ended up doing this on a size P hook and used the same amount of yarn and the poncho hits me about mid thigh. Just so you know...

I finally finished my striped socks!! As any knitter knows, when knitting socks, you must knit TWO of them. Therefore, it is kind of anticlimactic when you finish the first one, only to realize that you have to start all over on the second. So, here are my pretty socks done in Lion Brand "Magic Stripes". These came out wonderfully warm and comfortable. It almost makes me wish I lived in a colder climate....almost. The fun this about this type of the yarn is the striping that occurs while you knit. For knitters, it breaks up the monotony of the endless stockinette over the foot. But for the non-knitter who observes you, wonders how you can do such work with so many colors.

Well, time for Craft Weekend with Becky, so maybe I can get some sewing done!!

The Beginning

All right.... I have officially joined the blogger community. For anyone who wishes to know how things are going on around me, welcome. I will be chatting about...well...I guess everything, but the majority will be graduate school in chemistry and my knitting. I have had several people talk to me about what I am working on (in both arenas), so I am hoping this will be a good forum for that. Enjoy!