maybe i will try again

I suppose I could try to blog again. Some days it seems like life is too busy and not interesting enough to blog. It's summer now and that brings a new air of optimism for starting anew. I don't really know why we make new year's resolutions in January. Seems like spring or summer would be a much better time. This is a way better time to start exercising, being more environmentally friendly, blogging, etc. Not that I'm doing those things very well, but this would be the time! I did sign up for PiYo at the co-rec. Monday we mostly do pilates and Wednesday we mostly do yoga. Either way I can barely walk the next morning. The co-rec charges for classes like PiYo, so I feel obliged to go. It's not that big a deal since I enjoy it, but it's nice to be half-forced to go. Although I've embraced the fact that I don't enjoy running I'm running anyway. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to buy cute Nike running shorts! I ran with Baxter yesterday. It's more like interval training than endurance training. Maybe sprinting from tree to tree will make me a stonger runner! Who knows!

Today had wasn't such a bad Saturday. Slept in for the first time in ages. Can't complain about that! Did some laundry...not so exciting. Went to TJ Maxx for the irst time in ages and bought some cute Nike running shorst and a Father's day gift for John. Props to me for getting a Father's day gift a week early! And it's not even related to golf! This afternoon I got to hang out with my niece for a while. She's pretty hilarious. Her songs are the best. Well actually, her fashion sense is the best. Annie has pictures on her blog that will keep you amused for a while. Plus stories to humor you for a while! Mostly Anja wanted to read books and shout at squirrells. I tried to help teach her to jump on the couch, but that was only mildly successful. I also tried to get her to say Auntie, but that didn't really work either. She just pointed to me and laughed every time I said "auntie." Little bug! We had fun though and that's all that really matters! It will be more fun when we can fingerpaint!

I'm trying to get 2 sweaters done. Well, actually I'm trying to get one sweater done and then I'll try to get the other done. I've been working on one since last week. There were a lot of meetings during that time, so it's just one sleeve short of being done. The other sweater is a sleeve and a collar and a lot of piecing together away from being done. If I weren't so lazy I'd get off my lazy bum and take some pictures. Maybe later. Hopefully the summer sweater will be done in the next day or two so I can wear it on cool summer nights!

Frenzy!

So first... Boiler up!!! Congrats to the Purdue men's basketball team! I'm proud to be a Boilermaker!

Not so much of a surprise that I haven't been blogging. By the time I'm done at school I don't want to spend more time at the computer. Some people live pay check to pay check...I live dead line to dead line! The nice thing is that when I'm stressed out, I knit so fast! I'm having a bit of a knitting frenzy. There are pictures up on Ravelry, but I'll have to add them to the blog later. Hard to do from the phone blogs. I finished my first fair isle project- the fake isle hat. Next time I'll keep the stings even looser! Still turned out not so shabby! (Picture would be great here!)
I've also been knitting socks like crazy. I finished a pair of cute bamboo socks, knit one self-striping sock, knit a pair of Monet inspired socks for my sister, and just started the 2nd self-striping sock! (More pictures would help here!)
I also started a sweater. I think it's the Berocco Remember sweater. Too bad I can't actually remember. I was afraid that socks would be a problem and that I'd never finish a pair. To combat second sock syndrome, I decided to reward myself with a pair of nice clogs (Birkenstocks most likely) if I knit 3 pair. Shouldn't be a problem since I'm on sock #4. I have enough yarn to make 3 more pair. Most skeins are generous, so I have all this left over sock yarn that I don't know what to do with. There's enough of some that if I knit a different color heal and toe, I think I can get another pair. We'll see. It's fun to dream!

I've gotten great deals on Araucania yarn lately. I got my sweater yarn from the River Knits bargain bin. It's Araucania nature wool in a burnt orange color. Then, one of my Purdue knitting friends told me about a sale at Tuesday Mornings. I was better off not knowing about that store! It's a bit like TJ Maxx, but smaller and basically no clothes. Mom and I got a bunch of Araucania sport weight alpaca yarn for $3 a skein! Talk about a bargain! I also got some cotton that will make a nice spring scarf.

Hopefully I'll have some free time this week to knit a bunch! It's spring break, but I still have to go to school. At least I don't have classes. I do have a huge to do list and need to have most of it checked off by next Sunday. Yowzers! It'll all work out eventually, but I don't want to think about it right now. Time for bed.

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Knitting with toothpicks

I'm headed to Washington DC next week and know I'll have some dead time in the airport and such. Mom gave me really cute sock yarn for 12th night, so I figure I'll knit socks on the trip. Of course I have a million other projects I could work on, but socks seem really travel friendly. I got bamboo sock needles today at River Knits and they are size 1 (2.25mm)!!!!! Toothpicks! I wonder if anyone has tested the size of toothpicks. Hmmmm...I think I'll try that! Luckily I looked in the bargain bin, because there was only one skein of yarn left like what mom got me. It's Regia bamboo sock yarn. Very short color ways, so it looks like confetti when it's all knitted up. Cute, but makes choosing a pattern tough. The patterns that looked cool on Ravelry were lacy and I'm not ready for any serious lace sock stuff. I thought about a fancy ribbed pattern, but I don't want to have to count rows and the simple patterns don't show up with this yarn. Now I'm debating if I want to do a simple stocking knit or a slipped stitch rib like I did with Martin's socks. Seems like the elasticity of ribbing would be nice. Then again, it would be so quick to do plain sticking knit. Maybe I'll go to the library for more ideas.

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Risking it all

I'm about to make the snip. My little red sweater is about to undergo serious surgery. I'm nervous, but it's the right thing to do. Here we go!
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'Tis the season

It's the time of year when I have to check to make sure I don't have pointy ears. I feel like an elf. Mom and I have been through her closet full of stuff she's forgotten about and divied it up for everyone. She has me wrap all the presents and send me out shopping for everything she thinks people want. I realized that my wrapping skills have gone to pot. It used to be important to use a variety of wrapping paper and bows. Every present was meticulously wrapped with no raw edges showing. This year...not so much. Not sure what happened, but I used one roll till it was gone and there aren't many bows. Maybe I'll tidy up the packages when right before they go under the tree. On the bright side, I haven't lost the tape or the scissors! Practically a miracle!

You'd think last year I would have learned my lesson about Christmas knitting. Alas, here I am, frantically trying to finish truly last minute knitted gifts! Take that Ms. Hoverson! Maybe I'll write my own book! (Doubt it) Better get back to knitting.
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So many exciting things!

I'm excited about a lot of things today! We're having a Christmas lunch for our lab group. Being in a lab full of nutrition types pays of at dinner parties. I made Aiken's cold corn and goat cheese salad. There should be a slew of really delicious foods and most will be nutritious so there's no guilt in pigging out! Another thing to be excited about, I discovered techknitting! This knitter has her act together. I was looking for instructions to line a hat with fleece and found so much more. Probably the very best thing is that she has instructions for lengthening sweaters, sleeves, etc. I knit that little red sweater this summer and it's so short I can't wear it. Annie suggested getting my belly button pierced and just wearing the sweater anyway. Um...maybe not! With the help of TechKnitting the sweater can be fixed! Talk about exciting!

Time to kick into high gear as far as Christmas presents go. I've been slacking in that department. I have a few things, but that's not really enough now is it? At least I have ideas for everyone. That's a start.

Purdue maintenance crew busted out the snow polishers. We're fortunate here because rather than salt the side walks when it snows, Purdue takes a little tracker with a giant metal brush and polishes the snow on the sidewalks into miles of a nice slick liability. Seriously, it's horrible! I nearly fell twice on my way from the garage to my building. Why don't they get a zamboni and properly ice the walk ways? It'd be faster to skate across campus anyway. Sometimes I wonder how such a big university with so many logical people can make such a stupid decision to use the snow polishers year after year after year.

Facebook amazes me...

Is anyone else amazed that people who you've barely met can find you on Facebook so fast? Granted, I have a fairly unusual first name, but still last night I was introduced to someone and that person friended me 2 hours later. I'm not creeped out, just amazed that people can friend you so fast. I don't even think to friend people unless I really know them. I bet I'm not friends on Facebook with half my real life friends. What do you do to all the people who friend you, but you're not really friends? People from high school who you never ate lunch with or even had class with? I feel like a big jerk if I don't accept people as friends, but then they just sit there in Facebook and I never read their wall or write them little notes. Maybe I'm just not up to speed on my web-based social networking skills.

Getting buff...

A few girls in my lab group had the brilliant idea for us all to run a marathon. I don't really enjoy running. It always seems like a good idea and I get all motivated and go for a run and then remember very quickly that I don't enjoy it at all. Problem is, everyone is on board for this lab group marathon team. Fortunately, most of us decided to just to a half marathon. Our professor is going to walk a 5-k and one girl will run the who marathon. I'm just smart enough to know my competitive side is going to take a blow if I don't actually train, so alas...here I am starting to train for a 13 mile race that's going to make me hurt for days and days. Actually, it's probably going to make me hurt for the next several months. 5K races are always fun. Especially when Martin runs them with me. So, last Saturday we ran the YMCA Sleigh Run. Turned out to be a great race! What's better than 200 people with bells on their shoes running in the snow? The best part is that the volunteers misdirected us and cut 1/4 mile off the course! Makes it look like I ran a 5k in less than 30 minutes, but actually I ran 2.7 miles in less than 30 minutes. I'm going to the gym a couple times a week now. Last night I "ran" on the eliptical machine and lifted weights. Definately a humbling experience. Hopefully Baxter and I can start going on runs in the mornings before I come to school a few days a week. Might have to get him some boots to protect his little paws from the cold snow and ice.

Aunt Anna May to the rescue!

A while back I saw a pattern for a hat that was lace on top and solid underneath. It was called Peek a Boo Hat or something like that. Ravelry totally let me down. I searched through hundreds of hat patterns and never found what I was looking for. Doesn't anyone other than me think it's a brilliant idea!?!?! Well, Nike does and so does SmartWool! But not the rest of the knitting world. I was looking for something in my room tonight and found a book Anna May let me borrow. I feel bad that I've kept it so long! Guess where I saw that pattern? Yup...it's in her book! The book is Lace Style by Pam Allen and Ann Budd and it's even Interweave Press. The pattern is Peek-A-Boo Cloche. I can't believe the pattern didn't come up on Ravelry. I can't believe no one else is knitting this hat! Especially since there are similar commercially made hats by expensive brands like Nike and SmartWool! Come on people! Jump on the band wagon! Mine is going to be black on the outside and gold on the inside. Boiler up! I want to have a little school spirit next time I end up at a Purdue basketball game.

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Procrastinating

I've got Thanksgivingitis. I dont' know what grad students have to be at school today. It's kind of stupid. No one else is here and brain is pretty checked out.

There is a chance that knitting productivity is directly proportional to my stress levels. So, convenienly I'm knitting like crazy! I finally finished My So Called Scarf. I finished one sleeve for my Gathered Pulloever Sweater, but then I ran out of yarn. I know I have more, but a big chunk of my stash has disappeared. I probably tried to put it some place safe, but now it's just out of sight. I'd be better off just having a huge pile of wool in the corner of my room to scramble through every time I needed something. Whoever inspired me to organize my stash was an idiot! I've never done any serious cable work, so I took on the challenge of the Estes Vest. The challenge isn't the cabling, it's reading the stinkin' pattern! It's just not real clear and the charts are whacko. From what I hear the i-cord edging is a pain. I'm not looking forward to that. Maybe I'll get to wear it before summer hits. There are some other works in progress, but since they are for other people I'll keep them secret for now. Let's clarify that I am NOT committing to any Christmas knitting!

Last night was knitting night at Barnes and Nobles. We had a nice group. There was a new lady who kept talking about her "Arian" knitting pattern. Cracked me up! What do you do in a situation like that? I wanted to correct her and tell her that I was pretty sure it was "Aran" not "Arian" and that peole might get the wrong idea. Then again she really got on my nerves, so I ended up letting her continue to call it "Arian" and snickered to myself a little more each time.

With all my projects I've run out of stitch markers and today is payday, so I think I'll head to River Knits and splurge on a pack of stitch markers. It's good to be back in the blogging world.

Taking it handy

This birthday weekend has been really amazing. I am currently blogging
from a hammock in the shade near the river. Yesterday my dear friend
Dana hosted the lovliest of birthday bbqs. All the Irish girls from my
department were there along with several college friends of mine. John
manned the grill (as men do!) and made really awesome burgers! After
the party a bunch of us spent some time at 9 Irish Brothers. The owner
is hilarious! He really made it fun! So now I'm up at the river in a
hammock half napping...half blogging...definitely relaxing!

So big news for anyone in Dublin! I'm coming back!!! I'll only be
there one night though. Sept. 4th. Maybe it will work out to see some
of you friendly knitters out there!

School starts up again tomorrow. Last week was nice. Well, sort of
nice. I had orientation all week, so I didn't have to work very hard.
That will all change tomorrow. It's going to be long days from here on
out. The routine will be nice I suppose.

Too bad this isn't a resort! I need more iced tea.

--
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One toe away...

I started socks for my brother for Christmas. They didn't get done for Christmas by any means. I didn't really work on them for several months after Christmas, and now they are almost...so very close to done. I totally finished one today. Grafted the toe and the whole nine yards. Now I'm just hoping I Have enough yards of yarn left to finish the second sock! It's going to be close, but I think it can be done! Martin tried them on last night though and they're going to fit really well! They'll be done for his birthday, but won't be his birthday present. I will be celebrating three holidays with him though on Tuesday. Christmas, Father's Day, and his birthday! Very exciting!

photo to follow!

Only one more week of intro stat. This week will includes lots of studying I hope. There's a lot to review before the final exam on Friday. Yikes! I better finish my homework before I get too excited about the exam!

Sitting in the window...

Today is the first day I've had to breath in a while and I'm enjoying it to the fullest! Today is just a beautiful day! Not too hot and wonderfully sunny! The new grad student, Bethany, started the other day and she's a lovely addition to our lab group. We sat outside by the fountain and read for a while. She's a super cute farm girl from west-central Illinois. Now I'm happy sitting in the window at Grey House watching the world go by. It's so nice here! The free refills might be dangerous!

Tonight is So You Think You Can Dance night!!!!!!! There are a bunch of us crazy girls who are way too into the show! Last week was controversial. Comfort is a hip-hop dancer who got voted off the previous week. Jessica got to stay, but then she had broken ribs, so she dropped out and Comfort came back. THEN, Kherigan had a bad night and got voted off and Comfort got to stay. It was a real pity! So this week Comfort better get voted off or I'm gonna be really annoyed. At this point the guys are all pretty awesome, so it's hard to see any of them go. Will is my favorite and if you saw him with his shirt off, you'd know why! Sigh. He's dreamy! Even dreamier than that electrician in Dublin! After all, Will can dance!

Birthday Week

It's birthday week in our house. My big brother's birthday is today,
mom's birthday is Friday and Martin's birthday is next Tuesday. Very
exciting!

Every Wednesday, we have a lab meeting. Lately we've been brain
storming for my current project. Today is going to be different. I'm
giving a presentation to propose a new study that we can do later. I'm
a little nervous since I don't know what to expect. Should be
interesting.

Given that I have this presentation, I probably shouldn't have gone
knitting last night, but I did. Just needed the mental break and I'm
glad we went. Martin's socks are nearly done! Ok, not really. They're
about 75% done though. He needs to try them on. I really don't want
them to be too small! That would be horrible!!! I'd say there's a
small chance I can get them done this weekend. It's only a very small
chance though. So no one should go getting hopes up!!

--
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Cheap and Free!

I'm quickly becoming a true PhD student! Saving money being one of the key things. In our department supposedly we all get enough funding to live. I'm thinking they should say we get enough funding to exsist! To really live, one must have the funds to go out with friends on the weekend, to buy a pair of Tevas on sale for $15 and to buy an occasional magazine. Not to mention pay for gas and random things like behavior therapy for oddly aggressive wheaten terriers. That said, part of truely living as a grad student involves the continuing quest for cheap and free! Free brunch yesterday meant testing 4 types of french toast and several egg casseroles for Mrs. Mayfield who is designing new breakfast ideas for day cares. Note: french toast made with orange juice was not a good thing. Cheap morning coffee means a slight detour to Beering Hall on my way back from stat class. There, is the holy grail of vending machines. I can get a so-so mocha or a pretty good cappucino for 75 cents! Bad coffee in the HTM cafe is $1.25. That's 50 cents towards I can put towards living! Anyone want to go find a gum ball machine with me?

Happy Birthday Harriet!

Today is my dear friend Harriet's birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day! Wish I could be there to help celebrate!

Fried Crispy!

Well, multiple applications of SPF 45 is no match for 5 hours at the
water park on a clear sunny day. Unlike the horrible sunburns of my
youth, some parts of my body were spared. Still, I'm in a wee bit of
pain. My little sister seemed to have a blast though, so I suppose it
was worth it. Maybe. Thankfully I mostly sleep on my side!

Last night I watered the back garden and then forgot to turn off the
hose! Oops! Mom called and distracted me, so I'm blaming her!

Knitting group is always a riot. In some ways, I'd love to write about
all the personalities, but anyone who attends any knitting group
already knows. It's safe to say our knitting group fits the norm! I
really enjoy going. Almost skipped tonight, but I'm glad I didn't.
It's good therapy!

Tomorrow's a new day. Hopefully some of my red will fade to brown by then.

--
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Something beautiful!

For those of you who have never used SAS, this may seem trivial. For those of you who have suffered through the initial learning of SAS code, this is a beautiful thing. In fact I'm doing a little SAS dance in my chair! Woohoo!

Here is the code I used to get this.

title 'educational data for 78 seventh-grade students';
data students;
input obs gpa iq gender concept;
datalines;
1 7.94 111 2 67
2 8.292 107 2 43
3 4.643 100 2 52
4 7.47 107 2 66
5 8.882 114 1 58
6 7.585 115 2 51
7 7.65 111 2 71
8 2.412 97 2 51
9 6 100 1 49
10 8.833 112 2 51
11 7.47 104 1 35
12 5.528 89 1 54
13 7.167 104 2 54
14 7.571 102 1 64
15 4.7 91 1 56
16 8.167 114 1 69
17 7.822 114 1 55
18 7.598 103 1 65
19 4 106 2 40
20 6.231 105 1 66
21 7.643 113 2 55
22 1.76 109 2 20
24 6.419 108 1 56
26 9.648 113 2 68
27 10.7 130 1 69
28 10.58 128 2 70
29 9.429 128 2 80
30 8 118 2 53
31 9.585 113 2 65
32 9.571 120 1 67
33 8.998 132 1 62
34 8.333 111 1 39
35 8.175 124 2 71
36 8 127 2 59
37 9.333 128 1 60
38 9.5 136 2 64
39 9.167 106 2 71
40 10.14 118 1 72
41 9.999 119 1 54
43 10.76 123 2 64
44 9.763 124 2 58
45 9.41 126 2 70
46 9.167 116 2 72
47 9.348 127 2 70
48 8.167 119 2 47
50 3.647 97 2 52
51 3.408 86 1 46
52 3.936 102 2 66
53 7.167 110 2 67
54 7.647 120 2 63
55 0.53 103 2 53
56 6.173 115 2 67
57 7.295 93 2 61
58 7.295 72 1 54
59 8.938 111 1 60
60 7.882 103 1 60
61 8.353 123 2 63
62 5.062 79 2 30
63 8.175 119 2 54
64 8.235 110 2 66
65 7.588 110 2 44
68 7.647 107 2 49
69 5.237 74 1 44
71 7.825 105 2 67
72 7.333 112 1 64
74 9.167 105 2 73
76 7.996 110 2 59
77 8.714 107 1 37
78 7.833 103 1 63
79 4.885 77 2 36
80 7.998 98 1 64
83 3.82 90 2 42
84 5.936 96 1 28
85 9 112 1 60
86 9.5 112 1 70
87 6.057 114 2 51
88 6.057 93 1 21
89 6.938 106 2 56
;
run;
PROC SORT data=students out=nsort;
by gender;
RUN;
PROC BOXPLOT data=nsort;
plot gpa * gender /boxstyle=schematic;
RUN;

Can I get an honorary computer science degree for this? Maybe not, but seriously this is my biggest acheivement of the day. I can think of about a million things I'd rather acheive today, but whatever...I'll take it.

What a day!

Today I got to hang out with my little sister. I signed up to be a big
sister through Big Brothers Big Sisters. If there are any guys reading
this...you should go sign up to be a big brother! Now! So anyway, my
little sister just turned 8. I've never really known an 8 year old.
It's all new and exciting. She still little in ways, like last week we
got ice cream cones and hers was down to her elbows, all over her face
and half of it dripped on the table. She's wants to be cool like her
13 year old sister though. So she talks like a teenager. It's
hilarious! Today we went to Columbian Park Zoo. That was kind of a
bust. I'm not sure they even had animals. So I suggested we go play
Putt-Putt (crazy golf for you Irish folks). She stopped in her tracks,
held up her finger and said, "ok, but first I think we need ice
cream!" How can I argue with that? Well, except that I've seen her eat
ice cream and know that it's a major ordeal in the clean up
department! We ended up with snow cones. Hers was blue...so were her
lips and tongue! She's great! We're going to have lots of adventures.

--
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Time to get serious...

I have been a horrible blogger lately. Exciting things are happening! Last Thursday I hit the road before the sun was up and drove all the way to Knoxville by myself. It was fabulous. I visited my dear friends, the Burkholders. We went camping in the Smokey Mountains and Friday morning we all went climbing! Even the kids! Talk about a fantastic trip! Friday night I got to chill out with my Euro-travel buddy, John in Louisville. Getting home was...well...frustrating. Between a speeding ticket (I was seriously NOT speeding...I just didn't know I was still in a construction zone) and all the major roads and interstates being flooded, it was quite an adventure. Got home all the same though.

Monday was my first day of school. Yeah! The research project is going well. My first day was 10.5 hours, but yesterday was a normal day. Well, not exactly. I had to be on campus by 7am. Today I don't have any research-related responsibilities which is nice. My statistics homework is nearly done! Good thing since it's due tomorrow! I have a meeting with Dr. Boushey in a few minutes. Hopefully some of my lingering questions will be answered!

Martin's socks are still a work in progress. Sock one is about 2/3 done. I don't know if I can do the other sock strait away. Might have to work on a sweater for a while. I'd much rather knit sweaters than socks! Of course, someday...some sweet day...I'd like to knit my self a pair! My next sweater pattern comes from the summer Interweaves Knits magazine; the Apres Surf Hoodie. Won't that be fabulous in cashmere? I have 51% cashmere 49% wool in a neutral color. I think it will be perfect for that sweater. The pattern has several concepts I'm not familiar with though, so I might go crazy. Step one: provisional cast on. How hard can it be, right?

Ok...meeting time!