Mr. Coronavirus

So while back I won a contest on Catherine's blog and my prize was a sock monkey and a crochet fan bookmark. She let me pick out the socks for my monkey by taking a picture of all her socks and then i picked one. I ended up picking one that looked like it was blue socks with polka dots on it, but when I actually saw the monkey in person there was a pleasant surprise. The "polka dots" look like coronaviruses!! Wheee! I was super excited about that so that's what I named him.





Observe here the circle with the little peg-like things on the outside.




















There are two more.
















Here is a textbook illustration of a coronavirus and a scanning electron microscope picture of actual coronavirus particles. See the similarity!??
Pretty sweet huh









And here are the pictures of the full size Mr. Coronavirus and the little crochet fan bookmark. The book mark is very pretty! I would also like to point out that this is the first stuffed animal I have received since I was roughly 10 years old. So when I got home I excitedly showed him to my roommates. Yay fun! Thanks Catherine!!

FO: Luna Moth Shawl

ok folks, here it finally is the finished shawl!
It was a wonderful pattern and it only took me a month. Super easy too. The pattern is very intuitive after awhile so its not too difficult for first-timers. The yarn is great as well, wearing it is super nice (though it is a little slippery on bare skin).
I tried for probably 30 minutes to get a good picture of the whole thing, but its just too big! So you'll have to make do with some detail pictures instead.

Here is a picture of me at the wedding from the back.



This is the front, me and my brother's girlfriend Olivia.

















Look, its so big it spans my full size bed!




Pretty details!


I must say, for my first giant lace project it came out very nice. Though the blocking was a beast. I hate blocking. Let us just not go into that......
The rest of the yarny and patterny details are up on Ravelry (username Grateblue2 just in case). (and if you are a knitter and havent heard, join Ravelry!) (details not repeated here b/c I'm a lazy bastard)

this day

I promise to post pictures of the finished shawl soon, but for today I wanted to post this instead.


I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone that today is the 6th anniversary of the attacks on the WTC in NYC and the Pentagon. Lets forget the politics of today and remember that many people perished. And pause, and be thankful that we are still alive and have the luxury to forget this horrible tragedy the other 364 days of the year.



On another sad note, Alex, the famous African grey parrot of Irene Pepperberg died last week (but it was just announced in the news today). This one parrot changed the perspective of the science of the mind over the last 30 years. Incredible. Cheers to you mate.

Also, Ebola has resurfaced again in DR Congo, so if you can, try to not travel there for awhile.

Weds Blog Challenge: Remembering

Well hello again! I've been on vacation in Illinois and Indiana, but I'm back now. I have lots of catching up to do, I know. The Luna Moth Shawl is done, and 2 other wip's are almost done. I'll post picts soon, I promise. Since I was on vaca I missed last week's blog challenge, but I thought it was a good one so I'm going to use it for this week.

The question is: What do you want to be remembered for?
Here's Amanda's answer for reference (:{

I think this is a toughie, and I agree w/ Amanda, a little morbid. But a good challenge, nonetheless.
My fear here is that I'll be remembered the way my family chooses to see me and not how I am as an adult here in Boston. Every time I go home I am painfully reminded of how they refuse to accept me as I am now, a happy, balanced, grounded adult ( I'm not just saying this b/c I think its true, I've been told this by many co-workers and my pre-med adviser who's known me for 7 yrs); instead my family chooses to see me as the way I was as a teenager, moody, quick tempered, book-smart but common sense dumb, a bad driver, in my own little dream world, etc. This is also why they refuse to call me by my birth name, Cassandra, and insist on calling me by their nick-name, Cassie. And also why it pains me so to hear people calling me Cassie, it reminds me of that person that I left behind in Orland Park 7 years ago. So my hope is that if I die, all of my Boston friends and colleagues will make sure that they remember me as the person they know me as, not as the person my family will insist I am. Please? (Also, while we are on the subject, I want to be cremated and my ashes thrown in the ocean. Or some other environmentally sustainable disposal)

Anyhow, on to the question.
Well, I would like to be remembered for being goofy, quirky, quick to laugh, a book/science nerd but also social and fun to have around. A person who sticks to her guns on the important stuff (like values), opinionated and not afraid to argue but also not afraid to grow and change positions with new information. A loyal friend. A lover of all good food, good wine, and good beer. A staunch environmentalist who deeply cares for our planet and its creatures. An artist and a knitter. A little bit of a dirty and demented mind, but not in a scary way. Willing to try just about anything once and game for adventure.
Fell free to completely quote that paragraph in my obituary (:{
I think that is about it??

Tattoo Odyssey

So to start out this post I thought I'd give you a little list so you could better understand my journey to this point of ginourmous tattoo on my back. Then its time for the good stuff: the pictures!

Stages of getting a tattoo:
I really really want this............................... 1 year
Do I really want this?.................................. 1 month
Hey I got a tax bonus! I want a tattoo!
Now! ............................................................. 1 week
Yay I have an appointment!
In 1 month ):{ ......................................... 1 month
Outline:
Ow this kinda hurts! .................................. 1.5 hours
Hey this kinda itches! ................................ 2 days
and its peeling! black bits! ........................ 2 days
Oh look, all better
Fill in:
Ow this kinda hurts! ................................. 30 mins
No, this Really HURTS! ........................... 2 hours
Yuck this feels like a bad sunburn .......... 5 days
Hey this itches! Itches like hell! ............. 2 days
(overlaps with the pain -- how is that possible??)
OK, enough of this, it still itches ............. 2 days
and its peeling! lots of black bits! ........... 4 days
(overlaps with itching)
Finally, I think its healed ........................ 8 days post fill in session

And for those who think that the fill in is less pain than the outline, I can assure you its not true. 2.5 hours of pure pain cannot even compare to the the outline. I'm now convinced that I could probably handle getting shot (note: I do NOT want to though) and childbirth. At least then they could give you pain meds. There were no pain meds involved in this b/c most of them thin your blood. Which makes you Bleed. Bleeding is not good b/c then your skin wont absorb the ink and you'll have to go back for more touch-ups. As it is having an all black tattoo requires a minimum of 1 touch-up session. Joy. BUT it was all def worth it. I think it looks amazing and I love it.
And now, for the fun stuff. Pictures.

First, the Outline.
Here is the "Before" shot with my crappy little blobby dolphin tattoo. (Yes, the picture is in focus, the tattoo is not though)



Cool mirror shot
Making the "ouch" face
Looking oddly serene
Halfway through the outline


Close-up of the outline in progress



Outline is done. All bandaged up and ready to go. (Yes that is blood).

Here is the finished outline before the peeling began. The ointment makes it shiny.

And now the Fill In



Close up of red swollen -ness

At this point, I made him take a break b/c I was feeling woozy and needed a snack. So Ariel snapped a picture.
Here I am thinking its all done (b/c he cleaned it) but not wanting to get up b/c of the pain.
There are no pictures of him touching up spots while I was standing. Trust me that is was intense and horrible.


And here is the final picture after all the itching and peeling.
Taa-daaa!



Its beautiful. Well, I think so anyway and that's what matters since its my back. (:{
I have to say throughout it all my artist, Andrew, was a class act. A perfectionist through and through. Everyone that I dealt with at Fat Ram's Pumpkin Tattoo over in Jamaica Plain was great and I would definitely recommend that studio, and of course my artist, Andrew, to anyone. If you are like me and dont want to wait a year to get in to see the famous owner, Ram himself, then go see Andrew. His custom work is great as well. He also didn't freak out when I decided after the outline that I wanted to tweak parts of the design. Its going to be on my back for the rest of my life so of course he wants me to be happy with it.
Well now this has become a super long post, so I think its time to end it. There may be more about this in a couple months after the required touch-up. And I can assure you I am not looking forward to that. But, it must be done.
Edit: in case anyone is wondering, its a tribal design based off of the luna moth

Weds Blog Challenge: Fav Things

Yesterday's Blog Challenge was a list of your favourite things, Oprah Style. As in, things that people could actually go out and buy not metaphorical things or people. So here it is.

1. Creative Zen V Plus 8gb player. This little guy is amazing! Its about the size of 2 books of matches and its a beast. Fits in my pocket, has loads of great features, great music quality, can handle my clumsy life, all around winner.

2. Peanut Butter. Trader Joes and Nature Promise (Stop and Shop organic brand) are my two winners. Both are just peanuts so no migraines from preservatives for me. And they taste great. Considering PB has been my lunch of choice for almost 20 years I honestly couldn't live w/out these two products!

3. Issey Miyake L'eau D'Issey Eau de parfum for women. Doesn't give me migraines -- which is huge considering soooo many perfumes do. And it matches my chemistry and smells great on me. Its understated too, wont overpower the sense of smell of those standing near me.

4. Oil of Olay Sensitive daily moisturizer. My mother uses this so I've always used it too. For awhile I tried other stuff just to make sure and always keep coming back to this. Its a perfect light moisturizer that doesn't make me break out.

5. Yarn. Yes, its low on the list. Too bad. (:{ I still love it.

6. DVR. Sad, I know. But I have to admit that being able to record shows and watching them at a later time is amazing. No more do I have to worry about making it home on time. And I dont have to watch commercials either. And being able to pause live tv to use the bathroom or see instant replays of things i missed is awesome too.

7. Asics running shoes. Simply the best. Ever. The end.

8. Teva sandals in the summer and my Naot black boots in the winter.

9. My digital camera: Cannon Powershot SD700 IS Digital Elph. Love it. Maybe too much.

10. National Geographic Magazine. I dont get to read it as often as I would like but even getting it just to look at the amazing pictures makes me happy. Every month. So wonderful.

And I think I'll end it there. Ten is a good number. Besides, If I keep going its not really a list of favourites anymore, just stuff I like. (:{

Stay tuned: next time: my tattoo odyssey. I promise!

Since I've Been Gone 2: FO: Ceramics

Ok, well since I couldn't get these pictures or this post to look anything like I wanted to I'm just going to do it this way.
Pretty annoyed at this point and so I think I'll skip the drawn out commentary. I'll just say that the top 8 pictures are from a soda fire and the bottom 5 are from a reduction kiln. Several of the glazes are the same, they just come out looking different on different stoneware types (I use both brown and white stoneware) and different positions in the kilns also give different effects for the same glaze. I'm not very happy with the results of the soda fire, luckily there is another one at the end of this week so I can redeem myself. I am however, very happy with the glaze results of the reduction kiln. Especially since reduction kilns can be so unpredictable.

Since I've Been Gone 1

Well, it was quite awhile ago, and it has nothing to do with knitting, but I did go berry picking with Ariel, and co-workers Liz and Andreas. I got a Zipcar and drove us up to Russell Orchards in Ipswich, MA. It would have been totally awesome if it wasn't greenhead season. We had no idea until we got to the blueberry patch and started getting attacked that July is nasty fly biting season up there. Oh and the mosquitoes were out in full force in the daylight as well! After picking blueberries and raspberries we left the bug filled fields for the petting zoo and winery. We had a wine tasting -- the orchard has its own winery and its very good stuff! I bought a whole case. Then we ate some freshly made ice cream and apple cider donuts for lunch and were off in search of a bug free beach. We ended up on Plum Island until it rained and we were forced out of the sun and fun.
Here are some black raspberries to feast your eyes on. And yes, they are delicious.


Above is a neato rooster that was wandering around the farm.
Below is Ariel and Andreas feeding the crazy sheep.





Above is my friend the crazy turkey. He decided that he liked me and followed me around for about 30 mins as we wandered around.
Below is me feeding some sheep while the crazy turkey watches.



Up next: FO ceramics and my tattoo odyssey.