Dr. B.'s Blog - Knitting

Back to Reality

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:58:48 -0400

So I have served my time as a yarnista (think a barista for yarn shops) and while I won't be resigning from the university to open a yarn shop I can definitely say that if I were to become an overnight super multi-millionaire I could see the yarn/coffee/pastry shop in our future.

Mmmmmmmmm...knitting, eating pastries, and drinking coffee all day! I can dream, right?

Dream Job!

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:42:01 -0400

Tomorrow (ok, today) I get to work my dream job. Yep, I get to work in a yarn shop...at least for a day. I can't tell you how many times I've threatened to kick the whole academic thing to the curb, move to a quiet town near some big water (one with real seasons) and open a yarn and coffee shop. Let's see if I still feel that way after a day of actually working my "dream job" :-)

Let Us Never Speak of This Again!

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:58:47 -0400

The Put Sam in Pink Challenge is over and I lost. Fellow sock knitters finished 8 pair of of socks by Saturday so I had to wear a pink Sock Boot Camp t-shirt to sock club (Mignon's green socks with pink accents didn't make the picture, but I saw them as she was finishing them up). I tried to butch it up with green camo shorts and gym shoes. At least I know that my public humiliation will lead to 8 orphans with warm feet.

It is over and we will never speak of this again.

Summertime and the Living is...

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:43:55 -0400

Ok, not so much easy, but at least a bit more relaxed. So what have I been doing?

!. Not blogging much, obviously.
2. Trying not to melt.
3. Working on my classes and the class that my new TAs will be teaching in the fall.
4. Reading about game design.
5. Watching far too much t.v.
6. Cooking and eating a whole lot healthier (yah me!)
7. Knitting
8. Doing research.
9. Staying up til 4 or 5 playing games (yes, that is a.m.)
10. Sleeping late.
11. Working on the fall gaming symposium (details to follow once everything is finalized)

Once again I find myself getting sucked into a number of things that are not what I am supposed to be do (read working on my book) and watching my time flow quickly dwn the drain. * sigh *

A Few Pictures

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:00:27 -0400
I didn't take very many pictures at the 4Cs SnB, but I did finally take them off of the memory stick. Here they are! I never cease to be impressed by the creativity of a bunch of Rhet Comp folks.
Pictures are below the jump. Click the title of the post to get the pictures.

I Still Hate Pink

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:48:13 -0400
My friends (and I use the word loosely) down at River Knits have taken up a challenge. In order to get me to wear a pink shirt (in public) they are knitting socks for charity. If they all get their socks done I'll wear the damned shirt, but I won't like it!
Now Elizabeth is opening up the challenge to whoever wants to join. So here's the deal...knit the socks and I'll post a picture to the blog.
The details of the amended challenge are here.

Knitting Socks When I Can't Sleep

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:22:52 -0400
With Cs and playing catch up on grant projects and research since I got back there hasn't been much time for knitting. Tonight I got back to the entrelac socks and only have one more tier of squares before I start the heel. I have heard heel horror stories, but that may be just what I need to put my mind on something other than the madness of work for a minute. Here's what the sock looks like right now.

Knitoricians of the world unite

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 10:55:33 -0400
In order to try to facilitate knitting related activities at future conferences and just to give us someplace to talk to one another, I have started a Google group for knitting rhetoricians and compositionists (at the request of others). If you're interested in joining in on the fun feel free to use subscription box below or keep an eye out for the posts on WPA-L and techrhet.

Knitoricians

Visit this group

CCCC, Maybe We'll Leave NYC Soon

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 13:20:11 -0400
I was going to take some time to blog about the conference and tell a funy story about trying to get a flight out of NYC, but it's not funny any more so I don't even want to talk about the conference right now.
In a nutshell I went to the Delta website this morning to do online check in and found out that our later flight out of NYC had been cancelled and that they had moved us to a noon flight (nope, nobody told us). The noon flight was then delayed until 2:20 then 2:30 now 3:08. We are really starting to wonder if we are ever going to get out of here. That may be a negative. I just paid 8 bucks for wireless access to keep me entertained because I packed my ipod in my checked luggage and Lisa didn't (yep, that means that she is in her own little world).
We did have our SnB on Wednesday and I'll post pictures when I get them off of the camera. Unfortunately my own session was about the only one that I went to because I am on Executive committee and that means I give my life to meetings at the national conferences for the next three years. Hey, I'll do what it takes to do some good.
I was also re-elected co-chair of queer caucus, but I think that was because no one else wanted the job. I am actually excited about that because now I'll get to do some CMS stuff for the caucus.
Ok, I am writing more than I meant to because I really just wanted to sulk, check email, and read other peoples' blogs!

Learning Something New and Resisting Getting Old?

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:24:43 -0400
Just in case video games aren't enough to stave off Alzheimer's I decided to learn a new knitting technique as well. And because I can't do anything the easy way I decided to do a fairly difficult pattern to learn it. I'm making these socks:

Entrelac socks. I'm not making them knee highs of course, but there is something about the socks that made me really want them! After I cussed a lot and depended on the kindness of friends I got them up and going:

I am still working on my research, but there is nothing really new that I am really want to share yet. If you want to learn more be sure to come to my C&W session in the "D".

Knitting at Cs? (3rd annual 4Cs Stitch N Bitch)

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:55:50 -0500
So it's that time again. When we think of Cs we think of knitting (and crocheting and tatting and any other fiber related craft) :-)
How would folks feel about a Wednesday Happy Hour for knitting. Last year we talked about taking the yarn bus up to Flying Fingers, but it seems that the bus has been damaged by a freak tornado that touched down in the driveway of the shop. (no shit, it really happened)
I would love to do a 6-8 dinner/drinks type thing again (but I doubt that I can trick my partner into coming this time). I don't know New York as well as I know Chicago so I would love to have a suggestion for a pub near the conference hotel.

Another FO (That's Knitter Talk for Finished Object)

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:42:23 -0500
As you see in the side bar I have finished yet another pair of socks. Still jealous aren't you? I used the Austermann Step yarn with Aloe and Jojoba for these socks of my own unventing. I love the hiking socks with the ribbed instep so that they fit snuggly around the middle of your foot (and I have to admit that I saw another woman knitting some!) so I decided to take my favorite simple sock pattern (read the one that I have memorized) and add a couple of inches of 1x1 ribbing on the instep.
I give you the Ribbed In(S)tep Socks.
Check out this ribbing!

Stand in awe, mortal!

Updates

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:49:59 -0500
I haven't blogged much lately, but I have been doing stuff. I've been conducting gaming observations and interviews with students for my gaming project, gaming alone and with colleagues ( Pat Sullivan and Dave Blakesley suffered four hours of Oblivion with me this week), completing IRB stuff and surveys for the WPA related research project (ok, actually a continuation of what we did at Cs last year), talking to the Community liaison at Barnes and Noble about doing a Harry Potter themed literacy event for this year's release (Hi, John!), and any thing else that has jumped out at me as necessary.
There is another exciting announcement coming soon, but I won't share it just yet.
I've been gaming a lot for research, but for fun lately I've bought Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Final Fantasy III . I wish that I could pull myself away from Animal Crossing long enough to focus on one or the other for any extended period of time for my bedtime DS gaming :-)
On the knitting front I finished the ribbed instep socks that were on the progress bar over at the side and managed to delete the pictures of the 2 pair of sockday socks that I have worn in the last week. :-( I'll add a picture of the RI socks tonight since I am wearing them right now.

Snow and Socks (with pictures)

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:20:00 -0500
I recently celebrated my sockday* and I have 7 pairs of new handknit socks to show for it. Jealous? Rather than showing them all spread out on the bed (where I have been rolling naked in them...just kidding) I thought that I might share them one pair at a time. Since it looks like this outside (yes, we did get 18 inches of snow)

No, the front door won't open.

Side View

I did shovel a path and clear an area for the dog so that I didn't have to put him out of his misery!
I decided that the best pair to wear with my Spiderman pajamas were the Maize and Blue Turkish socks that Laura made me.

I am a native Michigander and will always be a wolverines fan.
*Sockday (TM) is the brainchild of eight sock knitting friends who decided that it would be fun to knit socks for one another and have a sockday party every 2 months for the current celebrant who will get socks from the other 7 knitters. Last week we had Mexican food and margaritas for my exchange.

Digging Out!

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:26:09 -0500
We're currently digging out of the foot and a half of friggin' snow that we got yesterday! Yesterday a neighborhood kid, one of my neighbors (with his snowblower), and I spent a couple of hours digging us out of the 4 foot drifts that had us barricaded in the house. Of course it continued to snow and there's about 6 inches of fresh snow covering our drive and walkways.
The dog is pissed. He wants to go out and play. I tried to take him out yesterday, but visibility was so low that I didn't see the waist high drift that we walked into. That was an ugly situation. As it warms up a bit I plan to go out and clear a path through the backyard to an area that has less snow so that I can put him out for a few minutes here and there during the day (for his sake and mine).
Right now I am going to knit and play games to entertain myself. BTW I've been playing the PC version of Oblivion and working with the TES Construction set as a part of a pedagogical brainstorm. Look out for more on that in the future.