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Faraday-Fingerprints-Friday

Thanks for the kind words about my latest degree; I appreciate your thoughts. I have a little reformatting to do, according to the Graduate Office, so it's not quite as finished-done-kaput as I would like. But at least the writing and thinking part is over! Now we can devote our brain and fingers to knitting fingerprints. I'm completely crazed over Ann's idea for fingerprint pillows, and I simply must knit Kendra's idea, 10 pillows, each with a correct fingerprint.

The pattern is definitely an interesting one, and from what I understand, mostly unique. I'm going to try to figure out how to make grids per Kim's instructions and then I'll be off on another manic knitting adventure. Isn't knitting great?

I was playing around with the idea of knitting tatoos on the back of gloves for a while. This new idea reminds me of that. There is so much I want to knit right now!

Speaking of interesting patterns. I saw this on Metafilter the other day, and while it has nothing to do with knitting or fingerprints, it is a little movie of a demonstration of Faraday waves on the surface of a shaken cornstarch and water mixture. Talk about your interesting patterns! It's worth watching if you have time today. I'm still thinking about how to graph that.

And, because we love knitted art, here's a link to an artist who knits very sculptural items. Cool. I like it. I'm especially fond of Outfit for an Aviator.

Oh, and one more thing before I forget, check Emma's comment from yesterday's entry—a very nice url, and it just so happens I'm taking a little class on that very subject in June. Great minds, Emma. . .thanks!

Pups

We're all so happy that it's Friday. It's been a hectic week, and we are planning on indulging in as much sloth-like behavior as possible this weekend. There's a blackberry festival on our calendar of Saturday events, and we plan to eat lots of them.

Mike and Della say A Pint of Blackberries a Day keeps the Blues Away.
Happy Friday! Happy Weekend! Hey! Knit something cool!

Free to Be

Hey! Thanks for the good wishes on my revisions yesterday! Your good vibes helped, and the thesis is past my committee and just has to clear the graduate office administative bs. So it's all over but the shouting (for joy, on my part). I celebrated by knitting and knitting and knitting on my Adult Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I still have dozens of double-decreases to make, but miles of garter stitch are a great opportunity to practice knitting without looking. It's odd how quickly your fingers *know* what to do, isn't it! Like Wendy and Queer Joe and others, I've sometimes dozed off while knitting, only to wake and find that my fingers had kept going. I'm surprised we don't poke our eyes out! but we don't (at least not yet).

So about this double-decrease. I make mine by slipping one stitch, and knitting the next two together, then passing the slipped stitch over, but I suppose you could knit three together. (Could you mirror decreases if you did that?) Do you have a favorite method for double-decreases? I've decided to put EZ's Afterthought Pockets on this jacket when I've finished; they'll be my first, so I'm looking forward to the process.

Regarding the Knitted Fractals

Weren't they interesting? I enjoyed trying to imagine the knitterly thoughts behind the pieces. Kendra left a comment remarking on the similarities of some of the knitted fractals to fingerprints, which was exactly what I'd been thinking about all of Wednesday when I wasn't biting my nails over my thesis.

Would you want to knit one big fingerprint? Or would you create bands of fingerprints, rather like peeries? How would you chart it, if you were going to graph it out? So many wonderful things to think about in knitting. Seeing the knitted fractals by Eleanor Kent gave me a lot of ideas, and I want to knit all of them. You can see a larger version of the graphic above, along with an explanation of fingerprint analysis, here (in case you want to knit them).

Pups

If the pups could knit, I'd have it made in the shade. But they seem to consider that their function is merely decorative.

Thursday! Not a moment too soon. Mikey says Kick up Your Heels!

Cheers! and happy knitting!

Stop the Music

The six-months-in-the-making data analysis project that we merrily fired off Monday night came back to us Tuesday afternoon, needing a revision that required no knitting whatsoever. Isn't that a shame? A day without knitting is unusual around here. But the very important paper describing the very important study had to take precendence once again, and I'm telling you, if it wasn't a minor revision involving minor statistical work, I'd be annoyed.

While working on my personal boomerang-paper, I came across a knitting artist on the web that I hadn't heard of. I thought perhaps that if I hadn't seen her work, maybe you hadn't either. So let's look together, shall we?

Here is a tiny portion of what this woman is knitting, and I hope you'll go to the website to see the rest of her amazing work.

That's right! Eleanor Kent knits fractals. She also knits mathematical formulae.

Aren't knitters the most amazing people? Every time I think I've seen everything there is to see about knitting, something like this turns up, and I'm amazed all over again. What would you knit if you weren't busy knitting sweaters or bags or gloves or socks? What would you knit if your personal sense of creativity compelled you to knit outside the box, so to speak? It's a subject at which Debbie New excels, and it's obvious to me after looking at knitted fractals that there are still uncharted knitting-waters to navigate. By the way, there is the most wonderful review by Cat Bordhi at the Amazon.com entry for Unexpected Knitting; scroll down to the reader reviews for an enjoyable read about an awesome book. And knit on, you outrageous knitters.

Pups

Wednesday! Mike and Della say You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile. (Little Jack adds that no outfit is complete without dog hair.) Enjoy your day!

Magic Tuesday

Yet another day with minimal knitting; we are vexed! However, we are also finished, as of 11 p.m. Monday night, with the very important paper we've been working on for the last six months. And as of 11:01, it's electronically submitted.

I feel like this:

I'm going to hang out with the pups in the shade today until I feel more like this:

Happy Tuesday! and happy knitting! We'll see you on Wednesday.

Flow Chart

Very pleasant weather here this weekend; so pleasant, in fact, that the pups and I spent most of our time relaxing outside. Rather than have my two big knitting projects (EZ's Adult Surprise Jacket and Meg Swansen's Knitted Stitch Pullover) out in the very warm sunshine, I instead picked up a ball of wool for a sock. Not just any sock, mind you, but the charming Godzilla Lace Socks.

I'm not sure when I began to prefer charts for knitting rather than line-by-line instructions. I know I've been happily knitting from charts for several years, though. Charts work in any language, which is a delightful thing for all knitters all over the world. And, nine times out of ten, if there's a mistake in a knitting pattern, the mistake doesn't show up in the chart. Charts rule! That's why I was surprised this weekend when I realized my charted knitting wasn't producing what I expected.

Cute, but not quite right. I wrote to Noriko, and she very kindly sent me a translation of the text version of the first seven rows. Aha! I was knitting the chart upside down! Chart-mystery solved! And a slap on the forehead for me. It's little stuff like this that makes a difference in knitting. Thanks, Noriko!

Mihoko-san created this easy lace pattern by deconstructing a Finnish lace sock she had purchased ; its name came from one of its knitters thinking the lace pattern resembled Godzilla's back. How could anyone resist Godzilla socks? Surrender, and see Noriko's here, and another knitter's here (scroll down to the yellow socks). Even though I was knitting this sock upside down, so to speak, it is a very fun pattern. I intend to knit a pair correctly this week.

Must-See Knitting

Françoise's Cromarty is finished, and it is exquisite! Look here, you'll swoon!

Pups

The weekends fly by so quickly. Little Jack would prefer that they lasted a bit longer.

We hope your Monday is pleasant, and that all your skeins are tangle-free.