too many hobbies

spelling - fixed!

2011-07-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

sigh. i may have a problem with ellipses. i may have a serious problem with non-capitalization. i may even have a problem with making up words. but i can, by golly, spell!

too bad Cornell Dining can't!

but that's ok, because i fixed it!

so there!

%-)

i have committed blocking!

2011-06-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

hi all!

having gone to the trouble of knitting not one, but two of the Summer Mystery Shawlette by Wendy Knits, i finally had to do something about the whole blocking thing.

i recently moved a very large plywood bookcase into my bedroom, where i have, if not more open floor, at least an openable floor with no(t much) cat hair, so i tacked a sheet to the bookcase and pinned the wet shawl to the sheet! this wasn't quite as straight forward as i'd have liked, especially since i was sort of MaGyver-ing the whole thing. but...

and a close up!

(there's a right side up pic on flickr, if yer interested!)

the blue one will get its turn either tomorrow or when i get back from Origins... hopefully tomorrow, since i'd like to wear it in Ohio!

maybe someday i'll get blocking wires, and blocking mats, and proper pins (instead of lace pins, sigh) ... maybe...

blocking, squee!

wiki knows lace!

2011-03-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Basic-Puncetto-Valsesiano-Stitch

came up on my "How-To of the Day" on my Google home page.

hee!

8-)

muy macho!

2011-02-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

i feel very macho tonight.

i went to the home improvement store and bought a woodworking hand tool. i brought it home and used it to alter my house in a useful way. i breathed hard and sweated. i made a big mess and someone else cleaned up after me!

very nice.

and now my bathroom door closes.

sweet.

8-)

quite an article

2010-05-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

folks, this article contains not only computers, math, textiles, and art, but also Unicorns!

how could it be bad!

i may have to visit this museum someday!

8-)

The Mindgamer

2010-01-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Your result for The Fan Fiction Personality Test...

The Mindgamer

Everything is possible, nothing is ever really over.

Fanfiction is a creative outlet for you. You don't intentionally write it, it just happens. You find inspiration in several fandoms, but are not obsessed with only one.

You like to explore "what if" situations. What if this character had never made this very choice? What if this event had taken place sooner, never, elsewhere? What if these people had never met?

You are likely to write Alternative Universes, fan seasons or sequels and just follow your (sometimes pretty strange) plot bunnies.

Take The Fan Fiction Personality Test at OkCupid

this would have gone better if they had more multiple-answer questions... sigh... here i am, destined to never fit into a genra... sigh...

songs i wish i'd written

2010-01-15T05:46:00.000-08:00

a filk-y christmas

Soup!

2010-01-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

i made Soup!

(no the floating round things aren't hot dogs!)

Yummy happy lentil soup!

(why, yes, i am extraordinarily pleased with myself, why do you ask?)

ingredients: onion, carrots (cut up), olive oil to saute the preceding, leftover ham from Christmas (frozen), H2O, lentils, carrots ("whole" baby cut), french onion soup from a box, salt & pepper added at end ('cause i forgot)

recipie? yeah, right. i did take hints from Alton Brown & the lentil container (New Hope Mills), though.

8-)

dani

tea tatting tuesday!

2009-12-16T07:15:00.000-08:00

hi all!

i finally participated in Tea Tatting Tuesday... although the tea was first thing in the morning, and the tatting was in the afternoon, i finally got them both in on a Tuesday!

Start Here to find the trick we've been discussing on HBT...

i know i didn't invent this trick. other than that i can't for the life of me remember what it's called!

maybe, if no-one can remember, i could get to name it! it would be like naming a new species!!

how about... budded rings... or yeast rings... hmmm... maybe not.

8-)

seen on the intertubes

2009-11-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

"The hermit's creed: Call before you come over, email before you call, think twice before you email."

crazy aunt purl

sounds good to me!

holy cow!

2009-10-13T09:47:00.001-07:00

http://psychotatter.blogspot.com/2009/09/giveaways-and-micro-knitting.html

the tiniest knitting ever!
.
.
.
i may have to try that...

%-)

read on the interweb

2009-07-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

Yarn Harlot

"We have created Sock Summit World Headquarters, and now that we're all here, we're even sleeping in it. It's like a great big slumber party only with more office supplies than is normal or probably healthy."

hmmm...

I was ransacked by the horses in the Fourth Hole

2009-05-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

discuss...

Settlers Rocks! (and sheeps, and wheats and...)

2009-04-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

Review of Settlers of Catan

Gaming is a hobby i never do enough, let alone too much...

has anybody got Wood for Sheep?

8-)

Looney Labs to the rescue!

2009-03-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

my mom has a perfume allergy. and many more things than you would think can cause her to get the sniffles, or (if applied topically) cause her skin to break out in a rash. i personally don't like the smell of perfumes, because we weren't exposed to them growing up. sometimes it can be hard to avoid perfumes, especially if the people providing us services feel like drenching themselves in the stuff.

enter Looney Labs. Kristen Looney (iirc) also has an allergy to perfumes, to the point where they can give her migraines. to avoid hurting people's feelings too badly, they developed these cards, to be handed out when standing and explaining the problem would just exacerbate it. i got my mom a set of these, and she found yet another use for them.

at bloodmobile last week (which is at our church, so we fill volunteer positions), she affixed the card to her name tag, since we already noticed one of the collection staff was going to be a problem. it worked!

thanks Looneys!

8-)

(oh, and that's her 11 gallon pin... i'm only six donations behind her!)

"Adventurers"

2009-02-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

most RPGs are all about the "Adventurers," but what is that?

your typical D&D-style adventurer is an explorer or mercenary, somewhere on the frontier. that frontier is the important part. in fantasy games, there's always the open ocean, or the barbarian north, or a generic "shattered lands." in western-style games, the frontier is Indian country. in sci-fi, you have the edge of "known space" or other new planets within easy reach. in modern games the frontier is the unknown, or sometimes being the unknown. you're a wizard in a technological world, or a werewolf, or vampire, or whatever.

people who stay home, or who are boring and normal in a modern game, aren't PCs. they don't "adventure."

the trick, then, to running a universe in which adventurers have something to do is to define the frontiers that it offers.

starting with a genre helps, fantasy, sci-fi, supers, western... but what if you want to make up something new...

but then... why do you have to?

clichés, i mean, tropes, are there for a reason. even the most original adventures or stories in the world can be broken down into tropes, either realized or subverted.

perhaps it is enough to decide which genres you're going to use, and therefore which frontiers will be available. then the players can choose which frontiers are most appealing, or you can hook them to where you want to go. if there are enough frontiers, you can always switch between them when you get bored or come up with a better idea.

i've obtained a pile of "adventure seeds" booklets, and i think the trick will be less finding seeds (tropes with backstory) that fit the pre-concieved notions i have about my campaign world, and more about figuring out which frontiers i want to exist, and working backstory into them, changing the world to make it more adventure-able.

or something... 8-)

2009-01-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

a meme i snitched from Drive By Thinking.

Mark with bold the things you have knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

————————————————————————
Afghan (on the needles, although i call it a blanket)
I-cord (only if i have to)
Garter stitch (please, no more??)
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down (the best way!)
Socks: toe-up (yeah, but not well...)
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hats: Top-down
Hats: Cuff-up
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting (heh, heh, heh...)
Participating in a KAL
Sweater (but none for me yet...)
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting (??)
Charity knitting (i keep meaning to...)
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan (soon...)
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn (spinning?? hah!)
Slippers
Graffiti knitting
Continental knitting
Combination knitting (best kind, baby!)
Designing knitted garments (well, making up stuff counts as designing, right?)
Cable stitch patterns (oh, yeah...)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Participate in an exchange
Scarf (well, i have one non-mobius, it's half done...)
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (not if i can help it!)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing spinning fiber
Knitting items for a wedding (nope, only tatted...)
Household items
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars (nah... i likes me my little sticks!)
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
Knitting with dpns (only all the time!)
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Tassels (reluctantly)
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton (and a sweater, to boot!)
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks (please, no!)
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously (nope)
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch (the only [good] way to close a sock!)
Knitted flowers
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching (sometimes... but they lie to me! i'd rather swatch with a part of the piece.)
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards (?) (if you mean left handed, then yes!)
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn (unfortunately?)
Writing a pattern
Gloves (well, just the one... it matched my mitten... they were both lost that first winter... sigh)
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO (maybe?)
Free-form knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting (?)
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public (on the bus every day... unless i'm tatting, that is...)

Brain Usage Profile

2009-01-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

this explains a lot... sigh...

i took this quiz when i encountered it on someone else's blog, but didn't have time to post it then... then forgot about it... something about "problems with organization"?

http://mindmedia.com/brainworks/profiler
[My] Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 47%
Visual : 52%
Left : 47%
Right : 52%

dani, you are one of those rare individuals who are perfectly "balanced" in both your hemispheric tendencies and your sensory learning preferences. However, there is both good news and bad news.

A problem with hemispheric balance is that you will tend to feel more conflict than someone who has a clearly established dominance. At times the conflict will be between what you feel and what you think but will also involve how you attack problems and how you perceive information. Details which will seem important to the right hemis-phere will be discounted by the left and vice versa, which can present a hindrance to learning efficiently.

In the same vein, you may have a problem with organization. You might organize your time and/or space only to feel the need to reorganize five to ten weeks later.

On the positive side, you bring resources to problem-solving that others may not have. You can perceive the "big picture" and the essential details simultaneously and maintain the cognitive perspective required. You possess sufficient verbal skills to translate your intuition into a form which can be understood by others while still being able to access ideas and concepts which do not lend themselves to language.

Your balanced nature might lead you to second-guess yourself in artistic endeavors, losing some of the fluidity, spontaneity and creativity that otherwise would be yours.

With your balanced sensory styles, you process data alternately, at times visually and other times auditorially. This usage of separate memories may cause you to require more time to integrate information or re-access it. When presented with situations which force purely visual or purely auditory learning, increased anxiety is likely and your learning efficiency will decrease.

Your greatest benefit is that you can succeed in multiple fields due to the great plasticity and flexibility you possess.

8-)

glittens finished

2008-12-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

it's hard to take pictures of both your hands at the same time... so i've only got the one to show, but it's much better that the last time you saw it!

this one is fitted so the tip doesn't slide around when i close my fist.

the other one, which is green, does not have this feature... but then it's a less useful hand overall.

too much stuff?

2008-12-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

anxiety dreams are clearly not just caused by weddings. (the last crazy dream i blogged about involved a table full of geeks, none of whom wanted to talk to me...)

apparently, they can also be caused by too many blankets (and, possibly, brussel sprouts a la green beans).

this time, the altered terrain was Goldwin Smith Hall. it was clearly late at night, and winter break. i believe i was staying overnight, due to a winter storm, and had had a few visitors to my classroom abode during the evening. having heard voices and therefore partially dressed for a trip to the loo, i realized that the people who were wandering about in the hall were firefighters, and there was clearly smoke wafting about in the hallway. occasionally, someone would knock very gently to see if anyone was inside, but i, in my passive-aggressive way, was waiting for someone to knock with reasonable loudness, while i packed up my incredibly large amount of stuff. the bulk of the dream that i can remember consists of bustling around the warm room, in my coat, packing voluminous quantities of crafting, gaming, and bedding stuff into a couple of supposedly inadequate containers.

i remember thinking, shortly before the alarm woke me up, that all the visitors had "helped" me unpack all my junk, as i hadn't seem most of it come out of the boxes. and how this wouldn't have been quite the issue had i, or they, seen fit to put things away when i/they were done with them.

of course, when the guy with the keys showed up and let them in, it wasn't a fire, but a reported toxic spill, or some other "dream-breakup" shift-of-gears. go figure...

so, is this an anxiety dream about:

a) the snow,
b) the prospect of being alone in a office overnight on a deserted campus,
c) carrying too much stuff around with me,
d) no-one helps me pack up my stuff after gaming,
e) a message to pick up as i go along?

or was i just too hot in too many blankets?

good question!

PDQ Bach FTW!

2008-12-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081219

heh, heh, heh... PDQ Bach Engine... heh, heh, heh...

8-)

near-epic fail!

2008-11-24T10:30:00.001-08:00

if you like the band, take easy knitting... sounds like a simple rule, no? sigh...

so here i am at Bound for Glory, listening to Small Potatoes, working on my glitten (half glove half mitten, to go with the Tabi i have yet to blog about.), when the rule comes to bite me in the kiester!

i had finished making the hand down to where i needed a thumb, and i'd made the thumb. so i went to knit the thumb in with the rest of the hand... easy, right? i got all the way around the hand and back to the thumb before i realized what i had done. i held it so my Mom could see, and she starts laughing. well, stifling the giggles, since this is the last song of the last set. so i start stifling the giggles. Helena looks over from her 2 inches of sweater, and i try showing it to her.

she doesn't get the joke. so i put it on so she can see the error. by the time that the last song was over, and the show outtro, and the two-song encore, we've mostly stopped the giggling, and i've figured out how to show the obviousness of the stupid thing i'd done...

"it was a really good last set..." sez me. this was funny, but once i'd shown it to all the knitters, including one of the performers, it was time for a few pics...

and home... i should have this finished by tonight or tomorrow night... pics of the whole "pair" then...

dani 8-)

coolest web comic ever!

2008-11-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

so i've discovered the coolest web comic ever! it's the story of Arthur and Camelot, and all that, but the characters switch from one time-line to another! almost the perfect Dani plot!

the current strip is here: http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/

the first strip is here: http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htm

and these are worth remembering!
the Norman Invasion
a Good Point
Hadrian Collider

is great fun... is also a great time-sink... until you catch up!

8-)

one garter, all done!

2008-10-04T11:58:00.001-07:00

so, if i was cool, i'd have in-progress pics, and pics of the bride wearing the garter, and stuff.

i am clearly not cool, as all i have is a few scans of the finished object, and later this week, there will be some back story, and some pics of the sample i'm doing to emulate the in-progress shots.

sigh...

but now? vacation! and lace day! huzzah!!

and the aforementioned scans... bon appetit!

%-)

Pratchgan

2008-08-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

so, this is a link i gleaned from another blog... the Pratchgan...

an afghan made for Terry Pratchett, with mostly Discworld themes... it's hi-larious!

just thought you might want to know... and i might not want to forget...

dani, the geek

Meme-ry

2008-06-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are highly energetic. You are a passionate, intense, vigorous person.

You range from very outgoing to very shy. You are a shapeshifter who is very versatile. You adapt well, and you look at things from many angles.

You are extravagant, over the top, and indulgent. You set trends and influence people.

You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well.

You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart.

You are a poor communicator. No one really knows exactly what you're getting at.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

not bad... not too unlike me... pretty close, actually!

home and abroad

2008-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

i saw this on Sunshine's blog, so i had to do it... it's kind of lame though...

yeah... i counted a few states that i drove through on the way from Texas to Vermont that one year... but not states i've never spent more than an hour in... so no Hawaii, Maryland, or West Virginia...

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

cats!

2008-04-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

yeah, this is just links to I Can Has Cheezburger. you gotta problem wit dat?

friends

slinky cat

seeds

bbc budget gets drastically slashed!

no wonder i'm sneezing!

and today's favorite:
"look what i found!"

cats!

2008-03-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

copy cats
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/03/18/funny-pictures-colur-copi-bettur-than-greyscale/

and

WWMGD?
http://www.stuffonmycat.com/index.php?itemid=8171

stupid dinos...

2008-02-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

from the Bad Astronomer:

The more we know about near-Earth asteroids, the better! If you disagree, I suggest going to your local natural history museum and checking out the dinosaur bones. Look around. See how all the dinosaurs on display are dead, and no live ones are around?
Yeah. They didn’t know anything about asteroids. But we do, and we need to learn more.

heh, heh, heh...

Split Chains (repost from previous blog)

2008-01-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

hi all!

i did a split chain class at Hector, last April. herein i am linking to my instruction sheet. feel free to pass this out, but only as a whole document!

http://www.gs.cornell.edu/dani/crafts/splitchain.pdf

8-)

forgive me friends, for i have filked

2008-01-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hey, Doctor

V1:
Somehow I never learned his name
Had to chase him all 'round Unit's Lanes
Fiddlin' somethin' in his hand
You could tell, he's a friend to Man-kind

Across the street I'd watch his booth
Dreamin' about what I would do
If I had the chance to travel Time
I rehearsed a heck of an opening line

Chorus:
Hey Doctor, whatcha doin' to me
I'm so in love with bein' free
But now I want to join your chase
And be a traveller in time and space
You got blue eyes and a blue phone booth
Though you beat the Daleks, admit the truth
You can't make it home. Take me along.

V2:
There's a pastry shop on Bleeker Street
Heaven in an oven, you can't pass without a treat
Stepped inside, and I started to cheer
There he was, talkin' to the Brigadeer

Chorus

Bridge
And you know in Dreams I'll live forever
Don’t mind the time flyin’ by me, no
He's just a tune I'm hummin'
All alone at night
With no Tardis

V3:
Some days you just can't win
Every day's another "begin again"
He's off again, with some young British girl
Living their lives in a temporal whirl

Chorus

Last Chorus:
Doctor LongScarf, whatcha doin' to me
I'm so in love with bein' free
But ever since I joined your chase
I been a prisoner in time and space
You got blue eyes and a blue phone booth
Though you beat the Daleks, admit the truth
You can't make it home. Take me home!

with all apologies to Dr Who and Tom Chapin

fulla starz...

2008-01-08T07:46:00.001-08:00

moar funny pictures

Mutant Monkey from Outer Space!

2008-01-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

this mutant monkey is an alteration caused by not having the same guage as the creator, and then messing up and sliding the pattern repeats by 1/2 each time. the yarn is magic garden "Buttons" in 882 and the pattern, aside from the monkeyness, is basically generic, only i decreased at the sides instead of a standard gusset, a la the new sock book New Pathways for Sock Knitters!

'nother view

this sock goes to Amy, but there is one on the way for Maggie, theoretically... i can't guarantee that it'll be the same pattern, i can't guarantee Amy's second sock will be anything like this... i can't even guarantee it'll fit either one!

sigh...

Discworld meme

2007-10-19T08:02:00.001-07:00

Which Discworld Character are you like (with pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Carrot Ironfounderson

You are Captain Carrot Ironfounderson of the City Watch in the greatest city on the Disc â€“ Ankh-Morprok! A truly good natured, honest guy, who knows everyone, and is liked by all. Technically a dwarf, but only by adoption. Youâ€™d rather not be reminded that you are the true heir to the throne, but that does explain why people naturally follow your ordersâ€¦

Carrot Ironfounderson

75%

The Librarian

63%

Commander Samuel Vimes

50%

Death

44%

Greebo

44%

Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax

38%

Rincewind

38%

Lord Havelock Vetinari

38%

Cohen The Barbarian

38%

Gytha (Nanny) Ogg

25%

Ithaca = Mecca?

2007-10-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

so there's this lady (FemiKnitMafia) whose knitting blog i've been reading for a while now (well, since i started reading blogs, like April-ish?) who has declared Ithaca to be her 2nd favorite lesbian mecca.

that explains why people thought Amy and i were dating, then, doesn't it!

well, those who knew us a little... total strangers thought we were twins, and closer friends hadn't ever had to guess...

sigh... maybe i shouldn't have gone around calling her my fiancée?

%-)

hey! it's a blog!

2007-09-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

yeah, so i already have a yahee circle account, but all the blogger-based blogs just look so much better than mine... less cluttered, more customizable... so here i go!

dani, the geek