Random has been sort of my catchword of late. It feels as though my life has become a host of things unrelated to one another except through me. I could make a concept map to explain this, but I’ll save y’all the horror:-)
I’ve not posted here in a while. Partially this is because, quite frankly, I was tired of writing. I write a lot in grad school and by the time I make it home, all I want to do was sit and watch something that didn’t tax my brain powers at all and have dinner. And knit or crochet, of course. This makes all forms of communication other than texting (short and usually grammatically incorrect, thus fits into the stupid qualifications) rather difficult to find the motivation to engage in.
There were also other things going on that were really too sad to talk about for a while. My lovely Meara died quite unexpectedly in the middle of December. This threw me for a lot longer than I even realized. It may be corny to mourn a dog, but she had been my nearly constant companion for over a decade.
School got a lot harder this past semester than it had been the previous two. More graduate level classes as well as T.A.’ing a class that was pretty time intensive.
I have been knitting. Lots of socks:
These are my “Eye of Jupiter” socks. I used the vanilla pattern from the Yarn Harlot and the yarn I dyed last semester at a Workspace class. They are inspired by the “Eye of Jupiter” paintings that Starbuck painted on BSG.
Yes, these are my first Monkeys. Knitted mostly on the way to and back from Columbus, Ohio for a conference. Done in Socks that Rock lightweight, unknown colorway (mill-ends grab-bag).
This is how I roll when being driven:-)
It wasn’t all socks, there were shawls:
Damask by Kitman Figueroa knitted in Swans Island Pure Blends Collection in Seasmoke.
There was a LOT of sock yarn blanket work done! I’m actually running into a real threat of running out of unique sock yarn leftovers! Hence the reason I am suddenly feeling the urge to actually knit socks! I have a lot of sock yarn, but a lot of it is really nice stuff that needs to get knitted into something else and have leftovers used rather than just instantly becoming labeled “leftovers”. If anyone has any little balls of leftover sock yarn, I will certainly take them off your hands. I also have a lot of “mini-skeins” that I am willing to trade for new yarns. Just give me a shout!
Photo taken this afternoon. Trust me, it is a fair bit larger than it was in the first photo!
Of course there were baby goats too! This was a set of twins born to a doe not really interested in them. When I put these photos on Facebook I said, “You know that you are at an Ag University when this is your Saturday night…” So, so true! Both of them ended-up in good homes and are happy and healthy (no, I did not keep them long-term in my house. They were there for a weekend!)
Amongst all of this, I actually did some school work! One of my favorite assignments this past semester was a presentation I did for a technology class on how to incorporate Ravelry into the classroom. I had fun making the display:-)
Yep, that’s the sockyarn blanket, project bags from various Ravelry meetups, and mini skeins of sockyarn!
I’m wearing buttons from various meetings and events I have attended. There is also a “concept map” about fiber in the background that I made for another class.
My brother got married in April and he and his fiance (now wife, obviously) decided to do it in St. Marteen. At an all-inclusive resort. Yay!
Seriously, this was taken in the middle of the day with no editing. That was what the sea looked like from our hotel!
Happy, happy!
There was a visit to the farm by my roommates dog, Dusty (so NOT a farm dog:-))
A poster abstract I had submitted got accepted to a national conference. Thus the trip to Columbus, Ohio a couple of weeks ago.
Most of the ISU group at the AAAE National Conference.
This was the row of Iowa State posters. We took up an entire row. I’m not sure that any other school did that:-)
My poster. It was about an energy workshop held for teachers.
I even had to go out and get a suit for this conference! Haven’t had to look “professional” in a long time!
This week I found a sewing machine at the side of the road waiting to be hauled away by the garbage collectors. I couldn’t let it happen just for the cabinet alone!
There is a little spot in the cabinet where you can slide the foot peddle into it and there is a lever that opens out so that you can control it with your knee!
It’s an antique Necchi, which when I did a little research, I found out is an Italian brand that was really mostly known for their industrial machines, but that they also made really excellent machines for the home as well. These still go for $100’s of dollars in working condition, which this one is. They are known as very tough machines. Yay for me being a garbage hound! I did replace the power cord, as the one on it looked like it had been melted time and again and made me very nervous.
So that is a really brief synopsis of what has been going on in my life. Of course there is a lot that I have left out. Like how many times I fell on my arse this very long and very snowy winter (a lot). Or how many pages of papers I graded (many hundreds, if not low thousands). Or how many text messages I’ve sent and received (ummmm, don’t want to talk about that….). It’s been busy, but I am hopeful that the summer will allow time for more blogging again.
Sarah Jane Humke 
Oh lovely machine. I guess you have to learn to sew now. I’m going to mail you some sockyarnleftovers that i have in my stash.
Learning to sew was always part of the 10 year plan. I have to make a back for the sock yarn blanket (there’s NO WAY I’m working in all those ends!) and I kinda want to quilt it to look like the front.
I have quite a few little balls of leftover sock yarn floating around. I’d be happy to see them used. Let me know where to send them.
Happy to see your writing again. I enjoy your blog about life in Iowa.