What do crochet and coral have in common?

Geometry of course!

Although mathematicians claimed that hyperbolic space could not be seen or demonstrated, Margaret Wertheim shows us many examples of these beautiful shapes in nature as well as in crochet during her talk presented on TED tv.

Through math, marine biology, feminine handicraft, environmental activism and a crochet hook, Margaret Wertheim founder of the Institute of Figuring leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs. Margaret and her sister hope to draw attention to distressed coral reefs around the world that are rapidly dying  from changing ocean saline levels, overfishing, and many other threats.

And now... for your entertainment pleasure....something completely different!

I was introduced to this video via my daughter who is a huge annime fan. So blame her!!! LOL

Both my husband and I laugh every time we watch this video. Gambit flees with a flick of his tail if we start to sing it to him. I think he knows what we're saying LOL

Enjoy!

Well folks, the jury is in on the frog pond binkie

I've mentioned in previous posts that I found a really cool crochet motif and decided to turn it into 2 baby blankets for my newborn twin nephews. I also posted a not very good picture of my progress at that point.

Well, I haven't stopped working on it since then. Remember, I set myself a goal of finishing what I start to combat the dreaded "Startitis virus".

Within seconds of laying the blanket out of my bed, Gambit was right at it, inspecting every inch of it, smelling and walking around it, on it, and finally, after some deliberation decided that he approves of my work so far! (19 motifs)

I'm really enjoying the creative process for this blanket. I started off with a hexagon motif, chose colors and then set to with my crochet, assembling the hexagons as I go. Finally, to give the impression of lily pads, I'll be adding some blue between each hexagon. I'll also be adding a bit of whimsy to the blankets, but that will be a surprise for later. Still stewing on that idea and really now, can't give it all away, can I?

I've been keeping notes on the blanket so I may end up writing up the pattern yet. First though, I'll finish the blanket! 

Here in all it's glory, the Gambit approved binkie!

Doesn't he just look like the cutest kitten ever all curled up on the edge of the blanket? Last time he was a kitten was 8 years ago but that's not stopping him from behaving like one most days!

Last night, he was having a rollicking good time with one of his toys. I had an extra McDonalds kougra (neopet plushie) and gave it to him last year. Up until last night, he'd pawed it around a few times, but not much else. The toy just lay in the pile with the rest of his unwanted amusements. For some reason last night, he dug him out and there began a grand game of toss and chase. He would nab it with a claw and toss it up high enough to bounce off the ceiling in different directions and he'd follow in hot pursuit and toss it again when he'd get to it. This game went on for 20 minutes or so. I didn't dare move since he doesn't seem to want anyone moving about when he's playing this game, so no photos. Sorry! We don't even dare laugh when he's up to his bengal games since he takes laughter as an insult and we wouldn't want that now would we :)

On a different note, I know Easter was yesterday. I just felt too sick to really care. But to all my readers, Happy Easter, or whatever you want to call it if you celebrate it.

In case you're wondering who this silly looking cat/dog/monkey combo is, it's Marsupilami
One of my favorite characters from a comic book (bande dessinée) written by André Franquin. He would bounce in and out of trouble always coming out smelling of roses and his trademark "Houba!" exclamation.

Other comic books I enjoyed as a kid were filled with well loved characters like Boule et Bill, of which the modern equivalent would be Calvin and Hobbes. Others that I looked forward to reading were Astérix and Obélix, they made me laugh and The adventures of Tintin, I loved Captain Haddock for his incredibly convoluted swears. I also awaited with anticipation the further adventures of Lucky Luke. All these bandes dessinée were collected by our catholic elementary school librarian, considering the times and how most adults felt about comic books, it was quite surprising that she would keep ordering the books as they were released. Whatever reasons she had, I loved and cherished every one of those books. Would rush over to the comic book section every week to see if a new one had been added. I read each one several times, scrutinizing the art work, laughing over the jokes and prat falls and wishing I could keep the books for my very own. And all this shows that I was a nerd before the word even existed! LOL

Ugh... I hate habbing a cohld

Yes folks, you've read it right or at least that's what it sounds like when I say it LOL

Wham, Bam not even a thank you Ma'am! I come down with whatever sniffles my boss had on Monday,  but because I'm already weakened from the Norwalk virus, I'm getting the supersized version!  I started off with my head feeling stuffy and rapidly progressed to the "stick a tissue in each nostril" level of game play since if I moved my head in any direction, my nose would spring a leak! Today the nose isn't leaking anymore, it's clogged solid, my throat is achy and scratchy and my voice has dropped an octave... sexy you say.. sure if you don't mind the hacking cough that comes out between every 3rd or  4th word! LOL

Hubby is avoiding me like the plague.. well at least most of the time. He comes near me just long enough to make sure I'm still breathing. So I live in one room and he lives in the other when we're awake. I don't mind that much since I'm feeling too darn miserable to care at this point. 

I don't know if any of you have ever seen the Monty Python skit from Life of Brian when they come walking through the town during the plague yelling 'Bring out your dead" and someone carries out their dad who's not dead and proceeds to convince them that he's about to kick the bucket so might as well take him anyway. Well, at this stage, I'd have to say I'm a prime candidate if they ever need a stand in for the "I'm not dead!" guy!

I have not been outside to enjoy any of the gorgeous weather I keep seeing when I check the weather network or manage a peek out from our basement windows. I get to see treetops, a bit of sky and some bushes that grow in front of the window. Nothing green on those yet but I did notice a couple of crocus were poking their heads out of the ground on Friday. Whee!

I've been working on the first of 2 baby blankets for the twins. It's coming along quite nicely. I'll have to take a photo to show it off soon! I spoke with my Mom today, wished her a Happy Easter and got caught up on the family news back east. The twins are doing super well, already up to 7 lbs each and they were born a month ago at just under 5 lbs! They've had to id each one of the boys with a bracelet since they are identical to the point where even Mom and Dad are wondering which is which before they check their bracelets. Still no baby pictures to post. I hope to get some soon.

Ok, going to crawl back into my wee ball of misery.

Happy Easter everyone!

It's midnight on Good Friday, what are you listening to when you don't have cable?

I did a bit of temping last week and at the beginning of this week, that is right up until the Norwalk virus brought me to my knees, crying and begging for the pain to end. On Monday, my boss came in with the sniffles. I did my best to avoid any contact, but it's difficult. On Tuesday, she came in saying her sniffles were getting better. Awesome! I thought to myself. I haven't been sick all winter, will my luck hold. 

Words I wanted to take back soon after lunch when my stomach rebelled and waves of nausea had me feeling like I was on a ship wildly rocking and the waves of warm and cold didn't help matters in the least. I went to the washroom hoping against hope that it was just my IBS giving me grief but again, lady luck was against me. 0 for 2 so far. I went back to the reception desk and tried to stay calm, but I was having cold sweats. I started thinking maybe it was food poisoning since I'd purchased a whole wheat pasta salad at a local deli for lunch along with a sandwich of smoked turkey breast with no extras to keep the calories down. (joys of diabetes) After a few more minute of pure misery, I decided I should go home. Told my boss I wasn't feeling well, she looked at me and commented I did look green around the edges and to go on home. I got my stuff together, took the elevator down and when it stopped, I stepped out only to quickly sit on the ledge next to the elevator. My head and my stomach were competing for attention, not good! Once the waves of nausea slowed down, I made my way out the front door, I took 3 steps and that was it. My stomach wasn't having any more of this nonsense of trying to go home. It lurched, I lurched and there went my lunch. I think that was the most embarrassing moment of my life! People who were walking down the sidewalk were taking wide detours onto the street to avoid me :( No one bothered to ask if I was ok, even from a distance!

After a visit to the local clinic, I went home with a strict regimen of clear liquids and rest, no taking diabetic meds since the doses would make me crash. The diagnoses was a Norwalk virus, pretty nasty little bug too. Dr told me to stay home to avoid contaminating others until Friday. Great!

The rest of that day was muffled in a haze of pain. It seems that neuropathy doesn't like it when there's something else hurting and makes things hurt to the enth just so I don't forget it's there. My legs were especially bad, but my arms and back weren't much better. My loving husband lathered the outside of my legs with BenGay and that worked just long enough for me to fall asleep.

Well, it's Friday now, I felt somewhat better yesterday, but now I'm feeling yucky again. I think I caught my boss's cold! Go figure, I avoided getting sick all winter and now that the weather is finally getting nice, I come down with a freaking cold. I just hope it doesn't do it's usual mutation with the COPD jumping in just for the heck of it.

Oh, and what am I listening to?

Too many DJs - belgian brothers Stephen et David Dewaele (pictured in the video) who take songs and mash them together with other songs that come out sounding pretty awesome. Have a listen to one of their tracks. This one is Benni Bennassi Vs. 50 Cent Satisfaction - In Da Club Mix

For those who know me in person, yes, I listen to this and much more. I'm never going past 21! LOL

Why is it... startitis explained

With the wealth of information now available online, the knitting and crocheting community has come out of the living room and spilled over onto buses, trains, parks, ball games, doctor's offices and anywhere one is apt to be found waiting patiently to be served. We as fibre lovers fearlessly wield our needles, crochet hooks and spindles while the populace at large watches in awe as beautifully stitched garments and yarn flies from our fingers giving birth to original garments, yarns, and much more. It has also given birth to the newest disease on the block known as "Startitis".

Why is it that multiple patterns, stitches, blocks always seem to come in groups? I find one and I want to make it, then I find another and I want to start that one too! and so on and so on...until I have a pile at least 3 feet high of projects that await me, softly calling to me, begging, trying to make me feel guilty. And then, I realise, I've developed a rather bad case of "Startitis"!

For those non fiber readers, I will explain. Startitis is the problem knitters, crocheters, and fibre lovers encounter when they have too many projects on the go and keep finding more wonderful things to try. That leaves us with many many projects begging to be completed. It has become a problem for most knitters and crocheters. We are like children in a candy shop when it comes to new fibres, patterns, stitches, and the accompanying paraphernalia of needles, hooks, stitch markers and so on.We can't resist!

Symptoms vary from one to the other, but the dominant one is bags and baskets holding partially completed projects being hidden in closets, behind furniture, under the bed, in the attic, at friends' homes, in the car boot and the list of hidey holes goes on. These symptoms are not to be confused with stash gathering or stash nest padding. Those are another can of beans I have no intention of opening today.

How to battle it?

Reward system: This works only if the guilty party is willing to finish a project before going on to a new one. It usually works if two fibre lovers team up and encourage each other. Trying this method by oneself usually leads to dismal failure and more 'startitis' items to be squirrelled away.

Frogging vs gifting: Go through your piles, bags, boxes of unfinished projects and seriously ask yourself "Will I ever finish it?" If the answer is no, frog it! If you stopped working on the project because you didn't like the yarn, Gift it! Someone else will love it I'm sure. Once you've separated the projects into 3 piles, of which the to be finished pile is hopefully the smallest. Get rid of the pile for gifting asap! Otherwise it will sneak it's way back into your stash when you're asleep! The pile that's to be frogged, get busy and get it done! You'll be adding some much loved yarn back into your stash to be used for new projects and you will feel so much better.

Once the frog or gift piles are gone, look at what's left and put them in priority of when it needs to be finished. Be it for a birthday present, Christmas, surprise, whatever, assign it a deadline. I surprised myself on how many projects I finished during the Ravalympics held in February, just because there was a deadline!

Now I'm not making any promises that these suggestions will work, but at least it's a start and one way to help ourselves out of the "Startitis" cycle. 

So what do I have in my "Startitis" pile you may ask? Yes, I will be honest and list everything in the pile. I'm not proud of it, but I'm the first to admit, I'm addicted and I need to slow it down somehow LOL

A child's summer top of my own design half done

A kitty blanket - crochet

A skull blanket - knit

A pillow cover (2 squares done, 6 more to go!)

A dress for a 19" barbie

A hoodie scarf - will be frogged and design changed

3 pairs of socks (2 crochet, 1 knit) all 3 are experimental

1 pair of baby socks w/ a 2nd pair needing to be made

2 baby bibs of my own design, one to embroider, the other to actually finish crocheting

A small collection of 3"x3" granny squares for a child's top. (this one doesn't really count since I make the squares out of leftovers from other projects, but I'm listing it anyway)

A dishcloth - trying out a new stitch pattern - See?!?

A child's top for winter - will be frogged - too small to fit any of my nieces

And... a baby blanket I started today! I wanted to make blankets for the twins who were born last month but couldn't settle on a pattern I liked. Yesterday I found the perfect pattern. It's a crochet hexagon block called African flower. It is super easy to make and looks incredibly gorgeous! I'm using stash yarn to make this blanket. The green is from the same yarn I had used to make a chemo cap for my sister last April before she passed away. I wanted to use the rest of the green for the boys' blankets in memory of their aunt who would have adored them. Each hexagon measures 6" from side to side and I'm using worsted weight yarn with a 5.50 mm hook. I'm assembling as I'm going hopefully to cut down on weaving in ends and hours of tedious seaming once the hexagons are all done. I still may run a row of crochet stitches to better secure the hexagons to each other, but I'll have a better idea once I'm done assembling them.

So where does that leave me you ask?

I'm going to focus on the baby blankets and finish them since I want to send them to the boys before they outgrow their cribs. LOL From there, I will finish the wee pair of socks since they are also for my two nephews and can be sent with the blankets. After that, I plan on frogging the hoodie scarf and starting that one over with changes to the pattern. This one has a deadline of May 31st so I have to get busy.

The child's summer top I'm designing now has a due date of June 30th that I've set for myself so I get it done or frogged. Either way, it will be over.

The kitty and skull blankets will remain on hold until it's Fall again since I'll die under them LOL The pillow cover blocks may get frogged. I'm debating on those.

The baby bibs will be next since I want to finalise the design on these and get the pattern published!

Somewhere along the way the dishcloth will get frogged and a different stitch tried out since the current one isn't doing it for me. Thank goodness I'm not desperate for a dishcloth!

Boy do I have it bad!!! LOL
I just joined a CAL over at Crochet Soirée that ends April 30th! Mind you the pattern is really cute and I know who I'm making the scarf for already :) My 16 year old niece will love this funky fun scarf. Scroll down the page a bit and you'll see the Flower scarf post. Nothing to buy, just make the scarf, follow the instructions for entering a picture of it in the CAL before the end of April and get a chance at a prize! How much better can it get? Don't forget to sign up for their free newsletter... which is how I found out about the CAL :)

Sobering thought on texting while driving

I happened upon this rather graphic video of how an accident can happen while a person uses their cellphone while driving. It only takes a few seconds for disaster to strike . This video was made as a public message in the UK, but honestly, it applies to anyone anywhere in the world.

Instead of just showing the accident, it continues on to show the EMT response. It is graphic, no holds barred and I think long overdue.

I know this is a sobering thought with Easter just around the corner but I feel it is an important message when I see so many people using their cellphones while driving despite the new laws that have been passed. Some think they are smart by leaving the cellphone on their lap while texting friends, coworkers and family. But after watching this video, people should think twice about even looking at their cellphone while driving. The thing should be turned off, that's what voicemail and email is for.

For more information, this is the site with the public service announcement.