I hate Christmas, but the break is nice!

Well, I turned in my last paper yesterday. I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time writing it, and then I figured out that I had already written a whopping 10 papers already this semester! This is a picture of B holding our intuitive drawings done by a local lady. His is the one with the two mountains, and mine is the one with the water. I was so happy with the whole process, I think i'll go in for another one next month.
Heading down to WA in less than a week, don't know how excited I am... But atleast there's snow down there and it's cold, so we won't be too warm.

A case of Extreme Busyness

OK, so not pictures because it is dark almost all of the time now, and things just don't photograph that well in low light! Just kidding, I have been exactly swamped with housework, homework, and all things knitterly. So.. for the whole 1 of you following my blog, you'll just have to hold your horses until Christmas break for a bunch of new info!

chevron love?

More like sore hands! I made this cap yesterday, and really like the way it snuggles my head, and it sits pretty low on the neck and ears. I used a cheap-o yarn from Michaels just to try out the pattern. It's 80/20 polyester/wool. It actually doesn't feel too bad, and was 6 bucks a skein. Should get two hats from 2 skeins. Anyhow, the pattern is at

More Jewelry

Well, I decided to take the jewelry class again since I have been able to sell some of the things. I think it's also good for me, an exercise in patience and being deliberate. Since i'm not all that enthused by the graduate program so far, it's nice to be able to get excited about something. It's been hard to find someone who really cares about small schools, how magical they could be.

Bracelets

I made this super hard ring in my metals class, it is hollow and took for freaking ever! The stone is a labradorite that I got at the local stone place called Pristine's. I don't think the lady that works there is very nice. Oh well, maybe i have caught her on bad days.

More Yarn, Yo

I love recycled silk! This is about 200 yards or so, enough to make a handbag from the Knitty.com site. It's for sale on Etsy, but if it doesn't sell, I might have to use it myself!

Etsy Yeah!

I am going to try to sell a couple of things on Etsy, not sure how it will go. I think that the place in town here where I consign things will be a more successful venture. I'm hoping to sell some of the left overs from my jewelry making class. I like this piece, but it's a little too big for me to wear. It's copper, sterling, and then a slice of stalactite.
Check out my Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/AK_PurlWise

Yarn, YO

Here is some of the yarn that I have made. The light brown is courtesy of Erica Wilson from St. John WA and her family. She gave me a huge bag of wool/alpaca/angora rabbit mix. I'm using it with another colorful jewel toned yarn to make an afghan. The light blue is merino dyed with kool-aid with my nephew Crete, and the lovely golden colored yarn is natural soysilk.

Metalsmithing

I decided to really flex my craft muscles and try out jewelry making. About the first 3 days made me want to cry, but now I think I have the hang of it.

Beginning woodworking

My dad was awesome enough to teach me how to do a little wood working while I was in WA in June. I made the rocking horse for Branden's sister who is just a little bit pregnant, but won't see her again till after she has the baby. I made the toy from a nice piece of poplar and was very pleased with it's outcome.

Yeah Spinning Wheel!

Yeah, for my birthday my parents bought me a spinning wheel from the nice people at Paradise Fibers in Spokane. I love it, and drug it up to Fairbanks with me. More to come.

Spin, then Knit

Well, this last little bit of spring break I got out the old drop spindle and went to town. I had a whole 8oz bag of some pretty rough dark grey roving. Most of it has now been transformed into some rough dark grey single ply worsted, but maybe thick and thin, yarn.
I mostly wanted to have some new yarn around having finished all of the projects I had started, and trying to cut down on raw materials for the move into town.
So now I'm spinning, then knitting the yarn in to a nice vest, called "W" from the Knitty archive. http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTw.html
I'm thinking about putting buttons up one side, so it looks buttoned together, and then continuing up the armhole to the top shoulder. Maybe it would be nice over a button down?

Alyeska View

Practice photo. Took this at Alyeska over Christmas, with Branden's parents. I was disappointed the view was crummy, but I think this picture has some character?

Net Nannies

I read an interesting story on Slate about this earlier in the year. Good or bad? Not sure, we'll see. I think it comes down to disclosure. I want to know who is running things, editing thing, etc. So long anonymity?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/119091

confused about web2.0

If you are confused about web2.0 check out wikipedia.
Something else to think about is the whole "flat world" globalization issue. How does this fit into our specific situation in rural Alaska? How do we tailor our instruction to meet the changing world, with it's changing job-prospects?

web2.0

“Web1.0” is done, it’s the past, the old way of thinking. “Web2.0” is where we need to be moving. Well, what is web 2.0? Web 2.0 is wikis, blogs, and working together to make connections. Web 1.0 is cold, isolated, and informative (maybe?). How can Web2.0 be used in the classroom, even when we still struggle with Web1.0? I think the first step is working together as professionals, becoming proficient ourselves, but not being afraid if the students “get it” before we do. Shouldn’t that make us happy?

My first Voki

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