Baby Sweater for Amy

Two weeks ago, I learned that there would be a baby shower for a postdoc in the lab. This would be the first baby shower I had ever attended! I had to knit something! Amy wouldn't reveal the baby's sex, though, so I asked if she had a color preference. She said they were decorating the nursery in green, white, and brown.


After researching yarn requirements for baby sweaters on Ravelry, I visited the nearest JoAnn fabrics for some Lion Brand WoolEase yarn. 80% acrylic = soft & washable; 20% wool = warm, for a February baby. I decided to use the architecture from Daisy by Stephanie Pearl McPhee, adding in some gender-neutral color elements.


I've never really dealt with babies much myself, but I've heard other knitters talk about them. So I knew:
• Babies make a huge mess --> sweater must be machine washable.
• Babies squirm --> sweater must be a cardigan, not a pullover, to facilitate dressing and undressing.
• Babies grow wicked quick --> sweater should be a size up, to make sure the baby doesn't outgrow it in a week.


Of course I had delusions of grandeur, planning a complete set with sweater, hat, booties, and mittens. Ha. With only a week to knit, I ended up blocking the sweater the night before the shower with help from our space heater, and sewing on the buttons just before leaving for the party. I suppose I could still complete the set, since the baby isn't due until February...

latest spinning: BFL

Here's my latest spinning:


It's BFL from High Bid Farm, which isn't all that far away from me, that I got at the latest Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. I'm spinning it on a Turkish drop spindle (also shown) that I also got at said Fiber Fest. It's my first Turkish drop spindle, and I love it dearly, because I detest the tedious process of winding yarn off of spindles. I love the immediate ball function on this spindle. My plan is to make a 2-ply yarn, and knit a scarf of some sort. I have 4 oz of this fiber, so that should be enough.

Inspired

I just watched this video -- one of the Handmade Portraits on Etsy. It wasn't at all what I expected to find, but I found it much more powerful than my expectations. Some people thought it was creepy, but I thought it was fantastic! -- beautiful, imaginative, and captivating.



It makes me think about my own story in a different way.

How to Fix a Centrifuge

This morning I was ready to start another 8-hour round of reverse transcription, 30 samples of RNA in hand. To my dismay, the centrofuge said "Error 006." Crap. The centrifuge was erroring. This was the only centrifuge I knew of that could hold 30 samples. I would have to do multiple centrifuge steps in smaller groups, which would take much longer; I would have to do those nasty calculations to convert the revolutions-per-minute I used on that centrifuge into the force generated and back to revolutions-per-minute for a different centrifuge of a different size...

I told the lab tech about the issue, and Dr. O. overheard. "I'll handle this," he said, stepping out of his office in his scrubs. Oh dear, I thought. This is going to be just like when the -80˚C freezer died. This centrifuge is really broken. It must cost at least $5,000. I'm going to have to do those nasty calculations...

"I don't really understand the error messages," Dr. O. said as he walked past the centrifuge to the electrical socket. "I just unplug it, and plug it back in." He did just that, and the centrifuge recovered beautifully.

Beautiful in Blue

I've decided to make another treasury. This one is all about blue.


Yeah, I selfishly included one of my items in there. But only one!

The Blogging Conundrum

Shoot, Score, Giveaway!

Remember my last post about the RNEST September challenge? My pumpkin head hat won! I am unreasonably proud of myself. Check out my mighty advertising banner of victory at the top of the RNEST blog: http://rochesternystreetteam.blogspot.com/

Now, the next thing: I'm sponsoring a giveaway, also through RNEST!


Head on over to this entry on the RNEST blog for details on this hat (one of my Rivulets hats), a little bit of back story on the design, and details for how to enter the giveaway. Good luck!

I'm also working on a couple nearly identical blue rivulets hats with the same yarn, which I will post in my shop shortly.