Author: heavenlyevil

We Don't Know Until It's Gone

I spent the last few weeks scanning some very old family photos and it gave me plenty of time to think about the digitization of paper-based media, and why I have such mixed feelings about it.

I appreciate the ability to preserve documents and photos by moving them to a digital format. But at the same time, doing so removes a lot of information you gain by working with the originals. We interact with objects using all of our senses, but when dealing with digital media we are no longer interacting with the object as such, but with the object we are using to access the media.

If I’ve lost you, think of it like the difference between watching a video of something and actually being there. You lose the connection that you have from being part of the experience and interacting with your environment.

I find this extra layer problematic. Sure, you can read the same text you could have read before and you can see the same images that you could before. But not in the same way. Something gets lost because we no longer have that direct interaction with the object.


One Term Left

I finally got my marks for last term. I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t get them before starting the new term. Not that it really mattered since there was no way that I’d get bad marks. But I was hoping for straight As. It turns out I didn’t quite get that, since I had one B+, but it was close. Much better than last term, that’s for sure.

I’m trying to be excited about next term, but so far I’m ambivalent about most of the classes. I guess we’ll see if I’m more enthused once they start and I have something more than a course outline to go on.

There’s a workshop at a conference in Windsor next month that I want to take. I’m not sure if I can do that without having to pay for the whole conference though, so I wall have to contact them and see. One of my courses this term might get into that stuff so I wouldn’t have to worry about it at all. I find out on Monday though so I won’t have to wait long for that.


The Real Spring Break

I’ve got the rest of the month off from school (bliss!) so I’m using it to catch up on any and all crafty things I’ve been wanting to do but haven’t had time for. Sort of. As my crafty readers can tell you, when we go somewhere we bring plenty of projects and plenty of materials to start new projects because you never know when you will run out of something to do (which reminds me: when I get a car – must keep yarn and needles in trunk).

Unfortunately, I forgot to take into account what happens to my gauge when I am no longer stressed to the roof. So my weaving tension is all off, my Vintage socks are huge, and I stupidly thought that not bringing all my supplies when leaving home for 3 weeks would be a good idea.

I do still have my spindle with the yummy green silk/merino that I can work on, and the Peacock Tapestry (which is no longer grounded since I’m in the mood to put up with its tantrums this month). I’ve got plenty to do.

What is bothering me is that I can’t finish half the stuff I brought to work on since this time I listened to reason and didn’t bring my UFO bag, all my needles, and a bunch of spares “just in case”. Now it’s the case that I need them and they aren’t here.

I was having all kinds of these thoughts when packing on Thursday since my pills and my coat are safe in my locker at school, and not here where I need them.

Still, there is a silver lining. My birthday is coming up and we’ll be driving down to my grandma’s house for the weekend for that (my first birthday party in 18 years and I’m so excited). It will mean a bit of a detour off the highway, but London is roughly halfway between here and there so I can grab stuff from my apartment and my locker without too much fuss.

Now the next time I go somewhere and get asked why I need to bring so much, I’ll have this meandering story to tell by way of explanation.


Need New Colours

endpaper mitts

This holds in life in general right now as well as for crafting. I’m so so unbelievably sick of all this dreary weather.

My copy of Color in Spinning arrived this morning, which is doing a lot to help with the doldrums. It’s such a great resource, but right now all I’m doing is looking at all the bright and pretty pictures and wishing it was like that outside right now.

I’m also thinking I need to start messing with colours that I normally don’t think to use. On Wednesday during weaving class I realized I inadvertently chose the same colours for my scarf that I used for my Endpaper Mitts last year. This is great because I will have matching outdoor wear, but it really cemented the fact that I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately.


More on the Leaves

I’ve got all of the orange ones done and most of the olive green ones. I’m halfway there! Unfortunately I’m working on a MySQL assignment at the moment and I was on a field trip to Delaware with my weaving class earlier so blocking and pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

BUT! I might have finished a few more by then. It will be worth it, I promise. At least, it will if you’re as obsessed with cute little knitted leaves like I am.

ETA:

One of the normal-sized leaves being blocked:
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One of the smaller leaves for the toe insert being blocked:
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A gods-eye-view of my blocking setup:
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I didn’t notice until afterwards that the towel I was using is the same colour as the main yarn for the socks.


Leaves!

So far so good. It’s been taking me roughly an hour to knit each leaf so far, so I’ve only got 8 of them done. I did one of the green ones for the toe and 7 of the orange ones so far. Once I finish the 8th orange one I’ll block them and take pictures.

These socks are going to be so great when they are done. I’m still at a loss when it comes to how to wear them though. It was brought up at the Knit London meetup this week and I still haven’t decided. I don’t want to wear them without shoes because I’m pretty sure the carpet in here would wear them out super-quick. But at the same time, shoes would do a lot of damage (my boots ripped a huge hole in my angora socks) and I still want to be able to show them off. I think I need to get used to the idea of wearing them around the apartment, or getting clear shoes for the summer.


Home Sweet Home

I had a pretty laid-back week off. The first weekend I went to Cambridge. On Friday I finished my homework while Dean was at work, and tried to keep Sierra somewhat amused since she was sick but not sick enough to let me be until I was done. Saturday we went wandering off to find the Region of Waterloo’s library headquarters in Philipsburg, since there was a library job posted and it would be a good place for me to work when I’m done here.

It’s too small a place to be on Google maps. It’s more of a village than a town, I think, if that. Unless there’s a pocket of people hidden somewhere. We saw one intersection, with a few houses and a corner store. Except for a gated community next to a country club there was nothing else around. We drove around in there since the guard shack was empty. All of the houses were really nice looking, with nice looking yards. To the point where it was a little creepy. You can tell they have to keep things that way. It doesn’t look as if originality is permitted at all in the way you outwardly present your house. It made me want to see some of the crazy things those people must have done to the interior to liven things up some.

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It's here!

omg omg omg! I checked the mail on my way back in from the doctor, and look what I found:

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Even the kit is a thing of beauty. The pattern is incredibly detailed and includes colour photos of some of the harder-to-explain steps. I’m so excited!

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I’m not going to start it until later today when I finish setting up my loom for weaving class, but I think it’s safe to assume that half the things I was going to do tonight are pushed to tomorrow.

ETA: The yarn came wound into hanks, so before bed I took the time to wind them all into centre-pull balls. At first I was using my thumb, but there was too much of the purple to do that comfortably so I used my spindle as a nostepinne.

Before:

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After:

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