Knit Theory- knits and knerds collide!

My mom sent me an article from Discover Magazine a few months ago that I thought was really interesting and nerdy, but it involved knitting. It concerned this mathematician who tried modeling a hyperbolic plane by knitting it. Well, crocheting. I'm no expert in geometry, but basically instead of the flat geometric planes we know of, hyperbolic planes curve out from a center point and continue to curve on. So basically, hyperbolic theory states that instead of the space being a series of intersecting or parallel flat planes, space has a curvature nature. What exactly this means in the bigger picture, I have no idea. Like I said, I’m not a mathematician. Apparently, mathematicians struggled for many years trying to produce a physical model of a hyperbolic plane. Enter: a knitter/crocheter/mathematician from Cornell University. Basically, she crocheted a 3-dimensional ruffle, and said "here you go" this is what a hyperbolic plane "looks like".

What I enjoyed about this story is the overlap of two skills that seemingly didn't have anything to do with each other. I admire Dr. Taimina’s creativity (also: score one for team girl!) . The Discover article isn't online, but Interweave Crochet published an article on it, which you can read here. The article includes a crochet pattern so you too can produce a hyperbolic plane model. You know you want to.

Knitters can find a pattern here.

So when someone asks you what the heck that ruffled mass of yarn is, you can say in typical know-it-all egg-head fashion: "a hyperbolic plane, duh!"

Oh, crap! Mother's Day!

Knitting plans are forever changing here at ESK (I love abbreviations-so “official”). I was hoping to transition from the Jaywalkers, which are steadily moving towards completion, to either the Anthro-Capelet or the Tie-Cropped Cardigan from Knitpicks. But then I realized something: Mother’s Day is fast approaching (fyi-May 14, about 3 weeks from now). What do I do? Do I cheat and buy her something she doesn’t need, or worse, something I’ve already bought her? (I hate being a repetitive gifter) Or do I give her something handmade, especially for her?

DUH!

But what do I knit for her in less than 3 weeks time? Hmmm…. After pondering this through most of the weekend I realized the logical thing to do would be to ask. Turns out she would like some more socks. She really likes the Rapunzel Socks from d-made.com (see side bar) that I made her a few months ago. Easy enough and completely do-able in 3 weeks time.

maybe Mom would like those shoes too...?

I decided to make the Hedera socks from the current Knitty. They’re lacey, and paired with sky blue yarn, should be the perfect spring sock. I hope she likes them. Cross your fingers for me cuz this one’s gonna run down to the wire (can we say Priority Shipping on May 12?). So it looks like the Jaywalkers are going to have to fill my Spring-Summer knitting needs for a few more weeks. Just when I thought I could be a selfish knitter again. >.>

So many holidays, so little time. I don’t even want to think about Father’s Day. EEK!

Is anyone else knitting for Mother’s Day? Cough it up! Who’s knitting what?

Remember...?

Ok, so y'all remember that CD Swap I did on craftster? I don't think I ever posted my playlist or my partner's. But here they are if you're interested.

The CD my partner made:
1. "take me" 3kstatic featuring louise fraser
2. "love is the drug" roxy music
3. "another one bites the dust" queen
4. "hope of deliverance"- paul mcartney
5. "airwaves"-thomas dolby
6. "gravity never failed"- omd
7. "the way you like it"-hook the captain
8. "no new tale to tell"-love & rockets
9. "silver screen shower scene"- felix da housecat
10. "end of the reel"- 3kstatic
11. "in your eyes"- peter gabriel
12. "secret oktober"- duran duran
13 "a way"- the bolshoi
14. "chains of love"- erasure
15. "no reply at all"- genesis
16. "six underground"- sneaker pimps
17. "extraordinary machine"- fiona apple

A great mix. I've been listening to it quite a bit lately. The overall feel is like electronica-techno/new wave/80's which is cool because I love all three of those genres. I especially like the 3kstatic songs and will be checking out more of their stuff. And who doesn't love that song by the Sneaker Pimps?

Here is the CD I made:

David Bowie "Golden Years"
Barenaked Ladies, "Conventioneers"
Annie Lennox "Little Bird"
Eva Cassidy "Blue Skies"
The Killers "Smile Like You Mean It"
Garbage "Cup of Coffee"
Yoko Kanno ""First Vision" (instrumental from Escaflowne: The Movie)
Bjork "Possibly Maybe"
Diana Krall "The Look of Love" (cool)
Tori Amos "Crucify"
Nine Inch Nails, "Everyday is Exactly the Same"
Annie Lennox, "Cold"
Enya "Books of Days"
Madonna "Isaac"
Sarah McLachlan "Elsewhere"
Bjork "PLay Dead"
TaTU "Stars"
Eva Cassidy "What a Wonderful World"

Sort of a folky/electronica/jazzy type deal. My partner says she likes it. YEAH!

In case you can't tell, I got nothing in the knitting area. I haven't done much in the last few days. I CO on for Jaywalker Sock #2 last night, and row 2 of the Mountain Laurel Blanket is sewn together (two more to go and a border). I'm anxious to start the Anthropologie Inspired Capelet, which I don't even have yarn for. It'll be such a quick knit, but I'm forcing myself to wait until I finish the Jaywalkers. Come on size 1 dpns, don't fail me now! But actually I have a sewing project going on right now. Sewing, you say? Esk-ibby? It's more like a reconstruction project. I'll have pics this weekend.

I watched a movie called "Coffee and Cigarettes" last night. Skip this one, unless you like movies that are too artsy for their own good.

Jaywalker #1 is finished!

The fruits of my Friday night labor (yes, I knit on Friday nights). I was up until 1:30 AM. That's waayyy past my normal bedtime. ;)

The yarn is pretty cool. It's a wool/cotton/spandex blend from Knitpicks called "Dancing". It has an interesting texture: not squishy-soft like merino. It's more like stretchy-soft. I'm glad there's spandex otherwise it would be a lot harder to get on my foot. If at all. It seems that I couldn't escape the tight-ankle byproduct Erin warned me about. But once the sock is successfully manipulated over my gumunjeous heel, it's comfortably snug and secure. So all is well. Now, all it needs is a partner. But first, I need to sew together the second row of the Mountain Laurel Blanket.

Today will be sunny, breezy, and warm (high in mid-60's) around here. I'm not the kind of person who's mood is attached to the weather (like my mom) nor am I the type who prances in the sun, or whatever. I can be happy when it's cold and rainy, during a blizzard, and even during a heatwave (well, not so much, as long as I have A/C). But today I'm really forward to being out in the spring weather. So the mister and I are heading to the Regional Market (the big local farmer's market) for some awesome local produce and products. If you're in CNY area, even if it's a drive for you, make a trip to the Regional Market on sat. for the farmer's market (sunday's the flea market). I'm not an expert on farmer's markets but I think it's an awesome place to be. There's a great vibe, a sense of community that isn't normally apparent. I walk around the vendors watching people looking, buying, talking and I wonder if that's what bazaars and markets in other countries are like. And the produce is ridiculously cheap, and better yet it's local. Anyways... check it out if you haven't. And then we'll probably take a little stroll on the Onondaga Creek Walk before heading to the grocery store for the rest of our shopping. Hmmm... maybe we'll top off the day with a good movie. We have "The Chronicles of Narnia" still in its wrapper...

Well, everyone have a wonderful weekend! Tomorrow, blueberry pancakes!

I'm still here ;)

I can't believe it's been an entire week since I've posted! I have a good excuse. The power supply on our home computer went kaput late last week and we had to wait until Mr.V got a new one and was able to install it. It wasn't all fixed until Wednesday. Since then I've just been lazy. But here I am...

So let's see... the Princess Bride swap is finished. I had fun, but I'm glad it's over, because I really need to focus on some other things: like the baby blanket and some summery knits. And Jaywalker, of course. Perhaps by tomorrow I'll have a finished sock#1 to show off. Tomorrow will be picture day, kiddies, so check back!

Has everyone purused the Spring Knitty already? I can't say I care for the sweaters much, but I like the socks and the man sweater (though, I'm not sure if I'll ever knit a man sweater, cuz Mr.V doesn't like sweaters due to the fact that he's hot when he wears t-shirts during the winter, thus, he no likey sweaters). I absolutely LOVE the Convertible. Ingenious. Read the articles, too, they're very satisfying.

So here is my tenative Spring/Summer knitlist in desired order:
1. Anthropologie -inspired Capelet (you know, the one floating around Craftster)
2. Tie-Cropped Cardigan (see previous post)
3. Spring Fling from Knitty
4. Convertible from Knitty

Chuck in a sock pattern, and a Mother's Day gift, and some other projects to distract myself with. I'm set through the season, baby.

Food related info: I'm planning some simple blueberry pancakes for this Sunday's breakfast. nothing fancy, but I'll bore you with pics anyways.

More non-knitting related info: I saw the cutest, most original movie last night. It's called "3-Iron" it's a Korean film I got from the library and Mr. V and I really enjoyed it. It's sooo not like all the dribble that's being released over here these days. If you like foreign films or just films that are actually original I would highly suggest it. Here's a hint: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl never utter one word to one another. It works, trust me.

lata

Up on deck-a springy knit

So I've discovered that my recycled yarn and SnB Nation's Lucky is NOT a match made in heaven. So what to do with it? I was thinking of something along the lines of the infamous Boobholder but in a style that doesn't call so much attention to.... you know.

And then I found this:



It's a free pattern from Knitpicks.com. I like it. A little fancy, yet something I can easily dress down. Plus this pattern's gauge is a much better fit for my yarn (which is about a sportweight). Yeah for Spring knits!

Maybe if we all start to knit Springy-Summery items like this maybe, just maybe we can invoke the powers of Mother Nature and actually get some F-ING SPRING WEATHER!!!

Jaywalker is trucking along, and I will be finishing up my Princess Bride Craft Swap this weekend. Have a good one!

Jaywalker, Oh how I love thee!

I've learned something very important these last few days: Jaywalker will take over your life. Nothing else matters in terms of knitting, especially deadline knits (cough*baby blanket*cough). As soon as I get home, before I go to bed, those random minutes (even just one) of nothingness in my evening are now filled with Jaywalker:

Now I know what all the hype was about!

Bee-The yarn is Knitpicks "Dancing"

one way to kill a diet

I really don't consider myself a health nut or anything. I try to exercise (which normally consists of running) for about 40 mins 3-5 times a week (but I still don't consider myself to have an active lifestyle). I "strive for 5" on a daily basis. I don't eat red meat, and only eat chicken about 2-3 times a week. My problem, like most Americans and citizens of developed countries is that I eat TOO MUCH FOOD. Explosive-size portions! Even though the food that I eat really isn't bad, I just eat too much of it. Because it feels good to be full, right? Now Mr.V and I have been reflecting on our eating habits for the past few weeks and came to a conclusion: we eat too much. We have seconds for dinner, we snack, we gorge in our darker hours, and don't eat enough of the "good stuff". So, the last two weeks we've eliminated our snacking (not even buying anything, out of sight-out of mind), I'm not allowed to bake anything outside of Sunday breakfast, and we're eating smaller portions (yeah for leftovers!). For me personally, this isn't so much about loosing weight (though a couple pounds would be nice), it's more about being healthier (loosing some of the OMFG-I-ate-the-whole-bag guilt). After 2 weeks of reducing calorie in-take by just eating less of the same stuff (no celery and seaweed here) and eating fruits and veggies instead of chex mix or brownies I'm definately noticing a difference in the way I feel and a little on the scale. My running has improved because I'm not so weighed down by food (and I don't cramp as much either). I also think about the food eat. I savor my meals instead of inhaling them. And I think about what I really want to eat instead of the usual "graze first, think later" approach. Really, this is a good thing.

There is a point to this rambling. Honestly, I'm not looking for a congratulations or anything. It's really just a set up for what I'm about to show you. I can't say this journey has been a fairy tale so far. After about 2 weeks and me being the carb-loving-anti-Atkins person I am, I was craving something carby and bad. Because of the rules I couldn't buy anything or bake it just cuz, so I had to sneak it into my special sunday breakfast time. No regular pancakes would do. I chose Cinnamon Buns from Joy of Baking. They required a bit of effort. I had to prepare most of it last night, to let the dough rise and everything, let them stand for 30 mins in the morning before baking. Effort, indeed. But it was worth it.



Luckily, thankfully, I halved the recipe and made 4 jumbo size buns instead of 8 because these are definate diet killerz. I ate 2 of them, happily. They were delicious! The dough was sweet and warm and there was ample amounts of cinnamon-sugary goo. I am quite full, even now, and probably won't eat lunch (my stomach must be shrinking). Mr. V liked them, too. I substituted milk for the "light cream" it called for and it turned out fine. Also, it says to bake for 30 mins at 375, but mine came out a tad too overdone. Make sure to keep an eye on them.
I didn't because I was distracted by the infamous Jaywalker! What a Sunday! Here's another, for the road ;)

see the goo? goo is your friend. goo is good. the goo. is.... good.

My Precious!

Sock Yarn! For your yarn craving pleasure!

An orgy of fiber (via Knitpicks.com)! (really, I just wanted to capture their brilliant packing capabilities. man was that yarn squished together. It kind of reminds me of those three bad guys from the superman movie. you know, how they got trapped in that glass, and they were like "let me out, let me out" as they were floating through space... anyways.)

And my lovelies set free. Free at last.



You better believe they experienced a lot of fondling by my naughty hands (sorry about the blanket in the background, it's kind of distracting). Last night I sat down and gauged for the infamous Jaywalker sock by Grumperina (i'm sure you don't need a link) using the green multi-colored yarn on the bottom left. I had to get used to dpns again, but it didn't take long. Soon I will CO. But first I must work on my Princess Bride stuff and sew another row of the Mountain Laurel Blanket. I'm tucking the Ballet Wrap Cardi away for now. I'll whip it out when knitting demands have slowed a bit. I'm in no hurry. Spring is here and there's no reason to rush since it'll be too warm. Oh well. I also got a "Dye Your Own" skein and I'll be picking up some rad Kool-Aid colors at the grocery store today.

Tomorrow is food porn. I'm thinking some cinnamon rolls. And not from the tube. See you tomorrow.