tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59347363229358596942024-02-22T03:01:49.536-08:00Off the Hook AstronomyCrochet, knitting, astronomy & life in general.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-44520045995713189962015-02-21T05:34:00.000-08:002015-02-25T10:13:28.318-08:00PANTS MONSTER!!!Gosh I've knit a lot of things for babies over the years! I count 26 projects recorded on Ravelry, and I think there are probably a few that I never got around to recording on there. My favourite baby projects are always the cute little stuffies. There's just something magical about putting together a little creature and watching it come to life with its own unique personality. Some old favourites are the <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/09/its-duck-its-bunny-no-its-duck-bunny.html">oh-so-clever duck-bunny</a>, <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2009/07/mans-best-friend.html">my grandmother's puppy</a>, and <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/10/cutest-octopus-in-world.html">Octie the Octopus</a> (get the <a href="http://www.happyseamstress.com/shop/octie/">pattern here</a>!).<br />
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My most recent creation was for my little one-year-old niece from Switzerland. For her first half-birthday, I had given her what the boyfriend affectionately calls the "Pants Monster", but would more accurately be called Kevin the Unibody Monster from the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/monster-mobile">Monster Mobile</a> pattern by Rebecca Danger from her book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/reader/ASIN/1604681497">Knit a Monster Nursery</a>. Here's what the original version I gave her looked like (or at least very similar to that, since that's a version I made for another baby):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/219501536/Photo_on_14-03-09_at_9.13_AM_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/219501536/Photo_on_14-03-09_at_9.13_AM_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Notice the long arms, light-weight yarn (DK in this case), small body size... The original pattern, which was only one of many monsters included on the mobile, was in fingering weight yarn, and made for quite a small monster. Well, the first monster got lost on a skiing trip, and so my sister-in-law sheepishly requested a replacement, since my niece had liked playing with it so much. And without further ado, here's Pants Monster Number Two!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340193/DSCF6143_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340193/DSCF6143_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
He looks a little caught off-guard here, but what he's really doing is admiring my collection of physics, math, and astronomy books. He's quite an intelligent little fellow!<br />
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His personality, however, has more than one facet! He's also quite computer savvy:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340191/DSCF6147_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340191/DSCF6147_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
He's strong, and likes doing weights:<br />
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But also sensitive, and sad about how cold it is outside...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340202/DSCF6146_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276340202/DSCF6146_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Pants Monster #2 was knit in <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/bernat-softee-chunky-solids-new">Bernat Softee Chunky Solid</a>, hence the much larger size. The face was made from felt and sewed on with sewing thread. I'm really really really happy with how he turned out, and I'll admit that it was a bit of a challenge saying goodbye! Fortunately, my niece loved him, which makes his departure a little easier.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-3462443426276372432015-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:002015-01-11T21:15:05.232-08:00The Autumn Leaves cardigan<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a> once said, "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe." I felt a little like I'd just invented the Universe with my most recently finished sweater. Two years in the making, the roving from which the yarn was made was dyed a couple of summers ago, the yarn was spun on a drop spindle over the course of those two years, and then the whole sweater was knit in less than a week.<br />
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In the beginning, there was the dying:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184932846/576163_585134644698_518828126_n_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184932846/576163_585134644698_518828126_n_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As I wrote in <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2012/10/summer-dying.html">a previous blog post</a> (unfortunately, all of the image links are broken), this roving was dyed with acid dies in the summer of 2012 during a very fun afternoon with <a href="http://www.happyseamstress.com/">Joanna</a>. This is what the roving looked like after it was dry and all nicely braided up:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184932980/531368_585135083818_694503377_n_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184932980/531368_585135083818_694503377_n_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I spun the whole lot (I'll admit that I never weighed the whole mess, so I'm not entirely sure how much there was) on my cut acrylic drop spindle from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/sevenyaks">Seven Yaks Design</a>. I chain plied it so that it would be a 3-ply yarn with a roughly DK to light worsted weight. Of course, it was closer to fingering in some spots and aran in others, but I think the average thickness was about DK. Here's some of it on a niddy-noddy:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/191705678/file_zpsc87e0555_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/191705678/file_zpsc87e0555_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
From how many times each skein wrapped around the niddy-noddy, I estimated that I spun approximately 588 yards of the stuff. Here it is drying after I washed all the yarn:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276800164/DSCF5977_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/276800164/DSCF5977_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
And finally, here's the sweater!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/261720296/Photo_on_14-10-30_at_9.40_AM__2_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/261720296/Photo_on_14-10-30_at_9.40_AM__2_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I loosely followed the <a href="http://odrecznie.blogspot.com/2010/05/ruby-jak-to-sie-robi.html">Ruby Tuesday</a> pattern by Ewa Durasiewicz, a round-yoke top-down design, but because I didn't get the same gauge with my handspun as called for in the pattern, I didn't do the third set of increases. Somehow, I managed to do the right calculations and end up with a sweater that fits me perfectly. The buttons don't match, but I kind of like it that way. Best part: I used up all the yarn!<br />
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As a first experience knitting with hand-spun yarn, I've gotta say, it's pretty amazing. The knitting experience felt so natural and organic, it was like nothing else. I would recommend it to anyone. I can hardly wait to finish spinning up my next batch of yarn to knit with!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-55855754131857148232014-12-22T08:37:00.000-08:002014-12-23T14:29:55.236-08:00Why I'm a bad blogger: catching up on last year's X-mas KnittingYes. I'm terrible at writing blog posts about my knitting in a timely manner. We all know that. Now, as I'm in the throes of my 2014 X-mas knitting, let's take a look at what hand-made goodies I made for my family last year!<br />
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X-mas 2013 was all about the socks. My dad was the lucky recipient of the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/guitar-man-socks">Guitar Man Socks</a>, a lovely pattern designed by Rebecca Mercier. They were an easy, almost-mindless knit, but with enough complexity in the pattern to prevent it from getting boring. The yarn I used was <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Stroll_Tweed_Sock_Yarn__D5420150.html">Knit Picks Stroll Tweed</a> in the colourway Autumn Heather. Let me say it now: if you haven't yet knit with this yarn, it's an absolute must. It's lovely and soft and the little flecks are so pretty! Highly recommended.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/208217778/file_zpsa6c60174_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/208217778/file_zpsa6c60174_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
For my little brother, I knit the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vihtori-socks-for-men">Vihtory socks</a> by Heli Heikkilä, also a very lovely pattern. One word of warning, if you're a fan of the <a href="http://verypink.com/2012/11/28/2-socks-at-a-time-magic-loop/">two-at-a-time magic loop</a> technique for socks: after knitting the foot of the sock, where the cables are only on the top of the foot, and turning the heel, the cables go all the way around, which is impossible to work two at a time. I switched to knitting the socks separately at this point. The yarn used is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/diamond-luxury-collection-soxy">Diamond Luxury Collection Soxy</a> (unfortunately discontinued) in the aptly named Charcoal Space Dyed colourway. I picked up this yarn during my <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/11/victorian-adventures.html">trip to Victoria, BC</a> several years ago where I visited the <a href="http://www.beehivewoolshop.com">Beehive Wool Shop</a>.<br />
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I'll admit to having gone a little insane with all the sock knitting last X-mas, especially since the men in my life have such large feet. The largest-footed of all is the boyfriend, whose shoe size comes in at a whopping 12 men's. I'll also admit that these socks didn't actually get finished until mid-February. They were, however, meant as an X-mas gift, so I'm still counting them. They are just plain stockinette socks with the snail added on with duplicate stitch, using <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snails-chart">this chart</a>. I again used Stroll Tweed in the Wellies Heather colourway, which made the knitting bearable. And they were a huge success! The boyfriend has declared these his favourite socks. I call that a win.<br />
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Now, I had also knit socks for my friend Ed using the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lucky-stripes-socks">Lucky Stripes pattern</a> by Tofutrulla, an interesting striped sock pattern which gets you to roll a die to determine how many rows of each colour to knit between colour changes. I did not, however, get pictures of them, since I was knitting the last few rows and binding off moments before they were gifted.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/199373142/file_zps410224f7_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/199373142/file_zps410224f7_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The final bit of X-mas knitting was not socks, but instead a hat for my cousin. I used the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/declans-hat">Declan's Hat</a> pattern by Samantha Kirby, which was absolutely lovely. It starts off easily, and just as that ribbing starts to get boring, the crown is all fun and cabley. I've knit this pattern for myself since. The yarn is good old Cascade 220 in Light Grey which I had left over from another project.<br />
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And that's it for my 2013 X-mas knitting! Hopefully the projects currently in progress will take less than 12 months to show up on the blog!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-46602964371560192792014-12-04T21:25:00.000-08:002014-12-04T21:25:45.023-08:00SPIDER: A balloon-borne telescopeAt this very moment, a team of astronomers is braving the Antarctic summer weather (which is just as bad, if not worse, as winter here in Toronto) for SCIENCE! The experiment called SPIDER (which I mentioned in a <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2014/03/ripples-in-space-time-from-beginning-of.html">previous post</a>) is a balloon-borne telescope designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the light left over from the Big Bang. It will be launched later this month to commence a 20-day journey around the Antarctic continent in order to collect light from the CMB and to try to look for the pattern of ripples in space-time produced from the Big Bang itself.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://spider.princeton.edu/files/2014/11/spider_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" width=500 src="http://spider.princeton.edu/files/2014/11/spider_1.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size:80%">Photo courtesy Jon Gudmundsson</span></div><br />
Among these intrepid scientists are a few of my colleagues from the University of Toronto. My friend Jamil is taking some <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jastro2011/sets/">gorgeous photos</a> of SPIDER's assembly, as well as of the breathtaking Antarctic landscape. He was also interviewed on the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2014/10/23/antarctica-trip/">CBC's Metro Morning</a> and gave a wonderful explanation of what the project is all about. It's well worth a listen.<br />
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Finally, if you want to learn more about this really cool project, you should check out the <a href="http://spider.princeton.edu">SPIDER blog</a>, set up by the Princeton contingent of the team. There you'll see how the telescope is being assembled, and get a unique snapshot into the lives of people currently living in Antarctica.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://spider.princeton.edu" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" width=200 src="http://spider.princeton.edu/files/2014/10/SPIDER_logo.png" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-50235793009250484242014-11-13T10:46:00.000-08:002014-11-13T10:52:42.124-08:00A Three-Month Bullet Journaling UpdateI've managed to stick with this bullet journaling thing for just about three and a half months now (see <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2014/08/bullet-journaling-for-more-productive.html">my first post here</a>), and so far, I can say that I'm enjoying the process! I've made a few modifications from the original system since I started, and will probably continue to do so as I customize it to best fit my own lifestyle.<br />
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The first customization I made was to change the monthly layout to a more traditional calendar view. I wasn't a huge fan of the list since it ended up being a little messier/cramped than I like, and it was difficult to show events that spanned several days. I also like seeing at a glance what day of the week it is, and how the weeks relate to each other. Some bullet journal users claim that the calendar view doesn't give enough space to write down events, but I didn't have a problem with that. And it's kind of fun to draw boxes with a ruler. Here's what my calendar looked like for October (note the use of arrows to show multi-day events):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps2f610ea8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps2f610ea8.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I also added a habit tracker to my monthly spread to keep track of stuff that I should be doing daily. It's basically just a list with checkboxes for each day. I'll admit that I still haven't been great at checking all those boxes (i.e. I still don't make my bed every day), but it has helped me be a bit more accountable.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps126e598a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps126e598a.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Besides that, I've added a few more lists: stuff to buy, tutoring contacts, fun quotes, and birthdays and anniversaries. Although my current dollar-store notebook has served me well for learning how to bullet journal, I'm enjoying the process so much that I've even already invested in a fancy new notebook: a <a href="http://www.cottonwoodarts.com/collections/designer-sketchbook/products/j1-dot-matrix-notebook-5-25x8">Cottonwood Dot Matrix notebook</a>. It's gorgeous and has a built-in pen loop! (I tried to make my own pen loop out of tape for my current notebook and it looks pretty crappy.) I can hardly wait to try it out at the end of the month!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-17831322338635515222014-11-09T08:08:00.000-08:002014-11-09T08:08:03.247-08:00A Pilgrimage to Yarn MeccaFolks, I have been to the place all fibre enthusiasts hope to someday visit: <a href="http://www.sheepandwool.com/general-information/index.asp">The Duchess County Sheep & Wool Festival</a>, more colloquially known as Rhinebeck. I'll admit that it was everything I could have hoped for… Hundreds of yarn and yarncraft-related vendors, lots of adorable fibre animals, a ton of delicious foods to sample, not to mention the thousands of knitters to chat with and whose knitwear I could admire.<br />
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For my first trip to Rhinebeck, I went the easy route and joined a busload of Toronto-region knitters, including my good buds <a href="http://www.happyseamstress.com">Joanna</a> (see <a href="http://www.happyseamstress.com/knitting/10-reasons-why-rhinebeck-is-my-new-happy-place/">her blog post here</a>), <a href="http://kniterly.wordpress.com/#_=_">Erin</a> (who also wrote a <a href="http://kniterly.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/rhinebeck/">blog post about the trip</a>), and Kate. It was a long bus ride, but I got a lot of sleeping, reading, knitting, and drop-spindling done. Here's an action shot of the bus drop-spindling action:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/IMG_3116_zps20121845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/IMG_3116_zps20121845.jpg" /></a></div><br />
After a long bus ride from Toronto, we arrived at our hotel just outside of the town of Rhinebeck in the early evening. I felt I had to take a picture of my knitted outfit, which included knitwear from three generations of knitters: the socks were made by my grandmother, the sweater by my mom, and I knit the <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff10/PATTlanesplitter.php">Lanesplitter</a> skirt <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2012/02/bit-of-colour-to-cheer-up-winter-greys.html">back in 2012</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/DSCF5997_zps0da70021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/DSCF5997_zps0da70021.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The next morning, we arrived 30 minutes before the opening of the festival only to find the mother of all lineups (and some beautiful fall colours).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/DSCF6003_zps8b7faa1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Rhinebeck%202014/DSCF6003_zps8b7faa1b.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Fortunately, it didn't take long for everyone to get in once the gates were opened, and we were soon greeted by some cute furry friends! In fact, the whole festival was full of adorable fibre animals, and I more than once considered taking one home with me… Here are a few of them:<br />
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For me, the main draw of the festival was the demonstrations. I figured, since I'd come all this way, I should learn something more about my craft or about fibre-related things in general. Seeing all the different types of fibre animals helped with that goal, certainly, but there were also a ton of other interesting things to watch. I just missed the sheep-shearing demo I'd hoped to see, but I got to watch a canine frisbee demo (adorable!):<br />
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The Fleece-to-Shawl competition took place on Sunday morning, and there were more spinning wheels and looms in operation than I'd ever seen in one spot. The idea is, in three or four hours, to prepare the fibre from a fleece, spin it into yarn, and then weave it into a shawl:<br />
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The ultimate high point for me was the Leaping Llama competition! I would have loved to watch the whole thing, but our tour bus would have left without us… The place was so packed that I didn't get any good photos, but here's a proud-looking fellow about to show us all what a good leaper he is:<br />
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After all is said and done, one of the highlights for most visitors to Rhinebeck is the shear (if you'll excuse the pun) volume of vendors at the festival. There were at least 10 huge buildings devoted to shopping, with some vendors spilling out onto the pathways between buildings. I showed amazing restraint, and somehow managed to spend less than $100 (USD) on goodies. There was so much I could have brought home with me! First, here's Joanna enjoying the view of some award-winning handspun:<br />
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A whole room devoted to fleece:<br />
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The best-tasting apple cider donut you'll ever have:<br />
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Some expensive spinning fibre (Qiviut, $60 for 1 oz):<br />
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And some very pretty spinning fibre and tools:<br />
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Last but not least, here's the obligatory loot shot. Surprisingly, I didn't buy any yarn! Clockwise from the bottom left: Official Rhinebeck project bag and zipper dangle, Goat's Milk soap from <a href="http://www.catsviewfarm.com">Cat's View Farm</a>, Forbidden Fruit apple wine from <a href="http://www.pazdarwinery.com">Pazdar Winery</a>, Maple Syrup from a New York sugarbush, Shetland roving from <a href="http://www.autumnhousefarm.com">Autumn House Farm</a>, cotton roving from <a href="http://woolroom.com">The Wool Room</a>, a "<a href="http://woolroom.com/susan.html">Susan</a>" lightweight drop spindle by <a href="http://www.davidreedsmith.com">David Reed Smith</a>, and "Second Quality" (which I had to card to make spinnable) angora fibre from <a href="http://www.cozyrabbitfarm.com/google041cff5f70235ca7.html">Cozy Rabbit Farm</a>. <br />
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I was so inspired by the whole trip that I'd love to make another pilgrimage next year! (And we're already looking at nearby B&B's!)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-36652657358561210272014-10-08T10:35:00.001-07:002014-10-08T21:30:22.662-07:00So do black holes exist or not?The internet has been all aflutter this past couple of weeks with the news that black holes have supposedly been mathematically proven not to exist. The trouble all started <a href="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2014/01/stephen-hawking-there-are-no-black-holes.html">earlier this year</a> when Stephen Hawking declared that the existence of an event horizon, the region around a black hole past which even light cannot escape, is incompatible with quantum mechanics. (You can read the original paper <a href="http://arxiv.org/pdf/1401.5761v1.pdf">here</a> if you feel you can handle the jargon.) Now, physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton, in a <a href="http://arxiv.org/pdf/1409.1837v1">recent paper</a> (not yet peer-reviewed) is claiming that black holes would not be able to form when dying stars collapse, which is the primary mechanism astronomers use to explain the existence of stellar mass black holes (those that are a few times more massive than the sun).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Cassiopeia_A_Spitzer_Crop.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Cassiopeia_A_Spitzer_Crop.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size:75%;">By Oliver Krause (Steward Observatory) George H. Rieke (Steward Observatory) Stephan M. Birkmann (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie) Emeric Le Floc'h (Steward Observatory) Karl D. Gordon (Steward Observatory) Eiichi Egami (Steward Observatory) John Bieging (Steward Observatory) John P. Hughes (Rutgers University) Erick Young (Steward Observatory) Joannah L. Hinz (Steward Observatory) Sascha P. Quanz (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie) Dean C. Hines (Space Science Institute) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</span></div><br />
Our current theory of stellar mass black hole formation is that these objects are created when a star goes supernova due to the collapse of its core. When a star is about 8 times more massive than our Sun, it is able to fuse heavier and heavier elements, working its way along the periodic table, until it starts producing iron. The problem with iron fusion is that it's an endothermic reaction, taking in energy, instead of an exothermic reaction, giving off energy, such as when the fusion of lighter elements occurs. Thus, the outward pressure coming from fusion reactions that would counteract gravitational collapse is no longer present. When enough iron builds up in the core, it collapses in on itself either into a neutron star, or, if the original star was at least 20 times as massive as the sun, a black hole. The outer layers of the star would then collapse inward as well, having nowhere to go, and reach a critical temperature which would cause them to explode outward as an extremely energetic supernova. (<a href="http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1748">PhD Comics made a nice video explaining this.</a>) The image you see above is of Cassiopeia A, the remnant of a supernova which was thought to produce a black hole.<br />
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The basic idea of this new paper comes from Stephen Hawking's calculation in the 1970s that showed that black holes should emit thermal radiation (called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation">hawking radiation</a>). Essentially, quantum fluctuations in a vacuum might sometimes produce a pair of particles. If this happens near the event horizon of a black hole, due to the gravitational energy of the singularity, one of the particles will fall in, and the other will escape, causing the black hole to lose energy, and therefore mass. Mersini-Houghton claims that the amount of hawking radiation produced during the collapse of a massive star's core is so much that the black hole would never be able to form. Essentially, the black hole would evaporate away before it got a chance to come into being, and this would mean that stellar mass black holes can't form.<br />
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Bob Novella of the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe does a pretty good job of deconstructing why this research might not make that much sense in reality (see <a href="http://www.theskepticsguide.org/not-black-holes-do-not-exist">part 1</a>, and <a href="http://www.theskepticsguide.org/not-black-holes-do-not-exist-part-2">part 2</a>). The first, most obvious counter-argument is that we do, in fact, observe evidence of stellar mass black holes in our galaxy. Many of these are in what we call <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_black_hole#X-ray_compact_binary_systems">X-ray compact binary systems</a>, where a black hole is in a binary system with a star from which it is cannibalizing material. The material falling in towards the black hole releases so much energy that it is seen to radiate in the X-ray spectrum of light. The second argument is that many physicists who specialize in black holes are skeptical (to put it mildly) about the results of this paper, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Unruh">Bill Unruh</a> who has proclaimed that this paper is "nonsense".<br />
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Now, I will admit that I have a small personal investment in this topic in that my thesis supervisor, Harald Pfeiffer, is the second author on Mersini-Houghton's paper. He is an expert numerical relativist and I have no doubt that his numerics are sound. The problem is most likely the assumptions made prior to any numerical simulation. At any rate, the topic of my doctoral thesis (which I might write about someday) depends on the existence of stellar mass black holes, so I certainly hope that they're wrong in this case!<br />
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One final point I'd like to make is that although this paper claims that the mechanism for producing stellar mass black holes would not work, it says nothing about the formation of other types of black holes, that is, supermassive and intermediate-mass black holes. Both of these have been found to exist, the former in the core of almost every galaxy, and the latter at the centre of globular clusters. In particular, there is ample evidence that supermassive black holes exist, especially from the observation of the movement of stars at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A*">centre of our own galaxy</a>. It's exceedingly irresponsible for popular science articles to claim that this research shows that any type of black hole can't exist. And so, the short answer to the question posed in the title of this post: "Yes, they probably do."<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-72455530673124114632014-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:002014-09-23T20:28:34.010-07:00Thrifty Knitting: Using T-shirt YarnI have trouble throwing anything out. I got a lot better at it during <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2014/09/new-home-sweet-home.html">our move</a>, since getting rid of something I hadn't used in five years made more sense than packing it up, but I have to say that keeping things "just in case" is definitely still part of my mentality. I would rather find a way to re-use or re-purpose something than just throw it away. For that reason, I still have a pile of the boyfriend's old shirts that I plan to make into a dress, and a big ziplock bag full of can tabs that I eventually plan on making into a purse. Someday… someday… <br />
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Because I participate in a whole bunch of science outreach events, I tend to end up with a lot of free t-shirts, most of which end up languishing in the bottom of my drawer. In an attempt to satisfy my aversion to waste, I decided to convert some of them into t-shirt yarn! I don't have any pictures of the process, unfortunately, but I followed the instructions posted by <a href="http://www.fuckyeahcraft.com/post/12963561767/hello-there-as-of-monday-im-doing-a-few-craft">Fuck Yeah Craft!</a> (Pardon my french!) I ended up with one ball of yarn from an extra-large t-shirt:<br />
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I'll admit I didn't weigh it, so I have no idea how much it is in terms of grams or yardage. The weight was approximately worsted, sometimes a little thicker, and sometimes a little thinner. However, I do know that it was just enough to make two 6-inch dishcloths and one 3-inch coaster:<br />
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The first dishcloth is just a simple square knit in seed stitch, the second one is a diagonally knit <a href="http://www.groupepp.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html">Grandmother's Favourite Dishcloth</a> with seed stitch instead of garter stitch, and the coaster is just a little granny square.<br />
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The verdict? Knitting with t-shirt yarn is fairly easy. It has the same stretch as a wool yarn and is pretty soft. My only complaint is that it sheds a lot. My desk ended up with little fluff grains all over it. As for the finished product, so far the dishcloth I'm using to wash the dishes every day is holding up very well. The fabric is very sturdy. So if you have some old t-shirts lying around that you don't wear any more, I'd highly recommend this as a way to re-purpose them!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-34161005745402186832014-09-15T21:24:00.000-07:002014-09-15T21:24:19.156-07:00New Home Sweet HomeI mentioned in a <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2014/08/bullet-journaling-for-more-productive.html">previous post</a> that the boyfriend and I moved at the end of July. Now that we're pretty settled in the new place, it's about time I told you a bit about it! <br />
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We'd been living at the same apartment for just about six years, ever since we moved to Toronto. It wasn't bad for what we were paying: a two-bedroom apartment on the 6th floor of a 1950s-era building with a great view out of our West-facing window. But we had no balcony, no control over the temperature, and laundry was all the way down in the basement at an extra cost. On top of that, the property management company made it clear that they wanted us out so they could renovate our apartment and charge the new tenants several hundred dollars more a month. And so, when the opportunity to move to a real house with a back yard, in-suite laundry, and central air came up for only a small increase in rent, we jumped at it.<br />
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At the end of July, we loaded all our belongings into a big ol' truck (with considerable help from our friends) and officially changed address! This is our new home:<br />
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We live on the main floor while our landlord occupies the basement. We have two bedrooms, and the square footage is approximately the same as our old apartment. The house has the same construction as many bungalows built in the early 1950s, post-WWII. The kitchen and living room are in the front, and the two bedrooms are in the back, with a side door near the front and narrow staircase that leads to the basement (where the laundry machines are a kept). Here's the living room, complete with fake fireplace:<br />
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And here's our new kitchen (ignore the boxes that still need to be unpacked in the back room):<br />
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There's an opening in the wall between the kitchen and the living room, making the whole place feel very open, and probably larger than it actually is.<br />
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The real selling point, for me at least, was the back yard:<br />
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As you can see, we have access to a brand new barbecue, which we have used quite a bit. The yard has a few square metres of grass, but the best part is the amazing garden. We've been told to help ourselves to it! Here's just under half of it:<br />
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Those tomato plants are so heavy, they've toppled their support sticks. The garden includes at least five or six varieties of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, many different types of hot pepper, kale, swiss chard, spearmint, sage, red onions, and probably much more that I'm forgetting. I've been especially enjoying the cherry tomatoes:<br />
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There's also a giant zucchini, which reminds me a little of a sleeping beast (at the time this picture was taken, it was about 2 feet long -- now it's at least a foot longer!):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zpsf77eeaa3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zpsf77eeaa3.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-81628368241779103982014-09-05T14:33:00.000-07:002014-09-05T14:33:44.505-07:00A very patriotic send-off: recreating the CBC sweaterA very dear friend of mine will be moving to London, England in a couple of days to pursue a PhD and to embark upon a great adventure. Several months ago, she asked me to knit her a sweater which would make it impossible for any Brit to mistake her for American. She suggested the CBC sweater, conceived of by <a href="http://www.grantedclothing.com/products/cbc">Granted Clothing</a> and originally knit for a brother-in-law who had also moved to England. Here is the original sweater:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/220527096/blog_cbc_front_back_medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/220527096/blog_cbc_front_back_medium.jpg" /></a></div><br />
After having agreed to knit it (and arranging to get a fair bit of her furniture in return), I did a bit of research to see if anyone else had come up with a pattern for this sweater. Alas, Natalie Bursztyn had come up with a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cbc-sweater">pretty good facsimile</a>, but it lacked the authenticity I sought. Eventually, I decided to make up my own pattern, eyeballing the intarsia from the photographs and guessing at how to put it together as I went along. Were I to do it again, I would likely change a few things, but I'm fairly happy with the results. Here's the finished product in all its Canadian glory:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/249650322/10628264_1458657274417299_8633957140239296685_n_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/249650322/10628264_1458657274417299_8633957140239296685_n_medium2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And the back:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/249650718/DSC09098_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/249650718/DSC09098_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
I may or may not publish some charts of each design here whenever I get around to it (and maybe even a full pattern!), but I'll give a brief description of how I went about making the sweater now. I started off knitting the sweater in pieces, two fronts and a back, with sort-of intarsia where I would carry the yarn behind for the design. Were I to knit this sweater again, I would likely do the bobbin thing with fewer floats, since the colour work parts tended to be twice as thick as the solid colour bits. I would also knit it as a single piece for the body because seaming is annoying.<br />
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I ended up seaming up the fronts and backs to make a vest and then picking up stitches around the arm holes to make the sleeves, with a bit of short-row shaping to decrease underarm bulkiness. For the collar, I picked up stitches from the front and the back, and knit in garter stitch until it looked about right. The fronts were finished with a single-crochet border to which I sewed the zipper.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/250725033/DSCF5832_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/250725033/DSCF5832_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The most harrowing part was making the pockets. I'd forgotten to put in the waste yarn normally required to make an afterthought pocket, and so instead cut one stitch and unravelled the stitches as wide as I wanted the pocket to be. I then followed <a href="http://www.keepandshare.co.uk/afterthought-pocket/single-layer-knit-down-pick-loops-base-fabric">these instructions</a> to knit the pocket from the live stitches. Here is the result:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/250725039/DSCF5827_medium2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Drilana/250725039/DSCF5827_medium2.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The yarn, by the way, is <a href="http://www.briggsandlittle.com/products/wool-knitting-yarns/">Briggs & Little Country Roving</a>, which was like nothing I'd ever knit with before. It's very loosely spun (if it's really spun at all), and very thick and squishy. It might have made for a sweater that was a tad larger than I expected. My friend was swimming in it, and it fit the 6'2" boyfriend perfectly:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/DSC09100_zps752ed7df.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/DSC09100_zps752ed7df.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Heck, maybe if he plays his cards right, he might get one too!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-61724193012748390782014-08-29T02:36:00.001-07:002014-08-29T02:36:54.174-07:00Gaia and the Cosmic Distance LadderI first heard about <a href="http://sci.esa.int/gaia/">Gaia</a> (Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics) during my undergraduate studies around 8 years ago. Although the impending space mission was hailed as one of the most important of the 21st century, it seems like it hasn't received nearly enough press in the last little while, which is why I wanted to talk about it in this blog post. The Gaia spacecraft was first proposed in 1993, on the coat tails of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipparcos">Hipparcos</a> mission, and was finally launched in December of 2013. And, as of a European Space Agency <a href="http://sci.esa.int/gaia/54414-gaia-go-for-science/">press release on July 29th</a>, Gaia is now ready to do science!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Gaia_spacecraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Gaia_spacecraft.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size:75%">Credit: "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaia_spacecraft.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Gaia_spacecraft.jpg">Gaia spacecraft</a>". Via <a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/">Wikipedia</a>.</span><br />
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Gaia's motives range from discovering extra-solar planets to detecting quasars, but its most important purpose, in my opinion, is to precisely measure the distance to over 200 million stars within our galaxy to an accuracy of 10%, and out to a distance of 30,000 light years, well beyond the Milky Way's galactic centre. These distance measurements are obtained through a process called <i>stellar parallax</i>, where the apparent motion of a star is observed compared to more distant background stars as the Earth moves around the Sun.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Stellarparallax2.svg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height=500 src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Stellarparallax2.svg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size:75%">Credit: "<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stellarparallax2.svg#mediaviewer/File:Stellarparallax2.svg">Stellarparallax2</a>" by Original uploader was <a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Booyabazooka" class="extiw" title="en:User:Booyabazooka">Booyabazooka</a> at <a class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org">en.wikipedia</a> - Originally from <a class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org">en.wikipedia</a>; description page is/was <a class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Image%3AStellarparallax2.svg">here</a>.. Licensed under Public domain via <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</span></div><br />
Not only will the precise determination of the distance to this many stars in the Milky Way provide us with a detailed representation of the structure of our galaxy, but parallax is the most important fundamental measurement in the cosmic distance ladder. The cosmic distance ladder (or CDL) is a series of methods for determining distances in the cosmos which are calibrated to each other to greater and greater distances. The first rung in the CDL is the distances within our own solar system, which have been determined to great accuracy with radar. Once the Earth-Sun distance is determined precisely, accurate parallax measurements can be made.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.daviddarling.info/images/distance_ladder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.daviddarling.info/images/distance_ladder.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size:75%">Credit: <a href="http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/cosmic_distance_ladder.html">The Worlds of David Darling</a></span></div><br />
The next rung on the CDL is a class of objects called a <i>Standard Candles</i>. These are objects which have a known brightness, and therefore, when their apparent brightness is observed, one can calculate how far they are (sort of like figuring out the distance of a car based on how bright its headlights look). A couple of famous examples of standard candles are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cepheid_variable">Cepheid Variables</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova">Type Ia Supernovae</a>, which are used to calculate the distance to objects much further than can be achieved with parallax (such as with distant galaxies). However, in order to calibrate the intrinsic brightness of these objects, the distance to nearby standard candles must be computed via some fundamental measurement, such as parallax. Thus, having accurate parallax measurements for nearby objects allows astronomers to determine the distance to bodies which are much further away.<br />
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It becomes apparent, when the determination of distance to far-away objects must be calibrated in this way, that an error in a lower rung of the CDL can seriously affect the distance measurements to very faraway galaxies. This problem became clear in the early 20th-century when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble">Edwin Hubble</a> was making his first distance measurements to nearby galaxies. When he discovered that the Universe is expanding, he calculated the age of the Universe to be only about 2 billion years, which was a problem because the age of the Earth had been estimated to be at least 3 or 4 billion years! This was later resolved when the brightness of Cepheid Variables was properly calibrated, which more than doubled the calculated age of the Universe. We now know the age of the Universe to be 13.8 billion years, and the value is mostly obtained from the distance measurements of far-off galaxies.<br />
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In conclusion, accurate distance measurements to objects within our own galaxy can have implications for our understanding of the history of the Universe! Even though the primary purpose of Gaia is to map out the structure of our galaxy, it will have a great impact on our knowledge of cosmology.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-32011804904695052052014-08-14T06:26:00.000-07:002014-08-14T14:25:31.328-07:00Bullet Journaling for a more productive lifeFolks, so, so, so much has happened since I last wrote! First, the <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2014/05/relay-for-life-2014-knitting-to-help.html">Relay for Life</a> was a great success (you can read my buddy <a href="http://kniterly.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/relay-recap/">Erin's recap</a> for a good summary). I also picked up a part-time job at a math tutoring centre called <a href="http://www.mathnasium.com/foresthill">Mathnasium</a> (I actually started end of February, but it's still news!), and then, mid-June, we found out about a really gorgeous house for rent that was actually within our price range. I'm talking back yard, in-suite laundry, central A/C… the whole nine yards! So, at the end of July, we moved! I promise to write a post about our new home, but perhaps when it's a little neater after we've unpacked a bit more.<br />
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So, here we are, in a new home for just about two weeks, still with what seems like a gazillion boxes left to unpack (though I have been making progress). I've felt like there's just so much to do that it sometimes gets overwhelming. This is why, at the beginning of August, I decided to start a Bullet Journal. You can read more about the process on the <a href="http://bulletjournal.com">creator's website</a>, but the basic idea is that you just write down things as they happen and distinguish between tasks, events, and notes with little bullets. I bought a cheap unlined notebook at the dollar store because I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the process, and I didn't want to waste a lot of money, but I'll probably go for a <a href="http://www.moleskine.com/en/">Moleskine</a> or something similar for my next journal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps2042975c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zps2042975c.jpg" /></a></div><br />
On the very first page, instead of making an index, I gave my contact information and wrote a little legend to keep track of the different bullets and signifiers. I put the index at the back of my journal instead of at the front so that if I ran out of space, I'd be able to continue on earlier pages. I've also seen some people use multiple indexes at random points in their journal. That could work too, I suppose, but it seems confusing. Here's my first page, decorated with colourful doodles on a slow day at work:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal1_zpsa77fd7e5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal1_zpsa77fd7e5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The next spread is my monthly calendar and tasks. On the left side, I made a list of all the days in the month, with the date and day of the week, and then started to fill in the more important events I already had planned. One small change I've made since I scanned these pages is I put a little event bullet to the left of each date so I can check them off as the days go by, which makes it a little easier to see where I am in the month. For my September spread, I'll definitely give my days a bit more room! On the left side, I started listing all of the tasks I could think of that I wanted to accomplish in August. I keep looking back on these and attempt to tackle one each day. The especially important and urgent tasks, I mark with an asterisk (for example, Daphne's sweater, which I need to finish before she leaves for England at the end of the month).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal2_zps159c8954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal2_zps159c8954.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Then, we get into the meat of the journaling. Each day is a series of bullets. Tasks are demarcated by empty boxes, events are unfilled circles, and notes are filled in smaller circles. Every morning, I write down the things I want to get accomplished and the events for the day, adding more as I think of them. I check off tasks as I complete them and events as they happen. If, by the end of the day, there is a task left unaccomplished, I migrate it to the next day (with a little arrow) or cross it out if it became irrelevant. For the future, I think I'll probably only migrate tasks when I change pages, since they're still visible until I turn the page. As you can see, I've been pretty good at getting stuff done this way! It feels unnerving to still have little unchecked boxes at the end of the day, and just so good to add in that little checkmark when a task is complete.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal3_zps20634a72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal3_zps20634a72.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Once I have enough tasks (or events or notes) that are similar in nature, I migrate them to collections, which I note in the index. The ones I show in the image below are for Blog Ideas and Crafting Projects. Some other collections I've added since are: Books to Read, Movies to See, and Songs to Learn on the Ukulele. I also added a collection for Future Dates. One minor issue with the Bullet Journal system is that it's difficult to plan for events further in the future than just the current month. So, as things come up, I just add them to the master list of future events, and when I start a new month, I'll migrate them there. Easy!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal4_zpsf5da19b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/journal4_zpsf5da19b1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I've also personalized it a little with some Dalek post-its. I have a black one to indicate the current month, and a blue one to bookmark which page I'm currently on.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zpse4f73a9a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file_zpse4f73a9a.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So that's my bullet journal! I've only been at it for two weeks, but so far, I think I'm enjoying it a lot. I'll admit to spending a lot of time fooling around on the internet, trying to find the perfect bullet journaling system, but overall, I think I'm getting more done this way. I'll certainly give a progress report once I've been at it for a bit longer.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-27033498994466817422014-05-31T16:59:00.000-07:002014-05-31T16:59:05.319-07:00Relay for Life 2014: Knitting to help cure cancerI'd like to interrupt our regular programming (haha…) to talk a bit about the <a href="http://convio.cancer.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=RFL_CAN_NATL_homepage">Relay for Life</a>. The Relay is a 12-hour overnight fundraising event for the Canadian Cancer Society. Teams come together at a park with a track, and one member of the team will walk the track for a while until another member of the team takes over. It is supposed to symbolize and honour a cancer patient's journey, ending with the hope of the sunrise.<br />
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I'll be participating this year with the <a href="http://downtownknitcollective.ca/wp/">Downtown Knit Collective</a> team. All night, we'll be knitting charity items, and also providing the rest of the event with knitting, crochet, and other crafty lessons. In addition, we'll be selling small yarn-crafted items at the event… which reminds me, I'd better get on crocheting a few flower pins! Also, our team is currently in third place for fundraising!<br />
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And that brings me to the fundraising bit. I'm sure all of you reading this have been touched by cancer in some way. Myself, I've been lucky enough not to have lost anyone really close to me to the disease, but I have still known a few who have fought to survive it. More than one of my university profs has passed away after a fight with cancer, and just recently, my aunt had to go through a double mastectomy and chemotherapy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Even the smallest amount can help move us further towards a cure, so please consider pledging a small amount on my behalf. Donations of $10 or more are tax deductible.<br />
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You can donate by clicking <a href="http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_even_?px=5880141&pg=personal&fr_id=14728">here</a> or by clicking on the image below. I'll be grateful for any donations, large or small! Thank you all in advance!<br />
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<a href="http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_even_?px=5880141&pg=personal&fr_id=14728"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/ScreenShot2014-05-31at72542PM_zps3ac4ffd4.png"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-81951723509742878052014-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:002014-03-19T08:55:07.745-07:00Ripples in Space-time from the Beginning of the UniverseThe big news all over my Facebook feed (because obviously that's how I get news) Monday morning was all about what might possibly be one of the biggest discoveries about the Big Bang since the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background">Cosmic Microwave Background</a> (CMB), the faint glow of light left over from the Big Bang, was inadvertently discovered by Penzias and Wilson in 1964. The Southern Pole microwave telescope <a href="http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/CMB/bicep2/science.html">BICEP2</a>, which stands for Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2, measured a small signal in the CMB providing the first evidence for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_inflation">Cosmic Inflation</a>.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1403/DSLmap_BICEP2_3888.jpg"><br />
<span style="font-size:85%;">Image Credit: BICEP2 Collaboration, NSF, Steffen Richter (Harvard)</span></div><br />
Inflation was a theory first introduced by <a href="http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/guth_alan.html">Alan Guth</a> in 1980 that was designed to explain why the Universe appeared so uniform in all directions. Without Inflation, because widely-separated regions would have been moving away from each other faster than the speed of light, and so were not yet in causal contact, the Universe would not have had enough time to reach the temperature equilibrium we see evidence of in the CMB today. The solution was to have a period of rapid expansion in the first few fractions of a second after the Big Bang. Thus, a small region of space which was able to reach an equilibrium expanded extremely quickly to become an enormous volume that wasn't causally connected anymore, but that had achieved uniformity. The slight differences in temperature which we observe in the CMB would therefore have originated as quantum fluctuations magnified by the inflationary process.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/HistoryOfUniverse-BICEP2-20140317.png/776px-HistoryOfUniverse-BICEP2-20140317.png"><br />
<span style="font-size:85%;">Image Credit: BICEP2 Collaboration, NSF</span></div><br />
Although Inflation solves the problem of the uniformity of the Universe, until recently it had no observational evidence to back it up. BICEP2 was able to provide this evidence in the form of tiny twisting fluctuations in the polarization of the CMB, that is, the preference of light to vibrate in one direction over the other, called B-Modes (see the top-right corner of the first image in this post). This polarization signal, which appear as faint spiral patterns on the CMB, is a result of ripples in space-time, called gravitational waves, created in the earliest moments of the Universe. Gravitational waves cause space itself to get squeezed and pulled apart very slightly, and this would manifest itself by twisting the polarization of the light coming from the Big Bang.<br />
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With an amazing discovery like this, it's tempting to make grand proclamations about how we now know how the Universe began, but unfortunately, we still don't understand the mechanism which caused Inflation. On top of this, only one team has made measurements of these B-Modes in the CMB, and it is wise to wait for confirmation from other experiments before getting too excited. One such experiment is called <a href="http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lgg/spider/spider_front.htm">Spider</a>, a balloon-borne experiment lead by Barth Netterfield at the University of Toronto in collaboration with teams from Caltech, Princeton, Stanford, and others. It was meant to fly this past December in Antarctica and make its own measurements of the CMB polarization, but because of <a href="http://www.space.com/23253-nasa-government-shutdown-impacts.html">issues at NASA</a>, the experiment is delayed until next winter. Hopefully, it will then be able to confirm the results obtained by BICEP2.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://inspirehep.net/record/790448/files/gondola.png"><br />
<span style="font-size:85%;">Image Credit: Spider Collaboration, B.P. Crill et al.</span></div><br />
You can learn more about this recent discovery by checking out these articles by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/science/space/detection-of-waves-in-space-buttresses-landmark-theory-of-big-bang.html?_r=0">the New York Times</a> (with an excellent infographic about Inflation), <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravity-waves-cmb-b-mode-polarization/?utm_source=feedburner">Scientific American</a>, and <a href="http://spaceref.com/astronomy/first-direct-evidence-of-cosmic-inflation.html">Space Ref</a>, or by reading <a href="http://bicepkeck.org">the original release</a> from the BICEP2 team.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-62443011165818563342013-11-29T10:59:00.000-08:002013-11-29T10:59:43.277-08:00Things for weddingsIt certainly must be said that at some point in your mid-to-late twenties, all of your friends will get married. This summer was certainly a testament to that (as was <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2012/08/crafting-for-weddings.html">last</a> <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2013/01/crafting-for-weddings-part-2.html">summer</a>) as I was invited to, and attended, four weddings. Fortunately, they were fairly spread out over the late summer and fall, so it wasn't overly overwhelming, and I've gotta say that each one was really a blast! And of course, because I am a crafter extraordinaire, for each one I had to come up with some sort of handmade component to each gift.<br />
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The first of the season was my cousin's. It was a gorgeous day in early August, the wedding was at a lovely golf resort in the countryside of Ontario, the ceremony was heartwarming, the reception was loads of fun (ohmygosh the food!), and I took no pictures because I forgot to bring my camera. I did, however, remember to take pictures of the absolutely adorable tea cozy which I made as a wedding gift.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184717919/DSCF5163_medium2.JPG"></div><br />
I used the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fairy-cake-tea-cosy">Fairy Cake Tea Cozy</a> pattern by Frankie Brown, and used a scottish yarn (the blue) and some icelandic lopi (the beige and purple) which were both given me as a vacation souvenirs. (I think it's an excellent habit to get people to bring you back yarn from the exotic places they visit!) The pattern was super simple and fun to make, and those buttons are frickin' adorable. The tea cozy was given with that cute little yellow teapot inside, and I also included a sampling of fancy teas.<br />
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Two weeks later was my friend Nic's wedding. As it turns out three (THREE!) of the lovely ladies from my knitting group (we're <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/groups/torontos-80s-babies">famous on the internet</a>) got married this season. Nic's was the first, and it was absolutely lovely. I, again of course, forgot to bring my camera, but I've stolen (totally without permission) this picture which Lynn's camera took of four of us in the tree house (TREE HOUSE!) at the wedding reception. I have in my hands what's left of the spoils from the ice cream bar (FRICKIN' ICE CREAM BAR!!!).<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1378580_847891643464_145707080_n.jpg"></div><br />
For Nic, I knit some wine bottle cozies to go with the LCBO gift card I gave her and her new hubby.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://images4-d.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/184718142/DSCF5164_medium2.JPG"></div><br />
The pattern is <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTwinecozy.html">Winecozy</a> by Jennifer Carter and I used various soft and sparkly leftover bits of yarn. I'm an especially big fan of the adorable hearts on the black and purple one. The pattern itself is quite ingenious. I love the way the picked up tube thing makes the bottom quite stable. The only change I made was to knit in the round instead of flat.<br />
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Wedding #3 belonged to my knitting pal <a href="http://kniterly.wordpress.com/">Erin</a>. She had so much handmade goodness included in her special day! Probably most impressive (and not just because I helped), was the hand knit bridal and bridesmaids bouquets. All us knitter types in the group (and the token crocheter) helped a bit with that one, each of us making a couple of flowers. This picture is stolen from Erin's blog.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=400 src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/2d8f5d509004e64fc3e6fd94ce4d046a/tumblr_mtykgsPDjI1roq7h8o1_500.jpg"></div><br />
For her, I decided to try my hand at sewing and put together these napkins with nice folded edges and aluminum wire napkin rings:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/IMG_20130906_201654-1_zps5d4f538b.jpg"></div><br />
The final wedding of the season was <a href="http://sweetlittlestitches.blogspot.ca/">Lynn's</a> in October. It was a Nerdstravaganza! And I mean that in the most flattering way possible. The programs were set up like a fantasy story and illustrated by the groom, each table had their own nerdy location (we were sitting at Aperture Labs), and they had custom-made LEGO figurines as party favours. Here's mine:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/file_zps1b59212a.jpg"></div><br />
And our table:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/file_zpsdbd73f5f.jpg"></div><br />
And, for good measure, the happy couple:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/file_zps0e914edf.jpg"></div><br />
I made an appropriately nerdy gift as well, a Doctor Who trivet!<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/file_zps24639d88.jpg"></div><br />
It was made with some of my Mom's leftover lopi, and I used the chart from tricksyknitter called <a href="http://www.tricksyknitter.com/knitting-charts/whovian-57387">Whovian</a>.<br />
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So that's it for weddings for a while, I hope!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-45996835978529851382013-11-04T07:43:00.001-08:002013-11-04T07:43:16.677-08:00Quinoa Salad with Cranberries and Red PepperHere's another recipe from the fitness blog.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file-12.jpg"></div><br />
Quinoa is awesome. It's full of fibre and protein and it's absolutely delicious. Bonus: it's also easier to cook than brown rice. A friend of mine turned me back on to quinoa recently. I'd had it before as a kid, but I hadn't eaten it since I moved away from home, mostly because I hadn't realized how easy it was to make. So I've been making all kinds of quinoa salads lately.<br />
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I used this <a href="http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/recipecomdetail.jsp?recipeId=25102525">this recipe</a> as a jumping off point, and it is by far my favourite quinoa dish so far. It's kind of like a pilaf, I guess. I changed the original recipe enough that I think it merits a retyping here (keep in mind a lot of it is copied and pasted from the original).<br />
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<b>Ingredients (main salad):</b><br />
<ul><li>1 c. dry quinoa</li>
<li>2 tsp extra virgin olive oil</li>
<li>2 cloves of garlic, minced</li>
<li>1/2 c. dried cranberries</li>
<li>2 cups water</li>
<li>1/4 tsp salt</li>
<li>1/4 red pepper, chopped</li>
<li>4 c. baby spinach</li>
<li>1/2 c. pumpkin seeds, toasted</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Ingredients (dressing):</b><br />
(NOTE: This wasn't actually included in the original recipe, but some kind soul put it in the comments. It turned out that I didn't have any yogurt or any of the spices at the time, so I made do with what was in the pantry. Experimentation is fun!) <br />
<ul><li>1/4 c. lemon juice</li>
<li>1 1/2 tsp honey</li>
<li>1/4 tsp turmeric</li>
<li>1/4 tsp allspice</li>
<li>1/4 tsp dried onion</li>
<li>1/4 c. olive oil</li>
<li>1/4 tsp salt</li>
<li>1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Instructions:</b><br />
<br />
1. Toast quinoa in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it becomes aromatic and begins to crackle, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly. <br />
2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Add cranberries and the quinoa; continue cooking, stirring often, until the quinoa has dried out and turned light golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes.<br />
3. Meanwhile, toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet at medium heat, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes. Put them in a bowl to cool.<br />
4. Also meanwhile, make dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Transfer the quinoa to a medium bowl and toss with half the dressing. Add in the pepper and pumpkin seeds. Let cool for 10 minutes.<br />
5. Just before serving, toss spinach with the remaining 1/3 cup dressing in a large bowl. Divide the spinach among 4 plates. Mound the quinoa salad on the spinach and eat! <br />
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This makes 4 servings. Per serving, there are 383 calories, 47 g of carbs, 19 g of fat, 8 g of protein, and 5 g of fibre.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-34450478857669059502013-10-24T21:31:00.002-07:002013-10-24T21:31:14.703-07:00Yummy Tuna PattiesThis is a recipe I originally posted in my fitness blog several months ago, but since not many people have access to it, I thought I'd republish it here! As some of you may know, I've been on a real health kick of late. I've lost about 50 lb in about a year and a half (most of which I had gained during grad school), I've started running long distances (I'm doing a 10k race this Sunday!), and in general I've been trying to improve my diet. Part of this has been to drastically increase the amount of protein I've been eating since I'm a real carb addict.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/file-61.jpg"></div><br />
I find that the easiest way to get enough protein in my diet (not that I really get enough protein) is to have a can of tuna once in a while. I have been known to eat it straight out of the can when I'm feeling particularly lazy, but let's face it: tuna on its own is pretty damn boring. For a while I was mixing it with low fat greek yogurt (instead of mayonnaise), a few nuts, maybe some herbs or cut up veggies. I haven't bought greek yogurt in a while, however, so today I decided to mix it up with some stuff I had lying around the kitchen. Thus were born these super tasty tuna patties.<br />
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
<ul><li>1 can tuna (I used Gold Seal Chunk Light Tuna in broth)</li>
<li>1 egg </li>
<li>2 tbsp instant oats</li>
<li>2 tbsp whole spelt flour</li>
<li>1 tsp whole grain mustard</li>
<li>2 tbsp fresh cilantro</li>
<li>small amount of fat for frying pan (I used a bit of non-stick cooking spray)</li>
</ul><br />
Mix everything in a bowl with a fork until it's well-blended. Heat up a frying pan to medium heat and add a small amount of fat for cooking (a couple of sprays of non-stick cooking spray in my case). Form the tuna mixture into patties with your hands and gently place them in the frying pan. I was able to make three approximately 3-inch patties. Cook for 5 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.<br />
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I've been told they keep, though I can't attest to that because I just wolf mine down right away. I topped them with a few tablespoons of cottage cheese, but low fat greek yogurt is also nice as would be a multitude of other toppings, I'm sure. Here's the nutritional breakdown for all three patties:<br />
<br />
<b>Calories:</b> 277kcal<br />
<b>Carbs:</b> 15g<br />
<b>Fat:</b> 9g<br />
<b>Protein:</b> 36g<br />
<br />
Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-8082833660605162872013-10-10T14:06:00.000-07:002013-10-10T14:06:17.301-07:00Catching up on 8 months worth of knitting projects: Part 2Welcome to Part 2 of this catching-up-on-my-knitting instalment! We begin with some projects I knit purely for myself, 'cause really, I'm the one who appreciates my knitted gifts the most. As before, I'm linking to my Ravelry project page for each project in case you want more details.<br />
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/mine_zpscd1ce34f.jpg"><br />
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Clockwise from the top left, we have some <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/stripey-legwarmers">stripy legwarmers</a> knit in <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Chroma_Worsted_Yarn__D5420204.html">Knitpicks Chroma</a>, a super-soft <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/koolhaas">Koolhaas</a> knit in <a href="http://www.berroco.com/yarns/berroco-flicker">Berroco Flicker</a>, some <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/75-yard-malabrigo-fingerless-mitts-2">fingerless mitts</a> knit from various leftovers, my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/morning-dew">Morning Dew</a> sweater knit in Lanificio di Milano Mohacril (vintage), a super-awesome <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/ditty-bags">dice bag</a> in <a href="http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-Heritage.asp">Cascade Heritage</a> (because I'm really cool now and play Dungeons & Dragons), and a wonderfully soft and warm <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/tasseled-hood">hooded scarf</a> knit in <a href="http://www.diamondyarn.com/d/yarn/4-baby-alpaca-glimmer/">Diamond Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca Glimmer</a>.<br />
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The yarns for most of these projects were wonderfully luxurious to work with. The Berroco Flicker, for example, I was at first attracted to because of the shininess, but then when I touched it, it was so soft that I couldn't put it down and it just had to come home with me. I think a similar situation happened with the Diamond Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca Glimmer (now that's a mouthful). The Knitpicks Chroma isn't quite as soft as baby alpaca, but it was still lovely to work with and the resulting legwarmers are super soft and warm. Boy are we lucky to live at a time when so many awesome yarns are available!<br />
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And now, some baby things!<br />
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/baby_zps7b240a24.jpg"><br />
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Starting in the left corner and going clockwise, we have <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/better-than-booties-baby-socks-2">some baby socks</a> in Patons Kroy 3-ply (discontinued), a cute <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/classic-baby-cardigan">baby cardigan</a> in various scrap sock yarns, and a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/baby-surprise-jacket-2">baby surprise jacket</a>, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/swirl-hat">swirly hat</a>, and <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/better-than-booties-baby-socks">baby socks</a> in what I think is <a href="http://www.puntayarns.com/base/src/bus_ts.php?opa=jdshgaksdjhf&ic=merisock%20hand%20paint&mn=9">Punta Merisock Hand Paint</a> (it was a gift yarn, so I can't be sure). The three items knit in the Merisock went to my friend Ellie, who's due to have a baby any second now, the multi-coloured cardigan went to my friends Shanna & Gordon and their lovely little girl Beatrice, and the pale blue socks will likely go to my sister-in-law's baby. I love knitting baby things! They're so cute!<br />
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Now, I did say <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2013/10/catching-up-on-8-months-worth-of.html">last time</a> that I would also talk about wedding knitting, but perhaps I'll save that for a future post because there's still one more wedding to go to this season and I have plans to knit something up for that too.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-28490836201503889542013-10-02T09:07:00.002-07:002013-10-02T09:08:33.187-07:00Catching up on 8 months worth of knitting projects: Part 1I know that one post won't properly sum up all the knitting I've done since Christmas time, but I'll attempt at least to give you a rough overview in this two-part blog post. Using my rudimentary photoshop skills, I'll try to sort of group projects into themes. I've included links to my Ravelry projects pages for each of these in case you want more information.<br />
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The first theme is socks! I love knitting socks, and I love wearing hand-knit socks. They're great portable travel projects and can be as complicated or as simple as you like. And nothing is as warm and squishy as a hand-knit sock hugging your toes.<br />
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/socks_zpsda7c69b7.jpg"><br />
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Clockwise from the top left, we have my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/twisted-mockery">Twisted Mockery socks</a> knit in a mystery gifted yarn, my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/nutkin">Nutkins</a> knit in <a href="http://www.austermann-wolle.de/34914/Yarns/sock-yarns/Step/index.aspx">Austermann Step</a>, my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/johanna">Johanna socks</a> knit in <a href="http://www.jojoland.com/do/item/Select?subIndex=15&itemID=7-y16&topIndex=0">Jojoland Melody Superwash</a>, my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/knee-socks-3">Turtle Toes socks</a> knit in <a href="http://www.justknitting.ca/turtlepurl/">Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes</a>, and my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/double-heelix">Double Helix</a> socks knit in <a href="http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-Heritage.asp">Cascade Heritage</a> and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/FiberCharmer?section_id=7152977">Fiber Charmer Chris Sock</a>.<br />
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I'm always a fan of interesting heel construction, and with the Double Helix pattern, I was able to try an innovative spiral heel which turned out beautifully. On top of that, the Twisted Mockery socks provided me with the opportunity to knit my first heel flap! Can you believe I'd never knit one before? I can't say it's my favourite, but at least I've expanded my horizons. I'm always in the market for cool new sock yarns too, and the Turtle Toes socks are knit with my favourite sock yarn concept to date. You might have noticed that the stripes on the socks match up perfectly, and that wasn't an accident. The yarn came in two skeins that were dyed together so that the colours would show up at exactly the same place! What they can do with science these days, let me tell you...<br />
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The next theme is stuff I've been knitting for others!<br />
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/gifts_zpse7376a97.jpg"><br />
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Again clockwise from the top left, we have <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/evenstar-gloves">Evenstar gloves</a> I knit for Ellie in <a href="http://madelinetosh.com/store/index.php/yarns/tosh-dk.html">madelinetosh dk</a>, Evenstar gloves I knit for Daphne in <a href="http://www.yarn.com/product/webs-knitting-yarn-araucania-nature-wool/">Araucania Nature Wool</a> left over from my <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2010/09/beautiful-cabled-sweater.html">Luxe Cable sweater</a>, a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/2x2-rib-hat-with-triangle-on-top-3">toque</a> I knit for Yeddi in various leftover yarns, a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/ditty-bags-2">super cool dice bag</a> I knit for Miranda in a mystery leftover sock yarn, and a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/mini-cheeseburger-cat-toy">catnip-filled hamburger</a> I crocheted for Nick's kitty out of random scraps.<br />
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You probably noticed that I've knit the Evenstar pattern twice in the above picture, and let me tell you, I'd gladly knit it up again! The cables are just so addictive in that pattern, and the result is just stunning. The first pair I knit in the madelinetosh was so amazing (that yarn is worth every penny) I was immediately hooked. This was actually the third time I'd knit that toque pattern as well, and I had knit a dice bag for myself before I knit this one for Miranda. I used to hate knitting the same pattern twice, but I guess I've now found a collection of patterns that I can fall back on when I want to knit a certain type of gift.<br />
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And next up we have patterns I've test-knit for the <a href="http://www.happyseamstress.com">Happy Seamstress</a>. Joanna has been very prolific over the last few months, and I've been lucky enough to get first dibs at knitting them up!<br />
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/crafts/joanna_zps8c3d98d3.jpg"><br />
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Clockwise from top left, we have <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/sushi">sushi</a> I knit from a kit Joanna had given me, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/cafe-tank">Cafe Tank</a> which I knit from <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarn-fiber/galileo-yarn.html">Knitpicks Galileo</a>, and my bright pink <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Chilana/bat-hat">Bat Hat</a> which I knit from <a href="http://www.yarnspirations.com/yarns/roving">Bernat Roving</a>. The latter was part of my Halloween costume. I was a pink cat woman type thing.<br />
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By the way, Joanna is having her patterns featured as part of the <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/independent-designers.html?subcats=Y&features_hash=V4443">Independent Designer Program</a> on Knitpicks, so you should definitely check that out!<br />
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There's more, of course... Next time I'll talk about baby gifts, stuff I've knit for myself, and wedding presents. Hopefully that will cover almost everything!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-69675075312866482932013-09-20T13:26:00.000-07:002013-09-21T09:03:56.332-07:00Domaine ChambordA blog post, you say? What is this madness?! I thought surely this blog had gone the way of the dinosaurs!<br />
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Yes, yes... It's been 8 months since my last confession... err... blog post, but I'm happy to say I'm back! I managed to get a PhD, run a 10k race, go to a bunch of weddings, and knit a lot of baby clothes in that time, and I'm sure I'll get to all of it in the next few blog posts. (Yes, I promise I won't just post once and leave you hanging.)<br />
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I'd like to begin again more or less where I left off. Over the Christmas holidays, my mom took me and my cousin to a lovely little farm and yarn shop called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.domainechambord.ca">Domaine Chambord</a>, located in the small town of Moe's River in the municipality of Compton in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-32.jpg"><br />
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It was an icy day in December, but the owner, Kathy, was more than happy to show us around to pet the animals. They had sheep, of course, both Shetland and Jacob...<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-53.jpg"><br />
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And lively alpacas...<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-46.jpg"><br />
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And funny-looking ducks...<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-41.jpg"><br />
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And llamas, and cashmere goats!<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-51.jpg"><br />
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They even had a cute little guy who (I think) is a cross between a llama and an alpaca. He was extremely friendly and kept making funny little noises at us.<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-54.jpg"><br />
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After seeing the adorable animals, we headed towards the yarn shop. It wasn't very large, but there was plenty of yarn spun from the fibre of the animals we had just visited.<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-35.jpg"><br />
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Each skein had on its label a picture of the animal that yarn had come from, which was a nice touch.<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-36.jpg"><br />
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Mom couldn't resist fondling the cashmere (and I think she ended up taking some home with her).<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-34.jpg"><br />
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And I had a hard time resisting jumping straight into this big basket of alpaca fibre...<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-38.jpg"><br />
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At Domaine Chambord, they also sell some knitted products: a few hand-knit scarves as well as knitted socks made with these amazing antique knitting machines they have lining one whole wall of the shop.<br />
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<img width=600 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/Domaine%20Chambord/file-33.jpg"><br />
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They all appear to be in working order, and if you go to their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Domaine-Chambord/169387146560710?ref=ts&fref=ts">Facebook page</a>, you can see a bunch of pictures of the sock-making in action. I found it fascinating, and I hope to be able to visit Domaine Chambord again!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-68071316739120629592013-01-26T10:08:00.001-08:002013-01-26T10:08:46.286-08:00Crafting for weddings (part 2)I am Canadian, and therefore I talk a lot about the weather. This last week, winter has really decided to flex its muscles in Toronto with whopping lows of -20 C and lots of snow to go with it. Despite the fact that I grew up in Quebec, I've never really appreciated the cold. As I was walking down the snowy street towards the subway station, pining for the warmer weather, in the meandering way my mind works, I was reminded of all the weddings I went to this summer... and I realized I had never finished blogging about all the crafting I did for said weddings! Well then. That had to be rectified.<br />
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So here we are, in the middle of January, reminiscing about some cool stuff I made waaaaaaay back in August and September. You might recall <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2012/08/crafting-for-weddings.html">my first post about wedding crafting</a>, where I mentioned that I had something ready for an upcoming wedding, which, at the time, was coming up in a few days. Well, this was the wedding of a very dear friend of mine, in fact, the brother of the wife in the happy couple we saw get married <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/08/double-knit-potholders-now-officially.html">last year</a>. For him, the boyfriend purchased an epic drinking horn. He enjoyed it very much at the reception...<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/419957_198303803633426_1761298900_n.jpg"></div><br />
For his lovely wife, I decided to make something slightly more practical, and yet incredibly nerdy... A Tardis shawl! I know the both of them are huge Dr. Who fans (I remember him watching the entire series from the beginning back in undergrad), so I figured it would be appropriate. I used the <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss12/PATTbigger.php">Bigger on the Inside</a> pattern by Kate Atherley, and I absolutely loved working it. The "time vortex lace" was a little boring after a while, but the Tardis pattern, even with the super long rows, was incredibly addictive.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/118093457/file-54_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
It blocked out to about 6 feet wide, which was almost too big for my blocking mats and also 2 feet longer than it was supposed to be. Whoops! Oh well, it's a beautiful scarf anyway.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/118093440/file-56_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
The yarn I used was <a href="http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-Heritage.asp">Cascade Heritage Solids</a> in a perfect Tardis blue colourway (actually, the colourway is called "Marine"). This yarn is also a joy to work with! It's great for socks (I'll get to that in a later post), it's soft, it's sturdy-feeling, and it also comes in a wide range of solid colours (pretty rare for a sock yarn). I'm a huge fan, and I'd definitely use this yarn again.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/118093424/file-57_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
The final bit of wedding crafting I did let me return to my wedding-crafting roots... I made a pair of potholders. It was for the boyfriend's sister's wedding, and shortly after the wedding, they'd be moving to Switzerland together to start a new life there. I decided to crochet these, since it was a bit of a last-minute decision to make them, and since the boyfriend and I are a little obsessed with molluscs of late (you should check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/molluskmusic">the boyfriend's band</a>), I decided on a snail theme.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/129123261/file-70_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
I actually combined two patterns for this one. I used the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snails-chart">Snails Chart</a> by Stephanie Law for the main design and then this <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bluebird-potholder">Bluebird Potholder</a> pattern by Doni Speigle for the general design. It's double-sided, so super sturdy.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/129123278/file-73_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
The yarn is a Lopi which a friend brought me back from a trip to Iceland. It's kind of scratchy, but works wonderfully for colourwork. I'm looking forward to making something neat with the rest of it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-65914915377979535752013-01-15T19:29:00.002-08:002013-01-15T19:29:54.704-08:00The Annual Christmas Knitting Post (Part II)After spending a week in sunny Long Beach, CA for a conference (you know I just said that to make you all jealous), here is instalment number two of the Christmas knitting! It was actually a lot of crochet too, you know, to be fair to the craft which inspired this blog's title.<br />
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This first project was actually finished before I left for the holidays, despite deciding to make it at the last possible minute. I created it for the new baby of a couple with whom I have played many many games of Settlers of Catan. It therefore seemed fitting to create a Catan blanket for their new little bundle of joy:<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/140540811/file-28_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
This little blanket, which is approximately 3 feet in diameter (I didn't actually measure), only took me a week to crochet. I thought I'd get super bored of the repetitive hexagon pattern, but it was actually kind of addictive. I'd be willing to entertain the idea of doing a grown-up sized version in the future, potentially as a stash-buster.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/140540888/file-27_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
I would love to tell you that I used up a significant portion of my stash crocheting this, but I would be lying if I did. The red, light green, grey, and tan hexes were made from yarns I already owned, but I ended up buying some big balls of Mary Maxim yarn for the rest of it. Bulky acrylic is all I remember... nothing noteworthy.<br />
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I couldn't really find a hexagon pattern I liked, so I made up my own. Here it is, if you're interested:<br />
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Ch 6 and join into a loop. <br />
<b>Rnd 1:</b> Ch3, dc into loop, [ch2, 2 dc into loop]x5, ch2 and sl st to join to top of first ch3. <br />
<b>Rnd 2:</b> Ch 3, dc into next dc (from previous round), [dc into ch2 loop, ch2, dc into ch2 loop, 2 dc into next 2 dc, dc in next ch2 loop]x5, ch2, dc into final ch2 loop, sl st to join to ch 3. <br />
<b>Rnd 3:</b> Ch 3, 2 dc into next 2 dc (from previous round), [dc into ch2 loop, ch2, dc into ch2 loop, 4 dc into next 4 dc, dc in next ch2 loop]x5, ch2, dc into final ch2 loop, dc into next dc, sl st to join to ch 3. <br />
Weave in ends.<br />
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Next up we have a ridiculous sheep hat created for a toddler that ended up way too big.<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/137110032/DSC07605_medium2.JPG"></div><br />
I've been told it fits the child, though I probably could have given it a lining to make it a snugger fit. I started with this <a href="http://alvcohen.blogspot.com/2012/10/crochet-sheep-free-pattern.html">Sheep</a> pattern by Alexandra Cohen, but soon discovered that the kiddie has way too many toys. Easy! It's a hat now! I just kept increasing the body part until it looked roughly hat-sized and kept crocheting straight until it was roughly hat-length. Then I added earflaps (which I more or less made up on the spot and can't remember now) with super cool ties and tassels. Here's my mom modelling it and pretending to be a sheep:<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/137110030/DSC07602_medium2.JPG"></div><br />
Finally, we have one final silly project, this time knitted. I had originally planned on making a huge Appa (from Avatar: The Last Airbender) stuffed toy for my friend Ed, but I ran out of time and motivation, so instead went for the next best thing: an Appa toque! Because it's not fair to only have silly pictures of my mom, here I am modelling it:<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/136294281/DSC07595_medium2.JPG"></div><br />
I used the pattern <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yip-yip">Yip-Yip</a> by Lesley Brownlee, only instead of the intarsia arrow, I opted for a sewn-on felt one (mostly because I didn't have the right colour yarn on hand). It's a pretty cool pattern, but I think if I were to do it again, I'd change the crown decreases because they were a little abrupt. Also, the toque doesn't quite cover my friend's ears. He's nice enough to wear it anyway.<br />
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And that's it for the Christmas knitting this year! Quite a bit of it for having only planned one project...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-30526847088257629152013-01-02T16:06:00.000-08:002013-01-02T16:06:47.612-08:00The Annual Christmas Knitting Post (Part I)Happy New Year to all! Despite my blog silence, I've been extremely busy on the craft front. This year, I only decided to knit for one person, my dear old dad, for Christmas. And then, at the last minute, I realized I hadn't gotten anything for my friend Ed, nor my friends' new baby or his older sister. Whoops! And so the madness began, a mere two weeks before Christmas.<br />
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The one hand-crafted gift I had planned in advance was a pair of guitar socks for Dad. The reason was that the pair I had knit him <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2010/01/christmas-presents-part-1.html">a couple of years ago</a>, through bad planning, had shrunk a bit and were unwearable. They had always been tight because of the method of construction (the top part is knit flat and sewn together, and the yarn choice was not optimal for socks (Knit Picks Palette), since it felts easily.<br />
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So this year, I actually got the right foot measurements (instead of just his shoe size), I went with a pattern I know will work (toe-up), and I bought a yarn that I know is machine-washable (at least according to Ravelry). The result, if I do say so myself, was perfect...<br />
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<div align=center><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/136810077/file-129_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
The yarn is <a href="http://www.spudandchloe.com/yarns/fine/">Spud & Chloë Fine</a> in the Green Bean colourway, which is a wool-silk blend that feels absolutely lovely both during the knitting and knit up. Instead of my regular short-row toe, I went with the toe-up cast on featured <a href="http://bethanye.geekery.org/2007/10/785/">here</a>, casting on 12 stitches on each needle, I believe, and increased two stitches on each side every other row until I had a total of 72. I then did a short-row heel with 12 wraps on each side and finished off with a 2x2 ribbing and <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php">Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off</a>.<br />
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The guitars were added using duplicate stitch using some left-over <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Palette_Yarn__D5420132.html">Knit Picks Palette</a>. I discovered that I actually really enjoy duplicate stitch. It doesn't always look as perfect as when you do colourwork in the pattern, but it's always much stretchier, and I had learned my lesson from the last pair of socks. Here's the chart I made up, in case someone else ever wants to use it:<br />
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<div align=center><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/133353630/strat_chart_medium.jpg"></div><br />
He seemed pretty pleased with them! (What a goof!)<br />
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<div align=center><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/136810102/file-130_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
Speaking of gifts for my Dad, I also whipped him up a hat, which I called a late birthday present. The last hat I made him, way back when I had my first crafty Christmas, was (again) a bit too small. So I picked up some <a href="http://www.patonsyarns.com/product.php?LGC=decor">Patons Decor</a> at the local yarn store (Lennoxville has a LYS! Rejoice with me!) and whipped up a suitably manly hat. I used Claire Nordlow's <a href="http://clairecreates.blogspot.com/2009/01/2x2-ribbed-hat-triangle-on-top.html">2x2 Rib Hat</a> pattern, which is quite excellent, and did the ribbing for the whole 10 inches so that he could roll up the brim. I just love that simple little triangle on top!<br />
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<div align=center><img src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/136809850/file-126_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
Dad was quite happy with this one too. It's super cozy.<br />
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<div align=center><img src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Chilana/136809907/file-127_medium2.jpg"></div><br />
I think that's enough for the moment. Be prepared for some sillier gifts in Part II!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-91200284333155648002012-10-17T22:57:00.001-07:002012-10-17T22:59:13.381-07:0055 Cancri in the Skies with DiamondsI was recently considered as an interviewee for Radio-Canada (I knew being fluent in French would pay off someday!) to be the "expert" about a recently characterized "diamond planet". I did a lot of research on this new discovery, but I didn't end up doing the interview. Since I hate letting good research go to waste, I thought I'd talk about it here!<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://i.thestar.com/images/e1/2a/e074301e4c1797bead4718021939.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Artist's concept of 55 Cancri e - Credit: NASA/REUTERS</span></div><br />
This extra-solar planet was first discovered in 2004 (by <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0408585">McArthur et al.</a>) orbiting around the star 55 Cancri A, a sun-like star about 40 light years away in the constellation <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_(constellation)">Cancer</a>. It has the designation "A" because it is in a wide binary system with a much smaller red dwarf companion. McArthur and company discovered the planet by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_velocity">radial velocity</a> method, that is, by looking at the Doppler shift of 55 Cancri A due to the wobble caused by the gravitational pull of 55 Cancri e. Sort of like this:<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Planet_reflex_200.gif"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image stolen from Wikipedia</span></div><br />
The radial velocity measurement gave astronomers an approximate mass for this planet, and also the orbital period, but it wasn't until recently, when, in 2011, 55 Cancri e was observed transiting its host star (by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088%2F2041-8205%2F737%2F1%2FL18">Winn et al.</a>), that we were able to determine how large this planet is. The transit measurements, by the way, were taken with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOST_(satellite)">MOST satellite</a>, which is the only Canadian Space Telescope. It looks kind of like a suitcase:<br />
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<div align="center"><img src="http://www.astro.ubc.ca/MOST/images/most_beauty.jpg"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image stolen from <a href="http://www.astro.ubc.ca/MOST/">UBC's MOST website</a></span></div><br />
Anyway, based on the transit and radial velocity data, it was determined that 55 Cancri e is eight times as massive as the Earth, and its radius is twice that of the Earth's. That would give it a surface gravity about twice as large as on Earth. In addition, its orbital period (or year) is only 18 hours long, which would give it a surface temperature of over 2000 degrees Celsius! We shouldn't go around calling this a second Earth any time soon... it's hot and heavy over there!<br />
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The most recent development, which <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1269333--massive-planet-made-out-of-diamonds-discovered-in-space">made the news last week</a>, is that astronomers (<a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.2720">Madhusudhan et al.</a>) now think that this planet might be made primarily out of carbon. That would mean that it would have an iron core, a layer of diamond (which might be 3 times as massive as the Earth), and a molten graphite surface. Previously, it was hypothesized that 55 Cancri e might have a rocky core like the Earth's surrounded by a layer of super-heated water. That assumes, of course, that it's made of the same sort of rocky stuff as in our own solar system which is primarily oxygen-based.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Chilana_1986/12102720_fig1.jpg"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fig. 1 of <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.2720">Madhusudhan et al.</a></span></div><br />
The plot above shows the radius versus mass of several extra-solar planets, including 55 Cancri e as the red and blue dots (these represent two different measurements). The different curves represent various models based on the composition of the planet, and a primarily carbon-based planet seems to make sense in this case. It helps that the host star appears to have more carbon than our own sun, and that a superheated water layer would be extremely volatile. More measurements, of course, will help determine the exact composition of the planet. <br />
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This is the first extra-solar planet that is thought to be made of diamond (unless you count that "diamond planet" <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/09/astronomy-monday-diamonds-in-sky.html">I talked about last year</a>), and if 55 Cancri e turns out to be carbon-based, it would revolutionize how we think of planet composition. We usually think of planets being composed of mostly the same stuff as in our own solar system, but there's no reason why some planetary systems couldn't be made up of slightly different stuff!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5934736322935859694.post-14199157360430003652012-10-10T21:19:00.000-07:002012-10-10T21:19:03.916-07:00Summer dyingWell, fall is definitely upon us. I can no longer get away with wearing my flip-flops without freezing my tootsies off, I have had the requisite seasonal cold, and the leaves are starting to turn shades of crimson and gold. Fall is a beautiful time of year (and it does mean pulling out the woollens!), but I do miss summer already. I thrive in the heat and sunlight, what can I say?<br />
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And this summer has been a particularly good one for me in terms of improving myself and learning new skills. I learned to run, I lost almost 30 lbs, and in the craftier department, I learned how to hand-dye yarn! This was several months ago, but I thought it would be worth sharing the process with you all.<br />
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First, we soaked the roving...<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/292374_585134529928_2073555354_n.jpg"></div><br />
We used <a href="http://www.pysanky.info/Chemical_Dyes/Dharma.html">Dharma Acid Dyes</a>, which were what Joanna had on hand. They worked quite well, I thought, though one of them ended up being grainy when mixed with vinegar and water.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/481930_585134574838_2033422233_n.jpg"></div><br />
Of course, all the special squirt bottles had to be labelled, since they weren't going to be used for anything else (at the risk of poisoning someone). We put a little vinegar in the bottle and then a bit of the dye we were going to use.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/534658_585134594798_774702419_n.jpg"></div><br />
And then I went to town! Next time I'd probably try to saturate the roving a bit more with dye, but I'm pretty happy with my colour choices.<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/576163_585134644698_518828126_n.jpg"></div><br />
The final result was amazing. Here it is getting a rinse:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/599270_585134709568_45486959_n.jpg"></div><br />
And then hanging out to dry:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/528990_585134784418_23171301_n.jpg"></div><br />
Joanna also came up with a pretty colour combination:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/547903_585134809368_821082743_n.jpg"></div><br />
And remember that <a href="http://offthehookastronomy.blogspot.ca/2011/06/adventures-in-kool-aid-dying.html">yarn I tried to dye with Kool-Aid</a> over a year ago? Into the pot it goes!<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/376932_585134739508_1893907292_n.jpg"></div><br />
It came out a lovely shade of emerald green that I much prefer to the robin's egg blue it was before:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/425114_585134854278_794429763_n.jpg"></div><br />
We tried many more things, and this was the final haul of the day. So many colours!<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/293795_585134944098_616653385_n.jpg"></div><br />
And now some glamour shots:<br />
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<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/531368_585135083818_694503377_n.jpg"></div><br />
<div align="center"><img width="550" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/376920_585135153678_1517032291_n.jpg"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12685811015323143403noreply@blogger.com2