Astronomy Monday: Diamonds in the Sky

Happy Labour Day, everyone! I thought I'd start off the week with some cool science because it's been a while since I've rambled on about astronomy here...

A couple of weeks ago, scientists announced that they had discovered a new millisecond pulsar with what is most likely the degenerate core of a star orbiting it. Since this newly discovered planet-like object probably has a mass close to Jupiter's but a radius closer to that of the Earth, it is extremely dense, and since it is most likely composed primarily of carbon, it would have a crystalline structure. In the media, of course, this is being announced with the sensational headline "Diamond planet found!"

The pulsar around which this planet is orbiting is called PSR J1719-1438, and it is a neutron star with a rotational period of 5.7 milliseconds. It's located in the constellation Serpens and is 4000 light years from us. A neutron star, of course, is the compact object that remains after a massive star goes supernova. As you might have guessed from their name, neutron stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons since the gravitational force of these objects have on themselves is stronger than the force keeping electrons and protons as separate particles (also called electron degeneracy pressure).

Neutron stars are often called "pulsars" because they emit regular bursts of light in the radio part of the spectrum. Since neutron stars used to be very large objects and were compressed into a small volume, they spin very quickly (hence "millisecond" pulsar) and have extremely large magnetic fields. Like supercharged northern lights, charged particles would be drawn in by the magnetic field and emit light as they speed up towards the magnetic poles (though this happens because of the interaction of these charged particles with our atmosphere on Earth). Just like with the Earth, the magnetic poles and axis of rotation aren't lined up, so as the neutron star rotates, the flash of light caused by these accelerating charged particles twirls around like a lighthouse. This is best shown in a diagram (stolen from the ATNF Pulsar Education page):

The interesting part about the PSR J1719-1438 system is that the "planet", which is called PSR J1719-1438b, is in fact believed to be the core of a dead star, which is certainly not how we usually think about planets being formed. Planets like those in our solar system were formed about the same time as the sun. The big cloud of gas out of which our sun was formed collapsed into a disk, and out of this disk gradually clumped together what would become the planets in our solar system. It would have looked something like this (from Astronomy Online):

What scientists think happened in this case, however, is that the PSR J1719-1438 system was originally a binary star system with one star large enough to go supernova and the other less massive. Because it would have burned through it's fuel more quickly, the more massive star would have died first and gone supernova, turning into the neutron star. The smaller star would have burned through its stellar fuel more slowly and as it started to turn into a red giant, its outer layers expanding as it finished burning hydrogen into helium and progressed to burning helium into carbon, the neutron star would start stripping material off its companion. The outer layers of hydrogen and helium would be torn away leaving only the dense core of carbon. In a slightly different situation, the smaller star might have been completely destroyed by the neutron star, but in this case, the tiny core was just far away enough (at 600,000 km, roughly the distance between the Earth and the Moon) and compact enough that it was able to survive.

Though this is a very exciting discovery, I have some, probably unfounded, issues with calling this object a planet. The official IAU definition of a planet is as follows:

"A "planet" is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

Though all these criteria are probably true for PSR J1719-1438b, it seems strange to call something a planet which used to be a star.

At any rate, this is very cool science and I'm looking forward to seeing if more systems like this are discovered!

It's a Duck! It's a Bunny! No, it's a Duck-Bunny!

I must admit it, I LOVE making toys, whether knitted or crocheted. There's just something wonderful about creating something absolutely adorable and seeing the personality of the toy grow under your fingertips. I don't even mind all the annoying sewing up bits so much. I also enjoy patterns that have a very clever construction, which is why I just HAD to make this adorable little toy.

Look! It's a bunny (though my grandma would argue that it looks more like a dog)!

However, just flip it around...

And it's a duck!

I actually made two of these little guys... one for my adorable 11-month-old cousin and another for my friend's baby. They both really liked their duck-bunnies, at least, that's how I'll interpret their promptly putting the toys in their mouths. I have a feeling their parents appreciated the cleverness of the pattern more than they did, but hopefully these toys will last long enough that the kids will be able to appreciate them for their construction.

The pattern is the Mini-Reversible Duck to Bunny by Susan B. Anderson. The original design was a little larger than what I ended up with, but I had a finer yarn and so used smaller needles. I used up some scrap acrylic yarn, some of which was from my maternal grandmother's stash, and embroidered the eyes to guard against little gnawing teeth. The heads are stuffed with cotton balls because that's what I had.

I'm a Red Hat Society Wanna-be

Warning
by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

The Red Hat Society is a group that encourages women "to pursue fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment of lifelong dreams and fitness". Essentially, it's a big social club for women, but also a support network. It was started in 1997 by Sue Cooper, who was inspired by the above poem to give her friend a red hat, along with a copy of the poem. Her friend liked it so much, that Sue was inspired to repeat the gift with several of her friends, and before she knew it, it became a worldwide club. The red-hatters distinguish themselves by going out in public with red hats and purple dresses and having way too much fun.

I'm not old enough to join the Red Hat Society (you have to be 50 or over to join), but until then, I can wear a ridiculous red hat of my own in their honour. My first felted project was this Foxy Felted Cloche (Ravelry link) by glitteratti. Unfelted, of course, it was HUGE, but after a good scrub in the sink with alternating hot and cold water, it shrunk up nicely (and filled my drain with wool fuzz). The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, which felts up really well.

To bling it up, I crocheted and felted the flower from this Lion Brand pattern and attached it to the hat with a brooch I found in my jewelry collection. I also edged it with ribbon I bought at Mokuba on Queen Street West here in Toronto. It's a store devoted entirely to ribbons and trim. Amazing.

This hat, however, is a testament to how long it takes me to finish things. It only took me a day to do the actual knitting, but then it was a month before I got around to felting it, and at least another month before I sewed the flower and ribbon on. I'll probably do another felted project someday, but I have to work on motivating myself to do the finishing steps after the knitting is done!

Double-knit Potholders: Now Officially a Wedding Tradition

I recently returned from the Eastern Townships where some very awesome friends of mine got hitched. They did the deed in the most beautiful place on Earth, Baldwin Mills (I took some pictures last summer). I'm not joking. This is what I woke up to the day after the wedding:

The ceremony was beautiful (partly because I was asked to play violin at the last minute), the dinner was delicious (there was a whole roast lamb), the booze was plentiful (there was a bathtub of beer), and the party was incredibly fun. Those Baldwins sure do know how to get married. Anyway, as has become a tradition for me (see here, here, and here), I made the couple some double-knit potholders as a wedding present.

As usual, I tried to make the designs representative of the couple. The pixelated deer on the left is from the groom's now very successful game Sword & Sworcery. The mounted deer head on the right has become the couple's personal logo. They even used it on the wine bottles at the wedding.

If you feel like knitting Sword & Sworcery deer or Dead Deer potholders of your own, here are the charts for both designs (click for larger size):

---

Speaking of double-knitting, I've written a tutorial for making your own double-knit fabric over on the Happy Seamstress. You should check it out!

Lemon skewers

I think it's become apparent that I am, indeed, a sock knitter. It was only a matter of time before I tried this fabled "magic-loop technique" for knitting socks toe-up, two at a time. And of course, I can never pass up a cleverly-constructed garment. So, when I saw the Skew pattern by Lana Holden from Knitty's Winter 2009 issue, I knew I was just going to have to knit it.

The construction is especially interesting because it's knit on a bias. This makes for a very cool-looking fabric, even more so when knit with a variegated yarn. I found, however, that this made modifying the sock to better fit my feet a bit more of a challenge, especially since I have wide feet, ankles and calves. In fact, I wanted to use up all of the yarn, so I made these mid-calf length, and figuring out the increases for the calves was super annoying. Even more annoying is the fact that they're still a little tight.

The yarn I used was Lion Brand's Sock-Ease, which I must admit I'm not entirely happy with. The colours are super fun, but it feels kind of scratchy, and even after a good washing, the socks are still a little itchy when I wear them. On the other hand, it does feel really sturdy.

I shouldn't sound like I totally don't like these socks though. The toe and heel construction totally baffled me at first, and I didn't really understand them until I was actually knitting them. It was one of those "just trust the pattern" instances. I had a wonderful Aha! moment when the heel magically folded into place. And the heel actually fits really well. It's nice and snug around the ankle where it might otherwise slip down my foot.

All in all, it's a very clever pattern that I'm glad I tried out, but that I probably won't work again.

Stitch 'n Pitch 2011

Last night I went to the Stitch 'n Pitch with some of my knitting friends. It was an evening of overpriced beer and snacks, sweltering heat in the stadium (sticky legs on plastic chairs!), lots of knitters, lots of knitting (and a little crochet), knitting goody bags, and... oh yeah, I guess a baseball game was going on. The following picture, provided by SeekUp, pretty much sums it up:

I didn't bring my camera, but the pictures from last year's game are still fairly accurate, except we had a group of 7 knitters and one crocheter this year. The Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 11-6.

My Magnum Opus or The Cardigan That Almost Killed Me

Sometimes you just need a project that tests every knitterly skill you have. A project that takes you months, and where you utter more curse-words than would be appropriate in polite company. A project that you know will look amazing in the end, but along the way makes you wonder if it's worth it... And oh, it's worth it. As Brenda Dayne puts it, it's your Magnum Opus.

Mine has been the Emma cardigan, designed by Janine Le Cras. It is easily the best thing I have ever knit.

It started off innocently enough, with 630 yards of the lightest yarn I've ever used, Fantastic Knitting Zephyr Laceweight. The top begun with a provisional cast-on and some eyelet lace... simple enough, but once I got to the lower lace portion... well, let's just say that that's when the cursing really started.

Each row is a lace row (knitted lace as opposed to lace knitting) with no plain purl row between, and the stitch count was at way over 200 stitches, and so it took me about an hour to complete each row. It was full of p2togtbls and other such stitches... but begrudgingly, I must admit that the result is well worth the trouble. Blocked, it became the drapiest, most beautiful piece of fabric I've ever created.

By the time I got to the sleeves, I was running dangerously low on yarn. Instead of the big puffy sleeves in the pattern, I went instead with capped sleeves finished with eyelets through which I put an elastic ribbon. These were achieved by picking up the same number of stitches as in the pattern and doing the same short-row shaping without the increases between the short rows. I also only had 32 stitches between the short rows. After knitting the edging around the neck and the button band, I had 0.4 grams of the yarn left, so it's probably a good thing that I didn't go any farther with the sleeves.

My one small regret is that I didn't quite make the upper portion of the cardigan long enough. I was hoping that I'd be able to use it to modestly cover my bosom when wearing a low-cut dress, but in order to have the ribbon go under my bust, I have to rearrange my bust so that there's major cleavage going on. Oh well, it's a flaw I can live with. Everything else about the cardigan I love... The buttons are perfect, I adore the capped sleeves and that lace... oh that lace...