Flowering trees

I think that my favourite thing about spring and early summer, besides all the plant live reviving, is the flowering trees. In Toronto, they're particularly lovely (I find), and there are several species I'd never even seen in the Townships. A couple of weeks ago (I know, I'm slow), my boyfriend asked me to take some pictures of the flowering trees around UofT campus so he could send them to his grandmother. Here are a few of my favourites (I took over 40!):

I have awesome friends

Well, at least one friend, and by awesome, I mean super artistically talented. My buddy Jori painted this picture of my band about a year ago, and she just gave it to me the other night.



I just love her style (you should also check out her website), and the image made me miss my old band. This is the picture she used as a reference. It was taken by my mom and photoshopped by me.



*Sigh!* I used to be such a rock star...

Works in Progress

Just because I haven't been blogging, doesn't mean I haven't been crafting. In fact, I've probably been crafting too much considering how much work I had, but I need something to keep me sane and to keep my fingers busy. I like crocheting or knitting during astronomy colloquia because I find that having to concentrate on two things at once prevents me from dozing off. It's also something to do on the bus... and since I spend an hour on public transportation every day, I need something to do to stave off the boredom.

Anyway, works in progress... I currently have three, two crocheted and one knitted. I started my second project from the Crochet Me book (can be seen in the bottom right corner of the second page of the preview here), after that circle rug (top right of same page) which might never get finished. It turns out making 60 single crochet circles is kind of boring, but I digress. I'm using that Rowan 4 ply (as mentioned in a previous post), and I'm liking the cotton with that pattern. I'm making it more summery, so it's not a full turtle neck, and the cotton yarn will make it more breathable. Here's where I am (I'm actually below the armpits now, but this is the last pic I took):



The other crochet project I'm working on is a puppy for my grandmother. I'm using that white fuzzy yarn that I just can't seem to get rid of, and it's still hard to crochet with (especially with a 3.5mm hook), but the result is starting to look good. My grandmother adores dogs, so hopefully she'll appreciate this one, whenever I get around to finishing it:



Finally, I'm also working on that blanket for my friend's soon-to-be-born baby, though at this point, the baby will probably be born before the blanket is finished. It's about half way there right now. I'm really liking this pattern. It's just lacy enough that it's not boring, but not so lacy that the stitch pattern is totally lost given the fluffiness of the yarn. Here it is so far... it's getting quite big!

Apology

Forgive me internet, for I have neglected my blog. I haven't written in a good two weeks with no real excuse. Sure I've been busy finishing up my first-year project, the culmination of about 6 months of (more or less) intense research, and I've was busy organizing the astronomy department's part of Science Rendezvous, but that's no excuse for the die-hard crafter! By the way, I totally spazzed out and forgot to take pictures at Science Rendezvous. It's probably for the best though... we had some crazy-ass weather, and the day was mostly miserable with poor attendance.

So, to make up for it, I have a whole camera full of pictures to post over the next couple of days. To keep you busy for the moment, here's a sketch of the professor in charge of my first-year project...



Edit (June 3, 2009): I've since been told that about 10,000 people showed up for Science Rendezvous. I guess it wasn't so poorly attended after all!

A new addition to the techno-family

I finally did it... I bought a cell phone! After living in Toronto for over 8 months, I realized that it's really a whole lot more convenient to have one, even if it's just to meet up with people. The real deal-breaker was that I was voluntold into being the organizer for the Astronomy department division of Science Rendezvous. I figured that if I'm going to have to be in a million places at once, people should be able to reach me wherever I am. So yeah... cell phone.

I bought it at the 7-eleven along with a phone card charged up with 100 minutes. I'm on the Speak Out plan, which is pretty convenient because the minutes don't run out for a year. So even if I find that I barely ever use my phone, I won't be losing money on minutes I don't use each month. The phone itself is a Nokia 1208, which was pretty much the cheapest one they had there. Look how shiny it is!



It can call and text. No fancy internet browsing or anything. It has a couple of games (Rapid Roll is really addictive), a calculator, a converter, an alarm clock and a calendar... all pretty basic. My favourite feature is the flashlight:



I can definitely see that coming in handy, especially for public tours!

Silly sleep mask

A few weeks ago, I made this sleep mask for my boyfriend based on Velvet Oblivion from Knitty, modifying it a bit so that it doesn't look so girly. (The boyfriend says it looks sort of like a fruity version of the mask those guys from Halo wear.) Instead of knitting a fluffy border around one layer of sleep mask, I knit two layers and put a piece of fabric between them to maximize the light blockage. Then, I crocheted the two pieces together and knit a strap in garter stitch. The result is a much more manly sleep mask.

Anyway, a little while ago, I asked the boyfriend if he'd model it for me so I could take a picture for my blog, and he refused, so I asked him to take a picture of me wearing it. The following hilarity ensued:



Apparently I can't keep a straight face when someone is taking a picture of me blindfolded.

Skulls on the brain

I'm not the most fashion-savvy person, but I have noticed that skulls are pretty prevalent these days. Three of the knitting books I own have toques with a skull and crossbones design, and one of my crochet books has a pattern for a skull applique, in fact, the same one I used for my off-the-shoulder top. Maybe it's the revival of interest in pirates (with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), or maybe skulls have a badass esthetic that everyone wants to get behind. At any rate, I've been seeing skulls everywhere... even on my wall...



Turns out it's just the reflection of our coffee table on the wall with a few strategically placed remote controls, but it was still pretty cool.

And for good measure, here's what happened to the skull applique from my sweater after I unravelled it (the sweater, not the applique):