Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Daleks and fauxhawk!

I was able to go to my friend's house this weekend and STILL got a lot of knitting done. I finished the red, movie based Dalek for J_ over the weekend.



She looks great and has already been sent along her way to her new home across the pond...I hope she gets there safely.

I also got most of the knitting done on the SDSU fauxhawk hat for A_. I had a couple false starts with reading my own chart (dumbass alert!), but I had it worked out fairly quickly. Just one more earflap and I am done! Then the fun of cutting the strands for the fauxhawk itself begins. I am absolutely THRILLED with how it has turned out and I think it will ROCK after it is felted!



Tonight I finished Terry, the new series Dalek, named after Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks. I LURVE the way this Dalek has come out, he looks JUST like the ones on the show! He is rockin' OUT! I will probably put him in the mail tomorrow and he too will be making his trip across the pond.



I have taken to putting toothpicks inside the eyestalk and plunger arm. It has really helped with the Daleks', um, erectile disfunction.

Right now, I have made the appendages, and stuffed the pink Dalek and I am in the process of knitting the base...I have I feeling I will finish her up tomorrow.

People are majorly digging my Daleks and I have a motherload of requests for more of them. So sit back and get comfortable...you are going to see a LOT of these guys in the near future!

Daily David:

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Schtuff

Went to the dentist today and got my teeth cleaned for the first time in about 2 1/2 years...they feel so slick and nice...thanks Miss Barbara! There was a major league baseball player there when I left. Of course me being such a HUGE baseball fan (NOT), I had no idea who the dude was, I had to look him up on the internet when I got home. Here he is:

His name is Dave Roberts and he plays for the San Francisco Giants? I don't know, he was very nice to all the ladies who flitted around him in the lobby, including two ladies from the dentist next door. Of course if it was David Tennant or Martin Gore I would've been beside myself, so I guess I can't say anything.

I finished the body of the pink dalek last night and I think she looks beautiful:

Um apparently there is now a problem with picture uploads on Blogger right now...I will add photos later today if I can.

I went to Michael's yesterday and bought the poly-fil stuffing to complete the red and bronze daleks I made earlier.

I was told by the soon-to-be-adoptive-mother of my red Dalek, that is in fact, a girl and she is going to name her Verity. I thought that was so awesome I had to share. Verity Lambert was the first producer of Doctor Who in the 1960s...she was one of the youngest and maybe the first female producer at the BBC. To me, Verity is the reason the show took off and has lasted through time...approving the creation of my favorite Doctor Who baddies, the Daleks! Verity Lambert, who died last year:



I hope to have Verity Dalek finished and off to her new home in the UK by the end of the week.

And here is where I would place my "Daily David" picture:


Like I said, by the end of the day I hope to have added the photos!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

I got better...

I just wanted to share...I tasted food today! For the first time in MANY days, I actually tasted (somewhat) the food I ate this afternoon for lunch. HEY, it's the little things in life. And I also think my symptoms are less severe.

Been working on the pink/black Dalek the past few days...though not doing a whole lot. IF my health at least holds at this level, I will got to Michael's tomorrow and buy a big ole bag of stuffing to stuff and complete the other two daleks I am almost done with. I should also be able to make it to band practice Monday night and maybe re-schedule my teeth cleaning for some time next week. My teeth are totally SKANK!

Here's today's Daily David:


I am off for a nap as I am feeling tired...

Friday, April 18, 2008

Flak

So I have been getting flak about not responding to peoples' comments on my blog. I don't know why I don't respond, it isn't that I don't appreciate what people write. I guess I just didn't really think that people might want to come back and read my response to a comment...and a number of the people who read this blog I see and talk to in person. Anyway, I realized, HEY I like reading responses to comments in other people's blogs, so I should do it. From right...NOW...I will respond to people's comments in my blog.

Knitting update:

Began the pink/black Dalek today, but didn't get much done because...

Health update:

Woke up with horrible coughing this morning, pretty much uncontrolable until I got some cough syrup in me. I was lucky to get a hold of my doctor to get a refill on cough syrup in case I were to run out this weekend. With the combination of decongestant/expectorant/cough syrup I have been able to function this afternoon and night. My voice is totally trashed, you can ask my mom, I don't think she would have recognized me today without caller ID.

My goal is to be healthy enough to go to band practice Monday night. I really don't want to miss two practices in a row AND the lack of social contact is making me squirrelly and way to dependant on the internet for human contact.

And here is something new for my blog and has nothing to do with knitting or yarn...simply because I want to, and it's my blog and I am not trying to take credit for any of these photos...

DAILY DAVID:


Thank you...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Not like Christmas

So I am sick, but unlike at Christmas, I am not too sick to knit. I have been knitting away at my Dalek commissions. Here are the shells of two of them:




I still need to stuff them and knit the bases closed. Of course I need the stuffing to do that and I be too sick to go to the store. Maybe by Monday?

Went to the doctor on Tues and got me some good meds this time. Killer cough syrup, and luckily the coughing stopped last night, but now my sinuses and ear tubes are totally congested. I am paranoid this will turn into an ear infection at, oh, about 5pm Friday night.

Yes, my knitting friends, I am afraid I will need to stay in hybernation on Friday and Saturday...no knitting groups for me. There is NO way I want to pass this along to anyone!

I am ready to start the SDSU fauxhawk and the third Dalek...we shall see.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Adipose

I finished my newest little Doctor Who creature:



He is cute, but not as cute as the one in the pattern. Oh well..

Haven't been doing much knitting in the past couple days...why? Because I am sick, AGAIN...it feels like the same bronchitis crap I had over Christmas...HOORAY...I just sit on the couch and watch TV and nap all day. I can not beleive I am sick, AGAIN, I am assuming my ammune system took a hit with me having to be up and with it the past two weeks trying to get into grad school and now I have crashed?

At least I went to the store yesterday to prepare for hybernation. I will probably miss knitting this Friday and Saturday :(

Friday, April 11, 2008

Need I say more?

Real Life Update:

Went to the group meeting today for the Counseling program...I can honestly say it went fabulously, especially when I got this e-mail tonight:

Greetings and Congratulations!

After careful consideration, the faculty of the University of San Diego Counseling Program is pleased to inform you that you have been admitted into the Clinical Mental Health.Counseling Specialization


YEAH baby, who's your student?!?!?!

Yarn Davros Returns!

I have begun making the Daleks for the people on Outpost Gallifrey who want them. This is the first one I have started. Now I need to make the appendages, stuff him and sew him up! I think the colors look great!



Still kinda working on the wrist warmers. And I have a new Doctor Who related knitting project to make. I want to make some Adipose, one for me and one for L_.
The Adipose is a cute little alien from the most recent episode of Doctor Who. They look like this:



The knitted ones look like this:



Are they not the cutest? Do they not cry out to be made?

Real Life Update:

I went to a group interview at the University of San Diego for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. It went REALLY well, I think. I feel like I engaged with the professors in a good way, they knew my name by the end of the day. There are about 30 people being considered for the program and they are looking to take between 15 and 17 people. I did the best I possibly could and I feel like if I do not get a position in the program, it was not anything I did or did not do.

We should find out yes or no by the end of next week...so keep your fingers crossed!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Looky What I Done



Do I really need to say more about these scarves? You are probably as tired of hearing about them I was of making them. But they are done!

My design for the SDSU fauxhawk hat has also been accepted!

Here is the logo:



Here is my chart to make the hat:



I have to admit I am surprised at how well it has turned out. I think it will make a cool fauxhawk!

So here is the plan...I want to finish my first Circle sock, complete the second wristwarmer and then get started on the first dalek and the fauxhawk while completing the second sock...yeah I like to have a lot of stuff going on at once.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Warmers and Words

Guess what I finished today?



OK, not both, but I finished the first one...my first thumb gusset...and I think it looks pretty fab! Sadly, I am uninterested in doing the second one right now...I have so many other projects hovering.

I have now been commissioned to make another fauxhawk based on the one in my profile picture. This one will be for a knitting bud's husband for him to wear to the San Diego State University football games. So I will be trying to do version of this logo on the side of the fauxhawk. Something like this:



As per request from the ladies I knit with, I am going to post the personal statement I sent along with my application for graduate school. If you find any grammatical or spelling errors, PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME, I don't want to know. Here it is:

I never thought that I would make a career change. The field of archaeology has interested me since I saw the first Indiana Jones movie at the age of nine. I pursued a career in archaeology, through college and graduate school, receiving my Master’s degree in Anthropology in 1998. Since that time, I have enjoyed my work as an archaeologist, however the fluctuations in the job market and the constant moving to new job sites have taken their toll. I decided in January that I would put my career in archaeology behind me and look for a new career path. This decision led me to seek the help of a career counselor.
The search for a new career was not going well on my own. I went to so many headhunting websites and job fairs all in an effort to find my next career and nothing was successful. Soon I determined I would not be able to discover that new career without someone to help me and I decided to go to a career counselor.
The career counselor was able to focus me on my interests, personality type and beliefs. She was so supportive in guiding me toward a new career path that would truly fit me. My interests in helping others through the medical field, therapy or counseling was a reoccurring theme, not only in the personality and interest tests, but also in the discussions I had with the career counselor.
My career counselor, Juanita, had me research for a possible career that would stem from my interests in anthropology. In my investigations, career counseling came up on a list of professions I could pursue. I was so inspired by the help and guidance my career counselor gave me, I decided career counseling was the path I wanted to take to help others.
In my discussions with the career counselor, I was surprised to learn that so many people do change their careers. I understand, after having gone through the process myself, what a hard transition it is to take on a career change alone. The challenges and roadblocks of finding a career path can be very overwhelming and discouraging. I want to be able to guide people through this transition and give them the confidence to start in a career path they will be happy with for years to come.


Crap or new graduate student?

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Knitting and my future

OK, briefly, in the knitting world:

Here is the beginning of my Rose Wrist Warmers:



Like the Jaywalker socks, this isn't exactly the rocket science of the knitting world, but MAN am I making mistakes. I'll blame it on the fact that I am working from a chart, yeah...that's why I am messing it up. Couldn't POSSIBLY be that I am distracted at all.

STILL need to put the tassles on those lame ass Harry Potter scarves. When that is finished, I promise to post a "group" picture of them....but I have been kinda busy this week with real life...

Real Life Update:

You know I don't like real life on my knitting blog, but this is big so I am sharing.

I was so disheartened on Monday about my possible future career, I e-mailed my career counselor and she got me in the next day. We went over the second work related test. On both tests the profession of speech pathology ranked very high as well as several types of therapists.

Speech pathology, occupational therapist and career counselor ranked the highest in my personal interests. I have been so inspired by my career counselor and what she has done for me. I had talked to her about it on Tuesday and it looked like the only university in the area I could major in counseling was closing it's career counseling tract. I was bummed and went away thinking that Speech Pathology would be the way I would go. But since my career counselor got her degree at that university (University of San Diego), she said she would contact her former advisor to see what was up.

I went home happy in the knowledge I would be persuing a career in speech pathology. I was disappointed with the prospect that I had missed the cut-off to have my application in for the Fall of 2008 and might not be able to start in speech pathology until the Fall of 2009. I didn't know how I was going to pull it off, but my career counselor told me before I left on Tuesday...if it is meant to happen it will...

Today...I got a call and an e-mail from my career counselor today. She told me the program had simply been changed and renamed. She also told me the cut-off date to apply was YESTERDAY, however, they would be willing to work with me and allow me to squeeze in my application by Monday. I later talked to the advisor and she encouraged me to apply ASAP to still be able to get into the program, as early as this summer.

OK, does this not seem like a sign to you? It does to me! I am going for it. I have spent today scrambling to fill out the application, request recommendations, pay the application fee and order my transcripts. Tomorrow I will tackle the "personal statement" and submit that puppy.

I don't know how I am going to get the money. The deadline for the student loan was yesterday, too. But right now, I am flying by the seat of my pants and going with the "if it is meant to be it will happen" thing.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!