Mars, the Phoenix, and knitting grocery bags

It is so hot already in Houston. Even now, at 9:35 p.m. it's still 81 degrees F and humid! Last night the thermostat upstairs didn't get switched to night mode, and I woke up hot and cranky at 2 am this morning. After getting a cold drink and lowering the thermostat, I came back to bed and began looking for something to lull me back to sleep. I saw that the Science Channel had a live special on the Mars Phoenix Lander, so I tuned in. Now I knew that I wouldn't be going back to sleep for a while. Oh well. It's a holiday today. :)

I knew landing time was approaching, but I'd forgotten about the day that it was happening so my luck was good in catching it. I got my latest project from the bag beside the bed and started knitting. The thought occurred to me that it was suiting that I was watching humans endeavor to look for life on a "dead" planet while doing something environmentally conscious to protect my home planet. Cool, huh? I'm using a large cone of cotton yarn to knit market bags. The grocery stores are selling bags, but mine will be pretty and functional... not to mention cheaper! I could feel the excitement of the scientists and engineers as they waited for confirmation of parachute deployment, heat shield jettison, and descent rocket firing. I shared their cheers of excitement as they received confirmation of a successful landing. I'm very optimistic about the mission finding some proof of microbial life once on Mars. If there's any place to find it, the Martian arctic is it.

I have received confirmation of my registration for World Wide Knitting in Public day. Houston knitters are gathering at NorthWest Mall on June 14, 2008. I plan on being there. I'll have my Ravelry name on my project bag, so that others who know me by "physicschick" will know that it's me. I've been toying with the idea of starting a summer knitting circle. I don't know if I could find enough people who are interested in the area. I'll see and post on progress.

3 more days of school!! Yippeeee! I look forward to summers, but I also look forward to the beginning of a new year. I DO need the break now. Got a lot to catch up on. :)

Oh, the therapy of knitting...

Yarn is my yoga. Knitting, my meditation. So finishing a project in the middle of a much needed therapy session is a bit of sweet sorrow. As I searched for another way to continue my meditation, I contemplate the unspeakable ways that I use knitting to calm and focus myself.

Everyone needs a way to get away. The rhythmic clicking of the needles... the luscious softness of the yarn... the beautiful colors... they all melt away the tension that daily stress brings. I find myself sticking to simple patterns when my stress level is low, but when I really can't stop thinking about work or family issues, I choose something that challenges me. Cables... lace... anything that forces me to focus on the task at hand.

We fool ourselves into thinking that we can multi-task. Actually brain research shows that humans cannot "multi-task," but we really just switch back and forth rapidly. This is definitely not a good idea when learning to cable or knit lace. ha ha!

Now, I finished tonight a baby blanket that turned out really well. It is simple. stockinette all the way. I used the random stripe generator to come up w/ the pattern:

I used the random stripe generator until I got a pattern that appealed to me. Here is the 100 line pattern. I actually did all 100 and repeated the skinny stripes again.

With larger (size 8) needles, CO 100 in 1st color.

In stockinette, here are the row repeats:
3 of maroon
3 of gray
3 of maroon
3 of white
3 of gray
1 of maroon
8 of white
3 of gray
1 of maroon
8 of white
2 of maroon
13 of white
5 of gray
5 of white
5 of maroon
21 of gray
8 of white
21 of maroon

Change to smaller needle (size 7) and maroon yarn. knit along top edge, K1FB at corner. Pick up and knit stitches along side. K1FB at corner. Pick up and knit along bottom edge. K1FB at corner. Pick up and knit stitches along side. K1FB at corner and join. Work 5 rounds in garter stitch, increasing as before on each knit row at corners. Bind off.

note: in case you noticed, yes the number repeats on the rows are Fibonacci numbers. Ok, so I really am a nerd. LOL