So guess what! I got a new toy.. and you all probably expected me to end up with it eventually. That's right, it's an iPhone. Thanks to my mom finally getting fed up with Sprint and no other carrier having a decent phone or reception in San Jose, I used my tax return to get a new toy. I've been eye-balling them since they came out and now that I finally have one, I'm glad I got it. It's a powerful computer, not just a phone, iPod, Internet browser and calendar. It's an Apache server, SSH access point, calculator, Javascript editor, Nintendo game system, alarm clock, and chess game. It's pretty much my go-to system now. Not to mention I hacked it to make it half of those things.

One of the nice things about my hacks is that I can take screenshots.. so here we go. First off I modified the screen to have custom icons.. and then installed a ton more apps. It's pretty easy to find free apps out there, you just have to be sure not to get incomplete or extremely badly built stuff. The cool thing is that it's making me want to build my own apps. We'll see what happens there.

Check out all my pretty applications!

Crafty Wilds

So I think one of the reasons I haven't posted in here in such a long time is because I was trying to make myself post something I was kinda bored of. What I've really been wanting to post for the last few weeks is all about the crafting I've been doing! That's right folks, I've gone crafting crazzzy. Mainly knitting.. but I've been indulging in a few other crafts. This semester has most definitely been more about relaxing and exploring my creative talents outside of the academic world.

I started knitting in the summer of 2006, thanks to Gail (and Ed). Gail had started knitting with the instruction of one of her friends and passed that knowledge onto me when I came to visit. I pretty much finished my first scarf the weekend I spent with them (my mom wears it proudly now, as seen blurrily here). I was addicted! I think by Christmas 06 I had gotten to the point where I could make a scarf that didn't have some sort of hour glass shape to it, but after Christmas school picked up and I didn't have the time. Then one day in Target I noticed a "Knitting for Dummies" pocket book in the $1 bin and grabbed it. Within a weekend, I was hooked again. Sadly I don't have pics of the few scarves after my first, but I do have pics of the ones I'm working on. I like to gift most, if not all of the stuff I make because honestly, I have too much junk. I'm trying really hard to slim down all my belongings to something more manageable for my move out to Cali. I've been selling/giving away a lot (yay for craigslist).

I guess I'll just show off my projects now... cause I'm soooo in love with showing them off.

This is a binary scarf I knitted for a friend in Rhode Island. I actually ended up folding it in half (length-wise) so that it was doubly thick and not 12 inches wide. I encoded a message into it, but I'm not letting any of you read it.

This is my stack of yarn as of two weeks ago. It's been added to a bit since then, and reduced a little. I had the pleasure of learning how to wind my own balls after Abby discovered she liked yarn. She's managed to great some fantastic knots with 6 skeins so far.. which means I've gotten to wind 6 balls. I think the balls a little better than the way the yarn comes from the store, just because it looks cute & doesn't take up as much space. They're all center-pull, too ;)

Abby's new found love of yarn gave me an idea to make her a toy that she can shred to pieces and not get in trouble for. It took me a few days to finish the ball, but that's mainly because I worked on it only for about an hour at a time. The pattern can be found here. I stuffed it with some plastic bag scraps (I'll get into that later) that I have, a plastic Easter egg with a bell inside, and a bit of cat nip. It took her awhile to get into it, but I caught her carrying it around and wrestling with it a few hours ago. I'm not sure where it is right now to get a better pic of it, she rolled it out of the room a little while ago.

This is actually the second of this kind of scarf. It was the first pattern that I ever just made up, and the first time I had done more than just a solid row of knits or purls. I gifted the original to a friend in Montreal (who loved it, by the way) and I was telling mom about how I almost didn't give it up because I loved it so much. I pointed out the brand of yarn I used to make it and she liked it so much, she asked me to make one for her. I'm making this one a little wider than the last one, but still just as awesome.

This scarf has taken me literally all semester to get done, and I'm still a ways off. It's Besotted scarf that I found the pattern for a modified to be a bit.. cooler. I've only really knitted it in my Tuesday & Thursday clases and I don't really have the urge to work on it anymore right now. Abby's tore into it three times now and this last time she really went to town. It'd probably take me an hour to just get it all back together, so I'm focusing on other projects right now.

I actually started this one sometime last summer, I think, but Abby hid the other needle from me in the middle of the night, so it's gone sitting unloved for almost a year. I finally got a new set of needles in the correct size, so I can finish this puppy anytime. It's gray and blue stripped garter stitch, and super soft. The only reason I haven't finished it yet is because I don't know who I'd give it to. If anyone wants it, shoot me an email.

Not only am I knitting, I'm also recycling! I fell in love with using plastic bags for crafts, mainly melting layers together into a fabric. My first attempt I ended up melting the plastic for too long and only got one chunk of good material. I sewed it into bags, which I gifted the scarves in. My next project was a needle holder, which I love! It holds all my knitting and crochet stuff and the best part is, because it's plastic I can write on it with dry-erase markers for stitch notes!

I still had my first sheet of plastic that I melted too long and it turned into a hard vinyl-like material, and Tim was always complaining that I never had my money with me, so I turned it into card wallets. The urge struck me randomly last night so I made one and then after using it today, figure out ways to improve it. Tim liked it so much he asked for one, so now I've made three! They're super simple and take only 10 minutes or so (once you already have the plastic material). I used clear packing tape to hold it together, and to create a clear pocket on the front for IDs. There's a tab on the inside that when you pull, lifts up some or all of your cards so it's easier to get them out. I also put a flap on it so that nothing falls out. The best part about these is that I could cut out the plastic just right to get designs on the back.

I have enough material for one more, maybe two. Just let me know if you'd like one. I absolutely love mine. It's great because I never liked wallets because of their ability to gather trash and a ton of change/receipts. This way I know I only have room for my cards and maybe a bill or two, and I don't have to worry about losing one (just about losing them all, lol).

Alright.. I'm exhausted and want to knit some wrist warmers for my hold hands.. so I'm wrapping this up. I'll post pics of the Goomba hat I made later. If you'd like patterns for anything, just let me know and I'll write them up or go digging for them.

Love, Peace, and Green Tea is Yummy,
Tar

Not a real post

I know I said I'd be keeping up with blog posts and I'm trying, really I am. This email is about something else, so much more important right now though. It's about technology and the classroom, and the students of today's educational system. The video is a little long.. but well worth it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=related

Tar