Sara Jane Knits

A very happy Whovian

2009-06-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me.
Very happy,
Very Whovian.

Can I start off by saying that Jenny is a WONDERFUL friend! She let me borrow her Netflix while she's gone to Haiwaii, and this thing is freaking addictive! I discovered the "Watch Instantly" tab on the website, and I've been watching non-stop classic era (1970's Tom Baker) Doctor Who. The special effects are... well, 70's quality but all the more enjoyable, especially the way the script and actors work with it.
And I made a stop at the comic book store she told me about ages ago, Wonderworld, and the small but great section of Doctor Who. Got an odd Ood figurine, two comic books I had been dying to find, and a third comic book with some great looking artwork on the cover. (Can I just say how much trouble I'm in? Turns out there's a TCF Bank right across the street from Wonderworld! There goes the savings funds! EEP!)
AND I spotted the cast-list for Tennant's finale, the two-parter coming up around Christmas. It's amazing! They are bringing absolutely everyone back! Plus Wilf gets a major part as the Doctor's companion, glad to be seeing more of him!

Other than that, work has been REALLY busy! I worked until 11 last night, planned to start closing S.F. at 8:30 and start working stock around 10 (there wasn't much to work). I got stuck with the non-stop angry customers and couldn't start on S.F. until 9:30! So much for planning!

Knitting, it's been a long battle. I keep starting big projects and loosing interest half-way through and starting more big projects! Though, I FINALLY got to fix a big hole in my Doctor Who scarf, which is always a delight to work on. I plan on starting another scarf (or two) so that I got a collection, one of each version. I got two out of four now.

Well, I'm off to watch more Tom Baker. Ciao for now!

Sara Jane

New Spring Classes!

2009-05-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, let's just say it's interesting.

Starting the day off with Philosophy at 9 am on a Monday morning is fun enough. The teacher wasn't prepared, the class is three hours long, and we talked about nothing but religion.
Now, I took this class as a challenge. I wanted to see what the teacher had to say, because my friend J., who's also taking the class, told me that the teacher was open minded and a good teacher. We started with rules of logic and three statements that prove God exists and one that proves that he doesn't.
The first statement:

"God is perfect, therefore he has a physical existence." Since he is perfect, he fulfills a physical form as part of his perfection. If he is not perfect, he is not God. If he does not have a physical form, he is not perfect in the mind of atheists.

After this, a girl in front of me popped up her hand, asking about Jesus and how he is a part of this. The teacher had a heart attack and started talking about "no bias" despite the obsessive use of the word "He".

But I had to argue. I waited after class for a few minutes, waiting for the teacher as he tried to hush the girl that was still arguing about Jesus. I tried not to listen. He turned to me with a frantic look.
"I have another class soon and have to go, do you have a relatively short question?" He looked afraid and scattered.
So I asked, "What about Polytheism?"
"That's the belief in many Gods..." he gave me a dumb-founded look.
"I know that."
"Well, that is impossible. Since there are more than one, they have competition. Therefore, they are not perfect. There can only be one champion, right?" He looked at me like a kindergarten teacher looking at a misbehaving child.
"Right, but..."
"So there can only be one God that exists..."
I walked out of the room, shouting over my shoulder as he rambled on senselessly. "Whatever you choose to believe in." I said.

An hour later I walked into the Biomedical Technology Center, a large pristine building. Five minutes into the class, the teacher walks in and hands out the paperwork for a lawsuit. After reading the interesting drunk-driving case, he told us "I don't expect you to know any of these answers, I hope you that you don't in fact." He picked on the girl sitting in front of me, who was taking quite a few classes. Safran asked about the difference between Civil and Criminal suits, different appeals of the court and such. I sat behind the girl, bouncing up and down like a little kid with my hand in the air half the time. Managed to get a lot done and I learned a lot in the first day! It was amazing!

So, from a three-hour philosophy class to the one hour law class. It's interesting.
Sorry, needed to rant. Big day.

Sara Jane has fallen off the grid...

2009-05-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, back in for a swing-by post. No pictures to share, sadly enough. But I will keep it relatively brief since no one's listening anywho.

Work is consuming right now. Ugh, I can't do this all summer.
Taking two classes in Summer semester, an Intro to Philosophy class and a Business Law class. Those two ought to be interesting one after another in the morning... At least the Philosophy teacher should get a laugh out of me. I'm a walking contradiction.
Ra Ra Riot has become addictive. Two guitarists, a drummer, a cello, a violin, and a singer. Check them out on YouTube.
Knitting has become overwhelming. Nothing I'm working on has been able to hold my interest, so I start a new project. This is a recipe for DISASTER.
Currently on the needles, we have:
Ophelia Sweater
The Rose Lace Shawl
Wings of Horus Lace Shawl
Arabesque Lace Scarf
Reusable Grocery Bag
Four hat/scarves in various stages of design progress and completion
and that's just the stuff that hasn't fallen to the bottom of the stash bin.

I've tried cooking more lately, having a lot of interesting experiments. So far, the Penne Con Broccoli and the Marinated Tofu Skewers have gone over wonderfully, but I nearly set the kitchen on fire just a few hours past, didn't realize I had to watch olive oil heating in a pan for stir-fry so closely. Ruined a good number of ads sitting by the stove, however, but no smoke yet.

And I'm STILL trying to make it through Much Ado About Nothing. This play was addictive at first, but after school and work and knitting and cooking, it's fallen to the bottom of the bag, quite literally as a matter of fact. Sad, really.

That's all I guess, not much going on over this way. Just busy, busy busy.

I think opening day for that shop is getting nearer and nearer... It's creeping up on me.

Trying to update...

2009-04-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been hectic around here lately. This week in particular. I've managed to hook up the old computer to get something running after my laptop took a bit of a dive. It should be up and working fine once I get it to the repair shop, but they've decided to take a holiday until Thursday...

So far, this week has been crazy. Two major papers were due Monday and Tuesday, one of them was a 18+ page business plan that was a barrel of monkeys to finish... There's a presentation on that Thursday, a group presentation (where the rest of the group has done NO work what so ever!) on next Tuesday, I get a take-home final this Thursday and next week is all FINALS! Argh!
Work is no better, but it's a job at least. I just don't understand. One of the supervisors in meat department that I seem to get stuck with, he doesn't want me to leave seafood at all. This doesn't work when the only thing my seafood manager has told me that I need to improve is straightening the meat counter. I CAN'T straighten the shelves on the meat counter if they won't let me! That supervisor in meat yells at me consistently, even if I leave Seafood for five seconds...

At least school is over after next week, there's next to nothing listed for summer classes so I'm not taking/ can't take anything I need this summer. Unfortunately, this will mean more time at the stressful job... I'd be fine if they told me what they want me to do!

As for knitting... It's a madhouse. I've started several projects over the past week and nothing seems to be holding my intrest. Among the list of To Do's are:
-Rose of England (Still working on it, yes.)
-Ophelia Summer Sweater
-Gold-Nugget Scarf for a friend
-Wings of Horus Knitting Game
-Arabesque Scarf
-Sing Again Hat
-Several more hats/scarves plotted for winter...
And that's just what I'm actively trying to work on, don't get me started on what's hiding in the stash.

This past Saturday was exciting though... Went on a whirl-wind trip to Lansing with my friend Justin. We got stuck in traffic, had several minor car troubles along the way, laughed like crazy, went to a few fashion stores and Threadbear. We ended the day with dinner at a sushi bar/ hibachi grill before heading over to the Breslin Center at MSU. I managed to get tickets for Death Cab for Cutie that night, 6th row floor seats! It was amazing! (I managed to get a whole new wardrobe at the merch table!)

Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone reads this at all. I'm no good at updating this, but there's never any comments to see if anyone reads this....

Well, off to another day! Wish me luck this next week, I'm going to need it. Desperately.

I'm REALLY starting to hate Christians

2009-03-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

[start process="rant"]

I've heard this before and I'll state it again,

"It's not God I dislike, it's His Christians I have a problem with."

Christian Skit, "Sheep's Clothing Store" (Link)

I happened upon this while working on my business project (Brainstorming for store ideas), and it just ROYALLY ticked me off! Seriously!

Summary---
It's a skit, from what I understand it is directed at regular Christians and it is designed as part of a Sunday school class.
The setup is that a store, Sheep's Clothing, was opened recently by a Mr. Wolfe. Customer #1 (Alan) wanders into the new store, browses along, and overhears various conversations. Customer #2 walks in, telling Mr. Wolfe that she wants to date a Christian boy, a regular church-goer. They laugh and joke about how she is going to "snared the unsuspecting young fellow".
They contune to look at the merchandise, and he gives the woman a leather-bound bible and a golden cross necklace.

"Customer #2: Oooh, now this looks religious. (Opening the Bible.) Hey, this Bible is blank. There's nothing in it but empty pages!
Mr. Wolfe: Well, of course, it's only for appearances sake. No need to make it heavier with all that ink!
Customer #2: That makes sense. It's not like I'd actually want to read it or anything.
Mr. Wolfe: Of course not. Who would?"

"Customer #2: It's lovely! I do notice a lot of people wearing them lately, even rock stars and rap artists.
Mr. Wolfe: Oh, yes, we supply most of them that you see on television."
They talk more about famous televangelists, shopping at the store with money "fleeced from their TV flocks"

"Mr Wolfe: The only other way to look like a Christian is to actually become one, and that's a bit extreme, don't you think?"
Customer #2: That's true. And if I play my cards right, he'll be paying for it soon anyway! (She laughs.)"

"Customer #1 [Alan]: (Curiously.) What other types of people shop here, besides those wanting to marry a good Christian without being one?
Mr. Wolfe: . . . Some shop here with the express purpose of infiltrating a local church with the intent of corrupting it. But most just want to fit in with the "right crowd," for the wrong reasons. For example, the business man who wants to have the respect of the community and church, but isn't willing to give up the little extra "bonuses" he treats himself to on business trips! Then there are those that make a living in the Christian world, but don't want to live the life that true Christianity demands of them. . . ."

The skit proceeds, and Alan mentions that he is a Christian who was not sure of his commitment before, but says that he plans to attend church more often. Mr. Wolfe locks the door, talking about how Alan might leak information about the truth behind Sheep's Clothing and asks Alan if he would like to join him for a "bite to eat in the other room."
At this point, a man named Mr. Shepherd breaks into the store, opening the door for Alan to leave. Mr. Shepherd talks to Mr. Wolfe about how he will shut down Sheep's Clothing for good one day.
The skit ends with Mr. Wolfe talking to himself about redoubling his efforts and his wicked laugh.

----------------------------------------

Rant---
Just because some of us are not Christian, it does NOT mean that we are pissy, vindictive sinners on a quest to corrupt the Christian faith by trying to marry, rob, and/or convert good people, who happen to be Christians, into bloody bastards!

Okay, so I'm a bit pissy now, but to you blame me? That skit is insulting!
I have never met a Christian and had ANY intent to harm or "fleece" them.
And I'd like to think at least that I'm not seen as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing" either! Certainly not in the way they seem to be describing me in this skit!

It's because of skits and perceptions like this that I feel isolated. I had told Matt (awful Christian) before that I felt like I had a target on my back because of my faith. He said that I "felt that way because [I was] feeling guilty for straying from God."
True, those were his EXACT words.

I'm starting to really like the color purple, one of the many things it stands for is Religious Tolerance. There are several other more important reasons, but I'm still starting to like it more and more every day.

[/rant]

2009-02-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Ugh, so I'm not good at keeping this up. Ah well.
Things are still busy here, class and (trying to) work. Not to mention knitting (or trying to). Plus, I'm not good at these big post type-a-dealies.
Off of school this week, thank goodness! My buddy Sonya's off work this week now, so that means a lot of knitting time, can't wait!
The Rose is going well, I'm about 1/3 done with what I want to add on, but the rounds are still getting bigger as time goes on. About to start a Clapotis soon, can't wait! :D

Anyways, there's a point here, kinda.
Had a weird dream last night. I was sitting infront of the laptop, watching youtube videos and happened across a preview for the next season of Doctor Who. Anyways, I thought about it and it's kinda scary considering the characters. I'm thinking of turning it into a plot and fiddling around with it, but that's not taking into account the two major flaws I have as a writer, which are,
a) Plot feasability
b) Character development (or anything to do with characters, much less established ones)

Regardless, here's what I got so far...

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Never ending darkness.

Lights flickered on in the corners, slowly humming into life. They buzzed and hummed loudly, clicking unevenly every few moments. They stood at the edges of a large, industrialized building with concrete walls. Void of windows, save for those near the top to vent the machines that were long since past. Moisture seeped inside, and the screeches of rats and cockroaches haunted the desolate building. Spider webs glistened in the light of the improvisation industry lights. The beams were focused on the center of the room, where a handful of people were set.
A few sparse body guards, heavily armed, stood before the doors. In the center sat a man who was bound and gagged to a steel chair, his arms locked to a bar across his shoulders, attached to a loose chain that was secured to the floor. The lights shined across the containment field around the chair. Stepping out of the shadows, a woman paced in front of the beaten man in a suit.
"Is something wrong today? You seem rather quiet..." she jested, disabling the field with a remote and ripping the gag from his mouth. He chocked and sputtered as she giggled. "Your ploys are useless here, you can't leave this place."
The man made no effort to move from his position as she walked back and forth in front of him. He seemed to lack the effort, or perhaps he just had the wisdom to know that violence was useless. He sat in the chair, an empty shell after the long days, the long months in the dark room.
"Stand now, Time Lord." The woman kicked the chair out from under him, causing him to fall to his knees. "We have a guest today..."
Wonder and horror spread across his face then. The woman had already paraded his friends before him, anyone she could get her grubby little hands on. They were all tortured and bruised, shown to him to try and persuade him to talk. He seemed unable to think of anyone that she could use against him now.
With a casual wave of her hand, the guards at the door before her moved aside. The one pressed a small button on the keypad at the door, and it started to rise.
The metal door cranked and whined as it rose, the pulls above it lifting the old door where any new machines would be pulled into the factory. The light outside was blinding in the dark room as three figures came into focus.
Three men walked in. The two on either end were similar in stature to the body guards, and held themselves in the same manner. One kicked the man in the middle, who was bound just like the man already in the center of the room. The three proceeded in, the middle man dragging his feet, barely able to keep in step as they came into clear sight.
"And so you meet once again," the woman said, her voice slipping into a sing-song tone and showing her pure glee in the moment. "The Doctor and the Master."

I'm thinking this can be quite scary. Someone that's risen to power, has the Doctor captive, and has brought back and/or managed to contain the Master?
It's probably too much of a stretch. Any opinions?

fiddles fingers

2009-02-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is kinda how I feel right now:

(Nicked from CAPSLOCK TARDIS, crazy community.)

Argh, I'm feeling like that today. What follows is a long, rambling post in which you only need to read the first two sentences in order to understand the three-foot long paragraph.

Swing dancing... Yeah. So the cute guy in my business on the web class handed me a flier for free swing dancing lessons on Friday. You must understand, this is the third cute guy even near my age to even smile at me in my entire life! The first dumped me after realizing I wouldn't put out after a month and the second talked to me all of twice before falling off the face of the earth. To be fair, there was that Matt bloke, but he's relatively crazy. Borderline even. I've had ten times that in creepy stalker old men.
Anywho, swing dancing. Interesting. Got lost, got there late. Cute guy was surprised to see that I showed up, probably less surprised to see that I sucked at dancing. But that was alright, he got me caught up on what I missed. :)
So the lessons went on. The girls kept moving down the line after each step, and I got three different creepy old men who each tried spinning me a different way. It was mostly old guys out with their wives, but a few were alone. Creeps. After the lessons they opened it up to open swing dancing. As usual, I sat in a dark, lonely corner while no one asked me to dance save for a few creepy old guys.
Cute guy asked me to dance, and man was he smooth. Rambled on a bit about being a mechanic and tripping over his own feet when he started dancing. He's a sweetie, honestly. I keep wanting to call cute guy Jason. Ahahaha. His name is Paul. *idiot me*
Two seconds after the song ended he said thanks and ran off to dance with yet another girl. Mr. Smooth danced with everyone. He waved goodbye mid-dance when I left. I think I'm getting mixed signals here. >< Any opinions?

Feeling kinda achy today and generally blah overall. Had a nice visit with Jenny, got stuck in TONS of traffic, and tried about ten different ways of lacing up my new shoes. Robin took me and Mom out to dinner, which was generally rubbish. Whenever I'm working or at school, they go to some fancy diner or cool new roadhouse that we've never been to. Whenever I'm home, we ALWAYS go to the same family diner. It's nice, and I love that he's taking us out to dinner, don't get me wrong. I'm in a rubbish mood as it is anywho, don't mind me.

Anyways. That's my rant for the day, sorry 'bout the length.

Making an effort...

2009-01-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm going to try and start updating this thing once a day... Okay, maybe once a week really. Things have been absolutely mad between school, (trying) to work and trying to maintain a social life, not to mention knitting. I've started spinning and leather tooling recently but I can't seem to keep it up like I have with knitting.
There are two projects sitting in my bag (the ones being worked on the most) which are the Baby Surprise Jacket and the Rose of England. The BSJ is really nice to work with, and the Rose takes me at least an hour to get around just once.
Just got done with a bag for my Egyptian tarot cards, using a few new simple techniques I came up with which are probably as old as time itself. I used an 'odd seed stitch' that I plotted for the bag which has probably been done before. So much for being crafty. :/
I just managed to nab two tickets for the Death Cab for Cutie concert in April as well. They're floor seats, sixth row. Now I just got to find someone for the other ticket... The Cold War Kids and the Ra Ra Riot are touring with DCFC if someone wants the ticket to see them.
Can't wait to sit and read more of The Tempest, just can't seem to find the time anymore.

See, this is why I don't post to blogs. I ramble on about everything and anything and by the time I get to the end I chicken out, convinced that no one cares about any of that. I certainly wouldn't read all of that if I were one of you lot.

long-due update

2008-09-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so what if I don't update constantly. sorry.

The rundown thus far:
- Still knitting
- Finished a shawl (Pictures and post soon)
- I've done more than just one shawl, btw.
- leaving the 13th for London for a week. The navigation will be fun.
- Working with fish sucks.
- School is fun (I'm that weird, I think that school is fun)

Will post more soon. (Including stuff about the pretty lace ravelympics shawl that wasn't credited :< )

(Image-linking idea borrowed from Marj, hope you don't mind.)

Why I shouldn't listen to Sara Jane,

2008-07-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

So, everyone has a person inside of them. Kinda like Jimminy Cricket. Mine happens to be a knitter named Sara Jane. She's a nice girl, with huge hopes and dreams. She's the one that nags me at 2 a.m. "If you stay up another hour, you can get that heel flap done, wouldn't that be nice?" She's the hopeful one at 3 a.m., "If you start now, you can felt those sandals and get everything done in one day!" She's the one that reasons with me and makes me throw out all experience and common sense. Why? Because I like to knit just as much as the crazed Sara Jane knitter inside of me.
However, hand felting wool sandals at 3 a.m. is not a good idea, and will result in sleep deprivation, anger, stress, and quite possibly, car accidents.
Nevertheless, I listen to her, and stay up till 6 a.m. felting the sandals because the new washing machine won't felt for anything.

Sara Jane is also the one that, once the first store-sample cuff-down sock has reached the heel flap and has become more flexiable, nags me to try it on my US size 10 foot.
Ignoring all reason, I try it on.

This is why I shouldn't listen to her, because I'll never wear this sock. It doesn't need to fit me.
Plus, it's a Cookie A. pattern. I have bad experiences with her patterns and trying to get them to fit.
(My first sock, bless it, was Cookie A.'s Baudelaire pattern, done in this lovely green yarn. I knit the largest size possible with the enlarged instep and guess what? It didn't fit. It won't fit anyone except for my camera, which needed a nice soft case anyway.)

So,
a) It's a Cookie A. pattern, the Mingus Sock,
b) There were only two sizes, small and medium. (I'm working the medium size, which is no different from the small thus far)
c) I'll never have to wear it.
d) I don't need to know the dissappointing-but-always-true fact that what I'm making will never fit me.

But what do I do? What do I always do? I listen to Sara Jane, nagging me to try it on.

It will barely reach my heel, and it won't ever go over it.

and so, Sara Jane nags, she always will. Bless her, the optimist.

Now.. to knit the heel flap. I can lose half an hour of sleep and be alright.

2008-01-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Finished the Tiny Vessels gauntlets the other day. Gauntlets, mitts, fingerless gloves, whatever the hell you want to call them, they're DONE. Mighty fun, eh? This pattern and my AP English class made me realize something: I don't want to be a writer. Not a bit. I want to knit, write patterns, and open up a yarn shop.
Started on my first pair of socks. Cookie A.'s Baudelaire. Super fabulous. I'm about two rounds from finishing the gusset increases, just started the day before last. No pictures yet but trust me, you'll hear about it when they're done.

Does anyone know anything about copyrights and publishing patterns? Sonya from the Tue Bou Crew wants me to have Tiny Vessels published, and I'm more worried about a copyright. Had some issues with that a few years ago with some website layouts. People stole them left and right and claimed that they designed the layouts themselves. Fun, eh?

2008-01-11T22:19:00.001-08:00

So yeah, color work that gets tangled annoys me like nobody's business. But I'm liking the design and where it's going. Fingerless gloves, they'll be seamed later. Thought it'd be easier to work on straights with a color-block method rather than in the round. Plus, more freedom when picking up stitches for the thumb.

The TARDIS is sleeping, these gloves are giving me enough of a headache with the color blocks as it is.
Jen's Baby Blanket is moving very slowly, mainly because whenever I try and knit it, my brain tries to do more work on a simple blanket than it needs to, and ends up putting in extra YO's and then I have to knit back 108 sts to fix it. Thrilling.
I really want to start on a pair of socks, now that I have an extremely spiffy Julip Sock Bag to put it in. Now to find a pattern, already got some yarn....
Looking to start Heere Be Dragone (A.K.A. Aestheticus.) again soon, but midterms and everything else will give me a headache for the next two weeks. So that's not going to happen terribly soon.

KNO at Have You Any Wool was wonderful tonight! Got to see Sonya and the gang from Tues @ the 'Bou. Also meet up with Carin, Burtonworshiper on LJ. She wanted to learn to knit, so we sat in the Coffee Beanery before the meeting and she was working on a *perfect* 3x3 rib scarf by the time we left HYAW four hours later. I've seen newbies work for weeks and still not have remotely even gauge. And she just didn't have even gauge, she had perfect gauge after four rows, better than most knitters. Sonya had her pegged, she's a prodigy. She'll have made socks for all of her friends by the next Knitters Night Out.

2008-01-05T00:17:00.000-08:00

First post, whoo! Anyways. I'm Sara Jane (Duh). Teen knitter, Metro-Detroit area of Michigan (Though I'd rather be in Wales.) Obsessed with Doctor Who, Knitting, Writing, aesthetics, Death Cab for Cutie and Mae.
Yep, that's about it.

Anywho. Just finished Evangeline by Michelle Szeghalmi as featured in that fancy online knitting magazine, MagKnits. Finished them last night after work, only started a day and a half before that. Wednesday I cast on, started the ribbing for the left glove. Thursday, worked an 8-hour shift and managed to finish the first glove (Lost a bit of sleep over that one.) Friday, knit the right glove but only worked four hours. (They had me on a cash register all day, hurrah! *works at a grocery store*)

This cable pattern is making me want to design one of my own. Could get into all those ideas but it'd be even more time consuming than this post is already.
Something with a Tiny Vessels/Transatlanticisim twist?

As for the current projects, Jenifer's Baby Blanket is kind of... sleeping? She's one of the front-end supervisors (FES) at work.
The top and bottom of the stuffed TARDIS are finished, along with 95% of one of the side panels.
Just cast on for a fourth Doctor Who scarf, season 16 this time.
And... bloody hell, I only have three projects going. That's frightening. I'm usually at four or five at least.
... Now, to try and remember to crochet Shawna's elephant...

G'night for now!