Summertime

Well, its been a while. Haven't been too successful with this remembering to update blog thing. So, we'll just make this a quick photo list of fun stuff I am doing or have seen since February.

FIELD WORK

Yes, contrary to popular perception, I am not "off" during the summers. In fact, it is the busiest time of the year for a field ecologist. I have been working in several local forested wetlands all summer, with the help of a wonderful field assistant (thanks Kaycee!), Allen, and my sister Gillian. Yay help! We have been doing such crazy things as counting hundreds of seedlings, taking diameter measurements of trees, counting shrub stem densities, and trying to identify them all. Mosquitos are plentiful this year, and the poison ivy crop is very healthy, so there has been a glut of itchiness to go around. But here are some interesting things I have seen:

1) AWESOME CORAL FUNGUS

I have no idea what kind of fungus this is, but it reminds me of a coral.  Anyone out there know what this is? Let me know! I'm trying to get a nice collection of fungi photos going, but I have no idea what any of them are.

2) AFTER THE FALL

This looks like a lovely little patch of moss covered forest floor...until you look more closely.

It is, in fact, an old, green shag carpet (below)  that some jerk dumped in the woods. Still, I think this is still a rather pretty scene, at least in its suggestion of the post-apocalyptic triumph of nature over the 70's.

Nearby, I found a pair of shoes, socks, and random other clothing. I really hope there isn't a body rolled up in this carpet, but I'm not going to try to find out either. The last thing I need is the CSI guys trampling my crime scene... er... research site.

3) NO TROUBLE AT ALL

Did anyone read that book when they were little ("Little Raccoon and No Trouble At All")? Anyway, I startled a raccoon who was swimming out at the swamp at Garvin Brown Preserve, and snapped this shot of him swimming away!

Picture is a little small, but you can see him towards the middle of the photo.

HOBBIES

1) FELTED PURSES

I've developed quite a felting lust (fulling, really) since my first attempts. Here are some completed projects that I improvised.

      

2) BEER MAKING

Ok, I am pretty excited about the prospects of having my own homebrew to drink.  I won’t lie.   My first batch is fermenting now.   Its going to be an American Amber Ale.  Oh joy! 

I have been wanting to do this for a while, and decided to buy one of the kits that they sell at Liquor Barn to simplify the process.  I decided to try an ale, since they are fermented at relatively warm temperatures, and so it seemed a better choice for summer brewing. 

Watch my airlock bubbling with CO2 that the yeasty beasties inside have produced!  Aren’t they neat?

3) GARDENING

The garden is OUT OF CONTROL this summer.  Look at how much it has filled in since last summer.  And by filled in, I mean gone insane.

 Above: Last summer, early July.  Below: This summer, mid July.

Unfortunately, I just found out I need to dig my coneflowers out ASAP, as I just discovered that they all have the dreaded aster yellows.   It can’t be cured, and can infect other asters in the garden, so these bad boys need to go.  Apparently coneflowers are particularly susceptible to this disease, which, according to my online research is transmitted by leafhoppers which harbor the infectious phytoplasma.  These are a type of bacteria which infect the phloem tissue of plants, and cause all kinds of weird looking stuff to happen, namely the growth of leaf-like structures where flowers should be.  This is called phyllody.   Check out what it looks like here http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2006/9-13/asteryellows.html. 

 

Ok, I’m out.

Mountain Wuv

As many of you know, last week was the I Love Mountains rally in Frankfort. This was the first year I was able to make it to this event. I wanted to blog about this last week while I was really fired up, but I think the prospect emotionally exhausted me. It is one of the saddest things in the world to me; that mining companies can destroy forests, poison the water and destroy people's homes with no (or little) accountability to the law. I wish I knew more about all the legal issues involved, because I honestly do not understand how these a**holes get away with this. We know that these practices destroy streams, forests and homes, but it still happens, and with relatively little public outcry. And where there is outcry, the media does not give the issue its due share of coverage.

Yes, I know we are dependent on coal for maintaining our lifestyles. But instead of recognizing what should be considered illegal activities that are occurring with MTR, and working towards alternative sources of revenue and energy for Appalachia, the state and the country, policy makers are complacent (and complicit) with these abuses. Its not hard to believe that this goes on. It's money, business, corruption, bureaucracy and poverty. And legitimate need. I realize that we need energy, and I don't want to sound naive. I'm not from Eastern Kentucky and I don't have to depend on the coal industry as a source of income. But the buck has to stop somewhere. We will always need energy. But if the human race can do this ,this, and even this (gross), don't tell me we can't find a way to seriously subsidize our energy use and phase out coal.

Anyhow, if anyone is reading this, please bug your representatives about HB 104 and read more here .


















Rally on capital steps.






















Children on Capital Ave. receiving literature and holding signs (I sort of have issues with turning children into instruments of propaganda, but I guess I'll let it slide this time).

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On a lighter note, here is a potholder that I made for my friend Allison Smith. She studies the zooplankton Daphnia sp., and I needlefelted one of them onto a swatch I had leftover from felting experimentation. I took liberal artistic license.

Also, I am watching the Republican response after Obama's presidential address. Allen just made an excellent point about the striking similarities between Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana) and Kenneth from 30 Rock. Well, maybe not physically, but listen to him talk sometime.

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Finally, I recommend that anyone in the Louisville area take the time to check out a really cool sight in Cherokee Park. During the ice storm, one of the oldest Beech trees in the park toppled completely over from the roots. You will not me disappointed. It is amazingly huge, and the smooth bark give it a very sculptural quality. It is very sad, but a pretty amazing spectacle just the same. I wish I had seen this beautiful tree when it was still alive, but I actually don't frequent Cherokee that often. Here are the Lat Longs if you have a GPS, or check out this google map link.

N 38° 14.481
W 085° 41.597

Never Say Never

I vowed well --"vowed" is a strong word; possibly mentioned/thought at some point --that I would never have a blog, but here I am. There are a million of them out there, no one reads most of them, and it seems like a very self-absorbed thing to start doing in the first place. Ok. Acknowledging that I still think blogging is a sad sort of thing to do, I am moving on into a new era. Or I will never write in this again. Who knows.

Mostly, I decided to start a blog after reading the many helpful and entertaining knitting blogs that are out there. I don't know if this will turn into a craft/knitting blog, but I do feel much more comfortable writing useful information, mixed in with anecdotal fun. The alternative, of course, would be to comment daily about my thoughts and feelings, both of which are not that interesting, nor of any practical use to anyone else. (Disclaimer: I will probably talk about my thoughts and feelings.)

Moving along to things I want to write about. . .

I encourage any of you crafty folk out there with even the slightest bit of knitting ability to try felting (fulling) knitted fabric immediately. It is immensely satisfying, and works like textile ShrinkyDinks. Basically, you just knit the item of interest on large needles, and with a yarn suitable for felting, so that you create a very loose knit fabric. Then you throw that thing in the wash with hot water, and presto; you have transformed a slovenly, out of shape mass into a trimmer, fuzzier, more toned version of its prior self. This results in a relatively thick and substantial fabric, which makes it great for bags.

I completed my first felted bag in a few hours last night. I knitted the whole thing during the course of American Idol (shame) in Lamb's Pride Bulky on Size 17 straight needles. I made up a quick pattern based on several I have seen in stores and on Ravelry. On that comes to mind is "The Clutch you'll never give up" by Leigh Radford. I didn't actually use this pattern (it is in a book), but it looks very similar. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-clutch-youll-never-give-up

Pattern:
Cast on 48 stitches on straight needles. Entire piece worked in stockinette stitch (K one row, P one row, repeat)

Rows 1 to 3: (yellow) Work in stockinette stitch, starting with knit row
Row 4: (yellow) P7 , BO 10, P 14, BO 10, P 7
Row 5: (yellow) K 7, CO 10, K 14, CO 10, K 7

(red) Work next 9 rows in stockinette
(brown) work next 14 rows in stockinette

Finish by grafting bottom edges of bag together, and seaming sides with like-colored thread.

Be sure to weave in any loose ends.
(Note: This whole thing would have been much quicker if I had large double pointed needles, so I would probably recommend going that route. Pattern would not change except you would substitute all P‘s in Row 4 for K’s.)

Washing: Set your washer for a hot load (yikes) and add a bit of grated ivory soap or some such thing (I've heard mixed things about using detergent vs. soap, so maybe do your own research). Wash in a tied or zipped pillow case so that you don't destroy your washing machine with fuzzies. Throw some other clothes in too, to help with agitation.

I had to let this agitate in the washer for probably about 30 minutes total to get the desired felting. But you should check it at least every 10. Also, I have read that you don't want to let the item go through the spin cycle, but I am not sure if this is necessarily true or not. Anyone know?

Fun before and after pics below!


















I really like that you can knit fast and furious with this process, and the imperfections get smoothed over in the end result. This is one reason I think this would be a very fun project for knitters who are somewhat new, and/or less than meticulous or neat in their stitch work.