Things I've been up to...

1. Job Applications
2. Reading
3. Putting myself on the waiting list for the LOEX conference
4. Various crafty things as demonstrated by photos

earrings (because you can never have too many)

beading experiment with wire, beads, fiber and the bead loom
finally socks! (yes, they are not the same, but the pattern adaptation is almost perfected)

One of the baby blankets I'm working on, using a beginning lace pattern

Callie inspects the other blanket (she's really trying to play with the end of the circular needle)

Happy February Random Bits and Knitting Photos

So, my life hasn't been all job applications and pondering my future. I've been spending time with family, ordering boatloads of Girl Scout cookies, and reading. In between, I've been doing lots of knitting. I finished a scarf I started in Bloomington with my knitting group, and made matching fingerless gloves to go with it.

closeup of the scarf - I finally figured out how to do K2tog and ssk stitches in a way that works with my "backwards" knitting.
modeling a glove (with Callie ignoring me in the background)
One sock, and the beginnig of the second - the top of the sock is too baggy, so I'm adjusting the pattern for the second sock. I'll end up with a pair that aren't quite the same, but with a pattern that will be customized to my feet.

I've also finished several baby blankets for a local nonprofit, the Mary Madeline Project (http://www.marymadelineproject.org/). They donate infant burial gowns and blankets to local hospitals for bereaved parents.

Fall Photos

It's trying to be fall here. In some places, it looks like fall. Tree leaves are colored and drifting down. The temperature is in the 60s. Still, October is dwindling, and I've still seen all sorts of flowers blooming, and the grass is green.
This is a the chapel on campus. It has a small cemetery next to it. The building you can see behind it is the Indiana Memorial Union - basically the student union building.

These trees are across from the library, where I sometimes catch the bus. They have these green balls that are now falling onto the ground. I have no idea what this is about, but perhaps my tree identifiers will provide me with enlightenment.

This is a tree that's across from the bus stop at the apartment complex (yes, I spend a lot of time on buses or waiting for buses). The tree itself is just starting to turn, but if you look closely at the ground underneath, a pink rose is blooming. This was taken today.

On campus, on my walk from the library to Ballantine. These trees are very colorful and fall-like. (still, note the green grass)

Last, but not least, Callie! She's looking disgruntled because she did not want her picture taken, and because, according to her, she's being seriously neglected by me. Hey, in my defense, it is the middle of the semester - it's been busy.

My interview with Alaska was Thursday. I'm giving it maybe a 7 out of 10, and calling it a learning experience. This was my first phone interview ever. I hadn't realized how much I depend on visual feedback from people. Talking to disembodied voices was harder than I thought. Still, now I now that this is not my preferred method, and that I will have to find ways to compensate. It was my first library interview, too, so again, I have better ideas of what to expect for next time. I said that at the least, I'd like to get a phone interview because it would be a good learning experience. I did, and it was. I count it as a success.

We finished stuffing and sealing the envelopes on all 2080 nomination ballots and associated information at work. These go out to the tenure eligible professors and retired professors. They'll actually leave our office and go to the mailroom on Monday. I might have a chance to take pictures of them all stuffed into boxes (lots and lots of boxes). This means we're done for awhile, though. I'm hoping to still tweak my database a bit to make it better and easier to use for next year, just in case the online voting thing doesn't go through, and they're stuck with the paper ballot process like this year. I'm crossing my fingers for them that all this goes away and gets replaced with the online system, though.

Other than that, it's classes and work as usual. I did go to dinner at Nora and Weldon's house with Virginia. The food was good, and then we all knit, or in Weldon's case, crocheted. It's been really nice getting together with all of them. That's really the only time I spend knitting anymore, too. Maybe I'll finish this same scarf I'm working on before winter's over if we keep this up.