rachmakesstuff - Tumblr blog

[rachmakesstuff]

First two blocks down on a blanket I’ve been working on! Pattern’s from Margaret Holzmann’s book Geometric Knit Blankets. I have a desire to knit everything in this book, but I’m boring, so I just went with the pattern they used for the cover.

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After much ado, here are the socks that took me close to two years to finish! Not because they actually took that long, but really because I couldn’t force myself to do the second one for ages after I got done with the first. Close ups added of the bee and beehive motifs. Wish I could frame these.

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Yarn crafts AND science?!

Hello all! As many of you know, I’m an undergraduate student in psychology working on my honors thesis. As part of this thesis, I’m running a research study on aspects of yarn crafting (knitting, crochet, etc.), and I was hoping some of you lovely people would like to participate!

It’s an online survey, takes no personally identifying information, and should only take about fifteen minutes or so to complete. Here’s a link for anyone who’s interested (and please feel free to share it with your yarn-crafting friends!): https://ucachbs.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UHV6e7K5LT4cAt

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Hi I haven’t posted in a long time. Finished my thesis (kind of). He’s learning how to crochet.

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Relevant!

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One week and three pattern repeats in so far 💛

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In case anyone was wondering what I’ve been up to, here’s all the notecards I’ve filled out for tests and quizzes in the last week. 🙃

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Oh my goodness. How beautiful!!! I love that yarn! What pattern did you use?

Progress.

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I got at least 2 major blog updates coming, but in the meantime, here’s my first ever sock/first ever knitting project with cables! Not as hard as I thought it would be, actually. And it’s so so pretty!

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Red Alert: We have the Mitts (don’t tell anybody but the cute pics are from like a month ago when I finished the first one so shhhhhhhh)

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I adore this. What a wonderful, beautifully crafted, meaningful piece of work. :)

The Finish the Dance cowl, in honor of the Pulse victims. Don’t judge my tension to harshly #menwhoknit #gaymenwhoknit

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I scrolled halfway around the world to find this post after losing it earlier.

This man’s name is Maurice Greene and his Twitter handle is TheCrochetBoss and I have never wanted to meet someone more in my life.

Wow!!! My son is watching a program about MMA fighters, and one of the guys is crocheting! Truly it’s a hobby for everyone 😂

[rachmakesstuff]

Sick Gains

Hello friends!

I’m doing pretty well, actually.  I’ve exercised every day.  Planned all my meals.  Kept my room clean.  Done my readings for class.  Wrote lesson plans for the class I’m tutoring.  Organized my binder.  Talked to friends and strangers.  Showered regularly.  Washed my face and brushed my teeth twice a day.  Called my boyfriend every evening.  Made plans for the blog.  I even signed up for a personal trainer!  I’ve just overall been keeping everything shockingly structured so far.  I’ve even been going to bed by 11 every night, which for me, is highly unusual (but definitely not bad lol).

It’s weird, though.  I’m definitely proud that I’ve been able to keep everything together, but in a way, I don’t really feel like myself?  Maybe it’s because I’ve made such a drastic transition from doing pretty much nothing for pretty much the whole day to having every single hour meticulously structured to include everything in my schedule.  It’s not like I don’t include free time, either - there are a few hours built in where I can just do whatever I want.  But I’ve mostly been too tired to actually do anything with those hours.  Instead of hanging out with friends, playing video games, reading, getting coffee, knitting, or actually expressing myself in any way, I’ll just lay in bed with Youtube autoplay on until I fall asleep.  I am that tired.  I never expected taking care of myself to be so exhausting.

Maybe I just need to start packing my knitting with me when I go to classes in the morning.  Just so I have something to remind me I’m still a person - which is a weird way of putting it, probably?  I don’t know.  I made this post to show off how well I’m doing, lol.  I really don’t mean to pout.  Maybe I’ll make a happier post when I’m less tired.

[rachmakesstuff]

Positives & Negatives (also, Outsiderness, Pt. 2)

Earlier today there was a banquet for all the Honors kids.  An Honors alum came to speak, and she said something like “I would bet my right foot that ‘your people’ are right here in this room.”  She told us stories about how a friend she graduated with sent her a necklace in the mail that morning just ‘cuz and how she’d recently been in the wedding of a person who used to be her mentor.  

The problem for me there is... I really don’t feel like I’ve found my people.  I made a lot of friends my first year, but none of them really seem interested in me nowadays.  With two exceptions (only one of whom actually came from Honors), all of my friends now are people I was already friends with in high school.  I know I’m a pretty easy person to get along with, in general, but nobody seems to really resonate with me, not really even the high school friends - at least not in the ‘send me a necklace because they miss me’ or ‘make me a part of their wedding party’ sort of way.  I dunno.  I’m sure it was just a tactic to hype up the incoming Freshmen, but hearing that just really bummed me out.  Like I must have been doing something wrong for the last four years to not feel like a part of all these folks who are supposed to be “my people.”  I feel more like I’m not really their people, if that makes sense.

I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not trying, though, or that I’m miserable and lonely with no one to be around.  I’m getting in the habit of regular exercise, and I’ve managed to cut out most bread and pasta and sweets from my diet with no apparent ill effects.  I’m working on meal planning.  I’ve lost about five pounds in the last week and a half.  For my 21st birthday a couple days ago, I went out for hot dogs and drinks with a few friends.  I have plans to hang out with my boyfriend and visit home on the weekends from now on.  I got a pretty dramatic haircut that I really like.  I got a job with the tutoring center on campus.  I plan on reapplying for my last job at the campus art and literature magazine.  I registered to take the GRE in a couple weeks.  I’m looking into doing a departmental thesis to graduate with honors in my major.  I’m working on this thesis.  Like, I’m definitely an involved, busy person.  I’m improving.  Overall, I feel good about myself.  We’ll see how that holds up.

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This is something I have always wanted to say but never had the courage to admit out loud. I don’t know what gave you the right to be so brave and forthright yet here we are.

Really though I hope nobody I’m knitting for is deathly allergic to pets because I think each piece I’ve made so far contains at least an entire cat. At LEAST.

Question of the day: Is it REAAAAALLYY a hand made item if it doesn’t contain a few of your own hairs, a few dozen pet hairs, and who knows how much lint from around the house in it?

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Outsiderness

Ya know, I’m realizing that I don’t feel very “in the know” about a lot of things.  I’d love to get into exercise - like, the kind in a public place with other people present - but I feel so out of place not knowing what I’m exactly supposed to be doing or what all the machinery is for. 

On the same note, I love knitting, but a lot of the time, I feel like I’m somehow not qualified enough to really be a part of it.  I don’t know anything about yarn.  I have to look up pattern abbreviations every time I start a new project.  It's taking me upwards of a week to finish a single pair of K2 P1 rib mittens.  I guess that’s why I have some trouble really engaging with the community; I still feel like an outsider.

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In the middle of reading Knitlandia by Clara Parkes, come across a person described as: “...charismatic knitting instructor and designer, also a psychiatric nurse, popular columnist, radio and television commentator, and sex educator...” 

What gives this woman the right to live my dream life?