The Urban Aran Cardigan

After seeing the cardigan modification made to the Paton’s Urban Aran pattern by Brooklyn Tweed, I’ve been thinking that this might be the cardigan pattern I’m looking for. The pattern is in the Paton’s Street Smart book (#500989) and I purchased one online from Pollywogs. I’m also thinking that this is going to be a Peace Fleece sweater.

Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton

I’ve been working on a pair of patterns – crocheted hats for warmer weather – and loving it. I wound up putting in another order at Kpixie, and then a couple of days later, another one. Soft, lovely colors, and no pilling!

Buttons

It’s looking more likely that I’ll be moving off-island next year*, so I’m taking a hard look at my belongings and making some decisions about what needs to get used up, what will be given away, and what will be sold. I have a tendency to save things ‘for special’ and this pear button was one of them. It’s going on a sunhat which already has dibs on it.

The Detroit Cobras, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and Beth Ditto.

Once upon a time, friends and sig. others were the biggest source of new music for me. Lately, it’s been NPR. Told you I wasn’t kidding about the Future Grandmothers of America bit.

Skeletal Biology, Criminal Law, and finding an internship for this summer or fall.

One of these days, I’ll be finished with school. This week I started thinking about mtDNA, ancestral markers, and groups of characteristics used in skeletal identification, though, so it could be a while.

*exactly where, when, etc.: I dunno yet. Got any suggestions?

I’ve been using a stylized, comic-book-ish approach to my bone studies in the interest of time and highlighting what I need to know. My former drawing instructors would most likely not be pleased.

In some cases, that’s not good for study. Here, for example, I indicated where the malleolar fossa is – but I didn’t include it in the sketch.

I work with both photos and artifacts for the study sketches – on the left, you can see a bit of the photo of the talus that I worked from.

…and here, the artifacts. There are two talus bones in this photo; one of them is the bone on the upper left.

In a move I may regret later, I chose to use a very cheap composition notebook with flimsy paper instead of a notebook with heavier, acid-free, tooth-ier paper. I have to haul a lot of stuff around with me, since I’m usually going to school from work, and in the interests of space and weight I opted for the cheap composition notebook and a handful of Mirado Black Warrior HB2 pencils that I chose mostly because they were on sale. I used to draw for hours at a time when I was a child; later on drawing became a skill I developed but did not particularly enjoy. Now it’s a skill that I am working to regain and improve, as well as something I enjoy more than I used to. It’s become soothing, a quiet place in my head that I can move to. Still working on the self-criticism part. Other students in the class think my drawings are great; I am coming from a different perspective and have all kinds of quibbles about them that I’m working on dropping in favor of focusing on how doing the drawings works as a study method for me. I regard drawing and drafting as a learnable, teachable skill set, much like knitting, crocheting, and making a good cup of tea. For myself, the challenge is in drawing what is in front of me and not what is just in my head. I’m going to skip going off on a tangent involving philosophical and neurological topics on perception, fine motor skills, etc. and recommend a couple of books instead.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a good start for the beginner; I say you can skip the parts about brain function/activity and just get on with it. For learning basic skills for drawing what is actually in front of your eyes, it’s a good, inexpensive, widely available resource. The Natural Way to Draw involves more of the imagination and is another widely available, low-priced book. I’d be surprised if you could not find both of them in your local public library. Additionally, many art schools, universities, and community colleges offer drawing classes. Classes will cost more, but I think of it as being like getting a workout book vs. signing up for classes at the local gym – the first is cheaper, the latter is a good way to stay on track and doing the exercises regularly. Drawing is not something most people learn in a day; again, it’s a skill, and skills need to be practiced. Some people may have more of an aptitude for it, but it’s no reason for anyone who would like to develop drawing skills to give up because they feel they "don’t have that talent." If you really want it and are willing to make the commitment, it can be done!

I did some light reading, snacked on fresh fruits, and enjoyed some charming conversation. I know that it seems a cheat this week, first with the dogs (if I ever feel like nobody is reading, I should just post a dog photo and see the comments pop up) and now with a nephew. The semester is ending soon so I’ve been trying to focus more on getting ready for finals – I may post some of the sketches I’ve been doing for skeletal biology. How’s that for variety?

The blanket he’s sitting on is an Etsy purchase – Lulu’s Woobies. It’s holding up well and is still very soft and cozy.

The pups are now over a year old. It’s been hard to get photos of them; they don’t like holding still much.

Trip + mango = happy

Zeke thinks that good grooming is important. Trip, what with having youth on his side, does not seem to think it’s as important.

Jr., next on the list for grooming.

Don’t remember what they looked like a year ago?