Stash Dash 2015

I enjoy watching the video podcast The Knit Girllls and I follow their group on Ravelry. For most of the summer, one of the hosts, Laura (also known as La La) hosts a "stash dash" where members are encouraged to use up the yarn already in their house; you also can count any projects you finish up during this time. For the first time, there are three finish line options: a 3K, 5K, and 10K.

The distances refer to how much yarn you knit. I started a $5 in Paris sweater last Sunday and it is going fast!

I cast this sweater on Sunday, May 24, 2015, and a week later I'm at the ribbing on the bottom. Once I finish with the body and bind it off, I'll be ready to finish up the sleeves!

I haven't really knit the Little Lady Garter Blanket much since I started the sweater, but with more than 24 inches left to knit, well, it's going to be a long time knitting garter stitch. Sadly, even though I'm holding the yarn double, the Stash Dash 2015 rules state you can't count the second skein's yardage in your total. So, even though I'll be creating a double-thick blanket with two skeins of yarn, only one skein's yardage counts. There's lots of disagreement with this rule in the thread; it might change next year, but I won't be knitting double again any time soon because it's such a pain in the butt to work with.

This is the garter stitch that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend ...

I still need to press the fabric, cut out the bunnies, and stitch them onto my Bunnie Blankie. It's been in hibernation for nearly three weeks. It's on the to-do list that won't get done for awhile. It also won't count for Stash Dash 2015 since I bound it off before the competition started. Sewing finishing touches doesn't count, unfortunately.

I really hate this project at this point. If I hadn't bought the fabric, I would say that I'm done with it, but I'm another $10 of materials in and I want to see how it looks completed. This will happen. Eventually.

I did buy some silk yarn to make the Tunisian crochet multigarment for the Craftsy class "Tunisian Crochet: Revolutions in Color and Style" class I bought a few weeks ago. Thanks to the really low prices at Tuesday Morning, I was able to purchase enough silk yarn for the project for half of other websites. I'm not 100 percent in love with the green I picked for color C in the pattern, but I also am not in love with paying almost $70 in materials for a new-skill project. The wooden Tunisian crochet hooks I bought from Amazon are okay, but they're not great. I bought a second set of sturdier plastic ones, which should arrive here in a few days. We'll see. The right tools make for a better crafting experience!

I will say I was very pleased with the two Craftsy classes I bought that I've already looked into. Eunny Jang's "Choose Your Own Sweater Adventure" has been helpful on my $5 in Paris sweater. I didn't understand some of the directions in the $5 in Paris sweater pattern, but after going to the appropriate (and well outlined) sections in Jang's video, I was able to complete the more technical parts of my first sweater. I'm looking forward to trying her patterns, even though they're written for bulky yarn.

The yarn I bought at Craftsy at the same time as I bought the classes arrived very quickly. I was impressed that all of my yarn (even when I bought 12 of one type) were from the same dye lot. I'm going to try to make the Tree of Life afghan, but probably won't start it until after the summer is over given its level of technical difficulty and sheer size.

As the summer progresses, we'll see if I have time to do more than the 3K. I might not even finish that, especially once summer classes start.

I'm going to be taking four summer classes - two first session and two second session. I still owe the university money for my summer classes. I'll get right on that after I get back from my knitting group that happens at 10:30 a.m.

Another week, another project

I finally cast on a sweater. I'll be attempting $5 in Paris. The first attempt I accidentally twisted and created a Möbius strip.

The second start is going much better. I hope to finish the ribbing tomorrow.

I also bought some Craftsy classes and am working on learning Tunisian crochet. The set of Tunisian hooks I bought on Amazon aren't working out as well as I would have wanted, but I will keep practicing.

Crafting is really relaxing and I am enjoying the three weeks between semesters.

Today wasn't a great day, but I found comfort in knitting.

Checking in on New Year's Resolutions

It's almost June. How that happened is beyond me.

I wanted to revisit  where I am with my New Year's goals.

Personal:

Knit at least two patterns from books I already own using yarn I've already purchased.

• Halfway there. Knit one pattern from a books I already own with yarn I specifically bought.
• I am probably going to try and knit a linen top I bought a pattern and yarn for last year over the summer. I feel much more confident in my knitting and fixing skills to actually knit the liaison tee or $5 in Paris.

Lose weight and maintain that weight at 159 pounds or less by next year.

• hahahhahahahahahaaa. No. Not happening. The best I got down to was 165 and now I'm back up to 175. I'm trying. And failing.

Exercise at least two days per week.

• I skipped yoga for a few weeks over finals. I'm averaging about 5,000 steps a day on my Fitbit, which isn't great, but isn't terrible. No, I am not even close to meeting this goal.

Decide whether or not to pursue a technical writing certificate concurrently with my MFA.

• This got put completely on the back burner while I am sorting out my personal and professional life. I'll have an answer by late June about this. I'll have to apply for the spring rather than the fall, but that's okay.

Submit to at least three literary journals by the end of the spring semester.

• NAILED IT. I applied to Rattle, Georgia Review, Gigantic Sequins, and the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry fellowship.
• I plan on continuing to submit and will be submitting a short story to Asimov's by the end of the summer. It needs more work, but I think I have a solid start on what will be an interesting tale.

Plan a trip around the world.

• Also on the back burner while I deal with personal issues. I wish I could go into more detail, but I'll have answers about my personal life by mid-June and will be able to either move forward in my relationship or move forward as an individual.

Professional:

1. Continue improving my editing skills and knowledge of AP Style. - Check.
2. Improve workflow processes. - Working on this.
3. Find more opportunities for professional development. - Actively working on this.
4. Be the best mentor I can be. - Check. I absolutely nailed this goal with Project IMPACT. It was incredibly rewarding on a personal and professional level and I can't wait to continue my mentoring relationship with my current mentee and to mentor a new student next year.
5. Trip around the world/keeping job - On the back burner until I figure out my personal life.

Academic:

1. Apply for graduate school scholarships in January. - Failed. Wasn't sure if I qualified as staff with my tuition discount, so I didn't pursue anything.
2. Apply for the staff scholarship in August. - Pending personal life resolving itself.
3. Maintain a 3.5 GPA - So far so good, still waiting on final grades from spring, but I know two classes are A's, so ... can't be that bad in the other two.
4. Staff tuition discounts/travel - On hold because of my personal life.

So, some goals are going better than others. This is the first year I've really thought about what I wanted to accomplish in 12 months. I'm proud I'm continuing to blog weekly (sorry this is a later Sunday post than usual) and I'm proud that I'm improving my digital footprint by generating content for Blogger and Twitter.

All in all, my personal goals are going better than my professional ones, but once I have some answers in June, I'll be able to move forward with my life.

Academic Privilege Check

I could have a master's or doctoral committee made up entirely of people of my gender and this committee would not constitute every, single person of my gender in my department.

I could find at least one member of my race/ethnicity to be part of my committee. This person would not be the only member of my race or ethnicity in the department.

I could find at least one committee member of my gender who had a similar parenting or family situation to mine.

I would not be told by a committee member to spend less time with my newborn child.

Margaret Atwood retweeted me!!!

I've got finals to write this weekend and a lot of social events, so I'm going to keep up the spirit of my New Year's Resolution and doing a brief weekly post.

Margaret Atwood retweeted me this week! Squee!!!

Margaret Atwood retweeted me this week. Day made.

How are online degrees viewed? (A response)

The following is a modified version of my response to a question asked in the MLA Commons.

The original question was essentially that the professor had a student who wanted to pursue her master's, but because her husband was in the military, had to do an online degree or wait for another PCS (Permanent Change of Station) move to do so.

Here is my edited (for direct criticisms of my current program; I know better than to bite the hand that feeds me outside a paywall) response:

I completely understand your student’s desire to have a portable degree, since I too am attached to someone in the military and am currently pursing an online master’s (I already hold a tradition master’s and doctorate). Online degrees are losing their stigma. However, one had to consider the reputation of the school providing the degree. If it’s Podunk University, well, you still have Podunk University’s reputation.

The most important thing for her to consider is if the university has any distinction in the course catalog between traditional brick-and-mortar degrees and online degrees. If the course numbers are the same and a lay person couldn’t tell the difference between the online English class and the in-the-classroom course, then go for it. The diploma doesn’t say “X University online,” so don’t make any fuss about having taken courses online versus in the classroom.

She needs to make sure the online degree is accredited from a respected authority. Let’s be honest, University of Phoenix is something you need to steer her away from, because its degrees are not as respected.

If she doesn’t plan on entering academia, most people don’t care if it’s online or in person, they just care you checked the box and got the degree for the position. If she does plan on entering academia, then minimize the fact it was online. “I attended X university 20XX – 20YY and received a master’s in English.” Only mention online if teaching online is a component for the job description. Otherwise, mum’s the word.

Now, I’m in an online program, so I can be blunt about the following: the quality of the online education depends greatly on the student. A lot of programs treat online classes like cash cows, and the support and best education practices are just not there. My brick-and-mortal master’s was far more challenging and difficult.

Plus, a lot of universities do not have the same library resources available for their online students. It’s hard to write a thesis using only JSTOR; your student will need to see what library resources (books, physical books) are made available so she has a shot at writing a solid thesis, if the program requires one.

The lack of library resources is something to consider when working on final semester/quarter projects as well. If she ever wants to consider a doctoral program, she will have to prepare, long distance, to produce strong term papers she could submit as writing samples. If she can’t, well, then it’s not helping her long-term.

As a fellow person tied to the military, the online classes provide an explanation in your resume for a gap in employment. It’s easier to say, “I was a full-time student” than “I’m a military partner.” The online classes, if done well (and this absolutely is dependent upon institution), can provide a sense of community, which is something that moving around a lot can take from you.

Another thing about online classes (again, dependent upon institution) is who is teaching, what is available, and when those classes are available. Again, the cash cow problem – some universities hire a bunch of adjunct/temp faculty to teach graduate courses, but those faculty are not eligible to direct thesis projects. So, your student can take five classes with Professor X, only to learn only Professor A and Z are the only faculty eligible to direct thesis projects, and Professor A requires you to be in two classes before even considering you as a student.

Some classes are on the books and have never been taught. Sometimes there are so many students who want/need classes that there aren’t enough seats and you take extra semesters to graduate. She needs to look into how often classes are offered and how long it really takes students to graduate. She doesn’t want a two-year program dragging on for four years.

Also, online classes can be expensive and poorly designed. If this is the case, then your student needs to push herself to do the best she can under the circumstances. Besides, graduate education is often more about what you learn and how you learn than the classes themselves.

If she and her partner have the financial resources and this is something she wants to do (from an accredited university), then go for it. If the transcript doesn’t distinguish between online/in-person classes, then minimize that she took it online and check the block. If the accreditation committee says it’s an accredited master’s degree, then it’s an accredited master’s degree. Only emphasize online if they ask her to teach online classes.

There are a lot of military partners who pursue online degrees because of the constant military moves. She might meet a fellow online classmate during a coffee social or FRG meeting!

Sunday is finally getting back to normal

For the past several weeks, my knitting buddy has been gone, dealing with a family situation. While I'm happy she's back, I'm sad it's because her family member died.

I'm looking forward to my routine.

I'm also doing an Internet meetup. I feel bad leaving the puppy alone for several hours while I do this, but at the same time, I don't want to leave her for the four or five hours I'll be gone, but at the same time, I have to realize that before she got sick, I'd leave her for that long anyways.

We've had a decent week - fewer accidents in the house (a combination of discontinuing one of the medicines and us monitoring her water intake and bathroom breaks much more carefully) and she's feeling a bit better and not limping as much.

It's hard to watch her be so ill. It really, really is.

I'll keep working on the new baby blanket project. It uses Lion Brand's Pound of Love. I'm using two skeins and holding the yarn double. I cast on 134 stitches and hopefully that will be wide enough for a baby blanket. I already ripped back and restarted once, because I thought I'd do a checkers blanket. Unfortunately, the yarn held single was going to make the project take forever and then if I followed the pattern to recipe, it was going to be too short.

When making last-minute baby gifts, it's best to use thick/chunky yarn, because it knits up quicker. The Pound of Love is great, but because it is thinner, it takes longer to work with. I'm still working on the Bunny Blankie, but that's because I'm sick of the daisy stitch, even though I only have one ounce of yarn left. A Pound of Love isn't enough to knit the Bunny Blanket to recipe, sadly. However, I don't want to find another skein of it, so it will probably be about six to eight inches shorter than the pattern calls for. I don't think that will be a problem; it's actually pretty long/big as it is.

I also need to mail my Banana Bunch Blankie to my college roommate. I'm going to sit down and write the cards; the rest of the package is ready to go: the blanket, some onesies, two books, burp cloths .... all in yellow or with ducks on them because they don't know what they're having yet, and, in general, I try to avoid gendered colors whenever possible when gifting for babies. (Yes, the new baby blanket project is an exception to the I-avoid-gendered-colors rule.)

Back when I was knitting the Banana Bunch Blankie. It knit up very nicely because it only had a four-row pattern repeat.

It's great to have my knitting group back. I still have homework to do and fellowships to write up and finish, but I still need a few hours to myself today.