End of something big, start of....?

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the most impressive thing I made this week - certainly the thing I'm most proud of. While I could post the document itself, I doubt many would be overly interested in 124 pages about a specific aspect of carbohydrate chemistry. My mind is beginning to reconcile itself with the fact it's over - the hangover I had yesterday certainly helped drive the fact home. When I saw my Masters thesis all bound and professional looking and finished, my mind really was at a loss. What am I going to think about now? it asked me. Over the next few weeks I will attempt to answer this question.

I mentioned I was making an overly large hat last week. Despite ripping back and resizing once or twice, I couldn't get the size exactly the same. I decided to make it a little smaller, as I'm sure it will get stretched out with wear anyway.

I've been sketching a lot of sugar skulls lately - you may remember my skull shrinky necklaces from a few weeks ago. Today while nursing a still somewhat sore head (I haven't drunk that heavily in a while. Correction - I haven't drunk tequila in a while) and watching the cycling, I did a little bit of embroidery on the same theme.

I think we all look forward to me being able to take pictures in natural light. And perhaps spending more time making posts interesting too. As it is, I have a semi-busy first week of freedom, between getting some money sorted and and going to Donegal. Oh yes, I'll be going home during the week until next Monday, so the next post will either be late....or early. I haven't decided yet.

Have an awesome week everyone.

Attack of the 50 inch hat

Less than one week until my Masters thesis is handed up! I hope anyway - while there are some improvements I know I could make, at this stage I just want to get the thing out of my sight. Friday is the big day for me. As you can imagine, I'm looking forward to it immensely. I'm taking a few months off, and frugal months they'll be. Among other things - cycling, computers games, reviewing some more chemistry - I'm also hoping to step my crafting up a notch. With so much time on my hands I'll have no excuse for cutting corners and not improving my skills. It will be good for me to learn some patience - though with my chemistry work over the last year I have definately learned the value of taking the time to do something properly the first time. Putting it into practice in my crafting life will be its own reward.

The boyfriend of a good friend of mine had a crocheted hat that he loved. Well, he called it a hat, it was more like a yarn based tureen. 

Anyway, it got ripped and I was asked if I could have a go at repairing it. The damage was quite near the center of the hat - in order to repair it I was going to have to rip it nearly all the way back to the beginning anyway. If I did this, I wouldn't be confident if I could accurately recall how huge to make the hat, so instead I've just opted to make another one, using the original as a reference.

As you can see, I still have quite a bit to do, but with the chunky yarn and 6.5mm hook I don't imagine it will take very long. If the shape isn't right I'll have to rip back and do it again, but either way, nothing too labor intensive. Those crafts can wait another week or two.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

I'm no polymer chemist.

On my way home from college yesterday (only 2 more weeks until my thesis is handed in....I hope) I popped into Feanor, an incredibly well stocked craft shop here in Galway. Among other things, I picked up a sturdy cardboard box, of which they have an ample supply, all sizes, most shapes. Can you guess which shape I went for?

I painted a couple of base layers yesterday, I'm currently trying to decide what type of decorative feature to put on top. I also replenished my small collection Fimo polymer clay, this time with some glittery silver/gray. My sculpting skillz leave a serious amount to be desired. Cookie cutters are a blessing for polymer newbies.

I don't know why the star is so sad. Cheer up little star.