Paleo Knitting

Or, When Science and Knitting Meet!

As you may have gathered from reading various posts, I do not have a close relationship with many of my co-workers.  Some of them are just like anyone else you might meet - pleasant, but we don't have anything in common other than where we work.  Others are - to be perfectly honest - downright disagreeable.  This is not really a problem, as I would just as soon spend my free time with people other than those at work.

Having said all of that, there are a few knitters, crocheters, sewists, etc.  A few years ago, someone tried to start a lunchtime knitting group.  I went a couple of times, and it was fine, except there was one woman who felt the need to criticize everyone else's work, so I gave up on that.  That woman has since moved on, and right before Christmas, one of the people from that group and I were talking, and we thought we might try to get a group together again, and focus not just on knitting, but any kind of craftiness or making.  Of course, everyone knows the most important thing is to think of a name, right???  (Not really, but work with me here.)

I thought of a name, but it was knitting-centric.  So even if that won't end up being the name of the group (should said group actually come into existence), we decided we needed to use the "character" as our mascot and logo.

Are you familiar with Tiktaalik roseae?  I mean, you really should be.  (Not really, but once again, work with me.)  Tiktaalik is a pretty important discovery, evolutionally speaking.  And one of the team of paleontologists who discovered it is our supervisor, so I said if we wanted to suck up, we should name our group Knit-taalik.  (This discovery also landed said supervisor a visit to "The Colbert Report," which pleases me to no end.)  Well it turns out that we were completely enamored of this name and idea, and so we *had* to bring it to life somehow.

Well, our biggest obstacle is that neither of us has any drawing capabilities.  We knew what we wanted, but neither of us would be able to get even remotely close.  And that is when we realized that we had the perfect person right here at work in the form of Jason Poole.  Jason is one of the nicest, funniest people here, and he is just as happy to do something whimsical as he is something scientific.  So we mentioned Knit-taalik to him, and met him over a lunch hour to discuss it.  He loved it, as his mother and grandmother were both knitters, so he "got" our ideas.  He said he would do some sketching, and get back to us.

Today he brought us the resulting image, and it was even better than anything we were imagining!  Recently, the Academy changed its logo (don't get me started on that), and frankly, everyone agrees it looks a lot like a ball of yarn.  Well, Jason incorporated it into Knit-taalik without making it obvious to anyone who wouldn't know.  Also, the discovery of the actual fossil was made in the Arctic, so he/she needed to be warm.  Again, Jason knew just what to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Knit-taalik:

(copyright Jason Poole 2018)

It was a nice start to the work week, let me tell you!

It's Friday. I'm Not Complaining.

Ahhh, Friday, I do love thee with all of my heart and soul!  Your arrival means the weekend will start as soon as I leave the building where I work, and that is always a good thing.

Admittedly, I did have the day off yesterday, but still, Friday is the best.  :-)

This has been quite a week, I gotta tell you.  And I also have to warn you that you will be faced with one more post about the Philadelphia Eagles, in the form of our day at the celebration parade.  But I don't have my photos sorted out yet, so that will likely be this weekend.  In summary, it was a blast and even The Tim enjoyed it.   ("Look!  It's Colin Wentz!" [more about that below])

Monday I must admit I was running on fumes - but then again, so was nearly everyone else in the city.  Wednesday afternoon I left work an hour early to go to my appt with the endodontist.  Not only was I leaving work early to go to the endodontist, but it was POURING cold, icky rain.  Somehow that seemed appropriate, but it was nonetheless not something I was looking forward to doing.  As it turned out, he determined that the tooth in question did not need a crown replacement, rather it needed to come out altogether and then be replaced by an implant.  So now my teeth are turning against me, how unfair!  Yesterday we had the day off work because of the parade, and today all of sudden it's Friday!  At least the week has ended on a high.  :-)

I've gotten a lot of reading done, and am finally finishing up that sock - just a little bit more of the leg to go, and then the toe - yay!  Yesterday after we got home and were watching the rest of the festivities on TV, I also swatched for my Next Big Project, which I hope to cast on during the Olympics Opening Ceremonies tonight.  Right now, it's at home drying after soaking and being blocked.  I hope my gauge is good, so I can actually start it, but that remains to be seen.  :-)

As for the weekend, tomorrow is going to be busy, and then Sunday I'm on my own, as The Tim will be working.  It's supposed to be a rainy day here on Sunday, so I'll probably stay put with the kitties.

BTW, if you have sent me an e-mail for any reason in the last 10 days or so, and haven't heard back, I'm not ignoring you - we just found out that our Internet provider has been dealing with a glitch in our area where some things have gone through and others have not.  They told us it should be resolved today at some point.  I've been able to receive and respond to blog comments, but haven't gotten a lot of other stuff (except spam which of course always seems to get through).  I'm sure your message will show up once things are working again, and I promise to respond!

So now for the story about The Tim and his sports knowledge.  Of the two of us, I am more interested in sports in general than he is - he pays enough attention to follow things in general, but doesn't always keep things straight.  Enter two football player that have been talked about a lot this year:  Colin Kaepernick, who was the person who first knelt during the national anthem to protest social injustice, and Carson Wentz, the Eagles' quarterback who zoomed through the season and then was hurt towards the end.

This is Colin Kaepernick:

This is Carson Wentz:

The Tim keeps getting them mixed up (hence the "Colin Wentz" comment above.)  As you can see/tell, for most of us, they have the following in comnon:  1) they are both male, 2) they both play football, 3) they both have the first initial C.  But The Tim either cannot remember which is which, or he combines them into one incorrect person.

It's been an interesting football season in our house.  :-)

Have a good weekend!

Joy in Mudville!!!

THEY DID IT!!!!

Every single person I passed this a.m. on my way to work was smiling.  And looked tired.  I got a grand total of 4 hours of sleep. 

I regret nothing. 

E-A-G-L-E-S!  EAGLES!!!!!!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Be careful out there ...

And watch that first step ... it's a doozy!

Have a great first weekend in February. :-)

February Has Arrived

I am one of the few people that I know (well or even in passing) who loves winter.  I love the dark.  I love the cold.  I love the feeling that I want to be cozy and comfy.  I love snow, though I hate ice.  The only thing I don't like about January is that the holidays are over.  But then I think about the long weekend holidays that will be showing up, and that gives me something to look forward to.  As long as I have something - anything, no matter how small - to look forward to, I can get through just about anything.

But now January has moved along and February is here.  Which means that Valentine's Day is on the way, which is a day I like.  BTW, in case you were wondering (and I'm certain you were not), I'm not a fan of "Galentine's Day."  Ick.  Anyway, this year, Valentine's Day is also Ash Wednesday, which means anyone who gives up candy for Lent is a fool.  I mean, the next day, all the chocolate in the world is at least half-price!

But I digress.  Besides it being the first day of a new month, it's also Three On Thursday, so here are Three Things I'm Looking Forward To In February.

1.  Sports!  I don't generally get overly excited about the Super Bowl, since teams I like don't often make it.  But this year, the Philadelphia Eagles are there, and I would love for them to win.  However, just the fact that they got that far has put everyone in such a good mood, that it's been both funny and nice.  Plus, unlike some teams of the past, this group of players are a bunch of good guys - they interact with and contribute to the community, both here and all around.  They have a sense of humor about themselves that makes them fun to watch.

And then - the Winter Olympics!  I love watching the various events, and every single time think that it must be amazing to even be there.  Plus, I can get my fill of the luge, which truly fascinates me ...

2.  Pip's birthday.  We celebrated both Pip and Jetsam's birthdays on Valentine's Day, and it will be bittersweet this year without our sweet Jetsam.  But it will be fun to concentrate on Pip, since I can guarantee he'll have a LOT to say about it!  He loves attention, and loves to comment on everything.

3.  Chinese New Year.  We always celebrate Chinese New Year by making a Chinese-inspired feast, which is a lot of fun, and weather/schedule permitting, we like to go to the parade in Chinatown here.  However, since this will be The Year of the Dog, I've told The Tim that it means we should take it literally and try to find a new family member.  We're not in any hurry, but both of us are ready and hopefully we will find a perfect pup.  We will of course, make sure that whatever pup it is gets along with cats.  I always used to tell Dug that there were only two rules in our house:  1) You have to be nice to the kitties, and 2) The kitties come first.  He was always just fine with that.  ;-)

So I hope you have some February things to anticipate as well.  I will admit to getting tired of being around people who are so grumpy all of the time, and so I have to make myself remember the stuff that *I* actually like!  Let's hope it's a good month all the way around.