Another Interview!

The fun just keeps on coming. :) I haven't posted the rules in a while, so here they are again:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Here are my questions from nipperknits:

1. Given the amount of sock yarn currently in your stash (x) and an average time it takes you to crochet a pair of socks (y), how long would it take you to work through your stash (z)?

You left out the most important variable, and that's (n), the number of hours I will be spending in talks, meetings, and conferences. If I'm at a conference, I can do a sock per day. Otherwise it takes me somewhat longer.

So, if we merely look at the three variables x=12 pairs, y=~8 hours, and z, we have z = 2xy = 2(12)(8) = ~192 hours, or 8 days, assuming I didn't need to eat, sleep, or give my wrists a break.

If we look at my past performance, since January I have crocheted approximately 8 pairs of socks. That's an average of 8/3 = 2.667 pairs per month. Given that I have 12 pairs of sock yarn in my stash, that's 12/2.667 = 4.5 months. I'll round that up to 5 months, given that I have some socks in progress. ;)

My initial theory with socks was that they were better than potholders because they took longer to make, were more compact to carry around, and wore out faster. Unfortunately, I forgot to compare the rates at which I crochet with the rates at which I wear out socks.

2. So, this is interview #5? Obviously you like them very much, but why?

That sounds about right, but I haven't counted. I like seeing how other people think. You can learn a fair amount about somone by seeing what questions they ask. Also, it's fun thinking up the answers to fun questions. (Boring questions I can do without.)

3. Crocheting, cooking, knitting, spinning?

Is this a question on priority, or if I actually do all of the above? Or if these are favourite hobbies? Well, I will explain my interest in each.

I live on my own, and can't afford take-out, so that necessitates cooking. Allergies necessitate baking. I'm not really a big fan of cooking, but I'm a big fan of eating. Especially eating well. Would anyone like to be my personal chef? I'm afraid I can't afford to pay you, but you could sleep on my couch. ;)

Crocheting keeps me awake for talks. I have a problem that I fall asleep in talks if I'm not doing anything with my hands. My advisor suggested knitting, but crochet is more portable... only one loop, and it doesn't matter if the hook falls out. Since I started crocheting in classes, etc, I've learned how to make more than just squares, and I've started having a lot of fun. So I've been crocheting on the bus and in the evenings too.

I once knew how to do some basic knitting, but I've forgotten. There are a few knit patterns I'd really like to make, so I'm trying to relearn. Progress is slow, because I only have time in the evenings, and I can't knit and watch tv at the same time yet.

Spinning? It looked like fun, so I decided to give it a whirl. ;) I haven't spun much yet, but it's rather fascinating seeing fluff become yarn.

I also enjoy silk painting, but I haven't had much time for that lately. It's a lot more time consuming than crochet, and isn't a "pick up wherever project".

I enjoy a lot of crafts, and working with my hands. Of course, I also enjoy working with my head. I try to balance the two.

4. How many times have you had to explain/justify your crafting to people seeing you KIP/CIP? Any interesting stories there?

I don't have to explain myself too often on the bus, and most people around the department are used to me CIP now. However, at conferences I still have to explain myself about half a dozen times or more. After explaining myself at conferences, the women invariably suggest I write a book called "Conference Crochet", that contains patterns suitable for keeping oneself awake at conferences. I'm considering it, but I've discovered that I'm not all that fond of writing my patterns down. ;) Plus, I figure I'd never find someone to publish it. Although, I'm beginning to wonder about that, given that I had two of my patterns (the only two I've bothered to write down) accepted to the crochet-a-day calendar. (One for 2006, one for 2007.)

Probably the most interesting story is about a small workshop I attended in Barbados. It was a week long workshop, and there were less than 20 people. By the end of the workshop, I had crocheted a potholder for every person there, including the lady that cooked our meals.

5. Like those scientists recently on the Knitcast who knit bacteria patterns, would it be possible to combine your Ph.D. and your fiber art? And perhaps a more pertinent question would be: would you want to?

I don't think I'd want to... I try to keep my fun hobbies fun... making them "work" tends to reduce the enjoyment a bit. My advisor would like me to crochet him a projective plane, though. It's on my "to do" list, but doens't have a very high priority. (The projective plane needs to be crocheted very tightly, which is hard on my fingers and wrists.)

I probably could find a computational geometry project in crochet, though. I've considered analyzing the stretchiness of knit and crochet, and possibly developing a new type of crochet, but I haven't thought too much on that yet.

I do use a lot of my math skills in developing patterns, though. (But don't worry Kelli, you don't need math if you don't want it! ;) )

Oops... time for me to go give my demo. Thanks for the questions! They were fun! :)