Whoops

I keep thinking I'm good at math, and then I do something like this:

This is a second pair of "Double Mittens with Angora Lining". I'm not fond of after-thought thumbs (buttonhole thumbs? ...whatever they're called), so this time I decided to modify the pattern to have a thumb gusset. I looked up how many stitches wide the afterthought thumb was, then calculated how many increase rounds I'd need, and thus where I needed to start the gusset.

I reached the point you can see in the photo, when it dawned on me: I had calculated how to get enough increases for the width (13 stitches), not the full circumference (26 stitches).

Whoopsie!

Now I'm trying to figure out what my options are... besides ripping back half of what I've knit, of course. *sigh*

Before the clock ticks over...

Happy Shamrock Day! And happy belated Pi day! (3/14)

Anyone feel like doing my marking? Assignments? Exercise? Midterms? Take your pick...

Math Lesson

Annoying: pyramid scheme e-mails.

Really annoying: pyramid scheme e-mails with incorrect math.

Exhibit A:

You've been invited to be a part of a recipe exchange. Please send a recipe to the person whose name is listed in the number 1 position above (even if you don't know them). It should preferably be something quick, easy and without rare ingredients. Actually, the best one is one you know in your head and can type out and send right now. Then, copy this letter into a new e-mail, move my name to the #1 position and put your name in the #2 position. Only my name and your name should show when you send your e-mail. Send to 20 friends. If you cannot do this within 5 days (or choose not to!), let me know so it will be fair to those participating. You should receive 36 recipes. It's fun to see where they come from. Seldom does anyone drop out because we can all use new recipes. The turnaround is fast because there are only 2 names on the list. Thanks!

If each of 20 people e-mail 20 people, that's 400 people being e-mailed at the second step. If everyone responded, you would get 400 recipes back. If you want 36 recipes, everyone should be sending the pyramid scheme on to 6 people!

Found on Flickr

Hyperbolic Caterpillar Of Doom Front

Oooooo! I need to crochet me one of these! Or I could buy it at her etsy shop... but I'm a starving student, and it would be so fun to crochet this!

Hmmm... another possibility is to see if she'd be interested in a swap... a hyperbolic caterpillar of doom for a pair of custom socks? Hmmmm....

I should probably finish Fluxx's pair, my sockapalooza pal's pair, and Jan-Knit's pair (when she sends me yarn) first.

This looks like a good way to use up scraps, plus Dollarama has furry yarn for $1!

Found on Flickr

Hyperbolic Eddie

Hey, neat! Crochet hyperbolic monsters! She has a blog and an etsy shop too.

This one is only sort of a "found on flickr"... the trail started at a comment on my blog, then went to the commenter's blog, then a blog linked to from a post by the commenter, a comment left on *that* blog... then after exploring all this lady's pages, I finally found a flickr photo I could poach! ;)

Hyperbolic Planes

I finished the hyperbolic plane (n=5) I was making for my professor in Toronto:

I stopped at the point I did both because it was nearly time to leave, and also because there were two knots in what was left. That seemed a bit rediculous!

Here's the one I made with some others given to W previously (not made by me):


I used the leftover to make a mini hyperbolic plane (n=3):

I plan to tie it to my suitcase to distinguish it from the others on the baggage carousel.

Answering Mea

Mea asked (ever so nicely) what my dissertation is on, and how Toronto is as a city. Frankly, I haven't seen much of Toronto... it's a big place, and I'm mostly meeting with professors. Lettuce Knit, however, is *awesome*! I highly recommend hanging out there on a Wednesday night for their SNB.

My dissertation... um, well, if I use the big words, I'm looking to see if protein allostery can possibly be explained by changes in rigidity using combinatorial methods. Using less scary words, I'm applying a mathematical idea to biology using computer science. Explanations are pretty long... how badly do you want one? ;)

Slowly Going Crazy

Two of my crochet projects are trying to drive me crazy. The main culprit is my hat:

It was too big, so I ripped back, reduced the number of increase rows, and tried again. It was still too big, so I ripped back and reduced by two more of the increase rows. Guess what. It's now too small. However, I have a plan to add stitches in the row after the next row... hopefully that will do the trick.

The other crochet project driving me nuts is the hyperbolic plane:

It hasn't needed major ripping... just the occasional spot where I forgot to add the increase after five stitches. However, although I only started with 20 stitches in the first row, I've now reached a mind-numbing 331 stitches per row. Ah, the miracle of compound interest. If only I knew of a bank that offered 20% interest!

I must say... I'm rather tempted to start a charity hat just for something different! Especially since I'll be using heavy worsted yarn on bigger needles. A quick FO might be nice around about now.

Good news on the medical front: I get to go off Prozac. So that's one less way I'm crazy. ;)

It's The Process

Whoops... it is too big:

rrrrrrrip:

moving forward again:


Anyone curious as to what my designing notes look like? (If you have a weak stomach, don't look!)

(That last photo at the bottom shows the original chart I'm modifying for use in the hat.)

Problems With Pi

It turns out I'm incapable of reading, understanding, and modifying Wendy's Kitty Pi pattern.

At first I thought I was doing an equivalent number of increases (black), but I got something ridiculously ruffled. So I halved the number of increases. All was looking good... the bottom lay flat when I tested it. However, I got suspicious when I was running out of yarn, even though I should have had an entire ball left over...

So I double-checked Wendy's pattern (pink).

I ended up with 280 stitches to her 144... whoops!

Um... felting is forgiving, right? I think it may work out...

And luckily I have some stash from Bron that will allow me to finish up:

(Yes, I have more than just that one ball shown. The stash yarn was going to be slipper soles, but I may have enough for both purposes... otherwise, I'll just end up with different coloured soles than originally planned. I have enough feltable stash.)

Pi Are Squared

Kitty Pi, Version 2

Ah! This second version (being knit from the ripped first version) is much more planar. :)

(Does anyone find the title as funny as I do, or does it leave you clueless? I'm mixing at least three joke references, and I'm not sure if they're getting too confusing.)

Interesting Talk

Oooo... there's a potentially interesting talk today:

The Math Plague: Learning Strategies for Under-Achievers in Mathematics

Sherry Mantyka
Director, Mathematics Learning Centre
Memorial University

This presentation is anecdotal but the knowledge on which it is based is not. As a researcher at Memorial University, Dr. Mantyka has had the opportunity to study the learning problems of under-achievers in mathematics collaboratively with psychologists, teachers, and students, to do statistical analysis on large data sets, and to conduct controlled experiments. However, under-achievers have no interest in sophisticated research; they simply want to be able to successfully complete their required courses in mathematics. This has led us to also develop bridging strategies as motivation to introduce these new learning strategies to students.

The presentation will contain a sample of some common learning problems which have been identified, learning strategies to remedy these problems, and bridging strategies to motivate the student to use these new techniques.

Many of the learning principles discussed in The Math Plague are applicable to any discipline and to any endeavor. Examples of this and justification for this statement will be provided.

Talks like this can either be really good, or really bad. I'm hoping for the former.

While I'm rambling about research anyway, I'll give you a brief (cryptic?) dissertation update: I actually made some nice progress last week, and had a good (online) meeting with my advisor yesterday. Yay!