Saturday, May 31, 2008

Pretty good day

Usually a Saturday at lab is enough to ruin a day, but not today. I can see the finish line and just have to fix this silly plasmid. And furthermore, since I was the only one here I could knit during my incubation and listen to (and sing) old-school folk rock. Jessica sent me pictures of the blanket and they look really nice.

And Ira sent me this:

Funny, but I'd never wear it. I'm too cool for that.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Good ligations (oh that's tacky)

Today is supposed to be my last day in lab. Will it? Probably not. Cupcakes seemed to go over well at least. I am hoping to successfully ligate (and thus complete construction) of one of my plasmids that had a single bp mutation in it before. That would be a nice way to end my time here.

T4 ligase, please work.



Then I can unabashedly sleep in, knit, and generally ignore science for two weeks with no guilt.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The end is near

As the quarter (finally) nears an end, I'll have to bid farewell to the nice folks I've worked with (harassed) these past ten weeks. To celebrate my departure (I'm not sure who's happier) I'm going to bring in a treat. I'm hoping I can bribe their memories, so that when we run into each other later on, I am remembered as the girl who brought treats, and not the one who contaminated everything.
Note: I didn't contaminate everything, but I want to avoid such a memory, hence the cupcakes. And ssh! It's a surprise. (Also, my cupcakes will not be poison.)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The difference a day can make



So Clapotis and I are back on speaking terms. I got some advice from the nice folks on ravelry and things seem to be fine. This is very good news as I was not looking to start over or choose another pattern. As expected, all other patterns are on hold because I really can't put the silk/cash yarn down. It's from Colourmart, and I'm in love. Too bad it's a gift.

Second order of business, my cloning is on hold until I can get my restriction digest to work. To continue a cooking theme, I want to make cookies and can't crack the eggs open to save my life. It should be really easy and I'm stumped. I'm hoping like with Clapotis, my stumped-ness will alleviate itself tomorrow...

Monday, May 26, 2008

Mad at Clapotis


I was super excited to start Clapotis, but now I'm a little bummed out. I dropped the first ladder and it's really loose looking. I'm thinking of trying it with smaller needles, but if that doesn't work, I'm stumped. I'm told that the yarn should be okay for the project so......?

Friday, May 23, 2008

Clone-tastic


I cannot work on my knitting today until i finish some cloning. It is boring and I do not make sheep, as other have done. I wish I made sheep, that would be more fun. Who wouldn't want their own personal Dolly? And I could use their wool for yarn maybe. I don't know if that would be IRB approved, though (such sticks in the mud).
Instead I am left to not knit, not have a sheep, and to plunk plasmids into yeast. You cannot make yarn out of yeast, or keep it as a pet.


I can name it Dolly.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

BALs and balls (of yarn)


"Mouse Day" is a special day in lab. Today was a special day; it was mouse day. On Mouse Day I do a series of bronchoalveolar lavages which are time consuming and saddish. It involves suffocating mice (sad), cutting them open (sad), and forcing fluid into their lungs through the trachea (sad). Also it makes my back hurt. Anyway, it's nice to have a treat for myself when it's over. Today, that treat is the gorgeous gray silk/cashmere yarn that just arrived!! But for now, there are clones to be built.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

I would never procrastinate

FYI, ravelry is ruining my life. I am currently avoiding a presentation that needs prepared on hematopoiesis in zebrafish to look at patterns. Shame on me.


P.S. Let me know if you understand it better. You can help.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Should have knit a cloud

Today was the Jessica's graduation and it was heads and shoulders above yesterday (torrential downpours, three hour plane delays, the usual). The day and ceremony were lovely, but both were long and sunny.
(Can you see the pride in my face?)


Everyone but Jessica, who was draped in regalia, got massive sunburns. That's how it goes sometimes. At least it was really nice to visit New York City without ever going into Manhattan.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

NY or bust

I'm leaving for the Big Apple tomorrow (with my grandmother) to attend the Jessica's graduation. I'm really looking forward to the trip. In fact, I'm looking way forward because I'm dreading the exam tomorrow morning, but that's another story. (One mostly about kidneys, actually.) At any rate, here is the project I'm going to start tomorrow, hopefully. I think I might do the front and back panels in different shades of blue to avoid potential dowdiness.
Also, I don't think I have enough of this super-hot navy bamboo to do the whole thing. Too soon to tell.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Jessimaca's Gradumatation

The sister is getting ready to graduate Saturday, and yet, I haven't aged a day since my own graduation. Unfortunately she will be the recipient of another knitted project. This one is a calla lily (her favorite). I'm addicted to Knitty, and have a bad habit of trying any pattern that I can finish in a weekend, though I finished this much more quickly. I liked forcing myself to master short rows, so that I'll be ready to tackle socks in all their glory for this year's Christmas gifts.


I thought of making a whole bouquet, but what on earth would she do with them? So I settled on making just one. It has a mistake, but I don't think she'll notice. Also, getting the floral wire to stay put was a pain in the ass.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Transformations, about what meets the eye

Today I'm transforming some plasmids I built into bacteria. At first blush that may sound impressive, but in actuality, it involves little more than moving a little tube from a warm bath to a cold bath. It is harder to make scrambled eggs than to transform plasmid DNA.


Sunday, May 11, 2008

Who doesn't love a rainy Sunday?

I was thinking about a project that I haven't touched in months and was suddenly inspired to revisit it. It's an afghan knit in small squares, to be pieced together randomly. The project has moved slowly from the beginning, sort of on purpose. I initially wanted to use all leftover yarn and reclaimed thrift store sweaters. It made guage difficult, but I'm hoping for the best when I go to sew it all up.



Anyway, I pulled the bag out of the closet, and laid out what I had finished. I'd forgotten how much I liked it, first of all. Secondly, I'd forgotten how many memories the little squares brought back. I can remember what was going on when I knit a lot of them. For instance, I know I knit squares on my birthday last year in New Hampshire with a favorite purple tweed leftover. I knit a red and gray square when I decided I was going to move to Columbus. Hot pink and orange in Chicago on Valentine's Day when I almost got snowed in. Turquoise and yellow while I was living with Katie. Lots of squares... and suddenly I'm waxing nostalgic. About yarn. Seriously.


But more importantly, rainy days are good knitting days.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Science-Free Saturday

I'm looking forward to a delightfully sunny day of no lab, some knitting and much food. I casted on my tentatively-named "bike lock sock," in some pretty leftover turquoise cotton (washable, natch.) An unnamed friend who also bikes frequently said it is a stupid idea and will get ruined too quickly. My hope: it will be awesome and he will eat his words.




See, it needs jazzing up.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Not my day

Things about today that are not good (in chronological order):


1. waking up early


2. losing my umbrella (in my house, presumably)


3. taking an exam


4. having my lunch give me a tummyache


5. contaminating my experiment with this:



6. still being at work right now instead of watching reality tv

7. having to clean my house tonight (hasn't happened yet, but it will not good.)

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Everyone else is doing it.

After months of being a huge fan of Matt, Wes, and now Rebecca's blogs, it's time I join the ranks. Notably, both P-Matt and Wesley have thrown in the towel on blogging due to general business, but this has not deterred me. In a typical day, I waste at least two hours waiting for experiments to cook. By my calculations, that is prime blog-writing time. And who doesn't want to hear about my sciencing and/or knitting?
This is science and knitting. Hats off to Matie.

Hopefully, at the very least, I can give you something to do while your experiments are cooking. Start here, it will blow your mind (maybe not, but it is my new obsession). And in the words of Joshy, "k2tog, yo."