And to boldly go where no-one has gone before.

My brother doesn't like sci-fi so much as he likes spaceships, but he really likes spaceships. There aren't a great many patterns going on Ravelry, but the Enterprise is good and iconic, so it seemed appropriate for his upcoming birthday.

God damn, but I can't stand sewing components together. And embroidery. I'm going to steer clear of toys for a while.

Fiddly finishing aside, the pattern is quite straightforward and takes no time to make. I used Cygnet DK acrylic, mostly.

I've started watching Star Trek: The Original Series (I like how the fandom hivemind all knows what you mean when you say TOS, even thought it was never called that, because that would be silly). The most endlessly charming thing is that fact that the backgrounds, props and costumes are so visibly handmade. It sounds like I'm trying to be snarky, but it's incredibly endearing to be able to see the work that went into it. Differently enjoyable is the fact that stage-fighting hadn't been invented yet. And while it's a cliché, the vision and ambition of the show is so hopeful. There's a scene a few episodes into season one where they're looking down on a planet identical to Earth, and the continents are laid out incorrectly, because it was made before there were any pictures of Earth from space. Also fun fact!: Spock was meant to be half-Martian, but Roddenberry thought that if the show were successful, man might walk on Mars during its run. I can't think of anything else at the moment that's as full of quiet optimism and wonder, or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows.

Bare necessities bag

Bare Necessities Bag Pattern

When I leave the house, my bag almost invariably contains

• my planner
• the book I'm reading
• a sketchbook
• a current knitting project
• my phone
• my wallet
• my coin-purse, because my wallet doesn't have space for coins
• a water bottle
• my pencil case

Optional extras include

• my journal
• a notebook for writing projects
• my 'miscellaneous' notebook
• camera
• another knitting project in case I don't feel like working on the first one
• my sewing kit
• specific items I need that day

This could be construed as me having a terrible aversion to not having something to do, which is true, but it becomes even more uncomfortably irrational given that I usually cycle into town, so I can't say that those things are to occupy me on the bus in. I'm usually cycling to either meet someone or go to work, as well, so once there it would be impolite to start reading or writing. So in practise, I cycle into town, a large bag containing the weight of a small child in paper hanging off my handlebars just in case, then I cycle home, where I can use any of it.

I like small bags because they force me not to damage my back for no reason. Usually in pattern backgrounds this is where the "so I made one to suit my exact needs" comes in, but I made one for someone else, because I like the idea of it, but I need all that paraphernalia.

This bag was made using a 9mm crochet hook with Hoooked Zpagetti. (I'm a brat when it comes to other people's presents - I select yarn I want to use, then decide something to make with it.) The fabric is a bit difficult to work, but it's very quick to make, an easy beginner's project, and doesn't have seams, which I consider a bonus in anything.

FO: Crocheted Garnet Bolero

I finished my first crochet project more complicated than a rectangle or amigurimi! It has been a productive few days, insofar as looking for jobs, crafting, looking at pictures of cats and reading children's books in Irish can be considered productive.

The last picture isn't great, in terms of quality or my face, but it shows nicely how it bolero sits.

The pattern is Short and Sweet from Stitch 'n' Bitch: The Happy Hooker. It took me a while to get the hang of the pattern, there was a lot of ripping out, and it still doesn't make the same intuitive sense to me that knitting does - can you correct a mistake from the row above it? Who knows! - but by the time I was half-way through I had it more or less memorised, and the fact that it builds up so quickly is awfully satisfying. The pattern was a bit unclear in parts, in particular in describing the increases on the front, but largely it was very straightforward, and a good project for someone looking to move up from 'beginner'.

I used a 5mm crochet hook and Rico Essentials Cotton DK. It's mercerised cotton, so it has a nice sheen to it. I could probably have gone down a size, but I'm quite delighted with it as it is. Four years after my first attempt at learning I feel justified in saying that I can crochet, so I'm experiencing a disproportionate sense of accomplishment right now.

(I also recently made a list of twenty-five things to do before I turn twenty-five, one of which was crochet a garment, so I made something AND I get to cross something off a list. I'm on fire over here. No really, send help.)

The direwolve is back

My friend Steph is going a long long way away - whole continents and time zones! - so I made a going-away direwolf, because I express affection best through food and material goods, and I'm pretty sure U.S. customs are fussy about letting food in. It also means that if she starts to forget me, at least my image will be replaced by that of this wolf.

The tiny animals and creepy dog oven mitt are courtesy of Steph for my birthday. The tiny animals are actually rubbers, but who could ruin their tiny adorableness?

Please enjoy also the pre-detail "I have no mouth, and I must scream" version. Things which should have faces but don't are one of my favourite kinds of creepy.

The pattern is the Direwolf/Wolf Pattern, so it can be read either way, and if Game of Thrones or all of fantasy ever becomes annoying it can go back to being a standard wolf. It's very straightforward (while I was crocheting I didn't think some things would end up looking right, but I had faith, and I think they did) and I like how it turned out. I used DK cotton with a 3.75mm hook instead of a bulky yarn, and given the size this turned out I think a bulky one would have been quite huge. I sort of wish I'd measured its dimensions before I gave it away, so that I could make it seasonally appropriate costumes. Tiny Santa hat, tiny St. Patrick's mitre, tiny pumpkin... something... I just like dressing things up as other things. I'm not well, Harry.

Crochet in Middle Earth-tones

My sister kept mentioning last year that she wanted to learn to crochet, so I got her Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker for Christmas. I think I showed remarkable self-restraint by not flicking through it until now. (I honestly didn't by it with myself in mind, but I might be a terrible person regardless.)

I got good use out of the Stripes (and Stripes) Forever pattern - when I had reams left over from making a belt, I decided to make a scarf, as well. I used Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, in what was my first yarn-shopping jaunt in an uncharacteristically long time. I wanted to use earth-tones, and I think the colour scheme ended up quite Middle Earthish, which I'm happy with, because I am a really cool and well-adjusted person with a vibrant social life.

I made the belt several inches too long, but at least it's long enough to tuck into the next belt-loop.

The scarf is also self-tasselling, which is pretty cool! It's crocheted in long rows end-to-end, rather than short rows side-to-side. It looks nice and academic, I think, and as I started it while I was in Cambridge, I feel doubly justified in thinking of it as my Shire scarf.

Second and third crochet projects down! (The fourth will hopefully be put together tonight, photos in the future.) The next one I have planned is a biggie - if I do a decent job of it, I'll feel I'm allowed to say that I can crochet.

Also, Irish Premature Babies sent me a thank-you card for the squares I donated, and emailed me pictures of the blankets they've made! I get to feel fuzzy, and I get post.

FO: A wee small Eldritch Abomination

This is the very first thing I've crocheted that isn't a rectangle! It's not very good as such things go - certainly not on a par with my knitting - but I made a thing and I am proud.

I used the Cthulhu pattern from Creepy Cute Crochet to make this wee fella.

Surveying all that will one day be his.

Wee small wings.

With a one euro coin for comparison.

I used James C. Brett Supreme Soft and Gentle Baby DK, because I had reams of it over from a hat and I liked the colour. I also used a 2mm hook. The book recommended aran weight and a 3.5mm hook, and for those not into self-sabotage, I'm inclined to agree. I also think the eyes are a bit wonky - polymer clay or even googly eyes would have been better, he looks a bit insect-like as is. I feel a bit guilty about how it turned out as it's a present, but hopefully the fact that it is handmade with love AND the first such thing that I have handmade with love will trump its creepy bug-eyes.

Speaking of inadvertently creepy things, I made a Valentine's card for a friend with my left hand, with a view to it looking like a child had made it and being charming and adorable. The desired effect was not achieved.

All my attempts to show affection just come out terrifying :(

A week (and a bit) of firsts and new things

I started in a new lab this week. I had to scramble a bit for a placement after Christmas, when the position I was meant to have fell through. For some reason I opted to learn Western Blot, about which I've heard nothing but bad things, over carrying out PCR, which I can already do and quite like. The appeal of doing something new was just too great, even if it makes me want to stab myself in the face.

As well as wet lab work, I'll be learning a bit of programming and helping out on a bioinformatics project. I've not done any of either before, so I'm looking forward to getting started on that!

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So far I have a lot of time at my desk reading papers and playing with Linux. I don't like being without something to do with my hands, so I've been getting some knitting done.

I finished my first pair of full-fingered gloves that I've been happy with. I've made one pair before, when I was starting off knitting, but they were a quite a poor fit, the gauge was wrong, and I wasn't happy with them. Worst, they were a present, and I'd told the person that part of their present would be late, so when they were finished it would have been awkward to opt not to give them. I suspect they have lived at the back of a shelf somewhere. I've avoided full-fingered gloves since then, but these ones turned out quite well, I think!

They are slightly too large for me, but they are for someone with larger hands than mine, so it should work out.  I used the Lace and Twist Gloves pattern (which is free if you click through the links and set up a Knitting Daily account), which is very straight-forward and gave me some new thoughts on thumb construction.  I used Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-Ply, which is quite perfect for this level of detail.

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Since finishing the gloves, I've been working on my first pair of toe-up socks, from a... book? book-box? a friend gave me last Christmas. I can be pretty lazy about fudging awkward techniques, so I'm proud of myself for actually taking the time to learn the magic cast-on. Most awkward thing in the world on DPNs, though.

Cables on variegated yarn - I am just a terrible person. I even have the temerity to quite like how it looks. These are going to be a birthday present for my mother. Her birthday is in April, but this is going to be my year of being disgustingly organised with my knitting.

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I started a climbing course this week, and really enjoyed it. It's quite different in terms of pay-off to everything else I do. If I want to be further along on a run, or on a piece of knitting, or while studying a topic, reaching that point requires sustained effort, passing through a number of other points on the way. If I want to be higher up on the wall, I put in a burst of effort, and then I'm higher up. I'm going again tomorrow, and really looking forward to it.

I'm also two weeks into a first aid course. The first week we learned to make normal and elevated slings, last week we learned CPR (which is some work, it must be said) and this week will be baby CPR and the Heimlich maneuvre. I'm doing it through St. John's ambulance, so I might look into volunteering with them afterwards, because free time is for losers and commies.

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This evening I started my first crochet project which isn't a rectangle - a teeny Cthulhu. I've finished the body, but the light was gone by that stage.

I'm using too small a crochet hook because Hickeys didn't have the one I needed, and I wanted to get started in case learning a slightly new technique took two weeks. The head is a little more finicky, and I ripped out my first one, but were I more adept I would have had it finished in a few hours.

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I'm only flying through my project list! I will think of new things and add to it soon.

Henry Bear Blanketeers

Today I looked at my stats, and so far this blog has 264 views. I know this isn't very much in the Grand Scheme of the Internet, but it's still many people seeing what I do and what if they think they things I make are ugly and the things I think are childish and pretentious and oh god what must the internet think of me. So in the interest of making internet strangers think well of me, I'm going to post about something worthwhile.

A few months ago at work, we all had to learn to crochet for an exhibition. (You know it's a good job when learning a new craft is a requirement.) I got talking to a woman who came in who told me that she's part of a group called the Henry Bear Blanketeers. They make quilts for children going for heart surgery in Crumlin Children's Hospital, which the kids then get to keep. You can make squares and send them in to be sewn together, or you can make whole blankets and send them in. Squares should be six by six inches, though other sizes will be used. Squared can be knitted or crocheted, and it's a very good way to use up left-over bits of yarn. (My yarn box is much tidier AND I've done something good with my Christmas holidays! I've also improved my crochet - I've always been a knitting gal, but it is a lot speedier.)

If you're interested or would like more information, you can contact knitasquareandshowyoucare@gmail.com or Heart Children Ireland. It's an Irish project, but it was inspired by Project Linus in America, and I'm sure there's something local in other countries too. If you decide to take part, leave a comment, I'd love to know if I've helped people get involved.