Sorry!

I didn't mean to be gone this long! Had several posts planned, because I have quite a few new patterns to show you, but somehow that didn't happen... But I'm back now, after a much too long struggle with a math course. Took the final exam again just this Friday, and I have a good feeling about the result. I don't expect a brilliant grade, but I do expect to pass. What this means is that I can finally start my degree in biology! :)

Other good news: I've finally found a Blogger app for my phone that works the way I want it to. This means that I can write blog posts whenever I feel like it, and publish them whenever I'm online. This way I don't have to spend the evening by the computer, when I can crochet instead :D It also allows me to upload pictures directly from my phone, which is very practical. I don't really use my camera for pattern photos anymore because the flash tends to ruin the colors, which my phone camera doesn't. Huge plus :)

Summary of 2010...

Let's see... What happened, and what did I do last year? I'll start with the crafting and patterns I've made. There are quite a lot... I've made six sets of Cute Little Dudes!

Forest Dwellers vol. 1

Forest Dwellers vol. 2

Forest Dwellers vol. 3

Happy Pets vol. 1

Christmas Dudes vol. 1

Christmas Dudes vol. 2

Then there are the Great Big Bugs, which - as someone correctly pointed out in a comment last night - aren't really bugs at all! True bugs belong to another order of insects than the ones I've made; Bumblebee, Ladybug, Dragonfly, Dung Beetle and Fly:

And then there are two arachnids; Spider and Scorpion:

I've also made a few free crochet patterns, plus I've participated in a number of fun amigurumi CALs during the year :) I've learned a new craft: tatting. I've become totally hooked and have even made a new blog for it! I've even got a new tattoo to celebrate two very important things in my life - crafting and Bollan:

During the spring term I decided to quit the university for a while, partly because I  didn't feel like keep trying to get an expensive education that had no real job opportunities for me, and partly because I realized that I'd lost my motivation and wasn't really good at it anymore. So I only took two exams of the four I'd originally signed up for, and I didn't bother to sign up for any more for the fall semester. 

This summer I had a taste of work life, and I found out (again) that I'm not made for working in social occupations. The cleaning job I had for four weeks suit me just fine :) I then decided to start studying again, but something completely different - biology! I honestly think that it's something I'll be happy & comfortable working with later. I just have to get through a few mandatory math courses first (eek!)...

As for my personal life, well, I guess it has been as usual. Since I dropped the university I haven't had the study support that I normally get, and my boyfriend hasn't had a steady income either, so the lack of money has been quite straining. Hopefully that changes when I start studying again! Don't know if everyone supports my choice though, I feel like my boyfriend still wants me to finish my bachelor in linguistics, and he doesn't really believe that I'll get through the biology either. He says I quit on everything that doesn't go my way right away. Blah :/ I'm not the most optimistic person, but his attitude sure doesn't help. 

Anything else? Can't remember, so probably nothing important :p 

Whew!

I had my long dreaded Biology exam yesterday, and it went surprisingly well :) I was nervous for about two minutes, then the rest was almost stress-free. I got a 5, which corresponds to a B, so I'm very pleased :D I do think that I've could have got an A if I hadn't been nervous and stuttered in the beginning. Words came out wrong and I forgot to mention some details. When they asked me about the details, I got everything right, even when they asked me things that are not in my book :) After the exam yesterday my boyfriend surprised me with a bottle of yummy red wine, and then he made taco wraps for dinner! I have the best bf :)

I've had so much fun reading Biology, I almost can't wait to start the next book in January! I hope I can get it before Christmas and start reading as soon as I've had my math exam at the end of November. I have given up getting a passing grade in math this year, because so far I don't understand anything in the book and I need more time to absorb everything. Three short months just aren't enough... Luckily I can give it another try in the spring semester, which is longer than the fall.

Today I thought I would relax and start writing a short article for the Norwegian Egyptology Society Bulletin, which is published twice a year. The first issue came out just days ago, when we had our second meeting since we officially became an organization. Right now we have only about 20 paying members, but the number is growing :) On Saturday we had a board meeting and on Sunday a few people had lectures about subjects related to Ancient Egypt. Because of all this I had no time for studies the whole weekend, and I had to work my bum off the following days to get through the biology book. I made it, but now I'm really tired. I've been at the library for several hours now, and I haven't written a word on the article yet. Oh, well... The next issue is not due for months yet, and I should probably try to concentrate on the math as much as possible. Kind of hard, though, with so much interesting stuff going on. In ten days the museum (with help from me and my boyfriend) is going to have an Egyptian Day, and there is going to be an 'authentic' Ancient Egyptian burial of a mummified hen! My bf and I are constructing a coffin for the creature, and we're making a replica of a mummy coffin that the museum has in its collection. Neat, huh? I hope the crowd will be pleased :)

I'm getting hungry and haven't packed lunch, so I think perhaps it's best to go home and eat something :)

Blah... and some yay :)

Suddenly got a annoying feeling... Suddenly I'm sad and very nervous, although I don't know why. I guess it could be a guilty concience for just ordering a few new tatting shuttles (I really can't help myself when I find brands that I don't already have!). Heh. And my biology exam is in just a week! I don't usually get nervous until the day before or something, but it's an oral exam, and that makes everything a lot worse. I can be very confident on a written exam if I'm a little unprepared, but on an oral exam I feel like dying no matter how hard I've studied. My mind goes blank and I stutter a lot. Utterly useless :( Good news is that my troublesome infection seems to be gone, and I feel a lot better now :) I've lost about three weeks of study time because of the troublesome infection, but I think I've managed to catch up most of the work the last few days... Exhausted!

Or I could just be hungry :p Will go home and have dinner in a few minutes, and hopefully things will improve :) Tonight we get visitors for a Warhammer RPG session, which means lots of crochet time for me, hehe. Perhaps my second Great Big Firefly will finally get his wings today? :)

I'm still here

Just thought I'd post a little something to let you all know that I'm still alive :) I just finished taking notes from a really long chapter about eukaryotic cells, and I thought I'd take a small break before I start doing the exercises. *sigh* I read through the chapter last week, but for some reason I didn't take notes. Don't ask why... Next week I plan to start on the math. I haven't done it sooner because I need to borrow a fancy calculator from a friend who won't arrive in town before Sunday :/ Hope I have time to do it all. I figure that if I don't spend more than two weeks on each chapter, I'll get through the whole book by the end of November. Fingers crossed :)

Though I really need to focus on my studying this fall, I hope I'll be able to get some crafting done as well (I have to do something, or I'll probably go insane). I'm almost done with a new Great Big Bug - a firefly - and I have another one started. Plus I'd like to make another firefly as a mate to the first one. I have only four legs left to make! I'll do my best to finish it by this week :) For the body I've used glow-in-the-dark yarn (yellow Bernat) for the first time! I ordered it from here, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to people ouside of US or Canada, the shipping cost was insane compared to the price of the yarn :/ I tried ordering another brand (white Nightlights) from another site, but they had problems with overseas shipping, so I didn't really have a choice. Of course I could have waited until they had their issues fixed, but you know me :p Anyway, here's a sneak peek at the firefly:

She's quite large, and the back end really does glow! I'm pretty pleased with this one :)

Oh, another thing... I've managed to get tangled up in a craft project with a deadline of  August 31st, so that naturally has priority right now. Not sure how much I can talk about it yet, so if you feel like I haven't posted much craftyness lately it's not because I haven't done anything :) I promise I'll tell you more about it when I know how it turns out!

And then there's the tatting :) I'm hooked! On the bus here I started a new project, and during the next two or three days I finished my first "big" item, a crocodile bookmark :) Thought it would be cool to put in my biology book. The pattern is called "Alligator bookmark" from the book Animal Bookmarks - A Tatted Zoo by Dianna Stevens, but I think it looks more like a crocodile than an alligator. I like crocodiles better :)

Bookmarks are both practical and fun to make, and I think it's becoming a new obsession :) I'm not at all a fast tatter, so I can only make a few rings and chains every night, but I've just finished a thistle bookmark from this pattern. It doesn't say how many colors to use, but I made mine in green and pink. Pictures will probably be up on Flickr and Facebook tonight or tomorrow :)

Bags are packed...

And I'm sort of ready to go home to my apartment. But only sort of. I hate traveling alone, especially by bus. Have tons of luggage and I have to change buses two or three times. Always worried I won't get everything with me, or that someone else will take my bags :/ They are locked and tagged, but still... And then the buses are so crowded this time of year, all the students coming to town at the beginning of the semester. At least I'll have things to pass the time on the ten-hour bus ride. Tatting shuttles wound with thread for a new project, yarn  & stuffing to make some Bug legs, and best of all, my new laptop has batteries to last at least six hours of music and movies :D Perhaps I even get to sleep some of the way, that will shorten the trip a lot.

But, when I finally get there with my 30+ kilos of stuff, I have to drag it with me virtually uphill all the way from the bus (can't afford a taxi on a Sunday), and the forcasts say it will be 24 degrees C and bright sunshine! Whew, think I'm going to die... At least Bollan and Glyptodon are anxious to go! Wish I could be carried home in a bag, too :) (Um, you know what I mean!)

When I get home I need to put together a proper CV and start applying for jobs. Really scary stuff. Worried I can only get crappy jobs, or that I won't be able to do the ones I do get. Maybe I can't find anything at all and end up on welfare or something... I know I can probably get a job as a cleaning lady fairly easily,  but I'm not sure if I want to have that as my first option. The cleaning itself is not that bad, but I've become allergic to the gloves that are used :( I've tried wearing cottong gloves inside the latex ones, but that only helps a little... 

Plus I'm no longer a university student. Was going to take a year off anyway when I couldn't begin a Master in Arabic this fall, but now I've decided to give up on languages & linguistics pretty much for good. It's all very exciting, and I'm pretty good at learning new languages, but I've come to realize that I'll never find a job with an education like that. I wouldn't survive as a teacher, getting a PhD also includes teaching and stuff, and that's pretty much all there is as far as I can see right now...

So, I've come up with a new plan. Since I'll be working for a year now anyway, I can just as well spend the time doing something useful, like studying! :p I've decided that if I go back to the university I'll study biology. To qualify for that I need to take some math and/or biology classes at high school level. I sent in an application to a school which has adult classes in the afternoon, but they were all full, so my only option is to try doing this by myself. Signed up for an exam in math and the beginning course in biology, and we'll see how it goes. Off to buy books tomorrow, and hopefully I get to spend most of next week reading biology :) 

Well, time to have some breakfast before I go! Ugh...

Now what...

Just found out that I have to wait a whole year to apply for a Master in Arabic, because the institute doesn't have enough people... A new professor will apparently be hired from the spring semester, but I have no idea who it is. So, I suddenly have no plans for my immediate future :/ I guess I'll just wait and see if the job I have this summer is allright, and if it is, I can always apply for more store jobs. Hm, the local craft store, perhaps? :)

Crap!

Utter crap, I tell you! Failed my exam agian :( That course is going to be the death of me, I swear...I'm not even sure what the point of the course is, we have just read a lot of useless linguistic theory,  Leonard Bloomfield was an idiot and Noam Chomsky is a pompous ass! There, just had to get that out... 

So now I just have to get through this semester, for which all motivation vanished about five minutes ago when I got my exam result... This means I won't be finishing my Bachelor degree this semester, and I'll have to postpone my Master by a whole year, unless I get lucky and can start with the spring semester... Shite and crap again. It's not an entirely hopeless situation, though, because I already have a Bachelor in Arabic, so I could always apply for a Master in that. I can still use my linguistics courses for something, I guess... Ugh!

Weee-kend :)

Today was the final test in the indroduction course in Latin. I think it went well, but I'm not sure since it was a pretty easy or short test, so everything has to be 100 % right for a top grade.. The last few days I've done nothing but study (except for finishing up the Celtic squares during the Latin classes, but I haven't photographed them yet, so I'll post more later), so now I'm taking a well-deserved break to finish off some projects :) Wee!

A while ago I bought a new crochet book, 50 Sensational Afghans and Throws, solely because of the afghan pattern that's featured on the cover. 

It's a beautiful afghan, but the pattern is unfortunately somewhat of a challenge. Not because  the pattern is particularly difficult, but it's poorly written at times, and with a few mistakes. I fortunately found someone on Ravelry who has made this afghan before, so I've had help and support through my first square :) My first try came out a little small, and I made so many mistakes I didn't want to use it (and I didn't want to unravel it), so a started a new one, using green instead of blue:

I decided not to make all 12 squares needed for the afghan, but only 4 to make a pillow. So far the first square is almost finished, and the other three are almost half done. But then I ran out of black yarn... Today I finally got around to go to the store for more, but they were out of black, too :( I guess the squares aren't meant to be finished yet... There are just two rounds left with black on that first square, and I had hoped I'd see it finished this weekend :/

As you can see the corner motifs are a challenge for my patience:

But, since I've been out of black for quite a while, and I really love these squares, I have started a new set in new colors! It looks kind of Easter-y with the yellow and purple :)

A much needed break...

Just ten days until the final test in Latin, woohoo... I had my linguistics exam today, the one I failed before Christmas. I think I did allright this time, though I know I would have done better if I'd read more. But time flew past and motivation failed me, so all I could do was hope the questions would be more understandable than last time. Now it's all done, and I treated myself to a new book (again, haha) of beaded animals :D My first beading book in English!

Lovable Beaded Creatures by Anja Freese. It's a pretty book, though the animals are a little different than the ones I'm used to. This is the only book I have by this author. It has patterns both for beaded animals and woven bracelets, but the animal section is by far the biggest. I need to get myself a beading loom, there are many great patterns I want to try out :) Hopefully I'll get my missing beads in the mail tomorrow, so I can make a little critter from my new book before moving on to verb conjugation and noun declensions in Latin  :p

I have also started this month's squares for the Ravelry Block-a-Month CAL. The pattern is called Celtic Granny. I skipped the 5th round and improvised the sc edge to make the square 4 inches instead of 6. Tonight I managed to make these three:

Good news & bad news

Okay, the good news first: I have found my missing beads and macramé supplies! That is, my mother found it, at my grandmother's house. It had gotten mixed up in the Christmas decorations and packed away shortly after we left. My mother will send it to me over the weekend, and I can finally start making stuff in red and black again :)

The bad news: I don't have time to do more crafting :( The exam on Tuesday is closing in on me, and I'm way behind with the reading. I'm still depressed from yesterday's argument, and today I haven't read anything, so that just makes it worse. To top it off, we're having guests tonight (in about ten minutes), so there goes my chance of catching up a little reading. PLUS the Olympic curling final starts at midnight and lasts for 2.5 hours, and I have to see it, so tomorrow probably won't be much better than today :/ This means I most likely won't have time to finish my needle felting project by Monday, but I'll see how far I get tonight and post the result tomorrow anyway. It's almost done, but all the details are missing...

Well, our company just arrived, so I have to go...

Useless...

That's how I feel right now. It's a little past five in the morning and I should be asleep, getting ready for studying tomorrow. I have a final exam on Tuesday, the course I failed last semester. I feel like I understand more of it this time, but I'm not really motivated...

Earlier this evening we were out with some friends (my boyfriend's friends anyway, I don't have any friends of my own here), and I, "the linguist", got asked some questions I couldn't really answer. I felt like crap. All those people are either finished with their Master's degree or working on their phd, but that doesn't make everything better. One guy argumented quite strongly about something and I couldn't say anything against it, even though I disagreed. I'm just not good enough at what I'm supposed to be doing. A while later my boyfriend and I went home and continued the discussion. A big part of my problem is talking in front of lots of people, that is, more than two persons I don't know really well.

Anyway, after a while we sort of agreed to disagree. I'm not a religious person like he is, I do not believe in much, including myself and my opinions. So I was sort of back where I started, I feel like I don't know what I'm talking about.. I mean, is this how my life is going to be? My career as a linguist? Writing up thoughts and theories that someone smarter tears down as soon as it's published.. I don't know if I can do that. I have no idea what to do with my education, I just like learning languages and figuring out how they work. I'm pretty good at it, too, I just can't find any use for it.. I refuse to become a teacher on high school or something, that would be the death of me. I had a job once and I've never been more depressed in my life, despite the money I was making. Money sure isn't everything in this world...

I'm not even sure if this post will be here in a few days, I just needed to vent a little frustration. Hate to read this depressing stuff about myself. Sorry about that...

Back to school

Woke up to 20 degrees C in our apartment this morning, almost comfortable :p I think it's getting warmer outside as well, so I'm hoping the indoor temperature will rise to a survivable level during the next few days.

Yesterday I bought school books for more than 3000NOK (more than 350USD), the most I've ever paid for curriculum books in one semester (yes, books are insanely expensive in Norway), but then I haven't taken as many courses before. Two linguistics classes, an Egyptology class and a full semester of Latin :) I think all the courses adds up to about 2.5 regular semesters of credits... I'm going to be very busy this spring! This means that I probably won't post as often as before, partly because my studies aren't that exciting, but mainly because I won't have time to do much crafting to blog about.

Today I have tried to tidy up my yarn stash, but with little success... I have too much! Bags and boxes everywhere, and nowhere to store them :/ I think I'll give up the tidying and start working on my Latin vocabulary instead. First class tomorrow, yay :)

:(

Had my final lingustics exam today, and it went totally shit (pardon my French). I studied all day yesterday and thought I was pretty well prepared, but I guess I wasn't :/ My motivation this semester has been pretty much absent, and besides, the fall semester is way too short to really do anything constructive.. When you finally get around to studying, the finals are something like two weeks away, and on top of it all you (may) have started thinking about Christmas preparations and presents. My head was everywhere but in the exam room today. After doodling a little and writing a page and a half (which was about a quarter of the whole exam and not nearly enough for a passing grade), I started designing a crocheted scarf pattern in my head. *sigh* I actually envied the other people who had an exam in geology or something...

Oh, well, I'll just have to take it again in the spring, which will at least give me a little more time to read. I came home and went back to bed and slept for three hours, and now I feel a little better. Certainly wont let this ruin my Christmas holiday! It's finally time to finish up all the projects I've started, Christmas presents, Advent calendar things and other stuff. Yay :)

A final exam and possibly a new blog

Well. My Sanskrit exam is now over, and I think I did allright. Not exactly brilliant, but then I have now idea what the level of the course really is. As the only student in that class I guess I should know, but...

After much deliberation today and last night, I have now decided to make a separate blog for my advent calendar :) That means I am one project short, because I have also decided to make all my holiday projects holiday related. I'm not completely happy with the layout of the new blog yet (can't find a template I really like), so the link will be posted later. I plan to spend the evening figuring this thing out :)

One down...

Just two exams to go :) I've been dreading the computer linguistics exam all year, but now it's finally finished! It didn't go straight to hell, as I though it would when I first got the exam sheet, but I might be hovering somewhere around the outer gates... I sat there and looked at the questions and doodled for five minutes before I began to understand the questions.. Still, I think I answered four of the eight questions pretty well, two of them okay, and the last two were utter crap. I don't know what XML is, and I hope I will never have to use it. Hmpf... But, now it's all over, and I don't think I have to take the exam again next year, so now I can relax and do more fun things for a few days. My next exam is on Wednesday, so I guess tomorrow it's back to studying. Tonight it's crocheting, red wine and blogging :)

A few days ago a new owlet was hatched, meet Igor the Eagle owl:

Isn't he cute? I will keep him all for myself, and he'll be roosting with Suzy and Tony in the window :)

Time is on my side again :)

Finally :) After dropping my Chinese class, I don't quite know what to do with all the time.. I went from having several classes every day (with lots of homework) to three classes a week, with almost no homework. I feel a little bad for dropping out just two weeks before the final exam, but at the same time I'm really relieved. The final exam would be tomorrow, and I'm really glad I'm not studying for that now. I have enough to do with the Linguistics classes and Sanskrit, which make up a full semester of credits anyway :)

I finished my panda in time for the give-away on Flickr, but I didn't win. Oh well, it was fun making him anyway, I rarely make generic amigurumi like pandas and bears or bunnies. I have even made him a little wardrobe, a hat and a scarf. I have also bought more pink yarn to finish the first panda, but I've just realised that I don't have safety eyes that are big enough :/ *sigh* I guess I'll have to order some more eyes soon.

Yesterday I had a big photoshoot with most of my unfinished projects. I didn't count the creatures themselves, but I took almost a hundred pictures. Check out my projects on Ravelry if you're interested.

Oh, and here are pictures of my yarn stash. This is not even all of it, so you can imagine why my boyfriend feels a little crowded :D