My name in Google Doodle

Maker Faire 2011

Maker Faire 2011, a set on Flickr.

Way too much fun!

Maker Faire 2011

We went to San Mateo for this year's Maker Faire.

SUPER FUN TIME!!

I went to Swap-a-rama-rama to start my Maker Faire project.

I took a blue T-shirt and used a serger to make it into a shrug for my 9 year old.

Many thanks to CC and Katy who helped.

CC was a wiz with the serger and made the whole process not so scary and Katy was wonderful at showing me how to do a button hole. I just may have to break down and buy one of those new fangled sewing machines because making a button hole now is SUPER EASY!

Right next to Swap-a-rama was the booth doing silk screening. M chose to do the flowers.

Then, while waiting for a demo on soft circuitry, I ran into Dia from SparkFun. She was great and gave me some supplies to try to sew in some LilyPad LED's. Here's what the soft parallel circuit looks like:

And the coolest part - what it looks like with a battery in:

SWEET!

Mochi Rocket by M

Mochi Rocket by M
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

Went out to the October DARS launch this weekend. M decorated her rocket with some Mochi stickers. Had a good day but am paying a price - allergies are raging!

J's "I go whoosh" whooshing

J's "I go whoosh" whooshing
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

This will be the last we see of the "I Go Whoosh". This flight went well and we were able to recover it with some problems - it got caught in the power lines. After tugging on it a couple of times, it came lose.

The next day, J flew it on an I 195 - which was not as strong a motor that this video had. It separated at apogee. The wind the third day was BAD.

I did help out with range duties at AIRFest and had a short lived time as Launch Safety Officer (LSO) - something I've done quite a lot - even at a large rocket launch. Granted, I was a little rusty, but I picked it up fairly quickly. I'll just say that it wasn't the most fun experience and leave it at that. The launch got called for high winds (you shouldn't launch in 20+ mph winds).

We hung around the launch site another three hours hoping that the wind will die down - and it didn't. We didn't have shade, because our EZ Up took a hit because of the high wind. The hotel, which was supposed to have a pool, was terrible and M started saying that she was homesick.

We also found out that the next day was supposed to be high winds (over 20 mph) again.

So I made the call - we were going home early. After 3 nights, none of us had had a good night sleep and it was time.

So we're home again and it was nice to get a good night sleep. We're all unpacked, washed, and have eliminated all traces of Kansas dust.

Can't wait till the next HPR launch (High Powered Rocket)

My rocket flying

VID 00003.3GP
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

This is a video of my pink and black rocket I call the Starry Night. It's flying on an nice little black jack motor by Aerotec (I 195)

It went really fast and I didn't keep it on camera all the time - it really kicked off that rod!

Flying with your big girl

M and mom with the Starry Night Sept 2010
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

After a very long 6 year hiatus, I finally have started getting back into High Powered Rocketry. We are currently in Argonia, Kansas getting ready to start day two of Airfest. It was really nice getting reacquainted with people we hadn't seen in quite a long time. I forgot just how friendly and helpful everyone is out on the airfield and the Kansas guys are super nice.

We have a superb location looking directly on to the air field and our neighbors are super. I'm not surprised at how many Texans we had out yesterday - seems like you were either from Kansas or Texas with a few Oklahoman's mixed in.

I tried flying my "Starry Night" yesterday on a motor that's OLD (gotta be over 8 years) - an Aerotek I 355 Redline - would have been super neat to see that. But after three attempts (and the final one with a very good igniter) and some consultation with some guys who cast motors for a living, we decided that it was not meant to go up.

So we bought another one - and I like these motors - SUPER black and smokey. I'll send my rocket up on day two.

We did fly J's "I Go Whoosh" on a J 355. Perfect flight! But we had a bit of a scare at the end. It got fouled in some electrical wires coming down. I tugged at it a couple of times and we got lucky - it came loose.

Day Two starts in an hour - gotta go.

Great Weekend

My company (which I have officially hit the one year mark at) had a pool party with all my co-workers on Friday. I have to say a lot of work went into it and all I did was show up. School is officially on and I found myself leaving home at 7 am and not returning until 9 pm all week long. The pool party was officially a wonderful way to end a very busy week. Thank you to all my co-workers who put it together. Good job.

Saturday was spent over at Frisco at a mid-powered rocket launch put on by the Dallas Area Rocket Society (DARS). Years ago I used to be VERY involved with high-powered rockets and had to take a break when my little one was having sensory overload issues. I got to spot the Range Safety Officer for about an hour and had a great time. It was really nice to re-connect with past friends. We are thinking seriously about going to Air Fest this year up in Argonia, Kansas. Should be a good fun trip and it's been 6 years since we last went. I'm also due some time off and after this semester, I'm gonna need to blow something up.

Today we ran by a new home brew store in north Dallas today because I needed some more bottles - I have a German Light and a Koelsh in the buckets and needed to bottle this weekend or risk losing one of the buckets. 72 bottles later (which, by the way, were good, but the best bottles are the ones from Sam Adam's bottles) I bought some ingredients for my very first non-kit beer. It's a Stone IPA recipe, but with a liquid malt extract instead of whole grains. The house has a wonderful hoppy smell right now!

Knitting: Well, I have the body and hood done on a Central Park Hoodie. I had to do some serious modifications to the sleeves - 8 1/2" is not wide enough for a plus size gal. I added about 5 more inches. I'm currently knitting the sleeves. Slow going as I have LOTS going on. I also always have a wash cloth going in my purse and have a number of them knitted up waiting to be distributed to others when the time is right.

Best part of this weekend is seeing M get the rocket bug. I hated leaving the hobby years ago, but I know we're going to start up again - M loved it too much and we had too much fun to not do it again. Next launch: Frisco (August 21st).

Dallas ComiCon

J saw that the Dallas Comic Convention was going on today, so we ran over to Richardson this afternoon.

You see, M is currently in a writing mode. So much that she gets into trouble at school for not doing her other work. It's something her teacher HATES to discourage, but M's writing *is* interfering with her other work.

So we are encouraging her as much as we can here at home, and it's working. She will disappear into her room to write.

So today, we went to Comi Con and actively sought out the writers - she wanted to take notes. These guys were SO great towards her and really listened to her and encouraged her. One even said he'd follow up with her over email. M even told them some of the stories she's been working on.

Good weekend.

Gads!

Work is great and I enjoy the hell out of it. It definitely has put a crimp into my knitting and blogging time.

I've made a couple of scarves to wear to work. I'll get a photo and get them posted.

J called and told me they were running late at the dentist. She's going to get braces put on her front four teeth - man that's young. She'll be 8 in February.

Generally, she's going to do it in two stages and we're looking at wrapping it up by the time she's 12.

On flood watch this weekend. Looks like one of our lakes will hit conservation late tomorrow afternoon. First time for me! Years ago I did man some telephones on a mini event.

Great Weekend

My new job allows me to have access to a cabin located on a lake one weekend in a year. We got fortunate last weekend and it was available.

What a great time! Even though it was cool and rainy, we still had a great time.

M caught a fish - granted, it was too small and we had to throw it back, but to see the bright shiny face and excitement of catching her first fish - what a great memory. She was so excited and was the only one who caught anything. Lots of fish interest, but no bites.

I also got to take the family and friends on to the lake spillway. We were spilling water out of the spillway gates and we were able to see the water go under the gates while standing over them on a grate. Wonderful and exciting. I love my job.

Oh, and I'm not a praying type, but I'm really pulling for a local lake to go one foot over full - it effects how we operate our pipeline and puts some pressure on our crews, but we can rise to the occasion.

I was also successful with grilling my first burgers with charcoal. I never have grilled on a charcoal grill - always have on a gas or electric. They were terrific. Simple pleasures. Simple pleasures.

Came home after a wonderful weekend and brewed a batch of German Light beer. I'll have to bottle the Cream Ale sometime this week.

I also want to say that I'm terribly impressed by the people I work with. They are really outstanding people and incredibly smart. I'm very lucky to be where I am.

As far as knitting - I did a quick Grandmother's Favorite dishcloth and a Housewarming dishcloth. I'm still working on my black Susan Undulating Wave scarf and have knitted the required 14 repeats - but need to make it longer - it's currently on hold. I also did a quick burp cloth that I thought was a Mason Dixson burp cloth, but it wasn't. It's done, I just have to weave in the ends and wash it. I also have a golf club cover done for a friend and need to weave in ends and make a pom pom.

I don't have photos and need to get some, but I'm SO unmotivated to do so.

I also agreed to supply my aunt with a Gnome and a Robot for a November fund raiser. I haven't even started and need to. Buh.

Saddest news ever

"We will not be holding a Maker Faire Austin this year primarily due to the economy."

Truly a sad, sad day.

I guess I'll have to try to go to the one in SF in May, 2010.

2009 Knitting Calendar

Today I am the featured designer in the Knitting Calendar!

Whoot!

It's the baby halter top pattern and also covers tomorrow, too.

Double Whoot!

Windmills

The family and I are down south for the weekend to see my folks. J & I got a room so we could be a little more comfortable sleeping. One of my favorite geeky travel things that I like to do is flip through the local hotel three ring binder. In the past I've found some really fun and memorable things to do in those things.

So I found this at our hotel:

"The Windmill Far at Tolar, Texas"
See History in Motion; 26 Windmills on 26 Windmills on 26 acres in a country setting. Drive through, walk around, always open.

I read this and though Wind farm - hey they have those really cool wind turbines. I want to see these up close.

We drove up and I kept asking J if he'd seen the turbines. No

We turned in - and saw 26 old windmills - which were in really great shape - but weren't generating any electricity. And it was a bed and breakfast. Very cute, but history in the making, not. History in the past - yes.

It was funny and we got a great giggle out of the whole trip.

Then we went back into town to shop at the local Walmart. Found some iCarly panties for M. One of the panties have the word "blog" written all over them. M thinks having blog panties is cool.

I also finally got a visual confirmation that the wedding garter I knitted fit and the bride wore it on here wedding day. I was really pleased. As soon as I have a photo of it, I'll post it here.

Yay!

My cousin is happily married and THE GARTER FIT!! My mom has promised that she'd get a photo of it. As soon as I have a copy of it, I'll post it.

I've also been working on squares for an afghan that we're knitting for the local knitting guild. I volunteered to do two, and a friend ran into some trouble, so I'm currently knitting the final square. It's going quickly. I'll post a picture later.

Well, life has a funny way of changing directions on you. I keep pinching myself because I truly feel like I won the lottery.

As all of us, the economy has absolutely hit my company. In order for my traditional clients to get projects going, they have to be able to borrow money. I knew things were hinky after the big crash in October and we had gone into super serious conservation mode at home. No new yarn purchases (GASP!!), just buy stuff to survive. And I resisted it, but went along with it anyway because I understood that things were about to get ugly - but I never understood just how ugly.

Fast forward to April. I knew things were going south. Clients who used to tell me to get stuff done started to say things like, "we really don't need that done." I also noticed all the people I worked with were starting to be moved to other markets - not here.

I started floating my resume on April 1 - just in case. I also kept calling past clients to see what's coming up - nothing. Everyone was in survival mode.

Luckily, I have really good friends.

I ran into one of those friends back in November at a conference in Las Vegas. I casually mentioned that I really loved working at the place she still worked at and if I had to close my company, that organization would be ideal to jump to.

She said she'd keep an eye out.

I got emailed in May that the department was about to expand. I asked her out to lunch and during lunch, met up with my old boss and several former co-workers. Oh, and did I know about a potential opening?

Forward to today. I am now gainfully employed at a job that I used to work at 12.5 years ago. Looking back, I definitely wonder why the hell I left, but still feel that I needed to go out on my own. I have learned SO much out on my own. It's one of those bittersweet feelings. I'm just glad to be back.

After two weeks of working for someone else, I have to admit that I love what I do. I definitly work for the nicest man ever. He's one of those people who sees the diamond in the rough - and you, being the rough diamond, want to polish yourself to a billiant shine. (hokey, but very true)

My co-workers are hard working and kind.

I really am very lucky.

It's an adjustment. I hate commuting and it really eats into my knitting time - but isn't that really what everyone has to struggle with?

So now it's getting to be State Fair time. Do I have anything ready to go and to submit?

Not really.

But I plan on entering the following:

Knitted toy from a pattern (a Sheldon Turtle)
Knitted toy - original (not sure on this one - I have two ways I can go on this one_
Original item (thinking about the baby halter)

That's about it.

I'm not going to specify on this blog where I work. I just think it's not a good idea.

Garter

Well, the garter is blocked and starched. Now I need to sew the darn thing together. I looked in my craft supplies and don't have a white spool of thread. I need it to sew the bias tape to the back of the garter. It still looks too big, but I know it'll shrink down once I have the elastic sewn in.

Knitting update

I have finished knitting the garter but now have to wash and block it. I've never blocked lace before and am dawdling - gotta stop that.

I'm also playing with writing a new pattern. It's based on Mo Willem's Pigeon character.

Of course I'm in the throws of creating it right now - complete with knitting and frogging and re-writing my pattern as I go.

So far I am really woring on the butt to get the shape right.

M's Summer Story

Since summer is in full swing and M is home, we are doing our own form of pseudo homeschool in the morning. On Monday, M has to write out her story in printed letters. On Wednesday, she rewrites it in cursive, and on Friday she types the story into a Google Doc.

Well, I'm a terribly proud mom and have to share. So here goes the story so far:

Chapter One:

Once upon a time...

There lived a little penguin. She was a pink penguin.

Everyone thought she was the cutest thing! By the time she was 5, she was able to play guitar really well. She even got her own show...Rock On Toddler! The only thing is, she never talks. The only one she spoke to was her mother.

Chapter Two:

The only reason she didn't talk was that her mom died, and her dad was King.

But she couldn't go into the castle because it was a "no kids zone".

On her birthday she got a guitar and became famous!

She took the bus while making herself look like a high school cheerleader.

She lived in an orphanage and went on lots of field trips.

Her FRIENDS knew she was Princess and kept it secret.

Chapter Three (this week's installment):

"My dad killed the queen," she said. "The King killed the Queen!"

Everybody looked at her and screamed with joy.

"Why are you soooo happy?"

"Three reasons," said Beca. "One, the queen was bad. Two, you spoke. Three, we get to name you."

"Bella?" asked Trixie.

"Mary?" said Jackson.

"No. Katie!" she said.

"Katie sounds great," said Ms. Oak

Stay tuned, and happy summer!

Bird

For the past few weeks we've been visited by a strange bird - he comes and tries to get into our home every day around the same time - 11-ish in the morning. I think he's trying to attack a bird that just happens to look a whole lot like him (i.e., the reflection in the window).

I finally looked around the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site to try to identify it. We initially thought it was some kind of wood pecker - mainly because the beak was long and thin.

But I finally figured out that it's a Great Crested Flycatcher. It's really a beautiful bird.

My Brute

M and J got into this absolutely silly web site called My Brute. I finally got involved and now have two.

If you want, you can sign up here:

http://queenmargaret.mybrute.com

I'm trolling for pupils!

It's super simple, and I have to admit, a little fun.