MASAL, or, I finally presented an academic paper.

This past Friday I presented my first paper at a conference.

I was *really* nervous about the whole experience. I love talking to people, I love teaching, I don't even mind making a fool of myself on occasion if a good laugh can come of it. Reading my own words and ideas to my peers, however, terrifies me.

The paper I presented was one that I had written during my last semester of grad school. The paper was from my Old English translation/seminar class, Monstrosity in the Beowulf Manuscript. I wrote on translation and interpretation of words surrounding Grendel's mother and Judith, and how the words describing these women reflected the culture and society from which they were created. I rewrote the majority of the paper for the presentation, shifting the focus from culture and social perceptions (though that was still discussed), and putting more emphasis on the translation and lexical interpretation of the words surrounding these two characters, and how neutral translations can allow for more positive readings.

I finished the edits of the paper Thursday night before the conference. I read through it three times. The first read-through was at home by myself - during which I almost fell asleep! (I was running on little sleep for a few days, so that is my excuse for nodding while reading - though perhaps I was boring myself!) The other read-throughs were at the hotel, once for time, and then once to the ladies I roomed with to see if the paper was total bunk. It went over okay with them, so I finished my edits and printed a new copy of the paper out in the morning.

The morning of the conference I sat in on the panel in which my roomies presented - they talked about a class they had taught together and various materials/texts/methods used in the class. It was extremely interesting, and they did a fabulous job! I presented my paper during the afternoon, so I naturally fretted about it all day. I was the first paper up after lunch, so I didn't eat a whole lot beforehand. Once in the session, the presider briefly introduced me, and then I got up to do my thing.

And it went pretty well!

I gave a really quick introduction to the topic - letting the audience know the paper was about the texts from the Cotton Vitellius A.xv manuscript, aka the Beowulf MS, and gave a brief introduction on who Judith is, since the Old English version of her story isn't as well known. Then I launched in. I spoke fairly well, gave a few brief asides that added a little extra to the paper, and ended up speaking for almost 25 minutes, even though I was only supposed to go 20. The presider didn't stop me, and everybody seemed pretty interested. One member of the audience, this really sweet gentleman-professor, kept nodding his head and smiling throughout my presentation. I only flubbed a couple times, losing my spot in the paper or misreading a few words, but I recovered quickly and for the most part I think I did well. I got some very good questions, which I think I answered fairly well, and the professor kept saying how much he enjoyed my paper and the points I made. I was really rather flattered - I hadn't thought it was that good, but I'm so glad it went over well. I even had one person come up to me after the paper to ask about a couple of the sources I used, since he's also interested in translation and interpretation theory/method.

I'm going to revise a few minor parts in the paper - mostly to account for the asides I made during my talk - and then I'm going to submit it to the Michigan Academician journal. I wonder if it will be considered for publication.

The entire conference was a blast. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and even enjoyed giving my paper. I'm feeling much more confident about giving my paper in Norway in May - still a little nervous, especially since I want to rewrite/edit it - but I am really looking forward to the experience.

A Quick FO Post

I am attempting to be productive this evening (which involves some small bit of procrastination, naturally) - I have been diligently working on things for work, studying for a class and working on some paperwork. I'm almost finished with my orientation, but there are still a few things that I need to do.

Amongst all the emails and paperwork tonight, I remembered that I have a couple FOs that need posting - a pair of mittens I made for my mother-in-law, and a pair of fingerless mitts I made for myself.

FO: Mother-in-Law Mitts
I spun singles of merino and singles of mulberry silk, then plied the two strands together. I was going to dye the yarn, but decided (and was seconded by the MIL) that the yarn already looks gorgeous and needs no extra color. The pattern is one that I made myself, using a few standard mitten patterns for the basis of mine. I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's Afterthought Thumb, which was a fun thing to try!

  MIL seems quite pleased - and so am I! Success!
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FO: Can Can Mitts
Pattern from Ravelry, Yarn (German Sock Yarn - can't remember the name at the moment) from KAR in A2.
I modified this pattern slightly, making a k2p2 ribbing on the bottom, and casting on 60sts instead of 56. I also used a size 1 US needle instead of a 2. They turned out pretty well - perhaps a little large in the arm, but I have larger arms so that's okay!

I love teal, and this yarn is a beautiful variegation of teal and black. The yarn was a little finicky to work with at the beginning - it seems to pull apart very easily, and so casting on and getting the foundation rounds started was a bit of a struggle. In the end, though, things turned out well. The finished mitts keep my arms and hands nice and warm while I'm working in the warehouse, which is exactly what I hoped for!
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Next project on the needles is a headband to match the fingerless mitts!

FO: Hat!

I made a tam hat last year that I wore for the entire holiday season at ZMO. When I got hired, I decided that I needed a new hat, preferably one that covered my ears since it gets so cold in the warehouse.

I couldn't settle on a pattern until I came across the Monarch Lyon Hat by Veronica O'Neil (found on Ravelry). I used the fiber I bought at the A2 Fiber Expo last fall - "Sweetly," hand-dyed Merino from Fiber Story. It spun up quite nicely, and made a lovely striping effect in the finished hat.

The earflaps are detachable; the buttons were purchased at Knit A Round. I really do think this hat is adorable. Wearing it, though...I have a large head, so I think the next hat I make should have a bit stretchier band. Still, the hat is pretty awesome, and I'm proud of how it turned out.

FOs: A Year in Review

I never did get around to posting about the FOs I finished last year. I'll post a few of them today and continue to add as I come across or remember projects.

June 2010: Sweater
I started this sweater while home visiting my folks, and worked on it while Dad as recovering from hip surgery. The yarn is from a fiber mill in Michigan - Stonehedge Fiber Mill. I had actually finished the pieces for the sweater (long-sleeved version) and was about to connect them all when I discovered that my arms were not going to fit in the sleeves, and even if they did, the sweater would look a bit ridiculous. Therefore I pulled out both sleeves and modified the pattern to make short-sleeves. I think the attempt was a success, especially for my first-ever garment! (Sans outerwear/socks.) If I ever knit this pattern again, I will make a few other mods (lengthening the torso a bit - I'm short, and I still found that the bottom rode up a bit higher than I had hoped).

In January 2011, I had to say good-bye to this sweater - I washed it and it felted/shrank. I haven't tried to salvage it yet, but I'm not sure I can. It was cute while it lasted!

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May/June: Estonian Lace Scarf
This is from my own handspun yarn, the alpaca fiber was from my Aunt Mary. I spun the alpaca into singles, then knitted this cute little scarf. It was supposed to be at least a foot longer, but I only had 200yds to work with.

 This was the first piece I ever blocked. It was rather exciting!

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August 2010: Shipwreck Shawl
I purchased some gorgeous 100% merino laceweight at Knit A Round in A2. For months I fiddled with it, but didn't know what it should become, so it mostly just sat in my stash looking like a ball of amazing unfound potential. I finally found a pattern that I liked, the Shipwreck Shawl posted on Knitty.

My mother and Aunt Jean and I flew out to Seattle to see my brother & his family, and on the trip I began this shawl. It ended up taking me three+ weeks to finish it, but it was well worth it. I'm quite proud of how it turned out. And as a birthday gift, J gave me this really beautiful shawl pin that shows off nicely. (I'll find a picture of that to post later.)

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September 2010: Wedding Scroll
In September two of my friends were married in a beautiful ceremony at a wildlife center in Kzoo, followed by a fabulous reception at a historic inn. Instead of having a guest book, Ilse, the lovely bride, let me make them a scroll on which guests could sign their names.

This was one of the coolest projects I've ever worked on, and I hope to make some more of these in the future. I'm so grateful she let me do this for her!

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Calligraphy 2010
I was really inspired by the wedding scroll for Ilse & Curtis, so I did a few more little things with calligraphy. These are some quotations from Old Norse texts.

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September/October 2010: Apron
In October, another of my friends got married. Shannon & Sean had a beautiful wedding at a loft in Kzoo. It was so much fun! As part of her gift, I made an apron for Shannon, with a bit of 50s flair, in colors I thought she'd really dig:

 It's a reversible apron!

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Tam Hat: Fall 2010
I spun up some singles of a pretty wool I bought at a shop in Frankenmuth. I made mittens out of one batch of the yarn, and decided I needed a hat to match. This hat is a mix of a couple different patterns, with my own pattern worked in - which created the white star on the top!

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Dyeing and Spinning 2010

I did a lot of dyeing and spinning last year. This picture shows just a few of the things I did. I never did sell anything, other than the trade I made with WW, but I did work on getting an Etsy shop put together. I'm hoping to actually have it up and running in the next month or so. I need to get some more items together to put up for sale, but applications and work had me running quite a bit so there hasn't been a lot accomplished on the craft front lately. However, I have plans for some lovely batches of dyed and spun fibers, and I just bought 10lbs of Michigan merino so I have lots to play with.

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Now that I've inundated this post with pictures of fibers and finished projects from last year, I'll close for now. 

Next up: FOs from this year!

Goal!

Not football or hockey, but said with similar emphasis.

This past week I finally hit 50% of my weight-loss goal.

It's only taken me two+ years to get here, and I'm still working on it, but I'm still proud of myself. It has been and will continue to be a battle, but I'm on the offensive and don't want to give way. I'm really hoping that by the end of the year I will reach at least 60% of my goal. J and I are going to start fencing again (hopefully) so that will be a fun addition to the workout routine.

This Year Has Awesome Potential

It's just barely February, and already 2011 is proving to be a great year.

* I got a job! Same place I worked for the holiday (ZMO - fabulous & fun place to be), only now I'm year-round part-time. I'm very excited!

* Two of my paper proposals were accepted! I will present the first one in March at SVSU, and the second one will be in May in Trondheim, Norway!! (I'm super excited about them both, but especially the Norway trip. I'm really hoping I can get some time off work to go.)

I've finished two knitting projects: a pair of mittens for my mother-in-law, and a new hat for myself. The next project is either a pair of fingerless gloves/mitts, another hat, or a pair of socks, for myself. I bought some really pretty German yarn in a variegated teal/black colorway. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it yet.

Looking forward to February. Celebrated Groundhog Day with a snow-fight and sledding extravaganza with my hubby. We don't have a sled, so we used a cardboard box and a laundry basket. I rolled down the tiny hill in front of the apartment more than I sledded. It was loads of fun! I'm now furthering my celebration of today by watching Groundhog Day with Bill Murray while searching for my next knitting project.

Perhaps tomorrow I can talk a couple of my coworkers into a snowball fight after work. Hurray Snowpocalypse 2011!

Thoughts on a New Year

It has been exactly nine months since I last posted. I thought about it several times, even started a couple, but never got around to finishing any posts.

One of my resolutions last year was to try to write more, whether in my leather-bound journal or on this blog. After about April of 2010, neither really happened. I wrote a few things occasionally, but not as much as I would have liked.

Nothing really happened that should have kept me from updates; in fact, a few things would have made for interesting posts. So, here's a brief recap May-December 2010:
-In May, the hubby and I celebrated our second anniversary. I finished subbing for the year.
-June was a busy month with the family - I spent some time with my folks, visiting & helping out a bit while Dad recovered from hip surgery - which went fairly well, I think. I knitted a sweater while I was home with family. Also, hubby's birthday was this month.
-The first part of July we packed up and moved to A2. J's travel time for work went from 45-75min to 20min. The new apartment is quite different from the old one, but we worked on making it comfortable (and are still doing so - it is a work in progress).
-We were still settling in to the new place August - September. I applied for jobs (had my first interview since graduation), and worked on a lot of crafts. Started dyeing my own roving and did some more spinning. Also did my first really big calligraphy project, which was a guest-list scroll for my friend's wedding.
-Went to Cedar Point with some friends for the last Halloweekend, and had a costume/game party with those same friends. It was a lot of fun!
-Applied for a holiday job in November - and got hired! First real job since grad school. Started working just before Thanksgiving, and worked right up until Christmas. It was great fun; one of the best and most fun places I have ever worked.
-Worked during December - sometimes as much as 60+ hours/week during the busiest weeks. I was exhausted, but having quite a bit of fun. When I was home (and awake) I worked on a few PhD applications. Spent Christmas with my family up north, then had Christmas with J's folks the next week - J made most of the dinner, too, which was wonderful.

For the New Year we celebrated by having a LAN with one of our friends. We watched Die Hard movies and played Diablo II and then a card game from about 7pm on the 31st until 4:30am on the 1st - with a break to watch the ball drop. It was a fantastically fun way to ring in the new year. Since then, I have been working part-time, spinning a bit, enjoying some wonderful down-time with my husband, and contemplating Life and making Decisions (or at least contemplating making them).

So, here we are. This is the second week of 2011, and I am finally writing a post. Nothing profound, just a little update to get me back into the swing of things. I may try to write more this year, but Life may have other designs. (I will at least post some of my crafty accomplishments.) I tried to make some Resolutions, mostly because I like making lists - I feel accomplished when I can cross something off these lists, but I usually write things down only to forget about them shortly thereafter. Most of this year's list are common things - try to be healthier, more active, etc. However, I have set myself a few goals for the year - they are not true Resolutions because I have not Resolved to do them. Rather, I am setting my sights on them and am looking forward to the Experiences that striving to these goals will bring.

A new year, a new outlook. Probably not a new Me, but perhaps some of my essence will be transformed on the journey this year will bring.