Linked

I posted the first chapter of the new Cassie Tanner novel on Fiction Press this morning. If you would like to read it, you can do so from here (you may need to make an account to read it, but it's free, and will allow you to leave comments and sign up for notifications when new chapters are posted).

I haven't been doing as much "fun" (i.e. not school related) writing as I want to, but I did edit four chapters yesterday and since I've got a nice chunk of the thesis done, I feel like I can take a little time to work on other things.

Mostly though, I've been working on this:


Which will eventually look like this, only at a smaller gauge (and pink):


Which is based on this:


Which is a close up of these.

All of this is for my thesis, which is about the conservation of knits, and you can't talk about the conservation of knits without talking about their history, and you can't talk about the history without mentioning those stockings which, according to Richard Rutt's History of Handknitting, the only accurate source on the history of knitting to my knowledge, are the first examples of purl stitches as decorative elements, and are very possibly our earliest example of flat knitting.

I find these stockings fascinating for several reasons, not the least of which is the woman who owned them, but I want to know more about how they were made, so I'm reconstructing them with modern materials. So far I've got everything charted out and I'm about halfway through knitting the lattice pattern on the cuff (still need to update the pictures, though). I'm keeping a journal of everything I'm doing for my thesis, and I'll be posting some of the info on my Ravelry page. They're being knit on size 2 mm (US 0) needles, which is really, really hard on my hands. I can get about ten rows a day in, max. I suppose that's respectable, but I need to have them as finished as possible by April 3. I'm still fiddling with the pattern. Once I'm done with my thesis and everything, I'd like to adapt the pattern for a slightly thicker yarn and make them in the round, which I feel would solve a lot of the problems I'm having with the math.

But for now, I've still got 20 pages to write and at least 12 inches of knitting to do.

Calm Before the Storm

I finished editing Life is a Zoo last week, but I still feel that the book is unfinished. I like the flow, but I have two problem points: the exposition at the end of the book is too tell-all confession; there isn't enough peeling back plot layers to discover what has happened. Second, I don't thing my antagonist is scary enough. I mean, he's a skinwalker. These are some of the baddest-of-the-bad guys in Native American mythology, and he's coming across as too normal. I'm still trying to figure out how I can make him seem like more of threat. Not just because he kills people, but because of what he is.

I also finished up two books this week, my re-read of Thunderbird Falls (which took forever; I'm always so much slower when I'm re-reading something), and Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Overall, I didn't think that the book was as creepy as the movie, but there was one line that got me. I'm paraphrasing a little since I don't have the book in front of me, but it's something like:

Coraline: "Swear it."
Other Mother: "I swear on my mother's grave."
Coraline: "Does she even have one?"
Other Mother: "Of course. I put her there myself. And when I caught her trying to crawl out, I put her right back."

Seriously. Shivers. And this is a kids book?

To do:
-print 2 chemical fact sheets for chemistry
-re-read information on conservation of bronze and iron
-write at least 7 pages of my thesis
-find photos to insert into thesis
-update conservation cards for all archaeology objects worked on (five total)
-create a presentation on a chemistry article (find updated information for presentation, since the article I'm writing about is from 1986)
-Pack for Dublin.

We leave on Monday morning, a week from tomorrow. That's what I'm holding on to at the moment: If I can get through this week, then by next week I'll be in Ireland.

It kind of makes Exams feel worth it.

Still not caught up, but getting there

Last night I finished the third Cassie Tanner novel and gave it a new title--The Death and Resurrection Show. It's about 15,000 words shorter than I wanted it, but I'm still editing the first draft of Life is a Zoo, so I think that going back to re-visit the first two books will help me plump out the later volumes. So far my Cassie Count is up to three novels, with ideas for at least two more, 150,809 words total. Maybe one of these days I'll manage to write a 100k word novel.

I think my thesis comes first, though. I've had it on the back burner the last few weeks and I really need to focus on that, considering midterm break is just two weeks away.

Which reminds me, I need to do some laundry and start my packing. I'm really excited to get to see Ireland. While I might not be crazy about the city of Florence, this study abroad thing has been a dream come true because I've gotten to see so many places and do so many things that I never thought was possible.