Classes

The first week of classes has come and I'm well into my second week. I waited until I had taken all of them to ramble on about them in this blog. I'll elaborate on some, skim over others. I guess this is just something I want to write about.

First of all, swimming is brutal and unforgiving. In my college, you have to take four credits of physical education, which I think is... well, kind of stupid. But rules are rules, and since I'm not in a varsity sport (you can fulfill your credits that way), I have to take four 1 credit pass/fail P.E. courses. So far, I'm on my third (the previous being ice skating and softball), and I decided to take "Swimming for Fitness." Probably a bad idea.

The fact of the matter is, I was only taught how to swim two years ago, and to be honest, it definitely wasn't a formal lesson. So I learned how to swim in a mismatched way, I suppose. I think it's a combination of that, and the fact that I'm definitely out of shape that contributes to how much of an utter failure I am at swimming.

Luckily though, the coach doesn't really seem to care how bad my skill level is, at long as he sees everyone swimming for the 45 minute allotted time for the class. Maybe I can jack my skill up by the end of the semester.

I'm taking a class called "Ancient Philosophy" this semester, just so I can get rid of a history general education credit. I thought for sure it was going to be boring, but it's turning out to be quite opposite the case. The professor, Dr. Curry (who is notorious for his smoking habit, apparently), manages to make the subject interesting. One class he repeatedly said that the Greek hero Achilles "was a badass." So I think I'm in for a good time. 

The two other classes that are of intense interest are "Biblical Heritage" and "Nationality and Literature." The first class is taught by a guy called Dr. Steinberg. He's interesting, but he speaks very softly. I joked with my friends that he needs a microphone (the kind used in acting) so everyone can hear him. But the Bible as a piece of cultural literature is of course the focus of the course, and I think it's fascinating. I'm not what one would call a "person of faith," nor am I heavily passionate about faith (talking Christianity). So I guess when it comes to the Bible I have a secular point of view. I'm sure others in the class are devoted Christians, or other religions as well. So it will be interesting to hear their opinions on the subject.

As for Nationality and Literature, it's exactly the typical literature course that I've been taking for the entirety of my college career. But its focus is on British Literature from the 1800s. We started with Jane Eyre, and to be honest, I am really loving it. I think I'm going to enjoy this class more than I initially thought.

I'm sure there will be more rambling about these courses as the semester rolls onward. Probably also rambles about the student newspaper, The Racquette. I have also received a bunch of interesting postcards as of late, so I will do a feature of that. Heck, maybe I'll show some of my stamps. I've been collecting stamps since I was a little kid, and although it's not my main passion, I still have a collector's booklet I've saved.

About Knitting

Okay, so my first post of 2013 is going to be about one of my biggest hobbies (besides Postcrossing), and that is knitting! (Sometimes I wonder how I manage to make time for both hobbies, but I do make the time for them and I have a lot of fun doing it).

Now, knitting is something I've been doing for at least half a year--I can't really remember when I first really started to get passionate about it. It's also something that takes a lot of practice. I was terrible at first and kept messing up a lot, especially with my first projects. My first projects included a dishcloth (during which I made a lot of mistakes), knitted bookmarks (which are very simple once you get the hang of it), and slippers (the first pair were too small and incorrectly sewed together).

I am going to show a couple of my projects and explain a little bit in how they are done.

One of my favorite and simple projects to do is a pair of slippers! Although my first pair was poorly made, I've improved with each and every pair I make. Given a suggestion by my boyfriend's mother, I even crocheted laces on the slippers so they won't slip off as easily.

This is my personal favorite pair of slippers that I have made so far. They were made as a gift to my twin sister, and they came out fantastic. I don't think I've made a better pair than these, and I have made five pairs so far. For the yarn, I used a kind of yarn that variates--this kind in particular variated between blue, light green, and yellow. From making the first pair and discovering that it's best to use the size needles that come with the pattern, I used size 10 needles as stated in the pattern. Needles come in many different sizes, from very thin needles to very thick ones. The way this works is in this way--the smaller the number, the thinner the needle. So a size 4 needle is going to be extremely thin when compared to a size twelve.

This is one of my newer projects. Yes, it looks like a piece of candy because it is SUPPOSED to look like a piece of candy. There is a contest on deviantArt for the month of January. The theme for the contest (it can be knitted or crocheted) is the board game Candyland. I thought and thought of an appropriate thing to make that I could knit for this contest--it's easy to crochet amigurumi, but I'm not much of a crocheter. So I came up with this. Using double pointed needles, I knitted a small tube to fit a empty toilet paper roll. Once it was long enough on both ends, I wrapped the ends up with hairties and you have something like a larger-than-life tootsie roll. I'm going to make three of these for the contest.

What are double pointed needles, you may ask. Well, they are four or five short needles that are six to seven inches long and have double points. When knitting, you place an even number of stitches on each needle and knit around it, creating an unseamed tube. Double pointed needles are often used when making smaller tubes, such as socks, these things, and gloves and mittens.

My classes start next Monday, so I may be really busy when that starts. But I'll try to keep these posts to once a week or at least once every two weeks.