Knight Bus Scarf and Mittens

Since completing my PhD I've managed to do quite a lot of knitting. One of the projects I've been working on is my winter scarf and mittens. I wanted to make a simple ribbed scarf with some super chunky wool so I raided my stash and found some violet blue and black Big Softie. It's so soft and satisfying to knit with.

I also found this beautiful violet colour wool in my local yarn shop, it was a little bit pricey but I reasoned that I would be wearing these mittens every day in the winter so could justify paying a little bit extra. This picture doesn't do the colour justice it really is beautiful purple blue, it reminds me of the Knight bus from Harry Potter.

Here's a pic of me on the actual Knight bus from when we went to the amazing Harry Potter studio tour earlier this year. This was so cool but don't want to say too much as I don't want to ruin any surprises but I would recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Potter or any film fans. 

Viva Voce

I am pleased to announce that I have passed my my PhD viva with minor corrections. Over the course of my PhD I have faced some difficulty from others, especially within my own university claiming that my work was not good enough or placing unnecessary obstacles in my way. However, because of this it has given me the strength to believe in my work and myself, also giving me plenty of practice defending my research.

 Picture from the trial in Alice in Wonderland

Luckily for me I had a very pleasant and (almost) enjoyable viva. I had two fantastic examiners who I hold a great amount of respect for and they gave my work the attention it deserves. Not only that but they completely understood what my research is about as some of the problems I have faced has been due to a lack of understanding of the subject area, so it was great that my supervisors knew the right people to contact to examine my work.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the support and guidance of my supervisory team. I would like to say a big thank you to Dr. Gill Green and Dr. Rachel McLean, they have changed my life, thank you xo.

Bit of Knitting

I've made this cardigan and bear for some friends of mine who are expecting a baby. They live out in Germany so I will post them out later today. The cardigan is a little bit wonky but I hope they like it anyway. It was my first real garment I have ever knitted so thought I would start small and simple.

 
Although I have now handed in my thesis I have decided to keep this blog running as I would like to continue documenting the things I am making and the various projects I am involved in. I am currently looking for a research position but as times are tough and highly competitive in academia right now I am not overly confident I will find something any time soon. I've pretty much accepted that I will have to take an unrelated job to make ends meet but I still intend to continue research and projects on the side so hopefully when the perfect position pops up I'll be ready. I am under no illusions that this won't be difficult but my research is based on who I am so I will continue to make, explore and write.

Thesis finally completed

My thesis is finally completed and handed in. It was actually finished last week but it has taken a while to sink in as it's the end of three years work and hopefully the start of something new. It's still unbelievable but my viva is booked for October 2nd so fingers crossed I can get through it.

 

Knitted Kittens September Poster

Here is the new Knitted Kittens Poster for September 4th, upstairs at the Ape and Apple Pub, Manchester (poster was created by Sophie Daniel). You can find out more about our group by visiting our Facebook page

I'm actually at the end of study and hope to hand in my thesis this week! Hopefully after it's done I will have a bit more free time and should be able to do more interesting things and write more blog posts. More details to follow...

Knitted Kittens August Poster

Here's the poster for the next Knitted Kittens Craft Group on Tuesday 7th August. Artwork by the amazing Sophie Daniel.

Make sure to join us on our Facebook group to follow our latest news and events.

Arduino Workshop

I've recently been thinking about and pursuing post doc research opportunities to continue my work with technologies and DIY craft.

We've been looking at into running projects that introduce smart materials and wearable technologies into creative communities. One of the things we have focused on is the Arduino and the LilyPad Arduino, and we are hoping to run some projects and workshops applying these technologies.
We ran an 'Introduction to Arduino' workshop on Monday at the university for students and staff to pilot our ideas and see how they may be implemented.

We invited Dave Mee from MadLad in Manchester to host the workshop and share his expertise. Dave was knowledgeable, patient and entertaining and it would be great to work with him again in future.

We were put into pairs to learn the basics, build and experiment with an Arduino.

It was amazing to experiment with even just some of the basic functions that the Arduino has to offer. We powered LED's, built a theramin, ran motors and controlled the functions via programming.  Here's a few pics of us controlling the colours of a bulb.

 
I found the workshop to be really fun and interesting and I learned a lot. I'm hoping to invest in some LilyPad Arduino's to use in some of my knitting and crochet projects when I have a bit more money. We have applied for a few funding opportunities so hopefully we will be able to develop this project further and integrate these technologies within creative communities.