Presenting Dr. Jessica

So remember that time when I used to update my blog somewhat regularly and then I just sort of...stopped?  Well that is soon to be a thing of the past!  I'm back!! AND...guess what?!?!  I got my PhD!  I'm officially a Dr!

Last Sunday (5/19) was my PhD Convocation and then last Wednesday (5/22) was the university Commencement and then my hooding ceremony.  I am elated that I was able to achieve my dream of earning my PhD.  I just wanted to share a few pictures from last week's festivities. 

My mom, Sean (bf), Matt (best friend), Uncle Dan, and Aunt Cathy accompanied me last Wednesday to Commencement and hooding.  I know that they were so very proud of me--maybe as proud or prouder than I was!

Here I am leaving the hooding ceremony.  If you have never been to a hooding ceremony it is the time that we are officially presented our doctoral hoods that show the color of our degree (royal blue for me indicating PhD) as well as our school colors on the inside (although you can't see it in the picture, the inside of my hood is light blue and white for Columbia).  Technically we aren't supposed to wear our hoods before being hooded, but we all did--call us rebels!  Commencement took place prior to hooding and it just felt good to wear the hood to Commencement!

I actually have a funny story about the hood I received.  We had the choice of either buying or renting both the hood and the gown for graduation.  We all had to buy the tam.  Well, after pricing out the outfit I decided that it would be best to rent the gown (it was over $600 to own) and buy the hood as a memento.  If I was to buy the entire thing it would cost about $1,000 which is a bit too much for me right now for something I might not wear again.  Anywho, back to my hood story.  I had the bookstore ship my regalia to my house since I'm very rarely at school any longer.  (Side note: I got a job much closer to home so I no longer have to go to the city every day!)  So when my regalia arrived I was so excited to try it on!  When I put the hood on I realized that it was red and royal blue inside, but didn't think more of it.  When I got to school on Sunday for my Convocation my mom and I decided to visit the bookstore to purchase a few items.  The bookstore has PhD gowns on display and I realized that the inside of the hood was school colors--Columbia blue and white.  I checked with the bookstore staff and the assured me that as long as the velvet part of my hood was royal blue, the hood was correct.  When I asked about the red inside the bookstore staff, Convocation staff, and even a Dean did not have an answer.  So after my Convocation I was sure that I was sent the wrong hood in the mail--EVERYONE else had Columbia colors on the inside of their hood.  Luckily the bookstore lent me a rental for the other ceremonies!  At least my mom was able to spot me easily at Convocation!!

Ok, back to pictures.  Here are a bunch of people from the Human Development department.  HUD (as we call it) houses my program as well as other psychology programs.  We were waiting to go into the hooding ceremony--notice that no one is wearing the hood :).  I think someone commented that without the hood we look like a chef choir.  Haha!

Here I am post Commencement posing with the "Columbia University--Congratulations to the Class of 2013" banner!  I think I have a similar one from when I graduated in 2008 with one of my masters degrees.

Here I am with Sean and My mom after my Commencement.  If you look to the left of the picture ALLL the way in the background you'll see a "sea of blue"--that's where I was sitting for the ceremony!  Needless to say it was tricky to get to my family afterwards to take some photos!  Luckily we got some nice ones :).  There were over 30,000 people said to be at this years graduation.

Here I am with Uncle Dan (who is also my godfather) and Aunt Cathy!  I know they had such a nice time at the ceremony.  I'm so glad they came!

I do like that we got Low Library (which isn't a library) in the background of these photos.  I do love the campus!  Here I am with Matt and my mom.  :)

And last, but certainly not least is a photo with my advisor.  Dr. Johnson was a wonderful mentor for my dissertation and I'm very proud to have been able to work with him!

So that is it for now.  Definitely expect some project posts coming soon!  I've done a bit of knitting and crocheting during my blogging hiatus and would love to share the projects with you!  Until then, happy yarn time! :)

Christmas gift recap! [FINALLY!]

Ahhhh, finally I have the time to present all of my finished Christmas gifts!  This past Christmas I decided to make as many presents as I could.  I get such enjoyment out of making gifts and it's also a good way to save some money!  I believe that I made something for each person on my list--definitely a successful holiday!

I knit a cowl with carved wood buttons for each of my bosses.

For Sean, I knit a scarf and hat set and also made a Sheldon the Turtle in Giant's colors!

I added the year to to bottom of Sheldon's shell so that Sean will always remember which Christmas I gave him Sheldon.

For my cousin Kyle, I crocheted a rocket pillow.  He told me and my mom that this was one of his favorite Christmas gifts--which means a lot to me, coming from a 6 year old, especially when he got different video games and electronics from Santa and our family!

For my mom, I finally finished the ripple crochet blanket that I started 2 years ago!  It was worth the wait--she loved it!

I also made a vest for my mom....but it came out a little large and looked like armor on me!  I think she ended up giving it to a friend who it fit better.

And as usual I edged a couple of dishtowels for my mom and even monogrammed one too!

I also made my mom a snowflake fridge towel and one for Sean's mom as well.

I also made another fridge towel for Sean's mom as well as two crochet-edged towels!

And....I made a bunch of crocheted ornaments for Sean's mom as well. She loved them all.

For my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dan's cats I crocheted 3 cat toys and stuffed them with catnip!  They were a big hit.

And last, but certainly not least, I finished Matt's sweater!!  It looks so good on him and he loved it!  I'm happy I was able to finish it and give it to him this year!

It was definitely a busy holiday craft season, as I'm sure you can tell, but it was wonderful!  I love giving handmade gifts to my loved ones!  I'm already thinking about next Christmas--because, you know, it's never too early to start!

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas Eve and my family and I will be celebrating later.  I have been so busy crafting projects lately!  I will have a post showing them, once I give most of them away :).  Yesterday I gave Matt his Christmas gift...the sweater I had been working on since before LAST CHRISTMAS and a few other things.  It made my heart melt when he totally fell in love with it when he opened it!  :).  I'm so happy he liked it and I'm so thankful for a best friend like him!

Whether or not you are celebrating today or tomorrow I still wish you all the best of the season!

FO Friday...(sorta)...Pumpkin Pi!

So as you know, I've been working on some little pumpkins as part of my Halloween costume.  Well last night I finished making all 13 of them, in 3 different sizes.  I still need to sew them on my shirt...but I'm just too excited about them and need to reveal my costume before I actually finish it completely.

So,...I love math...and I intern at a company where I do Educational/Psychological/Statistical research.  Apparently everyone is dressing up this year, so I wanted to make something that would go with my math background and statistical themed internship :).  So...I decided to be....PUMPKIN PI! :)

I'm also planning on making some sort of headband with a dollop of "whipped cream" on it, to give my costume that "pie" look.  I'm thinking of using the topping portion of this cupcake by Lion Brand and then attaching it to a plastic headband or hair clip of some sort (maybe like a whipped cream fascinator!).  What do you think?  It's quite punny isn't it?

Oh! And Matt loved my Pumpkin Pi so much, he asked me for one for himself!  So I'm working on that as well.  I unfortunately ran out of the orange yarn 9 pumpkins in to his Pi.  I was using Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Sweet Potato and that color is discontinued and wouldn't get here in time for Halloween even if I was able to order it.  So I need to see what other kinds of orange yarn I have.  It will work out just fine :).

I'm so excited!

Matt's Yoga Mat Bag!

Back in July I introduced my best friend to hot yoga...and of course he loved it! (Seriously it is addicting...if you haven't tried it yet, I really encourage you to go take a class.)  After his first class he was so excited about yoga!  I had made myself a bag for my mat a while back.  Matt asked me if I could make him one as well in blue.  So I searched my stash and I found some organic cotton by Patons and got knitting!

Here's the finished product.  I made his strap shorter than the one I made for myself and also a bit wider since it will stretch due to the weight of the bag.

Just for reference...this WIP picture shows the color most accurately :).

A post without pictures...

...is not that much fun.  I have been a little absent from the blogosphere lately, so I feel the need to post an update.  Let's see...my last post was about my crocheted summer sweater which was a WIP at the time...now it's a FO! I ended up finishing that sweater on July 8th, but I've yet to take proper pictures of it.  In fact, that is actually the theme of this post...the lack of proper pictures.  I crocheted a set of lotus earrings in a deep purple the other night...but I still need to weave in the ends and take a picture or two.  (Although I think they sort of get lost in my hair because of the color...but I'll see.  They were quick and easy to make, so perhaps I'll whip up another pair soon.)  I'm also working on a summer style vest for myself in sort of a burnt orange color (pictures to come...:)).  I've also been invited to my boyfriend's niece's 1st birthday party this August.  I've decided to make her a Sheldon with a green body and a pink and purple shell.  So far I've the body and legs all finished and just need to make the shell.  This is such a cute turtle!  Annnnnnd I'm knitting a yoga mat bag for Matt!  He joined me at hot yoga on Monday and fell in love with it--it is awesomely wonderful and addicting!  So of course he needs a nice knitted yoga mat bag to hold his new mat! :) (It's blue and in organic cotton...pictures to come :)). 

Finally, back on 6/25 I had finished the ruched tee that I had started the year before (during the interim of the CPH KAL).  It took me so long to finish it because I kept getting distracted with other project.  Well, I wore the tee for the first time on 7/2. I got so many compliments on it!  The only complaint I have is that it grew a I wore it.  Meaning it is now sort of tunic length!  Also the back is a bit saggy and baggy, which I'm not the biggest fan of.  I think that I'm going to crochet a round around the neckline to try and strengthen it up.  I've also read about slip stitch crocheting on the inside of a knitted garment to give it more strength and structure.  I think that I might do this on the ruched sections.  They sort of got less..um...ruchy as the day went on.  So, hopefully that will improve it a bit.  After I do all of that, I plan on washing it in warm to hot water and throwing it in the dryer on a hot setting, in an attempt to shrink it some.  The yarn is 60% cotton 40% modal, so hopefully the cotton part will shrink when I do this.  If not, I'll make it work as a tunic over leggings or skinny jeans.  I'm definitely not frogging this project!  I love the yarn and the look of it on me...I'm just not a fan of the sag.

I guess that's it for now.  I promise to post some pictures of all of these projects! I need to either set up my tripod or get a friend's help to take a picture of me in the sweaters I made!

Oooo and the Ravellenic Games are starting next week!! Hurray!!

Bestest's Birthday Gifts

My best friend Matt celebrated his birthday this past weekend.  I usually have to think long and hard about what to get/make him because I always want my gift to be perfect (because he is so dear to me :))! Luckily he really appreciates the gifts that I hand make for him.  So this year I decided to go with a "comforts of home" themed birthday gift.  Included in the gift was a crocheted tea light holder, a cotton basket to hold items on his dresser, a crocheted basket/bag, and a pair of slippers!  

I completely fell in love with the tea light holder and will definitely be making another one!  I used an empty Smucker's jam jar and crocheted over it using a silver yarn.  I just love how the candle light shines through the crocheted sections.

I crocheted a cream colored basket for his dresser (or wherever else he'd like to put it).  Matt is so organized, so I figured that a basket like this would come in handy for him.  It can be folded down to hold shorter objects too.  AND it is washable!

As you know from a previous post, I'm sort of obsessed with these bags/baskets.  I figured it would be useful for something in Matt's room.  It was cute that he recognized it when he opened his gift! (Way to go Matty!!!!)

And finally I made him a pair of dark blue slippers.  I really love this pattern--not only are they comfy, stretchy, and warm, but the pattern is completely ingenious and I love knitting them!  I definitely have to make a pair for myself sometime soon.  Perhaps I'll make a few of these for Christmas gifts too!