Chemistry and Computer Science Gnomes

I am a bit incredulous that I only wrote two blog posts for January, not including this one. I've been better about reading other people's posts, even if I've only lurked. During the January 15 week of snow that shut down much of the city, I hung out with Lucia for most of the days, sewed, strummed guitar, and sewed some more. We walked in the snow quite a bit, too, and I was glad that we were able to visit a friend's house two miles away with no complaints from the girl about getting tired. It was during that week that I made this color wheel of flower basket babies.

 This past week, I decided it was time to make the chemistry gnome for my science and math gnomes series. I used a purple felt that the color swatch guide called "orchid" but that I deemed would have to serve as a shade of mauve. Mauve, named after the mallow flower, was the first dye created in the chemistry lab. Eighteen year old chemist Sir William Henry Perkin, was trying to synthesize quinine, when a particular purplish residue as a result of his work caught his attention. Perkin patented the dye and made his fortune, helped along by the popularity of Queen Victoria's mauve silk gown.

My attempts to embroider a mauveine molecule on the back of the doll's cape were abysmal. Hexagons are challenging to get right. Then, I thought about how important chemistry was in the kitchen, and decided that the sodium bicarbonate/baking soda molecule would be a fitting symbol for my chemistry gnome. After I completed that embroidery, I added little embroidery representations of carbonation fizz. That's why the chemistry gnome has a tassel-- it's more "fizz."

Chemistry Gnome with sodium bicarbonate skeletal molecule model

The computer science gnome is an homage to mathematician and "mother of computer science" Ada Lovelace, whose notes for Charles Babbage's analytical engine are considered to be the first computer algorithm. Lovelace loved bright colors, and the red of the gnome's cape was inspired by the portrait painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter. I made felt gears for the cape, and framed the gears with zeros and ones, the binary numerical system used in computer coding. I thought about a circuit board motif, but decided that it would require green embroidery on a black background. 
I'm currently reading The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter, by Benjamin Woolley. I also have Ada: a Life and a Legacy, by Dorothy Stein, in my to-be-read piles.

Computer Science Gnome

There are still a few science gnomes I'd like to stitch. The Physics Gnome currently has me stumped. I know what I want to do with the Entymology Gnome, but I am saving that one because it will be fun to revisit the embroidery of insects. I'd like the Geology Gnome to make an appearance, too. Maybe it's time to learn some shading techniques?

Science and Math Gnomes

Botany, Math, and Astronomy Gnomes upon a stage made by Willodel

I used to make Math Gnomes inspired by the dolls used in Waldorf schools, in which the four processes (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division) had personalities that helped children comprehend their duties. Ruling over the four processes was a royal personage who went by "King Equals" or "Empress Equals," depending upon the teacher. As enjoyable as math gnome sets were to make, I stopped sewing them for the shop when I realized that I had never actually sold a single set-- every set I made was for home use, a school auction, or a trade.

 I decided to make single math gnomes for children and adults to have nearby for encouragement and inspiration. I wish I had secretly carried a math gnome in my pocket when I was in school. I struggled with math, not because of lack of aptitude, but because I needed more time to work through equations and learn to understand them than the curriculum allowed. Later, chronic absenteeism (or rather, dread of school literally making me too sick to attend school) compounded the problem. A math gnome in my pocket would have kept me company and in my imagination would have encouraged me.

My daughter's teacher has her second graders say, "I am a brilliant mathematician" while stroking their imaginary beards. How can I help but think of math gnomes? (Though to be fair, brilliant mathematician Ada Lovelace was beardless.) I've started to sew STEM Gnomes. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In the past, I've made variations of astronomy and entomology dolls, but this is the first time I've made them with a series in mind. I'm sewing them for creative whimsy. I enjoy making fairies and maidens with flower baskets, but I want to develop my sewing skills as well as the stories in my head.

Speaking of stories, I remember perking up when I first heard about "story problems," only to find out how tedious the plot-lines were. There's not much dramatic tension in figuring out the rate at which a car will overtake a bus, for example, unless it's actually a car chase. Then, I'd like to know why the passengers in the car were chasing the bus. Did someone steal a painting? Did someone forget her keys? The human interest angle is important!

In the year of 2012

Valentine Heart Fairies listed January 2, 2012

Happy New Year! Like many of you, I've got plans and daydreams. For my shop, newly renamed on Etsy as Alkelda Dolls, I've made a few changes. I'm now listing my creative offerings once a week: Mondays by 8 PM Pacific Standard Time, unless otherwise indicated). I'm taking a break from custom orders, though suggestions, requests, and recommendations are always welcome.

In 2011, I was so concerned about promotion and sales that worry clouded my enjoyment of the creation and presentation of the dolls. Now, I've acknowledged to myself that the modest profits I make after materials and fees help justify the time spent in creating dolls for children and grownups. Reports from customers reveal that both boys and girls enjoy the dolls I've made for their pretend play and storytelling.

This year, I would like to resume visiting and commenting on blogs in a more focused way. My online friendships are as important to me as the "off-line" ones. At the same time, I want to refrain from getting sucked into the "Facebook minute", i.e. "an elongated and obscure period of time spent distracted on Facebook when the original intent was to merely check your messages" (Urban Dictionary).

The end of the year

When I first started this blog, I was almost 34. Now, I am almost 40. I will turn 40 three days after the Big Climb in March 2012. In my thirties, I had a child, learned to play guitar, and learned to sew. I read Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World and began to build my own "baloney-detection kit." I realized that I really, really liked my planet, and wanted to spend as much time on it as possible. My resolution for the new year: to do my part, and endeavor to do more to take care of our planet and its creatures.

Happy New Year! I wish you well, and hope that we may meet, or meet again.

December Holiday Wishes

The Natural Kids Team has a variety of good wishes for you.

The Airing of the Grievances

Sometimes it's therapeutic to grizzle and groan, and MotherReader provides such an outlet with Happy Festivus: The Airing of the Grievances. Happy Grouchy Festivus!

St. Lucia/ Saint Lucy Day

I wrote another post for the Natural Kids Team. This post is about Santa Lucia Day. In the post is a link to a gluten-free recipe for St. Lucia saffron buns, created by Nicole Hunn of Gluten Free on a Shoestring.

St. Nicholas Party

I wrote a post for the Natural Kids Team about St. Nicholas Day, a festival that takes place on December 6: St. Nicholas Day Memories (with festive punch recipe)

What I didn't share in that post was my first attempt to have a St. Nicholas Day Eve party. In my first library system, we hired a featured storyteller for the event. In my naivete, I decided that it would be great if everyone shared a story. When I invited people, I asked them to prepare a 3-5 minute story or memory to share.

Instead, many people brought stories to read. Long stories. Plus, I had 25 guests. What had started out as a merry gathering turned into an excruciating example of the alternate definition of "captive audience." I should have had a little bell or timer. Better yet, I should have been the featured storyteller or asked someone else to fill the role. I may yet host another St. Nicholas Day party. You're invited, but remember: keep it short, keep it sweet, and know your audience. (I neglected to mention that one of the few oral stories was a hair-raising memory told by a friend of a friend in cheerful oblivion to the presence of children in the room.)

The Claus Family with trees by The Enchanted Cupboard

***
Next year, I may sew a St. Nicholas or Father Christmas, but this year I made Santa Claus, joined by Mrs. Claus and a Noel Gnome. If you follow the link, you'll see a photo of Santa Claus hanging out with his good friend, King Winter.

Happy December!

In brief

Where have I been? At home (sewing, cooking, cleaning, homework help), out in the world (running, running errands) and back home again (hosting, more of the above). I'm awash in gerunds.

I posted seven Etsy listings today, including this King Winter, Snow Queen, and Snow Child set, and a Green Yuletide Angel. I've been working at this cottage industry for over two years, and I still am surprised that the activities taking photographs, tweaking of the photographs, and listing the dolls take about as long as the creation of the dolls themselves.

Incidentally (Natural Kids Team related), I read a new-to-me version of Tolstoy's "The Turnip" called Hugin and his Carrot, posted by fellow Natural Kids Team member SuperSkivvies. It has a song! I don't know the tune to the song, but I will find out. I have ways.

Martinmas Songs 2011

Tomorrow (November 11) is Martinmas, the feast of St. Martin, the Roman soldier who gave half of his cloak to a beggar. St. Martin was a Roman soldier, so it's a fitting coincidence that his feast day falls on Veteran's Day. I gathered together my resources from previous years in a Natural Kids Team post, which I am linking here only so that if you've spontaneously decided to have a lantern walk, you don't have to hunt long for songs. The hot cider, pumpkin bread, and bonfire is up to you!

The House of Glee is not attending a lantern walk this year (though I am grateful to the person who invited my family to attend her school's gathering tonight). If Lucia was still in attendance at her old Waldorf school, we would rally, but both Bede and Lucia are struggling to recover from coughs and colds. 

I plan at least to light the candelabra in our fireplace. In lieu of roasted goose (legend had it that St. Martin hid in a barn to avoid being appointed a bishop, but the hollering of the geese revealed his makeshift refuge), we'll have curry. There are three chocolate pumpkin bread muffins left, too.

And they are good.

E.L. Sapo 13th Annual Holiday Artist Market

Are you going to be in the Chastain area of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, between Thursday, November 17 and Sunday, November 20?  Artist English Norman of E*L Sapo is hosting her 13th Annual Holiday Artist Market, and some of my dolls will be in attendance! Follow the url, and then click on "M" for market for more information.

English Norman has been an enthusiastic supporter of my work, and I am grateful that she has encouraged me to take part in this artist market. I wish I could be at the market in order to admire other artisans' works.

Nativity Set collaboration with Bossy's Feltworks

Two summers ago, Mandy of Bossy's Feltworks collective commissioned two butterfly fairy dolls from me as Christmas presents for her daughters. She asked if I would be interested in a trade, and I replied that yes indeed, I appreciate flying chickens. Last summer, I wrote Mandy a note in which I said, "I've often thought about how much fun it would be to do a combined Nativity set with different artisans." Kari, another member of Bossy's Feltworks, replied to that note and said, "I love the idea!" And so, a collaboration was born. I finally got to meet all three of the artisans (Mandy Troxel, Kari Van Gelder, Amy Lum) on Labor Day weekend when my family went to visit Orcas Island for a little vacation prior to school's starting. The day was sunny and warm, as were the artisans. You may read more about them here.

Our four 13 piece Nativity sets are complete, and each shop will list two sets. Mine are here and here. I made a little stop-action animation video to showcase our work (and thanks to The Enchanted Cupboard, there are wintery trees in the background):

The Finish Line

I am the person in blue on the left, just after crossing the finish line of the Run Scared 5k run. Bede and Lucia plus two of our cousins participated in the 4k walk portion of the event, and my mom took the photo of me crossing the finish line. This time last year, I had no plans to run at all. I was merely trying to get in shape. I walked and stair-climbed, and that was good.

However, I have friends who love running, and they encouraged me to try a 5k. I said I Did Not Run. I cited the miserable experiences I had in gym class. I mentioned how easily I got cramps when I ran. My friends said I hadn't given running a proper chance. One day, walking started to feel a bit slow, so I ran for 5 minutes. It felt okay, not horrible.  I ran for 10 minutes a couple of days later, and that was okay, too.

I slowly built up my minutes over time, had some setbacks along the way (the short story is that I drink coffee 2 times a week instead of 2 times a day in order to avoid cramps), and finally signed up for the Run Scared 5k on October 30, 2011. I trained 2-3 times a week, following a plan that had me run for 9 minutes and walk for 1. Most times, I felt better having run than being in the midst of a run, but there were moments of enjoyment, too.

The morning of the 5k was drizzly-wet and chilly. I started the run at a steady pace, and only sped up to dodge around the 4k walkers strolling four abreast and toward the end, when the finish line was apparent. My net time for this 5k was 35 minutes and 26 seconds. My goal was to finish in 38 minutes or less. I am pleased with the results. It  doesn't seem that long ago when I gasped and staggered through the one mile course in gym class.

Halloween Fairy redux

I have a new post up at the NaturalKids Team blog: Too much candy? The Halloween Fairy wants it.This year, my daughter said that she was giving all of her candy to the Halloween Fairy because she wanted a really good present. I'm relieved to hear it. Last year, November 1 was a mess. Bede and I don't know how many factors were actually involved, but the combination of excitement the night before, plus party treats, plus candy with blue food coloring may have contributed to the meltdown at school the following day. This year, her class is having a Halloween party during the last hour of the school day, starring store-bought cupcakes, fruit juice packets, and a nod to health with a fruit platter, (i.e. sugar, sugar, and sugar). Then, the hopped-up 2nd graders are unleashed!

The House of Glee acknowledges its addiction to sugar. We usually deal with it in small increments and have occasional treats. At this point, the sugar addiction is a self-correcting mechanism because when we have more than our systems can take (and it doesn't take much), we have everything from temper-tantrum meltdowns to the equivalents of hangovers that affects our attention spans, moods, and creative outputs. The Halloween Fairy is a pleasant counterpoint to the sugar onslaught.

Word Choice Matters

Scientists are from Mars, the public is from Earth, by Phil Plait, discusses a list of commonly-used words that science writers use, and how the public interprets them. For example, "theory" means "scientific understanding," but the public interprets it as "hunch, speculation." The word "manipulation" when used by science writers means "scientific data processing," but the general public interprets it as "illicit tampering."

Plait writes, "There are times I fret over a word in a post. It took me a while to start using the word "denier" instead of "skeptic", for example, but the difference is important. I’ve fought for years to teach people that skepticism is not cynicism or denial; it’s asking for and looking at evidence logically and rationally (in a nutshell). What’s funny is that now the media uses phrases like "climate skeptic" when talking about some people who are not skeptics, in that they are not looking at the evidence logically and rationally. They look at evidence so they can figure out how to spin it, cast doubt in the mind of the public over something that is actually a fact."

Can you think of other examples of what you meant/what they interpreted?