I'm not an addict, maybe that's a lie....

Mmm, K's choice. Now that I've revealed what decade influenced my music choices, let's go see what's got me moving now.

I have to say, Molecular Muse's items all appeal to me on a basic level. (Ha ha!) As some of you might know, I'm a biochemistry major, with aspirations to neuroscience for a career. The hours and hours and hours spent memorizing amino acid structure, protein function, neurotransmitter synthesis pathways were interminable at best. I take that back. The neurotransmitter synthesis pathways were kind of fun. I heart neuroscience. I wouldn't have gotten through those long hours of study without my wonderful friend to whom I have been addicted since I was 16 years old: Caffeine.



I mean, look at that wonderful molecule, ubiquitously found in sodas, teas, drinks, coffee, even liquors. So lovely, yet naturally occurring at the same time. (Some of you at this point, may be thinking that the biochemistry degree was a fitting choice.) For those of you who are tired about my raptures over caffeine let's move on to the movers and shakers.

That's right. I'm talking about neurotransmitters.

Really, was there any surprise there? These are the things which makes us humans tick. They help us feel ecstasy. They control how happy we feel. They can get our blood moving and hearts jumping.

My only question is would they let me wear such things to class? Does jewelry count as a cheat sheet in this case? I mean, unless you already had the structure memorized, you wouldn't know which silver globes were oxygen, which ones were nitrogen... I suppose I'll just have to find out when I go to graduate school. Someday.

Shop Talk Ed. 6 - Shawl Pin Tutorial - Leaf Pin

So it seems, that this has been a popular design! In that case, I had better put out a tutorial on how I recommend using the shawl pin? The leaf shawl pin is really similar to the treble clef; in this regard, it works in much the same way.

Start with where you want the pin to be in the shawl, like this:


Once you've figured out where you want it to go, then you'll rotate the pin to stick the free end through the fabric like this:

It's easiest to work the free end into a knit stitch. I wouldn't recommend putting it into a yarn-over hole, because it can stretch the hole, and it's less likely to do that in a knit stitch. It seems counter-intuitive to start here, but once it's fully rotated, it will make more sense.

Once the free end has been inserted into the fabric, continue rotating the leaf almost 180 degrees clockwise and push it through the fabric like so:


Then, angle the pin upwards, so that the free end can poke through the fabric where you want it to come through.

It will look a little strange at this point, but once it's rotated it'll look better.

Just like the previous step, rotate the pin again, so that the fabric sits level in the leaf.


And there you go! I promise, more fun posts will be forthcoming, dyeing escapades, breaking yarn diets, spindle making, and so much more!

Shop Talk: Ed 5 - Quick Announcement

I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to raise my shipping prices. When I first started the shop, I thought I could get away with shipping things in a first class envelope for a dollar. Truth be told, I just don't feel comfortable shipping things unprotected in a simple envelope. Once the shawl pins, row counters, and other creations leave my hands, they are no longer mine. They're yours, the customer's and I would want to protect it and keep it safe for its journey to a new home.

Also, I like the reassurance of tracking. I've had bad luck with shipping before, and always, it seems that I didn't buy the insurance or tracking, and so my textbook, yarn, package, ect - have gotten lost in the mail. Needless to say, I haven't been pleased when that happens. I want to give others the peace of mind that tracking allows by showing where your item is in transit. However, on average, USPS labels through paypal have cost me about $1.50. So I'm taking a loss there, unfortunately. In order to cover shipping costs, I'll be raising prices to $2.00 within the US, and $3.00 to Canada/Mexico. Rest assured, I'm not doing this to increase profit margins, but simply to cover the cost of business.

Hopefully, there will be more enjoyable posts to come, I just wanted to let people know and understand what I'll be doing with the shop. I'm planning on writing another shawl pin tutorial tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

I'm alive!

The quarter is over, but the hectic pace hasn't ceased. Just letting you folks know that I'm still alive with a quick update. I finished up some requested shawl pins - and I can't thank you folks enough for your patience. That's been a big priority for me. I went to Knitter's Connection, which was absolutely wonderful. There will be a long, gushy post about that later. Not to mention the miles by which my stash grew! I like to pretend my stash isn't as big as it really is. Sometime soon, I'm going to update my stash in Ravelry, and that will be a big whomp in the face. On happy knitting news, I'm nearly done with 2 projects. There will be pictures soon. Speaking of pictures, I really will finish the shawl pin tutorials within the week! Talk to y'all soon, there' so much to do, and so little time.