Prim and Plush

Weekend Project: Bernie, the Bunsen burner

2012-02-13T14:12:00.001-06:00

I had this one in my idea book for quite awhile and finally had some time to work on something this weekend.

It took a little while to think of a name but here's Bernie:

Weekend Project: Holiday String Lights

2011-11-06T10:35:00.000-06:00

So I haven't crocheted in awhile, ever since the craft fair. I've kind of been burnt out a bit and was taking a break since I have tons of inventory at the moment. I took out my crochet hook on Friday and was thinking of just making a holiday hat for a water molecule:

So as i was working the hat, it kind of reminded me of those old style Christmas lights. So I just went with it:

These guys aren't for sale right now but I'm kind of happy about how they turned out. I think I'll use them as Christmas decorations in my lab.

Weekend Project: Custom Murloc

2011-10-13T18:05:00.004-05:00

Here's a custom murloc I made for a good friend of mine, from WoW:

He's holding a mage staff. Yay for Murlocs! mrrglgrrglgrrgl

Weekend Project - Periodic Table: Hydrogen Coasters

2011-09-26T14:08:00.001-05:00

I wanted to crochet element coasters the past few days now. So here's my first attempt, at Hydrogen:

Alternatively, you could flip it upside down and it becomes a Scrabble tile. My lovely husband, being a Scrabble fanatic pointed out the point number is wrong though.

I'll be tweaking the design to fit other elements

RCF2011: Chemistry Tats

2011-09-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

We met a lot of chemists at the craft fair and a couple of them showed us their tats (and let us take pictures).

Carbon:

Water + darwin fish:

It got us thinking, do you have any chemistry related tattoos? Or what would you want your tattoo look like?

I think i'd get a glucose or theobromine..

RCF2011: What we bought

2011-09-15T22:55:00.000-05:00

There wasn't much time for us to peruse the other wares, but here's our loot.

A lovely terrarium from alapash, they had the absolute best looking terrariums at the craft show:

Feather hair extension from Belle Epoch:

2011 Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, Sept 10-11

2011-09-13T21:15:00.000-05:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to show at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this past weekend. There were over 300 vendors and it seemed like there were more booths and people than all the previous years!

It took a lot of planning and crocheting, but we finally made it to the Fair. There's almost no end to the booths:

We were at booth #187, geeking it up with some crocheted molecules and science art:

We had lots of new items, like postcards, T-shirts and keychains. The fair favorites were the T-shirts and postcards of our Science Kitty:

Ideal Gas Law dog T-shirt, PV = nRT:

Our most popular molecule sale was, of course, Ice:

No Prim and Plush craft fair would be complete without Caffeine being the centerpiece:

And finally, he sun setting over Wicker Park in Chicago:

We had a blast selling our crafts in our home town of Chicago. We'll have more follow-ups on the interesting things we bought and saw at the Fair! Thank You Chicago!

I'm Busy

2011-07-24T22:31:00.002-05:00

Cutest Baby Blanket

2011-07-15T21:36:00.003-05:00

I crocheted this really cute blanket from "A Year of Baby Afghans, Book 4"

I love the animals on the border and I used the softest Berroco Comfort Yarn.

The P-Orbital

2011-06-20T18:50:00.003-05:00

I have to be honest that I might not know what I'm talking about.

Physical Chemistry was probably my weakest subject, which is why I focused more on Organic Chem and Chemical Biology.

I do, however, know what a p-orbital should look like and it vaguely brings up memories of HOMO and LUMO, and energy diagrams and what not.

So here's my interpretation of a p-orbital:

He's a little smirky, kind of like he knows I have no idea what I'm talking about. But here's to P Chem and the 2 semesters of I have no idea what I'm studying, but I passed with flying colors anyway and 7 years later, remembering nothing...there was a cat in a box at some point. =P

He's available on Etsy!

New Smaller Caffeine Molecule

2011-06-18T10:32:00.004-05:00

Ever since my caffeine molecule got sold, I've kinda been pining away for it. So I decided it was time to create another one, but smaller. The smaller version measures 11x10 inches:

While the original measures 15x13:

I think I prefer the smaller one. It's more portable and much easier to put together. It will be our centerpieces at craft fairs this year!

Stitch London Specimens

2011-06-18T10:18:00.003-05:00

Stitch London teamed up with London Science Museum and had an open call for science themed knit and crochet work. They will be on display in the London Science Museum on June 25 and 26!

Check out our cataloged items on the Stitch London Archive

Ice, Water and Steam

Ethanol

Weekend Project: Benzene

2011-06-13T19:12:00.007-05:00

It's been awhile since I've made something new. So I decided to tackle benzene, using light blue and gray yarn:

It's listed on Etsy.

International Yarn Bombing Day Activities

2011-06-11T21:14:00.006-05:00

The Michael's on N. Clark in Chicago was hosting a little yarn bombing and knit-a-thon and here's what greeted us out front:

And here's me trying to sew some crocheted pieces on a railing:

It was such a fun day to crochet and see some pretty yarn bombs!

A Crocheted Basket

2011-06-08T20:38:00.005-05:00

I had a cone of double worsted cotton yarn that I couldn't decide what to do with, so I made a basket that would be nice for craft fairs. I love:

Basket full of waters:

Amigurumi Pipetman

2011-04-23T21:56:00.008-05:00

Oh the trusty pipetman! No researcher can live without it. I've wanted to try this for awhile, to crochet a pipetman. Here's the one I use every day:

Source

And here's what I came up with last night:

My P20 and P200 pipets have a small yellow circle on top:

It's fun to play with at least!

I Dislike Sales Reps

2011-04-19T15:12:00.006-05:00

Source

So I work in a research lab and we have an open lab system, so there are constantly Sales Reps coming in and out and trying to sell us their stuff. It ends up being really annoying because you're trying to dodge sales reps and avoid eye contact. *Look Down! Don't make eye contact or they'll talk to you for an hour!* - kind of attitude.

Unfortunately, a sales rep called me and here's what transpired (I should note that the caller had a British accent and sounded soothing...at first):

Sales Rep: Would you like to buy our *insert name of apparatus,* it will cut down your gel running time to 10 min?

Me: What kind of gels?

Sales Rep: For gel electrophoresis!

Me: Is it for Agarose gels?

Sales Rep: No, but it's very, very fast!

Me: What samples do I run in it?

Sales Rep: It's for gel electrophoresis...

Me: Have you ever run a gel before?

Sales Rep: Not really, but what it says here, is that it's top of the line and cuts down your run time.

Me: Do you understand what I'm asking you?

Sales Rep: Yes, it's for gel electrophoresis!

Me: *sigh* Is it for DNA or Protein?

Sales Rep: DNA

Me: So it's for agarose gels

Sales Rep: No. That's not what it says.

Me: Then it's acrylamide

Sales Rep: No, not that one either.

Me: I guess I'm not interested then, I deal more with proteins anyway...*facepalm*

Sales Rep: Ok well if you are more interested in preparing protein samples we have this other machine called *insert apparatus name here.* It will completely automate your sample preparations.

Me: Ok, what does it do?

Sales Rep: Automates your sample preparations...

Me: But how?

Sales Rep: I can gladly email you more information if you are interested!

Me: I just want to know what it does!

Sales Rep: Automates your sample preparations for proteins!

Me: No, I do not want any more information...oh you hear that, that's my timer going off. I have things to do, like manually prepare my samples....

*click*

Bunsen Burners!

2011-03-31T15:46:00.003-05:00

It's Robert Bunsen's 200th birthday and the google icon is aweome! The flames are on in the lab today! Ok well, I had to do a transformation, so it just happened to be on today. So here's my contribution to the bunsen burner, an Etsy Treasury:

Shockingly, not too many bunsen burner themed items, but it's wonderfully geeky!

Japanese Relief Campaign

2011-03-14T22:21:00.008-05:00

We made and listed cranes for $5 donations to the Red Cross for the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami, in crane form and magnets. The magnets work on stainless steel refrigerators! There are 5 different varieties:

Check out the Etsy Shop!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-02T11:07:00.002-06:00

I like making holiday molecules and it's only fitting to make a green ethanol for St. Paddys Day. They dye the Chicago river green and sell lots of green beer, so here's a tribute to all those who celebrate this holiday by indulging in green alcohol:

I happened to be sitting at home the past few days recovering from a slip and fall that resulted in damaging my tailbone. So I managed to crochet while lying on my side and am writing this blog while in bed.

Find the Etsy listing here.

Please drink responsibly!

Yarn Shipment

2011-02-13T22:42:00.006-06:00

I got word that the company I order yarn from is going out of business. So I ordered extra of colors I probably can't find very easily and this is how it arrived:

It's the saddest box in the world. And upon opening, I realized it wasn't actually a box, just some tapped up cardboard in the shape of a box. Apparently, the company is so out of money they can't afford to buy a box, but surprisingly the yarn was completely fine:

And I figure now is a good opportunity to show a shot of my yarn storage. I did buy an Ikea bookcase just for it:

Another Fun Custom Order

2011-02-12T10:47:00.001-06:00

Uranium Dioxide:

A small part of me didn't want to see it go. I think I'll make one for myself.

For Babies

2011-02-07T22:50:00.004-06:00

How cute are these booties from Sylver Designs on Etsy:

Love the designs! I made these using the 3 month old size and they fit the 3 month old baby perfectly. The hardest part was finding cute buttons to go with them. I wanted to find buttons that weren't too difficult to put on, so the bamboo looking ones worked great. Perfect for the winter months and even cuter on the baby!

Methanol

2011-02-05T13:12:00.007-06:00

I've been running a lot of western blots and have been using a lot of Methanol. I may or may not have once or twice forgotton to activate my PVDF membranes by forgetting to add this guy. So here's a tribute to methanol and hoping that it will help my westerns come out as well as I want them to:

I think I really like these colors too

A Week of Treasuries

2011-01-30T20:46:00.006-06:00

I've been listed in quite a few treasuries this week. How exciting!

A Gift That Gives Back...
Biochemistrey
Chemistry
Creative Crochet
Little Tidbits of Color
The Love of Knitting