Weekend Project: Bernie, the Bunsen burner

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

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

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

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

2011 Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, Sept 10-11

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!

Weekend Project: Benzene

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.

Weekend Project: Ice...because it's cold out there

So this wasn't really my idea. It was my Dad's...who also happens to be a chemist at heart. I guess that's where I get it from. So thanks Dad! Here's the ice molecule:



He's braving the cold weather in a cute removable scarf! I seriously love the idea and thought it would be a really cute addition to the molecule family.

Check it out on Etsy!

Weekend Project: I Just Love Christmas

I love it like crazy! It's mostly likely because it's also my birthday on the 26, but I can't get enough of all the christmas lights and decorations. I love being able to work on Michigan Ave in Chicago during the holidays and seeing all the stores lit up on my way home. And even though all those christmas songs are playing all the time on the radio now, I still love it!

Unfortunately the puny, little tree at Daley Plaza was disappointing, but we got to sample all the yummy food at Chriskindlmart this year. Although I probably should have waited to go till later and the crowds die down, it was still as tasty as ever!

Here's some more Christmas inspiration:


A cup of Christmas water up on my Etsy! All this crocheting and filling orders is definitely keeping me busy! I stuck my hand in these pictures as a homage to my old dreams of becoming a hand model. Unfortunately that never panned out, mostly because doing research is much more fulfilling, and I dont think I can get away with not cleaning or doing my dishes.

Only a few weeks left! Watch out for Valentine's Methanes!

Extended Weekend Project: Happy Birthday T!

It was my friend's birthday last weekend and I was working hard to finish a project...which didn't really get done until today. Sorry T! But it's finally done and I have to say I really like it! She had asked me one day, jokingly, to make her an angel-devil type thing at which I thought, "that's probly the oddest thing I can do." But knowing it was her birthday coming up, I took a shot at it and it materialized into a really cute angel/devil:



I started her out with her body and slapped on some wings and horns and attempted to do some hair, which came out pretty cute! I thought she could look more angelic with a white dress, but then realized she looked too angelic, and made an awesome removable devil's cape, which kind of reminds me of a dracula cape (vampire amigurumi is coming!). The cape comes off and around the wings, which I thought is a super cute detail. The pictures don't really show the gold detailing of the halo and pitchfork, but it's there! I saw this yarn at Loopy Yarns and thought it would be perfect for a devilish halo!

Hope you like it!

Weekend Project: Cup O' Water

I was fiddling around yesterday and put together some water molecules. I didn't really like the idea of them at first because they really couldn't stand up on their own and thought that they might look better in a cup. And now I have a cup of water:



The small cup could barely fit two molecules, but I wanted to have a molecule overflowing when in the cup. No mouths on these guys. I tried to slap some on, but I really just liked it without a mouth. Maybe the purple is too dark.


I'm starting to love the molecular look!

Weekend Project: Tiled Outdoor Table

Ok, so I know this has absolutely nothing to do with crochet or knit or anything with yarn, but I really didn't do so much crocheting this weekend. I was pretty much working all weekend on this table project.

Our outdoor space has no tables. We have this wonderful balcony that faces the Chicago skyline, and we pretty much just have a barbecue and a bench out there and we really really really needed some kind of outdoor table just to put our stuff on. So i searched for one at all the obvious places like crate & barrel and pottery barn, but I didn't like the idea of spending over $100 on an outdoor table that's meant to get all weather worn.

At the same time I have these really ugly boring $10 Ikea laminate tables from my graduate school days that I would throw in the dumpster in a heartbeat:


But they're the perfect size for an outdoor table. However, after watching hours and hours of HGTV like I do on any given day, I know better than to just set it out there on my balcony without weatherproofing it first.

***I did spend a lot of time documenting my table transformation, but unfortunately the camera's memory card is messed up so I only have one picture***

I looked up several websites that are solely dedicated to sprucing up ikea furniture (like ikea hacker) and decided to sand, prime and paint the table. I used an exterior white paint (to protect the table from mildew) and decided to finish the table top with ceramic and glass tiles using a thinset and grout that's recommended for shower tiling since its water resistant. While I don't suggest going to Home Depot for tile, because their tile section is severely lacking in diversity, I did happen to find a green tile that I liked.

And now my ugly black table isn't so ugly anymore:



I probably only spent ~$60 on materials but have a ton of paint and tile adhesive + grout to last for awhile. I still have another ugly black table, so I'm still thinking of another way to transform it, or even adding a backsplash to my kitchen. More crochet tomorrow, I promise!

Weekend Projects: Mr. Methane

My chemistry geekiness at its best:


I always wanted to do an organic structure, and of course the easiest to start with would be Methane, CH4. Just plain old methane looked kinda boring so I slapped on some eyes and a smirk and he became Mr. Methane. I think I must have readjusted his hydrogens a billion times to make it look right.

**not made to scale in atomic sizes, bonding length and bond angle symmetry, but optimized for maximum cuteness**