New job, New outlook, The truth about spinning.

First off, I have big news. Since this is primarily a knitting blog (I have a feeling that will change shortly and this will become a coding/knitting blog... but I don't want to get ahead of myself), I'll start with the YARN CONTENT. This is how I blocked my most recent shawl.

 I got some lovely blocking mats for Christmas last year and they work splendidly. However, they are not quite large enough for shawls.

So I did a throwback to how I used to block and used cardboard.






Overall I'm pleased with how it came out. The colors mesh well, and I love the lace pattern on the body.

Next up is what I've been spinning.

That was a lovely mohair/wool blend that I sort of experimented with. I basically teased apart mohair locks and then added them to the wool as I was spinning. I was initially trying to do something very specific, but couldn't figure it out and decided just to continue what I was doing and see how it turned out.

That's one of the things I've discovered about spinning. It's not as immediate as knitting but the reward is so much better.

Let me delve into this dear readers. With knitting, you do the same thing over and over and you begin to see patterns in what you're making. You see it grow and can fondle the fabric that you're making while it's being made. Spinning is different. You start out with fibers.

That sounds very romantic right? Fibers. But really all that word means is hair. Sheep hair, alpaca hair, plant hair (that's more of a metaphor? cotton spuds?), dog hair (if you're into that) and etc.

So you sit in one place and literally spin hair together. It's usually not very glamorous and a lot of time it's incredibly frustrating. Because you can be doing everything right and consistently, then all of a sudden THE HAIR BREAKS AND YOUR YARN FLIES OUT OF YOUR HAND AND IT'S THE WORST THING EVER.

This is the point where I get down on myself and tell myself that I'll never be good at it and I should quit and blah blah negative head voice. One of the main things spinning has taught me is that the blah blah negative voice in my head is wrong and stupid.

(I used to be a hardcore perfectionist. I still have bouts of it (and yearnings of wanting to be perfect of course), but therapy made me think of it in a way better light. No one is perfect. Sure you can't fail if you don't try, but you can't succeed. You literally can't do anything. You just sit there and think and have a downward spiral of doom.)

And new and improved Jen doesn't DO the downward spiral of doom. NAI (new and improved) Jen yells a beastly yell of badassery and kicks spinnings' ass.

Because the secret to spinning is that the process sort of sucks. You can see that you're making something pretty, but only a foot at a time. It's only when you stop and take it off the (spool? spindle? I should know this word), that you fully appreciate how incredible what you made actually is. You have many feet of viable exquisite yarn. You can fully see the subtle color change you thought of in your head.

THEN comes the fun part: knitting with it. Finding the perfect stitch to show off how beautiful your spun hair is.

Dreamy sigh.

What is my big news you're asking? I got my dream job. Starting Monday I'll be learning everything under the sun about iOS development and computers and robots and AI. Well, some of those things.

Point is, I'll be able to talk about data modeling and servers and cool exciting computer words!

I know you're as excited as me.

Actual Yarn Content/My Next Adventure

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS.

I have a job offer. AND IT'S A LEGIT JOB OFFER.

I could go on a sappy rant about following your dreams and taking chances. But instead I'll bring you back to your regularly scheduled yarn content.

Because after two months of 60+ hour weeks learning objective C. I deserve a yarn day.

Step one: block my Mobile Makers Shawl.

Now some people hate blocking. I love it. I mean you take something you've already poured hours and months into and you make it look spectacular. Shawls (and lace specifically), are super fun to block because they look incredible afterwards.

But that means that I'm now in between yarn projects. Which means...

SPINNING TIME!

and because the temperature is now around 80 degrees and I like making life difficult, I'm going to try and spin cotton again.

BUT. I'm going to hand card it with some alpaca or wool (not sure yet) and then design my own shrug pattern.

You know, just your typical "just finished something challenging keep doing challenging things" day.

Delegation take Two

I have to blog this RIGHT NOW because I totally understand Delegation. It only took seven weeks, but it makes a ton of sense. (I wrote this a week ago and am just getting around now to posting/editing it)

Remember how I was saying that there are a billion metaphors about delegation? Supposedly it's because something different will click for each person, but I have a theory that it's because people are terrible at explaining things. But never fear readers! I will set you straight and tell the entire coding community the right way to explain things. (because ya know, I know everything <--- this is is tongue in cheek)

Remember my Popeye and spinach metaphor? That is still apt. But let me tell you why it wasn't complete and then explain the metaphor that made all the other metaphors make sense. In my personal explaining metaphor, Popeye gets 'superpowers' (more methods) that allow him to do all sorts of super cool things. This is essentially what happens, but it's also not what happens. Prepare to think real hard dudes.

There are two really confusing things about delegation.  And a couple things with the Popeye metaphor that were incomplete. Popeye doesn't just get superpowers from the spinach. He opens a connection to spinach world where he gets superpowers. Those powers are still in spinach world, but because of the connection Popeye can access them.

The first confusing thing about delegation is the word itself. Because in delegation there is something called a delegate, and there is something that has a delegate method. Now this second thing doesn't have a name, it just has a method in it. (I'll explain why later)

Now you're going to want to call the one with the delegate method in it the delegate, right? WRONG! The thing you have to keep in mind with delegation is that it is essentially a connection between two things.  The one that is the delegate is the one that gets the response/info. I bet that last thing I said made no sense (because it doesn't), so let me go into detail.

Remember when I was talking about segues? I probably mentioned (or should have mentioned) that we have to use segues and delegation because different views and different objects on a view don't talk. Now if you are familiar with iOS, you might say, "BUT JEN, BUTTONS KNOW WHEN THEY ARE PUSHED". which is true. when you touch a button, it sends a message, which means it's probably using delegation (Boom. mind blown).

Some things in iOS already have features built into them that utilize hard to get concepts. So you don't really have to think about why a button sends a message, you just know that you can utilize it to go to a new screen or have something happen.

But if you break it down, the reason you're able to do stuff with buttons is because they send a message. So now you realize that you need to send a message between two things. Like I said before, unfortunately things don't communicate with each other unless you tell them too.

(I also think this is the core part of computers that people don't get. Computers don't know how to do things until you tell them. We've developed tools to make them more person intuitive... but they still are just using numbers to do things. Remember, the computer is a baby and doesn't know anything until you teach it or give it tools/skills/person attributes).

Now I'm off topic. Ok. The delegate and the thing with the delegate method have a relationship. For example, say we have three things, a house with a fancy number pad door, an atm, and a calculator.  All of these things share something in common: a number pad thing. That number pad thing is NOT the delegate. It is the one getting the messages and the numbers and the fun. The house and atm and calculator just need to know what keys are pressed when they're pressed. The number pad has a method that says what key is pressed.

so if the number pad thing isn't the delegate, what is? In this example, the house, atm, and calculator can become the delegate. That's right people! something can have multiple delegates!

In the process of writing this, I've confused myself. So let me set myself straight. The thing with the delegate method in it doesn't have a name because it can be anything. It can be a dog, or a view controller, or a piano. The delegate is what needs to know the info that the dog or view controller or piano know. Because like I said before, nothing in the ios landscape communicates.

(maybe they should see a relationship counselor... har har har).

So recap. I know when my toe gets stepped on. whoever stepped on my toe needs to know when that happens. So when my toe gets stepped on, I punch the person who stepped on it. The person I punch is the delegate. They receive the message that my toe is hurt.

Yea, the language of it is so stupid. I mean when you delegate something, you give the work to someone else. Since there is no noun for delegate, they don't call the person who pawns off the work anything. We should change that.

This is long and a little bit circular.

Here are the points that you should remember.
1. The language of delegation is hard. This is because anything can have a delegate method and anything can be a delegate.
2. Delegation is a connection between these two things. The thing with the delegate method gets a message and then sends it to the delegate. This message can be as simple as BUTTON WAS PRESSED! or as complicated as a complicated thing.
3. Setting the delegate (another confusing word thing with delegation) is essentially just telling the connection what it's between. So you tell the starting point that they are the delegate and the ending point that they are the delegate.

The metaphor that made sense? Delegation is a tunnel. Setting the delegate is just telling different things where the tunnel entrance and exit are. Then they can send things through the tunnel.

I finished my shawl. More knitting content tomorrow!

My life is so synched.

I have exciting news!

First things first. Tomorrow and Sunday are YarnCon if you are in Chicago. You should definitely come because it's the greatest place ever.

Second, my life and knitting are completely in sync at the moment. Let me explain. You may have gathered that I am attending Mobile Makers and knitting a lovely shawl. Well with both of these activities, there is a point where the knitting and the coding become tedious. BUT that part is over!

I'm currently at the end of week six and just finished my first week working on my very own app. I also am on the edging of the shawl. This means that I'm deeply in love with both parts of my life right now.

I would wax poetic about the beauty of finishing and how dreams come true and rainbows are the best, but I've got some collection views to finagle.

Delegates make me all philosophical. also shawls.

Even though I should be super frustrated, I am still super enamored with Mobile Makers. They've been giving us harder and harder projects and I'm still understanding. Which go me.

Anyways, remember how I was all like, "oh yea, segues are so easy, I am the best at them." I may have to amend that statement. I do get the general concept of them, but those paired with delegation make me a little iffy.

Delegation you ask? Yup. It's just like it sounds. It's when something makes something else do a task.... well sort of. It's actually super complicated and I'm just starting to wrap my head around. I'll probably post a clearer example once I start fully grasping it, but for now let me just give it my college try.

You have to use delegation when you are doing something in a different view  (or a different file) and want to know about it outside of that view (/file). I think it's a way to add more methods (making objects do things) that is cleaner and easier to break down. Some of the common objects we use all the time (view controller, table views, text fields) have delegates. These are already defined but generally I think of them as access to a level/power up. So with the objects 'built in' to objective c we can already do a  lot of stuff, but if we access their delegate we get to do ALL of their stuff.

Like Popeye. He is already a pretty good... sailor? Not really sure what he is. But then he eats spinach and he can do so much more stuff! Like knock people out... and other stuff. I'm not really up on my Popeye it would appear. But delegates are like spinach. We call them on a class and BOOM we can do way more.

From what I can tell, delegates are usually used when something is clicked or pushed and you want it to do something.

Phew. Right? That was all yesterday. We learned about delegates last week but yesterday we had to really learn them to build an app that basically just shows a different collection of tigers and lions when a corresponding button is clicked. WHICH IS SO MUCH HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS.

I think that's the main thing I've learned is that things that seem really easy are actually super complicated. I guess it makes sense because we think swiping to go to a new page makes sense, but we first had to learn how to see, how to make our finger move, and associate certain movements with certain results.

Think about being a baby. You didn't know anything as a baby (contrary to the movie Baby Geniuses). I was blown away a couple weeks ago when I learned that babies can't even recognize shapes until a couple months old. I mean that's why it takes so long to walk. Think about how complicated that is. But you don't even have to because your brain does it automatically.

Programming is making a brain. 

Ok.... you can tell I'm excited and into this right? So i'm going to be even nerdier right here. Because you know writing about knitting isn't nerdy enough.

I've always been fascinated by the brain. I've always been fascinated by philosophy and why things are how they are. And it turns out the programming is literally both of those.

Let me explain about the philosophy thing. (because the brain thing is explained up above sort of)

Philosophy takes abstract things and tries to make them concrete to be able to manipulate or solve problems. (I just blew my own brain writing that. I sound so deep and insightful)

Programming is wanting a computer or phone to do something. In order to do that, you have to conceptualize a lot of stuff. You have to break down the task into different actions and parts. You have to translate that into words (the programming language). And the programming language is telling the computer what ones and zeros and numbers to fire in order for it to accomplish things.

Why yes I am a little iffy on how programming languages and computers interact. However did you guess?

I realize there is no knitting here... but I am on the death marathon part of the shawl. For those of you unfamiliar with knitting, it's when you literally have a row that is 300 stitches and you have to add four stitches every other row in order to get to 400 stitches. You don't get a lot knit vertically and so your brain is like, "UGHHHH I just did one row and it took fifteen minutes and I have so many more of these".

Speaking of knitting... it might be time to switch to a sock as my portable project.

Spring Love and what object oriented programming means

I have a confession. I thought that Mobile Makers was full of shit.

You know that saying, if it sounds too good to be true than it probably is? I thought that applied. What are the reasons I was skeptical about Mobile Makers?

1. They say, anyone can learn it (even people who haven't programmed before)
2. They say, people will want to hire you after the class if you work hard (I've been working hard my entire life and no one has jumped at the chance to hire me.)
3. They say, Mobile Makers has a network of peers and mentors that want to help you.
4. They say, Mobile Makers teaches you things that you can't learn on your own.

I don't want to sound like an advertisement for them... but I know for a fact that 3/4 of those things are true (since I haven't completed the class, I don't know if people will want to hire me).

Here is my second confession: I'm in love with Mobile Makers.

Also, I'm in love with life at the moment because it's SPRING and SUNNY.

Yes that is what I'm currently knitting. If you're patient I'll show you what I'm knitting at the end of this. and YES I am doing this class in downtown Chicago. No more suburbs for this girl, I'm an official big city person. I'm probably also loving life because I started taking anti-depressants again. Huzzah mental health.

But back to my undying love for Mobile Makers. I've spent ten hours for the past six days (well... only eight yesterday) dedicating myself to learning objective c. AND IT'S WORKING!!!

I've always known that I pick things up fast, but I didn't realize how fast I can pick things up if I can ask why things happen. One thing I've learned from the past week is that once I know the reason you do something or the reason something works... then I understand it.

Case in point. Segues. What is a Segue in objective c? GOOD QUESTION LET ME ANSWER.

(I'll try to tone it down... sorry just got excited that I TOTALLY KNOW HOW TO CODE)
(I know I just used parenthesis above but I have a funny story about the word segue. Up until a couple years ago, I spelled it segueway because I didn't realize that segue is pronounced seg-way. Thanks sister and Bekky for making me not look like an idiot! Oh english.)

A segue is a way to go from one screen to another and pass along information when you do it. Two points I'd like to make about this. First, this is the entire point of object oriented programming. Programming is basically turning computer language into words so we can modify it. Object oriented programming's strength is that you can break a complicated idea into smaller parts, create a thing or an action (method/function), and use those smaller parts to make a giant thing.

Example (because that was super vague): I want to tell a computer/robot to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I could write it this way:

1. open bread bag
2. take two pieces of bread out of bad
3. place slice of bread on the table
4. open jar of peanut butter
5. pick up knife
6. put knife in open jar of peanut butter
7. put peanut butter on knife
8. take knife out of jar
9. rub peanut butter on one side of the bread until evenly coated.
10. put down knife
11. open jar of raspberry jam (the best)
12. pick up knife
13. put knife in open jar of jam
14. put jam on knife
15. take knife out of jar
16. rub jam on one side of the bread until evenly coated
17. put down knife
18. put the two pieces of bread together with the peanut buttered side and jam side touching each other.

That was a lot longer than you thought it would be, but not unbearable. The trouble with this comes when you want to make the ULTIMATE peanut butter and jam sandwich with multiple layers. You would have to repeat 7 steps just to tell the person to do the same thing as before (lines 4-10 are essentially the same as 11-17). And what would happen if you forgot to say to open the jar? then you'd have to go through a huge list of steps to find out where you missed something.

With objective C, you can turn an action into something that's repeatable.

I can hear your attention waning so I'll make this quick.

Instead of having one list, you would have a couple. the first list would turn the 7 lines of code into one method that you would call on whatever property(peanut butter or jam) you want.

prepare bread for sandwich:(topping added)

1. open jar of (topping added)
2. pick up knife
3. put knife in jar of (topping added)
4. put (topping added) on knife
5. take knife out of jar of (topping added)
6. rub (topping added) on one side of the bread.
7. put down knife

Make Sandwich

1. open bread bag
2. take two pieces of bread out of bad
3. place slice of bread on the table
4. prepare bread for sandwich: peanut butter
5. prepare bread for sandwich: jam
6. put the two pieces of bread together with the peanut buttered side and jam side touching each other.

MUCH SIMPLER IN THE LONG RUN. Which is the point of coding. Yes you can do something the long way, but if you want to create something automated that does the same action over and over... why not be lazy about it?

Ok. I was going to talk about segues but that'll have to wait for tomorrow. Because it's time to figure out how to make a tic tac toe game.

PS. I'm making a shawl.

Nupp-a-polooza

Remember that awesome feat of knitting prowess that was the last post? Well here is the finished result. Those bumps are called nupps and are just a bunch of stitches knit together. Nupp should be the national word I think.

The only thing cooler than making nupps, is saying nupps (those bumps are nupps by the way)

Blocking lace is so essential

I call this one. Art.

Lace makes me swoon. Like old tires and arty pictures.

This is my best knitting picture ever. Hooray flowers!

So as you can see, it is by far the most beautiful thing I have ever made. I even contemplated framing it and selling it as art. But after much debating, I gave it to the person who deserved it the most. Bekky my bfffl! As a fellow knitter, she knows how much time and love goes into this. Also, I originally started making this for her as a condolence shawl (because she had a major loss in her life).

Today's lesson is. Knit lace shawls and say the word nupp compulsively.

Out on the old frontier, the little doggies resisted being counted

It's WIP roundup time! I was originally going to show you all the amazing things I've knit the past couple months and haven't taken pictures off, but then I realized something very important: there is a month until Christmas. Now since we don't know each other very well, I'm going to let you in on a secret about me. Ready?

I am not one to freak out about knitting things in time for Christmas. In fact, I'm not really one to freak out about anything (and by freak out I mean stress freak out. I happy squee freak out all the time for: amazing yarn, harry potter, music, giant dogs, spinning instruments, potatoes, turkey bacon, raspberries... you get the idea).

But this year I think that might change. Because this year I have decided to knit a lot of people a lot of things. Not just my usual sock knitting palooza, but I've decided to make a shawl, a pair of stranded man socks, a pair of stranded woman socks, a pair of mittens, and something for my boyfriend. Plus I have to finish my ex-boyfriends sweater. Want to see a picture of it?

Yes I modeled it on a blender--I couldn't fit it over the back of the chair. I'm about two inches past the armpit and boy has it been slow going. Not because I don't like the pattern (simple custom top down pullover) and not because I don't enjoy eons of stockinette. More because I haven't been knitting at all the past two months. I mean sure here and there I will finish a row, but I used to be a solid two hour a day knitter. The main thing about this sweater that may make it a problem, is that I do not have enough yarn to finish it. In fact, I only have one more ball left and about 15 more inches of body and two sleeves. I bet I know what you're thinking; what sort of a knitter buys three balls of yarn for a sweater and expects it to work?!

The answer: Me. I knew it wasn't enough yarn but they didn't have more of that blue color. So I figured I would be able to buy more later. It's now later and I haven't even looked for more of this. Not that it will be hard to find; it's cascade wool. But I will not be able to find the dye-lot again. I've never done this before with a cascade project so I'm not really positive that this is an issue. Since it is Christmas (technically it's almost Thanksgiving but according to Starbucks, it's almost Christmas) I'm inclined to yuletide joy and so I'm going to say that the sweater will be epically awesome even with mis-matched dye-lots.

Speaking of Starbucks, they are forcing me to be a better person. Because I get an extra 10% off this week, I have to actually do my Christmas shopping BEFORE the last week before Christmas. Gross.

I've also become mildly addicted to Carmel Macchiato.

Also, know what you missed last weekend if you didn't go to Starbucks? Buy one get one free on all Holiday drinks. This is why you should go to Starbucks EVERYDAY UNTIL YOU DIE. Otherwise you miss deals. Just kidding, please don't support the corporate empire.

Want to know how my job search is going?! Terribly. Thanks for asking.

As we part, I'd like to leave you with a picture of the shawl that needs to be done for Christmas. I'd usually be all over knitting this right now, but I screwed up the pattern hardcore. So I have to frog all this. Sadface. So here lies the shawl I started four months ago and have to start over and complete in 31 days. Cheers!