Comments on: The Girl is Crafty like Ice is Cold

By: humble humanist

humble humanist — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:43:25 +0000

Very cute costume!

On the relative apparent technical prestige of sewing vs. astrophysics or even a circuitboard: Maybe it’s because with the former, you can actually *see* or *touch* everything involved, but with the latter two, you have to assume the existence of phenomena that can’t be perceived by the naked eye (electricity, dark matter, etc.). So even though the spatial reasoning is just as complicated for carrying out a sewing project, it’s not as mystified.

Yay, sewing geekery!

By: Helen

Helen — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:05:39 +0000

@ jason: I think it is well established that the biology and brain function of men and women is fundamentally different, though of course all humans exist on an amazingly wide spectrum of behavior, so one can’t make assumptions about an individual. It is a fascinating topic – I’d love to study psychology!

I used to go rockclimbing with my husband – and will again when the kids are a little older – and he likes the big, long, expedition climbs, and short, scary, exposed climbs. Endurance or strength. I prefer short, elegant climbs – actually I like toproping, because you don’t have to interrupt the flow to unclip pro – for me climbing is an aesthetic pursuit, not a sport.

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:29:18 +0000

NOw, that is a great looking dolphin!

By: Hectora

Hectora — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:56:03 +0000

“I’m not a shark, I’m a dolphin.”

“Candygram.”

By: citrine

citrine — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:52:27 +0000

I read somewhere that when Dirac visited one of his friends, only the wife was home – knitting in the living room. Dirac sat across from her and intently watched the knitting for a while. (Remember that he’s seeing the pattern from the reverse side.) Then he had asked “could you do it this XYZ way?” Well, there are two basic knitting methods – knitting and pearling – and he had figured out the alternate method.

By: The AstroDyke

The AstroDyke — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:36:47 +0000

So true, so true! Knitting a sweater requires real math skills: 3D–>2D projection, scaling relationships, and the ability to think algorithmically (knitting patterns use subroutines.) Sewing requires more dimensional translation and less scaling.

I refused to learn handicrafts in my youth b/c they were too girly. Thankfully I got over it, and now find that making curtains or a sweater uses the same part of my brain as reparing a surfboard, or indeed, designing a set of observations.

By: Julianne

Julianne — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:08:29 +0000

The most groan-worthy costume I remember is a guy who came with a potato swinging from his belt buckle at crotch level. He claimed he was a dictator.

And yeah, that strawberry pincushion is the industry standard. The little dangly strawberry contains something like chalk that you can use to de-burr your needles. I’m sure the origins of the strawberry pincushion go way way back, and will be the subject of a wikipedia entry sometime soon.

The coat project sounds facinating, Carl. I am actually terrible at tailored clothes for people, and am duly impressed.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:41:40 +0000

great stuff, and great Beastie Boys quote!

At an astronomer party the other night someone (not an astronomer, but a clever gal), came all dressed in black with two huge diamond earings.

No one could guess what she was:

Dark Matter — with two twinkling starts.

The groans… and the applause!

By: jeebus

jeebus — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:30:14 +0000

I found that covering your whole body with white yarn and walking around with a vibrator in your hand always makes for a great (and easy) “String Theory” costume.

By: Stu Savory

Stu Savory — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:39:23 +0000

I prefer sewing a black Dracula costume . . .

It’s the only chance I get to manipulate dark Matter

man, even the holes in it are black