Scarlet and Grey Granny Square Goodness

So, per Megan's request, I'm finally posting again.  Last time I mentioned another project I was working on.  Due to my diligence (or obsessiveness...whatever you prefer) I've completed my small lap blanket, and now I have pictures for y'all.

Side note before I go any further: I didn't actually mean for this to look like an Ohio State color scheme, but it just kind of worked out that way.  I think it looks badass regardless.

First, here are pictures of what the four different square patterns looked like individually:

At first, I was just going to make the grey and red squares in the middle, but then I realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn, and it might look nicer with the black contrast, so I ended up designing the first and last squares.

The way I joined the squares was a continuous flat braid join.  It was super easy and super quick, and I'm glad I used it.  To finish it off, I added a scalloped border.  If you notice, I arranged the squares in diagonals (I don't do well with randomness). The actual size of the blanket is about 36"x 42".  I wasn't looking to make a giant afghan.  I did this whole thing with only 4.5 skeins of yarn. 

As to my real life, things are going well.  I've made some friends, so I don't have to "hang out" with Kimmie Jin all day/night.  I'm finally starting real projects tomorrow, which is nice, because my motivation to read textbooks is dropping exponentially. I'm teaching myself some computer programming as well, which is slow going, but will be rewarding later on.  

For any chemistry nerds reading this (there have to be a few, otherwise my friends suck), I've picked up a book from my chem department office called the The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean.  It's about the periodic table and has anecdotal short stories about the elements.  It's pretty awesome, so I recommend you check it out. 

As always, thanks for reading. :)

Periodic Table Update

So it's been about a week, but as promised, I finally have an update for you on my periodic table granny square blanket.  Let's get to the picture first...

I've provided labels for those who don't know what they're looking at.  The black squares are just filler. My running total is 118/280 squares completed.  Keep in mind that 130 of the remaining squares are black.  I guess that will help me get through the next three chapters I have to read in my textbook.  

I'm also working on another granny square blanket that's black, red, and heather grey.  That's going to be super duper nice, and I will get pictures of that up soon, too.  

In my chemistry life, I've just been doing a lot of reading.  I have a lot that I need to get a background on before I can just jump into projects.  I'm a terribly slow reader, so it's not going as quickly as I would like it to, but what can I do?  

Kimmie Jin finally moved out of my room, but now that I've been here for two weeks (holy shit, I've been here for two weeks) I don't really want to move into that room.  It's literally half the size of the room that I'm in.  I do want the box spring to go with my mattress though.  I'm guessing that would make my sleep just a touch better.   

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading. :-)

What Is Computational Chemistry?

Over the past month or so, many of my family and friends have asked me about what I will be doing in grad school, and what I can do with it after I'm done.  I've decided to use this post to explain, to the best of my abilities, just what computational chemistry is in layman's terms.

So first, what is computational chemistry?

--Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computers to help predict the behavior of chemical systems.  Computational chemists use the principles of math, physics, chemistry, and computing to solve very complex problems.

Most of the time, when doing computational chemistry, we are given a chemical system (see definition below) and we wish to either predict a chemical reaction that will take place or predict the shape, or geometry, the particles in our system will most likely form.  In other words, we are mainly concerned with the interactions that take place between particles.  When I say particles I mean electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, and macromolecules.

There are two parts to a chemical system:
1) What is in the system?  I need to tell the computer what type of particles are going to interact.
2) Where are the particles and how are they moving around?  I need to tell the computer how far the particles are from each other, and I also have to provide velocities for each particle.

The goal of my research will be to design and test computer models of chemical systems.  I will be designing models based on initial conditions of a chemical system and will modify the program until my predictions match experimental results within a given range.  Then, once I know a model works for one type of system, I can use the model to predict behavior of systems very similar to the initial one.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to ask.  I hope this answers at least some of the questions people had.

So now for some chemistry...

Just so you know this hurt my brain, too.  This is the description of what I will be doing in my lab: 

'The purpose of the work will be to develop benchmark test cases and provide profiles for different computational chemistry codes on many platforms.  This data will be used to develop computational models to inform hardware and software development activities.'

Yeah. 

I've spent the last two days learning as much as humanly possible about Unix and vim.  If you don't know what those are, don't feel bad.  I didn't either until yesterday.  

And holy poop...I'm working in a federal lab and even my emails are confidential. I guess that's kind of awesome. 

I'm going to the activities fair with my SUPER good friend Kimmy Jin

Living in this apartment makes me feel like Beca in Pitch Perfect...

"The white girl is back."

Except, I can't understand anything he's saying.  I guess it's better that way.

Kimmy Jin is like a ghost. I swear he makes sure I'm in my room before he exits his.  Half the time, I don't even hear him go.  Does anyone else think that's a little creepy?  I got a refund for May.  I didn't think I had it in me, but after three days holed up it really got to me and I'm glad I stood up for myself.

The title is half true. This weekend was pretty uneventful, but I did make 28 more granny squares.  That brings my total to 81/280 for my periodic table of elements.  Only 199 more to go and 148 of them are black! That's going to be hard to keep motivated on. Once I have a better surface to lay them out on, I will definitely take a picture.  I laid them out for myself earlier and got really excited as nerdy as that sounds.

I found myself an apartment for the school year.  It's super nice and furnished.  It's okay to have standards...even if they cost you a little more.

My graduate career begins tomorrow.  Wish me luck!