What's on my Needles Wednesday: Week 1

Recently I realized I often have multiple knitting projects going at one time. I currently have three projects on needles. I thought that this could be a fun way to track different projects as well as progress on them. This week I chose a hat I am almost finished with, which I am making for my dad.

I used the Pressed Rib Cap & Muffler Pattern from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas. I have made this hat pattern once before for my brother who likes his hats on the slouchy side so I added extra length to it. Instead of three inches of each yarn I like to knit three and a half inches to add some extra length to make sure it covers the ears.

I used two different yarns for this hat. The variegated yarn is Manos del Uruguay Maxima in the color camo. To complement this yarn I used Astral from The Alpaca Yarn Company in Gold Rush. While I will include links to both of these yarns, please check your local yarn stores first. I always try to support my local yarn stores because I highly enjoy visiting them and being able to feel and see the yarn I am buying in person. 

Other Links: 

How to find yarn stores near you: Knitting Fever

This may not have every store in your area, but it usually has quite a few if their are any stores. 

The Alpaca Yarn Company - Astral in Gold Rush

Manos del Uruguay Maxima - Camo

Churchmouse Yarn & Teas - Pressed Rib Cap & Muffler

Update: I'm in North Carolina for the Summer

So, I'm in North Carolina...

It has been a very long time since I have posted; I know I suck at this I need to take more time to do the things I enjoy. So how did I end up in North Carolina for the summer...

As I have mentioned before I am a Biochemistry major with minors in Biology and Computer Science. My ultimate goal is to work in Biomedical research. I currently work in undergraduate research at UW-L and absolutely love it. If I could stay in lab all day and not go to class I totally would. This winter when I was talking with my adviser about summer grant writing she told me about the Biophysics Society Summer Program. I filled out the application and found out on my birthday that I had been accepted to the program. 

The Biophysics Summer Program is a twelve week course which started in May and ends July 31st, with most if not all expenses paid along with a stipend for the work we accomplish. The program consists of a lecture series, a seminar series where we meet professors from some of the top schools in the country, as much lab work as I can possibly squeeze in, and some time for fun. 

A picture from the Durham Bulls game we went to. 

It has been an amazing experience. I have made many new friends in the program and have learned many valuable tips to help me reach my goals.  

My Beauty Product Must-Haves

I may have a slight addiction to buying beauty products and from this I have found some favorites over the years. So I decided to share my all time favorite products that I would like not to ever have to live without (though I know I could if I had too). 

So first I am going to start with products that are more general hygiene type products. So some skin care, hair products, and a random nail polish. 

 Going Clockwise: 1. Pond's Evening Soothe Wet Cleansing Towelettes ($5.49 at drugstores). 2. Smith's Rosebud Salve ($6.00 at Sephora). 3. Batiste Dry Shampoo in dark and deep brown ($7.49 at drugstores). 4. Essie Nail Polish in Pink-a-boo ($8.00 at Target). 4. Clinique Super City Block SPF 35 Sunscreen ($23.00 at Clinique Counters). 

Now as for why I like them. 1. I have tried many different types of make-up remover wipes and for me I have found that these take off my make up the best without irritating my skin. I will try different ones every so often but I always come back to these. 2. I absolutely LOVE the Smith's Rosebud Salve. I use this on my lips every night before bed as well as on occasional dry patches of skin and my cuticles. The next morning everything is smooth and hydrated. 3. I have tried a few dry shampoos and they all have left a little bit of a white cast to my hair. The Batiste dry shampoo in dark and deep brown doesn't do this and sucks up the oil in my fine hair. 4. When in doubt I uses Essie Pink-a-Boo on my nails. I is a light pink with sparkles in it that pretty much goes with everything. Unfortunately I think this was a limited edition color, if that is the case I would go for any light pink shade. 5. The Clinique Super City Block Sun Block is my go to Sunscreen for my face. I have really acne prone oily skin so I use a lot of the Clinique skin care and foundations. My skin also BURNS really bad if I am not careful in the sun so all year round I use sunscreen at LEAST on my face. I have never had break outs from this product like I have from others I have tried so I'm going to stick to using it. 

Now for some of my makeup favorites. This is the fun part I like to have fun with my makeup, but I also have my everyday more natural favorites. As you will more than likely notice I am a lips girl and never feel my makeup is complete without my lips done. They are usually done in a fun bright color so I balance that with the rest of my face being more on the neutral side. 

Again sort of Clockwise: 1. Clinique Touch Base For Eyes in Buff Lighting ($15.00 at Clinique Counters). 2. NYX Nude Matte Shadow in Lap Dance ($4.99 at Ulta). 3. Pixi Quartette in Shades of Taupe (Found at Target on Sale still on Pixi website). 4. Clinique High Impact Mascara ($16.50 at Clinique Counters, a mini is pictured). 5. Clinique Instant Lift for Brows in Soft Brown ($16.50 at Clinique Counters). 6. NYX Jumbo Eye shadow Pencil in Yogurt ($4.49 at Ulta). 7. Stila Kitten Eye shadow (in a limited edition trio at Ulta years ago). 

Again for the Why. 1. Clinique Touch Base for Eyes in Buff Lighting. This is a base that actually works on my eyelids, again they are also super oily. I will also use this color on days when I am running a little late because I can swipe some on with my fingers pat a little Stila Kitten over it and be out the door. 2. The NYX Nude Matte eye shadow in Lap Dance is one of my go to blending colors along with being a base eye shadow and a matte highlight. 3. The Pixi Quartette in Shades of Taupe is probably my most used set of eye shadows I can use the lighter colors with Stila Kitten for a lighter look or darken it up with the deeper colors. 4. Clinique High Impact Mascara is my tried and true mascara I will venture out and try others but I always come back the this one. 5. Clinique Instant Lift for Brows, I have a scar in my right eyebrow so filling them in is a must for me. I not only use the shimmer side under my brow but for an all over the face highlight. 6. NYX Jumbo Eye shadow pencil in Yogurt is one of the products I use as a base if I am not using my Clinique on for some reason. I will also use this on the outer third of my lower lash line to look more awake. 7. Stila Kitten is my all time favorite eye shadow it is a rare occasion when I am NOT wearing it. I will pat this on over a base and be done. 

Now on to lips!!!

 The Clinique Chubby Sticks are one of my favorite lip products there is a wide variety of colors some more sheer and the Chubby Intense are very pigmented. These leave my lips hydrated and are a fool proof way to add some color. From front to back are Super Strawberry, Oversized Orange, and Pudgy Peony. (I also have Mightiest Maraschino which is not pictured). These are $17.00 at Clinique Counters.

 Another on of my all time favorite lip products from Clinique is Different Lipstick in Shy. This is another color that I through on and don't worry about. I will reapply during the day but not often. I am excited for fall so I can start wearing it again. I wear it fall through spring but its too much for me in the summer. This is $16.00 at Clinique Counters. 

So lets talk about my all time favorite in the world lip glosses. The Stila Lip Glazes. I absolutely LOVE them. If I could only have one lip product for the rest of my life these would be it. The full sizes are expensive and I do not have a full sized one. I look for the mini sets at Ulta and Sephora which are a much better deal and I have still not gone through any of them and some are getting to the point where they should be thrown out :(. 

Front to Back: Orchard, Spice, Kitten

Front to Back: Dazzle Berry, Hibiscus, Lilac

Front to Back: Pink Orchid, Strawberry Cream, Passion Fruit

Front to Back: Peach Blossom, Melon, Kaleidoscope

And Finally for my all time favorite fragrance. I literally spent and hour in a department store one time trying to fine a perfume that I liked probably driving the sales associate nuts in the process. I am on my second bottle of this perfume and would definitely say it is my go to. It is the Versace Bright Crystal.

So these are my all time favorite beauty products. I have many other short term favorites but these are the products I always come back to. 

~Katy

I Survived Science Camp!!!

This past week our lab group along with another lab group ran a science camp. We had two groups of kids everyday, the first was fifth and sixth graders, and the second was seventh through ninth graders. We ran five days worth of experiments all about the molecules of life, so DNA, protein, bacteria, and other molecules. It was exhausting and we were all borderline zombies by the end to the week. From the parent feedback we got most of the kids enjoyed themselves. It was a great experience but hopefully never again. I do want kids someday but that day is very, very far away. 

I am definitely ready to be back in my normal lab next week!

A Yarn Addiction

Lately I have been knitting up a storm. I finished my first pair of mittens and I am in love with them. They turned out great. 

I used a pattern I found here. I got the yarn from Rainbow Gifts and Yarn, it is Elegant Yarns Kaleidoscope. It is 100% wool and was really nice to work with. I LOVE Rainbow Gifts and Yarns it is a wonderful yarn store and one of my favorite things about it is that they have alpacas there. I love visiting the alpacas and right now there are babies.

So while I was home I went and did some yarn shopping and got quite a bit of yarn for projects.  

I SURVIVED FINALS!!!!

I got through another semester of college and survived finals with little exhaustion and reversion back to childhood. Finals always get a little crazy and majorly stressful so things like this picture happen. 

Yes I am upside down in chair, and yes it was hard to get up. 

I am staying at my college for the summer for research. I started working with a cell biology professor in the fall for my undergraduate research. Through lots of hard work we made it possible for me to stay and work on our research project for the summer. I absolutely love it and for the most part we have a lot of fun in our lab group and with one of the other groups in our shared lab space. Tomorrow is someones 21st birthday so we got birthday treats today! 

So in the past semester and about six months now I have done many things. I have survived my 21st birthday. I have applied for and received my first research grant. As mentioned survived my finals and moved twice. So I have been super busy like always. 

Like always I have done some shopping which has been a little bit more difficult since I lost some weight. I don't know what size I am anymore. Due to that I had this conversation with my best friend Lyssa which I found funnier that it probably is. 

She has been working super hard and is losing weight and looking even more fabulous, she has not lost any size in her boobs and mine have gone back to being nonexistent. 

On Friday this week I will be heading home for a little over a weeks vacation and will TRY (I will do my best but probably fail like always) to blog a little more when I am home. I will also try more for the rest of the summer. For more frequent short updates of my life check my Instagram where I will be trying to post everyday. 

Spring Clothes Shopping

On Wednesday I went to Milwaukee with my mom, and of course when we were there we had to take some time to go shopping. There are only a few stores that I wanted to go to, so when we do go shopping it usually doesn't take to long. 

The first place we went was Old Navy. I love Old Navy for my basics and occasionally dresses, but the majority of what I get at Old Navy is tank tops, jeans, and cardigans. While we were there my mom also got by brother a bunch of v-neck tee shirts. He only wears V-necks because "if I wear crew necks, my head is too big for the neck and they stretch out." So I recently have lost some weight and none of my pants fit me so my mom got me a new pair of jeans. The jeans are a dark wash of the Old Navy Flirt Skinny (I got them in an 8 regular, I was a 12 this fall). I also picked up three of the Women's Perfect Rib-Knit Tanks. (I wear these pretty much everyday as undershirts)

 The Pair of Jeans and the Three White Tank Tops from Old Navy

So, I have a little bit of an addiction to H&M. H&M is kind of similar to Forever21 but I have much better luck at H&M, plus I think the clothes is better quality.  I always walk into H&M and find arm fulls of clothes that make it past the initial stage of my clothes shopping criteria and onto the trying on stage. In the dressing rooms is where the massive amounts of clothes turn into a few items that come home with me. On this particular trip seventeen items went to the dressing room with me and I left with five. Also on this particular trip to H&M they had a 15% student discount for spring break (Eeeeeeekkkkkk!!!!) I got a really cute pair of pants that are black with a white dot pattern on them. I got a pink pleated ruffly skirt that is made out of a suit like material, which is surprisingly heavy. I also got three of the same style of sweater in different colors. I got a navy blue, orange, and black with small white dots. Plus I got 15% of my purchase. I LOVE H&M.

My H&M Purchases, the pants are on the top left.

My mom and I had a lot of fun. There is still another part to this shopping trip that I am currently planning to blog about soon. I am also planning a life update, because I have been insanely busy lately. I am also working on a post for may which is something I don't believe I have mentioned on my blog before. So hopefully I can successfully work blogging into my schedule. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Katy