I live!!!

[Ally]

Hello, everyone!!! It has been a hot minute since I last stopped by here! I went to uni, graduated. Did Honours, graduated First Class. Am now starting a Masters degree, terrified. And through it all? I have not stitched/crocheted a single thing! I think I just felt guilty doing things that weren't exactly uni related. I've barely read anything fun and fiction in the past two-three years. Tragic, I know. But I was thinking of everyone here the other day, and all the lovely friends I made when my crafting proclivities were at their peak, so I wanted to stop by, say hi, see what's new, see if I can't get the urge to sew once more...

Truly, though, I've missed you all

[Pyper]

Yay welcome back! and congrats on the First Class Honours What are you doing your Masters in? And does it have lectures you can stitch to

[Ally]

Hi, Pyper! Thank you My Masters is a continuation of my Honours work, which investigated how childhood disability is portrayed/depicted in works of children's fantasy fiction. Basically, a whole lot of analysis and a whole lot of writing! But since it's work that got carried over, it's (sort of? Kind of?) already half done, so it's not awfully daunting. And, unfortunately, no! My work this year is all entirely self-paced and self-regulated; no lectures at all this year (which is a bummer; I always enjoyed them!)

[Firehawke]

That sounds like an intriguing topic!!! What works are you looking at? (my Masters thesis looked at Brian Jacques's Redwall series and how young readers can learn applicable life lessons through the suspension of disbelief, keying in on 5 specific titles and ideas).

It sounds like you have been quite busy and productive and continues to be so! Just make sure some fun stuff gets slipped in every once in a while...it can be hard, but it is needed! (at least that was my experience)

[blackmageheart]

Well hello, stranger! Congrats on all your achievements while you've been away!

[Ally]

That sounds like an intriguing topic!!! What works are you looking at? (my Masters thesis looked at Brian Jacques's Redwall series and how young readers can learn applicable life lessons through the suspension of disbelief, keying in on 5 specific titles and ideas).

It sounds like you have been quite busy and productive and continues to be so! Just make sure some fun stuff gets slipped in every once in a while...it can be hard, but it is needed! (at least that was my experience)

For my Honours, I only looked at two texts: 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief' by Rick Riordan, and 'Odd and the Frost Giants' by Neil Gaiman. I didn't have a massive word count to work with so I had to limit it a little. This year, the research question is going to include works of sci-fi and YA fiction to broaden the analysis, and I'll be adding 'The Real Boy' by Anne Ursu (probably, I'm waiting for it to arrive so I can read it), 'The Hunger Games Trilogy' by Suzanne Collins, and maybe the 'Six of Crows Duology' by Leigh Bardugo. I'm shooting for books that are acclaimed/popular for the analysis, since they're (weirdly) the most overlooked sorts of texts in literary disability academia, but are the subject of massive online discussions. It's been pretty interesting so far; I'm kind of breaking new ground in the area!

And I will try to relax a little more this year. I've been extremely lucky to get awarded a cost of living scholarship this year, so that alleviates a ton of the stress. Whether or not that translates to me reading whatever unrelated bit of fluff I want, we'll see!

And hello, BMH! Thank you very much! It's been a ride, that's for sure

[Firehawke]

That sounds like a great lineup of books to work with!!! It really is an underappreciated field of study...have fun breaking new ground!!! And congrats on that scholarship!!!!!

[mbiogirlumd]

I think its totally ok to hang out here even if you have taken a break from crafting (Lord knows that I'm doing that myself right now), especially when you're working hard on such good stuff. Please keep us posted on how you're doing in your Masters, it sounds fascinating!

Firehawke, I didn't know you were a fellow Redwall fan! Brian Jacques was a master storyteller and your thesis sounds really interesting too. We need some Redwall-inspired patterns on the site in honor of him, don't you think? ^_^

[Firehawke]

I am a HUGE Redwall fan!!! (odd little side note...I'm listening to High Rhulain as I type. I knew that I would have lots of headphone time at work today, so it was between that or Loamhedge )

I totally agree...we SO need some Redwall patterns!!! I've had no luck finding patterns on my own, but I did chart an image of Baby Bungo from one of the picture books (LOVE Christopher Denise's Redwall illustrations!) and stitched that...turned out pretty cute, but still needs a frame.

[mbiogirlumd]

I made a chart by hand for a bookmark back in high school that I really should dig up again and share. Have you seen the animated series? Its not quite as cool as what I imagined in my head, but it was pretty cool!