I work with these people...

As you can see, fisheries biologists always conducts themselves with the utmost professionalism when working aboard vessels at sea.
Yes, that is a scale hanging around his neck.
"Bio Rap" lyrics submitted by Margaret (another biologist on the trip):

I'm gangta' Bio here to jam

No time to stay - I'm on the lamb

No license - I don't give a damn

I weighs 'em up in kilograms!

Seward

I've been up in Seward this week, filling in for the port sampler for that region.  These are some shots of the harbor area I was working in.  Two different cruise ships came into port while I was there, so the harbor was swarmed with tourists.  I managed not to stab any of them when they were hounding me with questions while I worked, so, good for me!

I was able to get samples from some species that I never really get in the central Cook Inlet, like Black Rockfish, and Yelloweye Rockfish.  It turns out that, unlike Halibut, rockfish brain fluid tends to explode into your face when you hack into the head - so that was fun.

I started a new knitting project this week.  I needed something more portable than my gathered pullover sweater to take with me, so I'm making the Elisa's Nest Tote from the purl bee.  It's a cotton mesh bag I plan to use for shopping at the local farmer's market this summer.

I also tried my hand at making some beaded stitch markers.  I have TONS of beads in my stash, so I foresee making many more of these in the future.

Braaaaains

This was the view from one of the places I was working last week. I took this picture from the front yard of the charter operator I was working with. Nice, huh? It's a pretty steep drop-off, though. You can't see the edge of the lawn, or how quickly it drops off in this picture, but it was kind-of scary. Not a lawn that you would be able to play croquet on ... (Dammit! I lost another ball!)
Here is a nice shot of the brain cavity of a Halibut I was sampling. Fishermen are often amused to see how small the brains of the fish that habitually "outsmart" them actually are. I open them up to extract the sagittal otoliths, which are in the pockets to either side of the third lobe of the brain. Yes, I conduct fish brain surgery all summer. That's what I do.

OK, on to some knitting. Our knitting group met at Captain's Coffee today.

From the left we have Barbi and Cheryl, who are both working on the Gathered Pullover (our group KAL), Kathy is working on a pair of socks, Lynda has started the February Lady sweater (She has just informed me that she has given up on the gathered pullover project because it has too much "boring" knitting. Quitter!) Jerri was working on a scarf, and Betsy was working on the g.p. That's my blue gathered pullover on the table in front of the empty chair. I've just finished the cable section.
Jerri also brought a felted vest she has just finished. Nice!

knitting at the beach

Ok, this is my first blog post.  I decided to do this blog mostly to keep long-distance friends up to date on what I'm up to.  I plan on mostly just covering my knitting and other crafting projects. During the summer, when I do fieldwork for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, I may also post some pictures of what I am seeing in the great outdoors.  

Today, for example, I was working at the Anchor River boat launch area and interviewing sportfish anglers when they came into port.  I took this little series of pictures to show how the boats come in and are picked up by the launch tractors.

The boat and tractor get lined up....

They scoot right up onto the boat trailer..
And the tractor tows them out and up onto the beach.  Where I am lying in wait, bwah ha ha!
I had one out-of-the-ordinary interview today with a fisherman who, in the middle of the interview, informed my that he also "caught" a fish hook in the hand, and he couldn't get it out!  He was completely nonchalant about this.  If this happened to me I would be screaming and running around in circles!  Gahh!
On to something less gross.  I often bring a knitting project with me when I am working at the beach, in case there is downtime between boats.  My current project is the gathered pullover from Interweave Knits winter 2007 issue.  As I am not a very "accomplished" knitter, this is an exciting and challenging project for me.  It will be my first sweater with sleeves, and my first cable.  This being my first cable, I forgot to bring a cable needle with me.  So, of course I made it to the cable in the pattern today!  I looked around the truck for something to use as a substitute... car key would be too snaggy... pencil is too big... oh! oh!  I had a plastic fork in my lunch box!  Here is a picture of me trying to knit a cable with a plastic fork in my truck.  I'm just like MacGyver!  Sort-of!