Yarnivorous

G'day all! Here's to June! May is not my favourite month. I've said that plenty of times before. Back 'ome, May is when winter can make its first appearance for the year. The days have shortened off and it can get cold (ok, the temp rarely dips below freezing and I am talking about the overnight temps here). But worse, May is the Deathiversary month for both my parents. Yesterday was a bad day, always is. I thought the Maker Faire would be good but with a husband acting like a hyperactive overstimulated child it was rather annoying. Plus something has come up Back 'Ome that I've responded to with a sense of abandonment. Actually two things. A couple of people have done stuff I didn't really expect and suddenly I am five (six, seven, eight, nine, ten, all the way to my late teens) and feel left out/unimportant again. Obviously I am not as over the past as I thought! I guess it is one of the dangers of being far away - out of sight, out of mind. Thin...

G'day all! I finished my robot monster bag. Warning! Warning! Rah! Fear the robot monster! (even in blurry shots) He has a zippered compartment on his back and on his head. After wearing him today, his head has gotten a little floppy. I guess I can either sew it to the straps (more sewing through cordura bias binding! Argh! My fingies have not yet forgiven me! Oh and most metal thimbles are too small for my fingers so they are not helpful.) The head pocket is pretty small - it is only meant for little things like keys and batteries. The body pocket is large enough for my wallet, a sock/one ball project, a bag of Corn Thins, a foldy bag and say a book. It isn't very big. He wasn't uncomfortable either, which is a nice change! Details on Ravelry . Anyway, we've done the Maker Faire again. It was not as GEE WHIZ as last year cos we knew more what to expect and also there was a lot of LED and arduino stuff there. Like LOTS. Along with experimental music stuff...

G'day all! I've been knitting madly on my robot monster. I think he is wayyy cool but he doesn't have a lining yet and his gussety sides are not put together or even completely knitted yet. He is meant to be a back back. Here he is before I picked up eleventy-billion stitches all around the edges (oh dear, a certain bit of B5 music from the end has started playing and I always get a bit sniffly when it plays. Yes I am a nerdy geek and proud of it). I am hoping to have him done by the Maker Faire this weekend. I even lugged him on the bus to Joann's today on my quest for a) foam to put in his arms and legs and head knob and b) 5 replacement blades for my rotary cutter. I got the first but the latter were sold out cos they are only $20 instead of $32. Sigh. Anyway, the knitting is nearly done. Another hour and he'll be cast off. Then I have to make the lining (am hoping Bobbin's Nest has a robot theme material cos I don't at present) with TWO zippers a...

G'day all! We are back from our trip around NorCal. Very pleasant, thank heavens we only took 800 photos and vids, mostly crufty so I don't have to worry about putting them on Flickr! So I get back and write up my list of classes I would not mind doing at the Sock Summit. After all that planning, poor Steph and Tina are dying cos the site crashed 5 minutes after it opened. I know it is embarrassing but it is NOT the end of the world. Really. It is a hiccup, a bump along the way. It isn't life threatening. Feel the power of knitters, foolish mortal geeks! As DH points out, knitters are supposed to be patient. HA! Impatient, desperate MUST GET THAT PRIZE NOW GEDOUTTAMYWAY! Hmm, from the chat on Ravelry I am unlikely to get into any of the stuff I'd like to do. Ah well. There might be next year but I can also just go and hang out in the market place. I'd like to see the luminary panel on Sunday, unlikely to get into that too by the sounds of it. No, no I do ...

G'day all! The fugly socks are finally done! They took a while cos I only knit them on the bus or when I am out at something. (I have a really bad case of the hiccoughs, excuse me for a moment... ah that is better I think!) After showing them off at the meetup on Wednesday, they have been renamed to the fugly sand art socks. Yay! These are my PSC socks for May. Of course now I don't have any socks to knit so I think I will wind up some lovely yarn sent by the lovely Mrspao and start knitting that (though I really need lightweight socks for summer). Of course I really should test two patterns I am thinking of releasing but we are going away for this long (memorial day) weekend and I want something braindead that I can just knit knit knit (assuming I get the chance cos I'll be driving all the way to Mt Shasta, which reminds me, must find stuff online about what to see along the way). Details on Ravelry . -- This week, oh dear, so much of my energy went into making a pract...

G'day all! In our first prize draw of the wotisit series, we have a winner! Minnie , come on down! Tell me what sort of colours you prefer and I shall dig in my stitchmarkers (never put up on Etsy) and send them off to you! (Oh an address would be handy too - email isn't good at sending lumpy or even very flat things!) In other news, I finished the top for my LYS. I would give you the yarn details but all I know is that it is worsted weight cotton in a colourway hand-dyed for my LYS . I think I used just under 5 skeins but am not sure cos the yarn came unlabelled and I didn't take any notice. It may be just under four skeins. I think I used a 5mm needle. The pattern is by Lorna Miser. It is linked on Ravelry here . I've as usual got too many pics. The picking up of stitches along the side and for the sleeves was a pita, quite frankly. The method of increasing on the sides (kf&b) leaves a little bar (This is still one of my favourite increases still). This ...

G'day all! Gosh, I am making these too hard, aren't I? Last week, I showed you this: followed by this: They are the early and late stage seedpods of Liquidambar (known as sweetgum in the States - that second link has some pics from a random blog). The green one still has the flowers on it, the brown one has opened up and all bar one of the seeds has escaped. When the seed pods opened on the tree outside our apartment and dropped the seeds, it sounded like a very soft, gentle rain was falling. Quite bizarre. Anyway, noone got it completely right but some people guessed it was some sort of flower - that was right! So anyone who guessed flower or seed gets a point. This week I hope I have one that is a little easier. What is sitting on the leaf? If you can name it down to the species level, you get five points ;-) Common name gets a point, specific common name gets 5 points. Send your answers to natiel three one one at gmaildotcom. Tomorrow I will announce who has won the...

G'day all! We are getting a taste of summer here in the Bay area. Oh boy! If you read all of this post, you will see it has addled my brain. I hope it doesn't addle yours too! We went for a walk to the library this afternoon, in the heat of the day. People have this weird idea that the hottest time of the day is when the sun is highest, just like there is some idea that the hottest weather should be around solstice, when the hottest (and the coldest) weather is usually around a month or so after solstice. Can I just say that where I've lived, the hottest parts of the day are the late afternoon, when the sun is slanting and everything's broiled for a good part of the day. Admittedly it was only about 33C but sheesh, it felt amazingly hot with the sun blasting down from a cloudless sky, the heat radiating off the concrete path.... (last time I remember heat like that off a road or path was the first time I went to Bobbin's Nest and it was a 100F day...) This week...

G'day all! The other day I just so happened to pick up some new shoes. Flat flat flat things. No heels at all (it is very funny when I put them on - I nearly keel over backwards cos every pair of shoes I have have some sort of heel, even if it is only 5mm, and these things don't!). Oh and cheap too cos I don't like spending lots on shoes that will end up on the bike and being scarred by the toe lifter things. I thought the shoes were great, though it was a bit odd that they didn't have laces. But then again they were remaindered stock and a pair of shoe laces is easy to come by or make. So I got out the little windy machine that makes i-cord and crunched out some shoe laces in left over Panda Silk (I figured the silk and nylon content would make the laces fairly resistant to wear and tear and rubbing). Then I discovered this: The shoes are designed to have no laces! I couldn't get my fingernail under the lacing part! They have elastic to hold them on. But the ...

Ooh, whilst I think of it, the Maker Faire is nearly here. Anyone (localish) going? 505 off tickets for groups of 10 or more! That sounds good but I don't know if everyone has to enter at the same time (which might not be so good cos if we are coming from near and far...). I have to get rid of some links too. I might make one of these rag bath mats after I finish the current rag rug. I will use tshirts not sheets. Sheets are useful material! This person knits almost exactly as I do. I wonder if her purling is the same too? Mmm, gluten-free yummies! A little bit of fun with old advertisements by the creator of My First Dictionary (did I already link musty moments?). BTW the 13th of May's First Dictionary is brilliant. ROFL. Hallmarks of Felinity . Need I say more? Someone else's sweet potato and dog story, linked here . This should be big news. Diabetes type II cured by gastric bypass surgery. Maybe there is a hormone involved? Not that I'll be lining up...

G'day all! A while ago, I decided to pay up for the Tactile Fibre Club. I just went for the plain jane one not the fancy one cos I am no good with alpaca and just *knew* I'd get a whole heap of suri alpaca or something that I couldn't spin with. The first installment arrived two days ago (but I was quarantining myself and forgot to go pick it up from the apartment office). Yesterday I opened up the box to find THIS! Pretty eh? I am not at all a yellow person (which is funny cos yellow to me can mean either sunshine or cowardly custard and I like/am both). The yellow is weld. The blue, pink/red and yellow speaks to me more than the yellow but I can cope :-) (I was wearing a particularly lurid striped tshirt yesterday - the yellow of the fibre and of the tshirt almost match! I bet the cotton of the tshirt was not dyed with weld though.) I want to spin it up - this four oz of finn top - but I don't know what I could make out of it given I am only likely to end up wi...

G'day all! Thought I should let you know the second rainbow sock, now re-christened "the fugliest socks in the world!," is progressing. These are NOT pretty socks. But they are entertaining and I have improved my short row wraps quite a bit (by dint of some very scary dropping stitches/wraps off needles). I started turning the heel on the bus today, when I decided to go up to an op shop, see what they have in stock at the moment. It is the op shop I rarely bother going to, even though it is just under three miles away, cos they don't have much that I ever want. And again they didn't (though I did leave a CASHMERE sweater there! It just didn't feel as nice as the better quality cashmere pullover I had in my mitts). Savers is much better for sheets, sometimes has cashmere jumpers too. The other goodwill shop is better for tshirts. -- I've been getting the urge to do a little sewing, make some stuff for me. I've been looking at the patterns I'...

G'day all! Last week's pic proved a bit of a conundrum! Noone guessed exactly what it is but a couple got the family (daisies/asteraceae) right! Pycnosorus globosus is one of my favourite plants. Probably because it is odd, just like me! This is a closeup of the flowering head just as the flowers are starting to open. Each one of those little pointy things is a flower. Daisies have compound heads, just like this one - all the tiny little flowers are clustered together in the centre. Pycnosorus does not have obvious petals until you look really closely at the flowering head, when you'll see they really do look like teensy little petals. No daisy has really obvious petals - sunflowers and shasta daisies and lawn daisies all have "rays" which are modified petals that (usually) develop at the outer of the flowering head. Dandelions are daisies. Lots of plants are daisies! Let's see what you think of this week's lucky lucky entrant! What is the green t...

G'day all! I think things are a bit more settled today. I hope they are. It is very difficult for DH cos he likes his job and he likes the work he does, when he is allowed to do that work.... Anyway, I thought I would share some projects I've been working on recently, though I'd best edit the pics first! Excuse me whilst I make sure I have things to share. OK. Here's the front and back of the current sample I am working on for my LYS. It is their own dyed cotton. Pretty cool, huh? But the thing I am really thrilled about is this pile of tshirts. They are all op shop finds and most of them cost 99 cents or less. Except for the ones that cost $2. Actually it is not the tshirts that are wonderful, per se, but y'see you can turn tshirts into yarn. Check out this Ravelry group for details. Once turned into yarn, one can use one's extended Tunisian crochet hook to make things out of the tshirt yarn. I used the Stitch Diva tutes (different links for each w...

I kid you not. I suddenly felt badly in need of a certain bit of music. I know I have it at home. Home is a very long way away. I know I would be highly unlikely to be able to get it here. Getting Oz music here, at least from the libraries, is difficult. Ah, youtube! You hero! A nice bit of Reckless . Ah.... (for non-Aussies and Kiwis, you might wonder what the fuss was about but this song was top of the charts for 10 or 12 weeks in '83. And no I can't work out what all the words are either - Kurt Cobain wasn't the first to have bad diction and incomprehensible lyrics and won't be the last.) Now maybe a bit more Oz Crawl, followed by some Hunners and a bit of Midnight Oil jump up and down like a goik and head bang a bit (but you probably need to be an Aussie or a Kiwi to know what I am talking about). Yeah.... Nice old music, angry music some of it, calm music some of it, music of a bygone era, music from when I was growing up, music from before job stress, p...

G'day all! Well not so good actually. Two days ago we were cruisin' along. Yesterday an Issue arose at DH's work so he came home after lunch cos it was better to get away than erupt/stew there. Anyway, the Issue might be so bad that we might be going Home somewhat earlier than expected. It is the uncertainty that kills me. (and him.) Plus the knowledge that we have to leave the country within 10 days of the job ending. I am trying to find out if we can re-enter on the visa waiver program or if we have to get a B2 tourist visa (and we have to pre-register too). 10 days is not enough to pack up your life and move on (can't imagine what it is like to be forcibly ousted from your home by war/etc). Before It All Erupted, I was happily engaged in making things like these: A pouch type bag, with gusset! A foldy up bag, secured with velcro. Now with added gusset! A foldy bag of Bad Cats, now with added gusset. I really like this material and the colour (not that colour sh...

G'day all! (DAH! Just hit enter instead of tab in one of those moments, and blogger published an empty post! LOL) I've been a busy bee recently. I've been doing lots of stuff, so much so that I took stock last night as I watched Peter Jackson's "King Kong," edited photos and knitted pretty much all at the same time. I was taking on just waaay too much at the one time and even contemplated that I might be a bit manic. I decided that I should make a choice - watch the movie or edit pics. The DVD won cos I can knit and watch at the same time. It is harder to knit when one or the other (or both) hands are busy typing and twiddling the mouse. Such a Peter Jackson movie! So many things that he just loves - some moments I wondered if I was watching Bad Taste again! Anyway, I think I'd prefer to watch Wall-E again - that was a very sweet movie (and somewhat shorter!). I am waiting for Pixar to create a disaster. I have liked (and often loved) all of the...

G'day all! It's Monday and that means it is time to play Wotisit Monday! Last week we had a most mysterious picture of an ONION! Yep, it was an onion cut crossways, just like you would for onion rings. Thanks for your entries :-) I hope I've emailed everyone who entered so far. Oh and entries for week one are now closed!!! This week's mystery picture is: Remember, email your guesses to me at natiel three one one at gmail dot com I'll tot up all the correct guesses and provide a grand prize along with spot prizes along the way for guesses that amuse me or just cos it is fun to get a random prize! Guess I had better get knitting stuff so I have something to show you, bettern't I? anon!