Monday, April 28, 2008

Found on Flickr


Whirlpool Joy

I love the swirls! They suck me right in. :)

Found on Flickr


Crumpsall the Monster

Fantastic!

Found on Flickr



Super adorable!

Found on Flickr


rainbow fibonacci quilt

I love the colours and design in this one. I like the patterns created by using a rotation through the fibonacci sequence. :)

FUBAR iPod

Methinks it's toast. It's FUBAR in iTunes:
FUBAR in iTunes
and it's FUBAR in Disk Erase:
FUBAR in Disk Erase
Toasty, toasty, toast. Looking at this site, I think it's the logic board.

I'm sleeping on it overnight (well, not on the iPod, but on the decision on what to do), but it looks like I need to go shopping for a new thingy to listen to podcasts on. (That's pretty much all I use it for these days.) One of the other guys in the department is thinking of buying my iPod off me, because he has the exact same model with a toasted hard drive.

I'll let you know what happens.

Any recommendations on what I should do? (Other things to try to fix it, or suggestions on what sort of replacement to go with?)

Found on Flickr


Crochet experiments

Oooo! Neat!

This reminds me of a term project from back in 1999. I wrote a program that drew sea shells using some sort of formula that I forget the name of now... hmmm... googling... hey, neat! The main paper I based my project on is available online. (Frenet frames... that's what they were called.)

Things That Could Be Better This Morning...

I think my iPod is FUBAR. For good this time. I'll look at it later, but for now it's in an infinite cycle of rebooting. Doing the reset thing doesn't help.

One of my dollar store tupperware containers cracked when I was putting the lid on. I only got it at Christmas... sheesh.

The four lids I washed last night didn't really get clean either. There were still suds in the water, but I guess maybe the cloth had gotten oily?

I'm late. I didn't get enough sleep last night either.

I didn't finish the book I'm returning to H today... although I might be able to finish it on the bus. (Since my iPod isn't working anyway.)

I didn't get my taxes done this weekend, and they're due Wednesday.

I didn't get my grocery shopping done either. (Food would be good.) I haven't even made my grocery list. Since I'm late anyway, I'll make it before I leave, and then hopefully I will only need a few things and can stop on my way home. (Woo hoo... I found the Safeway coupon book on first glance at my messy desk!)

One of the paintings I wanted to have done for this weekend's art show still isn't done. I need to do one more thing (sketch the painting I'll be demoing) to prepare for the demo there too.

I decided to practice dressing nicer this week, in preparation for teaching next week. I tried on two of my old blouses, but they're both too small for me now. Looks like I'll be going through the closet, making a pile for goodwill.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Saturday I was wearing shorts...

...today I was not.

Spring Snow

Spring in Winnipeg is a funny season. Generally I think of it as a very short season of mud. In reality, in addition to the short season of mud, we also have a longer period where it can't decide if it's still winter, or already summer.

The weather last Tuesday was especially strange... there was lightning, and also snow mixed with the rain. (But it didn't stick.) Mom and I were in the car when it started. One lightning strike struck so close to home that the fire alarm beeped just before Bob saw the flash!

Today the ice on the power lines (plus the wind) caused lots of brown-outs in the office. At first I thought I was so tired that my eyes were taking long blinks... but then my student confirmed that the lights kept blinking.

Coming home tonight, there were icicles hanging from street signs that were around three inches long... and hanging at an angle. (Did I mention it was also windy this morning? It's still rather blustery now.) I didn't get a photo because I was rushing for the bus. It was already after 8 pm, so I didn't want to miss the bus that was already waiting at the stop. (*sigh*... extra tutoring provides nice extra spending money, but the amount I'm doing this week is exhausting.)

I'm *tired*. I will go to sleep earlier tonight. But not just yet...

Spring Snow

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

Found on Flickr


finished Poppies bag

Gorgeous!!! I love the simplicity, the poppies, the linen colour of the bag...

Found on Flickr


Polkadot Hedgehog

I have to admit... I succumbed to the cuteness and bought this little fellow. (I had just earned $150 last week tutoring, so I didn't feel so bad, though.) I can't wait to have my adorable little pincushion! :) (I keep meaning to make a pincushion, but so far haven't found the time. Now I don't need to, unless I want to.)

I love supporting fellow artists and crafters. :) (Now if only I were independently wealthy, and could do so to my heart's content... but not necessarily by buying stuff... my apartment would become too cluttered.)

Found on Flickr


doll quilt for krom_mama

I love this quilt!

Found on Flickr


Dame Cherise

What a cool bag design! I admit I tend to feel constrained to put edges on edges... looking at this bag, it makes so much sense, yet I never would have thought of it! It's pretty too. :)

Found on Flickr


BSJ-Guinness3

Hee hee! This kitty reminds me of Peter Rabit, down to the pose (well, if the kitty were vertical, that is). I'm sure Beatrix Potter would approve. :) (I love the BSJ too!)

Found on Flickr


2008 Chicago Quilt Show

Oooo! Gorgeous!!!

Found on Flickr


#56 Daily Painting - Water Lilies

I love all the different colours used... not just blue for water, green for lily pads, and white/pink for lilies. It's so pretty, yet is still recognizable. I probably need to practice being more loose like this. (Besides with my somewhat bizarre Tuscany painting, which is based on another painting, not a photo or life.)

Contest Alert!

Knitty is having a fabulous contest to celebrate 50,000,000 visits! (I *love* Knitty!)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Art Class

Today's workshop was on the figure. We had a professional model, and boy, was she good! She held *still* (unlike that art student posing back in January), even for long periods of time (up to an hour), and could go from great pose to great pose like *that*. Here's my three best sketches from today:
Charcoal Sketch Charcoal Sketch
Charcoal Sketch
That last one is my favourite. I gave the first two shown to the model, since she really liked them, and I figured I probably wouldn't take them out of my sketchbook. The last one I kept for myself, though... I think it's good enough to show (possibly sell), and I thought it would be fun to try making a painting based on it.

Okie Dokie Then...

It looks like I was asleep yesterday when I made my lunch... I found my cheese in the freezer this morning. I guess I won't be having cheese with my lunch today. (It's rather rock solid.)

I didn't go to bed when I said I would last night... I'm *tired* again. :( Hopefully I survive today's art class. (Then laundry. *Then* I can sleep! Sleeeeeep....)

Friday, April 18, 2008

Last Minute Contest Entry


Last Minute Contest Entry

Frankly, I've been so busy, I really haven't had time to think about Sara's contest. (I'm not entirely sure if I'm allowed to enter, since I was one of the winners of her come-up-with-a-contest contest, but I thought I'd try anyway... anything for a slim chance at a Loopy Ewe gift certificate!) To enter, I have to post a picture/story of my worst FUG. With my fried brain, I couldn't think of my worst FUG, so I wandered around my apartment... and came across these. They started off "meh"... and have now progressed to something that could certainly compete as my worst FUG.

The story behind these... well, I was cheap. I saw the really cool Fiber Trends felted boot slippers pattern, and thought "I can make my own pattern, no problem!" and then ordered some 100% Lopi wool off Elann.

When it arrived, I made up a tiny felting swatch and tossed it in the wash. I based my calculations upon the original dimensions and shrinkage.

Now, while what came out was reasonably functional, it wasn't really as pretty as the Fiber Trends ones. Also, the wool didn't felt into a solid fabric like Patons Classic wool would. The sole quickly wore out. I tried needle felting on a patch, but that didn't hold for long. Then I darned it... but with yarn that didn't match either the sole or the top. (I was travelling, and was what I had with me.) The darns didn't look that sturdy, so once I was home, I added some patches made out of a felted sweater... in yet another colour. One of the inside patches I haven't sewn down completely, so it sort of crumples up inside.

Functional? Yeah. Pretty? No. Fug? Definitely getting there. Worth a Loopy Ewe gift certificate? Pleeeeeease! Pretty please with sugar on top! Oh, won't you please vote for me when Sara puts her poll up? (If I'm allowed to enter, of course!)

Okay... now to sleep. This weekend is pretty crammed too, with an art workshop tomorrow, laundry, grocery shopping, a paper to review... and preferably some around-the-house stuff and fun stuff too.

Miscellany

My two exam period regulars have left for the day (full brains), which leaves me with just over an hour to kill before I can go home. (And sleeeeeeeep! I haven't been getting enough all week.) I have a paper I need to review, though, so I'll just say a brief hi before I get to that.

I was just reading a CBC article on dreams (how to reduce them in children based on what you do when they're babies), and it reminded me that I wanted to blog about dreams.

I had a *really* interesting dream last night. It was actually an enjoyable dream, kind of like I was in a fantasy-mystery story. I had just bought a house with a lot of character, and I was discovering that it had a lot more than what was normally considered character... basically there was something magical about the house. For example, something like spirits or magical people could leave me messages in the form of magically appearing letters; across the back lane there was an old table with a painting on it that briefly came to life; undiscovered parts of the house kept appearing, as did really useful, "left behind" items from the previous owner. Sadly, just as I was about to figure out what was going on (I discovered a port-hole type thing in the ceiling, that when opened actually opened a big chute, and I could hear something that I knew would explain everything was starting to come down), my stupid alarm went off. *sigh*

I've been having a lot of strange dreams lately, and inevitably wake up sweaty. I don't like waking up sweaty. :P

Last Saturday morning's dream was really funky... I was in an apartment-house related to the place I had in Chapel Hill, but I was away lots, and wasn't remembering to look in my mail for bills that weren't going paid. There was some weird stuff going on with that place too, but not the exciting/happy weird that this morning's dream had. While I was waking up, I was dreaming that I was lying in bed in the dream house too, and that the sun was streaming in on me (like it was in real life), but that I wasn't able to get up (ditto... because I wasn't awake enough). I finally managed to come out of the dream enough that I could get up, but it took quite a while for my brain to get out of the fog. I'm wondering if it's because the sun woke me up in the wrong part of my sleep cycle.

(Oooo... I actually got another person stopping in while I was writing this! That makes three for today! He only asked a brief question, but said he'd be back next week.)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Silly Quiz

46 words
Speedtest

Oooo... I've improved since high school!

Grrr.

The student I tutor wanted to meet this morning at 9:00 sharp, so I rushed to get here before then. (My normal bus would get me about five minutes after... assuming I wasn't lazy and moving slowly, and ended up on an even later bus.) It's now 9:21 and he isn't here yet.

Found on Flickr


close up

Oooo... lovely!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Tuscany Painting WIP


Tuscany Painting WIP

Woo hoo! I actually made noticeable changes to my painting last night. ;) I did the under-painting for the rose hedge I'm planning to put in the foreground. (That's why it's so rough right now.)

Found on Flickr



What a stunning display of quilts!

Found on Flickr


Fishing Line hanging mobile stretched out

These fish are awesome, and the photograph is absolutely beautiful!

Found on Flickr


Not for Squirrels!

What a cool end for a knitting needle! The clay nut looks really realistic, and the real cap is the perfect touch. :)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Behind...

Yes, I'm still behind. ;)

It only took the techie all morning to get printing set up on my computer. (They have a rather bizarre set-up here, and it didn't want to cooperate the "proper" way, so we did it the "discouraged" way, and it worked fine.) Once that was done, it took two minutes to print the form I need to apply to continue my help centre job over the summer. (I do have the teaching position too... so don't expect to hear much from me at all!) Of course, that didn't leave me any time to start prepping for teaching my course before I had to eat lunch so I didn't pass out during my help centre hours...

During a slow period this afternoon, however, I did manage to respond to two e-mails (from the same person, but it's at least a start), and Swatchy posted about Bobmas Eve and the quilt show. I'll get some posts up here as time allows.

Well, it's time to go home and eat dinner before heading off to the art club.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

New Socks!

(Uh, well, they're a week or so old now.) My Cherry Tree Hill "birches" socks:
CTH Birches Crochet Socks
Mmmmmm! (I'm wearing them right now!)

And that takes care of March. April will come sometime... hopefully soon. ;)

Since the frost is melting...

...I thought, perhaps, I should put something up in my bedroom window. (I don't want to totally block the light, but I probably shouldn't rely on the fact that my neigbours nearly always have their blinds closed.) I had some fabric I had meant to use to keep dust off my bookshelves, but I hadn't gotten to that project... and it was perfect for this.

Lesson #1: Don't iron synthetics, or test the iron temperature more thoroughly first:
Whoops

However, even without ironing (and the inch of fabric I had to cut off), I still ended up with a respectable result:
Sheers

TV via Antenna

If you're curious what TV reception over an antenna is like in my neighbourhood, it ranges from decent:
Decent Reception
to mediocre:
Mediocre Reception
to poor:
Poor Reception
And yes, there are shows I like on that last channel. Thankfully, not too many. ;)

Craziness Continues

Life is still crazy busy around here. Good, but *busy*. I'm once again not finding enough hours to sleep. (Whoops!) I'm still behind on blogging (I'm still working on March, let alone April), definitely behind on blog reading, and *way* behind on responding to e-mails. *sigh*

Summary of current WIPs: Klaralund is coming along, I've finished a ball on each sleeve (photos to come... if I get that far). Swapna's socks (first pair) is just past the heel on the second sock (one progress photo taken, will try for a second, ditto). I wound the yarn for the Maid Marian vest last night, and, while I was at it, most of the handspun for my first from-handspun socks. (Yes, I have a few pairs I've promised others to finish first, but now they'll be ready when I am.) I still haven't finished my painting, although I did have fun last night at the club.

My wee sock swap sock arrived the other day... I love it! Again, photo to come. ;)

Okay... now to post some photos.

Found on Flickr


latte seed scarf (work in progress)

Oooo... I love the Noro-like striping achieved using two strands at a time with similar coloured yarns. :)

Found on Flickr


stained glass pendant P1070771a

Oooo! Pretty! I'm a sucker for scrollwork, and blue, and glass, and silver. :)

Monday, April 07, 2008

Found on Flickr


disappearing nine patch

...suddenly the name "disappearing nine patch" makes complete sense, and I once again marvel at the magic behind quilting.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Found on Flickr


Happy Cat #01

Cute kitty! Check out the photo stream to see all nine. :)

Found on Flickr


Lucy the Ladybird

So cute! I love the big eyes. :)

(By the same artist as the owl I just blogged.)

Found on Flickr


Olly the Owl

Adorable!

Found on Flickr (via Whip Up)


toner - 15

This is kind of cute... combining origami with a simple circuit (LED, battery, and connections) to create a self-contained, glowing cube (or whatever other origami design you choose to use).

Instructions here.

Ram Wools

I, uh, spent more than my $10 gift certificate... but not as much as Friday, thankfully. ;) My purchases:
Ram Wools Purchase
I bought the book in order to make this pattern:
Gorgeous Cardigan
I also picked up some free patterns that were being given away:
Free Patterns
They may be "oldies", but they look like "goodies". :)

I touched the Malabrigo baby lace again (first felt at WW on Friday), and had the same "OMG WANT!!!" reaction, even though I *know* I don't like knitting lace. I may yet succumb, but so far I've held strong. ;)

I noticed there was some Ram Wools Selkirk yarn in an absolutely *gorgeous* honey colour. A sweater's worth almost came home with me, but then I decided I should finish those final seams in Durrow to see how I like wearing the yarn first.

I looked for the EZ book I had postponed buying in January (I'm not sure I would have bought it this trip, or waited until the August sale, but I at least wanted another look). However, there were *no* EZ books whatsoever! One of the staff looked up the title I think I wanted (The Opinionated Knitter... I think that's the one with both the adult baby surprise jacket and tomten patterns), and it was listed as "obsolete". Uh... yeah. Methinks they don't read Jared Flood's blog!

Celtic Knot Sweater


Celtic Knot Sweater

Blimey, the sun sure was bright today! Here's a crooked photo of me in my brand new sweater!

(Now that I finally got the chance to wear it and show it off at least one day, I have it washing and blocking. I'll show it off at school after it's dry.)

Klaralund WIP


Klaralund WIP

Whoops, looks like I didn't need to rotate this photo after all.

Since the Celtic knot sweater is finished, I pulled the yarn for Klaralund #2 out of the stash and started it. I'm starting with the sleeves (both at once), because I want to graft lives stitches from the body onto the sleeves to get a stretchier join.

The Good Kind Of Dishes


Leftover Cake

My brother's birthday is today (well, yesterday now). Mom borrowed one of my cake pans. After dinner, I offered to take care of cleaning the pan at my place. ;)

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Contest Alert!

Wow! I won Sara's contest! And her contest was to come up with a contest idea for the next contest, so click over and enter. :) The prize is *awesome*... a gift certificate for The Loopy Ewe!

I Came, I Saw, I Purpled


Yarn Purchase

I intended to get a skein of Noro sock yarn at the sale on at Wolseley Wardrobe, but I couldn't decide which colour. Since I'm also planning on going to Ram Wools tomorrow (to spend my gift certificate at *their* sale), and they have Noro sock yarn too (on sale, I believe... it was too new at WW to be on sale there), I decided to hold off. (Not that I'll have *any* difficulty finding things I want at Ram Wools. Heh. Now that's a *funny* thought, not finding things I want at Ram Wools!) I didn't leave empty handed, though.

In my defense, one of the pairs of socks will be a present for someone, possibly both. (Although, frankly, I'd enjoy having both of these end up in my sock yarn drawer too.) And the Maid Marian Vest kit was 30% off. And such pretty colours. And probably a quick knit, and I've just finished a sweater. And... um... have I mentioned it's been a tiring week, and I think I've earned a reward?

Hey! What's that over there? ...Yarn? What yarn? I don't see any yarn here...

Guess What I'm Wearing Right Now?


Finished!

I intend to show it off at Ram Wools tomorrow. :) (I'm off to spend my gift certificate... thanks Swapna!)

I'll try to get some better photos too. ;)

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

New Old TV


New Old TV

Did I tell you that my previous TV died? I think I did. Well, a friend was going to give this one (smaller, but it actually works) to the thrift shop, but gave it to me instead. Now I can knit at night again! ;) (Assuming the crazies let up... speaking of which, it's about time I headed out to the wine and cheese. More catching up later!)

Celtic Knot Sweater Nearing Completion

I'm finally seaming the Celtic Knot Sweater! I've actually only got a wee bit of the seaming left, but these photos are from several days ago when the light was good (finally) for showing off the knot:
Celtic Knot Sweater WIP
Celtic Knot Sweater WIP
Celtic Knot Sweater WIP
I'm glad I ordered two extra balls! I only needed one extra, but one too many is way better than one too few... especially with how fast that yarn sold out at Elann! The Elann brand 100% silk seems the same as the Estelle (a friend bought some of the Elann brand version), but it would have been a different dye lot.