Yesterday evening I went to the monthly Seattle Knitters Guild meeting. This month they were giving two talks. One about knitter’s health – how to avoid muscle strain and that sort of thing. It was great. I learned a bunch of new stretches that will not only keep me from cramping while knitting, but I’m sure my butterfly stroke will improves as well!
The other talk was about taking photos of your knitting. It gave me a ton of great ideas. And I believe I have a new super cheap diy project to do – a homemade lightbox for taking pictures of small things. And by small things I don’t mean the cats 
Seattle knitters guild meeting
I was a bit busy this weekend
Aside from finding a free app for my droid that will let me post to my blog and seeing Sherlock Holmes, this weekend was a busy. Before I left for Christmas I stopped by Goodwill to see if I could find a cheap book to read on the flight back east. I always do a sweep thru the sweaters in case there’s something I can’t live without or sweater that I can rip apart and reuse the yarn. Well I found several sweaters. So this weekend I decided to try my hand at recycling yarn. The first sweater was the test piece. I realized as I was ripping out the sweater that whoever had knit it, kept knotting the yarn when it either broke or they came to a new skein. I don’t think it occurred to them to felt the ends together instead of knotting them. But I got it all wound into long loops and tied up. Then I washed the yarn in a wool wash.
It looked a lot like ramen noodles. After an hour or so, I rinsed the yarn and then hung it up to dry.
You can probably tell the 2 smaller skeins were my first couple of tries at winding the yarn. By the last one, I had figured out what I needed to do. I took out my yarn swift that my Dad made for me (thanks to the instructions on Instructables) and started to wind the yarn on there. The other thing I learned is to make sure you wind the skeins tightly, otherwise, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of that ramen noodle look. And those crazy little udder looking things at the bottom of the skeins – those are weights, fishing weights to be exact.
I bought a couple of packs of fishing weights (sinkers? I think that’s what they are called – is that right,Dad?) and I had some thick brass wire that I just used to weigh down the yarn to hopefully pull out some of the kinks in the yarn.
I tried another sweater the next day.
Here’s a couple pictures of what the sweater looked like before I recycled it. It was a great looking sweater but just way too big for me. I’m assuming that it was a men’s size small because it was pretty large.
And here’s a couple of close ups
And here’s a close up of the sleeve: (that’s Kink’s paw taking a swipe at the sweater. She apparently felt left out of the photo shoot)
And here’s what the tag said: That’s says 100% Kilcarra Yarn. Score! (a quick search found Kilcarra yarn being sold for around $9/10 for 90 yards)
One thing that kinda bugged me about this whole process was, that i didn’t really know how much yarn I actually had. I did a little research and thanks to The AntiCraft website, I headed over to Lowes and with $3, I made myself a Niddy Noddy. Now I was able to get a a rough idea as to how much yardage I would end up with. (those are Bob the Christmas Trees needles. He went to Christmas tree heaven this weekend – aka they mulched him).
You should have seen the guys at Lowes when I tried to explain what it was that I was making and what it was going to be used for. Apparently they had a couple of college guys come in and ask for help with making a beer bong. From what the Lowes guys told me, it sounded like the college guys used what I can only imagine was duct work for their beer bong. I would assume at that point it’s more of a keg bong. Anyway, when I finally showed them what I needed done, they were happy to cut the pipe for me. Note to self – next time have them cut a length of pipe for a 2 yard measurement as well as 1 yard measurement. I ended up having to wind the yarn twice. Once to count the yardage and once to make sure the hank was long enough.
Here’s the second sweater hanging up to dry:
I figured out that i got roughly 1400 yards of yarn out of this sweater. So here’s the breakdown of cost for everything:
Sweater – $6 each – seriously… I love Goodwill
weights – $9
Niddy Noddy – $3
I did also buy tension shower curtain rod to hang in the shower to dry the skeins – a budget busting – $10 So the total for 2 sweaters worth of yarn -$34 I couple of costs that i didn’t really factor in here was the brass wire and the wool wash as I already had them.
Going forward, I may have to invest in a bigger bottle of wool wash. Next time the only cost to me will be the cost of the sweater and of course the time it takes to unravel, wash and dry the yarn. If I find a cotton sweater in good condition I may try it try recycling cotton as well.
The other thing I did this weekend was make a Clementine cake and the Zuni Cafe roast chicken recipe from the Smitten Kitchen website. This website has become my new favorite website. Everything I have attempted to make from this site has been fabulous. The clementine cake was a big hit. I was rather easy and it made the whole house smell soooooo good.
The Zuni Cafe chicken was also good. The only problem was that my smoke detectors are so touchy that they go off at the drop of a hat. So everytime the chicken would spit or pop, it would hit the heating coils in the oven and smoke. So I ended up taking all the batteries out of all the smoke detectors in the house and opening the door and a window. So needless to say, it was a bit chilly in the house for a bit and I probably should have cooked the chicken a bit longer, but I thought the threat of losing the tips of my toes and fingers to frostbite far outweighed a tasty chicken.
Oh and John, here’s the run down of Sherlock Holmes actors who have been in some form of a Masterpiece Theater Classics (or a Jane Austen movie).
Mark Strong who played Lord Blackwood – played Mr. Knightly in the 1996 Masterpiece Theater version of Emma (among several other PBS/BBC productions of classic literature) with a bad hairpiece.
Eddie Marsan – Inspector Lestrade – was Pancks in Little Dorritt – He was also in Happy Go Lucky with Sally Hawkins (who was Anne Elliot in the recent PBS version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion) and Elliot Cowan, who played Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen (also sporting a really bad hair piece). On a side note, I’m pretty sure this image is why your friend watches Lost in Austen so much. I thank God everyday for tivo because of this image. Really, a body like that should only be brought out on certain occasions. You can’t just parade that around whenever you want. You could start riots with that body. Right John? I mean you and Elliot have a very similar build.
Kelly Reilly – Mary Morstan – She played Caroline Bingley in the Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice.
William Houston – Constable Clark – played John Boucher in North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell- and not the Patrick Swayze US version (RIP Patrick Swayze).
Hans Matheson – Lord Coward – was Alec D’Urberville in Tess of the D’Urbervilles
And finally the big dude – who was also 300 – Robert Maillet, was in fact a WWF/E (whatever the heck they go by these days) wrestler by the name of Kurrgan.
And I didn’t even talk about who appeared on Mystery or Poirot or any Agatha Christie shows.
And just one last thing, Rachel McAdams, if you’re reading this, could you lay off things like the Notebook and the Time Traveler’s Wife? Dear God, what piles those movies were. Talk about overly romantic and sappy. And that’s coming from someone who loves Jane Austen.
Blogging from the droid
Let me just say, if this works, my droid is the best gadget ever!
Tonight I went to see the new sherlock holmes movie. It was about 2 hours long and, I thought, worth the 2 hours. If you didn’t know it was directed by Guy Richie, you would have figured it out by the first fight scene. You can’t mistake the Guy Richie fight scenes. I also spent a fair amount of time figuring out where I had seen a number of the supporting actors. Most of them were either in a Jane Austen movie or a Masterpiece Theater Classics production. Other than that I thought it was a darn good movie and worth dropping the cash to see it on the big screen.
What a Christmas!
I just got back into town after spending the holidays with my family. As always I had a great time and I wish I was still there.
Santa spoiled me again this year. I got the new droid phone! As well as a gift certificate to one of my favorite LYS, a ceramic pie pan, several kitchen tools, a silicon rolling pin with height guides, the Norah Gaughan Knitting Nature book, a couple of gift cards to Target and Walmart, a pie making class at Art of the Pie, a couple of sudoku books, my kitchenaid mixer (which arrived earlier), 2 lbs of Dunkin Donuts coffee and a whole host of other goodies that my mind is blanking on.
Santa also spoiled Mom and Dad as well. Mom got an iPod Nano and Dad got a Wii. After spending most, if not all of Christmas eve and Christmas day trashing talking my Dad, he kicked my butt at Wii bowling. I’ll be honest, I let him win I also showed Mom how to use her iPod and I’m pretty sure she’ll be the iPod queen within the next few days. She’ll be downloading podcasts, albums and books in no time!
And Kink and Jimbo were also spoiled by their Aunt Marilyn. She and her kitties bought them some new toys. As soon as I put them down, that was it. Now I only seem them as they are flying around the house.
As for the New Year, Well I hope it brings lots of love, hope, happiness and health to me and all my friends and family.
Happy New Year!
Christmas lights!
Last night my friend and I went to check out the Christmas lights around town. We went to one of my favorites over in West Seattle.
First, here’s the nativity scene. Your standard nativity – 3 wise men, Mary, Joseph, LBJ (Little baby Jesus) and a few assorted animals.
But upon closer inspection, the LBJ was not the one that came with the original set. It was a doll. No problem. Apparently the LBJ is a popular item for the teens to swipe off the lawn. But it’s not the soulless doll eyes that’s strange. It’s the fact that LBJ has a hat on.
That’s a knit hat. Who knew that even as a baby, Jesus was a fashion icon. I mean, we all know he started the Air Jesus sandals trend (Mom, air Jesus sandals are Birkenstocks or Teva sandals). I had no idea that he was responsible for single handedly bringing the knit hat in fashion. Not only did he die for our sins but apparently he should be the next winner of the VH1 fashion icon lifetime achievement award.
There’s also a few strange things going on with the Santas that were on the lawn. For instance, apparently this Santa and his “ride” were out drinking.
I mean look at them. They can’t even stand up.
Or perhaps this Santa. At first glance everything looks normal but…
it looks like that dog is covering up Santa’s naughty bits. That dog does not look happy. And what is that look on Santa’s face all about? It’s very upsetting.
and lastly here’s Kink and her good friend Bob sharing a moment.
Pictures!
This is just a quick post to show all the goodies that I got in my package from Intarsia Bindoff!
This first one is of everything but the cute little project bag.
and here’s the yarn, small buttons, and stitch marker close ups
and how about the cute little notebooks, book, tape measure and stitch markers
and here’s the front and the back of the bag
Christmas came early for me and the kids
Today I went to pick up some food for the kids, and we got a nice little gift bag from All the Best Pet Care. It had 3 cans of cat food, 2 of Kink’s favorite toys – furry mice, a felted cat nip toy, a ball, a cat food can cover, a cat food scrapper/fork thingy(for getting the food out of the can) a Twist n’ Treat toy (you put a treat in it and they will hopefully work on it to get it out), and a small container of Liv-a-Littles chicken breast cat treats. Talk about spoiled! I also had to buy then a new scratching toy. This one is called the Scratch Lounge. Kink has always been a fan of the couch or other pieces of furniture instead of a scratching post, but for some reason, she actually uses this one.
Then when I got home, I walked up to my door to find a package for me from Intarsia Bindoff! I was a like my landlord’s little boy when he sees Jimbo and Kink – squealing with delight! I opened it to find 2 skeins of my favorite yarn – cascade 220. One skein is a beautiful heathered moss green the other is a heathered oatmeal color. (I’m thinking I need to get more of those colors for a sweater, but we’ll have to see …). Then a skein of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted weight in a color called Mink Heather. Also quite lovely and I may also have to look into a project so I can buy more of it Not one, not two, not three, but 4 patterns! The stackable kitties from MochiMochiland (and the stuffing,and some brown yarn for the nose and whiskers and some green yarn for the eyes), the Sherbrooke Cowl pattern, the Under the Tree fingerless gloves pattern (and cute little buttons for the eyes of the owl) and the Olive Branch Yoga hoodie pattern! There was a cool notebook and a small notepad with a robot on it a Doraemon pencil, cute stitch markers (an owl, a ball of yarn with needles in it, and a pair of scissors), a heart shaped tape measure (I seem to be forever losing them!) 2 candy bars – a Yorkie by Nestle and a Cadbury CurlyWurly. I’m assuming they are not from the US. Not that it matters…. it’s candy, it’s going to be amazing! And mystery book called Knit One, Kill Two! I was wondering what I was going to read on the plane ride home and now I don’t have to worry about it! And most of this came in a cute little handmade bag (that I’ll be using to transport my knitting back east with me for the holidays) that has a magpie on one side and a quote from Jane Austen on the other side (the quote being – How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!). I am so spoiled! I love all of it! I’ll be taking it with me to work so I can take a proper picture of it. There’s much stuff, I’ve got to have room to spread it all out!
I should get going… I can hear a cat toy skittering across the floor and a poor defenseless paperbag being brutally attacked by Jimbo.
Christmas gift ideas for the men in your life
Here’s just a few choice pieces I found over at S_A Steve’s flickr page and WishbookWeb.com.
How about something for lounging around the house.
“everyone was kungfu fighting…” I gotta say, I want one. Not so much the robe, but a man that thinks he looks good with a bushy moustache and a kungfu robe. Oh and that ridiculous horn necklace.
Or perhaps a little something for the bedroom…
Ok the first, if your husband or boyfriend is wearing a “nightshirt” he better be in a period theater piece or movie. Only if he was born and raised in the early 1900s or early would it be ok if he was wearing a nightshirt. And especially if it’s got a hood on it. Why would you need a hood on a nightshirt? I’m assuming it’s to hide your embarrassment.
What about something to drive her wild?
Judging from this well thought out ad, I don’t feel as if they are driving her wild so much as perhaps just annoying her a little bit.
Why not go practical? What about underwear?
I feel like the caption of this ad/catalog page should be “Ever hang around gymnasiums, Joey?” (Those Airplane quotes never get old) I wonder if this was taken at the 24 hour fitness downtown. According to craigslist they have a happenin’ gay men’s scene down there.
OK and this one… well I don’t know how to categorize it.
Where to start… Oh how about, “Dang! the Colonel’s got moves like Tiger Woods.”
Or perhaps, ” I knew I had to have her when I saw her chicken legs.”
Photos of Bob and is girlfriend Kink
Sorry it took me so long to get up some photos of Bob.
The first one is of Bob and Kink. I believe she’s testing the waters, as it were…
I walked away for a minute to give them a chance to get to know each other and apparently Kink really liked Bob because I caught this little stolen moment between the two of them.
After that, Bob let his boughs down and he put on his holiday best. Here he is in all his glory.
I don’t know if you noticed, but Bob looks a little naked under his boughs. So I was doing some last minute gift idea shopping. Just in case you haven’t figure out what you want to get my for the holidays.
The first item is more of a necessity. I’ve been working on losing weight and my budget is a bit tight, so I can’t really afford to buy new clothes when my old clothes get to be too big. So I think this product, while being completely fashion forward, would kill to birds with one stone.
Here’s the thing. She’s totally not wearing this properly. The suspenders are holding up just the belt. Kinda defeats the purpose of the belt. Here’s my thinking behind this invention – If the belt fails, you’ve got a back up plan. I may buy up cases of these babies and hand them out to all the boys I see walking to school who are holding their pants up with their hands and their asses are still showing.
And since money is tight, I thought perhaps this outfit might also give you some ideas.
First off, at this time of year, when it gets dark early,the bright yellow of the jumpsuit will make everyone around you aware of where you are at all times. Also the large black rick rack creates a nice slimming line effect.
I’ve also been wanting to really redecorate my apartment. I want something that reflects my attitude, lifestyle and personality. So perhaps you could get me a wall mural.
I gotta say, if the furniture wasn’t in the picture I might have pulled a Road Runner/Wyle E Coyote moment and tried to have walked thru the wall. I also think the self stick burlap for the walls might be a nice accent piece on a wall as well. Nothing says comfort quite like the softness of burlap.
And since i have cats, I also want to protect my furniture and keep it clean. But the slip covers that I’ve seen are all so plan. Until I saw this…
I’ve always wanted my couch to the have that “polar bear look.”
Let’s move on to the bedroom. I’ve been wanting to get some new sheets and a matching comforter. And when I found these, I feel in love with them.
I can’t decide if these say “white trash” or “alcoholic.”
That should at least get you started. I’ll try and find a few more for you tomorrow.
Bob the tree and all things Christmas
I’m going to try and snap a few pictures of Bob the Christmas tree tomorrow while there’s still a little bit of light. He always looks so great with the last rays of light shining on his branches and needles. So far he and the cats are getting along famously. Kink likes to hide behind him and pretend she’s in the forest. Jimbo just doesn’t seem to notice him.
I haven’t been doing a lot of blogging lately because my fingers are needed to finish up some last minute knitted Christmas gifts. So on that note, I’ve got to get back to knitting. There’s only so many days left before Christmas!
