Cross stitch sampler dedicated to the Internet. That is BRILLIANT. See, I just need to figure out a way to use the cool stuff stuff people are doing with this craft on the Internet to reinvigorate the interest in it in Sydney. (Link courtesy of Moire.)
Month: August 2006 (page 2 of 8)
I just found two great running-related links: “Eat and Run” (about carb-loading before a race) and Secrets of Endurance: Eating to Go” (about eating during a race to avoid the dreaded “bonk”). As the Snook and I start to increase our milage, this will become more of an issue. We didn’t do too badly with the City 2 Surf in terms of hydration, but we didn’t bother to eat anything during the run. Next year I think a hit of energy goo on Heartbreak Hill is in order.
Funny Cats – classic compilation of frolicking cats. HILARIOUS. I love the shot of the cat licking the baby, and the end shot of the one pouncing at the camera. Cats are funny! (Link courtesy of Snookums.)
Cutting the Steeks
How do you turn a weird tube like this into an actual garment?
- Have a big glass of wine.
- Break out the sewing machine and carefully sew down the middle of the 1st and 3rd stitches of the 3-stitch steeks you put in for the neck and sleeve holes.
- Stitch over those lines again. Seriously. And really go back and forth at the top and bottom a few times.
- CUT THE SUCKERS.
- Put it on and pray it fits, and that you haven’t turned $150 worth of Silk Garden into a big pile of short pieces of yarn.
- Have another glass of wine.
I started with the neckline first, and here’s what I got when I opened it up. It’s like magic! It worked perfectly. Emboldened, I moved onto the sleeves. Once I had those cut, I went back to my shoulder stitches (patiently waiting on scrap wool) and did a three-needle cast-off to create the shoulder seams. Then I tried the sucker on. It actually fits! HURRAH! I’m waiting to cut the front though; I figure there’s no point in doing it until I’m ready to sew in the zipper. I decided to dive right in on the collar rather than start the sleeves. Unfortunately I’m having to improvise a bit here. The stupid Debbie Bliss pattern book doesn’t even SHOW a picture of the collar, nor do they include any schematics so I know what it’s supposed to look like. I also immediately ran into the problem that my neckline is a lot deeper than hers is. (She has an infuriating habit of assuming you get exactly the same row gauge she does, so she doesn’t bother specifying what length things are supposed to be.) So instead of picking up 13 stitches along the side of the neck, I picked up 37. That meant I had to invent a bunch of cables along that side. I think it’s going to look good though…
I’m very disappointed in the Big Brain, I have to say. It’s dinky! You can’t even walk inside! I don’t think a couple of crinkly lines hacked into a Hebel block should qualify as a Big Thing. Now the Big Gumboot… That’s AWESOME.
Pluto is no longer a planet. Isn’t that really weird? That they can just decide to rescind a fact we all learned as kids? I guess teachers will have to come up with some new mnemonics.
On a related mind-blowing note: “How many oceans are there?” Every American kid would say “four,” right? Well, get this: Australian kids say FIVE! Or at least, that’s what Snookums learned in school. He says they don’t count the Arctic Ocean; they count the North and South Atlantic separately and add in the “Southern Ocean” around Antarctica.
Silent Menace
I was playing with Dr. Amy Jones the other day when I noticed that her collar was looking pretty ratty. It’s the same ol’ Friskies collar they gave us when we took her home as a kitten, and it’s not the most stylish feline accessory anymore. It also looks like it’s thinned the fur around her neck a bit too. So we decided to take it off her, and now… We have a SILENT STALKER in the house. She just appears and disappears without any warning. We’d gotten so used to her having a bell that it’s really kind of creepy now to turn around and suddenly have a cat staring at you. She, of course, loves it. And to her credit, Snookums thinks she’s lessened the intensity of her pounce attacks (because she knows she’s got the element of surprise on her side). It’s kind of fun, actually. It makes her seem more mysterious and predatorial… in a cute little cuddly-wuddly kind of way.
“Psycho Killer Raccoons Terrorize Olympia.” Now THAT is a headline, people! You know, I really don’t miss raccoons. Squirrels, yes. Raccoons, no.
Mmm, bacon wallet. (Note to self: Possible Snookums Christmas present!)