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Month: August 2008

  • February Lady Sweater

    February Lady Sweater

    This sweater took Ravelry by storm a few months ago. There are now more than 1400 finished projects, and another 5000 people still have it queued up. Why did it get so popular? If I had to analyze it, I’d say there were three important factors: it’s based on a famous baby sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman, who most knitters revere; the pattern was released for free; and the author looks SUPER CUTE in the photo. (That shouldn’t matter so much, but it really, really does.) Anyway, I somehow caught the bug and started it ’round about WWKIP Day. The pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn, but I decided to use an 8ply instead. I’ve had two packets of discontinued Cleckheaton Alpaca/Wool in my stash for some time, and it seemed like a perfect match. The knitting went really quickly, even though I was making the biggest size (to compensate for the thinner yarn). The top-down construction means you can try it on as you go, so I did plenty of fittings. Since I’m so tall, I had to do quite a bit of straight garter stitch after the raglan increases finished to get the sleeves to meet under the arms. That’s why I ended up doing a 4th buttonhole. The original plan was to dye it, but I realized today that I’d rather get some wear out of it now, this winter, rather than waiting to mess around with dyes. So I’m calling it finished! I’m loving it. It’s lovely and comfy and warm. The buttons came from the Button Shop in Newtown. I may still dye it in the future, but the cream is growing on me… (Ravelry details are here.)

  • Star Wars Bento Box

    Star Wars Bento Box. Utinni!

  • Grown-up Root Beer Float

    Yum. Grown-up Root Beer Float. We might need to try that one for Halloween.

  • Long Living Protagonists

    Stories Where the Protagonist Lives for Centuries. Cool list. Bookmarking for future reference.

  • Sock Extravagance

    You know, whenever I start to feel bad about spending my discretionary income on knitting stuff, I just remember that there are people in this world who actually sign up for a lottery just for the privilege of dropping $300 for eight skeins of sock wool. And wow, next to them I feel downright thrifty!

  • Halloween Props

    Halloween Prop Ideas: Witches’ Brew Ingredients.

  • Weight Watchers as RPG

    Weight Watchers = Role Playing Game. It’s a pretty fair comparison, actually. I think that’s why I was so successful on it. If you’re smart, you can work out a winning strategy pretty quickly. The problem, of course, is that by viewing it that way, I wasn’t really changing my longterm habits. I was just playing (and winning) a game. When the game’s over, you go back to real life… which is the problem. For the last week I’ve actually been playing around with Calorie King, which is a free nutrition and exercise tracker. It works the same way as WW Online does, and their support for Australian foods is really good. I’m hoping that by avoiding the WW “Points” abstraction, I can concentrate more on getting a healthy and varied diet and less on tricks and hacks to let me win the game.

  • Tough Bloke Challenge

    I am actually considering entering the Tough Bloke Challenge. It’s a outdoor run with a bunch of obstacles you have to complete, like balance beams and mud pits. Fun, huh? Up until I get to any obstacle involving upper body strength, I suppose…

  • How to Organize Your Kitchen

    How to Organize Your Kitchen. I really need to do that this weekend.

  • Box Wine

    Yeah, um, that’s why we buy boxed wine. Because we’re being green. Really.