Cleverbit

flat improvements

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

We finally got our floor installed last week after much faffing around and being told by several builders that we were not able to accurately measure our own flat (we have nearly a whole box of wood left over and we didn't have to buy any extra). The first builder who came said that we didn't have enough wood, that we would need to wait at least 5 weeks for our wood to acclimatize, conveniently the same amount of time we would need to wait for him to do the installation, that he would "call my husband to discuss the details" every time I asked him a question, didn't actually show up. We had several more quotes, one of which was for 28 square meters (I *wish* we needed 28 square meters of wood for our living room and hall) and then we finally had the installation done last week. I've come to accept that when decorating an old council flat with brick and plaster walls, wiring running along the baseboard, and previous tenants with corner cutting strategies, one has to adopt a sort of big picture attitude. Yes, there are a few places where the floor didn't come out quite perfectly, like the bit of wood that isn't quite stained properly that was cleverly installed right in the middle of the living room floor, or the half inch gap along one bit of the hallway that was too narrow for another piece of wood which is now full of half a tube of sealant, but overall it is *soooo* much better than the awful carpet we had before. And it looks fantastic with our wall and trim colors and the furniture and rugs we've been accumulating. Kim even took a day off work to paint the trim in the living room while we had all the furniture moved out. Here are a few photos - you might also notice that we have replaced the old curtains and moved the furniture around a bit.

While we were rearranging furniture and cleaning, I can't even count how many times we hoovered the floor while we were moving furniture to prevent scratching our new wood floor and Kim is still walking around picking up bits of stuff, Kim went to the shop for supplies and Yuengling sat patiently by the door waiting for him. Until a bit of fluff drifted buy and she was distracted.

Also our anniversary was this weekend and Kim bought me flowers :).

first steek cut

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I've been making slow progress on this project. I didn't get the neck decreases completed in time so I had to rip out a few inches and decrease more quickly. Hopefully the neck won't be shaped too oddly. I grafted the shoulders together which wasn't too hard and was quite satisfying in an organic seamless sweater sort of way and then I cut the first steek. I am quite surprised with how strong the arm hole feels now that I've picked up around the edge and started knitting. I was afraid that if I gave the arm a bit of a tug it would all just fall apart but the seam feels much stronger than that. Knitting the actual arm has been somewhat of a pain since I don't have any circular needles short enough for a small arm circle but my dpns are too short and I keep dropping stitches. Nevertheless I'm excited to get this project finished and see how it turns out.

Here is a photo of the sweater from the front with the first arm started.

Here is a closeup of the second armhole before I cut the steek.

steam punk

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I recently finished the book "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest. I quite enjoyed this book. It was quick moving with likable characters and an interesting plot with just enough detail held back to make me want to keep reading but not so much that it was too confusing or hard to follow. The setting is Seattle some 20 years after an engineering contest gown awry in which a machine that was meant to dig for gold burrows its way through the city wreaking havoc and unleashing a deadly gas from under the earth onto the surface into the city. They story is full of fantastic Victorian mechanical contraptions like flying machines and mechanical prosthetic arms. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys light science fiction (and by light I mean less than 3 inches thick with minimal subplot and a list of main characters that can be counted on one hand).

I also read "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" by G.W. Dahlquist not terribly long ago. I think I enjoyed the writing style in this book a bit more but the plot was more confusing which made the overall experience a bit less enjoyable. The book is set in Victorian England and although there were less fantastical machines throughout the story there was one rather impressive and mysterious one surrounded by (dangerous) secret society. The main character is a somewhat predictable female - small, attractive, spunky, and of course capable of surviving any situation no matter how unlikely. She is accompanied by two much more likable male characters in her quest to uncover the truth and although the story is wrapped up sufficiently at the end of the first book to give one a sense of completion there is a second volume in the series which I have been considering reading but haven't yet gotten around to it. I was just having a quick skim of some of the Amazon reviews and while it is true that there is a rather long description of cream tea early in the book it makes me crave a hot cup of black tea with a bit of creamy milk every time I think about it.

Money

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I recently went to see a bit of fringe theater at a warehouse nearby with a few friends. The name of the play was "Money" and the play was apparently inspired by a French play about a banking crisis. Inside the warehouse was a huge black structure which was reported to be a Victorian machine of unknown purpose. When the play started the machine began producing steam and making lots of loud mechanical machine type noise and we were led up the stairs into the machine. Throughout the play we were led into different compartments which were full of trap doors and glass floors through which various characters appeared and disappeared wearing various costumes. At one point a door in the ceiling opened up and a whole bunch of multi colored plastic balls fell through into the middle of the room. Generally the play made little sense although I think one of the characters was selling something and possibly we as the audience were the buyers. There were some amusing moments early on and certainly the set was fantastic but overall I was more entertained by the set than the actual play. Generally I disapprove of audience participation although in this case it mostly worked well (except when I got hit in the head rather hard by one of the plastic balls that a fellow audience member threw with from across the room). As far as fringe goes it has quite a high production quality but in terms of conveying any distinguishable message I would rate it rather low.

getting going

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I started this project a week or two ago and I'm enjoying it but not too surprisingly it's a slow moving project. I'm using smaller needles than the pattern calls for (mostly because I just got a new pair of Turbo Addi needles that I really wanted to try out) and I'm doing a few extra pattern repeats to make up for the smaller gauge. Also I have more yarn than the pattern calls for which contributed to my bright idea to have a smaller gauge. (Oh, I forgot to mention this is the Stripes and Torchon lace wrap from Victorian Lace Today and the yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace (2400 yards, yikes!).) (I seem have a surplus of punctuation at the moment but I blame it on the prime minister debate that Kim is watching which is making me want to squeeze the candidates and their oddly shaped ears between a couple of parenthesis to shut them up - even more so the crazy moderator who keeps randomly repeating the question for those of us with attentions spans shorter than two or three minutes.)

Yuengling update

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I know how much you all love kittens and photos of kittens, especially Yuengling since she is the best of all possible kittens. Here are a few more photos of her and more importantly a few super cute movies!

socks finished

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I really want to start a new project so I sat down this weekend and finished these socks. They are a simple design but I'm happy with how they turned out.

kitten action

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Yuengling and I spent the day together at home yesterday trying out my new spinning wheel (both how it spins and how it tastes), knitting (and knotting) various balls of yarn, and playing fetch. Yuengling has sort of learned to play fetch although she has a habit of returning the toy to the wrong location. I tried to get a photo but as soon as I got my camera out she refused to bring anything back (as you can see by all the toys scattered in the background).

Attacking stuff that moves and not fetching toys is hard work and Yuengling eventually fell asleep with her head dangling off the side of the blanket but not before she stretched out to her impressive full length of about 14 inches.

Oh and I almost forgot, Yuengling is a Fred Astaire fan.

new spinning wheel

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Kim and I were at our favorite antique place a few weeks ago and I found this ebony and ivory spinning wheel which I couldn't resist bidding on. It is much more ornate than my other wheel and I think it's meant for spinning flax because of the large distaff sticking out the top. I tried it out this weekend and it does spin although it feels a bit more fiddly than my other wheel. It has two bobbins (apparently spinning flax with two hands was a popular idea once) but I'm having trouble getting the one on the left to spin counter clockwise without the drive band coming off. Also several bits were broken off and I had to glue them back on so hopefully it will hold up. The hooks to guide the yarn onto the bobbin are mostly broken off so I couldn't spin much because I couldn't fill the bobbin properly. I'm planning to try to buy some tiny hooks to screw in myself but I'm not sure if I'll be able to fix it or not.

still changing patterns

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Well, I finished the bottom section of the sweater and then switched to the tree pattern from the original inspiration design and although there are some common colors in the two different sections I didn't like how it was turning out.

So I decided to get a bit more yarn and just carry the bottom pattern throughout the sweater but with a few more color combinations. My plan is to repeat the brown/tan background for a few pattern repeats and then switch back to the blues. I couldn't get more of the dye lot for the darker blue so the blue on the top will be a different shade but hopefully it will look ok.

I'm much happier with how it looks now though I wish the tan color was a bit darker. I think I'm getting a bit better at fair isle but with a kitten constantly trying to run away with my balls of yarn it can be a bit tricky to keep a consistent tension.

meet Yuengling

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

This is Yuengling (pronounced "Yingling") who we named after a great Pennsylvanian beer.

She is about 12 weeks old and we've had her for less than a week. She is super active - think "ohh look something shiny!!". She is also teeny-tiny although she's doing her best to eat as much as a cat 10 times her size. She has a pitiful little meow that she's used quite successfully already to get into our bedroom after Kim and I decided she should stay out until we were sure that she is flee free. And while writing this blog entry I've discovered that she snores tinny little kitten snores. Her favorite activities are falling off things and attacking things, often both at the same time.

She is a bit tricky to photograph since she doesn't sit still much.

But fortunately she is about the size of a shoe so I can just pick her up to suggest a more photographic location with one hand while I get ready to snap a photo with the other.

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