Month: October 2007 (page 7 of 8)

Myspace

Grrr. Could somebody with a myspace account please send a message to this person for me? Here’s what it should say: “I’m really glad that you found my sock monkey tutorial useful. But don’t you think you could’ve just posted a link instead of hotlinking THIRTY-SIX images from my site? I had over 1000 image hits from myspace.com yesterday, and I pay for my bandwidth. That’s not cool. Plus you didn’t even give me credit for it anywhere. Did you somehow miss that line at the bottom every page that reads: ‘Copyright © 2004 Kristine Howard. Please do not reproduce without my permission.’? Seriously not cool.”

Update: WAIT! Hold the presses. I just realised that’s a myspace account, not a livejournal one (as I imagined it). I have a myspace account! I’ll email the offender myself.

One Hour Later: Well, the person killed the post. Fair enough.

Knitted Skull Tights

Knitted Skull Tights. Oh man, imagine if I entered those in the Easter Show next year! HA!

Interview

Post-Interview Euphoria
So… I just finished interviewing with two more people at the Company-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and I feel like it went really well! I was relatively confident since I figured that they wouldn’t have invited me back if they didn’t like me. I gave the HR chick the low-down on the house situation (basically, the mortgage company doesn’t like it if you change jobs before settlement, so I can’t start for several more weeks) and they were really cool with that. I’m excited!

Oh, and I got to ride in an elevator with a bunch of guys from YouTube, who pretty much define the term “scruffy lookin’ nerf herder.”

Our New Gaudy Laneway

moblogged imageOur New Gaudy Laneway
See? I told you it looks like Vegas. What a waste of money and electricity! None of the shops around it are even open at night.

Baby Yoda Costume

Baby Yoda Costume
It’s finished! I’ve got everything ready to send off to Alexander this week. After felting the hat last week, I then soaked the ears in watered-down PVA glue and propped them up on newspaper to dry. They took a lot longer than I expected (nearly four days), but they look great. I sorta pinched and pulled them to make them a little more curly and Yoda-looking. The pattern is here. I knitted it out of Naturally Alpine 14ply on big needles, and I had plenty left over from a single hank. I’m just making a bit of i-cord now to tie under his chin if necessary.

Felted Baby Yoda Hat Baby Yoda Sweater Baby Yoda Socks

The second piece of the costume is the Baby Yoda Sweater, which I knitted on 4mm needles out of some completely random yarn from my stash. (The two sleeves are actually different yarns, but they’re so close you can’t tell. I figure Yoda probably wove his himself, so any variation is probably a good thing.) There’s an i-cord tie on the inside as well as the outside.

And the socks are just the pièce de résistance, aren’t they? I started knitting just plain socks out of the leftover wool, thinking Alexander would need something to keep his feet warm, when the Snook pondered aloud, “You know what you should do? Put three toes on the end!” BRILLIANT. So there’s no pattern here; I just made them up as I went.

I can’t wait til Kristen posts a picture of him wearing it!

Vinnland Socks

Vinnland SocksVinnland Socks
In order to clear the decks for the Southern Summer of Socks, I took along my half-completed Vinnlands to knitting camp last weekend with the aim of finishing them off. And I did! The pattern is free from The AntiCraft. They’re knitted toe-up utilising a short-row heel and toe (but one that doesn’t involve wrapping!). My weird sizing issues turned out to be not such a big deal; the poochiness at the toe disappears when it’s stretched across my foot. I used one skein of Colinette Jitterbug in “Velvet Olive,” and I’m thrilled to say that I had less than 12 inches left over at the end. (Toe-up socks = ECONOMY, baby!) They’re meant to have a tubular cast-off at the top, but I was drinking too much red wine to bother with such niceties. I just did a regular old ribbed cast-off, and they look fine. Oh, and I used 2.75mm needles to counteract my usual propensity towards overly tight knitting. I wore them in Sunday night’s “Fashion Show” and there was such a response that I ended up teaching an impromptu “socks on circulars” workshop Monday morning!

Vegas, baby!

Vegas, baby!
A bunch of workmen spent all day yesterday installing neon tubing and crazy coloured lighting in the alleyway behind Tapestry Craft. I’m not kidding. Apparently it’s to celebrate the “opening” of the lane (which is now to be called “Temperance Lane”) and it’ll stay up for three months. It’s like our own little bit of Vegas in an alley. The rumour is that this has something to do with Clover’s aim to develop Melbourne-style funky little laneways in Sydney, and that it cost $35K. Here’s my question: Why? Why celebrate the “opening” of a street that was already there? Why spend thousands of dollars on a tacky art installation that very few people will see and then turn around and tell us bus fare hikes are needed? Not happy, Clover.

Update: The new goss is that it might be for a movie shoot. Anybody heard what’s filming in town?

Way Later Update: Nope, it’s not a movie shoot. When I left tonight, there was a proud-looking guy taking photos out there. “But what’s it for?” I asked. “It’s an art installation to celebrate the opening of the new laneway!” he said. “See, we put up a sign with the new name and everything!” I frowned. “But… the lane existed before. It just didn’t have a name. I don’t get why we’re celebrating the opening of a lane that was already here.” He looked crestfallen and shrugged. I think I hurt his feelings. I still think it’s a stupid idea.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN!

The Snook sent me a link to this amusing comic, which he knew I’d like. I totally didn’t get it til the 3rd panel, and then I laughed and laughed.

Kids!

Albert called me during Knitting Camp on Sunday.

Him: Do you think you can teach the kids’ knitting class on Tuesday?
Me: Who in the what now?
Him: Kids. There are three little girls coming in for our school holidays knitting class.
Me: Kids? Me? Are you sure?
Him: Trust me, you were last on the list. Everyone else was busy.
Me: Well, okay. I guess if it’s only three they can’t gang up on me.

Turns out I needn’t have worried. They were great! Sidonie, Nell, and Poppy ranged from 8-11 but they all picked it up SO QUICKLY! I casted on for them and then we just practiced our knit stitches the whole time. It was interesting to me to see how their personalities manifested in their knitting styles. Poppy was a bit bull-headed, and in her impatience to slip the stitch off the needles she’d often yank her whole needle out. “Grrr!” she’d growl, but by the time I got over to her she’d often fixed the mistake herself. Nell picked it up the fastest, but she didn’t trust herself and every so often she’d freeze and I’d hear, “Something doesn’t seem right… I think.” Sidonie was quiet and methodical, but (like me) she tended to pull her stitches a little too tightly. They were all shy at first but I had them chatting away by the time their Mums returned. “Aww, just one more row!” they begged. The Mums consented, and five minutes later while they were chatting I saw Nell surreptitiously begin a second row. It warmed my icy black heart. I made three new knitters today!

TWoP Redesign

Ugh. Television Without Pity redesigned, and I HATE it. What happened to the little woodcut pictures? Those were great! I wonder if this is what happens when you get bought out by a big company.