Sarah's Ramblings

More than a river in Egypt

A quick note: today at Yarn Forward's weekly Sit & Knit, I was browsing through the newly discovered lace patterns binder, highly overexcited at the abundance of lovely Fiber Arts shawls and the like. When what should I stumble across but the very sheep shawl pattern mentioned by the Harlot herself! (I really recommend the book, by the way. So excited for her new one.) In the book it was only mentioned as having been purchased at an Ottawa yarn store, and big ole nerd that I am, I had considered emailing her to find out which one it was, precisely. My nerd quotient, 'tis through the roof at my excitement over this discovery.

Onward and upward, in the parade of ghosts of FOs past!


Pattern: Broadripple socks, by Rob Matyska in Knitty Summer 03
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, colour 2406
Yardage: Just less than two balls
Yarn Source: Wool-Tyme Kingston
Needles: Susan Bates (I think) 3.25 mm dpns

I really like this pattern - simple enough to memorize very quickly, yet still interesting. My only regret is that I fear the feet are too long. The pattern calls for knitting the foot until it is 1.5-2" shorter than desired, then starting the toe. I did 1.5" and still fear the toe may be too long. Oh well - the heel slides up comfortably, and it's not like the toes are flopping around like clown shoes.

I bought this yarn on my recent trip to Kngston to visit my aunt and uncle. I have an unfortunate history with Fixation, but I'll give you the Coles Notes version:

With so many patterns flying around recommending this yarn (darn you, Stitch and Bitch Nation! As an aside, why does a book written by the editor of a feminist magazine include patterns that only go up to 38"?), I was convinced that I must have it! Not to mention the fact that cotton-spandex blends are not exactly plentiful; I can sub Paton's Classic Merino for Lamb's Pride Worsted or Cascade 200, and Lana Grossa Meillenweit or Kroy for Opal or Lorna's Laces - you get the picture. But naught for Fixation.

So I finally tracked down this yarn at a stall at a fibre exhibition. However, this same stall had included a Knitty pattern in its kits. I recognized the pattern immediately for what it was, and knew that this was at the least unethical and probably illegal. I finally got up the gall to confront the stall owner and was told that because she was not selling the pattern by itself, she had done nothing wrong. My delicate teenage pride wounded by her tone, I marched away angry and upset, but eventually skulked back because I really wanted that yarn. I bought four balls of a deep royal purple.

Much to my alarm, this wasn't similar to the acrylics or wools or even dishcloth cotton I'd used before. No, this stuff was (suprisingly enough) really, really stretchy. How did one hold it? Did you stretch it out or let it hang? What about its disturbing propensity to fall off the needles in the early stages (not that I ever progressed beyond)? And howsabout that stitch definition, eh?

Certain that I was a Just Not Good Enough for the seemingly exalted and likely cursed Fixation, I ended up RAKing my precious, long-sought stash of it all away. Karma is, as they say, a bitch. This yarn just had bad vibes and wasn't going to quit for me.

Then this February, I visited my relatives who live in Kingston - Ontario, not Jamaica. (As a sidenote, I know some people would highly disagree, but I really enjoyed Kingston. It's quite pretty.) Somehow I managed to wrangle in a trip to a yarn store [innocent whistle]. I promised to be quick, only to be told by my uncle that he in fact used to knit, and did all the household sewing as well. I was a bit shocked (I know, how sexist of me) but really pleased as punch. I whipped around the store in a mad rush, exercising a disturbing lack of restraint. And what should I find but Cascade Fixation.

It was during this trip (wow, some Coles Notes version, eh?) that I was working on my Olympic socks. I'd been knitting socks for a while now and was willing to give it another go. Plus, you know. No bad vibes!

So I found this pattern, and set forth. The leg is 6-3/4" rather than the 7" recommended. I tried to be good this time, really I did, but still was eager to get to the "good part". I'm not sure using a solid colourway was the best idea. On the other hand, people rarely complain about their socks being too sober, and when on the leg it looks like a rather nice lacey pattern with the row of eyelets cascading (ha) down the leg and foot.

And may I just say, I love the dpns I used. I think they're Susan Bates - I got them at Wal-Mart. They're a shiny deep plum colour. More needle companies should think of making their needles pretty colours. I have a pair of plastic Japanese 7mm needles a friend gave me for Christmas a few years back that I love for their endearing shade of pink (along with being Japanese and 7mm and a gift from a friend).

It has begun to get warm here very quickly - it is supposed to be 17 degrees tomorrow! (That's Celsius. Canada is not that crazy.) Today I was overly warm wearing pinstripes and a cotton cardi. You know what that means:


Denial! I wore wool socks twice this week and paid for it. So of course the sensible thing to do is start another pair. By the way, what is up with the jacquard sections of this sock? They don't line up prettily like they do on my pink socks, which is just another colourway. Same needles, too. Bah.

By the way, I call these my animated socks because the colours remind me of old children's illustrations, for which I a huge sucker.

In non-Egyptian news, I have been working on a season-appropriate garment!

(...you got it? gosh, we are a sad crew. now let's move on)


It's Grumperina's Picovoli! I'm doing it in Amazon Cotton DK. I wasn't able, no matter how hard I tried, to get 5.5 spi, even though I went down a needle size and machine washed and dried my swatch, trying to make it shrink. No such luck. Still only getting 5 spi. So I did my math and figured I could just go down a pattern size. Yay!

I'll leave you with this:

posted by Sarah @ 10:05 PM 0 comments

Thuja thockth

As part of my ongoing attempt to document all of my FOs, I present my Thujas, only a few weeks after they were finished!



Pattern: Thuja socks, by Bobby Ziegler, in Knitty Winter 05
Yarn: Cascade Quatro, colour number 9437 (purple tweed). 100% Peruvian highland wool.
Yardage: Less than one hank (220 yards).
Yarn Source: bought from Wool N' Things, as part of my birthday present from my parents.
Needles: Aero 4mm dpns.



Obviously I used a different yarn than was recommended. I was quite relieved when I found out you could use any worsted-weight for this pattern. I really liked this yarn - it was actually four strands, each a different shade of purple. I would use it again as it's soft and comfy, and would probably give a great subtlely-mottled appearance to a pair of Fuzzy feet. It was bought as part of my birthday present from my parents - thanks, Mom and Dad!

I'm glad I made the cuffs 2" shorter than in the pattern. I generally do this because I am just plain impatient and overeager to get to the interesting part (another reason I have to learn how to do toe-up socks). But with my long (women's US size 10) feet, I'm not sure I could have gotten the full 6" cuffs without running out of yarn in the toes.

I am planning on just using these as house slippers, and have been great so far. The only issue I have is how they have stretched out. With my other handknit socks I've noticed this too, but after a run through the wash they're snug as can be again. Obviously I can't do that with these, but it's not like they're falling down or anything. Perhaps next time I would move down to US 5 needles, since they are only .25 mm smaller and would be likely to keep a snug cuff.

In other making news:



Standard lunch since I've been on this new plan. Whole wheat bread, mayo-like substance, cheddar cheese and deli turkey, with nectarine as a side. Double plus yummy. Though today for lunch I had mussels, cheese and crackers while reading Folk Socks. Felt quite the bohemian.

Not part of the plan:



I have dinner at my aunt and uncle's every week, and felt like I should bring at least something. The ubiquitous, never-fail Neiman Marcus recipe. Halve it, leave out the Hershey bar, make the cookies reasonably small and you get 49 48 47 a lot of cookies.

(And please to excuse the blurry food photos. The ones with flash looked hideously unappetizing.)

posted by Sarah @ 2:22 PM 0 comments

"Fifty lashes, and then, you walk the plank."

The above quote, by the way, is one of my favourites - spoken by no other than the inimitable Sam the Eagle in Muppet Treasure Island (truly a cinematic masterpiece - what other film features Muppets, a singing Tim Curry, and pirates?!?!?).

But it relates to my actual gist - I have not been writing much actual content lately. Apologies. School has lightened up for about a week or so, and I spent nearly all last weekend watching the entirety of Firefly on DVD. (Captain Tightpants!) But true to form, I am sure I will be struck by the muse or some other such nonsense next week when I will have work to hand in.

So, to distract you, some random stuff.

I'd always been interested when people talked about what search queries and such lead viewers to their site, and I never knew how to find that out. So I asked in the blog section of the Knittyboard and of course got a number of great responses. I've wound up using RetroStats, which so far is quite satisfactory. Plus, you know. Cute little buttons and all that.

It's quite intriguing seeing the referring sites. I have NO idea how RetroStats claims people get from certain sites to mine (nothing naughty, just blogs without similar content or links). But it is a rush to find out when people link to you: for instance, I'm listed here on The 8 Track Knitting Diva's site as someone who's made Kate (scroll waaaay down to see her). And on Auntie Amanda's blog, because I helped her out with making project status bars. (Anyone interested? I still have the text; I'd be willing to post a tutorial.) And also from Melissa's MSN Space. Seriously, I have no comment. Her blog is basically her. Also, to get sappy for a moment, I can't wait until I get home this summer, because I miss you, Moe!

The majority of my visitors are from "Unknown" - how cool is that! I see this as either the infinite blackness of space, or, you know, a fortified island bunker in the Pacific. But I also have people stumbling in from as far away as the UK, Australia and the Phillippines! And the majority speak English, but apparently those who speak Lithuanian, Dutch, Swedish and German have stopped by. (Those languages must be fairly related; perhaps shaxophile resembles a word from one of those languages?)

Of course, the stuff everyone's interested in: search queries. (And, by the way, people actually use MSN search? Colour me shocked.)

isaac mizrahi fairweather ads and isaac mizrahi fairweather model - Uh, Fairweather? You sure? And, actually, how did you get directed here? Wait, I just did a Google search. It was because I mentioned how much I loathed watching Mizrahi before the Oscars and had used a Fairweather shirt for a craft. I am actually eighth in the list for this search! And as a a bonus, "shaxophile" actually shows up in a Google search - it hasn't before. But still, Isaac Mizrahi did Fairweather clothes?

example of buble sort animation - I'm guessing they mean animation of bubbles. Though a kid's TV show with Michael Buble has the possibility of being hi-larious.

must have cardigan - It's right here, darling. Lovely, isn't it? I'm doing it in Paton's Classic in a dark faded denim colour. If you told me a few months ago I'd willingly be making a free Berocco pattern, and being calling it classic and everything, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Shows how a little Norah Gaughan can really class up a joint. And as an aside, as well as being one of my preferred designers, Norah Gaughan has got to have one of the loveliest names ever, really. (Addendum: apparently there is a real pattern called the Must Have Cardigan, designed for no other than Paton's Classic. But I still prefer Hibito.)

lovin%27 spoonful daydream myspace code - Hope you get some help with that aphasia. Really, I'm lost.

sarah needs - Some chocolate. Have started a new "I'm going to get healthy and save money and go to the gym, I mean it, for reals this time" regimen. Waaaaaaant chocolate.

posted by Sarah @ 2:23 PM 1 comments

Well, that's real nice.

posted by Sarah @ 8:47 AM 0 comments

Governor James Douglas is my hero

I know all I do lately is talk about schoolwork, but that's because that's all I'm doing lately. (Though I did try Moosehead beer today - nice.) Anyway, quick rant. I'm writing this huge (25% of our grade) essay for my Cdn. History course, and my topic is on colonial governments' sexual regulation of colonists. Sadly not as fascinating as you'd think. But anyway, there was this big conflict in BC back in the 1860s where some people were advocating mixed-race marriages, because marriage is good and it'll stop the state of fornication and children born out of wedlock, etc etc etc. Then there were those who opposed this, saying that the racial and moral divide is too large. Allowing white men and Native women to wed will only destroy the sanctity of marriage.

Do you see where I'm going with this???

But then again, it is moments like this, as much as they frustrate me, that make me love history. Because someday our generation will be history, and they will be wondering why we made such a big deal about gay marriage.

Here's hopin'.

PS. Happy birthday to my dad. No matter how cool James Douglas was, my dad will always beat him in who is my hero. It's not fun being away from my family for birthdays, but it's only a short time now until I'm home!

posted by Sarah @ 10:40 PM 0 comments

Le sigh

Notes upon writing an essay about Johnny Depp for film studies class:


To quote Samuel L. Jackson, "ENGLISH, MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU SPEAK IT?"

Is it just me, or does the phrase "the children have won golden tickets into Wonka's factory" sound really dirty? I even avoided using the word chocolate anywhere. Yup, I'm officially grossed out.

It's really creepy when you identify one of the key traits of the man people around the world drool over as consistently portraying childlike characters. (This is even excluding J. M. Barrie.) Think about it: Ed Wood's voice. Willy Wonka. Edward Scissorhands is just a baby, people!

If I throw in one more D'Onofrio (his Orson Welles is to die for), Wonka or Schwartzenegger, I think my spellcheck is going to commit ritual seppuku.

But it recognizes Sandra Bullock?

Oeuvre is a really really hard word to spell.

I had to watch Johnny Depp movies for this project, y'all. It was homework. I know, you're seething with jealousy. Anyway, was looking up quotes and found this:

Mike Teavee: Who wants a beard?
Willy Wonka: Well, beatniks for one, folk singers and motorbike riders. Y'know. All those hip, jazzy, super cool, neat, keen, and groovy cats. It's in the fridge, daddy-o! Are you hip to the jive? Can you dig what I'm layin' down? I knew that you could. Slide me some skin, soul brother!

Damn. That, along with the dolls at the beginning, make me weep, I swear. Oh, and the walking into the elevator. When my life stops being insane I'll have to rewatch this.

Oh! And the cannabalism joke. I quote that on an alarmingly high level.

Oh, and the flag museum. Dang.

posted by Sarah @ 5:39 PM 0 comments

Slip sliding away

So! 'Twas my birthday on Thursday. It was perhaps not ideal (damn you, freezing rain! Damn yoooooooooooou!) but I still had some good times nonetheless. For one thing, I got a hair cut. I'm not going to post a before shot basically because a) they all look like crappy myspace photos, sans androgynous emo kid, and b) I got a haircut for a reason, duh. But after!

So, anyway, one of the things I did was go out to Wool N' Things in Orleans, because it's a high-end store an hour-long bus ride away so if I didn't go now I probably wouldn't ever go. It was nice but you know what? I really, really can't see myself ever buying Rowan or Debbie Bliss yarn now. It is SO goddam expensive (and this shop claimed to offer 10% off MSRP). I mean, around $7/ball is my upper limit unless it's something like socks where you only need one or two balls. And this stuff is sold in 50g balls at the most. Grrr. Anyway, I did get two nice things:


Tweedy purple Cascade Quatro, currently halfway through sock two of a pair of Thujas. Wondering what I was doing while I was balling (snicker) this hank?



New (sheep!) socks (from my aunt and uncle for my birthday) and Jon Stewart. And sock yarn. Deliriously happy much?

I also got 10 balls of this (bargain bin! $2/ball! Yay!) for a summer top. It's greener in person, almost emerald-y.


As for other stuff in my life, it's basically school school school oh god what am I going to do with this stupid degree if I ever get it because I hate this paper oh gawd teh angstzors. Maybe something more fun to discuss?

Ah yes, the topic I know the least about yet love to gab on and on about! You got it: music! All of a sudden there is a ton more music on my iPod. I lay the blame for this solely at the feet of The Royal Tenenbaums.


Damn, but that is a good movie. But I have to admit my feelings upon my first viewing could be summed up in four words: Double. You. Tee. Eff. But I've seen it two more times and like it more and more every time now, so that I'd count it among my favourite movies now. Anyway, it was the first time I'd ever heard Elliott Smith, and it really connected with me even the first time. (This time, when the guitar started up in the movie, I felt my entire body clench up, knowing what was about to happen.) Then, this time, I heard "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," by Paul Simon, so I went off to a completely legal source of music and dl'd it. Then that sent me off on a search for songs from The Concert in Central Park. Then that reminded me of a Willie Nelson "Bridge Over Troubled Water" cover my brother sent me. Plus that cover of "Hey Jude" from the movie. Then Travis's screen name sent me off to find "Do You Believe in Magic?". And so on and so on. So without further ado, stuff you should listen to post-haste:

"9 to 5," Dolly Parton. I have this big theory on how this song is actually a Communist declaration that someday I will write up and post here. (I also think this about A Bug's Life. I mentioned that to my film studies TA, and he suggested the same for Dinosaur.)

Anything by Deirdre Flint. Hilarious. I first heard her through Cast-On, and am particularly fond of "The Boob Fairy" and "Cheerleader", though I really wish I could find "Presidential Succession."

"Do You Believe in Magic?", The Lovin' Spoonful. C'mon now, you know you like it. At the very least, you'll have this song stuck in your head for a few days before you give in. Mwahaha.

"Fever," Michael Buble. How much do I like this song? Like much of my generation, I can't listen to this song without thinking of Edna Krabappel. Popping balloons. Oh god. Here is Sarah's easy guide to getting past this:

1. Close your eyes.
2. Are they closed? Good. You are a liar. You can't read with your eyes closed. Try that one again and I will cut choo so bad you gonna wish I didn't cut choo so bad.
3. OK, let's try this one: read ahead to the end, then do the instructions. We good? We good.
4. Close your eyes.
5. Think of Michael Buble.
6. Think of Michael Buble singing this song.
7. Ahhhh. There we go.

Seriously, I like this song so much I can even get past its invocation of Pocahontas and John Smith as romantic ideals. Am on the fence about several lines but like it generally as a whole. While you're at it, check out "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby".

"Happy Together," The Turtles. Just a happy song, plus now I can't listen to it without thinking of the flowers at the end of Adaptation.

"Hungry Like the Wolf," Duran Duran. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA seriously I like it HAHAHAHAHA... I mean, honestly, I can't even say the name without giggling.

Most any song from The Concert in Central Park, particularly "Kodachrome Maybellene", "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard", "Wake Up Little Susie" and especially "Late in the Evening"! I do my Snoopy dance when I listen to "Late in the Evening".

"Uptown Girl," by Westlife. Oh shut up. Yes, I know. Billy Joel. Covered by a Brit pop boy band. I know, okay? In my defence, the video has Ioan Griffudd and Crispin Bonham-Carter (aka Mr. Bingely) pretending to be rich a-holes, and I need something to exercise to.

"Daydream Believer," The Monkees. I DARE you to not like this song. I win.

posted by Sarah @ 11:24 AM 0 comments

Chillax

I realized shortly after that last post that in quite some time, I had written only two pieces, both of which were entitled with only an onomatopoeiac growl. So let's all chillax, eh?

I realized that I have been very bad about posting my FOs. To the casual observer I would appear to be someone who constantly spouts off her mouth about knitting, yet never actually does anything. This is true. However, there have been a few exceptions to the rule.

It seems that I am at my most efficient when I am making an item for someone else. I think this is because I have guidelines: what the person likes and/or wants, and a reasonable deadline. (Please note: these guidelines do not make me efficient in schoolwork.) When it's for me, I see all the mistakes. I can't make any decisions. I feel free to drop it whenever I get bored. Exhibit numero uno: Tubey. Oh, Tubey. You're adorable! And affordable (I subbed Paton's Decor, which was on sale, so $36 before tax)! How can I resist? This was a sweater pattern so unique and cute I could see myself actually finishing it!

Sidenote: I have only tried to make a sweater twice before. One was the go-everywhere cardigan from S'n'B the first. Lesson learned: there is a strange and mysterious force called Gauge, which decrees that sport-weight wool and worsted-weight wool-ribbon blends are not acutally equivalent. The only thing I liked about that was that I had the brilliant idea of casting on both fronts and the back at the same time as one piece, then dividing at the armholes. I am proud that I have proof that I thought of that myself before reading it in SNBN. I haven't yet frogged the astonishing amount I got done. Here's the real kicker: it's so big, it wraps completely around my abdomen. Twice. Even though I probably cast on for the wrong size. Which brings me to the second sweater.

It was the Flower Power sweater from SNBN. I bought a cheap wool-acrylic blend from my LYS. Tomato-red. Not my colour. Being lazy as well as cheap, I worked my gauge swatch and discovered I was going to work this at a bigger gauge. No worries, it's SNBN after all. I reworked the entire pattern, following the instructions at the front of the book. Somewhere along the line I ignored the whole (invaluable!) part about fit and ease. As in: your bra size is not your bust size. You must actually measure yourself. I managed to fool myself all the way through a front, back, and sleeve for that one.

Anyway, back to Tubey. I should have read the pattern first. I'll let the photo speak for itself:


Yeah. FIFTY-FIVE INCHES of St st (I didn't even stretch it out), and I'm STILL not done the shrug part. The stitch count stays exactly the same the whole time, too. At approximately 6 rows to the inch, with 70 stitches in each row, that's around twenty-three thousand, one hundred stitches already. But I know eventually I'll finish it. Could you frog 55" of hard-fought St st?

Then there's the stuff I have done, but haven't shown. There's my first pair of socks I did, which were made with OnLine Sierra Effekt yarn that I bought from my lys back home.

I made them from this simple Patons pattern, but I made a few significant changes:

• Kroy? Gauge? Pah!
• Shorter legs (only 4").
• Ribbing all the way to the heel flap - just one rnd of St st between.

I like this yarn's patterning, but I didn't like the splotches of black that would show up throughout. I have another colourway, which does the same thing. Also, I think sock legs need to be longer than you think at first. I wouldn't do the complete leg ribbing next time. It stretches out with wear and your socks are falling down by the end of the day. I think this pattern will become my standard plain jane sock pattern though; they fit pretty well on the foot's width and length.

As for my Olympic socks?
They are GORGEOUS. I LOVE THEM.
They fit really, really well. They have the perfect amount of negative ease. When I first wore them, they were so tight they left marks on my instep, like the pillow marks you get on your face. In a good way. The panels of lace and cables are separated by purl stitches, so it's ribbed and meant to expand.

But . . . the bad.
The toe on these socks is finished by cutting the yarn and drawing it through the stitches. No Kitchener. At first I was pleased by this, but not anymore. It just doesn't hold up as well, and it doesn't look as good. It allows the stitches to loosen, so that one sock has a visible hole at the end were the stitches were drawn together, and the other's end has become unwoven. If I was ever to knit this pattern again (and I probably won't - no more spice in it) I would work a few rounds of St st between the panels and the beginning of the toe decreases, then Kitchener the toe.

Speaking of changes to the pattern, the people at XRX must be on crack. They tell you, after the heel gusset, to work two repeats of the pattern, which will equal 7.5" from the heel. Lies! I had to do three repeats to get 7.5". There is no way changes in gauge could do that much. Also, you may note that the cable and lace pattern original photo of the pattern and in my version differs slightly. The only way I can possibly account for this is that they either printed the chart backwards, or they knit charts reading from left to right, which is ... odd. As well, when you begin the pattern on the instep you have to start halfway through the chart in order to maintain the continuity of the pattern, which isn't explained.

As for yarn - something is going wrong with my sock heels. It's happened with both pairs of my socks. It's a kind of dirty-looking pilling on the heel flaps. Can anyone help a sistah out with this? They're both 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, and the Tipsy Knitters had the Lang Jawoll reinforcement thread in the heel as well.

But anyway! I finished the 2nd sock on the 26th, with the help of the Disney Treasures: Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studio DVD I got out of the library. These Disney Treasures DVDs are really great: my mom and dad gave me the Rarities for Christmas, and I love it. I could just shut off my brain and look it all the gorgeous animation.

This makes me a Knitting Olympics Gold Medallist!


Oh, and just in case you are curious: this is exactly how much Tipsy Knitter sock you can get out of one skein of Lang Jawoll.


I have tons left over from the pink socks too. The wool cartels are fooling us into think we need +300 yds for socks, I think. And this from a girl with big feet.

"But surely," you cry out, "you've knit something other than socks lately!" "You," I reply, "are too invested in my crafting." But seriously, I have, for the Craftster stash swap. (Stargirl, stop reading now if you want to be surprised.)

For my clothing item:


Details: size L black Fairweather t-shirt, Avery dark t-shirt transfer.

I love this design so hard. (Of course I do; ohmystars put it together.) I've used it a lot. It was my entry for Melissa's Yankee swap Christmas party gift exchange. Downside: I've used it so many times I can't see using it on an item for me, because I would be all, "But everyone already has that shirt!"

Useful item:





I think this is the best notebook I've ever made. I took the hardcover book (which sucked to a shocking degree, since it contained 2 of my favourite things: pirates and history. Sadly, grammatical errors can trump most of the things I love) and cut out the pages. I saved the illustrations. I scanned them in and then printed them out on plain old 8.5 x 11" paper. Along with plenty of sheets of plain 8.5 x 11" paper, I cut them to size, then bound them with the coptic stitch and Berocco Suede "yarn", which I use to bind all my books. For the front and back covers, I used two sheets of cardboard cut to size. I then glued the cardboard to the inside of the book. When they were dry, I glued the flyleafs in. They're just printed on cardstock. For all my flyleafs, I grab the images of cool fabric from Reprodepot, then resize them in MS Paint. Yup, I'm cutting edge. The front flyleaf says: "This book be the property of: _______________" The pattern there is Water Swirl - cherry, incidentally.

And my favourite, the fun craft:
Knitty's Kate, which I call Meg, for obvious reasons. Paton's Classic Merino in black, aran and bright red. I felted her slightly to both hide my not-so-good seaming, and to make her more secure.

posted by Sarah @ 6:49 PM 0 comments

GRRRRRRRRR

I know I haven't been writing much lately, but just a quick note: I love the Oscars. LOVE them. It has to be an event with me. I watch the whole shebang. Even the preshow.

Dear Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences,

I sat through an hour and a half of Ryan Seacrest and Isaac Mizrahi for you. Ninety minutes. And this is how you repay me? By giving Best Picture to Crash????????

Love, Sarah

PS. Cute, the way you had Philip Seymour Hoffman thank me in his speech. Still not forgiving you.

posted by Sarah @ 11:41 PM 0 comments