Spinalcat's Crafty Adventures

Well, lots of work. Yay for working in a yarn shop! Other than that, mostly watching House and No Reservations marathons, Dr. Strangelove for the umpteenth time, and Tom Lehrer videos on YouTube. I gave in and baked cookies, but not rocket-shaped. The observance of Saturn, Hell Yeah! will have to wait till next year. I did celebrate Festivus by airing some grievances with my mother. We've been feeding Shyam's cats, as evidenced by the video a couple of posts below. The cat grooming my head is the one that's *not* friendly! The other one loves to nuzzle armpits and purr. Actual fun took place a couple of weeks ago, but I don't have any photos. We went to Berkeley to see Bruce Campbell at a screening of My Name is Bruce. Always a good time. We saw him in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago when he was screening The Man With the Screaming Brain .When we got back to the parking garage after the movie, it was shut down! Apparently it closed at midnight, and it ...

This is Jayne , aka Bertie . He'd do this all day if I let him.

The song from this video has been stuck in my head since Saturday. Apparently field mice like to play on the northbound Caltrain platform in Mountain View at about 7pm. I saw one run onto a guy's shoe and start sniffing up his pants before the guy noticed! I'm guessing there's no feral cat problem in Mountain View! Bryan and I decided that what they really need up there is a trained falcon that'll come back when it's called. That would be so awesome.

Paw Prints and Rock , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Did you know that the pet rock fad was created by a guy from Los Gatos? This is another kind of pet rock. We had Yum Yum cremated by Caring Pet Service , run by Trent of Trent Pottery in Los Gatos. Her ashes are in this handmade "river rock."

WIP: Mermaid , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I'm shocked at how fast this is going, considering the size 2 1/2 needles. I'm almost to the center back.

WIP: Mermaid by Hanne Falkenberg , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I'm using colorway #10. I'm skipping past the i-cord and collar flap part, and starting with a provisional cast on where the body starts. I'll do the collar and i-cord in one piece later. This project makes for pretty good sitting-around-the-house-sick knitting, as long as you take good notes on the "at the same time" parts before you lose the ability to think.

Lizard Ridge Preview , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Here's all the pieces so far, plus the yarn I've bought to finish it . 3 strips down, 1 to go! I'm doing strips of 5 skeins, with 6 repeats from each skein. It's going to be quite long. Bryan told me that all our blankets are too short.

Spiral Cabled Chemo Cap , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Spiral Cabled Chemo Cap - Dina version, preemie size. Taught at our guild meeting by Margit, the Fiber Fiend . I used yarn dyed at the previous month's workshop taught by Margit . This was quick and fun to knit. Bobbles are fun when you know how to knit backwards!

FO: Catriona Vest , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Finally got some pictures of Catriona ! I'm about to duck outside to photograph the chemo cap so I can donate it. I finished finishing the new spinning wheel parts and have been using the new flyer & whorl for a couple days. I really like it. I have a little bit of adjustment to do to cut down on vibration and make all 4 legs touch the ground at the same time. I thought I had fixed the legs in the garage the other day, but that was before I realized the floor wasn't level. D'oh! I washed a little bit of the fleece I bought from Lynne and will do a lot more when Bryan Sr. leaves. I've got a couple of comissions I need to finish up too. Not to mention swatching and starting Mermaid!

Sea Dragon , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Tons of jellies, sea otters, and a couple of penguins. http://www.flickr.com/photos/buxtrosion/sets/72157610224020090/

Mostly this post is to tell you about what I'll be posting about next. :) I finished the Catriona vest and love it! I wore it last Friday, but I haven't snapped a modeled photo yet. With the sun setting before 5 and me working or volunteering most weekends, I've got to bite the bullet and get a remote switch. The self-timer is too horrible. I've also finished and lined the Sunburst Sling Bag . I got a really cute button I need to sew on. I want to do a modeled shot of that bag since my problem with the pattern could have been avoided if I'd seen more pictures of the large size being held by a human. I've been working on my Lizard Ridge (halfway done!) and am almost finished with the preemie size Spiral Cabled Chemo Cap from the guild meeting last night. I'm doing the bobbled version. Tomorrow night I'm buying a bunch of fleece from Lynne. Yay! Work today was really exciting. I unpacked about 10 new colors of Misti Alpaca Chunky, most of the...

November Class Schedule Along with the usual fibery stuff, I've got a Ruffled Roses Scarf class and a Rose of England Shawl-along.

My Yarns From Guild Dye Workshop , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Margit, the Fiber Fiend, taught a dye workshop for the Knitspiration guild. I dyed 2 skeins of DK weight wool. One is a semisolid, and the other is variegated. I love the variegated as it looks without reskeining, but I don't know how it will look knit up. That's one reason I like to dye self-striping yarns. I think I'll be doing more handpainted semi-solids in the future, though. They're really quick and fun.

Crochet Cheeseburger WIP , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I decided it was time I learned to make actual crocheted objects. It's so much fun! I made a carrot and 2 strawberries as well. Pattern: Cheeseburger with the Works by Beth Doherty, from Amigurumi Super Happy Crochet Cute . Rav link .

Catriona Parts , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Just the neck and sleeve bands to go! I've got to get 3.25mm needles before I can go any further. The neckline decreases were horribly frustrating. I am happy with the result, but not thrilled about the repeated frogging it took to get me there. In a few places, I had to move the decrease away from the edge, or make one decrease a double and skip the following one. I also wish I had done both sides at the same time. They came out uneven, but that alerted me to a mistake I had made on one side, and I fixed it. I also ended up finishing on a different row of one of the cables than I did on the back. I couldn't find any error to explain it, and I really don't think it will be noticeable after seaming. Rav link .

Huge Bag Before Frogging , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I knit to finished measurements, but 20" across is too big for a purse! I'm redoing it with 30 stitches (in between L and M sizes). Pattern: Sunburst Sling Bags

Yum Yum 6/18/93 - 10/31/08 I am very saddened to tell you that our beloved cat was euthanized yesterday. She was much sicker than we knew. I had her checked into the hospital to try to help her get over a respiratory infection and start eating again. Her vet discovered advanced intestinal cancer on an ultrasound. This is difficult for me because I'd be prepared to do anything to help her, but it was just too late. She had a really good life of 15 years with me, and I think she had a good death. She already had an IV line, so it was quick and peaceful. She was an extremely loving cat, and we miss her very much. It is difficult for us because Yum Yum's situation was so similar to that of Bryan's mom, who passed away in 2007. Unfortunately, we could not spare her from suffering as we did Yum Yum. Anyway, you can see more pictures of Yum Yum here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/buxtrosion/sets/72157608568334063/

Bobbin 1 , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Working on the Lorna's Laces top I got when Knitting Arts closed.  I'm planning on a 3-ply sock yarn.  Sorry about the flash.  It's ludicrously dark in the house, even with a 5-bulb lamp right above the spinning wheel.  I'm spinning in the bobbin lead configuration, so it's a little less easy to pop out the bobbin for photos.  I've been on a bit of a spinning kick lately.  I taught Rachel's son's girlfriend spindling at last month's spin-in, taught a spindling class last weekend, and taught Kool-Aid dyeing this afternoon. This top is the last of my fiber stash!  Someone bought the Chasing Rainbows merino-tencel I had been eying at work, so I looked up the colorways and there are over 40!  Plus so many fiber blends!  I also think I'm in the mood for undyed fiber.  I want to buy a couple pounds of wool for a sweater. I'm tempted to start doing some prep myself as well, but I don't want to tak...

Rancid @ The Warfield , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Not a big fan of the Warfield.  It's one of those converted theaters where the dance floor is much too short.  The staff seems pretty out-of-touch.  I'm used to dedicated punk/indie clubs.  I was wearing my red plaid bondage pants, and the guy checking tickets said, "I like that.  It reminds me of a kilt."  I don't think he gets out much.  :) I think I enjoyed the last time I saw Rancid (in Austin ) more than this time.  I have to accept the fact that I'm not going to hear many songs from my favorite Rancid albums, because their other stuff is so much more popular. I had a much greater appreciation for Lars's songs about growing up in Campbell this time, though.  :) There's much more on that topic in his side project .  I'm sure it's changed quite a bit since the 70's!

Catriona Back Finished! , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Woot! I've also finished the first sock in a pair I've been designing for a while.  I was stuck on getting the ankle detail & heel flap just right.  I had a lot of knitting time on my trip a couple of weeks ago & got it all worked out. Woot! I'm almost done with another seaming comission.  I've *just* got to weave in ends.  Lots of ends.

Laceweight Silk Hanky Handspun , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Here's the finished yarn from the silk hankies I was complaining about.  The detail above is cropped from this shot.  I ended up with about 500 yds. This is what the hankies look like.  I spun each stack onto separate bobbins and plied the two together.  The multicolor stack seemed slightly less annoying than the solid stack, but I still probably wouldn't buy hankies again.  I don't like the unavoidable neppiness, though the finished yarn appears a little smoother than I'd have predicted.

neckwarmer5 , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I whipped up a couple patterns for Curious Creek Serengeti , a hand dyed dk weight superwash merino. The official pattern is the Ríos Locos neck snuggler , shown above. I'm really happy with how it turned out. There's also a matching headband pattern available. The headband makes a really quick gift, and there's enough yardage to give one and keep one. If you make it to Yarndogs this weekend, also keep an eye out for Teri's crochet baby mitt pattern for Canopy , one of my new favorite yarns.

FO: Rose of England Shawl , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion .

Last weekend was pretty crappy, but it's all resolved itself now.  I woke up with a migraine on Saturday, and I had to call in sick & reschedule my beginning drop spindling class.  I'm going to the doctor next week to maybe try a different triptin (Amerge again?).  That evening while I was stressing about an audition/interview thing I had on Sunday, Bryan noticed the cat was acting weird.  We realized that she kept going to the litterbox without leaving anything behind.  We ended up taking her to the vet at 2 in the morning since I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I was worring about her.  The vet who was there was pretty sure she had a bladder infection, but we let them keep her overnight to get a sample and also do her annual bloodwork.   The next morning, the vet called us and said she did have a bladder infection and would need antibiotics for 6 weeks (liquid, thankfully) to make sure it hadn't spread to her kidneys.  Her bloodwork showed that she was ready t...

ROE Shawl Blocking , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Both times I've knitted this pattern , I've had second thoughts about my gauge starting around the next to last chart. I knew it worked out fine last time, and I knew I was using up slightly less yarn than Cookie with the same yarn and needles. It turned out great of course! Marianne Kinzel's Rose of England Teacloth from her 2nd Book of Modern Lace Knitting. 3 skeins Misti Alpaca Lace, US 6 needles, about 60" diameter. This'll be at Yarndogs for a while. You can say hi to it during the Shop Hop when I'll be in Texas for my husband's 10 year high school reunion. :)

That is all.

Circular Cape , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion .

It's finally finished! I can stop having my diet dictated by song lyrics, and maybe I can get this song out of my head! Bryan decided to credit me for "catering and hand modeling".

Circular Cape Blocking , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I've finished something ! Yay! This is the Lady's Circular Cape from Victorian Lace Today in Kidsilk Haze (color Pearl). It was one of the 4 projects I entered in the Ravelympics WIP Wrestling event. The other three aren't anywhere close to being finished.

The Aggrolites , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . On Friday I tabled with CA NOW at Warped Tour in Mountain View. We were promoting their "I (heart) Consensual Sex" campaign. Let me know if you want to order a shirt or are interested in getting together a South Bay NOW chapter, and I can get you in touch with people. The shirts are organic cotton and have the definition of "consent" on the back.

Handspun Silk , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . At Mary 's last Saturday I finished up 450 yards of handspun silk singles, about fingering weight. Fiber (2 oz) from Heritage Arts booth at Kid 'n Ewe 2006. I'm fairly sure it's bleached Tussah. It was pretty fun to spin, with a manageable number of neppy bits and just a couple of pupa shell bits. Once again I ended up spinning finer than I had in mind. I like to pet the hand dyed silk singles yarns in shops, most of which are fairly thick. I don't think they wear very well, though. If I'm going to make something intentionally delicate, I want to do it in finer yarn. I ended up spinning this just thick enough to get that fluffy shiny look that you see in thicker silk singles.

Spoiled Fuzzy Rotten , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . The other day I was doing a light blocking on this blanket I seamed for a customer, so of course the cat had to go sit on it. It's the bird blanket from Knit.1 magazine's green issue. The customer knit it in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. Last night while I was uploading this photo, the cat was on top of my Lady Eleanor (I've been re-knotting the fringe).

originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I did a lot of fun stuff last week when my college roommate was in town. Probably the most photogenic was going to see the Chihuly exhibition at the de Young museum in San Francisco. More of my photos here . I'd definitely recommend going on a weekday if possible. Although we didn't have any trouble getting tickets when we got there, it was rather crowded. And skip the cafe, no matter how good it smells. Unless you want to pay $7 (and wait 30 minutes) for a hot dog just for the experience. We also went to the San Jose Museum of Art , which was actually really cool. There's a lot of wacky hi-tech installations, and there's a robot theme going on now. I think it would be really fun for kids. There's a table where you can build a Lego robot & have it photographed and uploaded to Flickr. My friends' are in there somewhere. My friends went to the Tech as well and really liked it. They came back with a robot-dra...

Bryan's up to soft foods now (the song about that hasn't been recorded yet) but you can see the music video for "Liquid Diet Blues" and earlier recovery videos on Youtube . Some of the music video footage is from the Prelinger archives , a collection of 2,000 public domain films. There's some hilarious industrial films there like "The Hormel Story" and many equally hilarious sex ed films from the 50's.

Here's some stuff I found while answering sizing questions on the Rudy socks. I'm probably going to add at least 1 smaller size to the pattern. I did most of the math for somebody yesterday, but I'll still need to put it in a consistent format and maybe test the heel turn. All this information is for socks with a heel flap. Heel math for socks between 40 and 80 stitches around (in 4-stitch increments)- From socknitters.com. Has numbers for 6 heel types- v heel , round heel , rounder heel , square heel , modified square heel, & strap heel. Also explains how to get those numbers Knittinggeek.com has examples of what those turns look like here. Generic sock recipe from Knitty Gritty (good for beginners). Illustrated beginner's guide to the tricky parts. I've used fleegle's lace yarn spreadsheet a LOT recently. I just discovered that our meetup group's own Suzi has a list of sock yarns arranged by meters/100g. This is really useful for sugge...

February in Tacoma Handspun Laceweight , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . 2-ply, about 30 WPI. From a Tactile batt bought at Stitches West. I was worried about the bits of silk noil being obnoxiously obvious, but it turned out really nice after plying. I think I've got about 500 yards, enough for an Evelyn Clark style triangle. I've got a bunch of books on lace design checked out through Link+ right now. I picked up some Mermaid at Green Planet when my meetup group was there last week. It's cotton, merino, silk, and seacell. I'm thinking I'll use it with my tweedy handspun for some kind of top-down raglan mini cardi. Of course, I'll have to finish something first! Here's one of the hibiscus photos I promised. Whee! Spray bottles are fun! Cat discipline, quick blocking, pretentious nature photography. . .

Bryan's doing a lot better, but I've been really busy with work lately. This week, one of my co-workers is on vacation. Next week, another one has jury duty. I've been working on a shawl version of the Rose of England and I've taken in some finishing work. The only purely personal project I've touched is the cape. I've been trying to do 4 border repeats every day, so I should be finished soon. I've fallen in love with a few different yarns over the last few days and I have some design ideas I want to play with, but they'll have to wait a little. I've been doing lots of photography, but not for the blog. Tomorrow I might actually make it to a SFSI shift for the first time in months. My college roommate & significant other are showing up in a couple days to stay with us. I have to respond to two sizing questions on the Rudie socks, clean the garage, and try out my new SpotBot pet edition. Stupid puke cat. I lost the Dream in Color shrug a...

My husband had orthognathic surgery last week to fix his open bite . Now he has a bunch of screws in his head. I saw the x-rays. The surgery went fine, but I've been busy trying to feed him 6-8 liquid meals every day. I don't know why I thought I'd have time to knit! I finished the Dream in Color Shrug at the hospital last week and talked to a couple of nurses about knitting. In the surgery waiting room I talked to a really outgoing quilter who was doing some hand sewing to finish a machine quilted piece. It was really cute. The quilting was done in a fancy heart pattern that was programmed into the machine. There was also a nun crocheting something, but she didn't join the conversation. I made some progress on the Lady's Cape and Catriona , but I forgot to bring extra balls of yarn. I decided on a needle size for the socks I'm working on, though. 1 1/2 were too small and 2 1/2 were too big. I got some 2 (2.75mm) and I think they'll be per...

Handspun Singles from Tactile Batt , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I've finished the first of two bobbins of singles from the Tactile batt I got at Stitches. It's a really nice blend, but I could do without the silk noil since I decided it wanted to be laceweight. Fiber details: 2 oz February in Tacoma batt. 53% Alpaca, 25% Merino/Bamboo, 11% BFL, 3% Tussah silk, 3% yak down, 3% silk noil, and 2% angora. http://www.flickr.com/photos/buxtrosion/2299346742/ This fiber's been really fun to spin so fine since it has so many components. It never gets boring. Since I wanted the singles thin and even, I used a short draw for more control and to more closely examine the yarn. I didn't smooth the yarn with the forward hand like I would for true worsted spinning.

Circular Cape , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . I haven't been very talkative online lately (Bryan switched keyboard to Dvorak), but I've been lurking. I've also had a bad case of startitis. I've been forcing myself to work a little on older WIPs every day. The body of the Circular Cape is done, and the border is going very quickly. This is by far the quickest lace project I've knitted. The body is just a feather and fan variation with a lot of resting rows, and it only took me a couple of repeats to memorize the border. There's not enough progress on Catriona to take a picture, and I'm debating changing needle size a self-designed sock. This is my new WIP , the Dream in Color Shrug (Classy in Dusky Aurora). The Dream in Color yarns are so gorgeous!

Ruffled Roses Scarf , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . Ruffled Roses by Annie Modesitt http://www.ravelry.com/projects/spinalcat/ruffled-roses Awesome! 3 colors of Misti Alpaca Worsted and a partial ball of ONline Linie 194 Solo (a ruffle/tape yarn). Pattern (free) available at Yarndogs. Or check the designer's site for a shop near you. Mods/Notes- For me, the purl rows of the tape were the right side. Subbed dark green for red-brown yarn. No problems with stitch count. I think other people got confused because the stitch count for the center lace pattern is given. There’s stitches on either side of that for a garter stitch edging. I used this tutorial for a similar ruffle yarn to help figure out how to use it. Think whip stitch, not running stitch. I used the 3-needle bind off after figuring out how to graft in ribbing and then realizing that it would always be offset by half a stitch because the pieces were both knit in the same direction.

Self-Striping Sock yarn , originally uploaded by Buxtrosion . My first time mixing Jacquard acid dyes. :) Primaries are Yellow Sun and Sky Blue. I love how it looks in the skein, but I'm not sure how I'll like the stripes. The green and blue-green are awfully similar. Maybe I'll do the same colors as a variegated yarn next time. I wrapped the sub-skeins for dyeing on a PVC device like this . Here's mine. For this yarn, I only used 4 arms (4 colors). I did the actual dyeing on the stove, with each sub-skein in a large Mason jar in a waterbath in my big Ikea pot. The colors came out a little semi-solid, probably because of the cramped jars and my laziness in stirring. Here's a little more info on building the PVC device. You'll need 14 pieces that are about 3", 6 pieces that are 18", 6 pieces that are 16", 12 pieces that are about 8" and 2 pieces that are about 6". You'll also need 4 elbow pieces and 18 T pieces. O...

Anyone heard of Flat Feet sock yarn, the stuff sold in a machine-knitted, hand-painted rectangle? Now Knit Picks is selling undyed blanks of machine-knitted Bare yarn. Looks like fun, but it's twice as expensive as the same yarn in the skein. How many of these would I have to dye to justify buying a knitting machine? Lolz. I'm partial to immersion dyeing, anyway. :)

The knee socks were finally finished a couple of weeks ago! Rav link . Here's the photo set of the entire process- dyeing, spinning, and knitting. This is the 8 oz of Blue-faced Leicester I got at the Kid n Ewe fiber festival in Bourne, TX in 2006. I dyed the roving with Kool-Aid and Easter egg dyes, and spun it into a 3-ply yarn. I don't have the WPI, but it's 17-18.5 sts/2", 26-28.5 rows/2" on a size 0(US) needle. Here's the notes on the toe-up construction and shaping. This was my first time doing toe-up socks, and it was fun. No picking up stitches, and I could start small and increase until it fit, instead of having to guess the number of stitches to cast on when starting at the cuff. (No, I don't swatch for socks. That's silly. The first few inches of the sock is the swatch.) Judy's magic cast-on about 12 stitches. Increased 4 stitches every other row in the usual manner until I reached 64. When that got too snug, I increased 2 st...

I was inspired by this Bella Knitting blog post to spend some time with my color wheel and a box of colored pencils. I also started poking around online and found a few more color picking and palette generating tools. On Color Schemer (the one mentioned on the Bella Knitting blog), you can browse color schemes that other people have uploaded. The real product they're trying to sell is their $50 Color Schemer software, but there is a quick-and-dirty online palette generator on their site. The generated palettes tend to be pretty garish, though. They also offer a nifty little free doo-dad that tells you the value of any pixel on your screen. Then there's this site for generating palettes. It tends towards monochromatic or 2-hued schemes. This flickr toy from Big Huge Labs will create a scheme based on a photo you upload or give it a link to. It's pretty nice. Colourlovers.com has a very similar function (for online photos only) that offers a little more control. The...

I think I've finally recovered from the weekend. I had a migraine most of Thursday night and Friday. By the time it was over, I missed dinner with one of Bryan's college roommates who was in town, and ended up needing to get the car detailed. (AJ in San Jose does a good job, BTW.) Who ever thought it was a good idea to put nasty mint flavoring in migraine meds? Blech. It's time to switch since the Maxalt quits working after a few hours anyway. Saturday was spinning at Mary's . I worked on spinning up my Crosspatch Creations batt (yay, more long-draw!) Lisa made and plied her first yarn on Mary's wheel! I really love seeing people learn to spin. I taught a drop spindle class a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun! I love beginner yarn! I never make it anymore, probably because I'm obsessed with predrafting! Here's the finished yarn. I had fun spinning this, but it had a little bit of a tacky/sticky feel. There was a fair amount of vegetabl...