December’s theme was “superwash” and it included 5 samples in worsted weight. This seemed like a perfect time for me to practice my colourwork, since “do a small fair isle project” is on my craft goal list for this year, and I need practice with colourwork. In addition to the yarns, there’s some pom-pom makers, … Continue reading
One of the Ravelry groups I enjoy runs a pi/e themed yarn swap and I decided to participate this year because seriously, how awesome is that? The deal was that you had to include yarn or spinning fiber, some edible goodies, a handcrafted item, and other goodies related to pi or pie. Target value was … Continue reading
One more preview photo for today! These yarns have been sadly neglected in favour of Rose City Yarn Crawl stuff, but they’ll be coming up soon! I’m very much looking forwards to more teensy tiny sample knits. Yarn of the Month is on the left, with that tempting stained glass pattern that might have me … Continue reading
I took this picture back in January but apparently never actually shared it, so here’s a belated preview, if that makes any sense: Yarn of the Month is on the left, Beanie Bags on the right. Since I’m planning to block the YOTM samples tonight and nearly done with the project for the Beanie Bags, … Continue reading
Both my subscriptions arrived on the same day, so here’s a quick preview! My Jimmy Beans Beanie Bag on the left is a collection of sport weight merino in pretty pinks, with the newer square bag like they did last month, a Soak wool wash packet and this month’s notion, which is plastic spiral stitch … Continue reading
Crawl starts soon, and of course I’m last-minute blocking! Here’s clue 3: And the final clue, clue 4, unblocked. I actually missed the final colour change, those last points are supposed to be cake-coloured. But honestly, I’m so in love with the yellow/orange yarn that I’m kind of glad I made the mistake. Plus it … Continue reading
This pattern is named after Rimsky-Korsacoffee house, one of the local places that takes “keep Portland weird” as a personal mission. Also, it has great cake. Continue reading
As I mentioned in my post about knit-a-longs, the Rose City Yarn Crawl runs both a knit and crochet a long in the month leading up to the yarn crawl. It’s a real treat seeing people wear their creations out on the crawl, and I wanted to be one of those gals sporting a new … Continue reading
I’ve paused on this knit-a-long since the Rose City Yarn Crawl ones have started and I foolishly have tried to do both, but here’s what it looked like at clue 3: I really liked the bind-off in this. You can’t tell from the in progress photo, but it’s designed so that the bind off is … Continue reading
I finally sat down and made a decision about what to make with my Beanie Bags yarn. So freeing! First, let’s look at the package. The mailing envelope contained a single bag filled with stuff: The packaged contained 4 balls of yarn in the same shade of grey (although the light catches them differently in … Continue reading
Astute readers may note that I’m doing the December YOTM review but still haven’t done the Beanie Bag full review. That’s because even though it’s January I still haven’t knit up anything with any of my Beanie Bag yarns. How embarrassing. Now, I could blame a busy holiday, but I the answer is much simpler … Continue reading
The week 3 clue came out on Friday, so I’m a bit behind still. But Clue 2 was much easier than clue 1, at least! Here’s what clue 2 looks like for me and my dino buddy: Still loving that thick cuff, but not so much loving the transition at the wrist bead line — … Continue reading
I did manage to cast on one of those knit-a-longs: the fingerless mitt “Catch a Falling Star” MKAL. since clue 2 has now been released (as I write this — I think clue 3 might be released by the time this posts), here’s my pictures from casting on and clue 1!
Not sure what I’d say what November’s theme was, but it certainly resulted in some pretty yarns arriving on my doorstep! The Pattern A drop stitch shawl. Probably won’t make it into my repertoire because there are just so many shawl patterns in the world, but who knows, maybe it’ll be perfect for some specific … Continue reading
Made this one for my friend M. But apparently this is the only picture that turned out! Pattern: Celtic Myths (heh, I typed “Mythos” first — I think a bit too much Cthulhu in my life) Yarn: Timberline Ice by Alexandra’s Crafts. This is a really lovely blend: 63% superwash, 20% silk, 15% nylon, 2% … Continue reading
This one was always intended to be a Christmas gift to my Mom, but I finished it in May. That might be the earliest I’ve ever started or finished a present. Continue reading
January is apparently the month to start knit-a-longs! I guess it makes some sense, since many people are done with holiday gift knitting, but oh my goodness, I’ve seen so many of them that I feel rather overwhelmed. Here’s three I’m seriously considering. Continue reading
Quick peek at my yarn subscriptions for December 2015: On the left is Yarn of the Month Club, on the right is Jimmy Beans’ Beanie Bags. As with last month, Jimmy Beans Beanie Bags really wins on presentation. The bag is cute and just packed with pretty cards and offers and patterns. I think they … Continue reading
It’s Dec 13, which means I’m a little overdue for my October YOTM review. I did the swatches and I’ve had the pictures ready to go for a while, though, so it’s time to write! October 2015’s yarns have a autumn colour scheme: brown and orange. The swatch descriptions this month also included the maker … Continue reading
I’ve had a few different types of bacon chocolate chip cookies now, because I have the type of life where that’s a viable dietary choice and plenty of friends who are willing to try something new. But I’ve got to say that I’ve got mixed feelings about them. Some bacon chocolate chip cookies are pretty … Continue reading
You may have seen xkcd’s comic about git: I feel this pain. Because of Mailman, I actually learned Bazaar when many people were learning git, and did most of my contributions through launchpad, so I’m a relative newcomer to git and doing contributions on github (Mailman’s on gitlab now, but I do github for work … Continue reading
Remember my simple hat post? It’s been done for a while now. The cloud helpfully made a collage out of my selfie attempts showcasing the finished object: What’s fun about this hat is that it’s actually just a rectangular bag that you wear on your head. the “ears” aren’t built in at all, they’re an … Continue reading
September was blue for Yarn of the Month. The Pattern This month’s pattern is “UTurn Scarf” which is a fun mitered knitting scarf, good for self-striping yarns. I don’t know if I’ll try it or not! Amitola Grande Louisa Harding Amitola Grande “This single ply yarn is subtle and soft” 4.5 sts on US 10 … Continue reading
I was visiting So Much Yarn in Seattle and looking for possible presents for folk with September birthdays. When I saw this beautiful rayon yarn with a thread of gold in it knit up in the store, though, I knew I had a winner for my sister. The Pattern Clapotis on Ravelry (so you can … Continue reading
August’s colour scheme was a light lavender grey. I decided to liven up some my photos a little, colour-wise, in part because I haven’t found my light box since the move, but also because I like a tad more colour in my selections. The pattern This month’s pattern was for a bracelet made of woven … Continue reading
There’s a new small yarn subscription service in town! Jimmy Beans Wool has a new subscription service they call “Beanie Bags” which is fairly similar to my existing Yarn of the Month Club subscription. Here’s the yarn portion of both of them for November: I’m excited about my mail, so you get a preview today … Continue reading
I’m not big on charity knitting because often it’s much more sensible to donate money that can be used to support more tangible aid (witness the story of the penguin sweaters). But Knitting Bee, one of my local yarn shops (there are so many in the Portland area!) was doing a drive for teddy bear … Continue reading
The amazing cashmere yarn is enough to make this YOTM sample selection for me, and the other yarn isn’t bad it’s just hard for it to shine in comparison. I do wish this month’s mailing had come with better swatch suggestions, though! Continue reading
Security folk generally talk about how the Internet of Things is bad for security, but it also brings new sensors and connected devices that could co-operate in new and interesting ways. Could we use internet things to enhance security?
Continue reading
There’s a tradition at work of decorating people’s cubes when they’re on sabbatical, and while I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea to decorate our fearless leader’s cube with things representing the many well-marketed open source bugs, I was the person who brought in the first piece. Continue reading
With high profile breaches in open source projects, the issue of security has become one of great import to many people. But many projects, especially smaller ones, are intimidated by the idea of a security audit. This talk will discuss ways for smaller projects to experiment, learn, and even have fun improving their security. No PhDs in security required! Continue reading