Yarn Harlot at Maker Faire
Yes, I was there for my first live appearance by the Yarn Harlot at the Maker Faire in San Mateo, California on May 3, 2008. Of course I’m huge fan (who isn’t?) and didn’t want to miss it.
That white blob in the front row is me. I was a little shocked at the Maker Faire admission price ($25, plus $8 for parking) but all in all I don’t regret the investment. I had no idea when I might get another chance to see Stephanie live, and I wanted to go to the Maker Faire anyway. I was just stoked to find out she would be there.
I’m sure the high admission price was the reason the crowd wasn’t as large as she usually attracts at book stores and yarn shops.
Sock Binge
I don’t know why it is, but I’ve gotten into knitting socks all of a sudden.
I just wanted something small and portable to knit, as Adam’s sweater is now too big and heavy to carry around and I’ve kind of put it on a back burner for a while.
Here’s the first pair: the Columbine Sock from Cat Bordhi’s first sock book:
Next I made a pair of short arch support socks:
Now I’m working on another pair like the above but made of Cascade Yarns Sassy Stripes. I haven’t got a picture of them yet.
Yarn Harlot at Maker Faire May 3, 2008
| 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Maker Main Stage (Fiesta) |
Things I Learned from Knitting Stephanie Pearl-Phee The Yarn Harlot strikes again! Bestselling knitting author and humorist Stephanie Pearl-McPhee examines age-old aphorisms in light of knitting. |
Further Niceness at the Top of the New Stairs
I wanted to make this area a welcoming kind of place where I could sit, and knit, and enjoy my new aquarium. I started looking for a suitable chair and scoured the entire Ikea store thinking I’d find what I wanted. I didn’t, at least not at the right price (though I did buy a really cool clear lucite chair for the spare room).
Anyway, I decided to look in the local thrift stores, thinking I might find a cool mid-century modern chair, something Danish Moderne maybe. I went to the Goodwill down the street and found not one but TWO bargains:
The chair retails at the local Target for $149 and the table for $89. I got them both for $69 all together. The table was still in the box, never assembled and completely new. The chair must have been a floor model. The local Super Target makes donations to the Goodwill store of floor models and opened boxes that they can’t sell.
So I made out like a bandit, and the added pillow came from Home Goods for $12. That pillow illustrates my new color scheme for the house, which was sage green and pale golden yellow (it’s SO “2002″ now that it Has to Go). The new colors are gold, pale blue, taupe and eggplant. So far only the newly remodeled rooms have the new colors. I have to save up for the new interior paint work, ’cause it’s gonna cost a few thou to do it up right.
So here’s the new stair landing, all done:
Simply Delightful.
If you haven’t been turned on to “Improv Everywhere” you’ve really been missing out.
I just caught the Food Court Musical video and it was, quite simply, Delightful. It left me smiling with the big swelly feeling in my chest that I get from parades and happy endings.
Go over to their website and prepare to waste some serious time.
Piscine Additions to the Family
Whoda Thunkit? I never knew I liked fish. I mean, I like fish. Fried or grilled. No, no, what I mean is that I’m suddenly enamoured of a small herd of fancy goldfish recently acquired and set up (originally) to entertain the cats. Instead, I’m becoming a Fan of the Finny Friends.
I started out with a 10 gal aquarium and discovered immediately that it was too small for what I had in mind. Note to self: (1) never trust the advice of the kid in the PetSmart fish department; (b) always do sufficient research in advance so you know what you’re getting in for and (z) it hurts when a little orange friend dies for no apparent reason.
Anyway, to make a long story longer, ultimately I wound up with a 46 gal bow-front tank and stand, and about $700 later have everything I actually need to take proper care of my finny friends.
Yes, there is a LOT more to keeping goldfish than meets the eye. And yes, it’s worth it. I even got a special chair to sit in and knit while I watch the fish. That’s how much I like them.
Here are more pictures, including two that are just right for computer wallpaper. Enjoy.
Ta Da! Introducing My Newly Remodeled Staircase
My townhouse was built in 1986, and it showed every sign of it when I got it from a house flipper who got it out of a repossession. It was essentially a $275k fixer-upper, but livable and solid. Since 2002 I’ve systematically worked my way through the house, first painting and rewiring (and prewiring for satellite and network), putting in new appliances (there were none in the house) and then gradually through the following projects:
1. Replaced the knife-marked kitchen formica with granite-look formica. This one was easy and cheap, because my brother and I did the labor and I got the stuff at Home Depot for 40% off. It’s black and shiny and a not-bad substitute for granite until I can do the real thing. If I ever decide to do that. I took advantage of the new counters to install a new big deep stainless steel single bowl sink. There was a double bowl, neither side of which was big enough to wash a frying pan in.
2. Replace the carpeting downstairs with Pergo laminate in a dark walnut.
3. Replace the fiberglass tub and surround with a new acrylic micro-ban tub and surround. This was a good idea but the contractor was a pig and I almost had to sue him to get the job finished. It’s still not right, but that crowd will never darken my doorstep again. They had to do it over twice and knock the price down considerably to avoid being sued. Here’s a hint–NEVER hire a contractor from a home & garden show. This is still too bitter to think about. Moving on…
4. Replaced the bathroom surfaces with solid surface material and integrated sinks. New faucets everywhere.
5. All new lighting and electrical outlets. Ceiling fans in strategic places to enhace airflow, especially in the landing over the stairs (see #12).
6. Window treatments, as required by the CCR’s of my association.
7. New windows and sliding glass doors. The back of my unit has two sliders out to the patio, one on the LR side and one on the Dining Room side. Both were crap doors and badly installed, and didn’t open or close smoothly. The double paned windows had all fogged up and were also crap and would not open and close smoothly. So they all got replaced with gorgeous smooth gliding modern technology double panes. And new screens. Since my place backs up to a busy street (not busy when I moved here, but they widened it and made it into Santa Theresa Raceway) this sound reduction is much appreciated.
8. Added crown molding and all new baseboards. Replaced all the flat slab interior doors with 6-panel. Replaced all the door hardware.
9. Added insulation to the attic, where there was NONE in part of the house and only a little bit in other parts. Seriously, for the small amount it cost to do this, I have saved $100 per month off my PG&E bill over last year’s bills.
10. New water softener system. We have very hard water here and I didn’t want it to ruin my fridge, my Bosch dishwasher and my washing machine.
11. Enlarged the 7′x9′ “bonus room” which I’d used as an office since day 1 into a 11′x 10′ bedroom with a closet. This was done in conjuntion with the new stair case.
12. Replace that nasty 80′s era metal stair handrail and half-wall with a beautiful classic stair rail and balusters. This was a ton of work (not done by me) very ably executed by Chuck, my Ex and very good friend who can build anything. He’s in construction and knows everything, what the building codes are, and all of that. And he very graciously consented to do this work for me, I think mainly because he wanted the challenge. He did the most meticulous work and I just am so happy with it I can hardly express it. If I hadn’t already done so almost 30 years ago, I’d have his child for this. I totally owe him.
And here it is:
old stairs
new room an landing
new stairs at top
new stairs from midway
new stairs at bottom
Now I can rest a while, I don’t have any other remodel projects planned. Well, except for the garage.
Mindless Maths
EPS Stitch Calculator (Percentages)
Today I had a reason to calculate stitches using EPS and got tired of dragging out the old calculator. So I made up this spreadsheet that will give an eyeball on various percentages of stitch counts between 50 and 300. Enjoy. I put it in a plastic page protector and into the knitting bag it goes.
Here’s a little sample so you know what you’re getting. Not rocket science, but convenient.
| # Stitches | 10% | 20% | 25% | 30% | 35% | 40% | 45% | 50% |
| 216 | 21.6 | 43.2 | 54 | 64.8 | 75.6 | 86.4 | 97.2 | 108 |
| 217 | 21.7 | 43.4 | 54.25 | 65.1 | 75.95 | 86.8 | 97.65 | 108.5 |
| 218 | 21.8 | 43.6 | 54.5 | 65.4 | 76.3 | 87.2 | 98.1 | 109 |
| 219 | 21.9 | 43.8 | 54.75 | 65.7 | 76.65 | 87.6 | 98.55 | 109.5 |
| 220 | 22 | 44 | 55 | 66 | 77 | 88 | 99 | 110 |
| 221 | 22.1 | 44.2 | 55.25 | 66.3 | 77.35 | 88.4 | 99.45 | 110.5 |
| 222 | 22.2 | 44.4 | 55.5 | 66.6 | 77.7 | 88.8 | 99.9 | 111 |
| 223 | 22.3 | 44.6 | 55.75 | 66.9 | 78.05 | 89.2 | 100.35 | 111.5 |
| 224 | 22.4 | 44.8 | 56 | 67.2 | 78.4 | 89.6 | 100.8 | 112 |
| 225 | 22.5 | 45 | 56.25 | 67.5 | 78.75 | 90 | 101.25 | 112.5 |
After I did that, I decided that I might need to see at a glance how many repeats of “x” will fit into the same numbers of stitches, so I created the Stitch Calculater (Divisibly By) version.
Here’s another sample:
| # Stitches | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 25 |
| 216 | 54 | 36 | 27 | 21.6 | 18 | 15.43 | 10.8 | 8.64 |
| 217 | 54.3 | 36.2 | 27.13 | 21.7 | 18.083 | 15.5 | 10.85 | 8.68 |
| 218 | 54.5 | 36.3 | 27.25 | 21.8 | 18.167 | 15.57 | 10.9 | 8.72 |
| 219 | 54.8 | 36.5 | 27.38 | 21.9 | 18.25 | 15.64 | 10.95 | 8.76 |
| 220 | 55 | 36.7 | 27.5 | 22 | 18.333 | 15.71 | 11 | 8.8 |
| 221 | 55.3 | 36.8 | 27.63 | 22.1 | 18.417 | 15.79 | 11.05 | 8.84 |
| 222 | 55.5 | 37 | 27.75 | 22.2 | 18.5 | 15.86 | 11.1 | 8.88 |
| 223 | 55.8 | 37.2 | 27.88 | 22.3 | 18.583 | 15.93 | 11.15 | 8.92 |
| 224 | 56 | 37.3 | 28 | 22.4 | 18.667 | 16 | 11.2 | 8.96 |
| 225 | 56.3 | 37.5 | 28.13 | 22.5 | 18.75 | 16.07 | 11.25 | 9 |
