A nice litte washcloth
Modular Knitting as seen on Knitty Gritty
Last year I got some great bath goodies for my birthday from my friend, Michael. My favorite was from the H2O+ Sea Salt Collection, namely the Sea Salt Skin Slougher. I also had a bottle of Sea Salt Body Wash but I never used it because I never had the right "thing" to use it with. I'm not a very girly girl. I had no loofa, no bath puff thingy. And body wash doesn't really go on too well just with your fingers... Its a sad story... I know.
Fast forward to this past Friday and I was watching the day's episode of Knitty Gritty (I love my DVR), and they had an episode called "Its So Mod" and its all about Modular Knitting. Modular Knitting is this neat technique where the knitting goes in a bunch of different directions (like a patchwork), but its made with one single piece of yarn without piecing the work together, so there's no binding off and no picking up stitches. I think Modular Knits will be the next knitting book I buy (whenver that is).
So... now I had this cool new technique I wanted to try... but I had no need for a coaster. So, the smarty-pants engineer in me thought and thought and thought and then I figured it out: I'll just make a bigger coaster, make it a little bit looser with 100% cotton yarn, and hey, I've got a washcloth for my snazzy Sea Salt Body Wash! (I know, you wish you could be as clever as me when you have a head cold too, huh. :-D )
- the materials:
- 1 ball Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton in Wedgewood (or any varigated color)
- 1 set of size 7 needles
- 1 extra needle to do the 3 needle bindoff
- 4 stitch markers
- the pattern:
- I followed the pattern for the Modular Knit Coaster with one modification: I cast on 75 stitches, placing a stitch marker every 15 stitches. This produces a larger item where each triangle is 15 stitches wide (as opposed to the 11 stitches used in the pattern).
Learning How to be Aloof and Unapproachable
The plight of the female software engineer
One of the guys I work with is quite the Dilbert fan, and he enjoys changing the names in the comics to make it go from "Hey, this could be us..." to "Hey, this IS us!" Check out his latest handywork. I believe the original comic uses "Lisa" instead of "Jess". (Oh, and thank you Mr. Scott Adams for making such great comics. Between Dilbert and xkcd, I'm kept pretty well entertained in my geek humor. But of course, I'll always have a soft spot for LuAnn).
Climb with Michael Reardon!
Michael Reardon could be your belay slave!
Imagine if you could brag to your friends that professional climber, Michael Reardon, was YOUR belay slave. How cool would that be. You could talk about how you taught him everything he knows and how you were the one that got him to try some new 5.14. ......Or.... you could tell the truth, and explain how you made this incredibly generous donation to the HERA Foundation and were able to climb with Michael for a few hours one Sunday evening in February.
Well, this could be your chance to make all of those dreams come true:
Live on eBay! Win the chance to climb with Michael Reardon!
Bid early! Bid Often! Bid with lots and lots of money!
Auction ends Saturday, February 17th, 2007.
100% of the proceeds go to benefit the HERA Foundation and Team Bury the Dragon.
StarBar Organics
Frank, check this out
I'll start this off by saying I hate protein bars. Only under extreme circumstances (backpacking for 3 days, mountain biking for 4 days, on the 3rd pitch of a climb, etc) will I willingly eat a protien bar. I've just never found one that I really like (the Clif Bar - Cranberry Apple Cherry is decent and the PowerBar Triple Threat - Caramel Peanut Fusion is good, but its a glorified candybar... but anyway...).
I just had another round of the Strength and Endurance class at Go Vertical and I'm exhausted. But it was a great workout. Lucky for me I remembered I'd put this new StarBar in my bag that I'd bought on Sunday. It was DAMN tasty. And that's a lot coming from me. I had the "Special Fall Flavor - Maple Walnut". I want to try a couple other flavors. But I *really hope* they make that Maple Walnut flavor a standard thing. For those who haven't tried them yet, StarBar's are protien bars made right here in Philly. They're soft, not hard like all those other bars, and they're really really flavorful. They're vegan, organic, and have lots of protein and fiber.
So, Frank -- you need to contact these people and get some shipped out to you. Cause they're Vegan! and tasty! and protein-y! and no preservatives! (No, this is not a paid advertisement). Ok, now go order some.
Tapestry Crochet
the yoga mat bag wins as my next project
|
Tapestry Crochet is a really neat technique. It's got a very earthy, rustic and real feel to it. I think its going to be perfect for my yoga mat bag. I chose Paton's Classic Merino Wool" in "Natural Mix" and "Black". Doing a yoga bag in acryllic yarns just didn't sound right. The basic shape I'm going for is something like this Prana Yoga Mat Holder, basically its a tube that closes at one end with a strap I can wear diagonally across my chest. The Tapestry Crochet books have enough tube-ish patterns to follow, so it just a matter of figuring out the color pattern I want to use, how to close the top and how to attach the shoulder strap. The color pattern: I'm going to do alternating bands of a black background with tan geometric shapes and a tan background with black elephants. I think each black band will be unique. I'm pretty happy with the elephant pattern that I came up with. Her trunk is a little thick, but she'll do. I'll post the chart when I finish the bag and post the full pattern. I'll probably borrow different geometric patterns I did in Dave's double-knit scarf for the black bands. (BTW, my step-aunt Susan got me this great little yarn thimble as part of my Christmas gift. And it turns out its PERFECT for this project. The yarn is held quite tight during tapestry crochet. The yarn I'm using is a bit rough, and I started to get a bit of a rope burn on my finger. Using this snazzy yarn thimble is a great solution to preserve my cute bird flipping finger). |
I don't remeber how I discovered The Super (Puppy) Bowl
OMG this is the greatest thing ever
Football isn't my thing. It's interesting enough, but I don't go out of my way to watch it. Yeah, the ads are funny, but... I won't be upset if I miss it. Luckily, Blake told me about Puppy Bowl III on Animal Planet. OMG, this is thing is great. And there's even a Kitten half-time show! What is it?? Its pretty silly. Its simply a 20x10-ish sized room dressed up to look like a football stadium filled with a dozen puppies, being puppies. And its complete with instant replays, penalties and a bowl-cam. They even have a fake crowd cheering in the background. This thing cracks me up.
Here's a snippet from Puppy Bowl II. You can check out some of the other videos on Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl III page.