Rainy Day Nap

It's raining back in Ohio right now and my Mom's cat is taking full advantage. His muddy paws go straight for the wrap I crocheted and pillow I embroidered. Ballsy, huh?

Corny

It's not the neatest little thing I've ever made, I'm going to blame it on tape yarn and careless photography, but it is the only thing I've ever made from corn. Yep, the yarn was spun from corn, and is machine washable. Good as straw into gold if you ask me. The pattern was the little sister dress from Tora at knittingalot.

(this one is for Evelyn, though I have no idea how big she is.)

Sockeye Salmon

Here it is, the sockeye salmon pattern I was testing for Crowe. She had a lovely picture of hers contemplating swimming up some picturesque Alaskan waterway. Mine is staking a claim to the other end of the life cycle...

(There is a dorsal fin, but you can't see it here. I had to snap the picture quickly before some Safeway employee got suspicious.)

Oncorhynchus nerka (in prep)

A wee sneak peak of a pattern I'm testing for the intrepid Crowe aka rockcozy on Ravelry...

Yarn Tourism: Santa Monica

I went to Los Angeles this past weekend to see my brother get his PhD hood, very exciting!!! He's a very nice brother. He even doesn't mind supporting yarn tourism. I didn't want to impose too much, so after exhaustive research on Ravelry and the internets, I decided I had to go to Compatto Yarn Salon in Santa Monica. It was definitely a good pick.

We met the store mascot Gracie upon opening the front door. She was a large dog, I'm not good with breeds, so here's a picture. I know what you're thinking, "hey, aren't you terrified of dogs? or at the very least hate them because of their customary unpleasant fumes and odours.? I seem to recall you signing up for a riflery course in undergrad so as to be prepared for the day when they mated with aliens and tried to take over the world." Usually I would say yes. (Sorry guys, I'm a cat person...) But this dog was very chill, smelled delightfully fresh, didn't lick me, and I have no proof it is capable of pooping given that it did not do so in my presence. She even had a cool yarn-i-riffic collar.

There were lots of nice people in the store, the yarn was displayed in such an orderly fashion, and they even had snacks gosh darn it! I bought 2 skeins of this merino super wash hand dyed sock yarn from Pagewood Farm. The colorway is called Mississippi Mud and was dyed exclusively for Compatto. The exclusivity factor means I HAD to buy it and will suffer no buyer's remorse.

Congratulations Dr. Patrick!

Boteh Scarf

I just finished this Boteh scarf from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. The pattern was incredibly simple, and really worked well with the Noro sock yarn. The color changes were almost the same size as one motif, lending the definite impression it was way more work than it actually was.
(Picture taken up by the Music Center on the UCSC campus, a belated birthday present for Linda...)

Foraminifera Pinata

I volunteered to be the games coordinator for this year's Earth and Planetary Sciences Department picnic. The games are the same every year: sack races, water balloon toss, 3 legged race, and a hippie or two bring along frisbees and slacklines and such. Last year somebody made a beautiful pork-yata, depicting the tectonic plates with raw bacon (as an entry to the cook-off under the category "most creative use of pig"). It was filled with pork rinds and it was awesome.

I decided there must be a pinata this year as well. But of course, mine would be a glorious foram. Here is an example of one of the most creative protozoans I know!


I paper mache-ed old scientific papers onto balloons for the first three chambers, then joined them together with yarn. Then I inserted a fourth balloon into the gap, inflated said balloon, and paper-mache-ed over that bad boy to finish.

I was quite pleased with the results, except for some unfortunate gilding of the lily I refer to now as the glitter spackle debacle. It was the biggest foram I have ever seen!

Yarn Lover

My brother snapped a picture of this plate for me yesterday, yarn lover! Cool.

Now Accepting!

Yes, I am now accepting imaginary kittens!!! The allergies and my current lease prohibit my keeping of real ones, so I am now accepting applications for fictional felines.
Please include the following information regarding the cat:

1. name
2. current level of waste training (diaper, litter, toilet?)
3. bionic enhancements
4. Curriculum Vita

Thank you.

Knit/Crochet at the Swift Stitch

As you may or may not already know, those of you in the Santa Cruz area are welcome to drop in at the Swift Stitch for after-hours yarn play dates. I go on Thursdays 6-8pm. Jennifer is nice enough to hang out and knit after she clocks out for the day. If you come this week, you can watch me rip out this scarf.