Creative projects, science & life.

  • Stitch markers

    Stitch markers

    Here are some stitch markers I made to go with my 5 shawls in 5 days, because sometimes I like to have new pretties for a project. These are simple to make if you have the right tools: snip off a short bit of thin necklace wire, curve in half, place both ends through your…

  • Laser engraved toy dog collars

    Laser engraved toy dog collars

    Yup, you read that right. I have a Glowforge laser cutter/engraver that had so many delays in manufacturing that it wound up arriving when I was 9 months pregnant. So it hasn’t gotten quite as much use as I’d planned, but I did use it for some holiday presents! And then I forgot to take…

  • Pi shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Pi shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Day 5 is the pi shawl, which I’ve always kind of wanted to try because of the name, but I hadn’t gotten around to it until this day! After the square shawl, I decided to try a circular cast on with a crochet hook. It felt a lot like magic loop for knitting, and I…

  • Square Shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Square Shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Day 4 was a square shawl. I don’t think I’d done a piece from the center like that, and I didn’t like the giant hole left by casting on 4 and joining, so I tightened it up some after casting off. I did this on double points which was pretty finicky especially with a sleeping…

  • Asymmetrical Triangle shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Asymmetrical Triangle shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Day 3’s shawl is an asymmetric triangle shape. I like this one’s particular slip stitch/yarn over edging. Yarn: Rowan Colorspun. This is a mohair-wool-polyamide blend, also from the Feb 2016 beanie bag and I hated it so much. To me, it felt like I was getting splinters in the sides of my fingers while I…

  • Crescent Shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Crescent Shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Day 2 is a crescent shawl, a familiar shape with an increase that’s unusual for me, and I’m not sure I’ve ever used it in an edging like this. The garter tab looks jarring on such a small piece, though I hardly notice those on larger shawls. Unblocked: I added an icord bind off because…

  • Triangle shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    Triangle shawl: 5 shawls 5 days challenge

    I’m trying out the 5 shawls 5 days challenge as a way to practice some shawl construction, since I had to experiment a bunch in a hurry when I was designing the flax shawl for my sister. Also, this is a nice excuse to use some of the yarn samples I never tried from my…

  • Beeswax hat for Grandma

    Beeswax hat for Grandma

    I didn’t do much gift knitting this year because I didn’t have much time with an infant, but I always try to make something for my Grandma. I know she appreciates that I’m thinking of her, not just in the moment of gifting but in the weeks or months that it takes for me to…

  • Flax necklace

    Flax necklace

    I made this necklace for my sister’s birthday. It was a bit of an in-joke present: We play Guild Wars 2 together, and last year she decided to get us all to do a challenge really intended for a much larger group. Long story short: she spent months gathering in-game flax, with the rest of…

  • 2018 Fiber Goals: Kits, amigurumi, spinning, and organizing.

    2018 Fiber Goals: Kits, amigurumi, spinning, and organizing.

    Earlier, I posted about how I did on my fiber goals for 2017. Overall, I’d say I was pretty successful! I’ve been thinking a bit about what I’d like for this year, and here’s my list: Use more of my project kits. I still have quite a few Beanie Bags I never got around to,…

  • 2017 Fiber Goals – how did I do?

    2017 Fiber Goals – how did I do?

    One of the ravelry groups I follow had a thread on fiber goals for the year, so I chose a few that I thought would be fun. Here’s how they went! 2017 Fiber Goals Knit a “seamless” sweater this time (My Acorn Trail/Cardipalooza cardigan was pieced) Try some new types of needles. Knit more handspun.…

  • Works in progress: late 2017

    Turns out, in a surprise to no one, it’s a lot harder to blog with a baby! I’ve traded my “real” SLR camera for my phone 99% of the time, and my laptop is sitting neglected and whining that it hasn’t had backups for 57 days, which would be scary if it actually had any…

baking BestPractices BestPracticesInPractice blog books choir disability fanfic fiberarts fiber goals food FountainPen FountainPenInk FountainPens free pattern infosec InkSwatch knitting library Life mailman mask mastodon model building OpenSource painting parenting Python quilting reading recipe review ScreenTime security sewing spinning stationery stickers SwatchWednesday travel very watercolour weaving WonderPens wrinting