Go Crash, Go! A Retro Gamer's Delight (was a treasure-guarding dragon)

Hi again everybody! I hope that everybody is enjoying the summer so far and that this finds you in good health and spirits. Some of you may recall my intention to do my own version of the "one red paperclip" project, except starting with a pack of gum and trading my way up to a new car. First, I traded the gum for a fierce dragon figurine. Well, I am glad to report that the dragon has found a new happy home. He was last seen heading towards his new abode with wings unfurled in the brisk October breeze... and then the holidays and life intervened and put the project on hold for a bit.

*BUT ONLY A BIT!*

In his place I am now pleased to offer you a retro video gamer's delight! Up for trading is an original Sony Playstation, complete with all cables and a controller. The system is in excellent condition; very clean. In addition to the console, I will include a copy of the "Greatest Hits" edition of Crash Bandicoot (which I am told is semi-rare). See how Crash's story began! Defeat the evil Doctor Neo Cortex and his henchmen! Save your girlfriend Tawna from nearly-certain doom!

All this can be yours! Just contact me via email with your offers to trade. I am open to all suggestions for items to trade, but the more exotic/unusual/titillating the better! I look forward to hearing from you!

Natural Nursery Knits

Natural Nursery Knits, by Erika Knight

Quadrille Publishing Ltd, UK 2009

This book, subtitled "Twenty handknit projects for the new baby", combines the recent trend for knitting with eco-friendly fibers with timeless designs that are sure to be warmly received. The projects presented by Ms Knight go beyond the traditional blankets, hats and booties, although those are here too. Some of the more unusual patterns are those for a stuffed giraffe, a bird mobile, a rabbit-shaped rattle, and a cot cover that combines sewing and knitting. I particularly like the pattern for the teddy bear and plan to make it for myself.

The book not only explores a wide range of patterns, but a variety of natural fibers too. Many people immediately think "eco-cotton" when green fibers are mentioned, but the book also has patterns written for baby alpaca, bamboo, milk cotton (casein-based yarn) and hemp, among others. The suggested colors are all natural plant-based dyes as well.

The photography in the book is gorgeous and serves very well to show off the appeal of the finished items. The patterns are written in a clear, non-verbose style. British terms and metric measurements are used throughout (as to be expected) but shouldn't present any real problems to North American knitters.

Recommended.

New Adventure/Update

Time to bring y'all up-to-date on what happening... The henley is really close to being finished -- am racing my way down the second sleeve and should be done in just a couple of days. I also finished my first "real" crochet project: an improvised cap following Nancy of Woven Art's instructions. Am looking for my next crochet project now.

There has been a change of plans regarding the next knitting project(s). I was going to do a top-down aran, but the intended recipient let me know that he wants socks instead. So I'm going to do a pair of garter-rib socks in Brown Sheep Wildfoote, colorway Jungle. I also am planning on a pair of Spiraling Coriolis in Wildfoote Symphony for another friend.

Probably the biggest non-knitting news is that I have decided to supplement my teaching income by becoming an Avon lady, so to speak! I signed up as a representative a few days ago and have been perusing my start-up kit. I will have a web shop up shortly where you may browse and buy, or I would be very happy to meet you in person to show you the latest products from Avon. The current brochure is good until the end of this month and has hundreds of great deals. Please leave a comment if interested. Thank you!

Learning Another Language

So, I've decided to remedy a gap in my knowledge of fiber arts and to learn how to crochet. I bought some lovely green crochet cotton and a hook and The Crochet Answer Book and have begun to make a simple single crochet dishcloth. It's going well so far. I can see that there are a lot more possibilities to crochet than I had ever imagined, and it may even be a more versatile, anarchic craft than knitting (which will always remain my first love). I am open for suggestions for other good beginner's projects before I dive in to making afghans!

In other news, the top-down henley is going very well and quickly. I have about 4.5" left to go on the body and then I'll do the neckline and the sleeves. I am also already thinking about the next sweater project; I would like to do the Jack's Aran Pullover from Men in Knits, but convert it to top-down if possible... any suggestions about that?

More Social Web Stuff

I just have signed up for Twitter and can be followed @ wanderingpup on there as well!

New Stuff

Well, a belated update... Christmas vacation has been fine so far, and I have been especially productive on the knitting front, if not so much on the writing.

After I finished the garter rib sweater, I wanted to do a small project and so I taught myself the brioche stitch from EZ's Knitting Without Tears. It's incredibly quick and fun once you get the hang of it, and I love the fabric it produces. So I used that to whip up several watchcaps for presents and for personal use. Later, I discovered this website, which sparked my imagination even more with ideas of what to do with this stitch.

I have also been working on two sweaters: one Wonderful Wallaby hoodie in orange, for a friend, and another Lopi-style seamless yoke in fall colors for me. They are both proceeding apace. I expect that the Lopi will probably be done by the second week of the new year and the Wallaby hopefully by the end of January.

After I finish those, I have another sweater project lined up -- a Celtic Aran, but I haven't yet worked out the design or calculations for that one.

While working on the sleeves for the Lopi, I had a little bit of a brainstorm for a way to do mittens and gloves, two at a time, seamlessly. I haven't seen the method that I am thinking of described anywhere in the literature, so I want to research a little bit to see if this is really original or not. I also want to do a test knit to verify that the method will work, but it seems like it should.

My other knitting resolutions for the new year? To clear out some UFO's lurking in my project area... in particular there are two hats that I need to finish, and a pair of socks. Plus, I want to start exploring Cat Bordhi's books. In non-knitting but still fiber-related resolutions, I really want to learn to weave, both on the traditional loom as well as card/tablet weaving. I think that non-fiber resolutions should probably go into a separate post...

I guess that that's probably enough for now, so I will sign off and wish everyone a very Happy 2009!

Mail2Blogger Test

This is a test of the mail to blogger gateway service, so I can easily
post updates while we are away. I mainly want to make sure that the
formatting works alright, without spurious line breaks and such.

I know that the blog has not been very active lately, and for this I
apologize. The last couple of weeks have been very busy. I did
successfully finish NaNoWriMo '08 though!