Quick update

Being number 33 in the list of Adelaide’s top 100 tweeters in today’s paper reminded me this blog exists. So here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to.

I’m now working on my final project before I graduate, it will be an iPad app. I can’t say much more than that.

I’m still knitting and still learning new techniques. There will definitely be more posts on this.

I’m still working at the servo. I had to reduce my hours a bit so I have time to do the work required for the project.

And that’s all I can think of for now.

Knitting for Charity

At work last week, I noticed one of the magazines had a cover story titled “Knit beanies for African orphans”. Which turned out to be about a charity that distributes hats and blankets to homeless African children, most of who are AIDS orphans. They pattern in the magazine (also available from the website) produces this beanie:

Although the pattern’s designed for children, this one is pretty heavyweight wool on 5.5mm needles so it fits some adults. It’s knitted flat and made up by folding it in half and sewing it together.

Now, I’m working on a couple of UFOs at the moment. Thanks to my habit of buying whatever yarn I find in op shops, I have lots of random yarn that I have no immediate plans for. So I’m going to use it for things to donate.

Here’s a small roundup of charity knitting sites:

• KasCare was featured in the magazine. The site has lots of resources including patterns for beanies and jumpers.
• Wrap With Love take squares to make blankets to distribute to homeless people both in Australia and overseas.
• Guardian Angel hasn’t started yet for this year, but it’s a drive run by Guardian Pharmacies. From May, you can pick up a pattern book from their stores and knit items to be donated to the homeless.
• Snuggles Project collects blankets for animal shelters. The site has some knitting, crochet and sewing patterns.
• Australian Reef Project takes croched sea life to educate people about coral reefs (thanks to Murfomurf for telling me about that one)

If you want to knit for charity but none of the above appeal to you, there are a lot more charities that take knitted items. Hospitals with maternity wards need booties and hats for premmies. Homeless shelters need blankets, hats and sweaters. Animal shelters need blankets. Find out what charities are in your area and give them a call.

Knitting: Help, I have intarsia!

Working on some knitting last night, I came to the realisation the yarn I was using was going to run out before I finished the square. It not being anything important, I thought it was time to introduce some colour work. My first attempt failed – I got holes where the colours met! So I looked through my knitting books, and found this technique called intarsia.

Short version

When you change colours, twist the old yarn around the new yarn then pick up the new yarn and continue.

Long version

Knit (in this case, purl, since it’s the WS of a stockinette piece) up to the colour change.

Insert the right needle through the next stitch to be worked.

Move the old yarn over the new yarn and to the left hand side. Pick up the new yarn and work to the end of the row.

This twists the two yarns around each other and avoids creating holes in your work.

And that’s it! Once you’ve done it a couple of times you’ll realise it’s a lot less complicated than it seems.

Shop Invaders

Among other things, today I visited an op shop (AKA thrift store). Here, then, are the things I bought. All for $12. (Please excuse the bad picture quality. My camera’s batteries ran out and I didn’t have any spares, so I had to resort to my phone’s camera.)

 

Check out my enormous balls (of wool)

These two enormous balls of wool (heheheh, you said balls). The pocket watch is for scale. They had no label, but they’re perfect for a project I’m working on.

 

Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers vs Test Shot Starfish

Two CDs. Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers (just to spite anybody who says I have good taste) and Test Shot Starfish (because I like to grab random CDs by bands I’ve never heard of).

 

Great shirt or greatest shirt?

This t-shirt. The one photo I took before my “proper” camera died. The invaders are actually in a metallic rainbow ink, which is why they look a bit weird. It fits but it’s a little tight… all the more reason for me to lose some weight!

Edited to add: also, I just missed out on a yellow Game Boy with half a dozen games & some other accessories.

Knitting FO: Turkish Stitch scarf

I finished the scarf from the last post. It’s done in Turkish stitch which is basically k1, *yo, k2tog, repeat from * to the end of the row. It came out over 6 feet long. Here’s a picture of Candice wearing it:

Knitting WIP – Turkish Stitch scarf.

Right now I am knitting this very girly looking scarf for Candice. The wool is some kind of acrylic which my mum gave me, I’m not sure where she got it.

I’m using Turkish Stitch (AKA Faggoting Lace) which is basically yarn over, knit 2 together all the way along the row. Slipping the first stitch so the edge looks neater.

Note how the funky colour-changing wool gives it a sort of camo pattern.

Knitting: small feather yarn rug

Here’s the small feather yarn rug I just finished making! The squares are (roughly) 10cm X 10cm. To do this took a couple of months.

2010 Projects: Rescheduled

In light of my uni commitments, I have had to reorganise a few of my 2010 Projects. So here is the new list, with changes.

• Start a garden This is still going ahead, but will be on a smaller scale at least to begin with. And probably now won’t involve many food plants or growing things from seeds.
• Go open source I will need to stay dual-boot because I will need Windows for uni. I still plan to use Linux more though.
• Get my weight down to 85kg This is still going on, I am still losing 0.5-1kg a week on protein shakes and exercise.
• Start my own personal archive This is on hold until I have enough money to buy rather than build a NAS.
• Work out what’s going on with uni Done (and the reason I’m rethinking the rest of the list) In March I will start my last remaining elective, and later in the year I will start my final project for completion in mid 2011.
• Build a file server from the old computer bits I have lying around on hold, and may now not happen at all.
• Knit a decent pair of socks Sock making is on hold. Instead I have decided to make a throw rug out of the huge amount of feather yarn I have lying around. The rug will be made of 10cm x 10cm squares, but I’m saving myself some sewing by knitting in strips. Pictured is the result of 2 hours work last night.
• Start writing a book on hold
• Move this blog to its own domain on hold (for now), may become part of a new addition to the list.
• Blog at least 3 times a week going strong!
• Be more adventurous with food (was “Learn to cook more”) still going, last week we tried different types of sausages. This week we’re going to dinner at a place we’ve never been to before.
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks not happening. I still read for 15-20 minutes before bed but I’m taking of the pressure to read a book a week.
• Develop an awesome multimedia portfolio A new addition to the list, and one that’s needed because of my poor academic results. I’m starting by doing tutorials every day.

So there we have it – this is what I’ll be doing this year. Notice some parts are much more specific than the original list, this version looks more achievable (bleep-bloop).