The beauty of finely sanded wood

Ships. They are beautiful.
Wooden boats, in my opinion even more so.

My boat builder, All enthusiasm and talent.

I am living with my boyfriend (featured above) while he is going to wooden boat building school. I think this is a factor in my current feeling of under achievement. I will do something and then feel like i've totally wasted my time. Partially i think because i am living with a blindingly talented, obscenely motivated young man. The reading about boats, the boat projects, the voracious appetite for all things boat knowledge related is mind boggeling. It puts into very sharp perspective my lack of forward momentum..

Living with that can occasionally make ones crocheting achievements feel rather feeble. Despite this, I soldier on!

I have recently completed a carrying case for my tiny new laptop. My new laptop is not an ancient hulking behemoth as my old one was and therefor is unsafe in my old computer bag. Yet another excuse to make something with yarn! Huzzah!

Pattern:

Chain the length of whatever electronic device you are trying to carry minus about half an inch.

Turn and single crochet around your chain adding an extra single crochet as you turn around the opposite end (where you started your chain)

( to b continued)

The internet here is the worst.

So my internet has not been exactly functioning. But it is also, technically, working well enough that they probably aren't going to fix it. Bummer.
As a result, I have not been updating here. This is because, unless i know exactly what i'm doing, i truly hate to use internet cafes. It just makes me feel antsy and then i forget half the things i meant to do or say.
So I am using my phone hotspot in my house right now to write this. If it ends up not being too expensive this will be a great solution; if not I will have to give in and start spending a lot for time using the wifi at the bagel shop.

However, this failure of internet has inspired me to do something i haven't done before. I actually paid for a book of crochet patterns. Woah, hold on there, you say, that's pretty extreme. And i must agree. But i found the cutest book at Port Hadlock Yarns called Geek Chick Crochet by Nicki Trench. I am extremely excited about trying out non-Ravelry patterns and being free from the useless internet that invades my home.
And it is with this book that I am going to attempt my next adventure: Fitted Clothing!! (ie anthing not a scarf or a hat) It should be a challenge.

wHale

That's whale with an emphasis on the H, a la Stewie Griffin.
I've been working on wHale for at least a month now and have finally finished him and sent him on his way. The carving is made out of basswood. Cut, chiseled,whittled, sanded, shellacked and finally waxed.

Not too shabby for my first carving.

I started carving wood because my grandfather left me his craving tools. We always had carvings from my grandpa around the house but the ones i remember most came out at christmas time. Chunky roughly cut santas, stocky reindeer, and a small wooden mouse with leather ears. I could always picture my grandpa carving these things back home in Nebraska, even though i'm not sure i ever actually saw him. Now, looking through the old worn carving book he left me, I can see where he gathered his patterns and inspiration. I know that my own style is very different but I still feel a quiet companionship in the shared pastime.

Next up... something less nautical i think.

Curly Scarf

Today i'm going to make a crochet scarf for the first time. I definitely could have made a scarf earlier, they aren't super complicated...but i just don't wear scarves. I love them like i love hats. I have a closet full of them and only ever wear one. However, I think this is a particularly cute one and I have some yarn that I have been trying to find a project for.
As I sit down to start this project i really look at the pattern for the first time and see the words "Chain 102". I die a little inside. This is why i love working in the round (hence all the hats). The chaining itself is fine but i hate working into the chain on the way back. Bah what a pain. Oh well. Here it goes.

I used a pattern from This Crafting Life. She is amazing go visit her site!

Curly Scarf:

Hook: "I" or "J" (I used "I")
I used Patons Canadiana yarn in Dark Amethyst

Pattern:

Chain 102, turn (I chained 122 because i wanted to make it a bit longer)
R1: dc in 3rd chain from hook, and 2 dc in each chain until end.
R2: ch2, dc in same, dc in next *2dc, 1dc* until the end.
R3: ch 2, dc in each st until end.  (EDIT: Repeat R3 two more times) Finish Off.


So Simple! Love it!
Now that I've finished til the end of this pattern though i think I'm going to add at least another row. Seems a bit too skinny to me. Not tonight though my hand is cramping up. haha.

UPDATE (2/14/13):
Finished the Scarf! I ended up adding an extra 2 rows of double crochet to get the scarf to a thickness that didn't seem silly. It is still a bit of a silly scarf in general. Certainly itsn't going to keep you warm but it is also not quite fashionable enough to be purely decorative. If i were to do it again i think i would either use a lighter weight yarn or a larger hook in order to give it a lighter lacier feel.

Social Media and Cupcakes

Today was damp and dreary. Not unusual for the pacific northwest but still enough to make me want to hang out on my couch and be cozy.

My main object today was to learn more about social media. How and why it works, why i should care, and maybe even figuring out how it would be fun for me. I already had a twitter so i am going to use that more to post instagram pics, facebook for stalking and such, pinterest for pure ideas, and this to think about all of it.
But exploring the wide world of the internet isn't new exactly but I've never really tried to connect with people/ share myself with people in this way. So I've started! And i think it's going to be fun.

But that's kind of boring for my first day of new things so I also made Cheesecake Cupcakes!!

I used a recipe from http://recipesquickandeasy.blogspot.com/ and they are pretty good. I have never made cupcakes before and this was pretty fun.

Things would have been a lot easier if i had had more than one mixing bowl, or an oven that could even pretend to keep a consistent temperature.
But in the end cupcakes were eaten and they had gooey, cheesy, chocolate chip filled centers.
The chocolate batter wasn't my favorite, but it is also possible that i have been brain washed to love only betty crocker cake mix from a box.











 mmmmm.

Tomorrow i'm going to add picture to this but my phone is still trying to send pictures to google+ blah blah. stupid technology.

*Success with the adding of pictures!

A rather late new years resolution...

This year I am going to try and do one new thing every day.

Small tings, big things, crafty things, healthy things, really any things!
Looking at myself, I am unsatisfied with endless ability to look at all the cool things on Pinterest that I want to do and look and look and look and then its the end of the day and I am still a lump on my couch. But with my head full of too many fun ideas to sleep and my heart saddened by my Newtonian lack of inertia.

So! This blog exists as the force to push this object at rest into becoming an object in motion.