There are two parallel rows of trees that create this gorgeous canopied lawn for people to sit under or nap as the case may be.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
It's Sprung!
Yesterday in honor of the first official day of spring I went downtown and took a walk along the water front, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Here are some pictures from the day.
In the park next to the MAX station there is this huge pink magnolia tree that is just starting to bloom. The light wasn't right for it to really show off the color of the flower, but I think it's still pretty striking.
There are two parallel rows of trees that create this gorgeous canopied lawn for people to sit under or nap as the case may be.
Or you could practice your tightrope skills, under the cotton candy canopy.
There are two parallel rows of trees that create this gorgeous canopied lawn for people to sit under or nap as the case may be.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Remembering Last Summer
So I finally took the film I'd used last summer in to be developed, and some of them turned out pretty good.
This is from my department's summer event at the Oregon Zoo, I don't remember what kind of monkey it is but I do remember that it's the habitat close to the naked mole rats & giraffes.
This one is also at the zoo and I think it turned out pretty well too.
This is a storage barn not far from our house that going to seed a bit, but I just love the building.
This is from a photo walk that a couple friend & I took in the rain up at the Portland Rose Test Gardens, the hazy effect was achieved by exhaling on the lens to fog it up and then taking a picture as it started to clear.
As for the rest of the pictures in the batch, well let's just say that I am the Queen of the underexposed & incorrectly focused. It's taken a few rolls for me to start to get what type of shots the Diana & Holga are good for, to remember to change the light & focal setting for each shot, and the different speeds of film.
Due to the fixed lens you really need to either get up close to your subject or photograph really large things. The other thing is that I either need to remember to use the flash when not in direct light or start using more sensitive film to compensate.
Finally developing 120mm is twice as expensive as 35mm, so I've picked up a Mini Diana & Blackbird Fly because it's so much cheaper to develop the film, the Mini Diana can take 24x17 pictures allowing you to double the number of shots you get off a roll, so it's far more cost effective for learning to use film. The Blackbird is one I'd seen and been interested in because it's a twin reflex, and you compose the shot by opening the flaps on the top & looking down into the camera. Here's what they look like...
cute huh?
This is from my department's summer event at the Oregon Zoo, I don't remember what kind of monkey it is but I do remember that it's the habitat close to the naked mole rats & giraffes.
This one is also at the zoo and I think it turned out pretty well too.
This is a storage barn not far from our house that going to seed a bit, but I just love the building.
This is from a photo walk that a couple friend & I took in the rain up at the Portland Rose Test Gardens, the hazy effect was achieved by exhaling on the lens to fog it up and then taking a picture as it started to clear.
As for the rest of the pictures in the batch, well let's just say that I am the Queen of the underexposed & incorrectly focused. It's taken a few rolls for me to start to get what type of shots the Diana & Holga are good for, to remember to change the light & focal setting for each shot, and the different speeds of film.
Due to the fixed lens you really need to either get up close to your subject or photograph really large things. The other thing is that I either need to remember to use the flash when not in direct light or start using more sensitive film to compensate.
Finally developing 120mm is twice as expensive as 35mm, so I've picked up a Mini Diana & Blackbird Fly because it's so much cheaper to develop the film, the Mini Diana can take 24x17 pictures allowing you to double the number of shots you get off a roll, so it's far more cost effective for learning to use film. The Blackbird is one I'd seen and been interested in because it's a twin reflex, and you compose the shot by opening the flaps on the top & looking down into the camera. Here's what they look like...
cute huh?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Of Hibernation
I've been feeling pretty unproductive lately, even with the Ravelympics because I haven't really gone out to any events, I've also been letting the clutter build up and now it's at the point where I just want to take big plastic bags rake it all up and with an elegant flourish loft it onto the back of the nearest dump truck.
I would of course take enough care to make sure I didn't toss out anything important, like yarn, clay, or paint brushes. As I've been mired in unproductiveness and haven't made all that much knitting progress, and have been watching too many movies, and spending FAR FAR too much time on FB (evil evil thing created to consume entire evenings) I've not blogged anything in a while.
Yesterday I realized that it's already halfway through March and it kinda freaked me out a bit because that means OFFF is in about 6 months and I have WAY too much yarn in my stash to even consider going because there is just noway I can go and not come home with another skein or six. It being March also means that I need to kick it into high gear because my Relay for Life team the P-Town Moseying Stitchers (PMS) will need crafty things to sell at local fairs & fund raising events this summer.
So, I'm completely grounded from event setting foot in a yarn store because I can't seem to visit one without a skein or two following me home until after OFFF. Next I have a time-line, the giant Ikea bag of finished items that just need the ends woven in will be done by the end of April. My WIPs Rollin' Eye, Fingerless Evenstar, & the Cloche I promised to make for AV in December (I got the test knit done & ended up changing patterns but more on that later) all need to be finished by mid May. Once that's done it's time for some serious stash burning, I'm going to set my goal at completing one project a week, but not anything too complicated.
It's kind of an insane goal but even if I only manage to complete a project every two weeks, it's the attempt that really matters.
Oh yeah, I'm trying out a new name on the blog the other one was a bit unwieldy, not that this one is any better but I thought I'd at least try it out.
I would of course take enough care to make sure I didn't toss out anything important, like yarn, clay, or paint brushes. As I've been mired in unproductiveness and haven't made all that much knitting progress, and have been watching too many movies, and spending FAR FAR too much time on FB (evil evil thing created to consume entire evenings) I've not blogged anything in a while.
Yesterday I realized that it's already halfway through March and it kinda freaked me out a bit because that means OFFF is in about 6 months and I have WAY too much yarn in my stash to even consider going because there is just noway I can go and not come home with another skein or six. It being March also means that I need to kick it into high gear because my Relay for Life team the P-Town Moseying Stitchers (PMS) will need crafty things to sell at local fairs & fund raising events this summer.
So, I'm completely grounded from event setting foot in a yarn store because I can't seem to visit one without a skein or two following me home until after OFFF. Next I have a time-line, the giant Ikea bag of finished items that just need the ends woven in will be done by the end of April. My WIPs Rollin' Eye, Fingerless Evenstar, & the Cloche I promised to make for AV in December (I got the test knit done & ended up changing patterns but more on that later) all need to be finished by mid May. Once that's done it's time for some serious stash burning, I'm going to set my goal at completing one project a week, but not anything too complicated.
It's kind of an insane goal but even if I only manage to complete a project every two weeks, it's the attempt that really matters.
Oh yeah, I'm trying out a new name on the blog the other one was a bit unwieldy, not that this one is any better but I thought I'd at least try it out.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ravelympics Off the Starting Line! Kinda...
Six 'O clock on Friday evening found me happily ensconced in a booth at one of my favorite places, the Cornelius Pass Road House. Enjoying a really lovely light fruity beer by the name of Imperial Purple Haze; so named for it's color bestowed upon it by the generous amount of Boysenberries used in the brew, and casting on the Evenstar hat by Cathlyn Robinson. As I was prowling about that evening I didn't manage to get more done than the first couple rows, finished while waiting for my Hamilton burger and Cajun tots to arrive (they were delicious by the way).
The next day I picked it back up and really got to working on it and noticed something very upsetting...
Along the edges were I was supposed to have the start of a beautiful pair of left & right spirals, there was instead a pair of twisty thicker sections of fabric.
So I tore it out and double checked the pattern, it says to use P1-C4B-Main Cable-C4F-sl1 with no other cable band instructions other than those for the main cable. I was most puzzled and since I hadn't used a cabled pattern before I thought maybe I'd missed something so I pulled out my trusty stitch dictionary 365 Knitting Stitches a Year. There are two four stitch spiral cables in the book one works on a six row pattern and the other on four, which gives a tighter spiral.
Since the main cable works on a 24 row repeat either would work, I decided to use the six row repeat because I thought the spiral looked closer to the one in the pattern pictures.
I cast on again and this time worked the pattern as follows...
Row 1: p1-c4b-main cable-c4f-sl1
Row 2: p1-p4-main cable-p4-sl1
Row 3: p1-k4-main cable-k4-sl1
Row 4: p1-p4-main cable-p4-sl1
Row 5: p1-k4-main cable-k4-sl1
Row 6: p1-p4-main cable-p4-sl1
It was looking pretty good until...
The outer arms of the main cable made solid contact with my now properly spiraling outer cables. GRRRRRRRRRRR...
After frogging once again, I consoled myself with some Chocolate Dazs before taking on the pattern once more. To make sure I had enough space between the cables I added two stitches to either side of the main cable, making the sequence...
Row 1: P1-C4B-P2-Main Cable-P2-C4F-sl1
Row 2: P1-P4-K2-Main Cable-K2-P4-sl1
Row 3: P1-K4-P2-Main Cable-P2-K4-sl1
Row 4: P1-P4-K2-Main Cable-K2-P4-sl1
Row 5: P1-K4-P2-Main Cable-P2-K4-sl1
Row 6: P1-P4-K2-Main Cable-K2-P4-sl1
This time though I went ahead and charted it out to make sure it looked like there would be enough space between the outer arms of the main cable & the cabled edges.
I have to say that so far I'm most pleased with the results and hope that I can finish it by the weekend.
ETA: I only did seven repeats and though the pattern doesn't specify how many stitches to pick up, if you go by the first decrease it would need to be a number divisible by 10. I made mine divisible by 8 and changed to 1 row between decreases a couple decrease rows early.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Ravelympics 2010 Preperations
Ok so my pregame preparations are pretty much complete. The blanket I've been working on for Jessica is almost completely finished, I just need to tie the rest of the ends in & wash n' block it. So far it looks like this...
The edges wont lay flat yet but you get the idea.
I've registered with the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Team and have signed on to do Hat Halfpipe, the pattern I picked is Evenstar Hat by Cathlyn Robinson. The other event I'm for sure participating in is Mitten Moguls with Evenstar Gloves by Audrey MacDonald. I'm going to use Woobu in the colorway Green Eyed Monster.
I also have 2 WIPs I'm thinking of joining the Yarn Harlot Fans team to finish, Pipp's Openwork Eyelet Scarf by Jennifer Pace & Not-Just-For-Chemo Reversible Cloche by Mary Keenan.
I really should make up my mind on that as it starts tomorrow...
The edges wont lay flat yet but you get the idea.
I've registered with the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Team and have signed on to do Hat Halfpipe, the pattern I picked is Evenstar Hat by Cathlyn Robinson. The other event I'm for sure participating in is Mitten Moguls with Evenstar Gloves by Audrey MacDonald. I'm going to use Woobu in the colorway Green Eyed Monster.
I also have 2 WIPs I'm thinking of joining the Yarn Harlot Fans team to finish, Pipp's Openwork Eyelet Scarf by Jennifer Pace & Not-Just-For-Chemo Reversible Cloche by Mary Keenan.
I really should make up my mind on that as it starts tomorrow...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Seattle to Portland Train
So here are some of the pics from the Yarn Crawl, I don't really have any group shots but that's because my cousin and I aren't real good crowd people, and have antisocial tendencies.
Union Station
Organizer Lady
Water barrel with Fremont Bridge in back on the walk to Dublin Bay.
Dublin Bay is a really cute store with some great yarns but as it was one of the closest stores to the station a whole bunch of people went there and it was too crowded to really be able to appreciate the selection. I did however their pastries and toffee, I suspect the former came from one of my favorite places St. Honore.
We were headed for the next place when we came across this building
it's home to one of the best pizza places, Hot Lips. I decided to be a little adventurous and try the Ham, Pear, & White Cheddar with a pesto bread-stick & their apple/lemon soda.
I have to say I think the flavor combination on the pizza worked really well, the ham was a kind of salty sweet and the fresh clean sweetness of the pear blended real well with it. The pesto bread-stick was totally awesome, and the soda was not what you'd normally expect it wasn't as sweet, but I think I liked it.
While we were eating in the restaurant we got a couple of cute little visitors, and they were not at all shy about coming right up to your chair.
We even met-up with some of the PDX knitters while we were there.
We also had a taste off between Cupcake Jones the chocolate & red velvet & Saint Cupcake peanut butter cookie.
I know, I know your supposed to use the same flavor but Saint Cupcake was out of Red Velvet if I remember right & I didn't miss it. I have to say though that I personally prefer Saint Cupcake, because the large cupcakes from Jones are filled and with the icing on top it just was too sweet for me, also the SC cupcake was moister.
We hit some other places that day but the best was Sock Dreams, where I got some most excellently off the wall socks.
Oh, yeah and I got yarn too, but only from Happy Knits and I actually bought yarn with a specific project in mind, usually I just get it because it's super pretty and can't pass it up or if I have a vague idea of what I want to use it for. Anyway here's a pic of my crawl booty.
Union Station
Organizer Lady
Water barrel with Fremont Bridge in back on the walk to Dublin Bay.
Dublin Bay is a really cute store with some great yarns but as it was one of the closest stores to the station a whole bunch of people went there and it was too crowded to really be able to appreciate the selection. I did however their pastries and toffee, I suspect the former came from one of my favorite places St. Honore.
We were headed for the next place when we came across this building
it's home to one of the best pizza places, Hot Lips. I decided to be a little adventurous and try the Ham, Pear, & White Cheddar with a pesto bread-stick & their apple/lemon soda.
I have to say I think the flavor combination on the pizza worked really well, the ham was a kind of salty sweet and the fresh clean sweetness of the pear blended real well with it. The pesto bread-stick was totally awesome, and the soda was not what you'd normally expect it wasn't as sweet, but I think I liked it.
While we were eating in the restaurant we got a couple of cute little visitors, and they were not at all shy about coming right up to your chair.
We even met-up with some of the PDX knitters while we were there.
We also had a taste off between Cupcake Jones the chocolate & red velvet & Saint Cupcake peanut butter cookie.
I know, I know your supposed to use the same flavor but Saint Cupcake was out of Red Velvet if I remember right & I didn't miss it. I have to say though that I personally prefer Saint Cupcake, because the large cupcakes from Jones are filled and with the icing on top it just was too sweet for me, also the SC cupcake was moister.
We hit some other places that day but the best was Sock Dreams, where I got some most excellently off the wall socks.
Oh, yeah and I got yarn too, but only from Happy Knits and I actually bought yarn with a specific project in mind, usually I just get it because it's super pretty and can't pass it up or if I have a vague idea of what I want to use it for. Anyway here's a pic of my crawl booty.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Perler, The New Crack
Yep, I have a new addiction, not that I needed one as I don't have time for the ones I already have. Now for the details Perler beads are small, short, and multicolored tubes that you arrange into a design on a pegboard, and then melt with an iron.
They look so innocent and you think to yourself you know your cousin had had some of these and made some fun 8 bit characters from classic Nintendo games wouldn't those be just great for your friend who is a HUGE Mario fan? You know you could make a set of 3 or 4 iconic items from the game and he can turn them into magnets or hang them on his wall.
A few hours and many beads, and aching fingers later...
I have another friend who's pretty fond of Pacman so I made these for him.
It didn't stop there either, I was in full 8 bit mode and as I'd pretty much run out of black and white I picked up a second bucket at Ikea so I could make these...
It's a Moogle from FF7, I ended up having to glue the little pom pom on because the way it was designed I couldn't be the beads to melt together. I planned to also make the mages and possibly a couple of the main characters.
I also made some from one of my favorites Space Invaders, I'm not real sure about the proportions between the figures as I had to use multiple sites for images, but for the most part they look alright.
I have plans to make other characters including a Frankenstein for one of my friends but first I need to order some more of the individual colors for shading.
They look so innocent and you think to yourself you know your cousin had had some of these and made some fun 8 bit characters from classic Nintendo games wouldn't those be just great for your friend who is a HUGE Mario fan? You know you could make a set of 3 or 4 iconic items from the game and he can turn them into magnets or hang them on his wall.
A few hours and many beads, and aching fingers later...
I have another friend who's pretty fond of Pacman so I made these for him.
It didn't stop there either, I was in full 8 bit mode and as I'd pretty much run out of black and white I picked up a second bucket at Ikea so I could make these...
It's a Moogle from FF7, I ended up having to glue the little pom pom on because the way it was designed I couldn't be the beads to melt together. I planned to also make the mages and possibly a couple of the main characters.
I also made some from one of my favorites Space Invaders, I'm not real sure about the proportions between the figures as I had to use multiple sites for images, but for the most part they look alright.
I have plans to make other characters including a Frankenstein for one of my friends but first I need to order some more of the individual colors for shading.
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