Just a Quick Update

I've been doing more knitting, while waiting for paint to dry. It's going OK, although I keep noticing where I made mistakes several rows back and wanting to go back and fix it. Not going to do that, though, because I want to get this project over with so I can move on to a self-designed one. As it is, I am making lots of modifications, including eight rows of short-row shaping in the bodice to accommodate my shape. In many ways I think I might as well have just designed my own sweater, which is pretty much my gripe with sweater patterns to begin with.

Anyway, here I am: sleeves are fastened off, to be knitted later (I'm going to add long sleeves to this because I prefer them) and I'm working my way down to the hemline. You can sort of see the short-row shaping in the front here: it's just a little bit more give to avoid the stretching-across-the-boobs look.

Technorati Tags: crafts, knitting

# Posted by ayse on 08/16/06 at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

Orange Gable

My progress on the Green Gable pullover has been slow, because there's been a lot of other stuff going on. But yesterday we laid around the house recovering from our week and I managed to get fourteen rows completed, and today I decided I should try it on to see how well it fits.

The ability to try things on while you are making them is what got me interested in top-down knitting the first place. I mean, I never minded seaming or finishing things before, but being able to check for fit as you go? Really nice.

I am making something between two sizes in this pattern, so I wondered if I should fasten off the sleeves yet. From this photo, it is clear that the top is not yet done: I'll do another six rows to get to the next size up and see how well it fits then.

I am really enjoying how this bamboo yarn is knitting up. The colouring, I mean, and how it varies. I have not done much knitting with variegated yarns for any number of reasons, but I'm already looking at the other colourways this yarn comes in.

Technorati Tags: crafts, knitting

# Posted by ayse on 08/14/06 at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Convoy

Today we moved most of my stuff from the apartment to a storage place, then packed everything else into our two cars, cleaned the apartment and returned the keys, and headed up north. We finished everything in remarkably little time, considering what we had to do. At one point I told Noel the time and he hardly believed me.

And now I am home! And I don't need to go back until January! And I only seriously bruised two fingers in the process!

Technorati Tags: alameda, moving

# Posted by ayse on 08/12/06 at 8:00 PM | Comments (0)

Explosion!

So sometime this evening I was kind of hanging around, thinking about printing and how I want to make some prints come out for tomorrow, and suddenly it occurred to me that in four days I am moving, and maybe I might want to think about what that might entail.

This morning I reserved a storage space; I need to go by the office and sign a contract sometime this week. I have a few boxes around the house, but as of now they are packed with books and stuff and I'm out of boxes. I don't have too much stuff here, but what I do have mostly, unfortunately, really does need to go home rather than to storage.

It's been a while since I last moved: almost two years since I moved in here in the first place, and of course moving in with Crazy, and before that, when we moved to Alameda four years ago. Funny how you forget simple things like "I might need to get some boxes to put this stuff into" and "it might be a good idea to sort through that four-foot tall pile of papers to make sure all of it really has to go home."

So the next few days will be total chaos here. Books on the floor, boxes stacked everywhere, and the growing pile of things to just get rid of by the door, which probably calls for a run to the landfill. Unlike the new neighbors who bought the frat house next door, I am not under the mistaken impression that you can just leave a huge pile of stuff on the curb and the city will generously scoop it up and take it away for you.

And now I should really do that printing, then to bed. Tomorrow is crit day.

Technorati Tags: moving

# Posted by ayse on 08/07/06 at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

Zombie

I may not have slept much in the last 48 hours, but I've just finished my final project for the quarter. It's off at the print bureau being printed, after which I will take it to the studio and mount it. The crit is tomorrow, so I'll have time to clean my desk, hang my pieces, and get some decent sleep beforehand.

The project was to build a museum on a lot in Paso Robles. We chose our subjects, so mine is a Reliquary for Unwanted Taxidermy. (Well, what else would be right for Paso Robles?) I really cannot wait to see the web hits I will get because of that phrase.

Here's a view of the building from the street:

Technorati Tags: design, model building, school

And here it is in section. The whole thing is a ramp, which makes it inherently accessible without needing the elevator.

I've been playing around with variations on the all-ramped museum for the last two years; I find the concept really intriguing, and it fits with my idea that we really should just make all our buildings accessible. You never know when you're going to break a leg or pull your back, and suddenly those stairs that seemed so easy are an insurmountable barrier. Yeah, off the soap box. Also, the ramps make really interesting ceilings.

And: three more days of school! Then school moves North for a quarter!

# Posted by ayse on 08/07/06 at 4:57 PM | Comments (0)

Squeeak Squoop Squaaaan

Last night, Noel bought a violin.

This morning, after entertaining us all while playing with it for an hour or so, he came upstairs with a happy little smile and said, "That is a hard instrument."

Unfortunately, I'm moving back home for the next six months at the end of this week.

# Posted by ayse on 08/06/06 at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

A Modest Setback, and Animals!

I raveled the sweater and restarted because I tried it on and while it could possibly be worn in such a way as to not fall immediately off my shoulders, I would never wear such a wide neckline. Started again with a smaller neckline. I was a bit surprised that the size was so far off, because I was dead on gauge, but then I figured that in all likelihood the designers had designed for somebody whose chest is smaller in proportion to their shoulder width, so a sweater sized to fit my chest was going to be far too wide in the shoulders. Not being shaped like a board is why I generally find it easier to design my own sweaters than to use patterns. I know I'm going to need to do some short-row shaping around the chest, already.

In other news, I spent some time today importing old animal-related diary entries and so forth into Movable Type to make an animal blog. No, no good reason for separating it out, but mainly I wanted to get the old Rosie diary entries in here and delete the static pages that I hand-coded. Some day, I may take my old archived static OTFA entries and put them in Movable Type, but actually, I doubt it.

Technorati Tags: crafts, knitting

# Posted by ayse on 08/01/06 at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)