Friday, April 27, 2007

New Template

Well, that's obvious isn't it? I've got a new template. My first action after choosing the template was to alter the colours.

Later I will probably put some of the other information back into my sidebar. Not everything though, and it might not be tonight.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Is it finished?

I tried Isabella on yesterday. I like the fit and here's the lace panel:

some lace

The picot edging is less impressive:
rolled edging

And I don't think the stitching will hold for long:

bad stitching

Aha, an explanation! It's not finished!

unfinished top

Saturday, April 21, 2007

MP3 cosies or Diophantus

an orange and a red MP3 cosy;Just over a week ago, I completed not one, but two MP3 player cosies.

Mine matches the phone case from last year and Dh's has a flap you can tuck in:

The Details:
Yarn orange: - bought from Taj Yarn at Ally Pally last year, in a mixed pack of random fibres.
Yarn red: - Rowan felted tweed
Pattern: my own
Hook size: 3.5mm
Time: orange - 3 days, red - 1 evening (April 2007)

Notes: none really! They are a basic bag shape, with practically every stitch a double (UK) crochet. They are easy to make, but I will write up a pattern, sometime.

My other WIP is my OU course: I'm currently studying the transmission of maths from the Roman period to the Renaissance (although actually it wasn't the Romans doing the maths, the main centre was in Alexandria in Egypt, which was part of the Roman Empire: the scientists of the time wrote in Greek, and could best be described as Hellenistic). I could also tell you lots about Diophantus, who is believed to have lived around 250AD. He wrote a book on number theory, called Arithmetica. His other works are lost to us. The problem with having done University level maths (a long time ago) and studying History of Maths is that I expect the maths to be difficult to understand. It isn't, a lot of it is secondary school level, and so comes into the category of easy, even if I've forgotten precisely how to do it.

(Isn't it interesting that the British refer to the Romans as having an Empire, which they did when they invaded the country, and built roads within a few miles of where I live, but US writers tend to refer to the Roman Republic, which was superceded by the time they built roads within a few miles of where I live.)

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The dark side...

The dark side of the moon is very bright tonight.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

If I could...

If I could upload photos to my website, I'd could show you pictures of my new Summer Tweed yarn from sheepish, or the new MP3 cosies which I finished last week, or the only item of crotchet I can remember from my childhood.

Unfortunately, I can't.

I started writing up the pattern for the MP3 cosies (I made two): its harder then it looks. I am so tempted to do it in pseudo-code, in the style of a computer program.

CONST hook1=3.5mm (normal);
CONST hook2=5mm (large);

VAR hook;

hook = hook2;

WHILE chain <= MP3-player-width DO
{chain 1;}
END WHILE

hook = hook1;

Hmm, maybe not quite so like a computer program.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

A quick post to say "hi"

Progress on Isabella has come to a near halt. On the other hand, I have made a pouch for my MP3 player, which matches my phone case: no pictures yet.

We've been doing Easter holiday stuff, including a craft fair or two and plenty of chocolate eggs.

Also Sheepish have an amazing bargain on Rowan Summer Tweeed at the moment. The choice of colours is very limited, but at only £2.50 a skein (normally Summer Tweed is £4.50-£4.75), that's a minor quibble.

Monday, April 02, 2007

A clean fridge

The Easter holidays are here, and so the children are at home all day. It also means I haven't got on with studying (the next thing to do is to watch a DVD about the transmission of knowledge), but have instead defrosted the fridge.

I thought about taking a photo, and posting it, like the domestic crafty blogs out there but when I actually looked in my fridge, I thought instead of Jane's post today. I try and avoid commenting too much on the goings on in the blogosphere, because basically, either you are already reading it, or you aren't interested.

In essence, the poster had revealed something about herself which meant a commenter could never read her blog again. It struck me how the snippets that we show on blogs are a mere part of the story. From reading my blog, you can learn odd bits about me, some said directly, others hinted at. I've read hints on other blogs that I read that make me wonder whether that person would ever talk to me. When in a supermarket I look in the baskets and trolleys of other people to see if I can piece together their life - single mother? married with teenagers? - and similarly looking in my fridge maybe you too could piece together more of my life then I would like.

The suspect ingredients? A pack of organic cheese, next to a pack of cheese dippers. What does that say about me? Especially as behind them was a tray with three eggs, not in a box, which doesn't tell you that they are local free-range eggs. And the exact choice of puddings (UK pudding == dessert).

In other news, my essay was sent last week, Isabella progress went backwards, but is now much improved, and I didn't go to the Angel Yarns Cake Day for reasons I'd tell you in person, not on a blog.