Knitted skeleton

T-shirt Quilt

 

We had acquired about 3 zillion t-shirts over the years. While it’s impossible to wear all of these, it’s also hard to get rid of them because many are fond reminders of schools, races, and great friends. So I made a patchwork quilt.

Using a template (a coffee table book, not the best option really) I cut out the logo/design part of the t-shirt with a circular quilting blade. Then I sewed the rectangles into strips, and sewed the strips together. This is the time to use your machine- don’t bother hand quilting. Rather than using batting and backing, I just purchased a large swath of fleece and quilted the fleece and patched t-shirts together, bringing the fleece around to the front to create a border.

Easiest Homemade Ice Cream

In a last ditch effort to make something special for New Year’s Eve, I turned to a Nigella Lawson’s recipe, No Churn Margarita Ice Cream. Of course, I didn’t have every ingredient. Instead, I mixed half-and-half (instead of whipped heavy cream), lime juice, powdered sugar, and rum (instead of tequila and cointreau) in a plastic, lidded container.  I shook the container to introduce some air bubbles (cheater way of whipping or churning) and stuck it in the freezer. Over the next few hours, I shook it several times and allowed it to freeze.

A little before midnight, after approximately 5.5 hours of freezing, we had a zingy, somewhat silky ice cream version of the original daiquiri. The ice cream had fairly large ice crystals, so it wasn’t the smoothest, but it certainly was the easiest homemade ice cream.

Sartalics

A new movement for a brillant graphic concept, sartalics, or italics that lean the opposite direction and mean that the speaker/writer is being sarcastic. brilliant!

String DNA

Simple, elegant data visualization turned into art in your browser: String DNA. Go experiment.

Chalking it Up

Two recent blog posts reminded me how much I liked to draw with chalk in my grandparent’s driveway. My own driveway was a bit steep, but Grandpa always had a good chalk supply for us cousins. First, The Improvised Life had a great post on chalk welcome mats and Kolams (amazing Indian chalk drawings). Then, Design Sponge interviewed  Dana Tanamachi, an artist who works in chalk. Amazing stuff.

Knitting Resource: Weaving in Ends by Purl Bee

This blog post on the Purl Bee is a fantastic resource on the many, many different ways to weave in your ends on knitted pieces. The author makes the excellent point that there is no one right way to do this, but different methods may be better for different pieces.

Thanks to Mette on Etsy Knitters for posting this resource and all her other great links.

 

Knitted Baby Hats

One of my very favorite people, my cousin Jenn, is having a baby girl. After negotiating with my Mom about who was going to knit which cute hats, I went to buy yarn. I didn’t find the orange I wanted for a pumpkin hat, which would have been perfect for a late September baby. Instead, I bought yellow and pink baby acrylic yarn and began experimenting. This is what I learned: 1. tiny hats need tiny stripes, 2. fold over brims don’t work (again, it’s an issue of scale).  Here is my final striped hat.

I also made an all pink hat, then knitted bunny ears and sewed them on (pattern below).

Pattern for baby hat:

Cast on 48 stitches (16 on 3 needles to knit in the round), if gauge is 4.5 stitches to the inch. I used 48 stitches on size 6 needles.

Knit 4, Purl 4 for half an inch

Knit in the round until the entire piece measures four inches in length.

To decrease: Row 1, knit 2 together. Row 2, purl. Row 3, knit 2 together. Row 4, purl. Trim the yarn leaving about 6 inches of extra slack. Thread the yarn tail with a tapestry needle, then thread all of the remaining stitches through the needle. Tighten and put the needle through the top of the hat. On the inside of the hat, tie off the yarn securely.

To make bunny ears: With gray yarn, cast on 4 stitches.

Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat twice. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off.

Pick up three stitches from the original four cast on. With the pink yarn, knit six rows in stockinette stitch. At the beginning and end of every pink row, hook the edge of the gray and knit or purl the pink and gray stitches together. This will create the effect of pink “inner ear” and gray “outer ear” in one relatively seamless ear.

Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.

Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off. Use a tapestry needle to tuck the yarn ends into the inside of the ear. Sew the ends of the ear to the hat with pink yarn.

In Defense of Weeds

Earlier this summer I wrote a post in defense of weeds. Slate Magazine has just published a similar piece with more history and an excellent slide show. Be sure to check out the slide show, it has lots of fascinating information. While you’re there, also check out one of my favorite podcasts, the Slate Culture Gabfest, a thought provoking discussion on everything from MOMA exhibits to Lady Gaga.

Keep Savannah Quirky

This morning Savannah was even more atmospheric than usual. The clouds hung as low and gray as the Spanish moss; the sidewalks were strewn with tiny white flower petals released during the storms last night. But what I wanted to share is the quirkier side of Savannah. This is a house I pass on my way to work….