guy fawkes day.
flats above pubs.
peanut butter on waffles with the syrup baked in.
[after this summer, they will always hold a place in my heart.]
autumn ales.
yarn.
wine with friends.
[week two.]
12.11.09
knit pattern: oversized bow headband
a few people have asked me to write up a pattern for my bow headband. i had a spare moment today, so here it is! this simple bow is knit in a tight gauge, so it houses deep creases and holds its shape. the bow is attached to an icord, and can be worn as a headband, bracelet or necklace. or knit the bow by itself and attach it to shirts, hair clips, or whatever else you can think of!materials:
yarn: a small amount of bristol yarn gallery buckingham in black. but any DK weight yarn will do.
needles: US2 / 2.75 mm double pointed needles
gauge: 24 sts / 40 rows = 4 inches in stockinette
tools:
a tapestry or yarn needle
an elastic hair band (for the i cord)
finished measurements:
bow: 4 inches wide, 5 inches long
i cord: 16 inches, plus elastic band.
notes:
i used dk weight yarn, but feel free to use worsted on US3 needles. just be sure to get a tight gauge! if you want to add a hair clip instead of an i-cord, follow the directions exactly. just attach the hair clip instead of an i-cord. i recommend a hair clip that has holes, which can be used to sew it securely on to the bow.
to make the bow:
cast on 24 sts.
row one: knit
row two: slip 1, purl all
row three: slip 1, knit all
repeat rows two and three, working in stockinette stitch and retaining the slipped-stitch selvage, until the piece measures 10 in, or double your desired length.
cast off.
seaming: with wrong side facing, fold the rectangle over at the middle. the right sides of the fabric should be touching each other. pin the edges down, and sew the top and bottom edges together. turn the bow right-side out, and sew the cast-on and cast-off edges together. your rectangle should now be completely seamed together.
how to make the loop:
cast on 7 stitches.
knit in stockinette, with the slipped stitch edge, for four inches (or until the strip will wrap around the middle of the bow to the desired tightness).
do NOT bind off.
how to make the i-cord:
using the long-tail cast on, cast on 4 stitches AROUND one end of the elastic hair band. when you wrap the yarn around the needle, wrap it around the elastic band as well. your elastic band will have to be stretchy enough to fit the skein of yarn through it, otherwise this wont work at all.
once you have cast-on around the elastic band, knit the i-cord. there is a good tutorial here if you don't know how.
knit until i-cord is about four inches shorter than it needs to be, when stretched.
cast off just as you cast on, around the other end of the elastic band. your i-cord should now stretch comfortably around your head, and fit snugly.
take a spare bit of yarn, and wrap it tightly around the center of the bow. make a few loops, tie a knot in the back, and be sure to leave two long tails. the bow should now be pulled together in the center, to measure about 1.5 inches.
wrap the loop around the middle of the bow, being sure to conceal the yarn wraps underneath. place the i-cord in the center of the back, and graft the edges of the loop together around the i-cord.
using the long tails left over from the beginning, tack the bow, the loop and the i-cord together. but do not put the bow right in the center of the i-cord, unless you want the bow to sit on the top of your head!
artfully arrange the creases of the bow, block lightly with a spray bottle, and you're done!
** this applies to my 101 in 1001 list. it is number eighty-three. the pattern is quite unnecessarily detailed, because i am using it to practice writing a real pattern, for a sweater i have designed. if you make it, please please please let me know if there are any problems. i need to learn how to write a coherent pattern. it's harder than i thought!
10.11.09
101 in 1001 days: learn to needle felt
number twelve.
originally, i was going to take a class, but after looking at workshops, i realized i couldn't afford to spend over hundred dollars to learn something i could teach myself for twenty. so i bought a couple of felting needles and a beginners book. i mean, i've never taken a knitting class either and i've become a decent knitter. following that logic, i can become a decent needle felter as well.
i sat down on my bed and began to work on the first project in the book. it was really fun! a lot more work than i expected, but still really fun. however, when they say foam is essential, they mean it. i did it on my mattress and ended up breaking both my needles. i will have to buy more, since the next step is making beads and birds. yes, i can needle felt a stuffed bird. that is the ultimate goal. but i did start to make a flower today, which due to the breaking of my needles, became more of a dancer.
originally, i was going to take a class, but after looking at workshops, i realized i couldn't afford to spend over hundred dollars to learn something i could teach myself for twenty. so i bought a couple of felting needles and a beginners book. i mean, i've never taken a knitting class either and i've become a decent knitter. following that logic, i can become a decent needle felter as well.
i sat down on my bed and began to work on the first project in the book. it was really fun! a lot more work than i expected, but still really fun. however, when they say foam is essential, they mean it. i did it on my mattress and ended up breaking both my needles. i will have to buy more, since the next step is making beads and birds. yes, i can needle felt a stuffed bird. that is the ultimate goal. but i did start to make a flower today, which due to the breaking of my needles, became more of a dancer.
the roving base, before i felted it. the felted base. it certainly got smaller!
petals!!
after the fourth petal, i broke the needle. i taped the needle bits together, and added the last petal quickly.
then turned it upside down and realized it could also be an abstract pink person dancing!
so there you have it! i learned the basic steps of needle felting! now to make a creature!
fireworks and coach tours: week seven
a person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free. [nikos kazantzakis]
seven weeks left...
daily updates:
3 november. for the past few weeks, one of my classes has been canceled. finally, the teacher got it together and we had our first real lecture. which was exciting, because the class is the making of britain and is actually quite interesting. that night, there was a football match so we headed to the drum and monkey. we tied 3-3, in one of the most exciting games i have seen yet.
4 november. i went to see a comedy show! john, craig, and i went. we showed up early, but it was still sold out. the comedian said he'd be holding an encore show afterward, so we should come back in two hours. we went to the pub, and when we came back, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. they were all americans! so the comedian had to change his show and really think on his toes, because he usually just makes fun of english people. but he did pretty well, i laughed! after that, john decided he wanted to pick up chicks so we went to the new pub we had never been to before: the rocket at kings cross. it was quite good, but john didn't succeed.
5 november. guy fawkes day!
during the day, i went to class and did homework. but at night, i celebrated guy fawkes day! we went to a park and watched fireworks. it was really fun! i love fireworks, they hold special meaning for me. after that, we went on a pub crawl in the angel/kings cross are. i love doing that, cause it means i can stay out however late i want and not worry about having to find my way home!
6 november. i woke up motivated. i looked online to try to find a needle felting class. they were all so expensive! i decided it would be better just to teach myself. so i created a list of shops most likely to have felting needles, and went out into the city. eventually i found one shop that did, but they didn't have any foam! so i decided to use a towel. long story short, i ended up breaking both my felting needles so i only partially learned how to needle felt. i'll blog about it later!
after the disaster that was needle felting, i met up with megan for two-for-one cocktails at our uni bar. but we got there five minutes after the promotion ended! so we just had ciders. it was just the two of us, rather than a group of twelve, so more people spoke to us. one boy decided he was absolutely in love with megan and wouldn't believe she has a boyfriend.
7 november. i went on a bus tour with my roommate. we went to stonehenge, bath and windsor castle. to my complete surprise, i wasn't hungover and actually enjoyed the tour! i loved being on the coach, and i really loved stonehenge. it was amazing to see such large stones, made so long ago. the tour started at nine, and we didn't get back until eight. here are pictures!
windsor:
then i went to the hobgoblin with my roommate. to our surprise, boxing was on so we decided to stay and watch my first ever boxing match. it turned out to be quite a big deal. it was the match that decided the worlds heavyweight champion. it was between david haye and 'goliath' [nikolai something]. the nikolai guy was a beast, he was over seven feet tall and weighed at least 23 stone. david haye didn't even stand at his shoulder. but somehow he won, through points, not a knock out. it was really interesting to watch, but i'm not sure it's the sport for me. john came and my roommate left. we ended up closing the place down.
8 november. i slept until two, trying to recuperate some of my sleep losses. at three, megan, jessey, john and i headed to the drum and monkey to watch the united v chelsea match. it was a really big match, and the place was completely packed. there were mixed feelings in the air, because chelsea has had a much better season than we have. the moscow game on tuesday showed how horrible our defense is, so many thought we wouldn't be able to pull it off against chealsea. but we played superbly. our team was completely together, we had possession most of the game, and had many attempts at scoring. in a very disappointing blow, the ref made a horrible call and gave chelsea a free kick, resulting in the only goal of the game. so they won one to zero, but it should have been a draw. after the game, the owner gave me his season ticket to use for the everton game on the 21st!! so i'll get to see them play in person!
after the game, megan and i went to the hobgoblin. john met us there later. there was a christening party, so everyone was pissed and dancing. we stayed so much longer than we thought would. megan had said she wanted to be home by eleven, but before we knew it, it was half past one and the tubes were closed! when the pub closed, john walked her to the bus stop and i decided to stay and hang out with some of the bartenders. they all live above the bar, so we just walked up the stairs and talked and continued to drink for a couple more hours. it felt very authentic!
9 november. the weekend had taken all my energy and left me exhausted, so i took a much needed break. i didn't even go to pound beers. i spent monday inside my room, doing homework and planning trips. i also figured out my student oyster card, which involved being on the phone for literally an hour and a half. but for the remaining mondays, i think i should start going on day trips. otherwise, i wont end up seeing half of what i came here planning to see. i just had no idea i would prefer spending my weekends in the city, rather than traveling!
weekly highlights.
dates: 3 november - 9 november [days 44-51]
sights seen: stonehenge, windsor and bath!
something new: needle felting!
someone new: countless still!
somewhere new: windsor and bath
new pub/club/restaurant: leicester arms
what i love: needle felting. guy fawkes day. losing myself in the city.
what i miss: my mother. desperately.
what i'm not so sure about: i am quite unsure about converting pounds into dollars. it's really causing problems.
all in all, this was a really great week. last week i realized i was disappointingly settling into a routine. i think i broke that routine this week! this week was definitely one of the best i had. i feel like i say that every week though...
seven weeks left...
daily updates:
3 november. for the past few weeks, one of my classes has been canceled. finally, the teacher got it together and we had our first real lecture. which was exciting, because the class is the making of britain and is actually quite interesting. that night, there was a football match so we headed to the drum and monkey. we tied 3-3, in one of the most exciting games i have seen yet.
4 november. i went to see a comedy show! john, craig, and i went. we showed up early, but it was still sold out. the comedian said he'd be holding an encore show afterward, so we should come back in two hours. we went to the pub, and when we came back, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. they were all americans! so the comedian had to change his show and really think on his toes, because he usually just makes fun of english people. but he did pretty well, i laughed! after that, john decided he wanted to pick up chicks so we went to the new pub we had never been to before: the rocket at kings cross. it was quite good, but john didn't succeed.
5 november. guy fawkes day!
during the day, i went to class and did homework. but at night, i celebrated guy fawkes day! we went to a park and watched fireworks. it was really fun! i love fireworks, they hold special meaning for me. after that, we went on a pub crawl in the angel/kings cross are. i love doing that, cause it means i can stay out however late i want and not worry about having to find my way home!
6 november. i woke up motivated. i looked online to try to find a needle felting class. they were all so expensive! i decided it would be better just to teach myself. so i created a list of shops most likely to have felting needles, and went out into the city. eventually i found one shop that did, but they didn't have any foam! so i decided to use a towel. long story short, i ended up breaking both my felting needles so i only partially learned how to needle felt. i'll blog about it later!
after the disaster that was needle felting, i met up with megan for two-for-one cocktails at our uni bar. but we got there five minutes after the promotion ended! so we just had ciders. it was just the two of us, rather than a group of twelve, so more people spoke to us. one boy decided he was absolutely in love with megan and wouldn't believe she has a boyfriend.
7 november. i went on a bus tour with my roommate. we went to stonehenge, bath and windsor castle. to my complete surprise, i wasn't hungover and actually enjoyed the tour! i loved being on the coach, and i really loved stonehenge. it was amazing to see such large stones, made so long ago. the tour started at nine, and we didn't get back until eight. here are pictures!
windsor:
stonehenge:
bath:
then i went to the hobgoblin with my roommate. to our surprise, boxing was on so we decided to stay and watch my first ever boxing match. it turned out to be quite a big deal. it was the match that decided the worlds heavyweight champion. it was between david haye and 'goliath' [nikolai something]. the nikolai guy was a beast, he was over seven feet tall and weighed at least 23 stone. david haye didn't even stand at his shoulder. but somehow he won, through points, not a knock out. it was really interesting to watch, but i'm not sure it's the sport for me. john came and my roommate left. we ended up closing the place down.
8 november. i slept until two, trying to recuperate some of my sleep losses. at three, megan, jessey, john and i headed to the drum and monkey to watch the united v chelsea match. it was a really big match, and the place was completely packed. there were mixed feelings in the air, because chelsea has had a much better season than we have. the moscow game on tuesday showed how horrible our defense is, so many thought we wouldn't be able to pull it off against chealsea. but we played superbly. our team was completely together, we had possession most of the game, and had many attempts at scoring. in a very disappointing blow, the ref made a horrible call and gave chelsea a free kick, resulting in the only goal of the game. so they won one to zero, but it should have been a draw. after the game, the owner gave me his season ticket to use for the everton game on the 21st!! so i'll get to see them play in person!
after the game, megan and i went to the hobgoblin. john met us there later. there was a christening party, so everyone was pissed and dancing. we stayed so much longer than we thought would. megan had said she wanted to be home by eleven, but before we knew it, it was half past one and the tubes were closed! when the pub closed, john walked her to the bus stop and i decided to stay and hang out with some of the bartenders. they all live above the bar, so we just walked up the stairs and talked and continued to drink for a couple more hours. it felt very authentic!
9 november. the weekend had taken all my energy and left me exhausted, so i took a much needed break. i didn't even go to pound beers. i spent monday inside my room, doing homework and planning trips. i also figured out my student oyster card, which involved being on the phone for literally an hour and a half. but for the remaining mondays, i think i should start going on day trips. otherwise, i wont end up seeing half of what i came here planning to see. i just had no idea i would prefer spending my weekends in the city, rather than traveling!
weekly highlights.
dates: 3 november - 9 november [days 44-51]
sights seen: stonehenge, windsor and bath!
something new: needle felting!
someone new: countless still!
somewhere new: windsor and bath
new pub/club/restaurant: leicester arms
what i love: needle felting. guy fawkes day. losing myself in the city.
what i miss: my mother. desperately.
what i'm not so sure about: i am quite unsure about converting pounds into dollars. it's really causing problems.
all in all, this was a really great week. last week i realized i was disappointingly settling into a routine. i think i broke that routine this week! this week was definitely one of the best i had. i feel like i say that every week though...
5.11.09
thankful for...
the unbelievable opportunities that i have been given.
healthy baby boys.
cider.
cold weather.
the arrival of something yearned for.
new friends and new adventures.
[week one]
healthy baby boys.
cider.
cold weather.
the arrival of something yearned for.
new friends and new adventures.
[week one]
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