A parade of finished objects

It's been a busy January so far.  I've released a pattern for small drawstring bags, burned my hand with boiling water (making proper tea is a hazardous business) and I'm training for my third degree brown belt in Chinese Kenpo.  And I've

New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge

I don't normally make extensive New Year's resolutions, beyond my annual "I will not stab anyone in [insert year here]."  I borrowed that one from Rachel Herron in 2010 and it is a worthy goal worth re-committing to each year (I never resolve not

Ink sampling

I've been sampling various combinations of ink and fountain pens.  It's a huge surpise how different pens with the same ink give wildly different results.  Using my TWSBI 540 pen with Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses ink gives a nice even burgundy line.

Projects in progress and stalled

If ever there was a year where I don't complete NaNoWriMo it's this one.  Too much going on to have brain real-estate tied up with a novel.  I may stage a dramatic comeback mid-month but it's not looking very likely today.  I'm

NaNoWriMo – T minus 10 days

Ten days.  Keyboards on standby, tea ready to be brewed, notebooks filled with plot debris, friends and fiends recruited, donor halo firmly in place.  We're doing this. I have a stack of index cards in three different colours, with events on relating to the group of characters in

NaNoWriMo – T minus 20 days

I've spent October thinking I wouldn't have anything to write beyond one cool concept.  The novel is competing for brain real-estate with 30 self defense techniques and 11 kata that I need to have pattern-perfect for my third degree brown belt test in Chinese Kenpo.  I&

FO: Midnight Slouching hat

It's not often I make two of the same thing so close together.  This hat has squishy earflaps because of the 1x1 cabling, which is quite tedious to do.  I really should learn to do those without a cable needle.  Perhaps on hat #3. Pattern: Ekaterin Slouch Hat

NaNoWriMo – T minus 30 days

Now is the time to panic, if you haven't already started.  We're writing a NOVEL in a month's time, we must be mad.  October is the month of the Great Site Relaunch, all the posts in the NaNoWriMo forums get wiped for the new

FO: Flutter Scarf mkII

It still needs blocking, but the Flutter scarf is done: Pattern: Flutter by Mimknits Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Silky Alpaca Lace Needles: US3 (my Blackthorn needles) Duration: 21 July to 1st September This is my second Flutter scarf, and this time I did it right.  I put in four rows

NaNoWriMo - T minus 50 days

I love November because that's when NaNoWriMo happens and we write novels together.  I love the camaraderie, the intensity, the goals, the notes, the team challenges.  I love having a story at the end of it.  There are 50 days until NaNoWriMo 2012.  Scared yet? Days til NaNoWriMo