A Finished Project

It has been a while since you heard from me.  Patrick does a great job of entertaining you with our projects and updates.

It is finally cooling down a bit here - it was very hot, although seeing as I work in the basement of the library, it really wasn't that different for me - at least M-F.

I finally did complete a project that had been sitting near the sewing machine.

I had made one for Marisa's birthday... (my phone does not like to take clear pictures - or perhaps it is me.  The outside fabric is the same for both mine and Marisa's - even if the colors look way off.)

But I had used Christmas money to buy a full set of bamboo dpn (that is double-pointed needles for the non-knitters), and they needed a home.  So I finally finished mine.  There is still room for some more - perhaps hardwood, or metal, or some other pretty needles that decide to come home with me.

It rolls up nicely!

 

And there is a pocket!  I will eventually need a needle gauge that fits in here, as the full set of dpn's only has markings in mm instead of US sizes like I'm used to.

I also finally used my birthday money and bought a hand-thrown knitting bowl.  It is larger than I expected, but it works nicely for the larger sizes of yarn.  I still have my other little bowls to handle the smaller ones.

 At the end of June we ventured up to Rexburg to attend the Temple.  The Idaho Falls Temple is closed for renovations until next year.  Afterwards we headed to The Hickory for some lunch and were greeted by a flock of little ducks!

Patrick is doing really well.  The "new" eating has actually not been that difficult and has been enjoyable to visit the Farmer's market on Saturday to pick up some local lettuce for salads each week.  Granted we still eat enough salads and lettuce wraps that we still buy lettuce at the grocery store as well, but it is nice to have all the fresh produce around as it is the right season.  We did not plant a garden or pots this year.  It was just one more thing too much. But rest assured we still have many projects to keep us busy.  You'll be hearing about a recent $15 purchase from Patrick in the weeks to come.

I still have the dissertation staring at me.  I have gotten approval to move forward by 2 of the 3 reading committee members, now to find some more motivation!  I have also been doing more with Quality Matters and I do enjoy that work.  It gets me teaching, facilitating, and helping other create quality courses.  I have just begun facilitating the first introductory workshop offered in China!  It is all online so I don't have to go anywhere.  I have a wonderful co-facilitator and a wonderful support team to help with translations and applications specific to the Chinese educational system.  Quality Matters is in other places internationally, but this is the first where the language is more of an issue.

And when I'm having a hard time, Patrick is always good about finding something to pick me up.  Last week he gave me a happy Wednesday present :)  I love my new little purple boxes!  Now to find what is going to go in them!

Well, that is it for this week.  Other projects are in the works and I'm sure you get to hear about Patrick's new one(s) next week!

Sew you want to be an artist...

Yep as promised we have a project to show this week...

Do you feel like the choir isn't quite tough enough for you?

 Want to sneak a little 'heavy' metal into church?

Are you just a fan of shiny things?

Well then this project is for you

The chainmaille hymn book!

Ok, technically it is the chainmaille hymn book cover....

And yes there are still some modifications to go. But the first one is up, running and standing on it's own.

This first run is 16 gauge 1/4 inch aluminum rings sewn onto a denim backing. The book is held in with 2" elastic and some pockets at the end.

The pockets are actually proving to be problematic, both in getting the book in and in securing the sides of the chainmaille (that's why the ends look a little wonky)

The top and bottom do ok, but the sides with the pockets are a sewing problem... Of course anyone familiar with good blue jeans knows the riveting solution to the problem... rivets! (Ok, did you really think I was going to play a whole blog post straight?) I'm planning on replacing the pockets on the mark two with brass strip (abt 3/4 - 1 inch pieces) bent into a U and riveted to the end of the maille and the cloth backing this will make the ends look cleaner, hold the chainmaille better in that direction and add another color element. They also create a pocket that doesn't have some of the problems the cloth ones do (like tending to get sewed shut when you try to attach the maille).

The rings are aluminum so it's lighter than you might think and you can get a decent grip on it. Of course if you want to you could do brass, bronze, or stainless (you can also use anodized aluminum in pretty colors (Just in case you want to convince someone you got your hymn book from the Tardis...))

In other news both Lisa and I are writing away. I've got both blogs running. My novella is driving me nuts but coming along. More about my writing in two weeks... Lisa is still working on the dissertation and will be doing three conference presentations next month (and more goodies in the works).

Any one thinking that's all the mischief around here has probably forgotten what tomorrow is (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...Irish heritage... and Patrick for a first name... I'm just saying...).

But that is another story... (hey any chance to make a Conan reference...)

Seriously that's it for today. See you next week (unless Lisa forgets again...don't worry  Lisa actually wrote that.)