Christmas and beyond

Like my parents before us, T and I have pretty much given up on surprising each other at Christmas. This year, we bought both of our presents at Barnes & Noble while we were together. On sale, too! We did have to wait until Christmas to open them, though. In fact, T waited until after Christmas, since his was too big to tote on our trip - and he couldn't have played with it, anyway.

I got a new Nook GlowLight Plus e-reader. I had the previous model, but it was getting tatty. Even though I have a tablet, I find that I read more on the Nook. It's smaller, lighter, and can be dimmed so I can read in bed after lights out.

T got a small 3D printer. Its a da Vinci Jr., and it appears to be the gateway drug of 3D printing. He's had some start-up woes with it. The software isn't working with Linux, and he couldn't even make it work with my half-Windows laptop.

Still, when I came home from work on New Year's Eve, he handed me this pendant.

My man made me jewelry!

 
Apparently there is an auto-print function that lets you print something without going through all of the set-up. XYZPrinting cagily realized that anyone who got this printer probably had a mom or wife who okayed it, and it would be smart to make your first print something you could give to her.

T thinks I should paint the pendant. I haven't decided. For starters. I need to find out what sort of paint to use. If I have to invest in model car paint or something, I really don't see that happening. But if the $1.50 craft paints from Michael's will do it, I'm game.

Also this week, his telescope finally came back from the repair facility in Mexico. It broke at the star party in July, and has been getting repaired for months. But now it is home. Between the scope and the printer, T has nerdy fun waiting no matter what the weather.

And I have books.

Catloaf

Catloaf
Originally uploaded by chaimann

T bought a digital SLR camera recently. It has a ton of tasty features, but the true test of any camera we own is, "Can I take gratuitous photos of the cat and post them to my blog?" The answer? Yes!

He got the camera for astrophotography, but doesn't have the connector doohickey that will make that possible. And outdoor scenes aren't that charming yet, although confidence is high that spring is approaching. The irises and the tulips are starting to push through, the finches and the cardinals are making a ruckus in the lilac bushes, and Shed Kitty is spending a lot of time sitting in the sun.

Best garbage ever

Tonight was my tai chi class, and we were a little late getting home from work. I didn't even go into the house, just dropped T off at home, took the car, and went to my class. But before I left, T pointed out that he had a couple of packages - some gear he had ordered in hopes of being able to revive his broken telescope.

When I came home, I was greeted with this:


And this:


Whatever he got, it was packed in a bunch of six-inch discs of soft pink foam rubber. They are so much cuter, and so much more substantial, than packing peanuts, that it seems a shame to toss them out. But I also can't think of a good reason to keep them.

I haven't been to tai chi for a couple of weeks due to the holidays, and oh, boy, can I tell I am out of the groove. Note to self: Clear out a spot in the basement so you can practice even when there is no class.

Spinning 101

Since the last time I tried spinning, I have acquired a couple of books about spindle spinning, and another spindle, once again courtesy of my friend Amy. She had a "learn to spin" kit with a some luscious teal roving, and had decided she was not going to learn to spin with it.

The roving is SO my color, that I knew I needed to get much better at spinning before I attempted it.

I bought a hunk of "ugly" roving to practice with when the KnitWits went to Minneapolis a couple of years ago.

This is a fairly compact little rope of fiber. It needs to be loosened up so fibers can slide past each other easily. The process of stretching out the amount of fiber that will be spun is called drafting. Loosening and stretching the fiber before you start to spin is predrafting.

Everything I read about spindle spinning, in books and on message boards, suggested that you can't predraft the fiber too much. I started by loosening the rope laterally, until it was a flat, thin sheet. (At the bottom of the picture, you can see the ropey part for comparison.)

(Sorry, no photos of the rest of the process. I was home alone.)

Then I pulled off a section about two inches wide and started tugging it gently lengthwise to start the fiber slippage. When I had an long airy tube of fiber, I attached it to the spindle and started spinning.

I used the "park and draft" method, which gives newbies a little more control. I spun the spindle to build up twist in the yarn, then stopped it with my knees or on the floor while I fed more fiber out. The excess twist travels up the new fiber. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until the strand of yarn gets too long, then wind it onto the spindle and do it all again.

One of the fun things about dyed fiber is that it's really hard to predict how it will look when it is spun. As I said, I wasn't crazy about this roving, but the yarn is sort of pretty.

The learning curve of spinning is learning how to make the yarn the same thickness and with the same amount of twist. I'm not there yet, but at least some parts of it look like I want them to look.

I shall keep working on it.

I spent Thanksgiving with my two roommates, for whom I am truly thankful. Also, we managed to cook a modest sized meal, for which I am also thankful.

Gettin' gaudy

Susan at Resolution Every Day recently showed what happened when she started scribbling with her pastels. Hey! I have pastels! And I know how to scribble! And thanks to a big clearance sale at The Art Store, I have a huge sketch pad.

It's not as sublime as Susan's lovely art, but it was massively fun. I call it "Atlas Goes Snowboarding During the Berlin Airlift".

The patroness of the arts was so impressed, she hugged my neck.


(KnightStar would like to point out that he has just updated his blog with some pictures from his nature walks. Zoom in on the deer in the last picture.)

Return of the memes

You Should Rule Saturn

Saturn is a mysterious planet that can rarely be seen with the naked eye. You are perfect to rule Saturn because like its rings, you don't always follow the rules of nature. And like Saturn, to really be able to understand you, someone delve beyond your appearance. You are not an easy person to befriend. However, once you enter a friendship, you'll be a friend for life. You think slowly but deeply. You only gain great understanding after a situation has past.

What Planet Should You Rule?

What's that bidness about rarely seen with the naked eye? I could look out the window right now and see Saturn. I must say, though, I never get tired of looking at it in a telescope.

In other news: Knightstar has the Peek of the Week at the Piker Press this week.

Teasers are starting to leak out for Script Frenzy, the upcoming script writing event from the fine folks who brought you NaNoWriMo. I hate to say it, but I'm thinking about doing it. It seems clear that novel writing is not my first, best destiny. Maybe scriptwriting is my calling. I am pretty good with dialogue, after all.

Creativity in small bites

A few weeks ago, I found some tiny two- and three-inch canvases at The Art Store. They were only a buck, so I bought a few. A couple of weeks ago, after I finished the still-veiled art project for the Press, I pulled out one of the little canvases and started painting on it.

Considering I was using paints from a paint-by-number set, and considering all of the darker paints had dried out (the figure in the foreground was drawn in with a PITT artist pen), and considering it is my first time painting with acrylics ever, I thought it was not too shabby. I'm especially proud of how I screwed up one of the stars, and managed to turn it into a nebula.

Who knows what might happen if I get my hands on some primary colors?

In other news:

The Piker Press has been saved. We found a new web host (don't forget, Infinology sucks), and Josh spent the week moving everything over. There may be some glitches yet in the archives, but there is an old issue up now and another one on the way Monday.

Early this morning, I finished one of the Pastel Easter Egg socks of Doom. It's cute. I have about four pattern repeats left on the second sock. The end is near... and I already have two new projects waiting to step up to the plate.

It warmed up to 60 today. Knightstar and I went for a walk along the river this afternoon, without coats. We still had to tromp through patches of icy leftover snow. Ah, spring. He just put a lot of pictures on his blog, some of the aftermath of our recent snowstorms, and others of the local wildlife.

My man's big break

KnightStar has one of his photographs published in the Piker Press this week. Check it out!