protecting the toys

As partners of those who buy portable electronic gadgets must know, it is important to protect the toys. They're sensitive to dust and knocks and scratches and a whole host of other ills. And they're damned expensive.

Earlier this year I ran up the following bag for a PSP. Said PSP already lives in a hard case, but the case has open sections which, I have been informed, let grit in. This cannot be. Enter a garish bag constructed out of sample squares of fleece and a ribbon left over from a Georg Jensen present. The materials used can be explained by the fact that I ran it up in a hurry the night before I left for a two week business trip.

The household then acquired a DS Lite. It acquired a hard case, with similar open sections. It's taken me a couple of months but...

	Knitpicks Memories in Redwood knitted on the Bond (previously shown on 19 05 2007)
	felted
	folded
	given a cord
	sewn up the base and sides
	and put to use
	can you tell the light was fading? Detail by lamplight.

The twisted cord was made using a couple of metres of yarn, a doorknob, a ball-wider with the cone removed and the brief participation of my patient partner:

• double the yarn
• hook the middle around a doorknob so that you have two ends each of doubled yarn
• start twisting manually
• realise it's going to take several millenia
• investigate the ball-winder, remove its cone, stick the yarn ends through the convenient slits in the bit that goes around, tie ends under base
• turn the wrong way for a while, swear and turn the other way
• at the point at which the cord doubles up on itself twistily if you walk toward the doorknob, yell for your partner
• ask her to unhook the yarn from the doorknob
• grab the yarn at its approximimate midpoint and then hand the free end to your partner to hold with the other end
• massage the yarn by smoothing it from the free ends your partner is holding towards the folded end you have until all the little twisty bits give up and you have a nice flat cord
• tie an overhand knot in the free ends and snip the ends to even them up

Gosh. It's an FO.

Evil blogger is messing with my HTML

Blogger is evil. It keeps on messing with my html and screwing up my spacing. It took me something like 7 tries to get my last post to look almost viewable.
In an html editor, line endings have no meaning. Blogger must learn this.

(Is is just me, or am I beginning to sound like a dalek?)

must...make use of...sun

I was at home and awake when we got our late afternoon sliver of sun, and did my best to make use of it.Clapotis is unblocked and the ends haven't been woven in, but the knitting is done:

It's not my favourite clapotis, but it's my first decent-sized piece of knitting, so I'm pleased.

The one row scarf grows every now and then

We have achieved proto-socks:

Did I say the Addi's were nice? The Addi's are really, really nice.

World's slowest knitter struggles with multi-sock method

I haven't been particularly well, which may explain why I'm struggling with the multi-sock method of knitting. Either that, or I have bitten off more than I can reasonable chew. Nothing new there, admittedly. I cast on, I got through the toe-increase rows. Hopefully I will soon have the energy to pick the pathetic little scraps of knitting up again.

I worked until stupid o'clock this morning on some test data, went into work fully intending to stay until 14:00, then rush home and take my remaining telconferences from bed. I left work at 18:30. And the software for which my test plan and data were supposed to be so desperately required... will not be ready for testing until Friday, if then.

As to the unwellness, I suspect bronchitis. I haven't had it for about 15 years, but the gentle squeaking in my chest and the feeling of breathing through soap bubbles seems vaguely familiar. My immune system is crap. I can't decide if it needs gentle nurturing or a kick up the arse.

In the interests of the former, I have been cooking a little: I actually got some time to cook this weekend as feeling like shit meant I didn't go anywhere and I was avoiding test data production and CV writing on Sunday afternoon.

My beloved other half bought me three gluten-free cookbooks a couple of months ago: I have wheat, corn and soy sensitivities, so gluten-free is a good place to start, but takes further ingenuity to make it work. I highly recommend Bette Hanagan's Easy Gluten Free Cooking (ISBN 978-1-84454-369-4), if only for her flour mixes and her explanation of what can be substituted for what.

I miss quiche. This isn't too bad a substitute.

sweet potato quiche 'pastry' plus ham and onion quiche filling 'pastry' 500g sweet potato (kumera) 1 tbsp olive oil 100g grated cheese (half parmesan, half cheddar works ok) 50g rice flour filling two small or one large sweet red onion, diced 150g good quality ham, diced 3/4 cup of light crème fraîche (or milk, or yoghurt or cream...) 2 eggs salt and pepper to taste Peel and chop sweet potato into similar-sized pieces (2 - 3 cm) and boil until squishable. Drain and mash. Add olive oil, half the cheese and rice flour. Mix together until they form a wet dough-like substance. Press into a 20cm springform pan, ensuring that the base is completely coated and sides are at least partly covered. Bake blind for 10 mins at 180°C (moderate oven). Saute onion over medium heat until translucent and cool. Add rest of grated cheese, ham, crème fraîche and eggs. Beat together, season to taste. Pour onto blind baked base. Cook at 180°C (moderate oven) for 30 mins or until set and lightly browned. Best served cold, tends to fall apart when hot.

I also made the Apricot bread from Bette Hagman's book with rice flour only. Not bad, but rather bitter: I think I put in too much orange peel. I'd like to substitute apple for the apricot next time to see how that would work. I miss apple bread.

Non-basil pestos are great, especially if you get a rainy summer and the basil goes black. This week the supermarket had the most amazing bunches of extremely healthy common mint, and I found some decent coriander hiding in an unopened crate. Mmmmm. Spicy.

fluffy geek's perverted pesto Two handsful of mint leaves - either the big strong common mint, or vietnamese mint if you can get it. Four handsful of coriander leaves (I cut off the really chunky bits of the stalks but leave the rest in) Two handsful of pine nuts (100g). Cashew nuts are also good. A chunk of parmesan about 1" x 1" x 2" 1 good sized garlic clove a hefty pinch of salt Pepper Olive oil Throw into a food processor bigger than mine (I did mine in two batches and the mint nearly defeated it even then...) I roughly grate the parmesan in using the grater disc, then add garlic, pulse, nuts, pulse and then leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. Then add olive oil and blitz until you get your desired texture. Some people like it more soupy than others.

P.S. Oh, but I do like the Addi's I bought for the sock project. I have a suspicion they might quietly breed in my knitting tool drawer while I'm earning British pounds and the price doesn't seem so scary.

wrong, but oddly compelling

Your Score: Ceiling Cat

48% Affectionate, 39% Excitable, 48% Hungry

You are a master of stealth. They never see you coming. But you always see them coming. HEY-O!

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The fact that I didn't actually understand many of the questions or their answers could be influencing this... Lack of exposure to popular culture bites again.

succumbing to socks

I have finally decided that it might be time for me to dip my toe into the murky waters of sock-knitting. My reasons are as follows:

• I have thick, sturdy legs, puffy ankles and wide, paddle-like feet. Finding comfortable socks is not an easy task
• I get blisters easily, and am irritated by toe seams
• I can't stand the leg constriction caused by socks being made for people with less tree-like calves
• Custom-made socks are clearly the answer
• I need to replace the walking-boot socks I bought in Germany when I was ten because a) I can only find one of them and b) they are very slightly too small as my feet have grown a tiny bit since I bought them (though not much. I stopped growing altogether at 11).

Requirements

• Toe-up
• I really, really need to try on as I go
• Not a short-row heel
• They don't seem to be kind to large ankles
• Both socks at the same time
• My gague is inconsistent and I am terrified that it will change, thus giving me two socks of different sizes
• I am very likely to finish the first sock and stop. What could be worse than having just one comfortable sock?
• DK-weight yarn
• I'm not a quick knitter and this will hopefully make it a relatively short first-sock-knitting-experience

Specifications

• Toe-up pattern from Savannahchick utilising
  • Judy's Magic Cast-On
  • The heel from Amy's socks
• Twilley's Freedom Spirit in 514 - Nature
• Both socks will be knit concurrently on two circulars on
• 1 pr Clover Bamboo 3.5 mm (owned)
• 1 pr Addi Turbo 3.5 mm (ordered)

That's the plan, anyway.