Day: October 25, 2007

Maybe you would like to hear from me too!

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Mystic Waters.  Yes, yet another secret knit along. But it is what I bought the Textiles a mano silk for. I bought the silk without seeing even the first clue. I just had a really good feeling about it. Yesterday the first clue came out and WOW! Hello difficult pattern but hello beauty! The openwork is stunning even just on the pattern. I just can’t wait to see it knit up. (I am on hold for some appropriate needles though.) Of course, you must know I cannot leave the pattern as it is, I must add beading. I have some of them charted out, but I think it will help to be a bit behind on the clues so I can better see the repeats, as to facilitate where the beads should be placed. I loved the beads in MS3 soooo much, I must have more bead work!  I haven’t bought beads yet either, and the ones I have will not do.  I am thinking clear silver lined beads to mimic water drops, or black beads to mimic darker waters.  I will have to bring the yarn to the bead shop.

Luckily, my “project which must not be named” will be completed this weekend. Seriously. I am not kidding. It will be done. I refuse to accept any other option.  Its current status is thus:  Second sleeve completed to a more appropriate length.  All in all I think I added at least 3 inches to to the sleeves in Alice Starmore’s pattern.  Which is odd, because I had to shorten the body of the project by more than two inches.  So from this I conclude that though she is a brilliant designer, she is using a very lanky and short armed model to practice on.  The shorter sleeve gusset is ripped out, the stitches unbound and back on the needles, all stitch markers replaced and 2 rows knit on it.  Once that is finished up, all that is left is to sew the whole thing up, add the neckline, and then block if necessary.  I truly believe that this can be accomplished in a weekend.  Oh, and pictures!  Preferable ON the intended recipient.

My hands will be blissfully happy to work with some lace after this.  All those cables and twisted stitches and tight knitting were really causing them to protest.  No more cable knitting for awhile, I need to save my hands so I can continue knitting long term.

Let’s get started, from Nick

/ shellssells / 1 Comment

We are starting with square (technically rectangle) wood. That’s too harsh for this project.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketHow do you get a square wood to be round? 1st step is you stop at Michael’s Crafts and pick up a $1.99 compass. BTW, I always feel GHEY when I walk into that store for some reason. Maybe it’s the flowery smell or all the damn fake flowers they have.
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Let’s get that nice piece of Poplar cut in half. One half for the top, one for the bottom of our Susan.

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Next step, let’s measure for the center. FRICK! This wood panel is only 11 5/16″ wide. NOT 12″ as the label says. No wonder the 12″ bearing was too large. Oh well. These things happen for a reason. This will turn out better!

This is actually common when dealing with lumber. Did you know a 2×4 is really 1.5″ x 3.5?
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Now that we have the center it’s time to introduce one of my favorite tools. A hand drill. Perfect for making a small indention for holding the point of the compass.
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Just like 2nd grade art class. This compass has a nice locking feature on it. This will ensure both circles will be exactly the same. Not bad for for $1.99
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Two perfect circles marked out ready to cut.
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Break out the jig saw for the rough cutting of the circle. Yes that saw is older than I am. You can tell from the retro green. But wait. This is going MUCH slower than it should be. This wood is soft, it should not be this difficult to cut. That’s why, this blade is for cutting metal. Look around.. No other blades. I guess that means a stop at Home Depot on the way to work tomorrow morning. And the end of building for tonight…
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An hour at Lowes, from Nick

/ shellssells / 1 Comment

My hour at Lowes…
This is going to be simple. The web site shows this nice 12” bearing and 18” piece of wood:

How to build a lazy susan

Build a Lazy Susan in 10 mins. The basis of this swift. Head to lumber. I find the round “Table Top” as shown on the web site. It’s about 2” thick and weighs about 15 lbs. Way too heavy duty for this project (and would have cost $100 to ship via freight). Crap, that’s the smallest round piece of wood they have.

Look around. Time to find some other wood. Oak? Nah, too heavy and EXPENSIVE!!! Pine? Ick, The thing I hate about pine is you can never find a piece that is not warped. And for some reason I don’t think it would do your yarns justice. What’s this.. Poplar… It has a nice greenish hue and looks soft and subtle (because it is). Also the pieces are “straight as a board”. This is going to work great! And they have a 12” x 24” piece. I can make that work with the 12” Lazy Susan bearing somehow. Pick it up and go find the bearing.
Find the round bearing shown on the site. Look at it over the wood. FRICK! The bearing is larger than the wood… Either the bearing is lager than 12” or the wood is not 12” wide. But in my mind I’m sold on using this wood. Go back to lumber. 12” is the widest piece of Poplar they sell. FRICK! There is some pine “butcher board” that is interesting. Nah, I can’t have knots touching your yarn. OK, back to hardware. What else do they have? A square 6” bearing. That’s not going to work. With the arms of the swift extended a 6” square platform won’t be stable enough. Unless… I used that bearing with a piece of wood on top and bottom. That will work! But how am I going to screw this thing to both pieces of wood since it’s going to be sandwiched between them? Think, Think, Think, Got it! I know how to do it. This will work, be VERY stable and look great (since I can use the Poplar). Back to Lumber. No Poplar dowels for the pegs, Oak will have to do…

Back to hardware, a few screw packets. Whew, done, I’m outta here…Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The label says 12″…
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A nice close up of the base and arm wood
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The oak dowel
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The Lazy Susan Bearing
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Miscellaneous Hardware

Guest Blogger

/ shellssells / 6 Comments

I am pleased to announce a guest blogger here at Suzy Sells. Nick has kindly agreed to let me post his emails and progress on the yarn swift. I think that exploring another craft will be interesting and fun. Yes, it will contain pictures. No, not necessarily of him, wipe that drool off your faces ladies. (Of course if you ask nicely…..)

So here we go!

(Oh, and Nick? I will be correcting your typo’s. You really should thank me!)