http://www.sarahspins.com spinning, knitting, and some other stuff too :) Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:05:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en But I've at least been busy! In the past month I knit myself a sweater (Rogue from The Girl from Auntie) I was a bit overwhelmed looking at the pattern, since it is 19 pages, but it's all very clearly written out and detailed - which is wonderful when you're knitting complex ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/12/31/a-bit-behind-on-the-updates-again/ Well, eventually oiling the plastic bearings on my Hitchhiker and spinning caused enough fiber/gunk to build up in the top/noisier bearing to cause it to stop turning entirely.  Not quite what I intended, but ultimately it did stop the noise over the weekend.. the shaft would just rotate inside the ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/11/24/a-quiet-success/ Earlier this week I formed a plot to quiet my Hitchhiker's noise while spinning.  Almost anyone who has spun on or been near one of these wheels spinning knows that they do indeed make a bit of noise.. and I'm determined to do some problem solving and fix most of ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/11/20/hushing-my-hitchhiker/ The bars are coming along.. I've fixed a few bugs that I had found, as well as a memory hogging issue, and I've got a few people signed up to test them.  If you're interested in testing them too, please PM me on Ravelry with your email address and API ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/11/11/making-progress/ All this week I've been working on a Flash widget version of the Ravelry Progress bars - it's currently displaying my FO's in the sidebar.  I've got a few more tweaks to do, and I want to add a few more features and I need to clean up my code ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/11/07/notice-something-new/ With only 3 days to spare I finished Kaia's costume yesterday.  There are a few things I'd change if I did it over, and I'd probably choose to use some different materials, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The wings were a total pain and I am ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/10/29/happy-halloween/ I totally had a blast. Lost of people stopped by to see us, and Shelly and I were super busy the entire weekend! I managed to crank out one pair of socks Saturday morning in about 45 minutes, which I then took off the machine but left attached ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/10/20/maker-faire-2/ I've been MIA a lot lately since I've been so busy, but I just wanted to post that I'll be at Maker Faire in Austin this weekend with civilbitch demonstrating our sock machines :) http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/10/16/maker-faire/ Because a few of you asked for it, here it is! Owl Hair Clip Pattern - 512KB http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/09/25/owl-clip-pattern/ Yeah... uh, guess I forgot to post stuff, again :)  I haven't really been up to a WHOLE lot lately.. honest :) I got a new camera as a late birthday present, so I've been off taking pictures, not crafting. My son went back to school, my daughter also started preschool, ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/09/24/oh-right-the-blog/ They like yarn, that's close, right? We adopted two kitties Saturday from the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.  We had no idea they had a kitty special going on when we decided to get both of them either (and we were okay with paying two adoption fees).. which for some reason impressed ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/25/its-almost-yarn-related/ I have made 7 pairs out of 17 that I had planned to do for the ravelympics.  I had some issues and just lost momentum.  Nevermind I've not been feeling all that great this past week.  I think I'm going to call it quits officially and just be proud I ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/22/i-am-failing/ Well I've successfully finished 4 pairs of socks... and I have one pair "knit" that is going to get ripped out (and may in all likelyhood not count towards my 17 pairs) and I knit one sock yesterday that I will frog soon - I need to take a picture ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/12/catching-up/ A couple of weeks ago I got this crazy/stupid idea to sign up for the Ravelympics and knit 17 pairs of socks.  Why?  Because I could... I am of course, already behind.  The Olympics started yesterday.  All I've managed to accomplish (and only today, a day after the opening ceremony) is ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/09/ballwinding-should-be-an-olympic-sport/ To get back to my wheel :D  I know I spent a good part of lasy year unable to spin - late in my pregnancy with my youngest I couldn't sit for very long without my legs going numb, and then of course I had a newborn (though I did ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/08/i-dont-know-why-it-took-me-so-long/ I started on this blended batt a while back (so long I have no idea what's even in it, though I do remember buying it, at least!) and thought I should go ahead and make some progress on it, since I haven't touched my wheel at all, in about 6 ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/08/02/spinning-again/ As our fundraiser to help get Angelina back on her feet is coming to a close, I just wanted to thank each and EVERY one of you out there who either donated items for the raffles and auctions, or has contributed by buying raffle tickets and bidding on auctions, as ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/07/31/zen-string-in-full-swing/ If it doesn't work, take it apart, clean everything (again) and keep trying If the stitches don't clear the latches (easily, on their own), and you're using plenty of weight, your ribber dial is TOO HIGH.  It's not a tension issue or a needle issue, it's simply because the dial isn't ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/07/24/things-ive-learned-about-ribbing-on-a-csm/ Yay, I got it working (and I made a video of it - I'm not sure which was more of a challenge) :) Ribber in Action (video) I also finished the *pair* of Anne Carson socks, knit a pair for my sister, and a pair for me! http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/07/24/ribber-ribbing/ It's glorious! I took the machine apart and spent the evening cleaning all the parts, including some sticky oil that was causing one of my uplift cams to stick when I changed directions doing a heel, and I cranked this beauty out with no trouble at all :) ... http://www.sarahspins.com/archive/2008/07/22/legare-sock-1/