Monday, January 31, 2011

First Pattern For Sale - The Bear Hat

It's official! I have a pattern for sale. I've been working on having this become a reality for a whole year now.

That pattern is a knit hat with crocheted ears. You can check it out on Ravelry. It's called Bear Hat. Or, if you'd rather, you can buy it by pressing the buy now button. No ravelry account required. The pattern is being offered for $5.

Of course if you don't buy the pattern, Grumpy Teenage Bear will stare you down and sigh heavily.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Project Restyle

I've been fixing things up regularly. Little bit of mending here. Little bit of touching up there. But when it comes to electronics, I am much less likely to try to fix something. I think it would be fair to say that we have all been well programmed to dump out old electronics in favor of snazzy new ones. I have a pair of headphones that I've been using for nearly five years now. The foam was worn away, a bit that holds the headphones in place had snapped. But the electronic components were still working well.

After reading about Project Restyle on Elsie's blog, A Beautiful Mess, I thought I'd breathe new life into my old headphones. A little bit of knitting and they are as good as new. They might be even more comfortable than they were before.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Furbaby

I've been rather busy with my move. But rest assured, I will have lovely pictures of my new room and the "fiber wall" soon enough. Until then, enjoy some Scooter pictures.

Coy Scooter

Sleepy Scooter

Scooter in Disguise

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Winemaking 101: Part 3

I'd finished our wine a little while ago, but forgot to post the rest of the instructions... oops.

Once the oak chips have settled, you can filter the wine. (Or you can wait an extra week or so to let the wine season a bit more. It's all about personal preference.) Have a strong light by the bottle so you can see where the sediment lays.

You will be siphoning all the wine out of the carboy. Pull the siphon out when you see sediment starting to be drawn out. Clean out the carboy and put the wine back in. Let the sediment settle for another day or so. Re-siphon the wine. I go through the process twice, minimum. The more you do this, the more sediment you can get out. But you sacrifice the amount of wine you end up with.


Once you are done filtering, you can bottle. I use the siphon for this as well. Then cork the bottles. (A bottle corker is very useful for this task) Wait about six months before enjoying the wine. It can be drunk earlier, but the flavor of the wine doesn't come through until later.


Monday, January 17, 2011

End Of An Era

Friday was my last day of work at the wool mill. It was rather bittersweet.

I'm sure going to miss touching fiber all day.

Playing with Baloo and Bagheera.

Maybe just Baloo. I'm actually a bit afraid of Bagheera. He plays with claws.

I'll definitely miss seeing the new lambs. This little guy is quite a character.

He has a white tail! How funny is that. I think I might name him bunny. Once he's docked he'll look like a little cotton tail.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

More Than Meets The Eye

Apparently Transformers exist. I got stuck behind an Autobot the other day. Didn't see any Decepticons though.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Portrait Practice

I have decided that now that I have a lovely new camera, I will start developing my portraiture skills. I've taken plenty of nature photography and feel quite comfortable with it. But, portraiture does not come as easily to me. 2011 will be the year of the portraits. I will be posting further portraits in 2011 Portraiture on my Flickr account.

I suspect that there may be a lot of self portraits. I am the easiest person to get ahold of when I want to take pictures.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Packing Party

Some big changes have happened in my life recently. The biggest being that have quit my job at the wool mill and will be moving back with my parents.

It is a big shock to the system. It would be a lie if I didn't say I just feel a bit lost in my life journey. There are plenty of things to look forward to when I move back. But I'm mourning the loss of what I have now. I mean... the scene selection for Across The Universe made me cry. I watched Little Miss Sunshine instead. I just have to remember that there a plenty of things to look forward to.

#1 best thing about moving back: I'll get to hang out with my brother. You know, now that we are old enough and hopefully mature enough to actually spend time together without punching each other. He'll be helping me get my biking stamina up so that we can do an epic bike ride over the Santa Cruz mountains.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

2010 Knitting, Crocheting, and Spinning

I hadn't realized how prolific my knitting (and bits of crocheting) had been in 2010 until I started to put a collage together. I don't think I even took a picture of all my knits. I did more than just knit though. I had also learned to spin.

I moved from a CD spindle to a nice wood spindle, to my Lendrum spinning wheel. Once again, I didn't take a picture of all my skeins. There is a sampling of the Tour de Fleece skeins next to the giant picture of everything I had spun for the event. The last picture is of all the spinning I'd done in December.
I can't wait to share what these skeins will make. But I have several more to spin before I reveal what that might be.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

This past year was the year of change. A year of new adventures. I laughed plenty. I cried bunches. This year has knocked the wind out of me. I've been so busy that all I feel like doing is sleep. But I wouldn't trade this year for anything.

I graduated with a BA in Design and started a job at the Yolo Wool Mill.

I went to New Zealand with my Dad.

I knit my first lace item.

I made wine for a third year in a row.

I learned how to cook. Food. Real food. A level above ramen. (Which is impressive to anyone who has lived with me)

I chased several lambs that had gotten on the wrong side of the fence from their mums.

I made friends with a kitten, now cat. (I never thought that would happen)
My name is Baloo. I live here.

I thought I'd go over my goals I had for 2010.

1. Keep this blog updated.
Status: Done. I've been posting at least once a week.
2. Make a portfolio site for my work.
Status: Moot. I decided I don't want to do graphic design professionally at the moment. The portfolio would have been part of my resume.
3. Have a daily comic site up.
Status: In progress. I am still drawing my comic, but the site is in the works.
4. Publish and sell some knitting patterns.
Status: Semi-complete. I did publish my Mr. Tumnus pattern for free. I have several patterns in the works to publish for $.
5. Learn how to spin wool.
Status: Completed. I started out using a spindle and quickly progressed to a wheel. An extra big thank-you to my grandparents who bought me a wheel as a graduation gift.
6. Graduate. Find a job/ internship/ something to pay the bills
Status: Complete. I did graduate and worked two different jobs. I worked at an art gallery for two months part-time. I've been working at a wool mill.

Goals for 2011:

1. Spin enough yarn for a large project. (Sweater or Blanket) Then complete said project.
2. In the same vein, knit a sweater. I've tried multiple times, but I've never actually completed a sweater.
3. Visit the Bonneville Salt Flats.
4. Make another music video.
5. Own only one carload of stuff.
6. Make a miniature garden or terrarium.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...