Thursday, March 17, 2011

Everybody is Irish on St. Pat's

Claim to be Irish?  Even our pup (French poodle mix) is Irish today and outdoes the clip art, IMHO.
Doctor Libby (aka Libby the Therapy Dog) also has a St. Pat's scarf, but she was too sleepy to dress in it before the picture was snapped.
Just finished Edward Rutherford's The Rebels of Ireland, which was a tome of Irish background beginning in the 1500's.  If you would like that book, leave me a comment and I'll send it to you postage paid!  First commenter who wants the book wins.

About the book from Amazon:
The Princes of Ireland, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd’s magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. The Rebels of Ireland opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Silkworms Made to Spin Fluorescent Colored Silk

...a reprint from CraftMagazine:
Silk worms that produce vibrantly coloured and luminescent silks have been created by scientists in Singapore. The resulting fibre offers a cheap way to circumvent the dying process and may even have medical applications.


By feeding silkworms a mulberry mixture containing fluorescent dye, Natalia's team was able to harvest brightly coloured silk that is structurally unaffected, but which also has luminescent, or glowing, properties. The dye molecules are ingrained within the silk filaments to create permanent colour.



Monday, March 14, 2011

Top Down Vee-Neck

Heidi's free pattern for a Summer Sweater on Ravelry is shown here.


It is a top down knit with a vee neck and looked like a simple enough knit.  I was initially excited to start this knitting project.

So Knit Picks was the yarn selected in a sea foam color in 75% cotton and 25% acrylic.  13 skeins of it!

After a week or so of knitting, it is going back to the drawing board.  Don't you hate that when it just does not fit? 

Here is the v-neck in its current pathetic shape:

The under arm join comes to the elbow.  Not good.  I followed the directions, but this is obviously not what the designer had in mind.

So I'll rip out the sleeves, join the sides and then continue on to finish a smaller sleeve circumference.  It still bothers me that I can't figure out my mistake.

But spring is right around the corner and I'll look on the bright side.  If all else fails, this yarn can always be repurposed into a baby blanket for a charity knit.