Felt Up

Big news on Project Baby Bootie.

I am a successful felter, folks. I felt things now. Add it to the ol' skill set because I, ladies and gentleman, can shrink up some wool:

I'm sure you recall with perfect clarity the previous attempts with mystery yarn that turned out to not even be wool:

Fail.

Whale.

But those days are over now and I'm thinking I'll have a pair of super-cute stompers by the time this weekend is over. If you'll pardon me repeating myself: THESE ARE SO CUTE. I love the red, don't you? They're screaming for lil' apple buttons, are they not?

Speaking of skill acquirement (and also another dangerously expensive hobby), I'm teaching myself how to spin my own yarn! I ordered a kit from etsy that came with a basic drop spindle and 2 ounces of Merino wool. The result was clumsy, but could be identified by the non-picky as 'yarn'.

I didn't take too many photos because this first attempt has a face only a mother could love, as they say. But I have 12 yards of 1 ply yarn that wasn't a thing before, so that feels like an accomplishment. I will, of course, keep you updated on any developments in this area, as I know you'll be on the edge of your seat. Spinning is very relaxing and is the perfect activity for my little 4 foot x 7 foot porch on a nice day. So don't worry, I promise I go outside every once in a while!!

Can't visualize what I mean by "drop spindle"?  Here's the video that started it all for me:

Be warned, she makes it look so easy, but like most things, it takes a while to make her skills look effortless.

As a reward for reading through all of that crafting chatter, here's a little song for the weekend, with a side of nostalgia:

Charlie Sheen Ain't Got Nothin' on Me

How's your day been going?

Well, that's good/ too bad.

Me? Oh, I've just being doing a great deal of data entry, enjoying some of this long-awaited sunshine and WINNING A CONTEST.

Sweatshop of Love is celebrating its 5 year anniversary and gave away two patterns and the yarn to go with it. I entered both and won the:

Loop Entrelac Top

and the yarn to go with it, betches!

I mean, look over my last month of posts. FREE YARN and FREE PATTERN?! Heaven. Happy Monday... and pardon me for gloating, but "Winner, winner, chicken dinner."

Doin' and Doin' It

Maybe it's because I've been staying up later, maybe it's because I heard Jimmy Fallon interviewed on the Nerdist Podcast or maybe it's because I watched The Karate Kid remake and have the Smith family on the brain, but I'm starting to think that I legitimately like and prefer this version of Whip My Hair:

Or maybe I'm just old and caucasian.

Yikes, that's probably it.

Et tu, Bootie?

I promise I'll tackle more subjects than just my artsy little addiction, but my 3-5 readers (we're growing, you guys!) are local to Chicago and understand just how much rain and gloom we've had lately. It's nice to come home to projects that aren't laundry, giving the dog a bath or boredom eating.

In the interest of not totally boring you to death, let me take one moment to say that for the first time I ever in my life, the person I wanted to win a reality show competition from the first episode actually won! It's a nice feeling and incredibly unsatisfying, but you need to embrace all victories in life! So, congratulations RAJA  for reading those other queens to DEATH on RuPaul's Drag Race. I've loved you since the moment you walked in the stage door and I realized you were the makeup artist on America's Next Top Model. Love her, mean it.

You're a CHAMP-I-ON

So great. Seriously, if you haven't been watching, drop everything and watch that shit this minute. This MINUTE, I tell you.

Back to Adventures in Knittery with Great Auntie Doogs.

I was able to complete the pattern with no problems this time around! I picked a different scrap yarn because I had more of it and it still had a wooley feel to it. I'm pleased that I finished a bootie that actually looks like something:

This is where the good news ends. The problem with teaching yourself to knit by trial-and-error is that, unsurprisingly, you make many, many errors. In this case, I have a bunch of yarn that I can't identify and therefore don't know what it's actually made of. In order to "felt" a project, the yarn has to be animal fiber that locks itself together through exposure to hot water and agitation. I threw the bootie into the wash on "hot" with an extra pot of almost boiling water to make sure things were nice and scalding with heavy towels to make sure it got a good beating. And it came out.... looking exactly as pictured above. I'm guessing that the yarn may feel wooly but may actually be a blend or superwash wool that is designed to not felt. The OTHER problem could be that I'm knitting too tightly because I'm using bigger yarn than the pattern calls for.

The solution is clear - I need to test swatch some of my scrap yarn and see if I can get any of it to felt. This is not a huge setback or anything, I'm just hoping to use yarn I already own instead of buying more. Ebay yarn is going to ruin my life, you see, and even though I'd be a really well dressed street urchin, you can't eat SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Cayenne. I'm just kidding - I don't own that yet, it's on my "watch" list!

It's Fun to Judge a Book by It's Cover

You Should Judge A Book By Its Cover Interstitial Video #1 from pborelli on Vimeo.

Via Mr. Hodgman, whom I adore

My Favorite Things

Post it Note Stories has teamed up with my beloved Chicago Public Radio and animated a review from Sound Opinions. I've had the recent revelation that I'll never have good or cool taste in music, so I can admit I get about 1 in 10 references they make in this review. I don't even know the band they're reviewing, but I still can't resist the awesome:

Sound Opinions reviews The Fiery Furnaces new album I'M GOING AWAY from WBEZ on Vimeo.

I give up!

This is the earliest known painting by Michelangelo. It's called the Torment of St. Anthony and he painted it when he was THIRTEEN YEARS OLD!

Just another reason to feel like I'll never accomplish anything. Happy Thursday!

via BoingBoing

Oh, heeeey...

It's been a huge long time. I have been contributing to another "project" (which makes me sound like a pretentious a-hole. totally intentional) and just haven't made the time.

That being said, I recieved an amazing haiku from a friend about Rick Bayless that just needed to be shared with the three of you:

Rick Bayless, a haiku:
petite nerdy man
likes to wear pink and purple
i can support that
I can also support that he's a fellow anthropology nerd. Even the fact that he wears chokers doesn't phase me!

Earworm

From the people/geniuses that brought you Auto-Tune the News is this video they made earlier this year from Winston Churchill's Great Declaration.

Lift up your hearts people, because defying totalitarianism and hatred has never been so danceable!



I can't stop listening to this or singing this to myself. Clearly, the weekend was not long enough...

One degree of seperation

This is my closest brush with fame yet! This is an old TV segment filmed in the park right by my apartment where Droopy and I walk every day. See if you can spot the famous person featured in the video. You realize that this means that we're best friends now, as he would be able to know exactly where my apartment is if I referenced it.




No autographs, please!

Via Chicagoist

Inside all of us...

is poop! (as presented by Spike Jonez)




As I have stated many times in my life, bathroom humor will make me laugh every single time. I don't really care what that says about me, I just know that I can count on it.

Action of the Day

Benefit human rights advocacy with a simple click! Make a badge and $5 will be donated to Heartland Alliance from a matching grant:

FFYI: Friday For Your Information

Item 1) Michael Ian Black has written a children's book. For real.

Item 2) It is about butts.

Item 3) He reads it out loud in a chicken suit here. Enjoy!

Also, via The Moderate Voice, The GOP revealed their brilliant budget plan yesterday which was 15 pages with no projections, an even bigger tax cut for the wealthy than the Bush tax cuts and off shore drilling. Rather than linking out to this work of genius, the GOP strategy can be summed up via the following:

I <3 Chicago Public Radio

And i <3 this video. Warning: these are radio people, so they don't understand the concept of "focusing" a "video camera".

The 2000's Suck!

You hang in there, America. You've got a few move left, I just know it!

The Uncler w/ Uncle Sam and Alyssa Milano from Alyssa Milano

via Boing Boing

T.J.'s

In honor of alex:



Happy Monday

Oh, Internet...

you're the internetiest!

Huge thanks to phh for sending this my way! After being roped into watching the Hills to keep up with the chat at bookclub, this is a much more entertaining spin:




Check out the other episodes here.

Let's pray there isn't a Biden spinoff. The 'Ware? The Amtrack?

No, I Didn't Watch the Grammys

Why? Because the Grammys are my least favorite award show. I'm that person whose least favorite part of SNL is the muscial guest. Plus, I can read all of the overly-involved celebrity blogs the next day and not miss one thing.

For example:



alex's favorite band of all time is Radiohead. Before I knew I liked them, we saw them on tour in Indy this past summer. Hearing this song (15 step) live really sold me and I was the last person on earth to become a fan. Performing with a marching band makes it even more awesome and I will once again apologize for not getting it sooner.

Literal Friday Goodness

This video is very literal, but it's perfect for where my head is on this Friday.


I'm always about five steps behind on my music, but this guy K'naan is amazing. He's Somali-born and taught himself rap phonetically! I finally know what I'm going to use my X-mas I-tunes cards on.

UPDATE:

Ok, for real. Awesome.

Snooze

Sorry, gang. I know how much you love my insightful video posts every four days or so, but I've been going through a serious creative blank! I'm reduced to leaving long-winded comments on other people's smart, thoughtful commentary.

I'm pleased to announce that after last night's No Reservations: Chicago, I can continue to love Anthony Bourdain and everything that he is associated with. I have to say that I was nervous that we were going to be at odds (if anyone has seen the painful Romania episode, they'll know what I'm talking about), but happily we agree. This city is amazing, endless and the greatest place to live.

That being said: YOU BETTER LOOK OUT, PETER S!



HOW DARE YOU F*CK WITH THE BEAN!!!!


We're coming for you.... right after this sandwich...