Itty Bity Spinny Committee?

I ordered 2 new drop spindles from Spinerosity earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.  One is a full-size lace weight, the other is a mini-spindle that was just too adorable (and too reasonably priced) to pass up.

I decided to play with some Norwegian undyed top (I think it's top) on the mini-spindle and am soooo glad I did.  It was ridiculously fun to spin with and I think has really really helped me get a bit better at drafting.  For the non-fiber fanatics who read the blog drafting is pretty much pulling fiber apart enough to create a thread of desired thickness via twist from spinning the spindle without pulling too much and having the spindle drop.  If you don't pull fiber apart enough you wind up with thick, chunky yarn, if you pull too much the fiber can't sustain the weight of the spindle and breaks. 

I have a spindle I bought for my birthday last year that is a bit heavier and in the range for medium weight yarns and recommended for beginners.  While I've made some progress with it, I had big problems drafting, mostly with my yarn being waaaay thicker than I wanted.

The smaller, lighter mini-spindle seems to have really, really helped me get the hang of drafting and general hand motion.  I'm still doing park-and-draft, but I'm getting better at it. 

I have my hood up because I've got a migraine. 

Loot

My birthday was on Wednesday. There was loot.

The Oreos are already gone.  I have to find something to attach the "Beware of Attack Ferret" sign to.  And I'm fiddling around trying to figure out a way to send only some of my news from Google Reader to my Kindle.  

Pinchy on the Road

My friend Scott apparently got to see Machu Picchu recently and took these freakin' awesome, nay, downright bitchin' photos of Pinchy the scorpion visiting one of the world's great archaeological sites.

Pinchy is becoming quite the traveller. I'm hoping he at least defends Scott's luggage from intrusion in exchange for transport.

Trepanation

Image via WikipediaI think I understand why people used to use it as a solution for migraine.  I'm finding the idea rather appealing myself, right now.
For unknown reasons, my migraine frequency and severity has shot up this summer.  After flipping through my calendar I realized I've had a migraine every day this week and over the weekend.  A few of them have been ones that lasted more than a day.  Others hit later in the day or afternoon after several hours of blissful normality.

This is not cool.  Worse, I'm not getting good response to my usual abortive med - Excedrin.  This is a bit complicated by the fact that I've had more arthritis pain lately for which I usually take naproxen which hangs around in the body for 8-12 hours during which you're not supposed to take another NSAID.  Suck.
I've been using an ice pack.  I've been using my Neti Pot.  I've been lying down, doing gentle stretches, trying to relax.  I've been trying to have pain-med free days so as not to trigger rebound headaches or medication overuse headaches.
I'm in the second month of trying butterbur extract as a preventative (obviously with no result).  Unfortunately, the very hot, humid summer we're having along with lots of allergens are probably what's causing the problem and those aren't exactly triggers I can avoid without moving (which would be fine except for that whole we need jobs and a place to live thing).





This is bad enough as it is, but is now a really major problem as I've gotten a part-time job that starts next week.  (Yay!)  I can't really get to, let alone do said job at times when drilling a hole in my head to let the pain/demons/cerebrospinal fluid out seems like a good idea.

Nor does this ancient Egyptian remedy of tying a clay crocodile stuffed with herbs to my head seem all that appealing.  Well, actually pressure plus heat or cold does help sometimes, but I suspect if there isn't already something in the dress code about that there would be after I showed up with one.  (Though having rules made/added as a direct result of my actions is usually entertaining.)

In the past, I was on nortriptyline, one of the tricyclic antidepressants, for depression and discovered happily that it also prevented migraines.  Unfortunately I also gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time and had some weird blood pressure issues and a few other less worrisome but mildly annoying side effects, so I switched to Cymbalta.  So today I emailed my neuro and begged for help, suggesting maybe a low dose of the nortriptyline would help prevent migraine and not interact overmuch with the Cymbalta or be as likely to cause side effects.  She got back to me and agreed to phone in an Rx.   I'll check with my psychiatrist tomorrow to be sure they have no objection and hopefully my clever plan will succeed.  It may take 1-3 weeks to really notice a difference, but that's fine.  Hopefully the combo won't tip me into serotonin syndrome or cause any other nasty problems.  At this point, the risk is worth it, especially since I know what to look for.

Failing that, I may well try to start a fashion for clay crocodiles as hipster head-wear.

Either way - job!  Should be fairly low-stress, no one I met during my interviews seemed sociopathic, the job is done when I leave and I'll be bringing in some money to help pay down some debt and other stuff.  I can do other stuff like knit while I'm there so long as it doesn't distract me too much (so, stockinette in the round) and I'm hoping I'll still have the energy to keep slowly plugging away at getting some crafts ready for sale.

Happi amigurumi kokeshi

Happi amigurumi kokeshi
Originally uploaded by dustymom

I haven't featured an amigurumi in a while, but Happi caught my eye. She's part of a beautiful series of dolls with some really lovely detailing with beads and embroidery.

Be sure to check out dustymom's Etsy shop for her amigurumi.

NAMI Walks

Wow!  Less than 24 hours and I've already hit my fund raising goal of $100.  Big thank you and kisses to my sponsors!

I had kept the goal low because I know money is tight for a lot of people right now - I was expecting $5 here and there, but some lovely friends have been wonderfully generous!

You can still sponsor or join the team!  We still have 47 days to go.

Update on the Nana

I just got off the phone with my Nana.  She sounds really good, so I am much relieved.  Apparently she was having trouble swallowing anything without a whole lot of pain.  Her doctor was right on top of things though and even gave her his cell phone number (yay, good doctors!) and she's improved a great deal.
She said she's still being careful taking small bites and chewing a lot, but she is able to eat.  Yay!

She's been drinking Boost, which is one of those nutrition beverages like Ensure.  Only one a day - half in the morning and half in the afternoon.  I told her to be sure not to hit it too hard or anything, which made her laugh.  :P  I think I may tell Mom to take her the tackiest shot glass she can buy in the Vegas airport.

So, good news for the hard-core 87 year old!  Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone!

Attention Fellow NASA Geeks: 40th Anniversary of Apollo 13

The Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL is hosting some special events in Chicago and online, including Jim Lovell "taking over" the Adler's Facebook fan page and Twitter feed, a panel discussion this evening (tickets available at the link above).

Apollo 13 launched in April 1970, intended to be the second manned landing and exploration of the moon.  Sadly, the public had already lost interest in NASA and the Apollo program, despite the first landing having been only a few months prior in June 1969.
The crew consisted of Commander Jim Lovell - his fourth flight; Command Module Pilot John Swigert, and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, Jr.  Swigert was a last minute replacement after the original CM pilot, Mattingly was exposed to rubella and there was concern he might come down with it during flight.  It was the first space flight for both pilots.
The mission went smoothly until 2 days in when the crew was asked to stir the hydrogen and oxygen tanks.  In space, the contents got "slushy" and separated making estimating quantities a bit tricky, among other problems, so standard procedure was to stir it every so often to mix it up a bit.  Unfortunately, an electrical short ignited the tank insulation, the fire raised pressure in the tank dramatically, and, well, boom.
As a result, the moon landing was cancelled, the crew was left with only minimal power for the main (command) module due to loss of the hydrogen and oxygen needed for power production, and it wasn't even clear if they could successfully return to earth.
The crew in Mission Control worked feverishly trying to puzzle out a new mission plan, figure out how to get the crew home, and figure out how to implement changes in the plan successfully.  One of the first decisions was to shut down everything in the command module to conserve power there for systems that would be vital for re-entry and move the crew into the Lunar Module as a "life-boat" - a very cramped, moist, damp life-boat meant only for 2 people for a limited time that now had to accommodate 3 for an extended period.
There was debate over how best to bring them back - attempt a course change to bring them back directly or continue to the moon on the "free return trajectory" that would require minimal course changes.  The free return took a bit longer, but was in many ways safer - they had no way of knowing how much fuel was left for the maneuvering jets or even if they could successfully fire them with sufficient precision to manage a direct return.

Once that was settled, things calmed a bit until the realization that the carbon dioxide scrubbers in the LM weren't up to the task of maintaining a breathable environment for 3 people for a sufficient amount of time.  In a show of awesome ingenuity, the engineers back on Earth took a look at everything they knew the crew had available on the spacecraft and cobbled together a solution using the scrubbers meant for the command module and managed to explain how to build the crazy thing via audio.  Imagine trying to explain how to build an unfamiliar device to someone when you can't see them and they can't see you - awesome!  That and no fancy calculators or computers and no internet.  Just caffeine, nicotine, and slide-rules, baby.

Deke Slayton shows the carbon dioxide scrubber fix to NASA admins.  For those wondering, yes, duct tape was involved.  Duct tape and enormous nerdy brains.

It worked.

The "mailbox" in place in the LM.  Why, yes, it does appear to be made of WIN and AWESOME.

The remainder of the flight was long, cold, and dark - everything non-essential was powered down, including heat, which caused condensation to build up.  Poor Haise wound up with the urinary tract infection from hell and got to deal with the poor conditions while spiking a fever.  No one could sleep very well being so cramped and uncomfortable and, oh, I don't know, being a wee bit stressed out.
They did though - after some tense moments when radio silence during re-entry lasted a bit longer than estimated, the crew made it through to splashdown.  It's probably one of the finest testaments to human ingenuity in history.

Yeah, cigars are definitely in order here.  Really, I think they could have brought in hookers and blow and no one could have said shit.  

All images courtesy of NASA.

Post-birthday awesomeness

First, thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes, everyone.

Secondly, being 30 is pretty awesome so far.  I have my new sewing machine, which is awesome!  I set her up the other day and went through the manual and tested all the stitches on some scraps.  I even made my very first buttonhole.
I picked up reference book Sew Everything Workshop which has already come in handy for some basic tips and have started working on some curtain panels I've been meaning to make for 6 months.

We had a pajama party last night and an ice-cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.  Mmmmmm, ice-cream cake.  We also tried teaching people to play Wii - that was hilarious in its own way.  Also, boxing is *exhausting.*  Lots of fun.  Also, I got chocolate and tea and a lovely gift card.  Sweet!

The past few days, especially when I've felt crappy otherwise, I've been shopping online.  I placed most of my orders today:
Some sock yarn (some for Tom and some for me), a chart keeper, some more stitch markers, needle protectors, and the book Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool  from Knit Picks (all their books are on sale for 40%, so it was actually less expensive than Amazon).
After much hemming and hawing and research and dithering, I decided to get a Schacht Hi-Lo 1.1 oz spindle and 8 oz of undyed wool roving from Paradise Fibers, half in Blue Faced Leicester and half Norwegian.  Both seem to be recommended for beginning drop spinners.  The Hi-Lo can be used as a high or low whorl which is also cool and is nice and light which seems to be a highly recommended feature as it allows spinning of finer gauges.  Interestingly, as I was looking into historic spinning techniques, it seems that the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians preferred high whorls spindles while the Anatolians and Greeks tended to use low whirl and Levantine peoples, being in the middle, perhaps used either as it suited them.
Both types of roving are amenable to Kool-Aid dyeing, so I should be able to have some fun once I get the basic hang of things and play with color as well.  I am already drooling over other types of wool, other fibers, and various colors.
I also ordered  two skeins of  Super Kydd from Elann, one in red for a gift and one in green to make something for me.  The red is to make Wisp from Knitty as a first lace project and as a gift (yes, I know, using mohair may not be the best idea, but I'm planning to do some practice swatches/wash clothes with cotton before I jump in.  The dark green is to try Ice Queen, also from Knitty, for myself.

I think I should have plenty to do for the foreseeable future.  Now if I can get going on my motivational problems, I'll really be doing well.  :P

New Sewing Machine

Kenmore Drop-In Bobbin Sewing machine 74 Stitch functions

Went out and got my new machine last night at Sears (for far less money that the Amazon link, by the way).  She's very pretty - with red accents where the green in the photo above is.  Haven't played with her yet as I think Tom gave me his cold and I'm feeling pretty out of it.  I did do a basic test out of the box last night and she seems very fast and very quiet.
Still working on a name.

It also occurs to me that between the pearls and the sewing machine, I'm turning into a latter-day, foul-mouthed June Cleaver.  Awesome!

Also thinking of picking up a good intro to sewing book.  I have a few ideas, but if any of you clever readers have suggestions, I'd love to see them.

It's My Birfday

It's one of those vaguely important ones - I'm 30.  This might explain me running around being annoying.

Tom bought me a beautiful string of vintage pearls and a chocolate bunneh.  Awesome!  My husband, aka GIGAMESH (long story), rocks!

And I have birthday money burning a hole in my pocket for new a low-end sewing machine to augment Betsy my vintage workhorse who, while awesome, does only straight stitches, and yarn and fabric.

Pearls as they are meant to be worn - with jammies and a Snuggie.  Hells, yeah!

I should shower and get out of my jammies at some point today, but who knows when.  Hoping to spend the day knitting and nibbling on the chocolate rabbit.

I also get to start my Plaquenil today, finally, after all the nonsense over getting my insurance to cover it. It usually takes several weeks or months to make a significant difference in symptoms, but here's hoping it helps with some of my fatigue and arthritis and skin crap.  Also hoping it doesn't make me want to puke.  You're supposed to spend your 21st birthday dangling over a toilet, not your 30th.  :P

Star Trek Beer Cozy = Awesome + Win

Mr. Spock Season One Beer Koozie
Originally uploaded by lizzylaws

Lizzylaws has created a fabulous beer (or other bottle) cozy based on the Star Trek uniforms from Season 1 of the original series.
I love the details - the rank stripe, the delta-shield insignia with the science device.
Super nifty.

Even better, she's offering it as a finished object in her Etsy shop, LizardKnits or for the knitting-abled, as a pattern for sale on Ravelry.

Given my fondness for Star Trek, knitting, and root beer and ginger beer, I am an enormous fan!
You can find out more at her blog, too!

Egyptology Snark: Photo Filler

A stunning example of the finest of Egyptian carving from the Seti Temple at Abydos:

Before anyone freaks out, this is on a modern reconstruction block.  I'm seriously impressed by the detail here - I think that's actually a fairly decent rendering of a was scepter or possibly a very long barbeque skewer that Anubis or maybe Wepwawet is holding.  

Anyway, no longer post this week as I am having some fairly sucktastic symptom flare ups this week.  My neck is seriously messed up and making my head hurt badly enough to make concentration more of a challenge than usual and my hands are starting to get hurty again.  And I had several appointments and running around today trying to get a prescription filled and finding out it's not in the formulary and trying to get the refusal over-ridden and...yeah...  Anyway, hopefully I'll get my drugs soon and they'll help.

Hopefully we'll get back on track next week with more extensive Egyptological snarkery.

Crochet Mercury Redstone and Atlas

Crochet Mercury Redstone and Atlas
Originally uploaded by Ms Premise-Conclusion

Ms Premise-Conclusion has done it again! I featured her earlier crocheted rocketry a while back.  Now there is more early NASA awesomeness - this time the Redstone and Atlas rockets used for the Mercury launches - the first manned launches in the US. The Redstones managed to heave the Mercury capsules into sub-orbital flights (Shepard and Grissom) and the Atlas managed orbital flights for all the remaining men of the 7 chosen as astronauts except for Slayton who was grounded for health reasons.
The also sent up chimps. Supposedly because they could be trained to perform some tasks in the capsule and thus give an idea about action and function during spaceflight, but I rather like the theory that it was just because someone at NASA hated chimps.

Internet sabbatical

Just a quick note.
I'm feeling dreadful the past few days and so have decided to take an internet break today (yes, I just woke up and got out of bed, that's what delayed sleep phase disorder plus chronic pain does to you).  I hear the Tutankhamun DNA results were leaked earlier today and while I find the preliminary data fascinating, I'm also not really in any condition to say much about other than "wow, cool.  Wait, what?"
So, planning on curling up with a book and fighting off headache and sore throat with rousing fantasy fiction.
Hopefully I can get my hands on a copy of the JAMA article when it's actually published later this week.  I am most interested to see the results as presented there rather than 2nd and 3rd hand through the press.

On another note, so far as I know, I was totally right about Tut not being a chick.  :P

Crochet Saturn V

Crochet Saturn V
Originally uploaded by Ms Premise-Conclusion

I am having serious nerd-gasm here. I've talked before about my love of the early US space program. In my idea notebook there is a page devoted to ideas for amigurumi and other crocheted items and space stuff is on it. I don't know if I would be quite ambitious enough to do the Saturn V or patient enough to try to keep in in scale, but Ms. Premise-Conclusion did both!!!
I am in awe. Sooooo nifty cool.
Even better - there's a pattern for sale in her Etsy shop! Get your nerdy butts over there, people!

Doubly adorable

Steampunk Hat
Originally uploaded by chrissymay

Adorable hat plus adorable doggie! I love the crocheted steampunk style hat. The doggie plus the pose and the great quality photograph are pretty freakin' sweet, too.

Plus, in the unlikely event I ever run out of things to crochet, I can totally start making hats for Oreo.

Hurray!

Police Rescue 150 Stolen Ferrets in Mexico City - ABC News

Ferret abduction is serious business. Also, I have to imagine that the thieves had no idea what was in the boxes when they stole them. I sort of wish they had gotten somewhere and had to deal with 150 pissed-off, bored, hungry ferrets.

Golden Dragonet

Golden Dragonet
Originally uploaded by Angry Angel

This Pern inspired dragonet (or fire-lizard) by Angry Angel is amazing. The detail with the eyes is great and now has me wondering if all the nifty new tech for making interactive and/or light-up soft-form toys and objects would make it possible to get eyes to whirl and change color like they do in the books.

Angry Angel notes that she wanted a fire-lizard as a child. Theoretically, I'm a grown up and I still want one. Seriously. If I ever get stupidly rich, I do believe I will endow a research project to create them. Of course, when the abominations unto the Lord that inadvertently are created and released and proceed to wreak havoc on the world at large, I'll be a villain. But it will totally be worth it. :P
Ahem.
I hope the recipient appreciates her, because she's absolutely wonderful.

ZOMG you can ride it!

Stupid freakin' picture won't work so you have to click the link. Sigh.

Why will it only carry up to 60 lbs!?!?  Suck!