Close-up of a Thord-snoot
A large bitey carnivore living in the Niobraran Sea The Prognathodon can be found at Yarn to Dye For, in Chrisman, IL, an hour southeast of Champaign-Urbana.
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Am trapped.
I believe you, and if I try I can make it out, but my brain insist that that’s a duck plushie taped to the plumbing.
Sexual harassment training (on-line, video) gets amusingly surreal when the video gets glitchy/full of artifacts, especially around the faces, and lags the audio significantly.
USA - IL & MI, English, meow
1st thing is right up my alley, so reassuring. Everybody has been very nice, and the office went out to lunch yesterday as a welcome to the firm. Laptop hijinks mean I've already become Known to the IT guy. 😜 OTOH, he also knows he can send me instructions and trust me to follow them. Whee! 3/3
I didn't entirely want to cede the 2nd monitor to work, but that laptop screen is just to heckin' small. Desk is still a mess, but not having the laptop centered in front of the main desktop screen helps in not grabbing the wrong input device. And I got my first thing to work on today. 2/?
New Job, who desk dis? Yesterday was Day 1 at Chastain & Associates. Official office is Paris, IL, will be mostly remote. Today was further wrangling of IT stuff, at-home edition. Now the work laptop has desk space, and is talking to the 2nd monitor, which has been ceded to it. 1/?
Agreed-you awkwardly snuggle the machine, but it has built-in handles, your breast gets mildly squished a bit, and you hold your breath for a few seconds. Repeat a couple times, then do the other side. I understand the squishing can be more annoying for the smaller-chested, but I’ve never had pain.
Thord, Loki, and Gimli are here to tell you that Yarn to Dye For will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday August 26th. I apologize for the short notice and any inconvenience. Also, someone stole their trees last week! (the trees were failing, and the big one was definitely menacing the house)
Saiga antelope, so adorkable!
I have yarn! Not quite home yet, but it will be in the shop in an hour or so. Skeins of Magpie and Mourning Dove seem to have disappeared while it was in @knittingkitten.bsky.social’s house. How very very odd, wonder how that happened? 😋
Pattern called for webbing handles with (faux or real) leather accents, & a leather end on the main zip. I didn’t have webbing or leather I thought would look good, so made fabric handles & accents, & end tab for the zip from the accent fabric. Cut out Thurs., finished sewing today. 3/3
That would work, but you have more maneuvering room and fewer things in the way if you do the zip pocket then add the bottom and side panels. I also added some extra stitching attaching the handles to the top band. 2/?
Bag pattern is the Mayfair Business Bag, purchased from Sew Modern Bags. Instructions could have been better, but the designer had better zip pocket instructions on her website. Mostly the order annoyed me - called for assembling all the front panel sections before doing the zip pocket 1/?
All bag materials from stash, pleased to have found fabrics to go so well with the waxed cotton, & the dark teal zip for the outer pocket. Top zip is navy, & is Close Enough. I hate zipper tails flapping around, so its tucked inside - didn’t feel like re-designing zipper install style. 2/2
Start new job Tuesday, putting my Civil Engineer specializing in floodplains hat back on. Part-time, mainly WFH. Trying to keep Imposter Syndrome at bay by buying a new fountain pen & ink, notebooks, & case for fountain pens, and made myself a new briefcase-ish bag. Waxed cotton & batiks. 1/2
📌 thank you!
📌 Oooh! Starting a new job next week, clearly need a new notebook!
This is the Husky way
More teasers! The yarn that Created 4 U by Laura made for us in the process of being dyed! Her trunk show is September 5th & 6th, at Yarn to Dye For.
I’m so excited about our beautiful new “scary” bird yarns from @laughingcatfibers! Magpie, Mourning Dove, and Bloodcheep (the gothiest cardinal that ever gothed). We’ll have them in the store in just a few days, SQUEE!
This should be the last of this style pouch for a bit. Started them weeks ago, yellow & purple are denim-stiffened, supposed to be lining for the cats. But that would make them much too thick - cats are an upholstery brocade. I cut lightweight linings for all & accents for the yellow & purple.
Looks a lot like our bird. Can confirm. Made this sign for her crate. She’s merely average on the bitey scale, but parrot beaks…
Much clapping! I also have issues, even with wonderful dentists that I *know* I can trust.
World Central Kitchen and Jose Andres are definitely a good choice.
Things I finished over the lasr few days - A pair of pencil/notions pouches in 2 sizes to test my pattern tweaks, I think they‘re good. Also a basic tote bag - about 10“x5“x14“tall. I think it needs to be a bit wider, around 12“. The 5“ depth and 14“ height are good.
Thank you!
Yes please! A not-insignificant part of my reading over the years has been categorized as „Death at the poles & at sea“. About time for a re-read of „The Last Place on Earth“.
Food. Eating a food would be good.
Housekeeping around the shop today: currently taking a break from sweeping, took the wheelie-bin to the curb, laundry hauled to the mudroom & is running, did dishes, cat litter, stole Kaiju‘s floor (cage liner). Need to refill dog‘s water, pick up behind desks, continue laundry, & probably more.
He‘s a husky! They‘re silly goobers!
Teaser images! Not one, not two, but THREE custom colors by @created4ubylaura ! Come see them at the Created 4 U by Laura trunk show at Yarn to Dye For. Yes, one of these is an assigned pooling colorway! B&W pictures of skeins of yarn
I resemble this remark!
Some little pouches I finished today. I like how the three Mini Open Wide pouches came out - not sure I want to sell them! 😉 Yes, I have a bit of a batik problem.
Dracos is in bus driver training & I am to the paperwork stage of a new engineering job (PT, mainly WFH), so we celebrated with a new watch for him & another A/C unit to sit by my desk. Yes, this style is more expensive/takes floor space vs a window unit, but SO much easier to move & install!
Just deleted Dracos‘ number, he dosen‘t need the spam-a-thon while doing training!
We have a Google Voice number for the shop, and I‘m used to a spammy automated call or 2/day (trying to sell listing SEO service), but this morning has been RIDICULOUS! IIRC I‘ve gotten over a half-dozen. Yes, I’ve started blocking on both the regular contacts app and the Google Voice app.
Oh no; I‘m so, so sorry. I know how much it hurts to let an elderly fading dog go, this much be so much harder.
📌 Sounds yummy!
📌 thank you!
Yay! Welcome home goodest girl!
Such a terrible problem! 🥰
Kaiju (smol parrot) sends encouraging peeps to Spaniel.
(I've seen him yawn many times before today)
My guess, based on his coat and occasional hound-bay, was that Thord was a pit bull/red-ticked hound cross. Until this morning, when I watched him yawn. Clearly that boy is a pit bull/thylacine cross, and the stripes expressed as spots! He also has a loooong tongue.
A pair of huskies I miss could tell how sick I was - if the answer was "really sick" they wouldn't pester me from the time people left the house until offspring returned from school. Slightly less sick and they'd ask to go out about lunchtime.
More virtual hugs for Spaniel and the whole family.
Did a lot of cutting things out yesterday & today - 4 project-size Firefly Totes (by Noodlehead patterns), and 4 small pouches out of scraps. Dracos started 4 days of video training on his iPad, so I was keeping busy at my desk.
The nicest-looking „Siamese“ I‘ve met were were seal-point barn cats - Toms that were more or less Siamese wandered through and left their coat color/pattern genes in the colonies. My aunt‘s Siamese was born in the late 1960s, and did not look much like today‘s with their weird head shapes.
Thank you!
Very gentle virtual snoot-smooches for Spaniel.
No, family member wants to purchase a couple stickers, thanks.
If he doesn’t mind non-AI stock images I can probably design one, but he only wants one or two stickers, so kinda overkill. 😉
Offspring is looking for a “Trans Rights or I Bites” (or similar vibe) sticker, but wants to buy from an actual artist. Suggestions please?
Our dogs‘ collars aren‘t pretty, but I know they‘re sturdy.
I will never ever ever buy a collar with a plastic clip buckle, they fail too damn easily. The leather collar we made for one of our huskies with a a proper buckle and copper rivets? It stretched a smidge when he broke the 4x4 pole for the overhead cable.
7.5/10, good as-is, almost to perfection: Orb broken up with a fork in a roughly orb-sized blob of mayonnaise, seasoned with salt & pepper, plus alliums if you like, and spread on the bread. Toasting the bread is optional. Bonus points if the orb is freshly-boiled and still warm.
I think they‘re your emotional support fosters; can‘t risk running too low on little noggins to smooch!
Good luck. I spent time this week swearing at webby stuff. Graphics I can do, especially if I have stock photos or vectors to start from. Seriously, do not discount the power of stock images. Dunno about the other big ones, but Adobe lets you exclude AI-generated.
Because of posts like this I have procured the ingredients so I can try spam musubi! (I might have been able to find some when we lived in the Chicago exurbs, now that I'm in a tiny farm town in central Illinois there's no hope)
I‘ll miss the shade of the big maple, but its clearly dying, and dropped a widowmaker I posted about recently. TinyTown found the $ to get it and the other dying tree taken down. (were supposed to be scheduled, oops happened) Don’t have a date yet, but a city guy stopped in to let us know.
Canvas! 10 yards each of 60“ wide white and 36“ wide natural. The white is for blinds on the porch - west side is the priority, since we‘ll be losing the shade from the big maple. The natural canvas is for simple tote bags, and whatever else we need canvas for. Bonus Thord investi-helping. 🥰
Moved the very cheap clearance bamboo needles to the front of the checkout desk, moved spindles & laser-cut notions to the space we cleared, moved the „yarn bracelets“ down so people can see them better, and made signs. Also made cards with barcodes for the small stuff to stay by the computers.
7:20 am, feels like 90F, 90% humidity. Downstairs AC units staying on.
I don‘t think I‘ve heard it used for apples, but both my Vermonter & Yooper grandpas referred to wood as punky.
2 of the 3 culprits. (3rd is under the recliner footrest). Can‘t stay mad at them. Photos: A fawn & white spotty pittie-mix and a red & white beagle sleeping on & next to a large man in a recliner. 3/3
Why did we move the Heritage? Puppies, plus one elderly beagle doing zoomies. They careened into a freestanding display, breaking hooks out of the slatwall. 😏This wasn’t the 1st issue, so time to move it. Dracos got most of the melamine glued back in place and the mannequin camouflages it. 2/3
Re-arranged the front corners, condensing Leading Men & Indigo Guinea to make room for Cascade Heritage; & the Laughing Cat shop exclusive, other colors, plus the new goodies she’ll be dyeing for us. Also discussing show colors with Created 4U by Laura, so that section should fill up soon! 🥰 1/?
We have achieved on-line shopping! Right now the only items we have available is the "Pushing Up Daisies" colorway by @laughingcatfibers.bsky.social, but we'll keep pounding on adding our other shop colorways and the items we make ourselves. yarn-to-dye-4.square.site
AAAAND, in about a month we'll have even MORE wonderful things from Laughing Cat! Snippets from inspiration photos as a teaser. Working on ideas for more shop colorways and themes! Fortunately, I have @knittingkitten.bsky.social to keep me on the rails, Dracos apparently trusts me. 😊 2/2
The @laughingcatfibers.bsky.social trunk show was So Much Fun! Huge thank-you to everyone! The side porch looks so sad & empty. We have all the "Pushing Up Daisies" that was left and will get pre-orders for more set up. Also have other yarn that I couldn't let get away. Pics tomorrow. 1/?
…2 each of plain and 3 decorated versions, one of which matches a yarn bracelet. The braided design is our favorite. Filled up the last bits of space on the plywood with bunny buttons and little corner cleats for boxes (off in a pile with the shamrock cutouts). 3/3
Still had a bunch of space and some of our yarn bracelets are going to markets with The Spinny Bunny Burrow, so I cut parts for 3 more (also had some parts already made). I finally came up with a diz (spinning tool - the discs with holes) that I like, and made some… 2/?
New goodies fresh off the laser! Getting ready for the Laughing Car Fibers trunk show Saturday and Sunday. (everything still needs wiping down & sanding). First up, a sign for SomeBirdy‘s cage. Not sure if I‘m going to paint the bird, or leave it all wood-colored. 1/?
This morning‘s accomplishment: A hand (drop) spindles. 6 top whorl, 6 bottom whorl. Dracos assembled, I rounded ends. 12“ long (excluding hook), 2-3/4“ diameter whorl. #laughingcatfibers trunkshow2025
A year or more ago I set this woven plastic bag that 25# of rice came in to make a tote bag. Today I finally did the conversion. In the summer we eat a lot of cold sandwiches, so it’ll live by the ‘fridge for sammich fixins transport. 🙂
Kaiju says “Beep-boop” 🥰
Have sent a polite but grumbly e-mail to the City with the photo attached (parkway tree, been trying to get it and another dealt with). When I took the dogs out Loki did a guard dog bork at the branch. 😏
Dracos just looked, says 4-5‘ long.
Well *that‘s* getting into widowmaker territory! Around 6“ diameter, 6‘?long. Fell a few minutes ago, T-storm rolled through a couple-few hours ago. Yes, we know the tree is dying. City was supposed to have it taken down, somehow it didn‘t get onto the list. 😡
This bag is for Dracos, who won’t fuss about topstitching imperfections. I may make another from waxed cotton with batik accents. Fair is next weekend, so not this year. 4/4
At that point I didn’t have the confidence to take out those seams to trim back the fleece, so gave up on topstitching those seams (you can kinda see where the failed topstitching was). Did trim the fleece out of the remaining seams, which helped. 3/?
Topstitching issues from before I figured out the bobbin issue mean I won‘t enter it into the fair, drat. Also lined some body panels with fusible fleece for more body, and didn’t think to make it smaller to keep it out of the seams until after I graded the seams either side of the pocket panel. 2/?
After we cleaned the laser (soot & other combustion products), I finished this large Firefly Tote by Noodlehead Patterns. 14“ tall, 10-1/2“ wide, 5“ deep. Things went better after I started getting the bobbin the right way around in the bobbin case. 🙄 Back is just plain canvas. 1/?
More things done in the porch (not as hot & sticky today, yay!). Bags are back out on display; manky square tables evicted and hardware sitting on a treadle base; gridwall shelves up off the floor; paint and my toolboxes evicted; bonus Dracos snuggling a sleeping Thord 🥰 (with bonus Loki-tail).
I think I‘d rather meet an orca than a leopard seal. I feel like an orca might be willing to let a stoopid hooman go after giving you a bit of a scare, but leopard seals just want to f*** you up.
Sounds yummy! 📌
Ugh, hot and disgusting. I think moving bag displays can wait another day or two. Gonna sit next to a fan and not move too much today. At least I was able to knit a few more rows of my cowl at the weekly craft thing at the library.
For biblical reasons I‘d happily spend all day at the library.
Anyhoo, now that I've got my new thread I can make some more progress on the pencil/notions pouches I cut out a few days ago, and the bigger project tote I cut out yesterday for Dracos. Pics when I have something more interesting than sorted piles of fabric. 🙂
These are 4 oz/1500 yard mini-cones. I also have the aforementioned v. dark blue, black, and red. 4 oz. cones are currently $13-15, so being a Responsible Adult means I can't have ALL THE COLORS. 2 oz. spools are available, but are, IIRC, about $10 (ie: much higher price/yard). 3/?
This is the heaviest thread most "home" sewing machines can handle. I did get a second bobbin case for the Juki so I don't have to mess with bobbin tension to use it. I can also use it in our big industrial machine - where it can sometimes be a pain because its too light. 😏 2/?
The new thread I treated myself to arrived today! Realized I didn't have any brown Tex70/size69 bonded nylon in brown, and the blue I have is very dark, so got a not-too-dark brown, a brighter blue, yellow, and decided to go for off-white as more useful than stark white. 1/?
Sorry about the dim pictures, not sure what happened. I meant to put the metal gridwall shelves on the gridwall they're sitting in front of, but ran out of gumption. Also meant to put various bags that are for sale out on some of the shelves cut today, but again, gumption. Will do tomorrow. 3/3
Today we cleaned up the laser room to make space for shelf boards, cut them (2’, 4’, & 6’ long), and brought them in. Also brought other gridwall shelves & hardware in from the garage, and Ron found enough buckets to store the longer hardware. 2/?
Porch is ready for trunk shows! Last week Ron got the last piece of slatwall up, swept, and mopped. 8“ and shorter gridwall hardware are in bags (or have bags to move to) and ready to use. 1/?
Kaiju the GCC says this is teasing, pepper cores are her lawful prey, HAND IT OVER! 😉
Yes, the green bag is a couple-three inches longer than the tan. Tan bag is for 6“ shelf brackets, green is for 8“. Both made from cotton duck and lightweight mystery cotton from stash. Decided to make them different colors to differentiate bags.
Cut out 2 more tote bags (w/out dividers) last night, and sewed them up today after unpacking sewing notions & supplies brought down yesterday. *AND* Dracos found my curtain fabric! Yaaay!!! (peeking out of the tan bag) Also his missing water bottle, although not the things he was looking for. 😏
