obon

today japan celebrates obon. singing, dancing and paying respect to those who have left. more information including traffic here.
tanabata,  the festival of lights and coincidentally the patron of weavers, was on the 13th so it has been a pretty festive week over there.



neki desu

one of those days

too hot to think.spent half of it perusing ravelry and pretending to knit.

found this app and it helped me pass time until sunset and more humane temps. 

i need to be out of the house before 9am for my daily walk or else forget it. 

october, when  doth cometh october?

neki desu

decisions

to exhaust the vat or to replenish it. this year the ai gods have been walking by my side. it just took an aquarium heater to appease them! i was also able to revive, YES! a 2.5 year old mini vat, for the first time and without setting any precedent.

will i be able to sleep well feeling all that smugness?  ^ _^ 

the second one from the left has 7-8 dips, had to open the itajimes to oxidate them well. think will re clamp them back.

the cotton yarn is calling a white warp with blue stripes. come october.

neki desu
 

on good instructions ii

giving good instructions is a science, like chemistry, physics or open heart surgery.

knowledge cannot be given for granted, nor the information made scanty on the premise that people know or will find out. people do not know, they are learning so assuming previous knowledge is at least preposterous and will inevitably end in discouragement from the part of the receiver.

instructions have to be phrased as if a five year old was reading them. an example: ok now, lets do something; take out your books and  let's open  them on page 10. 

blah blah blah when the relevant information is? right! books page 10.  albeit curt, in written form it would be such. unless you're getting paid per word as were  attorneys and notaries in the old days.

the reason for the rant was my battle trying to make the color changer work. the instructions were at best misleading and generated much frustration.  it was the threading that resulted problematic and the thing wouldn't work.

thank goodness  for on line groups on ravelry such as  brunswick machine knitters ! people were very supportive and also directed me to other places there which had info.

misery loves company and i found i wasn't the only one who encountered problems. so it wasn't a reading comp issue! 

finally i could make it work and the remedy was easy: do not thread the plate yourself as per the instructions. the plate has to catch the yarns itself so that they follow their correct paths on the rollers .

some samples in all their gory glory.  not shown: the ones that dropped from the machine and ended with a loud thud on the floor.

however i am building confidence. and blinded by ambition once again, i am thinking of a two color maze in wool for a winter  skirt.

but first i want to make a vid showing how to tame the beast so that people do not have to go through all that pain.  and  get me karma points for sure.

neki desu 

we get lyrical

to the song the summer sings. cheers.
have a great summer weekend





neki desu

new toy

 i never believed my parents when they said that once you grew up that was the end of toys.maybe that was true during their times, but not now.and being the gadgeteer i am it's all said.

the color changer is here; record time serving and delivery.

i spent all day yesterday sweating setting it up and learning the ropes.

those who can give or write good clear and concise instructions are not aware how blessed they are.

i still have not been able to knit more than a couple of rows because i know the problem lies in the threading: but since i am getting conflicting instructions

and  photo information i am going trial and error or i should say trial by ordeal. the good news is that the north wind is blowing and the temperature has dropped.
remember the movie chocolat?

neki desu
 

pleased to inform

that the heater works well. it only goes up to 34ªC as it is for aquariums and not for making fish broth.

i bought the 100w. one, but in theory the 50 w one would have been enough as you need a watt x liter.

the extra wattage means that it heats quicker, but once the thermostat get to 34º it shuts down.

that said it takes out the chilly edge from the vat and puts it to work. to go up to 40º must be heaven on earth, but have not found anything that could take the vat there.

another consideration i'm taking is that since the temp is not optimal i'm letting it rest for an hour after each session.

yesterday's catch.i am a very happy camper.

neki desu