Browse Category: projects

Cuz it’s chilly in the fridge.

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I’ve been teaching myself to knit and crochet out of a book and through online videos but there’s really nothing like a live person teaching you how to do something. On Monday night, I took a Crochet Basics class (at the same place I took my sewing classes) and pretty much got a private lesson since enrollment was low (basically me and another person).

So tonight, as I watched TV, I practiced some basic crochet stitches, tried to read a pattern, and made this! I call it a Super-Duper Egg Cozy. Haha. It’s basically a start of a beanie with an extra ridge (the turtleneck part of the cozy) made with back post single crochet. Wow, that sounds fancy. His hat is just the remnant of a project that I started and gave up on.

Now this little egg has something to wear as he awaits his turn to be eaten. Muhahaha…

Zip it up!

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I took a second sewing class today that involved sewing a zipper and ending up with a nifty bag for toiletries or whatever else you want to store. This project was much more complicated than the pillow I made last week but was still very do-able.

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I chose three different fabrics (red, dots, and corduroy), used interfacing to give the fabric some stiffness, made a handle, made an inner liner (still needs to be handsewn later), and used some contrasting thread for my top stitching detail. I tried to find a “snazzy” fabric combination so that I could give it to Brother but this may not be what he had in mind. It was the best combination that I was comfortable with. Everything else was either a solid color or had a flower print on it. I guess I may have to keep this one for myself…that is unless you still want it, Brother.

Sewing 101

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I took my first sewing class this evening and it was so much fun! Susie told me about this place when I first moved to SF but I was never able to get in because the classes filled up so quickly. Well, I finally got the chance to go and it was a success! Woohoo! I picked out and cut the fabric pieces, loaded a bobbin and the machine, and got crackin’. Within 3 hours, I was able to hail a cab with my finished handmade pillow clutched under my arm.

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Check out the extra piece that was added to the front with some top stitching in a contrasting color. Thank you… Thank you…

Shrinky Dinks

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Koa needed a new dog tag since I changed my cell number. So, I purchased a coolio make-your-own tag. All I had to do was use a Sharpie to write his name and my number, pop it in the oven for 5 minutes, and voila! It was like when I was a kid again playing with Shrinky Dinks. It starts out as a huge floppy piece of plastic, shrinks before your eyes, curls up, and then flattens out again. The end product is a thick, hard, compact little tag a third of the original size. What fun! Here‘s Koa modeling his new tag. I think it’s cute and makes less noise that his old metal one.

So far so good…

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We’re at the tail end of Week 3 of our “We Have No Car” Experiment and it’s going ok so far. We’ve been using the zipcars next door and it’s pretty convenient. It did, however, start out with a little hiccup a couple weeks ago when we reserved a car on a Saturday morning (to get me to the airport). The reservation site said that the car was available but when we went down to get the car, it wasn’t there. When we called, the operator said “Uh, I guess it’s out for service.” Hm…it would have been good for them to tell us that ahead of time. Since there weren’t any other cars available, I ended up having to catch a cab for $35. Boo… Luckily, Jes was able to get one to pick me up the next day without a hitch.

We gave it another go this weekend and had a good time watching the clock. We reserved the car for 2 hours and headed out for some shopping. We “zipped” over to Best Buy, which took only about 20 minutes since we knew exactly what we needed to pick up. Next was Costco, which was just across the street from Best Buy and we managed to get everything we needed within about 30 mins. We even took some time to dilly dally around the possible purchase of a laptop. Next stop was Whole Foods where we dashed from aisle to aisle and were out of there with 25 minutes left. So, we went to Safeway on the way home to complete our shopping trip. As we got back into the car, I noticed that we had a whole 14 minutes left! So we went through the drive-thru at McDonald’s to pick up a little lunch. When we arrived back at the lot, it was 2:56 pm. Perfect.

Our third experience was this morning. It was President’s Day today and I had to work. Since there wasn’t going to be an employee shuttle today, I reserved a car for an hour and convinced Jes to drive me to work. He was not happy about the early morning wake-up on his day off. Anyway, it was just enough time to get me over the bridge, drop me off, head back over the bridge, and Jes even got to pick up an Egg McMuffin for breakfast.

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Out of the four cars parked in the alley, we’ve tried the Mini Cooper, the Matrix, and Yaris. So far, the Mini is my favorite but it costs $11/hr while the others cost $8.75/hr. So, taking price into consideration, my favorite so far is the Yaris. Of course we haven’t driven the Scion xB so we’ll see how that compares.

So far, the reservation process is really easy and convenient. You can also call them to extend your reservation if no one is waiting for the car back at home. It definitely makes you value your time and helps you shop more efficiently. It’ll either save us money because there’s less browsing but it can also cost us more if we get impulsive. We’ll just have to see…

Goodbyes

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Three years ago, Jes and I went to the BMW dealership in hopes of finding a 3-series wagon. In the end, the X3 was a better deal so that’s what we took home.  Above is a photo of me at the dealership.

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Right off the lot, we headed up to Mammoth with the excitement of an awesome weekend in the snow and a new car to test out on the icy roads. I will never forget the time we were heading back down that Sunday with the “miles left” indicator blinking “0.0” and then “–“. Ah, the memories. To this day, we still salute Jaw Bone Station on our way up to Mammoth.

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Now it’s January 30, 2008 and our lease has ended. Last night, we went down to the garage to clean out the car and take down the racks. It sounds pretty silly but I’m going to miss our trusty Sport Activity Vehicle and also the convenience of driving. Jes returned the car this morning and now we are about to embark on a little experiment I will call “We Have No Car”. I’ll have to keep you posted on how that pans out.  What a funny coincidence that I’m wearing the same sweatshirt on my last night with the car.  Haha.

Today also marks another significant milestone. My mother has retired from her job of 20+ years at the DMV. Yep, no more cutting in line. And no more “Mommy, can you pay my registration and I’ll pay you back later?”. Bummer. I guess it’s pretty good timing for us though. We won’t need to worry about much besides renewing our licenses every 3 years.