Have you ever been to the "Instruct ables" website? I personally love it!
So, this week's Weekend Project Tip is how to make a Yarn Holder from a Plastic Bottle
A plastic bottle, probably a 2 liter soda pop bottle, can be cut open, stuff a skein of yarn into it, and tape the cut closed.
Simple, cheap, recycled. It does replace a much more expensive specialty knitting accessory.
Knitting can be a very inexpensive hobby, or it can be a money pit, all at the discretion of the knitter.
Some of the tools and accessories are completely optional and no one ever knew that they needed them until the magazines and manufacturers started hawking them with a vengeance. Our foremothers and forefathers provided for their families as best they could with what little they had. Now it seems that every time we turn around, there's some new gadget that should make our lives easier. But, does it really?
What's your favorite, can't do without, homemade tool?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
I think I missed this last November on Energy Steps to Take for a Less Pricey Winter, but we were doing all these things anyway.
The tax credits for insulation and the like. Still dreaming about the solar electric system and the geothermal pump.........
Shopping around for cheaper energy sources? Well, out here, there's generally only one, maybe two, propane suppliers in any one area. And there's only one choice in Electric Providers for any one location. Competition has not reached the hinterlands.
There's a link to Michael Bluejay's guide to Saving Electricity. He's really got some good information going on here.
(Beige Recyclables note: just let it slide that he also wants us to become vegetarians and drive less - he means well).
Using a Space Heater can be tricky. Every year, somebody's house burns down because the space heater started a fire. A space heater will allow you to turn down the thermostat on your household system so you save energy, with a few disclaimers:
Putting a space heater near the thermostat and also turning the thermostat down will make the temperature in the other rooms a LOT Lower than you might have intended.
Lowering the thermostat so far that heat doesn't get to rooms or spaces with plumbing may lead to pipes freezing. That can be counter-productive to your budget. The reliable Beige Recyclable Technology, Heat Tape, comes into play here too. Don't forget to plug your heat tape in every fall after you check for damage and wear. Remember that pets and wildlife sometimes like to chew on the wiring if they can get to it. Once again, living in an old house, mobile home, or other alternative shelter does have it's special charms.
And that brings me to the Miraculous Amish Fireplace scam. but, that's enough for today.......
The tax credits for insulation and the like. Still dreaming about the solar electric system and the geothermal pump.........
Shopping around for cheaper energy sources? Well, out here, there's generally only one, maybe two, propane suppliers in any one area. And there's only one choice in Electric Providers for any one location. Competition has not reached the hinterlands.
There's a link to Michael Bluejay's guide to Saving Electricity. He's really got some good information going on here.
(Beige Recyclables note: just let it slide that he also wants us to become vegetarians and drive less - he means well).
Using a Space Heater can be tricky. Every year, somebody's house burns down because the space heater started a fire. A space heater will allow you to turn down the thermostat on your household system so you save energy, with a few disclaimers:
Putting a space heater near the thermostat and also turning the thermostat down will make the temperature in the other rooms a LOT Lower than you might have intended.
Lowering the thermostat so far that heat doesn't get to rooms or spaces with plumbing may lead to pipes freezing. That can be counter-productive to your budget. The reliable Beige Recyclable Technology, Heat Tape, comes into play here too. Don't forget to plug your heat tape in every fall after you check for damage and wear. Remember that pets and wildlife sometimes like to chew on the wiring if they can get to it. Once again, living in an old house, mobile home, or other alternative shelter does have it's special charms.
And that brings me to the Miraculous Amish Fireplace scam. but, that's enough for today.......
Saturday, January 22, 2011
More on Comforters - Suzani?
The author suggests replacement with blanket, quilt or Suzani. Now, blanket or quilt, I'm very familiar with, but Suzani?
The concept of Dowry Textiles is explained at this site on a Romanian Peasant museum display. The concept of having a "good room" where the wife's treasures are kept, displayed, but never used is very familiar. We have the "good china" that lives out its life in the china hutch and is very seldom used. The "good towels" that are only hung in the bath when company is expected, and noone ever actually uses. Some of us even have "good clothes" that are only worn to funerals, if then.
Suzani doesn't show up as listed in Dictionary.com. But, eventually Reference.com has 2 references that I can finally come to peace with: Needlework and "Tribal Beautiful". Why didn't she just say so?
Suzani - 2 reference results
- Suzani an antique and decorative tribal textile made in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asia countries. Its name is from the Persian Suzan which means needle. Art of making such textiles in Iran is called Suzankāri (needlework).
- Suzani, Shamseddin Taj-ul Shu'ara is the name of a 12th century Persian poet from Samarqand.
- Suzani is also a personal name coming from the variations of Suzane and Suzana . The name meaning in Aramaic is "tribal beautiful".
Friday, January 21, 2011
Still Irked about the Comforter Demise article - Farm Animal?
I would hazard to guess that I am vastly more experianced with farm animals. Although I am probably lacking in actual ski parka knowledge. Maybe this is actually a communication gap brought on by the differences in our shopping styles? The author is probably a shopper at the higher end of the marketplace than myself. The Chain-Mart that I frequent can only get real Goose Down comforters with the new Site-to-store ordering. So, I should admit that I have never owned a real Goose Down anything until this last summer when my DH came home with a comforter from a yard sale. It's gone through the washer and dryer several times, and I can't say that it''s ever had a barnyard smell. (Thanks to the DH for getting me that extra capacity washer) It is getting a little limp though. The down seems to work it's way through the microfiber cover pretty easily. It's been a fine coverup for the couch in the living room.
While I was researching, The Chain-Mart website did list Dry Clean Only as the way to go with the couple of real down filled items that they list. Maybe that's the problem for that author? Maybe the really expensive Down can't take normal washing? Maybe the Down wasn't processed and cleaned properly? Maybe the pet of the house makes itself at home with the downy thing while owner is away?
The only way I can figure for "formless feathers" to end up at one end of a Duvet is for there to be no "quilting" or "stitching" to keep them in place. The only thing I can say for that is "What did you expect?" This would be just one of the many reasons that our foremothers came up with quilting. All the Comforters I've experienced have pretty generous, and sometimes curvaceous, lines of stitching that make pockets to hold the stuffing in place. Be it Down, Down-alternative (poly-fiber-fill) or old fashioned Cotton fluff. I would have to lay the fault for that one on the folly of placing fashionable design over functional construction. Invariably, when the look is more important than the servicability, flaws will make themselves known.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Down Duvet vs. Traditional Quilt : define Too Hot for me
So, yesterday, a New Yorker wrote about the demise of the comforter or Duvet. To be Fashionable, we should all be redecorating with more Tailored bed coverings.
One of the reasons given that the Down comforter or Duvet is TOO warm. Comparable to a wood-burning oven, a sweat factory, a ski parka, gateway to overheating, and simply "hot". Well, looking around where I am right this moment, a wood-fired stove and a parka would seem to be good choices. I admit, it doesn't get this cold nationwide very often, and not even here every year. But, over the course of a lifetime, there seem to always be colder cold nights and hotter hot days.
Whilst first reading the article, I began to assume that the writer must have never been through a truely cold winter. But, checking the author's information line, it says New York. So, that's not a good excuse. The Weather report one day last week pointed out that there was "some" snow in 49 of the 50 states. Even Hawaii had snow on a mountaintop. Only Florida had no measurable snow. (Let's see if that Weather link stays linked to the 1/13/11 snow map or if it updates?) If these reports are correct, almost anywhere you are in the US is colder than usual today. Very few buildings are designed to actually keep comfortable temperatures throughout the entire building during record breaking temperatures. Columbia University which happens to be in New York posts Space Temperature Guidelines for their buildings. It mentions people being appropriately dressed for the season; I swear I saw a student slogging through the snow in Converse, kakhi cargo shorts, and a tshirt this morning! No socks, no coat, no hat!
All of this invariably brings up the subject of Global Warming and one of the best actions to help combat GW should be adjusting the thermostat. Which leads to a cooler bedroom this time of year, right? And so, a Comforter would be welcome, would it not?
So, one of my many conclusions is: The Anti-Comforter movement is therefore Not Green. If they were Green, they would have a cold bedroom and they would need a warm Comforter.
One of the reasons given that the Down comforter or Duvet is TOO warm. Comparable to a wood-burning oven, a sweat factory, a ski parka, gateway to overheating, and simply "hot". Well, looking around where I am right this moment, a wood-fired stove and a parka would seem to be good choices. I admit, it doesn't get this cold nationwide very often, and not even here every year. But, over the course of a lifetime, there seem to always be colder cold nights and hotter hot days.
Whilst first reading the article, I began to assume that the writer must have never been through a truely cold winter. But, checking the author's information line, it says New York. So, that's not a good excuse. The Weather report one day last week pointed out that there was "some" snow in 49 of the 50 states. Even Hawaii had snow on a mountaintop. Only Florida had no measurable snow. (Let's see if that Weather link stays linked to the 1/13/11 snow map or if it updates?) If these reports are correct, almost anywhere you are in the US is colder than usual today. Very few buildings are designed to actually keep comfortable temperatures throughout the entire building during record breaking temperatures. Columbia University which happens to be in New York posts Space Temperature Guidelines for their buildings. It mentions people being appropriately dressed for the season; I swear I saw a student slogging through the snow in Converse, kakhi cargo shorts, and a tshirt this morning! No socks, no coat, no hat!
All of this invariably brings up the subject of Global Warming and one of the best actions to help combat GW should be adjusting the thermostat. Which leads to a cooler bedroom this time of year, right? And so, a Comforter would be welcome, would it not?
So, one of my many conclusions is: The Anti-Comforter movement is therefore Not Green. If they were Green, they would have a cold bedroom and they would need a warm Comforter.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Comforter/Duvet loosing out to Blanket/Quilt or Suzani?
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111797/down-with-comforters
The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! Finance have been running an article on the demise of the Comforter, or Duvet, and the revival of the blanket or quilt. The design world is ready to change the bed ! Really?
The Comforter is cited as the "gateway to overheating and unseemly bulkiness".
"David Mann, designer of legendary interiors including John Lennon and Yoko Ono's New York apartment in the Dakota, said, "I never use down comforters mostly because they are too common…and hot.""
"Down's detractors curse the lumpy, untidy covering as not only a sweat factory, but a style error."
And the author goes on to compare a comforter as "the bedding equivalent of a ski parka."
The author also compares the Duvet to a wood-burning oven, folded standing as high as the Great Wall of China, freshly washed stank of farm animal, dressing a cranky newborn in a three-piece suit, and formless feathers corralled at one end and an empty carcass at the other end.
Meanwhile, the Suzani is offered up as the perfect replacement:
http://www.estherfitzgerald.com/site_built_sept05/page_sets/04_islamic/index_04islamic.htm
More later.............
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