Riding in Tandem

I have mentioned before that I am not a hard-core cyclist, but I can say that I very much like bicycles and bicycle rides. I especially like riding on the tandem that my partner and I own. I like tandem riding better than solo riding for many reasons. I like the teamwork and social aspect of riding the tandem and I like the feel of zipping down a steep hill on the tandem. My partner is the more experienced cyclist so he sits in the captain position while I take up the stoker seat. I get easily frazzled when it comes to navigating city traffic solo (I'd take a nice quiet, country road any day), but I trust his experience/skills to the job on the tandem.

At first I thought riding a tandem was going to be difficult for the two of us. It requires a lot of trust and communication on both our parts. I have to trust his steering and braking abilities and we both have to communicate our actions or needs such as shifting, coasting, standing up in the saddle, or maybe providing a warning of a potentially uncomfortable bump we are approaching on the road. Tandem riding is a whole different level of effort because of the need for a good communication style. Thankfully, my partner and I have a pretty good system that seems to work for the both of us and our tandem rides are almost always a pleasure.

We are still on our first tandem, a Burley Rumba, that we found on Craigslist for a very good price. We have had to make some adjustments to the bike as far getting the captain's cockpit up to his standards and making my seat and handlebar reach a better fit for me. I had to try out a few different saddles. I was quit pleased with the Brooks B-17 Standard saddle, but was having some crushing issues after a couple of long rides - let's just say I was walking a bit funny for a couple of days and leave it at that. I still really like the comfort of the Brooks, but for some reason I could not get it adjusted just right for long-term rides. I did a bit of reading and decided that a cut-out saddle would probably be my best option giving my crushing problems I mentioned earlier. Luckily my partner had an extra, Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddle that I could try out and so far it has been working beautifully.

My partner and I have the advantage of being roughly the same height so finding a properly sized tandem is not a problem, but he has a longer reach than I do and I have slightly longer legs than he does so it took some minor adjustments to get everything "just right." I had to raise my seat post considerably, which was making my knees almost hit my handlebars while riding. Our solution was to buy a longer handlebar stem, which has been working quite comfortably so far and keeps his bottom from from rubbing the top of my handlebars. We still have some work to do on our tandem, but getting the comfort level dialed in was a big priority. If you are not physically comfortable on a bicycle than the less likely you are going to ride one.

Tandem riding is a craft in its own way. It's about finding the right kind of equipment and set-up that is specific to your own needs (which applies to any bicycle riding) and it is also about learning to work and communicate with another person. Not only is the ride a challenging physical task - it is a challenging mental task as well.

Earrings on a Whim Continued...

Well, I couldn't put down the beads after only making a couple sets of earrings. I love earrings - maybe because I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 26 years old. I had tried getting them pierced several times in my youth, but the result was always painful, pus-oozing earlobes. For some reason my earlobes would always get infected no matter how much I cleaned them and it became too painful to keep trying. A few years ago I expressed my desire for pierced ears to a friend. He made an appointment at a body piercing shop to get my ears pierced as a gift. I was sceptical after my previous failures, but I was willing to give it another shot. I'm glad I did. Though it took about 6 months for my ears to completely heal - I have had no problems since. I now joyfully collect and wear earrings every day and am especially pleased when I can make my own.

I just finished making a few more sets of paper bead earrings. My wire wrapping and looping still needs a bit of practice, but I really like how colorful the beads came out and I was able to add more color by adding small glass beads that I happened to have on hand. This is a great project for people of all ages and a nice way to add to the jewelry collection.

Earrings on a Whim

The other day I was thinking about things I should purge from my closets at home. I don't like a lot of clutter in my living space so my closets tend to get a bit out of hand (probably a common problem amongst apartment dwellers). I like to purge every once in awhile to keep "stuff" from accumulating. I figure if I haven't used something in a years time than it is probably safe to sell it or give it away.

I was rummaging through a box that held miscellaneous craft supplies when I stumbled upon my bead stash. At one point in my life I thought I was going to try out making simple bead jewelry so I had accumulated a nice little assortment of small glass beads and sterling silver wire. I experimented with a few pieces, but it was something that didn't hold my interest for very long, which is a common problem I run into with many of my craft projects I have to admit. So my beading supplies sat in a box in my closet until now. I thought a new pair of earrings was in order and what better way to obtain them than to make them myself?

I didn't really want a pair of earrings with just my glass beads so I chose to make them out of paper beads instead. Paper bead making is not a new idea - the first time I ever saw them being made was by a family member when I was a kid. She showed my siblings and me the process of making the beads probably to keep us out of her hair (quite literally, she had really long hair we liked to comb and braid frequently). There are many instructions for paper bead making on the Internet so I won't post instructions here, but one good site for basic instructions is here.

I love paper beads because I can make them as large or as small as I want and they produce fantastic color variations depending on the paper used. I only use paper from magazines to make my beads because it is the cheapest and the easiest to come by - it's also a great way to recycle any magazines lying around the house. Some of the more colorful advertisements contribute to a beautifully colored bead.

I find that using toothpicks or some kind of small wooden dowel works best for wrapping the beads and a small block of dry florist foam is perfect for holding the wooden dowels with the finished bead as it dries after being varnished. I actually did not use varnish on the beads in this project because I did not have any on hand. Instead, I used clear nail polish that was hanging out in my bathroom. I found that it worked quite well and produced a nice glossy finish to my paper beads.

I had to practice quite a bit on my wire wrapping and I still need to perfect my technique a bit more (I did not have any eye or head pins so I made the loops myself out of 20 gauge half-hard sterling silver wire), but I quite like the end result despite my less-then-perfect wire looping and wrapping. I added a few sterling silver beads as an accent, but the paper bead is what stands out. It makes a nice hip and funky earring that I like all the more because I made it myself.

Now if only I could be as successful getting the closets cleaned...

Crochet Pattern: Fedora Style Hat

I like hats. I almost never wear them, but I like it when other people do and I especially like to crochet them. Crochet hats are fun, quick, and usually pretty easy - no matter what style you are shooting for. This crochet pattern is a simple single crochet stitch holding two strands of cotton yarn together. I like the stiffness that the double strands of worsted-weight cotton yarn provides the hat. Because this is a fedora style hat, the stiffness of the yarn is beneficial when it comes to keeping the shape at the crown of the hat as well as the brim. I am very tempted, though, to try out this same pattern in a bulky-weight wool!

**Start Instructions

Materials and Notions
2 balls worsted-weight cotton yarn in color 1 (5oz/142g each)
2 balls worsted-weight cotton yarn in color 2 (5oz/142g each)
G6/4.00mm hook
Stitch marker
Yarn needle

Notes
Mark the first stitch of each row with the stitch marker. There is no joining because I did not want a visible seam down the back of the hat.

Throughout the pattern, hold two stands of yarn together while crocheting.

This pattern fits a head that has about a 21 3/8 in. circumference. Number of stitches and number of rounds can be adjusted for smaller or larger sized heads.

Pattern
With color 1 and holding to strands of yarn together, chain 5, slip stitch in beginning chain

Rnd 1: 8 sc in ring (8 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (16 sts)
Rnd 3: *1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (24 sts)
Rnd 4: *1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (32 sts)
Rnd 5: *1 sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (40 sts)
Rnd 6: *1 sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (48 sts)
Rnd 7: sc in each st around (48 sts)
Rnd 8: *1 sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (56 sts)
Rnd 9: *1 sc in next 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (64 sts)
Rnd 10: *1 sc in next 15 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (68 sts)
Rnds 11-18: Repeat rnd 7 (68 sts)

Switch to color 2. Join color 2, holding two strands of yarn together and continue with pattern.

Rnds 19-22: Repeat rnd 7 (68 sts)
Rnd 23: *1 sc in next 16 sc, sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (72 sts)
Rnds 24-30: Repeat rnd 7 (72 sts)

Brim
Rnd 31: With right-side-facing, *1 sc in back loop only (only for this rnd) in next 7 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (81 sts)
Rnd 32: *1 sc in next 8 sc, 2 sc in next sc*; repeat from * around (90 sts)
Rnds 33-35: Repeat rnd 7 (90 sts)

Fasten off and weave in ends.
Shape the hat by folding the crown to give it the Fedora dent in the top. Depending on how you like to wear it, bend the sides and the back of the brim to give it a little more shape.

**End instructions

Creative Failure

I used to like creating mosaic's. I never completed a mosaic that was particularly spectacular, but I just really enjoyed the process of creating a piece of art out of broken or nipped pieces of ceramic or glass tile. I have done a few small mosaic's, but I decided to do something on a larger scale. I obtained a used wooden table for a few bucks and decided I was going to do a table-top mosaic. I struggled with it on and off for over a year. I would glue down a bunch of broken glass and then I would scrape the pieces up a few days later. I was so unsatisfied with my project that I finally just pried up every last piece of glass I had glued down in the past year and finally threw in the towel. It was one project that just wasn't going anywhere.

I decide I needed a break from mosaic's, but I still wanted to do something with the table. By now, the top was so gouged from my repeated scrapings that it was an eyesore. I could have sanded it down, but by this time I just wanted the table done so that I would not have to think about it anymore. I decided that I would slap some paint on it and maybe do a faux finish. I don't usually care for faux paint jobs, but I had done enough damage to the table that I figured a nice weathered paint finish would cover all the flaws very well.

Boy, was I wrong. I did the weathered panting technique according to the paint manufactures instructions. I chose two contrasting colors to create the weathered/crackle look. I painted my table and two stools the base color and it seemed like everything was finally coming together nicely.

I decided that I would add the weathering glaze and the top coat of paint to one of my stools first to see how it would come out. I'm glad that I did. It looked so bad that all I could do was laugh. It was so ugly it was comical. As I was painting I kept telling myself that it might look better once the paint is dry. It didn't. It stayed butt ugly even after the paint had dried. I stopped painting and decided to leave the table painted in the base coat I had already put on. It is a pretty bland color and for some reason I just couldn't leave the table be. It had been such a continuing failure for me that I just could not let it go.

I thought I would give decoupage a try. I don't think I have decoupaged anything since about the first grade or something, but I have seen people do interesting things with furniture with the decoupage technique. I had a stack of magazines that I went through and started clipping out interesting images, articles, poems, etc... When I had a stack of clippings, I started to lay them out on the table, but I did not like how it was coming together. No matter what kind of arranging I did, it just never looked right. At this point I really should have just walked away, but I couldn't. I had decided I was going to use this table as my home computer/craft desk and I was determined to make it look decent enough that I wasn't disgusted every time I took a seat at my desk.

I was looking at decoupage projects on the Internet, trying to find some inspiration, when I noticed that in some decoupage instructions people use fabric. This had never occurred to me before and I liked the idea of using fabric much more than magazine clippings. I went to a fabric store and rooted around a bargain bin for awhile until I found an inexpensive bolt of fabric that appealed to me. I got it home and contemplated how I wanted to lay it out on the table. Some people cut and arrange shapes, but I wanted to keep the top simple and clean. I decided to simply lay the fabric the length of my table top and cut it to size. I then followed instructions for any decoupage project. I used inexpensive, clear-drying craft glue, which I watered down, and brushed it completely over the fabric on my table. I let the glue dry and re-applied as needed. I did get a few air bubbles, but using an x-acto knife and slicing the bubble before re-applying another layer of watered-down glue works pretty well for flattening out the worst of them. Once I had the the fabric glued on and relatively air bubble free, I lacquered the table top.

When all was finally said and done, I was fairly pleased with the results. This was another learning experience for me and I was able to produce a very pretty table that I sit and work at every single day. The colors in the fabric I chose are very beautiful and suits my work environment well.

I still have a lot of glass tile still sitting in my closet and one of these days, I am going to pick up tile work again. I love mosaic's and one day I might actually be able to create something beautiful, but that is going to have to wait until inspiration hits - and it's going to be on a much smaller scale.

Crochet Pattern: Mary Jane or Ballet Style Slippers

I have looked at many patterns for slippers because they are usually a quick and easy project to crochet and I have ridiculously cold feet. There are many crochet patterns out there for Mary Jane or Ballet style slippers, but I could never get them to stay on my feet for whatever reason. The heel would always slide off my foot after taking a few steps. Because of this, I have several single slippers without a matching pair because they never fit - no matter what pattern I was using! I decided to come up with my own solution. I now add elastic cord around the opening of my slippers. This keeps them from sliding off my feet and it helps them retain their shape. I also have hard floors so adding a non-slip option was desirable. Puff paint works well and you can send it through the washing machine and dryer with no problems.

**Start instructions

Materials & Notions
1 ball sport or DK weight yarn (168yd/70g) will make 1 pair of slippers
Size G (4.25 mm) hook
Stitch marker
Size 1 mm elastic cord

Notes
To adjust size of slipper use a different hook size or add rounds to the body of the slipper and try on as you go along.
Follow the directions for making a strap if you prefer the Mary Jane style slippers. Leave the strap off if you prefer the Ballet style slippers.
The slippers in the this pattern are approximately a women's size 8 – 8.5 foot. Make two slippers.

Pattern
Do not join rounds, use the stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round.

Toe
Rnd 1: ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea st around (12 sts)
Rnd 3: * (sc in first st, 2 sc in next st), repeat from * around (18 sts)
Rnd 4: * (sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in next st), repeat from * around (24 sts)
Rnd 5: * (sc in first 3 sts, 2 sc in next st), repeat from * around (30 sts)
Rnd 6: * (sc in first 4 sts, 2 sc in next st), repeat from * around (36 sts)
Rnds 7-21: sc ea st around (36 sts)

Arch
Rnd 22: sl st in first st, sc in same st and in next 25 sts leaving the last 10 sts unworked. Ch 1, turn (26 sts)
Rnds 23-31: sc in ea st across, ch 1, turn (26 sts)
Rnd 32: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 24 sts, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 turn (28 sts)
Rnds 33-37: sc in ea st across, ch 1, turn (28 sts)
Rnd 38: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 26 sts, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 turn (30 sts)
Rnds 39-42: sc in ea st across, ch 1, turn (30 sts)
Rnd 43: 2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 28 sts, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 turn (32 sts)
Rnds 44-47: sc in ea st across, ch 1, turn – do not fasten off (32 sts)

Heel
Join the heal with a sl st through each matching sc. Fasten off.

Adding Elastic
Thread the 1 mm elastic cord through a yarn needle and weave the cord, starting at the heel, around the entire opening of the slipper staying as close to the top of each ending stitch as possible. Before tying off the cord it helps to put the slipper on your foot and tighten the cord to where it feels snug, but comfortable. Tie the cord with the slipper still on your foot if you can reach. Dab the knot in the cord with a bit of clear-dry glue for extra reinforcement.

Edging
Starting at the heel, sc evenly around the entire opening of the slipper making sure that you insert your hook beneath the elastic cord for each stitch. Go around once or as many times that you prefer and decrease a couple of stitches for each round so as to keep the foot opening snug to the foot. The edging will also help hide the elastic cord.
Finish off and weave in all loose ends.

Strap (for the Mary Jane style slipper)
Join yarn to the area you want the strap and sc in next 3 sts. Ch1, turn, sc each st for 12 rows total or to the length desired. Slip stitch the last row of the strap to the opposite side of the slipper.

Slipper Grippers (optional)
Puff paint works well for adding a non-slip option to these slippers. Puff paint can be purchased an almost every craft store and comes in a variety of colors. Dab small dots of the paint to the bottom the finished slipper and let it dry according to the instructions on the bottle.

**End instructions

The pictures below were taken after repeated washings and drying's in a washing machine and dryer.

The Old New Peugeot

Let me start by saying that I am not a hardcore cyclist. I wish I was, but I am too skittish riding in traffic to ride a bicycle as much as I would like. I recently moved to Portland, OR where there are bike lanes everywhere and, for the most part, it is a very bicycle friendly city. That is, of course, with the exception of the boobs who ride around in their monster trucks or SUV's yelling obscenities and pedal-mashing out of impatience and misguided anger. But as of yet, I have not been able to get used to being assertive enough to consider myself and my bicycle as part of vehicle traffic. This is really unfortunate because I have a bicycle that I absolutely love.

My bike is a 1980's Peugeot Bordeaux with a steel frame. A friend found the bike on Craigslist and pointed it out to me. I was a bit hesitant at first, but when I actually saw the bike, it was love at first sight. It was definitely my bicycle. I paid $60 and it was money well spent.

I don't know much about bicycle parts and repair (though I am learning) so my friend, Wayne, helped me pick out and install new parts for my bicycle. It has a been a lot of fun seeing the transition from the old Peugeot to the new Peugeot. We cleaned the frame and put on new Tektro R730 Long Reach road calipers, Cane Creek SCR-5C compact brake levers, a Formula Xero-Lite XR-4 road wheelset, SRAM PG-950 9 speed cassette, tires, and a new chain. I also splurged a little bit and put on a gold Nokon road cabling system. The bike looks gorgeous and I don't regret the extra expense.

This was a fun project for me and quite the learning experience. There is nothing more satisfying than taking something that looks, old, run-down, dirty, and making it new again. I'm glad to have found this bike because it has many riding years left (probably more than I do). It rides like a dream and fits me perfectly. Once I get comfortable riding in traffic, I plan on riding it much more. Until then, it sits on its rack in my apartment where I look at it fondly and admire the beautiful engineering of the bicycle.