Hey! Look over there!

In an attempt to distract you from the fact that it has been over a month since my last post, and the typewriter revamp STILL isn't done, I present you with this:



That would be one small part of the Christmas presents I received from my aunt. She got me a whole box of dresses and skirts from the 1950s. None of them fit, since most of them have a 24-30 inch waist and I....don't, but most of them are lovely and I'm enjoying converting them into something closer to my size. This example was once a dress that almost fit, but was far too tight in the shoulders to be practical. I also made a crinoline slip to go underneath, though that still needs some work, I think.

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Though the revamp isn't complete, I can offer this teaser image of the Royalite. What you see in the platen is a review I will be posting soon.



More to come. Stay tuned.

The Obsession Grows

If you aren't interested in vintage, antiques, or typewriters, go ahead and skip this post. I promise I'm still knitting and will write more about that soon. For everyone else:

Squee!!

So in the last two days I've spent the vast majority of my time at home scouring the internet for information on typewriters. I've actually complied a short wish list, and started myself (purely by accident, I swear) on another collection--ribbon tins. I bought one on ebay and have bids on two more, but I'm not going to press it if I get out bid. The last thing I need is more stuff! My room is already packed to the gills (I so need to move out...) One of the top items on the wish list is this 1956 Underwood Quiet Tab De Luxe, which I love because it looks like it's made out of the trunk of a '57 BelAir, one of my favorite cars. Another favorite is the portable and standard portable of 1929-31 (I love the pre-war machines best), which is why this makes me cry a little inside. The tech geek in me thinks this is awesome. The conservator/writer/history buff is twitching on the floor. Maybe if the machine was nonfunctioning for some reason, and the difference between it being a dustcatcher on the mantle and functioning as (semi)intended...

But back to the ribbon tins. The one I purchased is here, and any geeks out there probably know why I couldn't resist. I had a bit of geekgasm when I saw it. My first thought after "SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" was, "But it's the wrong color. It should be blue!" (I don't know if that link will work since the sale is already closed, but I'll post a picture when it comes.)

I'm still working on Henry, but I need to get tools and a user manual first--have to figure out how to take him apart in such a way that I can still put him back together again. I've put out a request online for a hard copy or PDF of a manual, but thus far no bites.

Well, if I'm going to make good on that promise of knitting content, I should sign off now. But I'll probably end up playing with Henry a little more. I've got a ribbon coming in about two weeks, so I'll finally be able to write something on him.

Questions for the typecast world at large:
1. How do you remove rust from the letters without destroying the type?
2. Is it possible to remove the carriage? How?
3. What is the best way to access the mechaism that moves the keys? They've been sticking a lot, and I noticed that a couple of them are twisted.
4. Can some one point me in the direction of a general typewriter schematic so I'm not using such fabulous technical terms as "do-hickey" and "thingamabob" all the time when I'm trying to describe problems to people that might help?
5. If you have a KMM manual, could you scan it for me please? Even just part of it? Just enough to get me started and figure out all the parts.

Teaser

I would like to take a second and ask that people please not spam my comments anymore. I appreciate the feedback I get from people, but I really dislike having to go through and delete the trash that people have tried to post that is completely unrelated. I'm already moderating my comments; please don't make me have to stop allowing anonymous comments, too.

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One thing that completely boggles me about Florence is the number of master painters who lived and worked in this city and yet the lighting is so terrible. Maybe things were different back in the 1500s, when there were fewer buildings, but it's hard to imagine this city as anything other than tightly packed stone buildings.

Please pardon my poor photography. My camera cord is MIA, so I used the webcam on my laptop. It's actually not a bad photo, considering I had to tilt the screen to a 45 degree angle just to get the yarn into the shot.

If you're wondering why that yarn is on toilet paper tubes (yes, you're not mistaken) it's because both of those are my handspun. I've been doing a ton of spinning. I actually used up the last of my fiber that I brought with me the other night (that would be the purple and blue ball. It's tussuh silk). Thankfully, Alice brought her entire, untouched stash of fiber, so I have probably two to three pounds of bamboo, silk, and I think some corn fiber to play around with. It's a great deal--I get to spin her yarn (a task she isn't too crazy about), and she gets pretty yarn to play with. Lately I've been in more of a spinning mood than a knitting on, so I don't even mind that I won't get to use what I've made.

What I have made, however...Well, obviously, this isn't all of it. The solid blue is Navajo plied bamboo. I've tried plying before on my spindle, and it always ended badly, usually with tangled, dirty yarn. So I started winding the singles off onto tp tubes, and then Navajo plying, which means I can turn a single into a three ply. Only one strand to deal with! I am in love with this technique. Because there are more plies, the yarn is more even and stronger. The only problem I'm having is that it can be difficult to prevent tangles if I have to stop in the middle. I have to be very careful about how I put it away and how I pick it back up again. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a youtube video that shows it pretty well. Actually, I think it might be the video I originally learned from. I start out a little differently--make a slipknot from both the leader and the single together, then just cut the knot off when I'm done.

Call me Scarecrow

Has anyone seen my brain?

Things have been a teensy bit crazy lately. I've had a ton of homework, and with no real internet access at the house, it's been a little hard to do anything online. I do have studio space at school now, with a great connection, so things have steadied out a little bit.

I'm actually semi-caught up this week, since we had the remnants of Hurricane Ike sweep through and knock out power to five counties. We still had power, but the school didn't, so I got a three day vacation from school.

The other reason for my absence? Blame Alice. It's all her fault. She's an enabler, you hear me? A bad influence!

I started looking into Asian ball-jointed dolls a couple of years ago, but the price was a little bit of a turn off. Then, about six months ago, Alice starts looking into them. And listing all of these reasons why the price is completely reasonable. And thus, I've been haunting Den of Angels (think Ravelry for doll freaks), and ordered this little darling:



Her body should be arriving this week. The cool thing about BJDs is that you can customize them completely. Don't like the body? Order a different one. Want blue eyes instead of green? Well, you can order blue ones. Some people even dye, carve, and otherwise alter their dolls, or give them tattoos. It's really a lot of fun, and they are so beautiful.