Amanda Hickie

Son #1 took three years (maybe a little less even) to finish his PhD thesis. Six years later I've finished the proof-of-concept notebook for the binding.

The ideas we came up with for the cover was an order of magnitude harder than any I'd done so far. Without a laser cutter it would have been well beyond me (I can cut accurately but not that accurately).

This notebook is half the size that the finished thesis will be and has a quarter of the design. I went through many iterations of maquettes until I got a technique I was happy with.

The bookcloth mosaic is cut with a slight positive ease and then laminated on Japanese lens paper. The coverboard is debossed by laminating a thin card with the cut-out design onto a thicker board. The made cloth is then pasted to the board and smoothed into the recess. Finally the paper inserts are pasted in place.

On to bind the thesis!

#Bookbinding #Notebook #Chemistry #Molecules

Having just finished my big project, my niece said on Wednesday it would be nice to have a beanie for little L. I guess I really need a new project and there's plenty of leftover yarn in the cupboard because by Saturday morning there was this -

(Pattern here - https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sheepish-little-hat-light)

#beanie #sheep #knitting #StrandedColourwork

I'm nearly finished a tunic I've been knitting since last November. It's taken so long because even though I started intending to follow a pattern (well, two patterns smooched together) I kept being unhappy with it, frogging and then having to do research about how to make it look the way I wanted.

Anyway, I'm finally at the end. The pattern has you do a rib but I really didn't want it to come in at the bottom so I thought maybe seed stitch instead. Also, I wanted to bring the colour from the stranded work back. But I couldn't find anything online about how a seed stitch with the knits in one colour and the purls in another looks.

Turns out it looks like this. Almost liked it's woven. I love it.

#knitting

Democracy in action

( Source - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/aug/14/clacton-byelection-nigel-farage-count-binface-reform-uk-finances-donations-investigation-latest-news-updates#img-6)

#Democracy #election #Clacton

Thinking of Tim Curry - Will #Shakespeare, a #BBC production from 1978. I remember seeing it at the time as a teenager and being blown away by how alive it made the times and people. He was an incandescent Will. Written by John Mortimer. I watched it again recently and (if you can find a good quality copy) it stood up, especially the first two episodes.

#TimCurry

A year and a half ago I was inspired by this post - @lostletters@cutie.city@aus.social
from @lostletters@cutie.city. I fell in love with those colours and that pattern

It took me another year to cast on. Over the last six months the project has morphed as I've knitting but what I got out the other end still carries the inspiration of lostletters' work even if it no longer used any of the pattern, design or even, really, the colourway

This is the first garment I've knitted in many a year that turned out the way it was in my head. I'm loving finally getting to wear it.

#knitting #StrandedColourwork

I'm attempting to fix a crack in a teapot with milk. I know, I know.

I suspect it won't work - not because I think the technique doesn't work. I've used it once on a cup and that fix has lasted years. But the weight of tea in the teapot is much greater, the cracks are more extensive and there's more heat stress from the boiling water.

While I'm waiting for it to set I can't help but keep going back and tapping the skin. It's like hard cellophane! So, maybe there's a chance.

#tea #teapot #FixingThings #Repair #DIY #milk #MilkRepair