Cousins

30 at 30

30 things to do while I am 30:

1. Learn how to use my camera
2. Go to grad school. Again.
3. Figure out how to really use multimedia- photos, powerpoint, etc
4. Scan and organize all the old photos that matter to me
5. Finish a quilt I started in 2005
6. Co-author a published article
7. Learn to take apart and reupholster a chair, from start to finish
8. Train appropriately for and ride the STP
9. Do a tour of Portland places I never get to go when I’m there.
10. Print fabric
11. Take a cooking class
12. Take an art class
13. Learn how to use the stats package SPSS without looking at the directions
14. Embark on some kind of everyday/week list.
15. Grow things at a p-patch

16. Create a fully stocked pantry so I can make things on demand
17. Bring my recipe compilation up to date
18. Make 3 Kiva loans
19. Sleep outside
20. Learn how to make something yummy in the small bundt pan
21. Keep my things nicer- wipe my bike down, handwash handwashables
22. Use the ipod bird calls and the workbook to relearn the local birds.
23. Maintain a bird feeder.
24. Bike to three new Seattle neighborhoods.
25. Climb a 5.8
26. Go on a photo walk
27. Get a dog
28. Fix the kitchen29. Go to NYC with Kennet
30. Climb 69 flights of stairs in 2 hours

Bittersweet

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. Grandpa Gress passed away last night, on the same day as our one year wedding anniversary. We spent the later part of the evening recalling our grandparents stories and the amazing lengths they went to so that we could be here.

Lego Combination Lock

A long, long time ago I got an itch to make a combination lock out of Legos. I made a little demonstration model, and it's been sitting in a bin for 5 years or so. This weekend I finally got around to documenting it so that I can take it apart and reuse the parts.

The design was inspired by How Stuff Works.



To make the notches in the wheels I used Lego tread, with one link of chain instead of tread. This creates a gap. The tread was wrapped around a large gear.



Here's a shot of the lock with the three notches lined up. The fence is currently resting in the notches.



Because of the limits of Legos, I had to use gears in pairs to make the disks. In the image above you can see the drive pin and the wheel fly of the first stage on the left, and the drive pin of the second stage to the right. Counting from the left, there are breaks in the axles between the first and second gears, and the third and fourth gears.



Finally, here's a goofy little video of the lock in action. It sticks a bit at the end and I have to jiggle it.

Dress Experiment

Normally I wouldn't feel so nervous about making a dress, but this one is for a wedding and for my friend Melissa who lives in NYC. Fittings might be an issue. So I came up with this idea- to use this tutorial from threads to make a dressmakers dummy out of duct tape. Or rather, to have Melissa make it and send it to me. I realized in conversation with someone last week that the variable a duct tape dummy doesn't tell me is how deep/wide it should actually be. Right now my most ingenious idea is to stuff it with bubble wrap, but I heard about some spray in foam that hardens that might work better if I can find it. Anyway, here it is up and together, though I can't start on it until I get more cast off bubble wrap.

Here's the pattern from Vogue. If I can figure out how, it will have a higher back and no train.

Happy <3 Day

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