Share All The Things Friday #10

I'm getting quite desperate to get behind my sewing machine and sew something that's just for me. 

Lately, I've been sewing bits and pieces for a variety of children ... and chickens. I know, chickens. My kids had their annual "Ag Day" at school last weekend and they took along their baby chickens which they've been training (fairly spasmodically) for the last six weeks or so. It became apparently fairly early in the piece that tricks weren't going to be our strong suit so I suggested we add costumes to keep things interesting. Of course the kids were keen and of course, I left nearly all of it till the last minute and the evening before I was whipping up pirate capes and frilly pink tutus for children and chicken's alike. So, it's my turn now and I can't wait.

What's to share this week?

• Here are the three baby chooks; Fluffy, Buster and Toffee-Popcorn. Just this week we've allowed to roam into the big paddock with the other chickens. The others are a bit mean to them so they mostly stick together but generally they seem to be muddling along ok. The big news is that yesterday they started laying. Well, at least one of them has but we're not sure who. Everyone wants it to be their chicken of course. So, if you're thinking of getting chickens and you get hold of some wee little chickens (Brown Shavers - not sure about heritage chicks), you can probably expect them to start laying from about 14 weeks or so if you give them lots of space and yummy food. Cool huh?!

• This week Hannah Fettig from Knitbot, in conjunction with the folks at the yarn company Quince & Co. released a pretty funky app for iOS users (iPhone, iPod and iPad) called StashBot which costs US$5. I've been waiting for this one because I've had a hard job tracking down the original print version of the app. Basically, StashBot is a yardage tool. It helps you figure out just how much yarn to buy if you've got a vague idea of what you might like to make with a fabulous yarn but don't have a particular pattern in mind. I know I buy yarn just because it looks gorgeous - don't we all? Sometimes I buy several skeins with the idea that I might have enough for a garment but inevitably I either end up playing chicken or adding stripes because I've not bought quite enough or I have masses left over. The app lets you pop in details about the garment you're thinking of making, the stitch count as indicated on the ball band and the size you're after (chest, head, hand, foot, length) and it works out in yards or metres roughly how much yarn you'll need. There's a bunch of info about how the numbers were all worked in this blog post and there's a cute video that tells the story pretty well. Android user? Apparently yours is on the way ...

• A while ago I showed you some very glorious gradient yarn dyed by Briony of Gradient in Australia (GradientAus). Well, I've been watching Briony's progress this last couple of months and not only is she now offering group and private dyeing lessons in Melbourne but today she's published an ebook which guides you through dyeing gradient yarns yourself! She says her method is simple using just one pot. No plastic wrap or microwaves. Fantastic stuff. You can buy the ebook in her Etsy store.

Have a happy weekend! X