Having pretty much exhausted biological subjects (roadkill, organs, diseases), makers of fine plush lovies have moved into statistical distributions. You can buy a full set of ten, or individual distributions if you’re particularly fond of one.
I note they also sell “statosaur” burp cloths featuring embroidery which combines dinosaurs and statistical distributions. Excellent!
Quotation of the Day for May 30, 2011
“Receiving a tax cut is like standing up at a concert in order to get a better view. It’s easy enough to see why an individual might be tempted. But if everyone does it, the gains become much less clear-cut.”
- Stephen Gordon, on the illusory benefits of tax cuts.
[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/stephen-gordon/the-truth-behind-tax-cuts-you-might-not-be-better-off/article1960947/]
A few weeks ago I finally finished M’s quilt:
It’s roughly twin-sized – 55″ by 75.5″. I’m quite happy with it, although the back (off-white lightweight polar fleece) isn’t perfect — sewing fleece is an occult art, I fear, and even the walking foot on the machine wasn’t quite up to the task — and the binding is a little odd in spots as it was my first attempt to finish it on the machine. Still, I much preferred using the machine to do the binding. I started off finishing it by hand but it looked terrible given the fleece backing and the high contrast between the off-white fleece and the purple binding, so I figured if it wasn’t going to be perfect it may as well not bore me for eleventy-billion hours and I tossed it onto the machine. The binding, which doesn’t show up well in the picture, is the same fabric as the inner border.
I used Warm and Natural cotton batting, which is warm but relatively thin. With the fleece backing, the quilt is good alone for shoulder seasons. In winter M can toss it over her duvet.
I had some small scraps left over, mostly 4.5″ strips, so the quilt spawned two accessory projects.
First, there’s a 12″ throw pillow:
This was a project I mostly did during the sewing class M and I took together in the winter. On my own I wouldn’t have thought to add the extra detail stitching, but I like the effect. The front and back are more-or-less the same, using up 18 4.5″ squares, and there’s a narrow border of the purple binding fabric along the edges (since I also had a bit of binding left over).
I didn’t want M’s doll to feel all left out, and there were still some scraps left, so I improvised a quilted sleeping bag for her as well (and as usual, a cat decided to photobomb):
It used 8 4.5″ squares and 8 2.25″ squares of scrap fabric, as well as all but about three inches of the leftover purple binding, an extra strip of the dark purple outer border (cut in half to form the side bands on the sleeping bag), some leftover batting, and a random scrap of the binding fabric on the back the was coincidentally exactly the right size:
Now the doll will be able to join in the general mess of M’s bed:
We’ve had a few hours of sun today (after serveral weeks of rain, and apparently before several more weeks of rain) so I finally had a chance to take a picture of these new tulips. I don’t remember their name but they’re quite fun — before they open they look like they have teeth.
Also, they’re a nice contrast with the purple Queen of Nights:
I finally got my Bixi key last Wednesday, hurray! But I had to wait with tappy-footed impatience to try it out since I wasn’t downtown until today. I’ve been looking forward to its launch, as my own bike has been languishing due to the need to take the subway to get M to school and home again (there’s really no kid-safe bike route between our house and her school, and anyway 6km each direction is probably a bit far for a kid’s commute). It’s almost another 3km to my office. I often walk at least one direction, but being able to bike is a nice (and faster) option.
For the uninitiated, Bixi is a bike-sharing service. You pick up a bike at whatever station you like and return it to whatever station you like (the same station or a totally different one). You can pay by the day ($5), 72 hours ($12), month ($40), or year ($95). Trips of less than half an hour are included in those prices; trips longer than that cost extra. Since at the moment it’s a downtown-only service, however, it’s mighty hard to exceed thirty minutes unless, I don’t know, you ride around in circles for a while or something.
There’s a Bixi station just by M’s school, with ten or so bikes. So I stuck my key in the lock to get the station to release a bike, adjusted the seat height (they have convenient numbered markings), clamped my purse in the front basket, put on my helmet and off I wobbled. I got the feel of the bike within a few blocks and stopped wobbling — they’re just very different from my own bike!
Heavy but stable – these things feel solid. Tanklike, almost. No light breeze will push you off-course on one of these things. It takes some effort to drive them. I wouldn’t want to, say, put it on my back to go up the Casa Loma stairs or anything. On the other hand, they’re very stable, not twitchy or fussy or unpredictable at all. Solid. Once they get going they have some decent momentum. I hope they’ll be easy to maintain.
Very upright – they’re cruisers, definitely. 
I found myself sailing along in an almost perfect standing position, like Mary Poppins on her carousel horse. This is so entertaining I don’t think you could help but be in a good mood while riding one. Also, it gives you excellent visibility.
3 speeds, none particularly fast – if you’re used to zooming along at near-traffic speed, well, forget it. These are not fast bikes; sit back (stand back? One barely sits) and enjoy the ride. They have three speeds controlled by gripshifters — the lowest will probably get you up most big hills, the middle will get you started at stoplights, and the highest will carry you along at a reasonable but by no means speedy clip. I found myself wishing for a fourth gear. Because of the weight of the bike, though, I found I did work up a bit of a sweat as I sailed along. These bikes are not going to win anyone any races, although a race of Bixi bikes would be very entertaining to watch. A bunch of sweaty upright folks working to exceed 20km/h…
Soft brakes – you can’t stop in a hurry. It takes a bit of time. Not that you’re going very fast. There’s no possible way to flip yourself over the handlebars by braking too hard (my specialty!) on one of these puppies. Still, I pity the pedestrian who steps off the curb without looking and gets nailed… the weight of the bike combined with the inability to stop on a dime is going to hurt.
Step through frame and chain guard – clearly these are bikes made for riding in whatever clothes you happen to be wearing. Smart. It’s nice not to have to carry a pants clip.
No clips on the pedals – this was the biggest adjustment for me. I am, apparently, very used to my clips. I had a couple of false starts where my attempt to raise the pedal by lifting my foot left me looking pretty goofy. I’d kind of forgotten about having to push off the ground to start! By my second trip I’d more-or-less got the hang of it, but my first few stoplights were probably pretty funny for onlookers.
Overall: I was thoroughly amused, got to where I was going in less time than it would’ve taken to take the subway, and can recommend it fully. Let’s hope they’re successful enough to expand the service area!
(H/t to the lovely Melle for finding the photo)
Again we ponder the eternal question of what to drink while awaiting election results. Last time around we went with Irish whiskey. It was an excellent choice but it feels a bit ponderous for a May election. Sunshine and daffodils and Irish whiskey? Nah.
I’m deciding to count anything other than a Harper majority as a success. While there does seem like a reasonably high probability of success thus defined, we’re still feeling it would be wise to employ some fiscal restraint, just in case. So we’ve settled on some cheap Aussie fizz, which D has just gone off on his bike to fetch. It’ll have time to chill before results start coming in.
Crossed fingers.
Go vote, if you haven’t yet. Polls in Ontario are open until 9:30 tonight. You don’t need to be registered in advance and you can find your poll here if you’re unsure (the link is to the official Elections Canada site — don’t believe any robo-calls you might get; apparently there are some dirty tricks being played to send people to the wrong place).
