Great Craftswomen -- Fort Mason, this weekend

Celebration of Craftswomen this weekend and next

Don't miss it. Different vendors each of the two weekends.

-- Rachel

FABRIC DYEING

DYE DILUTED BY HALVES -- for creating different shades of the same color



Begin with strong dye in 2 c. water in bag #1.

Take out 1 c., pour into bag #2. Bag #1 has 1 c. remaining.

Add 1 c. water to bag #2. Now you have 2 c., at half the original strength.

Take out 1 c., pour into bag #3. Bag #2 has 1 c. at half strength.

Add 1 c. water to bag #3. Bag #3 now has 2 c. at 1/4 strength.

Take out 1 c., pour into bag #4. Bag #3 has 1 c. at 1/4 strength.

Add 1 c. to bag #4, add 1 c. water -- 1/8 strength.

Remove 1 c. from bag #4.

Pour into bag #5, add 1 c. water -- 1/16 strength.

Etc.

[Dyeing is easily done in ziploc bags, as long as you're dyeing relatively small pieces of fabric -- half a yard or less]

-- Rachel


PS It's all Dharma Trading Company's fault (and Cherrywood Fabric's)
Especially take a look at Dharma's Gallery
Shown above is a fabulous tie-dye shirt by Al Wright from the Dharma website

Some Cherrywood bundles

ICE your cell phone

I've been hearing a lot lately about ICEing a cell phone.

ICE stands for IN CASE of EMERGENCY, and the idea is to enter into your cell's phone book one or more numbers under the ID "ICE". So mine now has "ICE - My Home" and "ICE - My Sister".

Emergency personnel are being trained to look at your cell phone directory for ICE listings in order to contact your family members, etc.

-- Rachel

Phone replaced, phone lost, NEW phone

I've had T-Mobile since about 2001, with a cute little Motorola V66 phone. No frills, but I'm told it's the smallest phone ever made. Finally I got tired of the way my original phone (a) seemed to be losing volume, so I could barely hear callers, and (b) could not work with a hands-free setup. So I ordered a refurbished V66 from Overstock.com. Except for the fact that a promised FM radio headset was not provided (and Overstock was willing to give me $10 gift cert for my next purchase, but NOT willing to offer a $10 refund; PLUS the incorrect information was STILL on their website the last I looked), the new phone worked great. Of course, all my numbers were in my old phone, but after I moved the SIM card to the new phone, the old phone wouldn't recognize it.

I only had the new phone a few weeks before I lost it during my commute home at the end of September. It never appeared again, so I went online and ordered a new phone. It finally arrived Monday night -- without a SIM card. And the only East Bay store that could provide me with a SIM card was closed.

So yesterday at lunch, my friend Brandi and I went up to the T-Mobile store on Market in San Francisco and got a SIM card; now I have a working picture phone. But it appears that every single new feature that my new phone has, will cost me additional service fees to utilize. California gives me 30 days to return the phone, so I may not keep it. What I liked about T-Mobile was a predictable, small bill. If the new phone's capabilities make my phone bill balloon, T-Mobile has not done me any favors. I hope I can block the features I don't want to pay for.

-- Rachel Holmen