![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Progess update
Yes I know I've been a bit scarce and the projects appear to have been abandoned while barely begun. But progress has been slow because of the need to acquire new skills. Today was a day of firsts. My first time ever using a soldering iron, my first time changing the threads on my overlocker, and my first time customising a t-shirt past the fabric paint level.
Turns out getting anywhere in electronics without being able to solder is fairly impossible. Even resolved as I was to play with the Arduino Lilypad and wearable circuits, there comes a point at which you see something really shiney, and you just have to have it. In my case it was electroluminescent wire. Wire that glows it's whole length. Often described as cold neon. Gathering the necessary components for playing with EL wire is frustrating. With bits and pieces from here, from there, non-compatible components, and warehouses not sending complete orders. But there is still hope, so as soon as I've found some reliable sources I'll share the info. But, turns out, a major part of EL wire is soldering. Other projects I've been browsing with a sense of longing also require soldering. So I gave in, and picked up the cheapest of the cheap soldering tools. Today I opened up a toy tree, that once upon a time changed colours, red, green, and blue. But for a long time only the red has been visible. I de-soldered the two LEDs that weren't working anymore, fairly scorching the board in the process. But, after putting it back together, it isn't any more broken than when I started, so I count that as a win. Not even any extra parts left over. I had considered replacing the LEDs, but they turned out to be a bit unusual, blinking LEDs I think. The most puzzling bit being that there seems to be no resistors. It runs directly off usb power (which the internet tells me is up to 2.8V). Interesting, I'll have to keep an eye out.
Then I grabbed a t-shirt, a scissors and a shears, and got cutting. I cut the arms shorter, cut a low scoop neck in front, and very low scoop neck in back. Trimmed a bit off the bottom of the t-shirt, and used it as lacing up the back. A customised €2 t-shirt in about half an hour. But I couldn't stop there, no. I pulled out my overlocker, blew off a few layers of dust, then proceeded to change the threads. I had the instructional dvd on pause-play for a good while, and then spent much, much longer trying to figure out why it kept catching and bunching. Turns out when they say there's a threading order, they mean it! Took out the fourth needle and went for a narrow-seam overlock stitch, around the arms and neck line. I spent about twice as much time trying to get the machine to work as doing everything else. And that's about when I realised it was midnight and I needed sleep.
So you see, I am working away on my projects, in a rather indirect way. I've borrowed the 'Getting Started with Arduino' book which I probably should have read before starting my project at all, and plan to fly through that. I have to become familiar with the Java Comms package, and a few other things. So slowly, and bit by bit, I'm getting closer to realising my ideas. It's a rewarding struggle.
Turns out getting anywhere in electronics without being able to solder is fairly impossible. Even resolved as I was to play with the Arduino Lilypad and wearable circuits, there comes a point at which you see something really shiney, and you just have to have it. In my case it was electroluminescent wire. Wire that glows it's whole length. Often described as cold neon. Gathering the necessary components for playing with EL wire is frustrating. With bits and pieces from here, from there, non-compatible components, and warehouses not sending complete orders. But there is still hope, so as soon as I've found some reliable sources I'll share the info. But, turns out, a major part of EL wire is soldering. Other projects I've been browsing with a sense of longing also require soldering. So I gave in, and picked up the cheapest of the cheap soldering tools. Today I opened up a toy tree, that once upon a time changed colours, red, green, and blue. But for a long time only the red has been visible. I de-soldered the two LEDs that weren't working anymore, fairly scorching the board in the process. But, after putting it back together, it isn't any more broken than when I started, so I count that as a win. Not even any extra parts left over. I had considered replacing the LEDs, but they turned out to be a bit unusual, blinking LEDs I think. The most puzzling bit being that there seems to be no resistors. It runs directly off usb power (which the internet tells me is up to 2.8V). Interesting, I'll have to keep an eye out.
Then I grabbed a t-shirt, a scissors and a shears, and got cutting. I cut the arms shorter, cut a low scoop neck in front, and very low scoop neck in back. Trimmed a bit off the bottom of the t-shirt, and used it as lacing up the back. A customised €2 t-shirt in about half an hour. But I couldn't stop there, no. I pulled out my overlocker, blew off a few layers of dust, then proceeded to change the threads. I had the instructional dvd on pause-play for a good while, and then spent much, much longer trying to figure out why it kept catching and bunching. Turns out when they say there's a threading order, they mean it! Took out the fourth needle and went for a narrow-seam overlock stitch, around the arms and neck line. I spent about twice as much time trying to get the machine to work as doing everything else. And that's about when I realised it was midnight and I needed sleep.
So you see, I am working away on my projects, in a rather indirect way. I've borrowed the 'Getting Started with Arduino' book which I probably should have read before starting my project at all, and plan to fly through that. I have to become familiar with the Java Comms package, and a few other things. So slowly, and bit by bit, I'm getting closer to realising my ideas. It's a rewarding struggle.