The Pineneedle Collective

Sunday 19 January 2014

Natural Curls & Cute Science #2

Skirt is DIY | necktie c/o Flapper Girl | necklace is from Tash Tash Jewelry | Socks and shirt are thrifted | Sock cuffs are DIY

I can't believe that I didn't know, for maybe two or three whole years, that my hair had become super curly, just because I got up and blow-dryed it into straight oblivion every single morning. Because look how curly it is!! The only thing giving it a little bit of oomph here is a bit of hairspray; other than that, those are all natural curls.

So I mainly just wanted an excuse to post this suuuuper cute video, but I am going to make it sciencey. Bear with me (HAH, get it? No, because I haven't told you what the video is about yet. Okay. See below.)

This is a polar BEAR at Toronto Zoo taking its very first steps:

This little guy made his first steps just 58 days after he was born.

After shedding some tears over the sheer cuteness of this video, it also got me wondering: why do different animals take different amounts of time to learn how to walk? And why are humans so (seemingly) bad at it compared to other baby animals?

i.e. Time it takes different animals to learn how to walk after birth:

Polar bears: 58 days

Cats: 2 - 3 weeks

Dogs: 3 - 4 weeks

Hamsters: 2 weeks

Horses: 1 hour (!)

Humans: 1 year

So apparently the time that all mammals learn to walk is closely correlated with the size of their brains. The reason humans take so long to walk is also largely because human babies are born very "undercooked" compared to other animals (even including chimpanzees and bonobos), who leave the uterus with their brains and bodies much closer to their adult form than human babies.

In fact, a study in 2009 determined that all mammals start walking at about the same point in brain development relative to each other.

So humans and horses actually do start walking at the same time in their brain development - even if horses basically gallop out of the womb - because humans are just born very underdeveloped compared to horses.

And it makes sense, because intelligence, development and pelvis size had to meet in the middle somewhere - human babies are born so underdeveloped because if their brains were any bigger, the mother wouldn't be able to give birth to them! So the fact that humans take ages to start walking is in fact a sign of how intelligent we become.

I hope that you're all having a gorgeous day,

Friday 17 January 2014

Giveaway: An Art Print from Angel Szafranko / CLOSED

Let me introduce you to the super cute artworks of Angel Szafranko from Toronto! I was recently contacted by this wonderful artist asking if I would like to host a giveaway for her etsy store. I am so happy to host this giveaway, because I am absolutely in love with this kind of style right now (see this pinterest board full of my favourite illustrators, and you'll see what I mean). I don't know what it is about the colourful, creepy-cute, pop-surreal, super-flat style of these artists that I love so much - maybe it's the fantastic clothing they all seem to be wearing?? - but I can't get enough!

Here are just some of her works:

If you'd like the chance to win an Angel Szafranko print of your choice, all you need to do is complete at least one entry in the rafflecopter widget below!

Also, everything in Angel's shop is 10% off if you use the code PINENEEDLE10.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This competition is open internationally and will end on the 6th of February, 2014. Please make sure that you have completed any entry that you would like to enter correctly, or you will be disqualified!

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Milk, Cookies and Sugar Cubes (and Dodecahedrons)

Dress is secondhand from Hannah | lace sock cuffs are DIY | belt is thrifted | necklace is from Tash Tash Jewelry

My new favourite thing when it comes to clothes and accessories: food. I'm somewhat obsessed with food and eating - if I'm having a bad day, all I need to make myself feel better is a giant veggie sandwich or a cheese toastie - so making a homage to food through my outfits kinda seems right. After browsing through the "food jewellery" tag on etsy for hours the other week (do it, come on, you know you want to), I found Tash Tash Jewelry, a one-woman jewellery-making-machine from Croatia who makes things like bowls of fruit loops for your fingers (I also bought this, hehe). She also sells them ridiculously cheaply, and with such fast shipping for something that came from the other side of the world (I got it less than two weeks after ordering). I'm definitely recommending this etsy store - in fact, I think it'll be a great addition to my ethical clothing directory - and I am also probably going to go back to buy a pizza necklace and coffee cup ring!

Now, I'm obviously going to have to tell you all about some food-related science; luckily, this just happened! This delicious-looking thing below is sugar, in flavours of cherry, sour apple and mint, printed out by the first commercially available 3D food-printer to ever exist.

Image from 3D Systems

Yup! I've been talking about it for a while, but 3D food printing is actually here, you guys (alright, so it has existed for chocolate for a while - but being able to print with sugar like this is a real leap in the technology)!

This NPR article will give you the rundown on the technology, or you can start drooling over this video of a similar machine (still in prototype phase) called Foodini, that can print a whole range of food into any fiddly, intricate or ridiculous shape that you program.

And I wasn't lying about 3D printers getting cheaper, either - did you know you can get them for $1300 now? Sure, it's not "cheap", but it's cheaper than a new macbook air! You all know that I'm obsessed, and will definitely keep you updated on their rapid price drop - this time last year, it was about $5000 for a personal 3D printer. Seriously, this speculation of mine from one year back:

is actually seeming less and less ridiculous all the time.

I hope that you're all super, super well!

Tuesday 14 January 2014

DIY Lace Sock Cuffs

You guys are ahhhh-mazing! Thank you for all the kind words on my last video! I'm really glad that so many people have found it helpful. And thanks for the support - I reached 100 youtube subscribers only one day after creating my first video, which has blown me away. So, to thank you all, I made another one:

I also wanted to do a sewing tutorial on something a little simpler - while making a dress is fantastic, it's also pretty hard to do, especially if you're not too experienced with a sewing machine. And I know that not everyone out there is an experienced sewer - so hopefully this video leaves less people out (though you still will need to have access to a sewing machine, unfortunately!)

Lace cuffs take about 10 minutes to make, can be made subtler (using thinner lace) or more over-the-top (by using larger, more extravagant or even colourful pieces of lace), and are a great way to subtly add some cuteness to your outfit.

Sew simple, right? I hope that you're all having a great day! And "thumbs up" the video/subscribe if you want to see more!

Monday 13 January 2014

DIY Circle Skirt Dress (Video Tutorial)

I actually did it! I sat myself down for an entire day and forced myself to make this video - but I actually enjoyed making it in the end, and I am also very happy with how it turned out. If you want to learn how to make a dress like my teacup skater dress and candy cupcake dress, then watch this video. You should give making a circle skirt/simple top a go before you tackle this project, if you're not at all experienced at sewing, but once you're able to do those you'll be more than ready to give making your own dress a go. Enjoy! And please do let me know if you liked the video or found it useful, or a least subscribe to my new youtube channel - I am planning on making many more if it seems like the interest is there.

p.s. If you're not a fan of the 8-bit soundtrack I've used then feel free to mute the video - all the instructions are in text, so you won't miss anything except the bleep-bloopy adventure time-style toons ;)

Friday 10 January 2014

From Bedsheets to a Dress (DIY) | 52 Factorial

Dress is DIY | socks, shoes and bolero are thrifted | necklace c/o Merrin & Gussy

OKAY, so I know that I said in my last blog post that I was wearing my favourite dress ever... I think we might have a dress to contest that. Partly, I think this one is now my favourite because I made it out of $5 second-hand bedsheets and I kinda can't get over the thriftyness of that. I also LOVE the print and the colours! And guess what - I did indeed film the entire process, so I might even have a youtube video up in the very near future (UPDATE: If you're looking for how to make this exact dress, then go here to the video I made)! By the way, I have a new youtube channel - the username of my last one which I chose when I was 15 was irritating me to no end, so I decided to simply start fresh.

Other parts that I love about this outfit are the velvet bolero/shrug, which I got from the same op-shop as these bedsheets and is also handmade, as it didn't have a tag and none of the seams have been serged with an overlocker. I'm so happy to give it a welcome home. If my handmade stuff ever ends up in an op-shop, I hope it'll go to someone who really appreciates it! Also, you probably can't see it in the photos, but my socks are sparkly!

Yesterday, while QI was playing in the background, I kinda had my mind blown. I did have to fact-check this first, of course (as I recommend everyone do when watching this show - though most of the stuff is accurate they do like to exaggerate...). But it's true!

Basically, whenever playing cards have been shuffled they are, in all (near) mathematical-certainty, put into an order which has never existed before since the beginning of time. The order of cards is defined as 52 factorial (8.07^67), which, as Stephen Fry says, is a number so large that if each star in the Milky Way had a trillion planets, each with a trillion people who had been shuffling a trillion packs of cards non-stop 1,000 times per second since the Big Bang, they would only be repeating shuffles right about now.

And that's why maths is cool.