Bees and Herring!

The Red Herring Purse has been embellished! I used a green/pink ribbon (Colinette Giotto pictured at right) to embroider and just kind of meandered. If you look closely, you'll see bees flying around. (They're just pinned in place, but they'll be sewn down soon.) These are buttons from Susan Clark Originals. I was digging around, looking for the pearls in the little bag, when I ran across the buttons. I must have bought them five years ago but I think they're just right!

Warm Fuzzies!

And while this may look like a dress for Barbie's merengue dance, it's really another fingerless mitt. This time I changed the pattern a little. When I finish the pair, I'll show you a better picture.

The Scrap Queen Strikes Again!

Yay! Sleeves without a Sweater are finished! The yarn is silk so the sleeves are, um, silky. And a big thank you to Delores, my model. These will now get tucked away with the Christmas pressies. (Ooh, that reminds me: I need to start Christmas cards! Hmmm... what should I do this year? Better make something with stuff on hand... and I've got a lot of stuff on hand!)

As the reigning Scrap Queen of our quilting group, I usually get first dibs on any scraps that come in. (You might think that Yuki is my co-Scrap Queen, but I think that she's become the Shred Queen, 'cuz she creates masterpieces with bits that even I can't use!) Back on track: a small bag of scraps came in and these were inside. I said to myself, "Hey, I know what these are! I even have a template for this. It's the QiD Triangle in a Square!"

So I jumped right on that project, even though the colors are so not me. They are classy, though, and coming together quite nicely. Bethie helped me figure out that the double-pointed star, which I have used before (here's a link!) with this element wasn't going to work as well as a four-pointed star. See? All the star centers are out of the same Asian print with a navy blue background and the sashing will be a plainer Asian navy blue. It's coming together!

Is it really all that weird?

The lights come up on Desi sitting somewhere in public, like the coffeeshop or a waiting room, knitting on this charming little project. A friend, stranger, or family member approaches.

Friend: Oh, that's cute. I like the brick pattern you've got going on there.

Me: Thanks! I'm not really used to color work, so this has been fun.

Friend: (blathers on about their own life for a while, then) So what is it going to be?

Me: A dishcloth.

(pause)

Friend: Oh.

Me: You know, like something from the Thirties?

Friend: (after a moment, smiles and nods with insincere appreciation) Ah. (Excuses self and makes rapid exit.)

Desi continues to knit.

Spot the Semicolons

Yes! The knitting for the Red Herring Purse is finished! And I used almost exactly two (of the three) skeins purchased. So, let's see, what's left:

1. Weave in ends
2. Wet and block it
3. Embroider the flowers
4. Add interfacing to handles
5. Add dowels (or chopsticks--they're free!)
6. Sew up the sides

As you can see, the second skein has just a few yards left; I think that will be enough to seam it up. Cooliyo! (Did you notice the sophisticated use of the semicolon? I did.)

And the Red Thread Project: November (that's No-Remember in Anthony-speak) has been completed. I suppose Canadians could switch the October and November blocks as their Thanksgiving falls earlier. I was naughty and used a different grey for the platter because I ran out of the color that was called for. I'm trying to get better about using my available resources. So maybe that wasn't naughty; maybe it was admirable. Fanfare here. (Or maybe it was lazy: don't tell anyone, but I just didn't want to go to the store!)

Wild Thing, You Make Everything Groovy

The Scrap Trick top is done! (Actually it was done last Friday, but I brought the camera today.
Today I got a wild hair and decided to do a superquick one-day (if at all possible) quilt top. I was going to make another disappearing nine-patch, but as you can see, the nine-patch didn't want to disappear. In fact, it wanted to be feted. So I sashed the blocks. I wanted to use a turquoise blue and there was just enough of that turquoise blue to make it. In fact, if you click on the pic to enlarge, you can see that many of the horizontal sashes are pieced. One is made of no fewer than seven pieces!

...and I named it Everything Groovy, from the song Wild Thing.

Finishitis

This pattern was actually quite fun to sew. The butterflies matched the blocks they were hovering over and did not appear until the backstitching was completed. Kudos to the designer.
So it's finished. I think I may have that longed-for malady: finishitis. It's the compliment to startitis. You know, startitis is when you must start projects and start projects and start more, which leads to seeing UFOs--Unfinished Fabric Objects. Finishitis means I am compelled to finish items, no matter when they were begun.
detail of Butterflies on Nine-Patches


And the Red Herring Purse has less than 20 rows of knitting left! All that's left is the embroidery and the finishing up.

Think Lovely Thoughts!

That's what Peter Pan told Wendy was the trick to flying. This is Tiny's Hallowe'en costume. I only had to make it twice. The first one I made according to the pattern which apparantly was for a caryatid, those architectual columns shaped like very tall, thin women.* The second was my version of the pattern. I added a panel to the original skirt and made a new bodice based on actual body measurements. As you can see, it came out just dandy and she was thrilled.

I tried to pretend I was on Project Runway and trying to bang out an evening gown in six hours. Didn't work. Guess Heidi won't be saying "Guten tag" to me anytime soon.

*The reason I know this goes back to all those hours playing Dungeons & Dragons as a teenager. And Mom and Dad thought I was just flirting with nerds. Hah! I showed them! I was really dating... nerds. But I married a... supernerd. But most of my friends are... well, I think we all know where this is going.

Butterflies

A butterfly was reported seen in Helen's home ten days ago. That day I sat by her side, sewing on my butterflies on nine-patches and telling her secrets. Shortly after we left, she floated away. She was 97 years old and had adventures! During the depression, she knitted herself dresses. She rented a typewriter and taught herself to type so she could get a job. She worked for the government during WWII. She was a world traveller--I have a picture of her on a camel!--and she was in charge of her own destiny.

We've been clearing out her home and during the hour and a half drives, I've gotten a fair way on that Butterfly piece. I think I'll choose it a a grief catcher. I have done the same with other projects.

Changing of the Seasons

"Butterflies on Nine-Patches" jumped out of the cross-stitch box and said, "Sew on me!" So I did. Sew. I. Did. Get it?
It's a fun stitch: challenging when I want challenge (butterflies and sky); easy when I want something predictable (the quilt blocks). It's in a smaller scale than I've been working with: 18 squares per inch, so that makes it interesting, too.
Yesterday I worked on it at my mother-in-law's home, during Star Trek, and while watching black smoke billow across the I-5 freeway. That's right, it's fire season again in SoCal! People from other parts of the country often are under the impression that we don't have seasons here. Not true! Our seasons are just different from what you're used to.

Seasons in Southern California

Fire

Flood

Earthquake

Drought

Double-yay!

Playtime at Azkaban has certainly charmed me. The Bellatrix pattern is moving quite fast--it's all those dropped yo's. And that whole wavy thing is cool. It certainly wouldn't show up with an all-over single color. Good thing I'm using IceHouse! And here's something weird: my hands are changing. They're harder, somehow. Perhaps the muscles I'm using are tightening up. Too bad I can't work up a good sweat and call it exercise, huh?

And I got to work on Warm Water Wash: it's finito! Yay! I love the feeling I get when finishing something. My breathing changes. I'm more relaxed. Yay! Ooh, that's a double-yay!

Book-wise: I just finished reading Beyond Stitch and Bitch. It's about finding peace, inner and outer, through your knitting. A very quick read. I had accidentally picked it up from Paperback Swap because I want all the Stitch and Bitch books. They're modern, upbeat, and full of interesting patterns.