The Big Tidy-Up

When I was a girl, my mom bought me a book. I'm not sure if she thought it was funny or just a very strong message. It's called The Big Tidy Up. It's about a little girl with a very very very messy room. I vaguely remember something about a lollipop stuck to her bathrobe. Ennywho, things get worse and worse until she finally decides to tidy up. Guess where all this is leading? Yup! A big tidy-up of my own. Yes, the studio has gotten out of control so I took matters into my own hands (as though somebody else has been sneaking in messing up the room!). No, it's not particularly dirty--although there was some dust--but no lollipops stuck to my sewing machine. Just piles and piles of piles and piles. I took it all out and into the living room. (Sorry, Honey.) There I organized it. One section of the room for the yarn, one for the fabric, and a long table for everything else. Once I got the fabric and yarn out of the mix, everything else fell into place. Books went on a shelf (go figure!), receipts went into a designated sorting box, patterns got filed, and stuff got put away! It feels great. I'm still not totally done: gotta sort out the yarn still and put away the fabric but even some of that has happened.

...and in creative news
Check out my Mumy Bear. It's another bear for the Mother Bear Project. I made it to look like Bill Mumy who played Will Robinson in the classic sci-fi series, Lost in Space. (You know, "Danger, Will Robinson!")
And a small disclaimer: I know there's a smudge on the picture. My lens is scratched. The good news is that the carpet I used for my background is clean.

Babylon and On

Hello, my friend! It's 2010, if the calendar makers are to be believed. I am grateful for another January 1st. We rang in the New Year, or maybe ran off the old, with family and friends. A little champagne to celebrate and some black-eyed peas for good luck. There's a tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's that goes all the way back to ancient Babylon. It's supposed to bring prosperity and, in this climate, my Hoppin' John didn't go begging. Still, there were leftovers so I had some for breakfast. I think that put me in the way to have a great day. That, and the fact that my Prayer Quilt Ministry was resuming today. Here's what it's like: we use a large downstairs room in the church. Tables and chairs are set out for us. We open the closet and get out

1. extension cords
2. ginormous ironing boards
3. 2 irons
4. 4 cutting mats
5. a selection of rulers and cutters
6. whatever fabric we need
7. notions boxes (thread, needles, blades, extra tools)

It goes about six hours and the ladies show up as their schedules allow. Many of us want to be there for the whole time. Applecheeks, our glorious leader, usually gets there a little early to set up. And then there's the food. Oh, there's always some kind of candy-nut mix, and somebody usually brings in fruit, sometimes a lunchie kinda thing like sandwiches or casserole, cheese, chips, and often an experimental something gooey somebody was trying out the recipe for. We talk about anything and everything, keeping it away from gossip but all other subjects are available for discussion. Sometimes a little venting and commiseration is important, but a lot of stories and advice and laughter happens. We pray for each other. And eat. Oh, yeah, and we work on prayer quilts, too. If there's time.

Throughout this post you may have noticed some pictures. These are zipper pouches I am now making and selling. These two were custom-made for a local customer. But I've got more!

Christmas Gift Revealed!

I couldn't blog about this because Tiny is just too darn smart. She may not read this blog often, but she would if I posted her gift. From the TV series, Firefly, comes this Jayne hat. Tiny admired mine, and kept walking away with it, so I knew just what to make for her Christmas gift. She and I both discovered the show this year, and we've reached fangirl status, I think. And yes, the hat looks kind of unfashionable and goofy. Now picture it on the toughest tough you can imagine. After receiving it in a box from his mother, he wears it through much of the series. You gotta love a man who appreciates his mama. Quotable line: "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."

and in other news...

Dr. Gemma, host of the Cogknitive Podcast, has started a KAL (that's Knit-A-Long, and yes, there's also a crochet version). It's about the Mother Bear Project. To quote their site:

The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children
affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the
form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear. The simple gift of a hand-knit bear
with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children with the message that they
are unconditionally loved.

So, the goal is to knit one or more of these bears for this terrif charity. Each bear made and sent gets you an entry in a drawing. Cool, huh? If you'd like to join, here's the Ravelry link.

I finished this little girl at Panera this morning. I'm calling her Caprica Bear because she's kind of a tribute to an iconic sci-fi character.

We're having our annual New Year's Eve Game Night. I've got to get cooking and cleaning. Stop by if you're in the area!

Hurry Up and Wait

I dunno if I told you that I was involved in a speed knitting game about a month ago. I was waiting with bated breath when the pattern was released, yarn in hand. I knitted like a demon until I...

1. ran out of yarn
2. got beat out by my competitor.

So I put it aside until I had time to find more yarn (hence the black thumbs) and knit on it. Time was found to finish 'em today. I think that puts me dead last in the whole speed knitting thing. Meh.

and thanks to Katie, my very willing hand model today at SD Central Knitters. What delicate little hands, huh?

The Color Your Mother Warned You About

The color red is dangerous. We all know this. That's why they make stoplights red: "Whoa! Hold on, there, pardner!" And stop signs: "This is a dangerous place; pay attention." And a gal in a red dress--we know she's out to get our man. (Not me, though. When I'm wearing red, it just means I'm a very nice person who happens to be wearing red today and that has no bearing on the fact that I wore a short red dress when I was playing a hot chica in a murder mystery. None whatsoever.) But the point I was trying to make before I ran off to tangent-ville is that red is trouble. And the trouble with fiber is, it bleeds. I know other colors bleed, too, but red is too often the culprit. So we wash our red fabrics before we put 'em into a quilt. We stabilize the color in embroidery floss as best we can. We even avoid it in our dishes because there's some kind of radioactive chemical in it that will turn us all into intelligent cockroaches or something, according to the Man of the Place. (Hmmm, maybe I wasn't really paying attention. Ya think?)

So I was a understandably concerned about this red cotton stria. I decided to knit up the sweater first and face that problem later, but before I attached the WHITE flower. So, here's what I did: I put it in a bath of cool water and Orvus Quilt Soap. Soaked it for a few minutes and, get this: the water didn't even turn light pink! Shock the monkey, was I surprised!

Then I attached the flower, the bobble buttons, and the stem for a big hooray!And here's the payoff:No,wait Sweetie, hold still for the camera:Good enough! That's about as still as a healthy sixteen-month old can get. She's so worth the knitting.

Dessert!

The green fairy is giving away a pound cake, jelly roll, and pattern. It's happening on Tuesday, so hurry up and go get 'em!

Oh. You thought I meant a cake cake and a jelly roll with real jelly, huh? Nope. It's a quilting term. They cut and stack a variety of fabrics in a certain way (i.e. a cake or a roll) and give 'em tempting names. Trust me, it works.

Now, let me see, preheat the oven to 350 degrees...

Proto-Dinner

Every week the Man of the Place gets up early and heads out to the organic farmer's market and picks up fresh produce. I'm not so much into cooking these days, so I love it when I don't have to do much to make it a yummy dish. For example, these green beans just needed to be trimmed and boiled for five minutes. The guacamole just needed to be mooshed up and left alone--my specialty! (not guacamole, leaving the food alone) And the tamales were frozen: all I had to do was put 'em on the steam flower with boiling water and leave 'em alone (see above about my specialty.)
This means I had more time to work on my little Pretty Cylon Baby sweater. Read that as more time to ignore the problem. See how it looked at 1:30 today? Notice anything strange? How 'bout now? Yeah. The sleeves are two different lengths. (sigh) Now I have to find someone with a hump to give it to.
Or I could, you know, fix it.

Snagafrabadeekalabafooey. (This is the sound of me grumbling, in case you were going for the urban dictionary.)

No! Not More Booties?!

Yup. Sophie posted a comment last time asking where to get the pattern for the Hartfield Gloves. It's a Knitty online pattern called Verdigris, by Rosemary Hill who, by the bye, is very nice.

Empowerment

Early this year, I heard the phrase, The Year of No-Fear Knitting. I liked it. I thought to myself, "Why not? What's the worst thing that could happen? I try something way beyond my ability and tangle up some yarn to the point it has to be thrown away? Big deal." So I went for it and the proof is in the pudding. Well, the knitting anyway.

This time last year, this was a challenging project. I didn't want to try anything harder. In fact, I made three pairs of these pretty mitts. I might make more.But now, this is my level. I'm not afraid to read charts. To work with thinner yarns. Complicated? Maybe. But it's like when I was learning to drive. I was taught that, when you're driving in the rain, a ball bounces in front of you, and another car is headed toward you, SLOW down. When you slow down, many problems sort themselves out before they even get to you. I think life is like that, too.

Under the Weather

You know how they teach you in geology that there is magma deep under the earth's crust? That's about as far under the weather I am. Deep. The Man of the Place said I'd be feeling better today, but I sure showed him! Ha! I win. (But the prize really stinks.)
Today, Tiny had soccer practice near where we meet for knit group so I figured I'd join 'em--from another table to avoid infecting anyone--while I waited for her. It was so nice being around the girls, even when under the weather. I worked on this little red sweater: it's mostly stockinette so I prefer to knit this when I'm otherwise distracted. TV, conversation, reading... it's all good for this project. It's a Christmas giftie so I should get it done ASAP.
However, I have to have a little fun. I've been just speeding along on a project with no deadline. Another pair of what? Socks. Of course. You know I've got to make socks. It's turned into a compulsion. This one takes some attention, but I'm okay with that. These are called Dippers. The author says that the pattern looks like honey dippers. Really? If you say so.