Bookworm

We've all heard of bookworms, but so far I haven't encountered anyone who's actually seen one - the actual worm not the euphemism. I picked up an old book from the free book pile at the thrift store and was fascinated to see a wormhole in it. I took the book home and have been showing it around to people. When you flip through the pages the hole materializes, grows, and disappears like a flip book. I love it, but don't want to keep the book with all my others, since the very dark brown of the pages is apparently a sign of some bacterial/fungal infection. Can't rightly remember, but was told by a microbiologist that it was infectious in that it could spread to other books.

Embarking on a new hobby!

Well, not entirely new. I've done weaving before. But never Tapestry weaving! And it IS another yarn-associated craft, so not like delving into woodturning or something. And it fits my rule of not being too bulky or expensive -- I have to make up rules like this or my house would be overrun by insane craft experiments. Don't tell my husband I said that, he already thinks that's true and I'd hate to see what he thought if he knew how much worse it could be.

So I was at my friend's house, in her awesomely envy-inspiring workshop that brings to mind a classic wood cabin complete with wee Franklin stove and a loft. She had her current tapestry on the loom and we started talking about how to build one myself. I dashed to the hardware store for the necessary supplies and she helped me build my very own copper pipe loom. I've been playing with ideas, drawing pictures, and imagining what I'd like to weave. I saw the local yarn shop was having a sale on tapestry yarn, and made a spur of the moment decision while driving there on what I would weave. Here's the yarns I bought.
The colors aren't as saturated in real life as this photo. That garish stripe of farm-raised egg yolk yellow isn't nearly so bad, and the greens are closer to grasses than rainforests like the photo suggests. So I have my yarn, my loom, my warp, my ideas. Now I just need to draw the picture so I know what and where I'm doing things. Keepin my fingers crossed, hope it all goes well!

Ugly Costume Blog

A hilarious website of hideous bellydance costumes - What were they thinking? I've only made it through the first few posts, but it promises not to disappoint. I love the vulva embellishments on one of them!

My own olympics

I'm obviously not an olympic athlete. Nor am I really a major olympics-watcher. BUT all the talk of the knitting olympics and ravelympics has got me fired up. Actually it's Braveharlot's decision to join Yarnharlot's Knitting Olympics that got me thinking I could do it to. So I manically scanned through all my fav'ed patterns and yarn in my stash for a suitable project. Alas! The projects and yarns were not in alignment and I couldn't find a sufficiently challenging option to join the K'Olympics officially. But in the spirit of things I'm going to try my own gestalt version.

I have a beautiful skein of yarn that has been challenging me what to do with it. I have lots of ideas for small items, and I"m going to see how many things I can make with just this one skein during the Olympics. But I'm also really wanting some armwarmers and have a different yarn picked out for them...we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

I'm also going to attempt finishing at least one craft project per day from my almost-done pile that has been plaguing me for eons. Skirts that need waistbands, hipscarves that need ties, yarn that needs washing, socks for darning, vintage dress repairs, oh the list goes on and on. If I do one per day I will likely clear out the entire pile - and what a truly Olympic achievement that will be!

A childhood dream realized

I remember being a kid and seeing Badge-A-Minit ads on TV. Oh, did I want one! I knew it would be the most awesome thing ever if only I could get one. But they were stupidly expensive for a kid, and I didn't get one. When I was in high school I again thought it would be great fun to have, but even with my own money they were still stupidly expensive and I did without. Now that I'm an adult, I again wished I had a B-A-M, decided to buy one, and went to the website. Wow. They're still stupidly expensive. Sure I'd pay 30 bucks now, but 70?? No wonder I never bought one in all the decades I've wanted it. I was telling a friend about my lifelong Badge-A-Minit dream and she opened the website on a whim. Damn if they weren't having a sale on them - the same price they were in 1988! Finally within my justification price range! I ordered it right then and there.

It's a bunch of rainbow color-coded rings and a hand press made out of a sturdy fiberglass-like plastic that reminds me of these weird chunky alphabet blocks we had as kids. The blocks were about twice as big as the classic wooden letter blocks, and hurt like hell if you threw one at someone. I have a imprinted memory of what it feels like to be clipped on the side of the head by one. I think it was yellow.
Anyway, in honor of the 2010 blizzard, I made a pin using my new B-A-M. It's a snowman sledding and he's completely filled with joy. Arms outstretched, heart lifted, smile literally ringing his face. I'm wearing it to work tomorrow.

Color in the Winter

I know I'm all the time complaining about produce in the winter. That we've sacrificed quality and flavor just to have an item available at an unnatural time. Plus I like to revel in enjoying a seasonal item when it's actually available. Clementines used to only be out at christmas, and it was an old-fashioned treat to have a "Christmas Orange" again. But now they're available all the time, and their magic is diminished.

BUT, there is a Fresh Market store nearby that has "Jet Fresh" Produce that is flown in twice a week from South America. I couldn't resist picking up a few things, they are all so gorgeous and I'm sure will be tasty if Fresh Market is willing to sell them. And there is a certain magic to have such gloriously colored foods in the middle of the biggest blizzard in over a decade. The orange was labeled as an heirloom variety, as was the tomato. Haven't encountered heirloom oranges yet...I will report back once I eat it.
The photo takes away some perspective - it's actually a good sized tomato, small pepper, and stupidly large orange. I've started thinking about our garden this year. Now that I'm set up in the house I'll finally be able to do some canning this summer!

Excitement, then disappointment...then hope?

I fell in love with this yarn from Steam Valley at a fiber show this past fall. It was at the very first booth I went to, and I spent a good chunk of money on it without caring that I might find other things later on I wished to buy. Now anyone who's attended a show knows you don't just go crazy buying the first thing you see. But this yarn refused to let me walk by. It's almost 500 yards of fingering weight superwash, and the photo does not do the colors justice.

I wanted to knit myself a pair of armwarmers from it. I found a pattern I liked with a chevron of ribbing down the arm. I swatched and my gauge matched PERFECTLY. Like, 7 1/4 sts/" on the button. Who gets that kind of accuracy -- or is it precision? No, I think it's accuracy -- on the first swatch with a different yarn and needle size than the pattern calls for? Call it serendipity, fortuitous, what-have-you. I was just thrilled for everything to be falling into place. Until I started knitting the project. The color repeats are much shorter than I thought, only about 4-6" which means they don't form stripes or even pools of color. They blend into a muddy palette that dulls the beauty of the skein of yarn. Very disappointing. I'd post a photo but I already unraveled it.

So, I still have the yarn begging to be knit, but no idea what to make it into. The color repeats just don't seem like it'll work for socks, yet that's what this yarn is intended for. I thought of something with short rows to keep the colors pooled, maybe entrelac, but they'd be really small squares. I might try the Swirl Shawl since I have the pattern, but don't know that I want to embark on a piecemeal project. Any suggestions or favorite patterns for this type of yarn?

Plus, and here's the craftastrophe part, I don't have a knitting project right now. I ordered yarn from Knitpicks to make a pair of hot pepper elf shoes but it hasn't shipped yet. This is not normal. I think all of us being snowed in has caused a wave of orders at KP that they can't keep up with. I need a portable pattern that I don't have to look at to work on in the carpool. I can't just let all that free time riding in the car to go to waste. I still like that armwarmer pattern, but don't have any appropriate yarn. I could dye some, but that won't help me NOW. I could knit them in white and dye them afterwards in a gradation or something. That's an idea...

Thought for the day

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." Edith Wharton

When I read this quote, my immediate response was that I want to be the mirror. Thinking a bit more on it, my reason was that the mirror can reflect the light of many candles, spreading more light than a single candle could do on its own. It can also increase the light generated by a single candle. It's not bound by itself to spread light, but can partake of all the light around and pass it along. Of course I realize the opposite reasoning, that some people would want to be the initiator of the light, and feel the mirror is nothing without the candle. But for myself, I know better.

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb