new year update and rabbit forts

happy new year!

this year i resolve to have less stuff. i will continue with my freegan attempts with regards to not throwing stuff away if someone else can use it. i still won't dumpster dive, though. i will buy less stuff in general, with the exception of food, polaroid film, hay and socks.

my class has finished! i got an a-. go me. i hope to take another class this semester.

updates...luke's dad finally took a pic of the blue sweater i made for him. it's still a little too big, but aw. satisfaction.


we spent new year's eve with dante and his parents. he will be 1 in a few weeks! here he is showing off his 5 teeth.


my latest post-school hat for happy heads, dc. it's lion brand homespun...cheap but soft.


we made a rabbit fort on sunday night and it was quite popular in the living room.




finally, i worked on a bunch of slides. here are a few. check out the full set here. (these are all copyright 2007, duh.) i would like to do custom pet portraits. so far they've come out very well. here is rana.

different texture paper has very different results, same image and development times.


cool, huh?

and finally, for comparison with the pic from my last post...

cheppy chanukah!

candles 'n fried things 'n all.

so here's the scarf i gave to my boss's three year old daughter. i finished it and weaved in the ends an hour ago while sitting at my desk with my door open...and talking to my boss. (it's a little slow here thanks to the icky weather.)

he's going to get a pic of her wearing it. should be cute. i'll update then. i also gave her a "paint your own dreidel" kit that someone had given me a few years ago, for some reason. ages 3+.

here's a pic i took in lexington last week. tee-hee. (click on it if you can't read the text.)


off to the board meeting in florida tomorrow morning! let's see if i can take off at 6:30 as planned...

also...both pics here are from the iphone.

pasta salad, more knitted stuff, some crocheted stuff too

first off, here's mr. dante. i went to visit him on saturday. said hi to his mom while i was there, too.


next, i went to the national symphony orchestra's labor day concert on the capitol lawn on sunday with some friends. they brought drinks and sandwiches, i brought pasta salad.

ok here's what i did...
1 bag multi colored rotini (this one was called "wacky pasta" or something. it was 6 servings when cooked)
1/4 cup italian dressing (maybe a little less)
3 T sundried tomatoes, drained
1 container feta cheese (i don't know, 6, 8 oz?)
about 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small can sliced black olives
2 green onion tops, thinly sliced

cook the pasta about 30 seconds less than normal and drain. rinse with cold water to stop cooking. toss to dry as much as possible. add pasta and all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to mix. adjust add-ins as desired. refrigerate until serving time.

so i'm making a hat for a friend's mom who's going to lose her hair to chemo soon. here's a crocheted flower that i hand felted. i used lamb's pride worsted wool. love it. LOVE it! anyway, i didn't like any patterns for flowers that i found online so i sort of made up my own. i like the way it came out. if i can figure out how to do it again, i'll post directions. to felt, i used rubber gloves for some extra agitation. worked really well, probably took about 5 mintues. very warm water, drop of DISH SOAP in the water.


here's lurlene modeling the knitted hat. i used lion brand organic cotton in "strawberry" for a basic cap with a rib. it's quite soft. the flower is still a bit damp but should dry by tomorrow. i'll sew it on tomorrow. the flower can be worn on either side. i'm concerned that it's a little too big, but i think i can fix that by making something of a seem up the back. (can you tell i've been watching plastic surgery shows all summer?)

shhhhh! and make a mitten while you're at it...

so, i totally need to learn to stop talking. anyway...

here is an update on the scarf i'm making for my boss's 3 year old.

there are two cables...and i made a little hole in the middle so you basically just thread one end through so it stays on. i think i'll start the pink again in about another 1" and then yellow and then it'll be done.

again with my whole yarn diet...i started making this sock maybe a year ago? after the sheep and wool festival in 5/06 i know, because i got the yarn there.


it's totally not going to happen. i took it apart, and it's now going to be a pair of fingerless mittens! not my pattern...don't want to steal intellectual property or whatever...giving credit!

my universe now revolves around josh ritter's new album

(bit of a long catch up post again today)

i posted a josh video here a few weeks ago. here's another one.
(hi doug!)

the new album is called "the historical conquests of josh ritter" and came out aug 21. hey josh, don't forget about us old fans who came to see you back in the day when you opened for joan baez!
(josh is from latah county, id. COUNTIES!)

next, here's another baby hat from last week. i added a pom-pom after i took the pic, too. i've made about 4 hats in the last week. they take me about two metro rides and a lunch break. i'm going to start on some child size ones soon.


i'm going to do a happy heads, dc push in the next month. if you have a knitting related list or friends who knit, please let them know about happy heads. our 4th year!

i started a scarf for my boss's (almost) three year old daughter. now i have about 24" finished...about 2" yellow, 4" pink, rest purple. i'm doing two little cables in it, too. i think it's pretty cute. i'll take another pic tonight. i'll probably make it about 32" long. she's really little. i think she'll like it a lot. i'm using left over blue sky cotton.


do note the stain on my couch. that's from cheese. i wound up cleaning the covers of the cushions on saturday, and then i stitched up some bunny-related holes.

dante came to visit on saturday, too. he brought his mom and dad. he's just starting to crawl and sit up on his own.


(don't worry, dolley wanted nothing to do with him.)

dante was interested in the aflac duck i have. don't know where i got it, but if you squeeze it you hear its annoying "aflaaaaac" thing.


here he's showing off his two fabulous bottom teeth.

week's worth of updates

ok so i'll go backwards from arkansas...

on the plane ride back i worked on a shawl...i finished it this evening but haven't taken a photo yet. i will soon.


next, i took some pics for slides. here's one in sepia.


need to crop this a little, but it's called "after party"


i started a simple baby hat for a co-worker's three months old on friday. she was born a month early and she's still tiny.


and here it is....i finished it this afternoon.


i made a mock banana sundae this weekend, too. used plain yogurt instead of ice cream. was really good. also peanut butter and choco syrup.


went to a bead show on saturday. this is all i bought! i was able to control myself somewhat. i've already used two strands for two pieces, so i'm well on my way to using some of what i got. i have plans for the pearls, too. plans!


i shoved some oat hay into this grass ball and doll played with it for a while. looked like a lot of fun.

quick finger puppet update

lucas's sweater is done! i hope his mom and dad will send me a pic of the sweater in use!


i had brunch with dante yesterday. his mom came too. i made some finger puppets for us to play with...they're a little scary, but i didn't think that would bother him too much.


i make interesting puppets...


finger puppets are huggable...


and apparently, they are very funny...

i left detroit in a kia optima

that was strange. considering the motor city's history, i left in a foreign car. i also couldn't adjust the driver's seat back or my right side mirror. kind of an uncomfortable drive down here to toledo, ohio. additionally, there is a gentleman's club called "scarlett's" somewhere on the oh/mi border that serves top shelf liquor! billboards are the best way to advertise, the best.

last night i went to a mudhens game! name the celebrity who's picture/name is all over toledo (and the tv show he was on) and win a prize!

*just a note - if you haven't figured it out already, i don't have any prizes. just gratitude for reading my blog. thanks!

i brought the final pieces of lucas's sweater with me to ohio. i am now working on the collar, and i expect to be finished with it tonight, depending on my work schedule here. if not, then by the end of the week when i get home. after another 1/2" on the collar, i just have to sew up the arms, sides and pockets! no photo updates there, i left my camera at home. oops.

i also made up the "blood pillow" for my brother. this thing has been all over the interweb-er-do and so he wanted me to copy it for him. i didn't have a pattern or anything, it isn't really needed. i started by marking out squiggly lines.

this is as far as i got...

i ran out of fiberfill, so it's going to have to wait until the weekend. i still have about 3/4 yard of the fabric left. it's a lovely blood red color, but you can't really tell in the picture.

after these two projects are done, i'm going to take a crafting break until the 28th when i take the GRE again. just one part of it, not the whole thing. i'll still post, but just about stupid things, nothing craft-related. wish me luck!

rabbit is shedding like mad now. she doesn't like it when i help the process and gently pull out tufts of fur, but she's going to have to deal. better than her ingesting it, or having it wind up stuck to my eyeballs.


so, last week a friend came over for a few minutes and was pretty much surprised that my place is not as obsessively neat as was predicted. in fact, i was basically told i was messy! insanity! just so you know...

* most importantly, i know where everything is
* i have a hanging spot for my keys (how many of you have that? huh? i haven't said "where are my keys?" in a long time)
* i like organized piles and organized clutter (they're mobile)
* i vacuum every single day (rabbit fur!)
* bathroom counter is wiped up every day, whole room is thoroughly cleaned 2x a week (germs)
* i make my bed every day (thanks, mom)
* all of my crafts have their own designated area
* i keep my sink clean (except for right now 'cause my flight was canceled yesterday morning and i had to scramble to get a new one so i forgot to put my dishes away but other than that...)
* i generally keep my kitchen counter clear. i have only one.
* i have no bugs or mice or whatever (that's extreme, yes, but true)
* and finally, it's a work in progress. i already blogged last week about getting rid of things and my need to have less stuff. scroll down to see, if you'd like.

yeah.

off to work in toledo!

another sweater update, bunny galore, reduction of stuff

first things first...

sleeve #1 is complete! after this i just cast off and put it in the pile with the other pieces. i'm about 3" into the second one and hope to have it done some time next week. then all i have to do is the collar and sew everything up.


rabbit enjoys eating lots of things.
spring lettuce mix...

strawberries (though she didn't eat them...i just gave her my plate and she enjoyed licking it. i thought she'd lick a hole through the glass.)

argh. she's so pretty.

here's my next felting project...this will be a large trivet and a set of coasters. be on the lookout for my etsy store coming soon! i'll post about it when it happens some time next week. :)


i've been making an effort to reduce the amount of stuff i have. crafters tend to accumulate stuff associated with their various interests. it would be one problem if i just had a lot of stuff. in addition to stuff, i have more craft stuff. fortunately for me, i have only a one bedroom apartment, so hoarding stuff is limited to the space i have. i need less stuff. i came to this conclusion several years ago, but i only started to do something about it in the last year or so. i've been reorganizing my craft stores:

*beading
*needleworks (yarn, patterns, needles/hooks)
*quilting (never really got that into it, but i still have a bunch of stuff)
*bath stuff. (tons of soap left over, still. good thing it won't rot.)
*slide transfers (less of the "craft" and more of the visual, but the same amount of stuff)
*other various projects.

with regards to the yarn...this past weekend i went to a knitting guild meeting in maryland where they had a yarn swap. i was very concerned about leaving yarn there but coming home with some as well. i brought a bunch of novelty yarn that i loved using a few years ago, but balls and balls of it have since found their way to the "some day i will use this" box. i left the yarn there and lo and behold, someone else wanted it! i got rid of about half of what i have, and i even got a few $$ for it. the only bad part is that it didn't take up much space in my bedroom. it was one large shoebox full, but that's still one shoebox less!

tonight i am also expecting my little kitchen table and chairs to be picked up by someone i connected with on freecycle. (great service, by the way. check it out if you haven't already.) it's a cute little table with two drop down leaves, so it was perfect for my first few apartments that had only small spaces for eating. i've had it for several years and i'm a little hesitant to give it up, but i'm not really using it and someone else wants it. everyone wins!

the whole key here is to not replace things as i use them up. even toiletries. i don't use hairspray, but for some reason i have, like, 3 bottles of it. gotta use that stuff up. clothing has been going to goodwill on a regular basis, too. i have so much stuff i haven't worn in a while, or that i know i'm not going to wear ever again, so why should i keep it around? i don't have a lot of space.

i feel kind of stupid because i've spent money on all of this stuff that i don't need to live, and i feel like i will be wasting it if i get rid of it in some manner, but aren't i wasting it if i don't use it, too? i'll just spend this summer giving things away, using things up, crafting with what i have and such. just have to move on from here and be wiser about my accumulation of stuff and things.

my rabbit the great sphynx

here is my beautifulness...right before she had a manicure.
we are currently not on snuggling terms.


i just watched hours 5 and 6 of "roots." i've been watching it on TVONE since monday. i will add it on the right to movies when it's all finished. in case you're wondering, kizzy just decided not to get married, and george is setting out on the cock fighting circuit.

here is the front of luke's sweater. i should have this piece finished by this coming weekend. hopefully, he will fill the pockets with little boy things, like rocks, sticks and frogs. not cell phones and ben & jerry's coupons.


i tried to buy soup for the homeless guy without teeth again. we saw him on our way to lunch, and as usual, he wasn't there when we came back. i kept the soup for later and nuked it before we went home. passed his usual hang out, no dice. i decided i would give the warm soup to someone else i passed, but for some reason, there was no one there! no homeless people in the two blocks from my office to union station. how was that possible? i took the soup home and it's in my fridge now; i think i'll have it for lunch tomorrow.

i'm starting to feel guilty about my attempts to buy soup for this one particular man. partly because i keep missing him...i need to get him when he's around. i don't know what kind of appointments he has in the middle of the day, but it's always at the end of my lunch time, which i vary from day to day. i'm going to keep trying, though. maybe i'll get him oatmeal one morning. i always see him in the morning. i'm not going to give him money. i can't do that...it seems wrong to me when i can give some warm food, especially because it's still chilly out.

thoughts?

a sweater update! plus, food and sondre lerche

i'm making great progress on luke's sweater! the back is finished, as are the two inner pocket linings. i am now working on the front of the sweater. soon i will join the linings in the middle of the front piece. ("what?" you say. don't worry, i'll post pics when i do it.)


i went to see sondre lerche on thursday at the birchmere. finally! i've been waiting for him to come back to dc since he was last at IOTA about two years ago. here i am with sondre and two members of his band, the faces down. (his bass player looks a little sleepy...) i also realized i've been wearing this outfit for several days. i have, mind you, washed the blue shirt. i keep wearing different tanks with it, though. plus, you can see the paste magazine on the table. finally! all four on the cover have signed! i think i'll put sondre over there on the right in the "music" section.

i will also add willy mason to the music section. he was one of sondre's opening acts and was totally amazing. i bought his latest album. give a listen here at his myspace page.

i made tilapia on thursday for a passover dinner. here's a rough recipe for one serving. you can easily make more, as each serving gets its own pouch...
1 piece tilapia fillet (i don't know how much, enough for you...)
4 lemon slices
4 slices red onion
4-5 grape tomatoes, halved
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp dried basil
salt
pepper
drizzle of oilve oil

preheat toaster oven to 400 degrees. cut a piece of parchment paper appx. 18" long. place two lemon slices and two onion slices on the first half of the paper. coat the tilapia with the garlic, salt, pepper and dried basil. lay fish on the lemon and onion slices and place two more slices of lemon and onion on top. add the tomatoes. drizzle with olive oil. fold the paper over and tightly fold up each side a few times to make a tight pocket. place a few staples in the paper to make sure it's secure. bake for about 18 minutes. carefully open the pocket. there will be a lot of steam. enjoy!

sharks and birds and sweater update

first off, are you WATCHING THIS??? i am watching now and not really looking at the computer too much so let's see how i type. go discovery channel, go! (in case you're not interesting in clicking, i am watching the discovery channel's planet earth series which started about 32 minutes ago.)

did you see that great white shark get the seal? amazing. totally amazing. that one second kill was stretched out to 47 seconds. you can almost see each drop of water fly in the air.

i have a new philosophy on courtship. i think humans should follow bird behavior. males should clean up their nests to make it attractive for a mate. then, he should get all gussied up and dance, >DANCE!< to impress the ladies. we'd have our pick of the best housekeeper, dresser and dancer who's all about doin' the deed and makin' some baby chicks. sure, he won't stay around but it'd be fun while it lasts.

if you haven't noticed, check the "movies" section on the right. i am updating this section every time i see a movie. i am putting a link to imdb there, too. most of them are from the cable "on demand" thing. i have it, i may as well use it! very nice, considering i'm spending a lot more time alone now. boo.

anyway, i am once again obsessed with tyrone power. he's so dreamy. i watched 1939's "jesse james" with ty (we're on a first-name basis) and henry fonda. yes, yes, i'm the one who threw things at the tv while watching "the patriot" several years back thanks to the historical inaccuracies, but there were lots of things i didn't like about that movie. this one was good because tyrone powers is so dreamy. i had a major hollywood crush on him my freshman year of college. too bad he had died 39 years earlier.

so, here is a sweater update. i went to wonderful stitch dc today. marie hosted a "yarn tasting" fundraiser for a woman doing a triathalon benefiting the leukemia and lymphoma society. i went to knit with others and make a donation. (marie also said they're going to be updating their web site soon, so more on that later.) everyone was impressed with my seed stitch abilities because it isn't as easy as straight knitting...k1,p1,k1,p1...and so on. it hurts my hands a lot sooner than usual. here is my progress. after 5 days, i am pleased. if i continue like this i should have the back done by saturday.
i need 40 cm and i'm at 22, as you can see.



plus, rabbit enjoys folding socks.