Weaving three-stranded

It's a little more strenuous than weaving single-stranded, at least on the square loom, but still nowhere near tedious. It looks quite nice, too. :D



I'm using three strands of worsted-weight cotton. The front is cream, pink, and orange, and the back will be pink, variegated pink and white, and orange, because I don't have enough cream to finish another square. The effect is much the same, anyway. :D

The squares won't be big enough on their own to meet the tote bag size requirement for this swap, so I think I'm going to end up doing some picking up and knitting, and I may use this opportunity to try the "belt weaver" thingie I picked up from Jo-Ann on a whim, to see if it will make a decent strap, too. This swap probably won't go out this week, but hey, at least it will contain an awesome bag. ;D

(Unrelated, but just in case my swap partner is watching, I haven't forgotten my Spin to Knit Orphan Handspun downstream partner, either! That package will probably go out next week, too. ;D)

Riddikulus!

...Okay, it didn't turn my giant stash or pile of projects into something sillier (though one could argue the giganto-ness of both is pretty silly to begin with; maybe that's why it didn't work ;)), but it was worth a shot. Many times many updates today.

First, weaving: I tried out the 12-inch square loom last night. It's super-easy and fast, and now after looking at all the idiotically pretty pictures in the TriLoom gallery, I want a triangle loom. I really really want a triangle loom. I want to make crazy woven pretties with the pre-warp and cut length stuffs.



That's the first square I made, still on the loom. I made three last night, in Wool-Ease (worsted weight, which I never noticed was so uneven in weight till I saw it in the open weave), and so far one today. Still no real idea what I'm going to do with them. A wrap? A pillow? They're pretty lacy, and I'm not entirely sure whether washing them will take care of that, or what will. More research to be done.

I think I'll try to make a tote bag on the square loom today, since I'm supposed to make a bag for the mildly late Earth Mother's Day swap.

You can also see in the above picture that the table is still swamped by my piles of wool to be processed, but I did make it through the short-staple hand-carded bits last night, and it worked much better than before. Whew. Plus it got out a huge amount of VM, which is a wonderful fringe benefit. I only have one little bag of that left to card ... and I should be done with it just in time for the next two destash boxes to arrive. Eep. ;) I'm upgrading with these next two boxes, and I got them for less than the first box, entertainingly enough: one box is silk/Merino laps, and the other is pre-dyed fiber that needs carding. I also need another processed batts box, as I seem to have reached capacity on the other one without squishings going on.

In more wool (or at least fiber) processing news, I love the Spindlers list. I asked how to dehair llama by hand, and behold! An answer is given. So probably as soon as I know whether to wash it before I try to dehair it, I'll embark on that project, so I can card (or comb) the nice llama.

Finally, there was a contest being held at UFO Knit Club, and apparently ... I won. As you can see from my comment there, this baffles me somewhat. ;) I can't decide now whether to ask for spinning fiber or knitting stuff, since I do both. I'm marginally leaning toward spinning fiber, but it does kind of depend on what spinning stuff it is vs. what knitting stuff it is...

Yellow postcards, a belated pin cushion, and a fleece update

Sent three yellow postcards the other day for a swap. This scan is of two of them, because the third was basically a repeat:



As always, there are metallic bits that don't scan as metallic: in this case, the hand-drawn swirls. I really like how these turned out and I ought to make a bunch more stuff in this style. ;D

I also finally finished my Fabric Scrap Craft. OMG. I was originally making a coiled rag basket, but, er, it was in a plastic bag on the floor at Brian's and one of the lovely kitties, in a fit of pique, sprayed the outer bag. Although the rag basket in progress was hidden inside some scraps in the bag, rather than risk sending something that stinks of kitty bitchiness, I made an entirely new object and will leave the potentially stinky rag basket in the potentially stinky house. (Brian does clean a lot, but you start to get paranoid that you're desensitized ... ;))

Anyway, here's the pin cushion I made to replace the rag basket:





The scraps are left over from Virginia's first recital dress. I waffled between whether the light side of the fabric or the dark side of the fabric would be better as the official top of the pin cushion, and went with the dark side for some reason, but I think it looks good either way, so the recipient can really take her pick. ;)

The lace on that is hand-knit, too. :D I even blocked it (and now that I think of it, I either meant to take a photo or did take a photo and am now not sure where it is. Erk). It says in my swap recipient's profile that she likes Jane Austen novels, so I was inspired to make something that reminds me a bit of that time period. I hope she likes it. :D

In the Great Fleece Adventure, the black wool I washed earlier this week seems dry now, so I'll probably take that to visit the roving carder tonight. More wool washing seems in order for today, and while I originally intended on doing the llama next, I'm trying to figure out if I can dehair it, and I don't want to mess with it until I know whether I can and what I need to do for it. Chances are it'll need washing before I dehair it, but you never know, and it's not like I don't have other stuff to wash. ;)

Also, I did try hand-carding the short-stapled mystery destash wool, and it did work a lot better on the hand cards. I haven't tried putting it through the drum carder again yet because I still have some of the Lovely Long-Stapled Fluffies on there and I don't want to have to clean the drum carder twice in as many days just to spastically interrupt my current batch with a trial. ;)

Chloe lives!

Processed about half of Chloe's wool tonight. Mmm, it makes delicious batts. I'm not going to want to share any of this with anyone ... ;)

Mail report: April 16, 2007

Received today, two envelopes from Australia:
*Old Box ATCs #3 from Vegee (nice!)
*"If I had a million dollars" from nellbe

Sent today:
*Yellow postcards

Fleecy goodness

The pound of fleece I washed last week, from Chloe of Desired Haven Farm, is now dry. Woo! So I'm going to take that back to Brian's with me, where my roving carder currently resides, and start carding it tonight or tomorrow. (For interesting reference, if I didn't do something funky while I was weighing it ;), the wool now weighs about 8.5 ounces, about half its previous weight, although I didn't weigh it before to make sure it really was a pound.) I'm also washing another pound of fleece today, this one from Desired Haven Farm's Maggie, a black Romney/Dorset/Rambouillet (according to -- I think -- the owner of the farm). If I have enough time and room, I might also wash all or some of that tan llama from the Davises.

Today's washings will be the first I've done with Dawn dish soap, rather than with either Eucalan or the natural/organic dish soap we have actually for dishes. The procedure from last week, to be followed generally today, was: shake out the fleece to get rid of ambient dirt and particles, put the fleece in a mesh laundry bag, two five-minute (or so) hot water soakings to remove whatever comes off that way (the first soaking was chocolate-milk-colored last week, but a super-clean fleece would obviously not need two pre-rinses), hot water + soap till the water feels "slimy" for about five minutes, then as many five-minute rinse/soakings as it takes for the water to stay clear, which last week was two, or maybe three. I'm squishing the wool a little at the beginning of each soaking session, even though that puts it at risk of felting, because I'm reckless like that and it makes me feel like I'm getting out more dirt. ;) Then I sling the mesh bag plus fleece around in the shower (since it seems prudent not to go outside and fling wool water all over the porch, at the potential hazard of passersby) to replicate the spin cycle effect and get as much water out as possible. Then I spread the wool out on a window screen in the front room and let it dry. Ta-da!

In processing news, some of the mystery destash wool has a rather short staple and is being difficult to drum-card -- it won't stick to the feeder drum so I can let the carder "tease" it for me -- so I think I'm going to have a go at it with the hand carders first. Even if I make a big tangle of it, at least a big tangle will probably stick to the feeder drum. ;)

And for today's pretties, I actually took a photo of the loom that Brian made me over the weekend:



He bought stretcher bars from Jo-Ann and put them together into a square, sanded it, marked and drilled the holes (1/2 inch apart), sanded it again, stained it cherry, then put in the nails and snipped off the sharp bits. I neglected to tell him beforehand that the nail heads should be on the ends of each pointy bit and not stuck into the wood, since they help keep the yarn loops from popping off the nails, but that's all right; he'll know for next time. ;) Some of the nails are a little crooked, and the heights aren't competely even, and the ends of the nails are still a little pointy because the wire cutters aren't the kind that cut flat, but all in all, it's a pretty little loom and it cost under $10 to make ... and he said the next one will be better. The square is 12", so the woven square that comes off it will be a little smaller, which didn't occur to me until we were in the process of making this one; doh. But that's all right, no one's going to be demanding precisely 12" squares from me.

So: Happy belated birthday to me. ;) Now I get to go try to figure out how to use this thing. The tiny Weavette came with weaving needles and instructions, but, er, I'm not sure whether I ought to use a needle with this, or what. Must go read the Files section on TriLoom...

New loom incoming! ;D

Or at least Brian is finally making me my 12-inch square loom. He started on it yesterday before he went to Quinn's bachelor party, and stained it today. On the way to pick up nails for it, he went, "I don't know why I didn't just knock this out before. That was like, nothing." And I said his punishment may be to make me a bunch more, like maybe a three-foot tri-loom, or something. (I still wish I could find something that would easily turn into a four-inch square loom, too.)

Brian also has some ideas for cool incense burners which, if I can convince him to actually follow through, I'll probably sell for him online. :D

Anyway, I'll have a new loom soon! Huzzah!

Handspun and Spring Bunny packages, illustrated!

Finally, a photo of my super-awesome Spin to Knit orphan package from Ina:



There are some Peeps, some saltwater taffy that Brian tried to steal right out of the package, a postcard (awesome, since I collect postcards), and two skeins of lovely handspun. The green one is laceweight, beaded and hand-dyed (and the beads are strung on the handspun itself, not on a plying thread); the royal blue one is sport weight, which I don't have nearly enough of. Huzzah! There's also a super-cool knit, beaded bracelet that's cool enough (I did say super-cool ;)) to have been featured in the pattern designer's blog, which makes me feel unreasonably privileged. This package deserves ubergushing, which I did in email, so insert tons more gushage and appreciation here.

This is the other awesome package I received recently, from Nancy for the Eccentric Pastiche Secret Spring Bunny swap:



There are tons of the goodies that I asked for, and I know that to stay under the spending limit, Nancy must have used some of her unending supply of Jo-Ann coupons. There's a Sand and Sea Teeny Tiny Cassette Punch, a flexible ruler I suddenly can't remember what it's really called, but which will be awesome for drafting patterns, two BIG nature-themed rubber stamps from the price category I never even consider looking at because it's way out of my range, a ColorBox Petal Point pigment ink pad (I believe I asked for pigment inks in any color, because I have only black ... so rather than pick, she got me ALL the colors! ;)), a tiny shoe pendant/charm in a super-cute hand-sewn tiny baggie that I think is made of ribbon, some non-gourmet jelly beans (I love the non-gourmet kind, is why I mention that ;)), a little hand-made notebook, a pendanty thing that looks hand-made, too, although I have no idea what it's made of, and some Kool-Aid packets for dyeing, two of which I pulled out to immediately dye some Columbia roving. Plus, the wrapping materials were so pretty I took a picture of everything before I unwrapped it, and the tissue paper and ribbons will so get reused later. ;)

Big kudos to both Ina and Nancy for sending awesome packages. I love my swappy pals. :D

And just for fun, here's a photo of Plankton, the hand-dyed Merino I bought from Neauveau and which is still being played with in terms of processing methods, because I want to do it justice:

Rainbow of fluffies

...but without pictures, yet. Just record-keeping, at the moment. ;)

Did two dyepot/batches yesterday. For the first one...

Used 1 jar peach Cookie Baker's cookie stamping colors, and put in one batt of non-soft mystery destash wool, then added vinegar and dye; wool turned bright pink first, then when there was only orange/yellow left in the dye bath, put in a second batt of non-soft mystery destash wool, added some vinegar, left till dye nearly exhausted (leftover water vaguely yellow-tinted). Results: one bright coral pink/orange cloud, one melon orange cloud.

For the second one...

Used a couple of squirts of violet Wilton brush-on color added just after vinegar when the water was steaming, and put in one batt of soft mystery destash wool, which again turned bright pink first. ;) Put in another batt of soft mystery destash wool when it looked like there was just blue/purple left, and it absorbed a little bit of the pink in places, then sat there not really absorbing any of the blue, so I put in one packet of Kool-Aid Ice Blue Lemonade and left it till I felt like the white had all been filled in with a not-too-pale shade of blue. Results: one batt variegated bright pinky purple with bluish bits, one batt variegated light blue with lavender bits. I really liked this dyepot batch, and would like to try to reproduce something similar in a larger amount. ;D

Today, I did a big batt of non-soft mystery destash wool with one packet of Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid.

All the above batts were sort of pre-soaked, meaning I put them in hot water right before I put them into the dye bath, which seems like more of a superstitious ritual than anything else, but, well, there it is. ;)

And the latest batch is a jar of Cookie Baker's cookie stamping colors in forest green, on two of the smaller batts of non-soft mystery destash wool, pre-soaked for as long as it took the dye bath to heat up. Vinegar added before heating, dye added right before batts. I added a third NSMD batt after the first two looked sufficiently forest green and the dye bath looked dark blue, just to see if it would take any of the remaining dye. And then after I took a shower and the water was medium blue, I added one of the soft mystery batts. Wheee. ;) Results: two forest green clouds, 1 dark teal cloud, 1 teal cloud. I liked the results with this dye, too. :D

Fluffies!

I started on my box of Mystery Destash Fluffies last night and discovered that there are, in fact, different types of wool in the box, although they're all pretty much the same color. Eep. ;) I'm trying as much as I can to separate out the different types, but since I don't know what any of it actually is, I'm probably going to end up labeling them all "mystery wool" regardless of whether I succeed in efficiently separating them.

Anyway, I had fun carding up a storm while Brian looked for a job online; I made about seven batts of some unknown weight, since my scale isn't at Brian's. The first wool I picked was terribly easy to card, but not very soft. I should probably try to make a socky blend out of it. This weekend will probably involve some dyeing of carded fibers for future blending, and I ought to finally take some photos of the awesome Spin to Knit orphan handspun goodies I got, and the Spring Bunny swap goodies, too.

Maybe I'll be able to convince myself to wash some fleece today. :D

[Added 11:58 a.m.:] I am going to see how much of a start I can make on the list of semi-abandoned fleeces. I wonder how much I can wash before I have to leave to pick Brian up ... and whether I'll have enough room to lay it all out! (Ready ... go!)

Mail report: April 12, 2007

Received today:
*Yellow postcard from NMJulie
*World Music swap from OrcaSong
*Item Scavenger Hunt from rosehueglasses (haven't even looked at it yet but it looks promising! ;))

Sent today:
*Personalized Value Matchbox Shrine

Blending experiment #2

Performed Fiber Blending Experiment #2 today: .1 oz the twice-carded gray spinning batt + .1 oz Berry Blue Kool-Aid Columbia roving + 2 hand carders = .2 oz cute foggy blue blend. The blue is much less loud and the gray much less severe in the blend, which is part of what I was going for. Although I was imagining a more streaky roving result (I like that not-fully-blended look), I definitely can't call this a disappointment. I think I'll card up the rest on the drum carder after I finish with Plankton, that 4.something oz of green hand-dyed Merino I bought from Ashley of Neauveau a while ago. I was planning on doing the box of Mystery Wool next, which I acquired in someone's destash, but that can wait while I make pretties, and it'll give me more time to consider dyeing it first.

For comparitive purposes, though, the blue mohair that gave me a little hand-carding trouble in Fiber Blending Experiment #1 was probably about as annoying to draft in places as the gray spinning bell was originally, though it may actually have been easier -- point being that after being carded twice, the former spinning bell was super-easy and quick to hand card with the (somewhat felted ... ::whistles innocently::) Columbia roving. Of course, I'll have to try spinning some of it before I can really pronounce this experiment a success, but regardless, it's been a pleasant ride so far. Oh, and for personal reference, it might actually be easier to card the Mystery Wool (and pull it into roving?) before dyeing, since I'll disarrange the fibers less if I dye them while they're already arranged, and then I won't end up with as many funny little lumps in my batt. Maybe?

Now, to get to finishing a project for someone who doesn't like lateness. (Too bad! I may consider running for Lateness Queen ... if I ever get around to it. ;)) Must not be bothered by other people's botherance, must be creative and enjoy the process regardless ... must enjoy ... must enjoy...

(Photos of Fiber Blend #2 forthcoming. Someday.)

Mail in: April 11, 2007

Received today:
*Personalized value matchbox shrine from Barbara Brandt - lovely! :D
*Destash fibers from Rose Garden Fibers

Sent today:
*Charity fat book pages
*Charity ATCs
*Charity altered puzzle piece
*I (heart) lists #2
*"Different" scarf
*Spring Grab Bag Cotton Yarn Swap
*Secret Spring Bunny package

More art: Orient puzzle piece and Zetti ATC, plus a spinny challenge

This month's spinny challenge on Spindlitis is spinning non-wool fibers. Hmm. I do have a bunch of non-wool fibers sitting around waiting for me to do something with them ... but I can't yet, since I'm on that UFO diet. ;)

Anyway, here's some more art I sent out today. One is that puzzle piece for a travel-themed puzzle to raise money for Robin, and the other is an attempt at Zetti-esque art for part of my Secret Spring Bunny swap.





I'm not entirely sure what "Zetti" actually means, but I based my attempt on what I got when I searched for "Zetti" on Flickr and Google, and tried to keep it something I actually liked at the same time. ;)

Another swap I'd love to do...

...except I'm not allowed to sign up for any more right now ;), is the Fiber Swap. Fibery goodness! Must ... not ... sign up ... yet...

New art: charity fat book pages and old box ATCs

Here's the latest batch of old box ATCs for the swap on Swap-bot:



Since being disappointed with the whinging and negativity over there, I've signed up for virtually no swaps, and I'm not currently participating in the latest Old Box ATC swap, but I still have a bunch of boxes saved up to maybe do old box ATCs with, for myself. :D

Also, I finally got around to doing those fat book pages for Robin's charity fundraising. There are two fat books being put together, one on a nature theme, and the other on a tea theme. Pardon the crappyweird color stuff on the nature themed one; the original was actually worse, if you can believe it, and I didn't really finish tinkering with the color, but I got impatient and wanted to upload it. Yay, impatience. ;)





I'm going to send some ATCs along for an ATC binder that will also be auctioned off for Robin. These are the ones that are going, one called "Butterfly Wing Spring" that I did last year, and the middle one in the bottom set, which was made for a hand-carved stamp ATC swap:






Oh, and I dyed some roving over the weekend with Kool-Aid packets that my lovely Spring Bunny partner sent me. I think they were Berry Blue flavor, or something like that. ;)



I was thinking of trying to blend it with the gray formerly-spinning-bell batt that came off my carder once I gave up on the Columbia for a bit. I'm not sure how well the ridiculously bright blue will do with the dark gray, but I'll do a test batch on my hand carders first, I think. Mmm, blending excitement.

Mail in: April 09, 2007

Received today:
*Crafty business cards from Deadbeat Leather
*Different Scarf swap from Sandramatos - nice lace crochet with a flower :D

Mail in: April 07, 2007

Received today:
*Old Box ATCs #3 from Penny Boss [extra nice ones!]
*Yellow postcard from Victoria Dalton [liked my profile, studies tarot and numerology, works in homeopathic pharmacy]

Mail IN! April 06, 2007

MAIL IN! WOO! ;) Guess what got here today? ;D



Received today:
*Yellow postcard from Billie Jo
*...and, obviously, the ROVING CARDER! That's it sitting on the cluttered table of projectage. It was slightly less crowded for about half an hour yesterday before Brian cleaned out the closet in his spastic quest to fit both our wardrobes in there.

For some reason, I didn't foresee the roving carder arriving at the last second on Friday before I went over to Brian's for the weekend, so I wasn't really sure what to do with it. I went with throwing the unopened box in the car with a random bag of long-ago-washed Columbia that's been waiting patiently for processing.

I also bought a shoebox-sized amount of random destash fiber from someone today. Oops. ;) Well, everyone slips ... and hey, I'm not on a fiber diet yet. ;D

Tonight ... I shall play with the carder. Wahahahaha.

Mail in report: April 04 & 05, 2007

Arrived April 04:

*Spin to Knit Orphans Handspun swap from Ina
*Mystery Skein Swap from Elabeth

Arrived yesterday:

*Crafty Business Card Swap from YooperHill
*Crafty Business Card Swap from themissiah
*Old Box ATCs #3 from Diane Yates

Motivating me/Breaking out of the creative obligation cycle

Some mornings I really don't want to start creating. It can be pretty grumpy-making to know that I'm behind on a couple of things that might not get appreciated no matter what I do, just because I'm a few days late (thank you, Swap-bot); and it's also grumpy-making to wake up to the knowledge that I have a bunch of obligations to fulfill before I can start doing something I really ought to be doing, that I only just decided/found out I should be doing.

Not that I'm just whinging. ;) There are solutions to this sort of thing: First, I should do less frivolous swapping as a habit, and next, I should clear my space of current obligations so I can do what I Need to do sooner.

The problem then becomes obviously circular, 'cause it's more difficult to create when I'm grumpy, and I can't move on if I can't create well and be satisfied with the results. Creating stuff for people isn't like being in school, or at a job you hate, where you can -- or at least I can -- just do what you have to do without your heart being in it, and still do quite well by the standards they're using. My heart has to be in what I create, or it's that much more difficult to actually finish and send my things out into the world.

So I propose an Obligation Diet, a.k.a. a UFO Diet! It's like that yarn diet that's so popular with bloggers, including me, except that this one is about myself and my achievements -- it's about destashing my obligations and my unfinished projects and my creative albatrosses, to steal someone else's word for it. ;) The parameters of the Obligation Diet, I hereby set forth thusly:

For a period of however long it takes:

1. I will work only on old projects and obligations, a.k.a. UFOs, or Unfinished Objects (or Objectives ;));
2. The exception to #1 being if I need to create something on a deadline based on a previous promise, whether that be to myself or to someone else (e.g., if a friend's birthday is coming up, I have a previous unspoken promise to give said person a gift, and I may choose to create one rather than purchase one, since I am Poor ;)).
3. I will work on at least one UFO per day, for one hour per day.
4. When I don't feel like creating for someone else, I will work on a project, or do a non-UFO-related cheerful thing, for me, because slogging through a creative project without my heart in it will do no one good. (See the List of Ideas for Cheering Myself.) This does not count toward the required daily hour of UFO progress.
5. Also, regardless of whether I feel grumpy, I will do at least one thing for myself every day, if possible. ("If possible," because some days it's difficult to do something easy for myself that actually makes me happy, and it's better not to do something just to pretend it makes me happy. ;))
6. Projects which interest me but don't fall into the allowed New Projects category will be added to the list of things I'd like to do, and will be dealt with once the Obligation Diet has fulfilled its purpose, that is...

...until I have no more than, say, two or three running creative obligations, or however many I am capable of sustaining without feeling stressed and without being unable to comfortably and easily add more obligations in should they come up unexpectedly.

I used to say I was happiest when doing the impossible, which is true, except that right now I'm not doing the impossible, I'm maundering through the unlikely and not intrinsically flattering. ;)

I shall now print out the guidelines for the UFO diet, and keep them in my pocket at all times, so I can't forget. Good luck to me. ;D (UFO Diet ... GO!)

Related lists to make: the UFO list, the Cheerful Things to Do For Me list

The quest for the spinning wheel continues

If sporadically. ;) Thanks to Rhonna, I've been reminded that I originally wanted a Majacraft wheel (my second "I want this" moment occurred when I became acquainted with a Schacht Matchless at the llama farm in Wisconsin). And apparently, Woolly Designs is a really nice place to buy a Majacraft.

...for future reference. ;D

The fair trade question

There's an interesting article with commentary here at BBC News, on whether fair trade is really "fair," i.e., whether it's doing any good, whether it will ultimately damage things more than it helps, etc. Since I like to buy fair trade on principle whenever possible (like with jewelry components, and I generally prefer hand-made items over mass-produced ones), and to do other things consistent with similar principles, like buying fibers from people who treat their animals like family ;D, it seems mildly related to my crafting habit...

The bottom line of the "oppose fair trade" argument seems to be based on assuming bad things will necessarily come of fair trade, when those things can't really be predicted and doesn't seem all that reasonable. It's the same sort of argument that some people use for why you shouldn't feed wildlife: it'll get dependent on you, and what will happen when people stop feeding it? Well, its instincts -- which it still uses, by the by, to feed itself when in fact it isn't snacking on your front porch -- will kick back in and it'll survive on its own. If it doesn't, it probably wouldn't have anyway. That happens; some things survive and others don't. And still, feeding animals isn't inherently the same thing as domesticating them, and feeding feral/stray domestics that act like they needneedneed you isn't the same thing as feeding actual wildlife, which still looks at you funny if you get too close. [There are, of course, more valid arguments for why you shouldn't feed wildlife, but this is a silly one. ;)]

Likewise, giving poor farmers a bit more money than they'd get otherwise doesn't mean that you're ruining them for the future and they suddenly won't have any market survival instincts -- on the off chance that what? Fair trade suddenly disappears? Since fair trade is specifically designed to give people a safety net if the market drops suddenly, it can't be "if the market drops." It is possible, however remotely, that the fair trade market could disappear entirely, but if it does that, I think the rest of the Western-dependent market (which is, by the way, a large portion of the entire world ;)) will be going through some interesting upheaval and everyone will have things to worry about. And it still won't be fair trade's fault that things are bad for poor farmers. And if someone doesn't survive on their own after a change in the market, it isn't intrinsically the fault of one stabilizing element from before the change. Neither casually feeding wildlife nor fair trade will suddenly cause the ecosystem/market to drastically change toward famine, and no matter what fearful or negative people like to say or believe, neither one is so dramatic of a change in lifestyle that it robs the assisted beings of their ability to subsist and adapt on their own if the ecosystem/market does change. If some individuals do become dependent, well, a lot of Western people do that unnecessarily ("I need my coffee in the morning!" "I need a girlfriend!"), and it still isn't the fault of the thing they become dependent on. Fair trade is not a true addictive substance, although it is a rather pleasant experience. ;)

Anyway, /rant off. I just thought I'd post that link here for my own personal reference, since this blog is, ultimately, for my personal reference. ;)

Oh, and World Fair Trade Day is May 12.

Another knit wig...

...Star Wars style. ;D Ha!

Fun with swatches, and discoveries at the Faire ;D

Sahara: Having trouble with the gauge; for Brian's Duel hoodie, I had 20 stitches per 4 inches in worsted weight poly/cotton yarn with size 5 needles, but for some reason, with Sugar 'n' Cream type cotton yarn, I'm still at like 19 stitches per 4 inches with size 4 needles. I may try another size down once I stop being annoyed with that, but then, I may abandon this yarn and try another, since I'm not really attached to anything about it except maybe the color.

Socks For Soldiers Socks: I finally started a gauge swatch for a pair of Big Black Socks, but I got about six rows in before getting bored. Knitting an item is one thing, and swatching is another. Laaaaa. I shall persevere this week.

In other news, I totally had a money-out day at the Bay Area Renaissance Festival yesterday. For one thing, I found a booth with really nice fountain pens and, er, whatever the kind of pen is called that just has a nib you dip into ink. (You know, like the ones at the Rainforest Site. I swear I knew what they're called at some point, but I'm having trouble remembering nouns lately.) Since Brian mauled my last fairly inexpensive metal-nibbed pen in this style by sticking himself in the hand with it and bending the nib out of shape ;), I've needed a new one for a few months. I usually use these for inscribing art type stuff -- 'zines, maps, chunky book pages, etc. I actually bought a faux feather pen that's sort of the same style, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the nibs to stick in the feather. So I saw these glass pens at Faire, like the ones I've been staring at online forever, and I pick one up that has a neat triangular cross-section, and it feels ridiculously comfortable in my hand. I'm like, I could totally write with this like forever. And the guy in the booth says in a lovely, conversational French accent, "You know, how you dip the pen in the inkwell? Those pens will write several lines on one dip." And I think we were both the same amount of happy with that idea. I tried it out, and I liked it ridiculously (I never did get it to run out while I was testing it, actually), and he very kindly looked in the back for a turquoise-colored one for me, but since there were no turquoise ones to be found with a triangular cross-section, I went with the light blue one I picked up first.



Rather demure for me, but I got peacock-colored ink to make up for it; and the nice man was terribly pleased with me for that, too, since most people apparently get standard colors like black and dark blue, which you can find anywhere. ;) But really -- if you don't want a standard pen, why write in standard colors? ;D And the shop owner apparently makes his own ink, too, and I think he may turn the wooden-handled pens himself. He's based in New Orleans, and if I ever go, I Must Make Time to visit his shop. He's terribly sweet, and he said he had fun talking to me, and I got a pretty pen and ink out of it. Parfait. ;D

But wait! There's more. ;D At the end of the day, we're about ready to leave, and we're making final rounds of a couple of shops I haven't seen. We see one of the kajillion people we know and keep running into filling in at one of the booths, and we ask her if she has any clue where this guy is that Brian wants to talk to before he leaves. She says no, but there are a bunch of people in the ice cream line and maybe one of them will know where he is; maybe we should go around that side of the lane on our way to check out the hand-turned wooden bowl vendor I suspect is the same one we saw at FLaRF. Brian gets caught up in talking to a couple of people, so I wander on ahead, figuring he'll catch up, and lo! In front of a little booth sandwiched in between two of the major lanes, where you don't really notice it, where *I* wouldn't have seen it except that I happened to want to stop by the wood stuff shop, a tri-loom is set up.

...and on the other side of the tri-loom sit three spinning wheels. One of them is an antique. And the people in the booth have spindles. :D

So at virtually the last second before we left, I managed to find not one, but three spinning wheels, a bunch of spindles ("They're by a maker called Greensleeves, I don't know if you've heard of them." "OH! Greensleeves! No wonder they look so familiar!" "We don't have any of the basic ones left, but..." "Oh, that's all right, I have enough of those anyway..." ;)), and a newly local shop with a blacksmith, looms, and spinnyspinny stuff. And the nicenice man taught me how to spin on their Ashford Traditional ... so now I have officially spun on a spinning wheel for the first time, and I liked it, and it was easy, and I'm sure I could be spinning smoothly within a couple of hours of sitting down at one. WOO!

Anyway, here's my new spindle, which I bought because I've been whining about needing a new non-homemade one, and because not only was it less than the spindles at the local yarn/fiber shop, it's also not the same as the spindle I have from them, which misbehaves sometimes:



It looks rather like a Lady Barbara, but the price doesn't match up, so maybe it's an older model that was just left in stock...? He said he thought it was walnut. Here's the inside of the top:



I even managed to hide from a searching Brian inside the booth despite my bright pink haremy pants, since I thought it would be funny to show up again for Brian while spinning on my new spindle, since I know he'd go, "Wait. You didn't bring that with you. Er...?" I didn't end up doing that, but there was a general round of amazement that he somehow didn't spot the loudness that is my bargain Thai silk wrap pants.

Oh, and I stopped by Ruban Rouge, the local scrapbooking store in Palm Harbor(ish), this past weekend while on the (successful!) hunt for Secret Spring Bunny stuff, and they're quite nice, and have all sorts of fun beachy-themed scrapbooky things. Oh, dear. I may have to go back in there for me someday. ;)

Now it only remains to get all this dang Faire dust out of my nose and lungs and pores and clothes, and to rest up, since I'm strangely tired last week and this. Must ... catch ... up ... with life...!

My first hand-carded fiber blend

As mentioned previously, while waiting for my drum carder (::fingertaps::) I blended up some blue mohair with green Merino wool, both fibers gifts from others. Awww, isn't that sweet. ;D I haven't spun it yet, since I wanted to take a picture of it before I did that; but I have to spin it myself to see how it actually came out, since I won't inflict my bizarre mistakes on anyone. Anyway, this is how my first little custom blend looks:



I like it. :D

I gave in...

...and bought Sahara. I've been looking at it for a while, and got rather excited by it when I noticed there was a sleeveless version, never mind that Brian didn't find it very exciting. He may be metro, but he doesn't always have the best mind's eye for clothing combinations and clothing on figures, even mine, which you'd think ... well, never mind. ;)

And the Sexy Knitters Club KAL for Sahara starts tomorrow. Not that I'm going to be ready by tomorrow, but at least I know I'm participating slightly before the thing actually starts. ;)

Stash ... building?

I may acquire, as she puts it, the albatross of someone's yarn stash, if someone else hasn't already claimed it off the Cash for Your Stash blog. Oopsie. Well, I think it's hand-dyed, it's sock-weight yarn (I think), which I don't have a lot of, and it's blue. And it's cheap. I want to rescue it; I have a thing for albatrosses. ;)

I also just consciously realized that my stash is bigger than I thought: I have a bunch of thrifted sweaters waiting to be frogged. I may have to dive into the frogging sweaters for yarn for the Lotus Smock, and if I give in and buy the pattern for Sahara that I've been staring at, which is also (inconveniently for my temptation ;)) the Sexy Knitters Club KAL pattern, the frogging sweater stash may also come to the rescue. Whew. Here I was thinking I might be forced to waver on the yarn exercise program and buy some yarn.

Yay for "invisible" stash. ;)

(The way I'm leaning recently, though, I may be in danger of needing a knitting pattern exercise program next...)

The length of the UFO list is annoying me today, for some reason. Possibly that's related to the fact that I found a random, inexplicable hole knit into the Microspun portion of the Colorful Trade Shawl last night (this after having to untangle three balls of the same Microspun that had decided to make friends), and will have to wield the Crochet Hook of Knitsurgery on it to fix it. I wanted to do it last night, but it would have required a trip to the car to get said crochet hook, and it was late, so I didn't do it. Phooey on me, because now I don't feel like it this morning.

And there are two parties tonight, a cast party for the local FLaRF crew, and one of Christophe's couple of big annual themed parties, for which I was explicitly hunted down and invited, so I can't really bow out on either of them. I'm supposed to bring something foodlike to the first one, too, and I don't know the theme for the second, and goshdarnit, I just want to sit around and be lazy tonight, not go party-hopping. I'm so antisocial. ;)

I'll just have to get over it, won't I. ;D If only I had something awesomely sexy to wear, that I'd knit myself, it might be some consolation. Le sigh. This is why I should do more selfish knitting! ;D

The Brian Christmas socks

As promised, for once, the photo!



Yay, I say, again. ;D

More secret swapping...

I finally have my partner assignment for the Spring Genie swap at SBS Teas. Cackle. Here's hoping I can come up with something(s) great to send her.

I also have to work on my Secret Bunny package for Eccentric Pastiche. My partner's stuff is kinda difficult for me since she has virtually none of the same theme tastes as I have, and of the stuff she specifically asks for, I don't know what half of it even is. Then there's a lot of it that you can only get online, which is ... interesting for me, to say the least, since I don't have a ton of money to use on paying for shipping. I'd prefer to be able to hunt things down locally and use all the allotted fundage for this swap on actual items. Oh, well. That just means this one is going out a few days late while I hunt down the scrapbooking shops in the area, and search them for things that fit the bill.

I was going to make today an art catchup day, but I'm not feeling the artistic creativity, so I haven't figured out what I'm doing yet. Orange Cat 2 kept doing bizarre (for him) things last night, like knocking my glasses off the nightstand just before drinking out of my water glass, so I kept waking up, and didn't get a whole lot of refreshing sleep, hence this morning's inability to figure out what I feel like doing. Brainmist, laaa.

Merry Christmas to Brian ... three months late. ;D

I finally finished Brian's cabled socks, from Handknit Holidays. ::beams:: Pictures tomorrow, when there's better light.

Yayyyy for Brian's socks! They look sterling on him. I need to knit more socks. ;D

Image dump!

After the famine comes a feast: today is the day of photo dumpage, meaning I finally uploaded a bunch of the photos I've been taking. I may not actually dump all the photos I have to dump ... ;) [Note: I did. Ha. ;)]

One of my latest finished projects is -- ta-da! -- the Jamaica bag, from One Skein Wonders:



And that's for me, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, I finally finished something else for me. I'm on a bit of a roll. ;) Going through the UFO list will necessarily make me knit for myself, since I tend to neglect me most, by starting things for me and then rarely finishing, which takes up space and keeps the stash static. Hiss! Now that I'm mentioning stash, though, I should note that all the knit projects in today's photodump were knit from stash. The Jamaica bag is stash left over from yarn I bought for knit Christmas ornaments.

I've also knit another bag lately, this one a semi-angel for the April Fool's Fun swap on Swapbot:



That's a version of Purl McBigBottom that I'm calling Funky Purl McBigBottom, also, as noted, made with stash yarn: some white acrylic and an expensive Fun Fur type yarn for the main body, with some red worsted weight cotton thrown in at the bottom where I ran out of furry stuff, and in the handle for coherence. Yay. ;D That's two yarns that I've had for a while, and some random red scraps I wasn't sure what to do with. Great success!

The other item I made for that same swap is this shawl:



Because I've been wanting to knit a shawl for a while even though Florida is the Land of No Shawls. ;) I haven't woven the tails in on that one still, since it isn't going out till the recipient has an address again (positive vibes to her on her husband -- possibly soon ex-husband? -- situation), at the very least. That's all straight from the stash, including some pink for Faire bunny slippers I never made, some orange left over from Halloween, some random fuzzy stuff from a scarf for my sister and for which I have developed a hatred, and some sparkly pink stuff from a necklace knit as part of a trade. I'm working on another on a similar design, using the same Simple Yet Effective Shawl pattern, for a private trade with the swap coordinator for April Fool's Fun. ;D I'm also making her a pair of matching wristwarmers, which brings me to...



...the items I knit for the Mystery Skein Swap, which were received yesterday, and well appreciated, by the lovely Elabeth (good luck to her on her new knitting shop endeavor :D), who apparently has been thinking of knitting some wristwarmers for herself but hasn't gotten to it yet. Hurrah. :D That yarn, entertainingly enough, is also stash ... just not my stash. Part of the idea of the Mystery Skein Swap was to have someone make something for you out of something you obviously have a bit of a block on ... like everlasting stash yarns. ;)

I've also been arting a bit lately (which is much prettier than it sounds, I hope ;)), including carving a neat stamp based on a mandala. I kind of wanted to keep the stamp, but at least I still have the test sheet to play with:



And I seem to be on a purplish theme lately, too; for the Purple Postcards swap, it's pretty obvious why, but the bookmarks and the wish stones weren't required to be purple, sooo...







...I guess it was just a phase. ;)

And that's your photodump for today, that's your photodump for today-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay ... that's your photodump for today. ;D

Sewing contests

These might be just the thing for getting me off my butt and making me sew again ... and something for me, no less. ;D Simplicity is having a Creative Contest for patterns with the "Threads" or "Sew Stylish" label, and the grand prize is a trip to Paris, and the other is held in conjunction with the American Sewing Guild. For the first one I'd be vaguely interested in using 4072 to make a beachy cover-up or summery festival dress...

More UFObusting

I've re-picked up Branching Out, and have done two lace pattern repeats so far. Woo. I really am going crazy on the UFObusting lately. ;) It's just as well, since I have a couple of Uberlate Swaps that need to go out in the next month, that being my Personal Challenge on 43things.com. UFObusting is in the same spirit as finally finishing and sending those swaps, and hey, some of my UFOs are for Uberlate Swaps. ;D

Knitknitknitknitknitknitknitknitknitknitknitknit...

Things I'd Like to Make

The Grand List of Things I'd Like to Make:

(And for reference, About.com's "10 Healthy Actions to Get Out of a Funk")

Largish projects:

*Beachy Unmentionables pants sans lace
*Pinwheel sweater from Elann.com
*Cable Cardigan for my mom?
*Sasha skirt
*SweaterBabe's Romantic Cable and Lace vest?
*Bella Paquita sweater?
*The Gerda stole
*The Print O' the Wave stole
*The stole from the Mystery Stole 2 knitalong, that I can't remember the name of right now ;)
*Moiraine stockings
*An Adamas shawl
*Lace Zenlike sweater thing from some Vogue Knitting, or one of those magazines ;)
*Some knit summer tops
*Pillow covers for the apartment floor pillows
*Coachella top

Mediumesque projects:

*Dark Mark illusion scarf
*Crescent Handy Hobo Handbag from Stitch Diva
*Triangular bag from the Wool Peddler
*Socks of Doom for me
*Bunny slippers for Brian
*Knit boxers (Sweetheart boxers from KnitPicks) for Brian
*Another pair of socks for Ben, cotton?
*A felted tricorn that actually is a tricorn ;)
*A gardening hat for Brian's mom?
*A knit bra for me, probably from one of the Knitty patterns (like 1930)
*A felted bag/basket for Ben's bicycle?
*Allusion - maybe?
*Socks for Shari?
*One or more of the shrugs from the Yarn Council web site
*The Lotus smock (possibly tunic length) from Stitch Diva
*Some pillows for the porch chairs
*Beaded wristlets from Susan's Spinning Bunny
*La Plage Seaside Espadrilles

Smallish projects

*Unbiased bag
*Lacy round washcloth
*A snood for myself
*Some kind of summer hat for myself
*A fingertip towel for the apartment
*More washcloths/hangy kitchen towels for Brian's
*A face towel for Brian's
*A summer head scarf for me that isn't ridiculously loud ;)
*Corkscrew scarf for myself?
*Water bottle carrier for the Florida festival season
*Woven belt with the funny small loom thing
*Knit marzipan decorations!

Random projects:

*Needle felting tool
*Something crewel ;)
*A Furoshiki?
*Handspun yarn based on book characters

To sew:

*A hakama for me
*Double wrap pants for me
*A comfy beachy shirt for Ben

Really arbitrary ideas that might or might not get done:

*Knit trash can
*Arbitrary green cropped sweater thing I originally started to use up some of the Wool-Ease leftovers stash
*Baby present for Liliana
*fingerless gloves in olivey green with long shaped seed stitch cuffs?

Yarn exercise program update

According to my Yarn Exercise Program Guidelines for 2007, I have to finish at least two UFOs during the program ... and hey! Surprise for me: I've done that with the eyelet skirt from Knitty and the Jamaica bag! Yayyy! ;)

I haven't really been paying much attention to my yarn-buying habits, but I think that's partly because I haven't been buying yarn. I've been thinking about buying yarn, but I haven't actually done it, even as is permissible under the guidelines. I've been stashbusting pretty decently so far this year. :D At the same time, I've managed to acquire more yarn just from swap gifts, so the stashbusting rate is still a little slow ... ha, ha. ;)

Remaining goals:

*Knit at least four Warm Up America squares
*Start a new knitting project that's for me, and not a gift

I don't think I'll have a problem doing that last one, and the first one I just have to remember I'm supposed to do as part of the Exercise Program. The next yarn exercise program could be even more stringent and it probably wouldn't be a problem: you know, I could require myself to knit at least two chemo caps, or at least two charity knitting projects, etc., particularly from stash, or maybe some from stash and some not from stash, to give myself the opportunity to use new yarn without needing to restrict myself to stuff I'd buy for myself ... and eventually, I might even require myself to design something. Heh. This is the most fun exercise program ever. ;D

Blog cleanup

Removing a couple of old buttons from the left sidebar, including the Swapmeet one, the Skeinalong one, Knitters' Tea Swap, Sock Wars, and Socktoberfest. I also nixed the "UFOs ... wooeeeooo" page element from the same sidebar, since I wasn't really using it. I can always put it back if I miss it. ;)

There. That makes more room for things I'm actually doing right now. :D

Taking out those UFOs

I finished the Jamaica bag from One Skein Wonders last night, unless you count that the cast-on tail is still dangling inside, which I'm not, since technically the bag is usable and you can't see that part unless you turn the bag inside-out to examine it. (As in the Costumers' Mantra of Olde: No One Can See It But Me; No One Cares But Me.) Brian and I discovered that the bag makes a curiously cute hat on both of us, though it looks rather Cat In the Hat-ish if presented as a hat not on someone's head. I may be forced to make a hat for him based on this pattern, though, just because it was so entertaining. No photos, though, and I'm not sure I'll manage to take any of anything today, since the camera batteries are currently whinging their last, and I'm not entirely sure what I did with the charger. I suspect it's in a duffel bag at Brian's, or elsewhere Not Here. Oops. ;D

I also like the circular spiral stitch enough that I was thinking of possibly making a sweater out of it, with maybe two stripes of color across the breastesses area, and then a lighter color for the main body and sleeves, so that you can see just the texture of the pattern stitch. Dunno. It would also make a good knit hat pattern in general, so I may do a hat based on it and send that out to Caps for a Cure.

And I finally figured out what on earth was wrong with the Moonlight Mohair capelet from knit.1 of something like two years ago: for one thing, I wasn't knitting to gauge, and even though it's a capelet and gauge isn't really crucial, it should still at least be gaugey enough to more than cover the tops of my shoulders; and for another thing, I was trying to actually follow the directions to make the "picot" rib thingie, which is a bad idea if the instructions are crap, which they are. ;) (Gosh, I feel like I'm trying to follow the instructions that come with sewing patterns again! ;)) With my since-acquired knitting experience, I figured out what the directions meant to say, but didn't, and tried it that way, and voila! even at too tight a gauge, I no longer feel like I'm going to break a knitting needle attempting to get faux suede yarn to stretch enough to fit two needles inside a stitch made ten rows ago. So now I just have to unravel the entire thing and start over, and once I do that, it should go fairly quickly. ;)

Next up on the list of UFOs to take out will be Brian's socks. I've been working on them on and off for the past week and a half or so, but I'm at a point where I need to pay enough attention to pick up stitches, which is why they aren't done already. And then after that there shall be new projectage, of summer tops, charity socks, and more charity caps. Oh, and a shawl and fingerless gloves.

I also just finished Funky Purl McBigBottom, and I'm crossing my fingers for the camera to stay alive long enough for me to take a photo, because I reeeaaallly want to take a picture and package this up and send it on its way today, so it isn't late. I mean, what's an April Fool's Fun swap package if it doesn't get there reasonably around April first? ;)

Getting into trouble: of swaps and trades :D

Never mind the drama on Swap-bot lately; it seems to happen everywhere, as soon as enough people decide a thing is important in their lives. The culture of the modern times (and probably of many times) seems to make the fearful rulemongers among the loudest voices in any group ... and even if they drive other people away, that doesn't mean we don't exist, nor does it mean we don't have power. It just means we aren't hanging out with the fearful rulemongers. ;) Are the rule-bending freaks more frightening to control freaks as an unseen underground, or as visible annoyances under their control? Rule freaks ought to think about that before they drive people away ... but alas. Thinking is sometimes at premium.

Anyway, I said never mind that. ;) I had to say my piece, and it's said. One of my latest frivolous, crafty troubles is that I've gotten myself into another trade; in this one I'm knitting a shawl and some wristwarmers for someone in exchange for a beachy bag full o' goodies. Another is that I'm about to embark on knitting Purl McBigBottom (with its annoyingly Stitch 'N' Bitch name ;)) as a semi-angel for the April Fool's Fun swap. I'm not sure I'm really needed to angel, since the person who's supposed to send the swap is still in communication, if in a bit of a strange spot, but if semi-angeling will get rid of some of my stash and let me knit a purse (which I haven't done before but have been wanting to), then why not? More goodies for all, and more stashbusting for me!

First I have to find some suitable needles, though. I don't know that I have any in the proper size, but whatevs. Adaptation is the name of the game for this dealie, and it's a purse, after all.

Oh, and I'm also hoping to join the Create-Along soon, which is a community blog for knitters who want to design their own patterns. I'm a Rank Beginner at that, but I'm hoping to learn a lot from that blog, and to be one of those people the blog owners are hoping to free from their uncertainty about designing. 'Twould be awesome. :D

Blending with cards

As per the nice article on Knitty, and because I'm a spastic freak who just picked something random to do ;), I'm going to try blending some blue mohair I picked up on a whim with some kindly donated forest/hunter green Merino roving. I couldn't quite bring myself to dip into the white llama stash to add a bit of extra color to this batch of the experiment, but I may be able to convince myself later. ;)

First batch notes:

Used .3 oz of blue mohair locks and .3 oz of green Merino roving. Divided each color/type of fiber into four approximately equal parts, to card in four bits. For the first carderful, I tried putting the green layer on, then a blue layer, which wasn't the easiest to blend; then I tried alternating green "stripes" with blue ones, which also wasn't that easy. So for the last two carderfuls, I carded the mohair first, and pulled it into a pseudoroving, which did make the blending easier. I think I may like the not-quite-completely-blended look slightly better than the heathered colors look, at least as far as unspun fiber goes.

Success! I now have .6 ounces of blue-green heathery Merino/mohair roving. Exciting!

Not that I'm going to take a picture, or anything. ;) At least not right now. Laaazy. ;D

I really want to put this on a shirt.

http://xkcd.com/c231.html

Stoles I would like to make

For me, not because they necessarily look fun to make. ;) Lace and I don't always get along, but sometimes it's too pretty for me to pass up. Stoles!

The Gerda stole
The Print O' the Wave stole

There's one I linked to in my Livejournal, like seventeen years ago when I first started writing there, but I'm faaaar too lazy to go back and find it at the moment. Someday I will ... someday.

Also: finished Mystery Skein Swap item 2 Friday evening before we left for our last weekend of Faire. Woo! Tails shall be woven in this week, and objects shall be sent, and there shall be much rejoicing. Hopefully. ;)

Refreshing things to do

Not that this is directly craft-related, but frequently I feel like I need a change in what I'm doing, to refresh my day and get me moving again afterward. So About.com's "10 Healthy Actions to Get Out of a Funk" are good ideas for me for when I'm putzing around trying to figure out what to do next, or when I'm not inspired with what I'm doing any more.

In other news, barely a photo around here lately, but I've been taking a few that I'm too lazy to get put up. I'll probably photodump early next week after I get back from my last weekend of FLaRF.

Also, I'm very nearly done with Mystery Skein Swap item 2. I got a bunch of it done yesterday while messing about with Brian's car and such. A couple more inches and woven-in tails, and VOILA! I shall be done with that swap. Yay. ;D

Fantasy travel agent swap open

I've started a swap called "Fantasy travel agent" on Swapbot. Details:

Summer's coming (or at least spring break ;)), and who's ready for a little vacation? In this swap you'll exercise your imagination, visit far away places (in your head, at least), and send a little souvenir of your travels on to others! This swap is geared toward artistic/altered artist types, and "wannabe" or newbie artists are welcome, 'cause we all have to start somewhere. :D

For this swap, invent an exotic locale. You can make it up entirely, base it on a real place, use a real place but give it an "alternate universe" sort of twist, or even use a historical nonmodern place. A magical Hawaii, maybe? A Caribbean where pirates still exist? A far-off planet with friendly alien natives?

For your chosen locale, you'll send to one partner:

* A brochure advertising this place. The brochure should be hand-made in some way, but you can make it on your computer and print it out, or draw the entire thing by hand, collage it, or any other form of creation you choose, as long as you make it. And make it attractive, with pictures and colors and interesting text -- after all, you're trying to get people to visit. :D
* A postcard from your imaginary place, with an anecdote on the back about your vacation there: tell people about the natives, the food, the shopping, the weather, a bizarre local incident, local history, etc. You may send the postcard inside the swap package (with a fake postage and postmark stamp?), or maybe send it "naked" through the mail so it gets a real postmark and a stamp. If you send it before or after the rest of your swap, you can use it to "tease" your partner. ;) Oh, and obviously, you'll have to make the postcard, unless your imagination has a gift shop. ;)
* A souvenir from your location. It can be touristy, like a refrigerator magnet or t-shirt for your fantasy place, or it can be cultural-feeling, like a hand-woven basket or hand-painted coconut bowl, but it must be a unique item with some hand-made aspect -- so buy something and alter it to make it more appropriate to your fantasy location, or you can completely hand-make it, whatever you choose. The value of your souvenir should be at least $5, but there's no top limit, in case you get terribly inspired to make something super-impressive. ;) Other souvenir ideas: a book of local recipes, "native" mask, landscape painting or framed "photo" (digital altered art, anyone?), or even some local candy or treat, if you're a creative foodie type.

You have a month from the sign-up deadline to create your fantasy travel swap package, which technically gives you almost two months if you start as soon as you sign up. If that doesn't sound long enough, and enough people mention it, I'll happily change it. :D

One recommendation: take a picture of your swap before you send it. You might wish you had later if you don't. ;)

Newbies with filled-out profiles are welcome! Perpetual flakes aren't ;), but a couple of bad ratings in an otherwise fine record won't get you booted. If you want to be a swap angel for those who get flaked on, let me know, since I want everyone to get something.

Come and play, and if you have questions, ask 'em!

Brainfogged

Again! I made two bookmarks, scanned those and the purple postcards, stuffed a couple envelopes for the I (heart) books swap, and wrote the survey-letter for a getting to know you letter swap on Swapbot, and now I'm a little brainfogged and would like to take a break from slogging through the list of things to do for other people and potentially do something for myself.

Last week (was it last week?) I worked on my experimental knitted, felted tricorn. I felted something on purpose for the first time a couple of days ago, first attempting to do it by hand, but that was too slow, so I finished it in Brian's washing machine, which worked quite nicely, except that the dish soap I was instructed to use didn't seem to want to go away in the rinse cycle. ;) I like felting, so now I have something to do with scritchy wool that I don't want to wear on my skin. Yay. So that was my thing to do for myself the last time I had this question.

Today I still ought to package up my Old Box ATCs for that swap. It isn't required for the swap that I embellish them any further than they are embellished by their own surface design, so I refuse to allow myself to feel pressured into embellishment. If it occurs to me while putting contact info stickers on the back that I should embellish them somehow, then cheers. But if I just put them into envelopes the way they are, then that's fine, too, because it explicitly gives me that permission in the swap info.

Knit Off, shot down ;)

Well, I've been soundly beaten without even knowing what the pattern was till it was over. ;) The first round pattern for the Knit Off was Uniscarfity, and someone in group J is already done, so I'm out. As Paisley says, "Eek!" But that's all right. I don't need another scarf, anyway, being in Florida, and all, and doing Uniscarfity feels a little contrary to my Knitter's Guidelines for this year, since I don't really fancy the pattern all that much, and I'm technically not permitted to start knitting new projects, especially for myself, that I don't reeaaallly like.

In other news, Brian was thinking of learning to spin so he can help me make stuff to sell on Etsy. He works at a call center, and says there are people who do non-work-related stuff there all the time, so he could totally get away with spinning yarn at work. I find this pretty funny. Brian so cuuute. ;D

And in more other news, I managed to get my right pointer finger whacked with a spear this weekend in my fight with Troy, so I'm not in the best crafty production shape. Oops! It should be fine in a few days, but until then, I'll probably be slightly impaired in the crafting sector. Mumble. Oh, well. At least it's an interesting excuse. ;)

Knit Off rules

For my own personal reference, so I don't have to keep looking them up from the group. ;)

Patterns are posted at the beginning of each round. When you complete your project, take a photo and post it in the photos section of the Yahoogroup. Also email yarnie@astrofilm.co.uk (I'm assuming this is the address that got Yahoo-cut to "yarnie@..." in this post) so there's an international email time stamp to reference. Whoever posts their photo of finished object first wins that round.

Round One materials requirements:

*set of US size 6 (or 5, for me?) dpns
*2 skeins of contrasting colors of double-knit weight yarn (with skeins 170m long, there's still some left over)
*gauge not crucial

I'm actually a little excited about this, since it's faster than Sock Wars and I get to make something for myself ... but I lose two days of knitting time thanks to FLaRF. Yarr. Wasn't Sock Wars during Pirate Fair? Why am I always doing a show when Yarn Monkey's knitting tournaments start? ;)

Knit Off!

I am officially in Group J of the Knit Off knitters' tournament, run by Yarn Monkey, the creator of Sock Wars. ;D

There's a theory going around that the pattern will be posted tomorrow, which, of course, is rather inconvenient for me, since I'll be doing FLaRF. Oops. Oh, well...

Time for self

I've packaged up four swaps with notes today ... Now it's time to do something for me for a bit, before I work on creating some more swaps for others.

But the question is ... what to do for me? Eek.

Superfringe!

That's the second hairpin lace scarf, which is getting sent today for the "Anything you can do..." swap. More crazy crafting yet to come!

Accompanying illustrations

Here's that hairpin lace scarf I did the other day (not the latest one, of which I still need a good photo or two):



And here's that necklace I finished today as an extra goodie for a swap (and this one isn't even late ;)):



Woo!

Quicksilvery

I started another hairpin lace scarf yesterday in Blue Heather Wool-Ease, and finished it today. Woohoo! It came out pretty much the way I wanted it to, too. And I plied, skeined, and washed 30 yards of brown alpaca yesterday for knitting into a necklace I-cord today. I even worked a few inches of my second Mystery Skein Swap item, and plan on doing some more tonight.

So I also just gave in and bought Stitch Diva's Lotus Smock Dress and Camisole hairpin lace pattern (perversely neglecting the skirt pattern I've been ogling for months because it looks easier to figure out on my own -- and this is maybe a hint of the Can't Do Anything Easy rule kicking in again). I may have to go and buy some yarn for this one with my nonexistent money, since it requires double-knit weight yarn, of which I do have five skeins or so ... in different fibers and completely unmatching colors. ;) But I want to learn some more advanced hairpin lace techniques, and the patterns available on the Internet are pretty slim pickings.

Anyway, more spastic crafting today seems likely. I have a few swaps that are slightly overdue thanks to the energy sink that is FLaRF, with its Three-Day Weekends of Doom, and I Will Catch Up, thanks to my darling hairpin lace loom and a fit of general mild quicksilveriness.

Brian's shirt at last

I ended up fixing the thing with the hairpin lace by unraveling loops till I came to a point where I could put them back on the loom without the loom popping apart. Wheee, tension. ;D But I didn't feel like working on it after that, so I picked up Brian's much-abused pirate/fighting shirt and set to mending the re-tear and, so as to avoid a re-re-tear, finally putting in those gussets. I like gussets. ;)

As of right now I have one gusset set in, and I'm about to tear out the armpit of the other side so I can put in the second one. It must get done tonight, since Brian can't very well fight with a shirt with a giant hole in the armpit. ;D

Next shirt modifications: Actually put a patch behind the mend (I know, I should have done it before, but I figured the gusset would help keep it from happening again more than the patch ;)), and put drawstring casings on the sleeves. After that, when I have time, I ought to actually just put cuffs on, but that's probably not happening in the next couple of weeks, and the casing is a quicker, workable fix.

I should have known...

I've managed to finish one project on this hairpin lace loom and now it's acting funky. You'd think two pieces of metal and two bits of plastic with holes in them would be simple enough to manage, but the metal sticks keep wanting to warp even when I take some of the loops off the end of the loom. It's probably my tension, but I don't know how to fix this short of frogging the entire strip and starting over, and that's pretty disheartening considering how short on time I am today, and the fact that the swap this is for is already late. (Not that I'd be able to get it done today even if the loom weren't acting funky, but it'd be nice to feel I made progress. That's not too much to ask, is it?) I was so enjoying the feeling of actually getting something done quickly, too. Grumble.

Maybe this is why I never do anything easy. ;)

Picture bonanza

Things I made for the Slacker Homemade Gift swap:







The red thingie is my first bit of hairpin lace ever, and it's a scarf. Yayyyy. ;) I need to get a good photo of the scarfage, itself, so I can feel safe sending away my firstborn. ;D

This is my Things with Wings matchbox, too, which was sent a bit ago, but I didn't post photos immediately:







I also received my own Things with Wings matchbox a couple days ago from Australia, and should be a good swapper and post photos, shouldn't I?

Speaking of swaps ... I wonder where my Spin to Knit handspun swap is? ;) My partner did say she procrastinates, but I hope she doesn't procrastinate herself completely out of sending me my skeins. ;) (I seem to have this problem acquiring handspun from other people...) I also need to finish and send my own skein for this month, actually. This FLaRF thing is kicking my butt in terms of time to craft 'n' swap.

Every fiber chick...

...should have a boyfriend like this.

;D

Tra-la-la.

Working on a Lacy Round Washcloth today, potentially for a swap. It's a day late as of today, but hey, it's a slacker swap, so they should expect that sort of thing, right? ;) I'll send on Monday or Tuesday, really...

Almost done with Piggle. I got maybe a third of the way into the crown decreases last night before my brain zonked out and I reached the point where I know I shouldn't knit lace any more because I'll end up ripping it out anyway ... especially annoying if it's lace with decreases. ;)

Huuuungry. Why must my luck run so that people eat my food the day I splurge to buy it, after they've ignored my food for months on end? Siiiigh. It makes me sad, but then, I have a theory that I'm small enough that eating my food is a little like eating a starving person's food; I don't have enough of it, and I need what little I eat badly enough, that I'm justly territorial. Depriving me of my food is pushing me (further?) into the fat-burning reserves, and y'know, I don't have a lot of fat left to burn. I'm trying to get back to 100 pounds, guys -- as in, up. Don't eat my food. ;)

Fibery miniblather

Working on Paisley's Piggle today; it would be loverly if I could have it done by this weekend, so she could wear it at FLARF. I'm just about at the end of the third lace pattern repeat.

In a completely random but also fiber-related thought, I think it's sweet that Brian now asks his northern friends about fiber things. ;) Someone called him yesterday and mentioned some herd animal in Colorado, and Brian asked about sheep and alpaca for me. His friend said something like, "*snicker* I know why you want to know about sheep," and much to his friend's surprise, Brian totally went, "No, seriously. My girlfriend spins..."

Now I wish I could remember if Brian bought me five balls of cashmere blend yarn, or four. I can only find four of them, but what with all the moving around of bags of projects, it's possible that one jumped out somewhere and is just waiting to be found. Oh, well; that's all right, since I don't know what I'm going to make with that yet, anyway. ;)

RAK week!

According to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, it's RAK week! Which means I'm going to attempt to send out some RAKky goodness, if not this week, then at least inspired by this week.

And in an UberLate Swap Update, I started my UberLate Fabric Scrap Craft swap item yesterday. As usual, I'm too lazy to go take a good photo, so you'll get to see it when it's done. ;)

Quick! Quick!

My stuff for the "Just Do It, Swap It Quick!" swap on Swapbot c'est la:







Hurray. ;D

Grand List of WIPs

Knitting:

Nearly done
*Crane on Knit Not War pattern (still unfelted)

Largish projects

*Black alpaca lace shawl - Beth
*”Garden” Mystery Pi shawl - me
*Licorice vest - me
*Purple lace shawl - ? {frog and make socks from the yarn, using the shawl pattern for some other yarn?}
*Moonlight Mohair cape - me
*Yellow square-neck tank top - Mom
*Black and white lacy sweater - me {frog and turn into a Coco jacket?}
*Brian's Duel sweater

Mediumish projects

*Sahara (sleeveless) for Sexy Knitters' Club knitalong
*Cabled chenille scarf - Virginia
*Eyelet spiral socks - (It's a gift!)
*Branching Out scarf - Shari (whose birthday gift for this year just arrived today :D)
*Furry magic scarf - me {frog and turn into a lacy shawl on large needles?}
*SFS Big Black Socks
*SFS leisure socks - yet to start
*Paige's Tinker shawl

Smallish projects

*Fingerless gloves for a trade with kiakiali
*Chenille fingerless gloves - me

Fiber/spinning

*Spin to Knit Orphans Handspun Swap - 120 yards of something, anything :D
*Birthday gift for me: laceweight/cobweb Colonial in "teal green" type color
*Red Merino DK or sportweight (not sure which ;))
*Hand-painted "Spring Misty" Merino DK or sportweight
*Basket of Columbia - hand combing
*Plankton, hand-dyed Merino from Neauveau - partly drum-carded early April 2007, the rest possibly to be combed?

Art

Nothing, at the moment!

Swaps, exchanges, and trades

*Private trade for fiber
*Batt comparison swap on thefibergoddess

Finished Projects of 2007

In the effort to keep organized tabs on my creative insanity, I'm making a Grand List of Finished Projects of 2007, to be accompanied by a Grand List of Projects in Progress, a Grand List of UFOs to Resurrect, and a Grand List of Future Projects. Then I can list just the numbers on my blog index page (e.g., "Hats Knit: 3," etc.). Soooo...

Here's my running list of finished knits of 2007:

*Ben's mismatched mittens
*Calorimetry
*Mystery Skein Swap item 1 - a hat from One Skein Wonders
*Spiral Rib hat for Caps for a Cure
*Paisley's Piggle hat
*Felted summer hat - made from cream-colored wool donated by Ben's grandmother, my first felted project :D
*Mystery Skein Swap item 2 - ribbed wristwarmers from the 2006 pattern-a-day knitting calendar
*"Simple Yet Effective" shawl variation - pink and orange stashbuster for April Fool's Fun swap [finished in early March]
*Eyelet skirt from Knitty [finally finished, seams, tails, and all, on March 16]
*Jamaica bag from One Skein Wonders [March 25]
*Funky Purl McBigBottom for a semi-angel for April Fool's Fun swap
*Cabled cozy socks from Handknit Holidays, for Brian in gray Merino wool (Patons Classic, I think)
*A scalloped edging for the much-delayed Fabric Scrap Craft
*Tropical Island shawl (for trade with kiakiali)
*Ball band washcloth (from Mason-Dixon Knitting) in purple and black for SBS Teas Secret Spring Genie 2007
*Ball band washcloth in pink and purple for Earth Mother's Day Swap-bot swap [April 27, 2007]
*Star Stitch hanging towel with joined loop at top instead of button [June 25, 2007]
*Warm Up America afghan square in white acrylic yarn (finished for Ben) [August 28, 2007]
*Sunday Market Shawl [early September]
*Bronwyn's square-bottom dice bag in Mainstays variegated blue acrylic [September 14, 2007]
*Loom-knit hat - two strands of acrylic worsted weight yarn, size smallish [September 26, 2007]

Finished spinning/fiber projects:

*Spin to Knit secret pals skein 1 // 2-ply Columbia fingering weight - yardage?
*Hand carded mini-batts from raw Columbia fleece // mission: failed ;) - weight?
*Birthday gift for me: .9 oz Merino/Tussah in blue colorway, sport or possibly DK weight - ~240 yards
*Spin to Knit secret pals skein 2 // 2-ply alpaca, 30.3 yards, .9 oz bulky weight (10 wpi)
*Brown alpaca - from sample sent with destash purchase of cotton and wool, hand carded into batts before spun - singles, 44.7 yards, .3 oz lace to fingering weight?
*Blue-green mohair/Merino blend done on hand carders as per Knitty instructions - .6 ounces
*2 drum-carded batts from gray spinning bell [some leftovers of lighter gray spinning bell]
*Gray-blue Columbia/mystery wool fiber blending experiment - hand carded, .2 oz
*3 batts of drum-carded blue Columbia/gray mystery wool [April 12, 2007]
*Yarn: 1 skein silvery gray mystery wool, sample from fiber shop at Bay Area Renaissance Festival - .4 oz [yardage?] [WPI?]
*Yarn: dark gray spinning bell wool singles - 75 yards, .4 oz - about sport or fingering weight [to be plied with something]
*Yarn: 54 yards (.2 oz) gray/blue Columbia/spinning bell (from first fiber blending experiment) singles, about fingering weight
*Yarn: 92 yards singles white fingering weight Columbia (from commercially-processed roving) to be plied with something for the Orphan Handspun Swap
*Yarn: 40 yards yellow-white mystery wool two-ply sport weightish - Anne's custom embellishment yarn (to be dyed); dyed blue, green, and mauve!
*Yarn: 80 yards gray variegated Jacob singles fingering weight to be plied with something for Orphan Handspun Swap (possibly to be overdyed)
*Yarn: mini-skein two-ply dark dyed alpaca and a tiny bit of silver wool
*Yarn: 70.8 yards two-ply dark purple/white Jacob/Columbia fingering to sport weight (for Orphan Handspun Swap) [May 04, 2007]
*Woven belt: worsted-weight cotton with blue flecks, to go with my silk robe
*Weaving: rigid heddle test project (short woven band, worsted-weight cotton)

Finished hairpin lace:

*Triple Threat scarf in red Lion Cotton Solid
*Superfringe scarf in Blue Heather Wool-Ease

Finished art-type projects:

*Brian's pocket heart
*Valentine's hearts
*Mini-ATC: "Smitten 1"
*Things With Wings matchbox fill
*ATC: "Love That Coat"
*ATC: "Knit Love"
*2 sets of wish stones: 1 stamped glass marbles (hearts), 1 stamped polymer clay (purple, silver, and translucent marbled)
*Purple postcards, set of 3 (for a Swapbot swap) - cut from a Dr. Pepper Berries & Cream box
*Old Box ATCs, series of 10 (for a Swapbot swap) - cut from various cardboard boxes
*I (heart) books bookmarks - 2
*"Why I Swap"/Happy Spring postcards (2) - blue and yellow, plants and flowers, simple Gel Pen embellishment
*"Orient" puzzle piece for Robin's charity "Destinations" art puzzle [April 06, 2007]
*2 fat book pages for Robin's charity, "Nature" and "Tea"
*Old Box ATCs, series of 9, for Old Box ATCs #3 Swap-bot swap
*ATC: "Zetti Vacation" for Secret Spring Bunny Swap
*"Courage" matchbox shrine for Personalized Value Matchbox Shrine [April 12, 2007]
*Postcards: 3 yellow postcards for Swap-bot swap [April 16, 2007]
*Altered journal (blue and green naturey) for Creative Journal Swap
*3 bookmarks (April 27, 2007): one Old Box bookmark (Thai Kitchen noodle bowl) for Earth Mother's Day swap, one vintagey flowery bookmark, one kitty bookmark, the second two for "newbie/changing bad ratings" swap on Swap-bot
*ATCs: 3 Old Box ATCs for re-send to Mary Rousseaux (downtown painter) {May 01, 2007}
*Altered toy animal (voodoo war pig) for Eccentric Pastiche swap [May 09, 2007]
*Hand-bound tea book for Eccentric Pastiche swap [May 09, 2007]
*Blue postcards (3) for Etsy swap [May 17, 2007]
*ATC: "Rainforest Frogs" for Surf the Net with Me Etsy swap [May 21, 2007]
*Wall art: "Le Coq" 4x4 for Mini Wishlist 2
*Polymer clay good luck charm for Mini Wishlist 2
*Purple and green bookmark for Tiny Box of Joy [May 29, 2007]
*3 ATCs for "Things I Wish I Said" swap": "Lovely Friends," "Immature," "Thoughtful Gift" [June 12, 2007]

Jewelry of 2007:

*Surfer Girl ring
*Simple ear cuff design
*Dangly ear cuff design
*Current 1 ring
*Polymer clay beaded beads - 1 barrel bead and 1 disc bead in Valentine's colors
*Little birdie necklace
*Phoenix Flame necklace - handspun alpaca I-cord with hand-made polymer clay pendant (red, brown, yellow)
*Diamond pendant-charms (flat top-drilled bead things) from the same cane as Phoenix Flame necklace, plus one more pendant
*Pink and black swirl pendant-charms from a cane used for buttons
*Earrings for nktigger of Swapbot: blue-green crackle glass tube beads over black spirals, silver-plated ear wires
*Necklace: polymer clay disc embedded with seed beads on I-cord, red, white, and cream, 17.5 inches long, with copper wire hook on yarn loop
*Ring: size 8 re-do of Surfer Girl for Flory
*Ring: size 6.5 copper ring, Bright Bubbles
*Earrings: black and silver for Mini Wishlist 2

Finished sewn objects of 2007:

*Pin cushion for Fabric Scrap Craft [April 17, 2007]

Things that don't fit anywhere else of 2007:

*A coiled fabric scrap basket for me
*Polymer clay buttons: 2 sets
*Pom pom scarf (acrylic) for "Different Scarf" swap [April 09, 2007]
*Purple and black two-strand basketweave mini tote for Secret Spring Genie on SBSTeas.com [April 24, 2007]
*Pink, cream, and orange three-strand basketweave tote for Earth Mother's Day swap on Swap-bot [April 26, 2007]

Trades of 2007:

*2 oz. Columbia roving for a hairpin lace loom

"Tools" made in 2007:

*Stitch markers: 2 sets
*Polymer clay spindles: 1
*Point protectors: blue and green stars, 1 set
*Point protectors: blue and green discs plus crackle glass bead, 1 set

Next up, the Grand List of WIPs...

Swaps sent

One small shrine went out superlate today, but at last sent ;D, along with my Valentine's Handmade Hearts swap. The "send it quick" swap should go out tomorrow.

And I'm going to make it through some of my UFO list soon, dangit. I will I will. ;)

Scary fiber thoughts

Someone has offered me a super-awesome deal on a Louet roving carder ... and I think I may take her up on it, since I've had drum carders on the brain recently, and I know that having a drum carder will make me process those fleeces I have sitting around. The processing part of making yarn is what takes the longest, and I was so annoyed with the crappy job I did of hand carding that (admittedly VMy) Columbia the other day, I probably won't try that method again any time soon. (I'm sure I will try it again someday, and it'll turn out fine after my requisite sinking-in waiting period, but I don't want to wait any longer to turn my fleeces into spinnable fluffies. ;))

So yeah. I may have a drum carder soon, and that's kind of scary. ;D Imagine me with all that fiber-processing power, dyeing and carding up a fluffy storm...

Make your own needle felting tool!

This is super cool. :D I love making me own stuffage ... hurrah. ;D

More V-Day art and That Shrine

One of the UberLate swaps was for a shrine, and a shrine there is at last, with some decent photos.





And here's a mini ATC I'm including with the Valentine's Handmade Heart swap:



As usual, the funny-colored stamped bit is metallic in real life. ;) And my gold leaf pens are hiding somewhere in a bag, so I had to resort to the funky greenish gold gel pen for the outline around the flower. Hmph. There are also glitter bits in the red tissue paper that forms the background.

Random polymer clay

ObPersonalBlether: Poor Brian got shot down this morning, as he called it. He's looking for a new job, and our friend Paul works at a tool company where there's a job opening. He made it sound like an easy in, so we went by to drop off a resume before work this morning ... where they made him fill out an application because they don't take resumes, then interviewed him immediately, apparently with the attitude that he was wasting their time because there were three other more experienced applicants in line for the position. On top of that, the interviewer made Brian late for work at his current job, which I find absolutely idiotic. That sort of behavior is completely inappropriate in someone holding a management position. If I had known the man was in the process of not only making Brian late, but also making Brian feel bad for no good reason, I would have hunted them down in the building and interrupted the interview to insist that Brian not be late. Just goes to show I should feel free to break rules and be crazy; if he's not going to get that job anyway, why should Brian waste his time with someone who thinks he has better things to do?

Grr. Anyway. ;) It'd be nice if I could make Brian feel better without making myself feel worse (and I mean both of those things generally, as in, he ought to feel better in general without my feeling worse in general, 'cause what's the use in that?), and one way to do that would be by bringing in more income with things that I already like doing. Must come up with a good craftiness business plan.

The requisite photos for today are of a) a heart I made for a Valentine's swap, and b) some extra goodies I made while I was playing with clay, namely a heart for me (that's the one with the curl on one side, sans beadies), plus two beads with beads in them. ;)



And the backs of the hearts: