Ugh...

Still knitting. I am working on my family's Christmas gifts. And without divulging the gifts' identities...if you have never tried to sew fabric to a knitted item made with heavier yarn with a sewing machine, let me just say that it is a good thing to experience. It taught me a wonderful life lesson. I will be doing all my knitting-involved sewing by hand with a needle and thread and I will be ok with that. At least I can know that I am getting it how I want it and don't have to look forward to grinding my teeth trying to pick thread out of a bunch of moss stitch knitting. It makes me glad that not all the gifts will be so involved. Thank goodness. It is going well though. I will post photos of all of the gifts and some floral arranging I've been doing after Christmas just in case my family gets any bright ideas and start snooping around my blog. Until later, one gift done, one almost done, one 1/4 of the way done, and three to go. I'm thinking of calling them yearly gifts from now on. Not Christmas gifts. They'll get them when ever I finish them... within the year of course. Unless I get REALLY ambitious and decide to make someone a blanket or sweater or something. Then everybody else is getting a picture of a pair of mittens or a hat or a scarf because I had no time to actually make anything.

Later,

Michele


PS: A word on holiday food. Eggnog mixed with 7up is great and so are cinnamon rolls, anything with pumpkin, and eggs and cheese were created for each other.

What-da-ya-mean-it's-the-middle-of-November!?!?!?

...can't talk... must knit...Christmas is coming... FEEL THE BURN!!!

A Little Bit More- October 25, 2009

Here is the giant plaid book. What a beast.
Our dog Dexter sleeps on my bed and one morning I woke up and this is what I saw.
I had some left over pumpkin and Rhodes rolls and fudged these pumpkin turnovers up with some maple glaze. They were super tasty! Not every experiment goes so well. I need to nail down the recipe and I'll post it here.

Wool fingering from Knit Picks for a sweater I want to make. I'm just not sure what exactly the sweater's going to look like yet. Any ideas?
Wool fingering from Knit Picks for a pair of fingerless mittens with snowflake color work on them. I'm very excited to make these!
The hat I made for the daughter of the friend with the mittens for Christmas this year. She looks very cute in it.
I made these for a friend of mine who loves Hello Kitty for Christmas this year so she could build snowmen with her daughter.
The second blanket I've finished. It's crocheted. I love how it turned out. I kept with the basic pattern and changed the colors and where they were placed.



Here are some more favorites : )

Cold Cereal:

1. Grape Nuts
   
2. Cinnamon Life
3. Wheat Chex
4. Shredded Wheat
5. Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds
6. Raisin Bran Crunch
7. Cocoa Crispies
8. Honey Corn Flakes
9. Kix

Movies

1. Wallace and Gromit
   
2. Studio Gibli
3. Scooby Doo
4. Planet Earth
   
5. Blue Planet
   
6. Ice Age 1
7. Madagascar 1
8. The Wild
   
9. Chicken Little
10. Over the Hedge

Foods

1. Ice Cream
   
2. Plain fudge brownies
3. Four cheese ravioli
   
4. My Soup
5. Cold cereal
6. Biscuits and honey
7. Cottage cheese and Doritos
8. Pizza
9. Hot cereal and toast
10. Cheese burgers

Miscellaneous Oddities

1. I love the show Wacked Out Sports (but lately I've been watching a British cold case show called New Tricks)
2. I would go bungee jumping and sky diving in a heart beat given that it was under the direction of a well qualified instructor with top notch equipment.
3. When my mom was having me, all that was out was my head and I was already screaming.
   
4. I was found as a toddler wandering around in the middle of traffic on University Dr.
5. The madder I am, the worse an idea it is for me to do any shopping of any kind.

24 cd's you may or may not find interesting to know I own

1. Kid Rock- (with half of his face on the cd)
2. Kid Rock- (black with just his name)
3. Linkin Park- [Hybrid Theory]
4. Queen's Greatest Hits
5. Ozomatli- Live at the Filmore
6. Metallica- Metallica
7. BB King and Eric Clapton- Riding with the King
8. Mama Mia soundtrack
9. Tokeya Inajin- Dream Catcher
10. Tokeya Inajin- Keeper of the Dream
11. Dolly Parton- Halos and Horns
12. Barry Manilow- Greatest Hits volume I
13. Best of John Denver
14. Johnny Lang- Long Time Coming
15. Gavin DeGraw- Chariot
16. Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy
17. Ladysmith Black Mambazo- Gift of the Tortoise
18. Veggie Tales- Silly Songs with Larry
19. Jonathan Elias- American River
20. Ottmar Liebert-Luna Negra
21. Holst- The Planets
22. Alejandro Fernandez- Mi Verdad
23. Mana- Suenos Liquidos
24. YoYo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

A Thought...

I have been looking for a job since May-June. It has been frustrating, yes, but I have had a lot of time to pay more attention to things and observe and take a few notes as well. Mostly about myself and my life.

One thing I have noticed is that I do not share myself with anyone. Not my friends. Not my family. It seems completely counter intuitive, I know, but it is the truth. I am not sure why. Nervous around people. Shy. I'm not sure. I recently read a book about knitting and knitters in which the author says that she has noticed that people tend to worry that if others really knew them, there is no way they could love them. That struck a mighty cord in me. I had never heard or read anyone saying what I had thought. I think the problem is that I worry excessively and inwardly. But I love something my dad has said that could apply here: it's not our problem to worry about what they think. Let them make their choice. I tend to constantly try to anticipate what others will do or think. I think this is a bad habit under certain circumstances and I have started trying to loose the concern.

I have recently started using Facebook. On the website they have a feature where you can create a quiz to see how well people who know you, know you. I gave answers to all the questions as truthful as possible with the exception of the one about taking only my yarn stash out of a burning building. I would probably grab my (hopefully finished) 72 hour kit. And that would have the scriptures, and the yarn, and the clothes, etc. in it. Anyway, there was one of my answers to one of the questions that at least two people didn't believe could be the truth. I was astonished and hurt. Then I was sad that this was the case because they only know about me what I choose to let them know. I felt selfish and out of touch with the people in my life. While I don't want to up and start pretending to be someone I'm not, because I truly love who I am when I step back, I don't want them to think that after thirteen to eighteen years of friendship and thirty years of family relationships- they have no idea who I am.

In my last blog post, I mentioned the giant plaid book of my happy things. I also started a much smaller book of things I like, don't like, personality traits, quirks, fears, and things I think about. Let me tell you, it has been interesting to say the least. It is the little book of me. I have thoroughly enjoyed observing myself, so to speak. I am definitely going to keep writing in the little book. Here a some key points:

• I am shy and very quiet. I love to watch people. This is also a lot easier than interacting with them. I would also rather my actions speak for me rather than my words.
  
• Just because I haven't said anything, doesn't mean I was thinking it or didn't notice. There's a fifty-fifty chance that I was, and that I did.
  
• I am a lot more relaxed in writing than in person. Writing is a lot less intimidating than being faced with someone watching and waiting for me compose my thoughts.
  
• While I am shy and major homebody, I do have a rather sizable bold streak that sits back and watches... and occasionally turns my comfortable world upside down. This streak is not applied, however, to trying new foods in front of other people. Accept octopus buried in spaghetti, on my mission. I ate that, when faced with it unexpectedly, so I could write home about it. It was quite a thrill!
  
• Here's a top ten list: My Favorite Ice Creams
  

1. plain chocolate
2. fudge brownie
3. chocolate chip cookie dough
4. cookies and cream
5. caramel cone- a flavor from Hagendaz
6. vanilla ice cream, chocolate swirl, and chocolate covered butter toffee pieces
7. berry sauce swirled in cheesecake flavored ice cream
8. s'mores or chocolate marshmallow swirl
9. raspberry sherbet
10. mint chip or mint cookie

I hope that this has been useful and enjoyable. It is good for me so I don't feel like such a swirling black vortex into the unknown. : )

Michele

A Little Sunshine

Ok, so I love books. I love to read them, check them out, buy them, give them, fill them up, and I also love to make them. A blank book makes me giddy. It is pure potential for what ever you want to put in it. A while back I made this book, coptic bound, and covered it with blue and green plaid flannel. At first I wasn't sure how many signatures to put in it so I started to stitch it together and then my sister kept saying, "Add more signatures!!!" On I went until I found myself with the blue and green plaid monstrosity. This thing is massive with 38 five sheet signatures. I had no idea what in the world to do with it until recently. I decided to make it a sort of happiness/gratitude journal. My aunt started one and I thought this could be very beneficial for me. Here is a little of what makes me happy!

• blank paper
• new pens and pencils
• a ball of yarn
• seeds
• new books
• crayons
• dirt- open a bag of fresh potting soil. It smells like heaven :)
• fall and winter
• chocolate ice cream
• plain fudge brownies
• the four cheese ravioli from Costco- w/out sauce. Good ravioli doesn't need it.
• time to myself
• seeing my friends
• finishing a project; any project, no matter how long ago I started it
• singing a solo in church with out my knees buckling or throwing up or crying out of sheer terror
• the mountains and streams and waterfalls
• progressing through a linear process. Step 1, step 2, step 3... this explains my love for things like knitting, reading, cooking, baking, and sewing.
• list making
• libraries
• walks in the park or the foothills
• camping
• the gumption to keep knitting even though the sleeves on this stupid sweater are going to give me an ulcer.
• putting my Heavenly Father first
• knitting, knitting, reading, knitting, reading, reading, reading, knitting, gardening and growing seeds, knitting...I see a pattern here...
• Art in the Park- some people are just way too talented for their own good.
• a really great story
• having a good place to live, rent free, with parents who are gracious and kind.
  
• being able to find things to be happy about even when I'm not feeling very happy.
• finding it is ok to do the things I love even with out a hope of ever doing them well- trust me, there are some people out there so good at knitting it would make you, ok maybe just me, cry like a baby.
• discovering that the obvious answer, though still an answer, may not be the best one. Sometimes the way that should not work, upon closer examination and trial, will prove to be the perfect choice.
• good friends that know way more about you than any one person should but like you anyway.
• being silly, humor, laughing
• listening to thunder and walking in the rain
• knowing that my mother, within the span of a year: survived breast cancer, a complete hysterectomy, menopause, no hormones, and the deaths of her mother, father, and her best friend's husband all around the time of my senior year of high school.
• me- the quiet, shy, people watcher... surviving those moments in my life when my (very large) bold streak (that sits in the back of my mind...observing), starts acting up. There are definitely times that I think about now that make me want to find out if it's possible for a person to spontaneously turn themselves inside out.

As you can see, I have a lot to be happy about!! I will post more happy things in the future, along with a photo of the giant plaid book.

Later,

Michele

Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

I finally finished this book by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. First of all, here are some notes and thoughts I made as I was reading:

-The writing feels very solitary.
-Gothic is a very good word to describe the style.
-I love the art work. It supports the writing effectively.
-I love the opening with the battle scene. It sets the mood and tone for the rest of the story.
-I LOVE the sudden appearance of the Dante and Caprice characters. Their glowing descriptions are a spark in the gloom that should have been a clue that it was all too good to be true. There was no indication what-so-ever that their circumstances were not normal. It seemed completely right that they be there, happy, in a cursed and apparently abandoned Italian town. "Well done!" to the author for this passage. The writing was so consistent to this point, this scene was totally affective in giving you a bit of a jolt!
-Remind me never to buy a marionette that looks like a person!
-A little unsure as to how, exactly, the book is organized. Not in regular chapters. More like sections which have their own chapters.
-Interesting how the story doesn't really come out and talk of vampires but once, or so, but leaves it to descriptions of "the plague" that insinuate the vampire's influence.
-I have a hard time feeling like the story's moving at times, as enjoyable as it is.
-The whole story is composed as such, that even when they do use the word "vampire," it's a bit odd.
-Detailed descriptions can be graphic.
-The action sequences don't move as fast as some books I've read. They seem to stay, somehow, at the same pace as the rest of the book.
-Sort of didn't totally understand the ending but, it felt sad. Like ordeal would never really end.
-There are some great lines in the book too like the one on page 176 talking of a poor sailor who looked like he was the product of a pairing of a wolf and an ogre. I laughed out loud : )

I did not go to the library looking for this book or even anything in this section. I was wandering around waiting for my sister glancing at the books on the shelves and saw this one. Let me say this:
The first exposure to a book can leave a long lasting impression. A great cover is, sometimes, all it takes. I've checked out or even purchased books based only on title, cover art, or illustrations and I checked this one out because of its title.

The title grabbed me immediately and then the summary reeled me into checking it out. From the first page, the feel and tone of the writing and the story were established. The illustrations supported the writing and I found myself a bit disappointed when a page was without one. I looked forward to seeing how the artist would interpret the writing in his style.

The story opens with a group of soldiers in the midst of battle and tells the story of the encounter that the rest of the book is based around. Let's just say, the leader of the group torques off the wrong vampire demon lord. After that, it's a game of cat and mouse; chasing each other in the name of vengeance... to the death. The leader- Lord Baltimore- calls a group of three men to await his arrival to an inn. They spend a good portion of the book discussing why they could possibly have been called there and telling stories of their personal encounters with evil that may have contributed to Baltimore's calling them. In then end they finally meet the evil in question, face to face and Lord Baltimore arrives to finish the job.

I loved this book. It was wonderful. It was enthralling and grabbed me from the start. I checked this out at the last second and I am very glad that I did!!

Photographs!!!

I love taking pictures and try to keep a watch out for opportunities to get a really interesting shot. Here a few of them.
Betcha can't figure out what this is! I was amazed when I saw a drop of molasses suspended in a drop of vegetable oil on the kitchen counter while I was baking. I had to get a picture! Yah, the fact that it looks like an eye was pretty appealing too.
I made a 2x2 ribbed hat for my brother for his birthday. I was glad it fit, happy he liked it, and ecstatic when he said he'd use it!!
This is one of the last knitting ufo's I finished. It felt good to finish it because it's been sitting around for years. A toddler dress with the top smocked. Way cute!
Here is the next ufo (unfinished object) to be worked on. A child's cable sweater. I love cables. Irish cable sweaters and Nordic sweaters are why I learned to knit.
My first journey into dying yarn with Wilton food dyes. These are going to make some cool socks.
One of my favorite pictures. This is the tip of my finger with a praying mantis on the end of it.
A little better color but I just love this picture! Very interesting.
Water drops on a rose leaf.
This is a group of water droplets on the edge of a rose leaf in the greenhouse I worked at. Just an example of why I love taking pictures. Outside of the fact that the leaf is puke yellow green.

I have a flower bed out back that I am working to establish drought tolerant perennials in and in the mean time there is a lot of naked space so I scattered some various sunflower seeds and most came up pale yellow but this one came out a rich rusty brown. I absolutely love it!
Here is one of the pansies I seeded. "Flambe Terracotta Shades" from Park Seeds. I love the various colors of the mix, from this to pale yellow to burgandy.

These are some violas I seeded this year or last. I love the "faces". Do you ever feel like you're being watched? I wouldn't worry though, unless they turn and start following you...

That's all for now,

Michele

Some Day...

Some day I am going to have a disgustingly gorgeous library with dark, rich wood work, a huge fireplace, and overstuffed armchairs along with way too many bookshelves. A place to go to relax and revel in a great story.

I finished the Drift House book. It was good, like the last one but, this one used a lot more talking about the concepts of time. It was almost philosophical, if that is the right word; good action scenes too. I would have liked to have had a more comprehensive passage about the mirror book- the main concept of the story. What was there, for me, seemed kind of scattered. The book is about an uncle and his niece and nephew who get thrown backward in time and are trying to get home and all of the trouble they have in the process.

Now I am reading Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Christopher Golden with art by Mike Mignola, of Hell Boy fame. The horrors of World War I find a captain and his men in the midst of trench warfare getting slaughtered by the enemy. Lying on the bodies of his dead soldiers when he comes to after being shot, the battlefield is then descended on by a group of bats with an unexpected appetite. They come for him. He tries to fight back but, only succeeds in starting another sort of war. We will see if he finds his way out of it.

Until later,

Michele

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Wow, has it been a while? I knew what I was getting myself into when I started a blog but only three entries?! Though never hurts to give it a try. I have been looking for a job since the middle of June and my success reflects the state of things. We will leave it at that because, otherwise I get irritable. I am working at the Western Idaho Fair thanks to my dear friend Wendy but it is only for the duration of the fair.

In the mean time, I have been doing a lot of knitting (yah, my heart's breaking); trying to catch up on my ufo's and continually working on a project I start and not finishing it five years later. I feel good about that effort. I finished a toddler's smocked baby dress and panties in bright green and pink and a little teddy bear that I want to make clothes for. I think my next targeted ufo is a toddler sized sweater with heart shaped cables on it.

Works in progress right now include a sweater experiment using yarn that is a size larger than it's supposed to be in a rather bright royal blue and a lace pattern using bigger yarn instead of teeny yarn. It's off white with flecks in it- sort of tweedy. I like it but, it's acrylic with means if you wash it and stretch it out, it won't stay that way so I think I'm going to finish it and wash it and stretch it out and stitch it to a black back ground and hang it on my wall. I'm excited, it's an awesome pattern!

I have also been reading. This is a miracle since I was starting to think all I read was text books. For a serious giggle read the Nose Picker's series or anything by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (this may only be funny if you knit). I also recommend the Skullduggary Pleasant books. They read like an episode of Dr. Who. Lots of smart-mouthed remarks at tense, and possibly life-threatening, moments. Right now I am reading book 2 of the Drift House books, The Lost Cities. A good read so far. Next I am going to read a book called Baltimore and the 7th Oz book (by the way, as much as I like the movie, they definitely sugar-coated it. The books rate high on the oddity meter but, I think that's what makes them fun!)

That is all for now, I will get pictures of the knitting projects up soon.

Until then,

Michele

Bleck!

I know it has been a while. I was sick last week. It was pretty icky especially since I have not had the flu in quite some time. All better now. Thank goodness.

I have been sewing like a mad woman and am almost done with my sewing for my sister's wedding. I made my bride's maid dress and still need to make the little top to go over it and am almost done with the second bride's maid dress. I put in the zipper this morning while watching a National Geographic dvd about Queen Nefertiti. I would have done it last night but one reaches a certain point where it is not safe to work on tasks that require a whole lot of concentration and consiousness. I have to take a hint when I start making stupid mistakes that I know I should not be making. Now I just need the recipient to try it on so I can put the buttons in the right place and know how long or short to make the hem. All of the flowers are done for the wedding. I never thought I would be using any of the floral design elements from my horticulture degree but she asked me if I would do them and since I am a loving sister I said I would. Thank goodness she used artificial flowers and bought all of her own supplies and I gave my time. It was fun though. Boutineirs, corsages, bridal bouquet, bride's maids bouquets, and pew bow decorations. I should take pictures and post them! Now I just have to do the top to my outfit and finish their wedding gifts. I hope they use them... I'll post photos of the sewing when I finish.

I started what I like to call a "fiddler project". A project I am fiddling around with. Not a planned project but just an idea I am playing with. I have yarn that has a repeating color pattern fading from light blue to dark blue. Supposedly if you work it just right, you can make the colors line up and forms a cool pattern. If it turns out I am thinking it will be a bag. We will see...

One more week until the wedding. Boy, I does not feel like I do not have a job yet! Whew!! Well back to the grind. I have to iron the fabric for my top and hope I don't melt off design by making the iron too hot. All I remember is to iron it face down. Wish me luck!

Michele

Having Fun!

I have been having a lot of fun with nothing-to-do-itis other than working on my sister's wedding and trying to find a job. It is weird not going to the green house considering I was there for four years. I love the old buildings and the foothills. Especially the dairy barn. If I could have a cool house, it look like that.



Here is the inside. I am in love with the ceiling! The beams start at the floor on one side and go up and over all the way to the other side. This space would be awesome with a library loft and a great fireplace down below.



I have been knitting and making books and it is so nice to do something not involving the word- homework. This is a child's hat I made, super cute! The next two are books I made. The green one is notes on knitting and the flower one is observations on family life stemming from growing up in a family and spending a lot of years in the nursery at church.







So, this is a little of what i have been doing. Now I have to go work on sewing my bride's maid dress. I'll post a picture once it is done!

Goodbye for now,

Michele

PS: fyi, this is what happens when you forget about a pan of rhodes dough sitting on a warm stove.

I am starting a blog! It is not something I ever thought I would do because I tend to stay within myself but, people are moving away and I am taking a break and time is moving on and I want to try a share a little more of myself with my friends and family.

I think about three things on an almost constant basis. Knitting, reading, and gardening. Much of my time, energy, and resources go there. But I also love my family, sewing, crochet, cooking and baking, and making books, and bead crafts. This is the center of my thought but also the source of my strife. You see, I can start any project, any hobby, any time, any where...but will I ever finish? That is the question of the day. Following through and finishing what you start may be normal for some but, when you have the attention span of a gnat- it is rough going sometimes. This is a subject that I have thought about for quite a while and really think doing better here would be a good thing to work on.

To start things out- I dyed yarn yesterday for the first time. It smelled like vinegar and boiled eggs but it was fun and quite the learning experience! I dyed two skeins of washable wool sock yarn. It took most of the day. Right now they are drying on a drying rack and I am hoping I did it right. Meaning that when I make them into socks and put them on, they won't turn my feet odd colors. I used Wilton baking gels and got some very bright colors! When I find my camera, I will put up some picture of them! Next I want to make a sock blank. You take two strands of sock yarn and knit them together into a long rectangle dye with some sort of pattern on it and then when you unravel it and knit it into socks it makes some sort of pattern in the knitted item! I am very excited and can't wait to try it : )

Until next time- see you later!!

Michele