Latest goings-on

In the background: a blanket I completed for a friend's wedding this weekend. Well, it's more of a throw, perfect to sling over the back of the couch or put over your lap on a chilly evening. The yarn is a thick chenille, using up about 6 skeins of my out-of-control stash. And no, you're not seeing things--the bands of color are indeed of varying widths, according to the pattern. More or less. I did add one more repeat, which does throw off the proportions a bit, but eh. It's a perfectly serviceable blanket, and the chenille makes it drape so nicely--it feels like a real, substantial blanket on your lap.

In the foreground: a cup of herbal acai berry tea. I love drinking red tea in a clear mug--it's like sipping liquid rubies or something.

Also in the foreground: the latest installment of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. That's a signed copy too, I'll have you know; I waited two hours in line for that. Ahem. Anyway, I've said repeatedly that it's a rare series that gets better as it goes, and Dresden Files is rare indeed. The stakes go up a little more each book, and in this one, hoo boy, did they. The pressure begins on page one and is unrelenting. "Changes" is an apt title--by the time the dust has more or less cleared, readers are left wondering where the series can and will go next. Some of the curveballs I saw coming, but others were gut-wrenching. I almost want to go back and re-read the previous 11 books to see what things I missed. Sigh. So many books, so little time.

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Now playing: Hot Water Music - Paper Thin
via FoxyTunes

Delight!

I mentioned in my last post that I was expecting another package in the mail; it came a couple days ago. What was in it? Wanna find out? Of course you do.

Look at it, so mysterious and rectangular and brown and... boxy. Let's open it, hmm?

Gizmos and gadgetry! A newfangled device to enable synchronous communication at the touch of a few buttons!

Shinnnnnnnny.... Dunno why I held out so long, but this... this completes me in an intangible way. It feels so right in my hand, and I now have a whole world of information at my very fingers.

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Now playing: The Gaslight Anthem - Where Art Thou, Elvis?
via FoxyTunes

Goodies!

I got a package in the mail today. Excitement! Joy! Anticipation! I'm expecting another one in the mail tomorrow likely, but today's was pretty awesome too. I sent off a package the other day for a swap via Ravelry, and today I had a box waiting for me when I got home.

See? A box! Isn't this exciting? Wonder what's in it... Let's find out.

Hmm... looks like yarn and some mysterious bundles. This warrants further investigation, no?

Inventory: Two skeins of Araucania hand-dyed cotton yarn from Chile; super-silky-soft eyelash yarn in shades of green, blue, tan, and brown; a hand-sewn drawstring pouch for small projects, stuffed with some orange plastic bags for crafty purposes; a size J bamboo crochet hook; a bag of organic coffee from Honduras; a bag of raspberry black tea; a bag of black tea with currants.

I can't vouch for the other beverages yet, but the currant tea is quite lovely.

In other news, no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Just had nothin' to write about, or more accurately, nothin' I felt like sharing ;). I'll try not to abandon ye olde blog like that again.

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Now playing: Jawbreaker - First Step
via FoxyTunes

Bloody 'ell... make it stop already

The snow gods need appeasement, apparently. Blood sacrifice it is then....

Directions

It's a good idea when you go to an unfamiliar place to pay attention to the signs around you so that you don't get lost. Especially if you're 500 years back in time.

The flowers may be dying...

...but the determined hippy can still find the makings of a bouquet.

Peaceful

Grainy image quality aside, I assure you this mini waterfall was quite lovely in person. I forget how peaceful the sound of running water can be. Also from the botanical garden visit.

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Now playing: Muse - Sing for Absolution
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A bouquet for your Monday

From this weekend's jaunt to the botanical garden I'd driven by for five years without ever having stopped by. Suffice it to say, I shall go back.

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Now playing: Live - The Beauty of Gray
via FoxyTunes

Frilly

I've tossed practicality to the wind if only for one crochet project: I made a doily.


Now it's back to more practical things. Still, it was an interesting experience and not a painful one as I half expected it to be.

My latest creative venture

A friend recently asked me about making some crocheted things for her kids. For her daughter, she thought a purse would go over well. I asked for color or style preferences; good thing I did, because like most girls, her style had shifted from my last knowledge. Pink is out, and bright colors and bohemian flair are in. I took it from there.

Bohemian made me think hippie. What might be hippie-ish? Hmm, how about something green or eco friendly. A plarn purse might be good. I used the Recycled Mini Shoulder Bag pattern over at My Recycled Bags. But most plarn is dull, and these bags were a boring white. Still needed work for that "bright colors" bit, so I had a skein of rough, scratchy, irritating Red Heart acrylic yarn that I got for a steal at a garage sale. Bingo, and it used up some of my stash yarn when I worked it along with the plastic bag yarn. For the flap of the purse, I also used yarn that was already on hand, a bit of eyelash novelty yarn that I picked up for no better reason than that it was on clearance, and it was very shiny. It now had a project. The last touch, the button, was also from my existing stash.

Here's the finished product:
I hope she likes it; I had fun making it.

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Now playing: Flyleaf - Sorrow
via FoxyTunes

Sunburst or end of days?

Your call.

Bookmark *this*

So I have a couple potentially dangerous pastimes*: haunting thrift stores and crocheting. The two go surprisingly well together; namely, the former is a cheap way of gathering supplies for the latter.

One trip was quite successful: a bag of colorful cotton threads. Didn't quite have a plan for them, but hey, that'd come later. A bargain is a bargain. It turns out I had just the right pattern on hand to use the thread. I'll definitely be experimenting with more color combinations.

Here's what I have thus far:

Numero uno

Numero dos
I'm thinking the next will be a tri-color one--inside to outside, pink, orange, and yellow. So many possibilities. Hmm...

* - Hey, dangerous is a completely subjective term, OK?

Keeping busy

With a family member in the hospital this weekend, I've had a lot of time on my hands. Some of that time was spent grading papers, some was spent reading (including--within the span of a day--starting and finishing a book I'd been intending to read), and some was spent crocheting.

I made a couple of bookmarks from crochetroo's Fan Bookmark pattern, which was easy to master and had beautiful results with my rainbow thread, which practically patterned itself:

I'm definitely going to try this one in other colors, too. I made one for myself, and a second just to keep busy. Now I need to find someone to foist a bookmark upon :).

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Now playing: Chuck Ragan - Geraldine
via FoxyTunes

A question for the blogosphere

Any clue what this tree is? I've seen it in a couple local parks, but I haven't been able to track down what it is by more conventional (a.k.a. Google) means... So I turn to the collective wisdom of the blogosphere. Any clues?

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Now playing: Death Cab for Cutie - Stable Song
via FoxyTunes

Ladybug, ladybug...

It was a gorgeous afternoon, and I couldn't bear the thought of just staying indoors when I got off work. Off to the park I went, then, camera in one hand, trash bag in the other.

Here's one of the things I captured with the former:

Cop-out

If I were to wait to blog until I have something worth saying, I might as well pack up this blog and call it quits.

So here's a picture of a tree.

Its bark is certainly worse than its... you know.

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Now playing: Austin Lucas - Bruiser
via FoxyTunes

Nifty

I was poking around on Flickr today, when I stumbled across a section called The Commons, which brings together photos from all sorts of archives.

So far, my favorite is this one from 1900:

The story behind it is thus:

This city letter carrier posed for a humorous photograph with a young boy in his mailbag. After parcel post service was introduced in 1913, at least two children were sent by the service. With stamps attached to their clothing, the children rode with railway and city carriers to their destination. The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail after hearing of those examples.

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Now playing: Rumbleseat - restless (hidden)
via FoxyTunes

Industrious hooking

Spring break's here, and I'm headed off for a visit with a friend. I put off making the arrangements for a few weeks, then found a decent deal for a four-day getaway. I'll be crashing with said friend, and I wanted to make her something as a token of gratitude for the hospitality.

See?

And closer. I hope you can see a bit of the cerulean in the center portion:

Start to finish, it took one week. Yes, I work best with deadlines :).

Also, if the pattern looks mildly familiar, well, you've seen it before.

Multimedia Friday: Artsy fartsy

So I was messing around with pictures of my crocheted projects, trying to salvage some overexposed shots to get my things up for sale on etsy. I saved some with some tinkering. Others...? We-ellll...

Know how they say that if is ain't broke, don't fix it? What about when it's broke? What do you do? Isn't that license to screw it up further? Please tell me yes, 'cause that's what I did.

I present a crochet project turned abstract art.

The splashes of blue convinced me that this had potential. Is it frameworthy? Eh. Probably not. It sure was fun, though.

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Now playing: Rocky Votolato - Makers
via FoxyTunes

Out to play

After some very brisk cold weather, we had a nice warm day today. I relished the opportunity to go out to the park and enjoy a walk. At the perimeter was a memorial to a local girl who'd been slain several years ago; near the memorial, someone had placed two ornaments in an evergreen tree. If you look closely, very closely, the dark blob reflected in the silver is me.

As I wandered further down the path, I heard rustling under some leaves and dried grass. Rodent-like rustling, I fancied, though I never found out because the critter didn't show itself even after a good five minutes of silent waiting. So be it. I moved on. Shortly down the trail, I found the first of two things I snagged and brought back with me--a stick, just the right size for walking with. It was a perfect fit in the palm of my hand, bearing just enough weight to keep my troublesome right knee from protesting too loudly at the inclines and declines of the trail.

One thing I love about the walking trail is the trees. I'm a self-proclaimed tree hugger, but even I'd give this one its space:

Wicked looking thing, innit?

I thought about snagging some spikes from the tree but decided against it ultimately. I wouldn't want to carry it around, see. No, I would be better served carrying back a piece of glass. Much safer. I presume it came from a decorative window pane; it's red, with some texturing in it. I think it will be beautiful once it's washed and I figure out something crafty to do with it.

All in all, I had my hands full--a walking stick in one hand (I've a blister to prove it) and a partial pane of glass in the other. The sun was just beginning to set as I finished the thirty-minute ramble, and the day's warm temperatures were beginning to chill, and not just in the random pockets of cold air I kept walking in and out of at the beginning of the hike. The only thing that would have made it more lovely would be if my camera's battery hadn't died before I could snag a shot of a gorgeous molten sunset. Ah well. There will be other times, other walks, other sunsets.