First of all, I want to point out that Jezebel/Fine Lines is talking about The Westing Game. As soon as I saw that, I had to run to the other room to find my copy, and I suspect I'll be re-reading it this weekend. Not only is The Westing Game one of my favorite childhood books, it's one of my favorite books period. And Ellen Raskin wrote a bunch of other good books too, although I think my copies of the other ones are still in Chicago. I'll have to remember to pick them up in June.

In other news, I have been carving more stamps.






I've thought up some ideas to use them, which I'll share once I try them out. But I really like them. They make me smile.

Not Dead!

This has been absolutely fascinating to me lately:


The Wikipedia list of premature obituaries.

I feel sort of ghoulish getting so much pleasure about it, although I suppose the fact that the people weren't actually dead (hence premature obituaries) lessens that. It's just so interesting. Plus, I like knowing things. Especially things that are, for all purposes in my life, rather trivial. Trivial Pursuit is one of my favorite board games, because I'm either winning or learning something. My brain is really, really suited to holding on the most useless crap possible.

Last night we were watching a movie (This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which is an excellent documentary that anyone with an interest in film, censorship, or conspiracies should see), and while we watched I was knitting. I got to the spot on the green sock where the heel should start. And I thought, well this is great, I'll knit this heel up real quick and I can be at an easier part for my knitting group tomorrow. This was stupid. Starting to knit a stretch that's hard to stop in the middle of is not something one should do when bedtime approaches. Also, at least for me, short rows aren't the best idea when I'm tired. That said, for awhile, it was going well. I was more than half way done. And I was rushing, because I wanted to go to bed at a reasonable hour. You see where this is going, don't you. Picking up a tight wrap, a stitch drop. Or something. Honestly, I'm not sure what went wrong. It seemed to be messed up in a way that defied both physics and all sorts of logic. And since I couldn't figure out what I did wrong, I couldn't fix it. So I had to rip out the entire almost finished heel. There was a lot of swearing. Then the stitches I had ripped back wouldn't go back on the needles easily. There was then more swearing, and also crying. Then some stomping around the house, and some throwing the sock down on my work table and slamming the office door. I left it until morning.

This morning, after getting at least a little sleep, I picked up the stitches again. And tonight after dinner, I knit the heel again. This time it worked. I took my time, and it worked. Of course, I'm not entirely sure the foot was long enough after all, but that's an issue I can figure out tomorrow.



I also did some more stamp carving this afternoon. I really like this one. It's the stamp version of the felt and polymer birds I've been making.

Upon reading this entry on iHanna's blog, I realized that it had been a long time since I had carved any stamps. Too long, really. So this afternoon I took a break from my sewing and did some carving. This is one of the stamps I carved.

I can definitely tell I haven't played with the carving tools in awhile, and it's a lot cutesier than I usually work, but I like it. And I like carving again. I need to do this more often.

Yesterday was a lot busier than I expected, but definitely fun. I'm still exhausted from it. Worth it, but still exhausted.

The day started off with dim sum at Empress Pavilion. Even though we had been to Dumpling Master for dinner on Friday night, I was still super excited and happy to start my Sunday with dumplings. Honestly, I could probably eat dumplings pretty much every day. I love them deeply.

The middle of the day was spent introducing a friend to the kitten, and then taking a stroll around Pasadena. Phone calls were made, plans began to materialize, and I was to make dinner for six.
I actually went with the exact same menu I had planned when I thought it was just going to be Charlie and me. The only difference is that I have fewer leftovers.

The menu-
Leg of lamb, marinated in garlic, rosemary, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Roasted in the oven, because we haven't gotten a grill yet.

Potatoes, roasted with the lamb, and then fried up on the stove because they hadn't cooked enough in the roasting pan.

A nice pan sauce from the lamb drippings, drizzled over the lamb and the potatoes.

Eggplant sauteed into something of a stew with onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic.

Wheatberries.

Homemade frozen yogurt.

Bread and apple pudding, flavored with vanilla bean and amaretto.


I think it all went pretty well. I certainly had fun.

Today I've been using the lamb left on the bone, and a bunch of other leftovers from the weekend to make a huge pot of chili. That's the big red pot in the picture. It's becoming something of a tradition in our household that after a big dinner party or holiday meal, I turn the leftover meat into chili. It isn't as fancy as the meals the meat is left from, but I think I look forward to it even more. Partly because I'm a big fan of chili, and love playing around with making different kinds, but also because when you make this big of a pot of anything, you can freeze it and eat for quite awhile.

Hey! Happy Easter!

I just through an impromptu dinner party for six. It was awesome, and I believe fun was had by all. Also lamb. Lamb was had by all.

Before that was a Easter dim sum brunch, which was so awesome it may need to be a new tradition.

All in all, it was a great day, both for food and in general. More details tomorrow, when I am not so tired.

For my mom, who wanted a picture showing how big the cat is.

We've been having a truly lovely day here. Charlie had today off of work, so we were able to spend the morning in our pajamas, reading and playing video games. The afternoon was spent thrifting and book shopping. I believe tonight we are going out for dinner. There's been a lot of playing with the cat and the dog. It's my favorite sort of day.

I'm not always crazy about living in Southern California. Really, if there was more film for Charlie to work in in Chicago I'd want to be back there in a heartbeat. But there are certainly perks of living here.

For instance- today is the first day of spring, and it actually feels like spring. There are little pink flowers starting to bloom on the bush outside my office window. And while I spent $54 filling my car with gas today, at least it was not covered in a thick layer of ice.

Headache. Bad headache, behind my right eye. Not feeling super functional.

On the other hand, sock progress! Yay! This isn't my first time making socks, but these are my first toe-up pair, my first self striping sock yarn, and my first knee socks. It's going quite well on all fronts so far. I adore, ADORE, the colors.

My yarn arrived!

Guess who is making herself some knee socks?!?!?!?
(The color is even better in person- a good deal warmer and grassier, more vivid and alive.)

I am entirely too enamored of the new cat (and our dog, who continues to be fabulous) to get as much work done as I should. But I'm still poking away at things, getting things ready to go. These (very) rough sketches are for sea-monster toys. I'm not sure whether I want to use them for a specific show or auction, or it I just want to make them and put them up in the shop. Probably both, provided they turn out well, as I rather like the idea of sea-monsters.

On an unrelated note, Charlie and I were dining at home with a friend last night, when Charlie glanced out the window and saw a peacock on top of the building across the street. The friend and I didn't turn fast enough to see it, but when we went out on the the patio to look, we saw four peacocks near the top of the tall tree next to the building. I would have taken pictures, but it was too dark out when it happened to get a good shot. At any rate, it was very cool, and extremely bizarre. I had never thought of peacocks going that high up, although when I told my mom about it she said that friends of hers with peacocks will sometimes find them on the roof of the barn. I suspect my peacocks are from the L.A. Arboretum, which isn't far from us, and has peacocks (which roam the grounds there) escape from time to time.

Cat!

We got a new cat!
Meet Bertram, named for Bertie Wooster of Wodehouse fame. He's a year and half old (or so the shelter estimated) and was found as a stray in Glendale. He's outgoing and affectionate, and we already love him to bits.

Peacock

It occurred to me just now that I never showed this little fellow on the blog. He was made for some lovely people in Pennsylvania who have real live peacocks. I'm particularly proud of the tail. It may not be clear from the picture, but it's a crocheted doily with buttons sewn in as the eyes. I couldn't find a pattern that was quite what I had in mind, so I freehanded it and I think it came out quite well.

I'm not doing all that well today. Nothing seriously wrong, I'm just achey, and mysteriously, but none the less massively, sleepy. I'm also grumpy, sullen, and just generally out of sorts.

It's a pity, really, as everything is in fact rather nice around here, and I know I'm being ridiculous. It's gorgeous outside right now, not too warm and not too cold, with sunny skies and gentle breeze. My work is going well. I have a loving family. In particular I have a lovely husband who will be around all weekend for me to have fun with. I have the most awesome dog on earth.

So clearly it should be easy to shake me out of my bad mood, a bad mood I'm in for no good reason. But I can't. I'm just grumpy right now. So I'm going to have a cup of tea, and I'm going to draw lazy pictures in my sketchbook, and I'm going to be nice to myself. And I bet tomorrow I will be feeling awesome again.

Plush!

This is the show that I'm in, the one I was making the birds for. It's at Hello My Name Is Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. I'm super excited about the show, and sad that I won't be able to make it there in person. I actually tried to swing it, but holy crap are plane tickets expensive these days.

Anyhow, check out the show page. There are links to the pages of a lot of the artists. Looking at said pages is in fact what I am off to do right now!

Finished!

And the birds for the show, they are done. No documentation on this guy being made, mainly because I didn't think of it earlier in the process, but also by the time I did think of it I just want to finish and didn't feel like messing around with the camera. Also the light was not so great.

The light was great today, not that you can tell from that shot. My camera and it's ways are mysterious to me, but the end result is that I'm going to have to play with this in Photoshop a bit to get it to look right. Which I probably should have done before posting it, but I wanted to get it up there now.

Anyhow, it's nice to be done with that, other than sending off some info to the gallery, and than mailing them there. I've been mainly taking today to lollygag a bit, going to knitting and then poking at the internet. It's good that today is my lazy day, as I'm feeling a bit off, not physically, but somewhere in my brain. Not sad either, just needing a bit of a break. Which I'm having. Tomorrow though, it will be back to work. I have all manner of sea monsters and cats and more birds and who knows what else to make.

Success!

I fixed him! And I actually think he looks cuter like this than he would have if the legs had worked the way I was hoping the first time. Anyhow, I made a whole flickr set documenting the process of fixing him, so check it out. Marvel at how in a few shots, you can kind of see my bra through my shirt. And for "kind of" read "entirely". It wasn't my intention, and I can assure you it is in no way scandalous or sexy. But I left it in to preserve the veritas of the situation. Or because I'm lazy and don't want to Photoshop it out.

At any rate, give it a look. I'm going to poke at the internet for a few more minutes, and then it's back to work. The little bird's legs won't make themselves.

Fail!

This is what I was doing today. And it really turned out wonderfully, except for one thing. The legs don't support the body. They go all wobbly sideways and the whole thing capsizes. I'm incredibly disheartened. For some reason, I assumed that since the same sort of legs support the little birds, that this style resized to fit the larger bird would support it. Obviously I was wrong. I'm thinking I'll be taking the legs off, repositioning them towards the front, and replacing some of the stuffing in the bottom of the body with weighted doll filler beads. Than it will probably be able to sit nicely enough. It's just very frustrating. Accordingly, I think I'm taking a break for at least a few hours. I'll make dinner and what not, and come back to it with fresh eyes.

On the plus side, look how awesome my patio furniture is. And this photo doesn't even fully convey it's awesomeness. I'm looking forward to later in the week, when I will hopefully have time to spend a few early afternoon hours doodling in that very spot.

Nothing!

Okay, so I meant to take pictures of our new patio furniture, because I am deeply in love with it and want to share it with the world. Sadly, I did not remember to take said pictures, and now it is dark. So for tonight, I was going give you instead a self-portrait and a picture of my dog, both done in Photoshop while waited for Charlie to get home from work on Friday. And they were pretty cool. But Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me post them right now. So I have nothing for you. Nothing. Although I suspect I wouldn't have been able to put up the patio furniture photos either. If they existed. Which they don't.

Come back tomorrow. I'll have some nice art for you.

We finally, finally have patio furniture! We got a nice wooden folding table, and two chairs, with an Ikea gift card. In a few weeks, we're hoping to go back and get at least two more chairs. And in the mean time, we can bring chairs out from the dining room for dinner parties on the patio. I'm super excited. I've been daydreaming about dinners, especially dinner parties, on the patio since before we had one. Tonight it will just be the two of us out there, and perhaps Smee running in and out. But I'm positive our cheeseburgers will taste that much better out in the breeze.

I started flossing today, after a prolonged but unintended hiatus (I, um, forgot). Wow does my mouth hurt. I mean, I'm going to keep it up, because it's health and because long term I like how it feels, and because I know if I keep it up it won't hurt anymore. But short term? Ow. It isn't even so much that it hurts, as that it is sensitive. I am so aware of the teeth and gums right now it's a bit distracting.

Also, I would like to point out that the downside of the pleasant Southern California climate is that it is always construction season. Always. Especially in my neighborhood. It is very loud, and like my mouth pain, rather distracting.

I am currently mulling some wing choices for the current bird in progress. Big wings? Teeny-tiny wings? Standard close to the body wings? Sticking out flappy wings? I'm leaning towards teeny-tiny sticking out flappy wings, but I'm giving myself just a little longer to mull things over.

I'm feeling a little down today, and a lot lonely, but I think that will improve soon. For one thing, I think I will get to have Charlie pretty much all weekend, which will be nicer than last weekend, when he worked both days. I've been craving family time, and it hasn't been in lush supply lately. But I think we're making pretty good use of what time we do have, and I guess that what counts. I'll still be glad, though, to take that Charlie and go hiking Saturday.

It's slow, but it's progress.

I'd probably be further along, but I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't get back to sleep for about two hours. It really isn't that much missed sleep for just one night, but for whatever reason it completely knocked me sideways. I've been so slow all day, and my head has been killing me. Hopefully tonight I'll sleep soundly, and by this time tomorrow I'll be much further along.

Today has been a face making day. Sculpting the faces may be my favorite part of the work I'm doing. No matter what sort of body the face ends up in, the face is the part of the toy that really defines the character to me. Also, I feel calm and confident doing this part more than any other.

Oddly, as much as I love painting, I do not love painting the faces. It's fiddly and a little slow, and I always seem to be getting paint in the wrong places and having to go back and fix it.

In other news, check out the banner I made for the page. Pretty snazzy, huh? Not too shabby!

in progress

upgrading!

Not the blog (although I am working on some banners and what not to make it look a little more spiffy and a little less generic) but my printer. Which has been miss behaving on and off for awhile now, and of late refuses to actually print anything on the paper that it slowly and laboriously pulls through. While I'm not giving up on fixing it quite yet, I am starting to look at new ones. And if I have to get a new one, I"m looking into getting one with a scan/copy function too. It would be a useful thing to have around the home office. Also, it would be an awesome fun toy.

Sadly, I do not have one of these fun toys here today, so I'm going to have to go over to the library and use their copier, as I want to enlarge the patterns for my toys. And possibly reduce them too. I want a variety of sizes in my arsenal, and I want modern science to do the work for me.

Such that the photo-copier counts as modern science. Although I think it does, in the scheme of things.

My work area has become a bit of a mess. But hey! I'm getting work done. Paid work. And isn't my newly acquired pile of wool and wool blend felt lovely?

I'm back. And I'm planning to post every day in March. I found that I did really well with the every day structure in November, and without it I tend to keep putting posting off until it doesn't end up happening. So I'll be here all of March. And really, if it goes well I think I'll try to put up a little something everyday after that, although if I'm not able to get to a computer it isn't something I'm going to stress about.

And there's a lot to celebrate right now. After a very hard week when we lost Rusty, this week actually went quite well. I sold a piece, got into a show, and got inspired for a lot of new directions. It's not the everything is perfect now, but I feel like it's starting to move in the right direction.

I'll share more details on the show (that being the big excitement) soon, but for today it is gray and a little lonely, and I am completely wiped out, so I'm going to go curl up with my dog.

I'll be back soon, I promise. I've been dealing with some pet health issues, which sadly have not gone well. The cat has gone into kidney failure, and we're going to have to put him to sleep tomorrow morning.

A new project!

First off, let's all pretend that I took a better photo of that sketch. Someone (Smee) was "helping", and I got frustrated.

But yes! New project on the horizon, in which I will make several toys, and also display envirnoments, to represent different eco-systems and biomes. That's several toys per system, representing creatures real and imaginary, as well as plants and inanimate fixtures. Then each eco-system will be accompanied by a written piece, meant to be both educational and poetic.

I think this is going to be awesome. It plays to all of my nerdiness, both scientific and artsy. It'll be a long term project, worked on between things people are actually paying me for. I'm hoping that by the time I'm done or close to done, I'll be established enough that someone will give me a show where I can display it all at once.

Food!

It's been a cooking day, among other things. I have a big pot of black beans bubbling on the stove. Some of that pot will be eaten tonight, and the rest will be saved for the big pot of chili I'm making on Friday. I love chili. Love it deeply. I have a lot of different kinds of dried beans in my cupboard, so I'm going to cook up a different one each day, and then at the end of the week a bit of each will go it the chili. It will be magnificent.

I've also made scotch eggs, which I'm waiting to cool enough for me to eat one. I haven't had one since I was a kid, and I didn't like them then. But my tastes have changed, and I suspect I'll love them now. I'm on a major hard-boiled egg kick at the moment, so a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage sounds magnificent. If they have indeed turned out, I'll post my recipe.

They are testing alarms in my building right now, as they have been for the last hour or so. I am gritting my teeth so hard they may snap.

More later.

Wow. I am really sucking at this blogging consistently thing. To make up for my prolonged (and totally inexcusable- I wasn't in outer space or the hospital or anything) absence, here are some commissioned pieces I couldn't share before.






Perhaps I will go back to the blogging every day thing, as that did actually get me going for a little while.

Well! It's been awhile, huh. First I was out of town, and then I was really busy. But at this point, while I'm still busy with a lot of commissions, I'm mainly just procrastinating. Plus it's hard for me to remember to blog when I've gotten out of the habit.

For today, I thought I'd share the various commissions from the end of last year. As they've all been received, I can finally put them out there for other people to look at.

Sadly, that isn't happening today, as Blogger is being a turd. Maybe tomorrow?

I'm leaving for a week in Chicago tomorrow morning, and I'm starting to get antsy. This may be in part because I'm taking the cat and the dog to the vet in about 45 minutes, and I'm going to miss them. Also I hate juggling both of them at once. Also I think it's about to rain, which makes driving in LA super fun, because when it rains a whole lot of people here forget how to drive.

I'm also all anxious and antsy because I don't really enjoy traveling. I mean, I'll like the being there, but I hate the airport and the airplane. Which I suppose no one is super crazy about. For me it isn't a fear issue, it's a being trapped in a crowded place with very little control of the situation issue.

I'll be fine though. I'm taking deep breathes, and reminding myself that all of this packing/dropping off/traveling part will be over soon, and then I will be in Chicago with family and it will all be worth it.

Papercut in progress

Inspired by this, this, and this, along with making some paper snowflakes by hand out of coffee filters (a much beloved activity), I've started doing some paper cutting again.



It's still in progress, but I think it looks pretty good for a half hour's worth of work.

Butter is softening on the counter for the cookies I'm baking for Charlie's work party tomorrow. There is something about baking cookies for a party I'm not going to that makes me feel very grown up. Realizing that, on the other hand, makes me feel like I'm twelve, so it evens out.

Baking will be good. I haven't baked in a long time, and I really ought to. The kitchen in this apartment is pleasant. I have a stand mixer, which generally makes things like cookies come together very quickly. Plus it's December, and even in Pasadena it's chilly enough that having the oven on is pleasant.

It will also be good because the art is currently not working. Luckily, it worked long enough for me to finish the commission piece, but now that I'm working up new stuff, it is not. Things have gone wrong that defy basic concepts of geometry. It's very, very frustrating. I finally have a piece going alright, but it required enough odd little saves that I know the pattern I made for it won't be worth reusing.

It's worth it, the experimenting and taking risks with my work, but when it does fail it is a bit disheartening.

Edited to add: The cat's doing alright. I'm not certain about how he'll be long term, but for right now he seems to be improving.

Hi! I've been working on another commission piece, which has left me busy and without a lot to share. And now my cat is having some health issues, so I'm dealing with that. So posting may be sparse for just a bit longer. Please don't abandon me. I promise I'll come back soon.

I've commemorated my poor fallen toy as necklace. It turned out well, and was easier to make than I thought it would be. I may need to make some of these for the shop.


In the meantime though, I have many faces painted and ready for bodies!

This is what I spent my day on. Thirteen standard size faces, one very big face, one very small face, and one pendant. This was taken pre-baking. Now they're baked and cooled on my worktable (a whole side story for another time, but hey! we bought a dining room table Saturday, expressly so that I could have my worktable and set up my office.), but alas the picture I took of their current state is somewhat crappy.

The next step will be painting them which will be tomorrow or Thursday. It takes a few hours, which puts tonight out, since Charlie should actually be out at a reasonable hour. We haven't decided yet if we're staying in or going out, but either way I want to spend time with him. Since I also want to keep painting until I'm through once I do start, it'll have to wait.

I'm glad to have so many done. In a way, sculpting the faces is my favorite part, but it is time consuming. But it's worth it not to have to stop sewing when I'm on a roll just because I'm out of finished faces.

Plus I'm excited about these in general right now. I'm full to the brim with ideas and enthusiasm.

Shop Update!

Hey! There is an update at ye olde etsy shoppee! You should go look at it! And buy things! We will all have fun in this endeavor, I promise.

In other news, my back hurts for no apparent reason, and it's making me feel like hunkering down with a cup of tea and the television. Which I think I am going to do presently.

Anyhow, I'm hoping to do another update later this week. So keep checking back.

Also, I will try to be more exciting right here tomorrow, content wise! So come back for that too!

One step back. . .

I selfishly wanted to go to the bathroom without the dog's company yesterday morning. And when I did so, I stupidly left the door to my office open.

Thus this:



Became this:



It was up high, hanging on the switch of a broken pole lamp I need to bulk trash. I think he climbed up on the also broken desk chair, leaned over, and pulled it down to the floor to eat it.

Luckily, he is very cute:



That incident, combined with my having a fever and sleeping through most of yesterday afternoon, and being busy with household stuff most of today, means tomorrows shop update will be a little smaller than hoped. But! I'm going to do a few more small updates throughout the week, and possibly into the next week as well, outside work permitting. I considered pushing it really hard tonight, but I decided that I would be more likely to put out quality products if I got them done at a slower pace and did small updates more often. It's what works for me.

Apparently, I'm just a genius in general.

I saw this out the kitchen window a few minutes ago and ran out into the backyard in a panic. The house was on fire! Except that it was coming from the dryer vent. So the dryer was on fire! Until I stepped into the cloud of "smoke" and it smelled sweet and clean, like detergent, and not burnt at all.

Yes, that is a cloud of dryer steam. Apparently living in a constantly warm, dry climate for a year or so is enough to remove the memory of what dryer steam looks like coming out of a vent.

Hey! It's the last day of NaBloPoMo. And I've really enjoyed it. I won't say that I've written anything particularly profound or even all that interesting this month, but I have gotten into the habit of writing everyday. As that was the goal I was hoping to accomplish with all this, I'm satisfied.

I doubt I will keep up posting on the blog everyday after this (for one thing, starting next week it is non-stop activity until March), but I'm thinking I'm going to try for every weekday. I think the regular schedule will keep me going, but at the same time the lack of pressure will mean that I can focus on writing things that are worth reading. That is the goal for December- improving the quality of the writing, now that I've got quantity down. I used to be a pretty good writer, and I'm hoping to get that back.

I was going to take pictures of the new pieces that I've done so far for the update and share them, but it's raining. And I won't complain, because holy fuck have I missed rain. It's so cozy and peaceful feeling. (I say this as someone working from home today. If I had to go out somewhere, I might feel differently.) Plus, it's been such a dry year that every bit of moisture helps.

Also, there's a lot of eucolyptus, bay, and dill growing in my neighborhood, and the rain really brings out their fragrance. It's smells like a fancy spa around here.

As for today's plans, I was hoping to make more faces for the toys, as I have run out. Alas, I fear instead I will be folding laundry. Five loads of it. I'm serious. Someone (Charlie) changes his clothes several times a day, and someone else (me) has not been keeping up with the laundry the way she was meaning to. Also I need to vacuum, do dishes, and tidy up at least in the living room and dining room in case the people we're going to dinner with decide to come back to our place afterwards. When you combine all of that with the fact that making faces and heads, and then painting them, tends to take at least a few hours, and makes a mess of it's own, and you get that it is probably not happening.


Luckily, I have some heads still, so maybe late afternoon I can do some sewing with those.

I am a calender reading genius! Monday is December 3, not December 2 as I had been previously convinced.

So shop update is Monday, December 3, 2007.

More from me later today.

Rusty

I've been working most of today toward the shop update (come look! Buy things! If you buy things, maybe one day I can get a dining room table and move my work table into my studio!) sewing mostly, plus organizing things I've made in the past to sell and then didn't. Right now though, I am take a semi-forced break. Because Rusty is sitting on my lap.

I've talked here many times about how our cat, Rusty, has some issues. He had a hard life before he came to live with us. We talk a lot, especially the past week or so, about how far he's come, emotionally and physically. But he still has a long way to go. He's no longer dangerously thin, but he could probably still put on some weight for his health. He no longer hides behind large appliances and furniture, but he's still always a bit on edge.

So the fact that he is right now sitting on my lap is wonderful. Usually, if he decides to sit on my lap when I'm working, it's more a figure of speech. He actually usually stands on my lap, happy, but ready to leap if there's a hint of a threat. When he decides to sit with Charlie when he's at the computer, Charlie has to perch towards the back half of the seat while Rusty perches in front of him.

But right now, Rusty is fully settled into my lap. Resting. He's awake, but he's looking up at me instead of scanning the room. He isn't purring yet, but it feels like he may soon.

So even though I have work to get done, and I have to pee something awful, I'm going to keep sitting here awhile longer. And it will be very, very worth it.

Toy/Ornament! And Shop Update coming!

I really love how this little guy turned out! He's my prototype, and will also be a gift for my mom. But I enjoyed making him so much, and thought the result was so good, that I'm going to make more of him. Not him specifically, but this shape and with the appliques. I'm going to do a bunch of designs.

That leads me to my announcement, which is that I hope to have an update of my Etsy store on Monday, December 2. There will be more of these guys, which can serve as Christmas ornaments, everyday decorations, or if you cut the ribbon off, a fun little doll. If there's time, I'm also hoping to get some of the other things I make in there, like the more conventional dolls. If it goes well, I'll try to have another update the following Monday.

I'll put reminders up here again, but come Monday, please go check it out!

(And yes, I know there isn't anything in there right this second. But please check back after the update! I promise, it will be full of the awesome.)

Sewing!

Hey! I am sewing again! Huzzah! A new toy should be up for all to see tomorrow (it's a fast one).

One of the odd things I'm noticing with the whole posting every day for a month thing is that I can no longer remember if I have posted yet in a given day. I literally had to check just now.

It's been an interesting experiment. In general I think it's been good for me. I didn't try to hard to say something amazingly interesting every day, as long as I said something. And it was good. I mean, in the future I suspect I will post often, but not every day. But the result of this is that I have gotten into the habit of much more regular posting, and for me that's half the battle. I definitely function on habit.

That said, currently I'm tired and not likely to be all that interesting. I got a bookbinding book last night, and was compelled today to walk to Dick Blick and Paper Source to buy bookbinding supplies. That's a trip of about four miles round trip. Then I lugged two big bags of books back to the library. All in all, it's not a huge amount of walking, but it's enough to wear on me.

Hey! It's my first wedding anniversary. We're having a great day, one actually much like yesterday. It's been mostly reading, playing old video games, drinking coffee, and poking around bookstores. In a minute I'm going to give Charlie a haircut, and then we're heading out to dinner. We're going to La Luna Negra, which is the same restaurant we went to the day we got engaged. It'll be an early meal, and then home to watch Simpsons and relax.

We're very happy.

We're having the kind of day I love today. Slept until about 8:15, and spent the first half hour or so after waking playing with the dog and my husband. We puttered around for a little bit, and then went off to Dona Rosa for breakfast. Charlie had a pumpkin emanada and coffee, and I had a small bowl of pozole and an horchata. From there we went and stocked up on eggs and produce and the farmer's market. The sky is so clear where we are today. The farmer's market is deeper into the foothills than our house, and when we were there we could see so much detail in the mountains. It's a beautiful, beautiful day.

When we got back I started a pot of turkey chili going on the stove, and then left Charlie to read his book and play with the dog while I ran errands. I got sensible things at Target (silicone spatula, measuring spoons to replace my ever disappearing measuring spoons, winter boots for visiting Chicago). At Vrommanns Bookstore, I got Charlie his anniversary gift, the first two volumes of the complete Tintin.

On the way home some kids doing a scavenger hunt drew my picture.

Then I was home, and I gave Charlie his presents even though our anniversary isn't until tomorrow. We ate turkey chili, and it was the best turkey chili that ever was.

That was a nice holiday! I was worried it would be sad because we weren't able to get back to Chicago and be with our families, but it was fun. The only part that was bad was when Smee (the dog) destroyed the circular needle I've been using because I failed to pay attention to him for five minutes. Luckily, I had an identical one, and was able to transfer the project to that with no trouble. So it all turned out well.

Our first wedding anniversary is this coming Sunday, and we were talking about all we've been through in our first year of marriage. Getting trapped and almost dying in a snowstorm, living in a really bad neighborhood, losing jobs, scrounging for money, having health scares, and so on. But we don't think about those things much. We're in a wonderful, safe neighborhood now. We got a new cat this year, Rusty. Charlie has a great job, and I'm plugging away at my art. We're good. We're together.

I think we're going to make it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're having a lazy little day here. We decided to stay in Pasadena for the holiday this year, since we're going to Chicago for Christmas. And we've ended up without any guests. So we're taking advantage of this by staying in our pajamas, drinking coffee, and watching the parade. I intend to watch the dog show too. We'll eat our dinner when we get around to it, probably in the evening. There will be a conference call/video chat with Charlie's family this afternoon. It's going to be good.

For the curious, the menu I'm going for is-

Sauteed mushrooms. These are the mushrooms I get at the farmer's market, which are so much better than any mushrooms I've ever had it's amazing. I'd probably be happy just eating a mountain of these.

Pumpkin soup. I love pumpkin soup, and I make a good one. It's cheap, it's easy, it's nutritious, and it's incredibly tasty.

Turkey breasts. I believe they're boneless. I'll probably pan-fry them. Honestly, I was intending on roasting a bigger bone-in breast, but this what I found. It should be tasty. Honestly though, turkey has always been the least interesting part of Thanksgiving dinner to me. I'll be more excited about it when I'm incorporating what's left into soup tomorrow.

Cranberry apple orange sauce. With local apples and oranges. But only cranberry juice, no berries, because I forgot them and wasn't willing to brave the store again. It is 100% cranberry juice though, so that should count for something. I'm making it up as I go along, but I think it will be good.

And pecan pie. Because I love pecan pie, and it's dead easy to make.

Writing this out, I'm realizing that this is a hell of a lot of food for two people. That just means that I won't have to cook much the rest of the weekend. We'll eat leftovers. Hooray!!

Squares!

I am all about squares today! I was knitting a potholder at my knitting group today (Christmas present for my brother) and loving it. So easy and relaxing. Then I was asked to contribute a square or two to an afghans for wildfire victims project. Which inspired me to also want to start a queen-sized bed blanket for Charlie and me. Joan was heading to Michaels afterwards, so I rode with her and got yarn for a hat for my brother, the squares for the fire victims, and some to start of my bed blanket.

I'm excited. This will be nice to work on when I'm to tired to work on other things, and will be good travel knitting. This will probably accompany to Chicago and back. It should be good for on the plane, and also nice in that I can work on it while being social with relatives.

Which is not to say I'm abandoning my other projects. I'm hoping to cast on my second Hedera on Friday, and I'm already planning to get yarn for more socks. Plus I want to start a sweater for Charlie. And a million other things. Not to mention all of the non-yarn related projects, the paintings and the toys and the writing. But today, I am excited about squares.

Why, why, why did I think it was a good idea to go to the grocery store on the week of Thanksgiving? I mean, I had to, what with running out of olive oil and all, but holy shit it was crowded. It wasn't actually an unpleasant experience; people were behaving politely and the staff was incredibly efficent. I just get sort of freaked out by crowds.

In semi-related news, Trader Joe's Greek Style Fig Yogurt is the best fruit yogurt ever. It's thick and lovely, it isn't particularly sweet, and the fruit is figs! I love figs! And as it turns out, figs go super well with yogurt.

In totally unrelated news, I'm having tons of fun playing with my sketchbook, doing something of an art journal with it. It's very fulfilling.

I got up at three this morning, to see my siblings to the shuttle that would take them to the airport, as they gone back to Chicago. I said my farewells (and not too sadly, as I will see them again in a month's time for Christmas) and then went to join Charlie and Smee back in bed. Charlie and Smee had been waiting out front for the shuttle with us, but Smee lost in when at a newspaper delivery truck that had it's parking blinkers on. I know, the horrors. The lights, they were blinking at him. Since barking in the wee hours of the morning was not polite dog behavior, and since Charlie had a long work day ahead of him, they headed in first.

Anyhow, I did get back to sleep, but I'm a bit out of it now. I sleep so lightly that I tend to always be a bit tired. Today I get to be extra. But there isn't anything that needs to be done that is such an immediate need that it's today specific. I'm allowing myself a bit of a loaf around the house, drinking tea and such.

I do need to take a shower and pick up some books I have on hold at the library. It'll have to wait a bit though, as Rusty has settled on my lap. He used to sit on my lap all of the time when I was on the computer, but for a month or so he hadn't. I'd missed it. So even though I've done all of the online stuff I needed to do, I'm going to keep sitting here and poking around. Because I have a little orange cat on my lap, and I'm going to savor it.

Family fun is being had! It's so great to have my siblings here. I haven't gotten much work done in the past few days, but I don't see that as a problem.

This morning we're just hanging out. Sausages have been eaten, and Evil Dead 2 is being watched. It's very cozy, and exactly what I need. Plus Smee is so excited that he can barely contain himself. He's going to crash so hard tomorrow.

I'm trying again with the plants

My sister bought us new plants at the farmer's market. She assures me that these ones are much easier to tend than the ones I killed this summer. Plus the guy we got them from gave me an instruction sheet.

Also, we named them, the idea being that names will make me feel guilty if I neglect them. On the left we have Charlie's plant, Mario Plant, and on the right we have my plant, Tubby Bumpkin. I'm digging them already. They're very cute. I really hope I can keep these ones alive.

The Siblings!

I'm so excited! My sister and brother should be arriving here in a few hours. I even checked their flight status online, and the plane is running early. They're in the air right now, coming towards me. This will be awesome.

Because of a variety of reasons (my freeway driving panic, the fact that their flight gets in during rush hour, the fact that we no longer live super close to LAX) they're getting a shuttle to my house from the airport. Which is kind of nice, as I can putter around here and be all showered and lovely when they get here. Although I am kind of missing picking people up at the airport. Being there waiting, and seeing them right when they emerge from the terminals is fun. But battling morning traffic on freeways that would terrify me to drive on in the best conditions isn't worth it, especially when we live some where with a reasonably priced shuttle option.

Anyhow, I should continue the getting ready.

Hopefully I'll have some good photos of us all soon.

Hedera: Sock One- Complete!!

Excuse the crappiness of the photo (it's night time, which is not condusive to good picture taking, especially if you aren't a particularly good photographer in the first place. ) but I had to share right away. Hedera: Sock One is done! It's looking awesome! The only thing I would do differently next time (well, not the very next time, as I want the other sock in this pair to match) is that I would do the ribbing at the top a needle size smaller. This isn't a fault of the pattern issue though, it is just that I rib much, much looser than I do anything else. I thought it being a smaller starting stitch count than I usually do would make up for that, but you know what? I rib really, really loose. A well. It's still awesome, and it seems to be staying up alright, which is the important thing.

Next: on to sock two!

Cat Pee Jamboree

Step one of cleaning up the house for my siblings arriving tomorrow is complete! And since it is by far the most foul step, the initial clean-up and mopping of the guest bathroom, also known as the room where the cat pees, I felt I deserved a short break.

God was that gag inducing. It isn't that the cat doesn't pee in his box, it's that he also pees on other parts of the bathroom floor. Since this is the only part of the house he pees in, and he does it even when his box is clean, I suspect this is mainly just him being stupid. Especially as he is a stupid cat in general. This time around, there was a giant pool of rancid urine under his box. I ended up dumping a bunch of baking soda on it before I tried to get it up of the floor. This worked well, as it masked at least a little of the odor, and it absorbed enough of the liquid to make it easier to get up. It was really, really gross though.

I'm poking around at the internet, trying to find solution. I'm kind of tempted to try Feliway, but it's awfully pricey for something I'm not sure will actually work. Beyond my not being clear on whether the science is sound, there's the fact that I'm not sure if this is a Rusty's stupid problem or a Rusty's neurotic problem. I'm thinking it would help with neurotic, but not so much with stupid. The internets should try and convince me one way or the other. If anyone out there has tried this, please comment. Let me know your thoughts. Meanwhile, if Petco has it when I'm running errands later, I may just get it. It could be like giving myself the early Christmas present of less cat pee.

Ah well. Back to more cleaning. Ick.

Ugh.

Whew. Today was knitting. Generally, I walk the two miles or so to knitting, and then walk it back again. On the way back this time, I kept going past my house and went another mile or so to Borders (for magazines!), the supermarket (for shampoo! and conditioner! and mopping soap!), and then to Peet's (for coffee beans!). And then I walked the mile or so back again, carrying all of my purchases, and my knitting stuff.

This is something I've done in the past many times to no ill effect, but today it really wiped me out. I'm not sure why. It may be the heat (it was 87 farenheit, which is a whole other issue as it is mid-November, and what the hell Southern California, come on) but I've done longer walks in hotter weather. It maybe the weight of what I carried, as all of those liquid things really add up in weight. It could also be that I didn't sleep well last night, and I haven't eaten lunch yet.

In any case, I'm wiped out. I should be mopping Rusty's disgusting bathroom (again!) but I'm thinking that may wait until tomorrow.

Nap

I just woke up from the most lovely nap. I hadn't even realized that I was so tired, but I lied down for a minute and ended up just sleeping. It helped that my room was full of warm, wonderful sunshine, I was all cozy and warm under the blankets, and I had the dog curled up under the covers next to me, also asleep. Really, I only got up because I had to pee. Otherwise I think I'd still be dozing in the sunshine with my puppy. It's good I'm up, I have things to get done. But it was certainly nice to have that little moment.

Somehow, I had failed to realize that today was Veteran's Day until I turned on the news this morning. I think I may have thought it happened back near Labor Day. I may have, in fact, gotten it confused with Labor Day. Holidays like this are for what ever reason difficult for me to remember.

I'm basically pro-Veteran's Day, what with my grandpa being a vet, and my generally being in favor of days honoring people who do very difficult, scary things that I have trouble even contemplating. That said, I wish this did not mean the library was closed. I really would like some new books.

In other news, we went and saw No Country For Old Men last night. I'm glad I've seen it, but I don't plan on seeing it again anytime soon. It was really good, but it was also kind of too much for me. Very brutal.

Professor Rusty

I should probably find more productive things to do with my time, but damn if this wasn't a lot of fun.

Actually, this may be a costume for Rusty in one of our upcoming video projects. The sweater is from back when Smee was a puppy (is it odd that I saved his puppy sweaters?). The glasses are a black pipe cleaner.

The cat was oddly willing to go along with this.

Vacuum!

Today's big excitement is that we got a new vacuum! And I genuinely mean that. We have carpet in this apartment, and Charlie has the asthma. Our old vacuum was one that Charlie and his old roommates bought for five dollars at a garage sale. Even at five bucks, it was perhaps over priced. It was sort of like vacuuming with the sofa. It weighed about as much, was about as manuverable, and picked up about as much dirt as you would expect to get sucked up by pushing the couch around the floor.

Our new vacuum is this one. It's the number one pick from Consumer Reports. Also, it was on sale, one hundred dollars off. A friend has one and says its great. I'll report back once I've actually tried it, but I think this vacuum may actually suck things off my floor.

Oh, and being this excited about a vacuum does make me feel old, thank you.

Always learning.

I learned some things this morning! For instance, according to the smoke alarm in our bedroom, steam from my shower is now the same thing as smoke. Also, said smoke alarm does not have the "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" sound characteristic of most smoke alarms. Our smoke alarm instead makes a noise more like "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR". Only much, much louder. It is sort of like if you took an old-timey alarm clock and made it very angry, and then amplified it and shoved it in my ceiling. It is a death from above, the ceiling is trying to kill me sort of noise.


For all that this noise is far more likely to get you up and out of bed than the standard beep, it does not say "fire alarm". Thus I jumped out of the shower, water still running, and ran around the bedroom dripping water and yelling about what the hell was going on and what that horrible sound was. Luckily, Charlie has today off, and while I threw clothes on to be safe, he was all having his glasses on able to determine that the horrible noise was the smoke alarm and that the building was not on fire.

And everything is fine now. The smoke alarm stopped by itself (which is good, as we can't reach it even on a stool and would have had to whack it down with a broom). Once we calmed down, we realized that we live around the corner from the firehouse, so if the building was on fire we would know by now.

Also, I've learned that the likelyhood of my ever sleeping through the smoke alarm is basically nill.

It's a little chilly, and quite gray around here today. I'm mostly enjoying this, as I like wearing sweaters, and I've always felt the sun in Southern California is particularly brutal. That said, I think I'd be enjoying my tea and blanket weather a bit more if the lamp in my office wasn't such a piece of crap.

Going into this, you have to realize that my apartment is set up so that there is some good degree of overhang shading all of my windows. Normally, in sunny Pasadena this is a lovely thing. The apartment is by no means dark, but it stays a comfortable temperature in the summer heat, and the light isn't glaring. However, this means that on those rare gray and gloomy days, it is dark in here.

The other thing you should know is that this lamp has always been broken, or at least it's been broken the entire time we've had it. That's how we got it, actually. One of Charlie's coworkers was clearing out her office awhile back, and this lamp was going to be thrown away otherwise. At the time, we had no money, and lived in a different apartment, one with crappy lighting, and so a free lamp wasn't going to be turned down just because it had major structural issues. Plus, by chance, it matched the other, non-broken lamp that was already in our living room.

But back to the issue at hand. The lamps are split up in our new apartment, with the working, non-frightening lamps living one in the living room, one in the bedroom. The crappy one is in my office. And lately, it has started listing. It looks like a thin tree in a strong wind. This strikes me as a precarious situation at best, so I don't really want to use it. I'm afraid the dog or I will bump it and it will fall over and something horrible will happen. What that horrible thing that would happen when a floor lamp fell over I couldn't say, but I'm dreading it none the less. So I'm sitting here in the gloom, and feeling a bit put out.

I guess what I'm saying is, I need to buy a new lamp.

Hedera love

I am loving Hedera. Absolutely loving it. It's fun to work on, and the lace looks much trickier than it is. I'm very fond of things that turn out in such a way that I look talented and hard working without having put in much effort.

I'm also loving my Knitpicks Gloss (the color is called Pumpkin!). It's the second time I've used it, and it's all lovely and soft and with a subtle luster to it. It is a little splity, but nothing I can't handle.

On something dear to me.

Yesterday, I thought I had lost a dear friend. And by lost, I mean misplaced, though possibly permanently, and by dear friend I mean my red plastic knitting counter.

The sentiment is there though. I went to pull it out of my bag, and it wasn't there. It wasn't on the table. It wasn't anywhere.

I started to panic. Had it been placed somewhere completely nonsensical and hidden while we were cleaning the apartment this weekend, so that it wouldn't surface for months? Even worse, had it fallen from my bag when I paid for coffee on Sunday afternoon? Would I have to get a new counter?!?!?!?

As much as it made me feel ridiculous, I did not want a new counter. I liked that counter. It was red and jolly, and it kept track of rows and rounds in a way my distractable brain cannot. It was my little knitting buddy. I know I shouldn't form such strong sentimental attachments to inanimate objects, especially since with me this takes the form of strong anthropomorphizing. (I frequently apologize to the apples not chosen to go in my bag at the market.) But it is who I am. I am a person who thinks of the plastic clicking thing that counts her knitting rows as a friend. It's stupid, but it does no one harm but me. And I wanted my little red plastic buddy back. Also, I was starting lace repeats and making notes on paper to keep track slows me down.

Anyhow, I was starting to get extremely sentimental about those little things that we don't realize are so important to us until it's too late, when I found the counter shoved deep in my sofa.

I'm glad you're back, little friend.

Pipe Cleaner!!!!!

OH! When I was getting supplies for the various upcoming projects, I also got pipe cleaners. Which may get used in the making of some of the projects, but even if they don't, pipe cleaners! In many colors! Variety pack! Yay!

They will join the giant box of popsicle sticks in the pantheon of dorkily awesome craft supplies in my office.

Now that the green sweater is done, I thought I'd talk about some new projects I'm working on, or am about to start.



Like this little fellow. This is the sketch for a toy I'm about to start. His face is made, I got the last of the supplies I'll need this afternoon (I hope, anyhow), so it's good to go. The finished toy will be a bit different than seen here, particularly in that I'm tweaking some colors a bit.

On the knitting front, I'm going to start working on the Hedera socks. I'm also hoping to start some nice green knee socks soon, but that will have to wait since I haven't even bought the yarn for them yet.

I'm also starting a hat. A mixed media hat, one that I've been dreaming of making for years. For now that's all I'll say about it. I think it will be better to show it off when it's a little further along.

Also, there will be painting. There are even some paintings that have been started that need to be finished.

And dioramas featuring toys I've made, which will than be photographed and made into postcards.

Also, this swift, for the winding of yarn. Because I'm cheap, and don't want to spend forty bucks minimum for something like that. Although that maybe a job I pass of to someone like my dad, or my uncle, or my sister. Someone with more tools. Because it will cease to be the cheap way if I need to buy lots of tools. Also, even though I know I've done more complicated woodworking projects than this, my eyes just shift out of focus everytime I try to read those directions.

Anyhow, busy times ahead! I'm feeling very vital and ready to create!