Ladies and gentlemen, may I present.....

Bakul!




This is what I've been wrapped up in for the last week or so. She was an entirely seat-of-the-pants affair, and I can hardly believe myself how much fun she was to assemble. It was all trial and error (or should that be smoke and mirrors?), and I am pretty darn pleased with the way she turned out.

I got to work on my embroidery skills a bit, and really got into the needle felting. I can see lots of possibilities for more fun in that arena!















There are a couple of other photos of her on my Flickr site, but I think these, taken late last night on my back patio, really show her off in the most flattering way. If the Hindi baby-name website I found is to be believed, her name means "sweet-smelling flower". Nice.
(Blogger's spell-check suggested I meant to name her "Bagel".)

Here is a "before" shot:

A lovely find at Goodwill, snagged at their "half-price-Saturdays" sales. I didn't really know what it was destined for, but when I pulled it out of the washer, I stuck my hand into one of the shoulders, and there she was. Larissa's "recycle-along" came at just the right time for me!





There is other news to tell, but methinks to leave you wanting more, so just know that next time, I'll tell you about flowers, chocolate, a birdie who's returned, and a new long-legged lady who has happily joined our family!

I hereby decree this weekend to be underway--go thou and enjoyest!

Ten Things with "R"

The delightful Ms. Martina meme'd this one a while ago, and she was kind enough to send me a letter with which to play. I received "R". Here then, are ten things of significance to or about me brought to you by the letter "R".

1. R is the first letter of my former-married name, a name I loved having, but gave back when requested to do so. I am very happy with my maiden name; so much so, in fact, that I kept it, even when I re-married. My dear husband assured me he did not mind. His last name also begins with "R"!

2. Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus: I tried out for their Clown College three times after high school. The said no, no, and no--their loss.

3. Reading: might as well write breathing.

4. Recycle: I am ridiculously proud of the fact that we recycle easily twice what we throw away, but I wish we could do more. And of course, I love recycling for craft goodies, too. My little solenoid robot came out of our electric lawnmower, and his hat is a champagne cork wire. (Photo to be inserted later as Blogger is being snippy as I haven't leapt aboard the beta bandwagon. Harrumph.)

5. R is also the first letter of my sister's name. She decided quite some time ago (for reasons never well-explained) that she did not want to be part of our family any longer. I miss her terribly.

6. Redheads: I've always wanted to be one, but at least I'm lucky enough to have married one and have two-brothers-in-law and the planet's finest mother-in-law who are.

7. Ripple: No, not the wine, the Grateful Dead tune. I'm a Deadhead, something I shared with my brother-in-law Tim, and still find joy in to this day.

8. Roam: Dad was in the military, and we traveled extensively. I'm happy to have a home with roots, but still love to travel anywhere and everywhere. Just wish I had more time to do so.

9. Rain: Something we get too little of and really revel in when we get it here in the desert. The monsoons are truly wonderful when we get them.

10. Raptors: The first birds I really fell for. They led me to others, and now I'm hooked. I love birding, from peering up at the light poles on the freeway as I drive to work to poking around far away places like ancient cities outside of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Thanks, Martina! If anyone wants a letter, let me know!

I'm in-between knitting projects, and I'm trying really hard to get a project done for Larissa's Recycle-Along. It's a something made from a felted sweater (or three), and joining the "-Along" is just the impetus I was hoping for.

My softball team lost last night. Now we have a break for two weeks, but it gives me time to strengthen my arm and hit the batting cages a few times before the next match. I'm still really having a blast playing, and I hope to keep improving!

Enough for now. Hope everyone's well.

Look Ma, I'm posting!

My mom gave me a great book for Christmas. It has a simple feather-and-fan pattern for a blanket for The Linus Project. I looked at that pattern and loved the fact that it only had 3 rows to repeat, and two of them were uber-simple(One was knit and the other purl).

"Aha!" thought I, "I bet I could pare that way down and make a nice scarf out of it!". My knitter's brain wrapped itself around the (fairly simple) concept of counting out the first row (which contained the knit-overs and knit-togethers)and thus determined the number of stitches to cast on. Knitting is improving my math (Hear that, Dad?).

That is how the scarf in the last post came to be. Prior to that, I was working on Branching Out with the same fabulous bamboo yarn, and I actually was warming to the pattern. So much so that I took a look at it and said, "Hmm. This is wonderful yarn and a gorgeous pattern, but it seems to me to be gilding the lily." Methinks that the yarn and pattern were striving against each other, elbowing each other, poking and screeching for attention like two 5-year-olds in the backseat on a long car trip ("Mom, she's on my side of the seat!" "Mom, he's TOUCHING me!", etc..), and so I frogged it. Here's where we were when the realization struck.













Here's another one for the Nose-gallery. (There really is one in my Flickr set, if you're interested.) (Crazy dawg.)


Not much else to report at this juncture. Have fun watching the big game, if you are so inclined. We'll be rooting for Da Bears, iffen you're interested.

Feast of St Brigid's

Poking around this evening, I found some interesting words to enjoy at Della's and thought I'd like to join in.

(Please note that this is quoted as written, but the photos are my additions)
















Polutours

They polute
they make the air
smell and look
like deth of mother
nature's wonderland
cars
they do all that,
you think
yes cars do

--by MER
2/1/07



With that in mind, here are a few options I came up with as alternative transportation.







































I love you MER. You have such clear vision, and I hope you hold on to that as you grow. XXXOOO

Febyouairy

Well, my little Sanyo Xacti came home from it's Panama Canal adventure brimming with shots of exotic locales and some pretty amazing gale-force seas! Will speak with the taker of said-photos about posting a few on here as vicarious virtual-adventure for all 6 of us who read the blog.

My dear redhead has been toiling away on tax-preparation and year-end business tidying and he was good enough to hit the grocery today. (We spoke on the phone at the peak of my afternoon hysteria at the workplace That Shall Not Be Named, and I think he knew he was not going to be dealing with a cheerful wife this evening) He brought home this darling little thing.....









Told you I have a thing for redheads!






I finished the scarf I was working on for my sweet 93-year old gal pal. Made the mistake of gifting it to her on a day when she got some not-so-great news about her eye, so I'm not sure if either:

A. She isn't wild about it, or
B. She realizes that I made it, or
C. She was just overwhelmed with the eye-situation.

Anyhow, it's the first lace I've made, and I liked the feather-and-fan pattern as it was an easy repeater. The bamboo yarn is really lovely, and I still have 2 skeins left for me! I think I should've blocked it a little more aggressively, but I didn't want it to be too wide. Next time I want a skinny scarf, I'd just do a single repeat and block it wider.

The photo's not so hot, but it shows the nice colors, and hey, it's knitting! Look, a knitting photo on my (supposed) knitting blog!





It's been cool and rainy here. Mmmmmmmmmm. That'll be gone too soon.



Softball season started up last weekend, and we won our first game 16-7. Feels good to be playing again. Hoping for a repeat of that 10-pound weight loss I had last season! My coach says I just sweated it off worrying that the ball was coming my way. Ok, works for me!

Looking forward to doing some yard work this weekend. There's a sage leaning over in the back yard, and I think there's actually a spot it'll be happier out front, so we'll arrange a transplant. Hope to get out and do a little birding, too, as a balm for my very-frazzled soul. Let's hope that the full moon tomorrow has already poured it's sum-total of crazy on us--I don't think I can take any more!

Happy weekend, all.

Hi, hello, How are you?

Here's the news:

I'm working on Branching Out, with the beautiful variegated blue/green/brown soy silk yarn that Mindy gifted me in the birthday swap last summer. I'm getting used to the pattern, but thinking it may be better in a solid color. Also have started a small feather-and-fan scarf for a very dear 93-year-old friend of mine in the same yarn, and it's looking REALLY nice.

It's really cold here! All the overly-warm temps back east seem to be what we should have, but I'm not complaining. I just went out and covered some of the plants as it's to get to freezing tonight. Hopefully we get a bit of snow up north and we can take a short trip up to play.

Work is unchanged--chaos on roller skates with the hair on fire. Nothing new.

Della is hope from hospital! Yay!

Marion and I took Spot to the park earlier and I was terribly pleased with how angry she got at the sight of the litter strewn round by sloppy soccer-families. The park is a big irrigation area (read sunken a bit below street level--common in AZ) and on the weekends during the day, there are always 6 or 7 pee-wee football or soccer games going on. We happened to be replenishing the "dog-poo-bag" station with our grocery store plastic bags, and when Marion spied all the rubbish, she was infuriated and stomped around, growling, "I'm TOTALLY cleaning this up!" And we did.

I had to buy smaller jeans. Thanks Goodwill! (And the wool sweaters for felting were a steal, too!)

In-laws are still in possession of the camera and are cruising their way back to San Diego. They went through the Panama Canal a day or two ago.

My folks are getting closer to living closer--they have a hold on a cottage in a nearby retirement complex and are planning to be moving in very soon! Cool!

And I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hope your weekend is going as well as mine has.

I AM the Java Jive...

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Feliz Ano Nuevo (with bonus weirdness)!

On this New Year's Eve, I give you a post rife with variety. Photos which must hold you, dear readers, for the next few weeks as my camera is going on a cruise with some other Dear Readers (details to follow), holiday tales (grab an eggnog or something stronger), and a meme--I'VE BEEN TAGGED! I'VE BEEN TAGGED!





Here is the most beautiful tree we've ever had. (This phrase is repeated each year by the Murphy family regarding each tree, whether it looks like the darling little one in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or not.) (But this one is really fabulous.)












And what to my wondering eyes should appear in the mailbox but a brown cardboard box (sans the tiny reindeer). It Came From Paris (but it's not a monster flick). It's the loveliest box of le swag from my Pincushion Swap-giver, Valerie! I have a tres charmant Tour Eiffel pincushion, some darling little frogs, and tasty biscuits and chocolate! (Both of which have undergone strenuous taste testing and received approval from the Homeland Snack Security Council--namely the hubbo and girl-chick). I'm actually working on learning French, and so visiting Valerie's blog is delightful and a bit brain-twisting--go take a peek, she makes really creative stuff.









Do you see what I see? YES, it IS Navajo Churro Wool! Last year, I heard that one of the local Farmer's Markets in Phoenix would be visited by ladies spinning and selling this gorgeous stuff. We didn't get to it then, but earlier this year, we went and found the market. The ladies weren't there then, but my dearies snuck off one Saturday morning this month and met up with those spinners spinning! The grey is goat, the black is lamb, and Seth tells me that the woman who spun them knows the names of the animals from which came the fleece. Sweet! The luxurious goldeny one was dyed with wild carrot and the color is out-of-this-world. I just sat with them cuddled in my lap for the remainder of Christmas morning after opening the package. Thank you, my sweethearts!

Here's an interesting gift from my dear Della: Six Weird Things

THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

I like weird.

1. I'm perfectly happy to tell anyone and everyone my age. 44! (And I'm stealing a bit of Della's list in that I, too, think my grey hair is cool. I've earned it!)

2. I unashamedly adore my in-laws. (They're getting temporary custody of my wee digital camera for their cruise thru the Panama Canal, and I'd gladly do anything for either of them.)(And the other-in-laws? The brothers- and sister-in-laws? Just as top-notch.) (I'm lucky.)

3. I love opera, but have never attended one. Perhaps in 2007...

4. At work, I can keep many balls aloft and wear five different hats and prioritize and keep calm in the midst of chaos. At home, I'm a slob and a sloth. Really.

5. Sandwiches must be made so that you can get a bit of each ingredient in every bite. If they aren't constructed properly, demolition and re-building will commence at once.

6. I drive with my toes instead of using my whole foot.

And with this tagging, I say ditto to Della's proviso that you should only play if you want to. (But come and play! It's fun!)

I tag:

KT
Emily
Mindy
Kathy
Bec
Debra
Martina

Ok, so I chose 7. It's in honor of 2007, and I LIKE odd numbers! So sue me!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Just popped in for a minute...

Here's our tree, pre-decor, but with the added bonus of a little pixie peeking out from beneath...

Did your tree have one of these?
































And here's my hat, taken from Lemony Lemonade (who is on blogging hiatus)(*sob*)
by way of a slight change from SouleMama's pattern. If you're interested, comment and
I'll link you up. I made one of these for a co-worker's wedding earlier this year and
fell hard for the pattern. Recognize the yarn, Della?



















Happy Christmas again!

Happy Christmas!

Here's a little gift for you, just in time for the big day........

http://www.elfyourself.com/

courtesy of my uber-fun sister-out-law.

Going to sign off now until after Monday. I'm not getting as much time off as anticipated afterwards, so I must go and make merry now!

Thanks to all of my friends out there for your comments and inspiration and your many kindnesses. Wishing us all peace and health and happiness and lots of knitting and crafting joy in the coming years. Talk to you soon!

Good to be back

To welcome back those of you who still pop in, I present the latest

"Wacky Springer Spaniel with stuff on nose" photos.

Spot really is a treasure. He's got a funny sense of humor, and if I could
hang around the house all day with my camera, my Flickr set of Stuff on Spot's
nose would be enormous. Unfortunately, he's very camera-shy, and
usually either rolls over so his snoot is not visible or licks off whatever
has come to rest there.

Anyhow, here are a couple of fun snaps:

































And I TRULY love this one.














Many posts back, you saw the early stages of my Pincushion Challenge
project. Here is it completed! Monique collects lovely china, which gave me
the idea, and I figured that you should have biscuit if you're having tea, so
I added the little needlebook. They arrived safe and sound (if a bit tardy)
to her home in the Netherlands. Go take a peek at her blog! She's a crafty one!











I have decided to ditch the part-time work. I've been doing transcription from my office, and it doesn't really take that long, but it cuts into my crafting/relaxing in the evening time, so I'll stop after the holidays. Turns out it didn't really earn me all that much extra loot, and it became something I dreaded in the evening, so there you are.

We're all sharing a cold--swapping symptoms on an almost daily basis. Fortunately we're almost ready for Christmas. My mom was kind enough to give me her sewing machine, and I've been noodling about with it today. I have a few plans for some craft items which may or may not be ready for Christmas, but that's ok.

I sent off my 2 Caps to the Capital, I sent off 4 hats to Rabbitch, and I'm making a hat for me! More details as it progresses. I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays in whatever way pleases you most. Be well and have fun!

Why yes, you MAY have my autograph!

Ok, soozs, I'm with you! Maybe we can be the next Brittany & Paris of bloggerland!

(heh-heh)

Knit unto others

After reading about Knit Unto Others, I decided that since I was already doing what they suggested, I'd sign up! Dulaan got me going last year, and I had done Red Scarf, too (and plan to do so again), and KnitYoga got a couple of hats for her very good cause. The items that fall into the time category (Nov 18-Dec2)that I have completed are here below:




Hats for Vancouver via Rabbitch!




Cap for the Capital

Planning at least another baby cap or two and hoping to start my Red Scarf Project this week.

Any spare yarn? Got a few minutes? Cast on for someone who could use a warm, wooly hug! C'mon, all knitters are sweethearts...you know you want to join in!

Belated Thanksgiving photos

Yam with lemon tree. Yam destined for greater things, namely to be boiled, then peeled, sliced, and fried with butter and brown sugar.








The star of the show. A Red Bourbon turkey, raised humanely and eaten happily. Note the huge cheese skulking behind the chair? My in-law's kitchen is papered with a London billboard extolling the virtues of Edam. I love these people.












Grandma's stuffing. Tradition calls for everyone to taste as it's mixed, and then complain that there isn't enough sherry in it yet, and then add a tot more. Who am I to question tradition?









The table, set and mostly ready for dinner. Note M and her fab Auntie K--they are inseperable when beneath the same roof. We actually had to leave Marion at my in-law's overnight as the two of them collapsed in the living room after dessert.












This was NOT done on Thanksgiving, but was in fact rigged this afternoon. For some perverse reason, I am ridiculously smug that ours is the first house on the block with lights up. I love coming home from work in the evening to Christmas lights.

Here's hoping that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving in whatever way it was spent.

Uno

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

No.
Explanations.

1. Yourself: goofy
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): tenderhearted
3. Your hair: messy
4. Your mother: literate
5. Your Father: jolly
6. Your Favorite Item: words
7. Your dream last night: forgettable
8. Your Favorite drink: beer
9. Your Dream Car: classic
10. The room you are in: jumbled
11. Your Ex: deceased
12. Your fear: hate
13. What you want to be in 10 years? me
14. Who you hung out with last night? Marion
15. What You're Not? tidy
16. Muffins: pumpkin
17. One of Your Wish List Items: travel
18. Time: meandering
19. The Last Thing You Did: surfed
20. What You Are Wearing: pajamas
21. Your Favorite Weather: overcast
22. Your Favorite Book: yes
23. The Last Thing You Ate: carnitas
24. Your Life: diverse
25. Your Mood: cheerful
26. Your best friend: huggable
27. What are you thinking about right now? snacking
28. Your car: geriatric
29. What are you doing at the moment? typing
30. Your summer: incendiary
31. Your relationship status: harmonious
32. What is on your TV? penguin
33. What is the weather like? fresh
34. When is the last time you laughed? earlier

(stolen from Rabbitch--thank you! Hats are being knitted!)

My other favorite dog

Have you met this chap?
We just love visiting with him and his mates.

You can even go play with them here.
(You may need to click the "skip intro"
button in the lower left corner to get it
going...)

Random Sunday Ramblings

I guess I need to go back to smaller photos or to try again to tackle the camera's menu of how much memory to use per photo. I love our little digital, it's a Sanyo Xacti, but we got it on the E-bay, on the cheap, and I'm having a little trouble with the instruction book, which has amusing illustrations but is written predominantly in Japanese.......

Here's my November calendar page for Deb. I've really enjoyed this one all year--it's called "Bon Apetit" and features illustrations from French food adverts from the 1900's. Will likely keep this one around apres nouveax annee.
































Here's himself with freshly trimmed ears and heaven knows what on his nose. I really do love this guy.




















WIP--Pincushion Challenge Swap



















She manned the nutcracker with minimal assistance and got this pecan out unscathed!



















Pecans in the myrtlewood bowl




















It was an interesting day. Seth had a job, so M and I hit the park and played catch, then came home and sat on the patio and sketched our versions of the backyard. I started Spot's fall grooming--Santa, if you're listening, a short-haired doggie next time?--and will progress to the wash and shave-down in the next day or two.

It felt funny not to have a softball game tonight! And I mentioned to Seth that this was the first Sunday in months that I did not look at the clock and think, "Cripes! It's already (fill-in-the-hour) o'clock!" I don't know if the first fact influenced the second, but it was a good day. Got lots of household stuff done and fun stuff and a little more of the part-time stuff as well.

Here's hoping everyone has a good week. As my friend and neighbor, Fred Rogers, says,

"Wish you well!"

Have I mentioned how much I love leaves?

Seeds and their respective pods often run a close second.

Especially when they look so good on the leaf plate which was a
gift from dear folk in ol' Virginny. Thanks again, B&L!

These say "Arizona Fall" to me. Calm in color when compared to
the riotous fall hues elewhere, but very rich.
























Here are two glimpses of recent finished (and sent forth) objects: one and two. Still working on the Pincushion Challenge Swap--should be working on that on the morrow.

Happy rest of the weekend!

Black Sox Win! Black Sox Win! Black Sox Win!

We played a double-header this evening and won the season championship! I made the final run to win the early game and put us into the final with the one undefeated team in our league.

And we pounded them handily, 15-4.

Yeah, I'm smug. And sore. We had some great plays and terrific catches, a slew of literally-over-the-fence homers, and a coach with a very happy smile at the end of the evening.

Time to hit the showers and plan for next season.

That's all tonight, just a happy little note.