Filed under: Blogging, Blogroll, Crafts, Crochet, Design, Finished Projects, Hundred Flower Scarf, Knitting, Life, Ongoing Projects, Ripple Blanket, Thoughts, Writing
there are no graphic signs enough for my slack-jawed expression right now!!!
a long time ago i submitted this here blog to
Crochet Carnival
and guess what?!?!?
my blog is there!!!!!!!!!!
blop on over and check it!!
which reminds me, i have some photos for you of wips and finished projects. i took them with my sil1’s camera when she was in town for G’s birthday last week. unfortunately, she forgot the cable, so i have to wait a couple of weeks till she gets home (she is spending this week with her parents) for her to send them through snail mail (there were too many photos for email)…
so, in a while u will have some new pics of my ripple… it’s going, slowly with my buzybee schedule, but going nontheless…
so, i leave you with a pic of g’s new crocs, brought straight from china by my mom, who got back yesterday… too bad i forgot to ask for a pair of mine!!
I also finished sil1’s hundred flower scarf! yipee!! pics as soon as she sends them…
I was reading applehead’s back posts (I’ve been going through my google reader a little at a time – there are over 400 posts from my 2 month absence) and found both this great blog called beautiful things (blop on over) and a great quote by it’s writer
“One of the things I love about knitting is how you can create these amazing, three dimensional objects out of a single linear thread, in essence, a line. And all this through variations on a single stitch – a loop looped through a loop. And in one tug you can basically unravel the whole thing. A line doesn’t take up three dimensional space. It’s like making something out of nothing. It seems like such an optimistic process, creative in the literal sense, and so elemental. Perhaps that is why it is so healing and restorative a process. Words, for example, seem like much more of a social construct in comparison.”
beautiful things, May 3rd 2007
I think that is the best definition for the why of knitting, crocheting, etc…
It sums up the spirit of the process beautifully…
I’m in… though unlike Lady Caboodle, I’m limiting it to three, coz money is tight around these parts.
Don’t know what i’m talking about? haven’t been blopping lately?
oh well, i’ll tell you then:
PAY IT FORWARD. The first three people that leave a comment and pledge to pay it forward to three others on their blog will receive a handmade gift from me within one year (July 13, 2008) of this posting. I will read your blog and get the essence of who you are to come up with an idea. It may be knitted or quilted or embroidered or……
I got it through Lady Caboodle, who got it from Daily Stitches who got it from…
Oh well, it’s a blog thing.
So, leave me a comment and i’ll send you a goodie 
Filed under: Crafts, Crochet, Current Status, Design, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, Hundred Flower Scarf, Life, Ongoing Projects, Ripple Blanket, Sewing, Thoughts, Writing
I know I have been scarce in the blogosphere, and other places, but these last months have been, well, hell.
First, Hubby was finishing his Masters Program, for which he had a scholarship, that basically kept food in our table while I got better from my burnout + looked for a job + decided whether or not to return to college. Well, he finished his Masters, with honors. And so went his scholarship. And 60% of our monthly income.
Now, we were prepared for that, really. But when we made our plans, we didn’t count on my unemployed self still being unemployed, and our computer, which for many times saved our collective behinds with heaven-sent odd translating and formatting jobs, decided it wanted a vacation, which meant sending it to tech support, which made our savings last for about a month. Yeah. Things were dire in the preeety household.
Then we all got sick together as winter came into play. I decided I had to go back to school, or things would be bad permanently, so I started the whole “back to college” process, and away went my pride, since I had to seek financial aid – from my mother! Not a good thing I tell you.
In a moment of desperation, I fled to the streets with a desperate face and a pile of résumés under my arms, and proceeded to stop at every printing service, ad agencies and such, begging for a job. I even tried some English schools for teaching positions (not my thing), but nothing came to my aid.
As I walked past a house, I chance to look at its walls and what do I see: a sign offering typing services! In I went, and now it’s been a month and $600 and I am employed, enrolled and applying for scholarships!
I tell ya, if things got any worse, I’d be dead by now. It’s not all a bed of roses (or daisies, daffodils, and assorted) but things are improving. In a weeks time, G will be celebrating his birthday with classmates, the whole assorted family will be here for the party, as we celebrate 3 years of a better world because he is in it. That is one great kid I made!
About that not being a bed of roses comment, Hubby is still looking for a job, and apparently it’s going to be tough, since he is in crossway of sorts, career wise.
Now, for the worse of all: remember I mentioned the computer brakedown? Well, it went to tech support, and came back not himself. How come I used to be able to run Photoshop, Corel and Firefox, plus Messenger and iTunes at once, and after my baby came from its vacation, I could barely run Photoshop on its own? I pondered over this for 2 months, till one day the answer came to me: the tech guy, hear this, EXCHANGED MY PENTIUM 4 3.0 FOR A CELERON 3.12!!!!!!! I kid you not!! And the shop has removed itself from any responsibility for the occurrence!
Of course, we’re taking the appropriate measures, but it takes time. And to top it of, our mother-board has short-circuited, so I am now computerless. And there is no money for a new board and new processor, so…
Meanwhile, I can only read all the blogs I follow, and post, at work, and that doesn’t happen everyday, so I’m taking a (forced) leave of absence, with occasional visitation rights. Oh well.
Now, for the crafting, it’s going… With the new job, I don’t have much time left, and now that I’m going back to school for a B.A. in Design (insert huge grin here) the time will be even less, but I managed another Santa Hat, am halfway through a cardi for G, one for my sis-in-law, and finished a scarf for Hubby (autumn colors, perfect for a redhead!), and am going strong on the ripples. I even bought some great fabric for cushions, and will be (having made) a sofa cover, finally! And it’ll come off really cheap too, since I got a cheap child-safe fabric, meaning if it gets ruined by 3 yo hands, it won’t hurt as much! And I’ll even try my hand at sewing the Hundred Flower Scarf together (finally) and the inside of the Granny Bag. So that’s all folks!
I’ll try to get some photos done, and show you guys.
And to explain the title of this post, I am awed and amazed that, even though I haven’t posted in so long, there are still some hits and comments on this blog. Thank you so much!
Now I have to go back to work. I can’t believe it took me 2 hours to write this (I had to stop constantly; apparently people do get out in freezing cold weather on a Saturday; based on previous Saturdays, I couldn’t tell). Bye ya’ll.
Filed under: Crafts
Today I got my package from Anne containing my piece of linen to contribute to The Mother’s Day Project. As I didn’t have anything pressing to do, being home taking care of a sick child (he’s alright, just some recurring bronchitis) I spent my afternoon doing that. It wasn’t my best job ever, but since I haven’t done ay embroidery in almost 10 years, I’m okay with the result.
The strange thing is, I was able to do it without a problem. The name printed in the small piece of cloth was just another drawing, waiting to be filled. Just now I sat by my computer, emailed Anne about the arrival, and it’s future departure from my hands, and, out of curiosity, after checking the project’s blog, decided to Google my name. And the shoe dropped.
Lori Ann Piestewa was a member of the Hopi tribe from Arizona. There are so many things wrong with just that sentence. I am partly descendent from indians, which is disturbing as a coincidence, but not only that, Lori died at 23. This woman was being shot to death at 23. I am worried about paying my next semester’s tuition and being an okay mother at 23. It’s not something I can explain, but the feeling I got when I first read these two facts was not a good one.
She was the first woman killed in the war. And a POW.
The irony is that, coming from a long military tradition within her family, she only joined the army to provide a secure income for her two children. I just hope these children are being taken care of financially by the government. There is no way they can have their mother back, but they shouldn’t want for anything on top of that loss.
Another irony: they got lost. Her convoy got lost in the desert. And trapped. She made a split second decision which saved many people. But she died. She was assigned to a maintenance convoy.
And to go one more:
Only
twenty-three years old, Piestewa saw herself as a Hopi warrior, part of a
centuries-old tradition developed by a people who once resisted an invasion and
occupation by the U.S. military – much as the Iraqis are today. She went to
war, but she believed above all in peace, in doing no harm to others. “I’m
not trying to be a hero,” she told a friend just before the invasion.
“I just want to get through this crap and go home.”
Lori is deemed a war hero. There are roads and peaks and games named after her. She was decorated and promoted posthumously. Ty Pennington built her family a home. After that, she was all but forgotten.
The universe has a wicked sense of humour.
And I’m glad to be alive.
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Filed under: Crafts
- Crocheted Drawstring Bag
- Hook Case
- Basket #1
- Basket #2
- Basket #3
- Basket #4
- Basket #5
- Hook Caddy
- Flower Necklace #1
- Flower Necklace #2
- Scarf #1 Russet Chenille
- Scarf #2 Green
- Scarf #3 Brown
- Scarf #4 Hundred Flowers
- Scarf #5 White
- Scarf #6 White
- Granny #1
- Granny #2
- Granny #3
- Granny #4
- Granny Square Bag
- Yarn Holder
- Abstract ATC set
- Newbie ATC set
- Ripple Blanket
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Filed under: Blogging, Crafts, Crochet, Knitting, Life, Opinion, Paper, Quilting, Sewing, Thoughts
Well, if you read this and don’t know my stand on war yet, it’s pretty simple:
IT’S THE DUMBEST THING EVER!
Now, I’ll not get carried away and dissertate on the subject. I will tell you about a project I entered recently. Threading Water started recently The Mother’s Day Project, and I’ll let her tell you about it. I did do this button:
And I’ll explain. I was googling flower symbolism, because I wanted a flower in my button, and discovered that in the UK red poppies are placed in graves of soldiers felled in combat. It seemed fitting. The colours are warm, to try and minimize the coldness of war, if that makes sense. There’s a skein of thread and a needle, since it is basically a stitching project. And the tecnique is the one I’ve been using for a while, of digital collage.
So, take the button and the join the project. War is never good. Especially when children are in charge.
Filed under: Blogging, Crafts, Crochet, Finished Projects, Granny Square Bag, Life, Ongoing Projects, Opinion, Sewing, Thoughts, Writing
well, following crafty pants!, i’m on the bandwagon. and for this very special ocasion, i’m including a new page to the blog. so, if you wanna keep up with it, just follow the link upstairs…
i now seat myself in my comfy chair, listening to the rolling stones as hubby makes some burgers sizzle on the skillet, and feeling little monster’s weight on my thigh – i want my lap!, he says – and his hands on my face, playing with his mommy’s nose waiting for her to quit reading those silly blogs and play the pirate game with him, accompanied by some eye scrubbing – so adorable. he got up early to go to school today, so he’s pretty wiped out by now. sigh.
had a bad case of insomnia today, which led me to a bones marathon, preceded by october road’s season finale and grey’s somewhat drab latest episode (is it just me, or is it grey’s is slumpin’?) followed by gilmore girls, with some hefty lor-luke action. finally!!!
all of that to say i passed out around 1 pm and slept through most of the day, managing to do nothing of my last few hours. i hate it when that happens… i used to go days at a time without sleep a few months ago, so just over 30 hours isn’t much for me, but… i still don’t like it.
i was in a really bad shape till a few months ago, for about a year and a half. in a way, crafting helped a lot, and so did blogging. i was never a very popular person, seeing as i prefer books and art supplies over people pretty much all the time, but spending this long confined home was ever worse. and i was a pretty active person before that, so when i spent nearly a year doing nothing more then reading cheap paperbacks – that was the only thing i could get myself to do that didn’t include house work (and very little of it, mind you) – i really cracked. and i missed creating.
after i quit art school, i didn’t want to come near any sort of art supply. this new year’s we spent at my in-laws. hubby’s mom was crocheting a rug, and it got me itching, so i ended up at a craft shop buying heaps of cotton thread to make a couch throw (which i’m still working on – i hate cotton thread, as it turns out), and some fabric for a crochet bag, which has now turned into lining for the granny bag. i did put those aside for about a month, seeing as how i’m deathly scared of sewing, as perceived by the mess i made of the fabric, and how much i hate cotton thread because it makes my arms go to mush. i don’t know how i came upon some craft blogs, and ended up with a lot of acrylic and acrylic-mix yarn in my hands, making great things for my up-till-then-comatose-ego. and created my very own blog, which has kept me in the right path…
so, thanks to you all. really. i don’t know where i’d be if it weren’t for you guys out there, and it’s a scary thought.
off to feed my little monster now.
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Filed under: Crafts
yess indeedy, ma’am!
i finish my knit head-warming-thingie for my cousin, and my uncle proceeded to forget it here, so maybe i’ll get to show you this weekend. today was hubby’s birthday, and i did the unthinkable and forgot!! not that i forgot it was his birthday, mind you. i just forgot to assemble the date and whatever…
my ripples go great, am at 40% (yey) but need more yarn, which will be difficult considering the monetary strains this household currently finds itself suffering… oh well… will have to contend myself with knitting another (larger) head-warmer-thingie for my sister in law (the original recipient to the one that ended up being too small). also picked up a magazine with a sort of cable man’s sweater am hoping to knit for hubby, in lieu of my forgetfulness… who says you can’t buy your man?
can’t sleep, neither can little monster, who keeps waking up during the night. i think it’s because of allergies, quite common in this house during fall/spring. i had to give up and get a shot yesterday, i just couldn’t take it anymore. but am fearful of giving him one, since they are kinda painful – my arm is still sore, nearly 48 hs later.
i had a little bones marathon earlier, so nothing david boreanaz can’t cure… sigh……..
i am also enjoying playing yohoho’s puzzle pirate, which is really fun… i am a petty officer with the navy already, and on my way to success…
also read the return of rafe mackcade by nora roberts yesterday. don’t know why i put it off for so long…
the funny thing is, after you read most of her books, you can sorta see where they meet, not as in the characters from one series to the next, but the way they are created, like an idea that was explored earlier, and she just wasn’t satisfied with it and revisits it later, and puff, it works… i like that, seeing how an artist’s work evolves. sorta like seeing van gogh’s and monet’s and so many other’s work grow… and maybe toulosse-lautrec and jane avril, how she’s never the same, but you can always recognize her…
oh well, off to do some pillagin” mate. arr!!
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Filed under: ATCs, Art, Blogging, Crafts, Crochet, Knitting, Opinion, Photography, Ripple Blanket, Writing
though i might have led some to believe it…
i just took a break from blogging, cause i was really tired of my posts, them being so dull i bored myself to tears rereading them.
the reason i started blogging was so i’d lose my irrational fear of writing in the first place. it’s strange, because i have all these monologues in my head, and they make a lot of sense, and they are good stuff, but when it comes time to materialize them, through word or verse (yikes!) they don’t come out right. i was told once that the best way to learn to write is to read, but i do that a whole lot, and i mean a whole lot, and still i’m hopeless…
why is that i wonder?
so, as i took this blogging brake, i accomplished many things. and now for a list of them:
- i did a lot of work on my ripple blanket. i’m half way through it! hubby loves it too, and thinks it’ll be a great addition to our room. of course he hopes i will bring myself to making the bed every morning, in the need to show off my craftiness. then again, he also hopes i will somehow become immensely rich and support him for life so he doesn’t have to work and can do his research all day (he just got his masters degree on philosophy of education, something about aesthetic education and some guy named schiller who lived in the 17th century – or is it 18th – and habermas and some other people – did i mention he graduated in philosophy? – and i actually understand his work, i just don’t have the heart to bore you to tears, but i’m real proud of you hon!). back to the ripples, they were going strong, and i got a lot done in a week, but my arm started giving me grief, so i laid off of it for a while. but it’s going great! i think i’ll get back to it in a few days.
- i’ve taken up knitting seriously. seriously. my arms were in bad shape, but i couldn’t just sit iddle, and i must run from my wardrobe and it’s cry for help, so, after dabbling with the continental method in a scarf or two (every beginner’s project) i took on the mountainous effort of a hat/cap/thing-made-of-wool-that-goes-over-head-on-cold-days (agh!) for my sister-in-law. the only hitch is that i, being a newbie to the world of knitting, well, not exactly a newbie, but a recently converted member of such holy sisterhood, seeing as i first picked up a pair of needles and yarn at my grandmother’s knee by the advanced age of 5, even before i learned my letters, but not having really quite gotten the hang of it till i became proficient on crochet a few months ago, which i also learned at my grandma’s knee at the age of 5 or 6 – oh how i digress!!! see what i meant when i said i am a terrible writer!!! well, to get back to the subject. i made the damn thing too small cause i didn’t swatch it for the gauge, nor for the colours, so i had to frog it a lot because the (pink) colours weren’t working. then i had to frog again because i misread the pattern. and then because the colours weren’t working again. but now, after deciding the
hatthing will go to my eleven year old cousin who also loves pink (as well as my 22 year old sister-in-law) so i don’t have to frog all of it and start over, i am almost done. just a couple more rows and a pompom to finish it off! yey!!! i don’t think i’ll get to show you pictures, but the explanation to that will come later. - i’ve joined threadingwater on her new Mother’s Day Project. I’ve been meaning to get back to stitching/embroidery for a while, and i think this will be a good kick-start. she’s looking for help, so hop on over and get to it! i’m also
working onthinking of a button for the project, maybe i’ll even get to actually making it! - i did some more ATCs for a newbie ATC swap over at swap-bot. since there wasn’t a real subject to the swap, i was at loose ends, so i started looking through some random images, and picking the ones i liked, and pretty soon there was a common ground between them, so i went with it. i usually make a big picture which i cut down to ATC format. in this case, i turned it into four different ATCs. here they are, and the prints are on their way to TX and IA.
well, that’s that. oh, about the photo thing. i usually borrow my mom’s camera, and that hasn’t been possible lately, so… no photos yet. i will post soon, i promise. maybe this weekend!
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