There is a large little hat that shall remain pictureless. Some of you saw me working on it at the last Sunday SnB. Let's just say making that thing turned into the worst idea on the planet. Here are the reasons, bear with me, list's are big these days and I am a bandwagon jumper...

1. "FUGLY"...."thanks Clare and Tevana and Carlin for NOT saying anything," Danielle said, in a very sarcastic way.
2. Scratchier then "Scotts Brand" toiletpaper on a baby's bottom
3. HUGE. It fit me with room and it was supposed to be for a 4 year old.

I ended up making this hat instead: (I used "Ricochet" by Moda Dea. I'm happy with the results. I took a cockeyed picture, it really is shaped much better then this and it WILL fit a four year old)

I took a little trip to Echo Park's very own "third world yarn store/magazine stand" the other day and I bought a few balls of my favorite Mexican yarn...

Currently, i'm using the red for a scarf for me to wear on Thanksgiving...i'm making it using the "Arabesque stitch" the camera user (me) couldn't quite capture the stitch pattern very well but here it is anyway:

and the chocolate brown will be used for a scarf/holiday present made using this pattern.

I almost forgot....

You know what I did today?
(and NO that's not me, though I am feeling 90 years old at the moment)

Today I feel like a...

彈劾布希!

Thanks for the Bush clock, Clare! Okay, now everyone say "Bush Clock" ten times fast....outloud!

:-)

Off kilter

Dixie wrote a blog entry over at Blog Coven that I found extremely provocative. In fact, it answered a lot of "whys" for me . The other day I thought to myself that Mercury had to be in retrograde because of all the weirdness happening to me lately...I think that I prefer to go with her Mars theory instead. Things are so out of sorts I even did a Rune reading for the first time in years. It was right on. Here's what it looked like:

I'm getting nervous about the holiday projects so I'm trying to do things that take no time. The people that they are for do not crochet or knit so they have absolutely no concept of how long or short of a time they take. I feel like I'm duping the commoners. Oh well. The sham will continue.

My Grandmother commented about a week or so ago, using her best Jewish guilt, about how she would love to have another scarf for the cooler weather. Here's the part that got me...I think she feels like why would people, grandchildren included, want to do things for her out of the goodness of their hearts? She offered to pay me for it! I feel so cheap. Like a Crochet Whore...I told her to leave the money on the nightstand.

Grandmother's scarf:

Happy "All Saints Day "

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween... Carlin ended up having a very popular costume. So much so that she was receiving full size candy bars :-)

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~Rita Rudner

I'd like to give a "shout out" to this man for putting up with me for the last 15 years. Today is our 14th wedding anniversary. Love you honey. Here's to many more.

Sweater, fini!

So yesterday at the SnB I started to sweat the fact that I may not have enough yarn to finish the baby sweater I was working on. I was worried for a couple of reasons. The first being that this is a sweater for a baby and when crocheted in mass quantities Simply Soft becomes like one of those lead aprons you wear while having an Xray. The second reason is because i'm trying to do stash busting things. Granted, I started this with the yarn I had left from "TDB" and I had to go and buy another skein, but I really did not want to have to buy more and then have the majority left over after. That would have put me in the same position I was in when I started. I did end up with enough and this is what I have left over, yay!








and here is the sweater:

What I need.

Ok Clare, you got me. I wanna play"What I need" (remember kids,this is where you go to Google and type in "[your name] needs"...first 10 things, blah, blah, blah.)

1. Danielle needs to be attuned to how she is feeling
2. Danielle needs to let the Social Security Administration know ( what do they need to know? See #8 of this list)
3. Danielle needs to make announcement at October meeting for volunteers to make phone calls (Phone calls people! Make phone calls!)
4. Danielle needs some advice about IUI pregnancy please! (ummm no, I don't)
5. Danielle needs to stop making stuff up. :-)
6. Danielle needs to be abused (in a good way)
7. Danielle needs four wheel drive
8. Danielle needs to retire (comfortably, with lots of money)
9. Danielle needs to raise £1000 to cover flights, food and Team UK uniform (what the hell is Team UK? Dixie? Anyone?)
10. Danielle needs another bath

I think a couple of posts back I mentioned that I was knitting a sweater on size 4 needles for my nephew. Let's just say it's not going to happen. I was completely overzealous in my choice of needle size and yarn in relation to my lack of knitting skill. However, as a side note, I am still going to attempt knitting socks in the very near future. After much trepidation, I have frogged the 8,000,000,000 rows of that sweater and have found a crocheted sweater pattern I like a lot better and it's fun and satisfying!
Here is my progress so far....










The funny thing about certain crochet patterns, usually the stuff that is free, is that you have to look past the obvious dorkiness of it's appearance in the photo . This sweater was no exception. I hope that my visualization skills have not let me down and the end result will be what I have envisioned. Time will tell.

Happy Birthday to our cat Cyddy. She's 15 today! The cat butt you see is Baby Olive, she's only 10.

Yipee Cayee !

"TDB" = DONE!

and the shawl that I made for my mom...

Incommunicado

I'm still here. I have been a flake in ALL aspects of my life as of late. Not just in the blogging department. I've been super non-committal about everything. Sometimes I think it's just easier that way.
I've been working on some projects. In case you haven't heard...the frigging holidays are coming. Which means... holiday projects. Yay.

Hats...


















Little girls hat, for the niece...
















Oh, and i've become semi-suicidal with my latest urge to knit. I'm making a baby sweater for one of my nephews with size 4 needles. Oy vey. At least it's a smallish piece. That ought to satiate my urge to knit for awhile. After it's completed I plan on trying socks. Hopefully, Dixie
the Guru of socks, will come through with that beginning pattern we talked about at last Sunday's SnB.

"Very hot and still the air was, Very smooth the gliding river, Motionless the sleeping shadows" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's been awhile since my last entry. it was too hot to write anything coherent (see my last post.)The level of heat this summer had really begun to get to me. We don't have air conditioning. Our house is over 100 years old and I guess no one ever bothered to have it installed. Usually, the temps over the summer near Downtown L.A., which is only about a mile and a half from me, do not warrant having air conditioning. Believe it or not 15 miles inland we still get the ocean breezes, what with no hills or mountains to get in the way. I actually semi-seriously pondered the idea of getting air conditioning for a few weeks this summer. But alas, the weather yesterday and for a few days more at least, have been overcast and in the upper 60's and low 70's, enough to make my air conditioning needs almost a distant memory.

I also found myself over the last couple of weeks to be very affected emotionally by the situation on the Gulf Coast. Just when I thought I was incapable of having those types of feelings toward humankind I have an emotional breakdown that seems to just go on and on.

The cooler weather means that I will again have to pick up TDB (the damn blanket). The occasion for which I need to present that present is fast approaching. However, i'm sure it will have to be late. My mother's birthday was last Tuesday and i'm near completion on her obligatory gift, a shawl. The blanket has re-entered the queue right after that. Photos are forthcoming.

"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple."

Thursday night we went to the SnB and Toni brought a cake for me from her, Tevana and Claire. It was totally fabulous (I'm betting it was better than the yarn Dixie ate at her "yarn tasting!") I have to share a picture...

Thank you for doing that for me gals. It really meant alot and I was truly touched.






Claire brought me this...
I have been walking around with it shoved up my nose ever since. What does that tell you.
I actually LOVE the scent of Lavender of which there is a lot of it in it. Reminds me of the relaxing cool down part of Yoga class which is very calming.

Aversion Therapy

It does work. Just try crocheting or knitting a blanket throughout the summer months. I can practically guarantee that doing that will make you NEVER want to do it again. I decided to take a little respite from the "Damn Blanket" project and make a couple of things on a much smaller scale and that do not have to rest in your lap as you progress(Smells like birthday and holiday presents.)

Behold...

Hat made from some type of
"Moda Dea" can't for the life
of me remember what it's called...

Scarf made from
Crystal Palace "Glam"




I'd also like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my mom. 36 years ago today she was finishing up 24 hours of hard labor just to be able to bring me into this world. (Talk about aversion therapy!!!) Ummm, thanks!

This Blog entry brought to you by the letter "K"

Yesiree, it has been a 'few minutes' since my last blog entry. Carlin is back from Camp and she had a fabulous time. Though, I think she is happy to be home. Last I heard she does want to go back next summer. So, all in all...a success!

While she was at camp she rekindled interest in a craft she learned long ago. We have already had to go to 'Michael's' for supplies...I am taking the liberty of photographing her projects for her since she has been a slacker with her own blog.


Thomas and I went to the Dodger game a week or so ago and we both noticed something somewhat interesting. Usually, on the scoreboard they will record the pitchers strikeouts with the letter "K." That was not changed. However, they won't usually put them right up next to each other (for the first three) when the batters have struck out for fear of being 'socially incorrect.' Apparently, Dodger Stadium has changed it's policies. Either that, or not only are their sponsors "Budweiser", "US Bank", "Toyota" et al....but it now appears the "KKK" wants in on the action, too.


Last Thursday's SnB had a birthday theme. It was Tevana's Birthday. I didn't get a picture of Tevana (for some strange reason) but I have one of her i'd like to post. I think it was a self portrait.

I did however manage to take one of Claire eating her fabulous piece of Tiramisu(that Toni brought)...Um, hello....Miss Manners, I have a candidate for you :-)

The totally amazing Tiramisu or the obligatory picture of the birthday cake....

Nothing much to report along the lines of crochet projects. I'm still working on the "Damn Blanket." I have made some progress, though. I'll post photos when i'm done.

Timing IS everything

It's hot. I have to finish this by the middle of September and I don't have a choice.

Damn Blanket.

I'm making it using Simply Soft and

the crocheted moss stitch.

Off to camp...

Our little girl is growing up. Thomas, Carlin and I are so close that we found today to be a little difficult in terms of letting go and saying goodbye. I am a little verklempt about it all. So I will just post pictures and captions for now.

Carlin and her dad, he is singing her a 'going away song.'

Carlin with the "deer in the headlights" look. Notice how the wilderness background lends itself to the authenticity of the wildlife reference.

Health check. Apparently, this camp is VERY selective and won't admit any polydactyl's. I think it's for insurance reasons.

At last, Carlin's gal pal's and cabin mates.

The Frenzy

Carlin and I woke up this a.m. and quickly made a beeline for Costco. Why you ask? Harry Potter, of course! One year we made the horrible mistake of getting there an hour or so earlier then they opened. We thought a copy of HP might be hard to come by, due to the hype and buzz of possibly not enough copies to go around. We got inside and they truly had thousands of copies and about 50 kids chomping at the bit to get in. This go around we took our time. I actually think I was more excited then Carlin waking up knowing it was "HP Saturday" not because I can't wait to read the book, but because i'm excited for Carlin to be able to read another installment. She has read each volume a multitude of times in between the release of a new book. For a long time it was difficult to get her to read anything else. Thankfully, she has outgrown that. It was interesting and different going to buy the book this morning with a 'jaded teenager' in tow. She was trying her darndest not to appear excited for appearances sake. I could see through her transparent facade and knew that just under the surface of her way cool exterior she was overflowing with excitement. I figured that since I am her mother it would be my job to exploit her excitement and photograph it for all eternity.

One thing about Carlin, she really made me work for the 'keeper' picture. If she would have just done the obligatory 'excited' pose I wouldn't have had to draw all that unwanted attention to her.

This is what I was going for:

(Note: The Harry Potter School uniform. This girl is hardcore)

But I got this instead...

There really was NO rush this morning...