I understand the idea of diminishing returns but i hate the rechargeable batteries anyway.

One of my coworkers today mentioned something about needing a part-time job because he had "too much free time" right now. We haven't really hit the slow season at work, but we're very close and I admit, my work weeks have been hovering under the forty hour line. But what is this free time of which he speaks? I know no such thing! Then I realize two very important factors of the equation:

1. He is a kind-of-single manwhore who has a veritable bevy of suitors desperate to do things like his laundry for him. Seriously, they even do his ironing. I should enjoy such perks in my world.

2. My house has sprouted knitty, crafty things. Not quite sure how it happened, and it is probably due in part to all those cute little projects on mochimochiland. Seriously, I even finished a bunch of these things! And made up some stuff on my own!

I blame this website.

Stay on target

Ok Gals I hoping the guilt of this BLOG will keep me on track this weekend. I am bringing the blanket I began crocheting last year on a road trip. It was supposed to be done by Nov. 18th last year (original due date) but my little one decided to come early (6 weeks). So this project was shelved as were my visions of having her swaddled in it while we snuggled by the fire. sigh.

I will be at a gaming convention this weekend and will have lots of road time and maybe even time while playing to hook...is that what one uses as slang for crocheting? Wish me luck. Report back Sunday or Monday with my progress.

True to form, my pics are behind my work

So I've been working some more on the quilt. Here are the latest pictures with the borders in tact & the backing:



(Yeah that's my foot. I'm standing on a chair to take the pictures.)




So as I mentioned, I've actually done some more work on it since I took these shots. I have actually cut the batting, and pinned it all together. I also got 2 of the ditches stitched one night last week when I was waiting up for my niece to come in from visiting her boyfriend.

I am hoping to have all of the horizontal ditches stitched before I have to leave for Texas. There are 7 of them, so I'm not overly optimistic that I will actually meet that goal, especially not now that Dallan has returned from his 3 week travels. We'll see. I have discovered, though, that making my sewing maching stitch sideways is not as difficult as I thought it would be. There are some very, shall we say, "creative" looking lines happening on this quilt, but I'm hopeful that when it's all done, all the wonkiness will simply add to its character.

Eventually I'll just start spinning yarn out of cat hair to cut out the middle man.

Kathy called me up (left a message, actually. Curse the need to mow the lawn over the weekend!) saying, "I've deviated from the pattern. Now I have a problem, but I think you can help me."

Well, I suppose that's exactly why we started this thing; now we can help each other out, and provide visual aids! Rad.

Let me provide a little back story, though. See, Kathy is a pastry chef. That means she has to be good at following recipes, because if you fail to follow a pastry recipe, Bad Things Happen(tm). Me? I am not good at following recipes. In fact, I actively chafe against recipes, and, as a general rule, if I want to cook something I've never made before, I look through 5 to 10 different recipes for that thing, get the gist of what I am going for, and then fly blind when it comes to actual meal preparation. This tends to work much better for me than actually following a recipe would. I'm not completely sure why, but I am guessing it probably reflects some general need to blaze my own trail. (Listen, it's not my fault I'm the youngest. And no, I don't buy into any of that birth order crap, thank you very much.)

Point is, Kathy made a beet instead of a heart. And I am very proud of her! But now the beet needs greens, and she's stuck. So she called me, and since she rejected my initial idea of latch-hooking (she wanted proper leaves, apparently), I had to invent a leaf pattern while we were on the phone. So here is one side of the resulting leaf:and the other side:Here's a closer shot of the leaf to show the neat little vein detail:Now for the pattern:
Notes - when I say "m1", I am referring to the make one back increase that you can see a video for here.
cast on 3
do a 3 stitch i-cord for whatever length is appropriate for your stem
k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 (you should now have 5 stitches on your needle)
k1, m1, k1, p1, k1, m1, k1 (it's a seven stitch palindrome!)
repeat the following two (marked in square brackets) rows until the body of the leaf is as long as you want it:
[knit across the row
k3, p1, k3]
k2tog, k3, k2tog (should be 5 sts on your needle now)
k2, p1, k2
k2tog, k1, k2tog (three stitches left)
k3tog (one stitch left!)
bind off your sad one stitch. So lonely!

That's it! Pretty easy, right?

Kathy also has been begging me to post an update on the status of my halter top for about a week now. So here it is:I swear he sat down and started glaring at me like that before I had even finished putting the damn thing on the bed. Apparently this particular item did not yet contain enough cat hair. For crying out loud.

I took this picture while holding him out of the frame with my left hand. No small task, that cat weighs 14 pounds, and it's all muscle! Well, and fur. And a shockingly large number of facial whiskers (seriously, check out the eyebrow whiskers in the previous picture. My cat practically has a cuttlefish growing out of his face.) Anyway:So, yes, I am, in fact, making progress. And I haven't started any other projects since I posted about my excess of projects!

Well, I haven't started any knitting projects.

...except for the leaf for Kathy. And that hardly counts, right? I SWEAR I CAN STOP ANY TIME.

As if I didn't have enough irons in the fire...

Okay, so for about 3 years now I've had this software collecting dust in my basement that will convert a digital picture to a cross stitch pattern. (It also has a sweater designer, and a personal pattern maker for children, btw). So I got the idea that I would use it to make a pattern for a latch hook rug for the kids' bathroom with Ernie from Sesame Street & his Rubber Duckie.

Like so:


Now, the trick will be in the fact that the software doesn't really do latch hook patterns, but it does let you specify the type of canvas you're working on, the number of stitches per inch/centimeter, and the dimensions of the project (in # of stitches.) So I think I can do it. I'll just have to muddle through getting the right colors of yarn. I'll also have to figure out the appropriate length for the strands of yarn & then cut it. *sigh*

Kathy's Being Modest

Check out the awesome present she made for my little boy:




Thanks, Kathy!!

Another Introduction!

Hello everyone! I'm Jezebelle, Curly Girly, Jennifer, or Jen. :) I answer to all, and in fact, I chose my name here as Jennibelle, because that sort of sums them all up (except for the curly girly name which doesn't really fit well with anything but it's fitting). Ok, have I mentioned I like to ramble? Anyway, hello!

I met queenofsheba and thepooh through my radio show, and Kathy suggested that I join in, since I am a bit of a crafter myself. Except, the only talent I have so far is with cross-stitching, and you should see the amount of unfinished ones I have lying around! I think in the past 10 years, I've probably started about 20 projects, and have only completely finished (meaning: mounted and framed) three of them.

Here's one that I did for my friend Heather's wedding. It's relatively simple, but it's the only one I have a photo of online. I'm working on this immense one about cats at the moment, but so far I only have the "C" completed. Cross-stitching really attracts me because it's so soothing. I always do counted cross-stitch. There's nothing wrong with stamped cross-stitch, but I like the counting aspect. I blame the math teacher in me.


Actually, while I was looking for pictures of cross-stitch projects, I came across a picture of another craft project I completely blocked out of my memory. I made this little stuffed penguin one year as a christmas gift. He was a pain in the butt to make, and I hated his little hat, but I love this picture of him all propped up with my sister's cat Krusty. I probably posed him about ten different ways and took pictures, but this is my favorite one. :)



I am also a big fan of this picture, mostly for the look on my cat Sunshine's face. I guess she's not as thrilled about penguins as Krusty is. :)

That's it for now. I'll probably take pictures of my progress on some other projects (including yet another wedding cross-stitch). Thanks again for inviting me to the group!!

Mars Needs Links

I just posted a couple of my favorite craft sites over there in the links section... or at least the ones I could think of here way early in the morning. Leave a comment with some other ones we should post and we'll add 'em.

I've been going through and adding a few labels to various posts so we can reference them later - following the lead of my sister they are things like "knit" "unfinished" "scrapbook" and the like. Feel free to add labels as you like to Posts of the Future.

also, I finished that half a sock. but then I went and watched Pirates 3 and so I have not started my little mosaic project. Maybe I'll make some I-cord coasters. or something.

A sock and a half

My job is about time. Specifically, that point in time when some part of what I'm making is "done". All day, I'm getting to that moment, and preferably making that moment happen before it needs to be on a plate in front of a living, breathing, opinionated person.

And it had better be pretty dammit.

So I admit that the appeal of doing these crafty projects is that there is no deadline, mostly. There is a desire to finish, sure, but the projects that make me most crazy are the ones I feel need to be done by X time. Then it just feels like work.

Maybe that's why I am so bad about getting birthday presents to people on their birthday.

But, there in the part of my brain labeled Virgo (what's the scientific name for that spot, Julia?) all of these half projects laying around make me kinda tweaked. Because I really like starting new projects and can't help but wag the finger and say "You can't do that until you finish something!" Case in point. I painted my table:


Now, I still want to do a seaglass mosaic on the top, because that color is screaming for it. But, since I haven't done a mosaic before, I want to jog over to the thrift store this second, find a footstool or something and make that my weekend thing. I could even do a budget challenge for myself and see if I could do it for like 20 bucks! Whee! I'm excited! Sounds fun!

But there is half a sock.

How many half projects is it ok to have?

Planning ahead

So, let me start this off by telling you a little bit about my daughter. Bless her heart, she's as cute as a button, but sadly for her she got her Mommy's ears.

Here, I'll show you:


Given that combined with the fact that her hair isn't coming in very rapidly, I figure she will still be pretty eartastic come this Halloween. One of my motivators for learning to sew is that I really want to make my kids' costumes. My mom always made ours, so that's just something I want to do for them. All of these factors combine to inspire me to dress her up as a little fairy/sprite/pixie (choose whichever moniker you like best) for Halloween. I started poking around on the web & found this:

Fairy Costume

Now I will be doing more of a Spring color scheme, because as you can see, little Miss Julia is not an Autumn, but that's the basic idea. I have the slip and a good handful of the flowers (thanks, Kathy for going with me to buy a bunch of them.) I also have the glue gun all ready to go. Now I just have to hope that the slip I bought will still be big enough in 5 months. Hrm, I think I should try it on her when I get home today...

Mini Scrapbook Updates

The Grandmas loved them!!!! Yeah!!!
That was the first project in years that I started and completed in less than 2 months. I wish I could say it took that long to make them, but no :(

Introducing...

I thought I'd say a quick hello and introduce myself to all of you. I am Gardenofevils, Auntie Ball, Sammy, Samantha or Sam depending on who is in the room at the time. Gardenofevils is my online name. Adoxograph and I met through that guy she lives with on Livejournal. Sarcasmo and I have been friends for about 5 years now, and little did he know that Kathy and I would become close friends too. So in a roundabout way, that is how I got be apart of this fine blog.

I am not the crafty type, or so I think. I went to school for theatre and ended up doing design work. I designed sound for shows, some lighting, and even a set. Most of my crafty ideas are born in my head and never make it out. I have stenciled in the past but more propaganda art rather than the flower stencils you see in a craft store. I've tried knitting but the results were apocalyptic. I just can't make art with my hands, but on occasion I do try.

I have nine small frames that are currently taking up occupancy in my hall closet. The idea was to stain them three different colors and hang them above my fireplace. Well, I've hand them for about six months now, and it doesn't look like I'll be staining them any time soon. I have a stack of art magazines that have some pretty cool images in them. I thought of maybe cutting stuff out, a la high school collage, and gluing them to the frames. We'll see.

Well, this turned into more than a short hello, and I apologize. If I end up making anything, I'll let you know. For now, I'll just look at all the cool stuff you guys make and kick myself for not doing anything.

and what shall I do with this?

Grabbed a small amount of this yarn in my last craft store excursion. The sample swatch in the store shows that it knits up with some bulky parts and some wee tight parts. I thought about doing a critter with it, but I'm afraid of where the bulky parts will appear in the finished product - I don't want my end piece to be something titled "tumorous bunny". But the yarn is so fun....

In contrast, I am quite good about finishing leftovers.

One of the terrible things about no longer living in a cramped apartment is that it is easy to lose track of all of the things that I've started and failed to finish.

Okay, actually, that's not true. I don't forget the things that I've started and failed to finish. Instead, I feel a tremendous weight of incompleteness, a supreme form of guilt as the projects sit gathering dust in corners, stitches quietly loosening in a desperate attempt at knitting project suicide. I would be a prolific crafter if I could ever manage to finish anything--instead I mentally assemble dear John letters to my swatches and skeins, "Dear part of a blue sweater that has been sitting in the hall closet for 9 months, I love you, but I'm not in love with you."

It is my sincere hope that this effort to document my progress will help me stay on task long enough to finish some of these orphaned projects. To that end, I present my gallery of shame.

Exhibit A: hats for babies that are already too big for these hats (also it is the summer).Simple projects, simple yarns. a 2x2 ribbing pattern, knit a long piece, decrease toward the top, sew up the seam, you get a hat. Easy, except for the bit where my attention span is so short I can't

Exhibit B: baby sweater for same rapidly growing babies (did I mention that my three year old nephew is almost as big as I am?)This was something I started after finding some of Scott's grandmother's yarn in the attic in Nashville. There wasn't much of the old yarn, but it had a lovely soft texture that I couldn't let go to waste. With any luck there will be a small person in the family when I finally do manage to finish this one.

Exhibit C: Toe-up socksI was feeling ambitious, and I had received some lovely brown yarn for Christmas back in 2005, so I found a sock pattern that looked promising. I liked this one, because you started from the toes, which meant you could check the size against the actual foot you were knitting for, and start making the turn for the heel at the spot that was just right for the intended wearer. Neat! Too bad I never got to that point, eh?

Exhibit D: Fuzzy Scarf (I think it got up to 90 degrees today)
I was watching television at about 5 in the morning one day, and a knitting show came on and they were talking about how wonderful things can happen when you knit two strands of yarn together. I thought, "hey, I may be a complete newb, but I can probably manage that." This scarf was what started happening when I knit together a strand of super cheapo orange acrylic yarn and some pricier fuzzy red yarn. It's very fuzzy!

Maybe I can finish it in time for next winter.

Exhibit E: baby blanket
No pithy comments here. I started this when I got pregnant, stopped when I miscarried. I haven't had the heart to work on it since then.

Exhibit F: crochet purse
It had started to bother me that I could knit pretty well, but had no earthly idea how to crochet. The same Christmas gathering where I received that brown yarn, I also got a crochet lesson from my mother-in-law. I promptly forgot how almost immediately thereafter. Fortunately, our friend and co-blogger MilkKissed came to the rescue, bearing about 5 or 6 different crochet instruction books. I spent a whole weekend cussing at crochet hooks before I finally fit my head around the basics, and started working on this project, which will eventually be a cute little handbag.

Exhibit G: would-be adorable halter topI have high hopes for this project, actually. This is a multicolored all-cotton yarn (yay for easy to wash!), and I'm building a halter top based on a pattern I found on knitty. With any luck, I'll actually finish this one while it is still warm out. Regardless, of all of my projects-in-progress, this is the one I'm going to focus on right now, and I'm not going to start any more projects until this one is done. Wish me luck!

Mini Scrapbooks aka The Maze Book

So I took this idea from one of my scrappin pals who found it on this website: www.craftweekly.com. To find the instructions and the video guide look in the archive section and the project is titled The Maze Book.

These books are so cute and relatively easy/fast to make. I made one for my mom and my hubby's mom for Mother's Day this year. As you can see they are adorable and not just because they are filled with pix of my cutie pie, Chelsea :) I am giving them their books this weekend...will let you know how well they are received. (Yeah, yeah, yeah I know M-Day was 2 weeks ago)

With this project you actually make the book. The finished book has 14 pages and you can make 2 pockets to hold "tags". The pictures above show what they look like closed & tied up. If the pages were extended out (one would never display it this way I just wanted you all to see it isn't a bound book). And the top pix shows some of the pages and tags.