two more down

11 to go.

i had my friend Eris over with her two kids and we got a LOT of sewing done today. she got one paper-pieced block done for her harry potter quilt, and i finished these quilted tea towels.

pretty fabrics, no?

and a Thomas the Train apron for Eris's little boy. it's the McCall's pattern 6049, i just didn't use pink, took off the flowers and subbed in plain ribbon for the rick-rack the pattern called for. since there are three different aprons and a few more accessories, there were a TON of pattern pieces to sort through, but after i found the right ones it was pretty easy to follow. the strap is really nifty. it's all one, so the neck is adjustable based on how tight you tie the straps.

i left the pleats in; i didn't think they're too girly.

and i found the cutest blue buttons to go with it. cute fabric too.

11 projects to go.

take a breath...

i keep telling myself it's a learning process. that it wasn't all a waste. i know how to do stuff now that i didn't know before. it wouldn't have worked anyway.

the litany can go on, but the truth of the matter was that the mirrored-cable-with-wishbone-cable-in-the-center-scarf i was making has been frogged (you know, rip it, ribbit). the type of background stitch that allows the cables to pop off the background also has a tendency to curl. badly.

i thought at first a little curl would be good, you know, it would go with the natural curve under the neck, but this was more than a curl, it was a fold. how about blocking, you say? well, that would have worked great it the yarn i was using was 100% wool, but it's not. it's a wool blend. which means it would have blocked beautifully until someone tried to wear it, at which point it would revert right back to where it had been before.

i realized this problem about seven cable repeats into my cowl. so, the first thing i tried was to rip back just a few cables and put in another 5 rows of seed stitch across the entire thing, to kinda make cable panels. that didn't work. so i tried using a different background, which necessitated ripping back all the way to the first cable. i may have had a bud light to fortify myself, but i reminded myself it was just two days work in my spare time, no biggie. so i tried a garter stitch background, but it was just too stretchy, vertically.

rip it. rip it. rip it.

time to search ravelry.

christmas project countdown:  13 projects (plus maybe 3 for my little family)

countdown - 5 hours to bird time

okay, so i'm up a little later than i expected.

the turkey is in the brine bath, which will get flipped at three a.m., then the bird gets rinsed and put in the oven at 6 am, because dinner's at eleven!

herb butter is ready.

sweet potatoes are mashed, rosemary/mascarpone is mixed....

can't do anything else until tomorrow morning.
oh, wait.

clean the stove-top
clear off the chair
clean the bathroom
dust the living room
put away all my shoes
put away all my laundry
hang pictures in the bedroom

nine hours.
four of which i plan to spend sleeping, which means i have, oh, 45 minutes for each task if i'm going to be ready by the time everyone shows up.
oh, wait.
i have less than that, because i also need to finish cooking, and at some time or other, shower and make myself presentable.

here, look at some pretty pictures:

that would be a BAZINGA cross stitch, a basketweave scarflette, and honey-bourbon barbecue sauce.
christmas crafting proceeds apace.

time for sleep!..... ZZzzzzz.... ZZzzzzz

turkey tango

somehow, i got stuck hosting thanksgiving this year. i've heard and read so many horror stories about "the first holiday" after couples get married and try to cook for the families, and i'm a bit freaked. not really, because i actually cook for my family a lot, but i've never done a turkey before, so i'm just a teensy bit nervous.

i have an idea for a fabulous turkey though. i'm going to gently slit the skin, and rub in butter, sage, rosemary, garlic, pepper and a teensy bit of orange zest, and i'm going to put a bit of chicken broth in the bottom of the roaster to keep the turkey from drying out. oh, and i'll be brining the turkey the night before.

potatoes are also on my list, and i'll be making two small potato dishes - mashed sweet potatoes covered with a rosemary-ricotta spread and toasted frosted flakes on top, and roasted sage/pepper sliced new potatoes. and of course, we have to have the classic green bean casserole. i might also do some baby carrots, because i like carrots.

holiday season is tough because it means blogging without pictures. i have several super-secret projects in the works, and i was very fortunate this year to find enough material in my stash for things that i hardly had to buy anything. maybe a yard of fabric here, or a special hook there (yes, i needed it to do a special technique), but that's really it. i think almost everyone is getting homemade gifts this year, baked or hooked or sewn or knit or somehow otherwise crafted.

i'm blogging right now, even though i'm super busy, because the laundry is going mid-cycle and the paint is drying on my dotee. i still have to finish one last dotee for my swap, but i thought i'd show you what i crafted so far.

this is na'tuin (points if you get the reference, and bairloch, you don't count) - she has trouble keeping her elephants on her back. here she is in her new home:

and here's another version of the op-topus i made for the last dotee swap i was in, but this one isn't a creepy eye-ball octopus, just a regular little blue one.

i still did all the sequins and beading on the tentacles like i did last time, and look! there's lunch under there!

this is the one that's still in progress. i plan to absolutely cover the back of this one in sequins.

darn. washer stopped. time to get back to work!

reminder to self:

dear self,
stop being lazy. don't make excuses like "i didn't get enough sleep" or "i feel vaguely sick in a general area" or "i totally get this reading anyway" to rationalize not going to class. it's just not going to work.
see, when you go to class and *gasp* pay attention, the assignments and tests become really really easy.
if you don't, they kick you in the arse.
so, my little morning flower (hahaha), get your tushie up out of bed and GO. TO. CLASS.
signed,
yourself

p.s. you will continue your christmas projects. you will resist any new knitting/crochet/yummy yarn that isn't involved with christmas. resist startitis!

a woman possessed

the fury has not abated.
i finished all three papers (mostly) on time and i was really happy with two of them.
now i have a test to study for on friday and my story is due on monday. speaking of, i need to do a bit of research.

throughout all this i kept at that kinda tiny shawl from the previous post.... yeah... it's big now, and finished. i used the floaty fall scarf pattern from the sept/oct. 2009 crochet! today except i upped the yarn size from thread to worsted weight.

i used a skein my friend gave me (the one in the middle), and a lot of leftovers: the brown was leftover from one afghan, the orange from a jayne hat, the green from the other wedding afghan, and the red from the jayne hat. after it was washed and dried it got really really soft!! my new pretty...

i'm still not getting some of the subtleties with my crap camera phone, but the colors are pretty darn close. i should add it to the christmas pile, but i kinda want to snuggle it instead.