Woohoo! November 29, 2008

I passed my Master Spinner Level 2 homework, and in my mind I did it remarkably well.  My teacher had it since October 6th, which made me paranoid that she hated it, though it was definitely more likely a case of she was busy running a sheep farm and volunteering in the Federal and Municipal elections in her area.  She gave me a bookmark!  It says, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”  It’s a quote by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) and the print is by the Syracuse Cultural Workers. (It said .org on the bookmark but that’s something else entirely…weird)

This homework book was difficult for me.  I had to get an extension on it, and it wasn’t until I found a photo album that I found the true inspiration to finish it.  I should really get a decent picture of it so you can see.  Maybe today.

Anyway, I’m very pleased with my mark, and soon, when I have my time off that I’m going to spend fundamentally wallowing in my apartment, I’m going to really get started on Level 3.  But maybe I’ll start looking for the next mode of presentation since that seems to be the way to get my creative juices running.

Untimely Demise? November 22, 2008

I taught a sock monkey class recently, and while teaching how to do rather traditional critters, I made this zombie monkey for a friend.

And some friends and I had been invited to take part in a craft sale, so I whipped up some mushrooms of the crochet variety.

But they didn’t sell.  So we fried ‘em.

But they were too fibrous to eat.

Oh. Well, at least I end up with Alan Rickman. November 16, 2008

Take the Quiz here!

Gifted November 11, 2008

I received some mail this past week but have been too much of a slacker to post about it.  So here I finally am.

First Parcel: Boo-Ty Swap.  I got some really lovely things from Judds R’Us.  They all came wrapped in the cute orange gingham bag.  Ghirardelli chocolates (OMG they were so good!), a package of Hallowe’en gummies, a little notebook and ghosty pen, a cute little pocket mirror which will come in handy, a Jack O’Lantern plate and a little pair of bags for carrying around my sock knitting.  So great, thanks so much!

And the second parcel was the second half of the gifts I mentioned earlier from CarpeDyem for the Favorite Things swap (you can only see that link if you’re a Ravelry member) through Ravelry and Knit & Purl Mama.  The first parcel came with almost every single needle size under the sun in bamboo straights, the fulled knitted bag, the Noro yarn (which is of course already being worked with into toe-up socks), the little polka-dot notebook where I’ve started taking notes on my Noro socks, the pumpkin candles, the very useful clothespin style stitch markers and two packets of Horlicks Hot Chocolate malt drink.  After getting the Horlicks I found out that you can get it in Canada but so far I’ve not found the chocolate variety which makes me sad because I had the first packet and had the best sleep in recent memory.  So I’m hoarding the second packet.  But I digress.  In the second package was the giant tin of chocolate dipped Cadbury’s cookies (insert Homer-like groan here) and the most deliciously fragrant Earl Grey ever.  So lovely; I’m so spoiled.

Been Busy November 4, 2008

Did some traveling for work last week; bought some lovely fabrics in Canmore (Lil Rose Thorn took the shot through the rear window) and some nursing uniforms to go with our Great War interpretation in Calgary.  Took a wee detour and checked out Make One Yarn Studio and met this lovely wheel; I decided it looked like a Sesame Street Honker.  It’s really cool because it works like a pendulum!  Sorry the photos are blurry, I didn’t want to use my flash.

I built some interpretive underwear out of linen.  I used a Buckaroo Bobbins pattern though I got the embroidery pattern elsewhere and likely won’t use the same pattern for the bloomers again because it’s a weird shape (although that’s not the reason one leg looks bigger than the other, that’s because the one leg has the mannequin’s stand through it).

And I got a little bit of mail.  I took part in the Favorite Things swap in Raverly and got half of an amazing package (part two is still coming) from CarpeDyem (most clever name ever!).  I’ll do a proper post of it later, but here’s a shot of some of what I got.