How Many Projects?!

I've finally managed to get myself into some sort of routine, and am feeling better for it. I'm walking every day (we've had spectacular weather for November!) and have been trying to stay away from "Spider Solitaire". Gosh, that's habit-forming -- and a fun way to procrastinate, to avoid facing my 'fears' about making art. Fortunately, the team and members of SAQA's Visioning Project have been there with daily e-mails of art journal updates, and regular 'webinars' that are educational, interesting and fun.

The first piece of my body of work is just waiting for its finishing (facing and hanging sleeve) and the second is well underway. My sketchbook has another 1/2 dozen ideas jotted in it, which I roll around in my mind throughout each day, jotting notes next to the sketches as soon as I can get to it.

Professional development has continued with my 3 Quilt University classes. I must admit, the photography class is my least favourite. I'm a 'point and click' kind of gal, and trying to read my camera manuals just puts me to sleep. However, I've had lots of fun mucking about with thickened dyes and bleach discharges in "Screen Printing". At the same time, I've dug out scraps I'd forgotten I had (I'd even managed to colour-coordinate them for storage!), using them to perfect my piecing skills while working small (4 1/2-inch blocks) in "Jane was Nuts!" (so-called after Jane Stickle, who made an absolutely beautiful quilt out of 225 similarly tiny blocks. I don't think I'll go that far...but it's been a lovely way to assemble scrappy blocks for a sampler quilt -- or two or three.

I'm also busy making Christmas presents, which I can't talk about here (sometimes family read this blog)...

And I'm back to spinning. D, friend of my friend B gave her a large batt that had belonged to D's mother. B no longer owns a wheel, so she passed it on to me. Although we think it was originally intended to be used as a quilt batt, it's spinning up into a lovely fine single. Feels and spins rather like Shetland, and is a soft grey-brown (more brown than grey, really).

Before I could get going on the batt, though, I had to free up a bobbin for my wheel (I have only five.) To do this, I decided to ply my small amount of brown Shetland with some of my white Shetland, which has produced a rather pretty mix:

This is my very first plied yarn, so it's not all that even; nevertheless, I am rather proud of it, and liked the process so much that I might just ply up some of the 'grey' with the white, too.

Oh -- time's up! Back to knitting gifts!

Praise the Lord!

Twenty years ago, The Wall came down! The World has never been the same since.

"I'm not bossy...

"my ideas are just the best." -- Brenda Dayne, atop the Plinth. She's right. And I am too. Chastised for being 'bossy' when I was a kid, I appreciate a Soul Sister now! I was the one who got off her duff and got things going, fer Pete's sake! It was so tiresome to want to do something and to watch others just sit back and wait for someone -- anyone -- to start it! And it was equally tiresome to realize that if I didn't do it, no one would. Sigh....

Any Sister Organizers out there?!

It's Almost Upon Us (Caution: Rant)

I don't do Hallowe'en. Don't come around my place looking for treats -- and whatever you do, don't try any tricks! The house will be dark and uninviting, and I'll be laying low in a back room, stitching, and hoping no one rings the door bell. Or maybe, just maybe, this year I'll sit bravely in my living room, every light blazing, and dare trick-or-treaters to go away.

Why don't I "like" Hallowe'en? After all, it's just a cute kids' holiday, isn't it? Wrong! In recent years, it seems to me that the pagans are finally getting their own back against the Christians, who co-opted this ages-old Celtic celebration centuries ago in the hopes of making converts. Their weapon of choice (at least, in North America)? Commerce!

Yep.

Hallowe'en used to be an evening when you could take your wee kiddoes out, dressed in cute costumes -- often home-made -- and expect to come back with some candy, and maybe (if there were a dentist on the route) some raisins, peanuts, popcorn or apples.

The fresh, unpackaged treats went out long ago, when someone reported that a sick soul in their neighbourhood had put razor blades in the apples, or laxatives in the chocolate. Those Who Are Laughing All the Way To The Bank immediately took matters in hand and created snack-sized wrapped candies etc., available in large bags -- but never with enough in one bag to distribute to one's estimated number of visitors, so one always had to buy more than one needed, and have too many left over. They never last till the next year, and one doesn't want one's kiddoes eating it all, so....more fuel for the Diet Industry, too.

Then TWALAWTTB came up with factory-made costumes for harried working parents, who wouldn't have time to sew/make costumes with their kids, from old clothes or thrift store finds. It followed that someone had to regulate how masks were made so the kids could breathe properly. Enter Hallowe'en make-up that was more than one's mom's lipstick or a face powdered with flour.

Last but not least, TWALAWTTB came up with Hallowe'en cards and decorations. Little plastic pumpkin-shaped lights with which to festoon your trees (to be replaced by Christmas -- er, Holiday -- lights a few weeks later. Or not.) Simulated cob-webs. Plastic tombstones etc. so one could turn one's front lawn into a graveyard. And there's more. And the cards! They haven't caught on completely yet -- judging by the numbers I've seen in recent days, that remain on the average card-store rack -- but eventually the producers thereof will have more to laugh about on their way to the bank.

Will I change my mind after I have grandkids? Not likely. I'm not prone to supporting participation in what has now become an Industry, complete with regulated, packaged costumes, cards, decorations and edibles. Let their parents do it. If you want me, I'll be in my studio.

Happiness Is...

A newly-renovated bathroom! Yep, 13 months in this ol' place (built in 1976) and I finally managed to get a bit of renovating done. Actually, it's the most I'm going to need for the next while, as the roofing (house and garage) is less than 5 years' old, and the hot water tank is 2 years' old at most. The renovation was not done for style, either, but to repair some problems -- most notably, a tub wall with a tear in it near the taps, a badly chipped sink, and a floor that had been through a minor flood (before my time).

Here's my new sink, low-flow potty, and my new shower curtain (indicating a repaired shower!) You can also see a wee bit of my new floor. No seams. No lumps, bumps or splits. Easy-care vinyl sheeting. Grand!

Now for the open curtain revealing -- ta da! -- my new tub wall. Pretty, pretty, pretty!

This is the shiny new sink. :-)

Last but not least -- the new safety switch, which means I can use my blow-dryer in front of the bathroom mirror, instead of in my bedroom, where the light isn't quite as good. Better yet, a guest can use one there, while I use mine in my bedroom. This is especially valuable for my female guests!

In addition to the bathroom, I had a couple of defunct items removed -- most notably a yucky garburator (I use a compost bucket) and an obsolete (and noisy!) water filtration system -- and had a new set of kitchen taps installed. It's great to have a hot water tap that turns off in only one direction! My old tap was 'stripped' and turned on, then off, then on again if you kept turning the nob!

Now, I'm well aware that planned renovations can trigger a bit of a domino effect, but I have no desire to tear apart the entire house. I may, however, paint my bathroom vanity and put on new door pulls. I might even paint the kitchen wall over the sink area. But that's it! Honest! ;-)

Something Old, Something New

I believe one is never too old to learn something new. Yesterday I took a class in entrelac at River City Yarns in Edmonton (their south-end store) -- and had a great time. I came away with the beginnings of a new scarf made in "old" (read: stash!) yarn, and I think I might have just found another addictive knitting technique. The yarn is Emu Super-wash DK, 100% wool (breed of sheep not supplied), and the entire piece will use all 4 balls (119 metres each) that I have in my stash. I'm thinking this one might be an ideal project to donate to the craft-and-bake sale coming up at church.

Another something new is the recent photo I received from my DD, sporting her new Sweet Tee from Interweave Knits, Spring 2009 (it's a self-portrait, always a tricky thing to do). In the words of Stevie Wonder, "Isn't she lovely?" (I'm no proud mom, am I? My late DH and I often wondered -- and I still do -- how we managed to produce two such good-looking, good-living kids...)

You might notice that DD's shirt doesn't have the Fair Isle floral embellishment around the yolk -- that was by request. Also, I think the yolk is a bit wider than the original pattern, but IMHO that gives it a very elegant look. Try making it in a sparkly black-and-gold yarn to wear with great black pants or a long black skirt...or perhaps in a sporty denim, with a long-sleeved turtleneck worn underneath. This pattern has so many possibilities, that I expect I'll make it again.

This version took three balls of Berroco Comfort Worsted; DD's chosen colour way was "Maine Woods", #9839 (scroll all the way to the bottom of the linked page). Generally good at math, I messed up the calculations on the yardage I ordered and bought seven balls! LOL! No worries; I like the yarn well enough I'll use it for something else. Perhaps an entrelac scarf...?

Have You Noticed?

Yesterday i was doing my grocery shopping at a major Canadian chain grocery store. I bought a 3-lb. bag of Macintosh apples for $3.98. Nearby, was a tiered display of bags of apples on sale for $2.99, with a prominent sign for each variety, and the price. Why didn't I buy one of those? Because....if you looked closely, those bags were only 2 lb.! You were paying less, because you were getting less!

A little while later, I was in the dairy aisle, looking at yogourt. I finally selected a tub for $2.99. On my prior shopping trip, ten days or so earlier, I'd managed to get two tubs for $5.00. Those were a bargain -- especially because they were 750 grams each. The $2.99 tub contained only 650 grams. But what really got my goat was that, looking at all the brands, I realized they've all gone down to 650 grams -- but the containers are the same size as the 750-gram ones (I checked the one I bought yesterday with one I had in the recycling box from 10 days ago).

Still later, I was in the meat section, looking for the centre-cut pork loin chops advertised at $4 for 4 chops or $6 for 6 chops -- in other words, $1 a chop: a great deal for a single person like me. First I found the nice, thick lean centre-cut chops -- but not in packs of four or six, and definitely not at that price. Then I found the ones on sale -- thinner by a good 1/2 inch, and with a 1/2-inch or so rim of fat around the edge of each. Maybe a deal, but not as good quality, and not as much chop for the money, either!

I have to wonder: do the Powers That Be in supermarkets think their buyers have just fallen off the back of a truck? Or that they're so busy and stressed that they aren't paying attention to these sorts of deceptions?

Anyone else noticed this?