Button, button, who's got the button?

I do! I was having lunch with actual T on Sunday and she mentioned that I could get cool buttons at a high end fabric and 'dry goods' store downtown. Then I remembered that there was an actual button store downtown (next to the quilt shop & a few blocks from the yarn shop - is this a great city or what?). But when I got to the button store, I learned that it was closed on Sunday. =( Not to fret, I went on to the fabric store.

Now, I really support the idea of buying local, so that all those cute little shops will stay open. But I don't really believe in supporting local businesses at any cost. I mean, there are a lot of fabric/yarn/craft stores, both big and small in the greater Portland metro area. I could just as easily go to one of the warehouse type stores, but the advantage of the small shops is supposed to be customer service & better quality products. Well, I was in the very small shop for about fifteen minutes, and the sales girl never even acknowledged my existence. Admittedly she was helping a mom and some kids pick out fabric for a costume, but they were also discussing their plans for the holidays so it wasn't like they needed her undivided attention. At one point she walked by me - like not more than 18 inches away, and didn't even look at me. I'm sorry, but that's just rude. I don't need a lot of hand holding when I shop, but I think they should at say "Hi" or "I'll be with you in a moment." So I left, and went to one of the warehouse stores, where I might add, I got excellent customer service.

They had lots and lots of buttons, a few of which would have worked. I couldn't quite decide, between these two sets. So I got them both.

Which buttons should I use for my cardigan?

Oh baby!

I went to a baby shower on Saturday, and then on Sunday I found an out of town friend just gave birth to bambino #3. This is the baby for whom I've been working on the I-Spy quilt. I'd been thinking of that mom earlier in the week and meant to ask when she was due (you know... so I could find out how long I had to finish up the quilt), but never got around to it because I was busy finishing up the other quilt.

Fortunately, all I had left to do on the I-Spy quilt was the binding. I'm a total cheater when it comes to binding - I never hand sew them. I just do my best to make a machine sewn seam look good.

And check out my free-motion star. =) I'm not thrilled with how I quilted all the squares, but I think I got really good at the stars.

So here's the whole quilt, in what is fast becoming the traditional over the couch shot.

And now I decree that none of my friends are allowed to get knocked up until I finish at least one quilt for myself! I mean, I do like making little kid quilts, they're quick, they're fun, and I can use patterns & fabrics that I like, but wouldn't necessarily want for myself. Plus, I think an event as significant as the creation of a whole new human being warrants a hand-made gift. (Hmmm... can I call it hand-made if I use a sewing machine? Let's call it 'home-made'.) But in the past year I've made four quilts for other people, and have only finished 1/2 a quilt for myself. So I'm really going to focus on making stuff for myself for a while.

HEY YOU GUUUUUUUUUYS

IT'S THE ELECTRIC COMPANY!

At least that's what these fabrics reminded me of. When I bought them I knew they'd be just perfect for a little kid blanket. And just my luck, fellow knittyhead announced she had a baby on board. =) So I started working on a fun little brightly colored quilt. Because the colors and patterns were so vibrant, I decided to go for a simple four patch / solid block pattern. The larger blocks are 6" square, the smaller are 3".

As I started placing the the squares, working out the balance of colors - Sally decided to show her approval for the overall design.

I had the idea of doing a free motion swirly quilting pattern, and actually did a few lines of it. But I really didn't like how it looked on the reverse. So I set it aside to think about for a while. Finally I ripped it all out and decided to go with a zig-zag stitch.

I did kinda get distracted though... and didn't actually finish it up until last night.... the day before the shower. But, I was able to finish it, and that's the important part.

I used the bright yellow fabric for the backing.

So there it is... bright and fun and a little funky. Hopefully the little tike will enjoy it!

Any day now

I'll be finishing up my Everyday Cardigan. I've finished knitting up all the parts, and now I just need to block, seem & do the finishing. I still haven't found buttons that I really like, so it might actually be a while before it's wearable.

In other news... I've *just* finished a quilting project. I put the final stitches on it last night, and it's in the wash right now. Since I'll be giving it away today, I'll post the finished pictures a little later.

Tagged!

Noted boy quilter & self described aging indie rocker Michael5000 has tagged me to describe myself using the letters of my name.

R Realistic - I'm pretty down to earth, and unfortunately sometimes a little too down to earth. Working in an office, at a job that requires absolute adherence to rules & regulations doesn't give me much time to nurture my creativity. That's probably why crafts are so important to me.

E Expensive Education - I finally paid off my very expensive university education, and I'm planning to take another course that will essentially wipe out my savings. I'm hoping the second course will end up being a better investment than the first!

B Brunette - I'm not a blonde bombshell, nor am I a fiery redhead. Nope, I'm a brunette, and I fit that stereotype fairly well. I'm bookish, a little shy, pretty plain Jane. A few summers ago I bleached my hair blonde. It was a surreal experience, one I don't intend to repeat. Being a brunette suits me.... of course, in a few years I'll be completely grey, but I'm trying not to think about that.

E English Speaking - At the moment I'm monolingual, but I'd like to change that. I'm going to try to brush up on my French and learn a little more Spanish. And my current 5 year plan involves becoming a teacher of English to speakers of other languages, so that I will, ironically, finally have an opportunity learn a foreign language by immersion.

L Lonely - Over the past couple of years I've made some changes in my life, sloughing off some relationships that just didn't fit, and while I've started building up a few new & promising relationships... I'm still a little lonely. Despite the close friendships I formed in college, I haven't had a 'Best Friend' since high school, and I really miss that.

So that, dear reader is probably a much more detailed response to the meme than was strictly necessary. I'm tagging Bezzie (just to see the Z adjectives she comes up with), Mistress J, and fellow Portland girl Indigo Mouse. Consider this a 'free will' tag - anyone else who might want to do this can consider themselves tagged as well.

Flying my freak flag

It's possible, actually highly probably that you missed this exchange in comments regarding the key chain I showed off when I spilled the contents of my purse:

jenn said...
oh, and who is that teeny, tiny man i see dangling from your key chain?
September 27, 2007 10:10 AM
Rebel said...
Why that would be Special Agent Fox Mulder making his way up Skyland Mountain to rescue Agent Skully from Duane Barry before aliens/ members of a covert para-governmental consortium kidnap her, insert a tracking device in the back of her neck, steal her eggs and give her cancer, thus rendering her infertile until season 8. Next Question?
September 27, 2007 12:50 PM
Michael5000 said...
Oh dear.... You know, I've never had a TV, but back in the day I always managed to have a standing Sunday night X-Files date with someone who did. Some friends made me VCR tapes of every episode up to #110 or something, and they've been sitting in boxes for the last 7 or 8 years. I'm going to toss them... but first, I'm watching them through, in order, while I do my handwork. So, it's not that I'm NOT going to call you a dork for what you said just then, but....
September 27, 2007 1:08 PM

Well, if I'm not a dork for that, what about this:

There's Mulder, Scully, a mysterious dead body, an 'alien incubator', the most awesome lunch box ever, and of course, the pride and joy of my collection: 109 video taped episodes of the show, programmed, categorized, and easily referenced (note the yellow pages on the left). Some of the tapes are even lovingly decoupaged.

There was a time when I would have been embarrassed to widely acknowledge all my quirks and obsessions. Prior to going on a date several years ago a coworker gave me the sage advice "Whatever you do - don't talk about your cat!" Well, I didn't talk about the cat, but I still didn't end up with the guy. So now I'm more inclined to just let it all (or mostly) hang out. Especially after hearing about a guy Mistress J. dated prior to DWE. Not only did he have to arrange care for his aged & infirm cat before he could go out with her, when said cat finally died, he wrote a eulogy that was several pages long. As long as there are guys like that out there, I don't see anything wrong with talking about my Sally.

So now I'm outed as a complete and total X-Phile. I was obsessed for quite a while, suffered through unbelievable anxiety for the six months between seasons 7 and 8, and I was absolutely heartbroken in the final seasons when the show I loved for it's sharp writing and beautiful character development, jumped the shark so completely. Agony I tell you. Sheer agony. After eventually getting some closure with the series finale, I vowed never to love another show the way I loved The X Files. I actually made myself stop watching Lost sometime in the first season because it was just too good and I was scared to go 'to the bad place' again. Once the series is all out on DVD, I'll put it in my Netflix queue. Where, at least, if it breaks my heart, it'll be quick.

Commuting

So how do I get from here to there everyday? Well here's a trip from home to work starting at my doorstep.

PS - I'm not that tall... my feet really are that tiny.

First, out the door, around the corner and up the steps. Please note the uh... lush vegetation.

At the end of my street, I turn and start going down the hill. Check out the amazing view of Mt. Hood. Well... it's there, I promise.
Two blocks down, take a peek down the side street at Mt. St. Helens. Again... I promise it's there.

At this point I've been walking for about 5 minutes, and I'm ready for a bit of a pit stop.

Fortunately there's a Plaid Panties right there.

It's time for a healthy breakfast! (It says "Dr."- it has to be healthy!)

Another block, and work comes into view. It's still about another 3 minute walk.

And that's how I get to work, on my own two feet. The way there is fine, all downhill. But you know what they say - what goes down, must come up.

But it's not all bad, I get to walk past this beautiful mountain stream. You can almost see the salmon swimming up stream.
But when I'm not walking to & from work, or waiting for the #8 to take me downtown (which deserves a post of it's own), I drive this beautiful 1996 Plymouth Neon. Her name is Babette, I named her on my first test drive. I've gone well over 100,000 miles with her, to Vancouver BC & Passadena CA and countless trips between Lacey WA and Portland.

And that's how I get from here to there and back again.

It's good to be the cat.

It's Caturday, and a busy one Chez Rebel. I had to go to work today for an Open House. This was the first time I had to organize an 'event' that involved inviting people from off campus. Unless you've done this kind of thing at an institution as bureaucratic as this one... you have no idea what it entails. I had to get approval to use the space, I had to get approval to use the parking lot. And of course another event had already reserved the parking lot closest to our building, so I had to reserve the lot much farther away, and personally put out a bread-crumb-esque trail of signs for our event. I had to create the invitations (which, surprise, also needed to be approved by the university) and distribute it to several universities, follow up with them, solicit RSVPs, respond to the RSVPs etc. etc.

I was also in charge of arranging the catering. Always a tough call - order too much food and you've wasted money & food, order too little and you look either cheap or totally unprepared. So it's important to track RSVPs... but that doesn't even help because people who RSVP don't always show up, and people show up who didn't RSVP. It actually worked out that we had just enough pizza, but a whole lot more salad than we needed. Then there was all the information I had to get together to distribute to the students. It all worked out okay, but man it was stressful trying to make sure I thought of everything. Seriously, it threatened to cut into my blog surfing time. ;)

Meanwhile, Sally had a rough day of her own.

You know, sometimes I feel bad that I'm so.... forgive me... pussy-whipped. I get up at 4 or 5 every morning to feed her, and she's even got me spending the big bucks on a special raw food diet. And try as I might, I can't stick to keeping her on a diet. But then, I started comparing our lives.

My major responsibilities:

go to work

pay bills

volunteer

file tax returns,

vote, generally participate in democracy

attempt to stay apprised of world news and current events

buy groceries ( including the special cat food I can only get at the pet supply store)

wash dishes (including Sally's dishes)

vacuum (the inch deep layer of Sally's fur all over the apartment)

Take out the trash / recycling / compost

generally clean house (& Sally's litter pan)

stay up on my car's service & maintenance

make sure Sally gets her vaccinations & regular check ups

try to fight the good fight against global warming, poverty, aids, racial or religious intolerance (Starving Kitties in Iraq etc.)

And of course do all those fun things that make life worth living, hang out with friends, keep in contact with family, spend time on my hobbies etc.

Sally's major responsibilities:

Eat

Sleep

Lick self inappropriately when guests come over.

As she sleeps upwards of 18 hours a day, she's always well rested enough to engage in her favorite activity of all - insisting I feed her. And, cold blooded murder that she is, she has no moral qualms with biting me, scratching me, or waking me up at the crack of dawn to achieve her goals. I'm just no match for that kind of single purposed focus of mind and body. So she wins, and I feed her. Whatcha gonna do?

I just pray to whatever god is in charge of reincarnation, that I get to be a cat next time around.

Thought for the day:

All generalizations are wrong. Discuss.

What have we here?

Three fifths of a cardigan, that's what.
Those aren't sleeves, btw. That's the back and the two front halves in serious need of blocking.



With the help of Maya Angelou and the Yarn Harlot herself you can see the general shape of the neckline. The pattern calls for a roll top neckline, but last time I just did 2x2 ribbing all along the collar, and I think I'll do that again - it matches the button band.

I'm going to Abundant Yarns for Thursday's knit night, and hopefully I'll get a good start on the sleeves there. At this rate I'll actually get to wear this sweater while it's cold!!! =)

What's in the bag?

So I neglected to sign up for Blog stalking... but I'm cheating and doing the assignment anyway. They don't call me Rebel for nothin'. ;)

Here are several (but not all) of the purses / bags I use regularly.

I bought the smallest black one in Las Vegas and carried it all over Europe. It's the perfect little purse for vacationing and/or going to a bar. The front pocket is just big enough to hold cash or my debit card & drivers license, and the main section is just big enough for my camera. It's absolutely perfect - except for the dorky "Las Vegas" and stars embroidered on it. I keep meaning to do something about that. The one next to it is the purse I use the most - especially when going out and about. It's big enough to hold two of the following three items: my wallet, my camera, or my date book, but not all three! In fact, if I've got two of those items in there, I have to be creative getting my keys to fit in there with them. The advantages of those two bags are that they are really small & the strap is long enough to go across my chest in the classic 'don't mug me' fashion. The disadvantage is that neither of those is big enough to hold my checkbook which I still use - having not yet completely embraced the age of electronic banking.

But today I'm using the trapezoidal pink bag that Actual T made. It's by far the prettiest purse I own, and I like taking it to work. This is what is in it today:

My checkbook, four pens, my Van Gogh date book, a tissue, the novel I'm currently reading (and loving!), a pad of recycled paper, my wallet, Chapstick, gum, a cloth napkin (I was eating something on my way to work today), and my keys. Pretty basic. Of course I cleaned out all my purses yesterday. If I'd taken a picture on Friday, you would have seen a motley collection of receipts and papers ranging from Sally's vaccination certificate to my eye glasses receipt, and several gum wrappers.

I do try to keep my purses cleaned out, and only keep the bare minimum of 'stuff' in them. But my back-pack, tutoring bag, and knitting bag are another story entirely!

Anyone else want to show & tell? I love snooping in peoples purses & wallets.

OFFF

Today I had the pleasure of joining a few knittyheads at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in beautiful Canby Oregon. I showed a lot of restraint and only picked up four skeins of Soy Silk (on sale =) ). It helped that I'd splurged at Black Sheep, and still haven't knit anything from those yarns yet. The Soy Silk is earmarked for Soleil take 2.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's a really nice subtly variegated purple. I like variegated yarns, but I'm discovering that I don't like them with a lot of different colors blended in. I like tone on tone a lot better.

In quilting news, I had made a lot of progress quilting one of the baby quilts. But when I looked at the back side, I was really unhappy with the way it looked. So I slowly but surely picked it out. Actually there are a lot of bits that I just couldn't pick out the stitches were too close together. So tomorrow I'll see if I can find a better seam ripper. And then I'll pick a slightly less ambitious quilting pattern and give it another shot.

It's almost Caturday

I saw this on Mag's blog and couldn't resist finding out exactly what kind of lolcat I was.

Your Score: Sad Cookie Cat

51% Affectionate, 30% Excitable, 64% Hungry

You are the classic Shakespearian tragedy of the lolcat universe. The sad story of a baking a cookie, succumbing to gluttony, and in turn consuming the very cookie that was to be offered. Bad grammar ensues.



To see all possible results, checka dis.

link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test Wow - surprisingly accurate!

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

I hate cigarettes, I do. They're stinky, they're addictive, they pollute, they comprise 90% of the litter I see in the city, and oh yeah - they kill people. Cigarettes kill lots and lots and lots of people. Cigarette companies are evil - sure. I don't smoke and I certainly don't advocate smoking... not by any stretch of the imagination. But man! The Smoking Smack Down is just out of control!

My workplace just went Tobacco Free. Which is fine... except that it's one of the biggest employers of the state. The campuses comprise about 400 acres and employ over 11,000 people. Now this isn't even counting students, patients or visitors! So it's not an insignificant gesture.

We've also got yet another new cigarette tax going on the next ballot. The extra revenue generated will go to fund insurance coverage for children. I totally support insurance coverage for kids... I do, I promise. Heck - I want everyone to have coverage. And this is one tax I wouldn't have to pay. But it all just seems wrong.

I don't even know why. I'm just tired of vilifying smokers. And frankly the idea of creating a source of funding for children's health care, while simultaneously trying to dry up that source of funding seems a bit counter-productive. I do lots of unhealthy stuff and I get nervous with the whole anti-smoking mentality. What next? Fat-Free restaurants? A tax on brie? Booze-free weddings? The thought is terrifying. Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about....

Oh wait.


God, I need a cigarette.

Les Nympheas

I was delighted by Melissa's comment about the colors of my cardigan reminding her of Monet's water lilies. J'adore Monet! Visiting his gardens at Giverny was one of my top priorities when I went to France last year. I have fond memories of B and I sitting by the water lily pond, in the rain, painting our own impressions of the occasion. It was a lot of fun, and one of my favorite memories from my trip.

Claude Monet's Les Nympheas:

And mine:

Well, not exactly, but the colors do evoke Monet's palette - which makes me very happy.

You probably can't tell from this picture, but the back is finished. Yay! I can't quite decide if I want to do both fronts at the same time or not. It's nice to finish both pieces at the same time... but I hate it when the yarn gets tangled up. But I guess I hate it more when the pieces don't match up. Oh, and do you just love how this picture perfectly illustrates the fundamental knitting rule - Stockinette Stitch CURLS! =P

LL to the EDC

Over the weekend I got my knit-on and started my Everyday Cardigan in Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs & Butterflies, I think the color is called "Lakehouse". Check it out - I knew I just needed a truely mindless pattern to get my knitting mojo back. I finished about 10" of the back.

Looks good so far. I have mixed feelings about varigated yarn. I love love love love it in the hank, but when it starts knitting up I get anxious about how it pools. I like it when the colors blend one into the next, with this one, the green kinda jumps out. But I do like all the cool colors, and seriously - this cardigan is going to match about 90% of my wardrobe - so that's a plus. I hope to finish this one while it's still cool so I can actually wear it. I really like my Manly sweater, but only got to wear it once before the weather got too warm!

Fiber Addicts (not so) Annonymous

Hi, my name is Rebel and I'm a Fiber Addict.

I needed yellow thread. I really, genuinely, needed yellow thread. I popped into Cool Cottons on Hawthorne and found said yellow thread. But they had new fabric! Cute new fabric!! Cute new fabric with Pink Flowers!!!

I was powerless to resist. I bought enough for a skirt... but who knows what I'll end up doing with it. And somehow as I walked to the counter to have pay for the fabric & thread, a little Valorie Wells fat quarter jumped into my hand!

I just should not be allowed to enter fabric stores.

On the plus side, I'm really close to finishing up two quilts. The I-spy quilt just needs to have binding attached (which I do by machine like the lazy quilter that I am). Another quilt you haven't seen was half-way through being quilted when I ran out of the yellow thread.

I just need to accept the fact that I'm a fiber stasher, and just start focusing on hiding... I mean... organizing my stashes.

And as if I didn't already have enough sewing/ quilting projects in the queue, I've wound up a few hanks of my Lorna's Laces and have cast on for a swatch. I'm going to make another Everyday Cardigan. It's an easy pattern, I already know how to do it, and I know I like the end result. I'm excited to see how the color changes will show up. Hopefully the blue/purple will be artfully highlighted by the splashes of green, and I don't get like a funky pool of green across my stomach or anything. LOL! Only time will tell.

Religious freedom and useful turtles.

A title like that can only mean I've been tutoring. =)

I was going over the months of the year with my student, we'd gone through them a couple of times and when we got back around to September I reminded her that it was "this month". She stopped me and said "Africa - tomorrow - no eat." I'm not the most culturally aware person but I know that Ramadan is a fasting holiday, so I guessed that she was talking about Ramadan. So I said "For Ramadan you don't eat in the day time, you eat at night" and she corrected me "No. Tomorrow - no eat" and asked "America - no eat tomorrow?"

Hmm... so how to explain religious diversity & our first amendment right to freedom of religion without using the words: religion, Jewish, Christian, church, temple, freedom, or constitution? So I told her, "In America, tomorrow - no eating is good, eating is good. Some people eat - good, some people don't eat - good." I'm not sure if she understood me. I'm not sure what exposure she's had to people of other religions. But I taught her the word "fast" (later regretting that I'd taught her the vastly more obscure definition of the word before teaching her the more common definition!), and the word "pray." And she confirmed that yes, that's what she'd be doing tomorrow. So that was good.

Then later, we were going over some alphabet picture cards (A- apple, B-ball). For each item, I'd ask her if she liked the item or not, hoping to get an idea of what she might like to learn about next. When we got to T - turtle, she explained that in her country "sit on... have baby .... go to sleep... " and then she mimed something and I tried to figure out what she was saying "You sit on the turtle?"
"No, baby"
"You saw a baby turtle?"

"No, drink water... go to bed... baby... turtle"
And I go back and forth with her for a while, trying to understand what on earth she's talking about. Do they eat the baby turtle? "No" Do you drink the water that the turtle's been swimming in? "No." I've got no clue. She patiently tries to explain it to me "Have baby... drink water... go to bed" and she mimes something I'm just not getting. I start thinking maybe this is a way for pregnant women to induce labor. The kids are laughing at me. I asked my student why the kids were laughing at me - and she starts laughing at me! Poor American girl doesn't know what to do with a turtle. So we moved on.

When I got home, I did a little Google-fu, searching for the words she'd been saying. It turns out that turtles are used as a cure for bed wetting! If your kid wets the bed (drink water - go to bed), you sit him or her on a turtle and that stops it. Well, of course that's what you use turtles for! How could I miss that? =P

This, of course, means that I will have the honor and privilege of teaching her bathroom vocabulary next week. Wish me luck!


In other news, on Tuesday I went to the information session for the Oxford Seminars TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate course. The instructor had done the Peace Corps for two years in China and then went on to teach in Taiwan, so she had a lot of first hand experience. But she'd also had a masters in teaching before she left... so that didn't really sell me on the program they are offering. Tonight I'm going to the information session for the Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) course. It's a lot more expensive than the Oxford program, but also more widely respected. So far I have not been impressed with the company, but I'm giving them a second chance tonight. I've got a lot of thinking & deciding to do.

I was fine.

I was fine all day yesterday. Woke up, went to work. I knew it was 9/11, but I was fine. I'd briefly considered digging out an American flag to fly (I know I have one somewhere - is it horrible that I know exactly where my Mexican flag is?) but I was running late. I was fine when I left work, and went to pick up my new glasses. And on the way I had to stop for a fire truck returning to the station. As I sat at the red light watching the fire truck back up & park, I started thinking about those firefighters who died in the Twin Towers, and about Mychel Judge, the chaplain who was victim #1 of the attacks. I just started crying. I'm not fine. There's too much evil in the world, just too much evil in our own country.

Be the change.

WIP roundup.

Somehow the idea of a fabric-diet totally backfired. I now have more fabric than I did when I started this summer. I still think I need to go back to the habit of only working on one major project at a time. My rule used to be that I'm not allowed to buy fabrics for a future quilt until I finish the current quilt in progress, and I think I need to get back into that habit.

Now, I have heard very well reasoned arguments against that rule. More skilled quilters than I explain that it's important to pick up fabrics that appeal to you when they are available so that you can build up a stash that inspires you to even greater creativity. It's the idea that as artists we need to have the materials of our art available to us. One would never suggest that a painter use up all his blue paint before she buys green paint. Or that he plan out his next work of art and only purchase the colors and brushes he knows he will use for that project.

But, frankly, I am not an artist. Quilting is a hobby for me, a creative outlet. I have sufficient materials to keep myself creatively occupied through the end of the year if not significantly longer. To reassure myself of that fact, here are the projects that are in my queue, projects that should be finished up before I even think about starting a new project!


First up, quilting / sewing projects:


These quilts are somewhere in the sewing phase. I still haven't done a thing with the flying geese quilt top. I have been slowly but surely filling in the 'blank' squares in the eye spy quilt... only seven blocks to go, then I'll bind it and it will be done. Then hiding in the corner is a slightly secret project.

These are planned quilts in various stages of the pre-sewing phase. On the left are pieces for my niece's Flower Basket quilt. I have a pattern, and as you can see I've started cutting out fabric. I have a lot more cutting to do before I will start sewing that one. At the top - those pink & black fat quarters are intended for a Pinwheel quilt, the pattern has been sketched out, but I haven't cut anything yet. The batiks on the right were destined to become a Thousand Triangles quilt for my nephew. I have the pattern all worked out and even test cut a few triangles out of paper, just to check my math. I don't think it's going to be for my nephew after all... he's expressed interest in a Tampa Bay Buccaneer's themed quilt... so I'll probably start that after he comes back from boot camp.

As I've cut fabric for other projects, I've trimmed down the scraps into 3" x 1" strips and 2"x 2" squares. These pieces can be considered "just a gleam in mama's eye." I have a few ideas for scrap quilts... another rail fence maybe, a 9 patch, or maybe even a round the world type quilt. I love the look of scrap quilts... so I like building up my little piles of pieces, it's fun to think about what kinds of things I can do with them.

Soleil, ah soleil. I am drawn to this word as Rose is drawn to the Bad Wolf. It's French for Sun, and it gets me every time. Pay $100+ for Cirque du Soleil tickets? Absolutely! Soleil tank top in Knitty? The yarn is in my cart before I even look at the rest of the patterns in the issue. Now Valorie Wells has a line of fabrics called Soleil and they jump in my hand at every fabric shop I visit. There is a quilt in here somewhere. I have some ideas, but nothing definite. If I let myself, I could buy a lot more of this fabric before I even decide what to do with it!

These flannels were accumulated in a few different stages. I think I'd intended to make PJs out of the Santa fabric at some point. The bright red is what's left over from a Riding Hood that turned out quite well indeed. The other two flannels were on sale... and I think there's a nice warm winter quilt in here somewhere. Or I may actually make PJs who knows?

Lastly, fabric for skirts. Skirts are perhaps the easiest article of clothing to make. Making them well, however, is not so easy. I have specific skirt patterns in mind for all of these fabrics. I've even bought the appropriate notions & trim. My goal is to someday sew in a zipper that can't be seen, and a waistband that I don't have to hide. Someday... someday...

Lest the reader think this really isn't all that bad. I'm just showing fabric in my stash that's been allocated to a project or at least the idea of a project. I have much more fabric hidden away here & there. Left over fabric from other projects, free fabric from my mom and another generous donor, and an odd yard here and there picked up at the Fabric Depot summer sale. Now what I need to do is print these pictures out & carry them with me every time I go to the fabric stores! I have *no* need for additional fabric at this point in time... not until I've finished at least half of these projects anyway.

You know it's a good party

when the boss ends up wearing a sombrero.

Seriously, I feel very strongly about the importance of party hats. That's one of the reasons I love New Year's Eve... lots of fun party hats.

Oh man, somehow I got roped into being on the party committee at my work, and it is a lifetime appointment! So while the parties are a lot of fun, they are also a ton of work. Fortunately the head of the committee (to the right in that picture) is an expert and always manages to pull everything together.

The most incredibly fun part is the annual kick-ball game. Not only is it fun to have adults and kids playing kick-ball (quite competitively, I must add), but we have a lot of faculty & postdocs from countries were kick-ball is not a common school-yard activity. We've had people running to the wrong base, not running at all, not at all sure what to do with the ball when they get it - its great.

We couldn't have a fiesta without a pinata... but this was the pinata that would not die.

First we let all the kids line up, put on the blindfold and take one whack each. They whacked off one leg, than the other, then the back two, then the head... and it still wouldn't crack! By the end, the blind folds were off, and we were letting them take a few swings each. Finally someone knocked the whole thing off the string... but it still didn't break! So I picked it up and ripped it to pieces. =) Whatever it takes to get the candy - that's how I roll.

Brand new bag

Check out my brandy new bag, beatuifully designed by actual t. Very pink, very soft, very me, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. =)

I love the pretty paisley lining too.

In case you're wondering... actual t just opened her Etsy shop. Christmas is only 109 days away you know.

Skirt City!

Unlike T, I am not the mayor of Skirt City; I am merely a tourist. But here is my latest skirt:

I just finished it. (And actually wrote a whole post about it, saving regularly like a good girl, but when I added the last photo everything else disappeared- wtf!) Anyway, the pattern is New Look 6593, bias cut skirt with a waist band & zipper (glutton for punishment that I am). I really didn't like the pattern, and I don't plan on using it again. To start with, I didn't like the pattern layout, it would have wasted a lot of fabric. I mean, I know bias skirts waste fabric... but this was excessive... so I just cut it with the grain. It won't have the same drape, but it should still be nice.


And here's an "action shot" of the floral skirt I made earlier this summer (as opposed to the always classy "hanging on the bathroom door" shot):

There are many things I don't like about this picture, but I wanted to show off the fact that I made a skirt that actually fits, and looks like a real skirt! A major success in my book. =) For this skirt and the one below, I used McCall's 4306, bias skirt with a zipper, but no waist band. I liked this pattern a lot so I'll use it again.

Now I actually made this skirt a while ago, but didn't want to post it because it turned out a lot dorkier than I thought it would. I don't know... the fabric seemed really cool in the store, and the whole thing seemed like a good idea at the time. I haven't worn it in public, and I'm not sure when or if I ever will.

But then... this *is* Portland, and I've seen far stranger things!

Stick to your knitting.

Despite the fact that we're actually getting a little warm weather this weekend, the unmistakable signs of autumn are in the air. I've spotted a few trees starting, just starting, to change color. There's also been that particular chill on the air that means cooler weather is coming. Something internal clicked and I've started knitting again.

Now of course I've got several projects on the needles already, but I don't really feel like working on any of them. One is Montego Bay - it taunts me. It's supposed to be easy, but I keep messing it up - what an ego crusher. Then there's the gothic leaf stole. I've only gotten through one of the pattern repeats, so that would be like starting from scratch... and just too complicated for my current mindset. There's a feather & fan shawl in progress for my neice... but I have totally lost interest in that project. So what have I been knitting?

Dishcloths!

Not even fancy ones, or trendy ones, or even particularly pretty ones. Just plain ol' dishcloths. The generic corner-to-corner garter stitch washcloth is just about what I can handle right now. Knit two, yarn over, knit to the end - every row until it's wide enough. Then knit one, k2tog, yarn over, k2tog, knit to the end. Plus I have an obscene amount of kitchen cotton from when amazon.com had them on sale for like $0.50 each. Easy, cheap, functional, and pink. What more could I want?

Now that I'm back in the habit of knitting, I'm thinking up plans for my next projects. One of the first new projects I'll cast on for will be a cardigan in Lornas Laces Bullfrogs & Butterflies that I picked up at that other huge sale (Knit Happens?).

I know a lot of other people like to challenge themselves, learning all kinds of new techniques and designing patterns... but that is just me. I knit to relax, and to have a finished product. There are times when I really need mindless knitting - like big long stretches of stockinette. So this cardigan will be a good way to ease back into knitting. When I get bored, that's when I'll pull out my lace projects again, give 'em a good cursing, probably frog them & start over, and promptly go back to the cardigan!