Check out what I learned today – I can knit! Well, I can cast on and do a basic stitch anyway, thanks to the groovy book Ma Snook sent me. Now I’m itching to do more. I definitely need a new bag, and there are some extremely cute patterns available on the ‘Net. (I’m loving the first one and last one of those.) I also found some hats I might have to make for the folks back home for Christmas. These two look easy and stylish enough. And how cool would it be to make my sister a devil hat? She’d love that!
Category: Crafts
Craft projects of mine
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Learning to Knit
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Knitting!
Thanks for everyone’s commiseration. The work disaster turned out to be not as bad as I anticipated. I still had to re-do everything, but it was easier the second time and I even improved it a bit. The biggest pick-me-up was provided by Mama Snook, who sent me some knitting needles, a ball of yarn, and a groovy kids’ book entitled “Fun With Wool.” As soon as I get the quilt done, it’s time to tackle knitting!
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Storm at Sea Quilt – In Progress
As promised, here’s a picture of the current state of my Storm at Sea quilt. I’ve got a lot more rows to attach, but you can get the design starting to take shape. I love the way it gives the impression of curves and waves, despite being made up of all rigid geometric pieces. I’m pretty proud of it. Man, quilting this thing is going to be a beeyotch though. -
Lance in Space
Lance in Space!
At long last, I present to you my magnum opus. Twenty-two space age songs with a heap of surprise sound effects. I even threw in a robot! The artwork and complete track listing are now online for your perusal. (If you’re one of my swappees, you might want to wait so as not to spoil the surprise.) Oh, and see if you can spot the monkey! -
My First Quilt
The quilt is done!
I finished the quilting yesterday and spent all day today finishing the edges. (It took me about ten hours of sewing. Yeah, I now have arthritis.) But it’s done! I even embroidered my initials and the date down in the corner. Snookums is sitting under it on the couch right now. It’s so damn warm! We are gonna put this sucker to good use. It’s suddenly gotten real cold at night. 🙂 -
Monkey Bread
As the weather gets colder here, my urge to bake kicks in. Yesterday I got a hankering for monkey bread. (Hey, even Cindy Crawford likes it!) Unfortunately they don’t seem to sell any kind of pre-prepared bread dough at my grocery store, so I decided to make it from scratch. I’d never even done a yeast bread before! My only previous yeast experiment was pizza dough (and I think we all remember how that went). But I persevered. I kneaded and I mixed (“Thanks, Stickmaster!”) and I pushed and I pulled. Eventually I got the damn thing in the oven. It actually turned out quite tasty, but there was one crucial flaw: it fell apart! The little balls didn’t stick together! I don’t know if my dough was too floury or what. Snookums thought it was great, but he’d never had it before. He didn’t realize that it’s not supposed to be a mound of individual cinnamon balls, but rather a cohesive loaf. It’s good to feel appreciated, though.Sidenote: Bread is so damn labor-intensive! I don’t think I’ll be doing this very often. I’d rather pay a dollar for a loaf than spend three hours tending a big pile of goo.
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Friday Five
1. What are your hobbies?
Besides all this Internet crap? I quilt. My first blanket is coming along very well, aside from the fact that my fingertips are all raw and bloody from stabbing myself too many times with a quilting needle. I’m also learning Korean in the hopes of amusing my grandparents the next time I go home.2. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Though I collect books in general, I also have tons of Roald Dahl stuff. I’ve got an entire shelf of his books, including several rare volumes (that I paid an arm and a leg for on eBay). I’ve also got Dahl movies, Dahl CD’s, Dahl records, Dahl magazines, and even a doll (from Matilda). I tell myself that it’s all for the site, but really, it’s for me. 🙂3. Is there a hobby you’re interested in, but just don’t have the time/money to do?
I’d love to actually get “serious” about my Dahl collection and go after some of the really nice first editions. Since I’ve seen prices with four digits, though, that’ll have to wait til I make my first million. I’ve also had a crazy desire lately to learn to knit. I’m just working my way through the domestic arts, people.4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity?
When I was first heading to London, I sold my rarest Dahl book because I needed the cash. I immediately regretted it though and was lucky enough to be able to buy the same volume back later. Quilting could possibly be a money maker, though. I used to scoff at how much the Amish back in Indiana charged for these things, but now that I know the work involved in making one by hand, I don’t think hundreds of dollars is out of the question. Of course, this first one is for my bed. It’s getting cold at night!5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to?
Not really anything. I don’t know enough people here to join a club yet. -
Summer Down Under 2002
Since the deadline for mailing has come and gone, I’ve taken the liberty of posting the artwork and liner notes for “Summer Down Under 2002”, my Burn Baby Burn mix CD. Feel free to take a gander. I had a blast making it. Oh, and if you feel like swapping it for one of your own, just let me know!Edited 16/04/2025: I have no idea where the liner notes actually are! Must have been lost in a move from one web host to another…
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Great weekend
It started off Friday with the arrival of several mix CDs in my mailbox, courtesy of Mr. Jones. Snookums and I have been shaking our “bootays” ever since. Then on Saturday we headed to my first ever professional rugby game: the New South Wales Waratahs vs. the Otago Highlanders. Basically, it was Australia against New Zealand, so emotions were running high. New South Wales ended up winning 31-13. It was awesome. I couldn’t help making crunching noises at every tackle. (Sidenote: When I eventually return to America, I plan on introducing the concept of the “meat pie” as the ultimate sporting venue snack. They’re sooo much better than hot dogs.) Afterwards we headed to the sports bar at Fox Studios Australia for some bowling, foosball, and beer. Today I was a good girl and went to the gym, and then I worked on my quilt. The entire top is finished and I’ve got it basted together with the backing and filling. The quilting itself isn’t so easy. I was really frustrated at first, til I realized that I don’t have to be as good as my Mom at it. Once I accepted that (like all my other domestic endeavors), things got a lot easier. Now we’re watching Star Wars on telly. Ahhh, perfect.
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Mix CD
In case you didn’t notice, my blogging drought ended. And though I still haven’t been to the gym, my life force energy seems to be on an upswing. Today I successfully managed to finish my Burn Baby Burn Mix CD! I’m worried that I put way too much effort into it though. I always do that. It’s like when we’d have gift exchanges in elementary school, and I’d always pick out something over the price limit yet really cool that I’d like to get myself, and in exchange I’d get a piece of wood with that “Footprints” poem glued to it. Not that I think your CDs will in any way equate to “Footprints”! I just mean that I never know what’s required in such situations and I tend to overcompensate. In other words: I spent five hours laying out the booklet insert to make sure that the pages were double-sided and lined up correctly and organized so that they’d be in order when you turn the pages. When in reality, nobody would have thought the less of me for printing it out on a sheet of paper, folding it up, and wedging it inside. See, when you don’t have a job, you find lots of other little tasks for your brain to obsess over. *sigh* Anyway, they’re going out in the mail tomorrow, so you all feel free to bitch about my issues when you get it. I’ll understand.
