Effy Wild is doing a month of blogging. I always mean to blog more, but don’t.

Usually, I try to come up with blog posts that I think will be “interesting” instead of being my real, authentic self. I feel like I am trying to put a glossy magazine image of my life together, and, honestly, my life is not like that.

But that doesn’t mean my life isn’t worth blogging about. So, I am going to try to follow along. There might not be beautiful pictures every day. Things might even get dreary once in a while. But, since I think the only person who even reads this blog is my sister (Hi, sis!) I’m just going to put whatever I come up with that day on the blog. We’ll see how it goes.

And just after I wrote that, I read about Effy and the “Always Be Magical and Awesome.” Hehe. I feel like I’m having a conversation with you, Effy.

I was reading on Effy’s blog about how no one would want to photographer her studio for “Where Women Create.” I love that magazine, and I love most of Stampington’s lineup. But there is a certain sameness to every issue I find a bit irritating.

Effy’s studio is actually the one I want to see. I don’t want to see perfect clear spaces, all the paints in a box, the brushes pristine and in a gilded antique. I want to see teaming piles of papers and books about to topple over. I want to see a desk two feet deep in supplies and detritus. I want to see beautiful chairs you can’t even get a good look at because the artist has done what I always do: put all the crap that’s too delicate, valuable or inconvenient to just put on the floor. And then I want to see their cat perched on top of it anyway, like my cat does.

A Little Halloween Art Journaling

I have been working on a little Halloween art journal that I started putting together last Halloween, but didn't finish. I'm working on adding some new pages. I may need to re-do the order I put some of the original pages in. Here are a couple from last year:

I work at my art journaling very slowly, so it may be another few years before I can say this Halloween journal is complete. But I do enjoy working with it very much.

Adventures

One of the best things about October is the chance to get away on the weekends. James' job keeps him tied to the office through just about all of September, so we like to really use these lovely weekends to do day trips. And we couldn't have asked for better weather than this weekend. It didn't quite get to 80 degrees, as they were forecasting, but it was lovely and warm and we drove through the Connecticut countryside with our windows rolled down, and the breeze rolling in off the mellowing fields. I actually took the above photo from the car, while James was driving, so I'm quite pleased that it turned out as well as it did. You can see its too early for color yet, but its coming.

This morning I'm having my coffee in my other Halloween cup. This is a very special morning, because East Cambridge Business Association is having Rib Fest, right here on Cambridge Street. And we live literally right in the middle of it! The whole house smells like barbeque. I have my tickets, and when the festivities begin at noon, I'm going down and nom, nom, nom. I could hear them starting to set up when I woke up this morning, with the police setting up traffic barriers, and the restaurants preparing their booths.

And for those who have been wondering, there was indeed pie in my kitchen, the night I posted last. It was perfection. (Photo taken with Hipstamatic. I love that app! Just wish I could afford more cool features.)

Pumpkins Everywhere

Another one of my favorite things about fall is the pumpkins! I love pumpkin everything, and fall is a great time to find pumpkin flavors added to every treat you can think of. This is my morning cup of coffee, in one of my two special Halloween mugs. Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice is one of my favorite pumpkin flavored coffees. And of course, my current sock in progress. This one is a gift, but the recipient doesn't know about it yet. (Sorry, Pete, it's not for you!)

Pumpkin and other spice-filled scented candles are a lot of fun, and really get me in the mood to enjoy the overcast days and cool breezes. Maybe in a day or two, I can share my stash of candles with you.

I've noticed that the florists, farm stands and craft stores have started putting out pumpkin displays -- though the latter are usually made of of fake pumpkins. I still don't have a front porch to put a Jack-o-lantern on, so I will have to continue the tradition of admiring the displays at the Pumpkin Festival in Keene. We've gone so many years now, only missing occasionally. We even go in the rain, though I don't think we stay as long.

Buying a condo that doesn't have a yard was probably the best decision for us, but it does make me a little sad that I don't have an excuse to buy mums. I love how bright they stay, long into the season.

From the sounds coming from my kitchen, I think a pumpkin pie may be in my future!

Fall is Here!

To me, the beginning of October is what I always think of as the beginning of fall Which just so happens to be my favorite time of year! Break out the warm, cozy sweaters, the thick wool socks, light some candles -- I'd gather around a fireplace if I had one! I love the apples, the cider and the doughnuts. I love the leaves turning, falling, crunching.



Another great thing about fall is that it is the perfect time to break out the Halloween cross-stitching. I have three finished projects to show off. That sounds like a lot, until I confess that I finished these, one a year, for the past three years.



The first one is the oldest one, "Trick or Treat," from Just Cross Stitch October 2008, designed by Lori Markovic of La-D-Da. Last year, I stitched "Ouch" by Angel Stichin. And finally, this year, in fact, just finished a few days ago, I stitched "Halloween Delusion" by Holly Gordon and Judy VonStein of Imaginating, Inc.

Of course, I can never just leave something alone, so I made color alterations to all three projects. I really like the green legs on "Trick or Treat." That large, solid block of purple in "Ouch" was made a lot more interesting by using Weeks Dye thread, although I ran out in the middle and had a terrible time trying to get more from the same store that I purchased the first batch from. It wasn't really anyone's fault; the shop owner was just ill and it took way more time than I had patience for.

And of course, I had to completely change every color of pumpkin in "Halloween Delusion." I also had to shorten the tail a tiny bit, to allow for how closely I cut the fabric. But it was a really fun stitch, and I'm thinking of making it up as a pillow, perhaps.

I have started another Halloween cross-stitch, but that is news for another day.

Milo Bailey

Here's a picture of my cat. Just cause I feel like it.

Coughing and Pain

This is a digital art journal page I did today about yet another trip to the doctor for the coughing and pain. My last diagnosis was "cough." Today I get "chronic cough." Medicine is swell. I would never have guessed I have a cough. Neither would all of my neighbors.

I haven't written much about it yet, but I am part of the Art Journal Caravan over at Scrapbookgraphics.com.

I really like doing digital art pages. I am not physically able to do some of my favorite crafts right now; knitting is far too painful, and I need to heal. But at least I can spend my time doing something creative.

Credits: Elfie Designs and Fiddlette Designs.

My First Digital ATC

Credits: Tangie Baxter, scrapbookgraphics.com

Absolutely Everything!

I went with a good friend of mine to Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA yesterday. It was a grand adventure, even if by the end it was sort of raining buckets. I was STUNNED by the store. It was like a candy store. No, better, it was like some paper crafter's Disneyland. It was so much fun, I almost couldn't stand myself.

Within moments of walking into the store, I was just shellshocked by the sheer number of wonderfulness. I honestly wanted every single thing in the store, and let me tell you there was a lot. I ended up over my budget by about thirty dollars.

So, I didn't take any pictures of the store, which I totally should have. (I'm not affiliated with the store, in case you were wondering; I just really loved it.) And I broke into most of my toys before it even occurred to me that I should have taken a picture of my loot. I suppose it doesn't matter that much anyway, since its so overcast today, and yesterday was no better.

I was able to get my paws on the Sept/ Oct issue of Somerset Studio, which I have been craving very hard for many weeks.

I'm working on my first art journal/ scrapbook/ altered book. I've got a theme, and I've got lots of nice toys to use for it, and I'm very excited about the whole thing. When I've got a little progress made, I'll try to get some pictures of it up. Part of the problem is having no idea what I am doing, and trying to figure it out along the way.

Fender Bender

Somebody had a little oopsie this weekend. No one was hurt, and it was the other guy's fault. He was good about it, concerned, not angry or trying to blame someone else. He passed a car turning left on the shoulder, not seeing that we were also making a left. It was more frightening than anything, and the damage could have been a lot worse.

So how about the cards I was going to post this weekend?





My sweetie and I went to the library on Saturday, and we both left with a nice big stack of books. I finally got my hands on a copy of Artist Trading Card Workshop. There's some really good techniques in there. I don't quite have all the necessary supplies for most of them, but its good to think about new things.

Artist Trading Cards -- and some yarn

I've got three of my growing collection of ATC's to show you today. These are a few of my favorite ones, so I'm afraid that they are not for trade, at least not at this time.



I've been a bit reluctant to trade my ATC's. I have had bad experiences with swaps in the past. Some have been just fine, but I feel like I've been shorted on some others.

But I mailed out my very first swap today, and the lady I'm trading with seems nice. So I have hope it will go well. I've also signed up to do a swap in September, through a group. I'm hoping that the power of the group will help ensure that things go smoothly, and I'm only doing a one to one trade. This particular group allows you to choose how many you want to make/ receive.



I'm thinking that I may need to make a small album to hold the ATC's I receive in trades. I'm still giving it some thought; I need some more inspiration and research.

My favorite one is, of course, the one with the bear. He's a sticker I got with one of my cross-stitch magazine; I think its Popcorn Bear.



The only rule for ATC's is that they have to be 3 1/2" by 2 1/2". As you can see, I do collage images, because I can't really draw. I did one halloween themed one that I drew, but it didn't turn out very well.

And finally, here is the yarn I was talking about yesterday. One ply of solid pink merino, two of multi-pink merino/ tencel. My wheel plying is something I need more practice on: this batch has places of over and under plied. I think in the sock it will be fine.



I've got a stack of gift knitting to get through before I have a chance to knit for myself, however. That seems to be the story more and more lately. They are all very knit-worthy, however, so I shall keep on! I got some great yarn for myself when I was up in Portland a couple of weekends ago.

I Found My Joy

Back in July, my sweetie bought me my spinning wheel while I was visiting family in the midwest. I'm very excited. Its taken me a little while to get this here blog going again, but I've got lots of new toys to play with, so maybe I can get going!

This is my Ashford Joy, a traveling wheel. So far I have spun up two very large skeins of sock yarn. One of them was 4.9 oz of sockweight! That is a LOT of spinning.

Stay tuned for another new interest I've picked up: making artist trading cards.

Sleeve Blues

Approximately 100 years ago, my sister gave me some lovely blue, pima cotton yarn, more than enough to make a sweater. Back in November, I started to make a sweater with the pattern she was so kind to send along with the yarn. Its a nice, simple pattern, mostly stockinette with just a bit of basketweave stitch at the hem, cuff and neckline.

I had delusions of finishing it for NanoSwaMo -- I have no idea why I thought I could make my second ever sweater in a month, on size 4 needles, when I waited until week two to begin. It didn't happen. But in February or so, I knit the front. The neckline gave me a bit of trouble, but I think it will be okay when I go and pick up the stitches for the basketweave border. I'm hoping, anyway.

So now all that's left is the sleeves. I've been telling myself very firmly that there is nothing to sleeves, its just more of the same. Its not working for me, though. I've already knit and ripped out five or six times, and I've only managed a few inches of sleeve at the most.

I had trouble casting on the correct number of stitches (repeatedly.) I finally got the right number, and then forgot to do all six rows of the basketweave pattern. I tried to convince myself it wouldn't matter if I only have four, but it really does make a difference. The sleeves roll up without those extra two rows, and I know it would drive me crazy forever. So I ripped them out.

As I was ripping out my sleeves again last night, I told James about the Yarn Harlot searching all through her stash for the yarn she wanted to make a scarf. (Trying to make myself feel better that I am not the only knitter who does stupid things like that.) He is of the opinion that she must be a bear. I don't know if Stephanie would be flattered by this observation, but it did make me feel better.

First Sock Casualty

I am mourning the loss of one sock. He didn't make it back from laundry day. I've searched all over for him, but I think I just have to accept the truth: he's not coming home. Poor sockie. He will be so missed. His mate is in seclusion. Not in the sock drawer; that would be cruel, with all the other couples there, trying to be comforting, but really just making lone sock feel worse. No, the lone sock is hiding out in the underwear drawer, still desperately hoping that, against all odds, they might one day be reunited.

So sad. Every handknit sock is my favorite pair, but I really did wear these all the time, they had lots of life left in them, since it was Opal yarn, and, and sniffle. I just want my sock back.

Too Many Baskets

I'm not really very good with numbers. People who know me well take that into account, particularly if I'm telling a story and throw a number into it. I think statistics are interesting, but I tend to forget the actual numbers involved. It makes the point of my stories a little less pertinent.

The other day, I was going to check the P.O. box for work. I've been here nearly two years, I'm the only one who ever gets the mail, and I do so on a regular basis. As I was walking toward the boxes, down the hall and around the corner, I was shifting baskets of numbers in my mind.

I'd pull one up, realize it was an old telephone number from a high school friend. A number I hadn't dialed in, oh, probably at least 10 years. Not helpful.

I pulled up another number, and realized that's my social security. hmmm.

I shuffled around, brought up a few more random, unhelpuful numbers. Do you know, I have my 10 digit library card number memorized? However, it is also tacked to the walll (right next to the numbers of the P.O. boxes, heh) because when I need it, I can't find that basket.

I resorted to poking the key into various locks in the general vicinity of our box. I was fortunate that no one was around to notice. I also was lucky on the third try.

Today's number foiling comes in the form of socks for my husband. I'm relatively close to having finished his second sock. The first sock was left at home because my knitting bag is too full. I am either ready to start the toe now, or need to knit another inch and start the toe. I could've sworn that I looked it up a week ago, and told myself I needed to knit 9 and one quarter inches and start the toe. But I also swore that I had less than an inch to knit, and when I picked up my needles this morning, I was right at about seven inches. One of my convictions is clearly wrong, but the book is at home and I am not, so its impossible for me to tell. Knit 8 and a quarter, or 9 and a quarter?

I googled around for foot measurements, but didn't find anything as helpful as the chart on the book I left at home. I even thought about calling poor James at work and asking him to measure his foot. But that probably wouldn't get me very far, since he probably doesn't have the right kind of tape measure, and a badly taken measurement is worse than just waiting until tonight to look it up after I get home. Frustrating, though, because I tell myself if I could just remember the number, I could probably have finished his socks today.

A Christmas Meme

Snitched from Knit Think:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags seem like cheatin. I only use them if I just can't manage to wrap it in paper. Once, I bought James an office chair, and the box was so big, paper wasn't going to work at all, and I used a spare blanket. It was orange, and not very Christmasy, but he had so much fun trying to figure out what it was!

2. Real or artificial tree? Real! We always had fake when I was a kid, and it was meh.

3. When do you put up the tree? First or second weekend of December

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after its become good and dried out, so that as many needles fall off as possible during the removal process. Its too depressing to take a tree down before New Years, so it usually goes another week, at least.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I only want a glass or two. I'm much more excited about the peppermint ice cream, which my Dad always snuck in every year.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The My Little Pony playhouse. Loved it so much.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I want to get one. I'd also like to set up a Christmas Village, if I had room to put one up. As it is, I have to disassmeble my dining table to put up the tree.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mother. She's almost impossible. Even if you buy her exactly what she requests, its a good bet she's gonna take it back.

9. Easiest person to buy for? ME! I always know just what I want! hahahah!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmm. Hard one. I've never had really bad gifts, and only a few that were, shall we say, odd. One year James got me a yoga mat, and I use it all the time, but it was a bit odd for Christmas, I thought. (Sorry, sweetie!)

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither? I am so bad at sending them out. Several years, I've bought cards, and left them sitting around until . . . February? Is it too late to mail them then?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Cartoon: "T'was the Night Before Christmas" with Alfred Mouse. It creeps James out a little. Also, how come they never show the Claymations Christmas anymore? With the California Raisins? I love the "Carol of the Bells" in that, and the waffle joke.

Movie: Changes every year. Might be "Christmas in Conneticut," because I love when they sit in the sleigh and the horse decides its time to leave.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Major Procrastinator; I send out knitted gifts all year, as I complete them, so I never have a stash saved up at Christmastime, and I usually put it off to the last minute.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Never! (Wrappings/ boxes don't count.)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies! Gingerbread and molasses cookies are my favorite. Mom goes crazy making cookies -- she did it again this year, according to Dad. She'll make 18 different cookies, dozens and dozens of them. I remember one year, she made little chocolate santas. She froze them, and we had chocolate santas for months. Into July, I think.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored lights. And I don't want them to blink.

17. Favorite Christmas song? All of them? Hmm. I guess "I Wonder as I Wander" or "Little Drummer Boy" or "God Rest Ye Merry Gentelmen" or "Hark the Harald Angels Sing" or . . . .

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I prefer to stay home, but you gotta make the parents/ in-laws happy. We compromise by travelling every other year, to alternating family homes. Boston one year, Michigan the next, Boston the next year, Wisconsin the next.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Not only that, but I know the words to at least the first verse of nearly every popular Christmas Carol.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? For now, a star, because I have not yet found the perfect angel topper. When I find her, the tree will be perfect. No inferior angels accepted. When I was a kid, we had a perfectly hideous angel (her hands were made out of colored lights -- two different colors!) Honestly, she was dreadful.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? We were never allowed to open them until Christmas morning. And then, we usually had to wait for my aunt to drive an hour and a half down from her house. And then we had to have breakfast. And then the children started throwing temper tantrums, and things would get ugly, until finally the adults would give in. Oh, agony.

Now? I've usually opened my presents before Christmas Eve even gets here! I'm so bad!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Hearing one Christmas song over and over, everywhere you go. This year it seems to be "Baby Its Cold Outside." I've heard it at least five times already and I haven't even done any Christmas shopping yet!

Actually, the thing I really, really hate, is when Christmas is NOT at this time of year. I saw Christmas stuff sitting next to Halloween stuff in October. I love Christmas, but I want it in one good dose.


23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? Um, no. I can't limit myself to one palette. My tree is, uh, eclectic. And heavy laden.

24. What do/did you leave for Santa? The only time I recall doing this, I left a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I'd figured out Dad left all the presents out, and that's his favorite. I must've left cookies and milk when I was small, but I just don't remember it.

Yarn Harlot

I went last night to see the Yarn Harlot in Burlington, MA.

She gave a great talk, but I didn't get any pictures. I was lucky I made it all, because my co-worker, who agreed beforehand to cover my leaving work a half hour early, skipped out on me. I didn't get a snack before hand, I almost didn't have time to get there at all, and it threw all my plans askew for the evening. I'm still pretty steamed about it, so I'm not going to go on any further.

Anyway, I went, and I got my book, and the talk was lovely, and everyone had fun. The End.

Hooray for Summer Anklets

July has been . . . not very fun. Nothing serious, but not much fun, overall. Here's hoping August goes better.

First up, I finished my Sockapalooza socks! Never fear, I finished these up a week ago, plenty of time before the deadline. I even took the picture a few days ago. What picture? Well, its still on the camera. And the camera seems to have dead batteries. But I'll get there -- maybe.

I have been recovering from my bout of startitis, with only a couple relapses. Much of it was gift knitting, which got shipped off without pictures, and summer anklets for me, which aren't very exciting (and I seem to take them directly out of the laundry and on to my feet, making it nearly impossible to get a picture of them while clean. And really, if one is going to be photographing socks, they should at least be clean, right?)

The summer anklet thing does seem to be getting slightly out of control. They are like chips, I can't seem to just knit one (pair.) And the more I knit, the more I want. I get to the end of the week, and look in my sock drawer, and all my light, summery knit anklets are gone! Clearly, I need to knit more. Which shouldn't be a problem; in fact, I have another pair on my needles right now.

I've been using almost exclusively Sockotta and Toofutsies to knit up the summer anklets. They each have their seperate advantages, and disadvantages. The Toofutsies is soooo soft. I mean, they are softer than my cat. But its very fine yarn, and while that makes them very cool and comfortable, it means I've got to knit them on US1. That's tough on my writs and hands, and very slow going. Very slow.

Now, the Sockotta is a bit rougher. Quite a bit, I think. They seem to wear well, and I knit them on a larger size needle. So not only are they easier on my hands, but they whip up in no time. The other day I had an anklet knit just past the gusset decreases, and spent a Saturday running errands around town (such painful errands like, going out to lunch, and going to the movies) and by the time I got home, I was ready to start the toe. That is fast knitting, and I am not a fast knitter! Because I don't knit at the movies. No rewind button, so I can't see again what I missed when I looked down to make sure I haven't dropped a stitch, and totally missed the key scene.

What I really need is a yarn that combines the best aspects of the Sockotta and the Toofusies. And comes in the same kind of beautiful colors. Because I think the thing I love best is the wonderful colors.

Out of Control.

Saturday morning I woke up in the pre-dawn hours from a terrible nightmare. I dreamed that all my unfinished knitting projects had turned into a monster and was devouring me. I woke up to the cat sitting on my leg, nibbling on my toes. In his defense, I think he was using me as a teething ring because he had to have a tooth pulled the previous Wednesday, and the stitches they put in his mouth were probably itching him.

Really, its my own fault for letting my knitting get out of control. I was complaining about how I've got five different socks started, and if I didn't watch it, I was going to be drafted into the Single Sock liberation movement. Then James started tallying them up, and I realized that I don't in fact have five different socks started. I have six!

That's absurd. How could I possibly have started six different socks without finishing any of them? No wonder I don't have any FOs to post!

I've always felt a bit smug for never having suffered Second Sock Syndrome before. I don't think I can say that now. Especially since I've discovered I've still got another set of DPN's, which means . . .

I could cast on another sock, if I wanted to.

P.S. Milo is fine. He's getting antibiotics for another couple of days, and they make him very drowsy, but the vet says he's not likely in any more pain from having the tooth pulled as he was suffering from having it loose in his mouth. Poor baby.

The Frogs Are Here

Well. Its been a bit quite lately, hmm? My weekends have been a bit hectic, which is bad, because that's when I usually try to get my pictures up.

But, there really isn't much knitting to take pictures of. I have been knitting, yes. But, most everything I've been knitting lately has gotten rippppped out. Sigh. I started a tank in a nice, summery linen blend. I did a swatch, and cast on. But after knitting the ribbing and about an inch after that, I realized that I was, in fact, not getting gauge. Not by about four inches. I don't need a summer top that baggy! Maybe this weekend I will cast on again; I've wrestled with my math (okay, I lie: James wrestled the math for me, while I confused him with random numbers) so I should be closer to my measurements now.

I have offered to knit a pair of socks for a co-worker of mine, and she said she would really like some with fish on them, because she's into fly fishing. So, I designed the fish on knitting graph paper, and jumped right in. However, this was my first attempt at stranded knitting. I twisted the carried yarn, so I didn't end up with gaps.

What I did end up with was a sock no adult could possibly pull over their foot. I am apparently pulling my twists too tightly. I tried ripping back, got hopelessly tangled, and took the scissors to it. That'll teach that knitting a lesson.

Never fear, I am trying again. I've already cast on for the new cuff. I think I may go and pick up a small skein of something solid colored to use for the background of the fish, because what I used on draft number one wasn't really thrilling me. Any excuse to get to the LYS and get some yarn that will behave. (Cause all these problems are the fault of the yarn, not me!)