Thursday, July 31, 2008

I will not switch to the big backpack...

...I WILL NOT SWITCH TO THE BIG BACKPACK!!!!


gahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Our bags aren't packed, but we're ready to go...

...both Spencer and I are very excited to go...it's our first vacation with just the two of us. YAY!

OK, back to panicking - I mean packing. Yeah, packing. After I finish work. Oh, and then the last load of laundry.

I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.

Maybe my smaller carry-on will help that situation...one can hope. :)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Too busy squeeeeing to post...




You Are a Spork



You have a playful, eccentric sense of humor.

You are creative. You see the world in bold colors.



You are a dabbler. You love to experiment.

You aren't an expert in anything, but you know a little about everything.

Monday, July 28, 2008

I *sewwww* can't stop myself!!!

...from sewing. hee hee

I've been quite busy this weekend. Am making lots of little things to take with me as host/hostess gifts on our trip. Lots of very nice folks will be hosting and feeding us as we go all about with Honey, and I do hate showing up empty handed.

And I'm working on some special treats for my Mom and Sis...I'm trying to get them done and packed in the box with the Tardis.

Hope I can get photos of it all before we leave on Friday!

We interrupt this blog post for...a SQUUEEEEEEEE...3 days left until we leave.

Carry on.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Summer of Sewing has begun...

...oh, have I been having a wonderful time reaquainting myself with my sewing machine. It's been a long time...way too long! I am so taking advantage of the fact that Spencer is off in Texas until the 27th. Usually I just mope and don't do anything, but I've broken out of that and I've been busy!!! YAY!!!

First off, some simple projects... Made over the course of a few nights, a few hours each night.

One seam up the back...and BOOYAH!!! Instant sun dress.



Perfect for wearing around the house when it's too hot to go outside...



And a cute widdle kitty pillow - not stuffed yet, but it's small, just 10" tall and 7" wide... I bought the panel at a thrift store. Kitty looked like he needed a good home.



Oooh, and some plain book covers for me and Honey...




...or are they....

hmmmmm....I've made a small and large one for Honey and a large one for myself. Let's see what's inside, shall we?





OMG!!! Will you look at that...This small one must be for Honey...after all, I have a small one my Mom made for me ages ago...and I still use it...and I'm not really into Biker Babes.

Let's see what's in the large one I made for Honey...some firemen perhaps?

No, another Biker Babe....



Look at THAT!!!! A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette. A regular smorgasbord of Babes for Honey.



Gah...getting tired of Babes, Babes, Babes...where's a Fireman when you need one...


OOOOOHHHH!!!! There he is....



OMG...A whole Fire Crew! S-C-O-R-E!!!!




And the other day, I had the idea of trying to make potholders...just popped into my head one day. So, one trip to the craft store with a coupon, and we get...

Two Biker Babe potholders for Honey...



And one Hunky, stripping, Fireman for Antonella.



The back of the potholders are the lightweight denim I used for the book covers, and I used 2 layers of the insulating lining - I didn't think one was enough. All four layers hand quilted and ready for finishing...

And...if you want to have your own adventures making Hunk or Babe stuff, you can get the fabrics (plus so many others, it's amazing) online at eQuilter.com. Reasonable prices for a great varitey of prints (unbelievable variety), and great service to boot. Just enter what you're looking for in the search box and you'll get a list of prints. For the ones I used, just enter Hunks or Babes. Just remember to ask how big the motifs are...I was surprised at how large the firemen and babes were...made it a bit of a challenge to place them all just so in the projects. Should have ordered a full yard, but only got half yards, and as a result, had very few full motifs to work with - but I was able to get quite a few small projects out of it.

All potholders still need the bias tape trim, but I still need to go back to the craft store for that. Could have sworn I had some here, so that's why I didn't get some before. Oh well, thought I'd show them here, because I'm not sure when I'll get back to the store for it.

And there you have it folks. The first batch of sewing projects for the Summer of Sewing. Just a few days left though. When Spencer comes back from Texas, we prepare for our trip to England!!!

Yes, you read right, Spencer and I take off for England on August 1st. We're going to see Honey and do some mad sightseeing - Spencer has never been. It's our Happy Graduation Spencer, Happy B-day Spencer, Happy B-day Donna, last chance at a decent vacation together, trip. And we can't wait!!!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!

Waiting for the other shoe to drop....

...OOOOH...and here it is....

Left Shoe....


... the back...



...left side...



...right side...



...and top....




...and now may I present....A Finished Pair of Custom Painted Shoes by resident Arteeeste...Spencer!!!




Tada!!!!

They are currently being "test driven" in Texas where at this moment, Spencer is visiting family with his Dad. Hope they survive, but it is the ultimate test....

Ooooh, and check out his new skateboard deck. The Japanese woman was already on it, he added his name and pixel thingies...




He could have probably just sanded it down and painted the whole thing, but when I asked him why he didn't do it, he said "That's someone else's art Mom, can't bring myself to do that to their hard work."

Awww...and at $1.99 plus shipping off eBay, I think we got a good deal any way you look at it.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Yarn Cake Birthday Cake!

Welll....sort of...

This being my birthday and all, I decided to do something a bit...ummm...different. :)

I've got another special, not so secret, but most of all "different" project in the works (coming to needles near you this fall) and I've decided to use the yarn I'm going to be using for the project to ummm...show how old I am...or that I have way too much yarn...or that I've lost my marbles.... The jury is still out on which one...

So...with the help of the Big Bag O' Fake Yarn (cakes) Balls (acrylic)....




...and without further ado...drum roll please...prrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm......

10...prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm



20...prrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm



30...prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmm



OH GAH THERE'S MORE!!!

40...prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm




OK...OK...exactly how many fake balls have you got Donna?!?

45...ba dum bum cha!



That's IT!!!!

Well, that's it for the birthday years...but...we still have more balls...mostly wee little fake balls - but they qualify as balls none the less.



...BUT WAIT..there's more...




This little bag o' balls only contains 3 colours. And I'm only typing colours instead of colors cos I'm going to make something British...and they don't spell colors right and I wanna make sure Honey can read this... (love you Honey - it's my birthday, I can be a snarky little snot if I want to - oREGano!)

My Chicago Bears Bear needs a new sweater and hat set. Time to get his footy (that's soccer for us US folks) on with a little Leeds United spirit.



And there you have it my friends. 45 balls old.

Now if you'll excuse me, that was exhausting. Time for this old lady to take a nap. :)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Finished Object!!!

Finally, here's my sisters birthday present...just oh, 6 months late, that's all....





It's a knitted Tardis Pillow. Hee hee... Details about everything later, but I just talked to her and she said to send it unstuffed and her and Mom will stuff it and crochet up the seam.

I gave her a choice of an unstuffed Tardis pillow or a pair of socks. She chose wisely.... hahahaha

Anyway, you can tell it's ginormous cos there's Marvin, Dalek for Scale (um...6 inches tall I think we said earlier?)

Just a sidenote here...it wasn't supposed to be that big, but hey, i didn't swatch and I used worsted weight. I think it's awesome, so now I want one for myself, and Sis is excited to get it.

YAY!!!

Spencer's got a brand new...um...Shoe?

Spencer's new gig...painting shoes...

So far he has one complete shoe...not a pair yet, just the one shoe.

Working now as we speak on the other one.

And there's also a pair in the works for Moi, and Grandma and Auntie L. Pays to be the family of an artist don't cha know. hee hee.

Pics of my shoes hopefully soon, he's hoping to finish them for my birthday (shudder) coming up on Tuesday.













His hope is to get good enough to sell his custom shoes. I think he's doing great...and can't wait to show you mine. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Friday, July 11, 2008

It's All about the Cows today...

Today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-a... It's a Special Day around here since the Cow in Ms Cow and Cow is from Chick-Fil-a.

Cow came to be with the Honey when the Honey was in the US on business one year (way back when Chick-fil-a first started the whole Cow campaign). Seems a ballpark was tossing cows (don't they know you're supposed to tip them?!?) into the stands and Honey caught Cow.

Honey met me, we found out we both have Cows (only my cow is a delicate crafting flower from JoAnn's Fabrics) and when Honey came to visit, so did Cow and well, the rest is history.

Here is the Happy Couple during their June visit:




When they are not visiting each other, they are plotting ways to get together. Ms Cow has decided to learn how to drive. Here she is checking the systems on the Hybrid Prius we had use of one day:





And getting ready to go...all buckled up:




Visiting the DMV with me last week...I had to renew my license...she wants to get one:




Studying the Rules of the Road book they gave her.






Seems she can qualify for a very special, super secret, driver's assistant license, so she's preparing.

Meanwhile across the Big Pond, Cow is learning how to navigate and tie knots. Seems his big plan is to sail the Atlantic. He'll pull into an Eastern port somewhere and Ms Cow will have driven cross-country to meet him.

Here, Cow practices with Honey's GPS in the car.




And here, he's being fitted for some water proofs for his long trip over the water. They still need some work, but Ms Cow thinks he'll be just so handsome when they are done. Oh, and he needs a spiffy Captain's cap as well.





And now for some photos of them during their visit...lots of sightseeing was done...

In Chinatown




And on the USS Hornet Carrier Museum...


In the pilot's briefing room




In the Captain's Chair!




And sneaking behind the barrier in the Apollo 11 Astronaut's Quarantine Trailer...




...and after it was all done...relaxing at a restaurant





And now for some crafting, this is after all a knit blog...heh heh heh...




She's making a bag for herself...

A knit bag!!!




And now, may I present "Proof Of Tatting"




It's coming along quite nicely, thank you very much.

Monday, July 07, 2008

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think what you will...

...but this post is about Tatting!

I did the flip!!! I haven't quite mastered the damn thing yet, but I'm actually doing it. Thanks to this corny, but VERY VERY VERY helpful video all close up and personal. Thanks Rexenne...whoever/wherever you are...lunch time was very productive, thank you very much. WooHoo!

Hardest little knot to get the hang of and instruction books and online tutorials just weren't helping...Tatting is definitely not easy, but now that I can flip half-ass decently, the rest is, well, not as hard. Right?

Viggo Hangover.....

OK...guess since everyone else has already posted about Saturday, guess I should get my bum in gear and post too!

But first...Friday was spent sleeping in (YAY!), chatting with my Honey and Family (double YAY!) and getting ready for Saturday.

...and...finalizing carpooling plans for Saturday's Knit/Movie fest over at AmpuT's house.

Saturday morning, Rachel swung by my place for a quick pick up and we headed up to Casa de Cute Doggie (AmpuT's place).

This be the cute dogdog Riley... guarding Rachel's Spinning Wheel. Which was totally cool by the way. Saw for the first time, up close and personal, someone spinning. Way COOOOL! (Don't worry wallet, you are safe...wool sensitive, remember?)



And here we have the most wonderful hostess and awesomest cook AmpuT and the Spinning Rachel..with Riley in all his cuteness between:



We had brunch, knitted, spun, played with cute dogdog and the whole time the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Viggo I, II, and III) was playing for our viewing pleasure.

Sigh...Viggo...

Extended versions of all 3 no less...more Viggo!!!! And can I just say OMG at the things that were taken out....I must say, I had a hard time concentrating on anything cos of all the 'new' stuff I hadn't seen. Definitely cut out some important character development stuff and some really important bits!!!

And you read right...ALL 3... Rachel left after the first I think - it's all just a big Viggo blurrrr - she had to get going to go with her hubby to another function (social butterfly that one!).

AmpuT totally twisted my arm and FORCED me to watch ALL 3 movies in ONE DAY!!! Actually it wasn't really all that hard to do...after the first one, I was hooked. Sigh...Viggo, I am SOOOOOOOO easy when it comes to you!!!

What projects were worked on? Rachel spun for a bit - fascinating, then joined us on the couch to knit on a sweater, AmpuT was working on a sweater - and tinking a lot, Viggo can be distracting that way you know - and then a scarf, and I finished up an important piece of my sister's gift, and then took apart my mom's sock and then started up on a blankie for Spencer.

I know, I know, I wasn't going to start another knitting project...but I just couldn't concentrate enough on the gift or the socks while the movie was playing to work on them any further. The blankie for Spencer is 200 or so stitches on big needles, garter stitch. Perfect mindless knitting for Viggo watching. And...it'll be good for a 'something different for a night' break once I finish up the gift and the socks and start on the quilts.

This one will rest in Mr. Stuffles until I need it for zoning out.

Since I didn't get home until 1:30am Sunday morning, I slept in late, and spent almost all day talking with Honey (yay Skype!!!), organizing my electronic pattern files, and trying to figure out why the hell I can't get this tiny little tatting shuttle thingy to work properly! Hee Hee

OK...now it's Monday, and I'm still feeling like I've been up all night (oh yeah, I slept lousy, so I pretty much was), but I still need to work a full day and be productive and all that.

And the guys are ready for me to do my thing...so off I go...

Summary: Great time was had by all! But I still can't Tat. Sigh.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant...

Hey, it's a bag. And we all know I do like my bags...purses....totes....

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Castles, Kilts, Cranes, and Ball Sax

HA! Four promises with one post!


A Castle in Wales for Antonella:



A Kilted Street Piper in Leeds for Stephieface:



A Crane in York for AntiM:



Ball Sax for No-Blog-Rachel (2!):

Balls unruly and getting out of hand?



Sack 'em!



Ball Sax courtesy of the produce department at Trader Joe's.

Seriously though...these little plastic netting thingies are awesome. Helps keep those balls in line...and look - the white one is a double ball sack...just like it should be, right?

OK...I really think it's time I get to bed....

Someday, I'll actually explain all this in the context of more photos from my February trip to see Honey. Except the ball sax of course - that one is it's own story.