Zig Zag Memories

Something about winter always has me running for the yarn crafts.  I made two Koolhaas hats, with much success!  These are a great stash-busting hat, but I indulged a bit on some of the yarn.  Silk and bamboo blend? Yes please!  I was showing off the very first of these hats to a friend of mine, who requested I make him a blanket.  He said to make it hideous, with orange and yellow.  Later, he said that he had particular memories he was trying to recall.  So, I added brown (also at his request) and a touch of some nice olive green.  I'll be working it into this pattern.  Gotta love the free ones, right?  This is what popped into my head immediately when he told me what he wanted.  I always get extra excited to make stuff for other people.  This one will evoke good memories as well.  You can't beat giving the warm and fuzzy feeling to someone by doing something you love.  

Good Stories

Amidst all the shopping, frantic sewing and knitting, and TON of baking we did, I was reading.  I love books, and always have.  I'm almost always working on some book, and this one took me a while.  I started reading Stephen Kin'gs Salem's Lot before we left for New England.  It came highly recommended by trusted sources, and it fell inline with the Halloween spirit, and the spooky theme of our trip.

It took me until las week to finish reading it, partly because I was busy, partly because I don't much care for Stephen King's writing style.  That is not to say that his stories aren't good.  I really did enjoy this on the whole.  For someone who has a tough time focusing anyway, his stream-of-consciousness style can force me into re-reading pages of text.  I've never seen the movie, but I hear it's very good.  If it stuck close to the story, I'd say it would have to be!  Ah, to have SCARY vampires again! This was a proud moment for me, to finish my first Stephen King!  If you miss scary vampires, definitely pick this up.

Next up, some non-fiction my friend lent to me.  The Sociopath Next Door.  Will it be merely informative, or make me all paranoid?

The Bun-Bun Clutch

My apologies, for the long absence. I've been busy with the holiday as most of blogland. For me, that meant a lot of baking and making. Rachel and I also had our fourth anniversary yesterday.  It's a difficult day to celebrate anything additional, but we managed.  So here's some of what I've been working on:

I learned applique!  I practiced and practiced until I felt confident.

 

 Then, I put it on this clutch purse, designed for a friend of Rachel's.  The outer fabric is organic cotton, and wonderful to work with!

Then, I began work on two more.  One of them has a turtle, and can be found in my etsy.  :)  One has a squirrel, and is yet incomplete.  I ran out of piping and of course it was the one color I needed that wasn't in stock.  

I've also been knitting, sewed another clutch for my cousin, and well, it's been lovely! As far as giving up caffiene goes, I've been doing rather well.  The trouble has been going to my grandmother's and Rachel's mom's place. Coffee abounds, and it's sooo good!  I figured it's Christmas, and went ahead and had some.  Back to the coffee-free life today though.  Since the first couple of days, it's been much easier!  Hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did!

Caffeine Free Me

Today is day one, without coffee. Uuuuuuuuugh.

This morning: very bad.
This afternoon: taxing, but I'm doing ok.

I'm totally not looking forward to the extra hour and a half I'm working today. Or driving home in rush hour traffic, which I usually avoid, in the aftermath of the snow storm that's supposed to dump on us. But I shall press on!

See you tomorrow.

Nature's Miracle!

I'm not talking babies, folks. I'm talking about Nature's Miracle brand cleaner. My poor puppy had the runs the other day, all over the apartment, and I bought this stuff to clean it up. I had no idea how well it would work! It was $8.99, and I've never used anything that worked better. There's even an advanced version. I can't imagine what you might need that for...

I got it from my local Pet People, but the picture below is linked to Amazon. Pet People is one of those stores that really cares about your pet. They carry household cleaners and salt for your driveway that are safe for dogs and cats, and food without all the junky fillers that you find in most grocery store varieties. The vet said that he "wouldn't change a thing" about sweet Hazel.

In Love with Etsy's Activity Feed

I love love LOVE Etsy's activity feed. It lets you know when people add your stuff to their favorites, or put you in a treasury, like this one. Lovely, isn't it? New stuff coming soon!!!

Camera Crisis

You might recall that back in July, my camera went completely kaput. I've been using my sister's, and well she recently requested it back. Know what that means? I don't have a camera. Which means I can't show you all the fun stuff I've been working on. I also can't list anything new on Etsy, which is troubling. I have plans to borrow a much nicer camera from a friend, and when that happens, look out! Until then, there will be less posting, and more making. But stay tuned, and look for new listings soon!

New Rule

For every project I do for myself, I have to make one for the shop. That means in order to reach my two project/week goal, I have to make at least one for the shop. If I decide I want to make two projects just for me, I have to make two for the shop. Yes, that's twice the work load. However, the thing I've been hearing most is "I think you need more in your shop!" That may mean a flood of new mini paintings, but darn it, at least I'll be doing something! And mini paintings might just be the perfect avenue to explore comic style illustration, for the Zornow Challenge!

Did I just tie all my little goals together with a neat little goal? Yes, yes I think I did. :)

Also, TMSS#16:

To the dog: "I know you just want to get at my face chop!"