Cold and Stormy, Inside and Out

We have a fierce Colorado Low sweeping over the eastern Prairies today. Do you like the view from the computer room window? It looks as though the snow is all the way up to the second storey.

***It's not really - we've only had about 15 centimetres.***

***I wonder if non-Prairie folk will find the word "only" an odd qualifier in that sentence. Hmmm...***

I started coming down with a whopper of a cold last night. It's been a long time since I've had a cold and there was next to no cold medicine in the house so I had to toddle off to the pharmacy this morning (yes, during the storm).

I've made a new best friend...



Cepacol spray - though I don't recommend it as a chaser with a Skinny Vanilla Latte.

Disgusting.

I finished the linen shell I had been working on, I'm fairly please with how this turned out, though it could be a shade longer. It's been folded and put away to wait for a gentler sort of day, weather-wise.



I started a class last week in crochet. It's a craft that I've tried and tried to teach myself, but have never been able to figure out. But look!



During class I made this 2-inch square of single crochet, and it only took an hour and a half! I'm very pleased with myself. I may never be as competent with a hook as I am with needles, but I'll be delighted if I can master a few stitches.

Hooray for me!

I'm a Rock Star

Well, not really.

Here's my result for the rock star meme, that Penny tagged me with last week.



Here are the rules:

1. Go to Wikipedia. Hit "random". The first random article you get is the name of your band. (I got Leopold Square - well, no I didn't I got "McMikken College of Arts and Sciences" which I didn't like so I hit random about eight times until I got one I liked).

2. Go to Random Quotations. The last four or five words of the last quote on the page is the title of your first album. (I got "love yourself as your neighbor", if you go to that site today that's what you'll get too - not all that random really).

3. Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days. The third picture, no matter what it is will be your album cover. (OK, OK, this wasn't the third picture - it was maybe three or four pages in, but you know, there's a bit of artistic integrity involved in album art. Isn't that just the most fabulous shade of greeny-blue on those bricks?)

Use photoshop or a similar program (I used paint) and put it all together.

I'm not going to tag anyone to play along, because I hate getting tagged myself, but if you want to play, please do.

And remember, rock and roll isn't about playing by the rules.

Finished Started New

Hello.

I realise I've been missing for a little while, I'm going to blame mid-winter. The weather has been warm and sunny and cold and blustery in turns and that means the streets have been mostly icy and wretched. Makes me feel like pulling the covers over my head. However, the birds are starting to come back, I can hear them chirping, and the sun (when it bothers to show itself) is intense and yellow, that can only mean that spring is considering when to arrive - though everyone around here knows that means no sooner than mid-April.

We've been busying ourselves with Nigel's birthday and meetings with our contractor and architect for the upcoming reno. I'm not sure if Nigel is swooning more at being a whopping 42!!! or the looming cost of the addition - perhaps he should take up knitting. It can be very therapeutic.

And look at all the projects I've finished lately:

the Deep in the Forest mittens



the Clapotis



a neck warmer called Tudora, made with the rest of the pink Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed I bought while in Dublin with Elly



a little hat called Sprout, which is green with a little curled I-cord at the top. I'm not thrilled with how this one turned out, so I didn't take any photos of it completed. It still counts as done though!



And I've started (again) on the Union Jack Slipover. I've finished the back and started the front, and this time it's staying with me until it's all finished. It's knit using a dozen little bobbins of yarn - very irritating. Cute though, yes?



And since the Union Jack is such a pain, I have another project one the go, something simple to knit that can be worked on while yapping to friends or watching television. The Aletia Shell from Interweave Knits Spring 2008 magazine.



The yarn is MaggiKnits Maggi's Linen. This is the same yarn I used to make the Molly Ringwald shell last summer, from this post. It's the VERY same yarn. Poor Molly never did get any smaller, and I've decided not to get any bigger (in fact, I'm trying to shrink myself a little bit), so I tore out all that work and gave the yarn a good soak and now it's being re-worked. I'm feeling very hopeful about this project.

And what else?

Ooooo, so delightful. There's another new elemental from ambermoggie. This one is Airmed, the goddess of the Tuatha de Danaan of Ireland. She's bright green and yellow and is full of the promise of spring and new growth - very apropos I think, considering the new addition.



Isn't she lovely? Here she is with her friends.

Fast and Dumb

Here's a very quick meme that I saw over at Allsorts.

Google the words "unfortunately,______", inserting your first name into the blank. I cheated a wee bit. My first name is Harriett, so I tried that first, but apparently there's a book called "Unfortunately Harriet" and there were nothing but references to the book, so then I tried Anne (the name I go by), but there were nothing but references to Anne Frank, which I found a bit depressing; so I went with Annie, which is what my family calls me.

Here's what I found:

Unfortunately, Annie and The Hedonists are, as I mentioned above, not well known outside of upstate New York

Unfortunately, Annie is left to realize a man isn't always interested in a woman

Unfortunately, Annie loses all the money they win betting on horses

Unfortunately, Annie’s superior shooting abilities play havoc with Butler’s delicate ego

Unfortunately, Annie returned and abducted Reva, leaving her in an abandoned airplane to plummet to her death

Unfortunately, Annie discovers that he has been out of his room and she punishes him

Unfortunately, Annie finds the gardening tool in her uncle’s shed

Unfortunately, Annie is soon caught and returned to the orphanage

Unfortunately, Annie's lustful eye fell upon the young man

Unfortunately, Annie weighed on Alex's mind and he left Lorna at the altar

Unfortunately, Annie gets the blame for this, too

Unfortunately, Annie was already in the cage and ready for their co-ed tag team match.

My favourite is the last one.

I think these describe me very accurately. Except maybe for the "superior shooting ability" - but then again, I've never fired a gun, so you never know...

Blossom

Well, what a lot of response that little doll received!

All the names were great - I'm going to ignore those who requested I burn her - and I've decided to call her Blossom. She doesn't REALLY look a whole lot like a "Blossom", but it's in memory of Blossom Dearie who passed away on the 7th of this month, and whom I'm very fond.

The ArmourAll gave her saran hair a deep conditioning treatment - much like it does for vinyl car interiors, but after a good rinse her hair was still looking a wee bit untamed.



So I gave her a perm on large perm rods, and as WpgGal mentioned in her comments, all you have to do is pour hot water on her hair (I just held her under the tap), then let dry for a day or so.



Once the perm rods came out she had some VERY tight curls...



which I combed out into long loose curls.



She's still in need of some clothes, but I'll get to that another time. I'm feeling a little uninspired these days. It's still very wintery around here and I'm in the mood to hibernate...

however, before I do I need to show off the February's handmade-of-the-month. This is the grande finale of this yearlong project of making a little something handmade for my sister Jane each month. Since this February (tomorrow, as a matter of fact) marks a big birthday for Jane I wanted to do something special.

****she doesn't like to mention the number but I'll say it's a half century and you can do the math yourself****

So I knit the Modern Quilt Wrap by Mags Kandis. Knit with the reccommended Rowan Kidsilk Haze in more or less the colours suggested, I think it's the perfect wrap for a modern old gal with a bit of an old-fashioned chill.



Happy handmade Jane, and Happy Birthday, too!

Let's have a listen to Blossom Dearie, shall we?

Another Project

Yes, another project...but really, who could resist that face?

She may be a bit grubby, but she was only $2!



She's cleaning up just fine. Her green glass eyes open and close now and she's having her hair set with Armour All.



All she needs now is a name. I think she looks like a Wanda, or maybe Jeanette...or Faye? Nanette? Vivian?

Whatcha thinkin'?

Handmade Bombs

It's shocking, I know, but January is over now and I never showed you the handmade-of-the-month I sent off to Jane.

This month I made bath bombs. Pale pink, heart-shaped and scented with lots and lots of grapefruit aromatherapy oil.



One got a little squished on it's way out of the mold, sorry about that Jane! I wrapped them in red cellophane and packed them in a ton of packing materials. I hope they stay in one piece (er, four pieces) on their flight.

Happy handmade for January!

And, I know I said I wasn't going to start any new projects until I finished off some of the old ones, but...

I found this fantastic pattern for a pair of mitts. Called Deep In The Forest, the pattern is available here. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn - I'm using Alpaca Drops by Garnstudio. This yarn comes in some fantastic colours. I had enough in cream and oatmeal to make these mitts, so didn't bother going out to buy more yarn. I'm sure Nigel's happy to hear that!



I started the medium size, but my tension is a bit tight and I'm suspecting they might be just a little bit snug on me so they may end up being Elly's (the colours are more Elly too). That's alright though, I wouldn't mind making a second pair, maybe in pale grey and charcoal...or deep plum and ice blue...or loden and cream...hmmmmm