A Little Yarn On The Side

My back felt better this morning but it still needed a bit of rest, it seemed advisable to distract myself with a project that was pretty low-risk for my back.  This probably sounds quite crazy, but it's really hard to remember my back is hurt unless it actually hurts, so left to my own devices, heaven only knows what I would come up with to do today.  So, what could keep me distracted better than making a big, huge mess in the sewing room?  Especially if it involves the bead stash? Everyday I walk past my cool metal ornament tree, and the more I see this ornament, the more I like it.  When I made it, I was worried that it looked a bit hokey, but I really, really like it.  So, I decided to make a couple more.  This is the first one of the day, and how I don't like a long tail on it.  So, on number two I did a much shorter tail, which seems more balanced to me.  This one I really like, so I thought these might make good gifts, ...

Midnight is the halfway point of the year, and I'm now slightly more than halfway to my 365 ornaments!  I can't believe I'm saying that--this being ahead of schedule is quite a new sensation... The second gold and black lace and appliqué ornament is done, and I am still very much in love with these ornaments!  I think I can safely get at least 4 more of these done before I have to start worrying about running out of black thread.   Yay! My back is rather sore today after Monday's hour in the pool, so I have been attempting to take it easy today.  I say "attempting" because the first thing I did this morning was to harvest the garlic, but AFTER that I tried to be good.  It helps that it was 105 outside today, so that made it really easy not to do yardwork.  While Jeeves made two pinky-rose lace snowflakes for me, I finally finished up the felt gift bags that have been languishing for a while. That earns me the "beach" category in the ...

The next basket dash is finally here--just in time for the hottest days of knitting in the Northern Hemisphere. Between July 1 and August 31 fill your most summery basket with any combination (or all) of the following summer-themed items: Ice pop: complete your oldest WIP or use your oldest yarn Fresh strawberries: make something red Fireworks: make something with beads or sparkles Weeding: give away or donate one item (does not need to be knitting related) Beach: make a bag or something else you might carry to the beach Sunburn: make a hat Walking barefoot in the grass: make a pair of socks or slippers Summer vacation: make something for a baby or a child Swimming: make something blue or green Summer reading: read 1 book Lemonade: make something yellow Allergies: make something that ISN’T made of wool Bonfires: make something out of the warmest yarn you have Vacation: arrange a day or a weekend all to yourself

Feeling pretty brave, I decided to be a bit more daring with the new ornament design yesterday, and have now decided that either I don't care as much for white thread on these designs, or I am just not good enough with the applique scissors to do light-colored thread yet.  Considering I managed to draw blood with the blasted things yesterday, gross incompetence with the new scissors is certainly an issue.  I am sort of relieved to know that I actually prefer that these AREN'T in white, as running out of white embroidery thread has been one of my biggest concerns for the no-buying year. So, after dumping my scrap bin out and finding myself short on scrap pieces of satin in any color EXCEPT gold, I was inspired to experiment with color options with gold (see how nicely that works?)  And since dark thread covers my mistakes better than light, what could be better than black?  I know it's unusual for a Christmas decoration, but don't you just love how this looks?...

Well, mostly. I've never done applique with the embroidery machine (actually, I've only done one applique in my life), and while I love the cleverness of the designs in the set Andy gave me for Christmas, the instructions do presume a level of basic knowledge which I don't have.  I was hoping for some suggestions on what type of material to use, as a few minutes with Google only turned up a suggestion not to use fabric that is "too" prone to ravel.  Satin is prone to raveling, but I wasn't sure if it ravels "too" much or just enough, but as I couldn't think of anything else to use--nor find anything sort of shiny that ravels less.  In the example, they did color changes with the thread AND used two colors of fabric.  I decided to stick with just one for now, as the design wasn't too specific about how it was going to work.  I pulled the design up with my embroidery software and walked through the design, so I knew that it used thread c...

It's Finishing Friday, and aside from a trip to the gym for an hour of pool walking, I am crafting!  It's supposed to hit 100 degrees here today (THEN work its way up to 105 by Wednesday before this insanity is over), so I can guarantee that I won't be gardening.  Wednesday night I thought I would get a head-start on today, so I loaded up my embroidery card for some new ornaments: (well, the lace snowflakes aren't exactly "new," but at least I haven't done them in a while).  What I really wanted to try--and what I haven't yet found the courage for--is this: It's one of the designs Andy gave me for Christmas.  It's a flat free-standing lace ornament, but those big open spaces are for appliqué, which I have never done.  The picture shows the lace in white with red fabric for the top and green for the bottom, which looked very cool.  The problem is, the directions assume one isn't a complete novice and doesn't mention what fabric ...

Not surprisingly, my first approach to dealing with Google Reader's impending doom on July 1--just ignoring it and hope something will change--has failed.  It's one of my favorite methods, though to be honest, I can't think of a single time when it's actually worked.  So, it's time for plan B:  choosing a new reader. Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts earlier.  I have narrowed it down to two choices ( The Old Reader and Comma Feed ), and last night I set up both of them.  So far, I don't like either of them simply because I don't want to change.  I had already changed once TO Google Reader, so I'm still grumpy about having to switch to something new.  So I'm giving them both a test run to see which seems least likely to make me switch yet again. It might seem odd that someone who keeps a blog is so hostile to technology, but it really isn't odd at all.  I'm 42, so depending on what one defines as the "computer age beginnin...