deceptively packaged

Latch hook

Looky looky!

I finally finished my latch hook rug. It only took a year and a half or so. You'd think Shawn would be proud of me, but all I got was a raised eyebrow and a "Which room is that going in?" In all fairness, I had decided if I was going to make something as tacky as a latch hook rug that I was going to go all out with the tacky. I'm planning to take it home at Thanksgiving and offering it to my brother for his basement.

The pugs liked it though.

Hmmm.... Do you think this is what happened to Mashti's eye?

Yuck.

you are aquamarine #7FFFD4

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Not a favorite color of mine.

I spun this!

Another shot? Oh, OK...

I have no idea what the fiber is, it was whatever people in the weaving guild had lying around and donated to our Maker Faire booth. How much do I love the yellow one? I call it choco-nana. Yum! I've already written to Jacey at Insubordiknit for some farm sanctuary fiber to play with. I don't see it replacing my zillion other crafts, but it sure was fun!

Maker Faire = ZOMG Ponies!!111

Yup.

So this weekend I volunteered at Maker Faire in Austin with my weaving guild. So awesome. I walked around for a lot of Saturday, but I was having so much fun at our booth on Sunday that I forgot to go see the stuff I hadn't gotten to. We even got an editor's choice ribbon! I helped a lot of kids (and some adults) weave on tiles, showed people of all ages and genders how a floor loom worked, and even learned to spin and ply on a drop spindle and then turned around and taught that too! We were giving away the tiles, some cardboard looms, and cd drop spindles to anyone who wanted to learn.

There was a giant working version of Mouse Trap, an art car display along with a make your own art car activity, giant Tesla coils, people cutting open toy musical instruments and playing with the insides, amigarumi, exploding diet coke and mentos, screenprinting, dying, and so much more! It was such a fantastic celebration of ingenuity and experimentation. I was in heaven.

Thank you vegan pal!

Such an awesome package! Orange hemp yarn with a pattern for a spa and bath trio, a super cool owl, warm beverage cozy (such perfect cables!), fair trade organic coffee (smells sooooo good!), recipe for risotto, fruit leathers, lip balm, the much needed chibi (which I used this weekend at Maker Faire), and of course the gorgeously colored hand painted Tahki mercerized cotton magic yarn ball which was full of the cutest fall themed buttons and some delicious candy. Thank you Debbie!

Thank you tea swap pal!

I've had house guests the last three weekends in a row*, been dealing with poor little Mashti's drops and pills 4 times a day**, found out I have eczema*** and have been dealing with creams and gloves and not getting my hands wet and not sweating, which is particularly difficult since Shawn and I just started Wing Tsun****. Oh, and I scraped a whole bunch of nasty popcorn texture off the guest room ceiling and plastered it and helped Shawn lay hardwood flooring in his studio. I am so sore in so many places. There's also some exciting and positive but stressful possibilities looming at work that I'm not sure how I'm going to handle yet.*****

So that's what I've been up to. Mostly I want to finish painting the guest room so I can reclaim my bedroom from all the detritus created by the wonderful hard work that Shawn and his dad started three weeks ago.******

So you can imagine what a perfect treat it was to come home to such a fabulous swap package.

A beautiful (yet impossible to photograph) handmade tea time cloth (it says Tea Time and has a little tea pot and it's incredibly well done!).

An adorable teacup themed pincushion, bumble bee tape measure, matching stitchmarkers (I'm assuming also handmade, but not sure), and Suss twisted cotton slub yarn. And let me tell you, I have ooed and ahhhed over Blue Sky Alpaca's cotton, but this stuff takes the cake! I'm thinking eventually a really classy scarf for myself. Not sure what else to do with two skeins that will allow me to touch it all the time.

Some super cool stationary: a notepad, note cards, and a note book that happens to be exactly the kind I use for grocery lists.

And of course, the tea! An incredibly hip tea set with filters and a little tea bag rest exactly like I wanted, only better, because I can't break this one. Shawn and I both thank you for making our kitchen counter much less tacky. I plan to take the tea filters, tea set and Irish breakfast tea to work. I'm planning to get a little hot water pot and having quite the cozy little morning ritual.

And last, but not least, a jungle gym for B! She loves it! Thank you!

* All wonderful people, but I'm still happy to have the place back to myself.
** The Dr. says she's doing great and won't have any vision loss!
*** It's pretty mild from what I hear for comparison. The weird thing is that mine hurts rather than itches.
**** I'm allowed to wear my silly cotton gloves in class. I cut off the finger tips to make myself feel less ridiculous.
***** Real life friends - feel free to email me for more details.
****** That's three weeks that I haven't been able to move comfortably through the bedroom because of extra bookshelves, TVs, couches, etc. The new floor, lack of mold, and finished trimming around the baseboards is definitely lovely and worth it. I'm just ready for it to be done!

Knitters' Coffeeswap Three

They've closed the sign ups, so my apologies if this is the first you're seeing this, but here are my answers to the Knitters' Coffeeswap Three questions:

1. Whole bean or ground?

I can do either.

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?

Caffeine please.

3. Regular or flavored?

That's a tough one... I like flavors when they're well done. I don't like them when they're really artificial or cheap tasting.

4. How do you drink your coffee?

I mix it up. I can do black, a little sugar, or a little sugar and some soy creamer.

5. Favorite coffee ever?

Honestly.... I always thought Denny's had really good coffee...

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?

I'm a little fussy, but not overly fussy. I do like to support fair trade, organic, etc., etc.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?

Salt bagels, biscotti, ginger snaps, other cookies, other pastries

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?

I like rich and dark, but not necessarily bitter.

9. Yarn/fiber you love?

I like cotton quite a bit (the Blue Sky Alpaca's is sooooo soft!), but I also like playing with some of the newer yarns out there. I try to be eco friendly and do my part, so things like sustainable, natural, recycled, and organic are always good. I like to try new/weird yarns. I haven't tried corn or soy silk yet, banana was super weird though. I'm also interested in linen.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?

I don't use animal fibers, this includes silk.

11. What's on your needles?

Drunken Argyle.... FOREVERRRRRRRRR

12. Favorite colors?

Brown, black, eggplant, periwinkle and dusty-pinky-lavender

13. Allergies?

Not really, but I suppose this is where I should mention the whole vegan thing. For this swap, please consider me vegan, I'm not perfectly so in my daily life, but I try. So no animal fiber yarn please, no pastries or mixes with eggs or milk or whey in them and no treats with gelatin. I am happy to answer any questions about products and point out brands and sites that cater towards vegans.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?

I really like stationary and hand printed/letterpress items. And deep sea creatures. I'm also on Ravelry. I do a lot of crafts and probably should make more time for myself and spend less time on the computer ;)

If you want more ideas you can see my previous swap answers in the top right sidebar.

Celebrate art - Howl Against Censorship

"Fifty years ago, on October 3, Judge Clayton Horn ruled that Allen Ginsberg's Howl Against Censorship great epic Beat-era poem HOWL was not obscene but instead, a work of literary and social merit." Listen. (Ginsberg starts at 3:50)

Just in time for Halloween....

I bring you Zombie Pug!

Poor little thing did need surgery, but she's taking it like a champ and the doctor says everything went super smoothly. Now we just have to figure out how to pin her down four times a day for her drops. Shawn is pretty sure it's the most challenging thing he's ever done in his life. I'm inclined to agree. (Pills, not a problem, she seems to think they're candy. Drops, nigh impossible.)

Also - It's not nearly done, but it looks like it is. Here's the top part of my quilt! Still up: figuring out how to get the back to be the same size, cutting the batting, and, you know, actually quilting it.