June 11, 2004
tester tester
Hi this is going to be my new blog, if I get my butt in gear! Because. I think I have a lot to say~ I just gotta get saying it. Once I do look out. Hopefully someone besides me and my brother and my dog will be enthralled!
Here is what I want it to be about~ knitting, quilting, painting, boston terriers (one in particular because he can't bear to be left out, it makes him cry. He cries about a lot of things. More about that later) and or anarchist politics, history, and practice in this crazy world. But mostly knitting as that is my main obsession these days.
So I am just testing this out for now, getting my feet wet you might say. I did that last night too, in the deluge, when I decided it would be a good time to try out my new flip-flops from Tarjhay.
So, If you are still reading, here is what I am working on right now (photos to come) and what I have finished. Lately there is an obsession with cotton washcloths, I love 'em. They are easy, fun, and pretty to make, and there are billions of ways to make them and free patterns abound on the internet. Plus you can give them away to all your friends who will think you have too much time on your hands. In my case it is true.
Other than the washcloths, I have been doing stuffed animals. The first came from Melanie Falick's excellent, highly recommended for beginners and others seeking whimsical projects, book called Kids
Knitting. They are simple, flat, garter stitched, gingerbread man shaped dolls made from Brown Sheep worsted, I have added embellishments of my own such as felt facial features as well as embroidered,
and sometimes clothing. I have also tried making them from cotton (washable~ for the very young drool prone such as Gus of Houston TX, recipient of Jamil Habibi, the greenest monkey you've ever seen)
BTW Habibi means friend! The very first animal was Kika, a brown woolen rabbit for my bestest Fairy God child, Caroline. She's 1 and lives in upstate New York.
The rest of the menagerie live here with me and are as follows:
Rene DuBois- a French Canandian, dubious species, a little bit baboon looking, with a stylish green and red toque (that's a type of chapeau).
Dukey- American dog, named for a neighbor's old beagle-mix with whom I was in love when I was a kid.
Vovitchka- a cross dressing rabbit
Lucien Leger- another ambiguous species, named for a French waiter and a character in Amelie, as well as Fernand Leger, whose work I saw quite a bit of in Paris at the Pompidou Centre.
(oh how I love the Pompidou Center~ It is a habitrail of happiness! They will speak to you in English, Francais, or Espanol!)
Samkat-named for an online acquaintance, still needs to be sewn together, but she's almost there!
Pink Kitty doesn't have name yet but she is long and skinny and has a styish blue sweater dress and bright green knee sox.
Jamal- on poor neglected Jamal! Someday this monkey will have legs and a face! I swear! He already has a fez!
Elephant- also needs back legs, and a fez is in the works.
Meanwhile, I also finished the Zeeby Bag from the Stich n Bitch book...
not without the fates attempting to thwart me at every turn! The long and tragic saga has come to somewhat of a conclusion. Here is the condensed version~ one completed side, the book and pattern, and 2 skeins of gorgeous Noro Kureyon were packed for a trip to Quebec City from Montreal by bus.
Somehow my suitcase was left in the trunk of a taxi. Despite my best efforts, bilingual posters, multiple phone calls to uninterested and unhelpful French Canadian taxi company workers, and even boldfaced, tragic made up stories of wedding planning going horribly awry, told while sobbing over the phone to the Montreal Bureau de Taxi (the ones numerous cabbies referred me to) the bag was never seen again, although numerous annoyed and rarely sympathetic Montreal taxi drivers found themselves accosted in horribly butchered French by one very earnest, waiflike American. Pathetic geek stories. I know. It totally ruined my week in Montreal. But we did go swimming, outdoors in winter, in Quebec City, and overcame fears of dour Frenchies in the hot tub to warm up. My companion suspected them to be echangists (forgive my bad spelling!) Frenchie for "swingers"! Woo-hoo. Nothing nearly that excitng though. One of the men was reading hockey scores, his wife looked absolutely annoyed.
Anyway. Got back to Chicago, got more Noro, saved the Zeeby Bag. Felted it not very successfully but I think it can be saved..
Posted by at June 11, 2004 11:08 AM