Will post updates when its all finished!
Here is me on one of my few Bike Winter days- it is truly sad how much of a winter biking wuss I have become- I need to get out and do it some more as it makes one feel quite invincible. And plus keeping moving is actually much easier than waiting for a bus or train in the cold. Its a fact! And yet, and yet. Sigh.

One always looks hotter in a helmet. Its true!!
So soon I will be posting pictures of tulips.

It is from this pattern that I found on Ravelry, and its super easy and mindless but not at all boring, in fact I am thinking I may have to do another one or two. It looks really good on, so I am hoping for a cool day, even. Kind of. The best part is I made it from leftover scrap yarn. There were some tense moments when I thought I had run out of gray, and when I actually did run out of white, but I think it worked out really well. You have to sometimes embrace the element of chance, with knitting, even if your knitting brain resists! Just take a deep breath and repeat, in the words of The Yarn Harlot, "there are no knitting police. There are no knitting police".

I also finally finished sewing in the ends for the Mums's Simple Yet Effective Shawl.

Which was meant to be a birthday present last year (in January)!! Its true I am a bad daughter. But it will still be effective, and simple, and cozy this winter. The Polska mittens, I think I can finish by January. Really, I mean it!!

Meanwhile, it was (and is!) Charlotte's first birthday, so I made a little sign to go under the Happy Birthday sign I made for Lucy- we just swapped out the Lucy part.

The consensus seemed to be that it worked out quite nicely.
I still thought it needed something, but I couldn't put a finger on what, (although I came close to adding glitter- rainbowish white iridescent glitter leftover from my unicorn horn some Halloween Critical Mass rides ago) but decided in the end to keep it sweet and minimal. So yeah. Charlotte got cake on her face but in general quite a bit made it into her mouth. A good time was had by all!
Oh, and I gave Charlotte this shirt from Threadless-

I think she liked it but it was hard to tell.

Marcel doesn't like to be left out.
Especially when I run in to get coffee. Although he does like how people walk up and pet him periodically, and tell him how cute he is. And the fact that he knows I will share a croissant with him for being such a good boy-

He's fine! Don't be fooled!

Oh, and I made a new painting, which some of you may have seen already, which can be viewed, for your viewing pleasure, on my flickrs, which, if you haven't gone there you really should. Seriously.

More soon!

Another one-

In fact, it is this organic, abstract expressionist quality that convinced me to keep doing it, because the thing itself is not always so satisfying to look at, from a purely aesthetic perspective. A curtain made from it might be cool, too.

So yeah, not hideous, but not as pretty and happy as something like this-

Which is the second of the Polska mittens I am making for the Mums. The little row of green stitches are where the thumb is going to go. There is not so much more to do, but it is like Second Sock Syndrome- the second one just kind of drags. But I'm getting there.
Or there is this-

A stripey scarf from a pattern I found on Ravelry

Its also pretty mindless to knit, but satisfying in its own way. I am excited to finish it and wear it. (I'm calling it my Bert scarf, because striped scarves always make me think of Bert. Hi, Bert!)

Ok, so then too I have been working on this kind of crazy chicken painting, which is turning out pretty well, I think-

And I made this little embroidered thingie for Lucy, my niece, although I am not sure what its going to be yet.

I was going through some stuff in a box and I found the heart already done, it was a valentine I had started to make for someone, some time ago and never finished. Since I was practicing some new stitching I decided to add to it, and one thing led to another. A voila.

Oh, and one last happy-making thing- there are monarch butterflies literally everywhere. They seem to really enjoy the high branches of the trees outside my front window, so Marcel and I watch them from the bed, well, I watch them, Marcel is indifferent. But yeah. So many butterflies! Amazing.

In case you were missing him, here, in his splendor, Marcel D. Champ,
also known as el campeón, flyweight drooling champeen of the world.
You know you want more, more!

Because how could you not? That's the thing.
We went for an extend-o-walk today, first we visited Lucy, then to Julius Meinl for some cookies (they have a dog cookie jar, we like them.) and then to the park, to sit in the sun.

Being an urban gentleman of refined tastes, Marcel prefers concrete under his paws most of the time. He was posing nicely for cookies today, this is very rare and I am wondering if there is some cosmic imbalance or something-

Cookie. C'mon. Gimme.

He's being very cool here.

How can you not love that face?? Its not possible. You have to love it.
Ok, so then we ran into our friend, Duke! Duke is a black and tan coonhound who makes a high-pictched howling noise instead of barking, which is very disconcerting because it sounds more like an owl.
For real!! He belongs to our human friend, Matt, whose 40th birthday this happens to be! Happy Birthday, Matt, wherever you are! (Its going to be okay! Really!!)

It is indeed a fact that the black and tan coonhound has a highly developed sensor in the snout regions. For doing their job!

Believe it.
Later, this little girl came along and tried to poke Marcel in the eye before putting both hands into Duke's mouth! Both dogs were good sports about the whole thing!!
It all happened too fast to get a good action shot, but here Marcel is watching her giggling. Note Duke-shaped foreground shadow.

Ok! Back to work!
More, so much more, later!

And take their pictures.
This is Faust, he is Oso's gato and he is very regal and in charge of his yard! Yesterday I was over at Oso's, we were working on a super-secret web project (which is not entirely secret, and some of you know what I'm talking about! Soon to be unveiled on the Worldwide Inner-tubes! Its going to be cool, you'll see. Updates to come!) So I went out to get some garden pictures- and I did get a couple, but mostly one blurry one of some tomatoes- and that's when the cats went to work, doing that thing cats do so well, working their wiles, and thus, I give you, more cats than plants-

Actually one cat in particular, as JJ, the other kitteh, proved elusive, and only allowed his hind-end to be photographed as he schmoo-schmayed his way into the undergrowth of the tomatoes and peppers-

No, its not him! Its Faust again, and his extra-fancy whiskas!
Oh! To be a kitteh, lounging in the sunshine of a lazy August Tuesday!

And what of dogues??
(And knitting? Any knitting to report? Some, but no photos! Soon! Really! Also some art! Its true!)
Here is Marcel's and my neighbor, Lucy, being sleepy yesterday-

I'm pretty sure she had not had her coffee yet.

roosters- in progress, originally uploaded by Pippypippy.

This is in progress, but I thought I'd share before I do more to it and destroy it. I think it still needs something, it was going to be words, but I failed to find a good rooster motto. Any suggestions would be welcome!

while they are out of town. He loves hanging out on the porch, I think the being outdoors and yet not required to do anything in particular part appeals to him.

And to me, really. I mean, what's not to like?

There's a very nice bench, for quality lap-sitting time. And plus you can observe the goings-on below, like when the neighbors' dog is barking, from a safe distance and never need to get the tickley grass underneath your patas! Its an extra bonus.

So yeah, there's been some excitement around here with our street being torn apart for repairs. One day they made a really nice geyser for our entertainment and edification directly under my window-

How fun is that!?
It went on for some time, as the workmen had to all troop down to the end of the street to turn off the source- located in one of the other mysterious craters, apparently- so we got to enjoy the fountain in the meantime.

Which got me thinking. Naturally. Why don't we have a fountain all the time, instead of a street? Or a fountain in the street? It seems like it could be very relaxing, and conducive to everyone's happiness and mental health. There is something about the sound and the feel of water, qualities which concrete and traffic don't share. I'm just saying. We could have it! It would create green jobs, right? Algae cleaning and whatnot. Fish feeders. Koi wranglers. Pennies tossed in for luck could be used for public transportation infrastructure or community sheep farms or sculptures in honor of Extinct Megafauna of Illinois or parades in celebration of zucchini bread- speaking of which!!
I made some.
Pictures to come!
Here, for your viewing pleasure, however, I give you, vegetables in their organic splendor, courtesy of Garth and Dorina's farm share, which they were kind enough to give me as compensation for watering their plants-

Beets are a superfood- I read it in the NY Times so it must be true- and plus they taste amazing in salad, even while they turn everything entirely purple. I found this out. Omg.

Blackberries! This is what they look like!

Some really nice onions-

And finally, last but certainly not least-

A cabbage of tremendous proportions!
It is the size of a bowling ball. For real.
There were also some zucchini, a cuke, some chard, a bunch of dill and plus the most amazing eggs ever!

I was compelled to cook. That takes a lot!
Here is a recipe for scrambled eggs that I made up, which was so good I had to lay down and glow for several minutes after I ate them.

2 eggs
thinly sliced zucchini
finely chopped green onions
tomato pieces
milk
salt
pepper
hot pepper infused olive oil

Sautee zucchini, onions, and tomatoes in olive oil. Add scrambled eggs, salt, and pepper. Scramble until eggs are done. Bon appetit. Believe it!!

marigolds and lettuces, originally uploaded by Pippypippy.

Yesterday I spent some time with neighbors Garth, Dorina, Amelie, and Oliver. They have a small patch at the Waters School Community Garden (blogged about on the knit-a-log previously- I am a huge fan and frequent visitor of the Community Garden- its an oasis of awesome in the middle of our neighborhood) where they are growing veggies and herbs. Garth, Amelie and I stuck around at the garden for a while, as it was the one evening a week for volunteers and gardeners to get together and tend to things. We did a little bit of weeding, Amelie observed and tested edible plants for edibility. I took a bunch of photos, some of which are posted at my flickr page. Clickety click on the marigolds and/or the lettuces to go and have a look!

Plus, now my kitchen smells like dill, chives, and mint. Mostly dill! :)

Thanks again Garth, Dorina, Amelie, and Oliver for a really fun time!

Amor Mundi, originally uploaded by Pippypippy.

Ok, so I'm trying this blog posting from flickr thing, since I've been posting more photos on the flickrs than I have been updating the knit-a-log.

This is a painting I finished last year at Ragdale, which I'm pretty sure I never blogged about. In any event, I was looking at it, and thinking maybe I'm not really such a bad artist!

Anyway, enjoy!

Friday was pretty red lettuce!! That means it was good!
First I went down to Noble Square, to meet Oso. We stopped by at Lovely Bakeshop, (meeting place on Sundays for the ladies of Noble Square Stitch 'n' Bitch) for fortification- I didn't actually eat a cupcake (this time!) but I did eat a muffin. Ah, yes, rightly they named it Lovely!
Then I knitted a few rows on Oso's second sock. Because I have overcome Second Sock Syndrome, for, I am invincible that way. Sometimes.
A horizontal view-

I meant to take a picture of Oso's foot in the other one- it fits! Hourah!- and then forgot, oh well. Maybe when we have 2.

So anyway, yeah, then after Lovely we rode in May's Critical Mass. I took some photos of people I know-

Being handsome by the fountain!
And also these Frenchies who were cracking me up!

I'm not sure why they were pretending to be French, I didn't ask. So it was a don't ask, don't tell type of situation! But I asked them, in French, where was their bottle of vin rouge?? Their translator asked them in English and they responded with some vague gestures of cigarettes and baguettes. Meh, apparently they had grown bored of wine- this is when I knew they were impostors.

So then I photographed some random cute girls and now I am posting them on the internets without their permission, which is probably wrong but look, look at the cute-

And plus what can be cuter than a girl in a red polka dotted dress riding a bike with a balloon? (Okay, maybe if she had an awesome lucky cat squeaker and some handlebar streamers. Just sayin'.)
Speaking of handlebar streamers, this guy-

Charlie, ate one of mine!!! Pulled it out and ate it!! Before we could stop him. It was pretty funny, actually.
The Mass was its usual mostly merry, slightly scary self, with not any really angry confrontations with motorists that I saw, and very little interference except that somewhere along the line we got hijacked. So we never did go to Chinatown, which had been the plan, but Oso and I got a massed right back to his own front door, up by the Polish Triangle so that worked out fine.

So in case that's not enough pictures, here he is, in his summertime splendor, the real reason for this blog-

At the parkles! Looking for the cookies that he knows are in my pocket!

He knows they're in there! Which is the only reason why he will sit still for the camera-

Seriously. Cookies. Gimme.

Later on a friend came to visit, a uniquely handsome cattle-dog mix, who attempted to herd Marcel! Andy! He has a funny sideways face, which he was born with, although it looks like he had some sort of accident with a car or a wall or something. Nonetheless he's gorgeous in his own way, and plus when he is coming towards you there is this strange optical illusion that he is moving forwards and sideways at the same time.

I was only able to get one photo of him before my camera went kaput, as it is wont to do. And fridges, and modems, and sewing machines are also wont to do! Now that mercury is not retrograde anymore, and not a moment too soon, maybe, oh just maybe, I can hope for milk and lettuce in my life again. Sigh. Oh! Its a long, sad story!!
(and the camera is working again, and the modem is too, kind of! The sewing machine, well, its unclear!)

More later!! Really!!

If you listen to the internets too much it can seem like the whole world is in a kind of turmoil, and its easy to get sucked into believing that so much depends on these big collective hallucinations like money, geographical boundaries, economies such as they are, politicians in whom we place our faith, or not, loud-talking crazy radio people who will steal anyone's joy for enough fame and advertising revenue. Refuse! Resist! Because!
There's this!

A red tree with tiny white flowers that blooms quietly, out of reach of the world of human concerns, with its own concerns, certainly, but being a tree. Breathing in, breathing out. Looking at the sky. Holding up the birds.
I'd say these are reason enough to hold a parade in their honor-

The Purple Flowers Appreciation Day Parade. Complete with ecstatic dancing, giant puppets, marching bands with really big drums, perhaps a purple blimp overhead. To be followed by-

Pink Flowers Month.
This is what I'm thinking.

Did I post this before?
I've been trying to make a pair of socks for Oso out of these colors-

Thus far I've started over three times, but I like to think the 4th time is a charm. Updates to come.
In other interesting news, I've been cleaning my closet to make way for a new dresser, so I can take the clothes out of the suitcase where they have been for 2 years now- long story there- which I never really minded, because then it always felt like I could pick up and get on a plane and go someplace, which would make my life interesting and glamorous, not that it isn't. Anyway. So I got this Ikea dresser, because my old one is wedged in a closet at my Mom's, and won't be moved. And thus in the re-shuffling have come across more evidence.
Yes! Evidence. That the Big Dawg was an amazing genius, and plus he made so many very intriguing, beautiful, and inspired things. Thus, the idea for the Big Dawg Museum, possibly to come. At least an internet museum. But who knows. So many projects!!
Last night I had a funny dream, that I talked to the Big Dawg on a magic phone.
Another thing about another soul who is gone from us, May 2nd marked what would have been my Dad's 80th birthday.

Here is Marcel peeking out from behind the gate to see where I went, when I was taking flower pictures.

He seez what ur doing there. And it makes him cry.
No, not really!! He's fine.

And leave. Ha.
Marcel is just glad he can go outside and have a good scratch without so many layers on.

He really doesn't like it when I stalk him with the camera.

Get the giant eyeball outta my face, man. Jeez.

So anyway, for knitting, Oso bought me some new sock yarn for making man-socks for him, in manly, but not overly manly colors.

Its hard to do any justice to the colors, but I like it because it reminds me of earth, sunflowers, leaves, tulips, robin's eggs, and blue sky- ok so yeah, in the scheme of things, hardly what you'd call macho.
Less girly than, say, lavender, probably. Moving on from there.

I made these squares for this Code Pink Mothers'Day thing.

Normally, I would think it was kind of a lot of energy for something that will most likely be entirely drowned out and go pretty much unnoticed. But I really like the idea of a cozy for the white house. Cozies for most things are lacking in this world, I think that's part of the problem. You know, the universal problem with everything. The problem of not enough coziness. Make cozies, not war. Hell, yeah! But I digress.
And I had this extra pink, extra pretty, extra ball of yarn. So I did it.

I made one green one too, because I emailed and they said they were running a little short on the green ones.

Oh, and here is a rare Marcel Action Shot- I got him off guard!

Rawr. Take that, greenie!!

The pattern is from Spillyjane Knits and its called Polska. Its based on a Polish pottery mug, which the Mums happens to have also, and which she loves. So I had to make them!

Here is the second mitt, in progress-

Since I took that photo I've done quite a bit more, so its actually over halfway done.
I had never tried the colorwork before. Its not actually that hard. I always say that if you can knit with two needles, you can knit with four. And then if you can do that, you can knit also with two hands and two yarns, or 3, or 4! Its true!

I'm making a shawl, also for the Mums, which is an extremely belated birthday present (I'm a bad daughter.)-

Really, I wish I had a better photo of it. Someday!
My camera eats batteries and has chewed up and spit out a rechargeable set- its alarming. And inconvenient. Oh well.

Oso, in a feat of outstanding bravery and awesomeness, gave me yarn for Valentine's Day!! Now, what other man can walk into a yarn shop, unescorted by any female, choose sock yarn, and know to buy two skeins for making a pair, without asking for help? (Ok, yes, we know some of you can. You are exceptional, also, in the world of men. Just sayin'.) (A man who once stood, entirely naked, on the bow of a ship in the Bering Sea in winter!! That's how brave!!) Now, he was cleverly disguised as a knitter, in handknit Malabrigo hat and scarf! (in the yarn store, not in the Bering Sea. Just for clarity.)
So yeah, I made yet another pair of pretty plain socks but that's my favorite kind and plus I needed a train riding/dentist's waiting room/tv watching project. Thus-

Not super fancy, but definitely functional. And warm.
Will wool socks be helpful in the Apocalypse? I hope so. I've been thinking about the Apocalypse probably way too much lately.
I like to watch the Stimulator to cheer myself up. (warning- may not be suitable for sensitive viewers, adult language, that kind of thing! Seriously.)

Things are starting to come up in the garden, someday I'll post pictures, for real.

I've been using a pattern called something like Trinity Stitch Hat but I have been calling it the Old Lady Hat. The yarn is Malabrigo. Oso said "it even looks like an Old Lady Hat. The color is kind of.. dusty".
Which was funny because the color is called Dusty. So yeah.
Its not finished yet but I was trying it on to see how it fit.
And decided I look better upside down. Here it is not so blurry-

Also I'm working on the Swiss Cheese scarf-

So apparently its all about being pink and repetitive.

And finally, I give you, the Eastern Mole, from the Mammals of Illinois series that I was working on at Ragdale-

He has huge, shovel-like patas!! Rarrrrr! All the better to eat you, or maybe grasp your toe, or something. (Don't worry! They're tiny!!)
Not sure yet what he, and his companion woodchuck are going to be but I am thinking postcards or stamps. Or not.

Ta-daaa.
With a little help from Oso, and plus, leaving out the raisins, because who wants raisins, really?? I made these carrot muffins. It was part of a fit of domesticity, which seems to be ongoing, wherein I decided that my house would be more of a house if somebody cooked something in the kitchen, and if it smelled like cinnamon.
For your viewing pleasure, I give you another muffin shot (oh yeah, it sounds lewd! But its not!!)- because muffins muffins muffins- what could be more happy!? That's the thing!

And then I started moving things around, because a bunch of my books that had been in storage for the last couple of years (long story there) came back to me. You don't even know how many books you have until you live in a Hobbit hole. Which I do.
How does it happen? When you aren't even looking they collect themselves. Then before you know it you have this very unruly situation. There's a reason why librarians are weird.
That's all I'm saying.
Here's the before picture-

its the empty space where the bed used to be- pretty, pretty empty space!

In progress.

Marcel is not sure how he feels about it, transition is not something he handles well.

But he must oversee all progress!

All done! Hourahh!