H'm

*pokes blog w/ intercomputal knitting needle*

Nope not dead yet!

Having beat the better part of the hot hot heat last weekend, I am currently freezing my tits off. Crazy east bay weather. I must admit though this morning's sunrise was a bit sublime from all the local fires. The days are now Hazey and smell like a camp fire.

Sorry for being so quietly lately, it's just been that I still haven't been doing much of anything for quite some while. Last night I did pick up the needles and worked a few rows on the giant log cabin border. This is the third of four, so it's so close but just such slow going. I really love this thing, and don't want to see it out of our house, but it must go. It would be totally rude of me to keep it for our house. Besides I still have more Noro dying to be knit up. It really just isn't knitting season, it's summer! I should be sewing skirts and schtuff. But honestly I'm afraid I don't know how to sew that well, and I'll just futz everything all up. And there's also the fact that I don't have a sewing table, and my cutting table lives behind the couch and is just an old heavy table top with missing legs. So silly. But here I go again making excuses, so I shall stop.

Coming up in July are 2 hat making classes at the Berkeley Museum of Lace and Textiles, Lacis. I believe I may just take both of the classes, each offering different hats to make. They're all day courses, 10-5. Again, I'm rather eager to learn some new techniques, I've been dying to make little straw braid hats in the Victorian and Edwardian Fashion. How cute would that be, and useful if I'm ever to have a hat booth at one of the local Renaissance/Dickens Faires.

Perhaps I should finish updating the load of hats I have lying about. There are still a few I have yet to show. And then perhaps an Etsy. We'll see.

On an odd note all my Love in a Mist seems to be missing. I know I planted tons of seeds, but I have yet to see head nor hide of a one of them, out of some 500 seeds you would think something would have popped up now.

Anon til another days meeting.

When There's Nothing to Say

What does one say when there really isn't much going on...
I suppose a recap on Valhalla would do, but it was rather disappointing. The gal I was hoping to meet up with was absent, as were her lovely corsets. The rest of the vendors left quite a bit to be desired, and there were no Gyros. All in all I'd give this faire about a 6 on the 10 star system. I did pick up a new mug since the husbeast, the cooler, and my old one had a run in with the ground, with an unfortunate ending. Thank goodness the mugs are cheap and handmade.
The best part of Faire may have been the compliments on my wee hats throughout the day. It literally seemed like every 5 minutes someone was remarking on their lovely nature. Which admittedly does a great good to a girl's ego. But now I have 5 mini mini toppers, and well they need to move out of my house and into other person's houses. So I'll see what I can do to rectify that particular dilemma.
On the knitting front, there has been a stunning minimal bit. I think this is where I pipe in with Summer knitting blues. Not that grey skies seem all that blue, but last week it was warm...
Well ta' for now, til I can find something interesting to share.

Ohhh...Butterflies

The anticipation is just welling in me for this weekend. I couldn't sleep this morning, so I woke about an hour early, and finished the latest mini mini topper. Again another purple one, this is the fourth, but possibly the best of it's color. The first two were just hideous. The third, scary Nazi like, and this one is just right.
The lists are endless, I still have to do a little shopping for the things we didn't get, and pack, and wash clothes, and find all the camping gear, and ......
Yeah Faire!

It's June

Valhalla Ren Faire is into it's second weekend coming up here, oh I just can't wait. I love all the planning and the talking about it, and the packing. Tonight the old roomy heads over to do my brakes, and spark plugs, and change the oil in my truck ~ a little thanks for watching his dog for 2 weeks. And he's bringing his girlfriend by so I can help her on her garb. It's her first time ever to Faire, and I'm real eager to see what she has, evidently there may be some traditional Brazilian dress there, yes, she's Brazilian and a real sweet heart. Also coming out to Faire is my LA actress friend, Charity, arriving in style with a new beau, and another friend has invited our other 2 friends who are newbies also. It's going to be a wild time.
On my way up, I'm actually detouring rather far south to hit up the 50% sale at Knitting Arts in Saratoga. A bit out of the way, but WTF, 50% going out of business. Choice, I need some heavy worsted weight yarn for a cute tam by Ysolda. I have no idea how long this is going to take me since I have to go through San Jose or some god forsaken section of the Silicon Valley in the morning commute hours without a second passenger. The husbeast (yes the beard is already on a comeback!) has declared that now he wants to ride his motorcycle up, again. I can't blame him, riding in Tahoe is one of the best scenic rides, and a little tricky (on the roads he takes).
I'm still rather stoked the husbeast said he'd come this year, and even go into Faire, he hates Faire. How does any man hate so many free range boobies, I don't get it. Whateva.
We spent this weekend literally hopping from one BBQ to another, 3, yes one every night. It's not even like the weather was that great! But good food, and great company was had by all in every circumstance.
The Log Cabin blanket progresses as quickly as that many stitches on a border can. I'm about to cast off on the second of the 2 smaller bordered sides, and then I'll be picking up stitches for the first of the 2 larger borders. I thought it would help designate a top bottom orientation to have 2 opposing sides bigger. The husbeast loves it and says "mine" like a little boy, totally cute, but he'll have to wait for our own family blankey. Next to see if it can even pass some sort of easy washing stage, I highly doubt it since it's Noro and Cascade, like the 2 most feltables out there. I'll make a test swatch of them and give then a whirl soon. I think I'll bring the blanket with me to Valhalla to work on it. I really want to get it done by next week.
Aren't goals lovely.
Speaking of goals, I secretly made a goal with myself to have 5 mini mini top hats done for Valhalla, and I believe I will. I'm working on another purple topper. I also have two other mini topper's to bring for good measure. Even then I couldn't even fashion all the ladies in the Faire party with toppers if I wanted to, there's going to be 8 of us. I believe there should be 13 or 14 of us in total. Wow I still can't believe so many people are going. What dorks we all are. Lord I still don't even know how to bring all the hats into faire, at least they each have a hat box so they'll be safe. Ah we'll see. I think a mini mini top hat will be a great accoutrement for my Rom (Romany/gypsy) character. Mini Toppers aren't exactly period, but fine chapeau's were period of upper class women, and me wearing one is well enough explained by my character's gypsy *tendencies*. Oh and the sun hat for later in the day is a gas, made out of hemp and all swooshy dooshy to boot, with a wide, airy brim.
Ahhhh the dreams of Faire, how sweet the air becomes, how rausous and at home it shall be.
Cheers anon.

Peering out of the Mayhem into the light of June

Seems that things are starting to clear, and normalcy may set in, but life is certainly much quieter and less stressful. Thank you for holding on, I seem to generally find the month of Mayhem just to be such a doozie, and never for any real raisin (reference Phillip J. Frye and attack of the Brains here please).
So without any further interruptions I give you the log cabin squares:








In their current state they are all sewn together but most likely not in this order. I'm reusing the Cascade ecowool that just wasn't a Hemlock as a border between all the squares (to make it bigger) and around the outside. Keep in mind that the majority of this Noro silk garden was left over bits and balls from all the mitletts I made for the past 2 years. Plus a full skein or two. I really have no idea how much Noro is in this, but I can attest to it's warmth and softness. And I should have enough balls (not scraps) saved to make my own blanket, as this one is still destined for the FIL. It's more of a family blanket but it is being made with him in mind. Don't you just love Noro and it's self striping yummy~ness.

This weekend is my greek gypsy friend (Kyriokos') 30th birthday. We're driving up to Davis to make it to his BBQ and I believe I'll be delivering a bottle of the St. George Absinthe to the young man. He insists that Absinthe does nothing to him, aside from the last time when on a tiny Island called Quajaline (SP?) he and a bunch of fools finished a Chech bottle and thought it would be a great idea to catch the baby sharks out in the reef. Thankfully nothing foul came of it for anyone, but it certainly sounds like something he himself would even suggest. Remind me to tell you of the time we borrowed the little row boat and went out to a barge in the bay, late at night, drunkenly.

After that comes the first Faire of the season, Valhalla. I can't wait. It's my favorite Faire, and who knows maybe they're still be snow on the ground, as I have it on good word that it was snowing up that way this last weekend.
Well the morning alarm is going off, I suppose I should go and put the kettle on for tea, and make us some breakfast.
Til then, cheers.
Oh and what do you call a husbeast that has shorn all of it's facial fur off??? No really. I suppose Love Bug will do until there's something respectable on his face again. And yes I did take picts they're still in the camera though.
Anon and thanks for waiting.

Nearing the end of Mayhem

How about a few little pictures in the meantime! Finally.
Well, let's just hold off on those log cabin shots, the pict uploader is being a booger. Yeah... ok.
So instead, here we have a few of the latest mini toppers, this is the burnt crimson mini mini topper, with a pink and black silk band, ace of spade button on top of an iridescent button. An alternate view can be seen in the side bar.
Recently I met up with the young man who started all this back last Halloween downtown, the one with the mohawk, well I'm still waiting to exchange him hat for painting, and seems like we're still on for that. This next pict is the backside of the hat I initially made for him. Unfortunately it's a bit top (hhah) heavy, so I'm going to be constructing a mini mini topper, but maybe a little different for him here in the next week or so. This one came out a little 1940's German like, but it's fun set off with silk and bead ribbon as a band, and a little dead phicous (sp?) from my house tree. Heh, I say get it where you can. Lastly but not least of all is one of my fav's from the latest batch of mini mini toppers. This fabric was an impulse purchase for $1 from a local thrift store when I was working on a knitted wall for the Devil on All Sides. I feel as it just screams Rom, or hobo, or carpet bagger, what ever you may call someone on the outskirts of society dabbling in a little of the what not. It's super fun to wear and gives just the most striking of profiles. I've been wearing it without the peacock feather but with the little bit of twig that protrudes 8 inches through the air hidden behind the feather in this pict. The mushrooms hail from Small Stump etsy, I refuse to link to their yummy goodness lest all my lovely cotton mushrooms are stolen from out from under me... lied, they're all gone, now my little mushies are all that more precious. I must go weep now. Never mind, I lurv google. Well then, off I must be, it's getting late.
Welcome back to a glorious Monday, presumably since it's still Sunday as I write.

Still Mayhem

Yeah Mayhem really is a sleeper month, but lo who cares, onto other things...
here we go. (like how I just avoided all the crap I don't care to discuss, woohoo)
As always it's lovely having company, and even lovelier when they leave. We tootled around with my old gypsy friend Kyriokos before he left yet once again for some part of Louisiana. He was fresh off the boat from Trinidad before then. What a job. Fixing submarines and doing all this weird building stuff. The guy is literally a God among mechanics. Nothing too daunting for him. But I shouldn't praise him too much, or he'll get a fat head. We did show him around the little Island we work on, and then went out for a lovely German dinner. Mmm meatloaf and yummy calamari. And if it weren't for his impeccable driving skills the old Honda would still be stuck in that parking lot in a space too small, and a vehicle too close behind it. But I figured if anyone he could get the Honda out of there, so it didn't really matter if it was a crappy space or not. I also intrigued the young man (turning 30 at the end of the month!) about the budding concept of Steampunk. See he's been a bit out of it sense he hasn't been to the Burn in a few years, and well I just keep going to all these strange events, so it's not that alien to me. We discussed all the possible vehicles of transportation that could be powered by steam, and how dangerous that would ultimately be. Then he and the husbeast stayed up until 6 am debating theology (rather loudly might I add) and drinking bottles of beer, while I awoke every now and again and gave them dirty looks through our Norin curtain that hangs in our hallway.
In between hostessing I also knit on the log cabin blanket, I must say it's just lovely. All the colors going this way and that. The squares are all attached now, and there is a 8 row garter stitch holding them in piece. Last night I cast on for the first of the outer border, which shall be twice as wide as the inner borders. I'm really thrilled to see it coming together over all these months. I must prod the husbeast to give me access to the problematic iphoto. I need to show picts of this thing.
Not much else for now, but it is Monday, so go and enjoy all that it entails.
cheers.