Squpdate

The scan I posted Monday of my Squirrel fob was actually from Friday. Look how far I've come!

I have decided that this year, I am going to try this weird, strange new concept: working on One Project at a Time. =) Now, I'm never going to be a true One-at-a-Timer...I'll still have a few different knitting projects going...a travel stitching project...I want to keep up with a SAL on Ye Shall Prosper (I'm ahead right now =). But look at the progress I've made on Mr. Squirrel! I hope to make more tonight during AI....

I did get an extra hour of sleep last night, which means I feel vaguely human today. =) I hope to catch up some more tonight. It's possible you won't hear from me again 'til after the weekend. The loose itinerary is Thursday stitch night, Friday I try to finish my major project in a half day then to the High Museum to see the terracotta warriors, Saturday we go see King Tut, and then maybe to Knitch. And merriment, merriment the whole time! =)

I found them!

I found pictures of Erin's blog candy (don't know why I forgot to link to her yesterday!) She had asked for "something beady" (given that choice, "something stitchy" or "something knitty"), so I made her some stitch markers (for needlework) and a bookmark (which I liked so much I need to copy for myself!) The book was part of her blog candy, since I knew one of her 1001 things was to read a manga, this is one of the very few "standalone" manga I know, I love the authors' work, and it was on the clearance table for a steal! =) Sadly, I futzed around with the bookmark FOREVER! Construction, what the tassle should look like...it all seemed to flummox me! But I love how it turned out!

Oh, mercy, I am sooo tired today. Last night I was awake from about 3-5:30 or 6...getting tenser by the moment 'cause I couldn't fall back to sleep! It wouldn't be so tragic if I hadn't gone to bed so late Sunday night and woken up early Monday, losing about 2 hours sleep there as well. I'm destroyed today. I hope I can catch up before this weekend, because DFs Teresa and Ann are coming into town and we have a wonderful but busy schedule that I'd like to enjoy. That'll be impossible if I'm this tired.... Based on past experiences, I wouldn't even remember anything we did if I'm still this tired!

All Good Gifts

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This picture is from several months ago, when I received wonderful blog candy from Karin. How could she have known blue was my favorite color?? (Perhaps she is just marginally observant of the many hinting comments I had left on her blog for a while, LOL!!) Aren't these beads fabulous?? I plan to make a necklace (and maybe earrings), but I want to use at least one for a scissors fob as well. The needlecase is just wonderful; look at all that work!

What a coincidence, then, that one of my TWBB Christmas Ornament Exchange ornaments went to Karin! This is Teresa Wentzler's Intermediate Whitework Ornament. Of course, I couldn't do it in all white. =) It was kitted for me by DF Jill. Since Karin likes "sparklie", I put it over gold lame' to show off the drawn thread areas. I also tried something new with the twisted cord by adding beads while I was twisting, to add even more "sparklie". I'm not entirely satisfied with how it came out; the beads are a little too random. I'd like them to be more even. I also wish I'd hung it diamond-shaped rather than square. But overall, I was happy with it and it was rather hard to put it in the mail.

I didn't think I would have time to make many gifts for Christmas (in 2007 I made scarves for my three nieces). However, I did manage a few. I made one of the famous scarves for my mom, since she coveted the ones I'd made for my nieces. I also made one for DF Larissa (ditto on the covet =). Since I gave DF Jill a "big" present for her birthday (tickets to the "So You Think You Can Dance" tour...oh, yes, I need to post those pictures sometime!), she commanded that I was not supposed to give her a Christmas present. Well, I at least wanted to give her something "small"...and since she loves koalas, when I saw this guy on Ravelry, I couldn't help myself. I made some major changes to the pattern; mainly knitting in the round and using worsted weight yarn rather than fingering. I also totally changed the ear construction. When I find where I wrote it all down, I'll add the details to my Ravelry listing.

Jill, in return, was way too generous and gave me a Heart's Content kit that I had (unbeknownst to her) been lusting after for quite a while...featuring my favorite critter...AND the scissors to go with it! I couldn't resist starting on him on New Year's Day (once the last scarf had been given away!)

I had to postpone more work on Mr. Squirrel, though, because I had decided I wanted to stitch something for DF Jean's birthday. I got some grace days because we celebrated a little late. I'm afraid she only got the finished needlwork, without it being made into anything (originally it was supposed to be a needleroll). I finished at 11:30 the night before her party! Fortunately, she liked it and told me she had a great frame for it. Sorry for the sub-standard picture...I barely had time to throw it on the scanner before I ran out the door to work the morning of the party! This is "has lost her sheep" from bearly a bird designs. I thought that phrase was a bit of a downer (especially for someone that loves sheep as much as Jean), so I changed the words.

So at least three of us in blog land are cuddled up with our favorite critters to start the year!

JiffNotes
Gifts to and from me.... Sadly, I can't find a picture of the blog candy I sent to Erin...I'm sure I took one...OR of the ornament I gave my niece!! So what's your favorite cuddly critter?

It's Nerd to Me, Apparently

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Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Modern, Cool Nerd

61 % Nerd, 61% Geek, 22% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.


You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

Take The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test at HelloQuizzy

JiffNotes
For the record, I say that the difference between a nerd and a geek is that the geek can tell when people's eyes are glazing over and knows when to shut up about her obsessive interests.

Paper dreams

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You can call it my "New Year Cleaning" of the blog...I keep finding these old posts that never got finished and published! These pictures are from almost a year ago, when Michael and I wallpapered a wall in our bedroom. Originally, I had this really cool idea of creating a patchwork of fabric baffles (covered wood frames) with lots of different textures to cover what was going to be a cinder block wall in our bedroom. When it turned out it was going to be sheetrock, we sort of halfheartedly looked for textured/fabric wallpapers we would like...since, with our degree of laziness, we knew the fabric frames would take forever. Imagine our surprise when we found out that they made wallpaper with woven paper--and even real bamboo slats! We decided to go with some texture, but not the crazy bamboo, and picked this. It's actually woven paper, so the texture is really neat.

I tried in vain to find someone who knew how to apply grasscloth wallpaper. We knew from past experience with contractors that we'd probably only be happy if we did it ourselves. No problem! I thought. My oldest sister is a wallpapering wizard! She lives in a house whose interior is completely Victorian, and has wallpapered even her ceiling with William Morris-inspired paper, pieced into cool knotwork and such. She can help!

I had her over for lunch. She took one look at the wallpaper, after I explained that we had to use a clay-based paste, and said, "Oh, why did you pick this stuff!"

"Why," I asked, "have you worked with it before? Is it horrible?"

"No, I've never used it. It just looks tricky, and I'd be afraid to do it."

"Why would you be afraid?"

"Because you guys are really picky and I don't know if I could get it right. I think you should just try it."

Great. Our crazy wallpaper choice has scared off my domain expert. Well, we decided to try it ourselves, since it was clear we wouldn't get anyone else to do it. After an extensive search for the clay-based paste, we picked a warm day and got busy!
The preparation...oh my, I just saw that although we swathed the bed and floor in plastic, I left the needlework completely unprotected on the walls!

"Action" shot of the super-thick paste going on...

"Booking" the wallpaper so we don't get smeared with paste while carrying it over to the wall.

He's still smiling.... My sister told me that the one who was the least picky should actually apply the wallpaper; otherwise, it would take all day. You can see who's most laid back. =)

Only trust the architect in the family to cut on a straight line...

Two down, two to go!

Annnd, you can tell by the light that it took a while to finish!! I was the chief smoother and bubble-eliminator. I only fouled up a few times when I pushed paste out from seams. But considering that I had NEVER done wallpaper before and had NO IDEA what I was doing, I think I did pretty good. Those spots still await some kind of paint/pencil/crayon over, since it's impossible to clean the paste off the grasscloth. We have a test swatch so we can experiment with different methods. Yeah, we'll get around to that eventually.... =)

JiffNotes
We wallpapered...and we're still married!!