On the Needles

If you recall, I bought some beautiful yarn three weeks ago, in three lovely colours. The colours weren't officially named, but I call them "Peanut Shell", "Santa Fe Adobe" and, um, "Dark Blue".

I've been knitting it up into a scarf... a slightly unusual vertically striped scarf, so I'm using circular needles for the first time.

Just the dark blue stripe to do, then it's done!

It's all garter stitch, which is lovely and easy, and twelve rows of each colour. But... I cast on 250 stitches, and had a bit of a tail left still, so I kept casting on a little longer, and I'm not sure exactly how many stitches I ended up with.

More than 250.

Less than 500.

I know that much!

Anyhow, I'm liking the colours together, and am very excited to see how it'll look off the needles, and how long it'll end up being! But, in my mind, a scarf can never be too long, (you just keep wrapping it round your neck, right?!) so I'm hopeful it'll be a success!

Hello, Weekend!

Hurray for the weekend! We've had a yummy morning of Shipley's chocolate-frosted doughnuts (for Justin) and Shipley's sausage-and-cheese-bun-things (for me).

Plus, I've been living it up on amazon.com. I was given a gift card for my birthday, and have finally decided what I'd like: CRAFT BOOKS! Yay!

We spent two or three hours in Barnes and Nobles last night, just browsing, and all of the knitting books seemed so not me. Either the projects were really hard (umm... I don't even know what Fair Isle knitting means) or really ugly (baggy waistcoats, no thanks) or really lame (why would anyone wear that), or full of baby designs (not yet, thanks!), or full of dumbed-down 'this is a knitting needle... DUH' mindless info.

I was sad.

But, online, I found a couple that seem just my cup of tea:

I love that this one breaks projects down into who they are for: mothers, sisters, friends, men, etc.

So... if you're related to me, and expecting a Christmas present, please DON'T look inside as it'll give away what you're getting! :)

Also looks useful... it promises 'easy sweater patterns' so I'm excited about that!

And yay for primitive embroidery! My Mum had a great book of primitive, folky designs when I was little, and I just loved the quirky birds, the sweet sentiments, and the hearts on everything!

So, come on, Mr. Postman, I'm waiting!

Mod Moosies

What with all this knitting, I've been neglecting my other favourite crafty pursuits. Like paper!

These little square frames were a dollar for three a while back at Target, so I got myself a few sets, and filled them with fun squares of scrapbooking paper and cut-out moosies in contrasting colours and patterns. Very Ikea, no?

And speaking of moose, I thought you might like to know that I've started on a whole new series of paintings, inspired by our antlered friends. I've got three designs ready to go, and a heap load of inspiration still bubbling, so... watch this space!

Hassleless Tassels

I've finally put the tassels on that fisherman scarf I started a few weeks ago, and I'm really very happy with how it looks.

The mohair ends remind me of suede elbow pads on tweed suits...

It is long enough that Justin can actually wear it now, and hey, it looks pretty good on Bella, too! (Although she does like to chew on those tassels... I wonder if the fact that they're mohair attracts her!)

It really wasn't too hard, either. If I'd thought of adding the mohair ends before I knitted the main part of the scarf, it would have been easier, but for a mistake, it worked pretty well to simply go back to the start, pick up the cast-on stitches, and add the ending and tassels.

The only way you'd really know I did this is that the stocking stitch is running the other direction at one end... but I would bet you anything that Justin won't ever notice that!!

Oh, and a good guide to tassel-making, if you're not familiar with it, is here!

Off to the vet today for Bella's first physical, and then I'm going to finish a new design I've been working on: Sporty Betsy! I plan to sell tennis and golf themed Betsy cards at sports clubs and so on... so we'll see how that goes!

Welcome home, doggie!

Last Friday, I brought home the newest member of our family, Bella the "Foxy Lady" and already it feels like she's always been here! (She's asleep on my feet right now, even!!)

This is her with the squeaky beaver we bought her! She loves it... but unfortunately couldn't the difference between hers and mine, so I had to save Mrs. Beaver's life the other day and pull her from Bella's jaws!

Yesterday was my birthday, and we thought it would be fun to take Bella to the dog park. It had a huge pond that she was a little wary of... but once she saw the other dogs in there, she did a little paddling.

She likes to steal tennis balls out of other dogs mouths instead of fetching them herself!

And then she takes them off and guards them! What a funny girl.

I did something this morning that I've NEVER done before... went out for a morning run. Insane, I know! I didn't run all that much (25 years of no running and I need a little warm up!), probably about three (small) blocks. Bella loved it! She's not a sniffy dog... she wants to get places. But it was fun, and I think it'll be good for both of us to make that a regular morning routine.

*Cuddles!*

Hello, Texas

We finally arrived in our new home. Yippee!

(I hope y'all haven't missed me too much!!)

It wasn't an easy trip... we had a miserable moment in Junction, Texas, (*cough, middle-of-nowhere, cough*) when the U-Haul wouldn't stop beeping it's 'your-brakes-don't-work' noise, a fun-filled hour in the hotel parking lot when the bloody thing wouldn't start... and then U-Haul wouldn't even take the truck back ("we've got no room in our lot!"... like we've got more room in our driveway!)... but we made it :)

And it's so lovely... a beautiful old-timey kitchen with more counter space than I'd dreamed was possible! And a yard, with the most adorable little mobile barn-shed in it (which is currently filled with the last people who lived here's trash... but I'm working on it!) And it's got a wonderful room which is to be my studio... it used to be the garage, so it's enormous, and has all this great shelving built in, and electrical outlets every few inches along the wall... seriously, I could open my own internet cafe in here, and have plugs left over!!

So, I've been unpacking these last few days, with a little knitting thrown in. I'll get pictures up soon... I promise! And, I'm off for a job interview tomorrow, so fingers crossed! :)

Shortie Fisherman Scarf

This was supposed to be my on-the-road project: a scarf for Justin to wear fishing. The yarn is actually three yarns rolled up together, which gives it this lovely multi-coloured effect. A bit like tweed, a bit like camoflague! I love it:

Unfortunately, I only bought two skeins. (EVERY other project I've done, I've had a whole extra ball left over, so I was frugal!)

It was on special sale, so when I went back today, and they had no more.

Eek!

I've used up all the yarn I have, and it's only this long:

Which, on Justin, just goes round his neck, with nothing to spare. So, I'm getting creative. Problems like this are how the best new ideas are born, right? Well, that's what I'm telling myself!

What I'm going to do is add onto the ends in this lovely brown mohair mix:

It's very 'tweedy' too, and will bring out the browns quite nicely, I hope. I'm really not sure the added stripes will look okay, but I'll try it! Nothing to lose, right? Give it some long tassels, too, and it'll be much longer in no time!

Treasuried

Little Betsy appeared in a treasury for the first time (at least the first time I'm aware of!) with the theme "Mellow Yellow"... how perfect!

Check her out, and add a little sunshine to your day, here!

Other Uses For Yarn:

Use it for packing your favourite glasses!

(These ones were picked up in London by Justin... they're perfect, so chunky!

Great for a pint, and adorable when full of milk.)

All my bags are packed...

Voyageur by Blanca Gomez

Vroom vroom

The boxes are packed.

The food from the fridge is (almost) all eaten.

The on-the-road knitting project has been started... but, unfortunately, I won't be able to do it on the road anymore. Turns out, we both have to drive, Justin in the U-Haul, me in the car.

Two 10 hour driving days!

Eek!

So, in the interests of staying awake come hour 9.5, I'm making some upbeat driving CDs. Usually, I'm more of a mellow-music person (I could listen to Damien Rice, David Gray and Bob Dylan for ten hours, easily) but I'm breaking out my Modest Mouse, White Stripes, and The Doors tunes.

Anything with bass.

Anything with drums.

And perhaps a little Dwight Yoakem, just because :)

Anyone have any good driving music they use? I'm open to suggestions!

Beaver in a Bow Tie

What happens when you leave a beaver alone with the moving boxes for an hour?

She's been feeling a bit cheeky ever since I made her that little red bow tie. It was meant to go on her head (so that everyone stops thinking she's a boy beaver) but she kept slipping it off, so it ended up going round her neck. Very dashing!

I've been out, scouting the local knitting shop. Thus far, I've only been buying my yarn from Michael's (and the first few from the infamous 'Peter Jones' in London! Ooh la la!) and it was such a treat to walk into Kiwi'sKnitting company in Tucson, Arizona, today and see colour! All colours! I walked around for a while with a gorgeous spotty muted pink (which reminded me of raspberry ice cream), then I switched it for a lovely eco-friendly banana yellow, then I switched that for a so-soft alpaca grey on sale, then I put that back and got these:

(Please excuse the moving boxes... it's the only backdrop I have right now!)

It's Peruvian Kettle-Dyed Cotton, made by Manos del Uruguay, and I think it's the new love of my life. So soft, lovely earthy colours, and it's got this wonderful natural wave to it. The lady in the shop asked me what I planned to make with it, and I told her,

"To be honest, I really just want to wear it as it is!"

After which she kind of gave up on helping me and disappeared into the backroom!

I do want to make something... and that something is almost defintely going to be a scarf. A striped scarf. I'm just wondering whether to do a normal horizontal repeating stripe, or try a vertical stripe. I think big blocks look best with special colours... hmmm. You know, with three of these skeins, I've probably got enough to try it both ways! When in doubt, avoid choosing! :)

Yes, so that is what I'll be doing on our 18 hour road trip to Texas... (Justin says I'm not allowed to drive the U-Haul... which is probably a good idea) or for as many as hours as my fingers can take it! Endurance knitting... can I go the distance?

It's high time for pie time

Baby don't you cry,

gonna make a pie,

gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle,

Baby don't be blue,

gonna make for you,

gonna make a pie with chocolate and bananas!

Yes, it's time to use up everything in the cupboards before we move! Hello, pie crusts I bought months ago! Good day, pudding packets! How are you, yummy yellow bananas?

We're so excited to be leaving, and are spending the weekend packing boxes! We've decided to haul it all across country ourselves after getting quotes from three of the least trust-worthy people I've ever meet... which will be an experience, I'm sure!

Warning: future posts may make contain the words y'all, howdy, and Taco Cabana and excessive use of cowboy hat imagery!

Crochet Yourself Jaunty

As if I didn't have enough projects on the go, I've decided to teach myself to crochet!

(Nevermind the fact I've only done one-and-a-half woolly slippers, nevermind the semi-finished painting and paints sprawled across my floor, nevermind the rubber stamps and inks on my desk, along with a half-made birthday card for my grandma, nevermind all that! I want to learn something new!)

While I was in England a month ago, my grandma gave me a set of crochet hooks that used to belong to my great-aunt. We only stayed with her for a night or two, so we didn't have time for a quick lesson, and I came back to the US with my hooks and a plan to learn how to use them later down the road... but... yesterday, I got a parcel, and in it was this beauty:

A beginner's guide to crochet from, I'm guessing, the 1970's! (A lot of the models look like they could have been in ABBA) It's all the knitted-waistcoat, brown-and-orange, loose-and lacy fun you could hope for!

However, I'm not really 'hooked' yet... it's hard. The instructions are all right-handed, of course, and I haven't really gotten the hang of it well enough yet that I can turn it round and use my proper hand. I do like it, and I'll keep trying, but so far, I'm not blown away.

The best bit, really, is reading through the 'First Steps in Crochet' pattern descriptions. Some of the phrasing, I just love. They use the word 'jaunty' like it's going out of style... ah, yes, I guess they predicted that one. Here are some of my faves:

• 'Try this zippy fashion idea' (The idea was to have scarves you could wear all year round... so another good prediction)
• 'Snappy accesories strike a chic fashion note'
• 'Curved stripes on a teapot cosy make this gay rainbow design'
• 'Next stage-- make a jaunty beret!'

I showed it to Justin, and said that perhaps I'd make him a dashing little tie:

... but his reaction was less than impressed. At least he admitted he wouldn't wear it before I bothered making it!

But yes, my goal is to make something similar to this wonderful scarf I saw the other day, by missindie (who just has the most fantastic range of crocheted beauties... necklaces, scarves, glovey-type-things):

Gorgeous! I love the three colours, I love the twists. I love that it would look amazing with almost anything, in any season. Okay... maybe my goal is to try and fail at making it, so that I can justify buying it. But shhhh... don't tell me that! I have to try first.

Hot Hot Hot

It's another hottie in Tucson... yep, we broke 110 degrees again.

Unfortunately, our rickety old air conditioner is on its death bed, spitting out 30 seconds of cool air, and then rattling to a stop. Not quite dead, not quite useful.

So, I'm doing the only logical thing there is to do: sitting in front of the fan, and, well, knitting wooly slippers.

'Wooly slippers?', you ask. 'How can that be logical?'

Well, let me tell you! I'm knitting them and thinking about living somewhere cold enough to use them. Mind over matter, baby. You think about the cold, then you feel the cold.

Yeah, okay, that's rubbish. I'm baking, (body-wise, not cooking-wise... there's no way I'm turning on my oven today!) and miserable, but my right foot is very cozy, and my left foot is balancing it out!

P.S. No, I can't knit with my feet. It was hard enough to fit those size 19 hunka-monkas between my toes, let alone do anything with them!

Featured!

Thanks very much to 88Links for featuring me today as Thursday's Tucson artist! She picked my favourite print to show off: 'Betsy Makes Lemonade'

Check out the feature HERE! And you can see more of my prints in my shop.

I'm very pleased to have been chosen this week, as next Thursday is offical Moving Day, and I'll no longer be a Tucson artist. Eeee...exciting!

Business Lunch

Inspired by Mareika's art (in the post below), I went on a quest for more artists who have fun with business suits in their work.

(It's one of those days where I want to create... well, where I want to paint an exact replica of everything Mareika ever made, but know I can't... but instead, I'm still looking at what delights others have on offer!)

Business Man by retrosprout

There's something about eyes this far apart that really appeals to me. It gives the little business man such a sadness, and I suppose I want to loosen his little tie and tell him it'll be all right. Great colours... I love the blue cloud overlapping his face. Oh, and please note the RED dots!

Business Bear goes to Work by petiteami

It would be even tougher to get out of bed in the morning, I imagine, if you had to unicycle to work! But this bear has got it down. He's all neatly dressed, with his fur brushed, too!

Mixed Media. Alice. Nothing Suits by ArtifactBingo

I love art that uses book pages as a base, and here the business men really bring life to the printed words... they are so energetic! It's almost like an office version of Cirque De Soliel, with Mr. Tight-rope-walker, and the Leapers!

Now, to get down to business myself...

Fox Riding and Other Hobbies

Yesterday, I stumbled upon Mareika Auer's artwork (above) for the first time.

And maybe it's because I'm completely hooked on Mad Men at the moment, or because I love that kind of Aimee Bender alternate world of equal parts weirdness and humour, but I can't seem to get that man on a fox out of my head!

I think it's because their poses are so lifelike... the way he sits on that fox, with his knees forward so his feet don't drag, just mixes the fantastical with the normalcy so perfectly!

But Mareika isn't all about the animals (although her animal prints might be my favourites... check out her print of business men walking different animals)...

This man is knitting his hair! It makes me so happy I could cry, not just because he looks so sweet, all cross-legged, but because the knitting, of course, has to be RED! I think Mareika went to the same school of Art Theory as me... without that red element, it just wouldn't be the same.

One more:

Gnomes! Well, really I sort of love it because they all look like Nisse men (which are the little Christmas elves that the Danes credit with present-giving, and who were always a big presence in our house at Christmas time). And I love them because you can SEE their personalities! What a character in the middle!

Mareika is selling prints of these, and if I can get around to working out how much, exactly, a Euro is, then I might think about spluringing. How often do you see something that makes you that happy and inspired? Rarely. The only problem, if I may be so bold, is that there are actually TOO MANY prints that I love... :)

Thanks, Mareika, for brightening my week. The world needs more business men riding foxes.

Other Hearts I Heart

They're fuzzy and wooly and felty and fluffy! I love how simple the heart shape is, but how different you can make hearts look just by making them a little taller, a little chubbier, a little pointier. Here are my favourites, all courtesy of Etsy sellers:

Fabric (wool) heart cards by ETCCards

Great colour, and so simple but so beautiful. I'd love to get one of these in the post!

Black wooly felted bowl by thefuzzymonkey

I love it! It's almost too special to put anything in... except maybe little felted hearts!

Brown felt Texas pillow by lovecalifornia

In honour of our upcoming move to Texas, (the heart is pretty much over Bryan, I believe!) and because I can never draw the shape right, I'll give this a special mention, too!

Yay for hearts! And now, since I heart my husband, I'm going to make him something for dinner that he hearts (well, I do too!)... green Thai curry. Yum!

Things I Heart Tuesday

I tried my hand at inventing a knitting pattern today, and came up with a rather deformed, but pretty recognisable heart! I couldn't really find a pattern for knitted hearts anywhere online, and my goal was to work it out and put the pattern up for others to use, but I think it still needs a bit of work before people would want to! But, hey, it's got personality. :)

So, here are three things I heart:

Mrs. Beaver, willing model and great company-keeper while I knit!

Rusty things in general... I love that aged metal orangey-brown colour

Reading! And writing! And books! And bookshops! And stacking my books... these really should never have been unpacked, but I couldn't bear to not see them for three months!

Goodbye Tucson!

It's celebration time in our house, because we've just heard that we'll be moving to Texas! It's been a long, long summer of you-can't-wear-jeans heat and stomp-on-the-ceiling neighbours, but finally the end is in sight! In fact, one of the most satisfying feelings was walking into the Apartment Office and giving them our 30 day notice of leaving.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Gaby, the world's most friendly but least helpful employee. "Is something wrong?"

And I thought about saying, "Well, there has a been a leak in our water heater for two months, our carpet smells like wet dog, our fridge doesn't really close properly, we can hear every footstep of the eight people in the apartment above us..." but I didn't. Sorry, next residents, but we pass those problems on to you.

So, in the next week, I'll be packing everything that we unpacked (luckily, a lot of things are still packed... and the boxes are being used as counterspace!) and we'll be driving across country in a U-Haul. Well, Justin will be driving. I'll just be handing over my ID so we get a cheap truck rental. Unfortunately, neither one of us trusts me behind the wheel of a U-Haul... so it'll be a two day affair, I think. But I'm sure it'll go quickly as we're so excited to go!

Just thought I'd share the good news! :)