crochety

ta-da! a thing!
for some reason, i haven't been able to wrap my mind around the concept of crochet. i have been shown and guided into doing it several times, but it always seems to end up twisted, and then slip out before i actually make something. therefore, the fact that i managed to crochet something at all is a major accomplishment. let planning, pattern and evenness come later.

the inspiration for this thing was a broken dragon – not headless, but definitely lacerated, courtesy of my dog in one of his wilder moods. the 'body' has already been patched up with old green raingear; now was the time to mend the net.

i used an array of teaching videos and websites to show me exactly how to place the thread and needle, including the interestingly named learntoknit.com, which nevertheless has a superb crochety layout. and it worked! i produced my first crocheted thing, attached it to the dragon, and let it reclaim its original purpose – guarding a hoard of scarves, mittens and hats.

itsy bitsy steps

today, we've been excavating. the bottom of our garden is also a built-up bank of the river, so whenever we do something there we find something that's been used to "build" it.

the biggest thing we've found was what i guess used to be the bottom of a shower -- we also dug out the shower head, and its pipe. we used it to make a stylish step outside the kitchen door. then, there's about a tonne of bricks, and some fascinating pot shards. not greek or roman, but wedgwood, perhaps?

what will not be touched are the broken concrete tiles at the bottom of the embankment. we're worried that they may be what's holding everything up, and we don't want our garden furniture to end up at the bottom of the river for future excavators.

sewing machine cover

after seeing too much fabulous patchwork, i'd given myself beginner's nerves about patchwork. there's too much exactness involved, an area where i don't really excel. the first and last quilt i made, in seventh grade, consisted of one block of
log cabin, and even there i managed to create a hole through meanness on margins.

besides, i hate the idea of cutting up big bits of perfectly usable fabric into smaller bits. and the table was too cluttered. and so i procrastinated on.

but no more! through intense self-therapy, i realised that fabric lying folded up in boxes is even more useless than cut-up bits. especially the old curtains, skirts and bedclothes that were only useful for quilting anyway.

there was also the matter of the sewing machine, which despite its case keeps attracting dirt, dust, and dog hair, and could possibly end up as a black dusthole without intervention. besides, a machine can't complain if there are unevennesses in the patchwork.

the cover was made using the "practical" method, which involved trying it on a lot. here, once again, the machine and its case were models of patience. the cover ended up fitting as snugly as if it had been sewn on. which left no room for lining. which was just as well, since i hadn't been as careful with the lining part, and it ended up too small.

but never mind. the most important thing is this: the dust must now find other places to gather. it seems to have picked underneath the table. could the next project be a rug?

miracle of spring

furute marigolds:

yes! my window sills are full of all manners of seedlings now. it's a wonder, first that seeds can turn into these baby plants if you just add earth and water, second that i remembered to 1. buy seeds, 2. get pots, 3. add earth and 4. plant the seeds in a timely fashion, that is, not in the last weeks of summer.

tiffany taught me about making newspaper pots, which meant i was not delayed by not having suitable planters. then i was nudged a little by a little one to buy seeds for flowers, and also got some veg and grass seeds. earth there is aplenty in the garden, what with all the digging i'm doing, so with all the materials needed, the miracle could happen...

on the last day of christmas

today is epiphany, as noted by others, and to those of us who don't chuck out the christmas tree on boxing day, this is the last day of christmas.

i don't have a lot of christmas gear, but i do have nice boxen to cart it away in. made last may from the wrapping paper of the previous christmas, and some cartons we used to move with. but you can't talk about christmas in may, can you? only in december, and the beginning of january, until the last day of christmas, which, as mentioned earlier, is today. so, behold my boxen!

recycling for 2009

both twiggy and i have a compulsion to collect candle stubs, so over the long christmas meals i fiddled a bit with them and turned them into a new candle. it looked most artistic, and seemed a suitable thing to burn on new year's eve.

we were a little apprehensive about how the series of wicks would work. at one crossing, the candle went out. thereafter, it continued burning merrily, gathering wicks as it went. when it had four of them, the flame was so high i decided it was time to end the experiment.
while we didn't have fireworks for new year, we certainly had excitement!

merrily!

it seems that my crop is enjoying the spirit of the season as well. i moved the pepper indoors in november, and on christmas eve i noticed that half of the fruit had turned red.

how the little evergreen erupted in cheerful tartan bows, i can't explain, however.