sometimes the pieces come together a lot later than you thought they would

Project from this weekend

Lancelot and I seem to have started a tradition of sharing a bottle of wine on our anniversary, and being the sentimental fool that I am, I’ve kept the corks from those two bottles. I wasn’t really sure why, it just seemed right. Yesterday I decided to see if I could make them more visible and that’s exactly what happened. I wrapped the corks with a bit of wire and added some sparkly bits. The other one is the same concept but with different accents. I have them hanging on the plant stand and they’re just perfect. I love projects that combine found objects and supplies I already have on hand.

I have definitely been keeping busy with the crafting lately. I finally finished some ornaments I had started working on sometime earlier this year, because the inspiration for how to finish them finally came to me. And I modified that Dragon Egg pattern to use some Koigu KPPM I had in my stash and ended up with a cozy for a plant jar.

I have no idea how much of a skein I used for this because it had been salvaged from a project of unknown origin and has been in my stash for well over 10 years. I had approximately 90 zillion ends to weave in because of this so instead of weaving them in I threaded them all to the inside and hid them instead. It’ll be our secret, shhhhh…

Keeping with my goal of not buying any yarn this year, and realizing that it wasn’t a struggle, has me thinking about going even bigger (actually smaller) next year. My thinking right now is that I won’t buy any new yarn, kits of any kind, or craft supplies next year. The caveat to all of those is that if I somehow manage to run out then my goal will have basically been met. But trust me, that’s not going to happen. I started making a list of just the bead kits I have and there are 10 on the list so far. So far. That doesn’t count the knitting kits, the crochet kit, felting kits, and other assorted craft kits that I know are lurking in this house. Step one is going to be to find and catalog all of those.

In other news, Lancelot and I took a mini-vacation to Des Moines, IA last Friday and had a blast. We went to the Art Center, Botanical Garden, an art gallery, and had the famous Crab Rangoon pizza at Fong’s. It was great to be able to get away and not spend an entire day on travel. It took less than a full tank of gas for the round-trip, plus we only needed a hotel for one night and L found a very nice place that was smack in the middle of what we wanted to see and was reasonably priced and had a fantastic continental breakfast. On Saturday when we got home we hung out and watched way too much TV and just had a really good time together.

We are sort of adorable together

psych update

There’s actually not much to update right now. I won’t see the doc again until the end of November, though I do see my therapist just about every other week. I think that therapy, like the medication, will always be a part of my life and I’m really ok with that. I feel very strongly that we all need someone to talk to that we know won’t judge us and will help us find solutions to situations that we just can’t talk to anyone else about. It’s just good for the soul.

seasons change and so do i

Doesn’t it frustrate you when you pick just a tiny bit of a song lyric out of thin air that perfectly fits, but you can’t remember which song it comes from? Ugh, bonkers. Anyway, moving on…

Dragon Egg Dice Bag for friend N’s birthday

The gathering of people for N’s birthday this weekend went really well. The food turned out great, there was some great conversation, and for me it was just a lovely opportunity to play hostess, which is something I quite enjoy. And the gift I made him, the Dragon Egg Dice Bag (Ravelry link to free pattern), was very well received. Even better – I already had yarn than worked out perfectly and I got to learn a new stitch to make it.

In general I would say that things around here have been quiet and smooth. We’ve had bumps, yes, but tiny ones. And I feel like we’re in good shape for the coming months. Our Halloween decorating is done, I’ve started working on my plan for Christmas decorating, and I’ve been working on gifts.

Yesterday afternoon I managed to work out a “pattern” for a bead embellished glass ornament and I’m very pleased with the results, especially considering I didn’t use a pattern.

It’s hard to see but there’s a small crystal star suspended inside the ornament

I had a bunch of these clear ornaments and a bunch of beads so, look out world, beaded ornaments for everyone on my list this year!!!

Psych update

Things with the med adjustment continue be going well. I have noticed that I’m not constantly thirsty like I was and I do feel a bit more animated. The other real change right now is that it’s time for the sunlamp. In addition to working to keep the Bipolar under control I also have Seasonal Affective Disorder that I’ve been very effectively treating by using a full spectrum sun lamp in the mornings during the fall/winter months. This was the treatment prescribed by my doc and it really does work. Plus, it’s not a pill and that’s a bonus when you have as many pills to take as I do.

Garth soaks up the sunshine every chance he gets

my favorite things I’ve made

I’m going to be real honest, this isn’t the type of post I normally do. But I want to post something today and the idea is mostly appealing, and I’m not in the frame of mind to write much else. And I will admit that the trip down memory lane to find these pictures was enjoyable. I just still have a lot to do with the move and I feel kind of horrible that I still have a lot to do. Anyway, here goes…

This is a circular vest that’s mostly knit, a little crochet. The very interesting striped area in the middle was hand spun by a dear friend and was a gift in 2017 when I had my left ovary removed. We didn’t know what was going on at the time so she named the yarn “Alien Removal Remedy.”

watercolor fused glass bowl

This is sitting just behind me right now and is one of the more interesting glass pieces I’ve made. It’s 3D and really does look like a flower.

I wish I could tell you how old this picture is but I really can’t. It was almost certainly pre-diagnosis, so before 2006, but other than that I can’t recall. The hat was a first prize winner in a contest at the yarn shop I went to every Thursday night. It’s a black bucket style hat, knit and then felted, and the roses were also felted and then sewn on, and there are a few needle felted tendrils. All of the roses and leaves were done using scrap yarn. I still have, and wear, that hat to this day.

In the days before Lithium I was able to make beautiful beaded works of art. Now, not at all. I made several of these angel ornaments and kept this blue one for myself. The body and wings are made from 11/0 seed beads. She’s still around here somewhere, a reminder of days gone by.

This was a rather large fused glass plate that I did entirely freehand. It was sitting on an oblong crocheted doily that I made, back when I could still do thread crochet. The plate has since been broken by overly energetic kittens.

When I was first diagnosed the women that I met with every Thursday took up a collection and bought me the most beautiful yarn to let me know they loved me. It was many, many years later before I was able to work with it but this is what I did. It’s a raglan style cardigan with a single button closure. Still have it, still love it.

One of the things I used to do a ton of was cross stitch. This isn’t cross stitch, it’s called blackwork, but it’s very similar. I spent my lunch breaks for I don’t even know how many weeks in 2003 working on this sampler. The bands were free patterns that I found online and pieced together myself. I am ridiculously proud of this. I had thought when Lancelot moved in that it would be moving out of the basement, but he apparently also really likes it.

In the course of my life I have done:

• crochet
• cross stitch / blackwork
• macrame
• jewelry making
• ceramics / polymer clay
• knitting
• beadwork
• drawing
• fused glass
• alcohol ink
• photography

So there you have it, some of my favorite things. What have been your favorite projects?

 

day two, in which I cheat

That is not, in fact, a knitted thing but rather a crocheted thing. I can’t remember the name of the pattern, something like Dragon Wing I think, or anything about the yarn other than it’s sock yarn and super soft.

Not much else to say today. Things around here are weird, which is becoming the new normal. Good thing I thrive on this nonsense.

the super secret scarf

One of my besties at work has a birthday this month. She’s super stylish and appreciates that I like to make things for my friends. I wanted to do something unique for her and I wanted to try to do it using supplies I had on hand. This is the result.

I used a single ball of Lion Brand’s Mandala in the Chimera colorway and a size J hook. I started by making the decision to crochet this instead of knitting it because I can crochet a whole lot faster. I started the project on January 6th and finished on January 10th. This is much more of a recipe than a pattern.

I made a chain nice a long and then gave it a half twist when I joined it into a circle. The whole thing is one piece with no seams. The only slightly join-y bit is right here where the first pass meets itself.

This is where you kind of have to take my word for it that this will work. Chain 3, double crochet in the same space, and then double crochet all the way around. (how to explain going along the bottom of the chain?) When you reach the beginning, join with a slip stitch to the top of your first double crochet. From that point on there is no turning of the work, you’ll continue to double crochet in one straight line that just happens to be very much like a Mobius strip.

Because there’s no turning the colors end up striping on both sides of the scarf which I think is a nice touch.

At any rate, she loves it. She actually put it on immediately and wore it all day. ❤