Yellophant

This is a six-month baby-versary present that I managed to get done early! Hurray me! Me fhinks I need to get some of of these adorable little pachaderms churned out...seems like everyone is babymaking these days.

Recently Completed Books Archive

Damar 2: The Hero's Crown -- Robin McKinley (The protagonist for this story was a bit easier to empathize with, and I loved the way McKinley wrote so meticulously in this story. Also, it didn't hurt that the female hero got to kill a dragon. Yay for female dragon slayers! 5/3)

Damar 1: The Blue Sword -- Robin McKinley (I'm almost done with my Robin McKinley phase, I swear. I liked the plot of the book, but I couldn't really get into the characters. Worth reading, but not worth purchasing. 4/28)

Weekend Sewing -- Heather Ross (The pictures in this book are really pretty. The blog tours that she did were neat too--all the pics of clothes people made using her patterns look awesome too. However, I have made nothing from this book so far. Why? 90% of the patterns are only sized to about a women's 12. Also, all the patterns are printed on two (2!) sheets of humongous thick paper, right on top of each other. The little note in the legend says to take them to a copystore. This book makes me sad that I bought it. 4/25)

When You Are Engulfed In Flames -- David Sedaris (David Sedaris is a funny, funny man. I've never seen him live/in person, or even via video. I'm hoping he lives up to his voice and his way of talking about himself when I finally do get to go seem him perform live. Someday. These are funny funny stories. Mostly I think I love when he talks about his awkward childhood and his disfunctional family, since on both accounts I can highly relate. Since I've been rationing myself, I'm not quite done with this set. My favorite so far has to be the undewear/french hospital story. Good Stuff. 4/18)

Cute Explosion!

I made this! I am impressed with myself! Whoo! Cute! The colors are a bit off/over saturated in this pic, but you get the idea. :-)

I Was All Sick, So Here are Random Updates

But am now feeling better! I spent yesterday in my jammies, finishing Baby Ella's quilt. It turned out super stinking cute, and I am proud of myself. :-) I'll post pictures to this entry when I get back home, cuz I forgot to take them off my camera last night.


I have bruises on my both my knees from going roller skating on Saturday with friends. It was awesome, even with my tumble. But I can't kneel down, even on my soft squishy bed.

I dreamed last nightthat there were big and little people in the world, pint size vs. elephant size, and that I was one of the pint sized ones. We in the Small People Resistence had just found out that we were considered caviar for the Big People. It was a pretty crazy dream--very claymation scenery, and I lived in a little tiny apartment built into a giant wooden railroad bridge. The Big People had enormous cats that they used to keep us in line. I think I watched too many epsiodes of The Simpsons yesterday while doing the yarn tying on Ella's quilt.

Also, I have lost four pounds with weightwatchers so far. Again, small proud accomplishments.

And, now that I'm back at work, I just spent ten minutes clicking the next button at this website: http://www.morenewmath.com/random/ . It is awesome. Go now!

Eating Fishes & Chickens

After having my last period last for 12 days, I'm back to eating dairy, fishies, and birdies. Trying to minimize consumption of the pork/beef, cuz it's gross. Cheese = God. The Pic Above = So Stinking Gross.

Recently Finished Book Archive

Aroma -- Mandy Aftel (This book had a vegan recipe for lime caramel that made my mouth water. I didn't ever get around to making it, and then I had to give the book back to the library. Oh well. If you're looking for some foodie inspiration, go get this book and then invite me to dinner)

Chalice -- Robin McKinley (So, about five years ago I went through a McKinley phase and checked out every book the Spokane library had. I kinda figured I'd read them all. Apparently not, since there were several available in the Seattle library last time I updated my book requests. This one is neat--I think I enjoy her books that veer off well known myth/legends and create new worlds and new stories. 4/4)

The Graveyard Book -- Neil Gaiman (I bought this book for my mama for her birthday, but I haven't mailed it to her yet. She's got the best birthday present from us ever, cuz in addition to this book Rob gave her a case of sardines. At any rate though, this book is really good--I liked it about as much as I liked Anansi Boys. 3/31)

Sunshine -- Robin McKinley (When I first read this book several years ago I really really liked it. It's still good, but I found all the narrative a bit annoying this time. A vampire book I'm not ashamed to let people know that I've read. 3/24)

Lotta Prints -- Lotta Jansdotter (This is a neat book--I didn't have a chance to do any of the projects in the book before I returned it to the library, but there were a few good ideas and several jumping off points I'd like to come back to sometime. 3/23)

Outlaws of Sherwood -- Robin McKinley (This was pretty good. Not the most fabulous of McKinley's I've read, but I enjoyed the retelling of the Robin Hood legend. Maybe I would've liked it more if I didn't have phantom cartoon images running through my head while I read the story. 3/20)

Spook Country -- William Gibson (This story, too, had Big-End! Gibson's writing isn't spectacular, and his characters are often pretty undeveloped, but I liked both this and Pattern Recognition for what they are: quick reads and detailed fast plots that twist and wriggle. I loved the Cuban/Chinese acrobatic thief Tito the best. 3/13)

Baby Blanket for Baby Ella

I still haven't been able to finish the yo-yo flower quilt...I should've bought more fabric than I started with and now I've been shopping various fabric stores in the hopes that I'll be able to find the same fat quarters I bought originally.

In the meantime though, I've started this little crib quilt for a baby who isn't scheduled to arrive until September. The close up shows the colors the best--the middle will have an applique flowery thingey. I am so proud of this!I made the pattern up (as usual), and I barely made the middle part fit right cuz I didn't measure properly. The backing is a super soft furry fabric, so I think it won't matter too much that the top is just slightly kittywhumpus.

Vegan Month

It's been a week since I've eaten meat (not really that big of an accomplishment in my normal world), but it's also been a week since I've eaten dairy of any kind. Be amazed! I am amazed! Granted, I've had fake cheese every single day and I made a couple half batches of vegan cupcakes last Thursday, but still. If I can make it through this month without turkey bacon or cheese I might have to make myself a medal or something. :-)

Sewing....

I finished piecing the middle of the yo-yo flower quilt I've been making up...and realized that I needed to actually go *buy* fabric to do a border before I can get any farther. I'm thinking white with black polka-dots or swirly bits, but we'll see. So far I think it's going really well--there are a couple mistakes, but hopefully not too many. After I took the photo above I realized that I had only made 9 yo-yo flowers and I'd planned the quilt out for 12 flowers...So some rearranging has taken place since Artie helped me with the photoshoot.

When I realized I wasn't going to get any farther on the piecing right now, I moved on to making this little catnip cushion. It's stuffed with catnip, fiberfil, and rice so I can stick it in the microwave and make it smelly and warm. So far they seem to enjoy it... :-)

Better than Paying to See Slumdog Millionaire

Not that I've seen Slumdog yet, but since I can watch that at home (and there is no way I can watch Open Circle Theater at home) this was by far a better way to spend Saturday night. The performance(s) were slightly choppy, but it's such a low key production that it was forgiveable. The pantomime-interpretive dance rendition of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde even made it into my dreams Sunday night. School of Whoredom...was made fabulous pretty much by the fact that 3/4 of the actors were in drag--the added element made a play reliant on it's sex jokes far more memorable than it would have been otherwise. If you are in Seattle and feel like seeing something extra-ordinary, I recommend plunking down your $15 and spending another $5 on a drink. :-)

Recently Finished Book Archive

In the Time of Butterflies -- Julia Alverez (This book makes me feel bad for not knowing enough Spanish to read it pre-translation. It's not my favorite book in the world, but it brings to life the terror and desperation of a place & time I've never known and makes me so thankful that I haven't had to go through revolution, widespread government terrorism, starvation and etc. A good book. 3/10)

Spindle's End -- Robin McKinley (A pretty basic re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story, but I like McKinley's style. Good characters with some pretty decent plot twists toward the end. 3/6)

Interworld -- Neal Gaiman (Definitely written for a young adult audience, but the story was good. Best part was Hue--who wouldn't love to have a lovely multi-colored bubble floating along protecting me from bad guys. 3/5)

Whipping Girl--Julia Serano (I can't renew this any more from the library cuz someone else wants a chance to read it, but I'm really glad I got the chance to at least skim through this book. I definitely recommend it to anyone remotely interested in a) being a better person or b) feminist theory. Serrano's got a good style--academic but approchable, and she tackles stuff that definitely needs taking down. 3/4)

A Thread of Grace --Mary Doria Russell (This book was not pleasant to read. It was well written, the characters felt true, and it caused me to cry more than once. However, the plot is the book, and the plot is the plight of Jewish Refugees and Italian resistence fighters in Northern Italy in WWII. The framing of the first and last chapters makes my throat close up. Tough stuff, but I do recommend reading this if it falls in your lap. 3/1)

Baby Booties

Yay! Little soft shoes for baby toes! These are pledged for a certain little baby that just had a one month birthday, but now that I know how to makes them I'm sure lots of other little feets will be clad in similar soft shoes soon! :-)

Blind Hem Stitch, Conqured!

I conquered the blind hem stitch! Hooray for me! :-) Also, I gots a new black cotton skirt perfect for summer and sandals, and did I mentioned it's supposed to snow again tomorrow? Sigh....

Finished Sundress!

Sew, sew, sew! :-) I've been busypants--had to fix this several times, but it finally turned out okay, I think. The picture on the pattern looks super cute, but I forgot that most dresses I've tried on that don't have any waist/bust shaping tend to potato-sack on me...So I modified more than a little. It's a bit short, but should be super comfy summer dress once the weather warms up a tad.

Recently Finished Book Archive

Dreamers of the Day -- Mary Doria Russell (I liked this book. Not as much as I liked her first two books, nor as much as I loved her last book, but this book is good. I think I'm just put off by the narrative coming from a character I can't really enjoy. Worth reading though. 2/28)

Strangers in Paradise -- Terry Moore (I got a heartfelt recommend from a friend for this graphic novel series and managed to get the first book from the library within two weeks of requesting it. Now...I must wait and wait and wait for the next one...So far, waiting has definitely been worth it, though I'm hoping the next book(s) won't be so short--read this in about two hours. 2/25)

Inkdeath Audio CD--Cornelia Funke (This audio recording helped me knit a scarf, a hat, and some mitts for my hand. I even started another scarf before I finished the story. I forgot who read this version, but they rock--my favorite part was the last couple of chapters. 2/20)

Son of Monte Christo--Alexandre Dumas & Jules Lermina (I gave up on this. I haven't actually fact-checked, but I believe this book was 'finished' by Lermina from notes Dumas had made for the sequel. Either way, it sucks. One of a very small number of books I can't make myself finish. 2/10/09)

Love Day for Retardo

I got the Retardo BogMonster Doll done (with EllyBelly Heart) before Valentines Day, but didn't get a chance to make the Elly Belly Doll until after I got back seeing folks in MT. They turned out pretty goofy looking...kinda just like us... :-)

Pillows For Grandma

These are definitely not for me, although I have to admit that they are cute and I love them and I love that I made them for my grandmother. While we were down in Portland last I went fabric shopping at Mill End (it is huge! it is fabulous! go, go, go!) and thought I would ignore the craft/quilting/cotton print section of the store entirely. I bought a little bit of apparel fabric, and spent most of my money in the bargain section in the back. Then, as I was trundling up to the front with my buggy and my beautimous haul a sign caught my eye: "Reproduction 1930's prints". So I had to peak, and as soon as I did I saw Dolly Dingle laughing at me for thinking I could walk out of the store without buying *enough*.

When I was growing up, Dolly Dingle was the name of my grandmother's cat. (Stop with the dirty thinking and look at the cute little girls on the fabric you pervs!) Dolly Dingle and her friends had all kinds of adventures and wore adorable clothing and I had several (yes, several!) paper doll books filled with little outfits and things for Dolly and her friends. So. Anyway, cute presents for my grandma for Valentines Day. There's even a little chocolate pocket made on the smallest pillow featuring, you guessed, Dolly Dingle herself.

Knitting

Finished this pretty pretty scarf for me! I needed something that won't clash with my bright red coat, and I believe this fits the ticket just fine. I have 2 & 1/2 more skeins, so I'm scheming to make some 'fetching' mitts and a maybe a hat.

Poppy Skirt

I likes this! Haven't had a chance to wear it yet--need to either get some new white tights or wait until summery weather finally gets here...it's snowing again... :-(

Recently Finished Book Archive

Invisible Lives--Anjali Banerjee (Meh. This was too 'modern chic lit' for me--simplistic grammar and vocab populated by shallow characters walking around in an even shallower plot. I was hoping for a bit more from this book--it had potential, and I figured (when I picked it up) that a book centered around the beauty of saris and fabric would at least be worth reading. Oh well, at least it wasn't awful or scary. 2/5)

Little Brother--Cory Doctorow (This book was a fabulous quick read. Some of Doctorow's stuff requires a bit too much leap for me to really believe--my fictional futures aren't always so wonderful--but the paranoid near future of Little Brother seemed spot on. Definitely in the same vein/story lines as V for Vendetta this book is definitely a recommended read. Makes me wish I was little more interested in being a computer nerd. 2/4)

Anne's House of Dreams--Lucy Maud Montgomery (Finished the series of this, I think? Sentimental, but satisfying. 2/3)

Cheese: from start to finish--Claire Kreger (We haven't actually made cheese yet [it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be to get larger quantities of non-ultra high pasteurized milk]...but when I'm hungry and I don't know what I want to eat, I often open this book and drool a little on myself.)

Gifts from the Kitchen--Jane E. Gentry (This book is going on my "titles to look up when I'm buying used books from half.com list". It's chock-full of Extra-Fatty American Treats and pictures of said goodies all wrapped up as gifts. Nothing to spectacularly original, and I'm sure I could find all the recipes in other cookbooks, but sometimes it's nice to have a book that you know will give you a good recipe for the party you forgot you rsvp'd yes for. 1/29)

Victory of Eagles--Naomi Novik (This is the latest in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, and I think I might like it the best after the first? Hard to say. I never get super into the battle-y bits--I'm just not too interested in war--but I like her shtuff. Good quick reads, nothing to make you think too hard, characters that walk and talk and feel real. 1/28)

Ma Coeur a Coraline

I love love love this movie! The story (not true to the book, but so quick and cute it didn't matter!)! The craftiness! The art-scapes! The music! O! O! O! :-) Happy Happy Things! This movie is an inspiration--it made me want to run home as fast and create, paint my walls red and orange and fuchsia, grow a garden, twist my furniture, dye my cats! And 3-d! Even more exciting! Go see it! Go see it right now! I've run out of my yearly allotment of exclamation points!

Treats for My Feets!

My tax-return treat arrived! Technically the purple polka-dot tennis are for meeting a new year's resolution goal, so they will have to be tucked back in the box until the goal is met.

I absolutely adore the mary janes and they will definitely be on my feet tomorrow. They are also made by Keen, and the uppers are constructed from woven plastic rice bags (like the big 30 pounders you get at Costco or Asian groceries). I am one happy lady. Both tennies are completely vegan, which is also awesome.

Recently Finished Book Archive

The Twilight Series--Stephanie Meyer (So I mentioned that I'm a sucker for sequels, right? I bought the first book at Target after some friends were talking about the series ["It's awful, the vampires spaaaarkle"] and I wanted to find out if it was as horribly wonderful as they said. I read it pretty much in one sitting on Friday, and it's all true. The writing is lackluster, the characters are one dimensional, and still....I had to keep reading. Luckily for me, Retardo was able to scavenge pdf's of the next three novels...and um....I read books two and three yesterday and finished the fourth this morning. Thankfully, they're bad enough that I can't foresee ever wanting to read them again, so I'll at least be able to save my valuable book money for something I won't be ashamed to leave out on the coffee table. But my weekend is incontrovertibly gone...I guess the combination of sparkly vamps and snowy cozy home proved way too alluring. 1/25)

Anne of the Island--Lucy Maud Montgomery (These are all starting to run together, especially since I only read them at night cuz I know how they turn out and they aren't especially interesting...1/22)

Chronicles of Avonlea--Lucy Maud Montgomery (1/19?)

Seams to Me--Anna Maria Horner (I've only made one project out of this book--the basic bias skirt--and I got a little carried away on the cutesy side...so I still haven't worn my bright red knee length skirt with the patchwork pockets...cuz I didn't feel like looking like a plus-sized Raggedy Ann doll. Maybe in the summer I won't feel so self concious about it. I do, however, love this book. Anna Maria's fabrics are so bright and bold and her creations are simple and elegant. I've got my heart set on making her taxi cab purse and mabye the little fabric boxes and..)

Good Morning!

So I'm definitely not the first to blog about this, and I definitely wouldn't even have known that American Apparel ran this ad unless I opened up my Google Reader this morning (like every workday morning around this time) and found this in my reader courtesy of feministe. (http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/01/28/fuck-you-dov-charney/)

You can find another great diatribe on the ad here:
http://www.womanist-musings.com/2009/01/american-apparel-displays-its-sexism.html

Since it's all been said by both of these women, I'll save you my scathing mental comments and just mention that I hope none of you ever shop at American Apparel while this asshole still owns it.

Recently Finished Book Archive

Amy Butler's In Stiches--Amy Butler (I got this as a birthday present, and I loves it. Have I made anything from it yet, not really...but I will! Looking at her creations inspires me to sew more)

Anne of Avonlea--Lucy Maud Montgomery (I am a sucker for sequels. Also, I've read it before, so it doesn't really count right? 1/18)

Bellweather--Connie Willis (I found this on the free pile at work a little while ago (sacriledge!) and stashed it in the car...finished this on a fabulously sunny Saturday morning sitting in the salt water soaking pool at Kennedy School in Portland. The combination of the book, the pool, and the sunshine definitely made it my favorite morning so far this month. Connie Willis, as I've said before, is one of my favorite authors, and this book is definitely one of my all time favorites. 1/17)

Anne of Green Gables--Lucy Maud Montgomery (I remember reading this for the first time the summer between fourth grade and fifth grade. Honestly, I think it was better the first time around, but it was still good enough for short snippets of bed time reading. 1/11)

A Damsel in Distress -- P. G. Wodehouse (I've been on a bit of a Wodehouse kick lately. This one is pretty much par for his standard plot: boy is lonely/doesn't think he needs a lady, boy meets lady, lady is fabulously perfect for him, boy encounters obstacle to marrying lady, boy surmounts obstacle/girl changes her mind, boy and girl get engaged. Aside from the comfort of knowing there will always be happy ending to the book, he is occaisionally riotously funny. 12/29)

Lord John & The Hand of Devils -- Diana Gabaldon (Another Lord John book--this one is a set of three novellas all focused on the ubiquitous Lord John and the world Gabaldon created in Jacobite England. I love the way she paints the characters, and her plots are always intriguing. 12/28)

The Tales of Beedle the Bard -- J. K. Rowling (Got this from Retardo for Christmas. The stories are cute, and the little illustrations are fabulous. I love that the author was persuaded to sell this to the general public with all the profits going to charity. Quick and cute. 12/27)

Prototype Kitty #1

I had a great idea...and this is what happened. Meet Gregory, aka Prototype Kitty #1... He's the overall right size (about seven inches sitting down), but definitely not the right shape. He took 3 hours to make, so I'm hoping I'll only have to make one more Prototype before I get the fat little monster cat doll idea I was actually going for. Still, he is pretty cute for a lumpy little bit of muslin, right?

Inauguration Day

Whoo. Heady stuff, and I'm so glad I got to watch it at work, surrounded by the incredible people I work with. I'm going to need the rest of the day to really digest Obama's inauguration speech, but damn. Also--why they hell couldn't they let us *watch* Aretha sing in her fabulously incredible hat?

Pretty Pretty

I got spoiled...

On the Way Back from Portland

Goonie House & Goonie Jail in Astoria Oregon!

Art Therapy Workshop at Maryhurst

On Friday & Saturday I was in Portland to go to an Art Therapy Workshop at Marylhurst University. I'm glad I went to the workshop, but I'm still indecisive about whether or not I will apply for the Master's program next year. I don't think I'd got to Marylhurst--even though I was pleasantly surprised by their campus--so far I prefer Antioch Seattle's program. Then again, if Marylhurst gave me a better deal on the first year...Retardo & I might have to migrate for a bit. I feel like the workshop was good though, and it definitely gave me more to think about... I'm trying to push myself to make the decision by Chinese New Year so I'll have time to get applications for Fall 09 in...if, ya know, I finally decide what I want to be when I grow up.

This Is So Hot...

So, I'm not normally excited about tech gadgets, but this one make my mouth water and my knees tingle...I'm awash with anticipation, and really really really hope it lives up to the hype. :-) More info about the sexiness here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338583,00.asp and here: http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html . (Droool)

It's MY Sewing Machine!

Look! Someone found a magazine ad for my vintage sewing machine! Even more amazing--it retailed for more in the 50's then I paid for it in 2003. Clearly, I got a fabulous deal, cuz it still works great.


Finder's credit goes to http://milliemotts.blogspot.com/, a blog I just discovered today. :-)

Fun Collage Idea...

I stole the idea from someone else, but I'm pretty sure they won't mind. You can steal too! Search flickr for the answers to the below questions in order, pick a pic from the first page of photos (I had to cheat on #12 since nothing came up) and voila! Theft can be Pretty!

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.