poppydawn

It's vapid and formulaic bunk. But there's a train-wreck quality to it I somehow can not avoid.

Word.

I managed to avoid it during the first two seasons. Season three started when I was eight months pregnant and bored out of my mind. I got sucked into the vortex.

On the plus side, I think my interest is waning. I still haven't watched tonight's episode and I'm not overwhelmed with a desire to do so.

I made this skirt pretty much all on my serger today. I only used the regular machine for top stitching and sewing the casing for the elastic.

 

So adorable! And the skirt looks good, too.

I'm not cool at all, so of course I watch it. Got it Tivoing right now.

I started knitting a preemie hat tonight to donate in Natalie's memory. Also did a little research and found a possible place to donate them: Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland.

I just heard from the donation person at the children's hospital in Portland. They'd love to have stuff for the babies in Natalie's honor. Here's what she had to say:

Hi Robin,

I am sorry to hear about your friend Natalie. Yes, we can use preemie hats as long as you use new yarn, and it comes from a smoke free home. We can also use hand knit sweaters and blankets if anyone is interested in making them. We can also use regular baby sizes of all these items.

 

When you are ready to donate them, you can bring them to the volunteer office at Emanuel. It is best if you give us a a days notice so that we can have someone here to meet you.

 

Thank you so much for thinking of the babies at Emanuel.

 

Vesta

 

 

Vesta Smith, CAVS, Manager

Volunteer Services/Gift Shops

Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center

Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital

2801 North Gantenbein Avenue

Portland, OR 97227

503-413-4267

:dancing

Happy birthday!

A few more photos:

Maudie's flowers:

Kate, lighting candles:

Fluff's sculpture:

Flowers & messages, floating downstream:

(It looks better here.)

The rest of my photos are here.

Maudie, it was beautiful, and your flowers played such a huge part in that. They looked and smelled amazing. Before we left my house, we were having a hard time keeping my kiddo out of them. She thought they were the coolest thing ever.

The poem was beautiful, Jen.

That kid needs to hook up with my kid. She's been singing "Come Together" since she was two. Hasn't mastered the guitar accompaniment yet, though.

So cute, Jammy! Those mittens are too much!

Last night's ceremony in Ste. Genevieve couldn't have been more perfect. First we walked through downtown Ste. Gen. We found Ste. Genevieve Winery just as they were closing, but they let us come in and buy two bottles for the ceremony. We were going to go into the Church of Ste. Genevieve and light a candle, but Mass was in session.

Even though Ste. Genevieve sits on the Mississippi River and was under over 40 feet of water in the 1993 flood, there's not much in the way of river access. We had to drive down a gravel road into unknown territory. We came to the tiny ferry boat dock, which had several rock outcroppings into the river nearby. There were some fisherman who looked at us like we were about to conduct some sort of Satanic lesbian goat sacrifice, and they made a hasty retreat.

It was dusk when we found our spot, and by the time we arranged the flowers, candles, and notes, it was pitch black aside from our candles. There was so much cloud cover that we didn't see the moon until after we were finished. We placed the McCormick's beautiful purple bouquet in the center, surrounded it with the notes, readings, prayer cards, wine and Fluff's perfect little tinfoil sculpture, and then arranged the candles. As you've seen from Kate's photos, it was beautiful. Just pure, serendipitous beauty, as we had no real plan on what we were going to do with all the stuff.

We opened the bottles of wine, talked about Nat and our VC friends, and then embarked on the readings. If anyone wants to share what they sent, go for it. I don't want to violate anyone's privacy. I chose to read Tear-Stained Eye, words that were surprisingly appropriate for the occasion. After each reading, we would toast Nat with the wines that shared her name.

When we finished the readings, we sent the pieces of paper into the river's current, followed by the individual flowers from the bouquet before blowing out all of the candles. There were many tears in the darkness after we extinguished the last candle.

As we left the river, Kate cranked up Uncle Tupelo: 89/93 and we sang "Screen Door" and "Graveyard Shift" at the top of our lungs while driving along that gravel road by the river.

So many people here last night were spoken of with love and affection. You were with us.

We Got the Neutron Bomb - Marc Spitz

"Modern Marvels" on the History Channel. Topic: "High Tech Sex". I just heard someone say this: "In effect, they [Victorians] were waging a technological jihad against wet dreams and masturbation."

The only part that offends me about this is the use of the word "jihad". That just seems silly.

I think I can handle the length of a Dr. Who scarf.

I recently knit a huge, lacy scarf for myself that wound up being taller than me (not that this is difficult, as I'm a shortie). When I drape it around my neck, it comes to my knees. Today I was walking through Target, and didn't realize the scarf had slid down on one side until I stepped on it.

No, but I'm starting to consider making one just to get rid of all the yarn scraps cluttering up my house.

I don't know, latch hook has that little sharp thing that moves back and forth.

That had crossed my mind. Could be a potential hazard, especially if I happened to get it hooked on my eyelid. Which I most certainly would.

You can try Aquadots!

Yum! Sleepytime! Because we're horrible parents, the moms in my "play group" (also known as my "drinking group" when someone else is watching our kids) have discussed how the tainted Aquadots might not be that bad for the 2-3 year-old crowd. We refer to those days as "Playdate at Thunderdome".

Or attaching little pompoms to foam shapes using a glue stick! Yes, I think that one is for us! There must me forum somewhere we can join!

Crafting for the Hopelessly Klutzy? Crafting for Moms Who've Become too Haggered to Do Grown-Up Crafts?

Yesterday, I took the kiddo to storytime. When she was doing her craft, I somehow got a big slash of hot pink marker across the top of my hand. They always have washable markers at storytime, and I somehow managed to find the one non-washable one in the pack. I can't wash it off. I look like my hand has been marked down for quick clearance.

I'm not allowed anywhere near Superglue or hot glue guns. Way too many mishaps. This is why I'm a decent knitter - can't be trusted with glue, sharp scrapbooking supplies, anything involving heat or glass or super-fast motorized needles ... so all of my craftiness goes to knitting. It's the one craft where I can't injure myself. Well, until I impale myself on a needle. Then I guess I'll move on to latch hook. Or those potholder weaving kits that are made for little kids.

I can't begin to compete with all you knit-wits, since I'm still trying to figure out how to hold the needles and wrap the stringy stuff around....

That was the hardest part for me. After several years of trying and failing, I realized that since I don't hold pens correctly (I rest them on my ring finger instead of my middle finger), I can't hold knitting needles the way instructions describe. Once I started using my ring fingers instead of my middle fingers, I had it down-pat in no time.

But I really like this little frame that Alissa and I made, from tiny seashells we'd gathered all summer. The photo shows my 3 getting soaked beneath a pier last August. Good times!

So cute!

We won't even mention the superglue-on-the-tongue-and-lips-incident that accompanied this crafting adventure. (What, you've never bitten on the end of the tube when you were running out & needed the last bit? )

That's why I knit instead of doing crafts that require glue!

I just finished the first preemie hat, using this pattern. It's so tiny, it doesn't even fit over my fist. The yarn's a heavy worsted weight cotton, and I used size five needles, so the fabric's really dense and soft.

I started knitting a preemie hat tonight to donate in Natalie's memory. Also did a little research and found a possible place to donate them: Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland.

Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital

2801 North Gantenbein Avenue

Portland, OR 97227

Contact: Vesta Smith

+1 (503) 413-4839

fax: +1 (503) 413-4439

email: vsmith@lhs.org

World Wide Web: http://www.legacyhealth.org

We are a Children's Hospital located within a Level 1 Trauma Center. The children's hospital includes a Neo-natal unit, a pediatric intensive care unit as well as other pediatric services. Donated items can be: baby hats, sweater sets, booties, blankets for infants as well as items for our older children. All donations are greatly appreciated.

A friend of mine lives in Akron, and caught the Black Keys' Christmas show. She said they played a bunch of the new stuff and it was awesome. Can't wait to hear it first-hand!

I'm still looking for a Tom Baker Dr. Who scarf.

Go for it.

My husband keeps requesting one. I made him a fancy-pants scarf for Christmas two years ago. It was nearly as tall as he is, and he commented that he would have liked it a bit longer. I told him to knit it his damn self.

Scarf length does not correlate with other ... things.

Doh! My coat rack hook deal.

I figured. I just like the idea of using a scarf as fish bait. I like my knitted items to have both form and function.

I made more than my share of shitty scarves when I first started knitting. Examples:

The 12" long scarf with the lopsided ruffles -

Boulce + Fun Fur =

This was made for a man. Because nothing says, "Father-in-Law, I'm somewhat fond of you," quite like tassles -

And those are the early projects deemed successful enough to merit photography! You should see the garbage that didn't make the cut.

Wow.

I'm surprised that I have about 70% of that.

That is an amazing collection, though. I wanna have the rest!

I'm using it to replace about 70% of the music I've lost over the past 20 years.

It's on a hook.

Meat or fishing?

Tracy - here is the one I am making for myself......I also wanted Robin to see it.

 

 

 

I thought I would show you the results, in case you liked that color.

 

(Tracy is going to make me some homemade buttons in trade for one of these!! I am really excited!!)

Gorgeous, Kate! I love how the varigation is coming through. You definitely got the hang of the short row technique.

I want to broker some sort of knitting-for-beads deal with Tracy! She was my secret Santa and totally spoiled me with gorgeous stuff. I still need to take pictures and post them.

May you burn in hell, poppydawn, for introducing me to Ravelry. Now, my house is a mess, no dinner made, no knitting done, but a million project ideas!

Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!! Once the new wears off, you'll be a knitting machine. Even less will get done around the house, but damn if you won't do a lot of knitting! Just look at my projects on Ravelry. I've got, like, five or six things in the works. Pre-Ravelry, I never worked on more than one project at a time unless I needed to make gifts.

I think I'm going to grab some yarn and start some preemie caps in memory of Nat.