November Girl

Tilting Tardis Cowl

2010-04-12T18:57:00.029-04:00

I designed this cowl as my entry in the 2010 Ravelympics. I’d planned on making it available as soon as the Winter Games ended, but, being the procrastinator that I am, that didn’t get done. With less than a week left till the new Dr. Who makes his appearance, I’ve decided now is a good time to finally put my little pattern out there in the big wide world.
If you knit the cowl, I’d love it if you’d let me know what you think of it.

You can find the pattern here: Tilting Tardis Cowl

A Couple of Kitchen Things

2010-01-12T16:48:00.011-05:00

I love my tea kettle. When I was a young woman in the seventies, I lusted over the beautiful old copper tea kettles I'd see in magazines, so I was thrilled beyond belief when my then mother-in-law gave me a shiny new kettle as a gift. What she didn't know--being all about keeping everything squeaky clean--was that to me, my new kettle was a new baby, a smooth, spotless vessel awaiting its history; a gradual building up and breaking down of its surface. When she saw her gift a few years later she insisted I "Throw out that dirty thing!", but I didn't throw it out, it was just getting good!
Years later, the blue and white ceramic handle cracked, but it still worked fine--if I held it just so--so on we went together my tea kettle and me through the years, till a few days ago, when the handle crumbled into pieces. Was it finally time to let go of my old friend? Would I like it if my loved ones let go of me because of my bumps and dings?
So, I went searching through my studio and found some large glass beads that I thought might do the trick.
After a quick scrub in honor of her new handle and knob, here's my tea kettle, up from the ashes.

Does anyone remember the big jars of fermented fruit--"Vintage Fruit Sauce" to my teetotaler mother, aunts and the Red Star Yeast Company--that sat proudly in big apothecary jars on many kitchen counters in the seventies? From the zingy taste of the jewel colored stuff, it was obvious that "Vintage Fruit Sauce" was mildly alcoholic, but my lady relatives flatly refused to believe they were happily consuming boozy fruit over their ice cream, in their cake...even eaten on its own by the spoonful.
Yesterday I came across a 1974 copy of "Vintage Fruit Sauce", the Red Star Yeast booklet that contains the "secret" formula for starting and maintaining one's own jar of this delicious concoction, and recipes to use it in. If you're interested in starting your own batch of "Vintage Fruit Sauce", here it is: http://www.redstaryeast.com/best_recipes/211/17

"ms flo"

2009-05-14T15:40:00.007-04:00

I've never been there, but when I think of Greece, I always think of sunshine. Getting to know Maria, I've come to the conclusion that some of that sunshine radiates from her. She's funny and charming, and talented and generous, and if you ask her what she sees when she looks out her window, she'll tell you she has a view of the Acropolis...can you IMAGINE?!!!
Anyway, a couple of months ago, Maria wrote to me. She'd seen my work on flickr, and asked if I'd like to take part in a project she was going to post on her blog, and would I send her a photo of my hand/hands, and said there would be questions....later. Pretty sketchy info, but she seemed so sweet, and I was curious--not to mention flattered--so I said I'd do it. Since then I've gotten to know more about Maria and her beautiful work. When one of her stuffed beings called to me recently, I asked if it was available, and lucky for me it was, so Maria and I decided to do a trade; she'd send me "ms flo", and I'd send her one of my Lollies, named "Olive". Of course we sent each other some other little goodies, which is always fun when you trade. I sent Maria some vintage needlework stuff and some other bits of this-and-that, tucked inside a wrapper from my favorite soap, "Tabac", which is made in Greece..."coals to Newcastle"...which amused Maria. Along with "ms flo", Maria sent me one of her little fabric owls, who kept "ms flo" company during her long trip to my house, and especially precious to me are the beautiful smooth pebbles from three different Greek islands, that I'll add to my collection. I may never make it to Greece, but a little bit of Greece has come to me.
If you haven't discovered Maria yet, you can check out her blog, psarokokalostudio, where you can find a link to her etsy shop--her necklaces are GORGEOUS and totally different from anything you've seen before. You can take a peek into her sunny life on flickr here.
Last, but certainly not least, if you're reading this Maria, thank you for liking my work well enough to make me part of your wonderful project, and for giving me a chance to know you better.

Cuffs

2009-04-17T20:38:00.011-04:00

I've been in love with the idea of cuffs for a year or two now, and I made some sketches about a year ago, but didn't get around to making my own version of a cuff till a few days ago. I'm hooked.
Not only are cuffs a cool thing to wear on your wrist, they're a mini canvas just waiting to be created upon.
Since I use lots of faces in my work, my take on cuffs is a long, straight body, with a head on top. I didn't expect to be so taken with making these little people, but I am. Here are the first two.
I'm sure there will be more.

Even Smaller Houses

2009-03-10T19:55:00.009-04:00

First it was my Reincarnated Pasta Box Houses, then I made Tiny Houses out of the pasta box scraps, then someone suggested the ornaments I made out of them looked like "earrings", and I found myself making teeny tiny houses. I decided to use polyclay for the latest houses because I thought it'd be more durable for earrings than papermache.
So I made a dozen 1/2" x 1" houses, painted them, strung them--along with some glass beads--onto wire, added ear wires, and I had six pairs of Teeny Tiny House Earrings for my Etsy shop. Well, five pairs, I kept the pink and aqua pair for myself. I may never wear them, but they'll look great in my soft aqua bathroom...when I get it painted that is.
I think I've taken this house shrinking idea as far as I want to.

ULLABENULLA has done it again!

2009-03-06T11:13:00.005-05:00

In January, the lovely and very talented Ulla, featured my "Clown" figure on her amazing blog. She recently bought a pair of my Lollie Leg Earrings, and surprise, there they are, caught under a magical fortune teller tea cup on her blog, ULLABENULLA!
I'm almost too thrilled to brag!
Almost. ( :

Thank you Ulla...again.

Little Houses

2009-02-20T15:43:00.011-05:00

Pete Seeger sang, "Little boxes on the hillside, Little houses made of ticky tacky".
I'm making little houses, but they're not made of "ticky tacky", they're made from empty pasta boxes and cereal boxes, with a cornstarch box thrown in for good measure. I make Niche Lollie bodies from empty boxes, but these are my first houses, and I'm enjoying the process and progress, so I thought I'd share what I'm doing here on my blog, in case anyone else is interested in following my 'Little Houses'.
The first photo is of the house frameworks made from pieces cut from boxes, taped into shape.

Today I ripped newspaper into strips, got wallpaper paste all over my hands, and covered the houses in their first layer of paper. I kind of miss the way they looked before, but I doubt many other people would appreciate their masking tape look. They're drying on the mantel, so I should be able to add more paper tomorrow. The second and following layers will go faster than the first.

I think I'll add a few chimneys, and maybe a birdhouse or two. Shutters? Doors? Little people? We'll see.

I guess I'm in house building mode, because I took the bits and pieces left over from making the pasta box houses, and shaped them into some tiny houses. These are only one or two inches tall. I've got all sorts of ideas for what I could do with them, but I'll wait to share till I've tried them. Wouldn't want to show my disasters, would I?

I gave my tiny houses doors, windows and roofs this morning, but they're not quite finished, so back to work.

I thought I'd hang each little house from a loop of colored string, but when I tried it, I didn't like the look, then I remembered wire. I don't know how some people can do precise wire shaping, but I'm excellent at totally imprecise wire shaping, so once I got a length of thin wire strung down through the center of each tiny house--the most difficult part of the whole house building project--I twisted and looped till I liked the look. I thought the houses looked a little bland, so I added a colored glass bead to the bottom of each one. I like these little houses. I've got several other projects that need finishing, but when they're done, I'm going to make more tiny little houses.

Clown in the Limelight

2009-01-14T17:31:00.006-05:00

I don't post as often as I probably should, but I had to brag just a tiny bit, so this is more of a happy dance than a post.
My "Clown" figure is enjoying some time in the spotlight on a beautiful blog called ULLABENULLA.
It's so encouraging to know that my work is appreciated.
Many thanks to Ulla for making my day.

Triangle Girls

2008-12-18T15:33:00.009-05:00

I'm always thinking about new places to put the paperclay heads I make. Last time it was papermache bodies with little openings in front that held old photos. This time it's stuffed fabric bodies.

With Christmas coming, my Triangle Girls are on hold, but I hope to have some of them--maybe some of their papermache sisters too--finished and added to my etsy shop, LolliePatchouli, shortly after the holidays. Here's what the first two look like so far.

Trash Tags

2008-12-16T14:15:00.028-05:00

I admire--envy might be a better word--people who make visual journals. I've tried to start my own but I never seem to get off the ground. I know it probably sounds silly, but I think it's my fear of messing up a pristine journal that keeps me from starting. I'm sure my fear of "wasting paper" goes back farther into my murky past than anyone, even me, wants to venture, so I'll just move forward.
I've discovered that I don't have the same fear of messing up "trash", because it's already sort of messed up when it becomes an art supply, so I've decided to make tags from everyday refuse that would either get recycled or go into the trash, then put the finished tags together into some sort of journal form.
I'm not going to commit to making a daily Trash Tag, but I'm going to try for at least a couple each week, and for now I think I'll string them onto one of those big, shiny keyring thingies. I may even add notes to the backs of some of them, making them into an almost real journal.

Front and Back View of Trash Tag #1

Front and Back Trash Tag #2

Back to the Pincushion Swap

2008-09-24T22:39:00.028-04:00

Earlier this month, in a post titled "I've Done It Again" I talked about how I'd joined a pincushion swap, then I went on to talk about my pincushion "plan".
Of course everything changed once I started working--right down to going from papermache to fabric--and the finished pincushion looks nothing like my initial idea, but that's ok because I like it, but most important, my swap partner likes it. In fact, I liked the first pincushion so much that I made a second one for myself. Both pincushions started life as pockets from a chambray shirt, and just sort of grew from there.

I sent the boy pincushion off to live with my swap partner, and I kept the girl here with me. I copied the photos from an old class picture that belonged to my husband's father, probably in the early 1930s. I wish I knew the students' names and what their lives are/were like; I'll just have to imagine I guess.

I had a great time making these pincushions--especially the free-form embroidery--so I think I'll make a few more, maybe put them in my empty little etsy shop, and find out if anyone else likes them too.

Dentist and Goodwill

2008-09-16T19:08:00.031-04:00

I had an appointment with my dentist this morning; nothing serious, just a friendly little checkup kind of visit.
After I see my dentist I always visit the little Goodwill thrift store down the street from his office, and I always find goodies. Here's what I brought home today for a little more than $10.00.

I plan to make little needlework bags from the embroidered dresser scarves to put on my etsy shop, LolliePatchouli, which has zero items at the moment so there's no point looking just yet, but I'll post a link when I'm open for business, hopefully soon.

I'll add the vintage knitting needles to my growing collection. I want to make bracelets from my colorful plastic needles without mates, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to melt and bend them. Silly me.
I love the swirly blue fabric I found hiding at the bottom of a pile of hideous mauvey flowered polyester 80's "decorator" fabrics. I think it's from the 60's or 70's, and it's got the feel and drape of a fine wool crepe, but I think it's cotton. I'll burn a few threads to figure out which fiber it is. Either way, it's gorgeous, and I've got two nice wide yards of it to play with.
I cannot resist vintage natural colored crochet cotton, so when I found 15 balls today, I bought all of them. I'm almost--but not quite--embarrassed to admit I've got dozens of similar balls of old crochet cotton. Even if I never knit lace from them, they look beautiful heaped in a big basket or wooden bowl, a great temptation for our cats, Bunky and Sookie. Bunky seems to have a special interest in today's score.

Pies and Memories

2008-09-14T12:39:00.009-04:00

My husband's grandfather planted an orchard sometime around 1910, that's still suppling apples to our community. When my husband was born, his grandfather planted a McIntosh tree in the backyard of his daughter and son-in-law, and their new baby son. That beautiful tree is still producing McIntosh apples, but sadly, we couldn't move it with us when the family home was sold several years ago.A few days ago, my husband visited the orchard his grandfather planted 100 years ago, gave the present owner a sepia photo of his grandfather standing proudly in front of rows and rows of little apple trees in his newly planted orchard all those years ago. Of all those trees, today, only two remain, the others were replaced as they aged and died. As a thank you for the photo, the orchard man offered my husband a basket of McIntosh apples. Yesterday I peeled and sliced apples, added sugar--both white and brown--cinnamon, nutmeg, a little flour and dabs of butter, heaped the mixture into a pastry crust, and baked a pie for my husband. The apples aren't from his own tree, but they're from the orchard his grandfather started, so I like to think there's still a family connection.

Last week my mother sent me two small wooden fruit crates--neatly lined with fresh newspaper--filled with golden pears from a tree on the farm where she and I grew up.Pears ripen quickly and rot even more quickly, so I had to use them while they were good. Half the pears, I sliced thin and dried in my dehydrator. No saving them for winter like our ancestors would have done, we gobbled up those precious little bits in a couple of days; drying fruit does some kind of magic that concentrates the sweetness of fruit, turning it into leathery candy, impossible to resist.
The other half I peeled and cut into small chunks, added them to a mixture of sour cream, egg, sugar and vanilla, then baked it all in a pie shell, to make my favorite pie. There's something about the smooth, cheesecake-y texture and flavor of the sour cream combined with the grainy sweetness of ripe, juicy pear--oh!, and I almost forgot to mention the crunchy, buttery, crumbly topping--all baked together in a flaky crust, that just has it all as far as I'm concerned. Lucky for me, I'm the only one in the house who feels this way, so once a year, when I've got ripe pears from home, I feast on Pear Pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner, until it's gone...till next year.

I've done it again.

2008-09-07T10:22:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure why, but every now and then I find a swap of some sort that I just can't resist joining. I think it's a "feel good" thing, a need to "share", that makes swaps so attractive to me. And then there's the sweet suspense of opening my mailbox to see if my swap partner's package for me has arrived. I mean, who doesn't like getting a surprise package?
In spite of all the "feel-good" stuff, I've sworn off doing swaps after every swap I've swapped in. Swaps wear me out...well, with one exception; a lace scarf I just finished for someone in Ireland. Maybe I should stick to knitting swaps.
For some people, doing the swap thing is quick, easy...fun even. For me, it starts out that way and I tell myself, 'THIS time, I'll keep it light, I'll have fun', but it doesn't take long for me to take a "fun" thing and turn it into a major deal, the meaning of life; it's just the way I am. I get an idea. I spend way too much time finding just the right materials. I start. I stop. I change my mind. I get another idea, trash the old idea and start a new one with different materials...all the while, the mess involved grows and my other projects get neglected, and instead of being the "fun", "easy" project I'd hoped for, I've created a "problem" to be solved...then the "deadline" kicks in, and what was supposed to be a joy has become a chore, and I've got no one to blame but myself, and that's when I swear off swapping 'forever'. But I forget.
So I've done it again. After more than a year swap-free, I've done it again, I've joined a swap. This time it's a pincushion...but it can't be just any pincushion, oh no, it's got to be something 'different', something 'special', something that will make it 'memorable' for the recipient...at least I hope it's memorable, and in a good way.
So that's it, I've joined a pincushion swap and my pincushion is going to look a little like the papermache figure in the photo, but with a pincushion for its body instead of paper and glue. At least that's the plan...so far.
m

So far, so good...well, sort of.

2008-09-06T16:23:00.004-04:00

I got a late start last night, but I cast on for my "Cardi Wrap", even swatched like I was supposed to. Since the Cascade 220 is so soft and squishy, I feared it might have a tendency to split, but it's lovely to work with.
The ribbing rows went fine, then I moved on to the "Partial bind off row", and discovered I'm not as smart as I thought. When I came to "BO next 2 sts", I knit 2 sts, then passed the rt st over the left. When I got to the end of the row and my st count was off, I knew I had a problem. I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't know this, but "BO next 2 sts", meant knit one, not two, sts, then pass the second st already on the rt needle over the newly knit st, then knit the next st and bind it off. Hope that makes sense.
If it hadn't been so late when I got to the ribbing part, and I'd had a cable needle handy, I would have added a few more rows, but at least I got started...and added something new to my knitting info.

New Beginnings

2008-09-05T17:05:00.004-04:00

I've decided my new blog deserves a new knitting project--any excuse to buy yarn and knit--and since I'm seeing hints of Fall here in W Pa, I thought I'd knit something to keep me warm on the chilly evenings that will be here sooner than I'd like.
I thought about knitting a big, loose sweater that I could wrap around myself, then I thought about a shawl, then I remembered I'd seen a shawl with sleeves somewhere and like the idea of blending a shawl and a sweater, so I went looking and found a pattern called "Cardi Wraps", from Stitch Diva Studios. The pattern has two versions: a hairpin lace version, and the knitted version I'll use.
I picked this particular pattern because it's got dropped stitch rows, like a Clapotis, which gives it a little openness and should make it drape well, and great sleeves that bell at the bottom.
I even bought autumn leaf colored yarn for my fall knitting project; Cascade 220 "The Heathers", in a color called Provence (#2425). It's somewhere between tomato soup and brick, with fine strands of mustard running through it. Really rich and pretty I think.

I just peeled some apples and put them on to cook for applesauce. Maybe after we've had dinner, I'll get started on my Cardi Wrap.
m

First post.

2008-09-04T01:00:00.001-04:00

I've gone back and forth for a long time about starting a blog, and I've decided to give it a try. I'm not sure how this little adventure will go, but I know how much I enjoy other people's blogs. I hope a few people out there will visit and enjoy my blog too.
m