It's a doll world

Another doll.

What is it with purple dolls? They look so cute, don't they.

Spent another night looking for something that I might finish one day. I am talking about a UFO. I started it last year in May. I found the start, and an extra ball of yarn, but the rest of the yarn is in a box, that has disappeared. It is so strange, things disappear in my home. I was also looking for a ball of yarn for another project, and then decided to count the balls and what I had used, and came to a conclusion that there are no balls missing, for that project.

It was a good thing that hubby cooked, so I had time to knit and crochet, and look for the yarns.

It is sad to think that I have to re-organize my whole stash room, just to find one box. It is sad that I am so disorganized that every time I look for something it's not to be found easily. Sometimes I put things in special places, to be found later, easily. But those special places are so special that there is no way I can find them immediately. One good thing about the search program is that I ALWAYS find something interesting, which I then put in a special place.

Dolls

It's been fairly unproductive lately at this studio. Startitis has attacked, and nothing really has been completed, UNTIL last night. I finished a knitted doll I had started in 2005, I believe, in September, or so. Well, finished isn't the right word, I hid the yarn ends from arms and legs, and, well, that's how far I got. The other doll, the bigger one, is done with Tunisian crochet, and it was a fun process. Tunisian crochet makes the fabric a bit more dense, so the stuffing isn't as visible as in a loose crocheted stitch.

I truly believe that I've been invaded by some sort of blockage in creative

area. Mind you, those two dolls are pretty good for a few hours' work. So, OK, I started the smaller one way back when, but, I feel as if I only made it yesterday. Hmm. Oh, and the hat for the bigger doll is on loan from another doll that is not quite finished yet.

We have gasoline shortage, here in the city. I have a full tank, but if the shortage continues, as some people say, until mid March, this girl is going to start taking the bus to work. The good thing about taking the bus is that if I get the bus early, I might get a seat and then I have about 25 minutes to knit or crochet. One can get a lot accomplished in that time period.

The only thing that bothers me is waiting for the next bus. It's maddening to see four buses go the other direction, when you have stood in the cold for 20 minutes waiting, for ONE. I could have crocheted or knitted, if if wasn't so cold. That can be done easily in a warm weather. I just have to remember to make sure that the yarn skein isn't at the bottom of my purse, but is in a place where the yarn runs smoothly to my needles. That is a jacket pocket, pant pocket, or a separate knitting bag. These things must be carefully planned if one is about to take the bus to work.

Talk about work, it's time to do some.

Yawn

Why is it that once yawning starts it's difficult to stop?

This time it's happening to me, because I am sleepy. I watched CSI at midnight,
it was a rerun, and I had seen it already. Who in their right mind watches
a rerun in the middle of the night? I just didn't want to go to bed. I felt
rebellious, I wanted to sleep in and be late for work. Just like some others
do every day. But nooh, not me. Got up, and was at work half an hour earlier
than I am supposed to be. Even after stopping at the gas station; 91.5¢ / litre, whoa!

The best yawning moments for me are in the car, on the way home. By the time
I get there, the yawning has stopped, and I am deliciously alert. Ready to do some
knitting or crocheting. Just like last night. I managed to crochet and knit a few
preemie hats. I now have a total of 11 done, and more is on schedule for tonight.
Although, "Gilmore Girls" is on tonight, but I might knit while watching it,
I can do that. Crocheting and TV together isn't as easy.

If that Christopher doesn't
leave the show soon, I'll stop watching it. So far, this year, I have not had as much
fun with the show as previous seasons. Why did they have to change the writers?
What a stupid move, for the last seasons. It just leaves a bad taste. I used to wait
eagerly for the next episode, but now I merely think about it's going to be on tonight.

Yawn.

So far this year I have managed to make a bag, 6 afghan squares, 11 preemie hats and the
back piece for a vest, now jacket, that I started some time ago. I have started one of the
fronts, but had made a mega mistake and had to rib it to the beginning. I managed, with
great effort to finish the first half of the chart, and that's when crocheting afghan squares
for charity seemed much more appealing.

I think everyone needs to do something easy, just to recharge the thinking
molecules for a little bit more challenging project.

Oh, I almost forgot, I made freeform scrumbles, one for Water and the other for Fire. Those are for a challenge program in our freeform group. I am not posting pictures until March, when everyone else has done their pieces.
My next challenge project will be to crochet AIR. Yes, you got it AIR. I have started already,
and am quite excited about it. It came to me when I was making the preemie hats. I had the perfect color for the hat, and the yarn felt like air, it was so soft and light. Perfect for Air!
If there is enough time, I might even try making a piece for Earth.

Aside from knitting and crocheting, I have done couple more ATC cards, and perhaps I will post a picture of them tonight, provided I don't YAWN all night.

Two ATC's

Today was a strange day. I made two cards.











It was strange, because I have been knitting all week, and had no intention of making anything else. However, I got off from my knitting and crocheted a few afghan squares for charity. Oh,
that was yesterday.

Our local crochet group had a meeting today. I was working on my freeform element pieces, fire and water. When I came home I finished them off and used some of the end clippings on one of the cards. The other card has the background paper from Janet.

More me-me

Visited Janet's blog and stole these questions from her:

If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
Near the ocean and mountains.

What is your favourite item of clothing?
Oversized teeshirt.

What is the last CD you bought?
Los Nocheros , I almost got to see them live in concert, in January, but then something else
came up, and I missed it.

Where is your favourite place to be?At home

Where is your least favourite place to be? In a crowded mall.

What time do you wake up in the morning?anytime between 6 AM and 7 AM.

What is your favourite kitchen appliance? Coffee maker

What makes you really angry? Arrogance

If you could play an instrument what would it be? Flute, I love James Galway's "The song of the Seashore".

Favourite colour? Green

Which do you prefer sports car or suv? Sports car. I've had a few, Mustang 1969, Camaro Z28, and Mustang 2002, and now I have SUV, Escape, and I like that one too. As long as the car takes me to places, it really doesn't matter.

Do you believe in an afterlife? Not any more.
What is your favourite season? Fall
Your least favourite household chore. Cleaning the oven
If you could have one super power what would it be? Stronger sixth sense
If you have a tattoo what is it? Butterfly, but not getting it.
Can you juggle? Is that a trick question?
The one person from your past that you wish you could go back and talk to. Mom.
Whats your favourite day? Friday...

Whats in the trunk of your car? It's not a trunk, it's the space behind the seats. Store carrying basket, it has a sticker "paid", rainboots, raincoat, duster, and ice scraper, poncho, jeans jacket, and baseball cap. Oh, and a box of ceramic tiles.

Which do you prefer sushi or hamburger?
Hamburger, with everything except mayo.

Progress on vest

Here is almost 100 gr. of yarn done. I think I will make a jacket instead of a vest. Of course that idea can change many times until I have to start the front.

Back to Knitting

Now that I have tested my feeble skills on ATC's, I will return my knitting. Not that I am not interested in those cards, I just needed to prove to myself that I could do it. I have tons of stuff from the dollar store, from my own craft stash (this is not the first time I do something else than knitting and crocheting). I have a few plastic containers full of different beads, feathers, stones, strings, ribbons, etc. etc. And scissors. I have not counted how many scissors I have or darning needles.

I started a knitting project from a Laura magazine which I had bought

in Argentina. The magazine, however, comes from Spain, as far as I understand anything. If I am wrong, then be it.

The new project is a vest. I am not using the yarn that is called for this creation. Instead I am using Sidrad, Wash'n Wear Dk, Double Crepe yarn. I made a sweater for our granddaughter with that

yarn, and it's great yarn to work with.

My project start is here:

It's still cold

It's winter, I suppose. Freezing cold wind slithers thru your sleeves, into your arms, making you shiver and hope that you could be somewhere warm, like in the kitchen baking bread.

Of course, if you have a bread maker, then you might still feel the coldness that you brought in from outside. It's amazing how long the cold stays with you, once you have been hit by it. It takes several minutes, blowing warm air into your hands, although the coldest part might be your face. I am just wondering how would you blow warm air into your face. Hairdryer could be handy. But, usually, the hairdryers are not in the kitchen. The fastest warming trick is hot water from the tap, unless pipes were burst due to freezing cold.

Now, if you insist opening the windows or the patio door, to let your lovely pets out, remember to wear woollen hat, mittens and a parka, that has some sort of fur, fake or not, trimming just to make you believe that the fur trimming would make the parka even warmer than it really is. If the parka has loose sleeves, make sure your oven is on, for the bread.

And to make matters worse, these two cards were finished this afternoon.

ATC in my mind

Little problem with my cards, they warp when I add something on the card, like felting or drawing that is covered with shiny coating.

I think I might be using the wrong kind of paper/cardboard.

Anyone has good suggestions, before I go insane. The one here, with all green, is OK, because I had it under pressure overnight.

All those other ones warp, even though they too were pressed, but not as long... Remember, I just started this new obsession. Hmm, last night I did nothing, because I was upset about the warping.

And another question, the one that is highest on the pile has beads glued on, how can I be sure they stay? Is there a magic glue that can be used? I covered the beads with Elmer's glue, which turns transparent when dries. Oh, there is so much to learn, isn't there?

Other than the cards, I dove to my yarn stash, and found many UFOs that I want to finish, for example, a fuchsia scarf. My favorite color NOT. It is amazing what levels I will go in starting new projects without finishing off the old ones. Many levels, I believe. How do I categorize the levels...oh, that would be another project, organized thinking.

It's 7 in the morning, so you must understand that half of my brain is still sleeping, or living the insane dream that I had last night.

More about ATC

I have been trying to figure out how to make my next ATC. There are so many beautiful and interesting cards that artists have made. Of course, me, the very humble one, thinks that me cannot produce anything creative and artistic. There are clouds of blockages over my head and some of them even squiggle into my mind and tell me that I am not good enough to make anything interesting. Yup. I am sure this is a common thought with some people, but it really doesn't make my ATC to develop into anything.

This is my second attempt, a flower basket, if you may, and I am sending it away.

Hubby made some transparent labels to attach on the back of the cards, and I am now all set to make some more.

One more Dora Doll

While I was on vacation, I made yet another Dora doll. This was for Valentina.

Dora is sitting on a "Jasmin of the Rain" tree trunk.

I made another ATC and that, like the other one, needs fine tuning. Will post picture when that is done.

ASK

ASK = Artist Survival Kit
I got this link from one of my many groups, as I was clearing my e-mails.

http://www.kerismith.com/ask.html
interesting stuff.

I am now thinking of making a few ATC's.
Made one already, and here it is:



The one with a castle and flower is from my friend Janet.
She sent me this ATC.