Picking up the pieces

Break-ups are never easy - even more so when some outdated cultural nonsense is to blame.

So, what's a girl to do?

Knit.


Yarn - Lorna's Laces from my stash (via Laura's stash).
Pattern - modified ridge stitch from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (pilfered from my parent's house.)



And sew.
Fabric - Hobby Lobby in Kent (!?!)


Just to indulge in some serious self-pity, I celebrated the fruit of other people's successes to soothe (or maybe revel in) my current state of loss.

But with wickedly cute results....

Behold, I jumped on the appliqued onesie bandwagon!



Lots of nods to Mommy's love of argyle and turtles, and Daddy's businessman lifestyle.

Creativity: Brought to you by loss and frustration since 3,000 BC.

Yoga, work and knitting

That pretty well sums up the last month or so.

I can't show off the yoga, but I can share the knitting,
(Like I would miss the chance to do that!)

Some mittens for me...



And a sweater, too...



A bag for my smaller knits...




A cashmere cowl for Mom...


and convertible mitts for Dad...



Just for fun...


Updated with deep red top-stitching to keep my toes toasty in a more fashionable manner...


Time to get back to knitting - so much more to do!

Cotton and paper and (of course) yarn, too.

I've been having a gloriously fun summer: rowboats and gardens and swimming and meteor showers and lying idle in the grass.

I saw a good friend last weekend and she had a project: origami. I've not done much of that before (and neither had she) so we figured it out together and made a mobile of dotty cranes in lovely colors.

I discovered that it was a gateway to a new feverish obsession with polyhedra and other vaguely mathematical objects that are truly pleasing to behold.

I recalled this pattern in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Projects and got to work. True to it's place in the book, it took about 4 hours.

I used fabric scraps appropriate for a charming lad about to turn 1: a men's shirt, some butterfly fabric and the wee monkeys I wish I had more of.



I shan't bore you with the details of making it other than Hulu now has episodes of "My So-Called Life" and they make a very good background for pinning and stuffing...


Pin and stuff and stuff and pin...



Ta-Da!!!







BONUS~

I finished a hat I made for my father. I scored a 1/2 price ball of alpaca/merino/silk in blues and greys. Perfect for a maritime watchcap and easy-peasy.

An iPod case and the socks I gave to Jeezus

First, the iPod case...

The Physicist introduced me to TED talks online and the first one we watched was Brian Greene. In March, we were lucky to attend, FOR FREE, a talk given by Dr. Greene at Oberlin. At dinner, the Physicist used a napkin to teach me about gravity. I am not very mathematical, but I love the notations, so I kept them.

After receiving the Touch, I wanted to make a case for it and realized the notated napkin was a similar size and decided to embroider the notes on old linen scrap... First I used the sewing machine to make the notebook lines, then I embroidered the notations by hand after copying them on the fabric.



The back and inside were made from a man's shirt I bought at Unique Thrift to make pants for the wee man Lance. I used the cuff to make a closure.



Now I always have gravity close at hand.


***
The socks I gave to Jeezus is another story all together.

I'm having difficulty uploading a large picture of them, but know this - somewhere between a garage sale in Shaker and a weekend in Lyndhurst they DISAPPEARED.

Gone.

Along with my Schrodinger Bag.
Addi needles.
Gingher sewing scissors.
Not to mention an almost completed pair of two-at-a-time toe-up striped knee socks.

Le sigh.

So I just decided after searching for a weekend to "Give 'em to Jeezus."

And so they are now the socks I gave to Jeezus.

I just started a new pair... let's hope they don't meet the same fate.