I wanted to post this with a photograph, but I procrastinated it last night, so I’m publishing it anyway.

I can’t concentrate today at all. All week I have been in a weird haze of not knowing exactly what day it is.

I did finally get that earring thing straigtened out.

I came across a new word, a madeup word in a design blog the other day, and it totally makes me laugh. Gruntledness. That’s going to have to be added to my vernacular, I think. So many times a day that in two years my friends are giving me the look and saying Seriously, Enough with the gruntledness.

Making up words. I like it. Like Kinnearing.

Oh, this rocks. Fulfillage may have to be added to the vocabulary too.

In an attempt to post two days in a row

Is it Tuesday? I almost can’t get it straight. Inspired by Ani,

The new tradition…
Maybe Victorian themed holiday parties?
Definitely drinks before college football when the team plays at home.

The old tradition…
Farmers market on Saturday mornings from April through November. Get coffee, walk around half the square, get breakfast, walk around the other half of the square. I’m not ready to change this too much.

I’ll be really glad when…
I can call myself a graphic designer who doesn’t do analytics 40 hours a week.
The election is behind us. My patience is wearing thin.

Not liking…
That we’ll have to close up the front porch after this weekend.
It feels more like winter, and I’m afraid autumn is behind us.

Liking…
The tremendous bottle of wine that we drank last night, a gift from a friend, which we didn’t know was tremendous until we opened it and decided to look it up online. It made a drab Monday night of mounting work on boards more special.
Leftover baked mac & cheese.

And what about you?

2 Hour Layover

I’m a lucky duck. Erin and Fatty and the girlies stopped by for a couple of hours on their way up north on Friday to have lunch with me and The Husband. It was sort of like a layover, only not stuck in the airport. They brought Kentucky beer and we sent them on their way with fresh baked cookies. And when I asked Erin if she would be in my daily self portrait she happily agreed. Little did she know that I had loose plans in my head for a jump shot. But she played along, the dear, and it was super fun. Thanks, love! It was so sweet to hang out with you all again, even if just for a couple of hours, show you our space, laugh and laugh, and make plans for the next time, which I hope is sooner rather than later!

After that whirlwind, the weekend continued to be pretty darn awesome and full of friends. On Saturday, after meeting Lee, who recognized me!, at the Farmer’s Market (Hi Lee!), we drove up to my hometown to see the boys and go to the rockinest halloween party I’ve been to since college. It was old west/victorian themed, complete with red sashes for the Bunker Hill Gang members. There was a moment when we all traipsed a quarter mile down the road to Jerry’s brother’s place, where he’d turned the shed into a bar, and along the dark walk one guy was strumming away on a mandolin and it all felt very authentic. The next day we came home and I had the pleasure of helping another set of good good friends move into their first house.

Flame and Frit

Today started on the wrong foot. I got all excited to wear a new pair of earrings, but when I tried to take out the current residents of my newly pierced 8 weeks ago ears, they were nearly impossible to pry apart. Not embedded, just locked. And all of the wrestling of trying to disassemble them seriously irritated my ears, thus my mission failed and I am not wearing cute new earrings, and somewhat malcontent that I may not be able to wear cute new earrings for months and months, because I heal slowly, and by then they won’t be new anymore, of course. And my fingers hurt. This ear piercing thing is new to me. I have other piercings, but until 8 weeks ago, never my earlobes, never holes that I intended to change out the earrings on a regular basis. So, is it always hard to get earring backs apart from earring fronts? Or is it just me?

On a positive note, The Husband and I went out on Tuesday for an out of the ordinary activity. When I asked him if he might be interested in going with me to a glass blowing class, I wasn’t sure how excited he would be. But he was! So we went, and it was really fun. So fun that the next day I scheduled us for another class in December to get some more making time. And I’m thinking about a fusing class too.

It was different from what I expected. When I think of glassblowing, I think of a huge oven and long poles that are used to slowly manipulate the glass into shapes. In this class, we each had a torch to heat our glass, and we started with preformed glass tubes that bulged at one end. We chose from a rainbow of colors of frit, tiny pieces of glass the size of sand or small beads, pouring different color combinations into our glass tube. Then we would heat the bulb end of the glass tube with the torch until the colored frit melted onto the inside, and the glass was hot and soft, and then quickly blow the tube into a larger shape. The process was super fast, only a few minutes from start to finish of each piece. It took some practice, our first few attempts turned out pretty wonky and odd shaped, which sort of have their charm too. But after awhile we got the hang of it. Then into the kiln to anneal for 24 hours, and we picked up our finished glass the next day.

Taken by The Husband, cropped by me

One of the only things I wish I would have done in my life was to take glassworking in undergrad, especially since one year I lived directly across the street from the glass lab. Dale Chihuly came out of the glass program at the UW, and it just always sounded so interesting. But I never did. So maybe, just maybe, when I’m done with the graphic design stuff and job searching, I’ll get the chance to take the class someday as a special student at the UW. But for now, I guess mini classes at The Vinery will do.

Overindulgence

I wanted to get some work done.

instead I went for a walk and took pictures of leaves. I think I’m drunk on the leaves this year.

I think I’m a quilter now

Beki’s block for October

I guess it’s time to admit it. I’ve been envious of the Virtual Quilting Bee ever since the beginning. The idea of 12 ladies from all over the place conspiring to make quilt blocks together, sending each other fabric, sewing in secret, and then sending a finished block back so that they can each then finish a full quilt with the love and thoughtfulness of each one of them in every quilt, well, that just makes my heart melt a little bit.

And it’s kinda old fashioned, the quilting bee. I can imagine ladies from decades ago sitting around on a weekend afternoon, handpiecing squares that will eventually become the warmth of a home. But these days, we become friends across miles, across countries, with other ladies that have the same interests as our own, when that can sometimes be difficult to find in our own backyards.

So when Beki told me that she wanted to start up a virtual quilting bee of her own and asked that I be a part of it, I was thrilled. Twelve by twelve was born. Each month one of us will send a small parcel of fabric to the other members of the bee. Everyone makes a quilt square using that fabric and fabric from their stash, according to some specification, but also bringing their unique voice to the square. The squares are mailed back to the originator and they then have the makings for a full quilt.

I know some of the other eleven ladies, a few others are new to me, and I’m already happy to get to know some new friends. I am so excited to see what everyone comes up with, and to eventually be warmed by a quilt made by twelve talented ladies’ hands.

We’ve set up a blog for twelve by twelve where we can all post about what we’re doing, as well as a flickr group, so you can follow along if you feel so inclined. I’ll probably sound off here every so often as well.

In the round

I’ve been knitting away over here, before class, before work, anytime I get a free moment and need to give my brain something else to think about. Knitting has been kind of therapeutic for me lately, because I do have to think when I do it, but I have to use a different part of my brain than I use for work or design, and the knitting part needs complete focus. So I’m able to escape a little bit, from the constant thoughts about design and school and work. It’s nice. I feel a little guilty for taking it, but at the same time, I totally need it.

I finished my first pair of mittens a few weeks ago, knit from the classic mitten pattern, slightly altered for my long skinny hands. These are lightweight, knit in an orange mohair/wool blend that I can’t remember the name of right now, perfect for fall. This was my inaugural experience knitting in the round, on DPNs, and after a bit of difficulty and asking the internets questions, I think I took to it pretty well. I really enjoy knitting this way now.

Shortly thereafter, I finished a pair of fingerless mitts, too. Evangeline. In Cascade 220, cream. Leslie posted about these awhile ago and I had to make them. I really love that pattern. I’m thinking about combining the two patterns next, for a cabled mitten. I think a bit of a thumb gusset, as in the classic mittens, would be nice with the cables on the mitts, since they get stretched out at the edges of the cable when they’re on my hands. I’ve written it up, and am hoping it works. Since it’s my first time trying to make up a pattern, I’m not all that confident, but we’ll see, I guess.

And of course, like a few of you, I had to cast on for Toast as soon as I saw them. They’re almost done.

Proxy Sleeping

There are times in our lives when we just can’t find enough time to sleep. I know you’ve had them. I’m ensconced in one right now. My final semester of school, an internship and preparing my portfolio are keeping me extremely busy and are constantly running my brain at capacity. I’m not getting enough hours of z time, going to bed later than normal, getting up just as early as usual.

And it sure doesn’t help that Lucy wakes me up multiple times each night. Putting her paws in my face. Sitting on my neck. Purring in my ear. Nibbling on my shoulder. Chasing my earrings. Licking my nose. Digging her claws into my skin as she makes biscuits. Putting her paws in my face again. Again, and again.

I’m not a napper, but this week I could really have used a nap at some point.

Yesterday The Husband mentioned that he wished he could proxy sleep for me. Wouldn’t that be great? If other people could sleep on your behalf so that you could still get things done and not be exhausted all the time? I mean, as he qualified it, there are people out there that could seriously sleep All. The. Time. And there are other people, like me, who really like sleep, and need a certain amount of it, but would be perfectly happy if they didn’t need that much of it so they could watch movies and knit and cook and sew and create and do homework. A stand in sleeper. Just a few hours, so that I don’t need them.

So, I’m taking applications. If you have some free time for napping, or just going to bed early, to catch a few more hours of sleep for me, I’d really appreciate it. If only that would work.

Three things

1. I am wearing orange, mint green and khaki argyle knee socks today. You know how you feel sneaky and fun when you wear fancy undergarments that noone knows about? That’s sort of how I feel wearing outrageous argyle knee socks.

2. I fixed the soup. It’s still not out of this world, but it no longer tastes (or looks) orphanage gray. I added a sauteed combination of celery, carrot and garlic, as well as a can of beef broth, some red wine, and a ton of Penzey’s northwoods seasoning.

3. I found out about the portfolio announcement today. This week of waiting has been excruciating. Well, mostly the last 5 days have been excruciating. I actually had a dream about it last night. Turns out I didn’t get it, someone else’s design was chosen, and I came in runner up. It seems I come in runner up quite alot. I’m really disappointed, I really wanted my printed piece to be mailed out to all of the agencies in town, but I know that everyone’s style is different, so we’ll see how they do at the ADDYs.

Ready to Wear Portfolio Show Announcement Front

Ready to Wear Portfolio Show Announcement Back

I did two concepts, and they both made it into the final 6 designs to be decided by the faculty. My first concept was Ready to Wear, in which I handmade three tiny portfolios out of fabric, and then photographed them for the front. For the back, I crafted a layout of fabric, with the date cut out of the tiny houndstooth, as well as pins and a piece of a sewing pattern. I then scanned this and laid type over it.

Brite Talent Portfolio Show Announcement Front

Brite Talent Portfolio Show Announcement Back

My second concept was Brite Talent, with lite brites. This was my favorite concept, but it gave me a ton of problems. I couldn’t get excited about it once I started trying to construct it. Finally I took a couple of photos, one of an illuminated lite brite design that I made, and another of myself holding my portfolio, and combined that with dot patterns, bright colors, and a handmade dot typography. This piece folds down in a tri fold into a square and would come in a bright colored envelope. I envisioned it printed with a spot varnish over the photographs and the dots of the typography in each place it says “Brite Talent”. Would’a been cool.

Gray

Do you ever have days where you cook things that you have high hopes for, and then they just aren’t that great? I did a ton of cooking this weekend, and Saturday was a success. Banana bread, applesauce, chocolate chip cookies. But on Sunday things took a turn. I made beef leek and barley soup after being inspired by smitten kitchen, because, well, go to that link and look, doesn’t it look phenominal? I even made a special trip to seek out beef short ribs. But the soup turned out kind of gray tasting. I actually suggested maybe donating it to the food pantry? Maybe I will whip up a mire poix to throw in for a little more flavor later this week to try to salvage it. I don’t know man.

And the apple pie that I made trying a new all butter crust recipe, deviating from my standby grannny’s recipe that uses shortening? Well, it was just ok. The filling is just as good as always. The crust, a combination of Alton Brown’s tender vs. flaky crust and the pie crust recipe from the beautiful new cookbook that arrived on my doorstep was really neither tender nor flaky. I really want to make the move from fake crisco to all natural butter in my pie crust, but I’m contemplating breaking down and making my granny’s pie next weekend just to get it’s familiarity back in my mouth.

Two failures in one day is enough to be a little depressing.