twigs

With the sewing machine on the mend and my hands incapable of knitting for too long, it’s been slow going over here on the creative front. Until this morning that is. I would post about the knitting that I have on the go, but I fear the recipient might read this and wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. I promise to have something more worth while soon.

Not that this will impress anyone, but I like it.

It ends up taking up a decent amount of space on the wall and extends about 12 inches away from the wall, give or take.

It does sit in a bit of a funny spot, so I might move it (or extend it out to the right) after it drives me a bit nutty. But for now at least it’s something to look at while I’m sitting on the couch (and goodness, forgive me the television in the picture, normally it’s nice and hidden).

 

because health is important. but it depends on who you are?

So, by virtue of my mad time wasting skills I have spent much of today reading about vaccinations. Or the lack there of. I will decline to give much of a rant on the topic. You only really need to know that I am pretty much completely pro-vaccination. And by “pretty much” I mean I am vehemently pro-vaccination.

For several reasons. The main one; they save lives and improve the quality of life, overall, for everyone. Here is an article that really drives that point home – “ A Pox on You : My son has cancer. He can’t go into day care because of unvaccinated children”.

Also, they seem pretty much ruled by the same crazy rules as the rest of the world. Which, while comforting in the level of consistency, still makes me a little bit irate. Do we all remember the “Little girls who get the HPV vaccine will turn into hussies” debacle? I sure do! I also still jumped at the opportunity to get vaccinated when the nurse gave me the option. At $5 a shot, and there being three shots, it seemed like a small price to pay for the sense of security it provided me. One less thing for me to worry about, right?

There was also some big to-do about crazy side effects. Still, safer than driving, right? Right! This one really hit home yesterday when the mercury in the H1N1 vaccines was being discussed at work. There was some concern voiced by a co-worker (and it was valid because people are entitled to their concerns). But before I realized what I was doing I let it slip that “Well, it’s still likely far less mercury than most people ingest per year in the fish they eat”.  She could only stop and say, “You know, you’re right. Hmm”. I don’t have a single statistic to back up my offhanded commet, though I shall try to find one.

All of this rambling was for a reason though! I just happened across an article about the HPV vaccine being okayed for boys. That’s right. It’s okay for boys now. But not because it might prevent them from getting cancer or from transmitting it to their partners. “The vaccine wasn’t up for consideration to help prevent cancer in males or to curb transmission of the HPV virus, which is sexually transmitted, to women.”. That means that the vaccine was only up for consideration in the prevention of an STD.

Where are the cries of “Little boys who get the HPV vaccine will turn into hussies”? I haven’t heard a single one.

Please don’t take this as a tirade against sexually permissive attitudes towards males. I think they should be able to have the safest possible consensual experiences with their chosen partners. I don’t want anyone to take away that right. I just feel, in addition to those rights and positive attitudes towards sexuality in men, that it should extend to women as well. But I’m starting to get the impression that equal treatment for all genders in the medical establishment, or society in general, is still a long way off.

 

relavent? yes.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Fawkes at midnight, and by torchlight there was found
With long matches and devices, underground
O England praise the name of God
That kept thee from this heavy rod!
But though this demon e’er be gone,
his evil now be ours upon!

 

something to look forward to

 

lessons in failure . . . sort of

I finished the pretty red Tencel-cotton cable hat again.  Everything was moving along at a wonderful pace and it really looked like the hat would be a winner. Alas, it was not meant to be. Tencel-cotton is not the stretchiest of yarns to work with. Not like wool at all, oh no.

I got a sinking feeling when I had finished the first repeat of the cable chart.  “Oh my, the cables make it a fairly snug little hat” I thought. But I wanted to see how it would come out because up to this point it had been working out surprisingly well. Now don’t get me wrong, the hat looks exactly like the photograph on the pattern page. Dead on! The only problem is that it’s far too small for this lady’s adult sized head. It really would look wonderful on a lil’ girl though.

Feel free to ignore the fact that the picture makes it look like a pink hat. I promise you that it’s a pretty red on the rich/warm end of the spectrum. The lighting in my apartment though, not so awesome.

I’m hoping to run into a fellow I know tonight at a meeting. He has many children (okay, three, that’s not that many, but it’s a lot by my standards). The youngest of which is a little girl who can’t be much more than five or six. Hopefully this hat will find a home on her head, if not . . . who knows. I’ll force this on someone if it’s the last thing I do.

 

. . . and this is all I have to show for it.

Artsy first, because that is the most plentiful and shall make me feel accomplished as a person.

No joke, I started this for my sister two years ago. That sad canvas sat in the back of my closet for two years before I felt like doing anything else with it. Up until the bitter end I still didn’t actually know what to do with it (honestly). So I brought out my trusty hot glue gun and made some sort of photo display out of it. Her apartment it all reds and oranges so this will fit in very nicely. She was pleased.

This was a birthday gift for my lovely friend Steve. It is his favorite animal, the noble flying bear. There was a brief incident of the cat jumping up on the table and sitting in my paint then turning about to get paint all over this. I was displeased and had to redo portions of it . . . . oh that cat.

This was an apology gift for young Adam. It is a sleepy hedgehog. Also, it is probably still the cutest thing I’ve ever drawn. Note that sleepy hedgehogs dream about love, no nightmares for these little darlings.

Thus concludes my poor attempt at painting for this year. Seriously, this is not something you should expect often.

Now on to more serious things. Craftsy things!

A wee little hat for a wee little baby! This thing was a breeze to knit, which is good because I had to take it apart after try number one. Turns out my yarn was a bit on the non-sproingy side and it could almost fit me if I really tried. I re-knit it on much smaller needles and this is the treat I ended up with. Upon showing my sister and ranting about how much I like knitting baby things she suggested I knit one for a friend of hers who just had a premature little sweet thing. I’m trying to save that for knitting night tomorrow though.

Now, for playsies, not for serious. I may owe Adam another apology painting after putting this picture up on my internet for all to see. But really, it’s a grown up bib that I am pleased to say I sewed all by hand. Sewing by hand is not something I ever do, ever! I was pleased with myself. Sorry dear, I almost felt guilty for putting this up . . . . almost.

Note the attempt at looking happy about being made to wear a bib (in the middle of the U of A campus for all to see, oh my). I suggest this stand as a warning to all those who are notoriously messy eaters. Someday your jerk friend might make you a grown up bib so clean up your act!

sorry!!

 

all this time . .

It’s been productive around these parts lately. In both the artsy and craftsy sense.

Exhibit A: Artsy

Exhibit B: Craftsy

 

time = accomplishment

I had decided months ago that I felt I was working myself into depression. “This isn’t something one should be aiming for”, I told myself. And with that I let go of one of my jobs. I miss the people in a fierce way, but the nice thing is I can still see them. They have not been cut out of my life and that makes me tremendously happy.

For the duration of the fall and well into the winter I decided I would scrape by on the earnings from one job (this is not something I’ve done for quite some time). With the rest of my time I would focus on getting my life in order and doing all those things I always put off for lack of time.

It took about a week of lazing about (code: scouring my apartment top to bottom) for me to have the drive to make anything. But oh, when I did, it was lovely!

I had started this dress months ago. It sat around being cut out but un-sewn for far too long. Today I decided to finish it up. I was craving a nice cozy fall dress and this fits the bill! Though it is a might bit on the short side . . . eep. And admittedly I didn’t really do much of a job lining the plaid up. I really should have angled the plaid a little bit more, better luck next time I’m sure.  Perhaps next time buy enough that I don’t have to work with the wonky cut they give me (I had so little left over, no sleeves could be had even if I wanted them).

Also the Owlish sweater is progressing at a steady pace.  The yarn is big enough that I think it should be done by the time it gets chilly enough to warrant a wool sweater. As of right now though it’s still +21 out. So I’m not even terribly compelled to knit the darn thing today.

Also the red socks (with pompoms!) are progressing well. I’m half way done the second one. This is a shot of sock#1 being knit in the dark chilly dungeon they call CJSR. Clearly, this was the only way I was going to manage to stay awake for a 1am to 3am radio show.  You think it would be as easy as staying up late to knit at home . . . I warn you, it is not. That’ll learn me, offering to help out and keep Honest Adam company. Next time I demand pre-event compensation in the form of a really big cup of coffee.

PS! It’s CJSR FunDrive time again. Call in and donate if you have any heart at all.

 

morning listening

 

gifts from someone I’ll never meet

I was headed to the 3rd annual Punk Picnic on Sunday and can you even imagine what was sitting next to the dumpster!? Why it was this little gem! A bontempi 19 electric chord organ (not sure what that means, or where it comes from, but it’s cute).

I know she isn’t much to look at and she’s missing a key and there isn’t really any volume control to speak of. But look past that. Look at those adorable pieces of tape from when someone was learning to read music. If you could only hear the sweet low hum of the fan, you’d be completely enamored with her.

In progress news the Owlish sweater is coming along at a steady pace. The back decreases are all done and the increases are on the way. This is one whole skein of yarn. Only 6 left to go!