belated happy new year!

...belated everything, in fact! i finished my written exams on friday, so i've had two days for things to get a little bit back to normal...thanks to all those friends who have waited patiently for my very delayed reponses to your calls, emails, and notes from the past 6 months! i truly appreciate all of the good vibes that y'all sent to me! next flaming hoop: oral exams in early february.

here's what i did with my free time the moment i was exam-free: after much urging from lapoli, i dyed my first batch of yarn! i'll use this to make a scarf for my artist friend who wears only buddhist-monk-robe orange:



how cool is that??

jarrett, finished!

latest projects...

burda pattern #7866:

...and the betsy ross "one bag for all" tote, which i made for a craftster swap:

with a label! ...
i loved the burda pattern--straightforward, simple, and it turned out really well. the betsy ross pattern was OK--the pattern piece for the bag was annoyingly slightly asymmetrical (i don't think it was a deliberate design element)...but i like the result!

autumn, exams, and craftster

blame my blogging absence on my new obsession with craftster's ongoing wishlist swap (thanks to lapoli), an endless and ongoing cold (stupid auto-immune disorder), un-bloggable christmas-gift knitting, a highly stressful family wedding (there were lavendar m&ms printed with the couple's names--enough said), and of course, upcoming exams...

during my visit to oklahoma last month, i made an architectural pilgrimage to see a famous modernist building in my home town. yes, even rural towns in oklahoma have modernist architecture. if only i had known, i would have made a scale model of this building for my high school geometry class. instead i used the barn on the corner near my house and got points off because it wasn't recognizable as a local landmark. clearly the value of vernacular architecture escaped mrs. ferdosian. anyway, it's the oilworker's church, built by the german architect bruce goff in 1948 and constructed with old parts of oil derricks, now known as the hopewell baptist church.


here are two finished projects: a baby hat for a helpful librarian (the leaf is from knitty's leafy cardigan):
and a blurry photo of beads of earth (from scarf style), safely sent on to e. for her birthday:
one more thing: since i'm coming up on my 1st anniversary, the elderly relatives are requesting wedding photos. i guess i should get going on little photo albums...any suggestions for online digital printing companies?

blueberries, eucalyptus, knit cafe

last week i had the perfect summer day: met C. at the farmer's market, then on to an organic blueberry farm to pick berries, then of course since we were nearby, we had to stop at the LYS...

last week i joined mr. boot in L.A. for a few days for a part-work, part-play trip. i interviewed an amazing artist for my dissertation, hung out with my roommate from olden days, played on the beach, ate at a really good (but not strict) macrobiotic place and saw a eucalyptus tree looking just like bee's fairy trees from Mad. Sq. Art:

not only that, i went to my new favorite yarn store, knit cafe and spend a really lovely hour there. what an amazing store--they've got an excellent stash of back issues of interweave knits, including this one, with teva durham's tartan jacket; beautiful yarn; and the people were so so friendly. the owner of the store, Suzan, was wonderfully welcoming and interested in my knitting and background, even though a famous actress was in the shop for a quick lesson (she was nice, too)... there was even a part-time job available...sigh..if only i lived a few thousand miles closer, i'd do it in a minute! anyway, i highly recommend the shop to anyone visiting the area!

with all of the cross-country flights, i had tons of time to turn this...

...into this (the beads of earth scarf from scarf style: my first attempt at beading)...

...and this... my very first sock, undertaken as a joint project with C., another newbie to sock knitting. i'm a bit stalled out on the instep, but we're meeting tonight, so i'm hoping to be inspired by her gorgeous progress...
for now, i'm off to study for exams (which are only 5 months away): this week i'm reading about fluxus...

100 degrees, 100 pillows

it's been about 100 degrees here the last few days, so i've been staying inside, knitting, and sewing. i went to a carrboro knitting group last night at open eye and met a whole crowd of amazing and like-minded knitters. most are on ravelry--one is a moderator of the new destash--and, unlike other knit groups i've attended in the area, all of them are totally online-knit savvy and no one was knitting with acrylic. i even met a super-fun knitter who shares my current fancy for getting pygmy goats. our landlord would love that.

as for sewing, i'm the official museum seamstress: the preparators hired me to make pillow inserts for 25 pillowcases that will be included in their next exhibition. i'll post a photo of the mountain of pillows and my makeshift sewing area next time...

for the moment, a few projects. here's jarrett, a rather sweltering piece to knit in this heat, for mr. boot.
and a quick string bag, crocheted from a pattern in erika knight's simple crochet with leftover recycled cotton yarn. i began this one after attempting the magknits saturday market bag and failing miserably at even this simple lace stitch, in size 15 needles. but i like this bag better, anyway. yeah.

the bag is filled with cucumbers: there are currently 11 in the fridge. i must make pickles soon and find people to take them off my hands. any takers?

and finally, a parting shot of this week's CSA box:

ester, kelly, pay it forward

finally, a decent photo of ester, complete with gratuitous back shot of my favorite dress: a halter dress made of an old snap shirt and a scarf (local designer, found at roulette vintage.). perfect dress for the kelly willis concert last night! her new songs are great, cat's cradle is smoke-free, and the crowd was thin but committed: all in all a highly enjoyable experience in our favorite hippie town of carrboro. mr. boot took me to see the kelly willis / bruce robison christmas concert in december, but we didn't realize that they do that tour annually and actually sing christmas carols. it was a bit excessively christmas-y for us (although we loved "oklahoma christmas" with its classic line, "pass the god-damn sweet potatoes") . anyway, nice to see her again. i used to see bruce with their youngest kid in a stroller at pacha in austin. austin, sigh.

anyway, i'm following nuttnbunny's pay it forward challenge; see the original idea here. given my short list of regular readers, the odds are good that you'll get something from me, so jump in!