The Barbarian has always dug Rasta hats. I’m not sure why. He’s never had dreads and now he doesn’t even have long hair. Even still. Years a go, I crocheted one for him that had a big smiley face on the back. That’s him in the picture - not me.

I was really proud of it. But in the end, even in winter, it proved to be too hot for him to wear, and so it got donated a couple of months ago.

I found one just recently at PurpleSageDesignz. Angelika was nice enough to write down the pattern for me so that I could mimic her design, since the Barbarian had already picked out his yarn (organic cotton). So following her instructions, here is the hat I made.

The Barbarian thought it could be bigger and he also thought it was a bit too hot. So I opened up the back rows, went one row wider and one row longer. Here is the result, which I am happy to say he is pleased with.

That being said, and me being bored, I decided to see what would happen if I made one and felted it. Well, I left it in the washer a bit longer then I intended (and I have a tendency to forget that the spin cycle will cause additional felting too) so it ended up a bit smaller than I intended. But I still think it’s cute, and I will probably wear it. It’s crocheted from my Reverend Blue Jeans yarn.

I’m working on another now that will be the color of Grape Jam (also my handspun.) I figure if I can’t sell the stuff, I might as well use it.

So we just completed our glazing class Monday night. And I’m sure that only 10% of what we heard actually stuck. But I did get an opportunity to start glazing the first project I worked on in the class. It’s supposed to be a bowl. And that’s supposed to be a turtle sitting in the center. I used wax to create ‘waves’ (stylized) around the bowl, and then glazed.

It should work out that the wax will keep the glaze from entering those portions of the clay. I should end up with ‘wave’ shaped areas in the glaze where the plain glaze shows through. I will take this back to the shop on Thursday so it can be high-fired.

BTW - I did get my macaroon photos loaded. Whee!

2 c. unsweetened, shredded Coconut
2 tbsp flax seeds
1.5 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1.5 tbsp sunflower seeds
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 + 2 tbsp honey or agave

Toast the seeds in the oven at 425 degrees, for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Grind seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. They need no be powdered, just broken down. Place all ingredients in a food processor and whirl a bit. (A hand mixer will work fine too. The mixture should start to clump together.

With a spoon scoop out a bit and place it in your palm. With your other hand press the mixture tightly. You are trying to simulate a ‘haystack’ type shape, not a pancake. Place in a greased pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool and eat.

I’ll try to post pictures if we don’t eat them all before I can get them taken….

And then it’s off to bed.

My mother sent me these pics of little Bean at his 1 Year Birthday Party August 9, 2008. So, I thought I would share the ones I had.

That’s Grandpa Jim holding him up.

That’s Bean with the set of crochet blocks I made him.

Bean with the walker/rider Lion toy I got him (on the right). Thank God for mail, right?

Let him eat cake!

Well, it was my anniversary this past Friday. The Barbarian’s and my big 11 year anniversary. To say that things weren’t shaping up so great would have been a mild understatement. We decided to spend $125 on anniversary presents for each other. I ordered the gifts (3) for the Barbarian almost a month before they were needed. With two weeks to go, I received an email that one gift was on backorder. So I canceled it and ordered 2 other items. (Total gifts now in transit = 4)

Then while I was waiting, I received the ‘evening’ apparel I ordered for the special occasion. I picked the wrong size, it was too big. When I went reorder the correct size, they didn’t have it. So I ordered something similar in a size smaller. *Back to waiting*

Then it noticed that one gift (a $50 T-shirt) was taking its own sweet time getting here. I called them, only to find out that they were out of stock and I was on some sort of list to be contacted about it. Nevermind, that they hadn’t already contacted me, right? At this point, I was out of options. So, dejected, I told the Barbarian that I couldn’t get the item I wanted, and he could pick something else. (Total gifts now in transit = 3; deficit of $50)

Three days to go…. One of the replacement gifts arrived and the other had not. I emailed the vendor. Within an hour I received an email saying it shipped. So I contacted UPS - they had no record of it. I emailed the vendor back and said UPS doesn’t have it. Come to find out that they had just shipped. Anyone else thinking they didn’t ship until I actually emailed??? *sigh* Any elementary arithmetician could figure out that it wasn’t going to arrive in time. (Total gifts now available to be given at gift giving time = 2; deficit of $50)

So my next ‘evening’ item arrived, and wouldn’t you know it…. still too big. But with 2 days to go, there was no item to ship it back and get something else.

Because we planned to go to Asheville, NC for the weekend, we decided to do presents and cards the evening before. So we sat down to do the gifts…. the Barbarian is in a fraz because his wrapping paper doesn’t look as good as mine. (I found out later that he had the same troubles with gifts that I did - but only one of mine didn’t show up in time.)

He opens his 2 presents, and one of the items has a manufacturers defect that means it will need to be returned. *sigh* (Actual presents to be utilized = 1) *cry*

I open my gifts and all is good. I got 2 more spindles and the lazy kate for my ladybug. I also got 4 oz of hemp ‘roving’ for me to try and spin. *Good Luck* If I’m able to, I think I’ll be stupidly pleased with myself.

Well, it’s been kind of a big week for me. My truck has been in the shop twice, for a total bill of $1300. But hopefully, I won’t have to spend anything more on it for quite a while.

Our upstairs neighbors are leaving their dog out on the patio. And while I’m glad the dog is getting some fresh air, I’m not pleased that he’s being left out there so long (sometimes 24 hours or more) that he urinates on the deck. Again, this wouldn’t be a problem except that the deck is wooden, so we basically have urine raining on us from above. Now, I know that sounds humorous, but so far he’s hit the hammock, the grill, the rug, and the yellow squash plant. We’ve mentioned it to the apartment complex, but they either don’t care, or can’t do anything. Stay tuned to find out what happens when we take matters into our own hands!

I passed the 1000 mile mark today. I’ve peddled, walked, run, and hiked 1000 miles! Yeah for me. Now, if only the scale would move its ass like I am, right?

So, on the creative front, here is an infant scarf and hat set that I finished using my handspun Reverend Blue Jeans. It’s funny, I knitted up a swatch of Reverend and then felted it a bit, it’s a lot less scratchy now. Now I’m wishing I had more to make a sweater out of, though I wouldn’t even begin to know how to knit a sweater I intended to shrink!

And tonight is our second Pottery class. We have begun anything on the wheel yet, and for the most part I’ve been a little bit frustrated with the whole thing. Somehow, I expect that anything and everything I try to do will come out absolutely gorgeous each and everytime, including the first time. It’s like I think that everything should come easy to me. No practice required. I guess in my heart, I’m hoping that I will find something that I have some innate talent at… you know? I get so tired of being ordinary and mundane. Anyway, here is a small incense burner I made last night, while trying to build up enough confidence to show my face at tonight’s class. It hasn’t been fired. Hopefully, I’ll get to glaze it once we do the glazing class.

And last but certainly not least, after having a bad hair day on Friday, I came home and cut it all off. Well, not really. My hair was basically, all one length and about 20 inches long from scalp to tips. Now, it’s 14 inches, just barely longer than shoulder length, and I have bangs. Needless to say, I still haven’t gotten used to the face that stares back at me in the mirror. LOL

I saw this on Zuleika’s site. She is a crocheting queen!

SCATTERGORIES …it’s harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter
yours and post it on to your blog. Let me know when you have done it and I will come check it out!

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up!
Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Christy

4 LETTER WORD: Cool
VEHICLE: Chevrolet
TV SHOW: Cagney and Lacey
CITY: Chicago
BOY NAME: Craig
GIRL NAME: Carlita
OCCUPATION: Cook
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: corset
FOOD: cabbage
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Clog
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Car trouble
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: CASH!!!!

Sometimes, I am so amazed at people. Some people just give stuff away. For nothing. Or basically nothing. And I don’t even mean that they give to charity, because that makes you feel good inside….

The Old Red Barn Company is giving away this quilt. It’s bright! It’s springy! It’s Cheery! Check it out!

Here’s a bit of spinning work I did. I can’t remember the fiber type, though based on its feel, I’m thinking it was Shetland. Either way, I spun everything into one long single, and then loaded it onto the swift. Then I proceeded to die it with Kool-aid. I used lemonade, orange, lime, and grape. I used 4 packets each in perhaps a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. The water was so acidic, my fingers burned where ever I touched the dye. I put in on the yarn in a glass cake pan, and painted sections of it. When I was thoroughly disappointed with my color choices, I covered it with plastic wrap and zapped it 2 or 3 times in 2 minute increments. I let it cool, then rinsed it, and hung it to dry.

At this point however, I’m not sure exactly what went wrong, but all the twist in the single pretty much was set. I divided the 1 huge single into 3, so that I could make a 3 ply yarn, but when I went to ply it, there was no twist. I tried reactivating the twist with water and did get some of it back, but not enough.

So there it sat. In the open. Dejected. I was completely disgusted with the yarn, both in color and in the unfortunate ‘de-twisting’ incident. I think it knew it. I think that’s why it mocked me.

Basically, last night I couldn’t stand anymore of its trash-talking backtalk. I knew I had little more to lose by plying it than I had already lost in 3 random singles. So, I plied, and plied, putting in more twist than I knew the singles themselves had to offset it. When I was done, I put it on the swift. When I took it off, the 1.5 yard loops coiled back so hard, I could wear it as a bracelet. I looked like boucle.

Then, with medieval torture in mind (and an “I’ll show you what happens when you talk smack to me” attitude, I made up another bath of acid water using 4 packets of invisible cherry Kool-aid in maybe one or two cups of water. I put the yarn in and started zapping. I turned it once and zapped again.

I took it outside, drained off the water and thwacked the heck out of it. Then I hung it to dry. Believe it or not, it hangs straighter than any yarn I’ve made to date. The ‘twist’ in the second picture is where I crossed it over itself. So, (drum roll please) here is the result of my medieval torture of this fiber. What do you think?

I’m feeling pretty badly here because I haven’t posted in so long. =( And honestly, I really wish I had something fabulous to so you for all my time off. But the truth is that I have hit a sort of creative rut. I haven’t spun much, the Clapotis is still unfinished, and I’ve got a pair of crochet wristies undone. Oh and I never finished Angora either. I know, I suck.

I don’t even have a good excuse.

Here are my latest fiber procurements.

8 oz of Burgundy Tweed gotten on eBay.

8 oz of Spunky Eclectic’s Mud Season purchased from Melanie over at PinkLemonTwist. (Ask and sometimes ye shall receive!)

My garden is sorta just sitting there. Not really growing. The basil has flowered, as well as the cayenne, the cucumbers, and the yellow squash. The zucchini, I think, has bit the dust. =( No vegetables yet, though.

On other fronts, I’m trying to keep my momentum of trying new things going and made ’sushi’ tonight. I put quotes around it because some would argue that because there’s no fish in it that it’s not real sushi. I don’t know that I would disagree, but I just wanted to see if I could roll my own. I don’t think the local grocery stores here have fish fresh enough to prepare at home. =( I put cooked tuna in the Barbarian’s. Anyway, here’s a pic of my dinner.

Lastly, my DSIL sent me a couple of pictures of my nephew, Bean, wrapped up in a scarf I made her for Christmas. I don’t know why but I hear ’stripper’ music when I look at these….. all low down and dirty saxophones. LOL