Fun with Craft Fairs, Part 2

In which we find our heroine at the Yellow Daisy Festival. My family and I have been going to the Yellow Daisy Festival for, good lord, almost 20 years now, since I was a wee little sprout. It's huge and so very cool, filled with crafters and cool stuff and cool people and yummy food. The first item to catch my eye was this:


An amazing purse made out of ties by a step-mother/step-daughter team. Here's the back.


It was really the zebra that caught my eye first. It's such pretty colors and it's the perfect size for a sock bag. (Yes, I base my bag selection on my knitting needs. What? Doesn't everyone do that?) I can't help thinking what butt-ugly ties these must have been, but as a bag it's beautiful. Go check out their their other stuff at their Etsy site (funkyquail.etsy.com). They have cool bags and a bunch of shirts for knitters. Truly cool people.

Item #2 came in the form of a cool free-form melted glass wall hanging thingie. I am a HUGE sucker for art glass of any kind, really, and this is right up my alley.


It was hand-made by a woman in Florida who arranges the glass and then fires it in a kiln, melting the pieces together. She also had more structured pieces, like bowls make of squares of glass, that were seriously cool.


It's so fluid and sparkly. It looks fantastic hanging in my bathroom.

In other news, Lizard Ridge squares #28 and 29 are done done done.


Square 29 (on the right) was made from my ball of Franken-Kureyon (see yesterday's post). I cast on for Square #30 last night and announced, "This is my very last cast-on." The Best Roommate Ever eyed me warily, perhaps expecting tears of nostalgia or something. I said, "And THANK GOD." I'm so close I can taste it.

The Great Spit-Splicing Marathon of 2007

Yesterday, in the sanctuary of The Greatest Yarn Store Ever, I began the Great Spit-Splicing Marathon of 2007. I was going to attempt this at home, but The Greatest Yarn Store Ever two distinct advantages: 1) It has a ball-winder, and 2) it is helpful-kitty-free. After a grueling hour of spit-splicing, I managed to turn this

into this.

It is my very own ball of Franken-Kureyon. The fancy gram scale at work tells me I should have enough for my last two Lizard Ridge squares. (1 square = 38.5g. Scrap yarn = 94g. My math skills tell me this should be plenty. My reality skills are a little less certain.) More pictures as the squares progress.

PS: No, I did not actually use spit. I used a glass of water like a civilized person. I didn't feel like horking up multi-colored hairballs; I figured I'd leave that to the cats.




PPS: My right shoulder is really sore today. How embarrassing, on a scale of one to ten, would it be to sustain an Extreme Spit-Splicing injury and have to explain that to the nice medical professionals?

Lizard Ridge #27

Number 27 is done!

Number 28 is almost done; I hope to finish it at Knitch tonight. In other news, Needlenook has some achingly beautiful laceweight Malabrigo in the most luscious colors. Must not lose focus. I wandered into the Kureyon section there today, and realized I didn't need to buy anymore . It was the weirdest feeling. I've been in a constant state of Kureyon acquisition for a year now. Lizard Ridge, ho!

he's helping

As I've been doing all these squares, I've usually had a little bit of extra from each ball. I've saved these leftovers for no real reason (as the Yarn Harlot says, "Yarn good. Me keep yarn.") Or so I thought, until I realized I had an awful lot of leftovers. It turns out, as the fancy gram scale at work tells me, that I have enough, with Jana's generous contribution, for the last two squares. Sweet. I laid them all out yesterday to put them together into some sort of cohesive ball with non-ugly color progressions. (Purple should not come after orange.)

This

is what I was trying to do.


This is what actually happened.

Alex did not find the game as amusing as Jaymie.

more fun with coworkers, or reason #912 why BRE is the best roommate ever

I had a bad day at work the other day (because one of my idiot coworkers pointed out my belly fat and said "What's that?" What?!? Jerk.) I staggered home, complained at great length and volume to the Best Roommate Ever, and collapsed for a sanity-restoring nap. When I came down two hours later, restored to my sweet and charming self, I found this waiting for me.


Isn't she the sweetest? I don't think I've ever had a significant other, never mind a roommate, who was more thoughtful and considerate. Also, if you look closely, you will notice that she filled the cup with mint Hershey kisses, the kind you can only get at Christmas. What a doll! I love her. (No, you can't have her. She's mine! All mine!)

opinions, please!

I need opinions. You like giving opinions. This should work well.
First: the wall.


Ain't it purdy?

Now, the test.


Question: Is it wide enough? Caveats: I will be adding a border (hopefully sometime before my eventual death of old age) at least one repeat wide. Second: this is intended to be a coverlet, to go over another blanket. (Kureyon = pretty but scratchy.) So it will not be the only warmth-providing cover on my poor little sleeping form come winter. What do you think?

knit like the wind

May I present to you square #26, not yet blocked, but finished.