Yesterday afternoon I got to go and see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka Yarn Harlot, speak at the Bluegrass Festival of Books. There were knitters who traveled from Ohio and West Virginia to see her speak so I felt quite fortunate to have her within a mile of my doorstep. The talk was fabulous and afterward we knitted with Stephanie in the coffee shop downstairs. It was really fun.
I also found out that Mayfest is not next weekend like I recorded in my planner months ago. It ends up that Mayfest is in two weeks so I have a whole extra week to prepare. I am so relieved since I was really pushing getting everything done and I was planning to forego sleep to meet the deadline. Now with a whole extra week I am calm and way ahead of schedule.
Now for something fun. I saw this yarn on the Pluckyfluff site and I am completely in love with it. I have blogged about how much I enjoy her work before, but this yarn is a whole new level of fabulousness. If anyone wants to buy it for me off of ebay for me, please feel free.
4.30.2006
4.29.2006
Food glorious food
I woke up early this morning and headed downtown to the Farmers' Market. 
It is still early in the season so the market isn't quite to capacity, but it is still pretty busy. There were a lot of vendors selling plants and flowers which smelled amazing. I picked up a pint of beautiful strawberries to make a strawberry rhubarb pie, but since I ate half of them on my walk home there will be no pie.
It is still early in the season so the market isn't quite to capacity, but it is still pretty busy. There were a lot of vendors selling plants and flowers which smelled amazing. I picked up a pint of beautiful strawberries to make a strawberry rhubarb pie, but since I ate half of them on my walk home there will be no pie.The farmer’s' market is right around the corner from the public library so I stopped in to check out the Friends of the Library Book Cellar. As luck would have it, this is the weekend of their big book sale and all of the books were half price today. Paperbacks were two for a quarter so I stocked up.
I found these fabulous vintage titles to add to my collection. There were a few more that I had to leave behind because they would be too difficult to veganise. I also found the vegan guide to NYC from last year, a copy of Hoyle'’s rules of games, and Heloise from A to Z. My total spending for this morning out was under $5; an accomplishment in and of itself.
4.28.2006
Anyone up for some crafty activism?
I received this in my email today and I would like to share it with the other vegans out there.
Dear Animal Activist,
We need your help with a crafty new project! Do you (or a friend or family member) like to make quilts, sew or paint? We'’re creating a quilt in honor of the billions of sea animals who are violently killed for their flesh and the millions more who are killed and injured by recreational fishers. By creating a patch for the 'Fish Quilt,'” you can let people know that fish are intelligent individuals who suffer and feel pain, just like cats and dogs, fish don't deserve to be hooked or eaten! (Learn more about sea animals at www.FishingHurts.com.)
You don't have to be a sewing expert to participate! We just need you to use your individual creativity to convey a message of compassion. Your square should represent why you care about fish or other sea animals. It could have an image of fish, a message like 'Fish Are Friends, Not Food!'”, the story of why you stopped fishing or eating fish, or it could be a tribute to a companion fish. The possibilities are endless!
Fish Quilt Instructions:
--You can use paints, dyes, permanent markers, stencils, and iron-on transfers of photographs, plus beads, sequins or any other small object that would fit. It would be great if you could incorporate old fishing hooks and gear to make a statement against fishing! Please choose durable fabric (no paper) and materials. We can'’t accept any patch that uses materials from animals (such as leather, wool, silk, or fur). All patches that follow the guidelines will be accepted regardless of artistic ability!
--Each square must be constructed on a fabric backing and must be 18"” x 18"”, or in multiples of 18 (so if you're really ambitious, you could make a patch 18 x 36 or 36 x 36). You can also submit multiple quilt pieces. Please leave a half inch seam allowance on all edges for us to use when assembling the final quilt.
Please send us your finished patches by July 15, 2006. Everyone who makes a useable patch will be thanked on FishingHurts.com. (Of course, if you'd rather us not put your name on the site, please just let us know.) If possible, please take a nice photograph of you holding your quilt square and either include it in the package or email it to us at FishQuilt@peta.org.
Please send your finished patch(es), along with your name, address, phone, e-mail and the background story about your patch, to:
Fish Quilt Project
501 Front St.
Norfolk VA 23510
If you have questions about the project, please email FishQuilt@peta.org. Please forward this email to anyone you know who is artistic and cares about animals.
Thank you very much for your using your talents to speak out for animals!
Chris Holbein
Vegan Special Projects Coordinator
4.22.2006
New skirt
I am sorry about my lax posting over the last couple of weeks; the business stuff has taken over my life. I did manage to work in a little personal craft time on Sunday.
I made this skirt from a really ugly tapestry that I found in a discount bin at a local record store. As it turns out a really ugly wall hanging makes a really cute skirt. This is a very simple a-line skirt with an elastic waist band and it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish.
I made this skirt from a really ugly tapestry that I found in a discount bin at a local record store. As it turns out a really ugly wall hanging makes a really cute skirt. This is a very simple a-line skirt with an elastic waist band and it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish.
4.14.2006
Spring has sprung
It is now officially Spring here. We have had a lot of rain and a lot of sunshine over the past few weeks so now we have lots of flowers. Since I mover here in the late Fall, I had no idea what to expect in my yard. I am happy to say that there are some lovely treasures coming in. Below are the pictures I took before my camera battery died, I will upload some better shot a little later.
I think this is a tulip, it is the only flower of it's kind in our yard.
This is one of the blooms from the tree that shades the first flower. The entire tree is covered in these little flowers.
Next we have the little garden of tulips in the very back of our yard. These are the only flowers that look intentional. There are actually several other tulips scattered around the front and back yard in really odd places (like behind the trash bins.) I think the original gardener was a little unfocused.
Technically, I think these little purple flowers covering the floor of our backyard are weeds, but who am I to judge. We really need to mow our lawn and I just can't face the idea of cutting down all of these pretty little flowers.
More weeds, these little guys cover the floor of our front yard as well as the yards of most of our neighbors. They popped up almost a month ago, way before any other flowers.
Last, but certainly not least, is the flowering pink tree in our front yard. Our old neighborhood was full of pink and white crape myrtle trees that would bloom every Spring and Summer. It was a spectacular site. Last week I was walking around my neighborhood admiring all of the spring foliage and I suddenly started missing those crape myrtle trees. Then, on Tuesday I opened up the livingroom shades and I saw this amazing blooming pink tree in my front yard. I am not sure it is a crape myrtle, but it gives the same effect.
I think this is a tulip, it is the only flower of it's kind in our yard.
This is one of the blooms from the tree that shades the first flower. The entire tree is covered in these little flowers.
Next we have the little garden of tulips in the very back of our yard. These are the only flowers that look intentional. There are actually several other tulips scattered around the front and back yard in really odd places (like behind the trash bins.) I think the original gardener was a little unfocused.
Technically, I think these little purple flowers covering the floor of our backyard are weeds, but who am I to judge. We really need to mow our lawn and I just can't face the idea of cutting down all of these pretty little flowers.
More weeds, these little guys cover the floor of our front yard as well as the yards of most of our neighbors. They popped up almost a month ago, way before any other flowers.
Last, but certainly not least, is the flowering pink tree in our front yard. Our old neighborhood was full of pink and white crape myrtle trees that would bloom every Spring and Summer. It was a spectacular site. Last week I was walking around my neighborhood admiring all of the spring foliage and I suddenly started missing those crape myrtle trees. Then, on Tuesday I opened up the livingroom shades and I saw this amazing blooming pink tree in my front yard. I am not sure it is a crape myrtle, but it gives the same effect.
4.09.2006
I have to take a break
I woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat and since Philip has been sick since Thursday, I knew his disease was coming after me. I decided to do what I always do when I am getting sick. I took some ARA and I proceeded with my day trying to beat the disease into submission. I walked down to the farmers' market and then I went to the library to work on the business plan with Sarah. The first couple of hours were fine, but as we started the field trip portion of our planning I realized this thing was a little more powerful than me. I went home and took more ARA, but the disease beat my body into submission.
I feel horrible. I could only sleep a few hours last night because I couldn't breathe. The medicine we have doesn't really help and since both of us are sick neither of us wants to brave the real world to get new medicine. Philip is on his fourth day of illness and if he is still sick tomorrow we are both going to the doctor since I can't deal with being sick for that long. We are so sick that we have to send Astrid to Philip's parents' house because we don't have the energy to play with her and as a result she is pulling all of our snotty tissues out of the garbage and shredding them all over the house. She looks so sad, all she wants to do is play and all we want to do is sleep.
Anyway, the point of my pathetic little story is that I won't be blogging for a few days. I am just going to sleep until this nasty little thing leaves my body.
I feel horrible. I could only sleep a few hours last night because I couldn't breathe. The medicine we have doesn't really help and since both of us are sick neither of us wants to brave the real world to get new medicine. Philip is on his fourth day of illness and if he is still sick tomorrow we are both going to the doctor since I can't deal with being sick for that long. We are so sick that we have to send Astrid to Philip's parents' house because we don't have the energy to play with her and as a result she is pulling all of our snotty tissues out of the garbage and shredding them all over the house. She looks so sad, all she wants to do is play and all we want to do is sleep.
Anyway, the point of my pathetic little story is that I won't be blogging for a few days. I am just going to sleep until this nasty little thing leaves my body.
4.06.2006
Finally, a finished object
I've been so busy preparing for the summer festivals and the store, I have had very little time for crafting. I am falling behind in about everything so I am on a massive reorganization mission. Philip is planning a yard sale for next weekend so we can get rid of all of our extra crap. We went through our cds, records, and movies which resulted in a huge pile of stuff.
I finished my manos cotton popcorn headband over a week ago, but I forgot to post it. It has been warm here so I am not sure that I will get to wear it this year, but if a cool day does come by I will be ready. I am still working on the Moda Dea socks, I have been too busy to do much knitting so they are coming along very slowly.
Last weekend I went thrift store shopping with Sarabeth and we stumbled upon an antique mall that appears to be the Mecca for vintage aprons and linens. It seemed like every booth had a collection of aprons, all reasonably priced. I left with two, but I think I am going to make another trip out to get one I left behind.
The apron on the left is pink gingham (oh how I love that gingham) with crewel roses and the apron on the right is a rust flower pattern with the best pockets ever. My total for the two aprons came to $11.
I finished my manos cotton popcorn headband over a week ago, but I forgot to post it. It has been warm here so I am not sure that I will get to wear it this year, but if a cool day does come by I will be ready. I am still working on the Moda Dea socks, I have been too busy to do much knitting so they are coming along very slowly.Last weekend I went thrift store shopping with Sarabeth and we stumbled upon an antique mall that appears to be the Mecca for vintage aprons and linens. It seemed like every booth had a collection of aprons, all reasonably priced. I left with two, but I think I am going to make another trip out to get one I left behind.
The apron on the left is pink gingham (oh how I love that gingham) with crewel roses and the apron on the right is a rust flower pattern with the best pockets ever. My total for the two aprons came to $11.
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