And Duster Makes Three

I’ve added a new pattern to the Patterns page: the Biffer Duster Wig.  This rounds out my Cotton Cleaners collection.  I’ve been a little slow getting that one up, but I hope you enjoy it!  As with the other patterns I have listed there, please let me know if you find any boo-boos, I’ve tried to make everything as clear as possible but new eyes see new things…

Biffer Duster Wig

Speaking of new things, as we drove up into our courtyard after some running around in the really-really-too-hot-to-be-outside weather, the sugar daddy looked out his window and under the lime tree and exclaimed, “Oh!  It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever SEEN!!  Little poo-poos with their little pee-pees!!”.  I’m pretty sure he was pretending to be all THAT “squee” about it…but after seeing what all the fuss was about myself, I really went over the top with all the gooshy exclamations of my own.  Look for yourself:

Oh.  MY.  I don’t think I can convey to you the true extent of the sugary sweetness that POURED out of my mouth when I saw these little darlings.  There were eight of them and they were no more than an inch high.  They scurried just as fast as their little legs would take them, stumbling and tripping and falling over onto their sides.  Oh!  It was just more preciousness than my heart could possibly stand.  Really.  ReallyReally. 

How I talk to my kitty, Bella, had NOTHING on this…

ETA:  ooo, in all my gushy-mushy-smoopsy-woopsy blabberings I didn’t even mention what those little pookies are!  Thanks for the question, Stacey, they are quail.  :)

A New Look!

So, a gave my shop and blog a little facelift.  What do you think?  I’ve never really done much banner making in the past, other than taking a picture and cropping it to size and sticking it up there, so I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with my end result.  I want to be sure to give props to Squidfingers and Textura for their texture and pattern offerings, that really opens up a whole new world!

And while you’re in an admiring mood, go check out the banner in my BFF’s new shop as well…it will be packed full of the most rockingest photographs you’ve ever seen and you can decorate your very own home with them!  I’ve already placed MY order…go check out her Flickr to see the ones that will be going up.

I’ve been spinning away over here, preparing for the Knit Retreat and for my shop update the following week…no peeksies though, I’m keeping it all under wraps until after the Retreat.  If you’d like to be added to my shop update email list and be notified when I update, send me your email address through the Contact Me page up there at the top of the blog.

Later gators!

a lineup

just wanted to showcase a bit of my spinning fare for those of you NOT on Ravelry…

100% superwash merino. kettle-dyed single ply. sport-ish weight.
100% merino. 2-ply. super bulky weight.

Recycled denim cotton, plied with a dark blue thread. sport-ish weight.

Superwash Merino. handpainted (not by me) and plied with a white thread. fingering weight.

and then also, my new project bag! it’s about the size of a tissue box, and perfect for a couple balls of yarn and a work-in-progress. i MAAAAAADE it! i allowed myself a very large pat on the back after this. :)

so yeah. i’ve been pretty much consumed by yarn and fiber lately….how’s the outside world doing?

incriminating…

helpful hint: if you’re going to claim that you didn’t do something, it probably isn’t a good idea to write your name at the crime scene…

so, THAT little incident aside, here’s what’s been getting done over here at Chez Gherkin:

gherkin and the cornichon stamped Christmas cards…

and the the gherkin spent two days baking Christmas goodies…(that sampler platter in the front is going to my knit grrrrls on thursday…they know i luff them!)

peanut brittle (3 pounds):

pappatate, an italian chocolate spice cookie (8 dozen):

double chocolate walnut cookies (6 dozen):

toffee shortbread (4 dozen):

and date nut cakes (6 mini bundts):
whew! i’m tired.

martha stewart, i am not

it hurts to stab your fingertip with a needle, but you know what hurts worse than that shiny, sharp tip?? stabbing your fingertip with the BACK end of the needle.

i seriously need to just buy a thimble.

ow, my scrolling finger!

Halloween is over

i particularly like how the mold grew into the shape of the potato-head nose and mouth pieces.

where i’ve been, and what i’ve been doing…

well, sorry y’all for my absence over these past couple of months. i’ve, like i said, got a TON of pictures for you. i was able to get them onto hubby’s computer. i still have yet to take my computer someplace to get it looked at. we think it’s a software as opposed to hardware problem.

anyway, here are some handicraft (no, not handicapped!) pics for you:

Here is a pic of a baby blanket i made for a friend’s baby shower. the slit you see is to thread the car seat harness through so baby won’t kick the blanket out of the car seat onto the ground. see inspirational pattern here. my version is worked to you do not need to break the yarn in order to create the hole; i also picked a cute stitch to use throughout, kind of a slanty shell stitch. the outer border is done in a cream, satiny yarn.

This is a sachet i made for my grandma; it’s stuffed with dried lavender flowers that are held in by a iridescent green tulle-type material. i hand sewed the tulle, for fear of the sewing machine. used this pattern, and simply sewed a tulle triangle to put inside and stuffed that with dried lavender.

This is a make-up bag i made for miss jamie for her birthday. the light green stripes are made from a cashmere-wool blend yarn that i recycled from a sweater, woot! inspirational pattern here, i only changed the colors and the flower adornment, and used the plastic fabric to line it instead of regular fabric.

and the coolest part is that i lined it with a plastic, waterproof fabric made by fusing layers of plastic shopping bags into a durable material. i am also very pround of my very first zipper installation.

And my latest love is my new mesh shopping bag. i took it out for a spin to my local Sprouts, and my normal, five-bag shopping trip was all brought home in my one, pretty, reusable tote. pattern is one i found online and then saved to my hard drive…i can’t figure out where i got it…

for the record, it held two, one-pound clamshells of strawberries, half a pound of lunchmeat, a package of crackers, a pound of fresh brussels sprouts, seven kiwi fruit, a head of romaine lettuce, a medium eggplant, a large red bell pepper, five onions, two avocados, and a wedge of brie cheese. and no, it didnt hurt my shoulder a bit!

ETA: I’ve decided that this pattern needs a tweak, so once i make the next one with the change i have in mind, i will post what i did.

well, this is about all i can handle for now as far as a post is concerned. i have plenty more pictures though, of a camping trip, a kitty haircut, and a lemony birthday, so stay tuned!

The Great Suburban Showdown

some pics from my suburban life.

brad’s bday cakes:

an angel food cake (on my new cakestand, yay!)and a yellow sponge cake to use up all the yolks from making the angel food cake
verdict: angel food cake = yum!; yellow sponge cake = ick! the sponge cake fell in the center…that is the first time that has ever happened to me. i kind of didn’t believe that actually happened, but there it was.

new storage boxes for the craft room:

and the steadily growing yarn collection (the sweaters you see in there are waiting to be deconstructed and their yarn recycled into other items):
of course, sometimes i actually use some of the yarn. like this kitty placemat made with cotton yarn:

and i also made a cotton dish “sponge”. the nice thing about this is that you can just toss it in the washing machine with the dishtowels and voila, a fresh sponge! look jamie, i made something that reduces landfill waste!

and here is a praying mantis that adopted us for a few weeks. i kept seeing him around different areas in the backyard.
sorry for the absence…i’ll try to do better in the future. :)

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Last of the Big Time Spenders

AKA: Our Ikea trip.

ACK!

so, when you only go to Ikea like once every three years, you tend to overspend when you get there, knowing that it may very well be another three years before you go back.

we were able to get curtains for all our windows downstairs (which is a HUGE accomplishment), but somehow got the wrong length rods so i dont have pics just yet. we also found some glass jars for my bathroom, which i’ve been looking for for a while now, everything i found had silver lids, and i didnt want anything but GLASS. I love them. just for reference, the large one is FIVE quarts! the two smaller ones are two quarts each. so, not small by any means…
also, and i am SUPER excited about this, we got cube bookcases for the spare room next to bryce’s so i can put all of my yarn stash in them! SQUEEEEEEE!!!!
this is them empty (duh), but they’ve already got stuff in them now, haha! we were originally going to do something built in, but after the townhouse work (remember the thing we were flipping months and months ago? yeah. it has SUCKED), buying something just sounded SO much nicer. and i think these will work out great, i’ve already put all the sweaters brad bought me to deconstruct in there, as well as a couple bags of yarn that had just been living in plastic bags because my under-the-bed-storage box and entertainment center drawer are already packed full. and i also had room on the right side of the big one to put my new dressform. yay!

now all i need is some spare time, and i’ll be ready to get down to business again!