K: 2011

some old pictures

Tomato slicer! (in my kitchen, Minneapolis)

Grandmas backyard in Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa snail.

Huge clouds and rain out of nowhere in Santa Rosa.

Drive back from West Virgina rainbow.

I have been knitting so much lately. Many projects get started and I mess it all up and have to pull the whole project apart. I am getting better at my patience and (drum roll please...) I am reading and following knitting patterns! I am learning and doing things like PPSO and using a kitcheners stitch! I take breaks every few rows and doodle a bit (the pictures above).
These people below live on my window. They are old and I think a dog used to chew on some of them... or maybe they were makeshift doorjambs. Someday I would like to make sets of people like this, maybe some animals too.

mittens

This is a pair of child size mittens I found at steeple people for something like $1. I wish they were bigger; they seem like a perfect pair of mittens.

I have finally caught the knitting bug. I made a hat last Sunday. I forgot to take pictures before giving it to the head it was made for. I will try and get some. I think it turned out pretty well.

This last week I have spent hours looking through books and browsing the internet for a good simple basic knitting pattern for mittens, the simple mittens I want. I want to make a pair of mittens that are like the mittens I draw (minus the idiot string).

I found a pattern. I never use patterns. They kind of freak me out. I read it (super easy) and understood it, then... of course... I made changes. I did not like the changes I made and read part of it wrong. That is why this is a test mitten. I kept the things I didn't like.

I decided the next day I was ready to start making my first version of the 'perfect mittens'. They are red, then 'fisherman' yarn long cuffs with a blue boarder. I (like a dumbie) didn't follow the pattern exactly, again. I realize what was needed that I tried to sneak past, and what I followed that I will change. The other half of the pair of mittens will have my changes/fixes. I am sure they will look the same, but I think it will make a difference.

When I am done knitting these, I plan on shaping them to my hands by wearing them in some warm water and swooshing them around. They are made of wool, so I think that should work. Last winter I bought some leather pieces for sewing onto mitten palms. I will sew those onto these mittens and I think they will be pretty awesome.

I think the second version of these mittens will be knit with smaller needles. The ones I am working on are size 4 and 5. I would like to do 2 and 3 if I have the patience. I would like them to be a little more interesting but still very basic. Cables are an idea. Seed stitch always has my heart though. Maybe they will look something like these mittens but with a much longer cuff.

old and creepy (cute!)

I don't remember how or where I found this picture online, but I love it. It generally is my desktop image. Who are these kids? How old are they now? Are they still alive even? What the heck is this for even? Easter, Halloween, a play? So many questions, so many stories to make up.

So recently I found out about this artist Paul Chiappe. He draws tiny pictures that look like vintage photos. Here is one of them...

Woah.

Hello December!

almost december

We're supposed to get some snow tonight. I sure hope so!

symmetry in science

Sometimes I fall asleep listening to podcasts. I was listening to a Radiolab episode the other night, Desperately Seeking Symmetry. Then the next day, I came across this educational website for kids. Funny how that works.

Here is the Radiolab show. Pretty neat stuff.

These are pictures I got at diggers a long long long time ago. What is this fun group drawing event on a deck... with a beautiful dog?! What is that kid going as for halloween (see the skeleton tacked on the wall....)? The pictures aren't that great, but you wouldn't know that until you got your pictures back a week or so later!

Oh, technology. I like you alright. I miss simpler times. I like sturdy things built to last, like shelves and phones and sewing machines and clothing. oh fooey. oh well.

There are some of the comic book characters. It's that girl with the braids from before. I knew she would be hanging around for awhile. Her name is Kirby. I am super excited. Things are being drawn. It's coming together. I cannot wait to get together with the other contributor(s) and start to see it all really take form. Issue #1... we are close!

Last week I met my friend after her first day of school. I walked home with her, helping carry massive amounts of fancy hair school utensils, talking about recent happenings and taking in the sights of the neighborhood. I found this 2nd perfect leaf of the season on that walk. I put it in my small sketchbook and the tips of the top got broken off in my bag. Still near perfect.

Let's Go!

I came across a website that had lots funny things to say when you are leaving. Maybe funny isn't the right word. I think they are funny.

Here are some of them...

Let's:

...make like a tree and leave.
...make like a shepherd and get the flock outta here.
...make like a bird and flock off
...make like horse sh!t and hit the trail.
...make like a banana and split.
...make like a missile and cruise.
...make like a baby and head out.
...make like a hockey player and get the puck out of here.
...make like a drummer and beat it.
...make like a bee and buzz off.
...make like Diarrhea and run
...make like a tire and hit the road
...make like a busboy and get the fork out of here.
...make like a strawberry and jam.
...make like traffic and jam.
...make like stockings and run.
...make like a bakery truck and haul buns outta' here.
...make like the devil and get the hell out of here.
...make like a banana in the presence of ice cream and split
...make like an amoeba and split...!
...make like the wind and blow.
...make like a tomato and Ketch-up.
...make like lightning and bolt.
...make like a hippy and blow this place.
...make like a Hewlett Packard Laser Printer and jet.
...make like a jacket and zip.
...make like a magnet and flux off.
...make like Levi's and fade away.
...make like a bowel, and move.
...make like a tie and hang around some more.
...make like a botanist and leaf.
...make like a dog and flea.
...make like Houdini and disappear
...make like data and move
...make like a football and kickoff
...make like a jet and zoom.
...make like an airplane and take off.
...make like a hat and go on ahead.
...make like an atom and split.
...make like The Exorcist and get the hell outta here.

fall fall fall

Fall is coming along nicely.

For the first time in my life since I was 16, I have scheduled Sundays off. This last Sunday I went to the Minneapolis Indie Xpo. It was quite overwhelming, but totally awesome and inspiring! Jessie and I are making a comic book. We started it Sunday evening at her amazing house (with kittens! Eeeeeeeee!) and worked on it more at the amazing Oakland Avenue Earth Oven Pizza.

Tonight I went to a clothing swap. It was a lot of fun. My favorite 2 year old best friend was there. I walked them home when they left (no stroller riding for that napless lady), I found this leaf while walking. It seemed to be the perfect fall leaf today.

.n.o.v.e.m.b.e.r.

I don't know why, but lately I have been really into drawing this girl with Pippi style hair and hollow eyes. Watch out, she is going to be on like everything I make soon. That's an exaggeration. She will be around though.

home on halloween weekend.

I have had plans the last few nights. I have plans for the next two. Tonight was my ME night of staying in. I did 2 loads of laundry and made some awesome stew/soup stuff. When I was taking laundry out of my apartment My neighbor and his friends were leaving. I was in my staying in clothes... blue hoodie, jeans, weird slippers, hair in a messy bun on top of my head. They were all in very well planned out time spent awesome costumes. One of them said "Hey, it's hallowen" I replied 'I know, I am staying home and doing laundry".

TONIGHTS SOUP.

1. red kuri squahs. cubed. keep skin on (if not waxed. do people still sell waxed squash?)
2. one regular size onion or 2 itty bity ones
3. half a bulb or garlic or a generous squeeze from a tube of garlic paste (not in a jar!)
4. berbere seasoning (I know you can get it in bulk at the wedge and the seward co-ops)
5. half a head of cauliflower
6. better than bullion, vegetable base
7. water
8. can of coconut milk
9. peanut butter (about 6 ounces)
10. raw blanched peanuts
11. sriracha
12. parmesan cheese (12.B - plain yogurt, 12.C - nutritional yeast, 12.D - silken tofu)

A. good knife
B. masher
C. stirring spoon
D. pot with a snug lid
E. stove top (and oven if you want to roast the seeds)
F. sink
G. eatin bowl
H. eatin spoon

cut squash in half, clean out guts (I find that a grapefruit knife works perfectly), cube
place squash cubes in a pot with about 1 and a half inches of water
heat
add berbere seasoning stir, cover, wait about 15 minutes
mash squash with masher
add cut up cauliflower
mash
add cut up onions
add bullion paste stuff
cover and cook about 10 minutes
add can of coconut milk and garlic paste, stir stir stir
add peanut butter, stir stir stir stir stir stir
add raw peanuts, cover, turn off heat let sit over 10 minutes
add extra(s). cilantro, scallions, diakon radish sprouts, (un)salted roasted peanuts, shredded cabbage, shredded lettuce, whatever sounds good...

This is part of a drawing I made. It has the whole alphabet in cursive rows across the page. One letter at a time. It took way longer than I anticipated. The finished drawing has a hat, sweater, mittens and socks. So many tiny lines...

This is Elna. She is my new to me sewing machine. The flat base makes her quiet. This machine is cute. The spots to oil are marked with red paint. This machine is very smooth. I no longer worry about sewing after 10 pm. That is the sears machine behind her. I am always skeptical and so the sears stayed on the table for the first week, just in case. The sears has the "straight stretch" stitch. For that reason alone, I do not want to part with it. If you know of a cam that allows the elna to make that magic, let me know.

My crocheted jersey knit sheet rug. DONE, for now. It is about 5 feet 9 inches in diameter!

Backgammon is a fun game to play. It also is a really really cute game, in my opinion. The board looks like it has bunting along the edges. I was pretending that the goal was to get all my friends to my party and then jump into the ocean to go swimming. Nobody can go swimming until everyone is at the party. The problem is that friends stray and get caught and have to sit on a wall until the dice say it's ok to come back. On one of the white checkers, I drew a happy face. That made the game that much sweeter.