Feeling crotchety

It usually happens after the holidays.  Too much of everything and then nothing much going on.  So I've decided to crochet.

 

I started this afghan several years ago.  It was going to be a gift for Big City Girl and her boyfriend.  They had just moved in together and purchased a couple of pieces of furniture, and these colors were chosen to complement the ensemble.

Then BCG and BF broke up and I'm not sure who got custody of which piece.  I lost all interest in the afghan project and it has resided in a wicker trunk until just a couple of days ago.  I decided to finish it (it wasn't too far from the end anyway).  I had to buy one more skein of yarn--the green one.  Luckily I found it (thanks, Vanna, for not retiring that color!)  And while I've been working on it I've realized it will nicely complement the new sleeper sofa we just bought for Mr. Gadget's old office in the basement.

I briefly considered making a new afghan for BCG and her current boyfriend, but I put it right out of my mind.  It might not bode well for the relationship, and I have no intention of buying a new sofa.

The end zone

Just a couple more felted things to share. These are sitting on the mantel.  They're the last of the season and I worked on them while watching football with Mr. Gadget.

I've never cared much for football.  I'm more of a baseball gal.  But I've been paying attention and I'm finally catching on.  I like watching Aaron Rodgers.  I think he's nice looking and he's smart too.  Did you see him on Jeopardy?  With his Father Know's Best sweater?  Mr. Gadget has one of those sweaters.  I like guys in FKB sweaters.

Here's a couple more things I made--long ago.  They're on the mantel too.  My mantel is over-crowded.  I can't make another thing to put there.  Well, at least not this year.

The man in the back got a little burned in the oven..heh...heh.  I'm going to have to do a little scraping and put some more cinnamon on him.  Sometimes I put these guys (I have 8) in the Christmas tree.

So I'm just about done with my Christmas preps, and I'm very happy about that.  All the crazy people are out on the road.  I should be able to finish everything right here in the comfort and safety of my own home.

I hope your end zones are in sight.  Then you can go back to the locker room, get out of those sweaty clothes and get a nice massage....

Hanging it up

No, not the blog.  Just the needle-felting.  I'm doing a little crocheting now....just to give my poking fingers a rest.  They seem to be able to hook ok.  It's just the poking they're tired of.

So before I hung up my felting needles I did a little free-spirit needling.  I grabbed some leftover fiber and let the spirit move me.

I felted a red ball and then added a snowman.  Then a few beads, and lastly a hanger.  You can never have too many ornaments.

Then I felted a green ball and added a Santa.  While I was felting I was thinking about my various doll characters (there must be more than a dozen by now) and how they might look felted onto a ball.  But no time now.  I'm on to another big project.  My Christmas poem.

I used to do a cartoon page to include with our family Christmas cards. It was fun and always well-received.  It was just my funny take on all the usual family antics.  But it didn't lend itself well to retirement.  So last year I switched to poetry.  I only have two rules:  one, it must be funny, and two, it has to rhyme.  Since I was an English major I figured it wouldn't be too difficult.  And it isn't, thanks to all the funny rhyming words I make up...

One down, two to go

My needle-felted Santa is finished.  Although, I'm hardly ever completely finished with any needle-felting project.

I might give him some gold wire glasses, and a little more hair on the side of his head.  I sewed his arms close to his body with some red sock yarn....so they wouldn't flail around.  I thought about creating something for him to hold, but maybe next year.  I was ready to be done.

Now I'll take on number two of three--the paper machine Santa.  He just needs paint.  I'm also working on some cute felted ornaments.  Just something I thought up.  I worked on them during today's senior center knitting group and the ladies really liked them.  I'll show you next time.

Primitive Santa might have to wait till next year.  I think I'm all Santa-ed out.

Swimming lessons

I'm not a very adventurous gal. I usually just put my big toe in the water so I'm sure not to get in over my head. But when it comes to crafty projects, I always jump right in the deep water without my swimmies.

So I started this big needle-felted Santa a few months ago, thinking I might put him in a craft show. I sewed a cone shape out of an old red sweater and stuffed it to use as the base.  No sense using up precious felting fiber for his internal organs.

Now that it's almost Christmas--and his season to shine--I've decided to finish him and keep him for myself....at least for this year.  I'm embellishing him with embroidery and will add some beads.  I have a fabric Santa I made several years ago that I never took a shine to, but he has an excellent beard.  So a transplant is in order. He should look rather dapper when he's done, so stay tuned.

I have a couple more Santas here in the Treehouse that are in various stages of doneness.  I had hoped to put them in the craft show, but realized very soon that my Christmas plate was already piled pretty high and there would always be next year.

One is this paper mache guy.  I noticed rather late in the game that his big sack of toys seemed to defy gravity, so I took a chisel to him and balanced things out.  Then I had to add more clay and repaint, and, well, I just put him on the time-out shelf.

This one will be a primitive Santa.  He needs more work.  He's a little unbalanced too.  I don't think he needs a psychiatrist; a few more beans in his butt should do the trick.

The house decorating will begin this weekend.  Mr. Gadget has hauled the tree upstairs along with the boxes of ornaments.  We will both assemble the tree, I will fluff it, he will string the lights, and I will decorate it.....while trying not to block his view of the football game.  We are well entrenched in our traditions.

"You can skip my house this year Santa!"

I think I may have over-Santaclaused and it's not even December yet.  That big red suit hurts my eyes and that constant ho-ho-ho-ing is making me edgy. Forget about the reindeer!  They're cute and all, but they don't smell good.

 

I should have some good recoop time now though, since this whole gaggle was deposited this morning at the old hotel for the holiday craft show. The ladies who checked me in were doing a little ho-ho-ho-ing themselves when they saw what I brought.  "Oh, this will go, and that will go!"  they exclaimed.  "You won't have anything to take back home!"  They're always so kind.  

"And by the way," they added, "you should bring more felted pumpkins next year."  There's a lady, they said, who comes to the fall show as soon as it opens and walks around gathering up my pumpkins.

When I got to the bee ornaments, they really started buzzing.

 I found some in my craft closet (when I was cleaning it out for the hosing).  I scribbled them in on the bottom of my inventory sheet.  "Oh, those will fly right out the door!" said my ever-so-perky cheerleaders. I considered returning home to scrounge around for more junk, I mean artful creations, since they were in such a receptive mood and all, but the traffic was thickening up.

Meanwhile, I'm going to stay in the house for the next few weeks which should pretty much eliminate any chances of further Santa sightings.  As Christmas approaches I may even put some yellow police tape across the chimney.

"It's always somethin'...."

....as Gilda used to say.

Last winter our Concondo complex

had a big problem with ice damming.

I can't exactly explain that to you,

but let's just say that snow on the roofs

began melting into the units.

Not ours, fortunately, but many.

The damage has been fixed,

and now the prevention measures

are being taken.

This means that on Tuesday

I must have my Treehouse closet

empty and free so that workmen

can get inside

and shoot an insulation-filled hose

up into our attic which is only

accessible from there.

So Mr. Gadget--gotta love him-- has

been encouraging me today

to get an early start.

I have no idea where he actually keeps his

cattle prod, but it's always within

easy reach at times like this.

It will all be worth it, I'm sure, because

we'll likely have no ice-damming problems

just like last year.

So, one more thing from the cruise,

with the exception

of Halloween costume pictures which will be

forthcoming, it's always interesting

to notice what people wear on cruises.

These happy ladies were

all adorned in black and white stripes

at the sail-away party.

I have no idea if it was pre-planned

or just an amazing coincidence.

Maybe they had the Halloween date wrong.

With any luck, I'll be back with more

Halloween pictures

 before the hose gets me.

 



Hog heaven

Mr. Gadget and I are just back from a cruise.

We sailed from New York City

and passed under the Verrazano Bridge--

with barely any room to spare.

The weather was warm.

The seas were smooth.

The scenery was lovely.

The desserts were delish!

The Halloween celebration was spooky!

But not all was bliss.

Meet the......

They were onboard in record numbers.

They're the pesky little piggies

who plant their towels, books, bags,

sunglasses, and other place-saving devices

on deck chairs almost before dawn.

Some save more than one--

a shade chair and a sun chair.

Others save chairs for their

entire extended family.

Mr. Gadget and I are already planning

activities for our next cruise.

We'll have a big ol' pig roast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Goodness gracious great balls of fiber

I made a last-minute trip to Rhinebeck, NY

yesterday for the last day of the

New York Sheep & Wool Festival.

There were snow flurries,

and fiber as big as soccer balls.

I should be well-stocked now

for next year's felting projects.

2016 might be an all-felt year

since cloth and clay dolls seem to be

falling out of favor.

Maybe I've saturated my little corner

of the market.

All is not lost however.

The condo is decorated with

witches galore.

There are always plenty of fun sights

at a fiber festival.

Hats and scarves, and

people dressed head to toe

in whatever they've knitted.

This year the funniest sight

had to be these guys.

Gotta love how they're all

working the foot pedals in their

stocking feet with big ol' work boots

neatly put to the side.

It was an entertaining day--

not to mention a very cold one.

A great day, in fact, to dress

like a sheep.

 

 

Eyes been busy!

I now have two new eyes.

Both cataract surgeries were

successful and easy.

Except for the darn drops

that seem to go on forever.

I have a good Drop Manager.

In fact, I've just promoted him to

Vice President of Drops.

I finished some crafty things

for the Columbus weekend show and

delivered them to the old hotel.

Friday night I attended the

gala opening party

and hobnobbed with some

 other artsy folks.

It's a perfect weekend for

craft shows.

Sunny, pleasant temps, and lots of

trees wearing colors.

Now I'm working on 

Christmas and winter things.

Dolls, ornaments, and

whatnot.

 

Mr. Gadget and I are doing

more downsizing.

Before moving from our house

to the condo

almost 7 years ago...

we thought we had completed

that task.

But no.

More has accumulated.

 

My Treehouse has overgrown.

Vines and thickets and unruly things.

I need to do some weeding.

But I'm not a gardener.

Maybe I could hire someone.

Perhaps a tree service?

 

And now that I have new eyes

I seem to have dust bunnies

everywhere.

They must have heard

I'd be out having

some procedures

and decided to form

a welcoming committee.

 

 

 



One pumpkin and a couple of traffic cones

(First, just a short note to blog reader Nancy Anne.  Would you please email me?  The link in your comment didn't work.  Thanks!)

So, work in the Treehouse has slowed to about 20 mph. That's because a few days ago I had cataract surgery.  I was pretty sure it would be a piece of cake. I'd just scarf it down without lingering at the table--especially if it was chocolate.  Instead, it was more like prune pie. There was no pain I'm happy to report, but fuzzy vision has been slow to go.

As I explained it to Big City Girl the procedure is kinda like road work.  First they bring in the mini-jackhammer to break up the pavement.  Then they shovel out the chunks.   Next is the repaving process, and finally they hose down the construction site drop-by-drop.

In my case, the pavement was well-entrenched, so the jackhammering took a while.  That put extra pressure on my cornea and caused more-than-normal swelling.  More hosing down is helping but it's slow.  I guess the road crew didn't know I have dolls to finish and a deadline to meet.

I was very wise before this project got underway. I hired a good staff to help out.  Mr. Gadget agreed to be my chauffeur.  And he seemed delighted to accept the role of Manager of Drops. The manager position entails a great deal of responsibility. He must keep track of 5 different bottles of drops and then corral me at the proper times to drop them in.  

I've been helping to. I take my part very seriously.  I stand by the side of the road and take endless coffee breaks. Did you know you can rest a cup of coffee on one of those orange barricades? It's like they were made for it. Oh, and I'm diligent about wearing my hard hat.

In two weeks we'll be doing this all over again. By then we should have the bulldozer well-oiled and running like a clock.

Limerick Thursday

Witch Winnie is quite fond of her name,

but that wart on her chin is a pain.

"Please doc," she pleaded, "can't you operate?"

"No! I've too many surgeries on my plate."

So she torched it with a can of butane.

Working the holiday

Mr. Gadget and I are back in the Concondo after a nice, hot, busy two-month stay on the west coast.  Although I do enjoy our travels, I'm always happy to get back to the Treehouse and my projects.  This Labor Day weekend I'm laboring on witch dolls. I'm going to have quite a few to deliver to the old hotel for their fall show.

I've been giving thought to slowing down on my craft production next year.  Maybe just do one show instead of two.  Maybe do more writing.  Maybe write my memoirs.  I've been making dolls since the early 1990's--right after I shared a craft table with a friend.  She made a few hundred dollars on her dolls and I sold one lousy appliqued sweatshirt.  Duh. That was a no-brainer.

Now I've come up with a new doll idea.  Every year I make dolls from patterns I've used repeatedly, but I always branch out and design a couple of new ones.  Some sell, some don't, but I enjoy the challenge.

The new pattern idea is a witch--a primitive witch--and I can see some potential for making other characters. A chef maybe.  A Santa probably. Quite possibly most of the characters I've made with my other patterns.  So I may just slow down some, but not too much.  You know how much I like to make stuff.

So, the month ahead will be a busy one for me.  Witch production will continue, and next week I'm having the first of two cataract surgeries.  The second surgery will be two weeks later.  And then on Oct. 3, I'll be taking the train to NYC to meet up with Big City Girl.  We're going to see a puppet show!

Oh, remember the little clay earthquake bird I made and left on a bookshelf at the Calcondo?  It's been replaced by an earthquake ladybug.  She sits on the rock wall just outside of the front door.  I figure it's going to take about a six-point-o to knock this little gal off her perch.

Eclecticollection

Ya got that?  Sometimes I spend more time thinking up blog post titles than I do writing the thing.

I've been busy working on stuff.  And I've been doodling in my sketchbook at odd moments of inactivity.  I make  sketches with my black pen. That's fun, but not as much fun as the coloring part....wherein I enter a calming zen-ness of sorts.

I finished the red-felted bead necklace and posed it on the fig tree with one of my favorite jackets.

I'm pleased with it and will give it a test run one of these days.  A very nice saleslady at Michael's helped me select the hardware I needed to put it together.  Very simple.

Here's the Mona Lisa, I mean a homely witch with her clay face all dry and ready for paint.  Hat, clothes, and body parts will come later.

Here's a needle-felted Santa in progress (about 5-6" tall).  The eclecticollection requires me to wash my hands a lot.  And whenever I go for a pedicure and the nice Asian lady asked me if I want a manicure too, I always say, "No thanks. I'd have to come back tomorrow."  Which would be fine with her I'm sure.

Here's a sketch of another work-in-progress.  I made a paper machine pumpkin, and am working on a paperclay witch that will sit atop.  She's in a time-out at the moment until I can figure out how to make her hands so they won't break off.  I think I have an idea so I'll give it a go later today.

And then there's been the sketching and coloring I mentioned earlier.  Here's a sample:

I guess you could say I'm elbow-deep in one big creativextravaganza.

A doodle slug

My first thought when I opened up this page to write was to tell you what a slug I've been.  Sitting on the couch, sitting on the patio, sitting on the beach, sitting in restaurants eating lemon meringue pie....  But then I realized I haven't been a complete slug.  I've been doodling.

A few months ago I bought a lovely blank book at Home Goods (who knew they sold such things?).  I had no immediate plans to start an art journal thingy, but I couldn't pass it up for five bucks and I thought maybe I would start doodling at some future time.  Maybe when I was 70.

Just ignore those reflections.....it's not a lightening bolt from the heavens. It's just sun coming through the fence.  My photo skills are not my forte. The light was better outside, and I was able to avoid the question that Mr. Gadget was sure to ask from his perch on the couch: "What are you up to?"

At first I wasn't sure I'd be able to come up with ideas for things to draw.  But so far that hasn't been the case.  The sillier the ideas, the more they seem to flow right into my head.  

It's an evolving project and one I'm enjoying more than I expected to. This morning on a trip to the library I found a book on whimsical lettering that should nicely complement the whole silliness theme.

Meanwhile, I have some dolls underway.....a standing witch doll, and a couple of witch heads out of clay that will get their bodies when I'm back in the Treehouse.  I haven't mentioned that I'll be having cataract surgery in Sept.  It's time, and I'm looking forward to seeing better.  It's all part of being a 70-year-old doodle slug.

I have an excuse.....

....for being away from the blog.

Mr. G. and I made the trip to the Calcondo.

Soon many relatives arrived.

We entertained them.

We took them to the beach.

We provided airport shuttle service.

We did laundry.

I celebrated a big birthday.

On my official birth date.

I ate lemon meringue pie.

Several times.

(Why are my pants tight?)

Anyway, here I am

with nothing but time to blog

and make things.

 

  A needle-felted Santa.

Beard fiber is at the Concondo

and will be installed later.

 

Some needle-felted beads.

Just wanted to try them.

Need to get necklace fixings.

 

Some embroidery

on my hand-me-down

iPad case.....

to tide me over till I can

make a more artistic one.

 

A journal of daily doodles.

 

I have more projects planned.

Too many to finish in

the life I have left. 

But I will try.

So I'd better get started....