Saturday, October 07, 2006

This and That

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted, but right now I'm between work-related shit-storms, so I've been able to take a breath, do some creative work, and catch up with myself.

Awhile back I knitted ipod "sweaters" for my daughter Allie, her boyfriend Roger, and for one of Allie's teachers. A couple of her friends recently asked if I would make them ipod sweaters too, so last weekend I whipped out two new ones for them.


This is brainless straight knitting, but the fun part is using up scraps (my true passion) and inventing a tiny thing that kind of looks like a sweater. Stripes are fun, but I also used some acrylic mohair to imitate a fuzzy sweater. The girls were really cute when they asked if they could pay me to make these for them. I said, "oh, that's okay, it only takes 20 minutes," which is not quite true, but it's fun anyway.

I finished sewing together the crazy quilt blocks I made when I cleaned out my scrap drawer. The scraps included the leftover pieces of that Alexander Henry fabric "Las Senoritas." The women look like they're peeking out from the blocks in a flirtatious way, so I've named this quilt "Las Coquetas" (the coquettes). It's 62x62 and it'll either be a lap quilt or a large tablecloth.



I had these blocks left over from when I made my Pineapple Blossom quilt, and I made them into a table runner. I love the yellow bee fabric I used for the border. Bumble bees are always so cheerful.


Allie Aller tagged me with the Five Weird Things Meme. Reading other people's responses impresses me with how so many of us are weird in similar ways. So are we weird or normal? Well, here's my list, and I'm going to stretch to dig up the Truly Weird.

1. I have a transgendered canary. I wanted one that sang and only the males sing. The woman at the shop assured me that the canary I was buying was a singer, so I brought him home and named him Pancho, after the canary my grandmother had when I was growing up. After I'd had him for a week or so and he still hadn't sung, I realized that Pancho was never going to sing because he is a she. When I told my daughter that I was thinking of taking her back back to the shop Allie said, "Mom, you have to accept her as she is." So Pancho became Pancha. I love her to death. She doesn't sing, but she has a wonderful personality and she's very beautiful.
2. I perceive personalities in birds.
3. I am so spacially challenged that I was 13 or 14 when I finally learned my left from my right.
4. I have narrow feet with high arches and so I have terrible balance and I'm very particular about shoes. I like nice-looking shoes, but I won't wear anything uncomfortable. If I find stylish shoes that are comfortable, I feel like I hit the jackpot.
5. I hate to have the sun in my face, and so if I'm outside and it's sunny, I almost always wear a hat, particularly if I'm walking. I have a black woven hat that's that's my favorite.

So, is that weird enough?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've been missed!

I love your crazy quilt. It really does look crazy! It should be a fun one to snuggle under on the couch while you are relaxing from that other life of yours!

Jane Ann said...

I've missed your posts too. And your definition of weird isn't the same as mine--you sound perfectly sane to me. (But as the joke goes, consider the source!)

I too LOVE Las Coquetas. So fun, and I love the strip-pieced band.

Anonymous said...

Wow Barbara, you really made up for being MIA!

The iPod sweaters are darling. Isn't it nice to make something for someone and have it so well received and appreciated.

I totally love Las Coquetas. It's so lively and happy--like a fiesta.

Maybe you should consider getting another canary to keep Pancha company. He could sing to her and maybe teach her a thing or two.

Good luck with the shit storm.

sophie said...

I discovered some fun (and comfortable!) shoes in Boston last week. I wore the pair I bought to work today and everyone wanted to check out their website: Conversation Shoes.

allie aller said...

Barbara, you have been busy! I too love "La Coquettas"...just so full of darling femal energy...

Keep Humboldt State Weird! Sorry about the storms at work...we have another term for them, when all kinds of bad things come together, "CF's" for short, but the first word is cluster and you can imagine the second word....

Your list is fun I especially love the personality in birds part...

Hang tough and don't go so long between posts if you can help it!

Deb Hardman said...

Welcome back.
The Las Coquetas is great, & you don't seem wierd at all!

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