Gifts for Others

I already blogged about the Minecraft quilt for Beadboy2.  I also made a scarf for Beadboy1 (crochet, this time; no more knitting for me!):

And a Flash t-shirt for Beadboy3 (which, within an hour of being put on, got covered in blue paint,  hot cocoa, and who knows what else):

It's not Christmas if I don't stitch something for my mom:

The pattern is from Better Homes & Gardens's Christmas Quilts & More. I simplified the design somewhat, used several colors of thread, and trimmed the dishcloth in a holly print fabric.

Happy New Year!

Finished!

Beadboy2 knows it's coming, but I hope he enjoys it.

As with Beadboy1's quilt, it was quilted by Susan Woods of Valentine Quiltworks, and again she did a fabulous job.

Two done, one to go! But I kind of want to take a break from such massive projects.

Advent Blog Hop Day 19

Greetings, blog-hoppers! It's time for Jo's annual Advent Blog Hop.

As is usual for this time of year, I'm focused on finishing some handcrafted gifts, so I haven't had as much time to stitch. I did finish a pillow, using Jedi Craft Girl's adaptable "I Love Cats" pattern:

My quilting is not great, probably because I didn't use a hoop (the small size of the project and the decision to use perle cotton size 5 tricked me into thinking it wouldn't be necessary).

I also made a couple of felt ornaments by Betz White. A Christmas pie (kind of liked what I baked for Thanksgiving!):

A festive llama, using DMC's new, sparkly Mouliné Étoile threads which I received as a birthday present:

I have done a bit of cross stitching, specifically StitchyFish Design's "Partridge in a Pear Tree" pattern from the 2018 Christmas Ornaments:

 It's working up quickly, and I hope to finish it after the 25th.

Jo asked us to pick a favorite holiday song, and hoo boy is that tough. So I'm picking three!

One of my favorite religious songs:


One of my favorite secular songs:


One of my favorite Puerto Rican songs:


I hope you all have a lovely, peaceful holiday!

Book Round-Up

Hooked on Murder by Betty Hechtman: I'm annoyed I spent money on this, rather than getting it from the library; it really wasn't very good. It's the first in yet another series of crafty cozy mysteries, this time centered around crochet. The mystery itself was fine, but the characters were terrible. I think the author was going for "flawed and relatable," but really they were just selfish, petty, and materialistic.

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link: her latest story collection, most of which have been published before. Link is one of my absolute favorite writers, and this did not disappoint. Her stories cover everything from space ships to superheroes to elves to futuristic technology, but linking (ha) all of them is the humanity of the characters. Whether you are in a pocket universe or a magical house, love, loss, pain, loneliness, and yearning are always there.

Possession by A.S. Byatt: Every time I read this book I find something new to focus on. This time around it's the use of color and Byatt's insight into people, and all the various ways we try to possess one another (get it?). This is one of the most intelligent, romantic, fascinating books I've ever read, and I can't get enough of it.

Granny Square Fingerless Mitts

Now that I've joined the ranks of the smart-phone using, I needed gloves that are touch-screen compatible. Which means I also needed fingerless mittens/gloves/what-have-yous to keep my hands warm on my cold commute. I looked at some patterns on pinterest, but they seemed beyond my abilities, especially the ones that make actual little tubes for one's digits. Granny squares, on the other hand, I can do, and Annie's A Granny Square Christmas had the perfect pattern:

The pattern may have been super easy (make two squares, so them together leaving a gap for the thumb, crochet a few more rows above and below), but it took me forever to pick out the yarn -- at least three colors, worsted weight, same material, preferably from my stash. I didn't succeed, and used yarn of two different weights in three different fibers (don't tell the Crochet Police! Or my aunt, the self-described "yarn snob"!)

I love granny squares. I'm itching to sew together these into a pillow top, and I want to buy some nice cotton yarn in, say, five colors, to make a sampler, but I'll wait until the new year; I'm way behind in my Christmas projects.

A Novel Use for Thread Ends

And an idea I shamelessly stole from the MOFA's group on facebook:

I had a little tube left over from a Blueberry Cove Beads box, so I stuffed it with purple, fuchsia, and gold thread snippets.

While I was gluing the lid, I decided to knock a super easy project off my to-do list: gluing ear posts to the backs of metal buttons.

Lately I'm loving antique brass findings -- a nice change of pace from silver, and less flashy than gold.

Gobble Gobble!

Beadboy3 asked me to make him a "Thanksgiving decoration," and he asked so sweetly I made him this little turkey:

He insisted on bringing it to school the next day, and when he came home the poor turkey looked like this:

Gobbles, the physically challenged turkey

Sigh.

The Peacock Love Continues

Not content to stop with earrings, I dug out a cross-stitch peacock I made years ago (from the defunct, British Needlecraft magazine):

And here's a freebie kit from the same publication:

But why stop at two? I stitched this peacock last week, from a larger design in Anna Maria Horner's Needleworks Notebook:

From Anna Maria Horner's Needlework Notebook

And, since it's November, I'm stitching The Snowflower Diaries' "Joyful World" for the month:

My goal is to eventually create a sampler.

Getting it in Under the Wire

No school today, which meant no work, so I took the opportunity to sew on the borders to the Minecraft quilt:

Woohoo, done! Well, I still have to mail it to the quilter, and soon. And when I get it back, make binding strips from the rest of the dark grey fabric and sew it on. But still: almost there!

Book Round-Up: Spooky Edition

The Bone Key by Sarah Monette: A collection of stories in the style of H.P. Lovecraft, minus the racism, sexism, and nihilism. They center around an intelligent, introverted, snobbish loner, whose job as an archivist at a New England museum puts him into contact with all sorts of mysterious, dangerous artifacts. The stories are chilling and poignant, just what I was looking for. I hope Monette writes more.

The Casebook of Newberry and Hobbes by George Mann: a collection of short stories involving the characters from Mann's Sherlockian, steampunky novels. In general I enjoyed the stories, but I found the writing to be repetitive, and I'm getting sick of brilliant, somewhat jerky, bon vivant-types.

The Poetical Works of Christina Rossetti: I picked this up to read "The Goblin Market," a romantic fairy tale with creepy undertones, but i enjoyed several other poems, too (I didn't read all). The short biography by her brother was enlightening, and gave much insight into her character and beliefs.

The Gobins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle: A modern retelling of "The Goblin Market," set in Puget Sound and with a couple of romances thrown in. It was an enjoyable read; Ringle did an excellent job of using goblin spells as a metaphor for depression, and there were some clever touches (goblins are named after the first thing they steal, for example).

Nightmares & Fairy Tales vol. 1 by Serena Valentino: A collection of six short comics, some original, some retellings of fairy tales, with a horror/gothic spin. The early stories especially are a bit cliche-ridden, but the art (by FSc) is distinctive, creepy, and sometimes cute.

Halloween Blog Hop

 Happy Halloween, and welcome to the next stop on Jo's bloghop! My letter is:

I didn't get as much stitching done as I'd like -- a busier-than-usual fall, post-season baseball (woohoo, Red Sox won!), the Minecraft quilt, and some commissioned bracelets kept me from picking up the needle.  But I made some progress on "Millicent Finds a Mask" (Just Cross Stitch's 2013 Halloween issue):

And "13 Days of Halloween" (Just Cross Stitch's 2017 Halloween issue):

I also have a couple of finishes. I framed my sampler from the Stitchy Box Halloween box:

This design, "Fall Pumpkins Fob," I sewed up on the machine and then covered the seam with Palestrina stitch, one of my favorites.

I also added some beaded trim around my much-altered skull stitch, although I'm not thrilled with how it came out:

On to the next stop: Beth's Needlework Stash! I look forward to seeing what you all have been working on.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Rules of Magic is the first book of the season for the Inspired by Reading group, and a good choice for October. It's a sequel to Hoffman's Practical Magic, and while there were some contradictions between the books and the timeline doesn't make sense, I enjoyed it as much as the first one.

The story centers around Jet and Franny (the aunts from Practical Magic) and their brother Vincent as they grow up and come to terms with their magical and familial legacies. Despite the lush prose, there is a lot of ugliness and violence depicted – the Vietnam war, the way outcasts are treated, the innocent people who suffer from the results of ill-advised spells, the birds killed for a heart or broken wing. But also a lot of beauty – the gardens and parks the characters keep returning to, the love they feel for each other, and most movingly, the true grace shown over the course of Jet and the Reverend’s relationship. It's that love for another, whatever form it takes, that makes life worth living in the face of suffering.

Franny and Jet make a living growing herbs and selling potions, and my inspiration came from that. I filled a tiny bottle with dried rosemary and lavender bud, adding a sprinkling of seed beads for sparkle. I strung the vial on brass chain and a length of purple faceted glass.

Hoffman has indicated she has other stories to tell about the Owens family; I look forward to reading more.

Almost There ...

It just needs a skinny border (dark grey, if I can get more of the fabric easily) and an outer border (blocks of the different colors):

(I miss having a clothes line to display quilt tops.)

Just in Time

Since we apparently are going straight from summer to winter, I decided I'd better get cracking on a new hat for myself. So while watching/surviving the baseball playoffs I crocheted this:

It's the Chunky Chain hat from Annie's Christmas 2018. It stitched up quite a bit faster, and more easily, than the green hat, although because I have a giant head I did have to remake it a few times before I found the right number of stitches to adjust the size.

And look! The perfect button was in my stash:

The Red Sox are going to the World Series, yay!
via GIPHY

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

This was a project, both mentally (it took months of concentrated reading) and physically (that 15 minute walk to and from the subway with the book in my bag killed my back), but it was worth it. I've been a fan of DFW since I first read his essays, not only for his subject matter (Cruises! State fairs! Grammar! Criticizing Updike and male writers of his ilk! Math!) but his digressive, maximalist writing style, which bears some resemblance to how my brain works. His fiction was next, and I got it into my head that Infinite Jest would make a good summer read.

Infinite Jest has been called an encyclopedic novel by some critics, and its subject matter bears this out, comprised as it is of such disparate narrative strands as the Incandenza family saga (which owes much to Hamlet), the students at an elite tennis academy, the travails of various addicts in the Boston area, a cadre of murderous wheelchaired Quebecois terrorists, the government agents trying to foil their plot, and a mysterious movie that renders viewers incapable of doing anything else, not to mention a number of digressions into film-making, pharmacology, math, and whatever else DFW happened to know a lot about.  Moreover, the narrative flips from viewpoint to viewpoint and jumps around the timeline. As a result, at first the novel seems disjointed, although soon enough things come together and the connections (thematic and plot-related) between the sections become apparent.

Because of his status as a man of letters, some, uh, questionable behavior in his personal life, and the fanboys who've developed a cultish following around him, DFW is often lumped in with other dudebro authors, which is a great injustice in my opinion. Whatever his personal failings, DFW was a supremely sensitive writer who laid bare every weakness, flaw, and insecurity of his characters without an ounce of condescension or contempt. No matter how ugly the narrative got, how awfully a character behaved, the depiction was profoundly humane. Don Gately, the heart of the novel, is a perfect example of this.  When we meet him, his burglary of a house in an attempt to fund his addiction goes horribly wrong, resulting in the death of an innocent man. When we see him next he is in a recovery house, humbly dedicated to helping others. By the end, we have witnessed his heartbreaking childhood, promising adolescence squashed, and debased stint as an addict. It's a phenomenal portrait of a human life, hard to read in some sections, and by far my favorite part of the narrative.

Addiction in all its forms and the human drive to find happiness of some kind are obvious themes of the novel, but the difficulty of communicating with another person recurs throughout. Maranthe and Agent Steeply talk for hours on a mountain attempting to overcome ideological and cultural differences so as to understand each other's goals. The addicts in recovery spend a lot of time figuring out how to tell their stories and listen to others'. Mario is a sensitive person and perceptive in his own way, but has trouble understanding other people because of his intellectual delays. Joelle hosts a radio show, speaking opaquely into the ether as a way of coping with what has happened to her; her dedicated fans project onto her their own issues. James Incandenza spent years trying to express himself and reach others (especially his youngest son) through his numerous films. And Hal, the book's protagonist (but see: Gately) struggles most of all; at times the disparity between what he thinks he is expressing and what others perceive is subtle but startling.  In this way, the novel has much in common with Batuman's The Idiot, although their styles could not be more different.

There's so much more I could write. I spent hours on various websites reading what others had to say about the themes and the characters, reconstructing the timeline and events, and otherwise trying to figure out every element I could. It's the kind of book I wish I were still in school for, and I recommend it heartily. It's not for the faint of heart, but those up for the challenge will find it rewarding.

What I'm Stitching

Praiseworthy Stitches's "13 Days of Halloween":

Heart Strings/the Artists Collection's "Millicent Finds a Mask":

Peacock Feathers and Thread Baubles

The Caravan Beads website has a free pattern for their Loopicity Brick Stitch Earrings, and inspired by the "blue velvet" colorway I decided to make mine look like peacock feathers:

Can't wait to wear them!

Before I found this pattern, I'd been trying to design my own using some large, sparkly teardrops from Blueberry Cove Beads, but I realized quickly they'd be too big and heavy to wear:

In fact, I've been working on making the perfect peacock feather earring for decades. Here's a pair I made in law school:

While I really like how I ended the fringe with tiny little loops mimicking the eyes on a peacock's tail, all those gold beads (and pale ones at that) meant I rarely wore these. Maybe I'll put new ear wires on them and list them in my etsy store.

I also whipped up some bohemian hoop earrings, using inexpensive thread-wrapped beads from Michael's:

Fun to wear, if not really autumnal. But then, summer always lingers annoyingly here.

Rainy Day Tote

I'm in kind of a blogging slump -- still working my way through a dense, 1,000-word novel, stitching various things that are no where close to finished -- but I did make a little tote for Beadboy3. His school asked us to send in a bag with crayons, coloring books, and paper for days when they can't go outside for recess, and I was reluctant to send in one of my canvas bags or buy a new one. Rooting through a tub of fabric, I found a slipcase my mother made for the mattress of the cradle my father made (crafting runs in the family!). The cheery print was perfect for kindergarten, so I cut off the excess fabric, top stitched on felt initials, and added handles made from grosgrain ribbon:

Beadboy3 was so taken with it, he was quite sad he had to leave it at school the first day. "Can I take it home the last day of school?"

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

Batuman's first novel is as finely written and dryly funny as her collection of essays. Selin is a Turkish-American student in her first year at Harvard, a young woman who, despite her intelligence, struggles to understand the world around her -- American culture, adulthood, love, academic jargon, and especially language. Perhaps because she has an aptitude for the latter, she obsesses over the meaning of every word spoken to her, wondering if she can ever truly understand what another person is trying to say. In particular, the painfully awkward, often frustrating, sometimes wonderful exchanges she has with her crush are made worse by her inability to pick up romantic social cues (and his inability to not be a jerk).

It's not just Ivan; Selin doesn't quite fit in with any of the others in her orbit, be they her Turkish relatives, the privileged Americans at her school, her Yugoslavian best friend, the working class Bostonians she tutors, or the Hungarian villagers she spends the summer with. She is like a particularly endearing alien, trying to make sense of life on this planet. Batuman's distinctive writing style -- blunt, deceptively simple sentences -- perfectly conveys the distance Selin feels, aided by descriptions of other characters that rely almost exclusively on their words, rather than physical cues or other behavior that might help us see what Selin can't. Instead we become thoroughly enmeshed in Selin's worldview, sympathizing as she tries to figure out what it all means.

UFOs

There's nothing like a move to force you to confront the ridiculous amount of unfinished projects you've accumulated. Beadboy2's Minecraft quilt and a couple of projects I want to finish soon take priority, but I did find the time to finish two small, long-neglected embroideries.

This was a commercial kit I bought ages ago. I like the pattern quite a bit, but found the fabric to be too coarse for such delicate stitches; it gave the embroidery an angular look.

This was a Mollie Makes kit. The intention behind it was to lightly embroider over the heavy lines to mimic the casual look of modern coloring pages, but that struck me as kind of pointless -- stitching is already coloring with thread -- so I opted for chunky embroidery.

I've got a ton of little floral designs; I think someday I'll sew them all together into a wall-hanging.

Look What I Finished!

The Victoria Sampler's "L is for Librarian:"

L is also for Lawyer, too, so I eliminated an upper and lowercase L under the librarian's desk, and added a set of scales:

Lilacs are my favorite, and the lamb and ladybugs are super cute:

Once I get the necessary bellpull hardware, I think I'll hang it at work.

I have no plans to do the whole alphabet, but I will be stitching W is for Witch (probably not this year, though).

Bless This ...

A new house requires a new sampler:

This was a fun design that worked up quickly. I love that for the buildings, the designer copied actual buildings (so to speak) from Mos Eisley.

The Last Minecraft Blocks

I can't believe how quickly these came together!

A ghast and an Ender dragon:

An Elder Guardian and a Drowned:

The Drowned is apparently a new mob, a watery version of a zombie, so I designed it myself from game images. 

Next step is the sashing. Beadboy2 wants silver (i.e. grey) fabric. To add a little interest and to avoid the need for yardage, I'll break up the sashing with scrappy squares at all the corners, using the leftover fabric. I also plan to use the leftovers for a scrappy border.


Dare I hope this will be done by Christmas?

Book Round-Up

A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer: It's rare that I don't finish a book I start, even if only by skimming, but I just couldn't get into this novel,despite the interesting characters and the bones of a good story. I think that was the problem -- the basics were there, but the plot elements, world building, and magical system weren't fleshed out sufficiently. I stopped about halfway through and just read the final couple of chapters. My copy comes with the sequel, but the idea of trying to read it exhausts me.

Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin: Another classic mystery, this one caught my interest because Shakespeare's purportedly lost play Love Labour's Won plays a minor role. I would have preferred more on Shakespeare, but it was an enjoyable book.

Girls Are Weird by Pamela Ribon: A novel of young woman experiencing a "quarter-life crisis" just as blogging was becoming prominent. My twenties were filled with different concerns, but it was fun to read about a life going (mildly) off the rails before getting a happily-ever-after resolution.

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack: The central character is an appraiser specializing in manuscripts who discovers a long-lost work that purports to explain the ancient Egyptian origin of tarot cards (really a medieval creation), so of course I was intrigued. The heroine was a rather frustrating character because of her tendency to avoid her problems (which caused more problems, of course), but the book was otherwise a fun read.

A Gift for A Sister

I had a lovely needlepoint pattern with grapes that would make a good thank-you for one of my sisters, who has a home on Martha's Vineyard (that's good!). But somewhere along the way I lost the actual chart (that's bad).  So I improvised my own design based on the fuzzy cover image (that's good!). But I ran out of Waterlilies thread in evergreen with only one corner Jessica stitch left (that's bad). But the thread pack from a Victoria Sampler leaflet had a strand of evergreen Waterlilies (that's good!). Unfortunately, it was from a different dye lot and too pale to use (that's bad). But an Au ver a Soie thread from the same pack was the right shade of green, albeit unvariegated (can I go now?).

Join the Resistance!

After making a bunch of bracelets, I'm now on a cross-stitching kick. I made this little hoop for a dear friend:

There are a number of similar patterns out there, but I wanted something smaller (that's a four-inch hoop) and easier to stitch, so I designed my own. Which is now on sale in my etsy store, should you wish to defy the First Order and join the Resistance.

For myself I made a Resistance pop culture badge, and one for Night Vale for good measure:

All hail the Glow Cloud!

I'm also stitching the awesome Bless This House -- Mos Eisley Edition sampler:

Feels good to be crafting again!

Saying Goodbye to a Teacher

Who has done wonders for Beadboy1 the last three years.  I decided to do what I did before, and had him write a thank-you note which I transferred to fabric. (Sad to say his handwriting has not improved in five years, which is why he now types his class- and homework.)

Early morning on a cloudy day, so the color is off

She is a wonderful teacher and we will both miss her greatly. And she will miss him! Although he is an angry teacher at home, apparently in school he's the class clown.

Summer Bracelets

A very long stretchy bracelet made from teal seed beads, a few larger beads, and a tassel:

A bangle made from seed beads and Toho "demi round" beads: