Hi. How ya been?

I had a big party last weekend. I threw it for myself because I was so pleased about having patterns in Pretty Little Potholders and Pretty Little Patchwork. I called it Pretty Little Party--why miss out on the opportunity? It turned out just right. There were dancing and drinking pretty drinks and cupcakes and lilacs and bunches of fresh mint. We live a ways out from most people, so we don't entertain very often--it was nice to do it up right!

The spools (in a compote dish) were a gift from my friend Joe's mom. She gave them to me because she knew I would like them-- you know how it is with that sort of thing? The colors are so pretty, and it's so much easier to repurpose wooden spools than plastic ones. They make me happy.

Post party, the house is so clean I can't believe it. There has been no posting because I have been doing things like dusting the high shelves. I suppos I could have turned this into a cleaning blog, but um, that's just not my thing. It's probably somebody's thing though, right? Anyone down with the clean blogging scene?

We are officially chicken people. This is our first farm animal experiment. Previously all the animals in our household have been cats. The chicks are here with a job to do: in about five months they will lay eggs. (It would be unfair to say that the cats are not as useful. They may not produce food, but they manage to fulfill their roles as lap warmers and comic relief.)

The chicks are funny. The red one (a Rhode Island Red) is sweet and friendly, the black one (a Barred Rock) is a little stern, and the brown one with fluffy cheeks (an Ameraucana) is worried. I did not expect them to really have personalities, but they do. When they get big enough, we are going to tractor them around the yard. They can find delicious bugs that way.

I didn't think I would have chickens. I though I might have any one of a number of other farm-type animals, but not chickens. I think it's because my BFF is chicken phobic and I love her. But Elie was really down with the idea of chickens and they're a pretty practical animal to keep, so here we are. (Plus, said BFF lives halfway across the country.)

It's been a weekend of food for thought, much of it thanks to Lisa, our local food diva. She had chickens and demonstrated how not hard or weird it was, and she also posted links to all the local CSAs, which was so nice because I thought there was only one and it was sold out. I joined up and am now thrilled about the idea of my veggies arriving once a week in a box, not in the least because this means that I won't have to think about what to buy. It is lessening my domestic thought burden. Back to this weekend. So then to top that all off, my friend Joe got me into the sold out Ebertfest showing of Farmer John, which was just oh so good.

Also this weekend, a tiny bit of crafting for another tiny person. Bibs for baby showers. I swear, there are as many babies as bunnies this year!

And the winner is...Bitter Betty! Yay for you! You will be the recipient of something I did not make this weekend, but will make in the near future. I am excited about it.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and saying hi--it was nice to see who is out there!

On Saturday Eva and I trekked out to Indiana with the knit night women to the Greencastle Fiber Event. It was fun, despite being a very chilly day (we ate a picnic lunch in the "hospitality tent" while it was sleeting). Most of the goings on were indoors and involved purchasing natural fibers in various phases of processing. We bought fluffy roving, hand dyed woven wool fabric, and Eva spent her allowance on gross-out silk worm cocoons that still have the rattling dried worm insde. One smart vendor had a needle felting kit out where you could try it, so we came home with one of those too. They use cookie cutters as a guide for where the wool should go. Eva has made a sheep from the kit plus a flower from a cookie cutter we had at home already. We also got to see animals, and I almost impulse bought an angora bunny or two, but then my better judgement got a hold of me.

This evening I worked on the above with some good company, but that's not what this post is about.

It is my blogiversary, hooray! Two years ago today I made some random posts into the internets, not really sure of where I was going with it all. I'm really happy with where it's taken me. This little world is a nice little world. Thank you!

I am going to have a giveaway. I've been wanting to have a giveaway and so far as I can tell, giveaways are the best things about blogiversaries. I am not sure exactly what it will be, but it will be something I've made before. Leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name on Sunday at 4:00 central time.

Happy Day to you,
Dorie

We tried natural dye using the curbly video tutorial via whipup. Our eggs look different from his eggs. I think he left them in the water for less time than he says he did. Probably also the fact that our city water has all sorts of yuck in it might have something to do with the color difference. I wonder if distilled would have been different? Don't get me wrong, we had fun experimenting in the kitchen, and I like how these came out. I like being amazed by the contents on my fridge, or as Elie would say, "Ah, anthocyanins".

From left to right we used onion skins, red cabbage, coffe/tea, spinach, and cranberries. My kitchen smelled so interesting. Like "Thanksgiving Sauerkraut".

The spinach is a very light green. Onion and cabbage were the best and most fun.

The cranberries were a complete bust. They were supposed to be pink, but they ended up being a moldy green-brown. Plus, the acid in the berries did some damage to the shells. They dried with a chalky white finish, adding to their less-than-appetizing look.

Eggs were definitely the right medium for experimenting with natural dye. An egg is a whole lot cheaper than say, a skein of superwash wool. I can see myself messing around with the onion or cabbage and some wool someday, though.

I just about always have a basket of laundry in some stage of the laundry process sitting my my room. This gets me because it's not like we do laundry by hand. A machine does all the work. We just have to put it away. But in order to put it away, we have to take time from other things in order to fold the laundry and pair the socks. This is mostly where I get slowed down.

I want to do a lot of things and none of them is folding laundry. If my room were pretty, I would probably make a bigger effort to keep it pristine (ok, tidy), but it still has the wallpaper and roller shades of the former inhabitants. On humid days it even smells like them. Yuck. Guess whose task it is to fix that? Mine, but I'm not really doing anything about it at the moment.

I want to do lots of things, but there isn't time for them all. Perhaps you know how that is? Currently I have a lot of big things that are in various stages of progress (a quilt, a sweater, a guest room, a kitchen, a bathroom), and I would really just like to have something that is completely done. I actually started two things yesterday, a little bag and kool-aid dyeing, thinking that they would be succinct little projects, but then I was missing a zipper for the bag and I forgot about the soaking for the yarn, so they ended up in the unfinished pile.

The kool-aid yarn will happen today. Beebs and I are really looking forward to it. The rest will all happen eventually, won't it? Baby steps?

Do you know why I love banana bread? It makes me feel homey and thrifty and it's done in one hour. The heart, of course, is for I love you.

If you thought that I would have something really cool to show after having been gone for a bit, I am sorry to disappoint. I've got a little code project going on right now. If all goes well, it will be a nice surprise for you. If it doesn't, we'll forget about it and go back to the usual.

Beebs has been enjoying DIY kids. I would really like to make wrapping paper out of yarn that I scan into the internets. That book has some really fab ideas, and it's not bossy about them, which creative kids appreciate.

I do. I think it has a lot to do with liking to try to think creatively within a set of rules. (I like rules, generally, even if I make them up as I go along.) And in the craft world, the competition is very friendly and supportive, and people are excited to see what others have made using the same set of rules. It's just a lot of fun. You might get a prize.

Here are two contests currently on my mind:

1. Instructables Lion Brand Yarn: If you have knit anything that you like and taken pictures of it, you should enter this contest. It's a big show and tell of yarn-based projects, and some of the winners are randomly drawn, so hey, you might win something. You do not have to use Lion yarn. My entry is washcloth evangelist. Guess what I entered.
2. PieceWork: PieceWork magazine's contest is pincushions this year. Who doesn't love pincushions? I hope that all the talented pincushion makers out there are planning on entering. You know who you are.

Let's get crackin'

I've been enjoying the frequent posting, so here's to hoping they won't peter out!

Auntie A is a bona fide obsessed quilter. I think she could also teach a class in Gifts for the Handmade-Aware Child or something like that. She whipped up a few things that Eva just went ape over, including the Christmas bear in the Hanukkah sleeping bag above. (So cool because if you got a Christmas bear at a store, it would not have a Hanukkah sleeping bag.) Also the Softies book. (So cool because I stole it from my daughter.) And a little photo iron-on pillow featuring Eva and Hen. (So cool because your own cat is on your pillow.) And the queen of them all, a piece of fleece yardage machine embroidered with two cats and the words, "Eva loves Hen and Edgar". (So cool because it actually declares your love for your actual cats! Unbelievable!) So in case you're looking for ideas for a seven-year-old in your life...

My mother in law has a standard poodle. When people find poodle things, they give them to her. It's a nice thought, but this guy, he's a little creepy.

so. blogging every day, are we?