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I pretty much swear by ShoesbyColor.com. The three times I have seen BOOTS I MUST HAVE out in the real world, I've managed to track them down here. Seriously. You try to find a pair of russet 12RW Frye "Eagle" size 8 harness boots; it ain't easy.
Also stumbled across this site. Haven't tried getting anything from it yet, but I just like the idea of a Wall of Jewels.
Yeah, it's a slow week, and I'm still not feeling great. I'm pretty sure that "poison" is an accurate term for what happened last week, and if I'm not feeling better by the weekend, it's back to the doctor.
So, several Fridays ago, I wandered into Fibre Space (hey, it happens!), to get some DK cotton for the Nancy Bush workshop that Sunday, since I'd very cleverly stored most of my yarn in a storage unit and then proceeded to give myself a nasty abdominal strain so I can't actually shift anything around in said storage unit for a while. I emerged with two balls of the softest, loveliest alpaca blend that is *just* the perfect color for my husband's eventual Trilobite Hat,
and hopefully for his stuffed Trilobite, as well. (The Trilobite Socks... will be for next year.) Somehow, I wound up with some size 3 DPNs (Darn Pretty Needles) that I didn't really need, but they really were Darn Pretty.
There was also a small ordering accident at Nature's Yarns during the Nancy Bush workshop, wherein I will eventually get a copy of The Enchanted Sole, nicely chronicled by Franklin Habit over on his blog. Picked that up from Nature's Yarns on Saturday - amazing book. Then, this past Thursday, I had to work late, so my boss-who-knits DROVE ME TO Fibre Space (!!!)
so I got to see the Ori Ami Knits trunk show, picked up three more skeins of Silky Wool in Flourite Blue (just in case, or, for a matching tam) for Elizabeth I, a ball winder, and a really lovely shawl pin
from DyakCraft (formerly Grafton Fibers). Um, ignore the Pop Tart in the corner; I just discovered "stickers" on Photobucket.
I just shouldn't be allowed in knitting stores.
Nothing done this weekend, but do have news. Will post later this week, when I've actually accomplished something.
(The building at work tried to poison me Thursday night/all day Friday; I spent most of the weekend recovering. Still not feeling great, though. Seriously, could I please go a year without any health incidents? Just once??)
Finished something, and something ended. First, the finish. Not in time to up the numbers for October (although I did unravel some socks I'd started, so I did 'finish' seven things in October), but we're off to a good start in November. This is Teresa Wentzler's Tropical Dream Sampler. According to The List, I started it in 2006. I've had everything but the 1-over band, the woven band and the cutwork done since 2006, I think - as it only took two days to get the rest of it done, I'm wondering why I'd put it aside in the first place. (Probably something shiner and newer, and 50% odds it was also a Teresa Wentzler design!) Anyway, here it is:
This brings my UFO count down to 52, the lowest it's been probably since the second year I started being a Serious Stitcher!
Now, the Ending. As I reported on Tuesday, the amazing Teresa Wentzler is closing down her design business. This is a very sad thing for the world of cross-stitch, because there's always this little "oooooo...." when anyone announces that they've actually finished A Wentzler. I actually got a ribbon (!!!) at the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibition a few years back for my version of her Harvest Sampler (the kit for which I got on eBay from someone in Belgium!). There are currently four Wentzlers on The List (The Castle Sampler, my oldest UFO, started in 1992, but it Will Get Finished Dammit!; Day, which I've started, which goes with Night, which I have not; Night Watch, a lovely unicorn-outside-a-window on 32ct black linen, which my husband picked out as the Thing I Should Stitch For Him when we got married... I've since bought a print of the artwork from Teresa and given that to him, as a placeholder for the eventual unicorn-on-cloth; and Peacock Tapestry, since I love all things peacock-y. Plus, I've got kits, charts and patterns for another three dozen. (Why yes, I do have a copy of practically every chart she's ever designed.)
The cross-stitch world will really, really miss TW's contributions to it!
Tiny SoapBox: To anyone selling COPIES of her charts on eBay and other file sharing services, I hope the Karma gets you, bigtime. I'm not the only blogger who thinks the thieves hurt, and ultimately did in, her bottom line. And yes, if you sell or buy a photocopy/digital scan of something that's got a copyright, you're a thief, it is *not* covered under "fair use" and yes, it does put the designers out of business. You're probably not reading this, but the Karma is still out there, and it'll bite you.
Now that the chill of winter is creeping in upon us (our first frost was yesterday morning), it's time to start dreaming of summer vacation. While at the local elementary school on Tuesday morning to vote, I spent some time parked in front of a bulletin board full of photos from some of the teachers' summer vacations. The photos were grouped into categories of the Arts represented therein, and one of the Arts was "fiber":
Note the umbrella swift there! The picture of the big twine ball in Kansas reminded me of the giant twisted pile of metal from the construction project across the way from work - which, upon seeing it, I thought looked a lot like yarn:
This got me to thinking about things that look like yarn and knitted things, but aren't actually yarn OR knitted things. To wit: Wankette took this photo of some Christmas lights - it looks like yarn to me!
Bloomkitty captured a photo of this Rope Sculpture at the Sheraton Inner Harbor. It does look like fringe... but doesn't rope technically count as really, really BIG yarn? Sorta?
MARTHA STEWART (yes, THE) found this cool yarn-y light fixture at Youngblood in Sag Harbor, NY. I want one. (No, seriously. I need to have a light put in our front room eventually; I want this to be the cover!!)
Chiggers kinda look knitted. Creepy, but knitted. (This was pointed out over on the DemocraticUnderground.com board.)
So, remember the Knit Night Cupcakes over at VeganYumYum.com? There areHow To Knit Marzipan Instructions at VeganYumYum.com, tiny versions of which are here:
Cemedia took this cool photo of Tiny Flowers that Look Knitted:
She also took this photo of a moth - it looks like a shawl, doesn't it? (She's got lots of cool photos, go look!)
Orinda5 found this very cool light fixture at a store. I agree, it looks like knitted glass!
Then there's the Lace Fence by Demakersvan; it's part of a collection that's supposed to officially debut now, November 2009!
This last one has nothing to do with fiber, and a whole lot to do with art. This is Crazy Horse, which, when finished, will be the largest sculpture on earth. Korczak Ziolkowski, the artist, is responsible for Stone Mountain in Georgia, and Mount Rushmore. Korczak is gone, but his family (and a whole lot of other people) are continuing his work on the Crazy Horse Monument, carved out of the Black Hills. Sculpting (which, at this scale, means "explosions") has been going on for a really, really long time. I've been there several times years ago (if you can go over a long summer weekend, Memorial or Labor day, they do a Night Blast on Saturday evening. Very cool.). I got to see the space under the arm open up for the first time, and the last time I saw it, the blast had just happened so you could sort of see where the nose would be. The fact that the face is finished just amazes me - remember, they're carving up a MOUNTAIN. Anyway, it was on the school vacation board, so I just had to share.
Whee!!!
