Halfway and counting down...

I'm calling this the halfway point.  I emptied the shelves and put lots of stuff into bins.  We'll be moving these shelves into the next room and then putting in some way deeper shelves.

Gotta find a sunny spot for my table.  It all looks so spare and tidy now 

But this is only some of what I have to put back in an orderly fashion.  

Actually, I'm going to cal it the thirdway point.

There's more here.  The quarterway point is starting to feel right.  I'd better get up and get moving.  

A Bunch of Different, Totally Random Stuff.

At first she's cute

 but as she comes towards you, you see that

 SHE"S SCREAMING AND SHE'LL NEVER STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...sorry...

I haven't been on  the computer much lately but here's a bunch of different, totally random stuff...

 

 Finished the Darkside Cowl

 

 Here it is in action

 

Phrenology head was feeling pensive...

Splurged on a Tom Bihn bag.  It's pretty cool but I can't help thinking...it's just a purse.

This is what my thought process looks like..apparently...because that pile just sits there while I think about it

 

This is the time of year when I garden.  I have a black thumb and don't like to buy plants until they're on sale since I'm going to kill them anyway.

 

Also, because I don't have enough collections, I bought yet another glass insulator thing.  Isn't it cool?

Unrelated News

Check out my awesome yarn bowl.  My sister in law got it for me for my birthday.  I love it.

I've been partaking in some transitional crafting.  The last time I finished a big project I felt down for little while.  So, this time I decided that knitting would be the perfect in between thing to do.  It's doesn't take a ton of concentration - especially when using someone else's pattern - and it's fun to do.  And it worked.  I'm making the Darkside Cowl out of Noro Retro that I impulsively bought at a Sow's Ear knit night.  Phew - lots of name dropping there. It's a very fun knit and I'm sure it'll get lots of wear.  

On to destruction:

That's right.  I took the unfinished half of a baby quilt that I had left over and unquilted it.  I was never in love with it and I realized why the other night.  It's the colors.  

They are great for a baby quilt but these denim blocks don't really want to be a colorful baby quilt.  They're too regular and tidy (relatively, for me).  

They want a neutral color thread.  Can you hear them asking?  I can.  I will need to remove the border and separate at least some of the squares but I think it's for the best.

 

In unrelated news, one of my chickens laid her first egg.  :)

As promised

 More pictures, less talk:

 

Lovely Hand knitted stuffed toys...

 

 .

Made and donated by the Madison Knitters Guild...

  

For the Monona Library's summer reading program prizes...

 

 Encouraging reading...

 

And hand made goodness.

 

Sorry, I couldn't keep my virtual mouth shut.

A Growing, Colorful, Machine Washable, Yarn Snowball of Goodness

Please forgive the long front story for only one picture, but it's totally worth it.  

I promise that I will post about this again, I will keep it short and there will be more pictures.

So, last summer I challenged the Monona Library, where I work, to stop giving out little pieces of plastic junk to kids as summer reading prizes.  They jumped on board.  We even had a program to publicize it.  

We gave out lots of cardboard and paper gifts and even used fewer plastic bags (We bought none but used some from years past).  We did have to give out fewer gifts, because plastic is cheaper than anything else, but our patrons were very supportive.

One of the more incredible gifts was that the mom of  Karen (My boss and the Library's Children's Coordinator) crocheted hundreds of little fish for us to give away and they were the most popular gift of the summer.  

This year, she wasn't able to keep up the amazing pace so I went to Ravelry (Home of the best knitters and crocheters in the world) and asked local people knit us some toys as give aways.  

Well, the Madison Knitter's Guild totally jumped on board.  In one month, this is what they put together for us (I stopped by the meeting just to thank the people who brought them in and was able to snap one picture with my phone):

That's like, almost 200 hand made toys and bookmarks!

I'm blown away.  There are more coming and I understand that the Knitting Guild wants to expand the effort to more libraries around the state!  This means less plastic crap polluting the planet and more exposure to hand made goodies for children.  I will post more and better pictures when the creatures land at the library.  I just had to share it, though.  I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the amazing knitters I met.  

It's like a growing, colorful, machine washable, yarn snowball of goodness.

For Some Reason I Can't Logically Explain

 

Just a quick post to say I think I've finished this patch.  I might add some yellow, I might not.  It's the kind of thing you can just add to any time because you're sitting on the couch anyway, ya know?

 

Here it is "in context".  I'm looking forward to more spots wearing out. 

Remember that square I was compelled to work on for no good reason at all?  

Well, it's moving slowly.  Good thing I'm not in a rush to finish for any reason.

 

I got a little bored with the same old stitching but more, I'm really  inspired by the beautiful work of Christine Mauersberger and so tried a different orientation of the stitches.  I like it.  I was trying to decide whether this was enough or if I should add more areas of this kind of stitching when I remembered that I will probably cut it up and mail it out as postcards so I guess it doesn't really matter.  

It's too bad that I picked a piece of denim with lots of stretch in it.  I just don't like them for a bigger project so whatever this ends up as, it's destined to be small. 

For some reason I can't logically explain, I've started a Doctor Who scarf (My second).

 

Here's my first one; it's only about 10 feet long but way too wide. It was one of my very first knits and I didn't really understand gauge. The second one will be longer and thinner.  ...sigh... I'll try not to post process pictures of that one, it won't be very exciting.

I guess that wasn't a quick post after all, sorry.  :)

Still here Update

I know.  No posts for a month and then two in a day.  What could I be thinking?  

Look at all that floor.  And, look! A table top that hasn't been seen for months and months. 

I'm just so proud of myself.  It's not done by a long shot but it's so much better.  Now I know that I have way too much linen and have to make something out of it really soon.  Also I have lots of awesome IKEA print fabrics that I completely forget about.

We got the giant cork board up and hubs is busy hanging art still; check out what he did with my denim quilt back there is the guest/game/workout/storage room.

I got rid of lots of wool and some pretty linen clothing that I was going to cut up but then I decided against it.  So...whaddaya all say to a crap craft swap? 

The going away pile.

I think I'll ask if Sector67 is willing to host one. Would you (local folks) come?

I might even give away some of my baskets - I haven't used them in forever.  I do love me some baskets.