As June Wraps Up

A jewel from The Lost Art of  Dress, discussing the myriad and complex network of undergarments women once had to wear to achieve whatever the desired silhouette was:

 The corset (or girdle) didn't shrink her, it rearranged her.

FF

I originally went with the two effs because it's Framed Friday here.

I finally got around to using one of the thrift store frames.  The little bird seems happy, don't you think?

The serious mistake I made when buying all the frames was not immediately putting the cross-stitch piece with the frame I chose for it.  Back here, several frames would work for more than one piece.  Hence, the slowness in getting things framed and photographed.

Then, I realized "FF" is sort of the sound I'm making about lots of things right now.  Partial disgust, partial exasperation, partial trying to find the humor in any of it.  "Dismay" might be as close as a word can get.

You?

Taste

I'm unsure who invented sugar cookies, but I want to say thank you from the bottom of my chubby little heart.  Around 11 last night, the urge to bake hit me, and sugar cookies it was.  Still noshing today.

There were some errands that needed taking care of today, which meant braving The Heat.  I was surprised at the amount of traffic, but then, not everyone has air conditioning at home.  Being in a car or being in a store/restaurant/library/theater might be the only places where someone can find cool air.

The Lost Art of Dress keeps giving me wonderful tidbits.  For instance, a well-designed dress will cause the eye to sweep upward to the wearer's face.  That's where the emphasis should be, not the hips or waist or breasts or shoulders.  Of course, fabrics figure into this, allowing for flow and ease.  "Decorations" and/or jewelry can also interrupt.  But they can also enhance.  It's a lot of work.

Coloring

 The question of what type feather I found yesterday is now on the floor.  I have absolutely no idea.  There are cardinals, robins, wrens, sparrows, the occasional blue jay around here.  Doves, quail, possibly owls, huge turkey vultures, crows.  Someone out there must have a more educated guess than me.

Work continues on the Big Ol' Cross-stitch Project.  I'm displeased with one thing about it.

The print for the colors in the rabbit's legs is dark and showing through the whites and ecrus.  It may be a clever shadowing technique, but it's making me unhappy.

Speaking of colors... I am reading a genuinely fascinating book.

It's slow going, because I'm trying to soak everything in.  Why are clothes structured the way they are?  Who makes those decisions?  Why are shoes shaped the way they are?  I'm on color right now, and have learned that "tint" is when white is added to a color.  "Shade" is when black is added.  "Tone" means grey has gone in.  I love picking up little nuggets of knowledge like that.

Fanning

 Heat is making even thinking laborious right now.  Fortunately, my air conditioning is working and my favorite spot on the couch is under a ceiling fan.  (Another favored spot is on the back porch, also under a fan.)

I know that some people can't/don't like to knit in Summer.  That hasn't been an issue for me, mostly because of the aforementioned air movement devices.  Granted, the knitting is going way slowly, but it is going.

And look, the tiniest whisper of a feather today.  It's too hot to even molt, I guess.

Tripping

 After therapy this week, I made a trip to Goodwill, mainly to find frames for some of my cross-stitch.  (I did find a couple.)  A trip to Goodwill --- at least for me --- always includes a stroll through the books section.  You won't believe what I came across.

As if I spoke --- or blogged --- it into being.  Sadly, there's no entry for

"Hiding," however, can mean either embarrassment or unexpected pleasures.*

But, The Kicker, and another blog callback, is that when I opened the book, it was at this page

My archenemy celery.  First thought: okay, Karma, you got me.  Second thought: who dreams about celery?

*No, YOU had those thoughts, not ME.

Superlatives

I've been the bravest girl and gone back to Starry Night Bunny.  Keep me in your thoughts.

 I was a most adventurous girl in trying a new craft.  All the diamond dot coasters are done.

The funny thing is, I can't bring myself to use them.

I just heard the saddest news, about Willie Mays.  I'm so glad I was able to see him play.

Births of Two Kinds

Happy Anniversary to Twinnie and Twin-in-law.  Birth of their marriage.  (Click on her name to see a wedding photo.)

Happy Birthday to my Bean, Hannah.  Birth of her existence. (Photos provided.)

These two didn't get a lot of Father's Days with their Dad.  Thinking of them, him, and my Daddy today.

Guess What?

Colorwork!

Granted, it's only really pale gray, but it is a break from the blue.  The green crosshatches will be covered with pink, for the pads on the bunny's feet.  

I've been working on the cross-stitch fairly diligently, which means not much progress on knitting.  There's still a pair of slippers on the needles, plus the long loop scarf with the slub yarn and the 350 stitch behemoth.  The former will be done sort of soon, as the yarn is beginning to run out.  Slowly --- oh, so slowly --- ideas for collages are beginning to percolate.  We'll see.

Re-faring on Thursday

I don't know why, exactly, I dislike meringue and marshmallows.  A texture thing, maybe?  My mother made a delicious chocolate pie, which she would top with beautiful meringue that I would slice right off of my piece(s).  Sweet potato casserole is a favorite of mine, but if it is topped with marshmallows, I spend a good amount of time pulling them off before I eat.  (Pro tip: crushed pecans make an exquisite topping.)

Radishes make me burp.  Turnips have a disagreeable taste.  (But I will eat turnip greens for a good part of any day.)  Same with cucumbers: they just don't taste good to me.

I forgot celery yesterday.  I detest celery.  The strings. . .  The flavor. . .  I will also pick celery out of dishes.  Anyway, I will eat a plate of cucumber slices before a single stalk of celery.

(Notice I am not posting a photo of celery....)

Twinnie asked about all this.  We are Yin and Yang on the food preferences here, so between us we can make just about any host or hostess happy.

Without Refining My Taste Buds (Wednesday Fare)

Food has been a topic here before.  Now it shall be again.

If you have a weak tummy, don't read past the photo.

Am I the only person who goes through runs of deeply craving certain foods?  Right now, I'm all about Blondies.  With loads and loads of pecans, preferably.   (Practically any baked sweet is better, in my mind, with loads and loads of pecans.  Ice cream, too.)

The issue with my Blondie craving is that I currently have no way to bake them for myself.  They are difficult to find in stores, if you didn't know that.  However, I do have a bag of pecans on hand, so I can eat those, at least.

(Photo from breadboozebacon.com)

The problem there, though, is if I eat them and do figure out a way to bake Blondies, I'll have lots fewer pecans to add.

I'm not a particularly picky eater, but there are things I will never eat.  On that list: liver (I didn't write it that way, but please read it in all caps), turnips, kale, melons, radishes, marshmallows, cucumbers, meringue, beets (unless they're pickled). I've tried lots of things that are weird, but it's unlikely I'll ever run into them again, so they don't go on the list.  My father was awful about this.  He'd bring something home --- usually from a horse show --- and tell me I ought to try it: "It's good!"  I bite into the sandwich (or whatever), kind of nod, and he tells me it's barbecued raccoon.  Or goat.  Or brains.  Or tongue.  (Chitlins I recognized in time to vehemently refuse.)

If I go to a restaurant, I'm likely to find something (if not many things) to eat.  Still, one of the very best things Google can do is allow you to look up a menu before you go to any given place.  There's nothing left to chance.

Redefining TNT

There is traditional cross-stitch to show.  Once again, the lack of backstitching doesn't hurt the look, does it?  Everything is dimensional without it.

But today, it is "Trying New Things."  Specifically, stamped cross-stitch.

There's this vast background of blue, which has been surprisingly calming so far.  It feels like needlepoint somehow.

When I ordered the kit, I didn't pay necessarily close attention to the piece's size.

Half a bench seat.  I'll be working on this for a while.

That's Not the Way Saturdays Roll, Though

Nothing got finished today.  Well, one thing.  I cast on 350 (fingers crossed) stitches for a scarf worked horizontally.  Fingers crossed because I'm pretty sure that's how many there are.  The definitive answer will come when I knit the first row.

The slub yarn I've been working with gave me a little gift the other day:

That one slub looks like a shell or an agate or a shrimp or something.  The light hits it in wonderful ways.

I hope your weekend is going well!

On Thursday You Finish Things

Another pair of houseshoes off the needles.  Bulky alpaca, not in the brick red of the photo, but a pretty burgundy.

Though this was not her pattern, there is no telling how many of these my mother made.  She always put pom-pom on hers.  They were Christmas presents, White Elephant gifts, charity donations --- you get the picture.

The first thing I ever knit was a vest, but these couldn't have been far behind.  Hold a couple of strands of worsted together, and off you go.

Which is Followed by Wednesday

A Wednesday marked (too) periodically by headache-induced nosebleeds.  When you've got tissue stuffed up one nostril and are having to keep your head leaning back, you think all kinds of things.

This ceiling could use a coat of paint.

Why do we say we're in bed when we're actually on the bed?

People complain about the English saying someone is "in hospital" or "at Uni," but we say, "going to school" or being "at work."

Should I get prescription sunglasses?

Thursday's my favorite day of the week.  It has been for as long as I can remember.

Tap has been asleep a very long time, and he's snoring loudly.

Kim asked a while ago if I'd ever watched "The Wizard of Oz" while playing "Dark Side of the Moon."  I have.  I even played it in class, when we discussed urban legends.  I've also played the radio broadcast of "the War of the Worlds" in class.

Did you know that "Amazing Grace" and "House of the Rising Sun" have interchangeable melodies?

Why is my nose STILL bleeding?

And Then I Find Myself at Tuesday

 It is 4:18 AM.  I cannot sleep.  So, here's my Tiny Needle contribution.

When all else fails, turn to Christmas, right?

You can't tell it in that photo, but there are beads on the tree.

This is my first time adding beads to a piece.  I'm still not entirely sure whether I'm a fan of the process, but I do appreciate the result.

The kit was for a Christmas card, but my plan is to use the front of the card as a mat and frame this.

It's a tidy 5x7, so finding a frame shouldn't be a chore.

Still working on why Viggo showed up in a dream.  Generally, my dreams feature people or places or things I've been involved with, or thought about, or seen on a given day.  This was completely out of the blue.  Not that it was a bad thing, just unexpected. 

This is Where I Am Right Now

I am stuffing my face with ice cream and bagels.  Not together --- those are just the things that sound the best to me.  Pushing the chili and cornbread out of the way made room for other stuff, it would seem.

There are two cross-stitch and three knitting projects in front of me.  There is also the continuing diamond art coasters set in the kitchen.  Crafters gonna craft.

For Whatever Reason..

... knitting the booties/socks has ignited a make houseshoes fire in me.  I got one pair done today.  This allows me to use up odd lengths of leftover yarn.  Usually, extra sock yarn has been used to make what I've always called "Frankensocks," but now it's going to, let's just say, interesting houseshoes.They're for me, I'm wearing them inside, they don't have to be all pretty.  (Though I imagine I'll make some non-odds-and-ends ones, too.)

... this man showed up in a dream I had this morning.

We were in a sort of Victorian-type house, skulking around trying to escape from someone.  Where's a dream dictionary when you need one?

... I'd been sort of craving chili and cornbread lately.  Took care of that yesterday with canned chili and cornbread "biscuits."  The heating element (coil?) in my oven has stopped working, so I'm having to do a lot of stuff in the toaster oven.  It will only hold small amounts of small things, so, improvisation.  Cornbread drop biscuits.  They were quite tasty.