Lobolita

as 3:30 in the morning. Well, not a time that involves cars, anyway. A time that involves beds, yes. A time that involves feeding sleepy babies, yes. A time that involves driving to the airport? Shudder.

But that is what I shall be doing tomorrow morning when I take Tim to SeaTac for a business trip. And so, with my baby noisily sucking his fingers beside me, I bid you good night.

Yesterday we took Gideon on his first visit to Safeco Field. It was apparently the biggest Fan Fest in 10 years. We got to go into the clubhouse, the dugout, and onto the field. Gid didn’t quite understand what was going on, but his Daddy and Mama had lots of fun!

Today’s post is brought to you courtesy of my new haircut.  I’ve been experimenting with hollow beads today:

Hollow CIM Chalcedony, DH Triton and Gaia frit, CIM clear dots.

Hollow Vetrofond Smoke Rings

Hollow CIM Sangre with Triton frit

Effetre transparents and opaques with Triton frit

Hollows: CIM Kryptonite with Effetre Periwinkle swirls, Unknown Frantz box pink with Effetre dark lavender swirls

The crowning glory! Trans grass green with leaf cane and applied flowers. On a hollow bead!

I have a million picture frames. Unfortunately, none of them match. In order to bring some unity to my collection, I decided to make one related set to scatter among the others on my living room wall. This is a super-easy project, and costs less than $10 altogether.

Materials
Unfinished wooden picture frames (I got mine at Michaels for $1 each)
Decorative scrapbooking paper (Joann had it 4 for $1)
1 Bottle of Mod-Podge
1 Foam Brush

1. Open one picture frame and turn it face-down on your fancy paper. Trace the inside and outside of the frame.

2. Cut out the shape you have traced. Cut it a little large, since it can be trimmed later, but not expanded!

3. Brush a thin layer of Mod-Podge on the wooden frame and let it dry a bit until it is tacky.

4. Position your paper on the frame, and smooth it down with your fingers or a brayer.

5. Brush a coat of Mod-Podge over the surface of the paper, and leave the frame to dry. Repeat with another coat, and leave to dry overnight.

To be continued…

Today, my friend Cheryl and I met to plan her wedding flowers! Her colors are red, black, and white–very classy. Since her fiance proposed between two red roses, those flowers are very special to her. I’m having fun strategizing my approach for Cheryl’s wedding. She wants her flowers to tie the bridal party together, but not necessarily be identical for each of the nine (Nine!) bridesmaids and eight groomsmen.

We’re thinking red roses, gerbera daisies, alstroemeria, and calla lilies. Red and white. Could anything be more romantic? I’ve been trolling the web for ideas:

This one from Bloomery Weddings is just lovely.

Nice, restrained Callas and Roses.Admittedly, this one is a little over-the-top, but I love the exuberance.

Do you suffer from Poor Photography Syndrome, as I do? Do you live in a cloudy climate, rushing out to take pictures in the only spot of sunshine for miles around, only to discover that the batteries in your camera have died? Do you forget to take a picture of your work during the daylight hours, only remembering after the sun is well down and your only sources of light are the discount lightbulbs of various kinds currently living in your light fixtures? Do your hands shake? Does your macro zoom to the wrong object?

Fear not. You are not alone. I, too, feel the pain of PPS, and have for many years. Today, we have two sterling examples.

Example #1: The unidentified fuzz

Though this is not an irreversible problem, unidentified fuzz plagues those of us with PPS.

I’m fairly proud of this bead, which I made on Friday afternoon. It’s Sky Blue Effetre, decorated with Transparent Aqua stringer. The bead itself is hollow, built on the mandrel in two disks, which I teased together, allowing the air inside to puff the bead out to round. It’s about 12 mm in diameter.

Example #2: Random stuff in the background of the shot

These are my new murrini. Aren’t they nice? Also, random junk on my kitchen table, including the bead I took a picture of moments before.

It’s called frogging because you rip-it, rip-it, rip-it. Yep, the baby gansey was a no-go. The circumference was too small for my little sausage biscuit, and the armholes were too shallow for easy dressing. So I’m ripping and re-knitting.

I may be a bit of a perfectionist, which drives Tim crazy. He can’t stand to see me unraveling knitting, so I have to do it when he’s not around. My secret vice: frogging.

As I reknit this, I’m taking the opportunity to incorporate some improvements, including knit-as-you-go button bands. I’m hoping this will be a great pattern. Gideon, after all, has stringent sartorial requirements. Right.

COE 104, not perfect, but hopeful! I’m going to try to put some in beads tonight.

Deborah says

I am unfamiliar the direction “K1fb” that is knit one fb?? front to back?? Please let me know….thanks

This is a great question. K1fb is one of the increases that makes two stitches out of one. Here’s how it works:

1. K1, but do not slip knitted stitch off of the lefthand needle.

2. Swing your righthand needle around and go through the back of the same stitch you just knitted, and knit 1.

3. Slip stitch off lefthand needle.

The k1fb increase “in the wild”:

The advantages of k1fb are that it is very fast, leaves no hole whatsoever, and can be used decoratively, because of the little purl bump it creates. I will sometimes use k1fb increases on top-down raglans so that little columns of purl bumps appear along the sides of my raglan lines. K1fb also does not disrupt the previous row of knitting, like m1l or m1r, where you reach down and knit into a stitch from the previous row. Because of this, it is ideal for seed stitch or garter stitch.

The disadvantages of k1fb are that it can be difficult to execute in slippery yarns and that it is not invisible, when you want your increase to not show. I would not use k1fb, for instance, on waist shaping, where the purl bumps would be very evident.