Picspam

I finally got around to grabbing those ice photos off of my camera. The ice is all gone now, thanks to a few beautiful sunny days. Well, here they are.

Those white lines are yarn that I wrapped around these icicles while they were tiny.

The net results were disappointing. 

That's all pure ice droplets. Wow. Just...wow. 

Fighting the Grumpies

I am working on a new style of living, a new philosophy and approach to life, if you will. After coming to the realization that I had to take charge before the negativity took over, I started meditating on what things made me happy and how I could improve myself and the lives of those around me. Then I read a beautiful post by Sonia on Cozy Homemaking, and everything clicked.
I create my own happiness by making, by crafting.  I propagate that happiness by making these crafts for others, by thinking of what object a person needs, what would make someone happy and producing that object.  The joy I feel is the joy of sharing - if I make someone else happy, then I am happy too.
Therefore, I am rewriting my new year's resolutions. My new resolution is simple. Every day, I will work on some form of art project.* Every day, I will find a way to make someone smile. And every week, I will give someone something.

* Not hard, since I AM in art school.

Old Sweaters and New Nieces

I just found this amazing blog written by a talented lady who makes stuffed animals and dolls out of old sweaters. I was enthusiastic, but wasn't captivated until I saw this page. Forest girl dolls. They are like gypsies. Oh God. I must have one. I must MAKE one. Luckily, she has a pattern and instructions here.
I don't just want one for myself, though. I have two very little nieces, Ellen and Freya, who are rapidly approaching doll-playing age. I generally don't approve of 99% of the dolls on the market, but these lovely ones are wonderful. I feel a deep, almost urgent need to go to the Goodwill and look for some sweaters now.

In other news, I got a pile of roving from a friend in Ceramics and am impatiently awaiting my spindle from Knitpicks.

Brrrrr

I finished up the cup cozy, and it was a leetle too small. Just a tad. It fits a soda can, though, so no loss! I think I will do a few more, slightly bigger and knit flat, so they button shut. That way they will fit a mug with a handle.
I still have Startitis, so I started a plain old pair of socks with the pink yarn I got last week. It is so pretty, a pale peach that turns salmon and then burgundy. These are for ME. The first is allllmost finished.

I also made a knitting cork, so I plan to make I-cord acorn bunting! Maybe it will be in the give-away. You never know.

Hmmm.

I have been thinking about doing a craft swap with some of the talented crafters I know. Why?
 A lot of bad things have been happening right now, but I'm not going to go into them in depth. Suffice it to say that I have been doing a lot of therapy crafting. Now, I was thinking about just giving it all away, since I LOVE to give people presents. However, I like to GET presents too! So, I will post something that I am giving away, you can comment what you would trade for it, and I will use a random number generator to choose a swap partner!
Or I could make more if there are a lot of people who want to swap. So! I will put up a poll to see what people would be interested in swapping for, then in one week I will post my item.

The Longest, Saddest Time of the Year

January, February and March have, traditionally been hard on me. The weather is dark and dreary. My surroundings are colorless, gray, and either frozen or muddy. I am so cold that it feels like I will never get warm again, and this year is even worse than usual.
Still, even during these months, I have little things to keep me happy. I am committed to updating this blog, even though I doubt anyone reads it. It still helps to be able to gather my thoughts together into some form of cohesive whole. I have this lovely little craft room, where I can lock the cats out with a board and still lbe near my husband, where I can pretend that the only things I need to worry about are my crafts, and where I can wrap myself up in a wooly blanket and crank my tiny heater. I have my sweet kitties, who are always ready to stop and cuddle, and my husband, who is also always ready to stop and cuddle.

I gathered some more acorns and caps today, I am thinking about making a string of them to use as a garland. I also picked some dried juniper berries, because they smelled so yummy.

I also have been enjoying my walks to and from school. It is only a mile there, so in the mornings it gives me an opportunity to gear up for my day, and on the way back I can meditate on the actions and events of the day and file them all away, so that when I get home I can put it all aside and relax. I also spot plenty of interesting things, like this pretty lichen.

It was so nice and orange, I knew Bunny would love it at once. She likes orange things. Also, like I promised, here are the results of Stage One of the Great Ice Installation.

Here is the ice cakes on the string. Not at all what I was expecting, but super pretty. I moved the net closer to the waterfall to see how it interacted with the spray. More Pictures tomorrow!  In the meantime, here are some of the natural ice formations around the stream. 

Do Not Leave the Broiler Unattended

....or your crab cakes will burn.
That's ok, I was afraid that they were going off anyway. Now the question of what bad crab smells like is moot.
Little Hawk let me go to the knitting store today in search of a spindle, but to no avail. For once, the little shop of fuzzy wonders was lacking. So, instead of being reasonable and waiting to go order one from Knit Picks, I bought two skeins of Plymouth and a set of size 2 double-point needles, or dpns.   One skein is a variegated pinks, and the other several shades of dusky lavender. I have succumbed to the deadly Wooly Startitis and threw a coffee-cup cozy on the needles right away in the lavender.