3/31/07

Positive/Negative



More projects from my Intro to Art class. These were especially fun to do.

3/22/07

More color fun


babette 001
Originally uploaded by slichly.
I can't believe how far I have been able to stretch one "trash bag" full of scrap yarn. I knew there was a lot of it, but it just keeps going. :) This afghan still needs an edging put on it but Paige has laid claim to this one since Sarah got the Kaleidescope Afghan. I'd be surprised if Mike wants anything so colorful, but at this point who knows!! Click on photo for pattern and yarn info.

3/13/07

ripple1


ripple1
Originally uploaded by slichly.
I have been using up the remaining scrap yarn from the Kaleidoscope afghan to make this quirky blanket. Inspired by a "Ripple=Along" crochet group. Click on picture for link to the pattern used.. My little kitty, Tiger, really wants this blanket for himself so I may have to make another one. :)

2/26/07

grannybright


grannybright
Originally uploaded by slichly.
I finished this blanket this weekend. It was a WIP from a long time ago. Used various worsted weight acrylic yarn and H hook so it came out softer than expected. Will donate to Stitches from the Heart.

2/22/07

Art projects




Recent projects showing static vs movement. I think they will look better as color copies.

2/13/07

Sarah's hearts


IMG_1396
Originally uploaded by slichly.
Sarah and I made these for her class valentines. We got the idea from Family Fun magazine. You just melt little crayon bits in a heart shaped muffin pan in the oven at 250 for ten minutes. After they set up, you remove them and voila, a little colorful surprise. Crayola crayons worked the best.

2/4/07

Kaleidoscope


Believe it or not, I have been doing some crochet. This blanket was made with lots of scraps. I put all the scraps in a black bag and when I added a new round, I would just pull a new color out of the bag. Whatever color it was, I had to use it. The pattern is Kaleidoscope Afghan from "Blue Ribbon Afghans from America's State Fairs: 40 Prize Winning Designs." I will probably not be entering into any fairs but I feel like I do deserve a ribbon just for weaving in all these ends. My daughter, Sarah is the proud owner of this afghan.

(Click on the picture if you would like to see the blanket up close.)

1/30/07



Over the weekend, we visited the LA County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It was very cool. There were peacocks, ducks and Canadian geese all over the place. It was wierd to visit this several hundred acre park in the middle of a city. Lots of different plants from around the world. It has a national historic place on it called the Queen Anne Cottage. Paige did not like the peacocks. Everytime one came near her she ran off in the opposite direction. Although beautiful, peacocks are a little creepy looking up close. We are planning to go back in the springtime when most of the trees will not look dead and maybe see some goslings running around.

Here's some more pics from our fun day.

1/26/07

Advanced Cut and Paste


I made this in Art class today. It was actually harder to make than it looks. I had to cut out each rectangle and align them visually by at least one side. The right angles have to be perfect. Exacto knifes are kind of fun to play around with. Too bad I'm going to go through like a thousand blades this semester.

1/24/07

quick bag


quick bag
Originally uploaded by slichly.
A fast project to finish before the big time studying begins... Made from Reynold Lopi and Noro Big Kureyon. Felted in my washing machine. I do not recommend putting your item to be felted inside a flannel pillow case. Next time I will use a regular pillowcase and hopefully less "flannel fuzz" will stick to my item.

1/7/07

Gifts given

Now that most gifts have been given I want to show some of the handmade items I made for the holidays.

a) b) c) d)

a) Scarf for my lab partner, Jayne in Lion Brand Homespun and some other yummy yarn that I forgot the name of.
b) Neck-down sweater for Allyson made from Bernat Soft Boucle in Misty Taupes.
c) Neck Down Dueling Cables V-neck sweater for Emily in Caron Simply Soft in Berry mint. This photo is more true to the real color.
d) detail of cable on Emily's sweater.

School for the kidlings starts tomorrow and the Spring semester for me starts Jan. 16. I feel like I must savor this week of post-holiday, pre-semester peace and calm.

1/4/07

Changes

I guess it's a case of new year's change. Experimenting with a new look for my blog...

12/15/06

Contemplation


My children at the California Science Center. This photo is scanned so forgive the poor image quality.

12/11/06

Stress


Stress
Originally uploaded by Dave-F.
This is how I am feeling lately....


The poem that goes with this picture:

Stress

A definition, friends, of stress:
Your own reaction to a mess
Stresses may be large or small
Sometimes they're not perceived at all
Examples: Say a lack of cash;
A just-avoided freeway crash;
An allergen that's in the air;
The barber says you're losing hair;
Fifty on a spavined horse;
Attorney's letter re divorce;
Wetness, dryness, heat or cold;
Callow youth or getting old
Stress from pains to pleasures range
The common element is change
Adapt or die, and that's a fact
And so our bodies must react:
The heart speeds up, the gut slows down
Facial muscles snarl or frown
Bronchial tubes expand and then
The blood absorbs more oxygen
Widened pupils search the void
Adrenal glands secrete steroid
Serum glucose starts to climb
More insulin works overtime
Stressed physically or mentally
Muscles tense to fight or flee
The midbrain boils with rage and fear
While cortex plans to save your rear
The point is, stress is not unique
It doesn't mean you're dumb or weak
A part of mankind's constitution
Bequeathed to us by evolution
Common both to man and beast
It proves you're still alive, at least.

By William Goldsmith, MD

12/5/06

Positive thinking

There is great power in positive thinking. Obviously, my children must have out their little heads together because Mike found this in our front yard cyprus tree:

His name is Tiger (I know, very original). He was extremely dehydrated and hungry. He was also very dirty and had tree sap on him. We cleaned him up and now I guess he belongs to my oldest..

It is not kitten season.. How else do you explain him coming to us??

Finished this set for a charity "Santa" project

11/28/06

Mystery solved...

Ever since I started going back to school, we have been having lots of trouble with our dog, Dakota, escaping and running away. We have been blessed by many strangers (and friends and neighbors) who have brought her back to us. We've tried lots of things and now we simply put her in the house whenever I am in class. This is probably what she wanted all along but anyway...

I now know at least part of the mystery. My dog is part kangaroo.

bluehat


bluehat
Originally uploaded by slichly.
Not many finished objects lately. I made this using the Knifty Knitter brand looms.

11/3/06

I (heart) Autumn!

I always have. The colors, the weather, going back to school, sweaters (I am a fiber junkie, you know). My house is even decorated in Fall colors so I can have Autumn all year round. Here are some of our latest happenings:


The pumpkin patch: (Another way for someone to make lots of money off the trappings of parenthood, but as the commercial says "Priceless memories")



I think Paige's favorite part was seeing how many pumpkins she could put in our friend's wagon. We ended up buying three pumpkins but putting around 15 back. She's a strong toddler.

No, her favorite part must have been this: (Don't forget she's only 3 1/2)



Halloween: We now have a child old enough to want to be something scary and evil. We had been able to avoid it up until this year



Fire station: Although very brave and outgoing about most everything else, Paige has a tremendous fear of sirens. We live near a busy street so any time a fire engine roars down the street, fear, panic and tears arupt from my youngest. So on the advice of my child development class, I packed her up, bought a dozen donuts as a gift and headed to my local station. I have to say the firefighters were extremely nice and warm to us. Lucky for me, there was a female firefighter (also a mom) on duty and she just scooped Paige up and let her check out the truck. The firefighters thanked Paige for the donuts and said "Next time you hear the siren, remember to wave at us!" Of course, there have been no sirens to try our theory on yet but it will come soon....

10/16/06

NATO recipients

will be getting these as gifts: Handknit Latvian mittens.

Cool info on this site

10/15/06

Ocotber Scarves


oct06scarf
Originally uploaded by slichly.
Recent finished objects that will be given to charity. Click on photo for more info regarding yarn used.

10/11/06

In Loving Memory


TLL
1956 - 2006

10/4/06

Before I forget..

I must announce that Sarah scored her first goal this past weekend. Not bad for a girl who has not played soccer in 3 years. Here she is right after she scored (with white ponytail "doo-dad")



Also, did anyone realize that yesterday was the equivalent of a National holiday at our house? The Little Mermaid came out on DVD. Yeah!!!! Now we can finally retire our 15 year old VHS tape of the same movie that has dots and lines running through it when we play it. Paige is on cloud 9.

<

9/14/06

lacey 001


lacey 001
Originally uploaded by slichly.
I'm taking a break from studying to show you a sweater that took forever to finish. Actually it still doesn't have buttons. Do we really need buttons??

I really love knitting the top down sweaters but not so much the cardigans. The sweaters are a little more "brainless". This sweater took a little more effort. It is made from baby yarn so it has a nice light feel and is very soft. I have a sleeve detail photo on flickr.

9/9/06

Back-to-school

My fingers are itching. School started for me back on August 22, and I barely have time to knit. I'm taking Women's Health, Medical Terminology and Intro to Organic Chemistry. Paige's preschool also counts as a class because even though I work in her class once a week, we also attend a parenting/child development lecture. I'm a little worried that because even after 3 children, I know there will still be parenting stuff I haven't learned. :) It will be like "Aha, I should have done THAT! Then maybe I would still have some brain cells..."


Obligatory first day of school pictures. Don't they look excited!


In my sideline profession of animal rescuer, this little dove made an appearance on my doorstep yesterday. The bird seemed okay for the most part but let us get incredibly close to it and it wouldn't fly away. We scooped it up and took it the the local vet that takes "wildlife". Just another day in our crazy household. Now I just need the Dog Whisperer to come to my house and explain why our dog keeps jumping over a 5 foot fence and running away any time we leave the house. (Remember, she is 5 years old and was a perfectly sane dog up until this point.) I guess our human craziness is contagious to canines.

8/21/06

freeform 81606


freeform 81606
Originally uploaded by slichly.
A close-up of the free form p[iece I made for a crochet group with my mom. The color on this picture is not quite right. Imagine all the reds are a bit more "purpleish". Also, I must be the laziest fiber person around. I took my scrumbles and machine stitched them to a piece of denim to make this design. Then I machine stitched that piece of denim to a tote bag (like an applique). I left the frayed edges of the denim showing because I thought it looked interesting.

World Famous San Diego Zoo



This was our big family event for the summer. One of my favorite places yet it always seems to wreck our calves. :) Lots of hills. Of course I took about a million pictures so here a few of my favorites:









After the zoo, we stopped in Old Town and ate at Rancho La Lena. So yummy!

8/14/06

Summer adventures

We have been trying to catch up on some fun summer activities before the Fall session of school starts.

Disney lunch with princesses (pictured here Paige with Cinderella)



Stitch N Pitch LA This was a last minute fun thing to do! 700+ knitters, crocheters, and needleworkers all gathered to do their thing while we watched a Dodger game. Here is the hat I made "on the fly". We also got a goodie bag which included a tote bag. size 17 bamboo needles, two skeins of Crystal Palace "Splash" yarn and patterns and coupons.



Museum of Latin American Art This place was wonderful! Of course, we only got to stay for about 5 minutes (what was I thinking taking a fiesty three year old?) but I will have to go back. They had these cool finger puppets in the gift shop. Not the best picture but can you find Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants?


These beautiful tiles were outside the Ladies room at the Museum Cafe



More adventures to come!

8/1/06

Finished objects July 2006

Here's some more things I have finished...


5 hour baby sweater

Made with Red Heart Kids in Periwinkle. Info and pattern can be found here.


Baby socks

Made with Jamie baby yarn. Pattern in Rainbow Knits for Kids by Cheryl Potter.