The Artful Dodger

R2-D2 and Princess Leia

My husband has a friend from childhood with whom he saw the original Star Wars Trilogy over 40 times.  His friend is now married and has a young son whom he has introduced to Star Wars.  For Christmas I crocheted each of them an R2-D2 hat from The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton that came out last year.  I made the mom a Princess Leia hat so she could join in the fun. (I also made her an aqua scarf that she could actually get some use from.)  The Leia hat is just a double crochet skully that I added double crocheted circles sew around pieces of timtex for stiffness.  I could have made them bigger for authenticity, but since it's just for silly fun, I thought the buns were big enough.

The Second Largest Aquarium in the World

 

I came across this amazing and awe inspiring video when 'Stumbling' around the web.  I never get tired of looking at it.  And the soulful music - Please Don't Go by Barcelona - adds a touch of melancholy.  It reminds me of all the endangered species we may have to say goodbye to one day.

Christmas Craft Swap

I haven't been idle during my absence.  I made these Christmas items for a swap-bot swap.  The little quilt is made of 4 1/2 inch squares and machine quilted, the pillow is about 9inches square and the 2 snowman ornaments about 4 x 5 or so.  All the patterns come from a book by Cheri Saffiote called Two-Hour Quilted Christmas Projects that I got several years ago when it was first published in 1997.  Of all the myriad of craft books I've bought over the years, I've probably made more things from this book than any other.  Many of the primative projects lend themselves to color schemes other than red and green.  I've made the little quilt and pillow for several different occasions in blues and greens, in country plaids, even lavendar and purple.  And each project can actually be completed in about 2 hours.  These are currently in their new home in Arizona and, happily, warmly received by their new owner.  It's always gratifying when someone really seem to enjoy the things I've made.

Here's a Beautiful Video of the Aurora Borealis

The Aurora from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

 

I'm Back from Outerspace

Well, I haven't blogged in months, and it isn't like I haven't been doing any crafts.  The problem has been (besides being out of town a great deal) that this winter has been extremely dreary and not amenable to outside photography and I always like to include photos.  I think I'm going to have to break down and build a light box, so I can take photos inside.  I saw one somewhere on the web, while I was 'Stumbling' about, made from a large cardboard box.  I'll have to give it a shot. 

I'm gearing up to start blogging 2 or 3 times a week, so check in later this week to see the latest thing I've been working on - reusable grocery bags for the entire neighborhood. Go Green!

On the Road Again

Wow!  I have not posted on my blog in ages and I had the greatest intentions of doing some tutorials.  But I've been on the road for weeks and have had so little time at home.  I had to go to Pennsylvania this week at the last minute.  Next week I'm off work, but going out of town and I may not have any real time to myself until the Christmas holidays, by which time all I'll want to do is rest and recover.  I've been addictively solving sudoku puzzles in my hotel room instead of crocheting or working on some other portable craft.  So my posts may be very thin until next year when I hope to come back in full force.  When I have time to write blogs, I try and publish them at 2 day intervals so I can get a jump and stay ahead of the game.  When I start up again I may go to 3 day intervals.  That would still give me over 100 posts a year and may be that won't seem so daunting.  My greatest wish is that I had something to post about every day. 

I'm currently trying to stick to a whole food plant based diet which is supposed to be the healthiestdiet going, but doing that on the road can be hard.  Tonight I had dinner at an all vegetarian Indian restaurant in West Chester, PA called Devi.  The food was great - I had wonderful potato and peas samosas as an appetizer and a dosa with all the condiments.  It's been cold and wet here, not cold by northern standards, but definitely cold by Houston standards, but all the turning leaves are gorgeous and every time I've gone outside I've seen and heard migrating geese on the wing.  So I'm getting a taste of winter we never experience in the south.

7 Weeks on the Road

Next week will be my 7th week out of town and then I should be home for a couple of weeks. Hurrah! Maybe I can get a lot of my swaps premade and ready to go.  I've also started a new scarf for the Special Olympics in 2012.  This year they are made out of Red Heart Soft Navy and Cherry Red Super Saver yarn.  You can learn more about this project at scarvesforspecialolympics.org. I also hope to get my pillowcases finished for the Million Pillowcase Challenge at www.allpeoplesew.com.  So many projects, so little time!

Purple Poochie Bags

 
I have managed to make some Poochie Bags for trades.  Both recipients liked purple, so purple it was.  The tutorial for these bags is available here: http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=368

 

San Antonio Texas

I'm in San Antonio for the week, having been struck down by stomach flu last week in Las Vegas.  Quelle dommage! All my projects, except work of course, are on hold while I attempt to return to the land of the living.  More news when I'm feeling up to it.

California - San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo is further up the coast from Santa Barbara.  The mission is right in the middle of town.  It has a wonderful garden.  The yucca was in bloom.

So were the roses.

 

There were grapes growing on a trellis.

 

And angel trumpets next to the bells.
 

The mission is surrounded by interesting shops and restaurants and is on a small river that runs through and under the town.

California - Santa Barbara

I was able to get some shots in California.  Here are the ones from Santa Barbara:

This is a view from the pier.  Brett forgot his sun glasses, otherwise he'd be smiling. 

A friendly seagull, resting on a pylon.

 

The harbor at Santa Barbara.

Redwoods at the Santa Barbara Arboretum.

 

Santa Barbara was lovely.  We ate at a restaurant on the beachfront called 'Sambo's'  supposedly named after a combination of the original owner's names.  The food was great.  Everything came with avocado on the side at no extra charge.  Santa Barbara is located in the center of the area were avocados are raised in California.

 

 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

 

My posts will be very thin on the ground for the next several weeks.  I leave tomorrow for 2 weeks in Los Angeles, then on to Las Vegas, Nv, San Antonio, Tx, back to Vegas, then Charlotte, NC and San Diego, CA and points unknown.  I won't be home again for more than a few Saturdays until Halloween weekend, when I hope for some down time.  I've had to drop from most of the swap-bot swaps I'd signed up for and only stayed in the ones whose deadlines I knew I could meet.  I've got several of the items ready, just no addresses yet to send them to.  If I remember to bring my camera along and I get the chance to use it, I'll try and post some picture from my travels.

Flower ATC's

 

Here are two flower ATC's I recently made for swap-bot swaps.  The theme of the first one is blue and the other is a Rose for Norway.  I made them days apart and it wasn't until I put them side by side that I realized how similar they are, even to the placement of the gems.  Maybe its just because they both have flowers that I made them so much alike.  I shall have to do something completely different next times.

Halloween ATC's

 

I made these two ATC's (artist trading cards) for a swap-bot swap.  I finally found some use for some self sticking foamies I bought awhile back.  Everybody seems to love Halloween.  My next door neighbor is a major fan and decorates in a big way.  I crocheted a Halloween snake scarf for her a couple of years ago and have been promising myself one.  I have the yarn, I just need to get started.

Christmas Dishcloth

 
I wanted to crochet a Christmas dishcloth for a swap-bot swap so I went to the store to pick up some cotton yarn in Christmas colors.  I was hoping to find some variegated, or at least red, green and white and there wasn't a skein of Christmas anything in sight.  Not a single skein of Christmas green.  So I settled on red and white and made a simple six sided granny square dishcloth.  I love crocheting dishclothes, they're a fast project with almost instant gratification.  The truth is I don't use them myself.  But I appreciate receiving them and have started to build quite a collection. They make great last minute hostess gifts when tied up with a ribbon gathered round something else, like wooden spoons or a jar of some delicacy.