Helloo!

I wanted to welcome readers from JudaicaJournal, where my afikomen bag has been so kindly featured today. Thanks, Dr. Mom!

I also want to offer a hat-tip to Rebecca who sent me a copy of the book How to Read and Why in connection with her reading challenge by the same name. It is a great book and an exciting challenge. In the future, once my eyes are better (see below), I will be posting my own progress as I read through the selections discussed in the book.

Also, I’d like to welcome my friend Anna to blogland. Anna takes a great picture, knits a great sock, and never ceases to amuse me.

My apologies for being such a poor blogger. I don’t recall how much, if any, of this that I’ve shared here. For the better part of a year, I have been dealing with some eye-health issues. As of yet they have not been able pinpoint what exactly is causing the trouble and the treatments have not helped. What this means is that much of the time I am unable to craft or read or do anything that involves, you know, actually seeing. So, please bear with me while I heal, because I have many a posts and projects to share yet.

To end on a fun note, Chara Michele is organizing an informal meetup of Seattle-area craft bloggers. It will be held on Saturday, September 6th at 2pm Victor’s Coffee in Redmond. Space is limited, so email Chara at chara@charamichele.com if you would like to rsvp or need more information.

 

Library Sale ‘08

1. The day’s treasures, 2. Russian Children’s Stories “Skazki”, 3. Russian Folk Tales, 4. Alice’s Adventures, 5. Little Helper, 6. 1940’s Hairstyles, 7. Sewing Made Easy, 8. Embroidery: A handbook, 9. Vonnegut

These are the latest additions to my little library, purchased from the semi-annual Friends of the Seattle Public Library Booksale. Most of the books that I brought home were Russian children’s books. (Even those are a reach for my limited vocabulary.) I love Russian fairy and folk tales! I also found some great craft books and a few math books. I didn’t have time to rummage through the fiction sections much, but Breakfast of Champions did find its way into my box somehow.

Also, you see a few of my finds at the rummage sale that was set up next to the book sale; a yellow checked tablecloth, cute little yellow footstool, a red glass vase, and super-cute red carafe. [My absolute favorite colors lately are yellow paired with grey (thanks, Amy Butler!) and red with teal.]

A nice day of garage-sales, a little flea market, and cupcakes was had as well. And the sun shone in an uncharacteristically Spring fashion. It was good.

 

Tangled Up in Blues

Did I mention that my little pester had a yarn fetish? Well, this is an example of a Post-Estherized skein of yarn:

The yarn is Bluebell Sock Yarn from Crazy 4 Dyeing. It was included in a wonderful package sent to me by Carmell for the Knitter’s Coffee Swap.

We all know how much I love books. I never thought I could love them more until I realized this use. Grab a small hardcover book and tuck one end of a tangled skein of yarn inside. Wrap the yarn around the book as you make your way through the maze of thread. When you’re finished you can wind the ball straight off the book. Bonus: Here’s a great video-tutorial on how to wind a center-pull ball by hand (from knittinghelp.com).

Good Friday/Weekend/Shabbos!

 

Thrifty Thursday and Confessions of a Bookaholic

I’ve been holding on to this post just so it could be a thrifty Thursday, and finally it’s here.

I have caved in and decided to start repurposing linens. The thought of making a dress out of some stranger’s sheet used to sound a bit weird and gross to me, but Value Village was having half off linens and there were such wonderful colors and perfectly light fabric for summer dresses that I couldn’t resist. The right most fabric, a beautiful sheet, will become a dress or a skirt and shirt set, I haven’t decided yet. Next to it, the pink floral pillowcase will become the lining for a market bag I have in mind. Above is another pillow case with a Huge Flower (18″x23″!). I’m not sure what to do with that, perhaps it will become a purse or tote bad.

The white linens, I must admit, were not thrifts at all, but they are indeed wonderful finds. I found them deep in the linen closet. They hail from Russia. The sheet still had the tag, written in Russian, although I couldn’t read it. Neither Boy nor I could make out with the monogram is supposed to be. (He speaks fluent Russian, having spent half his life there. I’m certainly not fluent, but I know my share. Sometimes the stylized letters are just difficult to make out.) My guess is that it is a ‘G’, or the Russian equivalent anyways (’Г’, not sure if that letter is readable for you), but it doesn’t really look like it at all. The pillowcases are large and square with embroidery in each corner. They are all could use a good washing with bleach, but I must find a way to get these out of the cupboard.

 

Last weekend was Half Price Books’ warehouse sale. Books for $1 or less! It wasn’t actually as great as the friends of the library sale a few months ago. It was good though. I came home with seven lovelies:

Titles include:

• Creative Ribbon Embroidery Salli Van Rensburg
• Creative Folk Art Sue Iliov
• Basic Photography, a text book pre-digital, but certainly with a thing or two to teach me
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume 1, but I already own this in hardback. I mistakenly thought it was volume 2, oy.
• Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt
• Running With Scissors Augusten Burroughs
• CRAVE Seattle, I’ve flipped through this many times before, lot’s of useful information

In addition to these great finds, I currently have no fewer than twenty titles checked out from the library! Ack. I have a really difficult time walking away from books. In my defense, a lot of the library books are quick reads and inspiration. Also, I was being rushed during the last trip and didn’t have time to ‘edit’ my selection of books.

Well, that about sums it up. Be sure to visit the Thrifty Thursday group on Flickr.

 

Excitement

Today, my copy of Sublime Stitching came in at the library, so I schlepped over there to pick it up. This is exactly the sort of endeavor that makes me really miss my bike. It is just barely too far to make a good walk, but perfect for a bike ride. (In fact, that was where I was headed when my accident happened…) But I’ve been waiting for a long time to get my hands on a copy of Sublime Stitching and I could not bear to wait one more day, so I went for it.

I did get my book and about ten pounds to accompany it (books, magazines, and a dvd). Tsk, tsk. Let’s just say my back is not happy with me now.

On the way home, I found myself in the neighborhood of a Ben Franklin Crafts store. I have not been to BF since I was ten. Back then, I was not very impressed. I’ve always thought of it as the B-list of craft stores. So when I first noticed this location several months ago, I was not over-eager to go. Today, I decided that I may as well stop in and see if they happen to stock fabric ink. (They don’t.) WOW! I was so wrong. It was maybe the best craft store I’ve seen in a long time, even topping Michael’s, due in large part to the fabric section. I was just very impressed.

And now to the point of the post, they had Amy Butler fabrics! even though I’m a skint student, I couldn’t go home without a fat quarter, so here’s what I got:

Apologies for the bad pic, the lighting sucks, but isn’t that gorgeous fabric! I was obviously influenced by that luscious satin ribbon from my stash when I chose this print. Originally I was thinking I would make an apron, but it could become a clutch purse instead. I haven’t yet decided.