Short week
Well, now that my panda is done, I’m trying to decide what to work on next. Currently working on? Nothing! I’m just watching Walk the Line. Two of my favorite actors in a movie about Johnny Cash, one of my favorite musicians. Pretty awesome.
1) I must clean up the couch first. We have two smaller couches in our living room, a sort of L-shaped sectional type thing. One is now entirely covered with yarn and amigurumi accessories. My husband has been heard to voice one or two complaints.
2) I have two small cats to crochet next. They’re part of my cat memorial project. You see, Caper also had a brother once upon a time, so my project must be about them both. Both cats were black. I’ll tell you, if black cats are really bad luck, I’m sunk.
3) Next I’m going to have to do some mending. Buttons, zippers, hems. Mending projects, I must confess, are the only reason I ever regret knowing how to sew. Mending is awful. I mean, it’s really not, but I do not like it.
4) ??? Don’t know what project I will attempt next, but I think it might finally be time to start my flower project challenge I made back in the spring. I had a lot of stuff lined up in front of that, but I think it’s time. I have about 400 ideas, so the first thing I’m going to have to do is whittle that down.
Small is not Easy (but 3 of 5 are done)
Months ago, while I was in the midst of crocheting and stitching large afghans, I opined that I ought to do some small projects, like animals or something. The idea was to do things I could complete quickly, thinking it might somehow be easier. So I did. Some small animals might be easy, and in fact I thought the elephant I did was fun and quick. The third of my animals has proven more challenging.
Meet the (as-yet-unnamed) Pirate Panda, which is a gift for my brother Jeremy. He has movable shoulder joints (made with buttons). He comes with accessories – the skull-and-crossbones hat, the eye patch. I think he’s pretty cute.
Jeremy gets a panda because has a particular fondness for pandas. He and I both support Pandas International. This organization that raises money to support the panda preserve in Wolong, China. The Wolong preserve is the primary organization for panda research and preservation in the world, and has had a lot of success. Sadly, it was hit recently by the massive earthquake in China and sustained a lot of damage.
On another note, yes, I know I screwed up my June postings. I thought I’d already posted Friday and then on Saturday morning I realized I hadn’t made a post after all. I can’t believe I messed up and forgot like that. Ah well, I guess none of us are perfect, and this was probably not the best month for the attempt in the end, though I couldn’t have known that to begin with. After realizing I missed Friday, I decided to take Saturday off too. Why not?
I very nearly took today off as well. I went hiking today and got heat exhaustion, thanks to our lovely 100+ degree weather. Without the surprise illness and subsequent nap, I might have made a nice post about the peach syrup I made today. Do you know, it’s pretty easy to make syrup out of fruit?
Patience, that virtue thingy
My level of patience is, you know, declining.
I am making a stuffed toy. It is a present for someone. This toy is taking a crazy amount of time because there are so many tiny little picky details. Did I mention the details are tiny? And there are a lot of them?
I have made legs and arms. Body, head. Hat. Felt cutouts. Eyes, nose. Sewn bits. STRIPES.
But I just realized that (1) the holes in the top of the arms and legs need to be big enough to put stuffing in. And also that (2) I haven’t made ears. And (3) this animal has a TAIL and I don’t have one of those yet either.
I may finish this toy in 2009. I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
Oh, and I seem to have lost the other toy I’ve been waiting months to put a face on. I suspect the cat stole it. Or at least, she’s a convenient culprit and she can’t talk, so she can’t dispute my efforts to blame her.
