Evil Eye

Without fail, I always leave the DIY Trunk Show with a little less inventory, and a whole lot more inspiration.  Chicago has some amazing crafters! And I had some amazing helpers, thanks so much Scott, Sara and Victor for making it a great day.

I always like to hunker down and make stuff as the temperature drops, and that includes baking of course!  I just visited a site that is perfect for making some crafty cute cupcakes and candies: Bake It Pretty!  And, as if that shop is not sweet enough (yes, pun intended), they are having a contest over on their blog, every little thing.  Of course I entered the contest, I need more of those gnome decorations!  If I had seen that site yesterday, I think the tasty pumpkin muffins I made yesterday would have been embellished somehow.

I have to make this eventually, I don’t see how I can’t.

http://www.missginsu.com/2008/03/bacon-cake-yay.html

I already enjoy the Vosges Bacon Bar, but feel it can use more bacon. This cake seems like the ticket. Plus, I get to make cake!

Goodness, I have neglected blogging this month. But, you get into a routine, and there is not as much to write about. Or, you do want to comment on things going on, but are busy with said routine and don’t get around to it. Such is the state of this blog.

But it’s not all just routine, there are Monday nights at the Stitch n’ Bitch, 33.3rd birthday parties to attend, seeds to plant in hope of Spring, and a fabulous birthday dinner at Alinea last night for Scott’s 35th birthday.

Last weekend we helped stage a very successful surprise party for our dear friend, Dan. Brandy did an amazing job putting it together, all we did was carry out the plan.

How is that for a cool looking cake?

On Sunday I started most of my seedlings, and have been meaning to get the rest started this week. It was good to start playing with dirt again, not that I can see dirt outside anymore underneath the snow. Phooey.

The birthday fun continued this week with Scott’s 35th birthday celebration at Alinea last night. We had the tour menu. I don’t care how small the portions are, that was a lot of food! It was an accomplishment to eat it all, and it took 5 hours. The fastest 5 hours I have ever experienced! Time just flew by as we had a most entertaining and delicious meal. Each serving came with an explanation, as did the wine pairings. The wait staff were wonderful, and I think we entertained them as much as they entertained us. It was truly a dining experience.

I’ve been busy in the yarn front as well, but not just knitting and spinning. Sara and I have been coordinating Bobmas Eve celebrations with Chicago’s local yarn stores. What? Why, Bobmas Eve of course! If you are a knitter or crocheter, I am guessing you have heard of Ravelry by now. Well, on April 11 it will have been one year since Ravelry was conceived. Bob is the creators’ pet, and Ravelry mascot. Therefore, April 10th has been declared Bobmas Eve, and cities all over are planning celebrations. Here in Chicago we are talking to yarn stores, and many of them (I’ll have a list for you soon) will be open that evening for your yarn enjoyment. Each one will be celebrating in its own way, and we urge you to visit your local yarn store that night, or more than one, and meet fellow Ravelry members, or go find out what the fuss is all about. I’ll keep you posted here, and at the YarnCon Blog with more information soon. (Hey, did I mention we are taking applications for YarnCon? Well, what are you waiting for?)

We are also already making plans for World Wide Knit in Public (WWKiP) day on June 14, 2008 in Millennium Park here in Chicago. Mark you calendars!

I’ve been busy, and yet I feel like I am getting little other than knitting and baking done.  But, its the time of year to share goodies, and I do enjoy baking.  Monday was the Stitch n’ Bitch to which I brought pumpkin cookies, and yesterday was the Windy City Knitting Guild meeting to which I brought pumpkin muffins.  I did get some wax carving done, a bit of repair work, and a whole lot of wax injections into casting yesterday, so work is getting done.  Today I hope to get lots of work out of the way so I am ready to work on all of the pieces I will have coming out of casting.

And yet, the house really needs my attention.  I have spent so much time in my studio, that the house is getting a little fuzzy around me.  Sigh.  Well, instead of complaining there is never enough time, perhaps I should go and get to work, so I can have a little time for domestic chores later.

Well, another DIY Trunk Show has come and gone, and it remains my favorite show. I had a good show this year, and am feeling pretty good about the feedback I got from people. I thought I would be able to get a few days rest, but now I have to work on replenishing my stock for Bazaar Bizarre in 2 weeks, and get the custom orders done. This is good news for me, and it’s not like I won’t have Thursday off to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and friends.

After the trunk show, we went home, got dinner, and got right back on the road to go to our friends’ housewarming party downstate. They bought a farm, and the house, land, barn and all of it is just wonderful. The farm house is in amazing condition, and is a warm and inviting home, I couldn’t be happier for them. Our friends performed a housewarming ritual for them which we all participated in, and the ritual involved making cake! Now there is a ritual I can get behind!

Today I had lunch with an old friend I had not seen for years, and now I am baking cookies for the SnB tonight. Not the most productive day, but that’s ok. Tomorrow I will hit the ground running.

Last night we had dinner with my brother and his girlfriend over at Kitch’n (mmm… chicken and waffles…), where the toys on the wall got us reminiscing about our own toys and old TV shows.  Krista’s iPhone came to the rescue when we could not remember the name of a show (it was H.R. Puffenstuff).  From there Scott and I went to see The Magnificent’s  at the Viaduct.  I’ve always had a soft spot for magic shows, and this show did not disappoint.  The aging magician and his wife were sweet, and I noticed some RedMoon theater influences in this show.

This morning I have to go downtown to mess with a laser welder, which will take me away from my bench yet again.  At least it looks like a lovely day, and since I will be downtown, I am going to try and stop at the Cultural Center to see the Crocheted Reef.  I should be able to finish my handwarmers on the train ride.

May I direct your attention to a great way to waste time online for a cause?  FreeRice is a very addictive vocabulary game, and with each word you get the correct definition for, you donate 10 grains of rice.  Here is what they say about themselves on their site:

“FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.”

Will it help end world hunger?  I doubt it.  Is it a worthy goal, yes, and whose vocabulary can’t use a little work?

Ah, another Halloween has come and gone. I am sad to take down the outdoor decorations, even if I didn’t do anything new this year. I love that living in a house means trick-or-treaters. Although this year I did end up with too much leftover candy. I also have some left over cupcakes, but those won’t last long. I made the chocolate-pumpkin cupcakes from Pinch My Salt, but I made a different frosting. I didn’t have cream cheese, but I did have whipping cream, so I made whipped cream with my own pumpkin pie spice mix, and it was lovely. For the pumpkin part of the recipe, I used the gourd that Vera gave Sara and I at YarnCon. It was delicious!

I’ve been very sporadic about blogging, and in an effort to be better about posting, I have decided to participate in NaBloPoMo, yet another spin off of NaNoWriMo. So, the plan is to blog once a day.

One thing I imagine I will be blogging about is getting ready for the DIY Trunk Show!

I am lucky to be busy with custom work, which is great, but it is making me nervous about having enough made in time for DIY. Well, thats ok, I tend to work best under a little pressure. Here I go!

I’ve again been neglecting the blog. Sorry about that. My excuses are that i have been busy, and that when all you want to do is complain about your job, maybe you should stay away from the blog for a little while. You never know who reads this thing, you know?

I’m past the complaining part. I’ve made some decision that have put my mind at ease, and i am feeling better about my work situation. As those of you who check out the store have noticed, there is nothing new going on. That will change this summer. Right now between working full-time, and then some, and trying really hard to keep up with my custom orders (i have been way too slow on those jobs, sorry guys, i promise, i am in fact working on your jobs!), i have not had a chance to make anything new for Evil Eye. Oh, there are plenty of designs laid out in my notebook, just waiting for me to make my way to my work bench.

I can’t give away too much information right now, but starting in July i plan to have more time to dedicate to Evil Eye Emporium, and things will start to change. There will be updated photos, new pieces, and even a new web page towards the fall. So, although it may seem too quiet on this end, rest assured that plenty is going on behind the scenes.

As for my non-work related life (i do try to maintain one!) things are going well. Want to see the first crocus? Many more have bloomed since this picture was taken, but there is something about that first one!

This little one is now surrounded with yellow, purple, and (one) white crocuses. My tulips are making their way up out of the ground, and even the day-lilies are making their comeback. Spring is so inspiring!

I have been plenty busy knitting and spinning too! I made my mom a pair of hand-warmers for her birthday, which i as usual forgot to take a picture of. I’ll have to take a picture next time i visit them. I am getting close to being done with my variegated naturally colored yarn that i am spinning on my hand spindle. I can’t wait to be done with it so i can start spinning on my brand new spinning wheel!

Isn’t she cute? So industrial looking. It’s made of PVC pipes and a wheel chair wheel, along with a traditional flyer. I have not sat down to learn to use it yet since i am afraid i will never go back and finish the yarn i am working on with my hand spindle. Here is a peek at one of the skeins i finished last month on my hand spindle:

I’m also still working on Clapotis. That’s ok, i don’t mind having a big project i can go back to, but i do want to wear the thing. One of these days i will think to take a progress shot. For those of you who have knit Clapotis before, i have dropped 9 columns of stitches so far, so i have a ways to go.

Speaking of birthdays, we had a lovely poker night get together for Scott’s birthday. Nothing fancy, just a few friends over for pizza and cake. I made what is my new favorite cake recipe, Chocolate Stout cake. So rich and dark chocolatey. The stout really enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake.  For valentine’s day i decided to use this recipe to make cupcakes.  For 24 cupcakes, i halved the recipe, and reduced the baking time to 25 minutes.  I think that cupcakes make a better serving size as this is a really big cake (3 layers), and very, very rich.  yum!

Now to try and concentrate while it’s nice out, sigh.   I definitely have spring fever.

I’ve gotten so much done in the last few days, and i have photographic evidence to share.

Last week on Wednesday i finished the socks for Larissa’s knit-along.

I also wandered over to Loopy Yarns to get a demonstration on how the drop-spindle works. I was given one as a gift a while back, and have never used it. Honestly, the thing baffled me. So, i saw how it works, gave it a try, and thought i would not much care for it, and put it away when i got home. On Saturday night i got it into my head to give it a try, and after a couple of attempts i figured it out, and i did not want to put it down again. By Sunday evening i had spun my first batch of wool (also part of the gift).

I have already washed it and set it to dry on a towel. I can’t wait to turn it into a ball of yarn, and try knitting with it!

This weekend i also stretched one of the images from my burlap bags, and i am very pleased with the results.

Plus, we went bed shopping, went to Ikea for a bed frame for the guest room which will now have a bed (yeay), and then after stretching some burlap, we went to Army and Lou’s for some great soul food.

I spent Sunday cleaning the crap room, which is now once again, the craft room. Whew! I also started working on the Ikea frame, and finished spinning my wool. I wrapped up the evening by settling down on the couch to work on clapotis.

Being surrounded by family and friends, plentiful food, and a successful first turkey to share with everyone are some of the things i am thankful for.