Today I spent the day graphing out knotwork bracelets, and after I finished 4 different designs, I thought "Why not a dragonfly?"

And that was it, for the rest of the day. It took something like 6 hours to get graphed just right for me. Of course, I'm NEVER going to make it. It's 110 beads long and 90 beads wide, in either flat peyote or brick stitch.
( wanna sneak peek before I post it with the bracelets? )

E and I walked up to the grocery store today, it's just a bit shy of 2 miles, and a friend saw us walking and offered us a ride, he looked at me like I'd grown another head when I said "No, we're just enjoying the weather and the walk." It's 35 degrees today! Positively summery!

( cute/ugly or ugly/cute? I don't know! )

I gave Wm his replacement ninja, and he seemed very happy, and not at all in a "Mom, I'm 16, and too old for such things, but I'll look happy because you clearly want me to be" sort of way. Before I did, I threw it at Mike and yelled "SECRET NINJA ATTACK!" and Mike said "I want a secret ninja stick. Nobody would see it coming." When I told Dad about it, he agreed, and said they should have Secret Ninja 2x4s. So guess what I'm making them for Christmas? You guessed it. I'm painting them both 2x4s to look like ninjas.
"WHAP!"
"WTF?"
"You didn't see it coming? That's because it was a ninja!"

I still have half a skein left of the ugly acrylic camo yarn. What now?

From knitting and cross stitch. Instead I made a phone cozy. I'm still deciding how to trim it, I'm thinking a pretty lacy edging just on the top flap.
While watching Wonder Woman, because.. you know, Wonder Woman just rocks. I think I need a Wonder Woman tattoo.
A man from the future just told Wonder Woman that there would be a nuclear holocaust in 2007. EEEK! The computers? Totally wonderful on this thing. E keeps asking me questions about them. She's completely baffled by the knobs and lights. She also keeps laughing.
( phone cozy )

( I may have posted instructions before but.. )
Mike's birthday was lovely. E made a no bake cheesecake for him using pre-made graham cracker shells, cream cheese, my good Mexican vanilla (which I'm nearly out of.. *sob*), powdered sugar and coolwhip. It's marvelous. Smooth and just sweet enough. She likes to "slick the pot" and this time she slicked it using chocolate graham crackers.

Subtitle- Or the first Flop
( flipping and flopping )
It's not my worst first try at something, the first scarf I knit for Mike had a definate flare, and I've got little bits and pieces of netted lacy beadwork that didn't turn out at all like I'd planned, and a lot of you saw the original bats I "drew" for a mood theme. I just keep trying until it is something I'm willing to show off.

FYI, when your daughter is watching Monty Python, it's really hard to stop laughing long enough to type decent instructions!

My Wonder Woman bracelet I mean. Figuring out the clasp was the hard part, but I finally did something I liked.
I think I may wind up doing a few pieces based on strong female role models, and I think I had a pretty good idea for the next one.
( pattern behind cut )
Of course, anyone else who wants to make up that pattern can. I hope you like it.

( Spangled Little Pouch )

Don't forget my brand new without many members yet crochet list.

( Loving the alien )

Last night, Emily found a print out of a pattern I'd written and was testing, and she read it aloud completely baffled. "I don't know what this means."
Well.. she's a knitter, not a crocheter, and is as bad as I am at following other people's patterns.
I'm growing out my bangs though, so snap clips are utterly essential while I decide if I want to give up bangs or not. Otherwise it's not even a question, because despite all the years I hid behind very long bangs, having them fall in my face now makes me nuts.

( of course, I haven't posted one of them yet. )
The other thing I've done this week other then working on the scarves, some beadwork and organising books I need to review is ( this barrette )
Thanks for looking!

My keen deduction skills have told me that people care a lot more about Tenacious D vs. Jay and Silent Bob than Oompah Loompahs vs Munchkins.
Yesterday I had to confess to Mike I called the comic book shop just to see what the vs. was this week for all of you, see, I'd forgotten. I wasn't emotionally involved like I was with the Munchkins.

Up to the sunrays on the hat. Which is turning out really cute. I keep saying "I'm going to write down directions for the base hat" but don't. It's pretty automatic for me. I know that I have to end with 72 stitches with a size h hook to fit E's or my head. I start with 8 scs in the first stitch, and just keep increasing and working some rows plain to get a rounded shape until I get to 72, then work the rows plain until it's long enough, then I break off, count 9 stitches from where I break off, and start the first ear flap which is 18 stitches wide to start.
I know! I can write the earflaps!
Decrease is worked by inserting the hook in the first stitch, yo, pull through just the stitch (2 loops on hook), insert hook in second stitch, yo, pull through all loops. Dec sc made. At least the way I do them for these flaps.
row 1: 18 sc
row 2: ch 1 to turn,18 rsc (reverse single crochet, which for me is a whole lot easier then switching hands and trying to do it that way to keep that characteristic sc ridge from showing
row 3: Dec over first 2 stitches, sc in next 14 stitches, dec in last 2 stitches
Row 4: ch 1 to turn, rsc across..

yeah.. well.. I could write all the rows, but it's all like that. Just decrease by 2 on the sc on rows, and rsc across on the rsc rows until you're left with 2 stitches, then break off and do the other side, then I sc all around and at the ends of the flaps do my chains for the straps, you know, chain down, slip stitch up.

The basic hat is easy. It's the decorations that make it fun. And this one has little triangle sunrays. Unstuffed or only lightly stuffed though. I'm nearly out of stuffing and I want to get this done.

I've got a couple sets of zills. This is the set I actually use. One set that I never use, is at least 80 years old, a distant cousin got them while she was in India in something like the 1920s. They are part of a collection of things she picked up there. A gorgeous little brass cosmetics bottle we think once held kohl shaped like a peacock with a tail that goes up and down, a couple long gone sari silks I used for costumes and things when I was a kid. Well, they aren't part of that collection anymore, because Mom believed beautiful things were meant to be used and I used those right up. *grins* Happy memories though. We do the same thing for E, she has flags and silks and all sorts of things we've never told her she couldn't use. She enjoys them more then we would just hanging on the wall.
Ahh.. well.. so now I'm babbling. The point is, I have lots of zills, and I still do bellydance sometimes, if it's a low pain day, I like dancing, and bellydancing isn't as stressful to my joints as tap or ballet would be!
This set, I got from Mermaid Imports, they were 20.00 a pair. Yes, you can find less expensive zills, I have a lightweight set of less expensive zills Emily uses when she wants to dance with me, but the sound from the heavier, more expensive pair is so much better. Mine *ring* when clicked together quickly. Lovely sounding. I'll record the sound later if your interested. But being a decent size and weight means the sound really isn't made for my house when people are doing other things, so I made a set of zill covers/mufflers.
( wiggles hips this way )
Mermaid Imports is also the same place I got the diety pouches I beaded a while back. Lovely place. Grab bags, incense, and 2 for a dollar dhoop sticks, which is the only incense Mike doesn't seem to mind, although to be fair, the only one he's complained about is Nag Champa. If I've mentioned something here, that they don't mention or have on their website that you want, email them. I told them I wanted to do a feature on the diety pouches which they don't have on their site,and they told me someone can always email them for information. I'm personally wild for their grab bags. They have sparklies in them. Copper bracelets, incences, shell jewelry, little pill boxes, all sorts of interesting things. But I LOVE grab bags. Addicted to them in fact. When we HAD a Sanrio store, they used to have grab bags. I can't even tell you how many E and I bought!
Now I need to make a bag for my zills.

Someone on Craftster asked for the pattern for the stars on Mel's hat..
( pattern..  )
Sugar-n-cream frequently goes on sale for 1.00 a ball, and I stock up then.

( pink and frilly )

Hopefully my daughter likes them.

I don't game. I don't like Star Trek. I'm a very bad geek.
But sometimes I get an idea stuck in my head.
( so this is the pattern )
-Shala