Chat

Well Shoot. I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but there just hasn’t been much to report lately. It’s not that I’m doing nothing, but I’ve just sort of been hibernating in the cold — doing not terribly exciting stuff like paperwork for taxes and the daily dinner grind. I’ve also spent too much time slurping around the internet — being inspired and pausing to think about stuff.

I did have a moment of fabric weakness when I bought some PamKittyGarden fabric, and I’ve been busy wrangling the tangles that result from pre-shrinking the fabric. Happy fabric has been a bright spot in these dreary January days!

I’ve also started a new sweater. I usually just want to knit all the time in the winter months, and this January has been no exception. (And, can you believe it? Today is the last day of January. Winter will be over before we know it! February is a short month — although, I don’t know how it could be any shorter than January, which seemed like it lasted all of about 4 days.)

I’ve watched with interest all of the swaps that are happening on Instagram. Just when I think I’d like to join in, I slap myself back into reality. Anjeanette wrote an interesting post about swaps a few weeks ago — if you have time, it’s well worth the read. How do you feel about them? I think it’s a fun way to get to know people, but I’m trying to pare down around here (and very unsuccessfully, I might add!) not add more stuff.  (Haha, I hear you fabric police.)  Plus, I don’t even have time to make all the projects that I want to make!

And, while we’re on topics seeking your input, how do you feel about fabric clubs? I’ve had a few people ask me if I’ll be having fabric clubs with my Liberty fabrics (oooh, a new order just went in yesterday (yay!) but it’s backordered (boo!)). I’ve never been a big fan of fabric clubs. I mean, they’re a great deal for me, as a seller, but for you? It seems to me that you’ll end up with fabrics that you wouldn’t have normally bought. Plus, they just seem so expensive to me when you add up all those months of being in the club. No? What do you think???

Well, those two paragraphs sure make me sound grumpy.  Sorry.  Really I’m not.  Just trying to keep the hysteria in check — and if you could see this house, you’d realize that I’m not doing a very good job LOL.  I started working on month four of The Aunts’ quilt today.  First step is to use the magic light box and transfer the pattern.

Then pick some fun fabrics.  I would say that I like that part the best, but I’m really loving this whole project!

Ok, enough chitchat.  I’ll leave you with two things:

Here’s a link to a video that shows that Downton Abbey appeals to everyone.  Can you say Tea Pong?

And I left my station for a moment and returned to find The Scruffster getting into a bit of trouble.

Luckily he realized that fabric isn’t a ribbon and he quit trying to eat it.  Good Kitty.

Have a great weekend — we’re off to see Paddington and I. Can’t. Wait!

XOXO,
Anna

Sheesh! I didn’t mean to be gone so long, but it’s been a little busy around here, as I’m sure it has been for you too. When I realized the date this morning (oh.my.gosh, Dec. 5th already!) it made me think of St. Nicholas Day in Europe.

Years ago, when we lived in Germany, our battalion organized a ski trip to Berchtesgaden on the 5th and 6th of December. We were all innocent young American tourists, wandering the streets of the little village and all of a sudden these big straw men appeared and they started chasing people and hitting them with switches. We were told that they were “Grumps” and their job was to go around and beat the bad spirits out of children so that St. Nicholas could visit them that evening and leave presents in their shoes. There was a lot of mayhem and shrieks and laughter. One of the girls I was with was “switched” and she said it really hurt — these guys weren’t playing around! I found a few pictures on google to show you what they look like.

I can’t really find any truth to what I was told on google. They’re really called Krampuss and, according to the descriptions I found with these pictures, they are unmarried men, dressed in straw or skins with wooden masks or skins over their heads and large cow-bells tied around their hips (so you know they’re coming!) and they follow Saint Nicholas from house to house on December 5 and 6 every year to bring luck to the good and punish the idle.

It was totally accidental that we happened to be in Bavaria on the same day that the grumps appeared, but it’s a really fun memory for me. And, I think it’s accidental that I should remember it today, when I’ve been feeling more than a little grumpy. This is shaping up to be a weird holiday season for us this year (for starters, GASP! — it looks like their won’t be a gingerbread competition because we can’t get all these grown kids and their busy schedules coordinated) and I’m having more than a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit.

Not to fear though. I have two things set to turn it all around. First, did you see this?

Yipee!!! I won a $100 gift certificate from Minted and Amy! It’s very exciting — Minted has so many beautiful things that I’m having trouble choosing! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You SOOOO much Amy!

And second, I’m going to spend the day Christmas shopping and see if I can kick the grumps to the curb. I hope you’ve had a better start to your holiday prep and you’re well on your way!

XOXO,
Anna

This post is titled Five today. Just Five. ‘Cause, once again, I’m too late for Five on Friday. {Sigh}. I’m almost too late for Five on Saturday. I have a good excuse though — there’s been major cleaning going on around here and it’s a lot of work. Anyway, here are a few things for your weekend:

1. Last weekend I went to see SweetiePie and we ventured off to Ikea. Here’s a tip — don’t go to Ikea on a Saturday that’s remotely close to Christmas. It was worth it though, look at the cute wrapping paper we found!

2. We’ve been having a big clean out at work. We’re soon going to be squishing from 4 big buildings into 2, so there’s a big purge in the works. (Happily I’m not going to go into my “Who in the *&(% came up with the honeycomb cubicle concept that’s causing 70% of American companies to follow each other over the cliff?” rant. Because there IS a rant and it’s a BIG one.) There’s a community book table for the clean out, and one day, this old Kaffe knitting book showed up. I nabbed it, but I already have a copy, so I thought one of you might like it. It’s free if you’re willing to pay the postage. Just leave a comment telling me you want it. It looks like it could be sent as media mail for around $4.00 in the states.

3. Not much to report on the Aunts’ Quilt this week. I’m still making fabric choices for month 2. In the meantime, check out the great tutorial that Meredithe has posted for a no waste method of creating the flying geese pieces that we need for the pieced blocks.  Thanks Meredithe!

4. The weather in parts of the states last week was awful! I like winter, so I don’t usually complain about the cold, but, according to the weather channel,  “These 20 U.S. Cities Are Allowed To Complain About The Cold”. We came in at number 10 which is really surprising to me. Surely there are much colder cities north of us? We even beat out Detroit and Cleveland.  And we’re only one rank lower than Buffalo — What???  That’s pretty impressive — we’re in the top 10.  I’ll try not to take advantage of our new found privilege this winter, but at least you know, if i do complain … it’s well deserved!  (Also, if you are my children, please note:  There IS more that one skyscraper in your po-dunkey hometown!)

5. On that note, the Scruffster would like to tell you to stay warm and get some rest. Especially if you’re an American preparing for Thanksgiving this week!

XOXO,
Anna

Holy Cow Kids — I’m Tired!!! DIDYAMISSME LOL???

This jet lag is killing me. I’ve been home now for 6 days and I’m still pooped and waking up a lot in the middle of the night. Going to somewhere as close as Europe is jet lag child’s play compared to this. According to Wikipedia, you’re supposed to allow one day per time zone difference for recovery. Since I’m pretty sure I traveled through 500 time zones, it might take awhile. Actually, according to their calculations, it should take me 10 days, so, maybe I’ll be alive by next weekend.

I had a great trip and I’m planning to tell you about it, but I’m still weeding out pictures. In the meantime, I have a few housekeeping items that need to be tackled. (Not counting the shambles of the real house — SOMEone needs a maid!)

First up — I brought The Aunts’ Quilt pattern back from Australia! I really want to get the quiltalong going by the middle of this month, so these patterns need to get mailed. If you expressed an interest (via blog comment) in joining the quiltalong, you should have received an email from me about your pattern. If you sent me an email, I’m sorry, but it’s been eaten, and you need to let me know again that you’d like a pattern. I didn’t bring very many patterns back with me and I’ve put the extras in my little etsy shop. First come, first served until they’re gone. More patterns can be ordered from AU, but international postage will have to be paid. And if any of the reserved patterns aren’t claimed by the end of the week, I’ll put those in the etsy shop too.

In case you’re still trying to decide whether to join us, here’s a picture of the fabric requirements. This quilt is a fun combination of applique and piecing and I think it’s perfect for someone who is new to applique. We’ll plan on doing one pieced block and one applique block (or more half blocks) per month until we’re done — I’m estimating it will take about a year.

I’ve started to pull a few fabrics, but this is just the surface. I know I’ll be adding and subtracting and generally indecisive as we go along. That’s the fun of it!

I’m really excited about this quilt — I hope you’ll join us — it should be fun!

Also, it’s way past Oct. 1st and we need to have a winner for the Faux Taxidermy Knits book that I blogged about a month ago, right?

MARSHA, Miss Cute Stuff Inside, Come On Down!!! Send me your address so you can claim your prize. And if you make that fox scarf in pink, you KNOW we want to see it!!!

Ok — off to try to avoid taking a nap!
XOXO,
Anna