Why is the holiday almost gone?

While I’ve been very busy these last few days (well, except for the weekend—I was pretty lazy while I was at Kalene) I have very little to show for it! A lot of what I’ve been working on is either a) boring school stuff, or b) secret Christmas stuff. I have also been trying to get a big curtain project for the orphanage finished before term starts as well as handwork prep and other mundane things like that. However, there are a few things that I can show you!

I finished this round dishcloth awhile back; it’s done with finer cotton and I really like it. I might have to stock up on some more DK to fingering weight cotton—I like the fabric it creates.

I’m working on another of a three dishcloth set; slow progress since it’s a ‘vegging at home’ (which I haven’t done a lot of recently!) project.

Another project that I’m enjoying right now is a really cool steampunk/Victorian style fingerless glove pattern. I just need to do the thumb on the first one so I can cast on the second one. I’ve had this yarn in the stash for quite awhile—I LOVE it and can’t wait to get the buttons so I can finish these spiffy things.

I’ve been reading The Hobbit in preparation for my literature unit—that story never gets old for me! I’ve decided that a ground rule will be no, absolutely NO talking about the movie till the end of the unit, and even then I’m not sure if I want to hear it. I had to laugh when I saw this on Facebook awhile back—so true!

Parting shot: So, I found a whole new way to waste time on the internet—I’ve been having way too much fun finding nerdy “Keep Calm and…” pictures, so I’ll be sharing a series of them for my own enjoyment and hopefully for yours as well!

Quiet week

I haven't been able to do near as much handcrafting as I would have liked this week because I strained my right hand/arm, so I've been taking it much slower, and had to *gasp* merely read instead of reading and knitting! I've been trying out some new recipes, doing lots of dishes (how can one person make so many?), going for daily walks with a big of a job on the airstrip, and hanging out with Jill in the evenings. Here then, is the fruit of this week's labor.

This is actually a cheat--I meant to post pictures of this last week. The latest finished nerdy Christmas ornament--May the odds be ever in your favor!

I finally got Java's cross stitch portrait done--love it!

I used up the very last of my beautiful Mountain Colors yarn to make a luggage tag,

And, I found a picture of a kit to make several Japanese character ornaments, figured out the pattern, and have one finished up.

Currently I'm working on finishing up a gift that I just decided who it was for, and a Warehouse 13 ornament that I designed. Hopefully I can get ride of this hand/arm strain and be back in business! This holiday is flying way to fast...

More Nerdy Christmas

So, I’ve continued to be busy crafting over the last few days. I’ve been so busy that I strained my hand/arm and had to give it a rest yesterday! Some of my projects are for Christmas so they will just have to keep, but here are the next batch of ornaments-nerdy and otherwise.

Star Wars Rebels,

Star Wars Empire.

Sits pretty cunning, don’t ya think?

Crazy quilt trio,

Claudia, my three-legged pet mouse

and Hazel the wog-dog.

I've found it very compelling to create portraits of my pets in cross stitch. I have a book that has some good starting places, but part of the fun has been adapting them so they more fully reflect the animals. I plan to do the cat soon, and I have a few ideas for some other pets to stitch. I’m still knitting; pictures of that later. I’m trying to get the last big of some sock yarn used up, and I need to get a Christmas present finished up. Well, I'm going to take a nap since I was so busy installing my new stove to get one yesterday!

Nerdy Christmas in July!

Wow is it nice to be on holiday! While I have been staying up late, there hasn’t been too much sleeping in as I’m taking care of the watchman right now, but there have been some lovely naps, some reading, some sewing, and lots of knitting and cross stitching! Here’s a look at what I’ve been up to:

I decided it was time to spruce up my living room a bit, so I made a new lampshade and recovered most of my throw pillows with a chetengi I liked—I’m liking the change!
Before:

After:

Here are some of the nerdy Christmas ornaments I finished last week—I have a few more on the go right now, and plans for yet a few more. It’s nice to be able to indulge in such ‘fiddle faddle!’ Next week I'll post the ones I finish this week as well as the final product.

Star Trek Next Generation com badge-

Star Trek Voyager com badge-

Welcome to Night Vale-

A TARDIS-

And a penguin wearing a Jayne hat.

In addition to working on some ‘stealth’ projects which I will be able to reveal in late December, I’ve also been doing some cooking and working on cleaning up my house. It’s amazing how many little jobs accumulate over the course of a term! This week I want to get a lot of sewing done; we shall see how many garments I have finished by the end of the week!