My greatest creations, ever

These pix are from a few weeks ago (at friend Echo's fifth birthday party) but the kids haven't changed that much. Well, Maggie grew a few inches, probably in anticipation for her second birthday on -- gasp -- Wednesday! (Mom, your present arrived today, so you're covered!) I'm hoping to finish knitting a teddy bear in time to give it to her as a present -- might happen if I don't get any more chapters in the study I'm editing until Thursday... and the kids are perfect angels... and I (continue to) neglect my housework... and I take my knitting outside where it's approaching 70 degrees!! ... and put aside my 15 other artsy-crafty diversions....

Whatever else I manage to give her, my Maggie will get lots of kisses, and a cake, and quite possibly some daffodils that are ready to BLOOM in my front yard. Daffodils, on the first day of March... unthinkably eerie. Welcome nonetheless....

UFOs!!!

Right here in Magdalena -- a whole slew of UFOs!

Unfinished objects, that is. This isn't Roswell, after all. It's nothing more than my Olympic challenge: to, shall we say, resolve as many personal UFO mysteries as possible. I just finished Laz's black-and-white sweater (to be modeled and photographed soon), so now I get to face...

...the second mitten of Laz's mitten set, which I just finished knitting but (since I NEVER manage to obediently follow patterns) is DIFFERENT from the first one and so I'll have to go back and do some counting and reknitting and -- feh, it's almost spring (so it'd better fit next winter, if we ever see winter again):


...a nearly finished needle case to house all my double-pointed needles (it would be done except I miscalculated how wide the top of the foldover cover should be, and it doesn't quite work yet):


...another case for my straight needles (I need to resolve the problem above before sewing this one up):


...two pretty hummingbirds (no, not knitting-related, but I want to finish these!), awaiting beaks (what to use -- wire? carved wood? the pattern calls for dyed toothpicks but that just seems tacky) and embellishment with embroidery, beads, and other fancy stuff:


...and, the dog of the lot, a sheep that just isn't working (that pattern issue again):

Studio tour

Yesterday turned into a very productive day... my desperation to avoid work, coupled with my solemn promise to NOT avoid work by sewing or knitting or other craftiness, finally yielded a CLEAN loft. I haven't seen it this neat or clean since... before we moved in. Heh. So here's where I work, sew, gaze out the window, sleep, read, etc. -- I only get three to four waking hours up here every day, but it's usually enough to keep my spirit going.

Coming up the ladder into the loft: I created a new knitting nook by moving several months' worth of crap off this old chair (which will soon have a rainbow serape cover, which is now clean and drying). The north-facing window looks out on the Bear Mountains:


Turning toward the east, this door leads to a small balcony outside; the shelves hold some but not all of my insane fabric stash (not yet organized; that's the next project in Operation Anti-Clutter) as well as fabric dyes (this summer's new endeavor) and beads, and I also have my dresser and jewelry up here:


Here's my work desk, facing south, with a great view of the Magdalena Mountains and the big blue sky:


And I do my sewing in the (north)west corner at the foot of the bed, right under a skylight:


Next up (now that it's CLEAN!!!): I'll add some track lighting above the sewing area, continue decluttering and organizing by craft type, and finally start putting stuff on the walls. I noticed yesterday that I have none, but NONE of my photography up, and given that this is my main creative/inspirational space, that's a big gap. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home....

"Keeping your eyes closed is worse than being blind"

That's one of my all-time favorite lyrics, from Doc Pomus' "(There is Always) One More Time." Sung by B.B. King, of course. Johnny Adams does a slower soulful version that I like, too, but King's guitar riffs go straight through my bones.

Eyes opened today to:
-Another mining tragedy, entirely preventable yet inevitable because of, what else, corporate greed
-Another opportunity for oil companies to jack up their prices, surely setting up another record-breaking quarter for the industry and laying the groundwork for Bush&Co. to "bring democracy" to poor, downtrodden Nigeria (the US' fifth-largest oil supplier). Here's one view from China on the larger picture of oil in Africa... I'm becoming fascinated with prospects of the US and China having to somehow deal with each other as competition for oil (i.e. political domination over oil-producing nations) heats up. If the US goes ahead with its apparent plan to "tame" Iran, will China enter the fray to protect its own interests? If so, what fate might Walmart and its ilk then suffer? Oil wars and nukes and China, oh my!
-"Katrina Katrina, why'd you blow so hard" (to the tune of "Corrina Corrina") by T.J. Wheeler, performed live and scorching on WUMB
-Some great tips on how to counter arguments from nincompoops who believe the idea of global warming is a plot hatched by left-wing commie freaks

Today is a work day (thanks to the holiday, Marin is off from school and available to babysit my adorable little ankle-biters) but, having had one cup of coffee too many, I'm "multi-tasking" -- work a bit, blog a bit and, demonstrating the desperate depths of my obstinance to work, cleaning up my messy, messy loft. I've managed to refrain from more artistic pursuits so far, mainly because my first burst of cleaning energy has put the baskets of knitting, sewing, embellishing, etc. out of reach. For now.

Back to... oh, yeah, work.

Here's some REALLY broken sh&%....

I was shocked and appalled to open my email and see this headline:

Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe

Our "democracy"? Feh. The Republicans have succeeded in making it a plutocracy. One of the Bush administration's most egregious offenses (in a LONG list) against the "democracy" they claim to uphold does not, according to the majority of our nation's senators, merit investigation.

You gotta f*%$ing be kidding me.

BUT that's not all -- here's more "good news" to further brighten my day:

Senator May Seek Tougher Law on Leaks
Patriot Act Moves Closer to Renewal
and, no surprise by now:
Cheney Shooting Case Is Closed in Texas

Here's some new fun for schoolkids and the zealots who love them:
Bible Guides Tour Museums to Counter Science
I mean, wow. Let's return the favor and gather together some scientists to "tour" their churches and Bible schools, shall we? And the name of one company: Biblically Correct Tours -- there's a ballsy claim. Do they do field trips to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib to "discuss," say, Leviticus? All in the name of education, you know.

What do the fundies have to say about the bird flu's confirmed spread to France and Egypt, soon after being confirmed in Germany and several African nations... oh, never mind, they always crow that it's God's punishment for sinners. So I guess we're all toast, eh?

But this trumps them all and, hell, could make it all irrelevant sooner rather than later:

Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean Levels

I'm so disgusted. I think I'll go stick my head right back in the sand, after I write my senators and representatives, for whatever the hell that's worth.

Speaking of broken...

It sucks being sick. It sucks more when the kids are sick, too. And the babysitter. And now the husband. But nothing sucks more than not being able to DO anything while sick -- no work (can't sit up, and upstairs is too far from the bathroom), no laundry, no KNITTING, for God's sake -- besides moan and shuffle to the bathroom and change 17 poopy diapers a day (haste being essential because the kids figured out how much fun it is to rip the diapers off and smear the poop all over the place) and grope around for the TV remote in desperate hope that it will be within easy reach (too much bending and, well, back to the bathroom for me, and did I mention the fast-growing pile of laundry on the kitchen floor?) because maybe something interesting will come on, for a change....

Yesterday was a bit better. Today is okay except for the stabbing back and shoulder pains (laundry is still out of the question), and only four poopy diapers so far. I've managed to knit a few inches of the neckband for Laz's sweater (a few inches of a five-stitch-wide band ain't much, but it's up the left front and heading towards the neck). Maggie and Antonio are still pretty sick, but Laz and I are coming back.

Last week, the kids and I went to a birthday party, and I'll post a few pictures later... gotta go lie down again.

I broke it again

...but I think I've fixed it. I've been trying to publish a new entry for over a week, to no avail, and since I've been working I haven't taken the time to mess around in Blogger's and my FTP settings. Cuz, you know, I need to WORK. And I've been doing that. Sometimes. When I'm not doing this (it's done except for the neckband, which will be black, and buttons):



or this (a quilt for our bed; center panel is done and now I need to figure out some borders):



or chasing the kids around, getting them outside in this constant 50+ degree sunshine (it's just EERIE, I say), or giving Miss Maggie a bath:



or making dinner, which I should do now (Elk roast). Oh, and working. Heh.