Fantastic Blue Socks Oxana Knitted for Friend Amy S.

Nothing is as great as a crochet & knitting club!  The one I belong to is a Meetup group called (no kidding) Eastside Hookers.  It's about half and half knitters and crocheters, and folks come in a lot of skill levels.

Well, I'm a crocheter, not a knitter.  But I have a friend who needs socks (I actually made her throw out socks the last time she was here!!!!) and I have a few sets of sock yarns.  So I picked out a color I thought my friend Amy would like, and sure enough, I found a "taker" at Eastside Hookers last time.  Oxana is nearly finished with the socks and we'll be able to pick them up from her before Amy heads back to Oregon in a couple days!

Socks Oxana is knitting on request for my friend Amy S. 

Redmond's wrapped trees, from Winter, 2012.Acrylic tree socks on more than 50 trees in Redmond, WA.  The installation was created by Sammamish resident and fiber artist Suzanne Tidwell.  

NerdWars at Ravelry!!!!

Hey I've signed up for NerdWars on Ravelry!  I'm trying for Team Tardis, but if not, I'll do Team Serenity/Firefly.

What is NerdWars?  It's geeky fiber arts team competition.  I'm not kidding!  Hey, if you're not into Ravelry yet, it's totally worth it if you weave, crochet, knit or spin.  It's huge and it's incredible and every pattern in the world you might want is there!

JOIN US!!!!!!

Nathan Vincent's Crochet Art

Very strange stuff.  Crochet urinals?  And by a guy.  Check it out.  Great fun!

http://nathanvincent.com/section/59846_SCULPTURE.html

Don't forget about The Butterfly Project!

I've talked about The Butterfly Project on this blog before.  They need 1.5 million butterflies by Spring, 2012.  Here is the link if you are interested:

http://yankeedaddy.blogspot.com/2009/05/15-million-butterflies-for-holocaust.html

Boaz Shuval's Origami Butterfly

Here is the diagram for Boaz Shuval's simple butterfly. It can be made flat, so it would work for the Holocaust Museum Houston's "The Butterfly Project," described in an earlier blog (just scroll down this page a little). It is so simple that it can be made by children to contribute to The Butterfly Project. 

John Andrisan has modified this model so it is the same color on both wings. What he does is make the piece of paper 1 x 2 (tear a square in half) and fold it (back into a square) so there is colored paper on both sides. John says the extra thickness makes no difference. Alternatively, paper the same color on both sides could be used, e.g. colored bond paper cut into a square.

Regarding flatness, apparently Boaz bends the butterfly a little so it looks a bit three-dimensional. John's version, on the other hand, is flat. So the butterfly can be made either flat or three-dimensional.

Additional note: Kim's Crane has a wide range of square origami paper with both sides the same color.  The way to find ordinary two-sided same-color paper is: go to http://origamipapersandbooks.com/ then type into the "quick find" box the following code: ac11y.  She also has washi the same on both sides. It is difficult to find at the website, so write to me and I will send you the links. 

Another note: Apparently the museum is happy to have origami butterflies, three dimensional or not! 

My Flickr Address

Here is my webpage on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthromom/

My favorite summer

The longest, most favorite summer of my adult life was two years ago when I worked nearly every day on an urban farm with homeless people. It was hot and wet and hard work and rewarding. The sun was out and I got brown although I wore a hat, and I got skinny from all that work, and I enjoyed it immensely. I am wondering where I can find a farm to work at this year. I would love to work at a farm again, doing that work, volunteering, being in the sun, letting the summer drag on and on.

1.5 Million Butterflies for Holocaust Children

The Holocaust Museum Houston is hosting The Butterfly Project, collecting 1.5 million hand-made butterflies by Spring, 2012, when they go on exhibit. I heard about The Butterfly Project through the Origami list operating out of MIT. The idea was to make a lot of origami butterflies and send them to the museum by June 30, 2011. I immediately thought of my favorite origami butterfly, the one by Italian David Derudas.

Derudas has a website at OriDavid. His diagrams for the butterfly are at: http://digilander.libero.it/oridavid/tecnicafarf.htm. By the way, the butterfly on his website is called "Farfalla." I guess that is Italian for butterfly! 

Here is a picture of David and Tomoko Fuse. It's great seeing two of my favorite folders together!  I have loved Derudas's butterfly since the first time I folded it.  I was turned on to this butterfly by my friend Deiby in Brasil.  (He is really into folding insects!)

The other thing I thought of doing, when I saw the

 The Butterfly Project advertised, was to crochet butterflies.  There are a zillion crochet butterflies on the internet, and even a web page listing many crochet butterfly pattern links at Crochet Pattern Central. Here is one example of a crochet butterfly. They are generally made with steel hooks and crochet thread, but some are made with bigger hooks and heavier yarn, even up to worsted weight yarn. I like the thinner yarns better and view this as an opportunity to try out thread and steel hooks.

Embroidered Cross-Stitch Fairy Tale Fortune Teller/Cootie Catcher

I was perusing 1-2-3 Stitch which is one of my favorite online cross-stitch sources, when I discovered a cross-stitch origami cootie catcher/fortune teller! I am not sure how the designer got the shape to stay, but she probably used a fabric stiffener and an iron to set the shape, since cross-stitch fabric is quite soft and doesn't fold well. (Although, when you buy the fabric, it's sometimes sold folded and it's like heck to get those folds out -- so once the shape is set, it will probably stay that way.)

This embroidered origami fortune teller is pretty cute and would make a nice gift for a child. If you want to buy the design, go to 1-2-3 Stitch's fairy tale fortune teller page and enjoy!

P.S. Turns out that Lynne Nicoletti has other fortune teller designs besides the fairy tale one. 1-2-3 Stitch also has dog, cat and flower fortune tellers by Lynne. FYI Lynne has a website at lynnenicoletti.com. Click here for Lynne's page describing the creative process of "growing a fortune teller."

Swine Flew? H1N1 pig by Joseph Wu????

Joseph Wu created an origami model about 20 years ago called "When Pigs Grow Wings and Fly." It's a wonderful model. I'm including a pic here. This one was folded by Yureiko.

You can see Mr. Wu's post-"swine" flu model here.

UPDATE: Joseph Wu has now transformed "Swine Flew" into "Ground Pork." Check it out: Ground Pork. It is only a matter of time before there is "Road Hog"!

Dragon Dreams

I love the Dragon Dreams designs (especially the ones she does with Theresa Wentzler). I was just perusing Dragon Dreams patterns at 1-2-3 Stitch -- Joanne really does have a nice selection of Dragon Dreams charts -- and I fell in love with one called "Guard This Keep." I can't buy it right now because I need to eat and survive until the 15th (small matter, isn't it?) but maybe I'll order it later. It would be great on my door!

Stopped smoking three months ago! (Gained weight.)

I can't believe it. It has been three months since I quit smoking! I did gain a little weight, even with the Chantix (if you smoke, try this!), but working on losing it again. I don't fit into my favorite shorts, so I have a month or so before I'm going to want to wear them. But my doctors say it's better to gain weight than to smoke. In the past, I've quit and then started again because of the weight, but this time I'm going to try a different tactic. I do have a dietitian, but I don't seem to be able to follow the diet. It's hard to do that, especially when it means preparing my own meals, which I'm not good at. I did buy this pedometer a while ago (it's an OMRON and I like it a lot) and haven't used it much, but I really should go walking with Ace more. We live next to Forest Park and in nearly two years I've never taken Ace there. I'm sure he would love it!

The OMRON website really doesn't show the pedometer in its full glory. Try the REI Pedometer Comparison page -- I have the pocket pedometer which, of course, is the one with five starts.

UPDATE: May 16, 2009. I am still a quitter!!!!

Howie Woo Extreme Crochet -- check it out!

Check out Extreme Crocheting at Jeremy Barker's website! He is featuring the wild and crazy crochet work of Howie Woo. Woo has crocheted such things as TNT bomb complete with timer, cigarettes inside cigarette packs, and ray guns right out of a sci fi movie. Very inspiring stuff!

If you want to go directly to the source, see Woo Toons Cartoons and his website showing his crochet in progress and in action, WooWork.com. There are pics and links to pics of Howie Woo at both websites.

1918-1919 Flu Resources

Hey, if you're interested in the H1N1 ("swine flu") virus, take a look at this book by Gina Kolata about the 1918 flu epidemic. I learned an incredible amount about how a pandemic flu spreads. Did you know, for example, that a milder version of the flu appeared in the spring of that year, to return in the fall with a vengeance? This could be the pattern of the H1N1 virus. In fact, the preparations for a flu vaccine for the fall indicate that scientists believe the flu may come back as a more virulent strain this fall. Take a look at this book. It will enlighten you.

Also, check out this great website:The Great Pandemic. Very interesting is a discussion of life in 1918-1919. My dad was six years old in 1918. Everything you might want to know about the 1918 flu epidemic, including moving personal family stories of how the epidemic affected them. This is a great website!

Video of Che!

This is Che! Camille named him NietzsChe Guevara, of all things. At least his name shows how intelligent Camille is! I do like his nickname Che, and my Latin American cleaning ladies think it's amazing that we named a cat after a Latino revolutionary hero! Well, enjoy the video.

Craftside's Pop Art Roll of Toilet Paper Cozy Cover!!!

If you crochet (or even if you don't) you're going to love Craftside's Pop Art Croched Roll of Toilet Paper Cozy Cover!!! I'm posting a pic here (her pic, FYI) so you can see what a glorious work of creativity this thing is, and if you crochet you'll find the instructions at the above link.

My "Guilt Post" at SherryArt from 1996!!!!

Here is my guilt post from from SherryArt from 1996, can you believe that?

"June 29, 1996
From:
Subject: Hi Sherry!

"Guilt? Guilt is my middle name. I feel guilty for not being more than I am, for letting opportunities pass me by, for not having enough energy to do everything, for not being perfect, for spending so much time on the web!

"I feel guilty for not being best at everything, because merely being good at some things is not good enough. I feel guilty for being emotional and spacey and focused and eccentric rather than calm and cool and organized.

"I feel guilty for having a bit of an edge on my personality even though I do like my personality, but I still feel guilty about relating to The Evil Queen and Cruella DeVille instead of Beauty and Snow White.

"I feel guilty about having a daughter who refuses to wear dresses or pink pony tail holders, though I think she's wonderful, and she loves The Evil Queen too.

"I feel guilty about producing boys who aren't great at sports, who are thin and wiry and freckled and spectacled. But, they are feminists, hurrah. I feel guilty about aluminum cans and eating meat and using cleaning chemicals and having three children and driving a car -- ecoguilt. But not guilty enough to change my bad habits.

"I feel guilty for liking myself even though I'm convinced I've failed completely at being perfect.

"And now I feel guilty about writing so much!

"Candice"

Ah Candice: You get the 1st Year Guilt Prize from SherryArt. You're definitely the most guilty one so far. Love, Sherry

Twitter is Cool!

Hey, I'm coming rather late to this discovery, but I am enjoying tweeting about the h1n1 virus on Twitter. I have thought previously about looking at Twitter, mainly because the guys from The Paracast are on there. At least, Gene Steinberg is on Twitter (haven't located David Biedny yet). I've been to The Paracast forum, but I think Twitter is actually more fun.

The only thing I don't like about Twitter is people repeating the same thing over and over again. I don't know how many times folks noted that h1n1 is the new name for "swine flu." It gets rather b-o-r-i-n-g. But one guy from South Carolina noted that a Mexican restaurant was empty in his town. That is an interesting piece of information.

Anyway, if you're reading this, I've added Twitter to my blog, so go ahead and follow me!

Twitter added to blog

Hey, I've added a Twitter feed here to my blog, and I'm TRYING to figure out how to get my blog address into my Twitter posts. I did sign up for Twitterfeed but so far, it hasn't worked. Don't know what's going on. I'll keep working at it.

It took me a while to figure out that "What are you doing?" on Twitter was the way to post about anything at all. I thought it was a question, like "What are you ACTUALLY doing?" not the way to, like, discuss H1N1 (so-called swine flu). Technically, that's not really what I'm DOING, but what the hey.

No Banjo Today & You-Tube

Well, banjo instructor Dave Landreth called and said he was canceling class for tonight. He also said it's a good thing I got a camcorder! I'm really looking forward to doing some recording next week. In addition to recording Dave playing the tune of the week (so I can learn it) I also want to record each of the students playing a tune. Maybe they'll let me put it up on You-Tube. That would be fun.

I am really getting addicted to You-Tube. I keep watching videos of border collies doing one thing or another. I sent Carol, my fellow Lawrence anthropologist, a link to a video of 3-week-old puppies. She enjoyed it, but then I found one of 4-week-old puppies herding ducks! So I sent her that link.

So now I'm going to go look for clawhammer banjo on You-Tube.

Today is my birthday!

Today is my birthday. Last night my friend Charlie came over. He brought Slumdog Millionaire and Subway Sandwiches, and I had beer for him (as usual). That was fun. Charlie is always fun. Camille was supposed to come over today, but I'm glad she didn't, because I didn't feel like paying $30 to go out to lunch with her for my birthday. She says she has a couple presents for me, but that one hasn't arrived yet. She is coming over tomorrow. We will probably go to the gym. Mark called. His birthday was last week, and I asked him if he wanted a Flip Video for his birthday. He didn't have to think long about that one! I told him I was going to get him the 30 minute one like I have. I am sure 30 minutes will be enough for him. It's enough for me. Okay, so it only comes in white. Who cares?!!!?! Tonight I have banjo class. I don't know the tune for this week because I was unable to meet with anyone in between to get it down. I wrote the banjo teacher a note telling him. I told him I would record him from now on. I hope he doesn't kick me out of the class! That would be a fun birthday present!

Tomorrow's My Birthday!

Tomorrow is my birthday. Charlie called this morning and sang me "Happy Birthday" over the phone and said he was coming over tonight with a movie and what did I want to eat? I made a simple request -- Subway. Fancy birthday fare, right? Camille is coming over tomorrow and I don't know what we'll be doing, but I have a banjo lesson Monday night and I will need to spend a lot of the day practicing, so spending the day with Camille isn't going to work. We'll spend some time together, but I really want to practice the banjo. I really need to, too, because nobody met with me this week to help me get the tune wired. I need to work it out for myself. Some birthday. Grrrr.

Reading Kurt Vonnegut

I am still reading Vonnegut. This time it's Breakfast of Champions. This book, like Cat's Cradle, is very depressing. I didn't find Slaughterhouse-Five this depressing. It's clear right now, in Breakfast of Champions, that something really terrible is about to happen. I hate that I can barely put this book down. I know I'm going to finish it tonight, and that's depressing.

Martha Stewart Website -- Crochet

The Martha Stewart website (www.marthastewart.com) has a section on crochet and there are some great projects in there. I looked at a couple of the granny square pages, and found a page with instructions for granny squares, but the unusual thing was that the squares were done with delicate thread or yarn and a small hook. They are wonderful! There is even a bookmark made of a chain of little tiny granny squares. The potholders, instead of being a single granny square, are made up of several (for example, nine). Using finer materials and hooks produces some great results! Not your ordinary granny square potholders!

Ace on You-Tube

I put a video of Ace playing with a ball on You-Tube. It's at:

Ace on You-Tube

I recorded it with my new Flip Video camcorder.

Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and the Fire-bombing of Dresden

I'm reading Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. I'm pretty sure I read this before -- the words like granfalloon and karass are familiar to me, but I don't remember the story, so what the heck if I'm reading it again, huh? My daughter loaned it to me, along with Breakfast of Champions. I really liked Slaughterhouse-Five. I didn't know anything about the bombing of Dresden, except that beautiful Dresden was destroyed, so I got Slaughterhouse-Five because it was about Dresden. After that I got interested in Vonnegut.

My friend John in Orange County, California, told me that the bombing of Dresden was much like the bombing of Guernica by the Germans. He said to this day the Spanish won't allow Lufthansa to land because Lufthansa planes bombed Guernica. But the Germans allow us to land our planes there despite the destruction of Dresden. I guess that is because the Germans lost the war, so they have to take what they got. My cousin Curt Siodmak -- he was 92 when I corresponded with him -- was very bitter about the bombing of Dresden. It was in his autobiography. It makes me hurt to think about it.

The Gym

I went to the gym with my daughter and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated, although I listened to a podcast (The Paracast) the entire time. I worked out on the cycle for thirty minutes and then did some leg work on the machines. Camille had to go to work so we only stayed for about an hour. We are going again tomorrow and I'll do some upper body work then.

Not doing any stitching right now...

I'm not doing any stitching right now. In fact, all I am doing is coloring mandalas while I'm on the phone, reading sci fi magazines (pulp fiction no less), and doing Sudoku. I'm going to be forced to go to the gym this afternoon as soon as my daughter has lunch over at the other house (she wanted to have lunch out with me, but I told her I can't afford to do that all the time). It's not that I don't want to go to the gym, but right now I can't find the pouch for my iPod that clips around my upper arm. I get so bored when I'm riding the exercise bike (and even more bored on the treadmill). At least the machines aren't boring because they keep you busy and in the moment, but I absolutely hate being bored, and thus I don't like exercise in general. I am absolutely dependent on my iPod to get me through the experience.

Hurray! Banjo tune on the way!

Keith is sending me the recording of the banjo tune for this week, and will probably be able to meet with me on Sunday. Hurray!!! I asked him if I could video record him and I will try to send (if I know how to use the video recorded by then) a copy to Sebastian. I feel like such a dunce needing so much help with this class, but the teacher, David Landreth, thinks I'm going to do okay in the class. I wish I could get the tunes learned in class, but there is no written tab, and I can't keep up with learning it in mid-air yet. Hopefully that will change soon.