My husband and I have been sick for the past 2 weeks.  Nothing serious but it’s been really, really annoying.   I was actually feeling better at the end of last week and made it to my needle-felting class (more on that in another post, once I finish up my project!) but then this weekend, maybe because of the heavy rain Saturday or the running around trying to run errands or the tiny glass of port wine I had (tiny it really was), I’m back to feeling crappy (hence the scarce posting).  Now the plumbers are here for an ALL DAY project which includes, but is not limited to, hammering, drilling and singing.  (Yes, singing!)  So I guess I won’t be able to crawl back into bed any time soon.

I managed to drag myself off the sofa long enough to do a wee bit of decorating, including wrapping some fairy lights around my antique dress form, above, in the breakfast nook.  (I know, FANCY.)  We have candles everywhere, burning in mercury glass holders when the sun goes down, more fairy lights and red & white candy-striped towels in the kitchen.  Somewhat minimal but really nice all the same.

And I even did some knitting!

I have 2 stockings to finish before Christmas and I’m making good time, even though I’ve waited until the last minute.   (Which is the only way it’s going to work around here; I can’t knit Christmas stockings when it’s 80 degrees outside.  It just doesn’t feel right.)

My goodness, drilling into ceramic tile certainly is loud.  I think that’s my que.  I hope you all are having a lovely week so far!

Update: Here’s the link to the Christmas stocking knitting pattern that I’m using: Personalized Christmas Stocking from 1945.

Forget the 3-Hour Sweater, how about the 2-HOUR SWEATER?! This lovely 1930s model (seriously, isn’t she adorable?) is wearing a little pullover that the pattern claims will only take you a mere two hours; visit hardrockzombie for the pattern (via Ravelry).  You know I’m going to have to try this out (and it looks like it’s going to cut in line in front of most of my knitting projects).

Also, via Ravelry, I found this wonderful doll shop: Little Black Crow Studio.

I’m truly inspired by all of her deliciously spooky, vintage-looking handmade dolls – they have so much personality.   You can see the love and attention Blackcrow has put into them and I really appreciate that.  They are seriously making me want to revisit my bag of forlorn patterned doll parts (a.k.a. “graveyard of souls”) and try my hand at doll-making again.   I mean, I’ve collected more than enough fabric for them!

Greetings, dears!  October is only a few weeks away and Halloween, for me, always marks the start of the holiday season.  So, I thought I’d celebrate a little early and give away 1 copy of AntiCraft: Knitting, Beading and Stitching for the Slightly Sinister.  Not only does this book contain the original publication of my Brier Rose Scarflette pattern, but a TON of other cool and creepy projects.

Here’s what you do: from now through Monday, September 21st midnight PT, leave a comment in this post describing 1 of the following:

• Your favorite Halloween costume that you have ever worn (and if you made it!)
• Your Halloween costume for this year (And, of course, if you plan to make it)
• Your favorite spooky story or book.  (Ok, you don’t have to tell me the whole story, just the name and general plotline!)

A winner will be randomly picked and announced Tuesday, September 22nd.

Update:

You know, it just occurred to me that I should have posted a photo of one of my favorite Halloween costumes when I originally wrote this – ha!  I just so happen to have one:

That’s me in the angel costume.  My dad made the halo and wings (you can’t really see it but both are sparkly with gold glitter) and my mom made the dress. My parents did not like putting me in store bought costumes and made ours (mine and my brother’s) whenever they got the chance.   I’m not sure I knew then how lucky I was to get such nice, homemade things but I certainly am now. (Next to me is a friend as a Barbie bride; I think I was jealous of her costume.)

Good luck!

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrUr4m62I/AAAAAAAAAvw/twnE_aXHGF8/s1600-h/sm-necklace_poison4.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 378px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrUr4m62I/AAAAAAAAAvw/twnE_aXHGF8/s400/sm-necklace_poison4.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280166353748552546″ border=”0″ //aI’m definitely enjoying the rain, wishing it might snow a little but, alas, no such luck in Southern California unless you count the mountains. As you know I have a ton of jewelry parts and I was going through them last night for fun. (Fun, i.e. span style=”font-style: italic;”procrastination/span – I’m supposed to learn how to do a provisional cast on but I’ve been avoiding it. Ugh.)br /br /Anyway, I made some pretty stitch markers. I like the idea of combining the stitch markers with a necklace, kind of like a 2-for-1 thing (which is always nice). br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrVGnoB5I/AAAAAAAAAwA/jjgb1TqvGy8/s1600-h/sm-necklace_poison2.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrVGnoB5I/AAAAAAAAAwA/jjgb1TqvGy8/s400/sm-necklace_poison2.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280166360925079442″ border=”0″ //aYou can wear each stitch marker (or, hmm, even 2 at once?) as a pendant simply by inserting the toggle into the loop. I made a few of these for span style=”font-weight: bold;”Stitch Austin/span back when I lived in Texas and I always thought I should make more!br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrUu8658I/AAAAAAAAAv4/qDTaxya6Ai4/s1600-h/sm-necklace_poison3.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 394px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/SUbrUu8658I/AAAAAAAAAv4/qDTaxya6Ai4/s400/sm-necklace_poison3.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280166354571945922″ border=”0″ //aI’ve only shown you 1 set here, the a href=”http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18737770″Poison Apple Stitch Marker Necklace Set/a. I have 4 unique sets in a href=”http://fablehandmadegoods.etsy.com”the shop/a. All genuine sterling silver with glass beads. br /br /I’m seriously behind in my blog reading, only lurking here in there. (span style=”font-style: italic;”Hence/span, this is why I know it’s snowing in the PNW via a couple of blogs; I don’t watch/read the news very often.)br /br /I hope you are staying warm, have power and someone to snuggle!

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/Rvfp0OIkiBI/AAAAAAAAACU/qrI6Zt3RneA/s1600-h/juliet.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/Rvfp0OIkiBI/AAAAAAAAACU/qrI6Zt3RneA/s320/juliet.jpgalt=” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113812985259001874″ border=”0″ //aHappy Fall Everyone! Did y’all have a cozy iAutumnal weekend?/i It poured rain down here – I mean POURED! Thunder and lighting and everything. It was wonderful.br /br /I suppose all the cooler weather talk lately in blogland has gotten me thinking about sweaters. Funny, in SF all I wanted to do was make and wear sundresses, now in SoCal, I’m looking forward to sweaters! Ok, I still like wearing sundresses though.br /br /I bought this pattern, Juliet, from a href=”http://www.zypherstyle.com/” target=”_blank”Zypherstyle/a. It’s one of their new designs, I think. I’m not sure if this style will look good on me – sometimes babydoll makes me look shapeless. But at least I don’t have to make the cropped version (see site), because I’ll definitely look like a shapeless tube if I did.br /br /And I’ve had my eye on a href=”http://www.frenchgirlknits.com/” target=”_blank”French Girl Knits/a for a while…br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/RvfsteIkiDI/AAAAAAAAACk/0Bq97WTJBeQ/s1600-h/fantine.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/RvfsteIkiDI/AAAAAAAAACk/0Bq97WTJBeQ/s400/fantine.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113816167829768242″ border=”0″ //abr /br /Love the name, love the designs! I got this one at my LYS as well as some beautiful Rowan Big Wool Fusion. The color is GORGEOUS – a heathered glacial blue. Something the Snow Queen would wear.br /br /centera href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1434126476/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1161/1434126476_531f76853f_m.jpg” alt=”Fantine in Blue” height=”240″ width=”203″ //a/centerbr /br /The rainy weather definitely makes me want to hibernate and snuggle up to a good project. And this one goes fast, even with all the newness – cabled cast on, new stitches, etc. I might rip it out and start over though. I think I cast on too tight and the left side pattern is looser than the right side pattern. Oh well, I’ll think about it.