Mwah-Ha-Ha!

It's Alive!

Ok, no jolts of electricity are going to make this little guy dance and sing "Puttin' on the Ritz", but the bear has a face and I'm calling the project complete! The way the pattern comes together, I felt like I was creating a little Frankenstein. So, even though I was kind of uneasy at the idea of giving the bear a name, I decided that it would be funny if I called him "Frank". So here he is, in all his glory. Do you see why Illanna's comment was so funny to me? If I put a black bra and fishnets on the bear, it would be like "Dr FRANKenfurter" from Rocky Horror. From one Frank to another. I think it's really funny.

Here's a shot of Frank being introduced to Myriah (who took a moment to sniff and then decided that it would be safer if she went and layed under the entertainment center).


Went to Cupz tonight, only to find out that they will be closing at 7pm during the Summer. So I guess the group is going to have to find another Tuesday location, or take the summer off from Tuesday night knitting.

I've got to go now and get over to the Luscious Gracious website for a few more entries into their art giveaway.

Posted by Mel at 10:35 PM

That Ear-y Feeling

It is so close to being done. Just needs eyes and a nose! Thanks for all the compliments! In response to Illanna's question - I am really enjoying this pattern. I found a few things that weren't quite right with the way the pattern is written, but they were pretty obvious things and I was able to correct or figure out what needed to be done. If anyone is interested, I'll post the things I found when I post the finished bear picture. Overall, I'm really happy with it and it's the most exciting project I've worked on so far. I believe I will make another one and give it away to charity. The comment on the bear needing a bra and fishnet's is really funny considering that I have decided to give the bear a name. I don't want to reveal the it yet, but when I do it will make that comment seem even more funny. (Think Rocky Horror Picture Show...)

As for Kiki's question... Yes, the face-less bear and I will be hanging out at Cupz on Tuesday. I may even put the finishing touches on it while I'm there. And it is an extremely huggable stuffed animal! So if anyone else was on the fence about whether to make the trip out to Gilbert, maybe this will put you over the edge (?). C'mon out and give the bear a squeeze.


In other news I'm looking to buy a couch. I've got it narrowed down to a few choices. I went to Ikea to check out their selection, because my sister bought a couch several years ago and she tends to be more selective than me. I couldn't believe how crowded that place still is after being open for 7 months. I couldn't deal with it. My cousin's husband found this song on GarageBand.com about Ikea. It's really funny! I was thinking about it as I dodged people inside and outside of Ikea, trying to quickly get to the Sofa section.

Posted by Mel at 11:30 PM

How Much Do I Love You?

This Much!

(Remember the big-eyed kid cartoons from the 70's?  That's what I'm poking fun at.) 

This bear looks like he wants a hug, or just went fishing and hit the jackpot.  Anyway, here it is - with arms.  Just as a frame of reference, I put Ben in the picture.   The bear is bigger than my 15 lb cat! 

Coming soon - the ears....

Posted by Mel at 11:43 AM

I Never....

Kim tagged me. Here are 10 things I've never done.

10. I've never been to the Olympics. Either as spectator or competitor. I have been fortunate enough, however to know many Olympic athletes and they are really amazing people.

9. I've never had a pet Llama. "Tina! Eat your Ham!"

8. I've never had a pedicure, but I could sure use one if I could find a technician brave enough to take on the task.

7. I've never been a Rock Star, or gotten to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event.

6. I've never read any of the Harry Potter books or seen any of the movies. Same goes for the Lord of the Rings.

5. I've never driven a Motorcycle.

4. I've never been to Alaska or Hawaii. But I'd sure like to someday.

3. I've never been to Mississipi, either. I've made my peace with it ;-)

2. I've never stayed awake during a movie that I started watching after 10 pm. (This may be an exaggeration, but I don't think so).

and the number one thing I've never done........

1. I've never had matching furniture.

I don't know if there is anyone left to tag.... Has anyone gotten Illanna/Hila or Alison?

BTW, Bobbie Bear is sooo close to done. Just a few final touches and he will be good to go. More on that later.

Posted by Mel at 11:45 PM

FO Flashback

Since I am taking my sweet time working on the Bear, here is an item made in days-gone-by.

What you see here is an Apron made in 1980 for Home Economics class - 7th Grade. The sturdy construction has allowed this FO to flourish for nearly 25 years and still going strong. You may notice that the apron has 2 pockets, just in case you need a pocket while you're cooking. The Dog you see on the front of the apron was hand painted by your's truly. The drawing was done by my (then) neighbor, Doreen. I traced it onto the apron with tracing paper and used fabric pens to color it in. Doreen was (is?) an artist and that is a drawing of her Dog.

Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me. After all this time, this is still one of my most cherished possessions.

Posted by Mel at 10:09 PM

Heads Up!

So the Bear has a head and some stuffings. I am probably going to tweak with the stuffing until it has just the "right" shape. But I'm pretty happy with it's look so far.

It's been a busy week of saying Hello and Goodbye to many.

Hello to my potential new Realtor. I'm getting closer to selling my place and getting a new one.

Hello (and welcome back, and congratulations) to my friend Anna, who just graduated from NAU and is moving back to Phoenix.

Hello to Scottsdale Artwalk. It was my first trip to this Thursday night shindig and I had a blast. I went to a Gallery opening where there was a lot of metaphorical modern art going on. Fortunately for me, the artists posted summaries of their works that told about the message they were conveying with their work. I hate to say it, but sometimes I am little slow to pick up on subtleties of art. But once I KNEW what the pieces were about, I appreciated them a lot more. It was a really insightful experience. For instance, check this guy out. He used a garden hoe to make an 8ft wide path through a field on his family's farm in the shape of a single family home floor plan. (It took him 3 months, BTW). His family is selling their land to make way for a subdivision development. His work makes a strong statement. But if I hadn't stopped to read, I would have thought the guy was taking a picture of a crop circle. This is what I mean about being a little slow off the metaphorical mark...

Goodbye to my Parent's cat, D.C. who lived a long and adventurous life.

Goodbye (So Long, really) to Illanna, who went back to NYC for the summer. I'm going to miss seeing her projects in person. At least we can still keep up with her doings via the blogiverse.

And finally the best goodbye... to a bunch of my old stuff that I wasn't using anymore. I had my very first Garage sale today! It was invigorating! People were actually willing to pay for the stuff that I didn't want anymore. Not willing to pay very much, mind you, but I got a few $$ in my pocket and I have a little more room to move around now. Anything that didn't sell, went to Savers. Tomorrow, I start packing the stuff away that I don't use on a daily or weekly basis to make the house look bigger.

Stay tuned for more bear appendages. (Perhaps the next posting will be called "Up in Arms"?)

Posted by Mel at 3:30 PM

And Then There Were Two...

This bear is so much fun to make! I don't know if it's as much fun as a Clapotis, because I haven't jumped on that trend (yet). All I know is, if this thing keeps up the way it is, this won't be my last teddy bear (wink, wink!).

I've been accused of having the personality of one of those creepy 'cat ladies' who hoards 10's of cats. That will never happen,(two is more than enough) but I may end up with a house full of Teddy Bears!

PS. Don't worry, Mom, I'm only kidding... If I make any more, I will give them away. Happy Mother's Day!

Posted by Mel at 9:53 PM

He's Got Leg

Yeah, it's just one leg... but it's progress! My Bobbi will be done in no time. I think that I may have twisted the stitches on the seam when I picked them up to make the butt and legs. I like the way it looks so I decided not to rip it out, but I'm hoping that the stuffing doesn't show through.

As promised, a picture of the little bag I'm sending to my Mother.


Planning is coming together for 'my most challenging project ever'. Here's what I've done so far:

-Knitted a swatch. It is a rare project that I will produce a swatch for. Mostly because it's a rare project (of mine) that it matters if the gauge is off. This one, it does.
-Felted the swatch in the Sunday laundry.
-Performed some math calculations on how many stitches will yield the finished size of my felted object. (I tend to avoid things that involve math, but there's no way around it this time.)
-Downloaded the intarsia image to be used in this project and printed out on knitters graph paper. Thanks Microrevolt for letting me borrow your handy-dandy graphing tool!

Yep, It's coming together pretty well.

The baby blanket, has taken the back seat here for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty motivated to finish the Bobbi Bear, so its my go-to project if I have a few minutes to spare. Happy crafting!

Posted by Mel at 10:37 PM