BOO

 Mo-ther: Stewey, have you decided what you would like to be for Halloween?

Stewey: Yes, I want to be Super Girl.

Mo-ther: Super Girl?  Why not something fun like a zombie or a ghost or a vampire? (She frantically tries to remember what other costumes are stashed away in the carefully labeled bin in the guest room closet). Oh!  I know!  How about a lady bug!  You always wanted to be a lady bug!

Stewey:  Lady bugs are sooooo 2012, Mo-ther.  I want to be Super Girl.

Mo-ther carefully ponders just what will be involved in assembling a Super Girl outfit, and whether or not her limited skills will result in a successful outcome, or an unfortunate mess that will cause yet another epic tantrum.

Mo-ther:  OK.  Super Girl it is, but on one condition.  Under no circumstances are you to wear your wiglet.

Stewey:  The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize, Mo-ther.  Now pass me my tights and cape.

IN WHICH I REQUIRE EXPERTISE

OK, Dearies. I need to pick your beautiful brains.

I am going to my very first EGA Seminar this weekend, and although it will be a simple retreat format (and not full of classes), I am struggling with what necessities to pack. 

I know that I will take several projects of all types and sizes, but I am obsessing over my....GEAR.

So.

When you travel, what do you have in your bag? And, more importantly, what kind of bag do you use and where did you get it?

I think I've ordered four of the faux leather jewelry cases from the amazons, and God knows I have more totes and wheelie bags and cases and baskets to fill a mini van, but I can't seem to get it just right.

ANOTHER KURDY FEE NEE!

 

MY WEEKEND WITH KURDY BIGGS

 (This comment will probably get me in a LOT of trouble, but I am not keen on female Leprechauns for my Fighting Irish. Leprechauns and Irish Guard members should be men.)

(I'm just sayin.)

(Notre dame beat Pitt 58-7.)

I found another Kurdy Biggs project in my WiP basket, so I spent the evening making lots of Crescents. Now that all of the stitches are complete, I can play with beads again!

Rich is watching his Eagles beatWashington, and we're having soup and sandwiches for dinner, so all is well, Dearies. All is well.

What's new with you?

FRIDAY NIGHT SPINSTER SHENANAGINS

We won the hockey game against Mercyhurst!

And thanks to a lovely woman I watch on the Instagrams, I now have what will likely be the end of me. I have been struggling with my afternoon cold brew concoctions, but have finally found afternoon cold brew bliss...white chocolate peppermint! A tiny little splash of the creamer (less than 40 calories), an even tinier splash of the sugar free peppermint syrup, and...omg...heaven!

(Betty, before you go batshit on me and tell me how I shouldn't have this and then monitor every single thing that goes into my mouth, may I please remind you that this afternoon cold brew is a TREAT that I enjoy with my scented candle and my stitching in the early afternoon when all I want to do is think about how completely happy and content and grateful I am to be blessed with such a beautiful and lovely little life, so just get off my back, sister, and let a Spinster live, will ya' please and thankyouverymuch?)

My Irish take on the Pitt Panthers today in what promises to be the perfect Fall afternoon. Current temps are in the low 50's and the sky is heavy and grey. I've got the Irish duds on, the laundry sploshing away in the laundry sploshing machine, and a big stack of newspapers and stitching to keep me company.

Happy Saturday, Dearies! I hope wherever you are is swell and that you are enjoying something wonderful! Come tell me all about it!

 

AND THEN...IT WAS FRIDAY

Hello, Dearies!

My adventures in beading seem to have struck a nerve, I see. Fear not, dear Friends! Stitching with needle and thread will always be my first love, but in the interest of sucking the marrow out of life and learning new things, I promised myself to be fearless in the face of the unknown.

I am not at liberty to share pictures or other details about the class, but it is intended to be a beginner's class on how to do several different stitches in beading that are independent of a fabric or canvas ground material. If that confuses you, you're not alone, because all this time I thought "I'm a beader and a stitcher", but this new beading is not the embellishment kind of beading that I've done before on various and sundry projects.

Make sense?

On that note...

One of my favorite parts of stitching is when the Show & Tell happens. At one of my Guild meetings, my stitchy friend Linda showed a piece that she had just finished, and it was breathtaking! I stared and stared at it until I realized that I had that very project in my WiP basket! 

This is Solitare by Kurdy Biggs/Threadles, and I'm tickled to report that I finished it last night!

Isn't she swell? I have to say...after a LONG day of feeling like a complete nincompoop with that other beading project, it was life-affirming to sit down LIKE A BOSS and finish this up!

The gizmo in my previous post is a bead tray, Dearies. It's basically a flat case-like thingie that opens up to reveal two flat surfaces with bead mats attached to them. The two sides separate, so you can use them one side at a time, which is what you're seeing in the picture:

You can find them at the big box stores and bead shops, but I found mine on the amazons the day after I saw that my class buddies had them and I felt like a dork without one, much like I did during the Trapper Keeper crisis of 1982.

So there you have it. A lovely day spent chasing little balls of glass all over the place, followed by a good long sleep in the big girl sleigh bed.

I have the entire day to myself while Rich does his thing over on campus, and then we're heading to a hockey game. I'm contemplating a nice afternoon of doing nothing but putzing about in the cube room studio, since I am determined to make myself a nice little travel tool kit, and I want to see what I might have lounging around in there.

(I bought one of those travel faux leather jewelry boxes from the amazons that everybody has made into a tool kit, and I have been dying to figure out how to finish it forever. I might try the YouTubes later to see if there are any helpful videos, but in the meantime, I'll just fuss and fret over it some more.)

That's the Friday report from CS2, Dearies! It's dreary as h-e-double-toothpicks out there, but feels like it's about 80 degrees! Blech weather, if you ask me. Dreary requires cool and breezy so you can at least cuddle into a sweater!

Thank you for stopping by! Are you well and safe and doing something fun? Come tell me all about it!

I'M A BEADING FOOL

 Because I have a head like a rock, I planted myself in front of the Project That Shall Not Be Named, and I did my level best to learn something.

(Three of my Guild friends and I are piloting a class for EGA. This means that we receive the instruction materials for a potential class offering, and we "guinea pig" it and see if we can provide some feedback .)

(My feedback thus far has been a lot of cursing and hair-pulling, because this "beginning beading" class is...challenging...to say the least.)

The little thingie on the left is another section of a beaded star that I played with first to build my confidence. 

The end results are pitiful, I know, but I'm happy to report that I seem to have mastered the square stitch! Now it's on to herringbone!

TUESDAY

Kind of a quiet, contemplative day here in Hoosierville.  The papers have been read, the news has been watched, the healthy breakfast has been consumed, and now I'm just hanging out with a banana and my JB:

I've finally decided what to put in the date/initial sections of Hoity Toity, so I played with it a bit last night while watching the Phillies lose to Arizona. 

 I'll reveal my idea as soon as everything is in place. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy this one a bit longer!

Dearies, I just wanted to say that with everything going on in the world, I truly value this space we inhabit here as a safe and happy and peaceful place where we can all just sit and be kind to one another. I often worry that my blathering seems dis-engaged or completely oblivious, but I realized this morning as I was scrolling through beautiful pictures of stitching and grandbabies that this is exactly what we need. Thank you, dear dear friends, for this thing of ours. 

And now...a little eye candy to take with you to sustain yourself through your day (if this is the way your teeter-totter teeters). There's just something about a handsome man in a crisp white shirt that gives me the tingles!

(Just promise me that you will stand witness to the fact that I am a completely harmless portly spinster when the authorities question my interwebs stalking of this poor kid.)

(And yes...I completely agree that he looks exactly like a Disney prince cartoon character come to life!)

SUNDAY

A bit pot of pasta fagioli, which my JB approved wholeheartedly:

And a sunrise that took my breath away:

 

Time to stitch!

SATURDAY SPINSTER SHENANAGINS

 This little guy was quick and fun to do! The little wooden ornament form and the threads came from the Michaels, and the chart is from stitchsprout on the etsy:

UH OH

The bags are from the Fat Quarter Shop and the chart is from Shepherd's Bush. I probably should reversed the size of the stitching , but I kinda like the smaller image on the larger bag. The backs of both bags contain my initials...charted on the fly by Yours Truly.

Now I'm going to make a small notions pouch so I have a set!

WooHoo!
 

BEADED STAR FEE NEE

 

I had such a good time with my Guild Ladies last night! I came home energized, still giggling, and in time to watch the Phillies win the second game against Arizona.

Today, I picked up the components of the beaded star and finally stitched them together. It's wonky and not very neat and tidy, and I'm sure I'll be rubbing glue off of my fingers for a week, but I'm tickled pink with it and want to make more of these!

As for my other beading adventures...phooey. I have been part of a pilot class for EGA, and it has just kicked my heiney. I think, after a long night of contemplation, I might have come to the conclusion that life is just too short to fight with something this hard...especially when it's in the Leisure Division of Spinster, Inc.

I'm going to do a quick clean-up of CS2, and then I think I'll find something fun to play with! 

What's new with you?

LET'S GO PHILLIES!

 

This is from last night....the first game of the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tonight is game two, but I will be at a Guild meeting so my JB will have to do all of his own hollering.

I should probably explain that I know absolutely NOTHING about the sports, but I'm not shy about hollering my opinions and rules at the TeeVee. For example: I think that it would be a lot more interesting if they installed one of those credit card machines on the sideline, or dugout, or bench, etc and that every time a player made a really bone-headed error they got fined. 

Personal fowl? 

Swipe here. That'll be $10,000 please.

Hit a batter with a pitch?

Well, first of all, he gets to throw it back at you, and then you have to go back and sit on the bench, but after you've swiped your card for $25,000.

At the end of the contest, they would add up all of the money and it would all be donated to the winning team's charity of choice.

Rich finds this completely ridiculous, but I think that when you make a bazillion dollars a year to play a game that you love, when you do it poorly, there should be consequences.

(I think there should be consequences for umpires and referees, too, but their consequences involve cattle prods and dunce caps, so I'm not convinced my argument would pass muster with their unions.)

So...GO PHILLIES! I hope you beat the Diamondbacks with impunity and that everyone has a fun and safe and worthwhile game. If you need me, I'll be with my Guilden Girls having fun with beads!

SUNDAY RECOVERY

My goodness! From the looks of it this morning, you would think that I actually PLAYED football against USC last night instead of just HOLLERED at the football.

We won! And although bleary-eyed and somewhat exhausted by the efforts, I am happily ensconced under the Snoopy blanket with newspapers, stitching, lots of damn good, and my vat of ice water.

Laundry is sploshing. I carefully separated and piled it into loads, but I am still completely baffled how a person who never leaves the house could have as much laundry to do as Yours Truly does. It is a complete mystery, I tell you. One I will probably never solve.

I did leave the house yesterday for Guild, though, and a wonderful time was had sitting inside a lovely conference room watching the cold rain fall outside. This Guild is the Hoosier Heartland chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild, and Miss Charlene managed to wrangle a wonderful list of projects for us to look forward to! 

We went to the pizza joint that is right in front of CS2 for lunch, and I happily ate my weight in salad and a small bar-b-que chicken pizza, and then I carried out an order of their spinach artichoke dip that was just delicious as a game-time snack. 

So life is indeed very swell here in Hoosierville, Dearies. I'm going to enjoy a lazy Sunday with my JB and the footballs.

How about you?

 

FRIDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

I am sitting in the library with my Friday damn good, a cozy new old lady big top, and a bag full of stitching. Who...I ask you...could possibly be happier than I am at this moment?!

My Irish will take on the USC Trojans tomorrow, but before I can begin the hollering, I have to behave myself at Guild. Do you suppose I can be a real human person and sit in a chair with proper clothing and mascara on for a minute and not be the annoying toddler in the room? 🙄

Not a lot of stitching to report. I was happily stitching away on Hoity Toity last night, but got distracted by the Phillies game. They won!

OK. Time to go browsing for a few new books. I finished one called Trust and am almost through John Irving's (*) Trying To Save Piggy Sneed, so I better grab a stack to keep me occupied for the next few weeks.

(*) I'm pretty sure he's my favorite writer, since I have absolutely loved everything he's written and swear I'm going to go back and read all of his novels over again!

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend, Happy Everything, Dearies! Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

FUTZINGDAY BLISS

 

A little Wrexham, a little Hoity Toity, and my very first Starbucks Caramel Macchiato (with skinny syrup thankyouverymuch) on an absolutely beautiful Fall Futzingday. I love my life. ❤️

 

YOU LOSE SOME, YOU LOSE SOME.

Well, Dearies. Yesterday was not a great day for my Irish, unfortunately. The hockey team lost to Clarkson 3-0, and the football team lost to Louisville 33-20, BUT...the Phillies beat the Braves 3-0 and I got to watch all of it thanks to a little streaming on my phone contraption.

Today I am a bit bleary-eyed, but now that the newspaper has been read and the puzzles have been solved, I can get a few hours of stitching done before it's time to make dinner. We've having a little turkey breast and all of the fixin's, and I also want to make a nice pot of pasta fagioli to have with sandwiches during the week.

Not much else to report, I'm afraid. Just a lovely Fall Sunday with the footballs on the TV and the fuzzy blanket in place! What's new with you?

DAMN.

 

FAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHLLLLLLLL.

Hello, Dearies...on a cool and breezy and very Fall-like Friday night! Finally! When the thermometer hit 89 degrees earlier this week, I started to panic that we were going to be stuck in Sweaty Spinster mode for another few weeks, but then....aaaahhhhh arrived!

First up...plans for the weekend. Tomorrow is my Mom's birthday, so we will go to 5:00 Mass in the Basilica and then to the Grotto to light a few candles in her memory. She would be turning 90 tomorrow, and I can't even begin to wrap my brain around that fact, especially since she died when she was only 54. I am fairly certain that she would still be beautiful and smart and funny and very very ornery, and I would also bet that she would still be needlepointing and would have loved all of the lovely things that inhabit this thing of ours now.

Happy Birthday, Siggie! We sure do miss you down here!

After Mass, we're going to the first hockey game of the season, and I can't wait to get cuddled under my fuzzy little blanket with my hot dog and popcorn and watch the boys smash about on the ice below. I know nothing about hockey other than I love watching it live and hollering like a banshee when they score.

At 7:30, I'll do more hollering when the football team takes on Louisville. This is an away game, which means we'll have to scurry home after hockey to catch it, but if the powers that be are listening, they'll turn the game on the big screen in the hockey place and we can watch it there and maybe have another hot dog.

Other than that...nothing new to report other than me trying to behave myself and get a little stitch done in between sleeping and reading and eating and TV watching. Not a lot of drama or excitement, but quiet and peaceful is very welcome around here, indeed!

Happy Weekend to one and all! I hope your needles are flying and your skirt is fluttering! What's new in your neck of the woods? Come tell me all about it!

 

 

LET'S GO, PHILLIES!