trashy crochet

yarn eater/rug muncher

2012-01-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

potaytoe.potahtoe.

so i've now got a handful of little crafty vixens here at work that i've taught to crochet.
and last year our learning project was to create versions of the house of holland shawl for ourselves.
this year's project is going to be the wool eater!

both me and beautiful and wonderful caroline started ours out in peachy colours today:

fast and easy...

2012-01-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

well the black merino scarf that i started at the royal festival hall this week is almost finished!

and tomoro i'm off to a super top secret crafty vixen event to be involved in an uber exciting new project...more information and lots photos to follow...xxx

long long long hiatus

2012-01-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

from life, love, and even hooking.
i set down my crochet hooks a couple days before xmas and only picked them up again yesterday to attend the big new years event at the royal festival hall. it was so nice to catch up with everyone and feel a bit 'normal' again...

things i miss...

2011-11-30T06:56:00.001-08:00

it is sooo lovely being back home and seeing my family here in orange county, but after almost three decades living in london, england there are sooo many things i miss when i'm here! things like...
a cafe on every corner
being able to get a nice meal with a lovely bottle of wine after 10pm
walking everywhere

and then there are two things that i'm really really missing - so much i'm not sure which i'm missing more
my husbandboy AND my stash of yarn

the blondeboy had to stay behind as he's double booked on plasterwork. he's finishing a new bulgari hotel in knightsbridge as well as starting a new project on fleet street. and my yarn stash, well hey i decided to travel uber-light and reckoned that i could just pick up whatever i needed here...i've just not had a chance.

its so horrid not being able to just cuddle up on the sofa with blondeman and whatever colour yarn i need and hook away!

guess i'll just have to talk to my family, lol...xxx

sweet home california

2011-11-29T06:55:00.001-08:00

yes, i'm back home in orange county california and have to admit that i've been spending more time in shops buying hair dye and bleach than yarn! my daughter is gonna multicolour dip dye my ends for me - wohoo, i can't wait...

i actually came over here travelling extremely light - its amazing now i'm an extra-small instead of an extra-large how little room my clothes take up! so anyway, am travelling with just a ball of sockyarn and have been free forming away on little skulls mostly. photos to follow if they actually become anything!

now, off to check the weather forecast and see if i'll be sunbathing again today. x

yesterday...

2011-11-13T03:49:00.001-08:00

well yesterday's adventure to the wilds of crouch end was interesting...
i sold absoutely zilch at the crafternoon but the crowd/stock just didn't fit and i'll know for the next one (eastertime). both myself and the girl next to me that had handknit items sold nothing - but girlie across from me with the most awesome machine knit felted monster stuffed animals did really really well. her stuff was the cutest and i wish she had a site to link to! i traded her the salt and pepper mustache below for the cutest red plaid monster...and i'm gonna see her again soon as she'd like to learn to crochet - in fact, i had more interest in my crochet clinics than anything else so i'll be doing more of those for sure!

and note for next time: take more amigurumi and jewellry items rather than scarves and bunting...

still, it was a lovely day full of crafty vixens and old friends - and on the way home i spied a couple of my old iknit homegirls in the window so popped over to say HELLO. they'd not seen me in ages and were amazed at my long natural coloured bettie page hair and UK size 8 body!
(last time they saw me i was probably a still a size 16-20)

crafternoon today!

2011-11-12T01:18:00.001-08:00

still not sure what you are up to this afternoon or you are going to be around crouch end anyway?
well the lovely ladies of happily ever crafter have crammed me in a last minute stall at their crafternoon today because they "frickin love" my skully pirate crochet stuff...

so if you'd like to buy some or just hang out then pop on up to the hornsey vale community centre this afternoon...and experience the spectacle of cherie matrix outside zone 1 for two weekends in a row!

of course this means another saturday evening that i miss my gypsy dance rehearsals for the brixton hafla in december. i'm really torn as now my crafty vixen time is really fucking interfering with my bellydance time. however, with the latest knee problems i wonder more and more if i should slow down/give it up altogether? i "frickin love" the bellydance girls and musicians that i've met, and would miss them too much. luckily, the crafty vixen communtiy is just as interesting and loving so i'm replacing one with the other - FOR NOW.

sometimes there just really isn't enough hours in the day to squeeze in everything that i'm interested in - when this happens to you, how do you choose?

thanks for the weekend!

2011-11-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

BIGGEST warmest loveliest thanks to ms marmite lover for the fun weekend at her underground farmer's market. Juicy Lucy and I spend an entire weekend in bed together wrapped up warm while the rest of the market had to battle with the elements. And that we had a bar set up on the ironing board was just a bonus. And on Sunday with had the lovely Jo and Amelie from Rubyshoes Rocks Bunting on the bed with us learning to crochet...so basically my usual weekend just with more interesting alcohol and more hookers!

Here's a link to a video of the weekend.

A London Plinth write up.

Oh! and PIE, not just any PIE, but the bestest american PIE, by Miss American Pie...who has pie crust to die for and makes something called a 'thing' that just drips with eagle brand milk and coconut. This on top of Paul A Young continually plying me with brownies in hopes I'll make more brown and purple bunting for his shops - definitely means that I went over my usual calorie count for the day...but can I say that thanks to all the reprogramming I've done to my brain with the Beck CBT method I was still fully in control and enjoying every last morsel.

Still will be interesting to see my weight at fat rehab this Thursday night!

Oh, and as this weekend was such fun it has inspired me to do more of the crafty markety thingies, and maybe to organize my own as well...so watch this space!

AND ONE MORE THING

I'm doing crocheted mustaches for movember...they are a minimum £10 each or 6 for £50 and all the money will go to charity - so please buy buy buy! Email me to place an order, thanks.

don't forget! underground food rave this weekend!

2011-11-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

yes, my poor little blog has been sooo neglected! and i'm so so sorry to the few of you that still pay me any mind...but i've been busy hooking things to sell to your good selves that are attending ms marmite lover's underground food rave this weekend.

i am also putting together some learning materials for those lucky enough to join me and juicy lucy in bed to learn to crochet! but for those of you intent on coming, i need to remind you of the RULES...same same as any other awesome underground rave...you GOTTA BUY YOUR TIX IN ADVANCE to get the address...and i swear on my bag of antique hooks that it's not in some field off the M25 (shhh...kilburn)

so to make it easy for my little lovelies click the date to reserve your space now!
Friday starts at 18:00
Saturday starts at midday

well that's my service announcement
its going to be such an awesome event that you'll be a smelly dogshit covered fool to miss it!

enough. from. me.
i've had really bad stomach flu so i better get my ass offline and back to blocking out some crocheted skulls to tempt all ya'll to part with some big fat british pounds...but make sure you bring extra! because my friends paul a young will be there with their chocolates too!

come join me and juicy lucy in the bedroom

2011-10-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

so this evening i was supposed to do a hilal bellydance workshop, but am blowing it out for my friend lucy's birthday for a couple reasons...
1. there is nothing sexy at all about hilal bellydance!
2. i need to focus on my tribal drills for shows in december.
3. it's juicy lucy's birthday!!! and i gotta take care of her as she is going to be my personal bitch at THIS

yes, i shall be teaching granny square crochet and selling my buntings and scarves at the underground farmer's market over bonfire weekend. if you have never been to an underground supper club even then you must come along and experience the food rave that is the house of ms marmite lover. she is truly a visionary of the new DIY age. she's turned her uber-top secret beautiful house location into the funnest restaurant experience i have been to in a long time - and what she is doing with her indoor house market is amazing and inspiring!

in fact, i just had to fill out a survey on some women in biz website and when it came to role models - the only person that came into my head was ms marmite lover kerstin herself! if you know me in real life you know that this isn't something i would say lightly - as no one is as old or as experienced as moi in most things, lol!

please do come along.
hang out with me and juicy lucy in the underground bedroom market and enjoy!!!

great minds...

2011-10-12T01:31:00.000-07:00

so last night i wrote a loooong post about bellydancing taking up all my weekends and needing a friday night craft market to sell my day of the dead and xmas crochet.
THEN LOST IT TO THE ETHER.

(and blogger is still being funny) ugh!

but never fear - because just putting the idea out there meant my prayers were answered...
there was a lovely message waiting for me on twitter when i finally logged in this morning.
(something i'm doing less of now pinterest rules my life)

so watch this space as there is crafty bonfire weekend market coming up!!

rain rain go away...

2011-10-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

i want to be renegade renegade today!

so i am now toying with the idea of tying my smaller crocheted garlands to the inside of an umbrella and just standing around on brick lane selling my wares that way.

i'm also wondering if i could add this somehow to a raqis tanoura costume - hiding the crochet under the skirts and lifting layer by layer to reveal crocheted halloween and day of the dead skull items...

still. probably. not. best. for. the. rain.

but just imagine a combination of:

CROCHETED PIRATE BUNTING and long flowing layered skirts!!

also guess i should look into getting a proper indoor stall...ho hum. doesn't feel quite as fun or punk rock.

renegade renegade craft fair

2011-10-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

so as i've been travelling so much, i just realised that it's the fucking 'renegade' craft fair this weekend in london, and remember i was planning my own renegade renegade craft fair as i couldn't afford the fucking $400 deposit required to apply for a stall? so tomorrow morning i will be going down brick lane with a blanket and my wares and flogging them on the sidewalk like all the other weekly sidewalk sellers...who would like to join me...it's free!!!

and this is the sort of thing i will be selling, what do you think?

15 minutes of shame

2011-09-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

back online in london for about 15 minutes while i try to catch up on my fat rehab/weight maintenance planning. brighton was lovely - caught up with my lovely charity man - who knitted me the cutest 'deddy bear', which is now lying dead with x's for eyes on the arm of my big lovely comfy sofa. i'll post photos soon, but right now i just can't move while i wait for the nurofen to kick in! then i'll be up and rehearsing my tribal bellydance before throwing everything that might still fit into a suitcase and running off to sweden...where i will hopefully have a great creative week with my lovely ann-marie.

big big thanks to lovely spaceboy and her partner for putting me up the night i was homeless in brighton. while anno was in the bath i quickly halloween yarnbombed her house! i am never going to have enough stock to sell in my etsy shop if i keep this up...

nothing, just nothing

2011-09-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

some reporters have been trying to contact me for weeks, and i've ignored them...so then they went to my lovely mistress jezabel asking her to smooth the way - like that was going to happen.

this evening, one of them gained access to the office of my day job and convinced a colleague to phone me and say there was a friend waiting for me...waiting 1 hour and 10 minutes...to try to get me to substantiate a story. i've still ignored them, and now i get to go round the interwebs and re-lock my profiles down.

i'd just started re-opening everything back up so i could try and sell a bit of crochet to fund my ink habit!

so evidently there is supposed to be a story running in the sunday people this weekend - when i will be busy bellydancing my ass off in brighton with samantha vagabond princess and unmata...so good luck getting a comment out of me then!

...oh and i will be crocheting ALOT

hooker: £10 an hour

2011-09-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

today we were at craft central to see the lovely and talented jo angell's pop up shop of her gorgeous and sexy textile designs. i've already pre-ordered a silk scarf and want more more more of her items, but didn't want to deplete her stock. the rest of the show was pretty meh, saw some nice crocheted dance slippers - but other than that nothing else that was interesting or inspiring...well, actually it WAS interesting to see how much is being charged for these craft items!

i really really really don't charge enough...

which brings me to another dilemma.

while we were at craft central we saw a sign for crochet classes, and one of my new hooker colleagues asked me why i didn't have my own crochet teaching group...my reply was, well, i have LOADS of stitch groups that i attend.

see, i've been giving up most of my lunchtimes to teach my colleagues to crochet, and we have a great 'house of hooks' collective going now that i've taught them all to make granny squares. they are working up their very own versions of the house of holland scarves...but out of acrylic rather than posh wool...as they are just learners!

then i got thinking...at my lunch groups, my evening groups, other people's evening groups, even my friend gerard's shop groups...basically everywhere i go i tend to get roped into showing someone how to crochet. in fact, the couple times i've been at a stitch up and NOT taught someone i have actually realised how lovely it is to just chill.

other than not feeling like i can ever just chill out, i've never resented spending my time teaching others to crochet - i love giving the craft more visibility. but now i make limited edition holiday specific items - i don't have time to teach when i need to be hooking...

...unless i start charging. and then i could offer my time properly, and planned.

so now i'm wondering - if i was to set aside a weekly time to teach, when should it be and is £10 an hour a reasonable amount to charge for my time?

ghoulie garland - alien skulls for sale!

2011-09-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

busy crocheting to stock my new House of Hooks etsy shop.
off to another bellydancing weekend on friday
then straight onto stockholm!!

ghoulie gossip

2011-09-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

well, i'd post another photo of my daughter, but i think she has been in the press enough the last few days. will be interesting to see how much of the actual truth the british press manage to report on - rather than what she wears - a bit of fashion tip with your gossip??? right now she is passed out on the sofa in black silk pajama bottoms and a cashmere cardigan...lol.

so what other gossip have i got for you all this week? well i passed on some of my old clothes and boots today to one of my geeky stitchy girlfriends...she's lost two stone so is a couple sizes behind me - nice to know my custom boots are going to a good home - they were just too baggy or looked like wellies on me now i've lost around 5 stone and hit my target weight!

another bit of girlie gossip is i've created another hooking monster...my beautiful and lovely receptionist caroline has come over to the crochet side and is joining our office granny square crochet-along...and i've got even more recruits for tomorrow!

...and i'm hoping to launch my seasonal limited edition etsy shop - inspired by the crocheted garland that i've been making for our hallowedding first anniversary party. can you all believe that 've been mrs. piany for almost a year? we are thinking of having a nice halloween tea on a boat in bristol, and i'm hoping to get some of the local bellydancers that i know there to perform...but until then i'm crocheting my black nail varnished fingers to the bone.

so far i've created just the basic granny triangle bunting in traditional halloween colours, pastel day of the dead garland, dark halloween alien skull garland, and other spooky inspired bits and pieces! i know that i'm making them to set up the shop and sell on, as people have been asking me to ---- but it's all so cute i wanna keep it!!!

so i know it is early but what are your hallowe'en plans?

Mad Men Casting Call - Enter The Contest - AMC

2011-08-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Mad Men Casting Call - Enter The Contest - AMC

Do you all mind doing me a favour?

Please help my daughter get a walk-on part on Mad Men!

I'll be very very grateful.

And yes, I know it's alot to ask when I'v3 not been updating much, but...please!

(have to warn you that the voting process is a bit convoluted)

Thank you all sooo much x

making myself pay

2011-08-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

yes i know i know i know...but between my diet work and crocheting orders and my day job, i've been really crap at keeping you all updated, but really, seriously, did you even miss me?

because i know pretty much everyone else is as busy as i am!

so...it's still bunting craziness here at the bloomsbury skyline club.

i'm finishing up my summer orders and will be moving into my next phase of production in a week or two. i've decided to go ahead, take the plunge, and create limited edition holiday themed etsy/folksy shops only. that way i can keep on top of the supply as it will be very time-based -- well that is the plan anyway!

and what am i doing with my earnings?

well i had been shoving it straight into my skin, getting inked. i've been using my hooker money to reward myself with tattoos for all my weight loss. but this last week i had the first real lapse off programme, and my weight stayed the same. exactly the same. i know part of it is because i need a really big poop, but the rest is due to the champagne. it was sooo lovely though!! and even though i feel horrid for going off plan, i know if i didn't have these new skills that it could have been alot worse and i may have gained!

but nope.

stayed the same.

so no £££ for the tattoo fund this week.

instead i loaned it out to kiva, to help finance leticia's shop!

here's more info if you are also interested in helping...

Al negocio de la señora Tomasa le está haciendo falta más variedad de mercancía.
Solicita un préstamo para invertir en compra de ropa para niños, juguetes, y accesorios de bebes como son carriolas, porta bebes, cunas y andadores. No cuenta con el dinero necesario para realizar la inversión que su negocio.
Con una parte de las ganancias del negocio pagara el crédito, ya es madre soltera y tiene un hijo bajo su responsabilidad y es la una fuente de ingreso que para darle lo necesario y una buena educación.

well i did it.

2011-07-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

...and with one day to spare!

i managed to deliver all my july crochet orders.

now time for some interwebbiness.

the good the bad and the ugly

2011-07-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

phew, what a weekend that just was...

the good.

i have managed to deliver most of my july bunting orders now. especially with the help of my daughter, ravenisis. so big big thanks to her and if you want a special crochet bunting hooked by a suicide girl burlesque super star please let me know. i've decided that with my day job and my bellydancing schedule i just don't have enough time to fill an etsy or a folksy shop - they look stupid when half empty - so i'll just be offering my bunting here on the blog, in my friend gerard's shop iknit london (yes it's a yarn shop with a bar in it!!), and might put some up on ebay.

i'm always massively proud of my talented daughter and watching her crochet, i've realised that she crochets even faster than i do! (if you've seen me work that is really saying something) raven's a bit of tight hooker luckily, so means her and i don't need the same hook - which is good as i only have one broken wooden 4mm left in my bag...

...4mm is my teaching hook. so i tend to give them away.

my latest student is my work colleague agata who is going to teach me needle felting in return!

today is our bitches make stitches lunch date. i can't wait for a big pot of tea and a chilled out hour (or two) in the middle of the day.

for the rest of my july orders, i just need to sew the labels on and box them up and we are good.

the bad.

as you all know from previous posts, amy winehouse was not my favourite person but it is absolutely horrible to lose your life so early, talented or no. i really feel for her family. and i hope she truly does rest in peace.

the ugly.

i really can't believe that my daughter's boyfriend of three years, reg traviss, is such a fame hungry fucktard. his actions both before and after amy's death just make me sick. the pain he has caused my daughter over the last year is inexcusable. i've never disliked someone so much in my whole entire life...and i have an ex husband (R.I.P.) that left me for my best friend after i waited years for him to get out of of prison...so that really is saying something.

karma is a big fat ugly bitch and one day is gonna spiritually hit that boy like a ton a bricks.

bunting butt

2011-07-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

i officially have bunting orders coming out of my butt now!

last night was the first time since the late 80s/early 90s that i've fallen asleep crocheting an order. and last time it happened i had to employ a couple crocheters to help me...one of which grew up to be the beautiful model catalina.

and i just took an order for another 12 today...from my lovely gerard of iknit for camp bestival.

(which i may just be persuaded to attend)

but before that - i am off to sonisphere!!!

renegade

2011-07-07T05:52:00.001-07:00

so now i'm in the bunting and baby blanket biz, i thought i'd apply to sell my trashy shit at the 1st ever renegade craft fair in london...especially as my daughters are known as RENEGADE BURLESQUE...but alas, this 'renegade' craft fair seems only 'renegade' in name and not dictionary definition - or maybe my expectations were just too punk rock DIY crafty vixen-like, and less martha fuckin' stewart.

it is $400 to just apply for a stall for a weekend in the truman brewery! when we had our office/studio there it wasn't even $400 a week for our rent - and we had the 2 prime rooms right off the courtyard, next to the vibe bar...this price is a bit steep for me, as an individual crafter not a 'corporate' crafter. especially as it is on brick lane, where literally anyone can rock up early and lay out a blanket and sell their wares.

which is what i may be doing!

now who's the fuckin' renegade, eh???

and ps - who used to like the TV show...

om my god!

2011-07-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

well so far today has been a waste of sunscreen, but not of creativity!

i was up til around 5am with the crochet ideas buzzing through my brain, then was woken up by blaring sunshine at 10am. so slathered on the factor 15 and covered my freshy tattooed back with one of the blondeboy's stretchy xs topman white t-shirts...2 hours later i'm back in bed with a pot of vanilla tea and some MORE new ideas for bunting and where to sell them - which includes a trip to stockholm, hej hej! if they sell ganesh, then they should want some of my newly redesigned oms!

which actually may be my first pattern to upload to ravelry, as i've never really been one to pattern anything before - but i had to make my own version of the awesome kody's om chart as i needed something longer and thinner but also a bit more rounded out in areas. also, because i'm going to be selling them it would be shit shit shit to just steal her hard work, especially as it's a chart she made on her wedding day! aw...

on my wedding day all i managed to invent was a soya milk white russian served in my niece's sippy cup so i could drink it in the shower - so i really am in awe of the kody! also because she has taken the time to chart a ribbon design that i've used to created red ribbon yarnbombs for world aids day.

and of course...the sun is back out now. let's see how long it lasts this time!

a handjob is better than no job!

2011-07-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

well...wow!

been hooking my little fingers to the bone as i've had lots of orders lately - it seems that everyone that sees my bunting wants some, and now what's even more awesome is i'm trading it for tattoo work. yup, my lovely hand=poked artiste the amazing BOFF saw some today as i was dealing it in his tattoo shop (had to pay for my ink somehow) and want want wanted some...

...so i'll be assembling it soon.

but before i deliver i have to wait til my new order of crochet moo cards arrives, so if anyone wants to buy any, he can share my card. other bits and pieces i guess i should think of re-instating are: labels to sew on my goodies, a proper gallery/products page on this bloggy blog, some proper photos of my work by my daughter raven isis when she isnt rehearsing/performing - and then maybe finally get some shit onto etsy...or should i use folksy? which do you crafty vixens prefer...would like to hear what and why.

but that is just looking ahead a bit, for now i'll just sort the blog out to have an area of items that can be ordered for private sales, or very limted runs for wholesale.

anyway - back to my tattoo i was getting today - and my quite easy 5 hour session, so easy i kept falling asleep, which one really shouldn't do during a handjob as the skin needs to be kept taut, so a bit of contortion helps the work go quicker. anyway anyway - we started FREEFORM filling in my back, and it's starting to look like my all black lace crochet project with paisleys and mini-doilies! will get some photos taked when the kid is home, and not too hungover to work a camera, lol...

...and as well as it being tattoo day, it was gay pride here in london - so to keep with the yearly tradition, i spent the evening at The Ship Pub in soho, with the wonderful Gerard from IKNIT.

how much should a hooker charge??

2011-06-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

he-elp!

so i made some awesome bunting for my lovely friend salena's birthday today...

...yes, i know that i've gone a bit bunting mad lately! but i think it might be the novelty of not having had it back home. we get 'garland' but it's not like this. and there does seem to be a bit of a bunting resurgence, doesn't there?

which it looks like i can cash in on a bit if i want to.

as someone at the party has a shop that only stocks and sells limited edition hand-made items and they wanna sell my birthday bunting. which is awesome and i'm excited as i've been thinking about selling my crochet properly again for awhile.

but this is where i need the crafty handmade blogosphere's help...what do you all think that i should charge for a crocheted bunting of about 7 flags? it's not my usual granny triangle stylee - but something alot quirkier...and i have no idea how much they would retail or wholesale for - and i know that some of you crafters sell your wares, so i'd really appreciate your guidance.

so sorry!

2011-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

so so so so sorry i've not been blogging for you all lately (does anyone still read me?)

but i have been very very very busy with creating crocheted bunting, and have just delivered a very very lovely version to my good friend james wallis for his local fete that he organises - it was just going to be yarnbombed anyway, so i hope they raise alot of money on the raffle.

also been working on my skull and cross bones jolly roger multi coloured big oversized yoga/bellydance costume bag that i need to have finished for september when i next go to brighton to train with hilde - and vagabond princess!

and continuing with my freeform projects - the all black has had some barnacle looking bits added to it last night, and the all pastel ff has been growing alot too - and the more i work on it the less i hate it...

and i've been teaching my work colleague to crochet - she's so impressed with how well she is doing, so next wednesday us bitches are going to be making stitches and iknit. so who else will be there??? it'll be my first night back since i had such a horrid time. hopefully being there with my colleague will shield be from the backstabbing and bitchiness...

feeling pretty fucking lonely :o(

2011-06-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

so tomorrow is int'l yarnbombing day and i still don't really have any plans...the weather in london is supposed to be crap crap rainy so i guess it will depend on that mostly as well. hmmm. what are you all doing???

little cupcake

2011-06-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

isn't my little niece the cutest??
this is her modelling her little twinkie chan cupcake scarf that i made her!
aw....xxx

and with her in the photo is my mother the crochet and quilting queen.
my mom has won soo many ribbons at her local state and county fairs.
she is uber talented and i hope i inherit even pary of her talent!

o damn now i'm homesick.

brunch

2011-06-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

well, these short bank holiday weeks are great - til you realise you have less days to do everything! i'm really really looking forward to this saturday...and having fun planning every detail - what to take with me, what to wear, and what to do on the day!

so what am i taking?
ima' gonna take lots of balls of colourful DK weight yarn and some 4mm crochet hooks and teach people to crochet, or lead beginners into the way of the granny square, or get experienced hookers making bunting for international yarn bomb day on june 11th.

i think i'm going to wear...
one of my big lacy petticoat skirts depending what still fits me as i have now managed to lose more than two whole stone in as many months!!! (thank little baby jesus for safety pins)

and what am i going to do on the day??
I AM GOING TO HAVE FUN. loads and loads and loads of it!

i'm looking forward to spending time with the amazing ms marmitelover - because last time i saw her i was hopped up on painkillers as i'd just broken my nose falling off a pair of stripper shoes...yes, i think i'll be wearing much less perilous footwear this saturday...and if the weather holds i can't think of anywhere better to spend a sunny june day than in the big beautiful marmitey back garden!

and if you want to book - because hey, why wouldn't you want to brunch with a hooker, and have a drinkie with an astrologer?
just clickety click below.

Time: June 4, 2011 all day
Location: Kilburn, London
Organized By: msmarmitelover

Event Description:
Spend the day at The Underground Restaurant learning how to make things.Learn to make your own candles in vintage tea cups with Me_old_Chinaor bring your own containers. http://meoldchina.blogspot.com/We will learn to crochet granny squares and bunting with moi, and tea included. All drinks included.Plus astrologer/life coach Annie Lionnet will be on hand to sort your life out: http://benjamoon.com/annielionnet/
Book here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/112535
All workshops, materials, food and drink included for £85

Raven Isis Burlesque: hidden charms

2011-05-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

Raven Isis Burlesque: hidden charms: "gogo titty shake this SUNDAY ! Positively 4th Street, Hampstead Rd (near warren st station) lovely new york style bar, amazing DJ's and li..."

^^^^
for those of you that asked me to let you know next time my daughter is performing at positively 4th st! she'll be there on sunday night, will you???

let me know x

red right hand (and face)

2011-05-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

i started feeling even worse after my post last night...had one of those horrid spangly tunnelvision migraines starting so did everything i could to stop it - lots of water and broth., which seemed to keep it at bay. then my right hand when completely numb, scary numb like fingers sticking out all weird angles - and cold cold cold. then after about 15 minutes of pure worry it disappeared. but not for long...it moved to my face, then inside my mouth and even my tongue - again for about 15 minutes.

this really worried me.

then my hand went again after about half an hour and so on for about five hours...i realised i was not dying, but took myself to my lovely doc first thing this morning who just reckons it's a side effect of all the migraines i've been getting lately...today has not been so bad but my hands and lips are still not 100% ok. trying to crochet when i can, but this is my first screen time today. so horrible - i have the time to craft and write as i'm home, and literally can't do either very well.

poo.

lotsa f words sorry!

2011-05-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

so its been awhile since my last post - because i have been working 24 fuckin' 7 at my day job. to the point that my back is absolutely killing me despite having a massage, doing an hour of bellydance stretches, sauna steam hotshower anti-inflamm meds and painkillers and tiger balm. i am fucked and that is it, i cannot do anymore long hours at this job. i've never had real back problems ever before and i'm going to keep it that way!

because last night i was even too sore to work on my pure black freeform project and/or go to my daughter ravenisis gig at postitively 4th street. i felt terrible to miss it. and i also didn't crochet at all today (yet) despite being at drink/shop/do, but that is because i was with my new bfatclubff. i really really love her already! (waves at abi ) cannot wait to see her again after the bank holiday weekend - its sooo nice to share sooo many interests with someone.

ok, now off to do some more back freeform - if i can.
fuckin' back pain.

get comfy - its a long one!

2011-05-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

if i was in a wheelchair, i could crochet as i was pushed around!

i had this thought when i was walking from my 2nd tattoo meet down to have a pot of tea at shop/do/drink/whatever...which is awesome because it shares the very very nice toilets downstairs with the adult book/sex shop next door. if i didn't already have drawers of 'toys' i'd have side-tracked, but what i really really need is 4-ply! so sounds like a trip to nest is needed - next saturday...

think saturdays are now going to be my girlie stitch days.

so my weeks will be kinda like this:
sunday - tribal/bfatclubff
monday - gym
tuesday - rest
wednesday - tribal fusion/orange wednesdays
thursday - fat club
friday - family home evening usually
saturday - girls girls girls!!! long legs and burgundy lips...girls,girls, girls
dancin' down on Sunset Strip...

which actually makes me try to remember if i ever have crocheted on sunset strip? i'd love to yarnbomb hollywood when i'm back home. this year i reckon i'll keep making the bunting for int'l yarnbomb day - which is exactly a week after i am hostessing the adorable ms. marmitelover's underground craftiversity at her brunch club...please do come along if you can - there will be teacup candle making as well as yummy food! and i'll be teaching crochet too.

and as well as a bit of a teaching gig for ms martmite, which really is more hostessy, which means i really really need a new outfit - especially as i've now lost 20lbs in the last month! but as i'm still losing i will leave it until right before the craftiversity to buy something...although thinking, one of my pretty lacy petticoats will probably be perfect for the day!

ooo, i should crochet some accessories to go with the outfit...but after my little blip yesterday, i definitely got my groove back and worked my perfectly manicured fingernails to the bone yesterday, even working into then night as i didn't go to the bellydance event last night...so i started with resurrecting my all black freeform shawl project, which got sooo many compliments while i was working on it at tea yesterday - especially from the interweave girlies, who may be using my ff clue giving skills at some point! (interesting...)

then i got home, and made a nice placemat for the sitting room table out of some lovely cottony papery twine i got at the poundstore on caledonia rd by the tattoo shop jolie rouge. i'm going to make more but it was a bit tough on my wrist so i'm limiting myself to one a day = last night's was a square, i think tonight's will be 3 flowers joined in a triangle.

then...i decided to make a BIG tote bag out of some of the skully squares that i'd made for my assface bald ex's blanket - it will be perfect to carry scarves and yoga mat, etc when i'm travelling for bellydance workshops! so i've started crocheting together the very very multi-coloured squares with a dark dark soft tweedy charcoal DK.

...and breathe!

lost my mojojojo...

2011-05-07T02:43:00.000-07:00

its a grey day outside, and even though it's bright coloured afghans and lovely white walls here in my bedroom i'm just not really feeling inspired...or rather i AM feeling inspired but nothing is really grabbing me...well, nothing that is a carry around work on over a pot of tea later at drink/shop/do type of project. there's actually LOADS that i want to make, but don't have the right yarn for...or i've got the bits to assemble or stuff or finish but the projects just aren't mobile.

ugh. fuck.

and drink/shop/do don't list the yarns they sell so not sure what i could pick up there out of their nice little glass display counter of goodness. hmmm...ok, my time to go rummage some more through the box of yarn behind the door to see what i come up with. will check back with ya'll later.

happy yarnbunting!

2011-04-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

i yarnbombed behind the bar of my local pub, the ship, last night just after closing time. it was the landlady's birthday and she'd not yet returned from her dinner date so i thought i'd leave her a surprise! i've not heard from her, so i hope she is just really really hungover today and not hating it...

wedding bells

2011-04-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

well i've got a bit sidetracked from my cupcakes and think i got a bit of the royal wedding bug, because i've dropped everything and am churning out granny triangles as fast as my little fat fingers can cope. gonna make some cute crocheted bunting for the day...that i can also re-use for the 4th of july, lol!

have your cake and don't eat it.

2011-04-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

now i've got a pile of granny squares just waiting to be shipped out, i thought i'd go back to working on the cupcake scarf i started when the amazing twinkie chan was in town...i need something easier to carry round as i'm off on a gypsy dance weekend with hilde over easter! i'm on a super hardcore diet right now, so will be nice to be travelling on a day that chocolate is supposed to be consumed...

...although it's going to hard to avoid the wine!

military precision

2011-04-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

so i have kept on making the granny squares, but used up so much of the stash that my colourways are getting narrower and narrower to the point that i'm not that happy with them. why o why are yarn stores not open til at least 22:00 ???
(that's 10pm for all of you that have never been in the military...)

actually, there is drink-shop-do over on caledonia road that might still be open. hmmm. *ponders while surfing their site AND updating my blog at the same time* it's not that far away...but i'll be over that way in the morning anyway as i want to be the first in line at jolie rouge tattoo shop for the sunday service for japan. each tatoo artist has designed a sheet of japanese inspired flash, and will be tattooing designs off of it with all proceeds going to the relief efforts.

now off to have a lovely lavender bath...

more rainbows

2011-04-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

even more crochet a rainbow granny blanket squares!
i am being alot more bold with colour than i usually am and loving the results. usually i'm working to a set scheme so don't play around as much as i am with these squares. i love the randomness - something i usually have a hard time with...so strange and so not punk, but hey that's me!

sleep is so not for the week!

2011-04-07T02:07:00.001-07:00

well hello thursday...

i crammed so so much into my birthday weekend that it just pretty much has not stopped and is about to become a week long celebration. but yesterday i did manage to create some granny squares for the crochet a rainbow blanket project - finally. made the one square (above) while waiting for the radiator guy yesterday morning (sounds like beginning of a porn film doesn't it???) then a few more last night after my tribal belly dance class with hilde.

granny squares are a bit of a weird project to work on because they are sooo easy that you can pretty much do them in your sleep BUT they require so many balls of yarn they are not very portable...kinda the same as a my all black freeform project that is using all different types of black yarn. so i need a portable project to carry with me again...maybe i'll dive into my wip pile and see what can be resurrected!

i also need to get some little packs together as i will be helping people to hook at this lovely "university" day in june - craft day at the underground restaurant run by the lovely ms marmitelover

trashy birthday

2011-04-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

so it's my birthday and my stitchy sister made me this awesome gin - soaked cupcake bouquet to celebrate! she also donated to my chosen birthday charity cause: shelterbox for japan and other natural disaster areas.

it is so amazing that every time i go in there someone else has donated a bit more. i'm not even a tenth of the way to my goal - but the donations don't have to stop at midnight - tis a whole birthday weekend so please give a little something if you can. i am only asking the price of a cocktail really...x

tumblr

2011-03-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

i made this tumblr for us all to update with our trashy crochet links...but now what do we do with it???

revolting...

2011-03-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

seriously - how did i not know about this site???
knitpro on microrevolt
other than probably the name put me off...it should be called chartpro so us hookers aren't put off, lol.

but seriously - look what it does!
knitPro is a free web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. Simply upload jpeg, gif or png images and knitPro will generate a graph sizable for any fiber project. knitPro digitally mimics the tradition of pre-industrial craft circles who freely shared patterns and passed them down from generation to generation...

thanks so much to alethafaye for showing me this!

2011-03-27T02:25:00.000-07:00

look at me, posting more than once a week - but i am about to burst with happiness as i got to meet up with the cutest hooker ever yesterday - the talented twinkie chan!!

it was a wonderful afternoon, hosted by the crochet girlie at atfotf - with cupcakes and crochet and making new friends. i have even wrangled the girls from her publisher to start coming along to our sitchups in the clock house on leather lane.

then i came home, and spent some time cruising on the internet - watching the aftermath of the march yesterday unfold on twitter, and looking at more ways to get involved with the relief efforts for japan. so far i have done/plan/thought about the following ways to help:

1. set up a donation link to shelter box for anyone wishing to buy me a birthday present. i'd love 100 of my internet friends and family to donate at least $10 (£6) to this charity that supplies emergency shelter - because if we did that would be $1k...

2. charting an afghan square to create a whole crocheted blanket to auction off for donation to the japanese red cross.

3. start making squares for the 'crochet a rainbow' effort to distribute blankets across the tsunami area of japan. am going to get a date in the diary soon to get my usual stitchers together to make squares one night (with beer of course kids do not worry!!!)

i'm not sure why this disaster has upset me so. maybe it is the memory of katrina and how helpless i felt while my dad's family were back south taking in tons of strangers and maxing out there credit cards to help others. yes, i do come from good stock...my family wouldn't take any help paying off their cards and instead asked people to donate to the salvation army "because they are the charity that stayed when the tv crews left".

yes, i do come from good stock. guess i better do some shit to prove it!

2011-03-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

o dear - i'm only averaging about a post a week lately...

work has still been really busy but good, and my house is currently a bit of a building site. my blondeboy has been busy turning our bedroom white again, but this time with a dark rustic oak floor. it's lovely and i'm looking forward to crocheting lots of thready white bits for the room. the wood floor is going to flow out into the hallway and living room.

my blondeboy is lovely - he's plastered painted layed ripped up everything and anything to make our place nice...i'm very lucky that he is so talented! i'm taking him to lunch this weekend as part of the london restaurant festival...then i will be running over to atfotf to see the lovely twinkie!!! i can't wait. i actually crocheted her a little strawberry box - but i've lost the top somewhere in my flat.

we currently have absolutely everything piled in the sitting room so who knows where it could be! but it's worth it.

and...march is coming to a close and so is crochet month.
what has everyone been doing to celebrate?
i was a designer for a day, giving clues for a freeform project. i'd post my freeform here but it's still pretty much all black, except for a tiny bit of lurex.

vogue UK seem to have been celebrating crochet month as well!
there is sooo much hooker goodness in the mag...dolce & gabbanna, delfina delettrez, guess, all have springtime luscious white goodness - all good inspiration for my new bedroom.

How to...Crochet Your Own Cupcake Garland (DIY Tutorial by Twinkie Chan) + Giveaway!

2011-03-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

How to...Crochet Your Own Cupcake Garland (DIY Tutorial by Twinkie Chan) + Giveaway!

The lovely Twinkie Chan posted a link to this cupcake garland that she designed...its posted on a site called Rock n Roll Bride!!! I sooooo could have done with knowing about this site a few months ago when I was getting married and planning wedding parties. Luckily for me, we still have not had our Bristol wedding party. (Have to remember to invite Steve)

Also, if you are a fan and did not know already - Twinkie is going to be at ATFOTF on Saturday March 26th.

I'm supposed to be going to lunch on that day, on the other side of town - but there is a BIG march planned for London that day, so I may have to blow it out to ensure I get some Twinkie time!

hey jen renee: to Japan, with love

2011-03-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

hey jen renee: to Japan, with love: "Wearing something you've knitted using Noro yarn is like wearing a work of art. If you're unfamiliar with Noro, they are a Japanese yarn pro..." (please click thru to read more)

Jen (above) is donating a lovely Noro scarf to raise money for the relief effort in Japan. This is a lovely gesture - please support the cause by placing a bid if you can.

shock! horror!

2011-03-10T04:48:00.000-08:00

i am going to be a bit horrid here...

HOW BAD IS THAT PHOTO?
IT IS THE MOST UNATTRACTIVE PHOTO OF CROCHET EVER!!!

and what is scary is that i still want to make it.
it would be lovely low slung for use with some of my tribal bellydance costumes.

freeforming again

2011-03-07T03:59:00.000-08:00

so its national crochet month in america right now...and all the online forums are buzzing with events and ideas and free patterns. as part of natcromo i'm taking part in a freeform project where we are all designers for a day and give each other clues. i started bit late on the actual crochet part of the challenge, and decided to use deep jewel colours, but have already ripped it out. i'm just not a multi coloured freeform kinda gal at the moment.

so i've restarted with all black in different textures. i don't think i've seen a pure black freeform project so i'm looking forward to working on it and took it along to the pub with me yesterday. while my blondeboy husband was celebrating his 30th birthday (yes he's gettin' all growed up) at the knitpub (crown and 2 chairmen) i hooked away over a couple bloody mary's and a beer.

and what i thought was a hangover is turning into flu...ugh!
but the sun is out in london so i'm pushing through.

busy bee

2011-02-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

so it's been busy busy for me since valentine's day.
busy visiting friends, working, drinking vodka, and having horrid migrainey flu.
i cannot wait to havce a nice steam tomoro at the gym!

and this is a little something that i made while home on the sofa sick sick sick:
she is a dead mommy bee...based on the pattern by ana, but enhanced alot - to the point i wonder when it becomes an homage, as i changed the antenna, the face, body, and wings...so basically tweaked it all, and love the way it turned out.

i'm finding that i'm really tweaking her patterns alot lately (again) i love ana's amigurumis and find they are such an inspiration...big props to her!!!

ta da....

2011-02-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

secret

2011-02-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

sshhh!
my latest super secret project is goin' well.
all will be revealed next week...

guts

2011-02-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

i would write more about my latest crochet project progress right now but my blondeboy just brought me cava breakfast in bed.

see why i love his guts so much?

x

the irony is not lost on me

2011-02-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

this evening mostly made me feel horrid. this evening also had me upset with myself. for the last few months i had actually felt a bit guilty for focussing more on my bellydancing lessons and rehearsals than my knitfriends...now i am kinda glad that i did!

however, this evening was also punctuated with some of the most awesome moments. moments that i'll always hold dear - seeing a proud young teen mother and glowing new grandmother, catching up with one of the most zen women i know, seeing the most shit hot tattooed girlie family in london, and visiting with one of my oldest stitchfriends.

and the highlight>>>>>>

afterwards and even though we were all dead tired, with us moms in fucking horrid hip pain - we still as a group and without thinking or speaking rushed to the aid of another woman stranger on the street and stayed with her til the situation was diffused and she was definitely okay. then as soon as she was sorted we said our good nights without even discussing it -just a natural thing.

now, i'll probably offend some knitladies with the rest of this post though

(what's new)

maybe even lose a couple friends from it - but if they don't understand then i am better off without women like this in my life.

all i can say is gosh darn those ladies love bitching about each other and fucking back biting - especially about things they have not lived/experienced. it got so bad and i was feeling so horrid that i finally said "i know i've been gone awhile but i really can't believe how much you all talk shit about each other".

now ironically i'm kinda doing the same thing here on my blog. well, it is called Trashy Crochet - and at least i was brave enough to say what i was thinking TO THE PERSON'S FACE.

so i've had both ends of the frienship spectrum tonight.
and right now i'm still oscillating between the two, wonderin' which end i'll remember next time it's a thursday night and i'm itching to crochet!

ironically i walked right past another stitch event to get to this one tonight.

and PS to my dearest radio lee - if you are reading this - thank you our knight in shining (vintage) armour!!!

mama stitch and fish

2011-01-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

yes - i know this photo was taken yesterday and i still had my pink xmas tree up. i wanted to actually leave it up til valentine's day like i have in previous years, but took it down this evening. but only because i scored a pale pink feather and fibre optic tree in the sales that is even more perfect for valentine's day!!! so now i need to crochet some hearts to go on it!

well, to be truthful, o dear - really truthful - i have NOT been crocheting up a storm at all. tis really only the last couple days that i have been finishing off some amigurumi presents for utah family that i promised when i saw them all back home last october! 2 fishes and a plane and a turtle all need to be posted soon...now just got to find some lunch hour time to post them!

but it probably will not be tomorrow, because i'll be getting some anti-inflammatory rx's filled so i can get my left hip back to normal before tribal bellydance on wednesday night. an old kick/thai boxing injury has reared its ugly head and set off a bad bout of bursitis that i pray dies down sooner rather than later. last time i had it i had to give up my daily run - which is also the same time i started getting ALOT curvier.

so guess i better coutneract the less movement again with less food - and more exercising of the crochet muscles!

so what has everyone else been up to?

Carol Lee Cooper - White Silver Sands

2011-01-28T07:09:00.000-08:00

music to crochet by...

#henparty

2011-01-08T01:16:00.000-08:00

so my london geeky girls are kidnapping me this weekend for a bit of a post-wedding paarty - so watch out margate! and this time not just because of the yarn bombs i will be leavin' behind, but you will have an extra 15 uber-smart ladies drunk on champagne and cake and tea wondering your seaside attractions this weekend.

i am so touched - really touched - that the girls have gone to such trouble for me. it's amazing. still, it's also really hard to get myself together and let go this morning. my daughter is back in the fucking tabloid papers through no fault of her own! and also maybe also because i'm just a bit embarrassed that my latest crochet project isn't high-brow enough for the ladies...

...a neck warmer of bright purple acrylic.

you see, as well as being my geek sisters, we also have our own stitchup group called stitch and fish as a spin-off of our digi industry mailing list:

haddock

. this mailing list is awesom - it's basically ravelry for a group of 69 or so friends to talk and share everything all day everyday for the last 15 years. whoever thought a list created to book baby foot games with wired magazine journos would spawn such amazing friendships.

this weekend - i feel very very lucky indeed.

blog design

2011-01-03T02:51:00.001-08:00

is it getting any better?

new year new blog design

2010-12-30T04:05:00.000-08:00

and so far i am hating it - need some proper time to play, sorry!

Space-age Christmas c.1973

2010-12-25T04:20:00.000-08:00

Space-age Christmas c.1973

blue xmas

2010-12-19T04:22:00.000-08:00

i've been making blue sparkly crocheted ornaments for my pink tree...

...everytime i look at them they make me smile as they REALLY do look like amigurumi butt plugs!

december raqs!

2010-12-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

the last few weeks have been busy - busy bristol bellydancing, busy with xmas nights out, and busy being bitten by the flu bug. ugh!

so went to a fucking amazing tribal weekend in bristol, and didn't actually crochet a stitch, although i did yarnbomb every pub that i was in! ( no photos sorry )

the first night we were there, and one of the main three reasons for the trip was the tribal vitalogy weekend put on by viktoria pearl boheme at what used to be the junction on stokes croft. the venue wasn't very large and within the first hour was sooo packed out it was impossible to move, but i still made a few visits to the souk where i scored some a nice little dread fall in colours the same as my hair and already adorned with beads and rings - for less than it would have been me making myself despite having boxes of synth hair just sitting there on the shelves staring at me...

i also scored some lovely waist belts all beaded and jangly, which i've already worn as headpieces - and some lovely jewellry bits n bobs. so happpy - and all for less than the one piece i scored at raqs brittania - so bargain! and gave me something to wear at cat's birthday bash...all i needed was added facepaint with drum n bass dj and danced my ass off all night - and this all after a couple hours workshopping with the amazing samantha emmanuel drilling upper body AND the evenin in the pub while my bondeboy flashed his sparkly g-string at absolutely everyone!

gotta love him.

then home.
a couple xmas dinners.
and flu.

been stuck on the sofa and barely managed to make anything at all the last day or so - just some nice sparkly ornaments for my bright pink tree!

finished!

2010-11-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

i've finished my mom's shrug and started an airplane!
but i also need to do my xmas crochet...luckily the latest lion brand newsletter has the perfect crocheted bauble for the pink tree.

The Knitting Clock

2010-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

The Knitting Clock

have i mentioned my favourite website to you all before?
well if you follow me on twitter you are probably tired of me spamming you with their links - or not, because each one is worth a link - you know how much i'd hate to waste your bandwidths...

seriously -- go check this out, and try not to be as obsessed as i am!

like porn

2010-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

check it out

ok, off to get the bus to meet the birth mother of my dead ex husband.
wearing my big soft mohair and dreadlock scarf for comfort.

who is going to iknit wednesday night???

2010-11-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

so i found out for sure my friend nicole of blink is having a boy, and finished a project in time to take to her lovely baby shower, it was at a really nice pub that i'd love to go to again - except i can't walk there, so in reality will probably never go again. i took a photo of what i made, but the photos aren't very good so i'll wait til the mom sends me another before displaying here...but at least i finally found a use for some of those skully squares i made awhile back!

now i'm back to finishing up my mom's shrug, but really need another project i can carry around with me...hmmm. because i really really need something to bring with me tomorrow night to keep me occupied while waiting to meet my dead ex husband's birth mother. yup, she tracked me down about six months ago - and it's horridly upsetting that it was about a year after he passed.

she's in london this week for a wedding so i'm going to meet her down the southbank - then at least i'll be close to iknit if i need a bit of moral support afterwards. it's a strange place to be in as we were already separated when he died, but i still wish so much that he was still around just to see how my daughter ravenisis gets even more amazing - especially to hear her sing the blues. he'd be so proud of her too...

...so yea, a strange place.

just spent hours trying to find old photos for his mom and maybe only found twenty that aren't packed away so deep they need a miner's lamp to find. i'm going to try to find a little photo album to put them in tomorrow, something to make them a bit more special than a brown envelope.

so who wants to buy me a beer this time tomorrow night?

new job/new convert

2010-11-16T04:42:00.000-08:00

so i started my new job at blue barracuda yesterday and already am trading crochet lessons for fresh baked brownie goodness! my lovely office manager lucy has wanted to learn for ages - so we start next monday...and lucky for me my new place is just opposite the age concern charity shop where i buy my £1 a ball bright coloured acrylic...

...which is all the better to make baby toys with!
i've got to make a quick baby shower gift but don't know the sex of the baby yet so it'll be bright bright bright instead maybe...figure i can knock up one of those 12 pointed celestial stars in time - fingers crossed.

and i've pretty much finished my mom's shrug - just need to put the side seams in!

you have all seen this, right?

2010-11-09T05:30:00.001-08:00

remember remember every november!

2010-11-07T17:06:00.001-08:00

so last weekend was my family, this weekend his family...
just got back from bristol, where strangely enough i didnt actually do any yarnbombin' but i did notice that all my crochetti i left six weeks ago are now gone. not sure if that is good or bad as not sure anyone saw them.

anyway - spent alot of this weekend working on my mom's shrug.
it's just like the one i made for my sis in law, but sis' is black and i worked in front loops on a J, while my mom's is grey and worked in back loops on a K...next will be mine and i know i'm going to workit on an ecven larger hook so its even more loose and floaty for more easy layering!

o and the hooks i'm using are fuckin' divine.
mom got me a set of ebony hooks as an eary xmas gift!

and here is my new netbook cozy!

just back and just married

2010-11-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

yup.

sorry went off radar a bit again.

still a bit jetlagged as got in from LAX last night and straight to work today and have my usual tribal fusion bellydance class with the awesome kim tonight. yikes!

while back home i crocheted alot - finished the heart baby blanket for amaya, a cozy for my new vaio netbook, and a shrug for my sis in law. attended my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and had my own halloween wedding. plus walked around on the beach and went to knott's scary farm!

will regale you with many photos once they are uploaded/available!

but i will warn ya'll that i drained a whole battery on just documenting all the handmade items around my parents' house - some as old as a three generations, from my great grandma, and still being used...

write now.

2010-10-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

well...
i've still not figured out exactly how to keep track of my projects and what i want to work on and buy while in the states - so am doing it old skool and have a plastic folder wallety thing with printed patterns inside. they are a snug, some hats, and a virgin mary prayer shawl that is beautiful. so that's it. paper.

but i really really really need a netbook for this trip. yes ipads are lovely and all but i need to write a toast for my parents' 50th on the plane, and yes i could go old skool on this as well, but i really need my blondeboy to help me write it and a little laptop would be perfecto. so we can pass it back and forth. my blondie is such a fucking amazsing writer - i wish i could get him to do it more, maybe even blog eventually.

hopefully he'd update it more than i do mine, tho! sorry!
but i have an excuse...i've been crocheting and have pretty much finally finished the aum blanket - i'm just making all the tassels , which are so cute and multi-coloured. i stayed up late last night, gettin in the mood for halloween, watchin' Lost Boys and making tassels...

...the other project i have on the go, which is alot more portable is making little heart squares for my cousin pee'wee little baby girl - she's such a cutie and named amaya. so i'll work on that on the plane over to california this week and then lay out all the squares when i get there - should give me enough time to join everything together - fingers crossed!

another weekend - another post

2010-10-02T01:31:00.001-07:00

so i've been thinking ALOT about how to keep a project list handy.
this is because i'm heading back home soon to anaheim for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary (how awesome are they) and a visit with the lovely 'all things string' stitchers that hang out at a local starbucks...and to buy lots and lots of yarn that i can't easily get here in central london - as much as i love sock yarn, its not the only thing i want to buy, really.

this means i need a system - a mobile system that is easy - just a list of projects i want to make and the yarn/supplies needed and i'd love it if i could easily share it with you all here on my blog...easy enough ja? nein.

right now i've got options but they all kinda suck...

option 1 - ravelry queue
is ugly
cannot be viewed outside rav
i don't own a printer

option 2 - listography
looks awesome
cannot be viewed offsite
i don't own a printer

option 3 - craft notebook
old schoool
cannot me shared on my blog
fits in handbag

option 4 - build something
but why? surely it exists - there is enough shit out there already!

ugh...so what do you all use to keep track of projects you want to make?
help me!

i'm off to crochet together more 'om' squares while i ponder.

How to make a Chocolate Cake Shot - Drink recipes from Bartending Bootcamp

2010-09-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

i know it's not yarn, but its cake!

for my next stitch up i'm going to make cakemix shots for us...yum.

being a fucking feminist and hooker named cakemix...

2010-09-29T05:13:00.001-07:00

...how could i not mention this rant about/love of knitted cakes?

the ranter/lover is none other than the amazing digital crafty vixen queen ele carpenter.

her and i have moved in the same circles for ages, and if i was to ever have a BFF to replace sonia5 (RIP) it should probably be ele.

i'm really on the fence on this argument - i feel dirty but also empowered.

do any of my feminist against censorship sisters have any comments?

and now i'm back...

2010-09-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

...from bristol!

went for the festival and yarnbombed a bit - people and things.

now back at work - glitter free and very very tired and needing some help with project.

i've got something that i need machine knitted, and something else that is kinda related hand knitted...yes i know it's very very vague but its double uber top secret.

please get in touch if you think you might be able to help, thanks!

i'm back...

2010-09-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

from ibiza

upcoming int'l crochet day?

2010-09-03T22:36:00.001-07:00

so evidently september 12th is international crochet day - who knew? i wonder how these things actually get decided...like who is the uber hooker in charge of this...or was it a company that promoted it to sell their wares? but no, a bit of google-fu unearths the 'fact' that it was started over on the crochetville forums by jimbo...woe, this internet shit does work!

well, as i've obviously missed it every other year - i'll have to make up for it this year by doing exactly what i was planning on doing anyway...crocheting topless on the beach in ibiza! yup = i'm back on playa d'en bossa from the 9th and sooo looking forward to ten fucking days of sun, crochet, cocktails, and dancing my ass off! big big thanks to my current employer - hyper - for taking 25 of us there for a long weekend - then allowing me the days off to stay on for another week!

i can't wait! i've got a really close friend there - neil of inkadelic tattoo - who means so much to me. he really dragged me out of a shit low period in my life last year when i was there with him. i was deeply depressed by the cancellation of my engagement to assface...neil drowned me in red wine, told me to grow up and not give a fuck - and a week later i met my current blondeboy and life has been amazing ever since.

but uh-oh. last year i crocheted a lovely dog bone for neil's doggie scratch - and i've not made a damn thing in ages...hate to show up empty handed but i may have to!

i'm soo behind on all my projects - and just realised that hallowe'en is looming on the horizon and i want to make lots of creepy presents for then too.

so latest to do list is:
freeform project - sooo behind
key lime pie slice for annmarie - um, needs to be done tomoro!
celestial star for ravelry friend - soon
pumpkins and bats and spiders and other creepy goodness - hmmm...i have time.
baby blanket for my cousin peewee's baby - before oct 20th!
ibiza beach project - sort now.

damn i really should go offline and get started...bye. x

Barbican - The Alim Qasimov Ensemble + Homayun Sakhi

2010-09-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

Barbican - The Alim Qasimov Ensemble + Homayun Sakhi

not strictly craft related, although i do reckon that i could crochet during the concert...

holiday time

2010-08-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

well tis a bank holiday weekend and it's been all work work work and no play play play or even hook hook hook...am so looking forward to just getting on the beach in ibiza and crocheting and tanning for hours and hours!

twice in a row

2010-08-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

the last two weekends have been all about being the burlesque mama - we've been up to the rebellion festival at blackpool and then yesterday at volupte in london...

blackpool is our yearly girlie punk rock holiday - it was as good as ever - as soon as i landed i was engulfed in alot of love - sylvain sylvain from the new york dolls was wonderful and made me feel like a teenager again, watching stiff little fingers from their sound cage was also awesome - they never give a bad show and have more energy now than ever!

the girls show was also great - one of their best ever - there was fire, tits, beer, ballet and hoops!
rinse and repeat for this weekend at volupte...

...and if you wanna see them next weekend then ravenisis will be singing at the cellar door on sunday night...come down, the tickets are free free free!

oh - and the best part about such girlie weekends?
I AM BACK ON THE HOOK!!!!

yup, have been making my pretty lotus candleholders and giving them away to anyone that will have them...

...and also organising all my other crafty bits and bobs and thinking i'll use this afternoon to make some shrines.

life.

2010-07-27T10:55:00.001-07:00

i' so so sorry to those of you that are coming here looking for crochet, and lately only getting trashy posts...

...my life hasn't been very crafty lately at all.

and to tell the truth i'm findin' the fallout of the article below hard to deal with.

my daughter is telling the truth. i wish i could show the txt messages on her iphone to the whole world. and now all those times i wished i had cctv that followed me - well, damn if only i did! i'd love to be able to show you all how he lied to my face the spent then night at our house.

ugh.

it's been so hard watching my daughter go through this. especially as it's been so globally public.

the internet is a big part of my life and my work, but dammit sometimes!

well...its finally out!

2010-07-25T02:57:00.001-07:00

and hopefully we can move on from all the horrid family stress it has been causing.

here's my daughter's side of the story in the news of the world this morning.

it's bad enough to find out your partner is cheating, but to have it spread all over the global press has been horrid for my daughter. i'm so glad that she finally found the strength to end it all and speak out. very very brave of her.

looking forward to life getting a bit more back to normal, whatever that is!

and my weekend of quiet crafting?
not happened.

yet.

but i still have tonight!!!

heart shaped box with tassels!

2010-07-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

life is still manic but may be opening up a bit so i can talk about it this weekend...we'll see! in the meantime i've not been doing much crafting but i did find this lovely interesting link for all you crafty geeks out there! its a geeky hacked sewing machine...

and last night i was summoned to coco de mer in covent garden to see/listen/catch up with the amazingly sex positive feminist susie bright - who is also a keen dressmaker! she was wearing a really lovely dress that she made herself that had ruching up the front - i want one. maybe if i ever do make it to see her when i'm visiting back home i'll get her to help me whip one up *wink*

so tonight i'm looking forward to a quiet night in. i've got susie's new dark erotic anthology 'bitten' to read, and i am still creating crocheted tassels for my freeform project (which has got superbly de-railed now) and also belly dancing costumes!

oh! and i've had some mega belly dancing/training epiphanies this last week - don't understand why it took me over 20 yrs to get it. my body has always been really lopsided, okay not bad like my dear friend roz kaveney's (i am sooo angry at the NHS!) that i saw last night, but my hourglass is more curvy on one side then the other...so while struggling to do the bellydancing move 'the ami' on my left side, it finally fucking hit me.

my god damn double uterus heart shaped box carrying my pregnancy on the left side of my body only and having c-section probably has impacted on the ability to do a belly roll from my right side (fine side) under and to my left oblique. duh!!!!! so now i'm working extra hard and re-engaging those muscles - so am practising my undulations as i crochet.

how's that for multi-tasking til the shit really hits the fan this weekend?

sorry

2010-07-16T06:31:00.001-07:00

yes yes yes i no no no that i've been quiet again - and i've not picked up a hook for a week!

manic

2010-07-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

well fucking hell...things have got busy busy busy around here.
luckily the manic weird emotional shit has kinda subsided - things are still down but we are all getting through it...i think.

got back from raqs britannia totally broked, had a day off then went straight to the gym, a couple more belly dancing classes and back to the gym - then it was london gay pride, so by the time sunday rolled around my thighs weren't lookin' too bad! not lot of crochet got done...some more motifs for my freeform - and starting some fringey tassels but otherwise it's not been that productive.

o and work has been busy busy busy too.

altho i did score some lovely conch shells and beads to add to my work!

this weekend is going to be all about hanging out with my cousin who is here visiting from utah, and watching belly dancing and world cup extravaganzas rolled into one...of course i'll take my crochet along, but not sure how much i'll get done.

we will raq you.

2010-06-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

off to raqs brittania!
see all you crafty belly girls there...xxx

ooo...daddy!

2010-06-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

happy father's day out there to all the daddies!
it's been a strange weekend around here as my mister has been away working...
so i've had alot of time for training and practising - hard gym session yesterday then yoga yoga yoga today - now i've started tribal, i need as much yoga in my life as possible...the rest of the time i've spend working on a lovely crocheted hip scarf out fo the gedifra amara shiny shiny chocolate yarn. i love this yarn - it is totally my favourite, but i really really wish that i'd bought beads with much bigger holes...reckon i'm giving up on these and will just get on with hand fringing.

which is not any easier as i'm healing my new crochet tattoo!!!!
damien voodoo did such an awesome job, it is definitely the best illustration of a crochet hook i have ever seen - i'm so happy that held out and had him do it for me. i'm back to see him in a couple weeks to start planning the rest of the tattoo - based on the crocheted yarn bombing flowers that i make and leave everywhere...like a yarny gretel, lol!

killer rabbits play on a plane

2010-06-08T03:47:00.000-07:00

normail service is slowly being resumed.

i didn't realise that if i locked down flickr images and then re-opened them up for public consumption the link would remain broken. so am having to go back and do everything by hand. still it was nice to be able to lockdown in one swoooshie when needed.

anyway, in between all the new gigs that my daughter ravenisis (video link) has been booking, and running around shopping for new bras for both of us, i've been having alot of late late nights in with the family and my visiting sistah elektra...so managed to make the killer rabbit for her to take back on the plan with her to oz. watch out - this flight could be a mashup of child's play and snakes on a plane if she doesn't sleep with one eye open!

i know i know i know

2010-06-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

yes it looks like my blog is broken or there is a problemo with the flickr link or something, but i assure you that is not the case. instead i took the precaution of locking down both due to some things that are happening right now. don't worry - i'm not being stalked, well not in that sort of way, anyway. just being a VERY over protective mom to my lovely daughter (in the post below).

normal service will be resumed when possible although maybe with limited access, i do want to say though that it was a very smart move for me to do everyting via flickr because with a couple clickety clicks i could lockdown everything. facebook was a bit harder - but it always is with fb.

so what have i been working on while this has all been happening>
well a seafoamy green mr fox creature for my sistah elektra, and some freeformy lacy chain that has got me through some late late nights - i hope to add it to my bigger project eventually. i've not had the brain power to actually look at the bigger overall project though at all this week. too much madness...

...now off to john fucking lewis to buy some toy stuffing as i'm out of old tights and t-shirts!

absinthe dawning

2010-05-31T11:25:00.001-07:00

stayed up late late late last night, enjoying the absinthe that my sista elektra brought back from prague...and crocheting! thought i should practise my bullion stitch, the only hook i could reach was a 1.25mm with some blue pretty cotton with a nice sheen (makes me thing of martin and charlie, lol) and tried. of course at 3am and fueled by the green fairy - oh and a red fairy too? yummy even though it did taste of cough syrup, and not in a good way.

...anyway of course my bullions sucked, but we all agree that i was onto a quite nice bit of a scrumble, so i ran with it and it is quite pretty. lacey pale blue mossy oceany thing that will hopefully make it into my freeform project at some point.

and the reason we were up so late?
my daughter ravenisis had a singing gig at the cellar door again.
she rocked it as usual!!!

horrid fangirl

2010-05-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

o no i feel so horrid - how could i have forgot a two of my favourite crochet designers when making my list the other day?

i love love love the roxycraft creatures, and ana paula rimoli's cute creations make me soo happy!

roxy's patterns definitely do not suck - be sure to check out the link of all her lovely and generous free patterns, and ana' s books have kept me occupied on many beach and family vactions, and beachy family vacations too...

excitment.

2010-05-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

i did it.

ordered the pattern for the creatures below!

now i sit here waiting waiting for that special email from etsy to deliver the pdf's...

and then i can get started.

need to make one for my sistah elektra while she is here from oz.

omg!!! i have a new favourite crochet designer!!!

2010-05-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

i remember the feeling when i started heavily crocheting again, i was pretty ill, and i was cruising the web and i first found jessica polka of wunderkammer fame, then needlenoodles and her book creepy cute crochet and then the lovely owlishly...

...now i have a new designer to add to the people who i think are making the cutest most interesting crochet out there, and his name is matthew fox, or MR. ROX to you and i, yes as in mr. fox fuckin' rocks...because he does. just hope he doesn't mind me linking a photo into here.

he now on MY list - which i guess is a list that i should share with ya'll...

i'll be updating my sidebar later on with all this fabulously inventive and inspiring designers.

i look forward to making his creatures soon, soon, soon...

enjoy!

doesn't do it justice.

2010-05-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

this photo really isn't doing the bright yellowy green yarn any justice. it's so flouro that it was reflecting in my phonecam if i was in broad daylight...

i picked the yarn up at the age concern charity shop down leather lane at lunchtime when i went to pick up my cheapo sandals after having them glued back together AGAIN. they are soo cheap that i've probably spent more on them fixing, but the shape and colour are perfect for my slightly tanned tattooed feet. bought them last year as a panicbuy right before i jetted off to zadar for the electric elephant festival in petrcane.

sooo want to go back again this year as andy weatherall is playing again.

that. and i just need a holiday sooooo bad.

anyway - i bought the yarn to crochet some police tape for yarnbombing!

love life - but not about my lovelife.

2010-05-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

i so love it when the differnt strands of my life collide!
realised tody that there are so many crafty belly dancers...
yes i know we work on our own costumes and hair and other accessories, but wow - the talent is amaxing and endless.

bring your daughters to the slaughter!

2010-05-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

i love mashups and DIY

guess that is why i'm finally getting into the freeform thing as tis a bit of both.

but damn it can be ugly! i know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is obscenity.

do have to say though that i'm finding it really really really hard o create something that is freeform AND pretty. i'd hoped by sticking to mermaidy colours it would help, but it hasn't and i had to rip and redo the beginning, and i also keep editing down my yarn pile to pull from for this project...fingers crossed that i can stay with it!

i'll hopefully get time tonight to work on this week's clues, but already treble booked as usual and got my friend here staying with me. i'm so proud of her - she works for FoE australia!

nice crochet rant!

2010-05-17T02:31:00.001-07:00

(bad mobile photo)

john lewis has some lovely cottons and crochet patterns where the rowan display used to be! whohoo! i bought a bit of the gedifra samina to use on my freeform crochet-a-long project...which seems to be coming along okay...monday is new clue day! so excited to see what we will be doing this week.

more us/them nonsense

2010-05-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

wow - the hooker vs knitters thing seems to be hotting up.

i'm still going along to the hunterian tonight, even though crochet still seems to be the red-headed stepchild of crafting in london. but we know that that the gingers really rule, there's nothing like the glow of orange pubes and freckles on the chest to get the juices flowing!

and the more the london stitch girls proclaim themselves a 'knitting community', the more i really want to do more to organise the hookers in london - our numbers are swelling, and thanks to the make lounge, new enthusiasts are made monthly. big props to them and their attitude...

because lately mine isn't that great lately - what is it with me that i even care bout this?

maybe i should get the Crochet Liberation Front logo tattooed on me...