there was an old lady who swallowed a fly...

...i totally understand why!!! so...it's the summertime, which in my tight attic quarters means humidity and bugs. i don't mean bugs like "my house is overrun with filth" bugs. i mean "welcome to the jungle" bugs. there are all sorts of crazy insects flying and crawling around in here once it starts to warm up. yesterday, i killed like three huge spiders crawling around in my bedroom and then there were two more this afternoon. but what really takes the cake is what happened a short while ago...i go to take a shower, come back to my bedroom, turn on the lights, and there are baby spiders crawling all over the walls and ceiling. i instantly started freaking out, grabbed a handful of tissue, and crushed everything in sight. after the 5 minute genocide, the body count was at least 50-60 would-be-assassins. the boyfriend suggested i get lizards to eat the spiders, but...what happens when the lizard population gets out of control???

a girl's best friend!!!

okay, so i can't quite afford the diamonds right now, but even this girl feels a natural draw to shiny rocks suspended from brilliant metal. that's right...i'm making beaded wire jewelry. actually, i'm just learning to work in the medium, but i've made a few decent looking stitch markers this week. i am a knitter after all!!

this was my very first effort...using quilting pins!!!

later that evening...stone bead on copper wire.

the next day...assorted beads on copper.

i think i'm starting to get the hang of this thing!!!

speaking of special things...i made a small addition to the bongo knot inventory this weekend. imagine the look one gets in the kitchenware aisle while insisting that your new scale absolutely must measure in grams. i should have worn my "say no to drugs" t-shirt that day. anyway, we welcome our new scale (pictured below with a hank of norwegian wood handspun).

blue state update!!!

first off, on the subject of my ever-cloudy mood...i have actually been feeling pretty damn fantabulously lately. my 31st birthday passed rather silently, and i reigned-in any urge i had to freak out about getting older while not fulfilling my goals by tossing some clothes into a suitcase, driving to the airport at the crack of dawn, and begging to be placed on the first possible flight to Montreal. yes, boys and girls, i am the first liberal in history to escape to Canada (instead of just dreaming of it). so...it was a short-term escape of only 5 and a half days, but i came home feeling like a million loonies. i found a fab new yarn shop near the Atwater Market, so I purchased a couple of hanks of a sinful baby alpaca yarn for myself and a newborn-green merino to make a hat for Nina's soon-to-be baby boy. the pattern can be found here.



as for me...i've been spinning up a storm in the past week or two. here's a sampling: (clockwise from the top, left) a group shot of my recent spun gold; a gorgeous colorway i'm calling raspberry sorbet because it makes me hungry just looking at it; one of several hanks of undyed merino i aptly named like a virgin; and finally, a funky blend that has grown on me like crazy called norwegian wood.