All in the genes...

So you know how I got all bragidacious (oh yeah, that's a word) this summer with my "fat ass" watermelons, "monstrous" pumpkins, "baskets" of tomatoes and big bunches of basil? Well, I've been trumped.

My mom, the garden master, and my lifelong green thumb advisor, brought this baby out at Thanksgiving:



Is she taunting me here? Hard to say. She tried to write it off by saying, "Oh hunnie, you know how zucchini just grows and grows no matter how you treat it. This wasn't my doing." But really, folks, she's amazing with those veggies -- this was actually a cucumber! Ok, just kidding, it's not.

The best part is, that her trash zucchini (yeah, this baby went right in the can after the photo was taken) was nearly the same size as my prized watermelon. Hpmf.

Hmmm...maybe next year I grow zucchini? Or perhaps the biggest pumpkins known to man. That'll show her and her Monster Zucchini. It'll be like Rodan meets Godzilla, except it'll be a big orange pumpkin and a skinny ass zucchini duking it out.

Don't lie, you'd watch.

Something bit me

Call it the holiday spirit or utter insanity, but somehow I got the itch to decorate for the holidays and now my house is all "festive-ish" as hubby likes to call it while he purses his lips like he just sucked on a lemon and waves his hands about in an obscene manner.

These things - peaberries, pepperberries, cranberries, pyracanthus berries or whatever -- they're all over my house and for some reason I can't get enough of them.

You remember how I said that I "don't decorate" for the holidays beyond a basket of pumpkins, right? Well, move over pumpkins and make way for the entourage of festive-ness. I've now got a pepperberry wreath on the door, pyracanthus boughs gracing my mantle, a poinsettia on the hearth, a candle farm and pepperberry arrangement on the armoire and a new red throw on the couch. It practically screams holiday festivities in my living room!

Who do I have to blame/thank for all this -- my mother in law. In a good way. She came to town over Thanksgiving and filled my head with visions of sugar plums and sh*t (we're spending Christmas with her, like I said before),got me all revved up for fun holiday stuff and now I'm running wild with the wreaths and berries and my husband is wondering where his holiday hating wife went.

Well here she is, America, and I haven't even had any sugar yet! Afraid? Me too. Here's a photo of the fireplace. Not too festive-y, right? Notice I'm not showing photos of all the decor -- shameful.



Oh, and I finished the dreaded double knit ski hat with amazing results. It is probably one of the nicest things I've knitted. So fully reversible and so fully warm and cozy. And nearly free of naughty mistakes! I broke down and let hubby try it on and, I must say, it came out quite good. Here's hubby modeling it for you -- both sides!

Blue with grey stripe

Grey with blue stripe


It takes some doing, but the results are so worth it.

Progress all around

There's nothing like productivity to put me in a good mood.

I made good on my promise (to myself, I know, big whoop) to finish one more of my holiday knitting projects this weekend and start on the next. I would show you the final product of the OSW, which is now finished (and beautiful, I might add), but I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises ;)

However, I would like to show off the progress I'm making on the double knit ski hat for hubby (aka Bubba). This is the first time I'm really using this technique (double knitting) and I have to say, it's pretty friggen cool. Thanks to this pattern by Knitsmith forwarded to me by my good pal AfricanKelli, I stand a chance of making a suitable ski hat for my deserving hubby this season.



Not too bad, right. I mean, it's all reversible and sh*t. Just wait until I add the stripe. Whoa.

Oh, and speaking of progress, the winter garden is coming along nicely despite the invasion of evil underground creatures. Namely, gophers. Are you enjoying the irony? Let us reflect on the recent addition to my vegetable garden:



Oh yes, an impenitrable dome of hardware cloth, closed on the ends to keep all the critters out. When we built it we thought, "oh man, we are evil geniuses" and laughed maniacally while rubbing our palms together and contemplating the lettuce we would soon be enjoying. Well, how appropriate that our gloating has been thrown back in our faces. We came out to the garden a few days ago to find many of our little lettuces gone! Oh yeah, they burrowed in from BELOW. Fat lot of good our dome of doom has done us.

Now I will be employing a much less complicated form of anti-pest device handed down from my grandma -- XLax. Apparently, you jam it in the gopher holes and they, ahem, never come back.

Muhuhahahahaha!


Despite the madness, look at how the remaining plants are coming...

Broccoli


Lettuce


Carrots


Onions


And with that, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

When the hell did the holidays get here?

Inspired by AfricanKelli, I give you my holiday diatribe.

The holidays exhaust me. Every year I try to get ahead of them, and every year I think I'm prepared until something sneaks up on me that I hadn't planned for -- gifts for new coworkers, a little something for the garbage man, some type of dessert to bring for Thanksgiving, getting time off for Christmas travel. You name it.

Well, this year, I may have it nearly nailed. And if all goes as planned, I'll be DONE BY THANKSGIVING. Can you imagine?

I've designed, ordered and addressed all my holiday cards (this now includes all my husbands family and friends). Now all I have to do is wait for hubby to bring home the stamps and they're off. Let us all hold our collective breath. I hope to send these out the day after Thanksgiving.

I've done all my holiday shopping, thanks to the magic of my laptop and trusty wireless connection. I am getting my wrapping supplies this weekend and will wrap and tag all gifts as they come in. Hopefully I will remember where I put them when Hanukkah rolls around in JANUARY (what the hell?).

I've booked all our holiday travel. Mom in law coming for Thanksgiving - hotel, car, flight, etc booked and confirmed. Hubby and I going to Mom in Law for Christmas - flight and activities confirmed (with any luck, will not include a long stay at church).

I've finished one of three handmade gifts and have the materials for the remaining two ready to go. With any luck, I'll get one more of these bad boys knocked out by this weekend.

And, since I don't decorate beyond the basket of pumpkins and gourds on the side table, I feel pretty much done. See, hubby is a major scrooge and I'm a Jew, so I don't have to concern myself with the likes of a tree, stockings, ornaments, fire retardant pajamas and whatever else makes its way into the house during Christmastime. I'll just bust out the old menorah and call it a night, or eight nights - whatever. Mom in law, sometimes fondly referred to as Dorothy or Mama Sue, will be spoiling us with all the Christmas-ness a person could desire as she hosts us this 12/25, so I'm getting off light and plan to enjoy every second of it.

Oh, and it helps that my kitchen is under construction, so I can't bake or cook a damn thing. Sad, but true. There will not be any holiday cakes or cookies in the Finny Knits house this year. With any luck, there will be cabinets again, and perhaps a nice stone countertop. Picture it with me, will you...

Some progress...


Perhaps I shall start planning our winter jaunt to Telluride now...shhh! Don't tell hubby it's a birthday surprise. Oh yeah, and hubby's birthday and one of my best friends' birthdays are right in January. So, just when I think the sh*tstorm is over, voila! Birthdays! Joy.

Bring on the eggnog, buttered rum, Manischewitz and champagne--I need a drink!

Homegrown Jack-O-Lantern

Remember that big ol' pumpkin I've been yammering on about all friggen summer? Well, just a few days before Halloween he finished turning a warm bright orange so I snapped him off the vine and carved him up! The pattern turned out fairly well (for those of you that get Sunset magazine, this might look familiar) and I got a couple great compliments from our neighborhood kids.

How's that?!

 
 

Something new

So, this is a totally random post, but one that I was inspired to write as I was pushing my way through the last mile of my run this morning.

See, I've slacked off of my runs for the last week or so since I came down with a nasty cold and have been spending the hour between 6 and 7am snoozing (or hacking and wheezing as the case may have been) in my warm bed rather than out pounding the pavement in my neighborhood.

Funny thing though, as I hopped off my porch this morning and set out to see the neighborhood in all it's early morning charm, I immediately noticed that something was different. And, different outside of the fact that it was lighter (time change) and that I was now fairly out of shape.

At first, I was focused on breaking back into my old pace and didn't notice the little changes, but then I started to see all the new things that the fall brings to my new little corner of the world.

Up until we moved here I'd always clocked my miles in front of SportsCenter as I pounded the treadmill at the gym. This is the first fall I've spent running those same miles outside, where leaves crunch under my NB's, my breath floats around my face in white bursts and decorations go up on front doors and archways in every fashion.

I have to say, it is a whole different world when your morning routine involves an experience like I had this morning, and I'm hoping it will inspire me to peel back the cozy covers and head out into the chilly morning more often.

Crunch crunch.

BackTack Received!

I know I promised this photo a week ago, so here it is...

An amazing Amy Butler messenger bag filled with all things embroidery! The best part about this bag is that it exactly matched the outfit I was wearing when I received it. Coincidence? I think not. SplitYarn has a finely honed sense of style :) I love it and will be ditching my regular laptop bag for this one.
 
 

Holy Crap

So, let us harken back to the days (ok, it was only August) when I blamed AfricanKelli for getting me involved in BackTack, blogging and just generally trying new things. What I'd like to do now is change "blame" to "thank", since I'm just a little overwhelmed with the goodwill and fuzzy friendship resulting from all of the above.

I mean, first of all, she got me to save my sewing machine from the dusty depths of the garage -- something to be thankful for in itself. Since the time she talked me into this project I've saved the aforementioned sewing machine, set up a dedicated space in the house for all my crafting supplies, started and maintained a blog, documented the progress of my garden and crafting projects on said blog, met a few new crafty folks through Backtack, muscled my way through a way-over-my-head chicken purse pattern, learned about Blackwork embroidery, received an incredibly lovely and generous backtack bag and, probably most importantly, created a new bond with my dear friend, AfricanKelli.

So there, I got all warm and fuzzy on your asses. But you know what, I'm weird like that. Plus, I'm a little cracked out on cold medicine right now and can't help it.

The only sad thing in all this is that the battery for my digital cam needs recharging before I can post pictures of the amazing Backtack bag I received today from Splityarn. Ugh, damn it. But wait till you see it -- it is pretty friggen cool. I am so using this bad boy for my laptop now. No more stuffy Timbuktu bag for me. I'll post pictures soon. Charge camera! Charge!

Mighty Broccoli

Just a few weeks after putting seed to soil, I have tiny sproutlets that are promising delicious winter stirfries, stews, salads and the like.

Aren't they darling in a succulent and alien way?
Broccoli, Cauliflower


Carrots, Onions


And let's not even get started on this guy -- what an awesome monstrosity! He'll be going on my porch for Halloween.


More seeds to go in the ground this weekend, along with a much more sophisticated enclosure for the beds. It appears that squirrels are not deterred by arched hardware cloth and can, in fact, find their way in just fine to eat the tender tops off my sprouting lettuce. Which is why you don't see any lettuce sprouts in these photos. Grrr...

Cluck You

I've finished my bag, packed it full of crafty goodness and shipped it off to my backtack buddy who I hope will appreciate it's poultrylicious nature.

Now, don't credit me with any undue creativity here -- my backtack buddy was the true inspiration for this beauty. If you haven't cruised by her blog yet, be sure to check out monstercrochet for unique creations involving eyeballs, crossbows, adhesives, an evolving doll series and, of course, all things poultry.

I just hope she likes the bag and its contents and perhaps it sparks a new wave of fowl innovations.

The final product:


If this post has put you in the mood for some wings -- here's a good spot to indulge your fantasies...

Promised Pumpkins

I was inspired to post some photos of my pumpkin harvest after reading AfricanKelli's blog this morning. Fairly good crop of Spooktacular pumpkins this year, and even a few big guys. Although, one went to the neighbor and the other one was eaten by the devil. (See previous posts). Also, a few pumpkins from a harvest festival I went to last weekend. Very Cindarella like.

Happy Fall/Halloween, folks.

Finally, a good book

With the recent creation of our book club, I've been really looking forward to coming across a good book. The first two were bad and ok, respectively, and I'd been doubling up on my book club reading with personal reading so that I could at least be reading one thing that I knew I'd like. But then, even the books I "knew" I'd like have been a little bit of a drag.

However, finally, a good book crossed my path. I'm sure it's no mystery to you that "The Kite Runner" is excellent -- seeing as it's in every bookstore window, all over Amazon and what not. But, honestly, I was skeptical because of the setting of the book (Afghanistan)and the propensity of publishers to release books because of their relation to current events and not necessarily the quality of their content. This is certainly not the case here, as the story of the book is riveting and the writing style is rich and engaging.

I finished this book in four sittings, one of which being a bout with insomnia, and was sad to see it end. His next book is coming out mid-2006 and I can't wait. Good, good read.

Lookie at that, I wrote a little book report. And unprompted at that. Wouldn't my third grade teacher be proud.

Let the broccoli begin...

Even with a thumping hangover I was determined to pull the summer vegetable garden and get the winter garden in the ground, irrigated and prepared for frost.

The summer veggies took it pretty well. They gave up a few final surprises in the process:

Overall, the pulling went well and we have a giant mound of debris to compost. Then, after turning some organic fertilizer into the soil and giving it a good watering, we installed a few new sprinkler heads, spread some seed, labeled the areas and created the Anti Freeze Space Station, which my husband is referring to as Moffit Gardens. Take a look at this handy invention which simultaneously deters evil squirrels, hungry birds and, once unveiled, becomes the Anti Freeze Dome capable of protecting all manner of vegetation from the deadly frost...
Uncovered:

Covered:


Oh the efficiency of it all. Next step, close the ends and install hinging wire doors on the top to allow for easy picking of delicious winter greens.

Now let us all thank the gardening gods, goddesses, nymphs, fairies, moon maidens or whatever else so that we may have a respectable harvest this winter and so that my neighbors don't laugh in my face. They've already given us the wild eye at the sight of our mini-Area 51, so we can't give them too many more reasons to think we're insane.

UNCLE!

Alright, I admit it, I gave up. I had one last project to finish and I flat ran out of steam. I couldn't get the yarn in the right color, no matter how hard I tried to find it, and I wasn't satisfied with any of the "alternate" projects I'd started to replace the original teddy bear that I set out to make.

So, I did the unthinkable, I bought a baby shower gift. I know, I know, its very uncrafty and impersonal of me, but I am able to justify it because the gift comes very highly recommended by all the mommies at my office, it comes from a nice small online retailer and I think that my friend will really like it. I'm also tucking a "tiny" version of my original teddy bear project into the bag to add some type of handmade touch to it all. For those of you out there who might need to resort to similar measures -- here's a great alternative baby shower gift when your handmade projects just don't shake out.

Oh, and some bastard animal/insect has destroyed one of my big pumpkins. I was going to include a photo of the massacre but the sight of it sent me off the deep end and into the garage looking for my pick ax. Instead, let us enjoy the last remnants of an intact vegetable garden, shall we...

And...Scene.

For anyone who's been following my blog lately, you know I've been stressing about completing my first BackTack project. Not because I don't have enough time, although I don't, but because I got myself in way over my head with an ambitious sewing pattern.

Well, it's done. I can't believe it's done, but it is. It's not mangled, it's apparently functional and it is just the right amount of weird and cute to suit me and hopefully my BT buddy as well.

I was so charged up by this accomplishment that I went on to finish two more of my projects -- the October Birthday Surprise for a birthday someone who will remain nameless (this is so transparent) and the Teddy Bear turned Pig for my friends little girl. So productive!

The only thing I have left to finish is, ironically, the project that actually needed to be done first. However, the aforementioned "crap" yarn I was using is suddenly MIA at all retailers, and I just realized that I ordered the wrong color online. All I can say is that this may be one freaky patchwork quilt of a teddy bear since I'll prob have to finish it with mismatched yarn. Cute? Eh, maybe.

What is my next project you ask? Well, aren't you quite intuitive to know that as soon as I finish one project I'm off to find another. And now that I've finished 3, well, there must be SOMETHING in the pipeline, right? Maybe this little number or some zippered or tissue pouches from all the scrap fabric I've managed to accumulate. I've also had my eye on the Nappy Bag pattern that keeps floating around, and since I managed to conquer the evil BT pattern, I'm feeling brave with the machine.

I'll be sure to add it to the project list as soon as I get started on anything. For now, I need a nap.

Oh, and a photo of the completed pig project:

Garden of Evil

The end of the vegetable season is clearly upon us. The vines are turning yellow, my canteloupes are stunted at softball size, bugs are feasting on the decaying plant matter. It's all just a little gross out there. And so I lay my critical eye upon the garden and hack crap off.

In the hacking process though, I found a few gems:


My big pumpkins are also coming along nicely:


I'm trying to take notes as I go, so that I'll know what works and what doesn't for next years mad spring plant-a-thon. For sure, we're doing the Spooktacular pumpkins again (if not only for the name) and I'll try growing some gourds - just because they're weird looking. Hopefully I'll be able to get the rest of this garbage out of the beds soon and plant the winter garden.

With any luck I'll soon be posting pictures of wee cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, onions and carrots. BTW, if anyone wants a watermelon dropped on their doorstep, lemme know.

@#$%&^!

So, I headed back out to the shops again yesterday to see if I could, on my third try, find the rest of the yarn to finish a few of my projects. No luck. DAMN!

I had one store order more of the one yarn, and that's supposed to be in soon. I'm actually pretty surprised that this shop would just order more and not charge me anything for the special order, but as the lady told me, "That is how it should be". Really? You think so? Cuz everyone else seems to think I'm a friggen loon for asking. With any luck, the yarn will be in soon and I'll be able to finish up this birthday gift in time to mail it out.

The rest of my yarn is MIA. The random thing is, this is just your run of the mill yarn, but for some reason, it's all out of stock everywhere I go. I feel like I've been looking at this crap in the stores forever, and now that I finally use it, it vanishes. Let me justify using the term, "crap" to describe yarn I'm using to make these projects. This yarn is for baby toys which will get yanked, stretched, washed incorrectly, spit up on and godknowswhatelse, so I just don't make them with fancy stuff anymore. SO, I think I've resolved to finish these two teddy bears with different yarn. I mean, what do the kids care if all the parts match, right? These may turn out to be some pretty funky looking patchwork bears, but who knows, they might be cute.

My weekend goals:
-Finish bear #1 (blue)
-Finish bear #2 (Pink. Which is actually going to be a pig instead, because I learned how to make a curly tail and want to use it.)
-Assemble and finish the BT project.
-Watch a good deal of football.
-Drink a good deal of wine.
-If the yarn comes in for the birthday project -- finish the birthday project.

Can I get a "Good Friggen Luck!" from everyone? Yes, thank you.

Finny's House of Horrors

So, I'll post photos of this later, but for now I have a freakshow of half finished projects lying around my house, inviting the raised eyebrows of my suspicious husband. In true Finny fashion, I've managed to start four separate projects that all need to be done at different times in the month of October. So now I have had to resort to some interesting project management techniques. For instance, laying out all the finished body parts of the two teddy bears so that I know how much I have left to work on.

The first two "due" are teddy bears I'm crocheting for my friends kids. These must be done by 10/15, in order to arrive in time for the shower. The third is a gift for a friend, whose birthday falls near the end of October. The last is my backtack project which has a hard deadline at the end of the month, since my "buddy" has to receive it by 10/31.

So, I'm freaking out a little bit. Not because I can't crochet, knit and sew quickly enough, but because one of the projects is totally uncharted territory (making time management impossible) and the other three are suffering from "insufficient initial purchase syndrome."Otherwise known as "Finny is too dumb to buy enough supplies to finish her projects so ends up with half finished teddy bear torsos and has to order the friggen yarn online and pay $8 S&H."

It's a bit scary. The issue with getting the yarn. The issue with having enough time to finish the projects once I have the yarn. The issue with being able to successfully finish a sewing project which is way over my head in time to send it to my ultra super fancy backtack buddy. It's all scary.

I'll post pictures of the carnage soon.
Photo of bear turned pig:

Please don't jinx me

So, I'm keeping good on my promise to self-cheer. I went home last night, anxiety in hand, and sat down to work on this beast of a BT project. I almost don't want to say it, for fear of jinxing myself and turning out a mishapen product, but it is actually coming along ok.

Let me define, "ok". There is only one piece that I may have to remake, the "hard" part, as proclaimed by the pattern, is finished (and it wasn't too bad) and I haven't thrown anything. So, all that being said, the only thing left to do is take all the sewn pieces and assemble them into the final product. Of course, there's another "hard" part in the assembly instructions, but I'm hoping it will pass as successfully as the last "hard" part.

Status of project:

• All pieces have been sewn
• 0 pieces have been assembled
• Confidence is above average

Wish me luck.

Oh, and here's the latest spawn from my pumpkin hatchery. There's another just like it on the other side of the vegetable beds and I have high hopes for their future as jack-o-lanterns.