pepperknit

Today, I delved into the world of quilting. Two log cabin squares in aquas and reds, made to be “wonky” (a true challenge for me).

I’ve done one log cabin square before, but it was the epitome of precision: each band was 1″ wide, exactly, all the way around, without fail. I didn’t expect it to come out that way, but I’m someone who tends to the exact. For this I was aiming to make it more “free-form,” and though it required careful planning, I think I managed it! The true surprise was how much they look alike—the first was done and not within sight while I sewed the second, and yet I have wide bands in the same fabrics and the placement of the fabrics is really quite similar. Oh well, so much for “random”!

“I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay Puft!”

It’s a classic (even the channel AMC (American Movie Classics) tells us so). It’s always on TV (just tune to AMC). It’s part of cultural consciousness like only a few other movies in our lifetimes. It’s Ghostbusters!

And it’s also Jason’s favorite movie. But I noticed, despite all the cool T-shirts Jason has and has even made himself, he was lacking in the Ghostbusters department. I had to fix that, didn’t I? Ectoplasmic goo isn’t so easily rendered, but the Stay Puft marshmallow man sure is.

I found an image online that I traced and tweaked to create space between his joints. The whole thing got traced onto freezer paper. Freezer-paper stencils are incredibly easy once you’ve got a plan—in fact, I once wrote out a short tutorial, the first time I gave it a shot. My only frustration was the paint itself. Opaque white is thick and gunky, and stenciling it on wasn’t the smoothest of operations. But I made it work (perhaps the homemade look helps—don’t want anyone to think he got this in a store, after all!). A second layer, in orange, was applied after the white was fully dry, and this guy was ready to ravage all of New York City!

Let me acknowledge the long silence round these parts and apologize. I said I was on a knitting break but that isn’t entirely true—I’ve actually knit a few things so far this year, and I’m overdue to share them with you. It’s a rededication to the blog, as I’m currently bursting over with crafty happiness!

Wow, you guys! The response to the Tapestry Cowl has been phenomenal. Thank you so much! I’ve got new, totally different, designs in the works, which I hope you’ll like just as much.

Many of you commented on the kick-ass color combo in the official Tapestry Cowl—a not-quite “choqua” pairing of a reddish-brown and a bold light blue. All credit to the color combo goes to Megan, the Knitting Philistine, who watched me stress over a wall of Koigu, looking for the appropriate high-contrast yarns. The girl? She has a sense for color. Which makes it all the more exciting that she’s started making colorful, spectacular fabricy things to sell!

I’m totally smitten with what she’s creating. Click on any of the pillows to buy them now (before it gets snatched out from under you!) Then bookmark her store and keep an eye out for some cleverly made totes, too.

Guess what I discovered? My blogiversary was, um, back in May. May 30. I had it in my head that the anniversary was in July! The purchase of pepperknit.com does date to July, but I didn’t even debut the new blog until August. So . . . no excuses, I missed my blogiversary, plain and simple. It’s now been two-plus years. In some ways it doesn’t seem like that long, and yet it feels as if I’ve been at it forever–can’t imagine my life without it.

Knitting, however. . . . I have not been knitting. Is it because it’s summer? Or something else? I don’t know, but though I tote unfinished socks around in my bag every day, I don’t add to the number of stitches. I’ve been busy, and that definitely gets in the way, and I’ve been Flickring, which is a time-suck beyond all others. Oh, and I’ve been fantasizing about these . . .

But I have no timeframe for unbundling these little lovelies. I need an FO, though, and fast! Will revisit some single socks and see what I can pull together. It’d be a pickmeup for me, and it would actually give me something to talk to you guys about!