The last  meeting I went to we were supposed to get a new project using Jay McCarroll’s fabric, which I LOVE, but couldn’t because of the fucking Canada Post strike so we opted to make placemats for Meals on Wheels. Fun, easy, quick. Well. I started making a dresden plate block but man, that’s not easy. The first one is a little Montessori meets picnic:

Love that gingham. The back is all red gingham too. The second is a bookshelf block that I knocked off from here:

I didn’t use her actual pattern but I did copy it more or less. I loved the idea of using selveges as book titles and I’ve been saving strips of them for a long time with no real plan. Nice to use some of them up. One in particular made me laugh:

I’d read a book about what not to use as children’s sleepwear, wouldn’t you?

The next meeting is this coming Sunday at the workroom. You should go even if you have the smallest amount of interest in quilting. It’s so great to share ideas and to learn new skills and to work outside my normal box!

My boss got a new hoodie for xmas from her middle (sister) -it’s just about the coolest thing she owns so I snapped a couple pictures last night:

She’ll be ready to join Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er on their next tour. So fress!

In other news, I made Ari a new place mat for school. Her old one (that I also made, just a simple rectangle crocheted in cotton yarn) was getting really grotty, so I used old jeans of Shannon’s, zigged on her name and some flowers then used iron-on plastic so it can be wiped. I think it’s cute.

I’m not sure how long the plastic will last, it’s not top quality stuff. And if it were mine and there was an edge rolling up, I’d definitely pick at it. Eh, doesn’t really matter, it was only a half hour project using throwaway materials.

And, as you can see above, I’m still thinking about my hexagons, even if I haven’t been actively making any for a while. It’s a wintry occupation if you ask me. I have no plan for them, as such, but I did really love everything in this flickr pool and am using it for inspiration.

You can see there are a bunch of them, I could make a few pillows if I wanted. Or maybe a denim apron? Decisions, decisions.

(This is what works it’s way into my brain when I have insomnia, between the hours of 4 and 7:30am)

I know it’s still a little early for this  type of baking (considering Ontario peaches are just on their way out!) but this recipe sounded so good that I couldn’t resist. Plus I had 3 over ripe bananas staring at me. I did not use nuts (EW! NUTS!) and I substituted plain yogurt for sour cream.

It’s seriously the very best banana bread ever. Perfect.

Here you go.

Such a teeny little muffin, I was instantly in love. Of course she didn’t cry and she didn’t poop. That makes for a good baby visit in my books.

You can tell by the bulging vein on my forehead that I am completely chuffed.  I can not WAIT to be on shower duty (as in, Saira calls me when she needs a 5 minute shower so I race over and sit on a baby). I’m so glad we live so close.

Here’s what I bought her (and that she won’t fit into for another 4-6 weeks, I guess):

All size 0-3 months, a denim skirt with built in diaper cover, 2 sleeveless onesies, and fish print harem pants. Yes, you read that right, HAREM PANTS.

To. Die. For.

Oh, and here’s daddy Michael with Kiran Maureen. Gosh, I just got all choked up!

It’s looking better although it’s got a long way to go before I’ll feel normal. It actually reminds me of my childhood, was there a time when I didn’t have some major scab action happening? Shannon can’t see the bruising irl but I sure can.

No, I didn’t fiddle the colour in this picture, just corrected the levels.

Still sore. And numb. Pretty much the bruising is where it’s numb.

Good thing my favourite colour is yellow!

I met up with the glorious and free Ms Duncan today for some hot protest action.  It’s so rare that we see each other so it’s always a delight, especially when she brings along little miss MangO. Which I found out is not pronounced like the fruit, it’s more like how you’d say ‘mang’ and then an O. Softer.

And I adore her.

These are our legs:

We went to The Grange for lunch and I ate the most amazing mango salad at the Thai place. So.Good.

Then I visited Bill and Daniel et al at The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop and Tattooing in Kensington. Their big opening is this weekend, yay!

Vagoo. It just sounds funny.

And it’s a pretty darn funny thing to spray paint on a building. This is the building formerly known as The Big Bop, corner of Queen St W and Bathurst.

It was exciting, at Ikea the other day, to see new balls being delivered to the ballroom. An old friend of mine worked in the kid’s zone at Ikea a number of years ago and told stories about children too excited about the balls to bother getting out to go to the washroom so finding POOP in them was very commonplace. Apparently each store has 2 sets of balls, one that’s in use, one that’s being cleaned.

Still. Gross.

Did you know the Big Bop is closing it’s doors? I guess it is.  Old news, for some, but I hadn’t really clued in until this past Thursday when I was waiting for the Bathurst streetcar and saw the sign.

Looks weird, stripped down like that. I never really hung out there much, not even in my 2 concerts/week heyday. But still. RIP, Big Bop.

The moon looked great the other night. Round and bright.

Then, because I had my camera-ok, my phone-out, I took a picture of the strip club/church around the corner from my house. I love it.

No, wait, I hate it. There’s always someone outside the church handing out tracts. I find them strewn all down Bloor Street. I hate litter, and it’s his fault.

I got it in my head that I needed to start a new project, and as I have made at least a dozen hats in the last few months, I decided to make a scarf. Now, I have a bunch of scarves, most of them are very wintery, thick, long, good for wrapping several times and keeping my neck and ears warm. I wanted one that was lighter. So I looked all over Ravelry for a pattern that I liked, a free pattern, no luck. The pattern I liked best was not free at all. So I studied the picture, then found other free versions and wrote some stuff down, a little math, adding, multiplying and figured it all out. Of course, it took 2 false starts and frogging (it means tearing apart your stitches) it out, then I got it down.

Isn’t that yarn pretty? It’s very fine, probably the thinnest I have ever worked with, and a little fiddly. It’s sock yarn, haha, it would make some crazy socks, I guess. When I have finished, I will post a proper pattern.

Also on the books today: baking! I am going to my mom’s for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and she always has pumpkin pie (like everyone) for dessert and I hate pumpkin pie. It’s so gross, ugh, think about it, like baby shit in a pie crust, so I have to come up with an alternative. Which means scouring the internet for autumnal dessert recipes. Today I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and they are pretty good. More like mini cake blobs (cakies?) than cookies, but still, tasty. I am probably going to end up making pumpkin roll, which is totally incredible and better then day after it’s made, or pumpkin brownies.  Oh, they both look good!