pencraftco.wordpress.com Open in urlscan Pro
192.0.78.12  Public Scan

Form analysis
3 forms found in the DOM

GET https://pencraftco.wordpress.com/

<form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://pencraftco.wordpress.com/">
  <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"><br>
    <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search">
  </div>
</form>

POST https://subscribe.wordpress.com

<form method="post" action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" accept-charset="utf-8" style="display: none;">
  <div>
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" class="actnbr-email-field" aria-label="Enter your email address">
  </div>
  <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe">
  <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="1708270">
  <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://pencraftco.wordpress.com/">
  <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="actionbar-follow">
  <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="533d694aaa">
  <div class="actnbr-button-wrap">
    <button type="submit" value="Sign me up"> Sign me up </button>
  </div>
</form>

<form id="jp-carousel-comment-form">
  <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label>
  <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..."></textarea>
  <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper">
    <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as">
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label>
        <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">
      </fieldset>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment">
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

I KNIT, I TINK, I THINK

and here it is in ink

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RANDOM PHOTOS

November 24, 2011

From our single cherry tomato plant:



It got to 20 the night before I brought them in. I covered the plant with
blankets and plastic; but, it’s a fool’s errand to try to keep tomatoes alive in
October in Colorado. I separated the tomatoes into two boxes: ones to ripen, and
ones to can. Altogether, just under 25 pounds.



I ended up with 2 1/2 quarts of dried tomatoes and 23 pints of various green
tomato things like salsa and relish and piccolilli.

The scarf I knitted for the RNK and I with various animals. The scarf and Ida
Rose Parker:



The scarf and Jet:


Jet:


The scarf up close:


The scarf and my little ponderosa pine tree:




Posted in Ramblings | Leave a Comment »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FROM OUT OF NOWHERE

October 7, 2011

It’s been ages since I posted anything on the blog. I got busy and the blog
wasn’t a priority. Until today. I’ve got a great reason to post today.

Yesterday, I was over on Ravelry tolling around, procrastinating instead of
working. I was checking out the Wollmeiseholics Anonymous forum when I came
across a photo that PurpleDan had posted of a couple of new silk project bags he
was uploading to his Etsy shop.

Gorgeous bags. So, I jumped on over to PurpleDan’s profile to find his Etsy
shop. I couldn’t believe it when I read his profile. He creates one-of-a-kind
works of art from Barbie dolls and his creations have appeared in various
publications all over the world. Awesome.

I’ve got all my Barbies from when I was little. I haven’t been able to figure
out what to do with them. They are too well-loved to be collector’s items and
the clothes have a little too much sentimental value to just toss. This
potentially sounded like a match made in heaven.

I contacted Dan and offered him the setup, being careful to let him know that
these are not in pristine condition — maybe a little too well-loved to be used
for works of art. I probably got my first Barbie around 1962 when I was five. I
was a serious Barbie fanatic for the next several years. Probably the latest
dolls in the set date to the late 60s.

They have been stored in the vinyl case that Santa brought me one year for
Christmas. The case has a date of 1963 on it. A few years back, I opened it and
discovered that moths had gotten inside. Uhhgg. I put in the big guns — lots of
mothballs — and hoped for the best. When I opened the case today, there was a
faint whiff of mothball, but no new moth damage.

(I think the pictures will embiggen if you click on them if you are interested
in seeing more detail.)



I’m posting pictures here today of the whole setup so Dan can decide if these
gals, and guys, are art-worthy. While I’m at it, I’ll tell you a little bit
about why the clothes are sentimental.



Here’s the outfit with the most moth damage:



My dad was a very talented and creative person. If he could see something
upclose and touch it, he could make it. From tailoring most of my mom’s clothes
and suits for himself, to making almost all the clothes I wore, to jewelry, to
flower arranging, to painting, to carpentry, to landscaping . . . he did it all.
As a kid, I wasn’t aware that this was special, or even unusual. I thought
everyone’s dad could move seamlessly from building a goldfish pond in the back
yard or finishing the basement to making me a new silver ring or a new outfit to
wear to school the next day.

It took me years to learn that not only was my dad extra special, he was
probably one-of-a kind himself. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone else ever who
could do as many things as well as my dad did.

He used to tell me that hobbies are important and that you should always buy the
very best quality materials you can because if you start with crap, you’ll end
up with crap. He also told me that if you start a new hobby, no matter what
anyone tells you, buy professional-grade tools. He said amateur tools give
amateur results. Professional tools, even in the hands of amateurs, will result
in a much better finished product. All of it good advice that I heed even now —
as anyone who has seen my yarn stash will attest to.

Can you believe, my brother and I teased him mercilessly for his lack of cooking
skills? It was probably the only thing he didn’t do well. My mom went back to
college when I was about 11 and on the nights she had classes, dad cooked
dinner. My brother still laughs about the night he says dad made boiled hot dogs
with celery. I don’t remember that. I do remember that I ended up being
responsible for cooking dinner several nights a week from about age 12 on
through high school.

After I left for college, dad decided it was high time he learned how to cook.
He tackled it with a vengeance — probably to put my brother and I to shame for
all those years of teasing. He became quite a skilled chef. We ate his pies for
Thanksgiving every year until he died. He made the best pie crusts ever!

However, I’m getting sidetracked. Back to the Barbies. Although I don’t remember
him making it for me, I can tell by the handstitching on the patch pockets on
this green wool crepe coat that dad made it. The coat is fully lined and
underneath the coat is a fitted green shift (does anyone even wear shifts
anymore?) made from the same fabric as the coat lining. The tailoring is
impeccable given the size of this little outfit.

But the moths.


Even though I know the right thing to do is to throw this away, I get a little
teary even thinking about doing that. I can’t imagine how much my dad must have
loved me to have sat downstairs after work and measured and fitted and sewed
outfits for my dolls for me. I used to sit down there with him; but, often, he
worked on projects like this after I went to bed and gave them to me as gifts
for my birthday or Christmas.

One year for Christmas, I think I was 7 or 8, he gave me a complete puppet
theatre with about a dozen puppets that he made from scratch and a black lacquer
stage that stood about 5 feet tall. It had three panels held together with
hinges so it would stand on it’s own and hide me, the puppeteer. The stage had
velvet curtains and it was beautiful! My brother and I played with that gift for
years. The puppets had real hair and clothes and jewelry. They all had sculpted
faces made from felt. His puppets were even nicer than the few store-bought ones
that he and my mom bought to round out the set. Actually, he probably bought
those few from the store to study how they were made. Then, he improved on
everything about the puppets when he made his.

It isn’t just the things my dad made for my Barbies that had sentimental value.
My maternal grandmother also made me Barbie clothes. There’s a little crocheted
vest for Ken. The best part of all of that was that grandma just didn’t make
things — she taught me how to crochet so I could make things myself. My very
first serious crochet project was a vest for a toy hippo I had. I still have the
hippo, dressed in his little vest. I crocheted from the time I was about seven
until I was 20, when I decided that knitting was a more practical skill in terms
of making myself clothes.

Once again, I digress. So, back on track.

Sure, I loved the store-bought Barbie clothes and probably, didn’t really even
differentiate much between the ones dad and grandma made and the store-bought
clothes I got as gifts from other people. Today though, when I hold this little
green outfit that my dad made in my hand I get all teary. No way I can toss it.
It’s like holding a little handful of dad. However, I totally understand, and
would even encourage, someone else to throw the useless bits and pieces from
this Barbie collection into the rubbish bin. Especially the things that are moth
damaged.

So, that’s where you come in Dan, if you are willing. Take these dolls from me
and make something beautiful from the pieces worth salvaging.









When I saw those lovely silk bags and the mention of one-of-a-kind works of art,
I figured you just might be the reason I’ve been hanging onto these dolls for
almost 50 years. I hope that they look like something you can use!

Do you have any friends traveling from the US to visit you in the UK? Maybe I
could ship them to someone here and they could haul them over? Maybe I should
just plan a vacation to the UK!

I sure hope they look like something you could use. And if they can’t, well, no
worries. I’m sure I’ll figure it out one of these days!



Posted in Ramblings | 3 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


OUR BEDROOM

August 5, 2011

used to be a real peachy combination: mauve carpet and apricot walls and
ceilings. It was like that when we moved into the house and I have meant to
paint it for quite a while. I would wake up thinking of nectarines. Not really,
but that was the color scheme.

It wasn’t just the color that I didn’t like. The people who owned the house
before us had three boys. Everything was painted in gloss paint, presumably so
they could wash walls with great frequency. The only problem was, the paint was
such poor quality that wall washing not only removed dirt from the walls, it
also removed the paint. Right down to the drywall. I am not very fond of gloss
paint. I prefer flat. I have methodically been repainting everything in the
house.

The house sort of has two parts. The old part and the new part. The new part has
a huge great room with very tall ceilings. That room and the bathroom in the new
part are now the only two areas I haven’t painted. The great room intimidates me
because it will require scaffolding to paint. We may just sell the house instead
— if someone would buy it.

I know it’s not the best economy for selling homes. But, we did sell the other
house last year with most of our furniture and many of my other belongings such
as linens, dishes, lamps and other household items. For a multitude of reasons,
we haven’t actually replaced a lot of that yet. I guess it would be fair to say
that furniture just isn’t a priority for us.

You’ll have to keep this in mind as you look at the before and after pictures of
the bedroom. Before, we had a king-size mattress and box springs on a bed frame.
Now, we have a queen-size mattress and box springs that sit on the floor. I did
buy a cute little washstand with a marble top to serve as a nightstand. Anyway,
I present to you before (with before being a little over a year ago with the
furniture we used to have) and after (with after being just a few minutes ago).





Imagine the bed about 8 inches higher with a bed frame or, even better, with an
actual bed, and I think it’s a pretty grand transformation.



The colors don’t really show up all that clearly in the picture. In fact, they
change all day long and they cause me to look twice to try and figure them out.
The two dark walls are a color called Swing Brown that looks remarkably like the
color of melted milk chocolate. The two light walls are painted Unfussy Beige,
which is in the paint tray, a very unfussy pale tan color. On the wall, it
reflects the mauve carpet and looks a teeny little bit lavender. Not much, just
a little. The ceiling is a lighter shade of the beige and is called Hush White.
All together, the massive amounts of brown in the room have helped to tone down
the mauve carpet and make it look much less mauve-like. Now, it’s almost
mauvey-brown. A great improvement coming from the
one-who-hates-pink-and-pink’s-relatives.

You may notice that in spite of me saying that we sold the other house with all
our furniture, the same pieces appear in both pictures. I refused to part with
my little antique dresser and they didn’t want the RNK’s huge 60s dresser or my
cheap little lingerie chest. So, they came with and are comfortably placed back
in the bedroom. Maybe someday, we’ll get the RNK a new dresser and I’ll paint
the lingerie chest with some wonderful something or other and turn it into a
cute little thing. Meanwhile, it is what it is.

And for one parting shot, we have a lot of hawks around here. I saw this guy on
my way to town last week.



King of the Hill.

Posted in Birds, Ramblings | 2 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PRE CAMP LOOPY

July 29, 2011

I haven’t had time for posting recently. Work. Animals. Etc. And a big purchase
I made this summer than has taken a lot of my time (see below).

I have had time for knitting. Prior to Camp Loopy, I finished Ruffle My
Feathers. Lays very nicely around the shoulders. I added a fancy little button
to help it stay in place with no fuss. I like it.







The other time consumer? I bought an Airstream. I am in love.



The photo above shows my current camp location — our back yard. I sleep out in
the trailer every now and then, just for fun.

But we have gotten out a little bit. Here’s the first place we went camping:





(click on photos to see the truncated right side if you are so inclined)

Posted in Ramblings | 2 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CAMP LOOPY

July 16, 2011




Posted in Ramblings | 4 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


BEFORE

May 9, 2011

and after.

Here’s a photo of our stairs from 2008:


Here’s the photo of our stairs from a few weeks ago:


Here’s a photo of our stairs from last week:


The two upstairs bedrooms underwent a similar transformation. We pulled the
carpet and the RNK put in Douglas Fir plank floors. I repainted with a nice
light tan and a darker contrast color. Biscuit and Bagel are the paint color
names, and to my way of thinking, the images they conjure are pretty accurate.
I’m happy. Only one item left to deal with. I need to swap out the light
fixtures in both rooms and the hallway.

I’ve moved my office back upstairs and it really feels nice to be working in
such a clean and bright space. Finally!

The project has taken longer and has eaten up a lot of our leisure time.
Thankfully, it’s over now. Perhaps I can get on with some other things (like
knitting!) again.

Posted in completed projects, Ramblings | 3 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PROJECTS

April 19, 2011

Orchids


Stairs


Gloves


I tried, but no photos worth posting of the current knitting project. Maybe
soon.

Posted in Ramblings | 2 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I ENJOYED THIS SO MUCH, I HAD TO REPOST IT

April 14, 2011

The Colbert Report

Thanks Norma

Posted in politics, Ramblings | Leave a Comment »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I HAD SUCH GRANDIOSE NOTIONS

April 5, 2011

a while back about posting stories of things that have been rambling around my
head for ages. Monkey mind tales. I got one posted, and another started.

Then I got slammed with work.

Now, every time I think how much I would like to post another monkey mind tale —
and don’t — because I feel guilty about posting and not working, I think of Blue
Feather.

Years ago, back when I planted trees, even before my forestry days, one of my
fellow tree planters went by the name, Blue Feather. Blue Feather was an ex
semi-pro football player from Arizona or perhaps Southern California. Certainly,
he hailed a part of the country graced with abundant citrus trees.

Blue Feather, as you might guess from his name, had become smitten with American
Indian culture and had attempted to reform himself from football player into
self-proclaimed guru. Or something like that. Perhaps a field injury was
involved. Or perhaps, he came to the realization that semi-pro was as far as he
was going on that career path. So, he picked another path to amble down: tree
planter and would-be sage.

One day, when we were planting on a seriously underbid contract in northern
Idaho for the Clearwater National Forest, making next to nothing, I was eating a
grapefruit for lunch. As I peeled it, I discovered the interior had some rot or
mold. I was starting to carefully pick around the bad spots when Blue Feather
noticed what I was doing. With no warning whatsoever, he reached over, grabbed
the grapefruit from my hand and threw it about three miles down the road.

I was outraged and made my point in no uncertain terms. He said, “No one should
eat rotten food, especially grapefruit. They are so abundant and cheap.” I
pointed out that the food we were eating was purchased out of our ridiculously
low wages and that in Idaho, grapefruit were not particularly inexpensive
either. And furthermore, if I wanted to eat food that I had partially paid for
that had mold, it was my damn choice and he should mind his own damn business.

Apparently, my sudden unexpected outburst shocked and entertained a few of the
other planters who were sitting about, also eating our communally-purchased
lunch. I have a vague recollection of some interesting noises and someone
starting to sing the Neil Young lyrics, “It’s the woman in you . . .” amid a
huge outburst of laughter aimed at both Blue Feather and me.

Anyway, the point to this back-story is to set the stage for the only other
memorable moment in my mind regarding Blue Feather — aside from the fact that I
out-planted him on that particular contract in Idaho.

Something had gone wrong. I don’t remember what. Maybe the truck broke down.
Maybe we ran out of something. Who knows. All kinds of things went wrong on that
job. We were all despondent and Blue Feather seized the moment to share some of
his guru-philosophy.

“Don’t make plans. The Great Spirit will kick you in the ass every time.”

I’ve been kicked.

Posted in Ramblings | 3 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


APPS

March 31, 2011

For a number of years after I first started working as a graphic designer I read
three or four design magazines each month, bought and read book after design
book, joined professional design organizations, worked for a raging bitch at an
advertising agency and otherwise did everything I could to learn as much as I
could about my newly chosen profession. Then I got stale.

I coasted. I did what I needed to do to get by. It was fine for a few years.
Suddenly — specifically — the day the young punk kid who bought the Epson 3000
printer I had listed on Amazon called me on the phone to harass me about this
printer that he willingly bought being too ancient to hook to any of his
computers (me thinks he should have read the part about “parallel port” a little
more closely), I realized the world was continuing on without me. I’ve been
running to catch up ever since.

I started taking online classes again, learning about new devices and doing my
darnedest to move willingly into the 21st century. It started about two and a
half years ago with my migration back to the Mac. I bought a loaded MacBook Pro.
Next came the Kindle. More recently, the iPhone. Now, an iPad. Mac-heavy? Yes,
I’m afraid so. I wanted toys that play nicely together. I thought maybe the
similarities in OS would be in my favor.

With all the iObjects in my life, I’m becoming obsessedinterested in apps.
Yesterday, Kristi’s post over at Fiber Fool got me thinking, “Who better to ask
than you, gentle reader?

Kristi did a great job of planting the seed that you can help me on my quest.
Thanks to her, so far, after 24 hours, I’m hooked on Lose It!. This app is
causing me to rethink my current infatuation with all things gummy (bears,
worms, Happy Cola, and Swedish fish — the last of which I haven’t tried — yet).

My quest has also led me to Dropbox, which I am investigating today (use this
link and we both get extra storage space). Do you use Dropbox? Do you like it?
They sure have a convincing little video on their site.

Now, I am curious, what other great apps do my fellow bloggers, knitters,
internet readers and iObject users have up their sleeves? Especially you
knitters. Almost all the knitting apps I’ve seen are not free. Some are, in the
app world, downright expensive. Before I plunk down my hard-earned .99 cents (or
4.99 or 9.99 as the case may be), I want to know what you think. Do share.

Posted in Ramblings | 5 Comments »


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

« Older posts



 * PAGES
   
   * Me


 * RECENT POSTS
   
   * random photos
   * From out of nowhere
   * Our bedroom
   * Pre Camp Loopy
   * Camp Loopy


 * BLOGROLL
   
   * A Few Stitches Short
   * Books & Hooks & Sticks
   * BrooklynTweed
   * Crazy Aunt Purl
   * Fleegle’s Blog
   * Jane's Miracle Box
   * Kimberly — Fiber Fanatic
   * Reserrection Fern
   * Stranded on Fair Isle
   * TECHknitting
   * The Rainey Sisters
   * We Heart Yarn
   * Wendy Knits
   * Ysolda


 * FAVORITE YARN STORES
   
   * 
   * 
   * 
   * 
   * 
   * 
   * 
 * 
   


 * CATEGORIES
   
   * A Morn in May
   * Asymmetrical Jacket
   * Birds
   * Blogroll
   * clapotis
   * completed projects
   * contest
   * Doily
   * Hamefarin
   * Icarus
   * knitting accessories
   * KTS4
   * Mendocino
   * orchids
   * Pets
   * politics
   * Ramblings
   * Refined Raglan
   * Shawls
   * socks
   * Socks in Progress
   * Sweaters
   * Uncategorized
   * Yarn dyeing
   * Yarn P*rn


 * META
   
   * Register
   * Log in
   * Entries feed
   * Comments feed
   * WordPress.com

 *  RSS - Posts


 * BLOG STATS
   
   * 23,463 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.Valid XHTML and CSS.

 * Subscribe Subscribed
    * I knit, I tink, I think
      
      Sign me up
    * Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.

 * Privacy
 *  * I knit, I tink, I think
    * Customize
    * Subscribe Subscribed
    * Sign up
    * Log in
    * Report this content
    * View site in Reader
    * Manage subscriptions
    * Collapse this bar

 

Loading Comments...

 

Write a Comment...
Email (Required) Name (Required) Website

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started