Yes, I have the attention span of a gnat

I have a serious case of Short Attention Span Theater right now.

As I posted yesterday, I have several projects that I need to finish in less than a month. So why is my brain buzzing with new projects—ones that I patently cannot start until after the holidays?

In an effort to catalog them, and get them out of my system (at least for a month), I'm going to list those ideas here.

1. I've been inspired by this Apartment Therapy post to paint my boring Ikea wardrobe a bright yellow. A couple of months ago, I successfully stripped and painted a Victorian-style side table, so I know I can do it. I think it will help bring even more color and design to my bedroom.

2. My sister Jenny bought me a gift certificate to SuperCrafty! for my birthday and I just used to to buy some Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn in Sapphire Green. It's so beautiful. I am just itching to cast on for a Liesl sweater for me because I think it would be so yummy in this color.

3. I saw this beautiful letter quilt highlighted on the Spoonflower blog, and I want to make one for Vivian.

4. I'd love to make my winter coat before, you know, winter is over.

5. Every knitter I know is making cowls, which seem to be the must-have accessory this winter. I need one. I've got several skeins of sock yarn that will never be made into socks, no matter how many times I say I'm going to make them, so a cowl would be a good use.

Ok, I think that's it, at least those are the projects that I'm obsessing over right now. Gah!

I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.
I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.
I must finish gifts for others before starting something for myself.

Roller coaster

I have been dragging my feet regarding posting here, and I'm not sure why. Life here at Chez Reeve-Manfredi has been up and down.

Obama won! Yay!
Prop. 8 passed. Boo!
The holidays are coming! Yay!
Richard got laid off! Boo!
Friends Thanksgiving happened up in Seattle! Yay!
Vivian was a bear on the flights (a cute bear, but a bear, nonetheless), and I had a mini-nervous breakdown the first night in Seattle! Boo!
Richard and I had our 6th wedding anniversary! Yay!
And we both completely forgot about it until the next day! Boo!

So, um, yeah.

I am trying to stay focused on the positive. I am trying to be a crafty diva. Just about everyone will be receiving at least one crafted (sewn/knitted/crocheted) gift for Christmas, but of course that means I need to get busy.

I did manage to finish a cute skirt to wear for our Christmas photos, which we took on Saturday. I almost had a heart attack while making it, because it was supposed to be a vintage-inspired dress (made from an awesome vintage cotton that I picked up last year at the Pasadena City College flea market). But when I put the bodice together and had Richard pin it closed on me, it was awful. I'm not 100% sure what went wrong, but it was all wonky. Luckily, the dress had a circle skirt attached, so I just ditched the bodice and made a skirt and petticoat, and bought a sweater at Target.

I also made Vivian a winter (ok, LA-winter) coat out of an adorable vintage pattern. It was a size 2, and knowing that vintage patterns tend to run small, I figured that would be ok for her. Um, no. When I put it on her, she looked like the coroner from The Wizard of Oz. So, it will be coat for next year! Finally a project I'm early for!

I still have to finish two quilts, 1 sweater, 1 bag, 1 hat, 1 doll, 1 apron, placemats, table runners, 2 eye masks and probably more stuff that I can't remember right now. And I officially have 1 month to do it all. It may be a photo finish, but I'm feeling positive. I think I can do this.

Fateful last words, don't you think?

This is Halloween!

Happy Halloween, all you ghosties, ghouls and goblins!

I bring you a photo post...

Boo at the Zoo!



A visit to the pumpkin patch:




I finally got around to carving one of those pumpkins last night:



Stitch n Witch 2008:

Thing 1 and the Fish

A Viking family ready to pillage the Farmer's Market

Spider Granny!

Gnome-mar Garciaparra

Look! It's Bai Ling!

This little cowgirl is ready for some treats now.

Happy Halloween!

Ruth Wright Johnston

My grandmother was never an easy person to love. She had an extremely critical eye, especially for members of her family. She was never comfortable giving compliments to her family. She would talk about how great my aunt was, but only to my mom, never directly to my aunt. She seemed to go out of her way to be difficult, as if she was testing the limits or boundaries of your love. She would say horrible, offensive things on purpose, it seemed, as if she wanted to prove to herself that we didn't really love her.

In the last five years or so, she seemed to mellow. She started to appreciate the people around her, and even learned how to apologize. She wasn't perfect, and she could always be counted on to tell you how fat you looked, but I always assumed that said more about her own issues with weight than it did about my body. My grandmother was:

• a child of divorce (my great-grandmother ran away from her husband in 1929, and even changed her and my grandma's last name so he couldn't find them)
• a swim suit model (she had a front cover of Harper's Bazaar and a back cover of Vogue in the 1940s)
• a mother of three
• a divorced woman in the 1950s
• a working woman
• a mother whose child died (my uncle committed suicide in 1975)
• a widow (her second husband, my Grandpa Paul, died when I was in high school)
• a proud, strong, ornery woman

Goodbye, Grandma.

Ruth Wright Johnston
4/29/25 - 10/15/08

Me, Grandma and my mom, with Vivian