Project #20 crocheted baskets....obviously

As part of my ongoing efforts to avoid being featured on Hoarders (Season 6), I've been on the lookout for ways to use up my goddamn never-ending yarn collection.

                           

                                         Yes this is what my yarn stash looks like. Maybe.
So I've been dabbling in the dark arts of crochet lately, and I spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out how I could crochet a basket and then I came across a pattern and I thought... "That was easy".
And then I got a bit carried away.

                                     

 
                                                I even made a basket that was actually a hat:

I have more baskets that I'm working on because....why not right? It doesn't seem to be making a dent on my stash but now at least I have baskets to put my yarn in...

Project #19: Airstream

So Every August Burning Man comes to town. This means a visit from one of my oldest friends in the world Miss Hypnotic Gastric Lapband. She is such a veteran of burning man that she has her own 37' airstream that she bought just for burning man. Such is the dedication this naked hippy fest inspires.

                                 

When she purchased her airstream sight unseen from Craigslist, she thought "What could possibly go wrong?". When she finally got it to California (from Maine) and realized it was full of rat feces and in extremely poor condition, it was too late to do anything about it except bust out the hardcore environmentally unfriendly cleaning products and get on with it.

For many years we told people we were sisters, and if there are any survivors from those years (the 80s in NYC were basically clubs, drugs and AIDS) they are out there still thinking that we are, in fact, sisters. In the spirit of sisterly love, I made new curtains for the airstream. They were pretty fun I have to say. Due to the severe short term memory loss of Miss HGL (she did survive the 80s in NYC after all..) she did NOT take a picture of the finished curtains in her airstream at burning man. I guess we'll have to wait for her to forget to take a picture at next year's burning man....

Project #18: Let them eat cake

Cake is always the answer. When I left my old job in July I made two white chocolate cheesecakes, a red velvet cake and a chocolate cake with whipped cream and berries and brought them to school for all my peeps. Almost seven years at that school; in the beginning some of the staff really dragged me over the coals-they thought I didn't have the chops for the job. After working side by side in the trenches with our special kids through thick and thin, the sublime and the ridiculous, the dangerous and the hilarious we became one big family. I miss them and the crazy work they do. We had no pay raises the whole time I was there, the company nickel and dimed us at every step, the administration didn't back us up when the chips were down...and that's why I'm glad I left. My staff have left and some of my other colleagues too, so it's not the same any more, but I have only fond memories of the people that work there every day with some of the hardest kids to work with. They deserve cake EVERY DAY.

Project #17

It is October already!

Summer was a long time ago , and there are projects from way back then that still need to go up. I started a new job, still in special ed, and it has been overwhelming and exhausting like most new jobs at the beginning. I'm hoping I'm starting to find my stride as I need my energy to post the rest of this year's projects- mark my words I'll get 52 up by the end of the year...

This fabulous creation is me obviously , wearing a cowl I knitted for my sister when we were on Orkney. The wool is from Orkney sheep, and if you smelled it you would know that....

Orkney is a magical place. I hope I'm back there again one day.

Project #inmydreams

 I wish I had made these incredibly beautiful chairs.....

I saw them at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, look up her incredible work at 

 Www.rustiqueinteriors.co.uk

My trip has come to an end. What an amazing two weeks it has been, and a sad but lovely goodbye to dear old mum and dad. And on we go.

Saying goodbye

Yesterday we said goodbye to dear old mum and dad. We left them in this beautiful place that they loved so much; a remote island so far north that the sun sets at 11 pm and rises at 4 am.

Project #16

I really hate apple. Did you know I really hate apple? Their over-priced hipster merch makes me sick. They made $10,2 billion in profit in the first quarter of this year; no one needs to charge $600 for a phone when they are making that much money every three months. They make their shit in China just like everyone else, pay low wages, make their workers work long hours-they are Walmart masquerading as American Apparel.

Obviously with such high principles it will come as no surprise that as soon as I had some money in my grubby little hand I practically ran to the apple store to buy an ipad mini. Here's the cover I made for it, no time/expense spared (I'm leaving for the Motherland in about an hour).

I know, I know; you thought you'd seen the exact same thing in the apple store. Well you haven't, I made it myself out of stuff I had lying around.