New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on the weed common mallow:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/weed-common-mallow

I started this vest in 2009. I was going to wear it at Steamcon I. Steamcon 3 has now passed, months ago.

The fabric was kind of the fabric from hell. It's a synthetic brocade (jacquard? Can never remember which is which) from Mulewart. It frays if you so much as look at it. It's thick and doesn't fold or bend well.The fact that I picked a princess seamed pattern was blindingly foolish with this fabric.

The pattern was supposed to be a lined vest. I have a fear of linings, so I decided to flat line it and cut facings for the front. Fine, except that this fabric needed to have all edges enclosed. Crap. I ended up binding a lot of the seams, all the edges that weren't faced, and the princess seams I overcast and prayed for.

Buttonholes? Right. Fear of them, too. No way could this fraying stuff have regular machine buttonholes, plus, the buttonhole setting on my machine doesn't work right. So I made a foray into the wonderful world of bound buttonholes. I'd made them exactly once before, about 37 years ago. And they weren't great. But watching a Project Runway marathon and having Tim Gunn's "Make it work!" ringing in my ears I bulled my way through. They aren't pretty; they look like a 12 year old made them. But they function. Barely.

So, after two and a half years, I present the butterfly vest (the brocade pattern is butterflies):

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on morning glories! http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/annual-morning-glories

New bracelet!

This is the pattern is the one for the Seedbeadsters January Beadalong:

Almost matt teal #8s in peyote for the base (which you really can see from the top side, except along the very edge), silver and matt teal #11s on either side of a 4mm pearl, and aqua and lime #15s as picots along the edges.

Sadly, I screwed up and put the lobster claw clasp on upside down, so it's kind of hard to put on. Do-able, but awkward. Pooh.

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on the wild flower fireweed!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/native-plant-fireweed

New article up at the Examiner, on ergonomic shovels and digging:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/ergonomic-digging

New article

The 2012 Northland Rosarium catalog is available now! http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/northland-rosarium-2012-catalog-available

New article

New article at the Examiner on double digging your garden:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/double-digging

New bracelets

First up is a pattern I've used several times now, just in different colors

Next is a sort of Frankenpattern: I tried to follow a new pattern, and couldn't get the hang of it. I ended up making a base of right angle weave, then adapted the ruffle to it. Finally I embellished it with a vine and crystal 'flowers'

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on calendulas, which are both beautiful flowers and useful herbs
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/calendula-garden-flower-or-herb

All I got done today was making the base for a new bracelet. The pattern called for even count peyote in #11 beads; I could not figure that out for anything. Decided that was for a day when I don't have such a nasty headache, and decided to make the damn base in #8 beads (much easier to see!) in RAW (much easier to do!)

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on putting in and using a clothes line:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/adding-a-clothes-line-to-the-yard

A friend sent me this link: http://www.pangalactictrading.com/Jellyfish/index.html

Glass jellyfish, made in the 1880s by a pair of brothers. They're beautiful, and some would make great lamps!

New article

New article up at the Examiner, listing some of my favorite garden blogs:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/garden-blogs

Put the newsletter together and sent it; wrote tomorrow's article today (because we are going to a resume/job seeking class tomorrow); made a bracelet in just under three hours including snack time. New record for me, but it's a pattern I've made a couple of times before.

New Examiner article, on the beautiful, low maintenance shrub Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/shrub-hydrangea-arborescens-annabelle

New article

New article at the Examiner, on mutations in plants:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/sports-plant-mutations

New photos!

New photos at Flickr of some of my Christmas projects!http://www.flickr.com/photos/dark_phoenix54/

Okay, I see that Blogger is still having issues with uploading pictures. So, there are art dolls and beaded things there at Flickr, lots of pictures!

New article

New article at the Examiner; there is a free PDF from WSU on 'Backyard Forest Management'- the information in it is useful to any gardener.http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/free-pdf-backyard-forest-stewardship

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on the rose 'Outta the Blue'!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/rose-outta-the-blue

And so it goes....

Today’s epic fail: get a bracelet 2/3 of the way done, and realize that the reason it’s not working right is because *triangular* #11 beads are longer than regular #11 beads, not just differently shaped. Not enough to notice while working with them, but enough to throw the pattern way off.

Abort, retry, fail.

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on the Norway maple:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/norway-maple-friend-or-foe