anne is an artist

So, I've had a pretty rough weekend. I have had a flu since Friday night and it HASN'T let up!! I went to the doctor today to get some sweet sweet drugs. This thing is supposed to last two more weeks and I've already missed two days of work. Ick. Good news is, now that I've got some medicine in me, I'm feeling a little better, at least manageable.

So my weekend was completely unproductive. I was supposed to hem some pants, photograph some things to sell and overall just have a fun weekend, but no go.

I did manage to hem these pants on Thursday, so one down. Unfortunately a lot of my dress clothes are very plaid. The good news is I got it done real quick with this:

My birthday present! I haven't had too much of a chance to bust out some items, but as soon as this flu is done, I'm going on a sewing spree.

Till then, hope everyone survives the million inches of snow we are going to get.

Well, Milwaukee sure is grand. Not only is the snow up to my waist, but I think I have slipped on more ice this winter than I ever have. Especially since I have been riding the bus in lieu of car.

So I'm going to the bus yesterday. I had to stop at Metro Mart to get change. I have my change in my pocket, and whenever I walk, I inevitably put my hands in my pocket, which in turn, means I usually hold on to the contents. So as I'm walking down a hill, I slip and the quarters in my hand, in my pocket, fall into a five foot tall snow bank. They didn't make a noise, so I wasn't even sure I had dropped my quarters. So I spent several minutes finding the tiny quarter imprints, then digging a tunnel to my lost quarters, just so I could ride the bus. Such is life, I suppose.

This week has been slow in terms of knitting or crocheting. I'm doing pretty good on my new socks, but that's about it. Instead of crafting, I've been cooking a lot of weird stuff, such as perogies, bruchetta and cream cheese rangoon.

Also, does anyone know of a goodlawyer?

So is anyone else completely freaked out by Google's new street view? As creeped out as I am I can stop virtually wandering the streets. I feel like a stalker.

I cannot shake this flu. I am home on a Friday with another mystery sickness. What better way to spend my time than to upgrade to MT4? For anyone that is a closet-nerd like myself, you know that it is a Friday well spent. But don't tell anyone I told you that.

Really though, I need to buckle down and get professional about this site and the portfolio site. Not that I have any desire to do a bunch of free-lancing, heavens no. But next weekish I'm going to be talking to MIAD students about self-promotion and technology and how the two can combine wonderfully to put you on top of the Google search....

But I know that they are going to go home and Google me and see my less than impressive, ancient, half-assed, broken-link site. Which probably doesn't make me too much of an authority on the subject.

This weekend I haven't done a thing. It is wonderful. Well, I did do a couple of things, but they were all things that I didn't have to do, so that made it nice.

First, I went to JoAnn's and took advantage of their sale. Now I don't particularly like JoAnn's. They never have anything I want, nor are their sales associates very nice. Last time I was there, the lady was really snotty after I had asked her a simple question. Sort of the "what do YOU know?" attitude that I don't appreciate. Especially since I was asking for Pima Cotton and any self-respecting sales person that works at JoAnn's should know what that is. I'm not the dunce, lady.

Any how, I did get a lot of things! Their Simplicity patterns are only a dollar!!! Unfortunately I didn't like a lot of the patterns, but I did manage to find five that will do the trick for work - clothes. Also I got Fitted Knits which after glancing through, I am VERY excited about.

I also got a book on how to adjust a simple pattern to your body, and how to make it into several different articles of clothing, just from one pattern. I am going to be on a roll soon with that new sewing machine.

I've also spent a good deal of time this weekend crocheting up that Babette blanket. I went out to get the rest of the yarn at Loop in Milwaukee and so I think I have my basic colors down. It is a lot less than the actual blanket, but I know that it will probably look like baby puke (you know how all of those colors sort of meld together) if I didn't limit my color palette. I like it so far! Now just a billion more squares to go.

So this is my first "Stitch-Stirrers" post. I really like the idea--gets my brain thinking! So without further ado;

What is your favorite thing about crochet?

Well, it would have to be the fact that I am wearing a sweater right now that my mom made me and it is keeping me decidedly warm. Especially with the snow falling outside right now.

Actually when I first started crocheting I hated it. It wasn't that I was impatient, but man was it BORING! My mom tried teaching it to me and I think we were both so frustrated that I just sort of got it, but didn't do anything with it. I knew how to crochet a flat afghan, but it killed me to do so.

After I found out about granny squares, I realized crochet was a bit more available to me and a lot more interesting. No more blankets! Gone were the days of flat crochet and stripes. I think my favorite thing to crochet these days are hand bags.

...

Also, when I came back to Kansas City, all proud of my mad crochet skills, I convinced my mom to do something other than afghans and flat scarfs. It was like pulling teeth.

She stinkin' busted out a sweater on her first try.

p.s. happy birthday mom!!

Wisconsin Department of Revenue pulled through yesterday, with a sweet sweet check. Cat's vet bills? GONE! Let me regail you with a tale:

So last fall, I was pretty strapped for cash. My car broke down. My student loans kicked in. I was paying off Thesis still. Geeeeez louise what else could happen?

Well, Hugger decided he'd fall out the window.

So let me start at the beginning. I come home. I had been gone for about two days on business. I walk in my squat little building and start trudging myself to the top floor. But wait! There is a note in the lobby. "Black and white kitten found. Will take it to the Humane Society if I don't hear back, blah blah, number, name."

"Hm," I think to myself. "That couldn't possibly be my cat. How would he get out of the apartment? No, that is surely not my cat..."

As I am trudging up the stairs, I hear this aweful caterwauling. All the way at the bottom of the stairs. I live on the fourth floor----top floor.

So I run up the stairs, open the door, and Spotter is pacing back and forth in front of the window howling. In front of an open window. As in, screen has been ripped out.

So I panic. I run to the window, look down expecting to see an impaled kitten. Nothing there! I run down the stairs to the furtive note on the door and call the number. No answer! I run to her apartment and knock on the door! No one there!

Finally after a lot of running up and down the stairs to see if she is there yet, I run into her. She has taken Hugger to the Cat Doctor. The EXPENSIVE Cat Doctor.

Hugger fractured his hip, severing his nerves in his back leg. For the first couple months, he could still move his back leg, but he couldn't feel it, so he moved real awkwardly and wasn't able to jump up and make the target. It is better now, I gave him a lot of vitamin B supplements. But it has taken me until now to pay off the bill.

So thank you, Wisconsin Revenue Department. You have made my cats and I whole again.

I opened up my Etsy Shop! I will be putting original pieces of art work from thesis and senior year. After that, about every month I will update with new pieces. I work pretty small scale so they are nice and affordable. Go take a look and tell me what you all think!

So instead of quietly relaxing this weekend, I spent it redesigning my dad's website.

I haven't really been too skilled in Flash, but I figure it is time I learn. With a little help from the boyfriend, I was able to click away and get the website up! Flash is actually a little bit more intuitive than I thought. I was required to take a class on it at MIAD, but I missed one day and never caught up. It is one of those programs that unless you use it all the time, you never really figure it out.

Take a look! Let me know what you think! (and tell me about bugs.....I know there are probably bugs..)

I need this.

No really, I do.

I realized the other day that March is next week! Of course, in Kansas City that always meant the return of spring. However, in Milwaukee, that means at least 6 more weeks of winter.

I do have some good news! I sold more than half of my pieces at the Mini Art Show. And a print! That has actually given me quite a confidence boost to create more work and perhaps start promoting myself a bit more. I have a new "series" forming in my mind. I am taking a Saturday open studio class at MIAD in the printmaking lab. Hopefully new work comes from that. It should be exciting. I need to do a bit of research, however and I need to re-familiarize myself with the lab. Last Saturday was hilarious because it was Kari and I stumbling through printing some of her plates. I think we got it.....eventually.

I have been working on a sweater that is very exciting for me. In that it may actually fit! I have been struggling a whole bunch with gauge. I'm not quite sure I get it. For this sweater I am working in the round and the pattern is not the easiest pattern to follow, so I am making up quite a bit as I go. So far so good! I will take some pictures as soon as I get a little farther. Right now I have maybe 3 inches, and it is hard to tell exactly what it looks like.

Every Thursday we attend Trivia Night at Tracks in Milwaukee. Yesterday felt like we were doing really well, but then it turned out not so much. Is there a good exercise to build trivia muscles?

Also! I just found out that the Craft Magazine Release Party is at the Fasten Collective in Bayview. Ding ding ding! I am there!

Also, I am going to knit sweaters this weekend! AND POST PICTURES! My blog is lifeless as of late. Needs more pictures. Of sweaters. And Cats.

p.s. car=dead. Hurrah.