Crafty Crafty :)

I have spent the past week being super crafty! I taught myself a few new knit stitches... and taught myself not to put wool in the dryer (oops)... and I brought the sewing machine out again in an effort to organize my knitting supplies a little more.

My awesome "Stitch 'n' Bitch" book (bottom left corner of the first photo) has patterns for a few organizational implements that I put together and put straight to use! First, the needle holder:

interior view (ignore my clutter...)

The red flap holds the needles in their pockets... exterior view.

Then I made a hanging pocket for my circular needles. I still need to iron on labels to indicate size/length of the needles...

And I made a bag...

I know it's a little dark, but I just love this fabric!

Ok, ok, so those aren't the best photos I've ever taken, but they illustrate the point adequately.

As I spent time in front of the sewing machine and knitting needles, I decided I'd re-watch the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. Dad was a Trek fan. I remember watching old Star Trek reruns when I was a kid, and we kept up with TNG pretty regularly, as well. I was looking forward to revisiting the series.

Sadly, I've made it well into season two, and I just can't bring myself to like it... It seems cheesy, affected... the acting is terrible... the story lines wrap up all too neatly in a forty minute period.. I can't connect to the characters... and sadly I feel like I'm being preached to most of the time. Sigh. The concepts they touch on are imaginative, for sure... and I know that those concepts inspired a generation of creative thinkers and scientists to push the boundaries of reality... but I was hoping for better than I found re: the story/character interaction/etc. Obviously memory doesn't serve very well here.

It probably doesn't help that in the evenings I'm watching Dr. Who with Noah. There are certain things I don't care for in Dr. Who, either (i.e. the Doctor's need to rescue a helpless female in every episode.), but the characters are much more personable/affecting than the NG characters and if the plots resolve unrealistically quickly, at least there is a good reason for it. I mean, he is after all a 900 year old Time Lord for crying out loud, he's bound to have amassed a supernatural amount of knowledge about the universe in that time.

Anyhow... I digress... I have another post coming as soon as I can get myself around to writing it... and I hope you'll hang with me 'til I get there. I still haven't written any more on the novel(s) yet... but I think I'm approaching a breakthrough in the psychological block. We'll see. Fingers crossed!

Here are some nicer photos to part with... the backyard is abloom, the tomatoes are ripening, the cucumbers are swelling, and the pumpkins have sprouted (a little late I realize...). Summer!