Marlakins

South Dakota

2010-07-29T12:46:36Z

Because of a family emergency, I’m here in South Dakota. This is my very first time to visit this state. I had no idea what to expect. Aside from the emergency, I’ve found South Dakota to be very nice. It’s a much slower paced city (despite it’s name–Rapid City, heheh) and the people have been incredibly hospitable from the airport, the hotel, the restaurants, and the hospital. Although I wish that we didn’t have this medical emergency, it seems to be a blessing in disguise because the care my father is getting here seems so much more loving. Loving? Yes, everyone has been so kind and patient and sweet, that I’m glad my dad isn’t in the hands of a rush, rush staff. The quality of care he’s received and the attention given to us has been incredible. The experience has been such that I had to comment. The Bible mentions that in the end times love will grow cold. There’s still love here. . .

Marlakins

Cotton

2010-07-25T18:34:40Z

Aaron recently found an interest in planting cotton. He found some green and brown cotton seeds and planted them a few weeks ago.

Each morning he would check his pots and call me to see the progress. He was so happy when they first poked out of the soil, and we all got a kick at how fast they sprouted up once the sprout broke through the soil.

So it was particularly timely that the LA Spinner’s Guild meeting this month turned out to feature cotton. The guest speaker shared lots of information from the cotton plants to the harvesting of the cotton, and then the preparation of the cotton for spinning, and then down to the spinning. Here’s a pic comparing the boles of cotton. The white ones are the largest. Next come the green, and then the brown. Aaron planted both the green and the brown at home.

The speaker showed us how to use a manual cotton gin and prepare the cotton into punis ready for spinning.

She also brought along a bunch of cotton spinning supplies such as these tahklis, which she let a bunch of the group try.

And here she is demonstrating how to spin the cotton.

The procedure is very much like spinning wool, only much finer.

The other fun things the guild had in store this weekend was a show and tell of stuff the women made during the “Tour de fleece,” and the “Dye Fest.” Here’s one of the ladies showing what she made.

Here’s a close up of some of the lovely yarn another woman spun up and dyed.

Very nice! Maybe one day I’ll get to this point, but for now. . . must practice!

Marlakins

Quote Friday

2010-07-23T16:09:42Z

“I wouldn’t go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.”

~Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, USA, 1881-1940

GMO in Haiti?

2010-07-20T17:05:49Z

Oftentimes I have a few words to say about a topic. Maybe it’s too early in the morning, or these subjects emotionally wear me out because this time I only have three words. . . Good for them.

“(NaturalNews) In an attempt to backdoor GMO seeds into a new market, Monsanto has taken the opportunity to donate hundreds of tons of GMO seeds to Haiti and is calling it an effort to help the people in Haiti with earthquake relief. However, Monsanto’s “generosity” is being met with skepticism and outright rejection.

Recently, a large group of small farmers burned a symbolic quantity of Monsanto’s donated hybrid corn seed in the central square of the agricultural town of Hinche. A 200,000-member national coalition is encouraging Haiti farmers to burn all Monsanto seeds that have already been distributed, and has called on the government to reject additional shipments.”

The full article can be read here.

Marlakins

Another Pin Cushion

2010-07-20T03:10:58Z

Yesterday was my monthly “girlfriend craft day.” As usual we met at my parents’ place, then we all went out for dim sum. Afterward we settled down for crafting. We yakked about all sorts of stuff including recent news like the oil spill to Mel Gibson’s rants, heheh. Yes, I admit I stooped down to Hollywood smut this past week. . .

I worked mostly on my Donna Dewberry Grapevine Wreath, but still have a lot of work to go before it’s finished. So, for now I wanted to just share a few pics of something that I did finish the week. . . another pin cushion. This is what it looked like just before I assembled it.

This is what it looked like completed.

I found this pattern for free online. It’s called a biscornu. I used Christmas colors because I thought it would be small enough to use as a Christmas ornament. Ordinarily both the front and back are stitched with designs, but I only did the top side because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to assemble it properly and didn’t want to waste more stitching time. I’m happy that I was able to assemble it okay, so I plan to do more varieties of these. Here’s what it looks like from the side.

And here’s another angle of it.

I definitely want to try more of these and use other fabrics as well such as linen and even felt. We’ll see how they go and maybe I’ll post pics of them if I can get to them.

Marlakins

Quote Friday

2010-07-16T16:22:33Z

“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we can not eat money.”

~Cree Indian proverb

Pin Cushions

2010-07-15T02:13:43Z

A few days ago I was doing my usual online snooping, when I came across some cute pin cushion designs. I wasn’t looking for pin cushions (I was flipping back and forth from various news articles to various craft sites, heh), but you know how one link leads to another, and lo and behold, I found a reference to a book called Pretty Little Pin Cushions. I found that my library carried a copy, so I checked it out and dove into my craft supplies to see what I could whip up.

The instructions inside included the pattern pieces that needed to be blown up 200%, but since I don’t have a copy machine at home that would do that, I just decided to make up my own pattern based on their instructions. Being that I had never done this before, my pin cushion ended up being quite large, ha! But I didn’t know that when I first got started. Here’s what it looked like in progress.

I actually only followed the pattern idea, but the rest of the design was mine. The pattern I used for the little crocheted flower on the top is from another book I have called Crochet Bouquet by Suzann Thompson. This book includes very easy to read simple flower patterns.

This is what it looked like completed.

And here’s a side view of it.

Now, I knew when I saw these little pin cushion ideas that I would get addicted to them and have to make several before moving on. I’m always amazed at how creative some people are, and love to look at all the stuff people share on the net. I’ve gotten so much inspiration from other crafters on the net. So, for my part, when I finish my projects, I will try to upload them to share as well. Oh, and the next one will probably be smaller, too, heh. Probably about 1/3 of the size, I think, would be better.

My review for the Pretty Little Pin Cushion book about a 7. I felt that the instructions could have been better as well as the designs. I think a person who doesn’t have much sewing and/or embroidery experience might have more trouble with this book. Also, some of the pin cushion designs involve knit and crochet, but doesn’t give the instructions for those patterns, just the shapes of how the pattern pieces should look like. I know how to knit and crochet, so can pretty much figure them out. But for someone who doesn’t, I don’t see how they would be able to make those patterns. However, I still liked the book because it gave me ideas. It was fun to try and quick as well. I’ve found that there are a lot more free patterns online employing so many different techniques that I’m itchin’ to try them out! Can’t wait! Too bad there’s only 24 hours in a day. . .

Marlakins

Quote Friday

2010-07-09T16:07:05Z

“If you speak the truth, keep one foot in the stirrup.”

~Turkish proverb

My Independence Day Anniversary!!!

2010-07-07T00:51:35Z

Today marks nine years since my last blood transfusion. Despite the gloomy weather outside, this is a wonderful day for me! I’m just taking it easy, working on my favorite things–crafts. . . Like any other craft addict, I have a few projects going on at the same time. Some are “years” old, sigh. But, my resolution is to finish up my old projects and plug along on any new projects so they don’t last for years. Here’s a new project I started a couple weeks ago.

It’s called “Grapevine Wreath with Floral” by Donna Dewberry. The completed stitched size should be 14″x11″. Here’s how far I got about a week ago.

Here’s how far I am on it today.

And did I say that it’s hard to just work on one project at a time? Well, I started on something this Sunday. This might end up as a small bathroom curtain if it turns out decent. I’m thinking of adding beads on the bottom.

The pink ball, I’m thinking of using to make another curtain for my back door. Not sure yet. I’ll have to work up a swatch to see if I like how it drapes.

Another project that has been hanging around here for “years” is this cross stitch mermaid by Mirabilia. I LOVE her designs! I’ve finished all the cross stitching, but just need to add the beads now. I’ve got the beads off to the side.

Uh, yeah, got lots of wrinkles. . . hope it irons out okay once I’m done.

And as if I don’t have enough projects to work on, I picked up a few more patterns that I found too irresistible to pass up. I’ve long admired P Buckley Moss, and couldn’t pass up a few of her cross stitch patterns.

Then my girlfriend found out that I love Mirabilia patterns and she picked up several patterns for me that I just adore!!! I told her a few of them that I liked, and had no idea she would pick them up for me! Oye. . .

I thought I already had a craft stash big enough to last me my lifetime. However, somehow my stash keeps growing! I’m trying to get a grip, but it’s hard being that I’m such a craft addict. . . Well, at least I’m keeping my hands busy and staying out of trouble. And the icing on the cake is that I’ve been able to indulge in these things hardly ever giving a thought to my once obsessive occupation of trying to heal my aplastic anemia. Life has been good. God is great.

I’m off to the Theodore Payne Foundation to hunt for some drought resistant plants. Happy 6th of July everyone!

Marlakins

How Dare This Old Man Make Sense Before Congress

2010-07-04T18:26:34Z

I wasn’t intending to blog today, but I just happened to come across an article that moved me to write. I will admit that by the time I had heard about the Tea Parties, the concept had already been hijacked by other parties, and I didn’t realize until much later that the “original” Tea Party movement was started by Ron Paul. It has since morphed into something much different when now Sarah Palin’s name seems to get linked to the Tea Party, and strangely enough, her foreign policy stance is much different than Ron Paul’s. Compare Palin’s foreign policy beliefs (the woman is a domineering warmonger who needs to study up on her own country’s foreign involvement and policy history) to Paul’s, and one can easily see there is a “striking” difference. Here’s a clip of an example of Paul’s position in dealing with foreign countries such as Iran.

Sad that Ron Paul started the Tea Party, but the likes of Palin have hijacked it with her contrary and destructive ideas. I may not agree with everything Paul stands for, but certainly I agree with much more with him than Palin. Wish I didn’t stumble across her article on this 4th of July (reading about Palin’s beliefs and ideas doesn’t make for an enjoyable 4th celebration). What a sad state we are in that so many people stand behind Palin’s ideas and frightening that she almost became Vice President of the U.S.A. We need more peaceful, level-headed members in our government like Ron Paul. But I guess Bible prophesy seems to point that we won’t get that.

Marlakins