Friday, July 31, 2009

LabLinoleum Coat

Sometimes it is easier for me to create when donning props that set the mood. One such accessory happens to be my new lab coat...





This lovely example of LinoleumLove shows off all of the anatomical embroidery I was stitchin' last fall in the form of embroidered patches. Let's see, we have the requisite eyeballs...


Oh yes, I had my name embroidered on my coat!



Lovely reddish intestines...



A multi-hued heart...



And of course, BRAAAIIINS!



I am hoping to add a few more embroidered doohickeys to this piece of wearable art along the lines of prescription drugs and syringes. You know, nothing like a border of dancing pills or syringes to make everyone smile! Move ova Nurse Jackie!

Ahem...

On a more serious note I'm thinking I should not wear this to divorce court...

All embroidery patterns EXCEPT the brain (my design) can be yours to stitch away. Just take a trip over to Sublime Stitching to purchase.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Haps at ChezLinoleum

I am trying desperately to get back into a regular blogging rhythm. To that end, a two week silence is better than silence for two months. Anyhoo, here's the ChezLinoleum update...

Firstly I'm a blond now...



I've never been one to shy away from changing my coif. Therefore, I head to my salon each month for a redo. It's exciting to see what my girls, Roxy and Carrie, have in store for me upon plopping my arse down in the chair for a leisurely Friday evening full of laughter, conversation and hairstyling abandon!

Next do-wop is this Friday. Life's little pleasures you know.

Speaking of life's little pleasures, I'm finally able to concentrate on reading again! I generally love to read, but the events of the past several months have prevented me from doing just that. I just could not focus on the words. Needless to say my mind has been little more than sludge due to the pummeling my soon-to-be-ex-husband has been giving me. Sucks. Anyway, with HIS presence absent from my physical sphere I am able to enjoy reading again. So, I am doing just that!



I'm about 400 pages into Pillars of the Earth and I have become totally absorbed in the story, which is great because I started this tome upon embarking on my latest divorce odyssey (yes, this is number two for me) and as I said above, I've been a bit distracted because of this experience. As a result, the first 300 pages of this book were a rough ride for me. I can tell that I'm beginning to have some clarity again by virtue of the fact that I'm feeling totally at home in this epic adventure.

Oh, but wait, there's more!

I am also listening to the audio book Eat, Pray, Love while toiling away at the office (and when not in meetings of course).



Now, I have to tell you all that I resisted this book for some time. First and foremost, everyone I know told me that this was a must read for me. You know, you're hurting Regina. So, be at one with someone else's torturous experiences and find comfort in her ability to have gotten through her tough stuff. Whatever. I'm not into the self-help thing I told them en masse. No, no, not self-help, we swear. Okay. Fine. I'll read the f-ing thing. Cool yer jets.

Let me tell you peeps, am I getting more out of this book than I ever could have imagined. It's a lovely memoir about fragility and strength, truth and consequences, discovery and fear, love and loss, pain and solace...in short I am loving this read (or listen as the case my be). I also am really enjoying the fact that Elizabeth Gilbert is the reader in the audio version, as it should be as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, I am working my way through a third book about journey, discovery and transformation...



Nicky Epstein is one of my favorite designers. Combine her complex, interesting and sometimes quirky style with a few travel memoirs and you've got a book I'm way into! I've only just begun perusing the pages of Knitting in Tuscany, but thus far this book is a visual delight and worthy of a few bookmarked design pages to be sure.

In addition to reading, I've been thoroughly immersed in music again. I realized that over the course of my last marriage, music had begun to vanish from my life completely . You see, my mostly unemployed soon-to-be-ex-spouse was home a lot and had the television on 24/7. So, listening to music was just not an option unless I walked around with my iPod attached to my waist, earbuds affixed, the resulting anti-social behavior becoming the norm. Not wanting this to occur for fear of reprisal, I just stopped listening to music (unless of course I was in my car for the 2.5 mile commute to and from the office each day). Yeah, now? I throw my iPod into the speaker dock each morning and sing my way to a finished face and coiffed do. It is heavenly.

I have very eclectic musical tastes ranging from R&B and rap to alternative to classical to world music. I am HEAVY into the world music thing. Lately my worldly bent tends toward eastern rhythms. Lots of Indian classical stuff as well as the not so classical, traditional and not so traditional Arabic music with a bit of Tibetan singing bowls thrown in for good measure. Love this stuff.

My daughter and I have been known to whittle away the evening hours sharing songs with one another via our dueling Macbooks. She thinks my music is "weird" and/or "sad", oftentimes urging me to add more Notorious BIG to my library. Needless to say, I have a good selection of Biggie Smalls since the onset of our musical sharing sessions. Got to love the teen peeps.

So let's see...reading again. Check. Groovin' to the tunes. Double check. Stepping up the work out regimen and taking care of the old (and I mean old as I hit the ole 4-0 this year) bod. Check, check, check! Oh yes, taking care of my weary mind goes hand in hand with taking care of the body. As such, I rehired my trainer the minute ye ex-spouse left the building. The dude is at my house two nights per week where he proceeds to kick my ass, thank you very much, and I try to hit the gym the nights I am not with trainer dude, Jerry.

Lastly, when not coiffing, reading, singing along or working through 58 sun salutations in a row I've been designing. Here are my latest and greatest stuffed wonders for Crochet Today mag...

Crabius Gigantius!



And a couple of shell pillows...



Even though it's been difficult to focus, I've tried to maintain my design regimen. No small feat, but well worth the effort in the end. Um, that last statement works for literally all of the subjects that I've covered in this post.

I feel as if I have awakened from a very long, very dark dream....

Monday, July 13, 2009

One Skein Goodness

Firstly, from the inner recesses of my heart and soul, thank you all for your lovely supportive comments to my last post. You have no idea how much your well wishes mean to me. You guys are great and I will try my damnedest to keep on writing despite my current tumult.

HUGE XO's all around!

So, even though I was silent for the past few months, my hands never ceased to move. Sure, I've had a bit of trouble in the design department simply because my brain power has been focused elsewhere, as you can imagine, but my addiction to all things fiber held steady nonetheless. As a result, I've been knitting and crocheting OPP's (other people's patterns) during my period of silence, which is definitely a good thing because I tend to learn a lot about other's design processes and construction techniques when working through said projects. Inspiration for later application to be sure.

Anyway, one such inspired and fast knit recently completed is the One Skein A Stole by Katja Jordan. The pattern calls for one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn to create the netted beauty below...



Got to love those Noro colorways. Makes simple projects such as this a pleasure to knit up...



I will be giving this to a friend who turned fabulously 40 two weeks before I did during the month of Taurus. She's not a knitter, but I'm hoping she'll enjoy this nonetheless. Good things come in small packages you know...



More FO's to come!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Back in Bat

Hello?

Still there?

Well, if there is anyone out there who is still remotely interested in my little green bloggy, I'm attempting to make contact...

I know, it's been a while.

I just couldn't bring myself to type into this window for the last few months...

My life, my world, had been thrust from it's axis and sent spinning wildly from it's orbit. Needless to say, it has been a really rough ride, the sheer g-forces propelling events in various tangential directions rendered me virtually deaf and dumb for a time. As a result I buckled up, braced myself and hung on for dear life, attempting to get through the last few months without being ripped to shreds.

In short, my life has been excrement...buffalo chips...meadow muffins...basically poo poo courtesy of a very large animal.

Here's the 411...

My divorce has been and continues to be very contentious (I could say more here, but I'm saving it for the teleplay), quite costly and currently in stasis. I have been laboring 50-60 hours per week in order to pay for the formal demise of my marital mayhem and as a result of this epic life event, I have become a very neglectful housekeeper (seriously, the dust bunnies have planted their flag and named their new territory Watership Down) and I am a shadow of the parental unit I once was. I am finding it difficult to finish tasks, both menial and material. I wade my way Monday through Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) without enthusiasm or motivation. The bottom line? Yeah, I am deeply in debt (hey, Beverly Hills divorce attorneys claim a few pieces of eight), still not divorced (UUUUUGGGGGHHHHH) and as if these two factoids were not enough, I have a distinct possibility of losing my home (more salt in your wounds Ms. Linoleum?).

Can someone stop this ride? I'm feeling sick and I'd like to get the hell off.

Okay, I do have at least one thing in my favor...

I'm a tough old bat (don't make me put on my knitted black wings). So, I will get through this, teenager in tow. Okay, this time next year we may be living in a fridge carton off of Ocean, but I'll be happily single and the waves will drown out the sound of my adolescent's whining, so all is not lost! I wonder if all of my yarn and fabric will fit in my future mobile home? My stash might make for a comfy mattress...

My glass? Definitely half full.

Anyway peeps, I'm back and I've missed you guys (you've no idea!). I have a lot to share, both crafty as well as calamitous. So, in other words, stay tuned because this blogging catharsis has only just begun...