i'm a knit alien

i feel like an alien
lost slightly in a world that seems strangely familiar
but the road map went missing

i am good at blending in
everyone believes i belong
and that nothing is amiss
but i truly am green and gooey on the inside, where it counts

so if i seem a little aloof
take it as sign
that i am deep in thought
or just very confused

leaves flutter to the ground
and they have seen their cycle
met their purpose

winter winds herald hibernation and snow
the cover the creeps to still your mind
swallow the ground
slow things down

golden treasures
if only we knew where to dig

topsy turvey alien knitwit
bemused
bewildered
still

creature comforts

lasso your secret and best kept desires
lay into a new world beyond the realm of which you are keepin
attack the creature and consume the comforts
chip away at the chocolate you crave and conspire

out of the oven
fresh and brimming with bubbles of you
sweetness that kindles and cavorts
taste what you long to set free

maybe your are partaking of the wrong cup of tea
something to sooth you
not far from where you began
easier if you could have the vision
it need not be so sweet for the sustenance it would bring
fills all needs and appetites

Message for the Blogosphere:

times are materially tough, and you feel the pressure, the tightening of the financial purse strings, the constrainment in your daily forays. do what you need to do, don't sacrifice too readily for you may do yourself undue harm. do only what is level, your level best as it were. sharing to make the load less, caring to make the times softer, harboring less doubt and more a sense of a bigger vision that takes you back to your basic self, the one you came in with, the one that knows what you truly crave when things get a little down.

sewin' it up

sew, you know what i am doing today?
all of that sewing that keeps piling up around the machine
until it cascades to the floor and i stumble, fall, curse, and scream
then i pick the mound up and vow to get to work
today is that day
(i think, i hope, i PRAY)

ever since my first trip through europe and happily, through finland
i stop for the designs and colorways of marimekko
i found this large cotton shirt at the thrift store for a dollar
today, before even getting dressed to for the almost autumnal weather outdoors
(1o days ago in the high 90's!!)
i took up the shoulder seams and a little tapering at the sides

can't stop making these creatures
they sprung from a knit "tart and cookie" pattern
but somehow they became alive
knit monsters from outeryarnspace

this maybe the face of the pinkypurl alien
or it may just be a cry from me for help
lift the curse of insane stitching up of otherworldly fluff and squish

cupcake anyone? this one is lavender laced
precious!! purfectly purpley pink calories - ohhhhh

the top
worn with my lucky charms necklace that changes daily
rolled up jeans
silver converse sneaks
and a coat
'cuz it got cold here

(ps when i have to work for rent, i can't seem to create so much. now i am "inbetween" temp gigs, looking for the next buck, but having a great time returning to my creative homefront. can i ever find a life that somehow offers both? oh, i am so ever trying....)

Oh my, octopi!

Is there an octopus in the house? I wish that I could claim that this little bit of whimsical knitting came from my own industrious little fingers, but alas, it does not. But it was so damn cute, that it needed to be shown to the blogosphere in all it's retro colored beauty.

Could you swim by my place tonight? I'll give you more than eight good reasons to stay!!!!

If this had not been a special request order for a mutual friend, this would have landed in my handbag somehow, and come home with me. By this point, we would be on a first name basis and I would feel free to share with y'all some of the deep blue secrets that I had ferreted out over seafood cocktails.

The creator of the cute creature of the sea is my friend, Mary for Miss Lynar out of lovely yarn colors that were inspired by a vintage VW bug in Lynar's past.

This awesome pattern, and more, can be found here by Hansigurami. Damn, but if this girl ain't talented!

Hansi Singh also now has an entire book of her incredible knit amigurami = check it out!

The little one that stayed behind

One day I was in the midst of making zombie cupcakes for a friend, researching online for patterns, trying out said patterns and gathering creepy colors for the "Night of the Living Dead" knit cupcakes. Scratch here was born.

He just never left home. That's all I can say. I loved him too much to see him travel anywhere beyond my side. But he wanted to have a roam. Scratch felt it was his turn at the modeling routine. So, here we are. This is somehow Scratch's favorite spot.

We didn't work too hard at this photo shoot. The weather is a little overcast and humid and our coffee cup was empty. But now Scratch had had his moment of blog fame. His Cotillion Ball, if you will, of being introduced to the world. Scratch is a lot like me - now that he is through, he just wants a moment of quiet and a good vampire novel to sink his teeth into. Literally.

Happy Easter from me and the "chickies"!

I am still putting the final touches on the last of the "loopy" designed chickies, but here are some of my other little creations for you to see...

They are lining up and heading out to baskets and Easter celebrating homes near you!

They are pretty adorable, if I do say so myself...

These little variety of chickies later received some sequin and seed bead eyes - but I had to show you...

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Chickie Wonderland

Some of you - my very dear and few - were kind, loving even accepting of the birth of an entire chickie nation over here at chez madly. So, I thought I would share with you the third and final of the chickie variations to come out of the knitting hatchery - the "loopy" chickie! The one above is the vintage family treasure that I am recreating and making a pattern for - and is she ever one intense chick! This is defintely a work of love - and I have not even made it to the very tiny crocheted hat on her cute little head.

I have never done this loop stitch before. Not all of the stitch dictionaries even carry this one. You should see the cute hat and collar pattern I found in my 70's stitch book using this wild stitch work. I am sorely tempted to make a collar for myself. I am getting good at this loopiness.

Crazy knitting 101

I am trying to get past all the knitting that I have been promising to people. Finishing my "creative commitments" to others so that I can go on and discover that other artist that I so long to be. But I keep coming across stuff that I still have to do - like these Easter Chicks.

My sister's mother-in-law's grandmother made this little chickie. Last year she asked if I could make up the pattern for her - and I am just getting around to that promise now. At least it is time for the holidays - this year.

So what I have been doing all weekend? Instead of making things for the Etsy shop or for a shelving area that I hope to fill in a local store, I am making chickies. I am making enough chickies so that everyone in the family gets a set for this Easter. I am making chickies until I am blue in the face. And I haven't even begun the part where they get the cute little button or sequin eyes, the felt or crocheted cockscomb and the whole formatting of the pattern. Nor have I begun the one that has the ever so special "loop stitch" and little crocheted hat.

I am crazy. How far must I go before I am at the end of my tether here? Will the serious art ever begin? Maybe I am just a "chickie" at heart.....