ballin'.

by the time all the holiday income is counted and bills payed, i usually managed to squeeze out a special gift to myself/the sweetie pie press. since craft-enabling apparatuses bring me great joy, it's not hard to feel very self-satisfied with such a new acquisition.

this year, the investment piece was a yarn winder and swift. i have some new crochet projects involving lace weight yarns and the task of winding those 400+ meter skeins finally pushed me over the edge and helped justify this purchase.

these guys came in the mail today and i am entirely transfixed. i have to bribe myself into doing other work with thoughts like "finish writing out this contract and you can wind another ball."

the future is now.

bits and pieces.

one more image of the pieces of a wall and one more, unrelated, note.

for those who noticed this resolution i made, i am very pleased to state that i am typing this from one of the desks in my office. it's the first time i have been settled into this spot since the spring!

there is still a lot of work to do, but i feel like i got over a hump.

and now, back to the grind...

pieces of a wall.

this just in: we have heard on very good authority that wall pieces are selling like hotcakes in berlin. that's why, for the second instalment of the wunderkabinet, the sweetie pie press has contributed some very special artifacts - pieces of a wall. this edition of twelve consists of corked jars filled with 100% guaranteed pieces of a wall (from a genuine wall). wall pieces include various types of valuable wall material - brick, stone, plaster, dust, nails, fibre glass & wood (with possible extras like cobwebs) - all painstakingly harvested from a wall. do not delay, these pieces of a wall were collected in very limited quantity. they make wonderful gifts and are a great souvenir of the european metropolis of berlin.

this was a very fun project to work on. i especially liked how beautiful the pieces of a wall turned out to be in isolation. the pieces really made this project take on a visual life of its own.

sort stack.

just some images from today's sorting and sifting exploits.

crate expectations.

wooden crate + old pillow + old towel + tiny knit blanket = cat bed.

the fickle beast's adoption of its use = small miracle.

at least it is giving her a home base while i move furniture, sort, shred, wrestle a tree out of the apartment and generally shuffle around like a weirdo.

your faithful narrator = weird cat lady.

a year in review.

i've been seeing a few year in review photo montages popping up in the blogs i read (karyn and anabela, for starters) but it was faythe's post that finally tipped me over the edge and inspired me to go back through my archives and do my own.

january - toronto, on


february - toronto, on


march - toronto, on


april - toronto, on


may - philadelphia, pa


june - indianapolis, in


july - belleville, il


august - eureka, ca


september - ljubljana, slovenia


october - fürth, germany


november - lousiville, ky


december - toronto, on

i still have yet to upload all my pictures from 2010. it's a big job. but looking back through all the places, people and projects i have been involved with in the last year is entirely worth it. i have a real problem with looking forward and living beyond the present. this says nothing of my near inability to take stock of my past accomplishments and feel satisfied. 2010 was not a year without difficulties (are there such years?) but it was all jammed full with beauty, adventure, creativity, other people, magic and growth.

thanks for inspiring me, pals!

here's the whole thing on flickr.

resolutions: mend.

i have so much broken stuff and so many of the skills necessary to fix said stuff.

this year, i am going to work mending into my life in a more regular and meaningful way. mending mondays? we will see. whatever it is, i can not continue to live with a heap of broken (usually ripped) things that i won't part with and can't use.

the mending heap i have been preparing is daunting to say the least. i have to keep reminding myself of the great feelings that will come from tackling it.

to start the year off right, i did one of my best darn jobs to date on the socks i am currently wearing. a darning mushroom goes a long way, it would seem.