Molly Bee's Attic

Haven't been blogging much.  The past couple of weeks have been hectic and the next couple will be too, but I wanted to get in my Diva's Challenge entry for this week. Last week was all straight lines. This week's is all curves.  This one was easier for me since I can't draw a straight line with a ruler!  So here it is..."Love Your Curves Baby!" Also I was honored to have a Guest Tangle In Residence last night. Here is Her Nib's very first tangle.  She wishes to remain anonymous so you may call her Miss Nibs if you are so inclined! She flew in the face of convention by doing hers entirely in pencil, the rebel. I may miss out on the challenge next week-sob. I'm really enjoying doing these. Check out the other entries at the Diva's website.  Just click on the button on the left!  Have a great week!

This week's endeavors: The 'tree' in the middle is an experiment gone horribly wrong, but the pussy willows on either side are my own invention.  I'll post the instructions at the end of the entry.  Liked the little corner things while I was doing them but they make everything unbalanced.  I like this one a lot.  Close up This is my latest one. I think it may be the largest.  I can't seem to get the basket weave design down, that's why there are two large dragonflies on it covering most of it up-it was too big a patch to look that barren and goofy.  I still have to shade it and it will be interesting to see if shading makes that big a difference. Maybe I will post a side by side when I'm done. Here is the guide for Pwizzles Happy Tangling this week! Later: Adding a note to post the Week 14 Diva Challenge-Only using straight lines, no curves, curls, spirals, circles, donuts or pwizzles!  Everything on this supposed to be straight, if it appears oth...

What an extraordinary weekend! Friday night was Knit Night at the Sow's Ear and Franklin Habit, author and Master Knitmeister was on hand to sign his book, It Itches.  He also did a reading and had us all rolling (more so than usual even, which could officially constitute a medical emergency in some cases).  Then he popped into The Naughty Girls' room to visit with us for a bit. He regaled us with stories of his knitterly travels.  I've met Franklin several times and he is always every bit as delightful in person as  he is on the web.  Here's a picture of the two of us together.  I cropped it a little so it only shows the nice bits. Saturday I went to the Madison Knitting Guild's Knit In at The Bishop O'Conner center here in Madison. I had signed up for Franklin's "How To Photograph Your Knitting So it's Recognizable To Other Humans' class in the afternoon, which left the entire morning free to sit by the windows overlooking the serene courty...

I try to learn something new every day. Today I learned that an alien life form apparently controls my left hand, because I certainly don't! The Week #13 Zentangle Challenge over on The Diva's website is to draw a tangle using your non-dominant hand. Now those of you who know me in person know that when I'm talking, I'm an equal-opportunity-hand-waver-arounder kinda girl so I didn't think this would be as difficult as it actually was. Oh. My. Gosh! At one point I had to literally sit on my right hand because the alien kept trying to pass the pen to it and it kept saying, "Sure I'll take it, give it here!" My brain knew what I wanted to do, but the alien short-circuited the message and just did its own thing every time. It was fun and I'm glad I tried it, but I'm glad to switch back to the hand I control from now on. Here's the shameful entry for this week.

My blue tangles from earlier last week made it into the slide show over on the Diva's site.  Click HERE if you want to see some REAL talent.   This week's challenge is to do an entire doodle using your non-dominant hand.  Oy! That oughtta be  wicked gaw-jus when it's done, Deah! But I'm looking forward to trying it anyway. At any rate...here are the others I did last week. I did this one with friends and was distracted so ...meh. It was fun to get together with Scott and Michael for the evening though! The more I look at this one, the more disturbing it is and I'm not sure exactly why.... My favorite quote and more experimenting with color.  The fern on the right is clunky in a 'hand rising from the grave' kind way. This is the only one I've been really happy about this week.  I love the 3-D stuff! The best part is, even if they turn out sucky, it's sooooo relaxing. If anyone wants to get together and learn the basics, I'm game.  It's...

This sign is woefully out of date!  It should read' 13 sets of triplets', '33 left to lamb' and 80 lambs total because I took this picture about two minutes before I got to see a ewe give birth to triplets !!!! You would have thought I was their mama I was so awestruck and  proud!  I got there before the farm was actually open and the only folks around were staff folks setting up.  I heard a ruckus over in the 'birthing suite', ran over and sure enough in the blink of an eye 'three on the ground'.  I was so rapt, I didn't even take pics. Didn't even think about my camera until I was back on the other side of the barrier...but if you look closely in the pen, you can see one of the fresh-born lambies (lambie # 1) next to his mama. Lambies' # 2 and #3 were still laying down as it was an exhausting journey. There were also slightly older lambies and their maaa-maaas. As well as those a bit older still and adventerous enou...

I wish I could put one of those circle with a line through it thingies on the title banner of my blog. Spring has sprung. Yeah. Right.  This is the rain we were promised that was supposed to take off the lingering skriddlings of snow we had left. Pretty thick rain!  Slippery-ah than a cuppa custahd too, Deah!  I got stuck on the way to work.  I was doing great until I got to a stoplight on a hill.  Couldn't get started once I had stopped on the red. Maybe if the roads in Madison had seen even a hint of a snowplow or a dash of salt it would have been better, but true to form, we citizens are responsible for chowdering it all up into a finely minced slurry that is  much like driving in petroleum jelly mixed with snot. Much as every weatherman in the Southern Dane County area lied, so lieth I.  I'm putting Mollydoodles on a Wednesday-gasp.  There's a reason though. This is the first time I'm entering The Zentangle Diva's weekly challenge...

Only four meditation pieces this week. They are a little more involved than some of the smaller pieces so they took a bit longer. Wrapped Up In My Own Little World Untitled Layers I Snakes and Snares And lo and behold, I do declay-ah, they-ah has been knittin, Deah! I was fortunate enough to have Knit Night on Friday night and then not feel well over the weekend. Life handed me hops so I made brew as my friend Bob says.  (The Lemon/Lemonade thing is so cliche, he's hoping it will catch on.)  Since I was on the couch most Sat. most of Sat afternoon and night and all of Sunday, I cranked out the rows.  Of course it's shaping up to be done about mid-July....no exactly sweater weather, but I'm givin' 'er all I've got. Cap'n! What did YOU do this weekend?

Lots of friends have seen the first robins of spring but they have so far eluded me even though my eyes are peeled looking for them.  I did, however, see this guy this morning which kind of made up for it!  (Click on the pics to biggify. You won't be sorry!) Gorgeous, eh?  In all likelihood he very well could have eaten the first robin of spring....but what a handsome devil!

Although it's supposed to snow a bit later (heavy sigh), there is definitely a tinge of spring in the air around Chez Bee these days. It's weird. There have been no physical changes; still cold, still icy, still bleak.  But that tiny voice in my head has begun to softly chant, " There's hope...there's hope...there's hope ."  The tiny voice has either been really quiet for months or it's been drowned out by the myriad of other, more mischievous voices rattling around in there, including the one who sounds like Animal from The Muppets that has been bellowing, " All hope is lost! All hope is lost! " for the past several weeks. I don't know.  I'm just glad it's finally back. This week has been a whirlwind of vet appointments, chores, errands and socially things. I'm looking forward to lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a couple of months today and a movie with my second mother this evening- Gnomeo and Juliet.  Shut up! ...