Molly Bee's Attic

Today was Sweet Willie Browne's sister's baptism day.  Here is her sweet self in the christening gown I knit for her. Is she not the most beautiful little angel?  As her Aunt Min, I may be a little biased, but I don't think so!

My Aunt and Uncle have a camp on a lake about 10 minutes from my Mum's house. My Grandfather built it and it's been a family tradition to spend lots of time there each summer. The recent hurricane dropped a lot of rain and the water is really high! Usually there is a shore line to walk, but not this year!  The docks are even all floating! The camp is the first one on a cove so the water is shallow and calm.  I love evenings there. My Grandfather drilled a hole in the granite rock in front of the camp for the tractor seat when he built the camp in the 1940s. It's an awesome spot to sit and reflect on things. One of my favorite things about camp is having a fire in the granite stone fireplace.  This year, the DNR had allowed my uncle to remove a pesky beaver dam near the camp and it had been out drying all summer. We used the sticks and logs to start a wicked good hot dog roasting fire! My aunt, uncle, cousin-Eric, Mum and I roasted hot dogs and fed the fire all eveni...

I was lucky enough to time my trip this year so that I could attend the Sherman Old Home Days Festival.  I haven't been since I was a kid.   There were games, a parade, a craft fair, a talent show, and live music but the highlight is the homemade pumpkin donuts!  Once a year a bunch of folks get together for one day and make hundreds of pumpkin donuts at the festival.  They are cooked in the front yard of a house. The Donut Hole! Get it? The ladies at the head of the line make the dough and then the next ones cut out the donuts. The guys fry them up in hot oil. Batch after batch! The smell is amazing! We got a couple and then went back to our spot to watch the parade.  It was pretty good for such a small town; lots of floats, music, art displays, Shriner's go carts, etc.  Here is a pic of my favorite entry; literally a 'dog and pony show'.  I love that the dog is bigger than the pony! (Click to Biggify.  It's worth it!) Had a wonderful t...

Just got back from two weeks back home in Maine. Had a wonderful time with Mum as always. Over the next several days I'll post pics from my adventures. I got some doodling done while I was away. I drew this cat for a Humane Society Benefit in Houlton Maine. And thus encouraged by filling in animal outlines, entered my 'Lobster Period'.  Here is one that is finished and in the Marion Burton (of the Rancho Cordova Burtons donchaknow)  collection. All of the designs in it are sea based; jelly fish, shells, starfish, trap rope, buoys, fish, clams, scallops, eels, anemones, coral. Hopefully that will distract the viewer from noticing that it's a mutant lobster with two too many legs.  I have another two lobster ones, with the correct amount of legs that that aren't complete yet. I'm thinking about Maine tshirt designs. Anyway, wonderful trip.  Loved rammin' around with Mum and the folks. More pics and details to follow.

Thanks for all of the great feedback yesterday you guys. I think some color and some black and white is the way to go. Now to experiment with color. I'm not comfortable with merging lots of colors and coloring the whole thing in.  Here are a couple of things I tried last night. I'd love to hear what you think! Just a couple of color pops... Limited three color palette with less saturation/intensity.

A dash of color or no?

I've been doodling tote bags recently and someone suggested I go down to The Sow's Ear and talk to Heather about selling them at the store. I called today and Heather agreed to meet with me this afternoon. I walked into the store with 5 bags hoping that she would agree to take them on consignment.  I walked out with the five bags and so much more! Plans are in the works to have a kind of gallery night on a Friday that isn't Knit Night. The store will stay open later and I will hang my totes on the walls so people can come in and look at them and hopefully buy them. This will kind of push the point that these aren't litho-printed, mass-produced bags. Each one is completely unique, and drawn by hand. Heather even mentioned having me there drawing so that people can see. Then after the show The Sow's Ear will carry them for sale with their regular inventory. Cool Beans huh? ! Here is what they look like'  This one has triple pockets on the front. 100% ...

Finished a pair of socks too! Since there are two socks I'm counting it as 2 projects finished!  Don't snarl at me.  I know how many of you have cases of Single Sock Syndrome!   I think this was Jawool.  Doesn't matter what the brand was... purple, now that's what matters! Basic ribbed legs with ribs continuing down top of foot. The weather is almost cool enough to dig out the cable sweater and get it finished. It was just too much to work on in the humidity.  Also working on another pair of socks but then again , I've ALWAYS got a pair of socks going. Also have another Swiss cheese scarf on the needles. Three projects at a time, unusual for me! It's slow going since I can't seem to tear myself away from the doodling! What are YOU working on?

My honorary nephew, Sweet Willie Browne's, sister Noelle arrived on Sunday! 7# /4oz/21 inches long and absolutely adorable .  She gets that from her Aunt Molly Bee! (NOT!)  Here are some pictures of the christening gown I made for her.  She received them yesterday so it's safe to post now. Closeup of the bodice. Full length view I was a little disappointed when I realized as I was blocking it, that there were color shifts in the yarn even though it's white and all the same lot number. You can see where I started a new skein twice although it's not all that noticible unless it's laying flat. The yarn got a shiny thread running through it and I wonder if it has to do with which direction the skein was knit from-outside or inside-might make a difference in the sheen and be noticible. Don't know for sure.  I also knit little Mary Janes from a free pattern that I found on the internet. It was only when I was packing them that I realized that they bot...

Yummy Whoopie Pies, no?  Actually...no.  I didn't think so anyway, but Ben sure did. These are tiny dog treats that Mum found on her foray to the coast of Maine this summah!  Ain't  they cunnin, Deah?? Ben consumed them too quickly to appreciate their cuteness but he gave them two paws up for 'hazzing flavor'!   In keeping with the' cookies for animals' theme, I made some Camelid Cookies for Llamas/Alpaca last weekend. Shredded zucchini, oatmeal, wheat flour, salt and a dash of molasses. Yum-NOT! They were only slightly more appetizing looking when they came out of the oven, but with those ingredients I though the llamas would love them. Not so much. They turned up their llama-ly noses and went back to munching the stinging nettles and thistles in the pasture. They preferred the prickly texture and toxic taste of prairie weeds to the rubbery concoctions that I baked for them with so much love. Now THAT's an insult! I'll take them to the barn and ...

I have ventured into the world of tote bags. Here is a knitting bag I doodled on Sunday night. It's 100% cotton and hand drawn in permanent black ink.I'm thinking about trying to sell them at knit shops locally or maybe open an Etsy Shop to sell doodled bags, necklaces, note cards and book marks but I haven't really investigated and don't know if there would be enough interest to bother. All of my stuff is pen and ink/black and white.  I think people tend to lean toward bright colors.  At any rate, I kind of like this one. That will be the hard part if I decide to try and sell them, letting it go if someone wants it and not adding it to my already bulging bag collection! Do any of you all have an Etsy shop? Do you sell any crafty things through local shops? Any hints/tips/tricks!  All suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

This here's Sonny.  Sonny is a sweetie pie and loves to be right around seeing what is going on in the barn.One of his favorite things is positioning himself to walk in front of you and then turning around and puffing up to defend himself because you are 'chasing him' .  His other favorite thing is perching somewhere close behind me and crowing to scare the bejessus out of me. He is a handsome boy with a good sense of humor. My kinda guy. Unlike some turkeys we know.  This here's eggs.  They are not from Sonny. He's not that kinda bird. Some of his lady friends gave these to me this morning.  They don't look like this now. They look kinda exactly like egg salad.

http://mollydoodlesallday.blogspot.com/2011/08/pendrills-challenge.html

I've been meaning to get to Olbrich for the last few weekends to see the butterflies and well...you know how it goes.... So today, since I think it ends in a week or so,  I finally went over there. I took my buddy Hannah Banana from next door with me. We saw waterfalls... Canaries  Koi fish (Hannah calls the white one with black spots the 'cow fish').  Beautiful flowers (Doesn't this orchid look like it's in the depths of a dark cool glen? In actuality the conservatory was eleventy-billion degrees and humid!  Butterfly weather!) We saw a lot of butterflies but only Monarchs and Yellow Swallow Tails.  I think maybe the others have lived out their two week lifespan and we missed them.  Double click on this one to biggify.  It's worth it.  The beautiful colors of the butterflies and the vividly hues of the flowers was breathtaking. My Swallow Tail photos didn't come out because they were in constant motion so it's all Monarchs I guess. We even got...

They are starting a bingo like game over on my Zentagle group on Yahoo. The 'entry fee' is to make a sampler of 9 patterns out of the 30 specified on a list. My sampler is posted on my Doodle site. http://mollydoodlesallday.blogspot.com/2011/07/sampler-for-new-zengo-game-on-my-yahoo.html

http://mollydoodlesallday.blogspot.com/2011/07/diva-challenge-32-art-is-for-everyone.html

Hit the Fairgrounds early on Saturday to beat the heat. Joey and Steve and I made the rounds in the barns. The animals were so hot. I love this photo of three different sized/patterned cows.  Then we perused the arts exhibits. This stained glass cabinet caught my eye.  As did this fabulous quilt of all of the counties in Wisconsin.  Couldn't get it all in one shot.  There was a hybrid car show. This old Gremlin brought back high school memories...  I don't know what this was but it was Molly Bee sized....  There was even room for Mr. Bentley if he wouldn't wiggle so much. I think it gets such great mileage because you have to pedal it to make it go. Maybe the solution is to make Ol' Ben pull it?  There was a sign on the midway that outlined how tall you have to be to ride on the rides.  Steve makes the grade. He's 'this big'. This girl wasn't tall enough but got in line anyway. She suffered the consequences.  (Actually, this was...