I was so involved with my injury and my mushrooms yesterday that I only gave you one crappy picture of the finished terrarium. I thought you might like to see a little more. Or maybe you're over the whole terrarium thing already, and wish I would move on to something else. If that's the case, then come back next time and I promise I won't even say 'terrarium' once.

Looking down from the top, and here's a more clear side view:

I don't have any helpful hints for you, really. I got that jar at Ikea for $5, and bought a bag of pebbles at Michael's for $2.29. I used about a third of the pebbles in the bottom, then threw a handful of potting soil on top of that and just piled the moss in there. It broke apart a little as I handled it, it's fragile stuff, but I think it still looks okay, and maybe it will grow and cover any bare spots. As for finding moss, I'm also not sure what to tell you. I've always liked moss, so I tend to notice it when I go on walks. This was growing in the shade, mostly near rocks, and I just picked it right up. I had enough of everything left that I made myself another one, which I think I will take to work and keep on my desk.

This one is in a Weck canning jar that I found at a thrift store. I found two, actually. The other one has some of my favorite buttons and buckles in it, but this one was just waiting for a special use. Don't their jars make you want to can everything? I would love to get some and just can all Summer long. I have plenty of mason jars, though, so I'll just have to be happy with those for now.

I also did more than make terrariums this weekend, I also started a skirt for myself. I really hope it comes out as I envisioned. I think it just might. Here's a little sneak peak:

Oh it’s so nice to spend my weekends in my little house studio. I set my iPod on shuffle, or turn on the portable DVD player, and just get to work. The quilt wall will be getting a lot of use, I hope. I sketched out an idea the week before last, and started playing around with it the last couple days.

It’s lap or baby-sized, and I’m thinking there will be three or four more flowers. I wanted to use shot cotton, and originally thought I’d do the whole thing with all solid shot cotton colors, but the quilt shop didn’t have any good, saturated pinks and greens like I wanted. I was so disappointed, until I wandered over to the batiks. I don’t think of myself as a batik sort of person, but the colors just got me, so I’m giving it a try. I’ll just be satisfied that only the background is shot cotton.

I also blocked my scarf, and am having a little fun playing with some Anthropologie-like embellishments from my vintage lace stash.

Since I wasn’t feeling too great last week, about the only thing I did was knit. I stuck mostly to my orange sweater, but I thought I’d start a couple other, small-ish projects just to mix it up a little. When I cleaned out my yarn stash I decided I needed to find specific projects for the yarn I have, so now I have a half a dozen things to chose from. I started on a shrug, because I just happen to have the exact number of skeins of Homespun in a lovely, deep purple. I needed a size 10 cable needle, so I was searching through all my circular needles and it turns out I have four size 9 needles and not a one in size 10. I’m not sure how that happened. Anyone need a size 9 needle?

I also managed to finish up the needle books and pincushions for the shop. They were a lot of fun to make, so I hope they all find good homes.

I woke up on day three of my three-day weekend with a killer sore throat. I already had a cold this Winter, so I'm not sure what the purpose of that was, but it was annoying. So I've been laying about, and between naps, did a little knitting. I'm powering my way through that to-do list, and started on my sweater. Originally, this yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca) was going to be an Assemblage sweater, which I love and still want to make, but because this yarn is alpaca, and therefore very soft, when I knit the patterned cuff you couldn't see much of a pattern. So I think it will be much better suited for the Diminishing Rib Cardigan in the latest Interweave Knits.

This is the first time I've knit a top-down sweater, but I think it might be my new favorite thing-no seams, try it on as you go, and easily adjust to fit! I also learned a new cast-on for this, the tubular cast-on. It was a little tricky, and I admit, it took about four attempts to get it right, but it makes sense now, and it does make for a nice edge. If you try it out here are my tips: 1. Use straight needle to cast on, and then transfer to your cable needles if you're using them, the cable created all kinds of problems for me, and 2. It will look like a big mess at first, but just give it a few rows, and it will work itself out.

Also in orange, the shot cotton scarves I mentioned last time:

I might be a little obsessed with this fabric, although I don't think I can do it justice in a photograph.

One last bit of orange (and white) for your amusement, someone found the catnip stash and had herself a little party:

Later we found her looking for pop tarts (the last paragraph of that news story cracked me up).

And now on to the turquoise. I painted my picture frame, which will eventually be an inspiration board, but it needs some help.

It's a little darker than I hoped, and also a little flat. I'd like it to be more the color of my tray, but I'm not sure what to do to get it there. Maybe a watered down greenish glaze? And a clear, glossy coat of paint? Any ideas?

And thanks for all the little pep talks about my bookcases on Apartment Therapy. I'm not letting the haters get me down, and really, the nice comments you left for me here more than made up for the snarky ones over there!

I have been a tiny bit obsessed with scarves lately, so this will be the first in a series of posts about the scarves I’ve been making. I finished a knitted one, experimented with a wrap and some elastic for another, and am raiding my vintage lace and eyelet for yet another. I have some more ideas I want to try out soon, too. I’m going to start with the easiest one of all, however. If you’re in need of a really, really quick project with maximum satisfaction, this is a scarf you have to make. I take no credit for this idea, I saw it here, where you can even order a kit, although for about the same price you can buy your own fabric and have enough for two scarves. The key is to use Kaffe Fassatt’s shot cotton. That link has really good photos, and you can see the two colors blended in each swatch.

They’re just really lovely, the depth of color makes the fabric look almost like silk. I chose two blues, as you can see. All you have to do is get a yard of each of two colors (you could even use one of the stripes or plaids if you want to go a little more crazy), cut them in half lengthwise and sew one half of each together along a short end. I pressed the seam open and stitched again to hold the seam allowance in place. Then toss it in the washer, dry it, give it a light pressing and trim off the long, ravely bits and throw it around your neck!

Winston came by to participate in my photo shoot. He was asked to leave when he started trying to lick the subject’s face.

Another shot of the fabric because I just love it. I will probably keep pulling out threads along the edges as I wear it to get more of a fringe-y effect.

And now, to change the subject completely, a friend gave me these beautiful red and white egg cups and ceramic egg tray for Christmas, and I was playing around with them yesterday.

My sister-in-law gave me the red chicken egg cup a while ago, and they are all so happy together! They’re all from Anthropologie. When my friend handed me the bag I didn’t even have to open it, I just told her I loved it right away. We went to Anthropologie while I was in Boise, and that store is just like the mothership to me. I may have splurged on a new bag, which, coincidentally, goes nicely with my new scarf!

Today I decided that my New Year’s Resolution is to clean the microwave and the cubbyhole where it resides. I hope I can get it done by December. It’s a somewhat frightening task in its enormity.

I have some more colorful things to share, which is especially good because it's dark and gloomy out around here today, and that means my drive to work is probably going to be excessively long. We Californians tend to come  a little un-glued when it rains. Once there was a huge, unexpected rainstorm on a Friday afternoon and it took me three hours to get home. Not even kidding. That was like two years ago and I still remember the horror. But that's another story for another day.

Do you have a uniform? You know, not an actual uniform, but a set of clothes you regularly wear with interchangeable components? Mine is jeans, t-shirt, cardigan sweater, flats. I try to keep it from getting boring by doing interesting things to my t-shirts, and buying things like green pants and cute flats. I wonder if I should be embarrassed by the number of cardigans in my closet. It's like I'm channeling Mr. Rogers. Anyway, back to today's colors!

I didn't realize that I needed yellow shoes until I saw these at Target, but I think they are going to turn out to be this Fall's must-have accessory. Thank you Target for now carrying shoes in size 11 for my ski's-for-feet! Stinkin' cute, right? I didn't get the little ankle strap in the pictures, but you can see the little heels below.

I am modeling them with my new $15 Old Navy grey cords. I had to give up on the idea of winning that weight-loss competition. That was a stupid idea for me to join a weight-loss competition with a bunch of guys. So, since there was no chance I would be taking home any prize money, I've obviously been pants shopping. And it it nice to be able to walk around without constantly tugging at my waist band to pull my pants up. Plus, you know, you can look pretty cute for not a lot of money, I'm discovering.

Another Target find that I am enjoying:

I generally hesitate to decorate with mass-produced 'art', but I just really love this tray, and the colors were perfect for my living room. Plus it is functional, I can always take it down and actually use it as a tray. Trays are good things to have around.

I'm knitting more socks, pink this time! This is my first time using Knit Picks Essential Sock yarn. I wasn't too sure I would like it, it's so inexpensive and I am partial to Lorna's Laces, but I think it's a nice yarn for the price. Sure, it's not hand-dyed, but I bought a few colors, and they're all pretty nice. Sometimes you just want a good, solid color, you know? And it's washable, and quite soft, so as long as I'm on this sock knitting bender, I'll keep using it. Has anyone knit socks with it? I'm curious how well it wears.

And I'll leave you with not color, but a black and white cat and a short list:

1. I watched Lars and the Real Girl this weekend. It was so sweet.
2. I can't stop playing Zilch. Don't click that link, I'm warning you, you'll start playing and won't be able to stop.
3. For my fellow Americans, take this quiz and see how much you know about our history and government. I'm embarrassed that the average is so low. We need to know this stuff, people! Politics is beyond the scope of this blog, but I think it's important to know this stuff (I was in the 80% range, if you were wondering, and I think I should have done better). 
4. You would never know that 10 minutes before the picture below was taken there was a black and white blur flying from one corner of the house to another, bouncing off window sills and jumping on the kitchen counter, which is absolutely NOT ALLOWED in our house. It is against the rules, I tell you!