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Ok, I’m coming out of my cocoon briefly because of all this craziness with suspicious devices being found all over Boston. I was looking at the message boards over at Boston.com and someone posted something very interesting:

Here’s the text of that message:

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Why is no one catching on to this?

Scroll to the bottom photo on the right.

Now look at it in the dark.

Now go look up Mooninites. Or Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Or Cartoon Network.

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If this is the case, I for one welcome our new pixelated overlords.

On the upside, my guess is there will be a lot of job openings in the Marketing Department at the Cartoon‚ Network very shortly. Dust of those resumes . . .

Why does this make me so giddy? I just can’t wait to see what happens, the anticipation is delicious.‚ Lots of folks are freaking out because they think terrorists are just testing‚ reaction times and whatnot, but imagine a city held at a standstill because a cartoon character was‚ giving it the finger.

‚ Huh.

**Update – OK, they figured it out and updated the story I linked to. And now Deval Patrick is mad. But you know, I don’t really think they intended it to be a bomb scare or anything, just a cool, cute ad campaign.‚ Now I feel bad for Adult Swim. They’re just a bunch of geeks like the rest of us and now look.

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Well, I’ll be damned. Bad vintage fashion has gone all self-mocking on me! Will you look at this?

“Just What I Wanted!”

“zingy fashion in-ness!”

“Make him the 4″ wide tie or the exciting 5″ width – or both!”

Say what??

“Fringed vests are the newest thing with young he’s and she’s”

“bead the fringe in casual Indian effect”?

These bastards are trying to put me out of business! How can they do this to me? How can they be making fun of themselves? It’s not right, I tells ya’! Next thing you know, I’m going to find out they invented the granny square lo those many years ago just to mess with my head.

This is some kind of Terminator thing, I just know it. If you see a snarky cyberdynic robot running around making fun of people’s sweaters, let me know.

Now I’m afraid to answer the door. What if it comes for me? But it might be worth getting squashed between a speeding 18-wheeler crane thing and a fire truck just to hear the words “Stitchy McYarnpants?” in an Austrian accent. Maybe it’ll all work out ok and the Snarkinator will give me a thumbs up as I slowly lower it into a steaming crock pot full of yarn that I’m dying. We’ll see. But in the meantime, why not add a butterfly bow tie? The bow is wide, too – d’oh!

Always concerned for her family’s hygiene, Frida has an extra roll of toilet paper with her at all times. She tries her best to be inconspicuous, but everyone at the ski resort is well aware of the rule about yellow snow by now, especially when the Svenska family is on the mountain.

You can always tell when they arrive because little Olaf ends up with his tongue stuck to something within five minutes of unloading their luggage and cases of TP. Last year they had to melt and drain the skating rink.

*bonus points if you can complete the title correctly.

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‚ . . .from the seamy underbelly of the Museum world!

And unholy alliance of Kitschy Stitches and Bad Art has been formed, consider yourself duly warned.

I will be making an appearance at the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham, MA on January 15th at 7:30! I can’t tell you how excited I am. As a great lover of the arts and a long-time admirer of movie theater basements, I am thrilled at the opportunity to take part in this historic occasion. MOBA is celebrating the return of one of its crown jewels, a painting called “Eileen”, which years ago found itself mixed up in mystery and intrigue. There may have even been hijinks. You can read all about it here. Only at the event will you hear the tale of it’s journey home.

Join me, along with Leah Kramer, creator of the amazing Craftster.org and author of The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts, as we rejoice in the return of the prodigal painting. I will have the Traveling Trunk Show in tow and I know Leah will have something deliciously kitschy cooked up for you, as well.

The MOBA Gallery is located at 580 High St, Dedham Square, in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre. You can also visit them online!

Hope to see you at MOBA! There will be weenies!

(I couldn’t fit the whole newsletter from MOBA in this post, so I’m just going to paste the text about the event.)

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Help Us Celebrate the Return of “Eileen”‚ 
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In our last newsletter, we told you that our treasured, iconic painting, “Eileen” has been recovered, after being stolen in 1996. We will once again unveil this masterpiece and celebrate her return at a reception in the MOBA gallery on Monday evening, January 15.

We’ll retell the heart-stopping tale of recovering our treasure. After a ten year hiatus, you will be able to appreciate “Eileen” in person.

Please join us at 7:30 PM at the MOBA Gallery, 580 High St, Dedham Square, in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre. Traditional MOBA music and refreshments!

As always, this event is free. As always, creative attire is encouraged – especially if you have an Eileen-like hat.

And, as always, we would be delighted to have a few volunteers help with the event. Contact info@MuseumOfBadArt.org.

While you’re there, you’ll have a chance to take in current MOBA exhibit:
…Nature Abhors a Vacuum and All Other Housework:
…Unlikely Landscapes, Still Lifes, and Portraits.

And, as the following article explains, we are combining the return of Eileen with another very special event.‚ 

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Bad Art Meets Bad Craft‚ 
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You know that MOBA collects, exhibits, and celebrates art. We eschew craft and turn down offers of shag rugs, macramĩ plant hangers, paint-by-numbers, and more. But we appreciate kitschy craft.

The Boston area is home to the authors of:
“The Museum of Kitschy Stitches: A Gallery of Notorious Knits” and
“The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts:
Fifty Fabulous Projects From the Fifties and Sixties”

We have persuaded Leah Kramer, (“Craftster Guide”) and Stitchy McYarnpants a.k.a. Debbie Brisson , (“Museum of Kitschy Stitches”) to come to MOBA for a gala book signing. Leah and Stitchy will show us projects from their amazing books and tell us about the kitsch in their worlds.

This is also on January 15, combined with the event listed above. So you don’t miss this evening! There have been hints that Stitchy may bring one of her famous Astro-Weenie trees to complete the snack offerings.

See Stitchy at stitchymcyarnpants.com/moks06/ or visit Leah at www.Craftster.org.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the Queens of Kitschy Craft at the Museum of Bad Art.

A personal note: One MOBA staffer admits to crocheting. We have a photo of an item she created in the 70s from a pattern featured in “The Museum of Kitschy Stitches”. We’ll have that one enhanced and enlarged to present to Ms. McYarnpants.‚ 

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. . . in the Knitting Olympics? Maybe I’ll make one out of beer can, because I’m a winner, baby! I don’t know if I’m officially Dead Last, but I’m guessing I’m around there somewhere. That’s cool, I’m not big on exerting myself, so I took my time, poked and prodded some yarn with my size 7 Denise needles for a while, and whaddaya know? Less than a year later, the yarn finally relented and took the form of a new sweater for Jon!

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Not the greatest photo, but it’s all I have at the moment. It’s the second version of this sweater that I’ve made for him. It’s Manly from the first Stitch ¢â‚¬Ëœn Bitch book. Thank you, Ms. Stoller! The first one was pretty good, he even won a prize for it. rowr. But it was in size Small, which was a little, well, small. This time, I made it in Medium. It’s definitely bigger, maybe a little too long in the sleeves and bulky in the shoulders. But I’m reserving judgment until I wash and block it. The yarn is exactly the same as the lest one, just a different color. It’s of the unnamed coned variety from Webs (mostly wool, with 10% cashmere) and it has the most amazing bloom. It’ll take on a whole different look after a good soaking.

I finished this, along with a number of other projects on what turned out to be the most productive Christmas I’ve ever had. Jon, his mother, Barbara, and I went to my parent’s house for an overnight visit. On Christmas Day, we were joined by two special guest stars. My friend, Charlene, and her cat, Kuga!

We had a lovely time watching Elf and A Christmas Story, my favorite Christmas classics, had Chinese food on Christmas Eve and a nice ham dinner for the holiday. In between all that, I finished seaming a sweater for Ginger:

It’s the Side Wrap Kimono from Crystal Palace. I used Scoubidu in the colorway Blue Stone Wash. I think I used size 6 needles and used about two and a half skeins. I may have enough left over for a little hat or something. I still need to add a closure, and I’m thinking of a low-test Velcro that’ll be easy to use, but won’t stretch out the fabric when opened. I also want to crochet a little flower or something to girly it up just the tiniest bit.

And I felted the Mini Skull Tote. Here it is in it’s pre-felted state with no reference whatsoever as to what size it might possibly have been. I know, I try to be helpful in these matters. Basically, you could fit you head into it.

Aand here it is in all it’s felted glory.

Dot is‚ trying to give you some kind of scale. She’s not freakishly large or anything, so let’s just say your average cat head would fit inside it now.‚ I used Lamb’s Pride Worsted size 10.5 needles. Even though my intarsia left a little something to be desired, like quality and evenness, the felting dewonkified it somewhat. And even though my intarsia is a bit assy,‚ I love the results and it will be sent off to its intended recipient soon as thanks for a job long completed. Whoopsie.‚ 

So you see? I still knit. I‚ already started a new project and am loving it. I don’t have photos yet, I want to get a little further to make it more interesting. It’s‚ the Woven Kimono Cardigan designed by Kelly at the Elegant Ewe. You can see it in the second photo on their newsletter. It’s the gorgeous brown one. Also note the first photo. I love the Elegant Ewe. They let me‚ join them at Stitches East in Baltimore and I’m looking forward to working with them again. I’ll show you more of the Kimono soon. I’m just about to do the increases for the body, so it should be interesting.‚ 

On the Mike front, we at Chez Stitchy thank you for all your well wishes. Mike is doing really well. He came home on Wednesday and the first thing he wanted to do when he got home after refusing to eat since the previous Sunday was . .‚  leap. We cleared out a small room for him, but I guess we didn’t clear it enough because he was trying to jump up on everything in there. I got pretty much everyting else out except for a couple of small bins for him to sit on. I know cats like to get up high, especially when they’re feeling vulnerable, so I didn’t want to leave him high low and dry.

The room he was sequestered in is a strange little thing connected to our bedroom. Maybe it was a nursery or something at one time. We put up a baby gate to keep him confined, but by the next‚ morning, I heard him rustling around, then I heard his plastic cone scraping against stuff. Then the scraping got louder, it was coming closer! He had somehow scaled the gate.‚ It was kind of like a horror movie, but instead of being set upon by a maniacal killer, I was faced with this:

We always notice that whenever Mike comes back from the groomer (he’s been twice so far), he’s a little bit nicer than when he left. This surgery was like 100 visits to the groomer at once because all he wants to do it cuddle. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but I’m enjoyng it while I can.

And here he is, enjoying the unseasonable, and frankly frightenly beautiful weather today.

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It’s January 6th and the windows are open. The sun has gone down and they’re still open. Freaky. I need to get a Prius or something.‚ But until then, it’s perfect weather to enjoy with a friend.

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