update your links!

i've moved my blog over to vox, because i'm happier with it in general. blogger wasn't as lovely as i'd hoped it would be.

so from now on, you can find me at
http://savvymercury.vox.com

woot.

bpal list

because several people have recently asked me, my current imp collection consists of:

general catalogue:

* seraglio
* nyarlanthotep
* laudenum
* kuang shi
* skuld
* ave maria gratia plena
* silk road
* belle epoque
* czernobog
* somnus
* belladonna
* follow me boy
* kitsune-tsuki
* antique lace
* ouija
* twenty one
* r'lyeh

limited editions:

* red lantern 2008
* fruitcake
* night thoughts
* valentine of rome
* archangel winter
* cheshire moon
* lunar eclipse
* chrysanthemum moon

still sick/ cool online thing of the week pt. 1

too sick to be outside taking pictures. so this week's photo assignment for my photography class will probably end up like last week's: rushed at the last minute. yay health-induced procrastination.

that being said, i have had a lot of time to lurk around the blogosphere. as such, i've decided that sundays will be my "cool online thing of the week" day. this week's thing, handbound books. specifically the one's made by rhonda at
my handbound books. she is very talented, and seeing her blog renews my love of book binding. (which is defenitely on the to-do list of crafts i MUST try, someday.) go check her out, and if you feel so compelled, poke about her etsy store.

written through a haze of cold meds

so i fixed the link in the previous post, thanks to and the other blog still looks like crap anyways, we don't all need to be running over there just yet, lol.

an online friend, heather mentioned me on her blog! i feel somewhat famous :blush: so i thought i would return the favor. heather is one of several nice people who i have met on raverly, my most recent online addiction. i like having new online friends.

several of you have been asking me, where's the knitting? to be honest, i haven't really had much time for the knitting lately. i'm doing a pretty poor job of time management, adjusting to the new semester and all. several of my classes are really demanding this semester, but i prefer them that way. (i'd rather feel like i'm actually learning/working towards something, rather than just attending class and mindlessly taking notes.) i have a really bad chest cold/infection/thing that hurts when i cough (and i'm coughing a lot!) so i might get a few rows of something done this weekend, while i'm just sitting around trying to recoup.

a division of laybor

so i've decided that this blog is too full of pictures, and most of them are not knitting-related, or nepenthetic, for that matter. therefore, my photography will now be posted on www.mercurialphotography.blogspot.com
come take a peek now and then if you'd like.

oh, the joys

my new camera has come! and it is probably the most badass camera that anyone has ever owned. unless you own a 1D, or a 5D, or a markII... or a large format camera... but or some sort of high powered nikon.
anyways, some playing around shots:


redo with the new camera:

365: 1/7-1/14

yeah, yeah, i know. i'm behind.


jan 7- docks by the toby bridge; playing around with tilt-shift



jan 8- ice near the docks



jan 9- tributary to the clarion river, flooded



jan 10- clarion river (i don't really like the focus on this, but oh well)



jan 11- bridge near emlenton, pa



jan 12- random doodle in my notebook, cup of coffee. this pretty much epitomizes my college experience.



jan 13- reference books, clarion university library



jan 14- river hill, very blue sky

i can has paradoxes?

what, did all the web comic designers get together and decide on a theme for today?
all the comics in my google reader are about paradoxical universes! well, accept for wondermark. that comic was about a kitten on a stove.

observe:

falling behind

so lately, i've been lagging on everything, including blogging and knitting. i've just been so damned tired lately! i think it's my body reacting to the new semester, classes and work starting again. i have technically been keeping up with my 365 pics, but i've failed to actually upload them to the computer. i win, i know.
hopefully sometime this weekend. :crosses fingers:

project 365- week one

jan 1st- warming my feet by the fire



jan 2nd- my grandmother's christmas tree



jan 3rd- my brother, christopher



jan 4th- my friend's new baby, willow susan



jan 5th- mermaid gloves, wip



jan 6th- my puppy, tasha

the infamous tattoo

that didn't turn out right. however, lots of you have asked for pictures, so here they are:






they were supposed to be... symmetrical, and they are clearly not. my plan is to go back on friday and see what can be done about this problem. i may get the larger of the two birds turned into a red-winged blackbird, but of course that is all speculation at this point.

bad mood

i'm in one. ever since new year's i just feel depressed and sullen, like there's no point to doing anything. i applied for a new job, because i could really use more money, and they haven't called. my house is trashed, it will probably need to be entirely shampooed, and i don't have the cash for a rug shampooer. my schedule for next semester looks... dubious at best. (read no english classes available)
i think i'm exhausted. yet, that dosen't make any sense, when i've just been on vacation. however, returning to my apartment has put me in a terrible view of things.

i'm getting a tattoo tomorrow. i don't even care.

ice

last night we had another bad storm, one that rocked the walls and pounded against the glass of our antique windows all night. it was hard to sleep through; and when i did fall asleep the bangs and howls of the wind weaved in and out of my dreams.

this morning when i woke up, however, i was amazed to find this:

a world covered in a thin sheet of ice! it glistened and sparkled as if the trees and shrubs were made of glass.


in other news, i've finished my sister's booga bag. one more christmas project down, about a bazillion to go. good thing the cold weather makes me want to stay inside and knit!

finished koolhas

i couldn't sleep last night, so i finished programmer's koolhas this morning, at about 3 a.m.



overall, i think it turned out pretty well. the decreases were a little confusing, but in the end it turned out all right.

samantha's show

my friend, the very talented samantha, had her graduating show opening this friday in the empty set of boyd hall. it will be up till i think next thursday, so if any of you clarion students need a break during finals week, stop by and see her art.

a brief preview of her work:







all images belong to me, all artwork is (c) samantha stevick, 2007

and of course, the artist herself:

camera issues

next semester, i'm taking a photography class with dr. nulf (yes, for those of you that know the story, i finally got into the damn thing!!!) i am very excited. for all of my photography meddling, i really don't know what i'm doing. i'm just starting to understand things like shutter speeds and f-stops, and my knowledge is quite fuzzy and mostly gathered from wiki articles and forum discussions. it will be nice to have someone actually explain things to me, start to finish. of course, there's always the risk that the class won't live up to my high expectations, but that's a risk i'll have to take i suppose.

which brings me to my most recent photography conundrum. right now i have a little fugifilm point-and-shoot. for the class, i need to have something that lets me shoot entirely manual, and i'm pretty sure that this complies. the only thing i'm worried about is that it might not let me adjust the white balance, but maybe i'm just missing that bit so far. overall, it's a nice camera. it was cheap, as far as decent cameras go, a bit less than $300. but like i said, it's a P&S, and definitely not a DSLR.

to be honest, i'm intimidated by SLR's. i oogle them, drool over them, but i refrain from purchasing one because i'm not exactly sure how to use all of it's bells and whistles. granted, after this class, i may have a firmer grasp on it. so my question is, is it a better idea to learn on my little P&S, or should i go out and obtain a medium-priced DSLR, perhaps canon's EOS 40D?

hebalistic thursdays

tonight, after many hours of working, i finally finished a mama k's christmas present, an herbal balm made specifically for her. lately my herb collection has gotten a little out of hand, and i new that mama k really liked lavender, so this seemed like a really good idea.
after some brief research (i had never made balm before) i came down to this general recipe:

1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. dried herbs
1/16 oz. beeswax
1 t. vitamin e

first, set up a double boiler. this is basically a large pot halfway filled with water, with another, smaller pot on top. turn the heat on high (so that the water under neath starts to boil) and add to the smaller pot your olive oil and your dried herbs. for mine, i used some anise seed, orris root, marshmallow root, yarrow, red clover heads, a couple of cinnamon sticks, and lots and lots of lavender:


cook this mixture down for about four to six hours, stirring occasionally and checking to make sure that all of you water in the bottom pot dosen't evaporate. (add more water to bottom pot as needed, just be careful not to get any water into the herb/oil mixture). after four to six hours, strain the mixture using a cheesecloth or several coffee filters. discard the herbs. add vitamin e to oil.

at this point, you basically have an essential oil. you could do several things from here, including just keeping the oil and using it like you would store-bought essential oil. you could add some sugar and make a lovely sugar scrub, or add to a batch of soap, ect.

however, we are making balm. so once again, heat your oil in the double broiler, and grate your beeswax into your warm oil. stir until melted. if you want a thicker balm, use a bit more wax, if you want a thinner balm use a bit less than recommended. it may take you a few tries to get your proportions just the way you like them.

once wax is all melted, pour into clean, dry metal or glass containers for storage. let cool completely, and cover with lid. balm may keep up to a year in cool, dark place. this recipe made about 3oz of balm.

knitting tarot

over on ravelry i'm part of a forum of ladies who love both knitting and tarot. it would seem that the recently released knitting tarot would be right up our ally. that is, of course, until you look at the price tag.
now don't get me wrong, i'm all for independent designers. and, i can appreciate the fact that this deck is hand-printed, which racks the price up a bit more. however, at this stage in my life, there's just no way i can afford it.
many of the ravelry girls felt the same, and we've decided to make our own knitting-themed tarot. as such, here is my contribution for this week:

lightpainting

playing with the new camera

cell phone:




lighter:



pilot light:


the last two were supposed to be a rose and a heart, respectively. :shrug: oh well.

desolate

today, as i went out to the barn, this is what i was greeted with:


and all i could think of was how desolate things start to look around this time of year. you can just tell that everything is beginning to seal itself off, curl up, and prepare for winter. there's a stark nakedness to these woods in the fog, and it's made even more dramatic by the snow and the mud. not to mention that we've been having terrible storms here lately. not really snowy, but wet with very strong winds that howl in the night, just as i'm about to drift to sleep. when i was a little kid and i heard that, i always thought it was a banshee.

even the horses seemed particularly stressed this afternoon. i tried to take pictures of misty for online friend kol, but it was a useless venture. she wouldn't stay still:


i guess i can't blame her though. storms are especially hard on horses. aside from the fact that they have to stay in their stalls because of the lightening, they can feel the storms. the pressure and the excess electricity does strange things to the little hairs in their ears, and i can't imagine that it's a pleasant sensation. especially when combined with that haunting sound in the wind.