The Eye Boogie Man

When we lived on the rural route in southern Vermont, we didn’t get any trick-or-treaters. It just was not a safe road to be running around on. We would go to an event called the Jack O’ Lantern journey, where a path of pumpkins would light up the woods, with a basket of mama-made treats (not necessarily to eat) beside each pumpkin, and a story told along the way. It was magical, and when I didn’t find something similar to do out here, we had to create a little magic of our own.

I gave the Little Guy a knife and said, “Have at.”

Half an hour, a pile of pumpkin bits and some tempera paint later, he was bursting with glee and pride that he’d given his plump little charge a personality of his own imagining.

For a while, he was just a sweet, smiling face with a nice hairdo…

…but later revealed himself to be none other than…The Eye Boogie Man!

Gross.

In a good way.

And then when it came to lighting the pumpkins this evening, he was delighted to find that the Pumpkin Faeries had left a macaroon and some dried mangos under Eye Boogie Man’s hat.

…………………………….

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The Eve Looms

Decisions are made and I am crawling back into my body after many sleepless weeks.

The Little Guy and I will go north presently (well, in three weeks). Once again, we will be crashing at a friend’s place (where C has been for the last five months), but at least we will all be together and it will be ever-so-much easier to make plans from there. Plenty of room to run about on the farm, ducks to chase, goats to noozle.

There are benefits to adding the extra baby-step…we can take our time designing and building the platform, the plumbing, the flooring…all that foundation work that would have been rushed had we just tried to throw the dome up immediately. So. It’s good. We will have a much more snug and beautiful space when it does materialize. And we’ll be together sooner. Did I mention that part?

In other news, everything has been shipped off for Stitches East. A good bit of my regulars, mostly 2-ply and Monkey Mitt Knit Kits, but I did play with a little traditional 3-ply and absolutely loved the results:

Toucan came from some falklands top that I handpainted with Greener Shades non-toxic acid dyes. Because I love a good before-and-after shot (or in this case an after-and-before):

This week we will seek out the perfect pumpkins…I have been very torn about the Halloween holiday and the Little Guy…back in Vermont we participated in a Jack O’ Lantern Journey the last couple of years…Halloween was a gentle sort of experience, rather like the lantern walk for Martinmas, but with pumpkins lighting our way and songs around a bonfire in our costumes. This year we are in a suburban setting, my in-laws decorations are of the darker variety (coffins and bloody daggers) and I am doing my best to breathe it in and out and trying to describe the imagery lightly to O and encouraging him in dress-up themes that are characters worthy of imitation at the age of four. Anyway, my search for a similar sort of celebration around here so far has been fruitless. The local waldorf school usually has an alternative Halloween celebration but for some reason it isn’t happening this year. I know we will make it up north in time to participate in the Lantern Walk with a school in Arcata, and I’m grateful for that, but if there’s anyone around the Bay Area who wants to make a Jack O’ Lantern journey happen, do let me know!

And, although the yarns have all been sent to Stitches, I have lots of lovely felt pieces in the shop right now:

Have at!

I have not, btw, forgotten about Spinspiration #1. I got a little carried away after I carded the fiber and started needle-felting some strawberries and leaves to add in…I hadn’t meant to go that far with it and then Stitches prep swallowed me whole. Now that I’m spat out, spinning will commence! I plan to be much more regular with the Spinspirations from here, although I should probably just keep my mouth shut.