asi - asi

I'm beginning to think that 2009 is just one of those years. Seems like far too many friends, both two legged and four legged have passed over the rainbow bridge. Folks on this side mostly struggling to keep afloat. I get by, but this has been a year of things going sideways in the workshop, in a nibbled to death by mice kind of way.

Currently, this is driving me bugfuck not so good -

detail of a small portion of 1"x.75" enamel

Hard to tell from the picture {{why}}, but part of the wire shifted under the enamel, and when I ground down to the finished level, ends that should be aligned were offset by about 1/64". I think that the simplest thing is to re-do the entire piece, though I may try grinding away the enamel on both sides of the wire for enough distance to allow me to attempt to detach it, move it back into place, and rebuild the enamel. Either way, about six hours of work is not up to my standards wasted. Perhaps I need to make a shrine to the divinities of the fire arts. Sometimes I love my job.*

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On the other hand, look at this pretty thing... while riding the bus this week, I knit an oak leaf! I have great plans to knit a new winter hat, and my crazy idea is to take this oakleaf and acorn Aran cable and make it small. The leaf as knit here in fingering yarn is just about 2" long, so I should be able to get five repeats of the vining oak leaf and acorn patttern around the crown of the hat.

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I picked all the cherry tomatos, since we keep getting repeated forecasts for frost, and the plants all have late blight anyway. Over seven pounds of them, mixed reds and yellows, certainly more than I can eat. I wonder if you can make sauce from them??

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* well actually I have four jobs, making things with enameling is one of them. The other three are custom sewing, teaching artisanry, and cleaning houses.