So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

To aid us in getting to page number 4, here is another top level comment. To keep us in the realm of lovely conversations, as decreed by our gracious host wiseheart, I offer this topic of conversation:

Has anyone found any new hobbies lately? Or taken old ones back up, that they hadn't been finding time or energy for?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I will answer my own question:

I found a pack of cheap origami paper in a shop this spring; having long thought origami looked like great fun, I bought it. This lead to further purchases of a combined origami paper pack and instruction book, and then a host of other packs of paper. The book I settled for, was one with different origami animals; when I went to Sweden to visit family this summer, I brought my book and origami paper, thinking my nieces and nephews might enjoy them. It was a great success! They kept demanding I make more and more animals, but their imagination as to what animals I could make was not in the least limited by the instructions I had. Luckily the internet came to my aid; there are lots and lots of origami instructions available completely free for any animal imaginable! Some easier to follow than others, but I could usually find something to help me.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lot of fun, and very impressive.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

It is great fun, and requires the sort of precision that forces you to concentrate on what you are doing; great for taking you away from thinking about the rest of your life for a bit, so that you can come back refreshed. And then of course, there is the joy of buying and/or just looking at all the lovely paper!

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I took up crocheting again, after years of not doing any knitting, crochet or other handicrafts. I don't like the kind of craftsy granny square look though, so I'm testing stitches right now and various combinations of stitches as preparation for making a jacket that doesn't look like crochet :) Or that at least looks like interesting crochet.

I work at home and am at the computer all day, and I realized I had to do something that completely removes me from that environment for at least part of every day. I mean besides daily chores kind of stuff.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I only ever learnt to crochet single strands; I know in theory how one is supposed to continue, having watched a friend of mine crochet patches that she stitched together to a blanket, but I never progressed that far in the 'sewing' classes in school. I did learn how to knit, and during my undergraduate years at university I knitted myself a sweater; I don't think I have knitted anything since, though!

It is very good to have things (not chores!) that take you away from what you do for work. It is one of the things I love about baking; because it isn't something I do to feed myself, like cooking, it isn't a chore, and it is very different to working at the computer or reading which is a lot of what my job tends to be for me.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I went to school in Germany for grades one through three, and back then they started teaching stuff like that in first grade. No clue if they still do. I was terrible at it :) But when I was about eleven or twelve I just decided I wanted to do it, got an instruction book and remembered enough that I could figure it out.

See, baking and things like that I can't do--though I'm always happy to eat others tries--if you ever need a taste tester...

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

That sounds very impressive! A jacket sounds ike a very large and complicated project. Good luck! :)
I never got the hang of crocheting or knitting.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

My Granny was amazing at crocheting: she made doilies of the size of bedlinens out of thin thread one could barely see, before her eyesight failed her. It was her never-ending sorrow that I could never get the hang of it, but I'm simply not made for crocheting. My hands start to sweat, and then the whole thing gets black and disgusting...

I'm not much good at knitting, either. All I ever produced were crooked scarves. Mum did a lot of knitting when she was younger, though. We were fairly poor, and she made me lovely jackets, filled with whatever leftover textiles she could find.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

It's loose and unstructured, not as complicated as it sounds. Since it's for me there's no deadline so there's no pressure at all :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

A jacket sounds like an ambitious project -- good luck!

[elmey.livejournal.com]

It may take a while :D But there's no deadline so what the heck!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to do more sewing and embroidery again recently. I've been doing both on and off for years, but end up with so may half done projects.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

A group of my friends at university had a sewing circle, and attending those meetings I did get some embroidery projects finished. I was far more ambitious in thought than in practice though, so I have a number of unfinished and even unstarted projects lying about.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

At the moment I'm trying not to aquire too many more projects, by not letting myself buy more materials/patterns/etc until I finish some.... of course, this doesn't stop me finding more online or anything.
However, having got myself a new sewing machine at the beginning of the year, I've been doing more - recently using its automatic button hole making to replace poppers on duvet covers with buttons. It worked very well on the first one - it no longer undoes itself overnight (or even longer term), but I have to finish the second one - it has been sitting around waiting for the buttons to be sewn on for about a fortnight now.
Once I'm a bit better, I want to work on finishing off a sampler I was making - all the embroidery is done, but it needs to be sewn onto backing material and finished off to be hung up.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've started stitching Christmas cards very early this year and have finished a handsome stack already. I've tried out various new patterns, so you'll have something to look forward to. Even if some do have little faults. The new patterns are beautiful, but not always easy. Especially if one doesn't have the real schematics, only printed-out pictures and has to figure out where the stitches are supposed to go.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I have started my Christmas cards very early this year, too. As you may be able to guess, from my comment about taking up origami as a new hobby, my Christmas cards this year will be origami ones. So there is something for you to look forward to as well. :-)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

We should do a great card exchange! badly_knitted does make absolutely lovely cards, too, perhaps she'll be willing to join. :)

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

They sounds very impressive.

I really should make and send cards this year, but I don't know if I'll get that far.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

The one I got last year was exquisite!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I meant to respond to the comment about the stitches not going where they are supposed to, that I usually try to convince myself that the little imperfections in my sewing (and baking) are what shows they are hand-made originals, rather than factory made copies. I do also find that I am far more critical of my own sewing, seeing slight misalignments, when other people just see the overall effect and tell me it looks perfect.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I suppose the answer is gardening -- it's been nice to be finally starting to get the garden under control again after most of a decade when other responsibilities removed that time.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things I always plan to do... but I never seem to get there.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Good luck getting it sorted out. Gardens are lovely and the skill (and time) to keep them in order is very impressive.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Gardening is a new hobby of mine, too! So far I have mostly planted things in pots, with more or less success. My radishes didn't grow any root at all, but went to flower. On the other hand, my tomatoes did beautifully, with the plants almost breaking under the weight of all the fruit!