The lumpen robot

I am attempting to teach myself how to sew--it does not come naturally at all to me. I feel like I'm about to stitch my finger when I operate the machine.

I have been tempted to embark on this process by the sight of Hillary Lang's fabulous stuffed robot, wr-892. I used her Wee Tutorial for a basic shape (see her Wee Gallery for the variety of wee's people have made from the tutorial) and added a little silver ribbon antenna and three small buttons (for further communication with the robot).

Here is the resultant lumpen robot pictured with his buddy, The Roller-skating Robot. I don't think the little lump is a very useful robot since it has no arms or legs. But it can still serve the purpose of Hillary's original wee for the venting of political frustration.

The eyes may be a little crooked, the blue button a rather pathetic stab at satin stitch embroidery, and let's not talk about how misshapen the supposedly circular bottom piece is, but it was a satisfying little project and Fiona seems pretty pleased with the result.

In other weekend news, Lynne hosted a yarn-tasting party at her house on Saturday night. I was too lazy to swatch all the yarns available (Denise posted her swatch if you want to see the variety) but I did enjoy some satisfying yarn squeezing while eating copious quantities of cheese and chocolate washed down with wine.

I brought a raspberry tart made from the berries the critters and I picked on Friday afternoon. This is the same recipe from the May 2005 Cooks' Illustrated which blew me away when Sarah made it for her prosciutto party.

mmmm. Tarty goodness.