Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 29 2012

Sweet Baby Cheeses! (Or, How I spent my winter break)

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The other day when Andy had to stop the car suddenly, Anya blurted out “Sweet cheeses!” At least that is what I am telling myself she said. Another one of her favorite exclamations? “What the hex!” We are definitely doing a great job making sure our kid has a colorful vocabulary.

Last week, the kid had winter break, so she and I packed our clothes, toothbrushes, legos, dollies, and various crafts and drove to Georgia. We did all the usual things one does when on winter break. We drew monster eggs on the porch and waited for them to hatch. We planted and watered acorns in the flower boxes. We made chalk outlines of each other and then washed them away.

We went to Michael’s four or five times, bought little wooden birdhouses, and did a little painting. Anya’s first birdhouse (of 3, they were only a dollar!) was done up in bright, happy colors. After that, I can only figure that she decided birds were goth or emo or something, so she gleefully mixed all the colors we had into a big gray mess. I have to admit her coverage on those last two houses was impressive. Nary a bit of wood showed through the thunderstorm-colored paint.

I re-started my afghan. Anya was very excited when the afghan was big enough for her. It still seemed too small to me, so I plodded on. I really should have stopped. More on that another day.

We helped Gramma with the afghan she’s been working on for about a year now. It’s Anya’s rainbow blanket! We bought the yarn around Christmas of 2010, and Gramma’s been crocheting squares ever since. I was supposed to help with this project, but my squares weren’t. Christmas of 2011, we figured out we needed more squares, so Gramma bought more yarn and crocheted more and then POOF! Now all that’s left is to sew all the squares together. I’d help ya, Ma, I really would, but, um, I have 150 fair items to finish. Sorry!

The highlight of the trip? Mulch! I love mulch. It’s all smooshy and weed killy. One afternoon my mom noticed the neighbors were having some trees taken down, so she did what she does (talk to people!) and by the end of the day, she had three newly trimmed trees and a giant pile of mulch in her yard. I like to put down mulch. It’s sort of like mowing the lawn or vacuuming. Quick, visible change. Anya wanted to help me out (because I forced her to stay outside). She clambered up the pile and quickly declared herself, “KING OF THE MULCH!”

To wrap up the break, I got food poisoning or a stomach bug and spent a day moaning and whining and barfing. Sorry, I didn’t take any photos.

Feb 23 2012

How I spent my vacation

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Carol and Anya have gone to Georgia for a week, so it’s a mini-vacation for me.  Except that I still have to work.

Progress continues on the studio space.  I’ve wired all but the back wall, and since I can’t get to the back wall right now, it will have to wait until I work my way back.  But now we (I) can insulate and put paneling up on the rest of the walls.  I broke three mason jars while moving things around.  Fortunately we (Cabol) have approximately three billion.

We started getting milk again! Tonight I started cultures for yogurt and buttermilk. I can finally use my Christmas yogurt maker! I hope the living room is warm enough for the buttermilk to set. And that the cats don’t try to eat it.  Maybe I can use Anya’s room as an incubator. If only I knew where my thermometer went.

Surplus auction this weekend, they have some oak cabinets and a large wooden table, I’m hoping they go cheap.  Maybe I’ll come home with a file cabinet too. And a giant band saw.

Feb 16 2012

Lost the battle but not the war

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102 | Needlework | Crochet | Afghan: Deconstructed

I knew my afghan wasn’t going to be perfect, but when I tossed it onto the floor last night to check on it’s progress, I knew. There was no way this project would ever be anything at all resembling an afghan.

I put the kid to work. She giggled with glee as she zzzzzzzzipppppped away the rows of crochet. After the yarn snagged a few times, though, she lost interest and left the job to me.

After about an hour of demolition, this is what’s left. I gave up on the last part and left it intact. Perhaps it will become a doll shawl?

Back to the drawing board. Perhaps I will do something similar but just do straight rows. Maybe I’ll try something with a bunch of holes in it.

Feb 11 2012

The Dolly Saga

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144 | Craft | Handicraft | Creative Toy: Completed

When I was at our local yarn store, The Woolly Jumper, buying expensive yarn for 108 | Needlework | Knitting | Infant’s Set, Anya saw a kit for a knitted, felted dollie (Knitted Felted Kuku Doll – “Ella”) The kits were put together very cutely, and displayed way down low where little hands could easily pick them up. Anya had to have one. She picked her favorite one up and carried it around the store. When I told her we were just there for some yarn, she was heartbroken. And determined. While I was chatting with the yarn lady and another customer, Anya clutched the doll kit to her chest and raced for the door. After explaining how we don’t take things from a store without buying them because that is wrong and is called stealing and yes the police will give you a ticket, I said that thing parents often say in December when their kid wants something the parent isn’t going to buy: Maybe Santa will bring it for Christmas. Well, Santa must have heard because the dolly showed up under the tree at Christmas. (I’d like to have a word with Santa about that because while it was a gift for Anya, it was a project for me. Shouldn’t Santa have made up the kit before delivering it??)

The doll knit up quickly, but I hit a snag. About one third through the second arm, I ran out of yarn. I was visiting my parents in Georgia, so I couldn’t just dash over to The Woolly Jumper. I googled yarn shops in the area and found one, but it was closed that day. (Why had I never thought to look for a yarn store there before??) I tried finding a match at Michael’s (HAHA). I thought about giving Anya a doll with only one arm, but she already has one of those, and it seems to make her a bit sad. So, I did what Andy would do, and I wrote a forlorn email to the Dolly Mamas (who made the kit). They wrote back right away, asked for my address, and put some more yarn in the mail. They even offered to send it super-fast-mail, but I told them not to worry about that.

I finished up the knitting and prepped the doll for felting, but then Anya saw her and grabbed her and ran off shouting, “DOLLY!” For a while, I wondered if Anya would let me felt her. She finally did this weekend. The felting went quickly, and after the doll dried (wet wool smells far too much like cat poo), I needle felted a face, and now the doll is done.

175 | Craft | Art | Drawing, Ink/Pen: Completed

I already posted this picture, but I forgot to say that it was a Fair item.

Feb 10 2012

Hip Hip Hooray for Crafty Slumber Parties!

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111 | Needlework | Knitting | Misc. Knitted Item: Completed

I bought the pattern (Landscape Shawl & Scarf by Evelyn A. Clark) for this project about seven years ago in Tucson (well, okay, my Mom bought it for me). I’ve been working on the shawl off and on ever since. When I first moved to Virginia, I knitted on this piece during lunch at work. That first version was being made with a really pretty hand-dyed yarn in dark purples and midnight blues, which I picked up at the same time as the pattern. For months I struggled: post-it notes on the pattern to mark my place, stitch markers made out of loops of yarn (as recommended by the Tucson yarn store person), somehow ripping out more rows than I put in. Then one day Anya was born, and I pulled the shawl off the needles and crammed it into a drawer.

A few years later, I started a knitting club at work. For our first meeting, we went to the local yarn store for knitting lessons / project ideas / yarn. I bought new yarn for the shawl. This time I chose a yarn in light, watery greens and blues. I also bought real stitch markers. What was that Tucson person thinking letting me walk out of that store with that purple yarn for that pattern and NO stitch markers? Maybe she was hoping that when I failed, I would bring the yarn and pattern back to the store and give them to her. The yarn was way too dark for the design, and dude, stitch markers made of loops of yarn will work in a pinch, but the real ones are cheap and oh-so-much better.

So, I started on the new version of the shawl, and the changes I’d made definitely made things better. That and figuring out the rhythm of the pattern, so that I didn’t have to read each and every line for each and every repeat of each and every pattern. The problem was, there I would be merrily stitching along when I’d realize I was off by one (or sometimes two or sometimes I’d have the right number but they’d be in the wrong place). I’d try to do a little unknitting to correct things, but this pattern has YOs, man. YOs. Unknitting around YOs is … well … just not done when you are me. But, I kept trying and trying. Years passed by again, and I began to glare at the shawl and say, “YOU WILL NOT CONQUER ME!” Then one day, I brought the shawl with me on a trip with some friends, including Super Knitter C. I showed her my work and whined a bit, and she said, “Where is your lifeline?”

Doh.

See, a lifeline is not always a person you can call when you are on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Sometimes it is a piece of brick red cotton yarn that you slip through the stitches of a row. The line sits there and waits patiently until inevitably you realize you have screwed something up. When you unknit, the lifeline holds that one row secure, YOs and all, so you can remove the bad stitches and start again in a good place. I wasn’t taking any chances. I used two lifelines, and I moved one every four rows. And yes, there were a few times I had to unknit to the second line, at which points I thanked myself for being paranoid and insecure.

I finally finished my shawl at my last scrapbook / misc. crafty stuff gathering last weekend. I almost couldn’t take the suspense while I was binding off. I flung with glee my fabulous-non-loops-of-yarn stitch markers! I cheered and danced! I requested praise from all those present! And then I put the shawl in my knitting bag and started work on my next project.

162 | Craft | Holiday Decorations | Misc. Holiday: Completed

Inspired by this quilled heart, I made a heart decoration for Valentine’s Day. This piece took me an entire day at scrapbook / misc. crafty stuff gathering. I feel like I must have done something else, but aside from making a pot of chili and eating an enormous amount of tasty treats, I seem to have only this piece to show. That’s okay. I like it.