Stay.See.Make.Do.

Seesaw

Up and down.

I considered going into some detail about the past several weeks, but then I reconsidered. In the interest of not succumbing to TMI syndrome, I'm going to err on the side of discretion and just say that we are all once again doing very well, thank you very much. Really. Thanks.

And still I'm busy. Naturally. I recently jumped into a new web project (a fandom endeavor; again I show my dorkiness to the world :D ) and had to learn to navigate the new Blogger dashboard, set up a new Twitter account, learn a very little bit of html, set up and learn Hootsuite, co-moderate a Facebook page, and help figure out the best ways to connect and chart a bunch of world time zones. Like I've said elsewhere, at one point in my life I was able to do third level Calculus, now apparently I am made dizzy by the international date line. Thank goodness for the World Time website, which did most of my thinking for me.

Also, my eldest is graduating high school this year. High School. How can he be old enough to go off to college next fall? More importantly, how can I be that old? We have been home schooling since he was in second grade, and I am so proud of him for this accomplishment. But in the next few weeks he has classes to complete, and I need to send out announcements to friends and family. Never a dull moment.

In other news, I've been sewing. No pictures of my projects yet because I'm still having computer/camera memory issues with iPhoto. But just so's you know, I've made half a dozen of this bag, and a camera strap slipcover similar to this one. One more strap cover to go, then it and the bags will be off as thank you gifts to my sister and her very generous neighbor who share their hand-me-downs with my little girls. (God Bless those women.) I don't know how practical those little purses are, but they are so stinkin' cute that it doesn't matter. You'll see. When I get iPhoto to cooperate again, that is. I'm sure the moms and their daughters will like them.

Knitting has also been happening. A few of my kids learned to finger knit, and I'm thinking we'll have enough to weave a rug in short order. The boys especially delight in racing each other to see who can get how much done quickest. I've managed to turn out two pairs of mittens, a couple of head wraps, two pair of fingerless mitts and... hmm. That might be it. Time to move on to some auto-pilot washcloths or the like, I think. Again, once I take the time to straighten out the camera/computer woes I'll put the knitted projects on my Ravelry page. If you work with yarn, do yourself a favor and join Ravelry. It is simply the best place on the web for fibery goodness.

Why "Seesaw*?" Think about being on one. It's mostly fun, but occasionally there's a hard bump if you're not paying attention...

 

*Maybe I should've used the term we used when I was a girl. We called it the teeter-totter. You?

 

Some of you may not understand this, but for a few weeks I pretty much forgot I even had a blog.

Thinking I'll be back on track soon. Hoping to make time for a new post over the weekend. See you then!

Mend It Better (winner)

Sorry for the delay in posting a winner. A family member has been ill and modern medicine has been (thankfully) intervening in our day-to-day lives for the past few weeks. As my brother says, "Better living through chemicals!" Of course, we'd rather we didn't need the pills and shots, but are thankful they are available when we do need them.

 

Thank you to each of you for your comments!
A random number widget picked #3.
Holli, I will be in touch :)

The rest of you: It looks like Crispina ffrench may still have her contest open. I couldn't find a deadline on her post and it is entirely possible I overlooked it, but... Her blog's cool anyway, check it out here! Best wishes to you all.

Also, I strongly encourage you to suggest this book to your local public library. I know our library sincerely wants to know what its patrons are interested in and what they want to see on the shelves. Ours even has a link right on the home page of their website for "Suggest a Purchase" and they will notify you if they add your recommendation to their catalog, and even reserve it for you so you get to read it first!

Mend It Better (blog tour)

Kristin Roach has a new book! It's called Mend It Better.

This book is packed with information about keeping favorite items in your wardrobe even after you may feel they have seen better days. For some of the projects, you even get the feeling that the "better days" are still ahead, because the mending adds so much character. Kristin doesn't try to tell you that you can fix a moth hole in your sweater with no one the wiser. She shows you how to do it in a way to make yourself happy, and then you can celebrate the change as a small victory. The book is full of suggestions to make your mending feel like a happy accomplishment.

I count myself fortunate to be one of the contributors to this lovely work. My project starts on page 93. I thought I'd share a couple of my own photos.

In the spirit of Kristin's site, Craft Leftovers, my project is more of a reuse/recycle/upcycle kind of item. It's an old bridesmaid's dress that I cut down to be a princess dress for my daughter. I took in some seams, stitched on a ruffle, added elastic, glued on some ribbons and... ta-da!

Though I refashioned this dress way back in September, 2010, it still sees a lot of use by my girls, and I'm proud to say it has held up well and is a favorite of theirs.

Storey Publishing sent me a copy of Mend It Better for myself, but also said they'd send one free copy of the book to one of my US readers, so if you'd like a chance to win and you live in the states, please leave a comment telling me what kind of mending will be in your future! (Deadline to comment is 3/19/12.)

For more information on the book, check out the other posts on the blog tour, (Craftypod's review has some nice photos) as well as Storey's Facebook page.

Blue Jean Bag

I sewed a tote bag awhile back as a gift for my goddaughter. Not sure if I shared it here, so at the risk of repeating myself...

But firstly, I'd like to note that this is not a tutorial. This is just a show and tell. If you want to have some good step-by-steps, take a gander at this lovely lesson, or click to this one with french seams.

For mine I took a pair of old blue jeans from my scraps pile. These jeans had seen better days. They were patched already by the time they were handed down to one of my kids from an older, cooler cousin. (Thank goodness mending is still cool in some circles. Yes, it is. Really. There's even a book* coming out about it.) Then my son wore the heck out of them. It may have been too bad for my son's wardrobe, but I was not willing to mend them any more. Upcycling was more appealing to me at that point.

Because this bag was going to be the wrapping for a few books I was gifting, I used the books to determine the size. As you can see, the flap came from a back pocket.

To get the length of the strap, I measured a kid I had handy. The red webbing came from the "crafty stuff" table at a rummage sale.

The lining used to be a set of cafe-style curtains. I bought them at my neighbor's yard sale for something like 25 cents. Seriously. It's a rather busy print, but as a lining I thought it would be fun.

The outside needed a little something to pretty it up, so I found a flowery button in my stash to do the trick. The loop is made from a hair elastic sewn between the layers.

This was a really fun project. Because the materials for the bag were nearly free, I could spend more on the books that went inside**. And in a way those jeans are still being worn.

*Guess what? I have a project in it!

**One of which was The 13 Clocks. You should read it.

Craft Fail: Glycerine Soap

Oh, the best laid plans of mice and moms...

So many of my plans for holiday crafting and posting have flown out the window. How, how, HOW did it get to be December 20th already??!

I do have a few knitting successes to report, but as for "quick and easy gifts" this first go 'round was a bust.

Perhaps you have haven't guessed this about me, but once upon a time I was a young housewife (long, long ago) and a Martha Stewart devotee. I remember her demonstration of easy melt-and-pour soap making. Being broke at the time, I did not purchase the big blocks of glycerin soap and the expensive tiny bottles of colors and scents. I purchased glycerin bar soaps, melted them in the microwave and poured them into a flat layer to be cut into festive shapes with cookie cutters.

They looked like Finger Jello. Or Gummi candy. They were lovely and fun to make. And easy. And quick. And they smelled nice.

So recently when I saw "glycerin soap" for sale in a package of eight bars for relatively little money, I purchased both red and green. Today I rounded up a couple of interested kids and proceeded to.... make a disaster. 

Unfortunately, these soaps (the brand starts with D and rhymes with denial*) are not the same as the ones I used in the past. I don't remember the brand of those. I should have known just by looking at this new batch, since they are more opaque than transparent, but I optimistically put two bars into an old peanut butter (glass) jar and nuked away.

Not remotely pleasant.

Ugh.

I suppose if I cared enough, I could still melt these in a crock pot or a double boiler, but that is not how I roll, meaning - I refuse to take the time for that right now. I may make an experimental purchase of another brand of clearer soaps, but presently the overpowering smell in my kitchen of microwaved, artificial cranberries is making me too woozy to think clearly.

I hope someone gets some schadenfreude from this.

 

*I know denial already starts with D. I don't want to talk about it any more.

Meeting New (Tech) Friends

Well, I've been playing with the new camera.*

For a few days I thought, "This might have to be sent back. It's not that great."

A few days later I thought, "Well, it does do some pretty cool stuff."

Now I'm thinking, "I could learn to love you. But first I have to figure you out."

I'm glad I didn't hurt its feelings.

*All photos taken by me with my new Canon SX40 HS.

Super Simple Snowman Snack

Take two chocolate chips, a piece of candy corn, and a mini powdered doughnut...

You see where this is going already, don't you?

And put them together like so...

Yum!

The eyes stay on better if you put them in upside down. If you want to get fancier, try adding more features with sprinkles or frosting. But my kids liked them just like this.

Don't dawdle, Amaryllis, and you might still find candy corn at the grocery.

Goodbye, November

The weather turned stormy again this afternoon, but as long as my husband makes it home safely (he's driving through it) and the power stays on (knock on wood) I'm set. I know what I'm making for supper, I have a new knitting project lined up, and the kids are actually motivated to help me tidy up the house so that we can start putting up our Christmas decorations. We had a fun, super-easy snack that I'll share with you tomorrow, and now the kids are playing nicely together as the day winds down, so I have just this little minute to reflect on November.

Whew.

I made it through NaBloPoMo. Not a perfect record, but I gave it a good run. I don't feel like I actually got a whole lot done around the house, but nothing fell apart too badly so I figure I came out ahead. I made some new friends. I did some important thinking. I got some shopping taken care of.

And now, with Advent here and Christmas coming into view, I have some fun projects planned. With a new camera due to arrive next week you're sure to see me back here soon. 

Thanks for following along.

Like I Needed the Reminder

Apparently I'm going crazy. Wait. Make that crazier.

I was sure I wrote a post yesterday.

Obviously, I didn't.

I took care of two other appointments and remembered that I have to go to the dentist today. So... three things and my brain is full now? What is up with that?

Ow! My head hurts!

Someday I'll get a new iPod or smartphone and set alarms for myself on it. (Will it make things better or worse?) But honestly, right now that just sounds like ONE MORE THING to add to the stupid To Do list. Which is what I do not want.

Also, since I remembered today's dentist appointment yesterday, does it count toward today's three? Or do I get to carry it over, like a remainder? No wonder my brain is full if it insists on toting cluttering questions like this around. I can hear my germanic genes warring with my impracticality already. But my courage will not fail. Not This Day.

So now I'm off to check my calendar. And to put a pencil and notebook in my pocket, 'cause I'm sure to need to remember something later when my brain is already to capacity. And in this war, the pen is mightier than the sword.