Short Story Long

This gets tallied under things I am not expert at, but it hangs so much nicer now, and that is what's important.  Someone asked what stitch I'm using.  I don't know the name of it if there is a name; I'm just weaving over/under, trying to provide the fabric with a little more support so that it can last another generation or so.  

I'm feeling like I should contribute the sort of beautiful, interesting, positive, crafty things that I'm craving right now.  There was a time that I found regular craft-soul sustenance from the internet, lots of beautiful crafting blogs of gardening, quilting, fiber, and all manner of positivity.  Today, I have to hunt, and I do.  I still have a few blogs I'm hanging on to!  For now, my current projects are about finishing and growing.   I'm on the last row of my Reclamation Blanket, and considering writing a post about this project.  Are you interested?   Mending a vintage flag has taken me longer than I anticipated but I'm about two-thirds done with the big gash that was here when I bought it.  I started working on this last year, didn't get far, and hung it back up.  I didn't feel like I did a good job, but the mending I did manage looked better hanging up than I first gave myself credit for, (you can see ...

my Sweet Autumn clematis Well, I didn't finish all I set out to do this summer, but I did accomplish some things that I've been meaning to do for a long time and just hadn't plucked up the courage to attempt before.  For instance, finally taking a family trip , and reupholstering a chair!  I had a really hard time committing to fabric, finding something that would match what I've got and what I'm  hoping to do in my living room.  I have a few more things I would like to do before fall really sets in; we'll see! Here's a before shot, poor old girl:  

When I was little, my brother, sister, and I always got to sleep under the Christmas tree the first night it was up in our house.  We did not start this tradition right away with our kids, but last year it came up in conversation and my kids wanted to do it.  The kids slept under the tree last year; this year, we all slept in the living room last night, even though it was a school night!  Last Friday we joined my brother's family at my parents' in the mountains to cut a Christmas tree down.  While we were there, we got some Christmas pillowcases from my mom, a newish tradition she started a few years ago.  I had told her that I was trying to stay with red, green, and brown for all my decorations so she found this cute fabric.  I love them!  How about you?  Any out-of-the-ordinary holiday traditions at your house?  Come on, I know you want to share!  In fact, if you post about it and tell me, I'll link to your post.  Let...

I had two ironing boards, neither of which worked well.  The cover on the one on the left was loose and slid around during ironing.  This is especially frustrating when trying to press sleeves.  The board on the right had a very thin pad and grid marks from the metal would often show up on clothes being pressed.  What happens when you don't have a decent ironing board?  Clothes that need to be ironed pile up until little boys grow out of them!  I finally took a cue from Anna and decided to make my own cover.  I considered the two boards and picked the one that worked better for me (the one that does not screech when being opened!) and measured the length - approximately 56".  I was hoping it would be under 42" so that I would not have to buy so much yardage, but alas! that is not the case.  I went to JoAnn's and perused their decorator weight fabrics - the cheaper ones, not the designer labels, and selected a print I thought would be fun, ...

Finally!  I tried several times to download this picture, I don't know why it wouldn't load.  Anyway, the finale of my handmade gifts!  My mother-in-law had forwarded me an email about our foremothers' necessity of aprons and all the things they were used for, and she said she could use one.  I took the hint!  Immediately, I found a cute pattern at the fabric store but it took me over an hour to find three fabrics that I thought would go well together.  The pattern actually calls for four; I couldn't find a fourth but as the fourth was for the lining I got the appropriate yardage from one of the first three.   The pattern came together pretty easily considering I had left this to the very end to sit down and do.  I thought it turned out really cute.  I like the button, too!  Pattern:  McCall's Retro Aprons, M5643 Fabrics various. I just may sew more things this year.  Hopefully s...

Greetings, noble readers.  Your faithful observer spotted this swell and his ladykin, The Honorable Cornelius Trigg and unconventional wife, Duchess Iphegenia Trigg, victorian world travellers, out and about on All Hallows Eve.  The pair were accompanying a trio of small hoodlums brandishing outlandish irons in pursuit of small candied treats, and nary a passerby escaped them.  It may be said that the Hon. Trigg is heard late nights hurling wrenches and insults at a contraption invented for "traveling time" but it's nothing to the scandal of a lady with ink on her fingers, striding around in breeches! Okay, you might want a little more clarification.  We were steamers!   When I saw How to Train Your Dragon last spring, I was mesmerized by Astrid's terribly knit sweater, and knew I could make one for Halloween.  Over the summer, however, as we've enjoyed looking at steampunk gadgets online, my mind detoured and I thought it would be f...

The past week, we've had visits from both of our parents and both of their dogs.  My parents were here very briefly but we had a very nice, leisurely visit from BFJ's parents.  Friday, we had a bit of time without agenda so I talked th em into posing for pictures.  I love this one; it tells you what a great couple they are.  We also celebrated three family birthdays.  Besides cake with homemade frosting - yum, we have been enjoying some zucchini bread with zucchini from our garden, some roasted pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins we carved (apparently the green ones are not for carving) and we are working on some local popcorn picked still on-the-cob...  (I bet Theresa and Steve are nodding at the winnowing) Yesterday, I came home from a meeting to find one of my sister-in-laws here, so I wrangled her into shopping at the thrift store and craft store for some Halloween crafting.  She made a black feather wreath for about ...

A reveal from yesterday's sneak peek: Audrey guessed correctly, it is a clothespin bag!  When I spotted this fabric last week, I remembered a project I had torn out of Martha's Living awhile back - July 2002's Find of the Month.  I made these for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day since they both use their clotheslines.  They both have the blue flowers on the outside; one has blue polka dots on the inside and the other with yellow polka dots.  I thought they'd be fun little gifts, and they were fun to make!  I couldn't find a link, apparently the M.S. archives don't go back that far, so luckily I easily found this in my crafts-for-someday file.  I took a picture of the project info for you so you can make your own.  It wasn't easy to find the clothesline hook in the big orange and blue store but it was quickly found in my small local hardware store.  I reinforced the corners of the fabric (under the hook) wi...

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there.  I am blessed to have grown up, and continue to be, surrounded by many wonderful, fun moms.  At the top of the list is my own loving mom who, among many talents and good qualities, is the kindest person I know. ~~~~~~~~ When next I stop by, I'll show you what I did with some of my fabrics from the last post but in the meantime, here's a sneak peek. 

More later!

I have some handcrafted gifts (knitted and otherwise) that I can't show you, but here are a few items I can!   After discovering that sock blockers are not always easy to find in local shops, I talked my dad into making some for a yarn shop near me.  Aren't these neat?  They are made from a Colorado pine that was destroyed by beetle kill .  Interestingly, the disease  gives the wood this lovely silvery-blue quality.  Normally pine is more yellowish like the stripe in the toe, here.  Beetle kill has claimed over two million trees in Colorado.  We heard a lot about it on the news a few years ago, and one could drive down the highway and see waves of brown in our normally green hillsides.  It is no longer a hot topic and we don't hear it on the news much anymore.  My dad is also making some sock blockers from (non-beetle kill) dead pine which was cleared out to reduce the fire danger to the live tre...

Our library has gone green and is no longer providing plastic bags for the convenience of book-checkers. I have been meaning to make some cloth bags for various things anyway, so I've finally gotten around to it! It took me a few months to commit to a color scheme, and a few days to make it, but I finally have a bag for myself. Of course, now I see things I wish I'd done differently, so I think I'll make myself another or two. I think the boys all need Library Bags, also. I started with ideas from the fabric basket at Pink Penguin ; the two outside fabrics are Recipe for Friendship by Mary Englebreit, and the green polka dot is also ME, from the Friends and Flowers line. And the button was Marie's . Now I can take my project to the pool in style!

I spent all Saturday reshooting some photos. HOW FRUSTRATING. I hate it when pictures don't come out as clients expect. On the other hand, I did some pictures for Marly , who gave me complete artistic freedom, and they turned out just as planned: Marly Socks Gerri Hat ... both modeled by my lovely and helpful sister. You can get patterns on Marly's website, if you are interested. Sunday was Easter, of course, and we spent some nice time at church and with both families. I am also test knitting for Marly. Hey, I'm trusted with someone else's projects! And Marly knows my skills pretty well; I must not be too bad. I am making some Dual Cable Fingerless Gloves, companions to her Dual Cable Hat . I am knitting with some Bijou Basin yarn. It didn't occur to me until I had been working for hours just how nice it really is to knit with. No sore finger. I have one cuff done, working on the second; the rest should go pretty quick. Hey no problem, I mean, I have til next Mond...

Here's the finished project; not the best picture, but I like my string of pennants! I think I'll make a red, blue, and white one.

Little by little, I am trying to get stuff done. Sometimes if feels like I am just crawling along. I made so many gifts last December (which I really did enjoy), not to mention everything else I tried to do, that I just really didn't get to relish the meaningful parts of the holidays as much as I usually do. In order to keep that from happening again this year, I have decided to start on Christmas gifts now . I have one little project all done, which is just sort of an extra, but it's meaningful, and I meant to have it done last year. I also have an actual, neato gift, but you'll have to wait 'til January to see it! Then there's all the stuff that goes along with this season. I have a couple of things in mind to do for Easter (won't I get so much out of it with just three days left? On the other hand, three days can mean a lot...) And there's also the pile of seeds on my dresser, just waiting for little homes. Well, here's what I've actually manag...