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Archive for the 'In the Corners' Category
Flight of the Tooth Fairy
Published November 6, 2008 Crafted by Friends , Homemaking , In the Corners , In the Mailbox 10 Comments
It’s actually been almost a month since Katie came to me and said Mama, something happened to my tooth. The dentist told us last Spring that her bottom two teeth were loose but we hadn’t noticed any looseness until just the day before it came out. She was trying to open a lid with her teeth — not something we encourage, for sure — and out it came. Luckily, I was prepared with this:
A fairy portal by the absolutely wonderful Kim — seriously I cannot tell you how great she is. We did not want our fairy portals — you know I had to get one for Tristan too for when the time comes — to be mounted next to the baseboard like Kim’s regular doors. Instead we wanted to mount them higher on the wall — away from little hands. Fairies fly, right? So that is why Kim made us a circular door. Katie was thrilled when she discovered it in the morning. We told her she must be pretty special to have the tooth fairy build a door into her room. Now she’s just trying to figure out how to get the next tooth out.
Wool as Home Dec
Published October 20, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , Homemaking , In the Corners , In the Mailbox , Knitting , Swaps 6 CommentsTags: greyalpacamitts, lsssuhat, plainbrownsocks
Thanks for indulging me with Autumn Is… I have a few more posts to get to before we start heading into Winter. Now though, let’s talk yarn and sticks. The temps here took quite a dip at the end of last week and it is feeling very brisk around here. This morning we even had a real frost. Time to start thinking in wool. And what better way to feed the wool-obsessed brain than with a bowl of it on the coffee table.
Some people pay for those little orbs made of raffia and sticks to display in a bowl. Me, I just go diving in my stash. It must be working because I have been getting some knitting done. That little bit you can see there next to the bowl is an almost complete first sock for a friend. Not shown is a the first completed mitt of a pair for someone else. Don’t worry ladies, I’m rotating these two projects so I show no favoritism. Hopefully those two will have warm feet and hands, respectively, by election day.
This hat is also 1 of 2 as a thank you for another friend who generously sent me a big box of goodies. Denise and her crew are devoted fans of LSSU hockey so the hat is in that team’s colors. Seen here, modeled by Tristan, I want to see how it fits her boys to see if I need to make the next one bigger or smaller. The pattern is thorpe and the yarn is malabrigo. The next one might be yellow with blue on the edges, what do we think about that?
I’m feeling a bit like doing what that urchin up there in the photo is doing but there is no rest for the weary, as they say. Today I’m finishing up a big gift for a big shindig tomorrow to celebrate my grandmother’s 75th birthday. I’ll show you on Monday. I’ve also got more knitted headwear to share. Have a great weekend everyone.
What’s With the Weather?
Published May 12, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Corners , Knitting , This & That 9 CommentsLast evening we were driving home from my parents’ house and had to turn around three separate times because the roads were flooded and blocked by all manner of emergency vehicles. Two other times we only got through a flooded road because we drive a tank that is rated to ford streams up to a depth of 20″ without a snorkel — not my car in that photo. So yeah, it was kind of an intense end to a lovely Mother’s Day.
Today the rain continued and the temperatures reached a high of 45 degrees. Tristan wore his wool sweater he got for Christmas and Katie asked for a fire late this afternoon. May 12, that is the date, right?
Tonight we took the igloo and the penguin plane out of the basket by the piano symbolically saying goodbye to Winter. We did all this while it was 40 degrees and hailing but we’re removing the Winter toys from the basket so we mean business! This basket is always available in the family room and holds some of the toys that are special or that hold seasonal interest — pretty much anything that I don’t want to get buried under all the other stuff. The empty basket, a trip to the toy store for a dinosaur or two to take for show and tell tomorrow, the fact that the Easter Bunny left many eggs with Spring animals inside, and a photo of a friend all prompted us to gather together the animals in one place. And of course, before we could tuck them all inside the basket they needed to line up for a parade, the dinosaurs watched the animals. Nothing can stay well-ordered in our house for long though. The parade formation was smashed to bits in no time at all.
Ladies, Start Your Engines…
Published February 1, 2008 Crafted by Friends , Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Corners , In the Mailbox , Sewing , Swaps , Virtual Quilting Bee 13 CommentsTags: vqb-feb
Your sewing machine engines that is. Today I cut twelve fat quarters and packed them up to send. That can only mean one thing… the Virtual Quilting Bee is about to begin. My quilt is going to be first so I can be the guinea pig and work out any kinks in the system — as well as work out some participant nerves. So let’s talk about the quilt I’m hoping to have come March 1.
First off, the quilt is going to be for our playroom. This is where we spend a lot of time but the room is in our basement and it can be chilly down there in all seasons. My crafty area is in this room too so happily I’ll be able to keep a close eye on the finished quilt. As you can see the colors are bright — really bright — and the mood is fun. I love the idea of all of you making a quilt to wrap around my kids.
As for the actual quilt, I’m up for pretty much anything as long as it will tolerate the washing machine. I love patchwork and appliqué; I think freezer paper stenciling is gorgeous; I don’t mind crazy patterns and textures. As for what I’m sending the group: the fat quarters are a busy, busy print from IKEA and I also included a 10″x10″ square of squash colored chenille. I’m planning to use the same chenille for the back. So, be inspired friends, I cannot wait to see what you come up with.
Simpler Living – Still Messy Though
Published January 18, 2008 Homemaking , In the Corners 9 CommentsI’m continuing my efforts to try and keep my house presentable should someone happen to stop by. Luckily, the person most likely to stop by with little warning is my mom and I figure, she changed my diapers and nursed me, she knows me and I know her. She does not get the glossy version of my life, she gets the real deal. But I would like the real deal to be more presentable on a regular basis, for her and everyone else too, but let’s be honest, I don’t want to do anymore housework — read: pick up more toys — than I already do. So, to that end I did a little re-arranging of our family room. Here’s the scene from my front door:
Clean, huh? So let’s say someone stopped by selling girl scout cookies — as actually happened the other night — I could invite them into the foyer instead of being rude and talking to them on the front porch. But what they wouldn’t see is this:
New [Old] Corner
Published January 10, 2008 Crafting With the Urchins , Homemaking , In the Corners 12 CommentsWhen I was a little girl my sister and I played school at two of these vintage school desks and chairs. I think we did our homework there too. Actually I’m sure that we did because when I cleaned this one up after getting it out of my parents’ basement I noticed 21 x 5 worked out on the desktop. My parents have the other one in their family room for when Katrina and my niece are there. The girls use it as their coloring station. We have a serious issue in our house with containing Katrina’s artwork/crafting/projects — they’re typically covering the kitchen table and surrounding floor. We’re usually clearing just enough space for dinner and it really gets on my nerves.
![New [Old] Desk and Chair](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/2183276155_943c885516.jpg)
I had forgotten that my parents had two of these desks and I mentioned to my mom that I was going to try and find one like the one in their family room. She reminded me about the other and my Dad and I got it out of their basement last weekend. The canvas box has learning activities in it. My desk and computer are right through that door so we can work at the same time — my work is blog surfing, in case you were wondering. One of my goals this year is to have the house more presentable on a daily basis and I’m hoping this desk will help with Katrina’s mess. I’ve tackled Tristan’s mess too but that corner will have to wait until next week.
From Grandmom
Published November 29, 2007 Crafted by Friends , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , Homemaking , In the Corners , In the Mailbox , Sewing 25 CommentsThose of you who have been reading my blog for a little while may recall that my mom — aka Grandmom — has a tradition of making each of her grandchildren a bed quilt for their second birthday. Both urchins got their twin beds from Papa and I for their second birthday so the quilt giving is perfectly timed.
You may remember my goal with these quilts is that they be fun but not too juvenile and not too themed – cowboy, or fairy princess, or anything — because I want them to have longevity. Well, I think my mom made another perfect one. We decided on a log cabin pattern and we started with some fabrics from the Michael Miller Dick & Jane line. I wanted it to be very scrappy and not traditional log cabin blocks where one side is light and the other is dark — examples of what I mean here and here.
My mom decided to use a red square as the foundation for each log cabin and I think that was a smart decision. It brings some continuity to the quilt. She ended up using all kinds of prints and some solids. There are lots of cars and robots and cowboys and Indians and dots and stripes and plenty for Tristan to look at but I think when you stand back and look at it it looks less like a little boy quilt and more like a cool scrappy log cabin quilt — exactly what I was hoping for.
Grandmom sends these quilts out to be machine quilted — they hold up better with all the washing that way — and the woman who quilted it asked my mom if she made it from a kit or a jelly roll pack. Then when she met the quilter at the local quilt shop to pick up the quilt they laid it out on the table and everyone oohed and ahhed. We’re still oohing and ahhing too and enjoying the coziness of the new quilt from Grandmom.
