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Archive for the 'Homemaking' 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?
Autumn Is… Acorns
Published October 16, 2008 Cooking , Homemaking , In the Garden , In the Kitchen 9 CommentsTags: autumnis
The kind the squirrels eat:
and the kind for us:
Polka Dots with FOE
Published September 16, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Sewing 9 Comments
You know, I’ve been meaning to try using fold-over elastic (FOE) for a while. Ottobre patterns often call for it and there’s no secret about Amy‘s and Melissa‘s love for it. I’m so lazy and I hate gathering — like at a neckline — so I often substitute a casing and pull some elastic through. I figure elastic in children’s clothing is a positive. The thing is though, pulling elastic through a casing is also on the list of things I get annoyed doing, it’s just generally less annoying than gathering.
This outfit is all about the elastic. The pants are elastic waist with a casing. The bottoms are trimmed with crochet lace — I bought a whole bunch of it on clearance. The top is the same top as this one but with FOE on the neckline and sleeves. It’s super-fancy expensive seersucker FOE — the only brown at my fabric store — and has less stretch than normal FOE. That would be the reason the neckline is big. Oh well, this fabric has been hanging around for over a year, I’m just glad it’s finally in a wearable form. This morning we woke up to cooler temps so with any luck we’ll have wearable weather soon too.
Puppies for Tea
Published August 20, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Sewing 16 CommentsWhen Katie told me that she wanted some clothes like we gave Gabrielle it reminded me that I had a peasant skirt for her cut out from the same Heather Ross fabric. I told my mother-in-law, who was here visiting, that I had stalled on it because I loathe gathering. So she gave me a hint and guess what, it was no problem at all. After conquering that issue the skirt came together very quickly.
Then yesterday while the kids were occupied I made a matching skirt and t-shirt for Katie’s recently acquired My Friend Jenny doll. I actually won a couple of lots of clothing patterns for this doll — one of the greatest things about the My Friend dolls — on ebay and should have them soon but I was just winging it when it came to this doll outfit. Katrina’s face when I showed her Jenny wearing the new outfit was priceless. So a puppy tea party was immediately planned and even though Onyx is far from a puppy, she got to attend too. Pip, pip, cheerio!
EDITED TO ADD: Okay, so what my mother-in-law told me was this… sew two lines of basting stitches and then on one line pull the top thread to gather and on the other line pull the bottom (bobbin) thread. Sorry I didn’t share at first but after she told me that it seemed so obvious I figured you all knew anyway!
How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
Published August 18, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Gifts , Homemaking , In the Garden , In the Mailbox , Sewing 13 Comments
Modeled by Katrina
It’s my niece’s birthday again and this year her gift from Papa and I was this doggie outfit. The skirt is brown corduroy with an elastic waist and an a-line silhouette. I added a single pocket on the front and a small appliqué on the back. The shirt pattern is from the autumn issue of Ottobre magazine and made from Heather Ross’s dog park print in blue. The pattern calls for gathering the sleeves and neckline before attaching the binding/trim. I hate doing that. So, instead, I attached a longer piece of binding to the un-gathered edge and then pulled a piece of elastic through. I actually think that modification will make the shirt fit longer. It would be a perfect application of fold-over-elastic (FOE) so I think I’ll try that next time.
The purse was just made out of my head. I used the dog park print on the outside and a coordinating dot as the lining, also from Heather Ross. I should have stuck a piece of flannel between the layers but didn’t. The top of the bag is the brown corduroy and the handles are made from the same crochet trim that is on the skirt. I filled the purse with Hello Kitty stickers, pencils, and notepads. I had to do something to keep our gift cool to the six year olds. She started opening the wrapped present and said Oh no, I think this is clothes….. again. The pencils and stuff seemed to save it though and my sister liked the outfit a lot. Katie must have liked it a lot too since after we were back home from the party she told me I wish I had some clothes like that. Seems like I might need to get on that.
Modeled by Katrina
Kerchief Girl
Published July 29, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Knitting 7 CommentsTags: lavenderkerchief
I just love a little girl in a kerchief. I don’t know why but I think it is so cute. And my little girl in a kerchief. Well, that is pretty darling if I am giving myself credit — for the girl and the kerchief.
Lavender Kerchief
Pattern: Babushkita, by Larissa Brown
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, in colorway 29
Needles: US size 6 and US size 7
Yardage: less than half of a 191 yard skein
Modifications: n/a
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.
If you ever have plans to go to a flea market and it starts to rain I recommend going anyway. Yesterday, Katie my mom and I went to an outdoor antique flea market in the rain. The rain was certainly an annoyance and Katie did complain a little but the crowds were non-existent and the prices were great. I got a bunch of things — I’ll show you the rest later — including this old space heater. I had something to use as a nature table on the front porch on my list. I know you guys all know about the bits of nature that are collected by the urchins because your urchins do it too. We didn’t have a place for all those bits and I was having trouble finding something that was all-weather, vintage looking (or actually vintage), and small enough for our narrow porch. Well, there it was in the rain. My mom says it looks like grandmom’s corner — I wonder if she means she wants it to be her corner? — and I really like the way it looks with the chair too. Next I want to find an old architectural piece — maybe a window — to hang on the wall. Hmmm… now that I think about it Hannah is doing the same thing. Now if we could just get my chair and table with her windows one of us would have an awesomely vintage front porch.
