Random-Charm

Blending the old and the new

February 4, 2010 in sewing by Cindy | 3 comments

This picture is intended both to motivate me and to show off this cool vintage lamp I found.

I now have all the materials and instructions necessary (I hope) to sew pinch pleat drapes for my living room. The fabric is Del Hi by Valori Wells. When I saw this fabric I knew right away this is what I wanted for my living room drapes. Warm grey and dark brown graphic flowers, avocado trailing vines and a sleek brown fleur-de-lis silhouette of a stripe against a khaki ground—a bold pattern in a neutral colorway. And despite my previous aversion, after reading the highly informative and funnyRetroRenovation blog and studying pictures of other houses similar in style to ours, I finally decided that nothing else would complement our ’50s ranch interior as well as pinch pleat draperies. And I love the fact that they can be opened and closed so easily and still look good. There’s really no other style like that.

But back to the picture. Here you see just the unsewn fabric hanging over the current poor excuse for a curtain rod. Because I haven’t gotten up the courage to start working on these drapes. Humongous pieces of fabric and a fair amount of math will be involved. Not that I have an aversion to math, I used to be quite good at math. I just don’t usually care to involve math in creative matters.

I am not one to buy antiques but I fell in love with this vintage floor lamp at our friend Rick’s barn, a.k.a. the Potato House, in Houlton, ME just off Route 95 before you get to the Canadian border. Usually open on weekends. If you like old stuff, you can spend hours going through old books and records, decades of furniture, knick knacks and doodads of every sort. The lamp bears no indication of when it was made or who the maker might have been. It does appear to have been rewired at some point. The metal parts need cleaning but the wood is beautiful and the drum shade is in great condition. It works well as a reading light and also casts a warm glow over the rest of the room.

Rich is “trusting” me on this one, the drapes I mean (oh, maybe the lamp too?). And I know it’s off my usual quiet track but I like where it’s headed. It’s going to be a comfortable, good looking room . . . little by little.

Tags: decorating on a budget

More brown yarn and socks

February 4, 2010 in needle arts by Cindy | No comments

I spun up more of the mystery brown wool and ended up with about the same weight as the first two cakes. It’s split into three skeins because that’s all the bobbins would hold when I was plying the singles together. I need to come up with a bigger solution for plying. I hate having to split my singles just because they won’t fit on the bobbin on the spinning wheel.

I’m halfway through the second sock with this yarn using 3/2 rib on the top of the foot and the leg, based on the Lifestyle Toe-up Sock Recipe. Worsted weight knits up fast! And with some extra reading since the last pair of socks, this one fits Rich’s foot much better.

Tags: knitting, spinning

Found . . . in our yard

February 4, 2010 in photography by Cindy | No comments

We haven’t had any new snow for quite a while. A few light dustings. Still the wind blows and animals leave their footprints.

A tiny maple leaf, skeletonized by time and weather. Could those be rabbit footprints?

Tags: animals, great outdoors, plants

Bunnies in the veggies

January 27, 2010 in crafting, fiber arts by Cindy | 3 comments

I guess I have bunnies on the brain lately. These needle felted rabbits range from 1.5 to 2 inches long. They are accompanied by an assortment of veggies we made from polymer clay. I was inspired by a picture of felted cats that Naomi posted a few months ago. My kids have been having quite a fun time with the bunnies, playing veggie market. If only that would somehow translate into them eating more real vegetables . . .

Tags: animals, felting, fiber, polymer clay

Yarn ball keeper

January 26, 2010 in needle arts, repurposing by Cindy | 2 comments

I bought a $1 bath pouf a while ago and keep finding interesting uses for it. When I took it apart it turned out to be something like 10 feet of tubular netting. It’s not very strong but it’s stretchy and very smooth. I cut off about 10 inches, knotted one end and stuck a 4oz centerpull ball of yarn in it. The netting will shrink around the ball as I use the yarn. I like being able to see the yarn but not having to deal with a ziploc bag.

Tags: tools

Following the Fiber: Handpaint merino

January 25, 2010 in fiber arts, following the fiber, needle arts, pattern drafting by Cindy | 1 comment

This is the second in a series intended to show the steps from fiber to finished item. See the first here.

The fiber: a 4oz braid of handpainted merino in colorway Rocky Mountain High from Spunky Eclectic. As purchased and unrolled from the braid.

singles: I pulled 1oz. off the top and then split it into four lengthwise. I arranged the pieces so that I would spin two singles with roughly the same color repeats. I then plied them together.

plies: After plying, I transferred the yarn from the bobbin to the yarn swift. You can see the color shifts very well. Then the skein is washed and hung to dry to set the ply. If the twist is done evenly then the plied yarn should hang fairly straight. On the left is the yarn above and on the right is the same fiber spun at a thinner weight.

finished yarn: ready to knit or crochet

project: I chose to knit a hat for the girl with this yarn. I looked for a simple pattern that would have texture but still show off the color gradations in the yarn. I couldn’t find what I wanted so I ended up making up my own pattern. I had intended to finish with a crochet border that would make the hat about an inch longer but forgot to take into account that the textured stitch I used ate up yardage faster than a simpler stockinette would so I ran out of yarn. It fits okay . . . I’m still thinking about what to do.

stitch: The stitch I used must have a name but I couldn’t find anything like it so if you know what it is called please tell me! It’s so simple and fast and a little girly without being too delicate. (The following instructions will only work in the round. A bit of adjustment would be needed to work it flat as the stitch pattern causes the starting point to shift.)
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: *K2togTB, YO* repeat
Repeat rows 1 and 2. Way simple.
See even more ramblings on this hat in my Ravelry projects.

Tags: crochet, knitting, spinning

Collected Words of the Day

January 25, 2010 in refashioning, with/for/about kids by Cindy | 3 comments

I haven’t posted any of my children’s funny words and phrases in a while so here are a few that I keep forgetting to share.

zazoo: looks like a whistle but makes buzzing noises, courtesy of the girl

egg noggin: you know, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, yummy stuff. It’s good for your brain according to the boy.

dracamole: an imaginary creature that likes Mexican food (think avocados), as used by the girl

pig, pig, turkey: an answer to what kind of meat are you? or a game similar to that old waterfowl favorite. This was a coordinated sibling effort at Thanksgiving dinner, far funnier than the original.

And one of my favorites from the girl:
clap shoes: as worn by Gene Kelly or Shirley Temple. They sure do make a racket on our wood floors!

The idea for the covered button closures on the tap shoes came from a post on the forum at Sew, Mama, Sew! from this blog: http://etownhooks.blogspot.com/2009/10/craftiness.html

Tags: remnants, shoes

Newly finished spinning

January 20, 2010 in fiber arts by Cindy | 6 comments

A few quick pictures. I’m not sure what these will become. I haven’t quite figured out yet how much yarn I need to make stuff, sometimes I just spin it and then decide afterwards what to make.

This is oatmeal BFL that I handspindled, plied and then dyed with grape and cherry Kool-aid for a nice heathery effect. About 100 yards from 2oz making it about worsted weight I think. I’m not very good about figuring that part out. My WPI and swatches don’t always agree with the yards per fiber oz charts.

The naturally brown worsted below is also two-ply and came in at around 200 yards from 4.1 oz so about the same thickness although I spun it on the wheel and went for a little more rugged look to it since that seemed to agree with the fiber. I received the fiber through SpinCycle on Ravelry.

More details on both in my Rav stash.

Tags: spinning, textile dyes

It snowed all day

January 19, 2010 in crafting, fiber arts, photography by Cindy | 1 comment

Would you guess this is the drainage ditch that runs through the wooded lot behind our house? Looks pretty in the snow doesn’t it?

Nice, soft snow and just a bit sticky. We got about 10 inches Sunday night into Monday so it’s not like we really needed more today but it was pretty and fun. Yesterday I took the kids to the big hill in the woods but today we stayed closer to home. First things, the girl and I attempted a snowman. Grapes for eyes, a carrot nose and a green pepper smile. I wonder if some squirrel or bird will be enjoying a little frozen fruit and veggies soon.

Back inside we were sad to discover that ballet class was cancelled so we consoled ourselves by putting on American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake and making origami animals, including a swan of course.

Silliness broke out as I spun brown wool. The girl was giving me handfuls of wool as needed and then decided that I wasn’t moving fast enough for her. She started patting the handfuls of wool on top of her head! Now how do you like that ‘do?

When the boy got home we all decided to take a walk, waving to neighbors and kicking through several inches of new snow. Back at the house the boy went in to get the snow tube and I got the camera. The end of our driveway had a fairly good plow pile left from the last storm and Rich snowblowed even more on top last night making for a pretty good high spot to slide down from into the backyard.

And just a bit more silliness as we used up the last of the daylight.

Tags: dance, fiber, paper crafting, snow

This yarn was so ugly . . .

January 14, 2010 in fiber arts, needle arts by Cindy | 2 comments

. . . that I did not take any pictures of it until I knit it up into this potholder. Did you know wool is naturally heat and flame resistant?

This yarn started out as a little more than an ounce of Romney wool that my mother had cleaned and carded. I decided to try dyeing it before spinning. Fail. I nearly felted the stuff. I spun it up thick which I am not good at so it was all over the place and overspun to boot. I threw it in the yarn bin and forgot about it until my mother asked. Sigh. I decided that I might as well try and knit it up since sometimes doing so improves its looks. I chose to knit on the bias and then crochet with natural Lopi around the edge to counteract the inevitable stockinette curl. I then washed it aggressively to full the wool a bit. Fulling is like felting but you start with wool that is knit or woven. Felting starts with the unspun fiber.

How about that? It looks pretty good now doesn’t it? It even softened up in the process. The girl claimed it as a picnic (blanket) for her dolls before it was done blocking. I had to sneak it back to take the pictures. This may be its only chance to do its intended job.

Tags: fiber, knitting, spinning

A place for everything . . .

January 14, 2010 in home decorating, organizing, repurposing by Cindy | 1 comment

and everything in its place. I don’t know who originally said that but I am certainly finding wisdom in it.

I’ve been working here and there on organizing parts of the house and trying to find a home for everything, whether that is in our house or in someone else’s. I’m hoping that we can keep what is really needful and dear to us and let go of everything else. So far this is working best in the kids’ room. But I did make a little addition to the kitchen today.

There is often a piece of fruit or two out on the counter in the way and I decided that this odd corner under an upper cabinet was a good place to hang this wire basket. It’s collapsible and has two handles on it that when held together cause the top of the basket to close almost completely around the contents. I’m sure it has some distinct purpose but I can’t even remember where I got it or why. The girl and I strung some wire through the rim, screwed a hook into the underside of the cabinet and hung our new fruit basket. It looks quite at home already.

Earlier in the week or was it last week? I did some serious work with the miter saw. The girl donned a favorite outfit to help me with the sanding and assembly of a ladder for the bunkbeds. See her hammer there?

I just have to include this picture of her outfit, don’t you love her style? Vintage ’70s brown floral (originally made by my mother for me) with the leopard pants from her Halloween costume. She makes me smile. I would never have worn anything half so fun.

I recently found out that this is actually the third generation to sleep in these bunkbeds. Everyone else has done just fine without a ladder but this allows me to use the space at the foot of the bed for the organizer that holds all the dress-up accessories. It’s not pretty but it’s functional and the kids like it. Maybe it will get painted as well if we get around to painting the walls.

Tags: decorating on a budget, wood

Making stuff together

January 14, 2010 in crafting, with/for/about kids by Cindy | No comments

The boy built a cardboard house for his kitty. Added an attic for the girl’s kitty. And a porch with a telescope on the roof. For the baby kitty to watch the moon a.k.a. the kitchen light. There was much tape involved. (I helped with the heavy cutting and brought out the duct tape to spare the rest of the roll of scotch tape.)

I am privileged to be a spectator and sometimes participant in the amazing stories that they weave together. Their imaginations are quirky, funny and heartwarming. They can be sincerely sweet to each other in a goofy, storybook way that almost seems too cute to be real. Just as real as the 45 minutes of wrestling and screaming at each other they put me through later that afternoon. On occasion I regret that they share a room and there is no way to send them both to their room separately!

Tags: kids art

new year, new snow

January 13, 2010 in uncategorized by Cindy | No comments

Tags: snow

Following the Fiber: Angora

January 9, 2010 in fiber arts, following the fiber by Cindy | 3 comments

I’d like to start an ongoing series where I show you a fiber or a yarn and track along in pictures as it gets spun/dyed/knit/crocheted etc. into a finished item. So we’ll start with something cute!

The animal: German Angora named Gabe. (I won’t generally have pictures of the actual animal the fiber came from so this is a bonus!)

The fiber: Minimally hand carded from brushed out fur. staple length about 4″? super soft. I think these would be called rolags but I don’t really know what I’m doing so maybe not but I can spin it easier. Although it was pretty easy to spin uncarded.

The spinning: Hand spindled into a lace/light fingering weight single. Spun on a DIY afghan hook/wooden wheel spindle.

The swatch: Swatched on US size 0 needles and blocked on my swatching cork board. Spinning got a little too thin there in spots. Can’t say I actually thought I’d be using those size 0 needles. Next time remind me not to knit angora on metal needles, slippery!

And in this case the approximately 2×2 inch swatch is the final product as that’s all there was!

Tags: fiber, spinning

“the Bunny, the Bunny, Ooo, I love the Bunny”

January 9, 2010 in fiber arts, give away by Cindy | 4 comments

Meet Gabe, the bunny, who lives with my parents. He is an 8mo German Angora. He has lusciously soft white fur which spins up into incredibly soft fuzzy yarn.

Gabe meeting the boy.

Gabe meeting the girl.

Name the author and setting of the title quote and I’ll send you something bunny! (fiber sample if you’re a spinner, yarn sample if you’re a knitter/crocheter, something else bunny otherwise)

(In the case that more than one person knows the correct answer, I’ll randomly choose one recipient.
ETA: comments are now closed. 1/25/10)

Tags: animals, fiber, spinning

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