March 30, 2011

Iron Craft Challenge Wednesday



This week's challenge was all about animals. I decided to use it to make one of the many amigurumi animal patterns that I have in my project queue. I can't claim authorship of the pattern (it's Lion Brand) but I think I did a pretty good job. I even made all 8 legs.

Speaking of legs: it was a little tricky sewing all those damn legs onto the body. But the face was the trickiest part. It's incredibly hard to embroider on a three-dimensional object. Then I remembered that I had these neat star buttons that I bought as part of a mixfit bag of buttons a few weeks ago. I think they make her look like she's wearing star glasses. I think I'll name her Darla.

Darla fits right in with the rest of the menagerie. If I do say so myself...


March 26, 2011

Farm Fresh Diary

Last night I dreamt of the farmers' market: I bought a pretzel from OctoberFeast and ate it while I meandered through the stalls, checking out all the great produce and enjoying the sunshine. Too bad I woke up to gray skies and and a heavy drizzle. But I got up anyways. It had been far too long since my last visit and I wanted to visit my favorite spots, even in the rain. So I pulled on my rain boots and bundled up and headed out into the elements. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The drizzle wasn't too heavy and I discovered (again) that as long as one's head or feet don't get wet, then walking about in the rain without an umbrella isn't all that bad.

Understandably the market was not very busy, and although some vendors were absent, I found some great stuff:

Today

Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parsley, thyme, and lemons. It's rainy, it's cold, it's great weather for making soup. But first, I need to make some chicken stock (hence the mirepoix and celery). I'm thinking about making 2 or 3 soups: butternut squash, chicken and rice, and maybe avgolemono. I've never made avgolemono but I absolutely love it and I'm feeling adventurous.

Breakfast


Almond danish (for Evan), pretzel croissant (for me), and 2 pretzels (just because). I ate one on the way home.

Lunch this week

3 bunches of kale. Tasty.

Let's make some soup.

March 20, 2011

Meet the Boys

I made a bunch of potholders this week...and yet I'm not blogging about them. Hmmm...Well, you see, I was planning on taking pictures of my new handmade collection this afternoon, but I ran out of steam. This week was pretty busy and I spent a good deal of my weekend reimagining the kitchen, so when 4 o'clock rolled around this afternoon I was pooped.

In lieu of crafty pictures I am going to introduce you to my feline friends. Their owners are out of town until April and I am watching after them.


Rocket is 1 1/2 and he is a big loverboy. Isn't he pretty?


This cutie pie is Comet. He's almost a year old and is the sweetest lil' dope.


And this little rapscallion is Houston. He's about 8 months old and he is a troublemaker.

We're all curled up on the couch (Comet is purring away on my chest) and I'm sure they'll all be sleeping on my face tonight. But that's ok. I like it.

March 16, 2011

Iron Craft Challenge Wednesday

Hello friends. It's been quite a while (I know) but these past few weeks have been a bit iffy. The tingly sensation in my left arm, not feeling well last week, and jury duty service led to a general funk that inhibited my desire to craft and blog. But I'm on the mend and I am pleased to share my participation in the most recent Iron Craft Challenge.

Last Thursday Susi and Kathy challenged us Iron Crafters to make something green...the color, that is. This challenge has worked in my benefit. You see, I have all this green yarn and I've been wanting to make oversized doilies/pot holders for the kitchen (you'll see why soon enough). Here is what I made:


This isn't the best picture, but it'll do...for now.

The pattern is from fellow Raveler Mandy Powers. You can get the pattern (for free!) here.

Now I'm off to make a bunch more.

March 6, 2011

This Week in Crafts (kinda)

Week of February 27, 2011

I stayed true to my word and took a break from crafting and blogging this week. And it wasn't too bad. Sure, I felt really unproductive and I did watch way too much television, but I also accomplished a lot of other things as well. Like:

Got rid of that funky tingly sensation in my left arm (knock on wood).

Finished reading Boy: Tales of Childhood.
This is the second time that I've read this book and I liked it just as much as the first time around. I had forgotten that Roald Dahl was born and raised in the UK, but of Norwegian origin. And I, of course, enjoyed re-reading his recounting of his crazy British boarding school teachers--especially Mr. Corkers who supposedly taught mathematics but instead employed the boys to air out the class room by opening all the windows and violently swinging the door open and closed every time he thought he smelled a fart. If you haven't read this book that I suggest that you do: it is engaging, endearing, a quick read, and gives incredible insight into Dahl's work. Plus, it will make you appreciate the American K-12 public education system.

Started my spring cleaning. We picked up a new bookshelf for the kitchen because the metal one we had been using was in terrible shape. Actually, it was in terrible shape when we first moved in nearly 2 years ago; I just finally got sick of it. While I was replacing the shelving units I decided to give the kitchen a proper cleaning. I couldn't very well move things around and install a brand new bookshelf without cleaning the floors. So I mopped and scrubbed the cupboards. Then I put in the bookshelf and filled with my Pyrex, crockery, and produce bowls...which got me thinking about reorganizing the contents of the cupboards. I wasn't able to finish everything in one go, but I've been documenting my progress (future post!).

Supported some Etsy sellers:

Tags (necessity) and buttons (impulse buy) from dmksupply. The tags are needed for my spring cleaning project and the buttons: well, I just really like buttons.


An assortment of Divine Twine from ScrapPantry. Also for my spring cleaning project.

You'll see what the tags and twine are for soon enough.

I also went to a clothing/craft supplies/oddities swap on Saturday with my friend Christina. We each brought a sizable bag of items to a local bicycle shop and joined in on a communal rummage. I picked a couple of sweet finds: a light grey cardigan, a red Pashmina-type scarf, a dress, and a neat 70s-style doily (for a friend). I also got rid of a ton of stuff (horray!). Sorry, no pictures of the finds...yet.

And lastly I caught of with a dear friend this afternoon. We met up and had chocolate cake for lunch and talked all afternoon. It was delicious.

Image sources: Boy.

March 5, 2011

Milk Teef



No farmers market this morning. I didn't have any cash. Lame, I know, but these things happen. But to make up for my usual Saturday morning farmers market post I'm sharing one of my favorite videos at the moment. I absolutely adore My Milk Toof--partly because the concept and photos are so incredibly well done and because it reminds me of my friend Ruthanne. I think that Inhae Renee Lee (the artist) is very talented and I can't wait until her book comes out.