WIP

The longies are (very slowly) coming along. They don't look like much right now, though.



I've also been working on my Artful Stone Swap. I have to save them for when the Imp isn't around, though. He loves rocks. He also loves throwing. This is a bad combination.

As if that weren't enough, I've joined a "Waldorf Stocking Stuffer" swap through a Yahoo group. I'm making ten wee felted tree stumps. They need to have been received by the host by December 1st. I'm not feeling rushed... yet. It'll come.

Any sane person would stop there. Me? I'm wondering how I can find some more wonderfully crafty people to swap with.

Blergh.

This weekend has been.. rough.

I officially give up on attempting knitting patterns where a rectangle is supposed to magically transform into a cute, little animal. They don't work for me. I simply can't make them correctly. This duck that I've been working on.. it's sad. Very sad. So sad that I'm not going to take a picture of it. I'm not even sure I'll ever get around to adding a beak because it's just so not worth it at this point.

And the longies. Oy, the longies. Let me say this right now: I hate knitting swatches. Period. Ugh. I have so little time in which to knit that it seems like an enormous waste of time. Especially when I end up with the exact gauge that the label said I would. Don't get me wrong, I see the merit and value in knitting swatches. I just don't have the patience for it. So. Swatch completed I was faced with changing needle size and knitting another swatch or line-by-line calculations. Math is right up there with swatches for me. But in this case, math won. With the patient help of TheSittingTree, my step-mother, and my husband I managed to figure this out. I think. We'll see.

Right. So knitting did not agree with me this weekend. Here's hoping this week is better.

{this moment} - painting

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Swap and a finished project!

I received a lovely, lovely swap package from TwoLittleSeeds this week.



In it were three packages - each labeled for one of my kids. And a yummy smelling tea bag for me!

The Elf:


The Beast:


The Imp:


The Imp didn't want to wear his the day it came. So the Beast wore it. But today, fresh from the laundry basket the Imp requested the "buttons!" and so I was able to photograph him.

The Elf has been watching me knit and craft things for other people. One day he inquired why I hadn't made something for him yet (let's ignore for a moment that I haven't made anything for myself, either). So I had him look through some books of patterns that I'd gotten from the library. He chose a caterpillar finger puppet from this book. Being the kid that he is, I suggested things we could do to make it more to his taste. We settled on an alien puppet. He requested three red eyes and two antennae. I think the middle eye looks more like a nose, but he's pretty happy with it. Also, it's more of a several-finger puppet. Oops.



And now to go work on my other two in-progress knitting projects!

I keep meaning to post about the amazing giveaway over at The Sitting Tree. It's open for another couple of hours. Hurry over and leave a comment here to win some lovely patterns (and yarn to complete them!).

Catch up and {this moment}

I've been slacking with the posting and image editing this week. So now I think I may try and compress it all into one post.

Let's see. Over a week ago the older boys and I painted blotter paper leaves. We tried several different methods and none of them worked exactly as I thought they would, but fun was had all the same.



I finished the dolls for my swap with TwoLittleSeeds and moved on to my swap with OutsideCat. I thought I'd do a quasi step-by-step photo thing. Of course, once I started adding color I sort of forgot to stop and take pictures. Oops.



I started out with a simple rolled piece of plain wool and felted it until it was firm and the right size.



Add four rolled cones. It's okay if they seem a little long or thin. When you add color it tends to thicken and shorten them. It gets shorter because it becomes more densely felted. I find it hard to do more than tack the original cones together.



Stick the cones on and there you go! A ghostly tree stump. Add color - dark for the bark and twisted lighter wool in a spiral pattern to make a tree ring-like pattern. And there you go!



I didn't take progress pictures of the mushroom house. So all you get is the finished product for now.





And finally. My moment. Which I'm going to cheat and explain. Two years ago (or so) we rescued a kitten being bled to death by fleas outside. We nursed him back to health and he's a happy, fluffy Faustus now. His litter-mate was not so easy to catch. In fact, we never did. He's a gorgeous feral fellow that I've named Constantine. In the past couple of months he's gotten more comfortable with us and is often seen in our driveway (when he isn't chowing down on the food we put out for him).

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.



Whew. The end. For now!

Serenity

For my niece's 13th birthday I made a knitted firefly ship.



It taught me a lot. I knit the whole thing on a circular needle using the magic loop technique. I was supposed to hold the yarn doubled but I really didn't want to try figuring that one out. I suspect that would account for the larger holes where you can see the stuffing peeking through.



When she opened it today at her party, my niece had no idea what it was. I'll be honest and tell you that my heart fell a bit. Her mother (my sister) had no idea, either. When I told them, they were all oohs and aahs. I think it's possible that my sister greatly overstated her family's interest in Firefly. Or maybe when my family geeks out, we really geek out.



My step-mother and the other knitters and creative types all thought it was amazing. I think it was mostly because it's only the second pattern I've ever tried - which I'm told is adventurous for a beginner. Maybe I was supposed to stick to flat things? My whole motivation for learning to knit was so that I could make toys for the kids.



In any case, I am pleased with how it turned out. After a few more interestingly shaped toys maybe I'll be able to design Moya and some DRDs (since I haven't come across a pattern already in existence). Mmmm. Farscape.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

WIP and a swap.

My oldest niece is a recent fan of Firefly. Her thirteenth birthday is coming up and her party is this weekend. What do you gift a newly turned teenager who doesn't seem to have many interests beyond video games? Well, you knit Serenity, of course!



This is just the "head" of the ship. I've gotten the body done since then and am currently attempting the tail. It's been an adventure.
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The lovely TwoLittleSeeds graciously agreed to a swap with me. Here are two of the three dolls that will be headed her way (the third hasn't been started yet).



The hat for this orange gnome was improvised from the pattern at Plain and Joyful Living and a child's hat pattern I found on Ravelry. I like that the hat is super long and skinny with a slight curl.



This one I'm not too sure about. I think I may have put the arms on too low. This was also my first attempt at hair. I used the tutorial at Wee Folk Art. I'm not sure I have the patience for doing it too often.

With luck I'll make it to the library tonight where two books with knitted toy patterns await me! Of course, I won't be able to knit anything from them until the third doll and Serenity are done. But it'll be fun to plot and plan.

{this moment} - a happy mess

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.