Getting Crafty | The Mac and Cheese Chronicles

Candle Boats

September 8, 2006
Lorri
2 Comments
Getting Crafty

Today was the first meeting of my Catholic homeschool group. I was in charge of crafts for the kids. I didn’t mean to volunteer, actually. We were discussing celebrating the Blessed Mother’s birthday this month and someone said we could have a birthday cake and maybe the kids could decorate candles. Then suddenly, it was like a dream and I left my body and could see myself talking, but was powerless to stop myself. I started describing this cute “candle boat” we could make that would slip over a votive candle. Well, once I put that out there, there was no taking it back and I was the Craft Lady for September. This was less than 2 weeks ago.

I don’t fly by the seat of pants well at all. I have to plan out every little detail. I can wing it once I’ve planned it, as long as I know what I’m supposed to be doing and how to get there. So I stressed about this all week. Monday I went to find my vellum paper. I had 5 sheets left. I needed one for each child and was anticipating 10 to 20 children. Then I showed a picture of the project to my online stamping buddies. They all said, “whoa! That’s way too complicated! Try something else.” Unfortunately, I had already emailed a picture of the project to my homeschooling group. So Tuesday comes along and I’m doped up on Benedryl from the mosquito bites I got outside the American History Musuem. I must take Benedryl for about a day before I can switch to Claritin or the bites will swell up to about 3 inches in diameter. I can’t find Pumpkin Girl’s math worksheets, about half a year’s worth. I lost my lesson plans for next week. My stamping buddies say my project is too ambitious. I don’t have enough vellum and I’m too loopy to drive to get more. I have 3 days to modify the project to be more realistic.

Then Phil came home for lunch. I listed all my woes to him and he says the magic words: “Do you want me to take you to Michael’s right now?” I love that man. I really do.

So we go off to Michael’s. Now, I haven’t been to a Michaels’ craft store in about 3 years. We lived in Korea for 2 years, then with a new baby and trying to unpack, just never got around to it. I was in there 10 minutes and spent $80.

Anyway, I spent the next couple of days preparing the craft. It didn’t take me long at all. About an hour, in total, to stamp and cut the paper.

This is what we made:

The children really enjoyed it. I let the kids get creative with the blue pieces of cardstock. I brought punches, decorative scissors and markers and let them go to town. That was just the right level of involvement for them. The rest was just gluing and tying the cords. They were a big hit with the moms, too.

So, all’s well that end’s well. But I don’t think I’ll be volunteering to be the craft lady again this year.

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Knitting Disasters

I finished Pumpkin Girl’s poncho, sort of. I happily finished the body and started the hood. I grafted the hood together with the Kitchener stitch which is way harder than it looks! I pulled that thing out 3 times because I kept losing my place and had no clue how to figure out where I was. I finally resorted to counting out loud, "Purl, purl, off, knit, knit off, purl, purl, DON’T TALK TO ME!, off, knit…" It was worth it though, because it looks beautiful! I kept turning it over and over, marveling at how the seam just disappears. Then I worked on the fringe. The whole time I was working on the hood, I kept looking at the bottom edge that was curling up. I figured the weight of the fringe would pull it straight. Well, no. Hmm. Maybe blocking it would could it from curling. Anyway, I tried it on Pumpkin Girl. The darn thing is too small! In the immortal words of Charlie Brown: ARGH! It barely fits her right now and I made it for next fall. She wears a size 5, so I made a size 6-8, hoping to get a year or two of wear out of it. I checked my gauge and I’m right on, if not a little bit bigger. I am positive I made the correct size. So there I was, with the disaster of a poncho, looking closely at the picture on the pattern for any signs of the end curling when I noticed something. The last four rounds were supposed to be knit in garter stitch, which is simply knitting every row. Unless you are knitting in the round, which I was, in which case you knit one row, then purl the next. This would have prevented the curling. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, I did the wrong one. Now I’ve got to pull out the fringe, pull out the offending rows and reknit them. Which brings us to the next problem. I had bought an extra skein of yarn, but I now had barely enough to allow for the new rows, let alone the casing for the hood and the drawstring. The only mercy was that I had not yet trimmed the fringe which will make it easier to pull out and reattach.

My friend and knitting guru recommended giving the poncho a time out and letting it think about the errors of its ways. She was also pretty sure I could block it out to a better size. So into the yarn basket it went until I was ready to deal with it.

And on to Bip’s sweater. You may recall that I just need to do the sleeves. I found a quiet moment to get the ribbing done ("knit, knit, purl, purl, knit, knit, purl, DON’T TALK TO ME!) and then blissfully began knitting up the length of the sleeve, increasing every third row, just like the instructions said. The sleeve was getting pretty long and I was only about half way to the amount of stitches I needed on the needle. Hmmm. I checked the instructions again. And I quote, "increase one stitch at EACH end of every third row." That would be twice as many increases as I was making. Out came the sleeve, right down to the ribbing.

You know the saying, "Measure twice, cut once"? Well, my lesson here was read twice, knit once.

I figured I better move on to something where I was less likely to get hurt.

Washcloths! That I could do! And rather successfully, I might add! I have decided I love washcloths. You can use inexpensive cotton yarn, there are a ton of free patterns to be found on the internet and they are quick and easy. See:

The blue one is for Boo, the purple one is Pumpkin Girl’s. They are thrilled with them! They think I’m a genius.

Flush from my victory with the washcloths I set my sights on socks. I’ve always wanted to make socks. And look, I did it!

Yes, it’s a funny shape, but it’s the practice sock from the book Sensational Knitted Socks. I’ve heard that socks are actually pretty easy, and they are, even if they often involve that pesky Kitchener stitch.

And perhaps even more exciting, I found another skein of the poncho yarn at the bottom of the basket! I will have more than enough for what I need.

Now I have moved on to a very easy baby blanket. I think I can handle that.

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A shawl for Lindsey

The crochet project that I was working on but keeping quiet about was a prayer shawl. I made it for a young lady named Lindsey who has been battling a very aggressive form of cancer. She was in college when the cancer was discovered and over the last year has been through surgeries, chemo, radiation… the whole gamut. Her father is a regular on the Sonlight forum and he recently added her picture to his signature. When I saw her picture, I felt very compelled to do something for her. I had recently read an article about prayer shawls and did a google search for more information and patterns.

Prayer Shawl Ministries
Prayers Shawl Pattern(knit)
Prayer Shawl Pattern(crochet)

So I made a shawl for Lindsey. I know a shawl may be a strange gift for a young college girl, but I hope that she will gain some comfort and strength in knowing that there are people all over the world praying for her. It is called a prayer shawl because while it is being created, you are praying for the recipient. I also prayed that I would discover what God wanted me to learn from the whole experience. I believe he wanted me to learn the same things I am trying to teach my son – work worth doing is worth doing right. Taking your time and working carefully takes less time than working quickly and having to do it all over again. What matters most is not acheiving perfection, but doing your very best. In the end this is what I created:

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Fiber Arts Projects

With Bip in bed (and asleep!) by 9:00 last night, I got in some good knitting time. When Phil isn’t here, I rummage around our video cabinet for a good movie I haven’t seen in awhile and pop it in. Last night I found "Amadeus." I had forgotten how much I love this movie! I don’t even know when the last time I saw it was. (Boy, that was all sorts of bad grammar.) Anyway, I watched it until 11:00 when my eyes got too tired and I thought I heard the baby squawking. While I watched I worked on a poncho for Pumpkin Girl from a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern. She calls ponchos "pom poms" and pom poms "poom pooms." I have no idea why. She helped me pick out the yarn at our local yarn store‘s 2nd birthday party. She sat at the back table eating this gi-normous sugar cookie while I explored all the worsted weight yarns. She didn’t like the yarn I had picked out for said pom pom (errrr!) and this time I wasn’t taking any chances. I walked around the bins holding up skeins for her to judge. "This one? This one? How about this one?" She shook her head sweetly no each time, looking up at me with her big eyes from behind her cookie. Finally we found one. Just to make sure, I continued through the yarn, this time having her compare colors. "Which do you like better? This one or this one?" Finally she selected something very nice, but not in a color I would have expected. I thought she’d go for the pinks and purples, but she chose a green/blue/purple combo. I didn’t even look at the price, bought 6 skeins and headed back to car where the boys were waiting.

So now I’m working on the "pom pom." It’s done on circular needles, around and around and around. You make 4 increases every other row, just to keep you on your toes. So as a beginner knitter, I have gained the useful skill of being able to identify an increase stitch in my knitting. This is useful because I can never remember if I’m on an increase row or not as I pick up my knitting each day.

I also broke my cardinal rule of never having more than one fiber arts project going at once. I just got so tired of working on Bip’ sweater. All that I have left to do are the sleeves, but I have to start each one in 2×2 ribbing and I always lose count and have to rip it all out and start again. What I need to do is find some quiet, uninterrupted time (does that even exist?) to start both sleeves past the ribbing and then slip one onto a stitch holder to wait. Then I can continue the mindless stockinette stitch for the remainder of the sleeve without worrying about needing to drop everything, except stitches, LOL, to attend to somebody else’s minor emergencies.

So being bored with the sweater, I started a crochet project. Actually, that one was time sensitive and I finished it up quickly. That’s a story for another time. Embiggened (it’s a word!) by my success with the crochet project, I started another one. This one is almost done but I had to put it away because the recipient was visiting us last week. I can’t mention it any further because this person reads my blog. I’ll reveal it in pictures after Christmas.

Christmas Present Crochet Project carefully out of sight for the week, but my hands being empty as the baby was fought over by two sets of grandparents and a great-grandmother, I started work on Pumpkin Girl’s pom pom. I want to keep working on it for a while since I just got started. I’m sure I’ll get bored with it soon enough, knitting, knitting, knitting, around and around and around. Then I’ll go back to the crochet thing, finish it up and then tackle those sleeves.

Still waiting in the wings are a baby hat and blanket for a stamping friend who has been waiting forever to adopt a baby. I should probably start those and get the great cosmic wheels turning in her favor. (OK, I’m not really superstitious of course.) I would also like to knit a sweater for Boo. And hats for everyone. And learn to make socks and…

But for tonight, it’s the rest of "Amadeus" and more work on Pumpkin Girl’s pom pom.

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Tatting

As I was unpacking and rearranging my crafting room/guest room I came across some things that I tatted when we first moved to Korea. Yes, I tat and no, it’s not a dying art. I remember an episode of the show “Homefront” called “the Lacemakers” and being intrigued by the thought of actually making lace. Lace can be made my knitting, crocheting, using bobbins or by tatting. Tatting uses a shuttle and a ball of thread to make knots. Years and years after the “Homefront” episdoe, I learned to tat. I am completely self taught and have never met another tatter in person. Right before moving to Korea, I wanted to make a baby bonnet for the baby I was expecting . The problem was, all the patterns I could find called for a very fine size thread. The finer the thread, the harder it is to tat and I was a beginner. So I systematically set out making projects, each one using a progressively finer thread. I started with this doily:

I couldn’t fit the whole thing on my scanner.

I also made a hanky:

Then I went to work on a bunch of snowflakes. The one with the strings hanging out gave me such trouble that I never finished it.

Then I was ready for the baby bonnet. I used a varigated thread with mostly yellows, some blues and pinks because I didn’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl. Working on the bonnet was very satisfying at a very emotional time. The rythmic, repetitive motion was calming and being able to do some crafting helped me feel more at home in a strange place. I remember sitting in our living room in Korea, filled with functional government furniture, longing for all my stuff. I had tried to bring with us the things that made our house a home, but we had a weight limit to adhere to and many things stayed behind. A lot of what I gave up was my crafting supplies. But the sum total of all my tatting supplies fits into one medium basket and any currant project will fit entirely into a makeup bag. So the tatting came along. I remember sitting in a camp chair, watching Boo and Pumpkin Girl play, happily working on the bonnet.

Then Rebecca arrived. I had promised to knit Boo a hat, so the bonnet was put aside and then the tasks of everyday life with 2 small children and a baby just got in the way. I picked the bonnet back up in the Spring of 2004 when Becca was about 4 or 5 months old. Now I happen to tat even slower than I knit and this bonnet was supposed to fit a 6 month old. I had visions of Rebecca wearing it to church during the summer. I worked on it during the older children’s nap time while Becca sat and played with her toys. The only problem was that she preferred to play WITH me, not just near me. I realized then that I was not going to finish the bonnet while she was still small enough to wear it, so I put it aside. I figured I would finish it another time and give it to her first baby. I would tell her how I was making it for her, but knew she needed me more than she needed it so I put it aside – but now here it is, all ready for her baby to wear. I felt no regret about it. (This isn’t a sad story, by the way.) Well, now our sweet Becca is hanging out with Jesus in heaven, just waiting for the rest of us to join her in our own time. I am glad I chose to spend my time with her.

I brought the bonnet with me during our move back to the States. I was pregnant again (because it’s no fun to move if I’m not pregnant!) and needed something small to bring on the plane and keep my mind off how uncomfortable I was getting. I worked on it all summer until fatigue and stress took over and I chose to nap during my free time. You know, that bonnet is still not finished! I’m not sure which child will get it now, but that’s a decision for another time. I have every intention of finishing it someday. I’ve been trying very hard not to have more than one work in progress (per craft!!!) at a time. But it has to get in line behind Pumpkin Girl’s poncho, Boo’s sweater and Bip’s sweater. And I’d like to learn to knit socks. Plus there are the 22 Easter cards and 4 birthday cards I’m making this week for 2 different exchanges I’m in.

I do need to take a picture of the bonnet on our lifesize doll. I’d put it on Bip, but he’d pull it right off.

So there is the story of the bonnet and how I taught myself to tat. By the way, this is actually not the work in progress that I mentioned in my earlier entry called “Knitting.” That’s something else entirely, which I finished last night. I’m washing and blocking it tonight then sending it off as a gift. When it is received, I’ll post pictures and the story here. Some of the people who read this blog know the person it’s going to and I want her to see it first.

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Knitting

Amy has asked all us knitters and crocheters out there to share their Works In Progress, so I’ll share my current knitting project.

This is my WIP in blue and cream.

This is a sweater out of Debbie Bliss’ book, Baby Cashmerino. I love Debbie Bliss! The sweater still needs sleeves, but the hood is already there, hanging down the back. I did a totally amateurish job finishing up the shoulder seams, but hopefully anyone who actually looks at them will not comment or even better, offer to show me how to do a better job. My friend Shanti made Nicholas the same sweater, in green and cream, which he has been wearing all winter. I just love it and I knew I needed to make him one, too! She did a great job on the seams! She is in the Navy, about to take command of some sort of ship (I know she’s just rolling her eyes at me), but maybe she’ll have some time to come up to DC and show me how to do the edge around the hood. I have read the instructions and I understand the words, just not too sure about how to actually accomplish it.

This is the sweater Shanti made for Nicholas. Didn’t she do a great job?

Shanti and I go w-a-y back to 1987, I think. We were Civil Air Patrol cadets together, perhaps the 2 shortest full grown cadets ever. She’s the only person I know who is as into crafting as I am. One summer when I lived in San Francisco and had a car, we were able to spend a lot of time together and be crafting buddies. Even though she’s in the Navy and we’re Army, we have been attempting to follow her around the country and live near her. She was actually at Annapolis while we were in the DC area the last time. Then she moved. Then she was at the Pentagon until like 2 weeks after we moved to DC. Maybe she’s avoiding us. Hmm.

I do have one other Work In Project, but I’m not prepared to share it right now. It has a story to go with it which will need telling. First I have to finish the project. It should be done by the end of the week and then I’ll share.

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Category - Getting Crafty