Knitting has a very steep learning curve at the beginning, but once you master the basics, a wide vista of possibilities opens up before you.
From the Lazy Genius, who is still struggling up that learning curve, some hints for the beginning knitter. All her hints are spot on, although in the first one she means circular needles, which I personally have never mastered--I prefer to use one very long pair of straight needles (from dowels three feet long), or a larger number of shorter straight needles for wide projects.
Children around the age of six or seven can have good enough motor skills (and perseverance, which is vital) to learn to knit. As my friend said, "The best way to learn to do a new craft is to read a book for teaching children how to do it," because a craft book targeted at children has to stick closely to the true essentials of the technique.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
The small things and the not-so-small things
Another series of small wins:
I figured out how to re-attach the wreath hook on the front door (after it fell down...it was only held up by double-sided tape!) in a more secure manner, using screws. So I don't have to buy a new one.
I altered a pair of jeans that was too big, by taking in the side seams. Hint: try them on first, inside-out, and see how much needs to be taken off. Also: watch out for the rivets while you are sewing!
I started some seeds, in folded newspaper pots. These pots are easy to make, but hard to keep folded without being stapled or filled with soil.
I've been keeping up with the mending.
I applied KonMari folding to the bed linen, and it looks much more organized.
I pushed through and made it over the peak of the hill for my Major Sewing Project; the rest of the work is downhill.
One thing I've been thinking about for a while is a small rug for the bedroom. I've been testing various ideas, and have settled on a granny-hexagon, to be crocheted from about $3 of dollar store twine (probably jute), for organic texture.
I also did a Nester-style "quieting the room" exercise in the bedroom--taking down all the decorations--to see what it needed. Most of the things went right back where they were, but it was good to have worked it all through again.
I scavenged some pine twigs from last year's Christmas tree, for a future project.
I found a nice pair of walking shoes at Goodwill for $7, although somewhat Providentially, because I passed them over at first and only took a quick second look as I was leaving. Shoe shopping usually makes me cry, because my size is very hard to find. These shoes are replacing a pair of shoes that were Providential when I found them (on vacation, after the soles of my hiking boots suddenly started melting into tar--don't ask me why--and I was left with only dress shoes while camping in the rain), they were even in my size, but they are really too narrow in the toe for me to wear long-term.
Plus one BIG WIN:
I figured out what I want being in my home to feel like...I knew before what I liked and what I didn't, but now I have one phrase that covers it all. And looking around, most of what we have already supports that theme. I've done a little tweaking since then, to bring it out a little more clearly.
A few years ago, I read a book about how to work your way toward a two-word Style Statement for your personal style; probably this book. My decorating theme isn't the same as the two words I came up with back then (which still fit me well enough), but
it fits within the broader style.
In Alexandra Stoddard's books, the idea of decorating a room to feel like being in a garden often comes up, but somehow that never seemed quite right for me...I'm not nearly as into gardens as she is. I had to find my own favorite thing, and now I have.
I figured out how to re-attach the wreath hook on the front door (after it fell down...it was only held up by double-sided tape!) in a more secure manner, using screws. So I don't have to buy a new one.
I altered a pair of jeans that was too big, by taking in the side seams. Hint: try them on first, inside-out, and see how much needs to be taken off. Also: watch out for the rivets while you are sewing!
I started some seeds, in folded newspaper pots. These pots are easy to make, but hard to keep folded without being stapled or filled with soil.
I've been keeping up with the mending.
I applied KonMari folding to the bed linen, and it looks much more organized.
I pushed through and made it over the peak of the hill for my Major Sewing Project; the rest of the work is downhill.
One thing I've been thinking about for a while is a small rug for the bedroom. I've been testing various ideas, and have settled on a granny-hexagon, to be crocheted from about $3 of dollar store twine (probably jute), for organic texture.
I also did a Nester-style "quieting the room" exercise in the bedroom--taking down all the decorations--to see what it needed. Most of the things went right back where they were, but it was good to have worked it all through again.
I scavenged some pine twigs from last year's Christmas tree, for a future project.
I found a nice pair of walking shoes at Goodwill for $7, although somewhat Providentially, because I passed them over at first and only took a quick second look as I was leaving. Shoe shopping usually makes me cry, because my size is very hard to find. These shoes are replacing a pair of shoes that were Providential when I found them (on vacation, after the soles of my hiking boots suddenly started melting into tar--don't ask me why--and I was left with only dress shoes while camping in the rain), they were even in my size, but they are really too narrow in the toe for me to wear long-term.
Plus one BIG WIN:
I figured out what I want being in my home to feel like...I knew before what I liked and what I didn't, but now I have one phrase that covers it all. And looking around, most of what we have already supports that theme. I've done a little tweaking since then, to bring it out a little more clearly.
A few years ago, I read a book about how to work your way toward a two-word Style Statement for your personal style; probably this book. My decorating theme isn't the same as the two words I came up with back then (which still fit me well enough), but
it fits within the broader style.
In Alexandra Stoddard's books, the idea of decorating a room to feel like being in a garden often comes up, but somehow that never seemed quite right for me...I'm not nearly as into gardens as she is. I had to find my own favorite thing, and now I have.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Organizing fabric, and more gardening plans
In the same way, I organized some children's clothing in sizes that we don't need at the moment...it is amazing to look into the drawer and see everything at a glance.
I am planning on reviewing the book at some point, but I need to re-read it first.
As for gardening, my husband found a source of food-grade five gallon buckets: a local food business is selling their empty buckets for fifty cents each. He is amassing a collection of buckets for container gardening, using two nested buckets per container, with a space for a water reservoir between. Apparently the big challenge in container gardening is in keeping everything watered.
Some other sources of lower-cost plants, that I didn't mention in the last post: cuttings and splits and seeds from other people's established gardens.
Friday, March 4, 2016
An actual crafts project, and garden thoughts
We have a fireplace, set in a wall of brick veneer. I like the brick, but it sucks up all the light at that end of the room...and the room is painted to match it, so all other walls suck up light too. There is no mantel. I've been thinking for a while about finding something light-giving and lightweight to hang over the fireplace, that doesn't involve drilling into the brick.
I used to own lots of craft books, but at the moment we only have one. In this book is a project that uses coarse sandpaper to transfer crayon designs to fabric in a sort of pointillist texture: draw a reversed image on the sandpaper with crayon, place fabric and a press cloth over it, and iron on high.
For fabric, I recently picked up a lot of smaller pieces of white fabric at the church craft supplies giveaway. A couple of the children colored pieces of sandpaper, and I colored several more.
With ironing, some brands and colors of crayons transferred more thoroughly than others, and many were light to the point of being washed out; not necessarily a problem in such a dark room. I used string to hang the pieces of fabric across the brick, in a Soulemama sort of banner, from cup hooks that I set into the wood trim. I made it so that I can easily string up something different later.
In other news, we've been planning next season's gardening. Last year, we didn't know what perennials were going to come up in the flower beds, and we had almost no money to work with. We bought a few packets of vegetable seeds, did some indoor seed starting, and for the rest just planted old seeds from our stash (many of which didn't sprout). In a couple of places I "planted" by selective weeding: choose a couple of the friendlier types of weeds (purslane, for example) to keep, and pull up the rest. This year we have a better idea of where we are starting from, and can throw a very modest amount of money into plants and seeds and equipment. I have plans to build or buy myself a hoe. We have a couple of hoes, but I think I need one just like the one Grandma had. For flowers, I am heavily favoring perennials or self-seeding annuals, to minimize long-term seed costs.
I used to own lots of craft books, but at the moment we only have one. In this book is a project that uses coarse sandpaper to transfer crayon designs to fabric in a sort of pointillist texture: draw a reversed image on the sandpaper with crayon, place fabric and a press cloth over it, and iron on high.
For fabric, I recently picked up a lot of smaller pieces of white fabric at the church craft supplies giveaway. A couple of the children colored pieces of sandpaper, and I colored several more.
With ironing, some brands and colors of crayons transferred more thoroughly than others, and many were light to the point of being washed out; not necessarily a problem in such a dark room. I used string to hang the pieces of fabric across the brick, in a Soulemama sort of banner, from cup hooks that I set into the wood trim. I made it so that I can easily string up something different later.
In other news, we've been planning next season's gardening. Last year, we didn't know what perennials were going to come up in the flower beds, and we had almost no money to work with. We bought a few packets of vegetable seeds, did some indoor seed starting, and for the rest just planted old seeds from our stash (many of which didn't sprout). In a couple of places I "planted" by selective weeding: choose a couple of the friendlier types of weeds (purslane, for example) to keep, and pull up the rest. This year we have a better idea of where we are starting from, and can throw a very modest amount of money into plants and seeds and equipment. I have plans to build or buy myself a hoe. We have a couple of hoes, but I think I need one just like the one Grandma had. For flowers, I am heavily favoring perennials or self-seeding annuals, to minimize long-term seed costs.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The best thing about the month of February...
...is that there is only one of them a year. And it's short. This year February has brought us a nasty cold and a stomach virus. But there have still been many wins:
1. Having quilts and soft pillows to cozy up with while ill.
2. The couch took a direct vomit hit, but it was easy to clean up, because there are three layers of washable covers on it.
3. The one Sunday that I made it to church, some ladies were giving away unwanted materials from their crafts and fabric stashes. I am getting pickier with age about what I bring home, but I did choose some patterns, fabrics, beads, and sheet copper. I've already made a bracelet, two child-size skirts, and a new flannel cover for a worn diaper from these materials. I also picked up a useful sewing tip from the sewing directions in one of the patterns; there's always something more to learn. (The tip was to sew down the seam allowances for the part of a seam that goes up into the casing for an elastic waistband--before sewing the casing--so that you don't have to worry about running into them when you're running the elastic through.)
4. Being able, thanks to the power of persistence, to fish a part from the tub drain cap out of the drain...oh, the things that gifted children will find to disassemble. A replacement cap would have been about $70, with shipping.
5. Investing in some real duct tape (shiny HVAC tape) to seal some gaps and gapes in the ductwork, so that the furnace doesn't need to run so long to get heat up to the thermostat. It is definitely making a difference.
6. Being able to help some friends who are facing difficult circumstances.
7. Getting last year's paperwork sorted, and the taxes figured out...math is fun!
8. Working through a "punch list" of little details around the house: sanding a bare wood switch plate and giving it a light spray of acrylic sealer*, spackling some dings, painting the tiny space between the door frame and the ceiling in the basement bathroom to match the rest of the walls, figuring out how to remove a drawer from the bathroom vanity to get at the baby stuff that had fallen behind it...a bunch of five- and ten-minute jobs.
9. Taking in the seams on some of my clothes, as I have been gradually losing weight.
10. My husband set up a free, scrounged pegboard behind his workbench. We were also given some tools and books by a church member who is downsizing.
___________________
*Edited to add: The acrylic sealer very soon started to wear off; I ended up sanding it off and spraying the switch plate with a brand-name clear coat, which has been holding up to wear much better.
1. Having quilts and soft pillows to cozy up with while ill.
2. The couch took a direct vomit hit, but it was easy to clean up, because there are three layers of washable covers on it.
3. The one Sunday that I made it to church, some ladies were giving away unwanted materials from their crafts and fabric stashes. I am getting pickier with age about what I bring home, but I did choose some patterns, fabrics, beads, and sheet copper. I've already made a bracelet, two child-size skirts, and a new flannel cover for a worn diaper from these materials. I also picked up a useful sewing tip from the sewing directions in one of the patterns; there's always something more to learn. (The tip was to sew down the seam allowances for the part of a seam that goes up into the casing for an elastic waistband--before sewing the casing--so that you don't have to worry about running into them when you're running the elastic through.)
4. Being able, thanks to the power of persistence, to fish a part from the tub drain cap out of the drain...oh, the things that gifted children will find to disassemble. A replacement cap would have been about $70, with shipping.
5. Investing in some real duct tape (shiny HVAC tape) to seal some gaps and gapes in the ductwork, so that the furnace doesn't need to run so long to get heat up to the thermostat. It is definitely making a difference.
6. Being able to help some friends who are facing difficult circumstances.
7. Getting last year's paperwork sorted, and the taxes figured out...math is fun!
8. Working through a "punch list" of little details around the house: sanding a bare wood switch plate and giving it a light spray of acrylic sealer*, spackling some dings, painting the tiny space between the door frame and the ceiling in the basement bathroom to match the rest of the walls, figuring out how to remove a drawer from the bathroom vanity to get at the baby stuff that had fallen behind it...a bunch of five- and ten-minute jobs.
9. Taking in the seams on some of my clothes, as I have been gradually losing weight.
10. My husband set up a free, scrounged pegboard behind his workbench. We were also given some tools and books by a church member who is downsizing.
___________________
*Edited to add: The acrylic sealer very soon started to wear off; I ended up sanding it off and spraying the switch plate with a brand-name clear coat, which has been holding up to wear much better.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
God bless the landlords...
...who leave you the paint cans, for touching-up the paint. Bless them double if they've actually labeled the cans by room.
When we lived in an apartment complex, which was not so blessably managed, the thing to do was wait until they painted another apartment, and then grab one of the paint buckets from the dumpster. They always painted apartments the exact same neutral color, and there is enough paint in an "empty" bucket to cover at least a few square inches.
Having those little dings in the wall spackled and painted makes a huge difference, somehow, in how the room feels.
When we lived in an apartment complex, which was not so blessably managed, the thing to do was wait until they painted another apartment, and then grab one of the paint buckets from the dumpster. They always painted apartments the exact same neutral color, and there is enough paint in an "empty" bucket to cover at least a few square inches.
Having those little dings in the wall spackled and painted makes a huge difference, somehow, in how the room feels.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Afoot again
I've been fighting a cold for the past week, and I'm thankful that I've arranged my chore schedule to put laundry early in the week--right after Sunday rest, and before whatever germs we pick up at church make me sick. The old-fashioned routine was "Wash on Monday", for similar reasons. Now that I am feeling better, I am making an effort to put some time into simple, unstructured puttering.
As for projects, I mended a couple of our favorite sweaters: a child's sweater by a combination of re-knitting and darning (yet again; the sweater is on the verge of complete disintegration), and my favorite lamb's wool sweater, by machine-sewing patches from retired sweaters over the holes in the elbows. A favorite sweater is well worth all the effort that mending takes. For the child's sweater, I didn't have knitting needles that were small enough, so I used two large metal yarn (sewing) needles instead.
We have been saving for some time for a grain mill, and recently bought one. (I may review it later on.) It has been fun to use, and freshly-ground flour just seems so alive, compared to regular flour. The saving part went quickly, once we actually defined a goal and established a place to set aside the money in.
I finished knitting the towel that I started, because I ran out of yarn. It works well, but is definitely too small, so I am going to make it larger when I find some compatible yarn. I knitted a loop on one corner, for hanging it up, because our other towels are always falling off their pegs. I should probably sew some loops on those.
At the moment, I am playing with some green yarn. It is very soft, and a bit on the thin side. It would be very nice for a baby hat.
Tax season is coming up, I need to get to the library to see what forms they are still stocking these days. Then comes the annual Sorting of the Files and Gathering of the Numbers.
This is my position on current politics: I AM TIRED OF BEING LIED TO.
Update: a picture of the towel:
As for projects, I mended a couple of our favorite sweaters: a child's sweater by a combination of re-knitting and darning (yet again; the sweater is on the verge of complete disintegration), and my favorite lamb's wool sweater, by machine-sewing patches from retired sweaters over the holes in the elbows. A favorite sweater is well worth all the effort that mending takes. For the child's sweater, I didn't have knitting needles that were small enough, so I used two large metal yarn (sewing) needles instead.
We have been saving for some time for a grain mill, and recently bought one. (I may review it later on.) It has been fun to use, and freshly-ground flour just seems so alive, compared to regular flour. The saving part went quickly, once we actually defined a goal and established a place to set aside the money in.
I finished knitting the towel that I started, because I ran out of yarn. It works well, but is definitely too small, so I am going to make it larger when I find some compatible yarn. I knitted a loop on one corner, for hanging it up, because our other towels are always falling off their pegs. I should probably sew some loops on those.
At the moment, I am playing with some green yarn. It is very soft, and a bit on the thin side. It would be very nice for a baby hat.
Tax season is coming up, I need to get to the library to see what forms they are still stocking these days. Then comes the annual Sorting of the Files and Gathering of the Numbers.
This is my position on current politics: I AM TIRED OF BEING LIED TO.
Update: a picture of the towel:
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