Aspiring Ameliorant

Making myself useful

2012-01-27T19:00:00.000-06:00

When I go off and make something mostly frivolous (like my floor cushion), I occasionally get flack, since that usually means I’m ignoring a big pile of unfinished projects, or a pile of useful sewing that I keep promising myself and others that I’ll do. And usually both.

It doesn’t normally bother me. It’s my hobby here…at least I ended up with something. But there comes a point when enough is enough, and I seem to go on a spree. It started with altering a pair of my husband’s work pants and ended up growing from there.

A piece of flannel floating around my stash became a few more face wipes for a certain little man who enjoys playing with his food, a Kohl’s $5 dress became a much less dowdy length, a thrift store bathrobe was also hemmed for new-baby nursing this summer, and I found a much more attractive solution to the light from our bedroom stereo (previous solution was to drape whatever item of clothing was at hand over the display).

And there may even be more to come! I’ve been cleaning up the basement, and created a “use it or lose it box” of clothes that I don’t wear anymore, or bought with the express purpose of refashioning, and just haven’t. So, the hard deadline for this box is our move in the fall. Whatever doesn’t make it into a more useful form, or back into the clothing rotation will go to the thrift store at that point.

Next up? Some successful knitting, and some not-so-successful knitting.

Rest for the weary

2012-01-26T19:38:00.001-06:00

One of the Christmas presents I really wanted to make was one of these floor cushions from the tutorial at Living with Punks. Ostensibly it’s for my son, though I must say that it has been getting much more use from my husband, who sits on it when he makes a fire in the fireplace. And really, it was mostly for my own entertainment, because I think it’s just adorable (much more so than the two pillows whose stuffing I harvested).

I especially love the piping, though I must admit a shameful secret. I was at JoAnn’s to buy the cording, but didn’t have the pattern, and I didn’t buy enough. That’s not so bad until you realize that I’m the geeky math girl who at points in her life has had 50 digits of pi memorized (I just checked, and I now peter out at 36), and I knew what the diameter of the circle was. Suffice it to say, I inserted flat piping for the handle.

I’m now looking forward to making Peter some green denim pants so he can be camouflaged on his cushion.

I finished some Christmas stuff!

2012-01-12T14:20:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week I was packing up some of our Christmas decorations, and I decided before I packed them all up, I should probably actually finish the boys’ stockings.

You’ll have to forgive the picture repeat. I thought I took better individual pictures, but I can’t find them. At any rate, A’s stocking (the crazy plaid one), and Peter’s stocking (on the far right) were new this year. Because the stocking my mom made me (on the left) is the Platonic ideal of all stocking-foot-shapes, I traced it to make sure my boys would be guaranteed the same ideal form.

A’s is scraps from old flannel shirts. His arms are long, so any time we try to be economical and buy him cheap shirts, they inevitably become too short in the arms after too many washes.

Peter’s stocking features a mini version of this elf from Wee Wonderfuls, and his name in a fun font (from Da Font). A font which I have subsequently developed a semi-obsession with (see this video).

Now, for that May baby, all we have to do is meet him or her, name him or her, and then I can get cracking!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}: Epiphany

2012-01-06T20:42:00.003-06:00

So, it’s been a while. But I’m still here! And I have lots to say! I thought I’d begin at the end, so to speak, and show you our celebrations of Twelfth Night.

{pretty}

The Advent wreath’s last hurrah, the Three Wise Men, and arroz con pollo (my first attempt—burned, but edible).

{happy}

Thanks for the bear Aunt Cindy and Uncle Andy! Tonight marked the final present exchange in our house. It might have included presents from us, had I not spent our time at home since Christmas sick, and not feeling the crafting mojo.

{funny}

Peter has, for months, been frightened of our vacuum cleaner. Enough so that he runs away when he sees the green plastic emerge from the closet. Other peoples’ vacuums do not have to have the same effect. Today was the same story. Only, when I was done, instead of eyeing the machine suspiciously, he started wheeling it around. I have hopes that this implies a reconciliation.

{real}

Okay, this has nothing to do with Epiphany, or anything (for that, I should have a picture of the burned dinner…), but this was just so cool, that I wanted to remember it. Our dishsoap developed snowflakes or crystals or something of the sort while we were gone for vacation. It sort of looked like frost on a window, but suspended in the bright blue liquid.

See more {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Recent projects

2011-12-11T09:25:00.001-06:00

For several days last week I actually made stuff! And thought I was going to be starting a new trend of finishing a project a night. And then the sickness hit…

A long-overdue wedding gift. Which is my wont. Inspired by Jessica of Insanely Crafty/Created Blissfully and her Family Tree.

And a drawstring bag. Just because. The tulip fabric is from Holland when we went to the tulip festival. The fabric store there had every tulip fabric ever printed, I think. Anyway, I convinced my mom to get this for me. The ties are leftover binding from these reindeer quilts, and the green is fro my scrap bag. I think I initially bought it intending to make some sort of landscape quilt of Weeks footbridge. That didn’t pan out so well. The pattern is a modification of this tutorial from In Color Order, I just moved the outer contrast from top to bottom because I thought having the tulips grow out of the green was more appropriate!

Off to minister to the sick. Here’s my inspiration. Just need to get some trays.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

2011-12-06T14:00:00.001-06:00

This is my first year doing stockings on St. Nicholas Day. Well, it’s my first day celebrating St. Nicholas Day at all, as far as I can remember. We’ll be out of town for Christmas, so this seemed like a great alternative (this, and traditional presents on the feast of Epiphany—way to spread the joy as long as possible, right?). Plus, we have this great book by a relative of a friend of my sister. Well, we have the book, but that doesn’t mean the little one wanted to sit still to actually hear it. So, I educated myself, and counted it good.

May your Advent season be filled with anticipation,

and joy,

and a feeling of generosity.

Why I was hoping we would have a snowy Halloween

2011-11-01T13:31:00.001-05:00

When I found out I was having a boy I went hunting for suggestions about where all the patterns for boys’ clothes were hiding. The consensus seemed to be: Ottobre Magazine. And then my parents were awesome enough to get me a subscription for Christmas. And I’ve actually made a number of things from my magazines, I’ve just been bad about recording them (which I need to rectify).

But here’s one fresh off the machine—the Pingu snowsuit. I wanted to make it as soon as I saw someone’s completed version on the Ottobre English Yahoo group. And since I was planning to make my child look ridiculous all winter, I should probably make double use out of it for Halloween too, right?

The recommended fabrics are velour for the outer, knit jersey for the lining, and a layer of batting as interlining. Since Peter is old enough to be actually exploring the snow on his own this year (rather than just looking at it from his stroller), I decided that a waterproof outer layer was in order. I cut out just one layer of polar fleece to use for the interlining, but decided that was inadequate. So now it’s a real thick, real heavy sucker. All the better to force waddling, I suppose. This is the largest size, size 80. I lengthened the torso by one inch and shortened the sleeves and legs by one inch each. They still have plenty of growing room (the rib cuffs are completely turned backwards in the picture above). Kid has a long torso like his mother.

I thought I had carefully lined up the lining fabric before cutting it out. Obviously I wasn’t successful.

It might turn out that this is a little bit too cumbersome for my just-barely walking son. But I do recommend the pattern for those with less mobile children!

Wordless Wednesday: Went to bed with his stockings on

2011-09-21T15:48:00.001-05:00

Hooray for Saturday

2011-09-17T19:50:00.001-05:00

Some of the pots and pans we bought right after we got married are getting worse for the wear. I had seen a restaurant supply store down the street, so we all set off on a little adventure this afternoon.

There was actually not one, but two restaurant stores less than half a mile from home. But one was closed, and one didn’t have what we needed. So we headed home, via the park. Peter fell asleep, and A. and I stopped to do an obstacle course and attempt to play tetherball until he woke up.

It’s amazing how visiting a playground can make you feel young and old at the very same time. Memories of learning to sit on the parallel bars, one of the highlights of my early elementary school life, and of playing tetherball at park campgrounds filled my mind. But sitting up on those bars today felt more uncomfortable than cool, and my tetherball skills were more than a little rusty. My taste for feats of derring-do just seems to have lessened. But though I couldn’t cross the monkey bars or acrobatically dismount from the highest bars, I returned home quite happy with our little walk. Sun, warmth, and my family. Good stuff.

Wordless Wednesday: Gustatory pleasures

2011-09-14T20:16:00.001-05:00

And a few words—We’re back!

A Festive Fourth

2011-07-14T14:36:00.001-05:00

I promised details about Washington, DC were next. But I forgot that I have some fourth of July pictures that needed to be shared. But it’s still a travel story, so there is that.

As of one week before the fourth of July, I fully thought we were going to be staying home by ourselves. No grilling, maybe some fireworks downtown if we got our act together. Then one of A.’s college roommates said he was coming to Chicago and wondered if he could drive up.

Then a day or two later, the parents of one of the boys’ other roommates called to ask whether we wanted to come over. Before we knew it, we were signed up for just the kind of laid-back, family-and-friends kind of fourth of our dreams.

And it was lovely. Despite A.’s short memory when it came to transmitting some messages from our hosts, we all got to go swimming, I got some emergency strawberry shortcake supplies out, and a good time was had by all.

Until the fireworks. The night of the third, our across the street neighbors were setting off some ground-based fireworks. Peter and I went over to watch, and he was intrigued by the light and sound. Our hosts for the fourth had a box of bottle rockets. We were only able to launch two before the sheer terror exhibited by Peter overtook the pyrophiles’ fun. Maybe next year.

California on my mind

2011-07-13T10:38:00.001-05:00

I’m going to play a quick catch up. Peter and I have been on the road, having lots of adventures, and I want to get some of the memories down before they spill out of my mind. First up, a Father’s Day visit to Father’s family in CA.

I think I’ve mentioned before our unfortunate life-planning in having a baby (the first grandchild on either side) immediately after moving far away from both of our families. And while Peter has not lacked in the familial love department, it was high time to get ourselves out to visit A.’s side of the family in sunny southern California.

The first set of plane trips were made without too much ordeal. Peter, like his mother, loved the Biscoff cookies that Delta served. But there was more excellent food to come!

Cuban black beans, pork, and yucca!

First trip to the beach. My sweet mother-in-law found a cute lightweight stroller on Craigslist. As you see, Peter is not riding in it. We got to the beach and put him in the stroller, heading for a restaurant for some food. He screamed. We walked for several blocks like that, me assuring the family that he would settle in. He did not. Maybe he was just hungry. Nope, did the same thing on the way out of the restaurant toward the beach. Maybe he was just tired. Nope, later in the week we tried during morning happy time. No go. I still have no idea why.

I suppose it’s another lesson about the best laid plans. I was all set to at least take a dip in the water—I even asked the lifeguard who taught our Parent-Child swim class whether there was anything special we needed to know for ocean swimming. And then he slept almost the whole time we were there (after the stroller fiasco, that is). But it was still lovely and breezy, and Peter did wake up for long enough to watch the ocean for several minutes.

Morning happy time in California. Probably around 5:30 or 6, which is not normally *my* morning happy time. But we decided that it was easier to just stay on Eastern time rather than switching. Peter was happy to oblige. Until the last two days, when he switched to Pacific Time in one fell swoop. Notice the super-stylish shorts, high socks, and sweater combination.

Other highlights/firsts? Meeting his paternal great-grandparents. Meeting the giant dog (my in-laws have an English Mastiff). Meeting the tortoise (likewise, they also have a tortoise). Spending quality time with grandparents and aunt/godmother.

Next up, Washington, DC!

Leaping before looking

2011-06-27T23:44:00.001-05:00

We went into his bedroom this evening to find him sitting in the corner of his crib with his legs hanging out between the slats. This seems to be a theme of his growing: he is able to get himself into situations before he can get himself out of them. Babies can sit before they’re able to move from sitting to laying down except by falling over. They scale things before they figure out how to get back down.

Why, I wonder, is this? To give adults practice running around rescuing children from their own newfound skills? Or is leaping before looking one of those childlike traits that we are supposed to be learning as we “become as little children” on our way to the Kingdom of God?

When is radical trust, “stepping out in faith,” the highest good, and when is the shrewd manager the one to be emulated?

All kinds of firsts

2011-06-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

Today I walked into Peter’s room to find him sitting up in his crib. He’s been practicing this sitting up maneuver for a while (most notably while I’m attempting to change his diaper), but this is, I think, his first real success.

As you can see from the photo above, he also has his two top teeth (the bottom two have been in for a little while). After a couple of weeks looking snaggle-toothed, with only one top tooth (top left), the other came through a week and a half ago (the people at swim lessons noticed it for me). It’s been catching up.

Peter’s had a runny nose for about a week now. Nothing that seems to really bother him, except when he’s going to sleep at night. Then he can’t fall asleep until we use the snot sucker, which wakes him right up.

Whether related to the congestion, the teeth, or neither, he’s also gotten really into making funny faces and sound effects. Panting, nose scrunching, and tooth clicking are all in his repertoire.

He’s also getting ready to crawl. I feel like I’ve been saying this for ages now, but I really think it’ll happen sooner rather than later. With visits to or from both sets of grandparents and aunts in the near future, here’s hoping that we get to share this milestone.

Do you know how happy this makes me?

2011-06-03T09:26:00.001-05:00

When you move it takes you a while to warm up to a place, at least in my experience. Just ask my parents. I spent longer than I care to admit claiming not to have any friends just to make them feel guilty about making me move to Tennessee right before I started high school.

But things like this help.

Tiptoe through the tulips

2011-05-16T09:16:00.001-05:00

Last summer we went to Europe with some friends and their daughter, my birthday buddy. She was seven months old at the time. In honor of her, for Peter Potamus’s seven month birthday, we took my mom to Holland.

Holland, Michigan, that is. The Tulip Time Festival. Etched in our imaginations from childhood readings of The Bobbsey Twins in Tulipland, Mom and I have been making plans ever since we learned that A. and I were moving to Michigan. So, despite the fact that she’s barely been home, between tax season, heading to Florida immediately afterward, she came this past week to see the tulips, and as a tiny little bonus, get grandson snuggle time.

Mom and I went on Wednesday, toured Windmill Island with all of the retired people on bus tours, went to the quilt show, and found a spot on the sidewalk next to the bucket filling station for the Volksparade. You see, before the official parade, there’s the streetcleaning. Families who apparently have been the streetcleaners for generations walk down the street in costume with buckets of water and brooms, ostensibly sweeping the street clean. The bucket filling station was a center of action. We got a little wet from overenthusiastic bucket fillers, but it was hot, so we didn’t mind too much. All the excitement got to Peter, and by the time we got back to the car, he looked like this:

A. didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so we headed back on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather was not nearly so nice, so we got wet again, but this time it wasn’t so exciting. But we did get to see the Dutch Dancers. And another parade.

Now, just because this post would be incomplete without them, some tulips.

Wordless Wednesday: Saturdays on the Lawn with Peter

2011-05-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

I’m joining a knitalong

2011-05-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

It’s really startling to me to count back and realize that I learned to knit 7 or 8 years ago. Really? Crazy. And despite being aware of knitting blogs and knitalongs all this time, I’ve never joined one.

When I talked about my plan to no longer attempt to keep this as a craft blog, my friend pointed out that this was the reason we have slashes— a mom / craft / geeky / etc. blog is pretty fun. And she’s right. I like it when other people’s blogs cross those lines in the sand.

Case in point, this Baby Surprise Jacket knitalong. Administered by Elizabeth Foss, an inspiring Mom/family/faith/homeschooling blogger if ever there was one, and who has just learned to knit in the last couple months. And I love seeing her dive into it with her daughters. So I’m diving in too.

I need to pick up the book from the library and swatch, but hopefully Peter Potamus will come out of it with his first knit-by-mommy sweater. Yay!

This is what I do for fun

2011-05-05T17:11:00.001-05:00

But really, the finished product (or, actually, draft), is nothing if not accompanied by this.

I was attempting to make the biggest pentagon possible on my tracing paper. In the middle of the night. While my child was crying. Yes, this was the distraction/relaxation I chose when Peter Potamus was going through a rough sleeping patch and I sent his father in so I could take a little break.

Eleven tracing paper pentagons, some wire, fishing line, and complicated glue stick maneuvering, and we have a starry dodecahedron lantern. It doesn’t light up because I haven’t found my paper lantern cord, and I think a second draft is probably in order. But I’m still pretty happy. Especially because I got to whip out SOH-CAH-TOA.

Unintentional bedtime catechesis

2011-05-02T09:35:00.001-05:00

On Holy Thursday, the procession from the sanctuary to the “garden” (apparently properly called the altar of repose) was accompanied by a meditative chant. It was a beautiful procession, and as short melodic phrases accompanying sentimental moments are wont to do, it wormed its way into my mind.

Since that time it has become part of Peter Potamus’s bedtime routine. Soothing, calming, repetitive. Good, right?

It wasn’t until last night that I actually thought about it and realized that maybe using the words “Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray” to lull my son to sleep wasn’t exactly the best message. Oops.

First picture of the first teeth

2011-04-29T15:26:00.001-05:00

Not a very good picture, granted, but you can see them!

By the way, this is what many of my attempted close-up pictures look like. The boy is super interested in the camera at the moment.

Perhaps overly introspective

2011-04-29T10:59:00.001-05:00

I just stumbled upon a really interesting conversation about what people don't say, mostly in-regards to quilting or blogs, or quilting and crafting blogs. And it got me thinking about what I like in blogs, and what I want this space to be. I read a fair number of blogs. ~~Perhaps~~ Likely, too many. They fall into a few main categories: craft blogs, mom blogs (primarily Catholic mom blogs), blogs from people I know in person, and geeky blogs.

I think I started this blog thinking I had to be only one of those things, with perhaps a smattering of other topics. My day-to-day life was not all that interesting, I thought, and I wanted to keep a log of my crafty projects, and a blog seemed the perfect forum. Craft blog it is.

But I’m not so good at taking pictures. And while I don’t mind blog posts without pictures, craft progress posts are, let’s face it, pretty boring. And I have this fabulous baby, and he’s pretty interesting. So I started (sometimes) participating in Wordless Wednesday, including pictures of the boy for his adoring fans.

And now I realize, I want to share more of that side of life. So, I thought about starting another blog for family-life stuff. But I don’t want to. I guess for me it’s deciding that I’m not going to make decisions about what I put on the blog based on what I think other people would like to hear about or see. I’m going to put things on the blog based on what I want to remember. I want to remember the things I make. I also want to remember the way the boy rolled back and forth last night while we were talking to my family on Skype. Not going anywhere, just going back to front, then front to back ad nauseum.

At the same time, I haven’t figured out my personal boundaries. About the only thing I’ve decided is that the boy will continue to use his secret identity, Peter Potamus. And I’ll attempt to not post things that will be super-embarassing when he’s old enough to have a say for himself.

But more links that I think are interesting? More in-progress photos of craft projects? More things that are totally out of order, because sometimes it takes me a long time to get pictures loaded and processed? More cute pictures of the boy? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

trading card images: Fred Seibert

He is not here; for he is risen!

2011-04-24T18:44:00.001-05:00

Isn’t he something? Plus there’s a hat. More on the outfit and gifts later. Happy Easter!

Wordless Thursday: Baby helps with laundry, again

2011-04-21T09:17:00.001-05:00

Day late and a dollar short on this one. Should be back soon with some more posts (Easter pants)!

Mutual entertainment

2011-04-07T17:13:00.001-05:00

Last weekend A. and I sorted through our closets, pulling out some of our spring clothes, and winnowing clothes that no longer fit, or just weren’t going to be worn. Now we have a nice healthy pile of clothes to go to Goodwill or wherever, but I couldn’t help sorting through it first and pulling out some things for future projects.

Today I tore some pants into strips for a future picnic/outdoor quilt. Luckily, my crafting companion seemed to think that the sound of fabric tearing was the. most. hilarious. thing. ever.

Fun with Fabric

I love how he startles at the beginning, almost like this baby, who has been enjoying 15 minutes of fame lately. Apparently his enjoyment of ripping sounds is not unique. There are several YouTube videos (this one is my favorite—her dad rips up a job rejection letter), but they’re all ripping paper. I actually tried ripping paper for him a week or so ago after I saw the videos, but no dice.

In the end, I ended up with a little higher stack of fabric, and the boy apparently ended up with a comedy show.

Wordless Wednesday: Springing

2011-03-30T21:40:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday: Good choice

2011-03-23T10:17:00.001-05:00

Boring, but useful

2011-03-22T13:56:00.001-05:00

My latest projects—two drawstring bags to hold the boy’s diapers (we’re a most-of-the-time cloth family). Only I didn’t put drawstrings in them, as I figured it wasn’t necessary for our current set up, and that just ends up making their numerous trips through the washing machine more difficult. Plus I used the laminated side as the right side (normal treatment is to use it as the wrong side). Better to have as few nooks and crannies for poop to hide as possible, I say.

And there in the background, the simplest project of my life. Oilcloth cut in a square, with some rounded corners for good measure to go under the boy’s high chair as we continue easing our way into solids.

Even grown ups need elf shoes sometimes

2011-03-21T13:34:00.001-05:00

After I made some cousins tiny little elf shoes, I knew I would need some for myself someday. And when we moved to Michigan, to a house with hardwood floors, I knew the time was nigh. Yes, I’ve been slipperless for most of the time we’ve been here. Yes, winter is ending. Yes, I’ve managed quite nicely with a couple of pairs of wool socks. But one of them was starting to wear through at the heels, and I’ve had these near my knitting needles for a while. So. Elf shoes.

Elf shoes pattern. Worked without the additional triangles around the top. Pink mystery yarn from Woolcott’s.

After looking up my old post, I am now learning about the distinctions between “elven,” “elfin,” “elvish,” etc. Oh, the joys of English!

Wordless Wednesday: Watching our country grow

2011-03-16T19:46:00.001-05:00

At a U.S. naturalization ceremony watching Dad sing.

Email subscription

2011-03-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

I finally looked into how to set up email subscriptions. So, if you don’t subscribe to this blog using a feed reader, and you’d like to be notified when I post something, there’s now a widget on the sidebar over to the right.

Our birthday celebration

2011-03-14T11:27:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up, you got to choose your birthday meal. And you didn’t have to help set the table or do the dishes (oh, the luxury). Well, not only did I choose A.’s birthday dinner, I made him help cook.

In my defense, he got to choose our breakfast (we went to a wonderful breakfast place in Grand Rapids, Wolfgang's), and I agreed beforehand to be in charge of cleanup. Because, you see, I had grand visions for this dinner. You see, A. is a displaced Californian. And like many such specimens, he misses his fast food burger joint of choice, In-n-Out. And since they don’t have any stores further than a one-day drive from their distribution center in California, they aren’t going to be opening a store in Michigan any time soon. Earlier last week I saw an article about a guy ordering everything on the menu (they have a relatively simple menu, plus some “secret” options). And, even better, there was a link to his previous In-n-Out experiment—making his own!

So, we caramelized onions

Ground our own beef (thanks Uncle Eric)!

And together with American cheese from the deli, freshly made “spread,” and some lettuce and tomato, we feasted.

Of course, it was a bit of effort getting it all together, so we couldn’t eat just one. But after two? I sat down with the baby for a bedtime story and was looking through his basket of books, and saw The Very Hungry Caterpillar. And so we read that one. If only my overeating would ultimately result in my becoming a beautiful butterfly! Or, at the very least, be relieved by eating some greens the next day.

Instead, the next day was reserved for the final part of the birthday feast: the cake!

And here are my boys. Peter Potamus dressed in a flannel-and-jeans tribute outfit just for his dad’s birthday. A. doesn’t wear flannel all the time, so I smiled extra when he got up on his birthday and pulled out a flannel shirt.

Why did no one tell me it was Daylight Savings Time?

2011-03-13T09:07:00.001-05:00

I just got back from church, and am feeling rather silly. Some times, I think, reminders are all over. This time? I heard nothing.

A very special day

2011-03-12T19:17:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to wish my husband and sister a very happy birthday.

A., thanks so much for letting me celebrate your last “mid-twenties” birthday with you. Thanks for working hard all day and still coming home wanting to play with Peter Potamus and me. I’m so glad we’re a family.

C., I hope you had fun at the amusement park! I miss you, and I’m proud of the work you’re doing. I’m glad you’re my sister.

Details on our celebration (and why I felt like the very hungry caterpillar) later.

Wordless Friday: Preparations

2011-03-11T09:57:00.001-06:00

Um, I missed Wednesday. Oops.

A failure of imagination

2011-03-07T13:12:00.000-06:00

I’m normally pretty good at envisioning what my crafty projects will look like when they’re through. Perhaps that’s why I have so many going at once—I get a glimpse in my head, and I have to start working on making it a reality at once. But some projects require a bit more vision than others. Because this:

while pretty, is way less cute than this:

And, to make it about 1,000 times cuter, add the little recipient:

Yarn is from alfabette zoope, a superwash wool in the colorway “Voyage.” Pattern is the Stella Pixie. The boy is all mine.

Wordless Wednesday: Early Indoctrination

2011-03-02T14:35:00.000-06:00

Onsiefication

2011-02-24T10:20:00.000-06:00

Peter Potamous has a lot of cute clothes. But he only wears probably a third of them. Part of this is because, like everyone, I have my favorites, and I tend to pick them out over and over. But part of it is because some of his clothes, while adorable, are just functionally not as great. Short sleeves? Require me to put on two onesies—one for the sleeves, one for the cute. I’ll do it, I just won’t do it all that often.

And t-shirts? Also require an underlayer, but still ride up and just loose some of their cuteness when they’re hanging up around the boy’s armpits. So, armed with some of the cuter t-shirts, and a supply of onesies that I bought for 50 cents each at the thrift store, I went about turning the t-shirts into onesies.

I cut off the crotch of the onesies about three inches above the leg holes. Then I turned it wrong-side out, and slipped it into the t-shirt. I zig-zagged them together, wrong sides together, the cut edge of the onesie underneath the hem of the t-shirt. Then I pulled it out and zig-zagged again so the hem would lay flat.

There are lots of different ways you could attach the two pieces, but this way the raw edge is hidden by the seam of the t-shirt, and if it gets warmer and he’s running around with no pants, it completely obvious that he’s wearing a cobbled together onesie. It looks intentional, I think. I did the zig-zag in the hem of the t-shirt so it looks like decorative stitching for the same reason.

Now I need to figure out two things—what to do with the new cropped t-shirts that I have left over, and what to do about shirts with no snaps or buttons or anything to help getting them on over giant baby heads…

Wordless Wednesday: chubby baby hands

2011-02-23T09:13:00.001-06:00

Showering in Style

2011-02-21T09:32:00.000-06:00

That’s our new shower curtain. Did you know that charcoal shower curtains don’t seem to exist? They don’t. Or, at least not at prices that this girl can/chooses to afford. But this cheap polyester is slightly sheer (the curtain on the window is the same stuff). Which means that light from the bathroom filters in nicely, the better for dimly lit calming showers. Yay for unintended consequences.

Oh, and the bigger rectangle? Is a golden rectangle. Just for that little touch of nerdiness.

As I said, finally finished!

2011-02-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

I loved learning to knit. But I am s.l.o.w. Very slow. I read these knitting blogs, and people have finished sweaters and socks just dropping from their needles every couple of days. Not me. Granted, I tend to knit in fits and starts, picking up and putting down projects for months at a time. But still.

I just looked it up. The Hemlock Ring Blanket pattern was published/shared in August, 2007. And I loved it then. It wasn’t too much later that I cast on one for myself. Along the way I ripped it back most of the way twice, and as I said, put it down for periods of months. But still, for a knitted project that everyone else seemed to churn out in a matter of days, a “quick knit,” it took me more than 3 years.

But I still love it.

Motherhood makes you stronger

2011-02-19T11:37:00.000-06:00

And puts you in danger of becoming a pack mule. Baby on the front, diaper bag and purse necessities plus books on the back. Headed out to the library earlier this week for baby storytime.

Birthday-buddy in the Hood

2011-02-18T09:26:00.001-06:00

When I hear that someone’s expecting and their due date is anywhere between Christmas and the middle of January, I always tell them that January 8th is a great day for a birthday. Two weeks after Christmas, one week after New Year’s, and for a solid streak of four or five years when I was in elementary school, it was either on a weekend or it was a snow day.

So imagine my delight when a friend and neighbor actually complied! Her daughter (who recently agreed to be our son’s Valentine) turned one in January, so I just had to send something along. Add to that the fact that I’ve loved the Baby in the Hood jacket from Anna Maria Horner’s Handmade Beginnings, and there you go.

The corduroy is from the JoAnn’s remnant bin (a really nice, cute, old fashioned JA). The stripe and button bands are leftover fabric from a jacket Mom made for me. I modified the sleeve lining to be in two pieces—the bottom matches the rest of the lining so the sleeves can be turned up, and the top is slippery nylon so the coat can actually go on over something. Does anyone else remember in elementary school the cool iridescent windbreakers? All the cool kids were wearing them with their Umbros. Anyway, this fabric was intended for that, way back in the day.

Buttons were also from JoAnn’s. And I kind of love them. I have a set that are black and green that I tried on the jacket first, and I’m going to have to come up with a good place for them. Grown-up clothes that only need four buttons—suggestions anyone?

And look what she picked out for me! Didn’t she do an excellent job instructing her parents what to look for while they were in Mexico?

So pretty! What about you? Do you have a birthday buddy? Do you tell your pregnant friends to hold out for your big day?

Wordless Wednesday: Finally done!

2011-02-16T19:59:00.001-06:00

Wordless Wednesday: Baby helps with laundry

2011-02-09T08:06:00.001-06:00

Wordless Wednesday: Game Time with Dad

2011-02-02T12:26:00.001-06:00

And today it’s Treasure Mountain.

Thing One

2011-01-24T17:34:00.001-06:00

Puzzle ball. Just like the others. Plus one more that I made in the interim for our neighbor’s daughter, my birthday buddy (more on that later). So that brings the total up to four puzzle balls. Right now it’s bigger than his head, and his hands aren’t quite big enough to grab onto the wedges. But it was a nice two month birthday present nonetheless.

Look, I’m not a terrible mother! Plus, first finish of the year

2011-01-19T18:03:00.000-06:00

It’s a simple equation. You sew (or knit, etc.) + you are pregnant = Lots of questions about what you’re going to make for the baby. Which is great and understandable and all, unless you don’t have grand plans to make lots of cute little adorable things for your child. Or there are other projects getting in the way of your grand plans. You know, like moving.

Anyway, I sort of deflected. I made a couple of things for myself while I was pregnant. That's for the baby, right? But as for completed projects actually for the baby, there weren’t too many. Actually, just ~~one~~ ~~two~~ one and a half. Which I’ll get to cataloging sometime. And then something bit me.

I’ve long been of the opinion that homemade baby clothes probably weren’t for me. They’re tiny and probably pretty fiddly, and I would probably get a fairly full closet from gifts. The exception I made? Special events. Birthday, Christmas, Easter, and the one that sent me to my sewing machine two weeks ago…Baptism.

“But,” you say, “christening gowns are heirloom sewing. They take forever!” Which is true. And which is why I was glad I already had a jump start. Mom offered us the use of the gown my sister and I wore when we were baptized. Being a sucker for tradition and all that jazz, I jumped on it. But then I took a good look and decided I’d really be happier if there were a little less lace. So I took the lace out from around the neck and replaced the sleeve lace with another bit of trim which ended up looking like picot edging.

And then I added some embroidery with the initials and years that the gown has been used. Not the best embroidery job ever, but I decided it added charm.

Since I was baptized in Ohio in the spring and my sister in Virginia in the summer, I knew I’d have to do something about keeping my boy warm. I pulled out the KwikSew Clothes for Baby book that my sister gave me for a shower present, traced off the pants, and went to my thrift store donation pile. Luckily, there was a white shirt which was just big enough to get the pants cut out. I used the hem of the t-shirt for the hem of the pants, so they were extra quick and easy--done in an evening while my sister-in-law entertained the baby. Plus the elastic was harvested from some fitted sheets we bought to make curtains for his room, so all-in-all, I felt quite thrifty. And my son, quite warm.

And so here it is, a finished product! Clothes for my son!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T11:28:00.005-06:00

Prayer Answered, originally uploaded by prakhar.

As always, a day late and a dollar short. But I've really been looking forward to getting back to this space, trying to find a balance between crafty posts and the rest of life. We'll see how that goes.

I rang in 2011 in my bed. A cold descended upon our house just in time for this wonderful three day weekend, so I've been lying on the couch, watching 24 and feeding the baby.

I have all kinds of Ideas! Goals! Aspirations! but I'll have to go about setting them down when situations are more amenable (i.e. not typing with the On-Screen Keyboard).

Look! I made something!

2010-10-08T15:16:00.001-05:00

Mariposa Belly Shot
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Before we even moved, Mom was researching the sewing scene in Michigan. And discovered that there was a Big. Exciting. Sewing. Show. In the Detroit area (about 2 hours from here). In September. She floated the idea of coming up and driving over together. I'll admit, I was initially doubtful. We were supposed to be moving in! And getting ready for the baby!

But it wasn't too long before I realized that a couple of days of help around the house would more than make up for the lost time. Besides, I was already sick of moving in. So we laid our plans and hatched our schemes. But here's the thing about sewing shows. People there sew (I know, I know. But I'm going somewhere with this). Which means they really appreciate the things that you've sewn. Meaning it's super-awesome to wear something you've made. I made a dress to wear to my sister's rehearsal dinner (ack! Gotta take a picture of that and post about it before the baby belly disappears), but it was a little formal for this. And other than that, my maternity sewing has been limited to a couple of imitation Belly Bands. Which are a rectangle of fabric, one seam, and spectacularly unimpressive. So I needed something else.

And this dress has been on the back burner almost since I knew I was pregnant. It was supposed to get made in time to take to Europe, but that was a no-go. In retrospect, it wrinkles too much for it to have been a very good travel dress anyway.

So, the week before Mom got here to whisk me off to Novi, I sat down and actually cut the dress out. And then I realized that I couldn't find my thread! So it was assembled using thread on my stash of bobbins. And then it languished. Right before Mom arrived, I went to the store and actually bought some more thread, but then she and I got super busy washing shelves, moving things, etc. and the sleeves and hem weren't actually done until the day we left for the show!

So that's the story of how I ended up with something I made to wear to the sewing show. And yes, the vast majority of my crafting "for the baby" has really been for me. I'll have to think some more about that...

Pattern review is here.

Good Advice

2010-08-28T20:42:00.001-05:00

Good Advice, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

We've been eating out entirely too much recently. But Thursday night we hit on a real gem. Partly because there was a trivia night going on (and one where we actually felt like we knew some of the answers; we even got a sports question right). And partly because of this coaster.

Of course after dinner we spent a couple of hours agonizing over where we were going to live for the next two years. And that wasn't so fun. But it turned out okay. Look for an update on that in the near future.

Wordless Wednesday: Make me an offer I can't refuse!

2010-08-25T12:28:00.001-05:00

Plus a side of beef!, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Welcome to Michigan!

2010-08-24T21:19:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Michigan!, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

We've been in the process of "moving" for at least a month now. At long last we've made it to the destination state--Michigan! I wish all welcome centers would put up nice signs for picture-taking. Then I wouldn't have to resort to barely-readable buildings in the background or silly tricks

Another anti-seasonal finish

2010-06-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

Actually, I suppose it wasn't anti-seasonal when finished. See the snow in the background of the picture? I know it just looks white, but I promise, it's real-live snow. Or was.

But now we can barely go outside without melting. Seriously Nashville, you've had more crazy weather this year...

The penguin? Oh, right. The penguin. I started him at least three years ago, while I was still in college. I was thinking about giving him as a gift to one of the geeky CS people I knew/know. Not only is Linux geeky cool and super-awesome, it also wins the mascot competition. Hands down. Started at least 3 years ago potentially as a present for a friend. He's been sitting without his feet stitched on and without eyes for at least two years. I finally got a package of those safe-for-kids eyes and managed to make him respectable, though his fate is undecided. For now, he sits on my desk and keeps me company.

Pattern? Pasha Yarn? the black and gold are both Cascade 220. The white is something random I found in my stash. Needles? No idea. Probably US 6.

You mean Christmas projects should have been finished before Christmas?

2010-06-24T06:04:00.000-05:00

The same sew-in where we made the Santa wall hangings, we also worked on two other projects:

Stockings.

A Snowman wall hanging.

Mom was nice enough to donate her stocking to me so that we would have two, and to use her fancy-schmancy embroidery machine to add our names. Now that we'll need a new stocking, I'm not sure what we'll do...

Again, I've fallen off the face of the earth, it seems

2010-06-23T18:05:00.001-05:00

But I'm still here.

Life has conspired to keep things busy around here, but I guess if the purpose of this blog is to help me remember some crafting details, I better get to documenting before everything flies out of my head.

And why might it fly out of my head? Pregnancy brain. I'm expecting a little boy at the end of October, and while I may not have left my keys hanging in the door yet, I wouldn't put it past myself.

So you might think that I've been concealing my crafty output because it's been all-baby-stuff-all-the-time. Not so much. As a matter of fact, news of the baby has really caused me to want to get on the ball on all kinds of older unfinished projects (so that it can become mostly-baby-stuff-most-of-the-time at some point in the future). So that's mostly what I have to show for myself. I'm hoping to make a post every day or two for the next week or so until I get caught up(-ish).

And that necklace? I made it in high school in lieu of studying for a math test. Each color bead represents a different number, and they're arranged to represents the first 100? 200? digits of pi. While making the necklace (several times--my knots weren't strong enough) I happened to memorize the first 30 or 35 digits. It was an accident! But people generally don't believe me when I tell them that.

I'm still around!

2010-03-26T20:00:00.001-05:00

This Bee Larkspur,
originally uploaded by Bruce McKay.

I don't know where time has gotten to, but I do have some things to show for the past....wow, two months. I'm not quite as busy as this bee, but I'll be back soon with reports of my recent doings.

Problem solving at our house

2010-01-25T14:59:00.002-06:00

What do these

have to do with this?

Creative uses for cooling racks. And, my husband would have you believe, the only good use for cooling racks. Apparently he doesn't appreciate cakes that are in one piece or cookies with crisp bottoms.

The books I read

2010-01-18T11:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right, I'm doing a 2009 Year-in-Review post more than two weeks into 2010. What can I say? I'm a little behind.

Sometime this spring I started really using LibraryThing (which I've written a paean to before), and if there's one thing it's really good at, it's this kind of nerdy information tracking. So here, without further ado, are the books (at least that I recorded) that I finished in 2009. I should note that I often read multiple books at once, so the time span between finishes is not necessarily reflective of the time it took me to read the book. Each title links to the LibraryThing page. Also, please don't read too much into my choices.

Second Foundation (Foundation Novels) 4/15
Saints 4/28
The President's Daughter 4/30
Moby clique : a Bard Academy novel 5/2
Rachel and Leah: Women of Genesis 5/5
Cheaper by the Dozen 5/22
Shopaholic takes Manhattan 6/19
Shopaholic ties the knot 6/22
Shopaholic & sister 6/23
The complete chronicles of Narnia 7/15
Invasive Procedures 8/5
The warmest room in the house : how the kitchen became the heart of the twentieth-century American home 8/9
Biting the dust : the joys of housework 8/30
The cellist of Sarajevo 9/7
Script and scribble : the rise and fall of handwriting 9/12
Chocolate : a bittersweet saga of dark and light 9/20
Krakatoa : the day the world exploded, August 27, 1883 10/3
The wizard heir 10/9
Dragon Heir 10/12
The other queen 10/15
Great with child : letters to a young mother 10/20
Chasing Vermeer 11/2
A crack in the edge of the world : America and the great California earthquake of 1906 11/9
The Bookfair Murders 11/19
Devilish 12/7
The Jewels of Tessa Kent 12/17
The lost throne 12/19

Twelve Personas

2010-01-17T17:13:00.001-06:00

A Baker
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Finally, I'm finishing the twelve days of Christmas (I'm sure you all are relieved)!

A.'s older cousins stumped me this year (they're not older than him, just older than the ones who received the
My husband says the only toys kids really need are a ball and a stick. But I feel like some good clothes can be worthwhile too. I found a trenchcoat, some scrubs, and some business clothes at Goodwill along with random hats and accessories. To round it out, I found a tutorial for an adjustable chef's hat online. I think next time I would use a fabric with more body, but it's still pretty fun.

Whoops! Eleven Ounces of Cinnamon

2010-01-15T20:45:00.001-06:00

Last summer my mom, my grandmother and I all went to the Knoxville Quilt Show. While we were wandering around, I saw this flamingo fabric. It was perfect for something for my mom. I had just finished and brought home my Emmeline apron. Mom wanted one too. So I managed to convince her that she should buy the kit with the flamingo fabric and I would make into an apron for her as a gift. But really, it was a gift for me too. Every time I pulled out these fabrics to work on this apron they just made me happy.

Enjoy Mom! And you can use that cinnamon to make something for me any time you want ;-).

Eleven .... well, it's still a surprise!

2010-01-04T20:06:00.002-06:00

Obviously I didn't think this through well enough! Since we go to California for Christmas, we celebrate with my parents a little later. Since my birthday is in early January (all right, it's Friday), this works out perfectly (except for the whole I'm-sad-to-not-see-my-family-on-Christmas-Day thing).

So they get here Friday. And sometime after that I'll reveal exactly what eleven represents in my own personal holiday countdown (countup?).

Ten Lords a Leaping

2010-01-03T20:05:00.000-06:00

Pretending to read the program, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Yep, that's right, I'm actually referencing the song. What are you going to do about it?

At this stage in our life, Christmas events and traditions get pushed aside in favor of "cave mode" (intense law school study sessions), though we always find time to decorate the house somewhat. So this year, my husband treated me to the Nutcracker while we were in California (thus after all exams were over). It was simply beautiful. And in the first act, there aren't even very many men in tights for A. to roll his eyes at!

Nine vacation days

2010-01-02T19:59:00.001-06:00

Pier 9
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

No, no, this was not something that I made, but something that I was fortunate enough to enjoy this Christmas. We left for California the day after A. finished his last exam (actually a final paper), and I headed back home Sunday night/Monday morning after Christmas.

It was a wonderful holiday. Unfortunately, I hang around too many students so I occasionally feel resentful that I have to come home early to go to work, but I like my job, I get paid, and I've got plenty of mini-vacations planned in the next couple weeks, so there's really nothing to complain about.

Eight Pattern Repeats

2010-01-01T19:22:00.001-06:00

Whew, I'm back! Sorry that I've fallen behind on the twelve days of Christmas posts (though I'm cheating and backdating them so they'll appear in their proper order in my editing software). And it's been the weekend, so it's not even like I have a good excuse!

Last Christmas I purchased a skein of Rowan Calmer to fashion into Shedir. I loved the feel of the yarn, wanted to knit something, thought the periwinkle yarn would look great with my sister-in-law's blue eyes, and the pattern called for one skein. Score! I worked on it diligently until....wouldn't you know it....I ran out of yarn. This is entirely my fault, as the pattern cautions that the yardage is extremely close and I failed to check gauge. Anyway, the hat went into the holding bins for a while.

This year, I rediscovered it, but I had already decided that L needed an otter quilt. But my sister has blue eyes too, so the intended recipient shifted. I found an online shop that carried the right color, and ordered, crossing my fingers that the dyelot would be close enough. And it was!

I love the way the twisted stitch cables flow into a star on the top.

Now I have almost a full ball left, which I'm turning into a baby Shedir for some friends, who I am assuming will not mind matching my sister.

Seven Feet of Snowmen*

2009-12-31T16:14:00.000-06:00

This quilt is a long time coming. I bought the pattern (or generously allowed my mom to buy it for me) at a little quilt store in Massachusetts when I was doing college visits. At this point, that's at least seven years ago.

All of the fabric for the center squares was cut out at least three years ago.

It was all quilted about a year ago, but I packed it up for the summer, not wanting to sit with a big quilt in my lap to bind it during the summer if I was only going to pack it up. So when the weather permitted, this came out. Binding was sewn, threads were trimmed, and a whole bunch of buttons were added. And I love it.

And it's for me. For a while at least.

*Well, a little short of seven full feet. Finished dimensions are 64" by 80". And I suppose, technically, it's not finished. The pattern includes instructions for giving some of the smaller snowmen stick arms and mittens, and adds flowers to the hats of the female snowmen (they're the ones with the curved hats).

Six Hours of Driving

2009-12-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

We made our way from Tennessee to Southern California via San Francisco and Monterey. We saw friends and got to tour CSUMB (Nothing hotter than an otter). Then it was in the car for a drive down California. After much debate about which route was best, we drove the 101 through some beautiful farmland. Not that it made that much difference to me. Once we were in the car, the vibrations and the warmth of the sun meant I was a goner. Sad, I know. I actually started knitting a hat while we were driving from SF to Monterey and A. asked me whether it would be done before we arrived at his house. Might have been possible if I didn't sleep away 3/4 of the daylight drive!

From this.

And this.

With time out for this.

Five Otter Colonies

2009-12-29T23:55:00.000-06:00

Long, long ago, my mom made this intense jacket. Called the "Me" jacket (I think), it was a patchwork blazer with fussy-cut fabric representing her and important parts of her life. I remember walking around fabric stores with her little plastic square trying to find things that would make a nice patch.

I distinctly remember finding one of the more distinctive fabrics. See, when my parents were first married they lived in Monterey, and Mom wanted some fabric with otters on it. I think it was Hancock fabrics that had it. Little otters frolicking on a rocky coast.

And when my sister-in-law decided that she was going to Cal State University, Monterey Bay, I remembered that fabric hunt. And sure enough, Mom still had the rest of the quarter-yard of fabric that she bought, one five inch square cut out. I got five more 6.5 inch squares. The other light blues are scraps from previous projects (and a little cannibalization from a future project). You've already seen the design. And here's the finished object.

I wish I had made the outermost border a little wider. Unfortunately, I cut all the strips before I realized that I had enough fabric to do so. And then I thought a seam down the middle of the border would look silly. The binding is a blue and white stripe that I got from the remnants bin.

Yep. All the fabric except the dark blue came from my stash (or Mom's. Which is really mine too, right?). Oh, and the backing. A chambray sheet that I found at Goodwill. The only blue 100 percent cotton sheet they had in the place, and remarkably awesome.

And yes, I've failed at the twelve days of Christmas. I knew I should write these posts ahead of time and schedule them, but I failed. And what am I going to do when friends call and want to hang out? Set myself a curfew so I can write my post for the day?

Four Elvin Shoes

2009-12-28T20:43:00.001-06:00

Four Elvin Shoes
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Ordinarily, I spend a long time hemming and hawing over what I'm going to do for family members for Christmas. I really love picking up things that remind me of people, or making things that I know they'll like, but when it comes to the middle of November for people I really feel like I have to give gifts to (immediate family, grandparents, and children under the age of 12 who I will see on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day), I start to get a little stressed.

I was in the midst of such a stressed out period (dress up box? Dinosaur play mat? Road play mat with cars? I spy pillows?) when I saw the Elf Shoes pattern by Flint Knits. And then my problems were solved. Well, at least for the two littlest cousins. I pulled out this green wool from my stash (purchased on clearance at Woolcott's in Harvard Square--closed now, so sad) and dropped by the local fabric store turned local fabric store/local yarn store for the red. One football game, a lecture on copyright, a lecture on the history of Christmas, a game of Settlers of Catan, and a post-finals party later, and I had four giant elf shoes.

A combination of time and lack of hot-water washing capabilities meant that I waited to felt these lovelies until I was in California. Since my in-laws don't wash anything in hot water, I decided to try hand-felting them. I'm no good at it. It didn't take too long before they found their way into the machine with some towels, inaugurating the washer into the ways of hot water.

I think they're adorable. The flaps don't stay down at all. I tried wetting them again and letting them dry with the flaps folded down, but I had no binder clips to hold them down. And I might have sewn them down, but I didn't have the right color thread, and I decided it totally wasn't worth it.

All of which leaves me with just one question. Why do elves get the cool shoes?

Three Sets of Reindeer

2009-12-27T10:02:00.001-06:00

Between my husband and myself, we have three sets of grandparents. And I find his grandparents particularly hard to select presents for. So when a local quilt store was going out of business and I saw these adorable panels for $3/yard, that settled it. I'm pretty proud of how good things look together considering the store was pretty picked over by that point. The only thing I got somewhere else was the red sashing around the cornerstones.

The panel shows eight reindeer. I'm not quite sure who's missing, since Rudolph is there front and center.

There's a tradition in my family to read "A Visit From St. Nicholas," otherwise known as "The Night Before Christmas" on, you guessed it, the night before Christmas. Apparently this year they must have gotten into a debate about the names of the reindeer because my dad called and demanded to know what the name of the reindeer that came with Blitzen was. I definitely vote for Donner, but apparently the original manuscript calls him Donder. I think he must be having an identity crisis, and that's why he doesn't show up in these pictures. What do you call the reindeer who flies with Blitzen?

Two Christmas Dinners

2009-12-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

Since A. and I got married, we've spent Christmas with his family. Both of his extended families are in the area, so we get to spend time with both sides of the family. Conveniently enough, one family has their big dinner and celebration on Christmas Eve, and one on Christmas day. And their culinary traditions are divergent enough that it doesn't feel like duplication (except to one's stomach, which is exhausted from the deliciousness).

The Christmas Eve menu: pork, black beans and rice, yucca, flan.

Christmas Day: lasagna, twice baked potatoes, brijole/braciole (beef wrapped around eggs and bacon), etc. Only problem is, I forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to make do with a picture of someone else's brijole. Apparently what you fill it with is personal preference, or at least varies by region.

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable Boxing Day!

One Lord and Savior

2009-12-25T12:22:00.002-06:00

Mary & Jesus,
originally uploaded by Martin LaBar (going on hiatus).

Merry Christmas everyone! Over the next twelve days I'm going to have my own twelve days of Christmas here on the blog, sharing some of my adventures and creations for this Christmas (I'm a little too excited at my own cleverness, actually).

For me, it's important to acknowledge the whole reason we celebrate this season. This morning at church we were asked to bring up the gifts, and for me it was a powerful reminder that the most important gift we have to give is the offering of ourselves, and the most important gift we receive is the offering of Himself for us.

May you have a wonderful day full of His love and spirit, whether you're celebrating with family of in your own way.

One of the best fundraising campaigns I've seen this season

2009-12-17T16:32:00.000-06:00

I got this Christmas card/fundraising appeal from the local literacy group. I just thought it was terribly clever and appropriate. The outside says "You're invited to a Stay-at-home Holiday Tea."

And the inside says "We invite you to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and curl up in your favorite chair with a great book and have a cup of tea on us.

Change someone's life without leaving your chair.

Please take a minute to consider what reading means to you and send what you can to help other adults enjoy the same."

Awesome idea, right?

A Finely Feathered Christmas Tree

2009-12-16T10:53:00.001-06:00

Birds in Tree, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Planning is good

2009-12-11T17:30:00.001-06:00

The only graph paper I could immediately lay my hand on was the back of my old calculus notebook. And I had to leaf through it to relive the glory days of my senior year of high school. And so now I will force you to do the same.

This is my notebook:
.
I loved these graph paper composition books. I covered the labels with these awesome postcards. The first notebook had Einstein sticking his tongue out.

I think I was destined to be some sort of blogger. Look, I even noted when I started this notebook.

Even though it made me feel a little dumb--I don't remember how to do half of this stuff (Which I suppose is why I saved them. So I can re-learn it all.), I enjoyed leafing through the rest of the notebook. I made fancy titles for each new section. This one was my favorite.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm any less dorky now...

Sew-in Santa

2009-12-10T17:30:00.001-06:00

I did manage to get my Thanksgiving projects done, but I also set other people to work. I started Santa at a sewing retreat this spring. We worked on three projects, and I didn't finish any of them. Santa here was just waiting for the yo-yo's that make up his beard, but I still hadn't gotten around to them, despite holding my mom's yo-yo makers hostage for all this time. While I was home for Thanksgiving, I convinced her to do my work for me, so what you see is a collaborative effort. Santa went home with my sister to decorate the house she's living in this year.

Whoah, whoah, I'm halfway there!

2009-12-09T17:43:00.001-06:00

Whoah, whoah, I'm halfway there!, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Yeah, I should totally get to the second half of that floor someday.

Bound and Buried

2009-12-02T18:28:00.000-06:00

My parents live about three hours away, which means that holiday trips home are the perfect opportunity to pack supplies for more craft projects than I could possibly finish. Sometimes I have realistic expectations for what I will actually get done, and the rest is there just as backup, sometimes my eyes are just much bigger than my hands.

The principal task of this Thanksgiving vacation (other than spending good time with my family and eating entirely too much) was to attach this binding to three quilts.

It's lot's o' binding. But with all the movies that had to be watched, and Wii playing to be done by the rest of the family, it got done. And then, in reference to the second part of the post title, I buried all the thread tails left over from quilting.

I'd show you a picture, but it would ruin a surprise, so it'll just have to wait until after Christmas (which, unfortunately is probably the way a lot of my posts in the next couple weeks will go--"I did something cool, I promise. I just can't show you what it was.") C'est la vie.

My feet amuse me this morning

2009-12-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

Why AAA was a good investment

2009-11-18T17:27:00.001-06:00

Broken Key, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Scrabble

2009-11-16T11:59:00.001-06:00

Scrabble 11/13, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

I think I play Scrabble all wrong. I keep thinking of words I want to play, not words I can actually play. Case in point: Our first word was "rile." I kept wanting to get the letters to spell "puerile." Just because it would have been awesome.

Making her life cuter

2009-11-05T17:05:00.006-06:00

Two of our friends are expecting a baby early next year. When they told us, I pretty much forced myself upon her, insisting on hosting the local baby shower. So figuring out what in the world I'd gotten myself into was one of my projects the past couple of weeks.

You already saw the invitations. I think that was when I was most stressed out. I had volunteered and then promptly put it in the back of my mind until my co-host reminded me that the honoree would only be in town for one weekend, so we should probably get a move on. Knowing the invitations were supposed to set some kind of tone, I mailed them out a few days later than I might have liked, trying to settle on exactly what we were going to do.

Since baby has already spent time in New York City, Spain, and Argentina, as well as Tennessee, I finally settled on a world traveling theme. I didn't carry it through majorly (I failed the "go big or go home test"), but it was enough to get me moving and at least provide some direction. Here are the details (These are mostly for my own benefit. You can scroll down to see what I made as a gift, but otherwise, it's pretty boring and pretty long):

Invitations

Martha Stewart "Eyelet." A little girlier than I really wanted, but I already owned them (clearance from WalMart). I tried to make them a little less girly through use of color and background printing, but I had major troubles. I don't have a color printer, so I tried to save the file and take it to Kinko's, but their printer didn't want to print on weird sized paper, so I tried to take it up to the counter, and he was even more hesitant. So I ended up printing in black. I still have another box of the cards, so the ordeal has been duly noted.

Games

I'm not necessarily big pro-games, but since there were several sub-groups of people invited who didn't know each other, I thought it was advisable in this case.

Baby name Balderdash. Perhaps the only thing actually inspired by the world-traveling theme, I found names from various cultures on a baby name website, and asked everyone to write down what they thought the name meant. For reference, the names included:
Abiona
Yoruban. Born on a journey.
Kaliska
Miwok. Coyote chasing deer.
Nashwa
Egyptian. Wonderful feeling.
Kesi
Swahili. Born when father is in trouble.
Children's book Pictionary. I wanted this one to tie in too, but looking at children's books from around the world, I just wasn't sure that anyone was going to be able to guess them. So I went through a list of the top 100 children's books in English, and picked out ones that I thought you could draw even if you didn't know the story (it would be extremely difficult to get Harold's Purple Crayon if you'd never heard of it, or to draw Stella Luna likewise). There was definitely an unfair advantage to the Americans in the group, so maybe next time I would come up with some other possibilities. But Pictionary is always fun, though now I have two easel-sized pads of paper, so I need to force our friends to come and play regular Pictionary.

Food

As I said before, I had a cold during the week leading up to the shower. So both because I was tired and didn't think people would necessarily want things made by me, I opted for more purchased than homemade goodies. Mini quiches and brownie bites from Costco, little cheesecakes from a mix on clearance at Osbornes, delicious cupcakes from a bakery in Memphis, brought by my co-host, and punch, cobbled together by my co-host from various ingredients that I thought sounded yummy at Target (blood orange Italian soda, raspberry lemonade concentrate, and Fresca). People definitely weren't as nibbly as I thought they might be, but there were leftovers for A. and another law school guy when they came by at the end.

Decorations

The Pictionary pad of paper was backed by some scrapbook paper that looked like railroad tickets, a little clothesline with baby onesies and socks strung up on ribbon that matched the giant bows on the mailbox and door (we live in a duplex which is not well marked, and is identical to 5 other units all in a row). Tablecloth from my collection--I actually ironed it though! I cut out another piece of scrapbook paper in a circle to put under the plates. A couple of Martha Stewart tissue paper puffs were hung at the last minute. And we actually used our punch bowl for perhaps the first time ever!

Favors

I thought I was terribly clever when I spied the Andes mints in the aisle at Target, since baby and mom had just returned from a month in Argentina and are heading back now for another month. Apparently a little too clever for my own good, since everyone needed an explanation. Dispersed into individual little plastic bags with a header from some fabulous paper from World Market stapled on top. Most people didn't take any, but I think that made A. extra happy.

My Gift

I planned to help my friend with whatever kinds of random things she doesn't receive as gifts--baby bedding, burp cloths, blankets, etc., but didn't feel like that excused me from something to actually open at the shower. So I opted for probably the quickest thing I could think of--a nursing cover. This was the tutorial I used, but this looks closer to what I actually did. I see that the second tutorial suggests using home decor weight fabric, and I can definitely see the advantage. As it is, it seems likely to fly up with the smallest flailing of the wee babe. Also, the d-rings don't lock quite as well as they should, our would with a more substantial strap. I did include a little pocket made out of a baby washcloth and also wrapped up some breast pads. I should get a better picture of the fabric itself, but it's a dark pink with purple and yellow flourish-y designs that I picked up at Threadfest. You can see it in the first picture of that post.

It's On: Christmas 2009

2009-11-04T11:40:00.001-06:00

Christmas Fairy/Angel, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

After being sick and having other obligations that put me out of crafty commission for a while, I cleaned off my desk last weekend and started making lists. Because, you know, Christmas is less than two months away. And Advent, less than one. Actually, I feel like I'm in a pretty good place, but it definitely helped my panic to get things written down and all encoded (stars mean they have a Christmas due date, dots mean they're sociable projects, etc.). I'm not quite ready to forego sleep, but it's definitely on.

And here's another idea for those upholstery samples. I had actually pulled the velvet out to see if it coordinated with some fabric I had for a pillow cover, but A. spied it when I was asking for his opinion on sashing for the fairy/angel panel. The black cornerstones are my way of disguising the too-short pieces, but I think it works. I just love that it looks all glowy and candlelight-y.

Making his life more crafty

2009-10-17T23:53:00.001-05:00

Using the good scissors, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

A. has been helping me out with a project this week. He was particularly excited when I let him use the good scissors. Or at least I like to imagine he was.

Making everyone's life more descriptive

2009-10-16T23:54:00.001-05:00

Cheddar and Poison Green
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

In elementary schools, they often have people from various professions come in and talk to kids about what their job is, how they ended up there, and what a typical day is like (hm, sounds sort of like questions you're supposed to ask in an informational interview).

I'd like to start a campaign to get a color-namer come in and talk to me. How does one end up with such a job? Is that all they do, or do they have some other job in the paint factory, fabric mill, or makeup designer's office? Because, you know, I think I might be interested.

Case in point. This fabric that I've been working with is from a line called "Cheddar and Poison Green." The best part of it is, it's not even a new fabric that someone just named. These were colonial dyes from the early days of automated fabric production (and quite different from the earliest dyes--browns and rusty reds). What I have is a reproduction (I don't have any 200 year old fabrics in the stash), so I'm guessing it's not dyed with the early natural dyes (some people think poison green refers to the dye's source which was possibly the wormwood tree of absinthe fame).

I think the print is great (and great for the project it's going in), but I think the names might make me love it a little more. It's happened before. When I was in elementary school, crazy-colored nail polish was the coolest thing ever. There were a couple of bottles I bought just for the names, particularly "E=mc^2," which, if I recall correctly was blue and sparkly. Anything you love even more because of its name?

Yesterday's fun

2009-10-13T22:18:00.001-05:00

Invitations, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

I love stationery! I think addressing wedding invites was one of my favorite parts of the process.

Weekend Work

2009-10-12T21:27:00.001-05:00

Getting ready to bind
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

This weekend, we went to East TN to visit my parents. I took this quilt which is just waiting for binding and some final embellishments to work on in the car. Only actually worked on it for an hour though.

I did get something else accomplished, though. I found presents for grandparents and grandparents-in-law. I'm getting better at picking out presents for in-laws, but I still find it fairly difficult. I'm not sure it will ever get much easier though--I know my mom is always searching for ideas for my dad's family...

Even though there are snowflakes on this quilt, I'm not wishing for winter yet. I'd love to have fall stick around for a while!

Making their life warmer

2009-10-09T17:00:00.002-05:00

(alternatively titled--"At Last!")

The weekend I went to pick up A. from Boston this summer, we went to the wedding of some college friends. I love weddings! Anyway, I decided sometime way before the wedding that I actually had time to make a quilt, so that's what I wanted to do (note to my friends who got married in '07 or before--want me to make you something? I'd love to! Either ask, or have a baby. Those will both light a fire under me).

But then I didn't actually work on it until the week of the wedding. But I had pretty well planned out what I wanted to do, so I managed in a night or two of work. I took the quilt with me to Boston, figuring I'd have plenty of time to get the binding and label sewn on before the wedding. And then I didn't. So I brought it back home. And sewed on the binding. And then waited and waited and waited some more to sew on the label. I finally did it yesterday while watching 'Jeopardy!'. It didn't even take the whole show. Oh well, like I said before, I like to take full advantage of the generous gift giving window for wedding gifts. So now it's wrapped up and ready to wing its way back to Boston.

Sorry it's a little wrinkly. I picked green because I'm 80% sure it's the bride's favorite color. Plus the 'Save the Date's were green and white.
.

And here's the back.

In a particularly nerdy moment, I decided to quilt the zig-zags themselves in intervals corresponding to the digits of pi. It's approximate, but I think you should be able to make out 3, 1, 4, 1, ... starting from the top.

The pictures were taken before the label was on and before it got its final washing (washing a quilt for the first time often gives it that all-over wrinkled look that makes quilts so snuggly), so now it's good-wrinkled instead of bad-wrinkled. I like it a lot for how simple it was.

And since there happens to be a quilt festival over at Park City Girl, I'm adding this! Click on the icon to be taken to see more quilts

More about Punch Needle Embroidery

2009-10-08T23:00:00.002-05:00

Punch Needle 'M'
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

As I alluded to last night, yesterday I tried something I've never done before--namely, punch needle embroidery. I got a punch needle as a prize at my local quilt store when I went on the most recent Mom/Kathy Nashville quilt shop excursion (It was a quiz game. In a fabric store. Could there be anything more appropriate for us? Love the ladies at The Quilting Squares).

I always thought punch needle looked like fun. It's kind of like drawing with thread (I suppose that's what embroidery is supposed to be, but this is a more similar action). You punch from the back using the little tool and end up with loops on the front side, sort of like a varsity letter jacket letter. But I could never think of a really good use for a finished product. One can only hang so many pieces of textile craftiness on one's walls before it becomes a little fussy and overly precious (I'm picturing your Great Aunt Mildred with the crocheted antimassacars and lace tableclothes). Like I said before, it reminds me of the patches for letter jackets, but as I'm no longer a Girl Scout my need for badges and patches seems to have decreased.

But then I was looking at a tote bag that I got at the Goodwill Outlet. Nice and sturdy, Land's End-inspired boat tote. Except that it has a casino logo on it. Not so cool. I've been thinking about covering it up for some time now (I love buying those nice giveaway bags for free and then customizing them), but last night when I looked at it, I realized that it was a perfect application for my little patch-maker embroidery tool.

It's not great. You can tell from the pictures that the loops are a little bit uneven in height, and the coverage isn't evenly distributed throughout the shape. But it was pretty fast and fun. I found that two strands of embroidery floss worked best, though I might try further experimentation.

Anyone got some silly logos that they need covered?

E.T.A. I just remembered that I wanted to point out my favorite punch needle piece ever. This woman made a picture of the moon, and it's just awesome!

Trying something new

2009-10-07T23:37:00.001-05:00

Punch Needle, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

Some Inspiring Favorites

2009-10-06T21:28:00.007-05:00

From my Flickr favorites:

Barrister's Block

2009-10-05T21:35:00.001-05:00

Barristers Block, originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant.

An appropriate block to learn before my husband graduates from law school. I'm not sure which name I like more--Barrister's Block or Lawyer's Puzzle.

Idea the Third (point two)

2009-10-04T23:51:00.001-05:00

My Multitasker Totes
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

(and points three and four). Interesting how there's no ordinal for decimals, eh?

Since my third published idea on ways to use upholstery samples was tote bags, these probably don't constitute a new idea. But I thought I'd share them anyway. When I got the samples, I immediately noticed four matching/coordinating pieces that were all pretty large. I decided they all had to be used together. In considered a couple other possibilities, but it came down to tote bags.

Later in the summer, I became obsessed with the Multi-Tasker Tote by Anna Maria Horner. Interesting construction, side pockets, and a minor crush on the designer (she has fabulous color sense and eight children, and she lives in Nashville--it's only natural I should have a girl crush, right?), all led to this obsession. Once I got the pattern, I tentatively tested the pattern on these coordinating samples. One was smaller than I thought, but the rest fit beatifully.

The pattern is quite fun and goes together nicely. I actually made most of the lining out of a different fabric, but made a little facing piece so that the tunnel for the straps would coordinate. I would think that if you added a few more pockets and made the lining out of something wipe-able it would make a fabulous diaper bag.

I haven't quite figured out why I need coordinating tote bags though. Ideas? Anyone? Because they probably shouldn't sit on my coat rack for too much longer.

Fall Colors

2009-10-04T00:08:00.001-05:00

Tree of Life Pendant
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Today we went canoeing with some friends. The recent downpour meant that the current was moving faster than usual, so we had lots of time to stop and explore side inlets and coves. We swung from a rope swing on the side of the river, found a little waterfall, tried to catch some turtles, and just generally enjoyed the river. The only downside is, it's getting to be fall, and pretty soon it will probably be too cold to enjoy it in quite the same way.

But fall has it's own charms, most obviously beautiful fall colors. Tonight I got out some of my jewelry making supplies for the first time in a long time. I bought these giant square pendants thinking they would make lovely frames for a tree of life*. So this is my first attempt, with some fall colors to celebrate what is to come.

It didn't come out quite as I had envisioned. It's a little clumpy, which I think works out okay for an autumn tree, but would look right otherwise. Also, I think the pendant may just be larger than I will ever wear, but we shall see.

Fabric Accumulation

2009-10-02T17:05:00.005-05:00

Last week I heard tell about an event called "Threadfest." Now, I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it before, but my family? We're festival people. Garlic Festivals, Home shows, RV shows, Coaster Conventions, whatever you can think of. So thread? Festival? Count me in.

It was a fundraiser for a local senior center. There were patterns, notions, and fabric. Lots of fabric. Two dollars a yard fabric. Here's my haul:

Quilting Cotton (for quilts and miscellaneous projects)

Notice the cool vintage snowflake print?

Wool and Wool Blends (I don't actually know the fiber content of any of this. But it definitely feels like wool).

That piece hiding on the bottom is solid light blue.

Other Garment Fabric (silk and silk blends, rayon, some shirting)

I actually do have project ideas for a lot of these pieces, but realistically know I probably won't get to most of them for a while. Some sewing bloggers talk about SABLE--Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy. I don't think I'm there yet, but I suppose I should watch myself!

Click through to see the pictures on my Flickr photostream

Nerdy Movie Review: Fermat's Room

2009-10-01T23:26:00.004-05:00

While I was waiting for A. to finish checking out at the grocery store this evening (the essentials--ice cream and ingredients for french toast), I started to browse the movies available in the Redbox. On the first page, after all of the "Coming Soon" movies, was one called "Fermat's Room." Well, that was certainly intriguing. And then the description itself had me from go--

Four mathematicians who do not know each other are invited by a mysterious host on the pretext of resolving a great enigma. The room in which they find themselves turns out to be a shrinking room that will crush them if they do not discover in time what connects them all and why someone might wish to murder them.

My husband, being the generous soul that he is, agreed that we could watch it this evening. And it was everything one could have wished for. A grown-up Clue or Mathnet with some classic brainteasers thrown in for good measure. It made me want to host a murder mystery party weekend.

Bike Dancing

2009-09-02T10:36:00.002-05:00

This is just crazy!

Hat tip: The Common Room

An apron and a resolution

2009-08-07T17:58:00.002-05:00

Emmeline apron
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Last week I left the heat and humidity of Tennessee for...the heat and humidity of Boston! After a cooler-than-usual summer, the temperature and humidity spiked right before I arrived. But I survived, because being in Boston meant I was back with A.!

A. had a summer internship in Boston, and what with me having my own job, I couldn't really go with him. So we spent two months in different apartments with only one weekend to provide a little bit of face-time to balance all those phone conversations.

Between the heat of summer and the fact that making an involved dinner for one just isn't that fun, there wasn't a ton of cooking going on in our house. So both of us ended up eating out a fair amount (where "a fair amount" is more than once a week). We agreed, on the way home, that we both needed a period of eating-out detox.

Good thing I went ahead and purchased the pattern for the Emmeline apron from Sew Liberated when there was a 2-for-1 sale earlier this summer. I'm thinking it will be super when I make some "glad you're home" cookies.

Idea the Third

2009-07-23T00:40:00.001-05:00

upholstery sample placemats
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

I don't know whether I'm terribly old fashioned or a super-green hippie or what, but I love me a nicely set table with pretty cloth napkins and placemats or a tablecloth.

While upholstery samples might get a little bulky for a tablecloth (my mom's quick and easy tablecloth is just two yards of 54" wide fabric with a rolled hem), they make super placemats. I had some scraps in my pile that were about 12 inches by 24 inches. I used a placemat my sister brought me from Guatemala (that's it, on the left in the photo) as a guide, but about 12 inches by 17-18 inches looks great. Then I used the leftovers to make some pillow covers (info coming later).

Idea the Second

2009-07-21T17:09:00.001-05:00

Tote bag for Africa
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

I went on a sewing retreat with my mom's sewing guild at the beginning of the summer. One of the highlights of the event is a "shop hop" of sorts--exploring all the local fabric stores with other people who also like fabric. While we were out we discovered that everyone has a default project.

Mom's friend sees a cute piece of fabric? She pictures a shirt. My mom? She sees tote bags. Me? I see skirts, but I've definitely been influenced by my mom's view.

And when you have a stack of upholstery fabric, tote bags are a natural choice. My friend was heading for Africa right after I visited in June, so I appropriated one of the samples, found some ribbon from a gift (look at me recycling!), and an appropriate piece for embellishment (I'm not sure if you can see, but the woman is petting a giraffe).

The tote bag was a good idea. Waiting to start until after I finished another project at 2 a.m. the night before I headed off to see her might not have been.