Some completion!

Finally finally finally, I finished that pair of mittens I've been working on for aaaaaages! Well, hardly working on, otherwise they wouldn't have taken ages! Gave them to my mother-in-law as an extremely belated Christmas present - so belated, in fact, that she won't even be able to wear them until November, cos the weather has taken a turn for the better (warmer) here (in what was once snowy Manitoba)! I didn't even get a photo of the completed pair, but just wanted to note here, purely for myself, that they are DONE, and that yarn is off to the thrift store, cos I don't want to knit another thing with it!

There... I feel better now!

Another project finished: a hat for myself, again, too late to be of any use, but we'll be back in Canada another time, and I'll enjoy wearing my own hand-knitted head-warmer then! I plan to line it with polar fleece for extra warmth. Here's an in-progress shot and a shot of me knitting it while I was sick for 2 weeks with a nasty cold - oh yeah, Jasper was sick too - he doesn't usually cuddle up in my arms like that!

This is the final product (as you can see, I messed up the increasing at the crown, using different yarn from the pattern, but OH WELL!). I love the earflaps...


Also while I was sick (honestly, I was resting too!!), I somehow managed to complete two oft-contemplated projects for Piper: a texta/marker roll, and an apron, both out of the same doggy fabric. I felt VERY satisfied with how easily these two items came together (both on the same day, and the apron in half an hour), and satisfied with how useful they are to her. Love that, when one's craft is appreciated!


We went to my husband's grandma's place last week to bake cookies, so here's Piper and her apron in action!



Piper and I enjoyed creating this map of a zoo together. She stuck animal stickers on the page, grouped how she saw fit, and I drew cages or fences around them as she directed me. She was pretty into cages, which is unfortuate for the animals! Well, if they were real! What I mean it, it's not very politically correct! I really enjoyed the process of working with Piper, with her directing, and the control freak in me not freaking out about not knowing what the end product would be like... just being in the moment...


I'm quite into sewing, as of the last few weeks (at the expense of cardmaking/any kind of creation with paper, stamps, etc). I'm making a rag quilt for Piper - just simple squares, and I know it's a well-done concept now, but I've never gotten around to making one. With a little guidance from Knit and Tonic, I'm on my way. Tanell, the lady who owns my local quilting fabric shop suggested that I use coarsely-woven muslin between the two layers of flannel, as opposed to batting, because it fluffs up the raggy bit very well, and it makes for a quilt that's not quite so heavy. Here's a shot, in progess in the basement:


I hadn't necessarily planned to make a quilt for Piper. Originally I walked into the fabric shop wanting to find flannel in chocolate/green/turquoise colours, with hopefully one animal print, to make a quilt for Jasper, whose first birthday is next month. They didn't really have those colours - I'll have to look further afield - but I did walk out with fabric for a quilt for Piper instead!

I meant to blog about this ages ago: this was my Christmas gift to my husband. A box of surprises, one to be drawn each week. Each bit of paper has a code written on it, which corresponds with a particular experience or gift, which I present or do for him that week. Needless to say, at least half of them are sexual - ha ha! I was happy with how it looked in the end...



Last but not least, I bought this book off Amazon: Chic Knits for Stylish Babies. I love looking at it. Don't like all the patterns, of course, but the ones I like, I like a lot. There's something lovely and coordinated about a funky knitted outfit. I'll just have to have another baby to have an excuse to knit up some of these patterns (if I start now, I might just have an outfit done in a few years'time!). It's put out by Phildar, the French yarn company - bit expensive to get hold of that yarn here in Canada, so I'll do my best at substituting, but sometimes I just want to follow a pattern EXACTLY, cos it makes for less brain strain - I feel like I've modified a few knitting patterns lately, and although they've worked out, a part of me feels the tension as I knit, wondering if I got my maths right!

Catchup!

This blog is sorely in need to some loving attention! I ran out of oomph to keep posting my Thing-A-Day efforts in February, but thought I'd put up a few pics of the creative projects that have continued to happen, despite my lack of posting.

Five CDs with covers, a belated Christmas gift for my mum. For the covers, I sewed 5" square scrapbook paper sheets together with a decorative stitch.


It was our turn to bring food to storytime at the library. The theme was dogs, so I decided to make cheddar cheese dog biscuits. This felt like a creative effort, for one, because I don't have a food processor, so I spent a long time mooshing the cheese, butter and flour together by hand, and two, I don't have a dog-bone cookie cutter, so I cut each of these out using a paper stencil! Bit too much effort for some three-year-olds I hardly know, but still, it was fun!


Piper and I decorated an Easter parcel for Pippa and Poppa.


I tried my hand at rainbow wrapping paper for Olivia, a two-year-old friend.


I made Piper a dancing skirt for her 4th birthday, earlier this month. Came together at the last minute, but she wore it for four days straight, so I know she likes it!


Finally, photos of loved ones on the wall, to watch over us as we eat! This is one of the few collaborations Gord and I have undertaken, and we worked very well together - made the most of the strengths and motivations of both of us. The photos are mounted on insulation foam, which Gord cut using a table saw. He painted them red (only the edges matter - they're the only visible bits). I cropped the photos, arranged printing, cut and glued them to the foam using permanent sticking tape, like what you use for scrapbooking. Gord banged in some nails and mounted the finished products just this morning. Took us at least a month to pull this idea together, but it feels very satisfying!



This week Piper and I have been decorating eggs for Easter. Crayon and food dye process.




An ongoing creative endeavour is my photography. I continue to try and take a photo a day, to capture some of life here in Canada. I post those here, and it's one of the reasons this blog is a bit neglected! Here's a quintessential red barn...

Valentines finished!

Wednesday the Thirteenth: I finished the valentines for girlfriends that I began on the weekend. Hearts sewn onto teabags, fitted into cardboard mugs, with name/note attached. I'm happy with them, even though they're a bit over the top! If I'd had smaller stamps, I would have made the names smaller, but oh well...

Dyeing paper with Piper

Monday the Eleventh: Piper and I dyed tissue paper, after I saw the idea in an old Martha Stewart Living mag I found at the self-help for 25 cents. The colour turned out totally pastel, and I was a bit grumpy while we were doing it, cos I was trying to keep Jasper from tipping over the bowls of dye (ridiculous, I know, to attempt projects like this with a crawling baby around, but oh well!), but Piper seemed happy enough when I took the photo (admittedly a day or two later!).

Tuesday the Twelfth: I worked on the mitten.

Valentine mugs

Sunday the Tenth: I started making mugs for my valentines to go in.

More cards

Wednesday the Sixth: apart from having an emotional meltdown, I managed to make four cards. I didn't see the common theme (the band along the bottom) until I whacked them all together for this photo. Can't believe I made four cards with the same element without realising!

Two cards

Tuesday the Fifth: two cards, not my usual style. I went to a card making party this evening, and thought we'd all be sitting around designing our own cards, but it was a party like a Tupperware party, and we made copied two cards the facilitator had designed. So not really my own creativity coming out here, but still creating something that I can hold and say, I made that.