Ms. Ellaneous crafts a life

The good cheer wagon

Mrs. M and I visited a friend today who is recovering from a hip replacement.  Mrs. M made the food and I made the gift.

This is one of the hemp baskets I crocheted over the summer, with the addition of fabric trim, three knit facecloths and some yummy soap.  I knew I had those around for a reason. 

We make quite a cheerful team, Mrs. M and I.  We had a nice lunch and chatted for awhile, then on to the pick up rounds in the rain.

Tomorrow is another sock knitting workshop.  Our little class seems to be growing by the week.  All a part of my diabolical plan to spread the hand-knit love around the world.  Muwahhaha! (sinister laugh)  

Weekend craft warrior results

Well, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  We had a bevy of play dates and sleepovers that distracted me from the work of finishing projects.  There was some re-organizing to make way for more projects and some dismantling of projects that didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped. I did manage to finish the Frappuccino purse.  I lined it, put in a pocket for the cell phone, and attached handles.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  It's funky, but kind of cute too.  A1 loves it and convinced me to let her take it to the movies this afternoon.  She wants to take it to school too.  We'll see.  It will be interesting to test it out in "real life" situations and see how it holds up.  I'm already back at the proverbial chalkboard designing a big tote for knitting.

I also managed to whip up a little wire Christmas tree, but didn't finish the stand.  More pics later on that.  Perhaps because of the previous post I feel like I'm moving on to Christmas, even though I still have the bat family to finish. Ahhh!

Weekend craft warrior

( A3, getting a head start on Christmas gifts)

9:30 Am in the studio- I gaze around the studio in complete dismay.  Everywhere I turn there are half finished projects, baskets waiting for lining, wings waiting for bats, pumpkins waiting to be felted and sweaters, fully finished, waiting to be delivered to their babies.  How did this happen, again?  I thought I was on top of all of this.  Clearly not.  It is time for some intervention, again.

Not only is there disarray in the studio, but the leaves outside are falling off the trees at an alarming rate.  That means only one thing, Christmas is coming and there are gifts to be made.  It might seem just a bit early to be thinking about Christmas but I have seen some Christmas crafts popping up around the net.  The other complication is, I have made a unilateral decision to have an almost entirely handmade Christmas.  I say almost because there is still the issue of Santa around here.  Traditionally, Santa has not brought handmade gifts.  Which strikes me as odd as I write it, since he really is all about the handmade, the elves and all, hand-stitching dolls, pounding nails, etc.  Anyway, in our case, Santa has brought things like lego sets and well, more lego sets. 

So my big question is, how do you change tradition mid-stream?  We have always made Christmas presents for friends, starting right after A1 was born.  We made candles in painted terra cotta pots with Martha Stewart's directions and I was hooked.  It was so much fun. We have also made gifts for one another.  The children each pick a project and get some exclusive studio and mommy time to do their work.  It's their favorite part of Christmas and mine.

So what's different about this year?  What I would really like to get rid of this year is all the excess.  Here's the kicker, I'm the one who's responsible for most of it.  Something happens about two weeks before Christmas and I go nuts buying ridiculous, superfluous gifts.  I start to panic, "There's not enough, there's not enough..." over and over in my head.  So this year I would like to get rid of the panic part and the excessive buying part.  I have been talking to the kids about how much we have, how blessed we are etc. and I think they are on board with the homemade idea.  I think we might write Santa and ask to limit his gifts to one each.  That might be a reasonable compromise for this year. 

The other element I would like to incorporate is giving to others, not just people we know.  I have to think about that bit a little more.  If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them. 

I didn't really intend to write a treatise on Christmas but I think I might need one, a public intention really, to help keep the panic and excess in check.  Feel free to call me on it if you start to see pictures of excessive buying appear on this blog.

As for the rest of the day, I am going to clear out the old projects and make way for the new.  Weekend craft warrior style.  I hope everyone has a good weekend, thanks for reading. 

Extreme parenting

Have you ever had one of those days where parenting feels like an extreme sport?  Today was one of those days.  The thing is, I started it.  I took a phone call right before we got home and continued talking when we arrived home.  This was the start of our troubles.  I keep thinking that they are old enough to deal with me being on the phone, 14 and 11 yrs old and I still can't talk on the phone!  At least not at that time of day.

There were tears, there was discussion of escalation vs. walking away.  We had a summit about peace, and the importance of relationships, ending on the ever popular, "If we can't get along in our family, how can we expect there to be peace on this planet."  That was my big finish.  

Like usual, I'm not sure how much got through and how much was just," wah,wah, wah, wah", ala all the grown-ups in Charlie Brown.  I have a feeling this is a message that I will need to repeat.

There were a few more extreme parenting events that tested my skills before the day was through.  We weathered all of them, together.  I was left exhausted and with the overwhelming feeling that the parenting issues of the day; choosing to take a breath instead of escalating the argument, choosing to be a friend instead of an enemy, being who you are, challenges and all, instead of molding yourself in someone else's image, are issues that we work with for a lifetime.  I just hope highlighting them earlier rather than later helps them on their way.   

Art Blocks

Yesterday, I worked on some more "art" blocks.

 

These were fun to make.  I used painted cotton canvas, embroidery thread, buttons, little tiny nails and glitter!  I love a little glitter on a project.  The only problem I have is the glitter coming off.  I found some soft gel medium and mixed the glitter with it, painted it on, and wonder of wonders, no glitter comes off!  I know it's not rocket science, but I was pleased that I still have some problem solving skills left after the four children. There was also a small element of construction involved(hammering nails). Very satisfying.   

(Sorry about the light in this one, I wanted to show the glitter but the sun wouldn't co-operate) 

We have alot of extra wood left over from building the house.  In the spirit of using what you've already got, I'm painting on it.  I had my dad cut blocks that are about 3 1/2", square.  I'm trying out all sorts of ideas.  They appeal to me on a number of different levels; they are not too big, but big enough to provide some visual interest, they can be grouped together or displayed separately, and most importantly, they can be moved easily. 

Among many of my other core issues, I have a decorating disability linked to commitment issues.  In other words, I find it incredibly difficult to permanently affix things to the wall.  Objects of all sorts are leaned against walls all over the house.  This allows me to redecorate on a whim, no holes to fill, no touch up paint.  These blocks are even better.  You don't have to find a space to lean them.  They're free-standing!  So, interspersed with pumpkin bowls will be art blocks.  Everywhere.

More experimenting tomorrow!

Craft Roundup

I finally have some energy to blog and make some things.  Having everyone sick and G busy with work really cut down on the creative time last week.  Thankfully everyone is feeling better and on the road to full recovery.  I managed to make Not that W a bat.  She had a middle of the night run-in with a live one not so long ago.  Maybe if she hangs this one in her window it will scare away any other bat visitors

     

I also re-made this.

 

I think I made some of these last fall, but I gave them all away.  The yarn reminded me as I was shopping in the stash recently. Of course, I couldn't find the pattern so I had to make it up, again.  I don't think I knit the stem last time.  This one might be better.  Sorry to all of you who received them last year. 

The yarn is Araucania, Nature Wool Chunky.  It felts beautifully.  I am having a hard time finding it though.  If anyone has a lead please feel free to leave a comment.  I had just enough to make two more bowls.  I do have some other orange so I might try another couple before the season is over.  I'm not exactly sure what I am going to do with them.  Maybe I'll just put them all over the house.  Everywhere you look there will be a pumpkin bowl.  It seems like a sound decorating move.

I was also inspired to do some painting.  I started this...

and worked on a series of blocks.  They're not quite done yet but I did make a major breakthrough in the glitter department.  Very exciting!  I hope everyone had a great weekend. 

Pestilence, plague and pink eye

We are having some issues here.  The pink eye is making its way through the ranks and All the children were home today.  In addition to the pink eye, they all have a cold with cough.  A cough that keeps them up at night and cranky during the day.  I am hoping that at least one or two can make it back to school tomorrow.  Having them all around shifts my schedule, just a bit.

I am trying to update the blog.  I realized, after some complaints (you know who you are), that it has been quite awhile since I last wrote.  We left Ms. Ellaneous teaching Mrs.M and B to knit socks.  Mrs.M has finished her first pair and can't wait to start the next!  In other projects news, while scanning the Craftzine blog with me, A4 saw this unbelievably cute bat from Mochimochi Land and had to have one.  Immediately!  So, I bought the pattern, he picked out the colors, specifying embroidered eyes(they do get picky these children of crafters) and voila! 

 
 

He loves him, and now everyone wants one.  I want a whole family of them that I can hang up at Halloween.  (Due to the break for pestilence and pink eye, this has not happened quite yet.)  I love her patterns.  They are fun to knit and oh so cute!  Check out her site.

There has been some painting by A2.  He is becoming quite the abstract artist. 

Some fire safety posters were made, by A4 and A3, respectively.

This afforded a great opportunity to discuss poster design and the importance of trying techniques out on a separate piece of paper first.  In other words, there were tears, gnashing of teeth, and many pieces of used paper.  She's lucky her mother collects supplies for a living.  She was very happy with the final product, though, and insisted it be taken to school today so the fireman could collect it with the rest.

Last but not least, G and I had the opportunity to escape , travel to Boston for the weekend.  We had no agenda, a wealth of free time, and beautiful weather.  We took full advantage of the restaurants, in-room movies, and the Public Garden right across the street from our hotel.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a much needed break! 

 

If you teach a woman to knit socks...

Doesn't the saying go,"If you give a woman a pair of hand knit socks, her feet will be warm for a season, but if you teach a woman to knit socks, her feet and the feet of everyone around her will be warm for ages."  Or something like that.  Maybe it was fish.  

In any case, Wednesday morning is now a sock knitting workshop at my house.  SM , who only asks hand knit socks of me, is learning to knit her own!  It's very exciting.  Even A1 asks how everything is going with SM's socks when I pick her up from school.  Today she knit the toe, and successfully grafted the stitches together with the Kitchener stitch.

Now she has one whole sock!

 

I'm not sure she is going to take it off.  So, if you see a woman with one chunky green sock on, congratulate her.  We even had time for her to cast on the second sock.  She used the long tail cast on for the second time, by herself.  I'm so proud of her, breaking out of her knitting box, learning new things, taking on the challenge.  It's a good lesson.  I knew the Yarn Harlot was right.  There are valuable life lessons learned through knitting.  Knit on!