Some Knitting Coming On

For a stripe study shawl.

I am Chickiboom

Hear me roar!

A couple of years ago, I visited Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, CO with my niece (then 3 1/2 and very worried that I didn’t know my way home) and she helped me pick out this needle felting kit. I don’t know why it took me so long to try it. Chickiboom is the second chick to be born from my felting needle. He has a much bigger mouth than his older sister, who has returned to Colorado to live with my nieces.

The First Born

The basics of needle felting are not hard to master (although keeping your fingers out of the way is still a technique I’m working on). I can see that the more intricate or tiny work that people do takes a degree of precision that I haven’t mastered yet. The process is satisfyingly sculptural.

Along with needle felting, I spent some time this weekend working on this little pin cushion. It’s my first granny square block and I used Blue Elephant Stitches’ tutorial. I wanted a smaller block for a pin cushion, so I made the original squares 1.5 inches, and they finished to about 1 inch in the pattern. It was a nice chance to use some fun fabric scraps I’ve been hoarding.

I really wanted to use the blue quilter’s linen for the back, but only had a 3 inch wide strip of it. When I found the lace hiding in my scrap bin, I used it to hide the seam that runs down the middle of the back. Chickiboom felt like he needed to be the center of attention this afternoon and jumped into this photo at the last minute.

Rose Star

Bringing new meaning to slow crafting, I finally finished my first rose star. I have another cut out and basted, waiting for a car trip to be sewn together. I don’t have a project in mind for these yet, but do like the finished product.

Exhausted!

Maker Faire happened. It was fantastic. We had 431 people attend (our outside hope was 300). Lots and lots and lots of kids, and the makers were fabulous about having hands on activities for them to do. It totally rocked, and I need a week of no work and all sleep to recover.

Birthday Makings

Today is my spouse’s birthday. He is not exactly hard to shop for, but he is boring to shop for. Here is what he asked for for Christmas and here is what he asked for for his birthday. Can you tell the difference? I’ll wait.

So, yea. Not very interesting to buy this man gifts. Yesterday I was complaining in my head about how boring it is that I’ve now purchased him essentially the same bike light twice, and it’s impossible to be creative giving him a gift, when inspiration struck. There are several things I make to eat at various points in the year that he feels like we never have enough of. So yesterday I got busy and made him his own batches of lemon curd, marinated feta, and ginger syrup.

I used the David Lebovitz recipe for the lemon curd, although skipped pushing it through a sieve and added a little lemon zest (about 1 T). This gives it a more toothsome feel, which would probably horrify a pastry chef, but I really like. I also used his instructions for marinating the feta, including leaving out the garlic (which I’m a little sad about). The ginger syrup I’ve been making for awhile, I’ve describe the process here. Yesterday I was running low on white sugar so used half white and half brown sugar which I think will give the final mixed drink a nice golden hue.

Gifts were given this morning and very well received.

A Pirate’s Life for Me!

You may recall that I was making letterpress cards as Christmas gifts back in November. Along with one set of note cards, I gave my sister-in-law a gift certificate to spend an afternoon printing with me at The Living Letter Press. We were finally able to coordinate a time to print together last week (no small feat, considering she has three boys under 5 and lives 3 hours away). Big thanks go out to my parents who watched the kids so that we could play. Amanda went into the afternoon without a distinct plan, just hoping to play with what she found. She was instantly attracted to some of the big wooden type that the press has and decided to make a poster for her middle son (my nephew and godson), Felix. Felix is waaay into pirates and apparently sings “A Pirate’s Life for Me” to himself in bed.

It was super fun to be at the press with Amanda, who is a graphic designer, and has such a fresh and distinct perspective. I love her finished product.

I worked on a much smaller scale and made a set of note cards using a variety of ampersands. It’s an idea I’ve had in the back of my mind since the last time I was at the press and I’m not sure if I totally love it. They are still drying at the press and I’m hoping when I see them in person again I might like them a little more.

If you live in Illinois (or Indiana), you should come visit me this Saturday for the Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire. Pretty much all my creative energy the last few months has been directed at organizing the faire and it’s going to be really excellent. Living Letter Press will be there, along with a lot of other very fun booths. If you’ve ever wanted to learn to solder, now is totally your chance.

Agora Days

The third week in February has become one of my favorite weeks of the year. You would think, living in the dreary midwest, that I would hate this time of year, but some unknown genius decided before my time that one week in the long 3rd quarter would be called Agora Days and all regular classes would be cancelled and instead teachers, students, parents, and community members would teach classes about what ever they are passionate about.

This year I worked with the always game Steve and Marten at the Soybean Press to publish a collection of student written, hand set, letter pressed poetry. It was an ambitious project for four days, and there are still a couple poems that need to be run through the press, but we had so much fun! I love that I teach students who geek out about moveable type, the history of the printing press, and dusty of technology.

I also taught a Knit Bomb class, which was an excuse to hang out in the library and knit for four days in a row. Thankfully I had a student co-teacher who is patient and likes teaching beginners to knit (something I’m terrible at). At the end of the week we had a 30 foot crazy scarf that we hung outside of the school. I love that some students knit for four days and contributed 3 feet while others contributed 3 inches, but we Frankensteined everything together and the final result is awesome.

Today

You can still enter my blog birthday giveaway here.

Better Photos and a Blog Birthday Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who commented on flickr and here about this block while I was sleeping last night! A little bit of sleep + positive feedback helped me feel so much better.  Sometimes when I’m creating on my own, I know I’m on the right path and I’m delighted with the results. Other times, I’m not so sure and I really appreciate all the kind feedback. I also realized this morning that a big part of my problem with the block was that I took the pictures of it at night and they were not showing it at its best. This morning I tried again and I’m much happier with the results.

I promised a giveaway and a giveaway I will deliver. This blog is one year old this week and what an intense year it has been! My husband has two teenagers who have lived with us every other week since we got married five years ago. This time last year their mom told us that she had taken a job in Florida. It took almost a year for her to move, the kids are now living with us full time, and it has not been an easy transition for anyone. We’ve spent the last two weeks dealing with some pretty serious crises behavior that I think has settled down for now, but has left everyone wiped out.

Why am I telling you this on my “birthday”? I think because part of what I like about the online sewing community is that I don’t have to tell you what is going on in my family–we can interact around ideas and projects and give feedback and I can escape into a world that doesn’t have anything to do with hurt kids in crises that I’m not able to fix. But I also struggle with feeling like there is something untrue about presenting myself in such a limited way and sometimes the family stuff breaks through. So this is where I am today: tired, humble, grateful for family and friends who have been bringing us meals and grateful for you all who inspire me and encourage me to take time for myself to make something beautiful.

Here is what I want to give you on my birthday. I have a set of five letterpress cards that I made as holiday gifts this year (printing is by far my favorite new skill this year) and a stack of fabric that is ready to move on from my stash and hopefully will find a happy home in your stash. There is some Amy Butler, Michael Miller, Michael Kauffman, Jay McCarroll, a random Japanese print and a couple unidentifiables, held together with a lovely piece of trim that I won on Sew Mama Sew’s giveaway day. 

Here’s how to win:

Leave me a comment telling me one of the following things. I’ll pick a winner Friday, Feb 24 after 5pm CST.

• something real about yourself (define “real” however you choose)
• a photography tip
• something you are grateful for

Eat me, Drink me Block

This is my second block for the Pastiche bee, and I hate to say it, but it looks an awful lot like my first block. Obviously, the shapes I chose are similar (little cake and bottle vs. teacup and bottle), but I also think I am not so fantastic at choosing fabric. The other women in this bee are so amazing at painting with fabric (for example) which is something I’ve not worked up the nerve to try yet. As a result, I worry that my blocks look too simple. Aieee.

I do like the hand stitching details–the little “drink me” note that is tied to the bottle and the “eat me” frosting on the cake. Smoochee asked for Alice in Wonderland inspired blocks and I chose “eat me, drink me” because I knew I could manage it. Next month is my month and my theme is vintage school/office and I’m super excited to see what people make. Here is my pinterest board for the bee. Maybe while everyone else is working on blocks for my month, I should try making a more sophisticated block.