Late again...

But here's my finished project this week. When I was a kid my grandmother's breakfast nook had a bench seat with storage inside. Every so often we'd beg to be allowed to take the lid off and dig through all the treasures in there. There was a set of tin individual Jell-O molds that we'd invariably wind up pulling out and pressing into service. Not that we even liked Jell-O much, but they did look so cool when you turned them out onto a plate. Not too long ago I found a set of molds at the Craft Antique Co-op in Greece and I had to pick them up. I really should have made Jell-O for the kids. Instead I made a pincushion with some velvet from a salvation army skirt. I filled the cushion with sand -- it has a pretty good heft to it...


Here's the bottom so you can imagine what your Jell-O would look like....

Quick and dirty...

And a late entry to boot...

This weeks project, a dishcloth using my favorite dishcloth pattern.




Yes, I have a favorite dishcloth pattern. Shut up.

Quick, easy, useful, I don't have to keep checking a pattern, I know what I'm going to do with it when I'm finished with the project -- it's a win on multiple levels.

In fact, it's already been used, and run through the washing machine. The only problem is that working with that cotton yarn is like knitting with mop strings. No tactile rewards there.

Standard needlecraft

Just in time for spring, I finished a scarf I've been working on since fall. Made with some clearance-priced Soy Wool Stripes yarn and a free pattern off the 'net.

I actually blocked this when I finished it -- I've never done that before. But I didn't want it curling up for the pictures....

It would be neat to try this in a lace-weight yarn, since it's meant to be done that way. I love that Patons stuff though, and couldn't pass it up when I saw it marked down.

Alternative needlecraft

We made a trip to the Barnes & Noble at R.I.T. recently -- wanted to take Claire there since the 2nd floor is the college bookstore and they have amazing art supplies. I wound up buying some bookbinding tools -- needles and waxed linen thread, and an awl. I wanted to try some stuff I'd seen somewhere...so first I had to track it down. A fellow etsian who sells handmade books keeps a blog with tutorials for different projects and links to even more tutorials. I knew I should have bookmarked her website....

After half an hour of searching/checking out etsy shops I found her site. Decided to start by trying a little pamphlet. I had some cool scrapbook papers I wanted to use for covers, and I didn't want to mess with cutting bookboards and such -- just wanted an intro level project. Well intro or no, it still took me about three tries to get a booklet made properly, with the pages centered inside rather than sticking out beyond the pamphlet edge somewhere. Once I had one nicely centered I used it for a template.

The stitching part was fun once I got going, though it's a little tough on the fingers.... Used the trimmings of the scrapbook paper to make some smaller 3-hole pamphlets. I hand-tore sketchbook paper for the pages.





Here's a finished pamphlet with its stitched spine. Maybe I'll get some darker papers so there's a little more contrast to the stitching...



Here's my big mess....

making stuff

I'm getting kind of discouraged by being the halfhearted curator of a mess of unfinished projects. For the most part I'm a process person rather than a product person, and I get as much satisfaction out of starting something new and learning new techniques as I do from having a finished craft. But lately it's getting ridiculous...

So I've been inspired and motivated by a group of folks that keep the creative juices flowing by finishing a thing a day. The project lasted through the month of February. Even the idea of keeping it up for the shortest month of the year makes me hyperventilate a little, and trying to join them seems to me to be a recipe for failure and self-loathing. But I could certainly step up from where I'm at now -- making a thing a week would be reasonable.

So I've resolved to try to finish one thing a week. That way I can still have unfinished long-term projects lying around, and I can still start new projects, as long as something gets finished every week. This week's project is an apron that I cut out of a vintage tablecloth last summer, and it's been languishing in the top drawer of the dining room buffet ever since. I've been sticking with half-aprons til now, so it was nice to do one with a bodice and pockets. The print seemed to lend itself to the project as well. I like how the neck strap has a button closure, too -- that was a neat little touch.

Here's the proof:

My son the farmer...

...planted some watermelon seeds in our garden this year. Rather late, too -- toward the end of June. I have never managed to get watermelon from seed to table in my life, so I tried not to raise any expectations. What the heck, let's see what happens.

Well, by September there were four good-sized "moon and stars" watermelon in our garden, looking tantalizing. I brought one in and cut it open. Still white inside. I was devastated -- no chance for that one to ripen any further. 3 weeks later I took another one and split it -- just starting to turn pink.

So I wrote the other two off -- no chance for them to ripen before frost. I left them til frost killed the vines, then brought them in -- about two weeks before halloween. I figured if they didn't have a long enough season to ripen, we could carve them for jack o'lanterns.

We were stunned when I cut off the tops, and wound up scooping out ripe watermelon. I was so not expecting to see pink inside, it was really gorgeous.

The jack o'lanterns turned out ok too...

My son the farmer...

Your mantis kung fu is strong...

But it cannot defeat cat style kung fu...












Amber has been bringing in bugs -- the bigger the better. The last one before the mantis was a cicada buzzing its protest through the house before the dog took over and crunched it.















The dog's thinking about whether to crunch this one...













Mantis plays dead with legs in the air before we rescue it...












Here is is cleaning floor fluff and parakeet feathers off itself. Guess I need to sweep the floor...