Sunday, February 21, 2010

21 - ANOTHER RING

I thought I would try again to make this ring.  It's a good 30-minute project.   I thought I was getting the hang of it, and then it came out a bit lopsided and not quite right.  There are a few other ring patterns I could try, but I think I'll take a break from the crochet needle for a couple of days.  I found the duct tape, so I can finish my dress form tomorrow.

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

20 - BEADED RING

Added some beads to the rings I made for 18 and 19, but, um, I forgot to add the band for the ring.  So it's basically a nice little flower.  Definitely getting quicker, though!

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19 - BLACK RING

Found the right size needle today and a better crochet book to tidy up the second ring.  I'm getting closer to liking the finished product.  I'm thinking about adding some beads to the next one.

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

18 - PINK RING

So I taught myself to crochet tonight.  Sort of.  Of course, I used the wrong size needle and the wrong kind of yarn, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.It's rather lopsided, and I'm pretty sure I didn't count my stitches quite right, but it is generally a ring shape and it kind of fits on my finger.  So it's a ring thing. 

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

16 - SHRUNKEN B

Who doesn't love a shrinky-dink every once in a while?  While the kids were playing with them, I thought it would be the perfect thing to make some Batala earrings.  (Check out www.batalawashington.com.)  So here's the shrunken result.  Forgot to punch a hole before I shrank them, so will have to drill tomorrow so I can finish.

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Monday, February 15, 2010

15 - FELT BEADS

I spent the afternoon with my friend Gioia, an art therapist, who is constantly creating things.  She has a most amazing supply of materials and methods for all kinds of things.  She brought out some wool for the kids to make beads, but they were busy playing a game involving teenagers and school and babies (!), so Gioia and I jumped in.  They look massive in the picture, but the largest are just about an inch across.

Meanwhile, Gioia picked up her needles and knit the roving, without a pattern, and made a purse to be felted.  True artist, that one.

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

14 - LOVE IS... BEING WRAPPED IN DUCT TAPE BY YOUR SWEETIE

This may not look like much, but it's a project I've been wanting to do for a long time.  When it's finished, it will be a custom-made dress form for my (many unfinished) sewing projects.  Couldn't finish it today because, well, we ran out of duct tape.  Thanks for wrapping me up, honey love!

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14 - LOVE IS... BEING WRAPPED IN DUCT TAPE BY YOUR SWEETIE

This may not look like much, but it's a project I've been wanting to do for a long time.  When it's finished, it will be a custom-made dress form for my (many unfinished) sewing projects.  Couldn't finish it today because, well, we ran out of duct tape.  Thanks for wrapping me up, honey love!

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13 - IT'S A START

It was a busy day, so I ended it by starting a new knitting project.  Miss Calla was not fond of the balaclava I made her a few days ago, so asked me to knit a ski mask for her.  She chose one based on Jack Skellington, a favorite of hers.  I love these Knitty patterns!  I had to start it on circular needles that were way too long, but I found some double pointed needles I can move it onto.  This will keep me busy for a bit.  I haven't had a knitting project for a while, so this will be nice for the rest of my hibernation time.  39 days to PR! 

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Friday, February 12, 2010

12 - CRAZY PILLOW

Oh I just love this challenge for making me finish all my old unfinished projects!  This is a pillow that I knitted from some crazy yarn about a year ago, felted it about 2 months ago, and finally today stuffed it and finished it.  Yay for me!

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

11 - HAT

Still working on using up every scrap of the previous project.  Here John used a simple knot to tie the remnants of the turtleneck sweater into a fine winter hat.  We love this hat!

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

10 - MORE LONG JOHNS

One more pair of long johns from another found sweater.  Pretty quick project.  Just a little tough to sew the knits together properly.  But they came out pretty well and will be super comfy for Miss Calla while she lounges around for the next snow days.

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9 - BALACLAVA

A request from Calla for a ski mask came right around the time I had some nice leftovers from making her sister a pair of long johns from an old sweater (see TAD 6).  Used the turtleneck part of the sweater turned upside down, and sewed the seams together to make a balaclava.  A little plain, but oh so useful during our blizzard!  Calla didn't want it, but our neighbor did!

And we made cookies.

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9 - BALACLAVA

A request from Calla for a ski mask came right around the time I had some nice leftovers from making her sister a pair of long johns from an old sweater.  Used the turtleneck part of the sweater turned upside down, and sewed the seams together to make a balaclava.  Calla didn't want it, but our neighbor did!

Oh and we made cookies.

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Monday, February 8, 2010

8 - BUN BUN

Another creature from the lost sock bin.  Already claimed by my daughter.

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7 - COCKY

A long-unfinished project that was born from the lost-sock and -glove bin.  Somehow it took me months to get around to attaching the eyes to my little cock-a-doodle-dude.  I still feel like he needs a little something.  Some chicken feet?  A tailfeather to shake?

(Thanks to 2 feet of snow and resulting power outages, I'm a bit delayed in my postings.  But I did do the things on time!  I was tempted to just post a photo of the giant pile of snow we shoveled yesterday as my "thing" but I figured I could at least sew on a couple of buttons to finish a real thing.) 

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6 - LONG JOHNS

The power went out before I could sew the last seam, so I'll post the almost-finished version via phone.  Found a couple of comfy sweaters at the thrift store the other day and thought I could try out this project from craftzine.  They were too small to fit me, but luckily I have couple of ten-year-olds who were willing to try them out.  They were a little trickier than I thought they'd be, but they came out pretty well.  If there's no power tomorrow, I guess I'll be hand sewing!

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Friday, February 5, 2010

5 - MMMM... PRETZELS

Homemade.  Using my new stand mixer.  Dipped in butter and then in cinnamon sugar.  Quite delicious, if I do say so myself!  Back to non-food items tomorrow. 

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4 A BETTER PHOTO

I think this is better photo of yesterday's octopus.  And you can see the snow falling!  Since there's no point of reference, I'll just tell you:  it's about 10 inches tall.

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4 the other octopus

I liked yesterday's octopus, but I knew I could better.  Moving more into 3 dimensions helped, dontcha think?

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

3 - THE OCTOPUS

Well, I went back to the wire today, with mixed results.  I loved the first half (the left) but it went awry somewhere on the right and I wasn't quite sure how to finish it.  I"ll bet if I made the head about twice as big, it would look better.  I may have to work on my line drawing skills a bit before I come back to this material.  It looks like we have a few snow days coming up, so I'll stock up on supplies for the weekend.

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THING TWO

Just under the wire... and yes, it's wire!  Heavy, greasy black wire that's been sitting in my cabinet for months, just waiting to come out and play.  This was my first time working with several wire bending tools, so there was a bit of experimentation.  I think I'll come back to this material later in the month, though, for sure.  For now, some sweet heart-shaped paper clips!

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Monday, February 1, 2010

THE FIRST THING: ENVELOPES!

I picked up these chinese and arabic language papers months ago intending to make them into envelopes.  Finally got around to doing it!  Thanks, thing-a-day challenge!  Maybe I'll get to those thank you notes next....

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

WE'RE GETTING READY TO MAKE THINGS!

OK, we're often making things, but generally not every day.  In February, we are accepting the challenge to make something every dadgum day.  We've got some ideas, but, wow, every day?  We're going to try our best.  And we'll post them across all our platforms (aren't we sophisticated with our social networking?) for you to see and comment.  Wish us luck.  Seriously.  We'd love to hear from you.  -Paige