I took a brief break from all that knitting last weekend to scrounge around in my beading supplies. I'm not much of a jewelry maker, especially since I'm not much of a jewelry wearer, but lately it seems as if I am acquiring some cute necklaces. I like the way they spice up my usual t-shirt/cardigan uniform.
I've had this black chain for a while. I love the oblong links. I'm also a collector of vintage lace and linens, so I pulled out this bit of black lace and made a funky necklace (which was surprisingly difficult to photograph).
It's lovely and light to wear. I like it just off center, so it feels sort of corsage-like. But I could use some advice from the jewelry makers out there. I like the multiple strands of chain, but they wrapped around themselves throughout the day and twisted into a single chain. Is there a way to keep them separated? Jump rings between the chains? Short lengths of chain running perpendicular? Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you!
I really needed to do something creative that didn't involve a computer. Also, I'm dead tired, so it couldn't be too hard or take too long. So I did the quickest craft ever. I turned my grandmother's charm bracelet that I inherited, into a necklace. The pretty silver, wood-grained ribbon is from Martha Stewart's line at Michael's. I cut two pieces, looped them through the clasps on either end, and trimmed the ends. I'll just tie a square knot in the back to wear it!
I've always loved this charm bracelet, it's absolutely packed with charms. There are silhouettes of her children, and a few of grandchildren, but then she switched to a gold charm bracelet for that. With seven children and 25 grandchildren, she had enough for a pretty full bracelet of just the silhouettes. It just barely fits my wrist, but it's too jangle-y and heavy for working at a computer all day, so I've rarely worn it. This way I can wear it more often. I think the squirrel and the spinning wheel are my favorite charms.
Now I'm going to knit. I'm thinking of living on the edge and casting on for a hat. The pattern calls for 120 yards of yarn, but I have a skein that says it's 95 meters. that's a difference of just over 16 yards. Should I risk it?
I had no intention of disappearing for three weeks, but I guess that's just what I did. I've been both busy and lazy. Well, not so much lazy, just worn out from the busy. And there was a bit of a cold somewhere in that time too. Last week I decided to enter a contest at Veer.com to win a MacBook Pro. I knew the competition was going to be tough, but I forced myself to try anyway. Veer is a stock photo/illustration/design site, so most users are professional graphic designers. So the contest was to step away from the computer and recreate their logo with real materials. Multiple entries were allowed, so I did three: a mini quilt, a papercut, and a candy mosaic.
The winner was pretty darn cool, and the ten runners-up were also really great. I'm still happy I went without sleep and ate too much orange candy in my attempts. I do love my papercut one, although that was my first attempt at papercutting, and it was not easy. I want to try it out with different kinds of paper, because everything looked terrible when I tried to use a blade. I ended up using paper scissors in the end. I think I'll remove the letters from the quilt and turn it into a little doll quilt, I love the bright, juicy oranges.
I've been doing a little cooking as well, and had myself a little tea party one afternoon, while watching Howard's End. You don't really notice the food in that movie unless you watch it hungry. I speak from experience. So I was prepared this time. One of my favorite scones ever are the ginger scones I would get at Teaism, when I lived in Alexandria, Virginia. So I used a cream scone recipe and added finely chopped crystallized ginger and they may not have looked like much, but they were just perfect. I recommend that you try this sometime.
My former boss is an avid fisherman, and brought back a whole lot of yellow fin tuna from a recent trip. So I decided to use some to make fish & chips, but with a little Asian twist. I cut the chunk of tuna into fat sticks, dipped them in beaten egg, and then coated them with panko crumbs. Then I fried them in a little oil (maybe a half inch deep), turning so that all the sides got nice and brown. I made two dipping sauces instead of tarter sauce. The first was my usual wasabi cream sauce and the other with a spicy mayonnaise, which was simply mayo with some srirachi chili sauce (also known as Rooster sauce), and a little squeeze of lemon. Yum! It was delicious and really easy.
Now I'm hungry, and we are out of bacon, so I think I'm going to get myself dressed and head over to the local diner for breakfast.
I think I'm going to have to get over my box building frustration sooner rather than later. I seem to have filled my first box right up! I'm feeling a little greedy, and want to grow everything! I planted some seeds, but also went on a little shopping spree at my favorite nursery. They had so many varieties of tomatoes. I had space for four, but the selection was so overwhelming that I ended up with a yellow (Lemon Boy), a purple (Cherokee Purple), and two red cherry tomatoes (Sweet Million and Red Currant), but I think I really ought to have a couple more reds, oughtn't I? And maybe a green. I want to be able to can some for the Winter.
Peppers are posing the same problem, I got a jalapeno, a bell pepper, and a cherry red, but there are so many fun varieties, and those three seem rather ordinary. I'm very excited about the French Sorrel, which was a complete impulse buy, but I tasted a leaf and love the citrus-y tart taste. It's a perennial, so hopefully it will spread a little, maybe into two square feet, from the one it's now it. It can be divided, as well, so if it does like the conditions here, I'll definitely spread it around.
Here's the view from our back fence. As you can see, I have plenty of room for a lot more boxes. I'd like to grow some berries against the fence to the right, and maybe put in a few fruit trees.
Nothing has happened yet in my potato cans, no signs of green, although most of the potatoes definitely had sprouts in their eyes, so I'm expecting to see something soon. I also planted a green globe artichoke next to the potatoes. I love artichokes! For prettiness, I planted one square of my box with candy cane zinnia seeds, and another with a tiny dianthus from the sale table. I planted some basil seeds, but also brought home a flowering basil because they were filled with bees at the nursery. I can't seem to find the tag for it, but I think it's cinnamon basil. There's also a Japanese eggplant and a couple zucchini plants. Other seeds I planted include peas, two kinds of beans, two kinds of cucumber, radishes and cilantro. And yet I need more. I think it's already too hot for any sort of lettuces or greens, but I have seeds for all sorts of kales and chards and lettuces that I might start toward the end of Summer for Fall planting.
Who else is working on a vegetable garden? Share what you're growing, I want to know!
I got myself good and worn out doing all that planting on Saturday, not to mention dirty and sweaty after weeding along one side of the box. I plan to lay down weed cloth and mulch and possibly some stepping stones this week. I think I need a chair or two out there, to sit and enjoy the plants in the evening. If only this one wasn't sold out everywhere.
After all that activity I did a lot of resting today, and did a little hand sewing while watching Last Chance Harvey this evening (it was sweet, but I love Emma Thompson, so I like everything she's in). I am trying to come up with some more pincushions, and I think I'm on the right track, but it needs just a little something more. I used the same fabric I used for my headscarf, but maybe I need to stick to smaller prints? I'm going to have to think about it, but I really want to get some things in my shop, it's looking so sad and barren at the moment.
I also decided to start un-picking and re-stitching the latest quilt top from my mother-in-law. She said that her mother started it when she found out she was pregnant with her, but she wasn't much of a sewer or quilter. I love these fabrics so much, and the yellow solid is so nice, and unusual. As I was getting started and looked at the back I realized that she must have used paper to piece it, there are all these little bits.
As I'm unpicking I can feel the frustration and impatience the seamstress must have had. There are places where the sewing machine was obviously acting up, and she seems to have just plowed on through. None of the points are anywhere near meeting, and the seam allowances are 1/8" in some places and well over 1/4" in others. So she may not have had much skill for needlework, but she did at least have an eye for color, I hope she won't mind my re-doing and finishing her quilt.
Every now and then I like to have a pajama day, a nice lazy day during which I never bother getting dressed. A nap is also a requirement. Sometimes, however, I want to have a slightly more productive yet still relaxed sort of day. These days are best observed when the weather is warm and the sky is blue, and everyone else is at work, and you can just do whatever you want. Attire must be comfortable, just a notch above pajamas-because you might just go out in public (but only if you feel like it), and must include flip-flops. That's the kind of day I had on Friday. I've been needing a couple days off, so I told Mr. HeyLucy I wasn't going to work Friday or Monday, but he shouldn't expect much out of me, I was only going to do whatever I felt like doing at the moment.
Here's how my flip-flop day commenced. I slept in until eight, which is not too late, but enough to feel like I got a little bonus sleep. I took care of the basic morning chores in a leisurely manner (unlike my usual rush to get everybody fed and watered on my way out the door), and finished assembling and painting another box for my beehive. I glued and nailed the ten frames that fit inside. I have a little more to do with the frames, but I'll tell you about that later.
Because a new hobby requires as many cute new accessories as possible, I whipped up a little headscarf from Weekend Sewing. The first time I wore my hat and veil to work the bees, my hair got twisted up and fell in my face, and you can't exactly reach in and move it once you've got 10,000 buzzing bees in front of you. It worked perfectly when I wore it for yesterday's hive inspection. Although it's quite adorable, and I've worn it for most of the weekend while working in the yard, it's not particularly flattering with my short hair poking out the back, so I'm afraid I will not be able to model it for you.
This pattern was just as easy as can be, and took all of 30 minutes. I highly recommend it!
Before leaving to go for a nice swim, I enjoyed a quick breakfast of Greek yogurt and strawberries. One of the best things about living in Southern California is our ridiculously long strawberry season, and I had the most perfect strawberries.
I headed to the pool, swam for a half hour or so, and then I got to just lay in the sun for another half hour. It was perfectly warm, with a tiny breeze and the bluest sky. It was such a treat since I usually swim on my lunch hour, which means 30 minutes in the pool and then rush to shower and dry my hair and get back to my desk.
I went out to lunch with a good book and had some spicy Thai food. I ordered some extra to take home for our dinner, and then headed over to Lowe's to pick up everything I needed to build a raised bed for a vegetable garden this Summer.
Back home for the evening, I watched a little Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while knitting, of course. And then, worn out from my perfectly relaxing day, I went to bed and slept like a baby. I feel like such a braggert telling you all about my day, but it was just the nicest ever. I hope everyone takes a flip-flop day soon!
Speaking of knitting, I could use an opinion. I'm nearly done with my pumpkin sweater (Alpaca! Just in time for Summer!) and I have this lovely coral heather laceweight, enough for either the Whisper Cardigan or Featherweight Cardigan (Ravelry link). I just can't decide. I love the back of Whisper, but being somewhat busty, i don't know if the front is very flattering. I like the Featherweight Cardi, but it's still a new enough pattern that there aren't many finished versions on Ravelry yet. I love Ravelry just because you can see what the finished products look like on a variety of figures. Which do you prefer? Explain please. Oh, and the yarn? Knit Picks Merino Laceweight, $2.99 a hank, either sweater requires two to three hanks, and even including shipping that's less than $12 total. Bargain sweater!
And one last thing, because this is rather long, but I did one other project recently that I'm quite pleased about. I made a little pin board for above my work table, and it's so handy and it was very easy. I had a 12" cork tile laying around, so I cut four one inch strips. I cut one of the strips in half, and then butted two strips together and glued a third, centered between the two. on top. That left the two halves, which I glued on either side of the centered strip, so I ended up with a double layer, 24" strip of cork. I cut fabric into a 3 1/2 by 28 inch rectangle, and sewed it around the cork I just hung it up with strong double-sided foam tape, and that was that.
So handy! Now of course I'm going to have to make some cute push pins to coordinate. Maybe tomorrow.
I was so involved with my injury and my mushrooms yesterday that I only gave you one crappy picture of the finished terrarium. I thought you might like to see a little more. Or maybe you're over the whole terrarium thing already, and wish I would move on to something else. If that's the case, then come back next time and I promise I won't even say 'terrarium' once.
Looking down from the top, and here's a more clear side view:
I don't have any helpful hints for you, really. I got that jar at Ikea for $5, and bought a bag of pebbles at Michael's for $2.29. I used about a third of the pebbles in the bottom, then threw a handful of potting soil on top of that and just piled the moss in there. It broke apart a little as I handled it, it's fragile stuff, but I think it still looks okay, and maybe it will grow and cover any bare spots. As for finding moss, I'm also not sure what to tell you. I've always liked moss, so I tend to notice it when I go on walks. This was growing in the shade, mostly near rocks, and I just picked it right up. I had enough of everything left that I made myself another one, which I think I will take to work and keep on my desk.
This one is in a Weck canning jar that I found at a thrift store. I found two, actually. The other one has some of my favorite buttons and buckles in it, but this one was just waiting for a special use. Don't their jars make you want to can everything? I would love to get some and just can all Summer long. I have plenty of mason jars, though, so I'll just have to be happy with those for now.
I also did more than make terrariums this weekend, I also started a skirt for myself. I really hope it comes out as I envisioned. I think it just might. Here's a little sneak peak:
That's right, I am reporting the very first recorded terrarium-related injury. I headed out with the dogs this afternoon on a quest for moss. It's very hard to walk through our gate and down the street and leave the dogs behind, because the pitiful barks make the neighbors think we're dog abusers. So I hooked them up to the dual leash, and we set out. And we walked by the Next Door Neighbor's house, when their dog (the same dog that runs along the fence line in tandem with Winston every, single, day) started barking and my dogs freaked out, tangled themselves up and tripped me, even though I was, at that point, standing still. I'm still not sure how they did it. But because I know you all are as excited about terrariums as I am, I couldn't let a little bloody hand wound and a couple scraped knees stop me. Oh no, we got ourselves up and untangled, and continued on the Moss Quest. I just tried really hard not to bleed on it, the leash, or the dogs.
Oh, but I have to back up a little bit. Last night I went searching for some cute mushrooms, also for the terrarium, and I couldn't find anything. So in desperation, I picked up some red and some white polymer clay, despite the fact that I've never used the stuff before, and have never considered sculpting anything in my life, least of all tiny mushrooms. I had to have some mushrooms, you see. A plain moss terrarium just would not do.
Here they are in progress. Those are their spots, waiting to be added. This picture kind of makes me laugh. I figured I'd just use up all the clay and make as many mushrooms as I could, while I was at it. The clay was easy to work with. I'd say the hardest thing about the whole project was the fact that the red smudges really badly, so that was kind of a pain. I had to scrub really hard to get it all off my hands, and you can't even think about touching the white unless your hands are perfectly clean. If there's any interest, I could maybe, one day, post a little mushroom making tutorial. It usually takes me a long time to get around to these things, so don't get too excited.
I'm quite pleased with how they came out. I'm almost tempted to just leave this little fairy ring in my studio forever.
Obviously, I can't put all of them in my terrarium, so I'm going to list a couple sets of three in my shop, and I'm going to give away a set of three right now! Surprise! Well, not right this minute, but just leave a comment if you want to make a terrarium and need a set of mushrooms. I'll leave the comments open this week, until Friday or so, and then choose a winner next weekend.
And now, for the big reveal:
I'll keep you updated on its survival. I hope it does okay. Mr. HeyLucy was concerned that it might start to smell. I have to say, that thought never crossed my mind, so I will report on that as well.
And here is a hopefully sympathy-inducing shot of part of my injury (small, so you don't get too grossed out): You can click to see it bigger, if you're into that kind of thing. The saddest part about my injuries? I actually fell off my back step a few weeks ago, and scraped up my hands and knees in the same places, and it was FINALLY nearly healed. I can't blame the dogs for that one, however. I'm not very coordinated, I think my center of gravity is all wacky because I'm tall.
Oh it's so nice to spend my weekends in my little house studio. I set my iPod on shuffle, or turn on the portable DVD player, and just get to work. The quilt wall will be getting a lot of use, I hope. I sketched out an idea the week before last, and started playing around with it the last couple days.
It's lap or baby-sized, and I'm thinking there will be three or four more flowers. I wanted to use shot cotton, and originally thought I'd do the whole thing with all solid shot cotton colors, but the quilt shop didn't have any good, saturated pinks and greens like I wanted. I was so disappointed, until I wandered over to the batiks. I don't think of myself as a batik sort of person, but the colors just got me, so I'm giving it a try. I'll just be satisfied that only the background is shot cotton.
Since I wasn't feeling too great last week, about the only thing I did was knit. I stuck mostly to my orange sweater, but I thought I'd start a couple other, small-ish projects just to mix it up a little. When I cleaned out my yarn stash I decided I needed to find specific projects for the yarn I have, so now I have a half a dozen things to chose from. I started on a shrug, because I just happen to have the exact number of skeins of Homespun in a lovely, deep purple. I needed a size 10 cable needle, so I was searching through all my circular needles and it turns out I have four size 9 needles and not a one in size 10. I'm not sure how that happened. Anyone need a size 9 needle?
I also managed to finish up the needle books and pincushions for the shop. They were a lot of fun to make, so I hope they all find good homes.
Saturday I devoted my whole day to thrift shopping/antique mall-ing in search of a dresser for the studio. Mission accomplished!
If you'll recall, it was on my Complete the Studio to-do list. Also on the list is Paint the dresser. I'm tired of painting at the moment, and it's been raining for four days, so painting is not going to be a high priority for awhile. I can live with it like this for a good, long while, actually. It would be better if it was a brighter white, to match the walls, but I can deal for now. The shape is just what I wanted, and the size is perfect. I love the handles, and, while I didn't really want anything too shabby chic or distressed, the little painted swags on the drawers are kind of sweet.I also didn't think I needed a side table, but when I saw that little white one for $45 I kind of had to get it, and it turns out that it's really coming in handy.
I managed to thin out my yarn stash, and fit nearly everything in the bottom drawer. There are a few balls of sock yarn in one of the top drawers, and it's so nice that it's all safe from those pesky cats. I decided to display part of my creamer collection on a tray on top.
I need to find some small projects for the odd balls of yarn. What do you do when you have leftover yarn or orphan skeins?
Once the dresser was organized I was so inspired by my pretty new space, I worked on some treats for the shop. There's a couple peepers in there right now, and I hope to have some pincushion/needlebook sets by the end of the week. It's so nice to work out there now. It's a small room (barely 10'x14'), but I've got so much of my junk organized and cleaned out that it's just so easy to work.
And, since you haven't seen this fuzzy face for awhile, I leave you with the one and only Winston:
I can't take it when he looks at me like that. I had the day off today, and spent it in the studio with the rain and then snow blowing and blustering outside, and I had to let this muddy thing in because I felt sorry for him. I hope my carpet will come clean.
Now the progress on the studio is slower as I do little things here and there. I feel like I worked so hard this weekend, and there's not a lot to show for it. I still have a lot more fabric to sort through and fold to go in the left bookcase. The baskets up top need some tidying up as well, but it's looking much nicer than it did before.
I solved my light switch problem, although I didn't, perhaps, choose the easiest solution. I changed out the switches altogether for new, white paddle switches, and found this sweet little switch plate at my favorite Ace Hardware for only $4.49. It had an antique finish, so I painted it white.
Changing out the switches isn't too hard. Each one had two wires, so I took the top wire out of the old switch, and put it in the top hole of the new switch, then did the bottom wire so there was no chance of messing it up. The main thing to remember is to shut off the power!
I also installed the hooks, which were on sale at Anthropologie. They didn't come with any visible way to hang them, so I improvised by nailing picture hangers on the backs and hanging them from sturdy nails. They're mostly for holding my knitting project bags, so they didn't have to be super sturdy, although they are quite solidly in place, I must say.
I picked out a doorknob while I was there as well. The deciding factor was the fact that this one was on sale for $14.95. It helps that I do love milk glass.
It, too, was a little tricky to install, but that's the great thing about Ace, you go in with your problem, and they walk you right through the solution. I had to get screws to mount it, and there was a little grumbling and growling as I tried to fit everything together. A third hand would have been helpful, but I'm now quite confident in my doorknob installation abilities.
One last project was to place grommets in this quilt design wall I have (it's really just a piece of thick flannel or felt, my husband bought it for me from Keepsake Quilting, I believe) and then put cup hooks along one wall so I can easily hang it up and take it down. This was one of those projects that was a tiny bit harder than I expected, but came out exactly as I envisioned, so the frustration was worth it. Cup hooks are not easy to screw into wood.
The grommets are actually plastic, and I found them at Joann. You just cut a circle out of the fabric and snap the two halves of the grommets together, no special tools needed! They were a little pricey ($10 for eight), but I had my 40% off coupon, so it wasn't bad.
So here's another cheap decorating tip: sales and coupons are your friends! This takes patience, and it's also good to have a plan. I tend to think very carefully about how I want a room to look, and realize that I can't rush it. Once you've figured that out, you can accumulate the things you want over time rather than going on a crazy, expensive shopping spree. When I try to get too much at once I tend to make costly mistakes. So bit-by-bit, and watch for sales and coupons. If you're in the U.S. and not on the Joann mailing list, get on it! They send coupons regularly. For California residents with a Beverly's fabrics nearby, ditto that. They do theirs via e-mail, and it's not as frequent, but still worth getting.
I have lots more fun projects coming up, and I'm going to need some opinions, so I hope you won't mind if I ask what you think over the next couple weeks. I actually made myself a to-do list for this year in lieu of any formal resolutions, and the majority have to do with this studio project. I'm posting it here for reference:
To-do list for 2009
Grow mushrooms Make Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding) Clean the microwave Get some new chicks (2 Araucanas, 2 Cuckoo Marans, 2 Rhode Island Reds or 2 Barred Rocks) Make myself a sweater Finish my studio:
Slipcover chair
Make window coverings
Find a dresser
Paint the dresser pink
Collect and frame art to display
Install shelf above work table
Find vintage metal stool
Hang plate collection in an artful display
Paint ornate picture frame and turn it into an inspiration board (turquoise?)
Train Winston to do tricks or herd sheep Vacuum every week Lose 30 more pounds Learn to make creme brulee (not sure how the previous two items will work together) Take more pictures Make a quilt Design a pair of socks (knee socks! with Scandanavian-style colorwork! I can picture them in my head) Clean out and paint laundry room Make more things for my Etsy shop Make French Macarons
And one last thing, completely unrelated to all this, I wanted to share a music video. This is my brother, and the song is from his new CD, which you can pre-order at www.caryjudd.com. I've been lucky enough to hear the songs as he's recorded them, and this is, by far, his best music ever. I'm pretty sure it's going to be my favorite album of 2009, so you really should think about getting it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
