Making Monday: Winter Scarf

 

It was time for a new winter scarf, so I pulled some new yarn out of my yarn bin, and whipped this lovely, and warm scarf up. I knit it on size 10.5 US needles out of Trabajos Del Peru, 100% Extra Fine Merino Wool. I made a simple pattern, of knitting the middle length wise and than picking up stitches on the ends to add both length and interest. So far it has been perfect, soft, warm, and pretty!

 

Thankful

We are thankful for good food, homemade gifts, and breaks that we can fill with action.

New Old Jars

With mothers getting rid of things we have been gaining things left and right. This new, for us jars, have just found a home in our pantry holding our bulk goods.

Making Monday: The Basket

I began a very intense adventure of trying to use all the t-shirt material left over from making t-shirt quilts. What had started as a medium bowl/hamper thing to hold projects I was in the middle of or latter in life toys the kids had left on the floor, grew into crocheting a basket to hold blankets next to the couches.

The project has now been completed! It is very unwieldy, and huge, and works quite well. It is really very fun to touch and look at.

1...2...3...Break

This picture was taken at the Franconia Sculpture Park.  It is a very summery picture for me.  Although, I am not really looking for summer and still enjoying winter, it does make me thinking of time off to de-stress.  This last week of school has been filled with many emotional and stressed children.  We all need the upcoming break.  School resumes on January 2nd, 2013.  We will gladly fill these next 11 days with not-work.

Shopping Local

Since Black Friday, we have decided to only buy from local shops and locally made whenever possible.  Check out some of our favorites below.

Here is a list of some great local places
Buy Local Twin Cities

Eateries:
Hop Wong
Pizza Luce
Punch Pizza
Seward Cafe
True Thai
Taco Taxi

Grocery Stores:
Hampden Park Co-op

Shops:
Glad Creations
Yarnery
Articulture
Welna II Hardware

Video Rental:
Filmzilla

Making Monday: Soap

With some boiling water and grated, locally-made soap, we created liquid soap.  Mix a few other things to make laundry soap.  We will let you know how the soaps work.  Check out this site for recipes. 

Handmade Bowls

This is my favorite stack of bowls in the house, everyone of these bowls was made by hand, and everyone of these bowls gets eaten out of.

SNOW!

Yay snow! Hurray for big snow falls! Big smiles playing in the white snow with kids.

Making Monday: Project Tote

I was so inspired by my grocery tote that I modified the tote bag pattern a little to make myself a small project bag to make transporting knitting projects smoother. My great aunt Bertie has been cleaning out her fabrics which has meant amazing things for me. The outside of this bag, is made almost only out of pre-cut squares, she gave me, sewn together to make this patchwork fabric. I used some of the leftover ones to make a small pocket on the inside, which is adorable. Now all I have to do is get knitting.

Paper Boat

Sometimes when I'm bored in a classroom at work I'll make little things out of paper I've found on the floor. And then I'll leave it in my pocket, once things start to pick up. When I come home and switch into pajamas I empty my pocket and re-find small treasures. Usually I will leave them somewhere, and every once in a while they will catch the right light, and make me smile, and live in that moment.

GreatGrandma's Sewing Basket

 

I recently received my great-grandmother's sewing basket, with all of it's treasures and curiosities. I have been having a blast going through it and digging up lace, ribbon, wooden spools, and endless buttons.

Making Monday: Tote Bag

I recently sewed up a grocery tote bag and added a quilt square/circle for some fun decoration. It has been holding up really well. I used the tote bag pattern out of the "One Yard Wonders" book, which was fun knowing that I am supporting other crafty Minneapolis women (one of the authors is co-owner of Crafty Planet). And because I want to use it and show it off I actually remember to bring it into the store with me!

Something sweet for your Friday

cookies from http://www.hampdenparkcoop.com/

mango with sweet rice at http://truethairestaurant.com/

Turkey Bingo

The elementary school we work at hosts a turkey bingo night every year for families to have the opportunity to win a full Thanksgiving dinner. This was my first year going, and it was so great to see everyone together, playing nicely, and having a good time. Plus who doesn't love those classic bingo boards!

Making Monday: Quilt Square

I recently saw someone who's sister had sewn a log cabin onto the back of her fall coat. Well I got inspired and made up a quilt square of my own to sew onto my coat. I'm quite happy with the result. It is so much fun to pull out the scraps of fabric and make them into yet another thing.

No Buy Black Friday 2

We are no longer in a No Buy Year.  However, this Black Friday will also have no purchases.  Why?  Simply that stuff doesn't make you happy; that stuff is made with resources and then is thrown away;  that gifts do not require stuff; that humans were never meant to wait in line to buy stuff they don't need; and that complacency will never lead to progress.  Give it a try.

Yum

May all your meals be delightful.

Making Monday: Poem

This poem was number 9 in my project to write 52 poems:

My language,

can not be explained through yours.

It has been constructed by my life,

my vocabulary has been built up by years

of reading, and listening, and watching

As my passport fills with stamps

each new location fills

my ears with a lack of understanding,

my mouth with a need for communication,

my eyes with the beauty, of overwhelming newness

            of physically being where I am, every second I am alive.

My language

is a gathering

of the people I have meet

of all the sounds those around me have created 

and the gestures that punctuated them.

Photos from the Week

Top to Bottom: 1) pear for the pie/tart 2) Leftover pie dough filled with pear and blueberries 3) going out to eat with my mom 4) the first restaurant of my 12 new restaurant goal 5) I cut 10inches of hair off to donate to locks of love! 6) roommate waiting outside for the gas company

The Finished List

22 Things to do Before I turn 23
1. Work in a 'sketchbook' every Wednesday night.
2. Donate hair to Locks of Love.
3. Get a children book published.
4. Ride a train.
5. Get a second tattoo.
6. Take a dance class.
7. Show my art in a public space.
8. Take part in Northern Spark.
9. Show Infinity a Chile sunset in the mountains.
10. Cut all monetary ties to parents.
11. Visit the ocean.
12. Make $500 from my art.
13. Pay back the $800.
14. Properly learn to ride a bike.
15. Hug a Redwood tree.
16. The Kentucky Trip (Wigwam Village & Dinosaur World)
17. Complete the 52 Poems Project.
18. Make a rocking chair.
19. Give arts & crafts leadership at Camp Quest MN.
20. Go to the LOTR marathon at the Riverview.
21. Be vegan for a month.
22. The Billboard Project. 

23 Things To Do Before I Turn 24

1. grow cherry tomatoes in the backyard.
2. take the train.
3. teach a class not at Bancroft.
4. make jelly/jam.
5. keep an invetory of my little free library.
6. finish that sweater!
7. get published under my name or a pen name.
8. have an art showing.
9. learn three songs on the keyboard.
10. eat at twelve new resturants.
11. juggle.
12. play four games a month.
13. bake twelve new pies.
14. give thanks once a week.
15. get my name off of my father's company.
16. successfully dye yarn.
17. go to Seattle.
18. go on a date once a month with Infinite.
19. set the table once a fortnight.
20. use Spoonflower.
21. more photos of people: twelve I really like.
22. install and stock little free library.
23. keep volunteer committee on schedule.

Little Free Library

We have a Little Free Library coming to our yard, and to best be ready for it we have started to collect books for it. One of the goals, other than getting people free books, through building a community, is to keep track of the books. To do this we used some stamps that we had make years ago and starting stamping every book in our growing collection. Within each stamp we wrote "LFL 3757", LFL for Little Free Library, and 3757 is our number. We will let you know when it appears!

Empty Bowl

The unveiling of my bowl, from Empty Bowls this year.

Making Monday: Patches

It was time to update the jeans with some new patches. Along with reinforcing older patches I spiced it up this round with a bright cotton, properly hemmed, fun patch!

Lovely New Patches

 

We have been working on  a new project involving stencils, which turned into dumping the stencils and using simple fabric markers instead. They feature some, if I do say so myself, very cute drawings. This one is done on an old jeans pocket!

Pumpkin Carving

Avatar Aang and Octopus Hugging a Ship.  Both won fantastically silly prizes.  Wonderful.

Making Monday: Pumpkin Goo

Over the weekend we cut and boiled and scrapped out the pumpkins from the garden and one from the co-op to make ourselves pumpkin goo to freeze for the year. Last year our pumpkin goo went into lots of pumpkin bars, pumpkin pancakes, and at least one patch of pumpkin brownies. We are looking very forward to all of the pumpkin goodies in our future.