Usually, when I start a project, I have every intention to finish it.   That doesn’t mean that I don’t have a whole slew of partially finished project stashed away on the shelves.

Princess Petunia Attacks The Gown

I totally intend to finish them — someday.   However, once in a great while, I just hit a brick wall and say “no more!”.    That happened to me today.  By way of background, my family and I will be attending a charity event in memory of my cousin Karyn next week.  (check out this wonderful article about Karyn in the Billerica Green Newspaper). The theme of the event is “Prom Night”.  When I found out that all attendees were encouraged to wear real prom attire, I got really excited.  My brain was racing with great ideas — maybe an early Madonna-inspired dress with lots of tulle and long lace gloves; or perhaps something in the vein of “Pretty in Pink”.  I finally decided that I was going to make matching purple taffeta dresses for my daughter and me, and matching bow ties for my husband and son.  Who can deny the kitsch appeal?  C’mon, it would be the ultimate in prom cheese!

Spreading Out The Fabric

Well, here we are – less than a week before the event, and I realized I have committed myself to make 2 gowns and 2 bow ties in 4 days.  Not to mention, I am trying to get my act together for a craft fair for which I am totally unprepared, unpacking from an impromptu trip to NYC, and dealing with 2 very cranky, over-tired kids.  But, I was determined to give it my best shot.  I managed to get the bodice out and stitched together.  (My daughter took a photo of me laying out a burgundy dress to use as a pattern for the bodice of my purple gown).

Measuring the Gown

No sooner did I start sewing the bodice, the kids took the rest of the fabric and decided to make a tent out of it.  During the tent venture, my son managed to close the top to the storage ottoman on my daughter arm.  While dealing with arm-in-the-ottoman incident the cats decided to get into a fight in the middle of my fabric.  For the icing on the cake, my gathering thread broke on the skirt, and I was faced with starting the gathering process again.  Then, the light came on.  “Do I really need to do this?  Am I really this crazy?”  And, the answer was, no, I didn’t need to do this!  We will have just as much fun wearing something out of our closets.  So, I balled up the fabric, half-finished dress and all, put away the sewing machine, and called it a day.  It was cheap taffeta anyway, and I can always use it for a kid’s project.

It made me think a bit about how much of our day to day stress is really necessary and how much is self-induced.  Sometimes it feels really good to just say “no”.  And guess what I’ll be wearing to the event?  Yep, the same burgundy dress in the photo that I was using for a pattern.  Go figure!

Princess Petunia Sleeps on My Half-Finished Gown

If you’ve been watching the news, you know that those of us in Rhode Island have had our fair share of rain last week.

Spring Daffodil

Even though we got by relatively unscathed, it was still pretty weird to see your backyard turn into a swamp in a matter of hours.  Although the highways are open again, and most of the water has subsided, many of our neighbors are still draining their basements, and some friends are still waiting to get back into the house.  The ’silver lining’, so to speak, is that now everything is turning green and growing like crazy.  So, I thought it would be fun to write about our early gardening ventures and show some pics of all the great things getting a head start in the yard.

Last year, Jon built 5 raised beds in the yard and built a cloche over one of them.

Bacco and Max check out the sage and lavender

Typically, seeds packets advise you to wait until the last frost to plant outdoors, but we figured we could shave of 4-6 weeks by planting under the cloche.  So, as soon as we had a sunny weekend, we got started with our early spring crops.  The Demesne garden site has some good info on spring planting, and some fun ideas on companion planting.  In the end, a lot of what we ended up doing was based on trial and error.  A few things to note – most of the planting was done pre-flood, and you can’t get seeds in a straight row when a 4 year old is helping!

Spinach – the spinach was actually planted last fall and somehow managed to survive the winter as a little sprout.  When Jon put the cloche back up a few weeks ago, it really took off.  This is definitely a hearty plant!

Spinach Plant

Snow Peas – for some reason, I just love the way pea shoots look.  They are so cute!  These seeds were ones that I saved from the peas we grew last summer.  They sprouted in less than a week under the cloche and are growing well.  These are a great cool weather plant.

Snow Pea Shoots

Arugula – we always do really well with arugula.  These seeds were also from plants we grew last year that went to seed.  They sprouted in less than a week, and the ones in the cloche are growing very rapidly.  I hope to be eating arugula in a couple of weeks.  (As an experiment, I planted a few rows under the cloche and one row out in the open; the ones under the cloche are about 3 times as big).

Arugula

Kale – I never grew kale before, but heard it is a great cool weather crop.  It sprouted in a little over a week and already has its second set of leaves.

Kale

Carrots – These are supposedly a good cool weather crop.  Ours haven’t sprouted yet, but I’m still hopeful.

Garlic – You can’t go wrong with this herb.  Put them in the ground around Halloween, and don’t worry about them until August.  I planted cloves from one head of garlic last fall.  All of them sprouted over the winter and have been growing steadily.  We’ll have scapes early summer and 15-20 heads of garlic by the fall.  Yum!

Garlic

French Tarragon – I was told this plant couldn’t over winter in our zone.  I dug it up and put it in a pot, but accidentally left it outside all winter.  Much to my surprise, it totally came back!  I just moved it into its permanent home in one of the raised beds.  I guess it is pretty hardy after all.

French Tarragon

Sage – This is a very hardy plant.  It stayed out all winter, and its all ready getting full and bushy.

Parsley – Once again, I didn’t think this plant was a) a perennial, or b) could survive the winter.  Well, our parsley is alive and well!

Mint – What can I say about mint?  You can’t keep it down even with a steamroller.  Get ready for mint juleps!

Basil, Dill, Cilantro, Oregano – just put these seeds in this week.  The jury is out!  (although we always seem to do well with herbs)

Rhubarb – this is the second year we’ve had this perennial in our garden.  The roots were a transplant from my uncle’s and aunt’s garden in Maine.  They seem to be thriving!

Rhubarb

I can’t wait until we start picking and eating!  Happy spring, and happy gardening.

Azalea

With Easter only a few short weeks away, I thought it would be fun to post instructions on hand dying yarn using Easter egg dye.

Finally Dry! Ready To Use

I discovered this art a few years back while surfing the net and have tweaked and combined a few different techniques to come up with a process that works well for me.  Unfortunately, my photos don’t do the final product justice.  I really need to figure out how to take better pictures!  If you want to see some amazing photos (and a detailed set of instructions), you should also check out the Kathryn Ivy site.  I love what they’ve done with their yarn.

If you like dying yarn with Easter egg dye, I definitely suggest you wait until right after Easter and scoop up a bunch of super-discounted egg dying kits.  Last year, my Mom found a whole slew of kits on sale for something like $.50 each, so I now have a small stockpile egg dying kits.  Now, I just need to find the time to dye myself a heap o’yarn!

If you end up trying it yourself, I would love to hear about your results!  And, stay tuned — I’ll be posting about dying yarn using Wilton’s food coloring, some time soon…

Easter Egg Dyed Yarn

Material Needed:

• 100% wool yarn (I used Lion Brand Fisherman wool 465 yards wound into 4 hanks approx. 115 yards each)
• Easter egg dye tablets
• Vinegar
• Wash basin, sink or large bowl
• Glass bowl large enough for yarn
• Large baking sheet (for hand painting)

Tips

• The less yarn you use per tablet, the more intense the color.  1 tablet per 100 yards of yarn gives a nice medium tone color.
• You can add more water to your dye mix to color more yarn, however the color will be lighter.
• Never run water directly onto your yarn or it may felt.
• Do not vigorously rub yarn while rinsing or it may felt.
• Wear rubber gloves, or you will dye your hands, too!

Process

• Wash yarn in warm water with a very small amount of dish soap.
• Fill your basin or sink with enough cold water to cover your yarn.
• Add approximately 1 cup of vinegar to your water and mix.
• Gently add washed yarn to the vinegar-water mixture.  Make sure your yarn is completely submerged.  Soak for at least 30 minutes.
• Remove yarn and gently squeeze out water.
• You can either use the immersion or hand painting methods described below

Immersion Dying Method (single color)

• Prepare dye tablets as directed on box.  Depending upon how much yarn you want to dye, you may want to add more water.
• Pour dye into a bowl big enough to hold your yarn.
• Add enough water to barely cover yarn.
• Submerge yarn into dye.
• When yarn has absorbed dye, remove from bowl.
• Gently squeeze out excess water (do not squeeze too tightly, yarn should still be wet)
• Put wet yarn in a glass bowl and cover.
• Microwave for 10 minutes.
• Remove yarn from microwave (be careful, it will be very hot).  Let the yarn cool until it can be handled comfortably.
• Fill basin or sink with very warm water.
• Submerge yarn in the basin and swish around with your hands. (the yarn should not be bleeding any dye at this point)
• Squeeze yarn dry with your hands; roll it in a towel to remove additional excess water.
• Hang the yarn on a rack to dry.

Hand Painting (gives a pretty variegated effect)

• Select 2 or more colors. Prepare dye tablets as directed on box.  Depending upon how much yarn you want to dye, you may want to add more water.
• Lay hanks of yarn flat on a baking sheet.
• Add an additional 1/3 cup of water to dyes.
• Use a small cup, ladle or squeeze bottle to pour dye over yarn in sections.  Be sure to prepare enough dye to solution to cover all of yarn.  You can also deliberately leave sections white.
  

  Hand Painted Yarn After Color Has Been Added

• You can “pre-dye” yarn using the immersion method and “paint” sections of the yarn before drying.
• When yarn is sufficiently coverd with dye, remove from bowl.
• Gently squeeze out excess water (do not squeeze too tightly, yarn should still be wet)
• Put wet yarn in a glass bowl and cover.
• Microwave for 10 minutes.
• Remove yarn from microwave (be careful, it will be very hot).  Let the yarn cool until it can be handled comfortably.
• Fill basin or sink with very warm water.
• Submerge yarn in the basin and swish around with your hands. (the yarn should not be bleeding any dye at this point)


Soaking The Yarn After Microwaving

• Squeeze yarn dry with your hands; roll it in a towel to remove additional excess water.
• Hang the yarn on a rack to dry.
  

  On The Drying Rack

  

  Hand Dyed Skein

  

  Another Photo of the Finished Product

Here is are are a couple photos of felted flowers I made from the yarn that I dyed. I also made a really cute yoga sweater, but I haven’t managed to take any pics of it!

Felted Lotus Brooch

Felted Orchid Hair Clip

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, which means scores of people will be flocking the streets for parades, drinking green beer, and, for the most part, partying up and down on a Wednesday.

Celtic Knot Bag

I think my most memorable St. Patrick’s day was way back in 1995/1996 when I was living in New Orleans.  My god, they know how to throw a party in good ol’ NOLA!  We were drinking at the Parasols block party by noon, and then hit the French Quarter for the parade.  If you’ve never been to a St. Patrick’s Day parade in New Orleans, it is suspiciously like a Mardi Gras parade — except they throw vegetables off the floats in addition to the beads.  Seriously…I kid you not.  You are highly likely to get hit in the head with a potato or chunk of cabbage if you don’t pay attention.

Anyway, although I will be driving my pre-schoolers around to their various activities, rather than drinking green beer this year, it seemed appropriate to post my article on Celtic Knots to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day.

Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction

In June 2001, my cousin and I visited Scotland, and I bought a really cool book called Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction by George Bain.   A large part of the book is focuses on the Pictish designs from Ireland and Scotland.  From an artistic perspective, the best part of this book is that the author gives very detailed, step-by-step instruction of how to create the intricate knot work and spiral patterns.  He starts with the most basic  traditional patterns and shows how they  grow into extremely intricate designs used in architecture, embroidery, calligraphy and metalworking.  I tried taking a few pictures of the book to give you an idea of the step-by-step construction.  I know its hard to see, but take my word for it, it’s pretty cool!

The designs seemed so complex, it was a little daunting, so I never actually began any projects incorporating the knot work theme.  This March, the Etsy Hookers team is sponsoring a contest for Irish/St. Patrick’s Day themed items.   So, I figured this was as good an opportunity as any to try my hand at a Celtic Knot design.  Here are photos of three items that I’m working on.

Celtic Knot Backpack

Basically, I’ve been crocheting a bag or bowl in 100% wool.  Then, I crochet a very long chain in a contrasting color.  I then stitch the chain onto the item in a knot work pattern.   Finally, I felt the entire item in the wash a couple of times.  I’m pretty happy with how the handbag and backpack came out.  The bowl is not done yet, and I’ve included “in progress” photos to show the steps.  The designs that I chose are from the Pictish school and are actually some of the simplest ones in the book.

I like the concept that the one continuous line is a symbol of continuity or eternity.

Bowl - After One Felting, but Before Knot Work

Bowl - After Knot Work Design Has Been Pinned In Place

Bowl - Drying After 3 Feltings

As I write this article, I’m looking out my window watching three doves take a bath in our birdbath.   After a long and frosty winter, it really seems like spring has made her move.

Wheelbarrow Ride

I can’t believe the temperatures were well into the mid ’50’s all weekend.   I thought I would never be able to rid myself of my heavy coat and hat.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not naive;  this is New England, so I know the cold and ice will be back before I know it — we may even get another snow storm.  But in the meantime, I’ll heed the buddhist teachings and live in the moment.   And, what a great ‘moment’ this weekend has been!  My family and I were outside getting a headstart on all our spring cleaning.  We raked leaves, cleared out flower beds, and checked for signs of life.

Budding Daffodil

The kids rode around on their bikes, and I even took out the old skateboard for a spin. (don’t get me going on skateboards…I’m not that good, but good enough to ride one home from Manhattan to Prospect Heights during the big blackout of 2003).

But, the biggest coup of all was getting our first veggie crops planted in the garden.  Jon had noticed that a small patch of spinach had managed to survive the winter in our mini-polytunnel.  It was suprisingly balmy under that plastic canopy.  I figured if that little patch of spinach could pull through, maybe we could give it a go with some of the early veggies.  So, we put in arugula, kale, mixed greens, peas, and carrots.  I’ll keep a close eye on them over the next few weeks to see what sprouts.  If all goes well, I’ll do an updated post with some pics of our seedlings!

The Poly Tunnel

Spring Spinach Shoots

Spring definitely gets me in the mood for fresh veggies.  Although it’s still too early for most of us to pick anything from our own gardens, did you know that you can still buy fresh produce at certain farmer’s markets in the winter? For those of you lucky enough (like me) to live in Rhode Island, the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmer’s Market is open from Nov. 7 – May 29. I’ve also enjoyed going to the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan and the Grand Army Plaza and Fort Greene Farmer’s Markets in Brooklyn year round.   And, remember, only two more weeks until the official start of Spring!

Hanging Out In The Trees

Helping With the Yard

This post doesn’t really have anything to do about creativity or any other type of artistic endeavor.  I’m really just taking advantage of a forum to vent on a very common, yet annoying problem — the mystery of the missing sock.

The Lonely Socks Club

When we moved to Rhode Island almost 2 years ago, I started a missing sock box.  Each time I did laundry, and failed to make a match, I would stash the single sock in a box.  Every so often I would sit down and sort through the socks to see if any of the singles matched up.   (Kind of like my own sock dating service.)  Anyway, I went to match up some socks earlier this week and realized that my missing sock collection had grown to astronomical proportions.  Even after matching up 7 pairs, I was still left with 50 single socks!  What the &%@$??? Where ever did they come from?  Have the neighborhood socks heard about my service and immigrated to my house in the stealth of night?  I swear i don’t even recognize some of them.

The Sock Pile

I’ve checked under the beds and behind the dressers, but haven’t found enough evidence to justify 50 missing socks!  Anyway, I will keep my collection until I give up hope of finding their mates.  In the meantime, let me know if you have any creative uses for single socks. I’m open to suggestions!

UPDATE – Some of my lucky socks have been claimed by overnight guests who can now reunite them with their mates.  A few others have turned up inside pillow cases and the corners of fitted sheets.  Alas, the vast majority remain in “The Pile”.

Along with Valentine’s Day, myriads of people around the world will be celebrating Chinese New Year on February 14th.  This year, the Chinese Calendar will be entering the Year of the Tiger.

Chinese Inspired Felted Bag

When I lived in New York, I always looked forward to the huge Chinese New Year celebration that took place downtown every year.  We would bundle up in our warmest coats and hats, take the subway in from Brooklyn, watch the spectacular parade, and hit our favorite restaurant for dim sum.  I even have a packet of red money envelopes left over from a few years ago.  They are really quite pretty, with a picture of a girl embossed in gold leaf.   I am the first to admit that I don’t know much about the traditions that lie beneath the celebration, but I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to experience the festivities.  Now that I live in Rhode Island, I won’t be able to go to the parade this year, but I thought I would show a parade of items from Etsy artists that have a Chinese or Tiger inspiration.  Enjoy!

A few  years ago, I went through a soap-making phase.  I wasn’t serious enough about it to really sell anything, except a few bars to some of my husband’s very supportive friends.

Valentine Soap

But, I did manage to make enough to give to everyone I knew for every holiday that came to pass.  And, I did manage to accumulate a pretty big stash of soap-making supplies.  When it came time to decide what to give my daughter’s teachers for Valentine’s Day, I remembered my chunks of olive oil & goat’s milk soap and my little vials of essential oils & aroma oils.  Thus, began a very interesting foray into soap-making with a 4 1/2 year old.

I won’t go into instructional detail about how to make melt & pour soap, because, frankly, you melt it — then you pour it.  Pretty straightforward.  OK, I guess it is a little bit more involved than that.  If you are interested, here is a very informative article on the melt & pour technique.   Instead, I’ll just share with you some helpful hints that I’ve learned along the way, and share some fun photos.

Stirring the Soap

Checking out the Molds

Filled Molds

Hint #1 – Bees Wax – Use a little bit of bees wax.  It will make your soap last longer and its good for your skin.  You can buy the little yellow pellets at most soap supply companies.  I don’t really measure, but I use about a tablespoon or so to a batch of 2-3 smallish bars of soap. (I know, I know, I should measure!)  When we did this project, I just let my daughter throw in a handful.  Beeswax melts slower than soap, so pre-melt your beeswax and then add the chunks of soap base.

Hint#2 – Color – I read somewhere that you can use melted crayons for colorants.  I tried this and found that it didn’t work very well with opaque soaps such as goat’s milk, but did a nice job with transparent soaps like olive oil.  For this project, we tried the crayons, because it was fun, but I ended up using Wilton’s gel food coloring to brighten the color.  I’ve also used powered soap colorants, but always had a hard time getting them to blend in.  All and all, food colorings always seemed to work best for me.

Hint #3 – Molds – For this project, I we used silicone heart-shaped muffin pans and rubber heart-shaped ice-cube trays.  I found them in the dollar bin at Target last year.  They were so much easier to use than the plastic soap molds I’ve used in the past, and they were much cheaper.  I’ve also used bread pans lined with saran wrap.  Just pop out the ‘loaf’ and slice it.

Hint #4 – Supplies – I’ve always had good luck buying soap base, bees wax and aroma oils at Brambleberry.  They have an enormous selection and a helpful site.  I used to buy great essential oils from a company called Cedar Vale, but they don’t seem to be around anymore.

Hint #5 – Making It Kid-Friendly – Obviously, you need to be very careful when dealing with hot, melted soap around kids.  Some of the things I let my daughter do were to pick out the colors and aromas, put the cut up of chunks of soap base into the bowl, squeeze an eye-dropper of essential oil (filled by me) into the melted soap, and stir the essential oil into the melted soap base while being carefully monitored.  She also had fun popping the soaps out of the molds when they were hardened.

The Finished Product

When we were done, we ended up with some really cute heart shaped soap in pink, orange, yellow and blue.  We bundled them in pink tulle and plan to bring them into school later this week.

Usually, when people go to a play, they talk about the great acting, wonderful singing, gripping story line, artful staging etc.  Maybe it’s the hidden seamstress in me, but the first thing that I notice are the costumes.

Hair - Chrissy's Dress

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all the other aspects of a great show, but the visual effect of the costumes always makes the biggest impact.  That’s why, when I saw pictures of the dresses that were made for an upcoming production of Hair, I felt like I had to dedicate a post to them.  The thing that love about this dress is that it looks like it would be as much at home walking through Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as it would be dancing through the summer of love.  And, yes, a dress with this much flair could walk and dance on its own!

This is one of several dresses designed by Carole Hamilton for the production and will be worn by the character Chrissy, played by her daughter Meghan Hamilton.

Style in the Age of Aquarius

Carole has been designing costumes for Dracut High School drama for the past 11 years, and recently designed costumes for the Counter-Productions Theatre Co’s production of Psycho Beach Party which was directed by Meghan.  Carole draws her inspiration from the personality of those individuals for whom she is designing.

For those who aren’t familiar with the play, Hair tells the story of the a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the “Age of Aquarius” living a bohemian life in New York City.   The Boston-based Counter-Productions Theatre Co’s production of the show will be held the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket, RI,  February 19th – 21th.  If you happen to be in RI, check it out.  Don’t forget to wear flowers in your hair!

Don’t you love having fans?  My biggest fan is my 4 year old daughter.

Kid's Fingerless Mitts

Every time she sees me making something or working on a new project, regardless of what it is, she exclaims with genuine enthusiasm “Oh, that’s so pretty! I love that! Is it for me?”  There’s always a brief moment of disappointment if I have to explain that no, its for someone else or for sale.  More often than not, I end up making a smaller, child’s version of whatever it is I’m making.  In fact, her only criticism of my work is that I don’t make nearly enough things in pink.  In her eyes, the pinker, the better!

Last week, she caught me working on a pair of Happy Hands fingerless mittens.

Making Pancakes in Her New Mitts!

She liked them so much, I ended up chasing her around the house to get my prototype pair back. So, of course, I ended up making a pair for her, too.  She couldn’t decide if she wanted hearts or flowers on them, so we went for one of each.  I think they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

The mitts are actually pretty fun to make.  I bought a bunch of second hand wool sweaters for another felting project I’m working on (another post on that, another time!) and realized the bottom part of the sleeve would fit perfectly as a fingerless mitten.  I sewed an opening for a thumb and used wool yarn to embroider around the raw edges and then added an applique from a another wool sweater in a contrasting color.  Voila!  Thick, warm, felted mitts!  If you like the kids version, check out my adult version in my Etsy shop.