Under Construction

I knitted it myself

I fixed the second video in yesterday's post. Sorry 'bout that.

I am trying to re-learn how to knit. I never got good in the first place but I got on a knitting kick right about Christmas time one year and got all sorts of fab knitting supplies as Christmas gifts. And then more for my birthday. So I have the best knitting stash a non knitter has ever had.  I recently decided that I had better taking up knitting again or find a good, new home for my supplies because the craft room runneth over and some thing's gotta go.

I pulled out my knitting book and noticed that the inscription from Mr. H wished me a happy 26th birthday.  Wow, that was exactly 5 years ago. That knitting stuff has been feeling unloved for a very long time.

After reviewing the book (and reading "Kids Can Knit" at Borders) I finally figured out how to cast on and knit.  You can see, after about 4 rows I figured out how to purl and achieve a fine stockinette.  And then, for the first time ever, I managed to cast off!  Previously I only made hats (where you don't have to cast off) I see a sweater in my future, don't you? Ha!

As a non-knitter I never got into the "knitting blog craze" but finally came upon Crazy Aunt Purl through the Bloggies and hey, she's great even if you don't knit!

And not that you are holding your breath waiting for new posts here at Under Construction but I thought I'd let you know that we're heading to San Diego for a few days so I won't be around till next Tuesday or so.

Happy Trails!

Biscuit report #2

Because if I don't record it here, I won't record it anywhere. And also, my sister is gallivanting across Asia and has requested more footage of Biscuit.  Hope this works, Laura.

And here's the star of today's post, clearly reading well above grade level ;)

• For some reason the Chronicles of Narnia boxed set I got for Christmas has been a source of great amusement all week.
• As seen in the video below, Biscuit is learning to spin (sort of)
• She is also learning her body parts.  She definitely knows her feet and teeth and bellybutton.  Nose seems to be surprisingly difficult and I think she thinks her eyes are hair.
• Belly buttons are pretty much the funniest thing known to toddler-kind and she is constantly overjoyed when we lift up our shirts for a quick round of belly button peek-a-boo
• After her 15 month appointment we went cold turkey on the bottles.  She is slowing starting to take some milk from a sippy cup or straw
• Our weekend walks to the park never end at the park. They end at the house on the corner where we spend ages patting and cooing over Aussie the dog. If Aussie is unavailable she prefers sorting rocks in the neighbor's driveway
• She's become quite a social butterfly and while out and about greets everyone with an enthusiastic "Hi!" which she repeats with more and more insistence until she receives a return "hi" at which point she gets shy and looks away
• Instead of waving goodbye she kisses
• Walter the Farting Dog is her favorite book, she loves the pictures but only certain ones
• During her commute home she makes farting noises with her mouth and hand until she is gasping for air.
• She is very opinionated. How dare you put on the brown shoes when, clearly, today is a white shoe day?  Idiot!
• Okay, enough of a random list.  Here is a random video.  I don't know how to edit videos so you get the entire thing when the hilarious "spinning" is the first 2 seconds.

Okay, another video. Still no dice on the spinning but you do get to see her try to climb in the fridge.  If your name isn't Laura, just skip these. Laura, I hope you can see them.  You totally owe me a souvenir

Available in coordinating wallpaper

I found some polished cotton home decor swatches at the thrift store. According to the tag they are (were) available in coordinating wallpaper (way back before I was born?).  I decided these little swatches (and some of my other scraps) really wanted to be gifts for crafty folks.  I made myself a little pouch for hand quilting supplies including scissors, thread and needles and I used it constantly during this project.

Hand quilting kits:

A small (approx 4x7") zippered pouch includes embroidery scissors, quilting thread and a leather thimble and a largish pin cushion with leaves for holding needles.

Then I made an embroidery kit:

This kit includes the same little zipper pouch but this time full of embroidery floss, scissors, and a coordinating needle book for your embroidery needles.  A handy little tote (about 9x10") with a nifty zipper handle has an exterior pocket for your hoop or patterns and room inside for a small project and your handy pouch.

It was fun to experiment this weekend with making multiples of an item and refining my technique. Not perfect, but improving.

All the cool kids are doing it

Commenting on Beth's blog that is. 

There is some crafting going on around here but, since Beth asked, I decided to spend 10 minutes of my Friday evening remembering all the (paid) jobs I've had over the years. I'm sure this will amuse only me but, it's my blog, so there you go.  If you want to leave a comment, let me know your dream job. I'm curious.

In reverse chronological order:

Since college:

• development officer (fund raiser) for a university
• person who works at the alumni association of said university (various roles--7ish years)
• client services manager for a company that tests transformer oil for dissolved gases to identify potentially damaging faults (explosions).  Yes, there really is (more than one company) that provides this totally random (but useful if you own transformers) service

Concurrent/part time/short lived jobs in the post-college era:

• Clubmom blogger
• GMAT tutor
• Sewing instructor
• Ticket seller at county fair midway
• lab rat for an environmental testing company

The college era:

• tour guide/kitchen help at a Girl Scout Center (in Switzerland!!)
• breakfast cooker/room cleaner at a bed and breakfast
• clerk at a gift store (in the kitchen section)
• Greeks and Clubs section editor for the college yearbook
• house/apartment painter
• cook for a fraternity
• dirt soil sample grinder for the department of agronomy
• more midway ticket sales at the fair

High School

• clerk at a fabric store
• clerk at a shipping and packaging store
• clerk at the Christmas tree farm
• math tutor (I think I got paid for this gig)
• random assistant at a local Girl Scout center
• babysitter

Before I was legal jobs:

• more babysitting
• cat sitter
• technically that Christmas tree farm gig but I think I cried during the interview when I found out they only hired 16 and up and I was still 15 for 2 months and since the lady in charge was friends with my mom they hired me anyway. 
• lawnmower (my dad paid me for this chore)

I think that's it. So, dream jobs? I'm looking for ideas....

Parenting tips from someone who clearly hasn't learned much in 15 months

The day your child is coming down with a cold and has a doctor's appointment where she gets two shots likely to cause, "a sore leg and a fever" and at said doctor's appointment she is diagnosed with another ear infection...that is not the day to have dinner with friends and mess up the bedtime routine.

If you put said child to bed with no milk and no Tylenol you should expect a disrupted sleep pattern.

If you think your child is likely to throw up but you bring her in your bed anyway it makes sense to have towels nearby

Fifteen months is too young for finger painting (photo taken just before the eating of the paint)

On an unrelated note, I thought this was interesting and didn't want to lose the link

2721

Is anyone else enjoying 3191?  It's a project between good friends on opposite coasts, 3191 miles apart, who take a photo every morning and post them side by side.  They will do this every day for a year. 

I love the "do one thing every day" ideas and I have a best friend on the opposite coast  (2721 miles by Google maps) but when I told her about this idea I believe her response was, "you know I'm not going to take a photo every day, right?"  Right. Me either. I'm not a morning person.

But, it's fun to see what Mav and Stephanie are up to (lots of oatmeal eating).  What struck me today was how both of them use such beautiful objects in their everyday lives.  Handmade ceramic bowls for oatmeal, beautiful linens on the table, embroidered pillow cases. The kind of things I would think too precious for everyday use. 

I got an email from my mother-in-law yesterday.  She's been feeling a bit under the weather and has been laying low and doing some sewing. I gave her this book for Christmas and I guess she's putting it to use. I hope she doesn't mind my posting this great excerpt from her email.

"I have copied more embroidery patterns onto dish towels than tastefully possible.  Everything has a flower, bird, teapot, fruit...some with a rhyme - some no rhythm.  Unfortunately, as I told you earlier, you will probably have to be the recipient of some of these...just take them with a smile and say "nice"....I had bought a lot of flannel last year, so I'm making more pillow cases (probably will  have embroidery on them too)." 

So when those beautifully tea potted and fruited tea towels come my way, not only will I smile and say, "nice" I'll hang one on the stove and start putting it to good use. Just like the great yo-yo pillow  she made us for Christmas. (sorry for the bad photo, it's much nicer in person).  Keep on sewing, Jan. Your projects will always have a good home with us.

Baby bedding

I realized the other day that I could make a fitted crib sheet. Not sure why this was such a revelation but Hillary mentioned it and it was like a light bulb went on.  I don't have to buy one. Or live with the current ones I don't like. I could MAKE one. And I could make it out of the full size sheet I got at the thrift store that came straight out of the 1970s.

So there you have it. And then, since I was working on bedding, I finally made a cover for the crib-size duvet my mom got Biscuit for Christmas.

Crib size stuff is so fun! It goes really quick and doesn't take much in the way of supplies. The duvet is made of two thrifted pillowcases and a green shirt and the back is part of the full size sheet that also became the crib sheet. 

Now you ask, why a green chair?  And I say, why not? I saw the silhouette in an ad in Domino Magazine and thought the graphic was cool so onto the duvet it went. It seems like silhouettes of deer and other critters are really "in." Not sure if chairs are "in" but being in style is not my specialty.  Overall the duvet cover is kind of plain but I kind of like it.

Appley goodness

Just in case the "not quite perfect" apples are $0.25/pound at your fruit stand, a lovely recipe to use them up.

Caramel Apple Walnut Cake

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup salad oil (vegetable oil)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 apples cored and coarsely chopped (I used a gala and a pink lady and also peeled them since they were blemished and I chopped them rather fine, about 1/4-1/2 inch pieces)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat together: sugar, oil, cinnamon and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until just blended (it's quite a thick batter); stir in apples and walnuts.  Pour (scoop) into a greased 9x9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees until cake springs back when touched in center (30-40 minutes)

Caramel topping* (pour over warm cake)

Bring to boil: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup whipping cream.  Simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.

*If you like caramel topping like I like caramel topping, you should double this.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.

Yummy!

P.S. The spice rack organization effort came to an unfortunate end today when a bottle of tabasco went flying and shattered on the new floors.  Oops.

Projects (or lack thereof)

Not a lot of crafting going on over here. I'm in that "there's 8 million things I could do and about 10 million things I should do and I can't really seem to get around to doing any of them" place. I'm sure you've been there.

Last night, fortunately, the new Country Living showed up in the mailbox and Mr. H built a fire and Biscuit went to bed early and we had leftovers for dinner. So after an evening of doing nothing I pulled my chair right up to the fire, toasted my toes on the hearth and read my magazine until I dozed off at 9 p.m. Luxurious I tell you.

And while I don't have any projects underway, Biscuit has been very busy the last few days with her critical "spice rack organization" effort.  So far, so good. The green food coloring is now safely on the counter and none of the other spices seem to be leaky.  I thought it was weird that she kept carrying the spices across the room to sit right in front of the sink until I realized the genius girl was sitting smack dab in front of the heater vent.  It's been cooold here. Yeah, I know Californians are wimps, but it's been hovering around freezing every morning when I leave for work. Ice on the car, no rain in sight.

With another cold evening ahead maybe I'll put the spices away and make another fire.  Or I could just cozy up in front of the kitchen sink.  Hope you are staying warm wherever you are.

P.S.  My mom's dinosaur activity was featured in this week's "Kids Craft Weekly" email. How cool is that?  If you have kids, this is a great website!

It's almost playtime

In the living room, we started with this. And then this (over Christmas). What I wanted was a comfortable room with hardwood floors, a TV watching space, a desk, and a nice play space for Biscuit.  I also wanted some extra seating and storage and thought an under the window bench would fill the bill.

A trip to Ikea yielded this (Ivar TV stand with casters):

And some paint* and a cushion completed the look:

So here's the almost complete play area including a painted magnetic board so we stop spending so much time on the dirty kitchen floor (Biscuit loves magnet toys).

*A note on paint.  In the last 10 years I have TWICE painted my bedroom dayglo green in the effort to achieve a "bright and cheerful" look. I've finally learned my lesson about choosing paint from the little paint chips at the store.

I don't have the patience for test swatches on the walls so now I go with the combos suggested in the free books in the paint department.  Our living room is from the "sporty" collection at Ace Hardware.  The booklet suggests four colors that coordinate and who am I to argue with the experts?  We used the orange and cream on the walls and planned to use the blue and green as accents. When we got the turquoise rug the blue wasn't going to work so I bought the green paint.  Turns out "puke" is a fitting description of the color. It is really gross.  Luckily the cushion covers some of it and, as Mr. H pointed out, it really does play nicely with the orange and cream.

P.S. The cushion is the project that required THREE trips to the fabric store over the weekend.  Stay tuned tomorrow for news on my revolutionary cushion-making discoveries.