The Boring Post

The neighbors to the northwest of Knitsburgh had a baby in October, which we were so excited about as that means a friend close in age for Wee One. I haven't seen them much since the fall, as we are stuck inside when it is cold and windy. The last conversation we really had struck me as she mentioned how bored she was all day being home with the baby when the baby was sleeping.
Bored? I've never been so far from bored in my life. And I owe it all to the crafts.

From designing a project or just looking up a pattern someone else far more clever than yourself has already written; from gathering supplies and envisioning color schemes; from the actual crafting of something with your own two hands and getting to that moment when you finish it and look at it, critically. You can laugh at it or cry at it. Either way, you made it and no part of it was boring.

I'm so glad I like to make things and have those stolen moments to keep crafting. It may not always be the prettiest, coolest stuff but it was made with thought and care and not on an assembly line. I'm happy I'm not bored with my life. I'm happy I get to stay home with my Wee One.

So here are a few projects I've been working on over the last few weeks. I hate when I've been absent from the blog for so long, but at least I have some things to show you to distract you (and me) from thinking about why:

First, the Wee One Red Sweater was finished!

If you want details, check out the info on Ravelry. I'm Knitsburgher there.

Next, some sewn flip flop slippers for my sisters' birthday (yeah, they are twins):



The flip flops were from a tutorial found HERE; they called for vinyl soles but I used some denim from some old jeans instead. I also used 100% cotton batting (2 layers) inside instead of poly batting. This is a great project for little scraps of fabrics you have laying around. They live in the south and really don't need warm knitted slippers.

I made some curtains for the kitchen:
I started some prep work for curtains for the dining room. I cut the linen and basted a rough seam on my sewing machine:


hand washed it in warm water with detergent to remove any crazy fabric additive stuff, rinsed it with cold water, then dyed it in some tea water (used 6 bags with the hottest tap water):
I just used regular old black tea but may try this with other teas in my cupboard too--I think green and reddish maroonish pink would be two other colors I could try using varieties I posess. I didn't leave it in the tea too long, just wanted to make it not-white. Purely white things just don't hold up well here at Knitsburgh. I rinsed it in cold, wrang it out, and pressed it semi-dry with the iron since it is linen and after wringing was mad-wrinkled.
I'm letting the panels air dry so it will be somewhat stiff for the Hardanger embroidery I will be working on it. You can read about and see some examples of Hardanger HERE. I've made some gifts in the past with Hardanger (a pillow, some wall hangings, a needlecase) but don't really have any for myself around here. Before we purchased the estate I bought the linen and threads for some curtains, then told myself I should wait 'til we bought a place before making fitted curtains with lots of embroidery on them, only to move and have them not fit the next place. So now I am finally getting around to making them. I think we've been here 4 years now and I hope it was worth the wait in the end. We shall see...

So on the knitting needles? Forest Floor Sock #2. On the embroidery frame? Hardanger Dining Curtains. On the craft scene? A project involving glue, old paper and some photo albums. On the night table? A biography of Catherine the Great. On the TV tonight? Psychic Kids and Paranormal State. I am so not bored.