See Jenn Craft

- who complains daily about my lack of blogging. I have to be in just the right mood, ok? Nobody wants to read bitchy rants every day. Geesh.

Anyway - on to the actual blogging….

Hello gorgeous!

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I’m getting as much done on the window as I can, which isn’t much. Joe is out of town and with nobody else around to distract the kiddos, I can’t do very much painting. Jonas didn’t bother me when I was working on the living room window, but maybe because this is in his room he feels possessive? Or maybe in the months since I finished the living room his love of painting has really blossomed and now he can’t stand to be left out? Whatever it is, he doesn’t give me a moment’s peace. “JONAS PAINT THE WINDOW!” Exhausting.

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Pay attention to those turtles - there’ll be a quiz later.

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I’m trying to paint it in pieces, instead of just starting at the top and working my way down. A whole fish. All the stars. A turtle. Etc. That way it’ll look like increasingly cool sun catchers  until its done, instead of a half-finished painting. I think its coming along pretty nicely. The whole “I only have so much paint and this is the color I have the most of so this is the color I’ll be using” aspect of it is making things interesting. Jaynie insisted that “Octopuses are PURPLE!”, but this one is orange and that’s that. I think he’ll look awesome against blue and purple water.

Speaking of color - see that color on his eyes? Not the blue, the color of the (rings? outlines?) around the whites? The name of that color is “Charcoal Black”. “Black” is in the name of that paint. Not “practically clear unless you squint and tilt your head and look at it just right.” Black. Come ON Plaid! You can’t make a darker color for your “black”? So much for the brilliant idea (Joe’s!) to have black around the octopus, like he was inking up the water.

Speaking of color again - those turtles. Those turtles are taunting me. I painted the one on the left having never used the celadon (body color) before, and was really disappointed in how blah it was. The shell was awesome, the body was… blah. I stressed and raged and bitched to Joe about it, and then painted the second one with an emerald body instead of making them match. Somewhere in my brain was the thought that maybe when I was done I’d go back and peel up the celadon (am I spelling that right? Spell check seems to have never heard of the word. Yes, I could go check the paint bottle, but that would involve getting up.) and repaint the blah turtle to match the other.

Now that the 2nd turtle is dry… I really think I hate it. Too much jewel tone. Somehow with the body that color, you can’t even tell there are three colors in the shell. It looks like its all emerald and big splashes of lime. The first turtle is way more interesting to look at. The blah body was maybe juuuust right for that fancy shell. So, do I -

1. Leave them be - one is a boy and one is a girl and that’s why they look different
2. Peel up the emerald and repaint w/ the celadon
3. Peel up both and try yet another shade of green
4. Get drunk and attempt to forget the damn turtles ever existed

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Joe says I need to just let it go. Just leave them be. Then he ruined it with this argument - “Who is this for? Jonas? Do you really think Jonas cares what color the turtles are?” Are you kidding me? Would Jonas care? Hellloooo! I’m going to pour hours of my life into this painting, then leave it a color that doesn’t make me happy (truth be told - downright pisses me off) and walk away? So instead of looking at the window with pride and joy, I can always stare right at that ridiculously bright turtle and wonder WHY I felt the need to use the LAST of my emerald green in such a horrific way? Grumble bitch moan.

(When I feel this unreasonable anger towards the turtles, I just stare into the octopus’s lovely blue eyes and know that at least he loves me. He’s well behaved. He hasn’t pissed me off just yet. Of course, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do w/ his suckers, so we’ll see how I feel about him next week.)

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Also in the works - a quilt for Jonas. I bought a twin sized duvet cover from IKEA and I’m turning it from a cute blanket into a work of art. Stay tuned.

Hmmmm… Ooh. And I’m making a “princess skirt” for Jayne out of stash fabric and some tulle. She pawed through everything I had and picked out some hot pink w/ white polka dots, some cream w/ pink flowers, and pink tulle. Considering the kid usually walks around with more than one skirt on, it doesn’t surprise me that she’s wanting a layered look. Now I have to decide if I’m making something I want her to wear out in public, or if I’m just going wild and making her yet another dress-up skirt. Decisions….

I’ll leave you with this sweet face…

What? You thought it would be one of the kids? They’re terrorists! Not “sweet”! (Can you tell I’m on my own here? Two measly days he’s been gone and I’m bonding with the octopus and calling the children terrorists. Its possible I’m being overly dramatic here……… but probably not.)

Finally what? Finally I post? Finally I got that gift to its recipient so I could blog about it? Finally I started knitting something out of that pink yarn?

Yes.

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I know, a bag. Shocking, right? But wait - there’s more…

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I was planning to make matching Mommy/daughter aprons, but then she gave Jayne an apron and chef’s hat (which you can see in action here. Heh.) and talked about how her daughter loved hers sooo…. time to think up something new. I’m calling this “The Enabler Gift.” You’re thinking “A bag? What does that enable you do do? Carry stuff?” But look inside -

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Oh yeah, baby. Dishcloth cotton.

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She wants to learn to knit, and I think a dishcloth is a waaaaaay better first project than a scarf. Holy cow - a scarf for your first project? I wonder how many would-be knitters ended up poking out an eye with the knitting needle rather than finish their first scarf. Endless rows of painfully slow garter stitch? Are you kidding me?

The ballband dishcloth, however, is a pretty quick knit. Even for a beginner. Plus, all the color changing makes it interesting. You want to keep going just till the next stripe. Ooh, maybe I’ll just finish this knit row. Oh, well, I’m practically to the next color change, might as well just finish this bit…. and suddenly you have a dishcloth. For those of you who have no earthly idea what I’m talking about, you can find nice examples here, here, and here. See how cool? So much nicer than a boring sponge, no? I went through a serious dishcloth (or warshrag, for MDK fans) phase where I knit approximately 72 billion of them and bought up balls of peaches and cream every time I went to WalMart. But I seem to have given most away - I could only find a couple of faded ones in my kitchen.

Ooh - as I was typing that I thought “Hey, didn’t I take a picture of a couple right after I knit them? Answer - yes! Of course I did! I photographed my pizzas and those only took an hour to make, why wouldn’t I capture my dishcloths for all time?

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That orange/red/yellow one is awful. I don’t know what I was thinking. Looks like the inside of a McDonalds, circa 1980.

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Anyway - the bag had enough yarn for one cloth, needles, a pattern, and a little swatch so she could see what it was supposed to look like as she was knitting it. In the end, she will have learned to/practiced casting on, knit, purl, slipping stitches, yarn forward and yarn back, and binding off. There is like 3 rows of knit to every one of purl - perfect for a slow beginner. Also, in the end? She can wipe her counters with style.

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The gift that says “Come a little closer! Pay no attention to the rumors that learning to knit will eat up all your free time, money, and space (you need room for the yarn, afterall.) These are lies put out by the crochet community to keep knitters numbers down. Really. There’s no danger here. Its just a fun way to pass the time on a train. I can stop at any time. Really. Come on - you know you want to try it…”

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I just realized - I’ve turned into Julie.

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As for the pink yarn, I’ve started these.  Too cute not to.  I have no pictures of my progress because so far I’ve only managed about half a sole and its really not interesting enough to photograph (as opposed to all the other scintillating images I share with you.)  Maybe next post.

Right, well - I’ve got people coming over in about 20 minutes and at this point have sucessfully avoided mopping my floors.  Better go get out of my jammies. (Don’t worry - I’ll change back into them after they leave.  I have a reputation to uphold around here, after all.)

Ciao for now!

Remember all those empire-waist-makes-you-look-pregnant tops I blogged about here? In the end I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything for me (well, I got one that buttons up and seems to say “Housekeeping! You need towels?” a lot louder than it says “Baby on Board!”), but I did pick this one up for Jayne -

Hmmm. Doesn’t seem quite right.

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Ah, that explains it. (Note to self: put on make up before picking up camera. Also? Clean the mirror. Oye.)

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Start with one severely marked down Juniors shirt and lots of caffeine. Cut, pin, and sew late into the night. End up with one kiddo sundress - just in time for the weather to get coat-worthy again. Eh - we’ll be prepared for spring.

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Jeez. Could she *look* more excited?

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Little better. Some signs of life, at least.

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I changed the straps to criss cross instead of shortening them (I love the way crossed straps look on girl’s dresses.) The extra skirt fabric just got tucked away in this big “bustle” here. I think its cute. Jayne thinks its cute. We have a winner.

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Extra fabric got turned into cute fabric cuff. This is how she chose to hold her hands when I said “Hold that hand still so I can get a picture of the bracelet.” Drama.

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In other reconstruction news, I watched the last two Pirates movies this weekend (I :heart: Capitan Jack), and I deconstructed two thrift store shirts while I did it. They’re both really lightweight, thin, soft cotton. I love love love the fabrics -

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And now I get to play the “what will I make with this?” game. I am definitely not wasting these dragons on the Twink. She has so many clothes and is so damn picky about what she wears. No way would blue dragons make the cut. Joe says a shirt for Jonas. He seems to think I could wing a button up without a pattern. Let’s all take a minute to laugh.

- done? -

Obviously, it will be something for me. Come on! Look at how cool it is! I must have it. Now, will it be an apron? Bag? Top? So many possibilities, not very much fabric. The dragons was a men’s XL, so I have plenty for one good project, but not enough for multiples. I have to actually make up my mind. Hmph.

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Last but not least - I’ve been painting…

Told you those ABC’s would never last.

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If that is not the coolest window you’ve ever seen, then…. um… well, it just is. It is definitely the coolest window *I’ve* ever seen. I am so in love with that octopus. It has a star on its head for crying out loud. Love. It.

I’m totally going to run out of paint. No way do I have enough blue for this thing. I’ve already told Jayne that I won’t be able to do her window until we get back from the States w/ more supplies, but I’m not sure I’ll even be able to finish this one. Might end up with some creative color choices because its what I have. Could get interesting.

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Who could have anticipated that this would be a two-week process? (Answer: My mother and Joe.)

We made the dough.  We shaped the beads.  We baked the beads.  We drilled the beads. We painted the beads.  We ignored the beads for a week, then clear-coated them.  We finally, eventually, miraculously remembered the poor beads and strung them into stylish necklaces for the under 5 set around here.

Eh - you know all this already.  Let’s get to the pictures -

That’s a nice looking bowl of beads.

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Got the kids set up with beads and yarn and let them at it.  Jayne had a plastic darning needle, for Jonas I just taped the end of his yarn (Madam was ADAMANT that she NEEDED a NEEDLE like a GROWN UP.  She had *way* more trouble than he did.  The tape was a better choice.)

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What?  That wasn’t quite enough picture of cute kids stringing beads for you?  No problem.

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Originally, I gave him markers and paper.  He kept begging for “Fruit loops and yarn, Mommy!  Fruit loops and yarn… LIKE JAYNIE!” He’s remembering the Fruit Loop garland we made for the Christmas tree (thanks, Tiff!)  Even after he determined these were not fun to eat, he had a blast stringing them.  This kid has “FUTURE CRAFTSTER” written all over him.

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Time to trim those bangs before she starts running into things.

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In the end we had one stylish Jaynie necklace, and one string  with every single other bead crowded onto it.  I’m leaving that one open so he can pull them off and put them back on at will.  I’m going to call it the “Mommy’s making dinner” project.

On to the fashion show!

 If I was one of those paranoid smart bloggers that kept their family anonymous, this would be the pic I’d show you.

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But considering I’ve already posted her butt all over the internet, I’ll show you this one.  How cute is she?

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In other crafty news - the gift has still not been gifted, so I still cannot blog it.  The ball of pink yarn still sits on the windowsill staring at me, and the weather has held at long sleeved shirts and light hoodie temps for a couple of weeks now - another winter gone without me knitting myself a hat.  I did do the drawing on Jonas’s window - first step towards faux-stained-glass-goodness -

I’m looking at this picture, and can’t help but wonder *what* I am doing inside blogging on a day like this.

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 Of course, as soon as I was done w/ all the measuring and fiddling and drawing… I totally changed my mind.  I don’t think these letters are going to make it.  I’m feeling a turtles/fish/frogs/swirls/stars thing coming on.  I’m off to find my windex…

This weekend the kimono came off the needles. I looked at it for a long time, prepared to seam, folded, thought about it, held it up to a doll, checked my calendar….

then turned it back into this lovely ball of pink yarn.

Photographed on the windowsill, to help me remember that not *all* of my projects are abysmal failures.

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This is what I love about knitting - its just like ceramics. The worst that happens is you end up back where you started. The only waste is your time, and if you are doing this for fun… well, more fun for you! Now I have a new ball of yarn to play with, and a baby gift to buy. (Jayne wants me to make a kimono for her. All the other little ballerinas in her class have those cute wrap sweaters to keep warm with, she usually wears a Cinderella sweatshirt. Guess I’m off to do some math. Probably I should have measured the one I just knit before I ripped it back.)

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In other disastrous knitting news -

$*#%!

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I handwashed this sucker because I was feeling a little protective of it. I guess I should have read the soap carefully. That part on the bottle where it says it might BLEACH A BIG SWIRL ON YOUR HANDKNIT FRICKIN SWEATER didn’t get my attention. Seriously? SERIOSLY?

Eh - I just leave him in the stroller when we go out and nobody knows its there.

No, really - I put it in the washing machine and it faded quite a bit. I think one or two more washes and it’ll be uniformly faded. Good Lord. Here I was, trying to do right by it, and this. Then I throw it in w/ the rest of the clothes and it does just fine - gets softer and yummier and totally survives with no odd discolorations. Urgh.

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The beads have still not been turned into fabulous handmade jewelry. They *have* been sprayed (one one side.) And here they sit, waiting for someone to remember them and give them another hit w/ the clear coat.

The clear really made their colors look great.

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Maybe we’ll spray them again today, and actually string them tomorrow. That way, come Wednesday, we can start a new project! I know, crazy! Hey - anything can happen.

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I did manage to create one winner this week. I started a project. I finished that same project. At no point did I have to start completely over, or lose time to buffoonery. Sure, finishing it up at 2am means there’s some pretty ugly sewing on some of it, but nothing you’ll see on this blog. Its all about the artfully cropped photo, people.

Speaking of artfully cropped - I can’t show you this project yet. Its a gift for a blog stalker, so I have to actually give it to her before I show it to you. I can tease you, however -

Whatever could it be?

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Hmmmm.

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That’s it for now. Tomorrow - the other 47,000 pictures I took of this project, new plans for pink yarn, and maybe bead stringing 101 (hey - miracles happen every day.)