a whole bunch of pot holders

Making pot holders has become my go-to project lately when I'm just not quite sure what to do with myself. They are fast, use up scraps, and are infinitely satisfying to crank out. I've also got a few gifty occasions coming up, namely teacher gifts at Fritz's preschool. Here's what I've been up to.

These one's are ok, but why oh why did I use that peach fabric to back them? Sigh.

These ones turned out better. Not only are they a little bigger, but better colours, and I really love the backing fabric. I still have a little more left from making aprons a few years ago.

I'm sure there are many more of these in my future - in fact, it's more than likely that over the next 6 years, every teacher that Fritz and Liesl have will be bestowed with a pair of these.

a few things

Well, I do believe I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life. That's the way it feels at the moment, anyway. I still have a few days to go before I hit my official due date, so my impatience is somewhat unfounded (other than being really sick of being pregnant!)

In the meantime though, I thought I'd quickly post a few things I've made lately. I finished knitting another pair of socks last week. The colours are pretty loud, but I think I'll still wear them a fair bit. This ends the sock knitting rampage for a while, I think.

And for my friend Christine in Australia, here you go! Finally some mittens to keep your hands warm on your bicycle commute.

Hopefully they fit ok, because last night I was comparing my mum's hands to mine, and I couldn't believe how different in size they were! (Mine are big!) I knit these to fit me, imagining the whole time that Christine must have big, muscular hands from blowing glass all the time - so here's hoping!

a handy carrying case

Ok long story short: Stupid blogger just erased a huge and lovely post on this:

I probably hit a wrong key, but for now, work with me: I'm blaming blogger.

So this is a carrying case for my kids double screen dvd player. It flaps open. It's padded, and is generally super awesome. No more plastic Walmart bag that it came in. Yay!

some finished projects

Well, March was a rather dry month in terms of ye old blog. I was busy making quite a bit of stuff, including putting on a birthday for a certain five year old, but somehow never found time to post the stuff I've been making.

I finished up the pink socks weeks ago. I really love them. I wish I had a sock blocker so that when I present the finished product on this blog, they would look all professional and sleek. Instead I give you a rumply pair of socks, that actually look great on, but not so great sitting on my kitchen table!

Something else I finished in a big hurry was a scarf for my mum's birthday. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to get a photo of her modelling it last weekend, but whatever... I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant! My mind is clearly elsewhere.

The pattern is the Diamond Scarf by Kristina Larsson. Although I just realized I shot it doubled up, so the lace pattern is completely obscured!. I am not really a fan of knitting lace - even big chunky lace like this. But the pattern was easy to memorize, and in the end, once I got a rhythm going, it went pretty fast. And I love it. And my mum loves it. I knit it out of a really soft hand dyed cotton, the brand of which is currently escaping me. I actually wouldn't mind whipping one up for me too. It's one of those projects that used up a full skein of yarn, and ends up being just the right length. Awesome, and no leftovers.

More blog entries to follow soon I hope! I'm a sock knitting machine these days!

sock love

Who would have thought I'd be having a major sock knitting jag? I thought I was totally off socks until LBB and I were chatting a week ago, and she mentioned again that someday, learning to make socks was on the agenda. (Like maybe in about 20 years when our kids are grown up and we actually have time!)

Anyway, as you know, I've got yarn stash busting fever. I'd been eyeing 5 or 6 skeins of sock yarn on my shelf, really having no idea what to make with it, until LBB mentioned socks again. I guess socks have not thrilled me in recent years because I really love the idea of toe-up socks, but these always involve a short row heel, and short row heels don't fit me. I think I must have high arches or something, because a short row heel means that the top of the sock is stretched to the point of foot irritation over the top/instep of my foot.

So if I was going to make socks, I set out to find a better way. Enter the toe-up gusset and flap sock, which is really just a cuff-down sock in reverse. I think I've found the answer people! I checked out this tutorial, but it was really all seeming way to complicated, so instead, I stared at this pair of socks for awhile.

I knit them, cuff-down, a few years ago. And they fit we really well. After a few hours of knitting and some basic calculations, this is where I'm at:

And it's good. I've done a try on, and they are comfortable, with lots of room! All I did was take the stitch counts on the old socks, and reverse them. I'm thrilled that I've finally found my perfect sock, and am looking forward to cranking out a few more pairs. Sock knitting was supposed to be my "project between major projects", but it's turning out to be so consuming, and instantly gratifying, that I may be sock knitting for a few more weeks before anything else gets knit around here!

a homemade zamboni

Well, the skating rink has been a huge success this winter. And we've had the perfect winter for it - really, really cold. I think Stewart has really enjoyed the "art of making ice" and took it one step further a couple of weeks ago. He built a homemade zamboni (a.k.a. a homeboni) and Fritz and Stewart have been out countless time, giving the rink a quick resurface before skating time. I think Stewart used this basic recipe to make one.

And because the weather has been sooo cold, a coating of water freezes in a few minutes, so they've been able to do a couple of passes in one go. At first Stewart tried to convince Fritz that the best way to help was to stand on a snow bank, and handle the hose, but Fritz would have none of that. He gets right in there, and can usually be found with his hand firmly anchored on the zamboni while Stewart tries to pull it evenly across the ice.

If you don't know what a real zamboni is, you can learn all about them here. It's for professional hockey/figure skating rinks. The real ones actually shave a thin layer of ice off before replacing it with a skim coat of water that freezes almost instantly. Anyway, I know it's a bit of stretch calling this a creative effort... but I did sew velcro fastenings to the towel!!!

one week ago...

One week ago, we were madly cranking out the valentines. Big thanks to LBB who gave us the idea, and explained her method!

It was a really easy, kid-friendly project. I parked myself in between the kids so that I could monitor the glue situation, which frequently spiralled out of control. But they had fun! And they did a lot of it by themselves.

I did some prep: Cut out big hearts from card stock, and then iron-on interfaced some pink quilting fabric so that it was stiff enough to easily cut, and easy for the kids to handle. And did some shopping. Sticky foam hearts and super cheap heart springs - destination: preschool.

They were really fun to make, and we'll do something like it next year, especially since Fritz will be in Kindergarten, and Liesl will have a preschool class of her own. Plus, Fritz did seem really proud of them when he handed out a couple to his teachers. This is the kind of project I thrived on when I was a kid, and I think there will be a lot more of this in the future.