Sun, Sickness and Selling

This week was tiring. After finally getting over the cold that Dom passed on to me last week, he came down with various...um...digestive troubles. Having a cough is one thing, a stomach bug is a whole other story. I feel so bad for him. Especially since he's been super healthy his whole life, to get hit with all of this in a short period of time must be confusing to him. Anyhow, things could be worse I suppose. We just have a TON of laundry to wash now (yayy laundry.)

Here's last week's picture: Week 9

Am I proud to be using Instagrams as my "One creative picture of the week"? No, but it's this or nothing. I love this. Even though it's like, woah, you got a lot of wrinkles going on there! 

Week 10 is all about Sunshine!

We finally seem to be emerging from winter here in Germany. From what I read, "the darkest winter in recent history." We got a lot more pretty snow than last year, but it was extremely long, and once the snow melted.... depressing. Needless to say, We have spent our days this week trying to soak up some magical sun!

Probably the most exciting development in my crafty world is that our local craft store is taking consignments. I can actually sell some of my stuff now! It's hard sometimes, making crafts and buying supplies just to make things for yourself. It's really satisfying to feel like you're crafting for a purpose. These are my first offerings, six little coin purses. I love them, and I use mine all the time (Euros are very coiny.) 

Here's to hoping other people like them too! :) 

Link to the coin purse pattern at the bottom of THIS POST.

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A Place To Rest My Legs

I know I said "tomorrow" a week ago, but here we are, seven days later. Finally my WIP is finished and ready for unveiling!

My apologies to anyone who doesn't like feet, but it IS a foot rest, and I thought this dude's cute baby feet are way more acceptable than mine. 

I'm very short, and I have bad knees. I recently realized that since my feet rarely comfortably reach the floor while I'm sitting on grown-up sized furniture, I sit 'indian style'... a lot. I have no doubts that it is not the best position for my already angry joints. I need a place to rest my little 'ol legs! 

 In my little world, knitted ottomans have been popping up everywhere. After coming across one at a store here for 80euro, I was like "Challenge Accepted! I'm making one for cheap!"

They are super easy to make. Time consuming, sure, but not difficult in the least. 

You will need:

about 600 yards of super bulky yarn

size 15 knitting needles

a men's medium t-shirt

Some sort of stuffing (Blankets, towels, poly-fil, take your pick)

Sewing machine

  

There are tutorials for these around the internet:

 http://www.pickles.no/puff-daddy-knitted-stool/

My one problem with this tut is the filling. I don't have duvets just lying around to stuff random things with. Here's my unique bit of genius:

A men's t-shirt. It's not pretty, but it works like a charm to cover up whatever ugly old stuff you have laying around, or pick up from the thrift store, to fill this thing. I just turned it inside out, sewed the arm holes shut with the sewing machine, and turned it right side out again. No need to cut the excess sleeve material off. 

I took a piece of yarn, ran it through the bottom hem like it was a casing, and tied it up super tight. There's an opening still, so I stuffed in a piece of fabric that was larger than the hole to keep everything inside. 

I filled it through the neck hole, (I used poly-fil because my friend gave me a ton of it for free, i used A LOT [ approx. 9lbs ] so it probably isn't the best option if you have to buy it, for the sake of cheapness) Once it is nice and full, use the collar of the shirt as a casing, and cinch it shut. You will have weird pointy corners from the shoulders, so just squish them into the center and stitch them in place. It really doesn't matter if it's pretty. 

Now you have your form. Feel free to use it as a foot rest while you're knitting the cover. 

To knit the cover:

CO 40

knit every row, slipping the first stitch of each row 

until the piece is about 5o" long. 

I ended up with 164 rows. Periodically hold your knitting up to your form to check how large you need it. Depending on how full your shirt is, it could take more or less length. 

TIP: When you need to add a new skein of yarn, start it on an edge. the finished piece gets kind of stretched out, and a change/woven in ends would be very obvious in the middle of a row. 

Once you reach your length, cast off, and join the two short ends together. I use this method. 

When you slip the first stitch in each row, you get a little bump. I stitched through each bump, then cinched the long ends closed as tight as possible. Place your form inside the cover, and repeat on other end. 

You will have a small opening, like on the t-shirt. I stuffed another fabric scrap in there to make the hole look neater. 

There you go! My living room has a happy new addition! 

Dom totally thinks it's a toy :p

MY Total cost:

3 skeins of yarn = 15 euro

men's thrifted t-shirt = 50¢

Poly-fil = FREE

Can't beat that! 

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WIP

This is my work in progress. From the angle, it's hard to tell what it is, but I promise, it's going to be awesome. I had planned for it to be done so I could write up the tutorial today, but life-y things have happened, and I ran out of time. Tomorrow perhaps? I'm so very close to being done, it pains me.

As for week eight... Can you believe it's the 8th week of the year already?!  

I picked up some water marble vase filler things during my downtown outing on monday. I got them solely for the purpose of entertaining my child, and that they have. He loves them, he doesn't eat them, and he managed to not make a huge mess of them... until this morning. He took it upon himself to take the container down from the counter, and spilled them all over the kitchen. If you've ever played with these things, you understand that they are practically alive. the bounce and roll all over the place they're slippery, and if you aren't super gentle, they break. Sweeping 500 of these balls up was really...really... annoying. They are pretty though, so I can get past it. 

Ok, I'll be back soon with the outcome of my mysterious knitted rectangle. :) 

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Singularity

Yes, I am husbandless for a little over a month. He's enjoying above freezing weather with liquid precipitation, while we're hibernating and hiding from the abominable snowman here in Stuttgart. I'm super proud of myself for keeping it together for the past 6 days. Thanks to my child not being a total demon, and friends to keep me occupied, i've actually had a really nice week :) 

First things first, Weekly picture from last week:

This is what 6 yards of fabric will shed when you wash and dry it. Pretty, eh? 

Yes, I bought a ton of fabric last week at our local Craft Store's Super Bowl Sunday sale. So I took a break from knitting (ok I knitted one scarf) and made some cute stuff, as you shall see. 

Photo for this week:

This is from our Valentine's day shoot with Dominic and his "favorite girl" Bella. Anyone who has ever taken pictures of a three year old in a confined space will understand that taking pictures of two three year olds is just asking for trouble. I'm pretty sure that I blacked out at some point during the shoot. Thanks to Bella's mom (my favorite girl) directing, corralling and entertaining, we managed to get some really sweet pictures! 

Speaking of sweet, my husband buried Valentine's presents in his closet for us to find even though he's not here *cough* for the third year in a row! *cough* MMMmmmm... Wint o greeN! My favorite! 

As for cute stuff that I made.....

exhibit A: I made a library book tote for Dom's books (right) It happened to be waayyy too big for him. Well, He didn't seem to care that I was using it for myself for the past week until last night. "Dominic's bag is too BIG!" he said. How could I deny him a bag?! I made him a baby Dom-sized version, and he loves it! 

Exhibit B: We finished our jar of Nutella (which takes forever once you read the nutrition facts) and I admired how squat yet wide-mouthed the jar was. It's perfect for a tiny hand to hold! Guess who got a new snack jar?

Of course I couldn't leave it naked, so I made a velcro jar cozy. 

Ta daaaaaa!

Exhibit C: I've recently become a big fan of Invader, the artist. Not so much the arcade game... I'm not a gamer. Which, perhaps, makes me a bigger nerd. Anyway, I have been wanting something invader-ized for a while now, and I finally got around to it. Here's my new wallet! Cuteness!   

Here's to hoping for another happy week! 

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100 Stitches

I decided to do a science experiment today. Which mode of yarn weaving is most economical? I wrote single crochet off immediately, because crochet is known to take a lot of yardage. I always thought it was knitting in garter stitch. Probably because a scarf knitted in garter lays flat and is very stretchy. Surprisingly, after my tests, knitting in stockinette gives the best yarn yardage/swatch size ratio. 

Let's review my findings! 

My first test:

100 stitches

I used the same type of yarn (worsted), and knitting needles(6mm)/ crochet hook(I) that are about the same size. I didn't slip the first stitch on each row of knitting either. 

I cut the tails to 1", marked the working end, and unraveled. 

100 stitches of single crochet = 252" yarn 

2.52" used per stitch 

100 stitches of knitting (garter stitch=knit all rows)= 127.5" yarn

1.27" used per stitch

100 stitches of knitting (stockinette stitch=knit one row purl one row) =109"

1.09" used per stitch

Don't you love simple math?

But look! Although the crochet uses a ton more yarn, it makes a bigger swatch, that has to count for something! 

My second test:

4 feet

Admittedly, there probably was an easier way to do this one, but I didn't measure my first swatches before I unraveled them. I measured out 4' of yarn, and knitted/crocheted as much as I could with that amount. 

Crochet yielded a 1.75 sq in swatch

Garter stitch yielded a 1.5 sq in swatch

Stockinette yielded a 2 sq in swatch

So crochet isn't all that bad after all, and Stockinette goes way farther than I imagined. I'm not sure exactly what to make of this due to the uses/characteristics of each stitch making them the better choice for different applications, but it's interesting, nonetheless! 

Just thought I'd share how lame and nerdy I am 

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5 Odd Things

I think my knitting fever may be breaking. I finished another scarf a week ago, and haven't knitted since. I did go on a bit of a sewing tear, and i'm happy to report that the revised pattern I posted last week is a prefect match to the original! I know because I made a bunch of them. They're not just for icky women's things, you know. I now have one for sunglasses, and one for my wintergreen Lifesavers. They're a great size for a lot of odds and ends. I'm super satisfied with myself :) 

Photo: week 5 

My Yarn is lonely. 

I didn't do anything overwhelmingly exciting this week, so it's list time! 

5 Odd Things That I Actually Love About Living Here:

#1. Not being connected to the internet 24 hours a day. (No data plan. Yes, you can live without updating FB 67 times a day.) 

#2. Stores have crazy hours. Like they open late, close early, and have entire seasons off sometimes... and Sundays... nothing is open on Sunday. 

(I've become so accepting of the fact that things don't have to happen right this moment. If I need something, and it's after 6pm... it's just not happening until tomorrow.)

3#. Fast food is crazy expensive.

(After watching some American commercials this weekend over the internet, I would definitely weigh 400 lbs if I had access to that stuff on the cheap.)

#4. We don't get American commercials. 

(I sort of like not being marketed to all day long. When I do discover products, it's because I'm actively seeking something I need, not being told so.) 

#5. I don't understand what people are saying. 

(It's surprisingly relaxing to sit on the train and tune out everyone's German conversations. It's surprisingly stressful to sit on the duty bus with 25 American middle schoolers and listen to the awful awful things they talk about.)  

Yes, I'm aware that most of these were on my list of things that drive me crazy about a year ago. Funny how things change. 

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The Unmentionables

I had another busy week. I'm starting to think that it's just how my life is going to be now, and I should just stop carrying on about it. So, for the last time, this week went by really really fast! 

As for my weekly picture, I was going by 7 day weeks, starting on the first, but most of the time I have no idea what day it is. I'm going to need to just make fridays my deadline from now on. To make up for the 3rd week of January: 

It's not the best quality picture (Instagram) but it's certainly the coolest subject of the week. Also, I'm pretty sure it's the only picture I took, so It will have to do. 

Today, being the 4th friday of the month:

This is another scarf that I'm almost done with. Yes, another in a week. Don't judge me, it's cold over here. 

I also found out last night that I won second place for Still Life in the MWR All Army Digital Photo Contest. I was the only civilian from our area to place in the worldwide level. So, I'm extremely proud of myself! 

Here's the winning picture: My Machine 

OK! Now, as promised, A tutorial!  

Why "Don't Mention It?" Because I made this specifically to hold my ... um... lady's unmentionables. They previously floated around in my make-up bag, and after reaching for lip gloss and spilling tampons all over the place, I decided they needed a home of their own.  

Make sure to cut the pattern so that it is right side up when the curved side is facing down. 

You will need:

Pattern

sew on snaps

An exterior fabric

lining fabric

and fusible interfacing 

Each slightly smaller than an 8.5x11 sheet of paper

(1/4 yard of each will be more than enough)

and a third (optional) coordinating fabric for tabs. 

1 scrap approx. 3.5x3.5" 

and 

1 scrap approx. 6x2"

TABS:

Take your rectangular piece, and fold it about 1/4" down along the long side and press.  

Take both rectangular and square pieces and fold them in half, Press and unfold. 

Fold the outer edges in to meet at the center crease, press. 

Then fold in half so that the raw edges are hidden on the inside. 

In a coordinating thread, stitch around the edges of each tab, close to the edge (1/8") then again at 1/4" from the edge. 

Affix fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the exterior fabric. Fold the bottom (straight) edge as if you were folding the envelope in thirds. (you can fold it to any height you would like, depending on how long you would like the flap to be. If you want a shorter flap, bring the bottom edge up higher) 

Fold the rectangular tab in half, and sandwich it between the two layers of the exterior fabric. The raw edges should be along the open edge of the envelope. 

Center the square tab on the flap, cut to desired length, and attach it to the exterior piece by stitching close to the edge. 

Stitch the sides with 1/4" allowance. 

Repeat with lining fabric. 

Fold the bottom corners in 3/4" on each side. Pin, and Stitch across the bottom at 1/8" 

Repeat with lining fabric. 

Turn the exterior piece right side out, and put it inside of the lining piece. Fabrics should be right sides together. 

Line up the side seams first and pin. Then pin around the rest of the envelope. 

Stitch around the edges with 1/4" allowance. 

Start on the straight pocket edge, stitch for a couple inches, backstitch, stitch for a couple more inches, backstitch again, then continue around the rest of the envelope. This will give you a place to open the seam to turn the piece right side out.(pictured further down) 

Notch the curved edges of the flap. 

And the right angles where the flap meets the pocket. Be VERY careful to not clip the stitches. 

Here is where I backstitched to make my opening. 

Rip the stitches between the backstitched areas. 

Then turn the envelope through this opening. 

Press, and pin the lining in place. Hand stitch the opening you used to turn. Then topstitch around the edges. 

I used sew on snaps to keep it closed. (not pictured) But you just sew one side of your snap to the flap above the tab, then close the flap to measure where you should place the second side of the snap. (measure with the envelope full, so you leave enough room for the snap to close.) 

This envelope came out sightly smaller than my first, because it went from doodled pattern... 

My original pattern that had gotten 

abused a few times before I scanned

 it and turned it into PDF form. 

...To computer pattern, BUT I made necessary changes to the pattern to make it the correct size before I uploaded it :) . 

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