LIttle Mitts

 I have been stocking up on little mittens for the nieces and nephew. Since it is hard to gauge how much they will grow over the summer, I am making a pair in every size! Eventually they will wear them!

It took a bit of looking, but I finally found the perfect pattern, Knits for Everybody Mittens by Knit Picks. A fingering weight mitten pattern in a wide range of children's sizes. (Adult sizes too!) The pattern is actually part of a book with sweater, hat and sock patterns. All the patterns come in a wide range of sizes and have worsted and fingering weight versions.

 I love knitting mittens! They are fast, use up scraps and are a fun way to experiment with colors. Especially since they are for kids. I am really going wild with the color combinations! At each color change, I knit four rows alternating the old color and the new color. I love how it turns out extra stripey!

 The sisters and I love making socks, which means we have quite a large stash of leftover bits and bobs. Hopefully, my mitten project with whittle it down a bit. 

Since I am making mittens for the nieces and nephew, I am trying not to make any of them extremely girly. Just bright and colorful! Here are my next three pairs all mapped out.

I might be getting slightly addicted to mitten making! It is just so fun matching up colors and seeing how each pair turns out.

March Madness

 We have gone a little mad over here. Mad for making things! There has been a lot of knitting and crocheting, baking of bread and cookies, soap making, sewing of shirts and pajamas, quilting and more knitting going on. Creativeness oozing out of us until we finally fall asleep at night. It must be Spring!

 Doesn't the changing of the seasons invigorate you? Somehow it has a way of setting us all in motion. And since we can't work outside yet (especially with this weeks snowstorm!), we have to satisfy ourselves with creating things indoors.

Pictured here is one of the projects I am currently working on, a crocheted Haiku Shawl. It will be a sample for a class I will be teaching at our local knit shop. I have had a lovely time repeating the patterns three rows over and over again (it gives me time to dream of other projects!).

Made in Swan's Island Fingering in Lupine, what could be more springy?

What are you making today?

Vintage Inspired Cardboard Village

For a couple of years now I have been ohhing and ahhing over those little vintage looking cardboard glitter houses. Sometimes they are large enough for table top display and sometimes tiny hanging ornaments. But...... I could never bring myself to buy any. The houses are always covered with so much glitter that the minute you touch it, it is everywhere!

 So I have continued to oh and ah from afar and leave them in the store.

 Until this year, when I decided I needed to make my own!

A quick search online brought up a template from Martha Stewart for a Winter Village. (Click on the link for a tutorial and the template.) I basically followed the directions Martha Stewart gives; print out the template, glue it to cardstock, cut out the house (an Exacto knife is a big help here), fold along the lines and glue together. Then the fun begins! It was so much fun painting and decorating them with "snow"!

(Forgive me if there are too many pictures. This has been my favorite Christmas craft this year and I am so excited with how nice they turned out!)

 If I had used primer like was suggested, the bases probably wouldn't have curled as much as they did. But they are still cute!

I was so excited to to discover the perfect product for the snow! A paint called Snow-Tex. It is the perfect texture and color. For just a hint of sparkle without going overboard, I coated the Snow-Tex with a white shimmer paint. 

 Did you know decorating with little Christmas villages is centuries old? It is primarily a German tradition, but many nationalities also celebrate the holiday with something similar. German-American's nicknamed the houses "Putz houses" using the slang word meaning "to putter around". The villages took a long time to get just right!

In the 1930's the little houses gained enormous popularity and everyone from Sears-Roebuck to dime stores sold Japanese cardboard imports. With the advent of electric Christmas lights, the houses were fitted out with yellow cellophane windows and a hole in the back for a light bulb to shine through. 

 I think my favorite little house is the white church with it's tall steeple and many windows. It reminds me of a vintage Christmas card. 

 This little bungalow I modeled after my cottage with a small front dormer and a low slopping roof. Of course I had to paint it pink! A color that was surprising popular for the little houses.

I hope you have enjoyed a stroll through my little village and history. Do you remember putting up villages or do you have a village every year?

A DIY Christmas Banner

Once November comes with it's chilly gloom, my craftiness comes out full force. And my favorite type of craft? Christmas! Gifts and decorations, it doesn't matter to me. Each year my list seems to get longer and longer!

 One of this year's projects was a Christmas banner from On Sutton Place. Ann has such elegant taste and is so inspiring. I love how beautiful her banners are. I shared her Spring banner HERE.

You do have to purchase the banner (which comes as a pdf file), but I had all the other supplies on hand: cardstock, string or ribbon (I used baker's twine), scissors and a hole punch.

I don't think I shared this last year For a bit of extra Christmas-ness, I printed out several vintage Christmas cards and taped them on the front of the apple prints in the dining room. 

Mom and I love the vintage bells!

And to tie in with the framed bells, I placed my vintage bells on the window latch. 

Fresh Soap

 As much as I love pretty soap and lovely scents, my skin just can't handle it. But a basic square of white cleanliness with no dyes, no perfumes, no smells (Except a clean soap smell!) makes my skin happy! 

A basic olive oil soap with a tad of coconut oil for extra sudsy-ness. Made by Mom and I on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Two mad scientist at work: mixing and measuring, stirring, checking for the right signs, ohh and ahhing as each step is noted, excitedly peeking on it's progress. And the final happy unveiling of 14 luscious bar of soap!

 In the picture above the oils have been melted, added together with the lye and blended with a stick blender. Now it is ready to pour into our "mold". 

Since we made a smaller batch, we used a loaf pan lined in plastic wrap. It set up for 24 hours before cutting and has been curing for 3 weeks before using.

Using the soap calculator from The Sage (a great resource for master soap makers or beginners!) we created this recipe. And I think is is a winner!

Simple Soap

16 oz. olive oil

4 oz. coconut oil

1 oz. castor oil

8 oz. distilled water

2.8 oz lye

If you like handmade soap, but don't want to get into the actually making, you can purchase bars from my Aunt at Songbird Soaps or from a friend at Soaps 'n Such. 

Crafting

Sweater Finished!

 

Have you visited the other blog I write along with my sisters and cousins?

Perhaps I Should Have Supervised

We started it as a way to share all of our crazy craft projects with each other. We would love to have you along for the ride! You can also find knitting tips, recipes and crafting tips there.

 

 

 Give your medicine cabinet a retro vibe!