Spring Color

Good grief look at this chair.



I LOOOOOOVE it. Could I ever do it? Remember my hideous brown chair still waiting for what I now think is an utterly mundane and boring coat of white paint?



Maybe it is just waiting for spring but I am really seeking color. Here are some more colorful blogs if you are too!


Modern Parent Messy Kids




Attic24 (found through a Flickr search for log cabin knitting)



And Dana's Peeps Bunting on MADE are back for Easter, in this post with a bunch of other crafty colorful suggestions

Great Grammy Crafts - Knit Dress

I can't really convey to you how tiny the stitches are in this sweet little dress. It must have taken forever, in very very soft weight wool. I wore this when I was this age! How cool is that?!

Japan Relief - Crafty Benefits!

Another great round up of Japan Relief crafts from Alicia of Posie Gets Cosy Definitely scroll through the comments for even more links to artsy things for sale or raffle to benefit Japan.

And a print/notecard shop donating to ShelterBox, which provides crates packed with place-specific needs for self-sufficiency after disasters - in this case, tents, cook stoves, warm blankets, etc. They've already raised $8000!

Yellow

Photo by Mr. Sycamore. Makes me happy.

In other news, check out the downloadable instructions for the mitred square cross blanket over at Mason Dixon. All the proceeds are going to Red Cross Japan and they have raised over $5000 in something less than a week. The blanket is totally lovely and looks easy.

Kay and Ann pointed out that Ravelry has a Japan Relief Thread listing patterns where the seller will make a donation.

And you can search on Etsy for amazing cuteness that also benefits Japan Relief There are over 9500 items already listed.

And... I'm totally overwhelmed by my friend Stephanie's idea to hold a bake sale in her (big) office building for Japan Relief. She raised over $1000 bucks in two days and her company matched it. She posts that she is tired and completely out of flour and sugar. But that everyone who bought a cookie did a good thing.

I think of these options I may head over to purchase the blanket instructions. Or maybe buy something cute on Etsy to send to Stephanie!

Eyeballs Filled With Catnip

Mmmmm. Catnippy eyeballs.

First Spring Flowers

Is there anything sweeter?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks, Valerie, for the wonderful idea! Pots of gold and rainbows! Come here, little leprechans!

Birthday Banner for Mr. Sycamore

This morning the kids hopped out of bed (fortunately not at the crack of dawn) to give Poppa their "presents" - a selection of their toys which they hoped he would enjoy. J concluded his "gift" with "I really don't want this one anymore..." At 2 and almost 4 they are a little unclear of the concept but certain that a birthday includes presents, cake, and ice cream. And you know, Poppa looked like he couldn't be happier than to have received an old fire truck.

Hope there are many many more, sweetie!

Japan Relief

I lived in Japan for 3 1/2 years in my younger days and my heart goes out to the people there.

For more information on donating through the American Red Cross:

Those who want to help can go to www.redcross.org and donate to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific.

For the Google based people finder (available in English and Japanese):
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/

For NHK News in English: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

I'm sure Craft Hope will tackle something (they are not really a fast-response group). I'm sure I will figure out something I can do in the next few days more than donate and wait to hear from my friends there. Right now I'm just feeling amazed at the destruction and so sad for the victims and families dealing with loss.

Seeing Stars

Still celebrating my boy - a star patch for ripped jeans for my star. What's good for the goose..

WIP - More Spring Flowers

Not sure what these will be yet - small bags? Sachets? J has been learning to sew on buttons, so I put this together for a crafty project for him to put together. Then I'll sew them up with his "help" on my lap - aren't sewing machines fascinating?! Just keep your fingers out of the way!

Celebrate the Boy - Airplane Mobile

Welcome to anyone visiting from Celebrate the Boy at MadebyRae! I've been having a lot of fun peering through the flickr pool at all the crafty goodness and helping Rae put together some mosaics. I have so many new projects percolating! My own boy is almost four and still wears what I make him - I know that is not for long so I'm trying to get it in now while he's young!

Have a look around and leave a comment to say hi. Go boys!!!



This looks complicated - and believe me, it was hard to string up - but making the airplanes was actually very easy and lots of fun. I used the pages of a couple of old books. I traced airplane shapes and cut them out. I did not let the children see me cut apart book pages after spending so much time impressing on them never to cut up books! I had plenty of material, so I played around until I had the shapes that looked enough like planes to satisfy me (and a 3 year old). I used regular elmers glue to carefully glue the edges together to make 3D shapes of a WWI type plane, a jet plane, a "regular" piper-type plane, a helicopter, and a blimp/dirigible. The blimp came out the least convincing, to me, but I have a dirigible fanatic in the family so it had to be included.

I hung an embroidery hoop from our dining room lamp and used fishing filiment to hang the planes as a mobile. At first I was going for artistic, but after countless tangles and lots of late-night cussing (I try to watch my language during the day but after bedtime all bets are off) I settled for "doesn't look like it will immediately fall down" as my aesthetic.



Curse you, Red Baron!!!!!



A very manly corner.

If you are interested in mobiles like this check out this Etsy shop where I got the idea. Thanks, Royalbuffet!

Spring Greens

Have been working on the Rumplestiltskin challenge - spin gold from the straw you have. Otherwise known as knitting your stash. However, much of my stash came to me from my mom, from yarn I collected from who knows where, from high school or earlier. I must have been in a real wooly phase at that time in my life, and apparently quite taken with earthy colors which now can look somewhat dull to me. Now my tastes run more to the rainbow - check out a new find if you like color - Attic24 flickr

Up in the studio I came across this forrest-y green but only two skeins - probably 200 yds. The ravelry advanced search is awesome in these cases - I knew I wanted a stole/small blanket (this wool is scruffy feeling, there is no other real word for it. Not. Soft. But warm.) And I figured, why not try a lacey pattern on big needles so I wouldn't be scruffy-wool-knitting forever?

In the future, remind me not to take a pattern written for in the round (growing leaves- thank you Meghan) and work it back and forth. Although perhaps the mental exercise of reading backwards and purl-wise is what will keep me interested for one more skein...