Thing-a-day.com

Day 28:

I worked on this elephant that I’m making for my grandmother. Here is the state that it was in when I finished up for the night on day 28:

Day 29 - Finale:

I did two things today. I painted a bowl (unfortunately no picture available as I will not have it until next week after it’s fired) and I also did some more work on the elephant. Here’s the elephant status at close of business today:

That was fun! Now I’m left to my own vices for another year…

I had hoped to have this finished for this final day post.  However, the other things I did cut into the time spent on this project this month.  This is an afghan crocheted in a ‘filet’ or net form.  (if you look, you can see some of the colors in the lower layers peeking through the holes in the net looking like bad shadows in the picture).  The plan is to weave yarn through the net in the same black and red pattern as the horizontal to turn it into my family name’s tartan pattern.

All I was able to do today was to get the yellow cross weave in.

made over the past few days

I almost wimped out. I thought about letting my final work of the month be this crocheted zipper thing.

Instead, vanity prevailed.

Today I started knitted a gaiter for my husband.  Two hours later I realized it was way too big and I had to frog the whole thing.  Now I am back to square one.  To feel better I knitted another flower square that I made yesterday. 

I started cutting out pieces for a “Plain Spoken” quilt from the Modern Quilt Workshop. I really like this book, it’s so inspiring. This quilt is going to be a gift to my friend Cara’s almost-born baby boy.  The picture is a little blurry.  But my camera batter was on the way out for the night so, here it is.

I also worked some more on crocheting, but I don’t have any pictures of that. I decided I was finished with the circle-based hyperbolic plane and started one from a straight piece of crocheting. I think I didn’t follow the instructions all the way, or maybe I just need to keep going, because what I have is more of a spiral than a beautiful, undulating hyperbolic surface. I’m going to be trying again in a few days, I have an idea of what to do differently.

We all know how important a high-fiber diet is, right?

This is a crocheted Triscuit with a slice of cheddar, cucumber, and tomato.

Today I crocheted these squares which will one day be joined with many more to make a scarf or a bag or a blanket.  I found the pattern in a knitting book that I bought in Tokyo.  I used Sirdar Snuggly DK 100% acrylic yarn.  I’ve always been snooty about only using yarn made from natural fibers, but I’m a changed knitter now.  I love this yarn!   

I made this little guy this evening for my wonderful husband who made and cleaned up dinner for me since I wasn’t feeling well. The pattern for him is here if anyone wants to make their own tiny turtle.

Ugg. My thesis work is grinding me under its heel. During my radio silence though I have been trying to get a small modular knit done each day if nothing else.

I have 6 squares (and 1 triangle) added to my memory blanket.

The top row, other than the first red one, and the triange in the 2nd row are all new over the last few days.

I have also have finished a few 4″ squares for a comfort blanket being knit and crocheted by several crafters for a 5 year old who was just diagnosed with leukemia and his twin.

As I said a few days ago, I’m learning to crochet so I can crochet the hyperbolic plane. I don’t remember much about what I learned about hyperbolic geometry several years ago in the physical science core class at Oglethorpe, but I remember I liked it. Here’s my first try, I actually made it yesterday. I don’t think it’s exactly hyperbolic, as sometimes I lost my place. But I’m happy with it as a first go.

Today was quick and easy.  I had some left over crochet cotton and I needed some more dishcloths, so I made some. 

To make up for not making anything on February 22, I cranked out this crochet circle over the weekend. I plan to stick on my hat.

So I have this thing for turtles, sea turtles in particular.  There is something magnificent about them, just watch them swim.  Anyways, the other day I found instructions for a turtle amigurumi that I wanted to make.  Today I made a flower.  Hopefully, I will make a turtle someday.

On Saturday some friends came over and we made Mediterranean food, I made the stuffed grape leaves, inspired by this FFV recipe, but I also made some with ground beef.  The beef grape leaves stuck together better and reheated better.  I think this might be because I used brown rice.  Next time I’m going to try it with white rice and see if it’s not a little stickier.  Overall a very delicious dinner!

Sunday, my  friend Dione came over and we taught each other some crafts.  I showed her how to knit (cast-on and knit stitch only, we’ll save purl stitch and cast-off for next time) and she showed me how to do the chain stitch and single crochet.  It’s interesting how different the two seem to me.  I assumed that since I’ve been knitting for a while, crocheting would be sort of intuitive.  But it doesn’t seem that way at all.

I’m learning to crochet so I can crochet some models of the hyperbolic plane; as I first read of in Cabinet.  I also feel that crochet lends itself to creating cute and ornamental things more than knitting, which seems more suited toward the practical.

As you remember, on day 23 I started on an eyeglasses holder that looks like Ernie from Sesame Street. Today I spent about a half an hour finishing him up. Now I get to be a big dork and let a Muppet hold my glasses when I go to bed at night. Sweet!!

This post is all about being an overachiever… or not leaving the house all day, I suppose that you can take your pick. To start off the day I made bagels. I’ve never made them before, and I think I should have let them rise a little more, but they still came out yummy. I made 6 - I left two plain, put garlic on two, and cinnamon and sugar on the last two. I’ve already eaten three of them, so I have a feeling these might become a regular feature in my baking routine.

After I ate some bagels, I got back to work on my pants. I finished them off and I’m actually wearing them right now. I love them so much! I hope that I can get the second pair done soon.

I’m also really happy with the way my buttonhole making skills are coming along. I was always scared of buttonholes, so I never used buttons in my sewing until recently. That said, I think I’m getting the hang of it:

And, last but not least, I also finished up the crocheted wrist warmers. Ahhh, now my hands are nice and toasty as I type!

Only a few days left!

One of the things I really like about Thing-a-day is that the framework gives me the incentive to try new techniques without getting bogged down in trying to produce a masterpiece. Since the projects have to be quick, they lend themselves to experimentation. This is my first attempt at Romanian Point lace, which is worked by crocheting a braid (the heavy outlines of the heart, couching the braid to a pattern on a piece of cloth (I drew the pattern on copy paper and basted it to an ordinary handkerchief), then working the needlelace fillings with a blunt tapestry needle. The thread is perle cotton 8. The pattern is adapted from a bookmark in Angela Thompson’s book, Romanian Point Lace (now sadly out of print, but you can get Sylvia Moriartu’s Romanian lace patterns and booklets from www.nordicneedle.com).

Romanian Point lace is very quick to work and surprisingly durable. It’s also very portable, because you just need thread, needles, a crochet hook, and the project itself, which can be rolled up to fit in a small bag. Crocheting the braid is tedious, but it’s easy, mindless work that you can do while standing in line, sitting in a lecture, or commuting.

Crochet amigurumi

Wool wrist cuff (fastens with gigantic snap)

Filigree brass, glass and wood necklace.

Magnets, glass and paper.

Gift tag

Paper box

Pouch (made from two pockets off an old wool coat and other wool bits)

I forgot to post yesterday, so I have a combined post today.

Yesterday, I grabbed some yarn and started in on this eyeglasses holder that I’ve been meaning to start. Though the author of the pattern says you can use the basic head pattern to create any number of characters you can imagine, I loved her Ernie so much that I’m copying hers. After the work I did on it yesterday, all I have left are the eyes and hair.

Today I tried my hand for the first time at making sugar cookies. I increased the almond extract a bit and added about a tbsp. of honey to the recipe on the back of the flour bag, and they came out pretty tasty.

Here’s a pictures of Day 23 and 24 projects hangin’ out together:

P.S. - The cool thing about starting this on the first day of the month, is that you always know what day in the process it is.