Things nobody else needs!

My first addition to the projectitis blog. Not my first project and guaranteed not the last. In my quest for extra space in my many tool boxes I decided that the vice grips needed to find a new home. Just happened to have enough extra material to make these nifty aluminum holders.

I started out with 1.25" aluminum square stock and cut a slot down the length with the milling machine. Tapered one end and square cut the opposite. Scrounged up some 1/4" flat stock and drilled some holes. Fixtured up the two so they aligned and welded the joint out.
Hopefully will remember to take pictures of my future projects to share.

-Nitro

nursery update

So, remember those birds? And all that frustration? Yeah, it never really ended. I made all the felt birds, but then started to assemble the branches into a mobile and it ended up just looking lame. Also, it was really hard to screw the little screws into the branches, so I could do one, maybe two at a time before I had sore fingers and gave up for the day.
Several times throughout the process I said "This looks stupid. I'm not wasting any more time on it." But then I'd always think "Nah, it probably only looks stupid compared to the platonic ideal I have created in my head. The one that doesn't actually exist, that I can't even envision, but is far superior to the one that does exist here in the workshop."
So yeah, several times I gave up on the project. Which is why it's just now (sort of) finished. I say sort of because I think it needs more birds. Maybe just one more bird. And maybe more flowers. I like the flowers, which is surprising because I thought maybe they'd look stupid but I had them laying around and thought I'd see how it worked out. Anyway, it's hard to photograph, but I think you can get the idea.
I made the flowers on the wall, too. I might make another post showing the process of creating that... I'm proud of the way it came out, and it was way less frustrating than these silly birds.

last-minute gifts

A couple weeks ago I had a moment of panic: friends were throwing a dual baby shower for myself and another friend, and I'd completely spaced on getting my friend a shower gift! This shows you just how self-absorbed I've been lately. But yeah, I have two weeks left (more or less) of being pregnant, and I haven't had much room left in my brain for thinking of anything else.
So yeah.
I had this shower coming up, actually I thought it was the very next day, and I hadn't purchased a gift. I drove into Morro Bay thinking that there were a couple baby shops in town, and I could find some special, adorable baby boy outfit. And I did. Only, it was $75, and the idea of spending that much on something that will be worn once (probably) made me ill. But they did have some cute handmade "snuggly" type toys. I guess babies like little pieces of fabric, like blankies only smaller, that they can carry around, and that have lots of textures and colors and shapes to mess with. Personally, I don't really get it, but apparently they're all the rage in the baby world. I mean, I sort of get it... it's something they can grab and wave around and it makes noise and feels interesting and they can suck on it or what not. So I saw these things and thought "I could make that!" So I rushed home and I did.
Here it is, nearly complete.

The back side was the same polkadot fabric, with the colors reversed. So, after pinning everything down, I sewed the right sides together, flipped it right-side out and HOORAY... all the little pieces of ribbon and stuff stuck out the sides like spikes. In addition to the ribbons, the big blue triangle stuck out and it was filled with a piece of plastic bag so it crinkled. And there was a velcro strap too, so you could attach it to things. Or just play with the velcro. Also, the elephant ended up with a flappy ear out of the polkadot fabric.
So anyway, the really funny thing about this was that the shower turned out to be the FOLLOWING week, so I didn't need to rush at all. Sigh. And that's good because the gift was pretty lame on its own and I was happily able to go to San Luis Obispo and purchase some Burt's Bees baby lotions which are the bomb. And made me look like less of a slacker.

Why didn't I see this months ago?

This rug is amazing. And exactly what I want. But it's probably a bit late to try to make it before Emily arrives. But seriously. I want to make it.
Here's the link to how it's done.

three little birds

I have a song running through my head. It might go away, but then I start back up on sewing my little birds, and the darn thing is back again. That's okay, it's not a bad song. The bad part is really that I only know one line of it, and I'd just have that one line running through my head all day. So ... I looked it up. And I'll pass the gift along to you. It can run through your head all day too. :) You can thank me later.
In any case, in a previous post I mentioned the mobile I wanted to make for above Emily's crib (oh yeah, she has a name now, in case that wasn't mentioned before... that project is moving forward too). I found a site that had a pattern, so I diligently tried to copy the pattern (without a printer, I just eyeballed it) and numerous adjustments later, I still had only these stupid, retarded looking birds. More like jacked up seahorses than anything.

Embarrassing. I kept with it for longer than a person should admit to, so I won't tell. In any case, I discarded the "official" pattern found online and made up my own. These were significantly cuter, but I really struggled with them. Each one has flaws due to my inability to sew with precision in small tight spaces. These are little birds, you see. Sewing with the machine meant corners got all bunched up, thread got all tangled, fabric unraveled. I can't decide if it's my machine, or me. Regardless, sewing in small places inevitably leads to a jumble of threads knotted up with fabric all jammed into the machine's innards requiring scissors and patience to extract. I started sewing them by hand, which was much less frustrating.

But then I had a revelation. More like I saw some other cute birds online that were made of felt. Felt! That would solve all my problems! So here they are ... little birds.v3. I think these may very well be the final version. Using a whole www worth of inspiration, but maybe, finally, MINE. We'll see how the next step of the project comes together ... mounting them onto twigs. It could very well be just as irritating and drawn out as this has been.

Put a bird on it.

I know the bird thing is overplayed maybe, but I don't care. It's not overplayed in my house. And so anyway I had this idea to make a mobile for over the baby's crib, and it was originally spawned from something I saw in one of those freebie magazines I got from the first OB/GYN visit ... it was just a tree branch (no leaves) that was spray painted silver and had crystals dangling from it. I thought that was totally awesome. I love the DIY-ness of it, the fact that it's not some Disney character training my child to be a consumer before she can even focus her eyes properly. But the crystals thing? Smacked of princess-hood to me. Too girly. Too pretty-pretty. And then I thought that I'd make a bunch of tiny stuffed animals out of fabric scraps and hang them from the tree branch. All the different colored fabrics would be good for little eyes to examine!
And then I saw this and now I know exactly what I'm going to make. OH. MY. GOSH. Love it. I am drawing patterns as I type. :)

The Big Project

I've been without projects lately, having left the dance troupe for a while I'm taking a break from dance-related projects. Additionally, I've been engaged in what one friend called "some pretty complicated cell division." Which had wiped me out big time. But now that I'm feeling a lot better, I'm compelled to start another big project. For a long time I've wanted to paint the floor of my house, but the idea of the chaos that would be required to do so has had me cringing. But since I'm supremely motivated to create a healthy beautiful baby space, we're going to start with one room and make it beautiful. So far, just getting everything OUT of the room has proven to be a challenge.

First thing to do is to re-locate my office, so that there will actually be space for a crib in the room. And then, to paint the bookshelves (which means removing all the books, ugh) because I want to convert some of the squares into cubbies for storing clothes and diapers and toys and stuff. I'm fairly traumatized about getting rid of my books. I haven't made any decisions yet; they're all in the barn, waiting for me to get brutal. I just .. ugh. It's really hard to part with some of the books that have become treasured favorites, even if I don't think I'll read them again.

In any case, the painting of the shelf is going ridiculously slow. Short attention span, combined with the necessity of SEVERAL layers of paint, is making me full-on sick of the project. But I know it will be so beautiful when it's done (and practical!) so I'm more motivated then usual.
Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress. If any. The floor painting part of this job isn't even on the radar yet.

Now what?

I'm nearly certain that I mentioned going to an event a little while back at Yarns at the Adobe where I got to meet a pair of really sweet Pygora Goats (Pygmy-Angora cross, I believe) and then there was a class on spinning afterward. I got some photos of them, but they're on my other camera so I haven't uploaded them yet.
I was surprised and thrilled to find that my friend Heather was in town on another matter but was able to stop by. We chatted while she set to work on her beautiful spinning wheel (I want one!) and I tried to re-acquaint myself with the drop spindle.
Heather gave me some lovely material to spin that she had created herself, and I'm still really awed by her generosity. Not only is it very pretty, but I know the stuff isn't cheap, so I am terribly appreciative. And now that I have this pretty stuff, I am not at all sure what to do with it. It's not a lot ... I can probably make a hat, but it's not very even, and I don't know that I could make a presentable hat out of it. My first instinct is to make a scarf, and I was thinking of crocheting something like this one. I love it. But I'm afraid I won't have enough to make that. I just don't know and I'd hate to get halfway through and not be able to finish it. Unlike with other yarn, it's not like I can just go buy another skein.

In any case, I'm still searching for the perfect pattern. I'm thinking something where you can really see the yarn itself, the pretty peppermint twisting of each part of it so it doesn't get lost. I'm almost thinking of just making a little macrame neclace, or headband. I'm just completely unsure. Perhaps a little purse, or ...?

Latest Obsession

Maybe it's laziness but I'd like to think it's more about cleanliness ... whichever -ness it is, I've been fascinated by creating patterns on the computer using Adobe Illustrator. It sort of started when I began reading this blog and becoming just overwhelmingly inspired and excited by some of the things I saw there. And it sort of got worse when I went to a local fabric store and went gaga over several amazing prints on display and had my arms FULL of bolts of fabric before I remembered that I'm not buying any more fabric. Ever. So I put them back. But that didn't mean I didn't want them. The thing is, though, that I'm more interested in the colors and textures of the fabric itself than I am in actually making anything out of it. Well, that may not be entirely true, but I do find that fabrics I really love I resist using, because nothing is good enough for them. Which sounds just plain stupid, but it's true. As if it is doing any good in the filing cabinet. (Yes, I keep my fabric in a filing cabinet, you got a problem with that?)

In any case, I started thinking about pattern, and wondered if I could design my own. The first attempts were pretty lame, I'll admit it. But I'm feeling like I'm getting the hang of it, and I'm starting to create patterns that I'm proud of. Here they are, in order of when I made them.

So what's really cool is that I discovered Spoonflower, a site where you can design and upload your own patterns and get them made into one of several different fabric types. That seems really awesome, and I'd be totally into it if not for the fact that the fabrics seem really pricey to me. Maybe someday, if I come up with the perfect project and the perfect design.

Swoon!

As long as I am not making anything lately, then I'll just post more pictures of things I'd make if I was talented and motivated enough.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/69138771/asymmetric-sepia-tatted-one-of-a-kind
This necklace is more practical, but look at all her stuff and you'll see amazing masks ... ooooh.... Seriously. I need everything she makes. For no reason whatsoever, since it's not something I would feel comfortable running in. Or hanging around the ranch in. Or really going anywhere except maybe a goth club or masked ball or something. But I still want them.

Love.

Just this... I don't have time to post. But really. I must have this hat. Barring that, I must learn to make this hat.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/68696413/beret60

Yogurt

The other day I went to a fancy pants store that sells fancy pants cheese and I thought "Oh yum, I will treat myself to a fancy cheese!" But then I saw the prices and decided I didn't need the calories anyway. But I did get inspired to make my own cheese! I immediately called up a friend who had said she was going to make cheese, but as it turns out she never did. She did, however, buy a book. Which is a step farther than I had gotten, so I was able to borrow her book, Home Cheese Making.
To be honest, I haven't actually looked at the book yet. Because then I found this website and it said to start by making yogurt, and gave step-by-step instructions how to do that. So today, that's what we did! It's been a rainy, cold day, and so I'm disinclined to do my outside chores and my inside chores were done yesterday (What an idiot! It was not raining yesterday!) so it's a perfect day for some food-making projects.
I HATE the way the website's instructions are set up, the guy could seriously use a good graphic designer to make the instructions more clear to follow (wink, nudge) but I think it's probably the best place online for these instructions nonetheless. I think I'd be more successful if I re-wrote them in a format that makes more sense to me. A mistake was made, but it wasn't fatal.
See, first you bring milk to 185 degrees.

And then, you let it cool to 130 (we put it in a sink of cool water, and pour in your starter culture. Basically, through no one's fault but my own (well, probably Nitro's fault since he said "You don't need to make a slurry, just pour in the starter!") I poured in my starter when the heated milk was still 185 degrees, and it should have cooled to 130, THEN added the starter.

So I think we killed our culture upon impact. Fortunately for me, I had another tub of plain yogurt in the fridge to put in there ... so we waited until the milk was at 130, and added more culture. Hopefully that was an okay thing to do. Maybe not. The milk did begin to clump up (you can see that in the picture) and I'm not sure if that is what it was supposed to do or not. I'm guessing yes, but maybe not, since it was so hot. We shall see! We have to let the stuff incubate for 3 hours before knowing for sure if it worked.
Right now, it's sitting in the ice chest, incubating.

Five Professions

I'm injured, and stuck doing things that keep me off my feet. It's torture. But it means that I have time to post.
Last night a group of friends had dinner together and one asked us "If you could be anything in the world, even if it's totally impossible, imaginary, or ridiculous, what would you be? Name 5 professions you'd choose." My immediate thought was "Impossible! I can't think of anything! I like what I'm doing ..."
One friend answered that it would have to be something creative, because the act of creation is inherent in him (us all?) and it's the most fulfilling. To create and to have an audience learn/grow from that creation. I couldn't agree more. For him, it was music. The idea of being able to write beautiful music. And to teach. To give others the tools and inspiration to go out and create for themselves. Again, I was in total agreement. But for me, it's visual arts more than music (though the idea of being able to express myself in music sounds not only impossible, but amazing!). And so while teacher was on the list (which I took a bit far by saying I wanted to be a divine goddess/teacher, but hey, we're fantasizing here, right?), I also said I wanted to paint, to paint the most beautiful, inspiring, life-altering paintings ever created. Why not aim high!? Also on the list, an architect/city planner. I'd love to design and build communities that are thoughtful, truly communal, practical, whimsical, beautiful, smart. And finally, I want to study animals and learn to communicate with them.
And while this was an exercise in fantasy, I almost shamefully admit that there's a small part of me that thinks I could actually do this stuff. But I better get busy

Where to start?

I've been feeling like starting something these past few days. It probably has to do with the torrential rain and cold outside. Also probably something to do with the unsatisfactory completion of the last project ... the whirlygig scarf ended up way too short because I ran out of yarn. That was disappointing. But I have vowed to not buy any more anythings ever. No, really!
I have like 3 rubbermaid bins of fabric. And another bin of yarn. All of which was purchased with a project half-in-mind. I can't say it was with a specific project in mind, because there were never any actual plans. I didn't have patterns, or even all the ingredients necessary to make any of the projects. I just got inspired by the textiles and I needed to have them for when I was ready to make something. And then they just sit around. And they tend to loom over me (not only because they're on a shelf above my computer) and make me feel pretty lame.
So I have lame vibes coming at me from all over -- the failed scarf, and also the sundress I made last summer that never really got finished. I didn't hem it, because I don't know how to make it a straight hem if I'm not wearing it and I don't know how to actually do the hemming while it's on me. I'm sure this is one of those things that has an easy solution, but I don't know what it is. But I wore it last summer when it was so hot even I was considering not wearing clothing (and if you knew me this would be shocking) and so I wore it unhemmed and then washed it and some parts of it unraveled and it's just a disaster. I don't know how to fix it. I should definitely fix it. Sigh.
So anyway, there have been projectitis rumblings going on around here. The sewing cabinet is opened. So that's a good sign that some sewing will be getting done soon. I just need to buy thread. Uh, nope! I'm not buying anything ever, I forgot!
The other thing is that darn canvas, the one that used to have the mares painting? I think it is going to be a deep-sea creature now. I'm really excited about that. Only issue? I really ought to buy some new acrylic paint, because I'm limited to like olive green and rusty red (and yellow? I think I have yellow) at this point. And my deep sea creatures are not those colors. I need to buy paints, mix colors. I need to do it right. So that one's on hold too. Though I did pull out all my paints and brushes in anticipation of working on it.

Anyway, I do have a bunch of yarn, but only one skein of each sort, so I have to get a little creative. I really hope I have enough for this one. I think it's going to be beautiful. Maybe. I'm never sure if it's going to work out (what do you do with the hanging out ends? How do you change colors and make it look seamless? I'm afraid this one is going to be another failure, too. But as I made that last ruffled scarf, I kept thinking of things you could do to embellish it, and this was one of my thoughts ... RIBS! It doesn't seem to be ruffling like the last one. Maybe the ribs are hindering it. I don't know. I'm afraid to find out. But aren't the colors just beautiful? I had to had to had to buy that teal yarn because the color was just painfully beautiful. I had planned on making a felted hat out of it. But then I was afraid to try that, because what if the hat doesn't fit? At least a scarf will fit. I hope.

Zero Waste

A comment on my previous entry made me think of this article from Sunset Magazine.
Did anyone else see this?
What do you think?
Am I the only one who feels like maybe this woman has a problem? Like, it's pathological the level to which she's taken her values?
I am all on board reducing the level of waste in my home. I am even on board about not buying anything new, or anything in unnecessary packaging. Totally get it. And, I even totally get the desire to not have a bunch of stuff in my house. I would love to have a clutter-free life. Totally get it.
But, to not have hobbies or participate in activities that require "stuff" just blows my mind. It seems so limiting! I admit, I may have too many hobbies and participate in too many activities. But what do they *do* with their time? Actually, I probably know the answer to that. They spend *all* their time trying to figure out how to get around some of the necessary clutter and waste in life. It must be exhausting.
P.S. Sending the trash that comes with your Netflix subscription *back* to where it came from does not mean you don't generate any trash. It just means someone else has to deal with it. TOTALLY doesn't count.

As promised ... the "after" pictures

The whole closet fiasco has turned out to be really one of the best things we could have done. Granted, the sun has come out, so the upturn in mood may be not solely attributed to the great cleaning/purge, but I like to think of it as the turning point of my winter. Everything looked bad until that day.
So, yes, attached are photos that prove that my husband rules.
:)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I liked the closet best when there wasn't any stuff in it. But even now it's still all nicely and neatly arranged. All my shoes are in boxes, all the bedding is in bins, sweaters are in bins, clothes are hung up. I'm not sure how long that will last. Hopefully because it's so *easy* now, it will last forever.
Oh! Bonus! My vacuum now lives in the closet! It used to not have any place to live, so it stayed in a corner in the living room. Now, it has its own nook in the closet, right next to the step-ladder that used to be shoved into a corner in the kitchen. Yay for places to put things!

Inspired!

Not so long ago, a friend shared these amazing coats with me. I fell in love, and my craving for one of those coats was crazy-huge. I told myself, "No matter the cost, I totally will get one, because they're amazing, and I deserve it, and the artist deserves to be selling these like mad." And then I saw the prices, and changed my tune entirely. Well, not entirely. She still deserves to be selling her coats like mad. Just not to me, because that's mad amounts of money. I can't do it.
It's the same sort of thing that happens when I go into Fiona Bleu, my most favorite store (and the owner is THE NICEST guy) in Morro Bay. I always say to myself, "Hey, it's probably a good idea to buy some art. I want to support these amazing artists, and I want some amazing art on my walls. I bet they could do some layaway for me." And then I go in there and think, "Hm. That's more money than I make in a year. Maybe not." But then I leave the place all crazy-inspired, and totally ready to start making art myself.
So, yeah. Those Katwise coats did it to me. But I don't have the skillset (or the right tools!) to do something like that. So I thought. Just yesterday Mother Earth News shared this book on their Facebook page (coincidence? I think not!) So I checked out The Sweater Chop Shop on Amazon and decided that maybe I could do it. Maybe I should try. It looks like just another huge mess I could make, no? Ah, but it would be pretty fun.

Unexpected projects

Well, I may have not been feeling creative, and I certainly wasn't feeling energized, but when I asked friends "what to do on a rainy day?" and someone said "Clean out your closets!" the thought stuck. It was the perfect project for a person who's been feeling like getting rid of stuff. Also, it's been a pretty damp year, and that means mold sometimes builds up on some of the stuff in the back of the closet. Whoa, was I in for a surprise though, when we finally pulled everything out.
Black mold. All over.

I was pretty upset. And then to find it all over the bedroom, yuck.
This actually was good to find out, because after doing some research, we learned that all the symptoms I've been suffering from all month (headache, not able to breathe well, depression, being tired all the time) are actually symptoms of black mold exposure. And here I thought I had a virus that I couldn't kick. Or that I needed to go see a shrink or something. But it makes sense, and to know what it is makes me feel a lot better already.
So, we scrubbed it all down with bleach (which is awful, the bleach stench makes me feel worse than the mold), and then we decided that we really need to prevent this from happening again. There are two big problems with this closet that are contributing to the problem, as well as making the closet not as functional as it should be. One is that there is a window (because it didn't use to be a closet), but the clothing racks were in the corner smooshed against the window, so the window had to be covered to keep the clothes from getting bleached from the sun. If the window could let light in, and if it could be opened, then the moisture problem wouldn't be as bad. Also, having the clothes in the corner made them hard to access. So we took out everything, and decided to re-arrange the whole closet to allow for air flow, to allow for better access to the clothes and also to allow for better organization.

Of course, this means that everything that was in the closet is now on my dining table. And it will be there for a while, because we had to make a trip to the hardware store in order to construct the new shelves. It was 3:30 or so when we decided to head to the hardware store, and by the time we got out, it was POURING rain, and we didn't get home until late and of course the rain meant that the creek had risen and we couldn't drive across it to get home. The joys of living in the sticks. Sigh.
All our lumber spent the night in the back of the truck and progress on the closet project was halted.
No matter. We made kiwi sorbet instead. Because we had a TON of kiwis from our CSA box that we needed to do something with.
BUT, I did spend part of the evening with the label maker and a stack of plastic bins. Yes, everything is going to be organized in bins! I'm so excited about this. It feels like the best thing in the world to happen to my closet. Bedding in one bin. Sweaters in another bin. Bellydance bras in another. Belts in this one, hats in that one! Oh, hooray!
Hopefully, I'll remember to take pictures and you can see the rest of the progress. I think this will be good. Yesterday morning, I was so upset I was ready to move ASAP. But now I'm feeling a bit better. I have Nitro to thank for that, really. He sorta talked me out of my panic and frustration and helped come up with a solution and helped make the solution start to happen.