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.