We Do Things

THE GOOD FRIENDS FAMILY

Some people come into your life and you are never the same. They match you in ways that you never thought complete strangers could. They become family.

We have been hanging with TheGoodFriendsFamily (TGFF) for years. Through various activities, camping trips, family get togethers, and Holidays spent together, they have become much more to us than simply Good Friends. Or even Best Friends. They are Family. It is a handy thing to have, when our born families are so far apart. We know that no matter what, we have them. I hope they also know, they have us. No matter what.

Due to financial difficulties this year, I guiltily tried to work my way out of our gift exchange for this past holiday. TGFFMom looked at me, I think in shock and astonishment that I would be so cheap, and said it was not possible. They had already been working on something for us and I could cheese out on them, but she would never consider cheesing out on me. (Okay, maybe she didn't say all that, but my guilt filled ears heard it. I had become the loser friend. Worse, she was much too kind to ever say so to my face)

I arrived home from delivering some baked goods around town one day to find this sitting on my kitchen counter.

Our family as gnomes. It is quite possibly, the best gift ever.

The detail. Those bottlecap mushrooms just about kill me. The preciousness of those tiny, perfect stitches on the moss.

Each one of us, presented in miniature perfection! Why, I'm as skinny as a twig! Those faces, the hair! The hair!

Why, we even look happy to be together! Happy! With a 13 year old gnome daughter! TGFF are magical.

The best part is when The Boy saw it, he decided that it could indeed be TGFF or us! Depending on the day and how much he misses his TGFFBoy counterpart, it is either family.

I hope you all enjoy your Fondue Maker.

Maybe, one day, when your dipping cheesecake into chocolate you might just find it in your heart to forgive your lame friend and invite her over?

F4F: HALLOWEEN GOODIES

I have been working on some Halloween goodies. Knitted, and not.

I had wanted to knit some tiny Candy Corns and just couldn't find a pattern that suited me. I found plenty of wonderful patterns for large Candy Corns. I wanted mine tiny. As I was spending a few days working through one of the patterns for the large Candy Corns, one of my most favorite knitters posted THE.BEST.THING.EVER!

And even though she was in the middle of THE.BIGGEST.BEST.THING.EVER! enough of us begged, pleaded, and bribed that she made the pattern public.

Not only public. But FREE!

So, I spent a few days making tiny Candy Corn. Mine aren't quite as small as hers because I just used yarn I had on hand.

I know I've already mentioned how much I enjoy Anna's work, but she moved into hero worship category with her generosity.

 Another craft that I've been dabbling in is Embroidery. I have found that I enjoy it quite a bit.

One of the artists that I have come to adore is Mollie Johanson at Wild Olive. She sells the cutest patterns and other goodies in her Etsy shop.

For the month of October, she is donating her proceeds to World Vision's Care Giver kits.

This prompted me to finally purchase some patterns I had been eyeing.

I knew I wanted to embroider this pattern, but what to do with it?

How about a new Trick or Treat bag for The Girl?

I think it's a winner.

I used leftover wool from my recent pillow cover re-dos, which shall appear on this blog at a later date.

I found a wonderful tutorial for the Halloween Bag and set to work. I may have mentioned once or twice that my sewing machine and I don't always see eye to eye.

This week, we bonded. And by bonded, I mean we became soul sisters.

I am entirely in love with this bag. It is near perfection.

I even had to adjust the pattern to make a messanger bag type strap instead of the two straps to carry the bag.

She didn't want to be bogged down on Halloween by a heavy candy bag.

Now if she could only figure out what she is going to be for Halloween.

IF YOU GIVE THE GIRL A CAMERA

The other night, we were having a spectacular cloud-filled sunset.

We hear The Girl's door open and a voice asking, "Mother may I use your camera to get a picture of the spectacular sunset?"

Having not played "Mother May I" for years, I vaguely recalled the correct answer to be, "Yes, you may."

The Girl spent the next 20 minutes or so capturing the evening.

She captured The Bunnies, doing their thing and trying to figure out why there was a human in the yard who didn't have food for them.

Please ignore the disgusting patio. We are learning that rabbits are not very neat creatures. Which is why they're in the backyard in the first place.

As a side note, Nova, our new bunny has settled right in. She can't stand us, but at least she and Annie are no longer tearing each other apart.

The Turtles got their portraits taken as well.

Dribble is such a people turtle. He loves us all and comes to hang out with us whenever he can.

Annie decides to catch some dinner while The Girl keeps Nova in hiding. Yes, she now sits in the tub of food to prevent Nova from sneaking bites of the good stuff. I've really come to love this Evil Bunny.

And the piece de resistance. We call it Hummingbird.

The Girl has talents that are only starting to show themselves.

Couldn't be more proud.

F4F: SOME EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFTS

I thought I would get an early start this year on my holiday knitting. I'm happy to report, I'm way ahead of where I thought I would be, so now I just have to make sure I don't get so full of myself that I add more projects to my pile!

Teddy Bear for TLNephew.

Bear Face.

I'm slowly getting better at embroidering faces. At least the wonky faces prove these babies are homemade!

I am so very happy and proud. I knitted my very first sweater and while it still needs blocking, it is perfect.

The Placket sweater. Also for TLNephew.

This was such a quick and easy knit. I could see myself knitting a few more of these beauties.

I also managed the first of another knitted garment! I have to keep this one to myself unfortunately because one of my dearest friends who shall be receiving this ocassionally reads my blog.

Here's a sneak peek though. It also awaits blocking. Can you tell I'm a little nervous about blocking?

Toasty, for The Girl. The first pair I knitted were way too large on her. I made a decrease at the wrist and shortened the length a bit. Another proud moment for me that I can now adjust patterns to get better fits.

The Girl knows about these as I had her choose the yarn and approve the pattern. I would not have wanted to put all that work into it (not so much actually, but she doesn't need to know how easy these are!) only to have her almost 13 year old self proclaim them uncool.

The original pair, which shall be gifted to another, larger hand, but no less deserving person.

I had the great opportunity to help out TheGoodFriendsFamilyBoy with his Halloween costume this year. He is going to be Harry Potter and I begged TGFFMom to let me make his Gryffindor scarf. She graciously consented and I worked to make every detail just so. I love how easy the age of the internet makes things. Free pattern, Gryffindor patch, and accuracy check, all available through my friend Google.

I did have direct supervision while knitting. This is a very important piece for a very important kid. This project could not be trusted to just any knitter. TGFFMom put The Dog on the case. He took his job very seriously, overseeing construction of said garment and I had to submit it to his office for final approval.

After much scrutiny and some mild criticism, I received THE WINK OF APPROVAL!

This scarf is The Dog approved Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf.

TGFFBoy is said to be thrilled.

Thanks for joining me on another F4F adventure. Make sure you check out what those other talented bloggers have accomplished this week.

 

 

FAVOURITE THINGS FRIDAY

I know, no posting for almost a month, then a week straight, and then two in one day?

Yes, the world has gone crazy. More importantly though, two of my most favorite fellow bloggers both hold their special days on Friday and I want to participate in both.

I'm greedy like that.

I'm supposed to share one of my favorite things with you. How do I get it down to just one?

Skipping over The Kids, The Dad, The Family, TGFF, etc. I shall stay on target and pick a thing.

This thing, or several things that go together to make one thing would also fit into the F4F category, but that post then would have been two pages long and I doubt you all would have stuck around. By splitting it up I trick you!

A few months ago I came across this website that had me screaming with joy. I could not wait to get my hands on this book.

Phoebe's Sweater is a lovely picture book that tells the story of a mouse and the sweater that her momma mouse knits for her.

The best part though is in the back of the book. There are knitting patterns for Phoebe,

Her dress,

and her sweater,

which is still awaiting blocking and buttons...

To come together as one of the best Christmas gifts I've knitted thus far.

The pattern that I put off and have just finished, but have no pictures of yet, is the matching sweater for a sweet little girl. I think TLNiece is going to LOVE this.

It's all so girly and sweet and perfect. Thus far, it is my favorite knitting excursion yet.

QUILTS

It feels like it's been a long time since our vacation. It's only been two months.

The Dad and I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures. The beauty of having gone digital.

The problem arises when I forget what we took pictures of and have to spend hours going through pictures. Thinking in my head as I take the picture, "This will make a great blog post!"

Then, getting home and having to find that set of pictures in the pile seems a bit overwhelming, so I give up and move on.

Lazy is my middle name people.

Then! I run out of things to blog about, so I go through the pictures and realize that while we were vacationing, we run smack dab into a situation that brings The OH Grammy to the forefront of our minds.

The Folsom Museum had a Quilt Exhibit. Even The Kids were drawn into the artwork and beauty of the quilts.

Some of my pictures are a bit wonky, it was a very small space for the amount of quilts they had displayed. A Bicentennial quilt was one of the first to catch my eye.

Quite a few of the quilts were found in attics in the area.

This one caught my eye because of the embroidered names. This quilt was made by the Ladies Society in 1898.

This is a Friendship Block Quilt by the Ney Quilting Club. The ladies made blocks and swapped them. Each lady received enough to make a quilt top. This particular top was made in the 1940's. The club was founded in 1929.

The museum displayed period dress near the quilts as well. All I can say is that you quilters are a skinny lot. All that sewing must keep you in shape. With my lack of sewing skills, I shall have to stick to the gym.

The Friendship Garden quilt. Circa 1930.

Quilting is not only an artform, it is a way of preserving our history. Not only through the materials used, but the patterns as well.

We learned about the log cabin pattern, one of my personal favorites.

This quilt, circa 1890-1910 is made of silk. The Log Cabin pattern became popular after Abraham Lincoln died.

The stories that these quilts tell are mostly lost to history now. I imagine they were great though.

The colors, the patterns, just so lovely.

It always amazes me, wherever it may be, women working together. We are our own best friends and worst enemies at times.

These quilts prove that we women can definitely come together and make beautiful things.

THE CA GRANDMA MIGHT BE CRAFTY AS WELL.

This is another post that should have happened a while ago.

The CA Grandma emailed me a few pictures of the Tooth Fairy pillow she made for The Nephew. You know, this one?

It seems that regardless of us, he is growing up. Little brat.

The CA Grandma is a talented cross stitcher. A talent that she somehow neglected to pass down.

And while it might not be something she particularly enjoys, she can sew too. Another talent she neglected to pass down.

So, there you have it. We are lucky to be surrounded by such talented family.

ELENKA'S ON HER WAY.

Phew! I finally got Elenka off in the mail to TheLittlestNiece. Now, I shall hope and pray that it fits her.

Before I sent it off, I had to fix the flower on the simple sundress.

The Purl Bee did a post about the Hana Ami Flower Loom from Clover. As soon as I saw those flowers I knew that would be my solution to a non-Giant sized accessory.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the new and improved flower before I packed it in the box. Just trust me that it is a lot better now.

I managed to fit in some dish cloths for my brother and his wife, as they just recently moved to a new home and I haven't had a chance to head up and check it out yet.

These are such an incredibly quick knit that I see quite a few more in my future.

Two Waffle Knit Dishcloths in Lion Brand Cotton Ease. So easy and soft. 

I hope my brother and his family enjoy many happy years in their new home.

OWL PAPERCRAFT

Even though The Kids, for the most part have outgrown the need for me to have miscellaneous activities around the house during Summer to combat their boredom, I still find myself heading to the crafty blogs I've used during the years to ready myself for their whines.

One such site is Skip To My Lou. She always has such perfectly appropriate kids' crafts. In June, she ran a Craft "camp" with 30 different bloggers doing guest posts.

That is where I came upon Larissa from mmmcrafts. She shared a 3D Owl Papercraft. It is so simple, quick, and beautiful that I knew I had to do it. I had most of the supplies laying around from my scrapbooking days.

 

She had such a great response that she has made a Frog in the Woods 3D papercraft as well. Since I'm still waiting to buy a shadow frame for my owl, I think it might take me a while to get to the Frog. The Frog is apparently more geared towards adults, but I think the owl was just perfect for me to start with.

F4F: DRY ERASE BOARD

Now that I am *ahem* a teacher, I need the tools of the trade. I told The Dad, as 4th grade winded down that it would be really helpful to have a dry erase board for teaching the math and the writing.

Since I am only temporarily teaching, I don't want The Boy to get too disconnected from the classroom environment. We already have a tough enough time getting him out of his pajamas every day.

As I began my search for dry erase boards, I was kind of blown away by how expensive they are. I mean, it's not like it's exactly going to add that special something to a room in my house right?

Luckily, we are garage sale pros. We found one towards the end of a Saturday for $1.

Saving me at least $24.

The only problem was the frame was ugly.

Office silver.

So, in all my brilliance, I decided to use my 50% off coupon at Michaels and get myself some spray paint.

The Dad chose Khaki. See, he is scared of color.

So, I set out to painting my frame.

I laid in the supplies.

Painter's tape, spray paint, exacto knife (for my less than stellar taping abilities, newspaper, and more tape, to tape down the newspaper.

 

All taped off with the Sunday ads.

Oh lookie, golf clubs are on sale.

Then, outside to paint. And you thought I was going to paint in the kitchen.

 

A few coats later and voila!

It's painted and nearly perfect. Perfect enough for The Homeschool anyway.

It's already getting used.

Yes, that's me. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to take a picture of a dry erase board without the flash reflecting off it? Further proof nobody would pay me to do my job.

Now, head on over to Lit & Laundry. She's hosting a contest this week and you get to learn about some great authors. A few I know I'll be checking out.

Also, she's undergoing some pretty intensive hip surgery today, so I know a few well wishes would be appreciated.