Crafts

Since the days leading up to Valentines Day are some of my busiest of the year, I tend to look for very simple, easy ways to add hearts to my decor!

Two sweet and easy tutorials were safely tucked away in my bookmark files and a third happened quite by accident!

Yarn wrapped wreaths have always appealed to my eyes! Danielle shares this great tutorial for making a yarn wrapped wreath on her blog Take Heart. And since I had just found a straw wreath at the thrift for $.50 and already had lots of red yarn in my stash, I spent some TV time wrapping!

  Danielle's tutorial includes the technique for making lovely little felt roses. Her roses are simple and quick but since I needed even more "simple and quick" - I cut lengths of red and cream yarn and added an easy peasy bow.

I am loving how this balsa wood heart turned out! A very, very simple to make heart - made from balsa wood which is available in almost any craft store - already cut to size!

Kate - the clever designer of this heart - shares her technique on Design Sponge.

I did modify the heart a bit by staining the inside surfaces with red acrylic paint (slightly diluted) and attaching a little heart shaped mordiford.

(Tutorial for making a mordiford or wheat weaving).

See Diane's beautiful heart shaped mordifords here!

You might remember that my friend Gill sent me a supply of Bastelspan (also known as Spön or hobby chip) from Norway last spring. Spön is very thin shavings from what I am pretty certain is Ash - a tree found all over northern Europe.

The idea came to me that I could duplicate Kate's balsa heart using some of my Spön. But it just didn't translate well in the smaller, thinner material.

It kills me to waste even one inch of my precious supply, so I carefully cut the failed heart apart to save all the portions that were not hot glued together.

Turning to inspiration found on the Magic Onion to make a simple heart from recycled paper, I decided to experiment! Will wet Spön and hot glue form a good and lasting bond?

Happily - they do! I was actually surprised. However, the join must be firmly held in place with a paper clip until the wood completely dries out - that would be overnight.

So really no faster than good old Elmers glue.

Thanks to Danielle, and Kate, and Donni, I am ready for Valentines! How about you?

We have made it! The darkest days of winter are behind us!

The mid-way point between the winter solstice and spring equinox will be celebrated by many in the northern hemisphere tomorrow - on February 2nd.

This truly special day, known as Ground Hog Day, Candlemas, Imbolc, Brigid's Day or mid-winter has been marked with special celebrations and traditions since ancient times. At the end of the post you can find links that will enlighten you further as to the history and customs.

I am indebted to blogger Denise - "mom in madison" - for first introducing me to the celebrations and mystery of February 2nd, which up until that time I had dismissed as Ground Hog Day - ho hum.

She set me on a path of discovery resulting in lovely traditions now firmly planted in my celebration calendar! I am sharing my celebrations here with the hope that many of you will be inspired to find your own ways to mark this very significant "quarter day" of the earth's yearly journey around the sun.

By planting a pot of Paperwhite bulbs sometime near the winter solstice, I begin my celebration in anticipation of the open blossoms in the top image. This picture was taken about mid-January to mark their progress. Right on cue - tiny white flower buds began opening yesterday!

First thing in the morning, coffee in hand, I search the garden looking for signs of spring. Look what I found hidden under the ferns! Helebore buds!

Image by the Pickled Herring

Then back inside to a warm kitchen to prepare pancakes - grain foods are traditionally eaten to mark this day. Since ancient times, farmers have considered this day as the proper time to begin preparing the fields for spring sowing.

This year - Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries - the recipe here on the Pickled Herring.

I have been making a Brigid Cross every year, but now that I have three displayed all year long on my walls, I will simply take time to thank Brigid, the goddess of creative inspiration and fertility by placing a small sprig of lavender on her crosses. (Yes, the French Lavender in my garden is still green!)

My burlap table runner interwoven with wheat shafts is laid out on the dining table and white candles are placed in a wire wreath.

Then out to the garden to clip branches from plants that remain green all winter: rosemary, ivy, holly and grape ivy. These are added to the wreath as a reminder that in a few short weeks now, the first signs of spring will begin emerging from winter beds.

(Instructions for making the large candle here.)

Since they must be started very early, Iceland Poppies are planted in peat pots. And dreaming of the summer garden begins in earnest!

Fire and water are important elemental symbols to be included in celebrating "mid-winter".

Fire represents the sun already making it's way northward on it's return to the northern hemisphere, and water represents purification and renewal which originated with ancient holy wells named for Brigid.

My little garden pond is dedicated to Brigid and at dusk, candles are floated on the surface and lit in her honor.

And then at dark, all candles in the house are lit. This is the only day of the year I light the candle sconce I made from tin cans (and dedicated to Brigid).

Although for some this day traditionally marks the beginning of "spring house cleaning", at my house that "tradition" is delayed until early March.

February is my month to focus on thankfulness - baking over 100 dozen cookies to give to the amazing people and wedding sites who refer to us most of our wedding business - and - devoting the blog to thanking and featuring the many bloggers and online friends who have given me the gift of friendship and inspiration through the past year.

A couple short Valentine posts, and then beginning February 7th and through the rest of the month I hope you will join me to celebrate these very special people.

In the meantime here are some great links to how to find your own celebration!

My most favorite presentation of all traditions associated with Feb. 2nd.

Additional links can be found attached to these  previous posts:  Imbolc, Brigid's Day and Candlemas  and Candle Wreath for Imbolc

Cyn shares very detailed information on her post The Feast of St. Brigid on her blog My View of Reality.

And this lovely post by Georgene Lockwood - sharing how she celebrates and what she has learned about February 2nd on her blog Romancing the Everyday.

Georgene inspired me to add the Paperwhites to my celebration in this post last February!

Happy February 2nd, Imbolc, Candlemas, St. Brigid's Day, mid-winter - oh - and Ground Hog Day!

Throughout my lifetime, I have found it quite curious that cultures - ancient cultures with no possible connection to each other - have developed artistic expressions that are quite similar.

Huichol Indians of Mexico weave Ojo de Dios - a similar weaving is practiced by Tibetan monks. Patterns in Navajo and Turkish rugs are amazingly similar.

Europe and Asia were connected and influenced by trade, but the ancient cultures in America pretty much developed in isolation. And yet these similarities exist even though until relatively recently (if current human migration theory is correct) there has been no connection between the people living on the Eurasian and the American continents since before the last ice age. (Weaving was developed in western Asia long after.)

Throughout history, we have given credit to certain individuals for significant discoveries - electric lights, heliocentric solar system, evolution, telescopes. But the fact of the matter is that these happen to be the individuals who simply have received credit for these theories and inventions. There were others working on the same problems at or near the same time, coming up with the same solutions and they were often unknown to each other.

I have come to believe that as humans we share what I call "intuitive consciousness".

I bet you are wondering why I am telling you all of this stuff?

Because I had a very surprising - almost mind blowing - experience happen to me over the holidays.

I had been influenced to create the tree by reading about the fact that in Iceland there are no evergreen trees so the early residents would cut down Rowan (Ash) trees, remove the limbs and then reinsert them in the trunk to resemble the branch pattern of an evergreen. When I first heard of this practice several years ago, I began trying to work out how I could make a simple tree to honor this tradition.

The full story of how I came to make the tree is here.

With the help of my sweetheart and a scary sketch of what I wanted to achieve, the final steps of the journey took place among the labyrinths of shelving and racks at our local Home Depot.

We came home with our purchases and went to work! Basic construction can be found here.

And then I posted! On Monday, November 7th, 2011!

Five days later, One Pretty Thing featured this project! Forgive me guys but &%$!#@&*?#

AND it was originally published on Lowe's site ion 12/09! Forgive me again! #@&?%$#!!!!!

Cross my heart - I NEVER, EVER set eyes on this tree before! But the similarities in construction and materials freaked me completely out!

Seriously, if this tree had appeared after mine, I would have been entertaining the thought that maybe the designer had been "influenced" by my tree. But clearly not. Nor, for that matter, was I influenced by Lowe's tree.

And get this - the construction - using the threaded rod so the branches could be folded flat - came from my sweetheart - who believe me does NOT spend any time looking at craft blogs - or online retail sites - even those involving tools! (He IS however, a brilliant engineer and worked out the design so he would not have to find room for a 18"x28" box in the garage!)

Having finally recovered from the shock - this beautiful tree appeared!

The idea didn't come entirely from Karah's imagination, she was influenced by this tree  while trying to figure out how to make a Christmas Tree using the natural materials at hand. (She lives on an island - lots of driftwood!)

Not long after I published this tutorial for Napkin Cuffs made from tooling foil, I found this tutorial for something very, very similar on Martha's site! And I am pretty darn sure Martha didn't find this idea so overwhelmingly brilliant that she just had to make them too! (And for the record, I have huge respect for Martha so no mean comments please.)

My point! Simply that two completely unconnected minds when searching for an answer to the same "problem" can and sometimes will come up with very similar solutions.

And while there might be the temptation to accuse another of "stealing" our ideas, the reality is that we don't actually own "our" ideas - they are simply a part of the collective intuitive consciousness.

Now, if I went over to Polka and Bloom, copied a pattern and then sold it or presented it as my own - THAT would clearly be stealing. But if I had never even heard of Carina or seen her work, and came up with a very similar design, then that would be the collective intuitive consciousness at work.

So - human intuitive consciousness! What do you think? Possible? Probable?

This idea may or may not be terribly revolutionary in knitting circles. But it sure has been working great for me!

Wanting to block several cowls and not wanting to block them flat, I came up with this idea. And it works so well I thought I would share. All that is needed - bath towels and steam!

The roll of bath towels can be made to fit almost any size and the loops work great to gently hold the wool in place. (Pins could be used if desired but in my case - absolutely NOT necessary.)

Steam irons work for steam blocking; however, I have an even better tool! A "vintage", I suppose, Steamstress II - see image here! No hot surfaces - just lovely steam! I originally purchased this tool when I was sewing every garment I wore and used it a great deal when setting seams in wool fabrics and when sewing with velvet.

Don't know it something similar is still available - mine still is working like a champ so no need to find out! Many of my brides are using "commercial type" steamers on their gowns and I suppose those would work too.

Technique!

Roll bath towels to the circumference of the cowl. Don't make it so small the stitches bunch up or so big that it stretches the stitches.

Place the cowl on the rolled towel as shown above, nudging the edges into shape so that the width of the cowl is nice and even all the way around.

Place the rolled towel on a flat surface in the position shown above. Thoroughly steam one half of the roll and let the knitted fabric sit until it feels mostly dry. Roll over, steam the other side and let sit until it feels dry. 

At this point, I will usually set the towel roll on one end and let the cowl dry completely overnight. In case you are thinking the cowl will slide off - the lovely little towel loops will hold your cowl in place.

It really does a great job of wrangling those stitches into sweet symmetry!

I used the same technique on Diane's market bag. This is the after felting before blocking shot when I was testing how much produce the bag would hold. 40 lbs of fruit and veggie goodness in case you are wondering!

After felting, I filled the bag with plastic baggies and let it dry. It really didn't look so great! So I built an oval roll of bath towels and placed the bag on the towels so that the bottom was facing up.

Then I steamed away! I think the results speak for themselves!

And if anyone owns or knows of a newer steam tool that works without getting hot like an iron, please let me know because this much loved Steamstress may not last forever!

Me learning to crochet! No longer impossible, improbable, unimaginable, or 'not going to happen'!

I am thrilled, and totally surprised, to share my very first crochet project!

A whole finished project!

Diane is amazing - I mean it - AMAZINGLY thorough and thoughtful teacher! She presented the whole process logically and so clearly that my mind had no problem grasping the stitches.

And my fears that my hands could never adapt to one hooked needle - totally unfounded! Apparently they have become quite nimble over the past two + years of knitting, knitting, knitting.

To get me started at a place where she felt I would be most comfortable, Diane made the magic ring and the first row of stitches (top photo). The rest is my work.

She used this pattern for crocheted snowballs (which I found on Holly Days Closet) as a guide for the stitches to teach me. I believe she had simply intended to share how to make basic stitches and let me practice on a swatch.

However, once she saw how simple this pattern is, she decided to use it as the basis for teaching me stitches!  I am so glad she did because I LOVE making projects!  I hate to practice!  And she knows that about her mother!

I am quite happy with the first 2/3 of the ball - basically single crochet and increases. The last third of the pattern calls for a series of decreases which were so much fun and I was so relaxed with it that apparently my tension got sloppy!

So I am not too crazy about the holes on one side - you can see them quite clearly in the second image! (Diane was not nearby when I finished the ball or I am SURE she would have caught my uneven stitching!)

But it is not so bad - and it is ready to claim it's rightful place on my Christmas tree right next to my very first knitted sock!

Diane tells me I have a lot left to learn. On darn! So I can't really say I can crochet yet?

But - I did realize my goal for the "Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge" going on over on Karah's blog thespacebetween.

And that was - to get over my fear and my firmly held belief that I can't crochet.

Now I am going to practice, practice, practice so I can make these most beautiful crocheted balls designed by Greta Tulner at ATERGcrochet.

No longer impossible!