A Real, Honest-to-Goodness Blog Post

by Melissa // September 19, 2009 // 2 Comments

Hey! I’m knitting something! (No! Really!)

You see, up to this point all I’ve made for the twins is one sweater and one hat apiece. This is clearly insufficient for a pair of babies who are going to spend the first week of their lives in a fanatically air-conditioned environment and then immediately transition into a real winter (complete with mounds and mounds of snow). I really only made Max and Charlie one sweater each – I mean, we were living in Texas – and that was kind of just to do it. These little guys are going to need what I can make for them. (And that makes it so much more fun, doesn’t it?)

Now, this (these? I am making two of them) sweater is very special. In my frantic, last minute stash diving – trying to decide which yarn would do me the most good to pack in our limited space, what projects I would use them for, etc – I uncovered a long-buried wool cache. More than two years ago, if I recall, I went into a Jo-Ann’s to find that a lot of their house yarns were on clearance. To my delight, this included the soft, gorgeous, 100% wool and generally quite pricey Tesoro. I bought every ball they had (for the low, low price of $2.35 apiece) and tucked it away to use for baby things. Well, as you know, a lot has happened between then and now, and so the yarn hasn’t so much as seen the light of day for a long time.

Sooo soft, 100% wool, likely superwash since tales say it doesn't felt...

At any rate, in this stash I discovered five balls of blue (and one of yellow, to use for contrast or extra yardage) and decided that now was the time for them to be put to use. Sadly, the Tesoro has now long been discontinued, so there’s not much chance of getting more…that means that I have 2.5 balls of blue to use for each sweater, plus another half-ball of yellow in case I run out and need to do the edgings in contrasting colors. I’ve done a lot of calculations, and I think it will be doable.Â The pattern is Baby Sophisticate, available free and really quite cute. Now, I don’t think I have the buttons I want to use for these (although I did remember to bring buttons!) but that’s okay. 😀 Just today we stumbled across what appears to be the arts and crafts store on a nearby base, and it is HUGE. We couldn’t go today, but I am so psyched to visit next week. The seductive image my mind is painting me, of a large selection of American yarn, has me extremely hopeful that I’ll find something interesting there.

Oh, Hi!

by Melissa // September 14, 2009 // 1 Comment

Things have been incredibly hectic over the last few weeks, but I’m writing to you now from the other side of our plane trip. That’s right, we’re down here by the hospital in ~~muggy~~ sunny Okinawa! So, while I haven’t been able to muster much energy or interesting content for the blog this last month, I now have time. Lots and lots of time.

Also (interestingly) I think I’ll be able to work on some projects! I had anticipated not really doing much knitting or crocheting down here since the hot and sticky weather drains me of any desire to cover my lap with wool, but the cottage we’re staying in requires us to keep the air conditioning on all the time to prevent the growth of mold. Let me just say that 21C is a lot cooler than you’d think. We’re going to be glad when our trunks show up and we can pull out the sweatshirts we packed for the trip back home.

Anyway – here we are! Now we just have to wait a few weeks for the twins to get here.

How to Make a Magazine Organizer – for Free*

by Melissa // August 14, 2009 // 6 Comments

*Or, near enough as makes no never mind, as Mom used to say.

We have a bit of a magazine problem at our house. Or I suppose, to be more precise, a magazine storage problem. That’s what happens when someone buys every magazine they see with a motorcycle on the front. 😉

At any rate, something must be done!

You will need:

A large, empty cereal box
Scissors
A ruler or straight-edge
A marker, pen, pencil, etc.
Tape
Wrapping paper

Step 1: Cut off the flaps on top.

Step 2: Mark the box from corner to corner on each side (make sure you have the top of the line on the same side on each side).

Wiiiith many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse!

Step 3: Cut down the line, across the short side of the box (at the crease) and up the other line in one piece. You really need the cut-off portion to be in one piece.

Step 4: Flip it over so the top is at the bottom. Use the magazines to measure how far you need to scoot it over so they’ll fit. Tape the pieces together securely (don’t forget the bottom!) all around, inside and out.

Step 5: Mark around from the bottom of one “V” to the bottom of the “V” on the other side. (Make sure you’re doing this to the piece you taped on, and not the big piece.)

Step 6:Â Cut across the line.

And it works! But, if (like me), you object to Kung-fu Panda and packing tape in your decorating, continue:

Step 7: Wrap the magazine holder. (This will require some wrapping-fu.)

(I made a straight cut down from the top to accommodate the weirdÂ angle. ALSO – be sure to tape the wrapping paper down on the inside, ALL the way around. This will help minimize wear and tear as the magazines go in and out.)

Is it macho? No. Is it elegant? Ummmmm….~~maybe?~~ No. But it works.

So there you go! See? No power tools, no problem.

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