Rainy day beading

The night before last, Child Two had a friend sleep over. Sleep over? Ha! Very little sleeping was done. They had planned to make bracelets, but they got sidetracked building a sheet-and-chair fort, which they played in for hours and then “slept” in. Two of the cats didn’t quite understand that a sheet, while technically a solid object, is not strong enough to stand on when it’s supported only by several dining room chairs. Dottie tried it first, before bedtime. In the middle of the night, what little sleep the girls did get was interrupted by Jamie crashing down on them: “And down will come kitty, sheet, chairs, and all.”

After her friend left in the morning, Child Two decided to keep the fort up (it’s still there now) and in the afternoon she and I sat inside and made memory wire bracelets together.
These are very easy to make. All it takes is some memory wire (so-called because it retains its coil shape), a pair of wire cutters and a pair of pliers (round-nose ones work well), and beads. Our local BigName Craft Store carries two sizes of memory wire, one just right for kids and one just right for adults. Cut the wire to whatever length you want (if someone has been pretending the wire is a Slinky—Child One, was that you?—you may have to untangle it first), curl one end with the pliers, and start beading. When you’re done, curl the other end. That’s it.

It was rainy yesterday and the day before that, so Child Two and I decided we needed some bright spring colors. What could be better than sitting in a homemade fort on a gloomy day with great company, 70s tunes cranked up on the stereo, playing with beads?

By the way, we're still in search of brownie recipes and online craft stores. Leave a comment if you've got something to recommend!

In search of . . .

Child Two and I are on a quest for two things: (1) the perfect chocolate brownie recipe and (2) craft stores other than Michael’s.

I love baking—except for cakes, but that’s a trauma too hard to discuss. When I was in grad school, I was known for my baking (in our department, we took our potlucks seriously). In fact, a friend once received a marriage proposal from a complete stranger at a picnic based on the cookies she’d made from a recipe I gave her.

Despite this, though, I’ve never found a brownie recipe I really like. As we made another batch of just-okay brownies this weekend, Child Two and I decided to launch a search for the perfect chocolate brownie recipe. If you know any good ones, please share!

Now, as for Michael’s—I probably spend as much money there as the next crafter, but that’s mainly because it’s almost the only choice I have for most things. I miss the days when there were options, when the department stores had fabric departments and I could look for what I wanted in any one of several stores in my own town. Big stores like Michael’s certainly serve a purpose, but when what you want isn’t the same as what their buyers think will sell or is out of stock, you have a problem. I ran into that when buying the beads for this bracelet, which Child Two and I made together on the weekend—stock was low and the color choices were slim.

(The fact that the model is a little glass vase is due to the fact that Child Two and I are both suffering from Ugly Winter Hands Syndrome.)

Instead of whining about it (although I must admit I do a bit of that too), we’ve decided to seek out all the craft and art supply stores we can find in the Greater Vancouver area and make ourselves a little directory. Since Child One and Child Two are on spring break, we started today at Granville Island, a former industrial area that is now a tourist’s and artist’s haven. Besides exploring some of the shops, we went to the kids’ market (so LOUD) and to the public market, where we admired food and flowers:


We also went on an aquabus for short harbor tour.


We didn’t buy much today, just some tiny mandarins,

four handmade buttons from Nepal (I bought one for each of us and Child Two bought the heart one for me),

a catnip wool ball,

and some ice cream that didn’t make it home for pictures.

We’re also looking for good online craft supply stores of all kinds. Leave a comment if you have one to recommend!

Weekend projects

Somehow, in between soccer practice and games, the dreaded grocery shopping, a trip to IKEA, hanging shelves, housework, taking Dottie to the vet, nagging my children, and coming down with a doozy of a cold, I found time to work on some quick projects this weekend. First, while waiting for my son at a soccer game (he’s a ref, so I can sit in the car and knit instead of pretending to watch while I’m really chatting with the other parents: “Of course I saw your goal, dear. No, my back wasn't turned, really!”), I worked on the purple scarf I cast on at the art gallery.

Then I finally managed to pay attention long enough to do the decreases on the child’s rolled-brim hat correctly. It’s made from Paton’s Classic Merino, with a little cat hair thrown in for extra warmth, and will be donated to afghans for Afghans.

This is the same pattern I used for the adult hat, except for the top-knot. I had never knit an I-cord before and I looked it up in three books before I decided that I had to stop trying to understand the instructions and just trust them. It turned out fine. Oh, and remember my saying that my cats won’t model hats? Apparently I was wrong.

Ever since I saw some fancy stitch markers online, I’ve wanted to make a set of my own. Finally, with some help from a guy named Michael and from the Crazy Daisies, I got around to it.

I made one unique one (the red one) to be used for marking the beginning of a round. They were really fun and easy to make.

I recently got the wonderful news that my current Chemo Angels “buddy” is about to finish her treatment for breast cancer. I made her a little card and purse envelope, which I will send with a congratulations gift. She likes green and daisies. The pattern is from a Klutz’s Handmade Cards set and I found a little flower button in my jar of odd buttons to use on the envelope.

One of my goals for my Year of Living Differently is to make crafting part of my everyday life again. I’m rarely able to sit down for an hour or two at a time, but I’m rediscovering how much I can do when I take advantage of the little bits of time I do have.