Ok. So I have something that I need to get off of my chest.
I hate crafting with my children.
It starts with such promise-- usually a beautifully photographed tutorial on pinterest, extolling the virtues of stimulating creativity with your children. Each time, I approach the project like an optimistic goldfish, if any previous negative memories remain, I brush them away with the simple "this time will be different".
It never is.
On average, it takes 25 minutes to set up, 35 minutes to clean up and about 2.3 minutes for my children to 'do' the activity, managing in that short time to fling the materials as far and wide as possible. There is usually swearing (me), often tears (me again) and sometimes tantrums (yep, me).
Of course, that is if they even do it. If paint is involved, Georgia just paints herself. If there are scissors involved, Ellis cuts his clothes/hair/(insert other inappropriate object here). Theo eats everything (as we sadly learned this morning...no story to follow) and the cats always have a way of getting involved in some complicated way that ends with glitter being traipsed throughout the house.
What makes the whole situation worse is that people just assume that I spend my days happily creating with my children. As local folks find out about my blog and know that Kevin works in the arts as well, I get more and more comments about how creative we are as a family and how much art we must do. It is like our deep dark secret, because the truth is, if I am bad at doing crafts with the kids, Kevin is worse. The most laid back man most of the time, art projects with our children turn him into the craft police. If a project even looks like it is going to change from the original intentions, Kev loses it, doing that thing he does with his hair when stressed.
What a fraud, right? All of that Christmas crafting was a blip in a long history of me freaking out about the mess. I love it when the kids just draw...anything beyond that sends me quivering in a corner. But then, one or two turns 'round the tank and I forget how much I despise it and out comes the paint and glitter once again.
And while I am off-loading. My children also hate wearing hats. Each and every one of them has done since birth.
If I had to pin down the 2 questions I get asked the most they would be:
1."How do you do it all?" and
2."What yarn do you use?"
The answer to number 1 is quite simple:: I do not do laundry or vacuum, but the answer to question number 2 takes a bit more explaining.
Finding the right yarn for the Etsy and Folksy shops has been a bit of a challenge. I tried a number of different weights and brands of wool, but really sruggled to source options that met my standards for quality, affordability and colour. Plus, with the amount of handmade goods I produce, heavier weight yarns are a necessity to get through the orders in a timely fashion and the UK is a DK nation.
I tried a ton of yarns...ordering samples of most every commercially available chunky yarn in the UK (ok, that may be an exaggeration, but I did order the samples I was recommended on Facebook). It seemed like everything I tried would hit one target but not others. Cascade 220 has a great range of colours and wears well, but I was unsure of its wearability for newborns and its thinness. Wendy Merino Chunky was lovely and soft, as well as reletively affordable, but the colours are too limited and muted. The same goes for King Cole's equivilant. Texere's chunky wool has beautiful colours and a great twist and bounce to it, but is soooo scratchy, I couldn't see many baldy babies being comfortable.
For a long time I was a bit of a yarn snob of the "I just can't work with acrylic" variety. This lasted until 2 things happened-- number 1: my money ran out and number 2: my children beat the heck out of some lovely and expensive single ply merino, resulting in a sticky felted mess that looked worse when washed. 100& acrylic still gives me the heeby-jeebies, I must admit...its the squeaking on my crochet hook that puts me off. However, I've found that with the wool content high enough, the acrylic element is hardly noticeable.
Ultimately, I have settled on 3 main yarns for my hats: Wendy Mode Chunky and Ice Yarn's Bellone, with a bit of Paton's Shadow Tweed thrown in. All 3 are about 50%wool.
The range of colours in Wendy Mode Chunky is great. They have really expanded this recently and offer a good range of basic colours, as well as some unexpected ones. Another bonus it that it wears really well, there is still a bit of pilling from heavy use (for example on Es slippers), but not nearly as much as many other chunky yarns I tried. It is a very soft yarn, being 50% merino, so I am happy to make items for the newest of babies. Another bonus is that my local store sells the yarn for those last minute dashes.
Another recent discovery is Yarn Paradise/Ice Yarns. They are a huge yarn distributor in Turkey who offer balls of wool at ridiculously low prices. Given this, I find the quality good. I have recently started using their Bellone Chunky/Bulky weight for a few items and I must say I am impressed. It is a single ply chunky with low twist, but it holds up extremely well to wear and tear and blocks up very soft. Their postage is expensive, but it still works out at very good value and they ship faster than many UK suppliers I deal with, with yarn arriving in 2 days.
For the owl hat and the mane of the lion, I use Patons Shadow Tweed. I love this yarn. It is so nice to work with and each ball has such a lovely range of colours. It is single ply as well, and again holds up remarkably well to heavy use. I live in fear of this yarn being discontinued as I feel it really makes both of those designs, adding depth and richness to the Lion's mane and the Owl.
Ok, geekery over. I'm going to do something cool. Like floss or read my new book about knitwear design.
Aaah, remember my lovely studio? It was so clean and tidy and beautiful, no?
Uh, yeah. It quickly turning into dumping ground 101.
Here's the thing about working at home with 3 children under 5: Wherever you are - they are. I spent so much time running up and down the stairs, carting yarn here and there, that I never really used my studio. In those moments when the babies were both asleep and E was occupied, one of 2 things would happen:
- My working upstairs would wake them
- Ellis hollering for me as I was not downstairs and he needed his 200th drink/snack/conversation of the day would wake them.
So a reshuffle took place over the weekend and the playroom became our shared work/play space. The upstairs still has the sewing equiptment and stores much of the non-working yarn, but my new work space in the heart of the activity means that I can work while they play near by.
The centrepiece of the room is our old coffee table, transformed by several coats of eggshell paint and two play panels - one Duplo and one blackboard. The table is originally from ikea and has always been a great coffee/playtable for the children so I am glad to have rescued it out from under the TV.
Most of the toys are hidden out of the way in the bookcase with the ikea fabric curtain.
My favourite bits are the imporvised car garage from a spice rack, the wagon "shelf" serving dual purpose as fire surround and bookshelf and the beautiful Sylvia Woodford wall hanging
And of course the fairy lights, because who doesn't like to work by their twinkling glow?
I know. Its almost February. You are all planning your Valentine's crafts and gifts and Christmas is a distant memory except for the extra 10lbs hanging over your waistband (ok, my waistband)
But I couldn't not show you this:
It is made from an old duvet and with a pillowcase used for the straps and pocket. It is *exactly* the apron I would make for myself..long and wide straps. Big wrap around sides. Pocket. Vintage. *Swoon*
I am notorious for not wanting to give away things I make, but this one may just have been the hardest to hand over. However, my love of my friend definately outweighed my love of the apron.
I still have enough material to make at least 4 more and I should be able to find some time to make one for myself...
Kevin lost his beautiful cabled handwarmers made out of glorious and expensive Posh Yarn...can we have a collective "grrr"?
So I made him some new ones, inspired by the Herringbone Neck Warmer I made my mother in law for Christmas. This time, Kev's were made with cheap yarn. That knit up incredibly quickly. And then I wrote up the pattern so I wouldn't forget when he loses them again.
They are made out of Wendy DK held double. This makes a sort of heavy Aran/Chunky wool, but traps air in between the fibers making them warm and squishy. You need one ball, just pull the second end out of the middle and knit away.
Kev wanted ribbing around the thumbs, but I prefer the sleekness of just a thumbhole, but I have included optional instructions.
Herringbone handwarmers perfect for him and her, with optional thumb ribbing. Knit with DK yarn held double, these are lovely warm mitts for cold winter days.
This pattern is written for DK yarn held double which traps extra air in the stitches making the mitts lovely and warm. Aran weight yarn can also be used, but please check your gauge and size accordingly. You can size up by using larger needles or adding or subtracting stitches in multiples of 4.
The mitts are worked flat and then seamed. If you choose to add ribbing to the thumbhole, you then pick up stitches using double pointed needles (DPNs) around the opening and knit in rib for 4 rows.
Supplies
Any DK weight yarn ( 40g/125m of Wendy Mode DK held double pictured)
Darning needle
Needles
6.5mm/ size 10.5 Straight Needles (For Medium Sized Mitts)
4mm/ size 6 Double Pointed Needles (for optional thumb ribbing)
or
5mm/ size 8 Straight Needles
8mm/ size 11 Straight Needles (For Large Sized Mitts)
Gauge
For Medium: 19 stitches and 12.5 rows in 4in in herringbone stitch
For Large: 18 stitches and 12 rows in 4in in herringbone stitch
Stitches and Abbreviations
CO = Cast On
K = knit
P = purl
p2tog = purl 2 together
sl1 = slip one stitch from left to right needle as if to purl psso = Pass the Slipped Stitch Over
For Medium mitts:
Using your 5mm straight needles CO 32 Stitches
K2,P2 for 4 rows then switch to the 6.5mm/size 10.5 needles and begin herringbone pattern:
Row 1: K1, * sl1, k1, psso, knitting through back loop as you psso; repeat until 1 stitch remains on left needle *, K1. Row 2: p2tog, but keep on left needle, p 1st stitch again and drop both stitches off needle. Continue to end of row
(for a video of the herringbone stitch pattern in English style knitting, see the pattern for the Herringbone Neck Warmer:
for a video of this stitch pattern in Continental style knitting, see my video at:
Continue stitch pattern until knitting measures 5.5inches in length. On next right side row, begin K2, P2 sequence for 3 rows, then bind off in ribbing.
Final piece should measure 6.5 inches long and 6.5 inches wide.
Sewing up:
Decide which end is going to be the top. Fold over and using the seaming stitch of your choice, sew the seam closed for 2 inches. Leave a 1.5 inch gap for the thumbhole, then sew up the remaining 3 inches. Weave in ends.
Optional Thumb Ribbing:
For medium mitts, using your 4mm DPNs, pick up 12stitches around the thumb opening, distributed over 2 needles. Using a 3rd needle, K2, P2 for 4 rows. Bind off in ribbing. Sew in ends.
For a range of other patterns and handmade items, please visit my shop http://KatGoldinDesigns.etsy.com
For Large Mitts:
Using the 5mm straight needles CO 32 Stitches
K2,P2 for 4 rows then switch to the 8mm/size 11 needles begin herringbone pattern:
Row 1: K1, * sl1, k1, psso, knitting through back loop as you psso; repeat until 1 stitch remains on left needle *, K1. Row 2: p2tog, but keep on left needle, p 1st stitch again and drop both stitches off needle. Continue to end of row.
for a video of the herringbone stitch pattern in English style knitting, see the pattern for the Herringbone Neck Warmer:
for a video of this stitch pattern in Continental style knitting, see my video at:
Continue stitch pattern until the knitting measures 7inches in length. On next right side row, begin K2, P2 sequence for 3 rows, then bind off in ribbing.
Final piece should measure 8 inches long and 7 inches wide.
Sewing up:
Decide which end is going to be the top. Fold in half lengthwise and using the seaming stitch of your choice, sew the seam closed for 2 inches. Leave a 2 inch gap for the thumbhole, then sew up the remaining 4 inches. Weave in ends.
Optional Thumb Ribbing:
For large mitts, using your 4mm DPNs, pick up 16 stitches around the thumb opening, distributed over 2 needles. Using a 3rd needle, K2, P2 for 4 rows. Bind off in ribbing. Sew in ends.
We are trying to reinact the scene in Elf where Buddy redecorates the department store. We are getting close, helped by a multitude of tutorials on pinterest and blogs all the while being serenaded by Kevin and his new guitar. He can now play Jingle Bells and has had the thing less than 24 hours. Awesome.
I know I say this about EVERYTHING, but seriously this has to be THE BEST CRAFT EVER.
We saw someone making these on the telly the other night, so it was moved to the top of our massive Christmas to-make list.
And SO SO worth it. Ellis slept with his last night. He wants to make more today. They are just so fun, easy and impressive.
There are lots of tutorials out there on how to make these, but here through trial and error here is what we found worked best:
Supplies:
Jars,
Glitter and confetti (confetti worked MUCH better and didn't get EVERYWHERE. Plus glitter sticks to the figures and the sides of the jar)
Little Christmas figures from the thrift shop and plastic cake toppers from the party store
Mince pie casings or other items to act as bases to raise the figures off the bottom of the globe a bit
Glycerine (home baking aisle of the supermarket)
Hot Glue gun (we went through 6 sticks in an hour!) - when we do it again, I am going to try superglue as the hot glue had a tendancy to give on some of the ceramic figurines
--------
-We just basically glued the figues to the bases or raised them on upturned mince pie casings. We filled the casings with wet cotton balls or foil so that there wouldn't be big air bubbles in the globes.
- wide mouth jars worked best for a 'scene'
- Once glue sets, fill jar to the top with water, add a goodly squidge of gylcerine to thicken the water and some glitter/confetti.
- Hold over a sink or pan to catch overflow and screw on lid.
- You can glue the lids shut, but we found it was better not to as inevitably something comes unglued from so much shaking and there are tears and it needs to be fixed. Just screw on really tightly so small hands can't open it.
That is what life is at the minute. I catch myself running everwhere - up the stairs, to the school, to the post office. Running through the days at a pace that leavess my body aching and my head spinning.
There is just so much to do, to plan, to think about. Normal Christmas busyness combined with a looming deadline for last posting date to the US means I ache for just a few more hours in the day. The smallest hiccup - a clingy child, a late delivery of supplies, a missing hook - and I am over the edge in a panic, tears welling up in frustration. I love making things, its the deadline...the ever looming deadline that chases me around the day.
But I try to walk when I want to run. I try to slow down just a little amongst the chaos. Ellis is beyond excited about Christmas. There were actual tears of joy at the return of Richard the Elf, the behaviour modification tool the Elf on a Shelf who is spending his days with us and his nights reporting back to Santa about the day's events. Advent calendars are out (we have 4) - 2 chocolate ones, one decorative one and one with a Christmas actvity for every day. Today we are writing a letter to Santa for Richard the Elf to take up to the North Pole tonight.
But really, mostly it is about making things. Making hat after hat until my hands ache at the end of the day. Making dinner. Making sure we have clean laundry and the house is semi-presentable. Making lists of all the OTHER things I want to make...peppermint creams, knitted, sewn and crocheted gifts. Making messes.
