Today the machine was making a few scratchy noises and it took me a few tries to get a bobbin wound correctly. I started to worry a little. I’ve heard sewing machine “tune ups” are very expensive and just didn’t want to have to spend that right now. Then I stopped and heard my mom’s voice in my head. “You have to take care of things in order to keep them nice.” This was usually said about clothes on the floor or remembering to get the oil changed in my car when I was a teenager. Those words just popped into my brain. And she showed me year after year as I was growing up, that you don’t have to wait for someone else to get something done. She was not afraid to try something out. She always got the job done, whatever it was. Figure it out, do it yourself. If you don’t know how, ASK (or read the directions)! She is the reason I am so independent. (possibly too independent if you ask some of my loved ones)

A little while later as I was looking for something else in my sewing stuff, I came across a tube of sewing machine oil and a tube of lubricant. Well then. Thanks Mom.

After flipping through the manual (Yes, she still had the manual from 1963 – see I told you she took care of her things), I found the page on how to oil and lube the machine myself. I even got out the can of spray air and blew all the lint and fuzzies out (don’t you remember the dreaded faux fur from both the littles Halloween costumes? There was some still in the machine). I immediately noticed a difference in the machine. It’s now running like a…well oiled machine! Ready for another 3000 miles!

I think that had she still been alive I might not have felt so empowered to do that my self. I would have asked someone else to do it, or paid way more then I needed to to get the job done.

I think she left me with her own empowerment and guts to just go do what needs to be done.

I know this may seem like a small thing, but to me felt very empowering. I’d never done something like this before. This does not, however, mean I am going to go learn how to change my own oil in the car though. There are still some things left to the pros.

So what have I been doing?

I made a nifty cover for my fancypants mixer.

I found the fabric online in colors to match our soon to be new kitchen (hmm, did I just give away something big?) I found the pattern and tutorial here. As usual, I didn’t really follow the instructions. I just kinda used the pattern piece and winged it (wung it?) I don’t have much experience with piping, but I managed to make it look ok after a few tries. Technically the cover is reversible, but the inside fabric isn’t nearly as cool as the outside. I didn’t order enough because of the one way nature of the print. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I have a teeny bit of the retro fabric left and a bunch of the other. I may make a few more accessories to put in my new kitchen (there she goes again giving away the secret). I don’t plan on having anything live on the counters except my Kitchenaid, so I’ll have to figure out how to incorporate the fabric in some way.

more pix:

Today, I made some felty cuteness for lil K. Who am I kidding? For me too. (and maybe a friend or few, cough *LaLa-Caitlin-Chloe* cough)

I got the ideas from my felt pinboard. The rose ones I actually did follow the directions on the tutorial here. They were fun to do and the tutorial was very easy to follow. I also made a couple headbands see the flower one pictured above and this rainbow one (yay! #rainbowlove) that Lil K has been wearing since the second I finished it.

To make the rainbow headband I just took a headband we had (one of the flexible type ones that don’t snap as easy as the regular plastic ones). I turned under one end of rainbow ribbon and measured the length of the headband folding it to go the length of both sides, then sewed the edges of the ribbon on the machine around the headband, turning under the other end of the ribbon so I didn’t have any fraying edges. <-- see this is why I don't do tutorials.

My favorite of the clips is this one. It took a lot longer to make (hence why there's only one of them, Lil K and I will have to share it). Rainbows all the way, baby!

Lil K had a lot of fun modeling the clips, but didn’t care too much about helping make them.

I hope she will get lots of wear out of these cute accessories.

The last project I have been working on is not finished. It is an Ikea hack of sorts and I will post more about it when its completely done. Here’s a little teaser picture:

What are you all doing and making this week?

After I finished knitting and seaming it together, I tossed it in the washer and dryer for 2 cycles with hot water to get it nice and felty. I found the cute almost anime-looking button at JoAnn’s Fabrics. Under the button is an magnetic snap closure. I used webbing and plastic buckles for the back straps and grommets to cinch it up. They are “ok” looking, but I believe they will be more durable then something fancier. It’s thick and soft and hopefully just the right size for a 4 year old’s treasures.

I really like how it came out and can’t wait for Little K to get home from school so I can show it to her.

in my fancypants new mixer

in the old oven

while wearing my heart necklace.

They came out pretty

and yummy

Happy Valentine’s Day

I made some fabric bowls this weekend. It was a really easy project. I got the idea from Middle K's teacher. They were making them in his sewing studio class.

of course I made mine with a rainbow color scheme. Little K was wearing it as a hat and then walked around the house putting little things in it. Big K made me stop the second one at green and then claimed it for her future dorm room.

I also made a non rainbow one as a gift for someone.

On Friday, Big K was feeling a bit down. She was having a hard day and was thinking about my mom’s passing away. She and her Gigi were very close. It made her sad, and her being sad made me sad. My mom loved shopping. Shopping fixed everything. The three of us always had so much fun shopping together. So, Friday when we were both feeling down and missing Gigi, we did what made us feel closest to her. We shopped. We had dinner, just the 2 of us and then headed to the mall. It was nice to touch base with my busy teenager. We were talked and giggled and without spending too much money, we found a few things to bring home.

I saw these awesome sneakers at the mall. I was so tempted to buy them, I’m really not a sneaker person though. The kid ones also looked cool, but Lil K wasn’t with us to try them on. Maybe if they are still there next time we go, I’ll get them.

Rainbow & sparkles MIGHT just get me to wear sneakers.

While we were at the maul (ergh, I mean, mall) I picked up some new nail polish and spent the rest of Friday night doing what girls do best, painting nails. Even little K is all decked out in rainbow polish. It was actually her idea for me to get rainbow polish in the first place. Big K and I were thinking wouldn’t it be cool if they made nail polish like that car paint that shines like a prism in the sun.

Please let me know what you’ve seen or made with rainbows. I’m going to have a hard time making this rainbow thing last a whole year!

*no, I’m not ever having another baby

Fast forward 2 years and minus 51 pounds. The in-progress skirt not only could now fit around my body, I had to cut out 4 inches before I sewed it together and put the zipper in. With out further ado here is my success in many ways quilted skirt:

I have finished a work in progress AND it fits in with this year’s rainbow theme. I am looking forward to wearing this skirt to school. Some of my little students will enjoy it and be pleased that it was sewn by me. These little creative spirits are so inspiring to me and I love their enthusiasm.

Further updates on the Rainbow2012 front. I am about 80% complete with the knitting part of Lil K’s Rainbow bag. I have also found my next rainbow sewing project, and will begin working on it as soon as I finish the backpack.

The dress was a step out of my comfort zone. I do not normally wear prints. As flashy and sparkly as I like to be, I just really prefer solids to wear. When I picked out this pattern to sew, I knew the fabric needed to be something not solid. I am pleased with how it turned out. It’s not perfect, but it’ll be a nice dress to wear to school. I think my students will enjoy the bright colors and cute birdies.

I was going for a cute and vintage-y look, but also modern.

The skirt is a combination of a skirt I saw on Pinterest, and wanting to use the cute mushroom-y fabric for something. I found the mushroom fabric a while ago and have wanted to make something with it for a while, but I have that fear of prints in my clothing so I couldn’t think of what to do with it. I saw a skirt on Pinterest that had patch pockets using a different fabric from the skirt and I thought it was cool. I found this pattern, but it didn’t have patch-like pockets so I found a different way to incorporate the mushroom fabric. I really like the fit of this skirt.

I’m pretty sure I had a skirt like this when I was about 4 (but it didn’t have a mushroom on it). And I’m pretty sure it was sewn for me by my mom, on this very machine. What an interesting circle life rides in.

I would not normally have attempted a pattern like this. I never knew in-seam pockets and zipper could be so easy. Maybe its just that I’ve had a lot of sewing practice and feeling more confident. Maybe it is my mom’s machine and her good mojo flowing through it. Whatever it was, it was working for me. I really had fun using vintage patterns on my vintage machine this week to sew. I’m looking forward to digging through the box and finding the next pattern to try out.

I even had time to whip up a skirt for Little K with the left over birdy fabric.

She and I will match on Monday when we go to school!

And now that I’ve gotten some sewing projects completed, it’s back to knitting. The yarn for Little K’s epic rainbow backpack arrived today. I made a swatch and will be all ready to do the test felting tomorrow! I knitted the swatch tonight at my social knitting night at the local feminist book store.

Let me keep your attention with this:

This was taken last week and is how she went to school that day.

On New Years Day, I made rainbow frosted cupcakes using a frosting tint idea I found on Pinterest:

I have settled on my first official rainbow knitting project and am anxiously waiting on the yarn to arrive. I am going to make a felted backpack (for either Little K or myself). I will use this as my inspiration. I ordered some non superwash yarn so I can felt it. More on that later.

I haven’t had much time to search for rainbow “stuff”. My friend Miss Mermaid has these adorable skirts in her shop (click the pictures to go to there):

and these Key fobs:

My husband sent me this recipe:

I will attempt a vegan version of it.

And finally here is a rainbow themed treasury I found on Etsy. I may have to make my own at some point…but there were so many cute products in this one!

Please leave me some “rainbow” stuffs and ideas in the comments.

This year I have so many things I want to accomplish knitting-wise. After the banner year 2011 showed, I have a lot to live up to. Did I really knit 6 sweaters last year!?!?

My first goal for the record will be a cliche “12 in ’12″ one. I will make 12 pairs of socks in 2012. I reserve the right to make some of them baby or dolly sized. Hey, it’s my blog.

Both the hubbs and I want cardigan sweaters so that will happen as well (no, they will not be matching). My big kid only ever gets socks, so I should really do something else for her as well. The littles are growing so fast its silly to make sweaters for them. I have 2 different toy patterns I’ve been wanting to make for them here and here. They are content with toys and knucks <--seriously these kids are obsessed with knucks right now.

I am also in the midst of sewing Medieval Faire costumes for all 5 of us and knitting mitts and hats (because you never know if its going to be cold or hot as hades at a Ren Fest in February in North FL). I will do a picture post when everything has be completed. I have been taking a few I progress pictures, but not as many as I should have.

The boy’s knucks are actually gauntlets modeled after Link’s Gauntlets from Ocarina of Time and will go with his medieval faire costume, but he has also been wearing them to school. The girl’s are just some fun rainbow-esque “gauntlets” with yarn from my good friend Caitlin at STCW, the colorway is Lacerta, but we call it fruit stripe, the yarn base is Continuum. Little K has declared 2012 the year of rainbows and I’m planning on going with that. Rainbows are fun.

I’m easing back into blogging with just a little unemotional knitting recap for the past year. I have to say, this has been my favorite year as far as knitting goes (even if the rest if it kinda sucked). I’ve learned so many new techniques, stepped outside of my comfort zone, set crazy goals and met them. Knitting has also brought me closer to my friends this year, and shown me new ones.

This year I knitted 46 projects that I recorded. I think there are a few more in there that I did not put into my Ravelry page (where I keep track of my stuffs).

9 sweaters: 6 grown up, 2 toy and 1 baby
12 socks: 8 grown up pair, 3 kid pair, 1 toy pair
8 toys, 2 kindle covers, 5 bags/purses
3 hats and 3 fingerless gloves
and an entire solar system (no really!)

I’ll just give you a few pictures of my favorite projects (if you are one of my friends or one of my 2 blog followers, you’ve probably seen these pictures):

My favorite sweater is this one (which I have not blogged about yet):

its a tie for my favorite pair of socks:

the blue pair are from our annual Lord of the Rings marathon/knitalong and the orange pair are a pattern & yarn dyed from my good friend, Lorena.

I even wrote a pattern and other people knitted it. This was for my Nerd Wars tournament:

Grr Argh monsters

and finally my most used (besides socks) project is my water bottle sweater. I’ve used it just about every day since I finished it.

I have to give Nerd Wars the credit for the abundance of knitting projects I completed this year. I participated in the tournament for 2 rounds and managed to get a ton of stitches knitted. I really had so much fun in the tournament and hope to do it again. I’m just overwhelmed with ideas right now and not sure if they would fit into the tournament.

I’ll be back with my knitting goals for 2012. (because knitting goals are so much more fun then exercise and eating right)