Craft Failure and Craft Success

Sometimes you just have to fail. This was a frustrating failure though. The project from beginning to end was horrible. I broke two needles, and the strips of fabric kept catching on the presser foot. The kids kept trying to talk to me and I was already SO frustrated that I ended up being frustrated with them.

(not fair, bad mom...I KNOW)

When it was done it was colorful, but horrible. Misshapen, oblong...AWFUL. But, I'll still keep it, failures can be good things. They make you remember how NOT to do things, which is good. But more importantly, it's how you learn. (This is where my 11 years of technical support comes in handy) I know now to use another presser foot, and to roll and secure the fabric before I start...and I know to use a big, sharp needle. And I know to wait until the kids are asleep for this one. I will revisit this again because I like the idea of being able to use up my little bits of fabric.

(especially the fabrics that aren't your favorite because the pattern doesn't show as much)

((and especially for the fabrics that ARE your favorite because you will smile every time you look at the bowl...like the Lime Dot in the middle of this one))



Thankfully, this day had a craft-silver-lining; in the evening after I put the kids to bed I turned on the Oscars and set out to learn how to knit a cable. With the Stitch n' Bitch book on my lap and the Oscars on the tube I made this neat little cable. It was SO easy, I was really surprised. It seems like my knitting learning curve gets steeper and steeper, so it was nice to have an easy win.

I have so much more respect for knitters now. I had no idea the time and energy and patience that went into these projects. It really is amazing.

Homemade Orange Soda

Theirs:

Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate, gum arabic, natural flavor, glycerol ester of wood rosin, yellow 6, red 40, brominated vegetable oil

Mine:
Orange Juice, water, sugar, yeast

These are two very different sodas, in taste, appearance and contents. Really they aren't even comparable. What we made was more akin to Orangina than store bought Orange Soda. (thankfully I love Orangina)



The process takes 1-3 days and has the potential of exploding (if too much gas is produced) or being flat (if none is produced) and eventually if left on the shelf too long would resemble some kind of wine. In fact homemade soda does have very small amount of alcohol in it, due to the process of fermenting with yeast. Of course you'd have to drink gallons to have any ill effects...and I think your body would be more concerned with the amount of liquid in it than it's alcohol content.

Fermentation of glucose. One glucose molecule is converted into two ethanol molecules and two carbon dioxide molecules:

C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH (alcohol) + 2 CO2 (fizzy deliciousness)

But, when we opened the bottle for the first time we could definitely smell the yeast/alcohol. It didn't stop us from tasting it, but it did cause me to stop and do some research on it. All sources I've found so far say that it has less than 1%, and one woman tested hers and it had 0.65%. Non-alcoholic beer has about 0.5%, beer about 4%, wine and wine coolers 10% to give you an idea.

The recipes I found varied greatly. So I got the general idea and tried my own way. I heated 3/4 cup of sugar with about 4 cups water, then I took it off the fire and added 4 cups of orange juice. Once it was cool enough I added the yeast, about 1 tsp. I did not strain it, and I bottled it within 10 minutes of adding the yeast (In a leftover 2L soda bottle). I made the soda at 3pm on Thursday and by night time I think it was ready (ready=you can feel the plastic bottle firm up), but I waited until Friday morning before putting it in the fridge. (refrigeration slows the fermentation to nearly a halt...but not quite)

I liked it, because of the slight "beer" smell it made me feel like I was drinking grown up soda. The kids tried it, but didn't love it. I think next I will shorten the fermentation time...with soda you want to stop the fermentation as soon as you have the desired level of carbonation. I think I will also strain it before I bottle it, to reduce the sediment at the bottom.

GingerAle is next, and this time I think I will stick with the recipe from Mother Earth News.

For another interesting read check out this post for homemade blueberry soda. She actually makes her culture, rather than buying and adding yeast.

Some new ideas to try...

After my fun with crocheting jute twine last week, I found this ETSY store (sosorosey) with stacking jute twine bowls. I had been wanted to buy some wire produce hangers, you know the ones with the three hanging tiers? But I think instead I may try something like this. I think the bowls filled with produce might work out just right.



If not, there is the possibility of fabric bowls. I just threw away SO many scraps that would be good for this kind of project, so I'm kicking myself a little. But on the other hand, we're trying so hard to pare down what we have, I just can't keep loads and loads of stuff I might use. This bowl came from Oops I Craft My Pants, and has links the original tutorial on there. But honestly, I liked the way hers looked better than the original tutorial. This looks like a really fun project, and a good use of old fabric or even clothing or sheets or curtains.



Speaking of old clothing, this from ETSY shop Squirrellicious was made of old jersey t-shirts. I have some old shirts and sheets that I've kept around just in case...it's amazing how old fabric can become something new...and in this case REALLY amazing.

The Sister Pillow

After my almost giveaway yesterday I completed the sister pillow. I decided to make them different, but in the same style. I used the same yarn, but a slightly different sized block. I changed the placement a little, and some of the fabrics differ. I didn't have much choice on the fabrics...the ones that I used were among the last remaining dregs of some old favorites.



I love this one as much as the other, even though they are different I think they compliment eachother. (But I'm still not giving them away) Now I have to go back to the drawing board for the giveaway because I used up too much of the pretty yarn...I think there might be enough for a single coaster. Coaster for one anyone?


I'm kidding...but look what I did make with the scraps. I know it doesn't look like anything, but you should FEEL it. It's so soft and squishy. I finger-crocheted it late last night after I put the kids to bed. I was watching Netflix (such a time waster, but SO addictive) and lying in bed and I wondered what it would look like if I used my fingers to crochet the remenants of this gorgeous yarn. And here it is...I know it doesn't look like much, but it has SUCH potential. What a wonderful scarf it would make! The design would be loose and wild and so SO warm. I only wish I had more yarn!!! And I know it might seem strange to use your finger instead of a crochet hook, but honestly it was fun. And it might be a good way to show kids the process of crocheting, I might give it try on my kids and see how it goes. (Not with yarn this expensive though)

A Case of the Greedies

I wrote a post about a giveaway I was going to have. I planned out the final product in my head and then set to work. The project took some twists and turns (literally) and became something a little different than I had planned. (All of my plans do this, so really I'm not sure I should ever plan anything) As it was coming together I began to fall in love with it. And by the time it was done, it could not be parted with. Something about the combination of colors and textures and techniques. Laurel loved it too and snuggled right in with the knitted center square...how can I part with it now?



That's right, I cannot. I think instead I will make it a sister and they will live in the camper with us. It's just the cheery colors we needed in there. I would like to recover the sofa in the camper with something more neutral and less La Quinta, and I think this pillow (and it's sister) would look right-at-home on a neutral colored sofa.



Sorry...the giveaway will have to wait a little longer.

A Brief Taste of Camper Life

The kids and I had to run to the new house yesterday, and while we were there I figured it was high time I start moving things into the camper. So I brought our games and some kitchen supplies and sheets. It felt good to start putting things into cabinets (thankfully we have a lot of cabinets).




We had a picnic in the camper (despite the gorgeous 70 degree sun outside), we played hide and seek (again, in the camper), we played Whack-a-Mole and dominoes (yep, in the camper). Apparently the kids were more excited by the camper than the introduction of early spring weather. Though, we did stop to look around to see if anything had bloomed yet...and it had!!!



Here is the view from the door of the camper, I can't wait until it's full and green. The telltale signs of future blooms are just starting to show and we were able to walk around the property and spot where things are going to bloom...and where we want to plant new things.

Knit Bunny

No, I didn't knit a bunny, but I was feeling crafty and not feeling plan-ny. So...I headed out to the garage (aka studio) and looked around at all that is left. I really want to use up some fabrics and sell some items before we move. I have so many fabrics that I really want to use up, rather than pack. But I wasn't ready to make something official, I just wanted to play around. So first I grabbed some felt and made a hair clip.



I thought I had worked through my crafty feelings for the day, so I went back into the house. But somehow, I just knew I wasn't done...so after another cup of coffee I headed back to the studio and started cutting. I wanted to make a square storage container that looked like a bunny. And I wanted to come up with the dimensions for a set of creature storage containers, so I picked a size and cut. In the end I didn't plan the size right because it came out more like a tote. (I think I needed to take up more on the bottom corners to make a square instead of a rectangle.) But it was cute anyway...perfect size for a couple of skeins of yarn and my needles. And with it filled up it stands on it's own, so in the end it became a very narrow fabric storage container. The nose and mouth I embroidered after the bag was done. (normally I'd do it before it was sewn together so that the stitch-work wouldn't show, but like I said I wasn't in the mood to plan) This took about 15 minutes for the bag and another 15 for the face. Not too shabby for a crafty Sunday.