Simply Curious

I haven't done a lot of crochet this past year, and it's all the fault of an afghan.

I get much colder at night than B., so I have a throw for my side of the bed.  It's a basic no-sew, fringed and tied end fleece blanket that I've had for ages.  It went much better in my previous bedroom with its rustic style.  It looks downright silly on a Chippendale four-poster.

My book doesn't actually look like this.

So I thought I'd crochet a nicer looking afghan, about the same size.  I eventually came across a Leisure Arts book on Aran afghans and bought it, about the time we moved to Boulder.  Then I found some sage green yarn at Walmart, and bought a few skeins of that.

I particularly liked this book for the way it gave instructions.  It would specifically label sections, i.e. (cable row) so you could conceivably combine different stitches and make up your own pattern.

I went with the Basketweave afghan, although I initially bought it for the Sampler afghan.  Sewing together sections of crocheted yarn is annoying, so I moved on.

I'm terrible when it comes to reading crochet instructions all the way through.   I figure if I don't know a stitch, it will take me five minutes to look it up and figure out how to do it.

Really, I should have stopped here.

What I should have been paying attention to is what the stitches were.  It took me a while to realize that the afghan instructions I'd chosen were not symmetrical.  One side was different than the other!  This annoyed me to no end.  Not to mention that I discovered that the afghan was going to be a lot narrower than I anticipated.  So I decided to start winging it.  I repeated several rows to give it extra width, and looked through the rest of the book to decide which stitches I liked enough to include in my blanket.

About this time B. got interested in the project.  He liked the look of it.  He suggested that I make it big enough to cover the bed.  The big, huge, king sized bed that comes up to my waist and is fondly referred to as the Monster Bed.  I resisted, but he kept suggesting, and so I modified my pattern again.  I bought more yarn.  Then even more.  I had to wait and ransack various Walmarts because they generally only carried 4-6 at a time, and apparently the had exclusive selling rights on that particular color, because it was the only place I could find it.

The afghan got bigger. And heavier.  And harder to maneuver.  Eventually I stopped working on it, because I'd had a molar removed and was exhausted and achy and recovering slowly, and it was just too hard to deal with.  Plus the weather was getting warmer and I was sitting under a ridiculous amount of yarn.

I didn't attempt to start any other projects during the year because 'I still had that afghan to finish.'  (I did knit a few hats.)  Finally in January I hauled it back out, and finished it in early February 2014.

That center panel is an example of the 'Celtic Weave'

Well, didn't that month just fly by!  Things got a little crazy, and very little crafting got done.  Why?

We attacked the kitchen.  It was time.

Here's the kitchen from the online listing, right before we moved in.

Before!

The island didn't stand a chance.

It started right before Christmas, and fortunately after I had finished my holiday baking.   We started simple.  We'd always had the impression that the island was in the wrong place.  There should be a "magic triangle" between your stove, sink, and fridge that allows for unimpeded traffic, and the island was causing us to veer to the left to get from the sink to the refrigerator.  B. had lots of holiday leave and we decided that we might as well take the time to experiment.  A few good shoves and a heave or two allowed us to detach the island from the floor.  It was only attached in four places with a few screws directly into the grout!  We cut the power to the island and detached the wiring to the outlet, and proceeded to  turn it 90 degrees and 'float' the thing around to determine its best position,  We picked a spot we thought would work and left it there for a week to see how it would work, nudging it one way or another once in a while.

We had to eat out a lot in the end, which is not fun when there's not a lot of allergy safe places to eat.   I think the people at Mumtaz know us by name now!

 We also decided to rearrange some of the drawers, and I took the opportunity to add some little-used items to the donation box.  I am still attempting to find new homes for some items.  I also took the opportunity to replace all the brass knobs with some silver colored ones, which seemed to go well with all the grey in the granite.

 December was always my favorite mail sorting time of year at work, because of all the beautiful and unique cards that came in, often from all over the world.

Pile o' card ornaments

 It was fun, but a lot of work.  I'm thinking a die cut machine is in order for future projects.  Fortunately it was busy work so I could just settle down in front of the TV and do a few at a time.  I punched a hole in the top and threaded some thin gold cord through to act as hangers.  The ornaments were small enough to fit in the smaller envelopes and very easy to mail.  I'm hoping my recipients think these are pretty enough to hang on their tree next year!

I just realized I forgot to make one for MY tree.  I guess I should go get on that!

Surprisingly, I found what I needed for the cabinet doors at Michael's.

They might not be as badly designed as ovens, but miniature microwaves available for sale were pretty sad.  I found one that might possibly have worked, and it was black and had a cord, which can be an exciting detail, but not for a hanging microwave.

This was pretty easy, since I didn't attempt to make it open.  Firstly an online image search for 'range microwave' until I found a design I liked and felt I could imitate.  I made a box of out illustration board, with an interior wall just inside the microwave door.  (I'm thinking about sticking in a 'glass' turning tray inside.)  The entire front s one piece with a window cut out and lines created with embossing tools.  I carved a handle out of balsa, although I could have gotten away with just the inline push button on the bottom right, but after carving the two handles for the oven I was feeling pretty confident about it.  I used posterboard to add some 3D detailing to the front.

I'm enjoying the detailing, but it gets complicated.  The top bit of the microwave gets venting, which I need to figure out how to do, and also buttons and the display on the right side, which obviously I haven't even attempted on the oven!  Plus I'm aware that there's more venting or SOMETHING on the bottom, for which I need a fine mesh.

But just looking at this unfinished picture pleases me.  I have a realistic looking microwave!  The original one was a plastic kit that was so old it came with a wood paneling sticker for around the sides.  I peeled it off finally, but it didn't help.

I have the feeling the kitchen's going to be my favorite room.

After painting the doors, I decided to try a little antiquing.  Wipe on, wipe off FAST, and hope you got all the crevices highlighted. Messy, very messy.

Slowly getting my doors and cabinets painted.  I'll do several thin coats and some careful sanding, and probably a little decorative antiquing before applying a sealant.

While waiting for the paint to dry I tested door pulls.  I just want something simple, so went with things I had around the house.  A ball head pin, a sewing pin, and a map pin.  Ball pin (about 2mm) was too small, but the map pin (4mm) was too big.  I also feel like the sewing pin is a little too small, too, so I need to find something round and holeless about 3mm in size.  I think I'll need about 2 dozen.  That's a lot of hardware!  I'm kind of glad I don't need hinges, too!

(Don't worry, I have a piece of wax paper over my cutting mat!)

Short post, just to show you I'm still keeping things simple and still working.

I realize I've mentioned my first dollhouse, but never really written about it on my blog.  Allow me to give you a tour, because I'm procrastinating from the Willowcrest already.  I apologize for the bad photos, because I had to dig through very old hard copies taken with a cheap film camera a very long time ago.


Firstly, this is my great-grandfather, Jacob Knupp.  I wrote a little about him here.  Carpenter, contractor, fantastic workshop, enjoyed making miniatures, some of which his daughter sold at craft fairs.  And he made dollhouses for me and my sister.  He also made full scale furniture.  I have a curio table of his sitting in my living room!

I don't think I have any pictures of my sister's dollhouse, but hers was bookshelf shaped, at least four stories tall, and white.  Big rooms. The front door had a lock, basically a hook on a swivel that swung around and connected on a brad.  It had come furnished with furniture made by Mom and various relatives.  When we played in it I got relegated to the upper floors, she got to sit on the floor to reach her designated stories.

Then, maybe when I was about six, Gran drove out to our new house one day in his big blue truck, with a less tall but much wider dollhouse.  I can remember seeing it in the back of the truck when he arrived.  It was . . . different.   He had gotten creative.

Front

Front.  I had a carpet runner on the stairs at one point.

Back. A very old view, but not the oldest!  I originally had yellow floral  contact paper covering the kitchen walls.

Emptied out and planning a renovation.  There is only one interior door, opening from the front hall to the blue dining room.

Empty view of the back.  I think the tiny room in the upstairs middle was supposed to be a bathroom, but it barely held the tub.  I was also fascinated with wall murals.

The attic floor is removable, allowing access and a good view of the floor plan upstairs.

Apparently the kitchen shelves went through a lot of changes!

Gran made the bed, my grandmother made the mattress and pillow.   I made the quilt!

Would you believe that floor is paper?

Originally this was all shelving, but I got creative one day and made it look like a hutch.

The poor thing is showings its age and abuse after 30 years.  I wanted so badly to make it more to scale and electrify it, but since it was built by a man used to building full size houses, it's very difficult to tear out the thick molding without causing some damage.  I'm also finding it hard to figure out wiring, since the house turns around.  Perhaps in a few more years the battery operated lights will be good enough that I can add them without including wiring.

I've been ignoring the Willowcrest all summer and most of the Fall, and kind of dreading all the work I still need to do.  It's time to get back to it.  So today, I finally sat down and started work on the kitchen cabinets.

I took a piece of posterboard, held it up against the wall, and drew cabinet outlines of what I thought would work best on the wall with the lower cabinets and appliances. Then I took the final shape and cut out two pieces, plus one inch wide strips for the sides.  I decided that these would be faux cabinets, so the doors won't open.  I don't really want people reaching in and pulling on things, and I have enough organizational dilemmas in my life without trying to figure out which cabinet would hold the weird shaped bowls the best in one inch scale!   Right now they're not even glued on, just up there with a little Dollhouse wax to see if I like it when in place.  I think it'll do, so tomorrow I will start making trim for the doors, plus drawer fronts for the bottom cabinets.  Little steps!

Speaking of the bottom cabinets, I am not happy with them.  I used matte board to do the fronts, and it just doesn't look right or take paint right.  I'm going to have to redo them.

I also plan to make a new refrigerator (unopenable) and a mounted microwave.  (The one currently holding up the upper cabinets is just not big enough for the space above the oven.)  I also need to figure out the faucet for the sink.  I bought a set, but they were ridiculously small.

I acquired a recipe a while back that was allegedly the salsa from The Tortilla Factory in Herndon, VA.

Problem is, I can't QUITE get it right.  Last time I thought it was because I switched ground red pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.  You don't want a tablespoon of ground red pepper (cayenne) in anything!  I managed to subdue it with a lot of brown sugar.

This time, I had several pounds of tomatoes from my garden, nearly enough to make this recipe, so I thought I'd try again.  I had to buy a few tomatoes to get enough.

To follow the recipe, I had to acquire 29 ounces of crushed tomatoes, which, of course, I had to look up how to do.


 First I had to remove the skins.  You do this by cutting a shallow X in the side opposite the stem, dropping them in boiling water for a short period (I waited until I could see the skin around the X start to pull away) and then drop them in ice water.  The skin pulls off easily.