Sandbox cover

Summer seems to have eaten into my crafting time. That, and when I finally finish something, I'm not so good about taking a picture of it. But here goes.

The sandbox cover that the manufacturer of our sandbox sells is crap. It's very thin kind of vinyl with a bit of threadlike reinforcement. We've bought a new one every year. (Well, twice now). And every year it just shreds. This year I made one, using the shreds of the old one as a guide. The fabric is from the clearance section of outdoor fabric. It's more fabriclike than the old one - almost a canvas. I used fusible fleece to reinforce the edges that fold over the sides of the sandbox, as well as where the grommets are.

So far, so good. It's not as waterproof as the old one tried to be, but it is as catproof. If I were to make another one, I'd put a grommet in the very center to drain it, so there wouldn't be any puddling. What puddles it's collected haven't lasted long though, so I'm calling it good.

books for travel

We just went out to DC (I had a conference), Philly (Chris had to work) and Boston (to visit family) for almost two weeks. I made these books to take on the planes, trains, and hotel rooms. They're all made from re-used one-sided paper from junk mail and old bread twist ties. We ususally have these sitting around at home, but taking them on the trip was really handy.

Tucker writes the greatest superhero books (wherein Spring Shotter gives Fart Girl her comeupance) and Brinda makes shopping lists (and then gets mad I won't go shopping). It's great media awareness; it helps Tucker understand that stories are made up by people who bring their own prejudices to the table, and if you don't like a character or event, you can just change it. That's at least slowed down his referencing Cars and The Lion King like a fundamentalist references the Bible.

You may need to be an immediate family member to enjoy the final products, but it takes up plane time, and I think my "Super Chicken Saves Weiner Dog" is bound for the canon.

Lime Bag for Peace

I've been trying to finish projects around the house, for my own sanity. It seems that raising my children and ending the Iraq War, the two things I spend the vast majority of my time on, will never be finished. But hey, look at this bag from three or four years ago that I finished! Sure, I can't remember why I decided to make it, but look! A lime! And isn't a lime better than peace?

Sigg Koozie

For about a year Stimmel has been asking me to make him a koozie for his sigg bottle. I finally made one. I used a basic koozie pattern and added 12 stitches. I also did 10 rows of 2x2 rib on both ends. I think the next one I make will have more stripes.

More Painting

The latest room on my hit list was the dining room.

The paint is actually a deep, deep burgundy...

Compliments Grandma McCarty's

Dining Set well!

wool soakers

So I've read all about how great wool soakers are for cloth diapers - wick moisture, breathe, don't leak you'd think they do, (and my favorite:) don't need to be washed. They go over the cotton diaper, which actually does the pee catching. They're supposed to be much cooler. And since I hate the heat and project that onto my children, I wanted to try them. I knitted two different ones to try them out.

The orange one I knitted in natural wool and then dyed with kool-aid. It was the first time I've done that, and the results are pretty uneven. Of course, that could be because I only bought 3 packets of kool-aid, then decided I needed more and found four really old ones in our cupboard. They weren't really powder anymore, but they were still orange. Don't tell Chris I used all his kool-aid. He saves it for when he's sick. Because that's healthy.

Here's the before and in-process. It was kool-aid and the microwave. Way better than the RIT dye on the stove, if you ask me. Or nasty real dye.

So far I like them, but maybe it's just because they're cute. Here's a gratuitous baby butt photo.

mittens blog

I posted a blog about mittens on my personal blog. I'm too lazy to blog twice, so if you want to read about them click on "mittens blog" which is a link to check them out.