project 52: week 10

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.

First weekday morning frost. The light shining through the window is from a security light, not the sun.

 What's New?
It's beginning to feel a lot like... deep autumn. We reached freezing temperatures at night this week, with daytime highs in the 40's. We're down to nine and a quarter hours of daylight (our shortest is about eight and a half). Our space-heaters are getting a workout. I set up our tiny crock pot for hot beverages (we alternate between spiced apple cider and mulled wine). All the blankets are on the bed. Cats are becoming more interested in laps and snuggles. Soup is becoming a prominent weekly meal.

Currently Reading
Still making my way through Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. I swear if I had a day off I would just sit and read until my eyes hurt! I'm about halfway through at this point, and I blame this book on my lack of sleep. My habit is to read in bed every night, even if it's just a paragraph. But since I started this book I read for hours before finally realizing that my wake-up time is drawing dangerously near. Still, it's a good problem to have.

On the Needles
I've picked up my Hue Shift Afghan again and am nearly finished with the second of four panels. It's a comforting knit, easy on the brain, perfect for television viewing.

This weekend I'm picking up some yarn for niece and nephew holiday hats, although I haven't decided on patterns yet. Here are some possibilities. I've knit both the Hurricane Hat, and the Barley before, and I really like both patterns. I think the Ear Flap Hat would be cute for my youngest nephew.

Clockwise from upper left (Hurricane Hat, Declan's Hat, Garter Ear Flap Hat, Barley). Photos from Ravelry.com

I'm also going flannel shopping this weekend so I can sew up some pajama pants for my niece and nephews. I started doing this almost yearly when my oldest nephew was young. Now I have four kiddos to sew and knit for (and soon to be five!).

Looking Forward To

1. getting started on holiday projects
2. a week off from school

finished snowflake art

Back in January I wrote about an art project that Joe and I were working on. We decided to make snowflakes out of scrapbooking paper based off these Game of Thrones house designs.

We started by printing the design big enough to work on a 12" x 12" piece of paper. We then traced the design eight times on the back of the paper to make a complete snowflake. Afterwards we used an xacto knife and my self-healing sewing mat to cut them out.

It's taken awhile to get the finished snowflakes displayed, but they are finally on the wall where we can enjoy them.

the Autumnal Equinox

Tonight is both the autumnal equinox (for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere), and a full moon. There are two equinoxes per year - one in the spring, and one in the fall. They are the two days where the length of day and the length of night are equal. Hence the name equinox (equi for equal and nox for night). As a science teacher, I absolutely love teaching astronomy and getting a chance to explain things like equinoxes to my students. I could go on and on about the equinox, but I'll let you look it up if you want more information.



This year, I decided that I wanted to make a autumn leaves garland out of felt. Fall is my favorite season, and I've never really done much to mark the season. Sure I decorate later on for Halloween, and I make applesauce in the fall, but I've never really taken advantage of the season.



Strangely, even though I started in August, I managed to finish my garland tonight (I swear I did not plan it that way!). So as part of my acknowledgment of the equinox I hung my garland.



It's evening and the sun has passed the horizon, so these pictures aren't the best, but I wanted to share. Please excuse my messy home (and the cat that is getting into who-knows-what in the sink).

felt leaves progress

All the dark colored leaves were stitched with gold floss. The light colored leaves will be stitched with dark brown floss. Then they will all be strung together to make a garland. I'm trying to finish before Wednesday night (the autumnal equinox). Wish me luck!

fall leaves garland

Three kinds of maple - including big-leaf maple and vine maple.


Oregon white oak leaves.


Cottonwood and quaking aspen leaves.


Oregon ash


Now I just need some twine to turn these lovely felt leaves into a garland.

My wonderful husband used his amazing computer skills to turn some Google search images I found into simple stencils that I cut out and traced onto felt. The whole tracing and cutting felt part of this project took much more time than I thought, so he grabbed some scissors and helped me out. He's great like that.

In case you're wondering where I got the idea for this project, the second and third picture in this post inspired me.

Painting - Part 2

In the month since we began, we added more coats of paint (I stopped counting), touched up mistakes and finally added the symbols to our Eye of Jupiter painting.

See the difference?

Before:


After:


And here it is in its final resting place (we hope). Please forgive my messy home.


We're still a bit wary about how secure it is, but we're hoping it doesn't fall off the wall. That canvas is pretty darn heavy.


The symbols are stylized versions of the twelve zodiac signs.




Now it's time for our next painting project to begin: a Celtic Tree of Life.

Painting - Part 1

Joe and I acquired four large canvases at our old apartment by chance. A neighbor, whom we did not know, was throwing them away, because of some minor defects (all fixable). Being the hippies that we are, we just couldn't see them go to waste. So we held on to them. For months. When we moved in December I made Joe a deal: we would transport the canvases to the new apartment, as long as they actually turned into art. So Joe and I started planning, and we now have plans for three of the four canvases.



We started painting the big one. Joe had already designed the picture on his computer, transferred it to the canvas (a complicated process that I will not go into right now), so all that was left was the paint.



The picture is a combination of the Eye of Jupiter (from Battlestar Galactica), and the zodiac signs. In the BSG series, the Eye of Jupiter is a star that goes supernova. The image appears as a painting, and then as a mandala carved into a pillar, before the star actually explodes. Joe and I have been drawn to the image, so it seemed fitting.



We'll do at least one more coat on the Eye, and then move on to the zodiac signs.



In our new apartment there is large blank wall that will be perfect for our first painting.



Along with making donuts, and taking the car to Toyota to get the accelerator pedal fixed (my poor car has been part of two recalls!), we worked on this painting on Valentine's Day. A perfect way to spend the holiday, if you ask me.