Knotty By Nature

Valentines memory board and corset

2012-02-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of items I made in my mini clubs.

Mini petit point rug

2011-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Whew! You can't imagine how slowly this thing moves along. I've put some serious hours into it so far. Love how the colors are looking though. It's a Janet Patacca design.

Windy Kokeshi dolls

2011-10-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Made some Kokeshi dolls...the Chicago variety. They are wooden; about an inch and a half tall.

Miniature shabby chic kitchen

2011-09-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

So, here it is! The kitchen I've been trying to work out for a while. I put the stove together from a Chrysnbon kit and gave it a few coats of blue acrylic and a shine. Ever since then it's been needing a kitchen to live in. I'm hoping to take some lighter pics soon! I can't seem to light it quite right for photos yet.

I built the shelf from popsicle sticks, tongue depressors and wooden coffee stirrers. Here's a close-up:

I was inspired by the tutorial by Susi from Mini Eden and I only made a few changes. I bought the stickers at the scrapbooking store. They are stacked. I painted over them in cream and wrote Belle Maison in brown marker.

I tried some of Liberty Biberty's enamelware tutorial. Turns out I can't rust the for the life of me! I'll try again later. I punched out the round labels from scrapbooking paper and wrote the names on them.

At sunset.

The floor is wooden coffee stirrers with Special Walnut stain. The chairs are cheapo plastic painted in Folkart acrylic 903 Tapioca.

I got this wooden dresser thing free with my dollhouse; knocked out/sanded out the arched bits on each shelf and painted and decoupaged it and made little "curtains". The writing on the surface says "Love of my heart".

This adorable teapot was made by Fizzyclaret as noted in my etsy blogpost a few weeks ago. I made the cupcakes and cakes.

Miniature Ornithologist's Foyer in a Bird Cage

2011-09-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

Found a partial birdcage at the hobby store. Thought it should have an ornithologist's office in it, but it was too small for a proper desk, so I went with the foyer idea instead.

Made the suitcase out of paper wrapped around foam. Painted and sanded the shutter and glued on bird pics.

Made the floor out of drywall paste with a few coats of diluted paint.

New petite Blythe outfit

2011-08-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

Piper got a new dress and matching hat! Made by Camille in South Africa. She was hoping to have a party to go to - maybe at Mr. Rabeller's, but for now she's just going to wear it around the house.

Dollhouse Miniatures from Etsy

2011-08-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you don't know about Etsy - get right on it! It's a crafter's marketplace online, where you can browse by category and purchase adorable handcrafted or vintage items.
These are some of my favorite Etsy purchases this year:

Made by Luned2010 in England. She makes an array of gorgeous candy boxes and hats.

Made by TinyTuffets. She makes amazing tiny food and beautiful seasonal cookies!

Made by OneElf. She makes impeccably crafted and very cute tiny food jewelry & cakes.

Made by Amanspeak in England - I've ordered a number of items from her. Her prices are great and everything looks as good in real life as it does in her photos.

Made by FizzyClaret, a wonderful artist who makes whimsical figurines that are totally affordable.

Made by MagicBeanBuyer. This is a Very Teeny Plini. If you order one make sure you get the right size - she does very teeny all the way up to cake topper sizes. These cuties usually have something adorable on their heads.

Another Very Teeny Plini from MagicBeanBuyer. Could she be any cuter?

Miniature shabby chic roombox

2011-05-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Rosemary, the sweet, sweet lady I work with asked me to do a roombox for her granddaughter's graduation. She bought some of the items and the rest I made or purchased. It's done in one of those shadowboxes from Michael's that looks like a book that opens up.

I will be putting a diploma on the right wall under the picture.

I made the memory board with balsa wood, batting, fabric and ribbon. The bottom right picture is of her and her sisters.

The "Love" letters were in a $3 grab bag at the thrift store. They were silver plastic. I made the cupcakes. The cute bag and matching box are a kit from Syreeta's Miniatures.

That's a graduation cap in the right corner and the box next to it is a printie from cdhm.

The luggage is a purchase from the Tom Bishop show. I wish I remembered the name of the lady. Also got the shoes, guitar and shoe box kit at the show.

Miniature Felted Pea Coat

2011-04-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Made some mini felted pea coats. Might sell a kit on my etsy if I can get it together. Don't mind the unevenness of the mustard colored one - it was my first and the template has changed since then :) DH says the red and white one looks like a man's pajama shirt. Heh.

Mr. Rabbeler's cousins

2011-04-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Made a few of Mr. Rabbeller's relatives. Knitted them some sweaters. Made some baked goods for them. :)

The middle guy might be too husky for a sweater.

New mini bathroom cabinet, pillows, etc.

2011-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Made a bathroom shelving unit with towels, washcloths, perfumes, bath salts, etc. The perfume bottle is one of those rubber closet feet from Home Depot painted pink with a bead on top and a label. The balls across the top are a gold string of beads spray painted.

Just acquired the little figurine of a girl posting a letter from Lolly's. Love it! Made the paper flowers and painted, glossed a wooden bowl for them.

New pillow shams and matching throw pillow. I bought some more lace from Tiny Tique and used it on the duvet and pillows - much improved bed linens.

Also rearranged the bedroom to make room for the table I built from candle holder, tongue depressors and a cd. The chairs are from polymer clay and business cards. If there's interest I will post the tutorial. Made the pitcher from Marlie's tute and the hydrangeas in Lolly's group.

My craft room

2011-01-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

Northeast facing windows. Redwood floors. Never enough tabletop space, but I love this room!

Trying to stay organized.

Brookhaven is on a rolling table.

Made this bulletin board from a frame, cork and scrapbook papers.

Piper's Christmas - the perfect petite blythe holiday

2011-01-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

Piper saw her first Christmas tree. The bears brought it in from the forest and decorated it for her while she slept. She wore her new holiday dress from the Netherlands - thank you Jessica!

Under the tree was a present from her Aunt Rose! She made Piper a mini-me paper doll with 4 adorable mini dresses - just her style, and a rabbit and bear for mini Piper.

Entranced by her mini-me.

This calls for a sleigh ride to Mr. Rabbeler's house to show him the new dress and presents and wish him a merry Christmas!

Chrismas in the dollhouse - mini holiday decor

2010-12-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

Got the painting above the fireplace from Amber at MyDollhousePictures on etsy. I made dressed up the garland with gold items.

I bought the adorable snowflake cookies from Leslie at TinyTuffets on etsy. Had to make a couple of fun purchases for the holiday season - they were calling to me!

The tree could use a couple more ornaments. Maybe over actual Christmas I'll put some more on.

Got some really cute reindeer cookies from Jennifer Tuttle at miniholiday on etsy.

Mini Pink Christmas Roombox

2010-12-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

Thought a pink Christmas would be fun. This actually came together faster and with less effort than a lot of my projects. I think it was because the space was so small and I really stuck with my theme: pink. It was really fun and put me in the spirit to tackle the dollhouse living room with Christmas!

Thank you gift for my followers: miniature book printies

2010-11-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

I'm up to 50 followers! Thanks everyone! Here is a link to a pdf of some book covers that I gathered/photographed. They are the ones I used to make a bunch of the books in my dollhouse. They are 1/12, but I have them in half scale if you'd like. I also have them in word if you'd like to edit for yourself and I have more if you like these. Just drop me a line and I can email them to you. :)

Miniature binder clip handbags: yay for quickie mini purses!

2010-10-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

OMG! These handbags take, like, 10 minutes each. They are so easy and quick and all you have to have is a few binder clips (stolen from the office, of course) and some fabric and tiny rope. Someone named Martin Løkke created it and had it published in Mini 1 til 12 online mag. Go to page 7 of the latest issue (issue 9) to see the tutorial. Martin - you're a mini genius!

Piper reads to the bears: Petite Blythe dollhouse adventures

2010-10-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Piper was just reaching for the Velveteen Rabbit, planning to sit down for a good read and one of the bears came up to the nursery with Mr. Poops. He wanted to know if Piper would read to the bears.
"All of you?"
"All of us."
Well, we better do it in the living room then and we'll need to bring in some extra furniture.

So the bears moved some extra seating downstairs.

"Wow. I didn't know there were so many of you." Piper was surprised as the number of bears and also amused that their muzzle color made it look like they'd gotten into some cake frosting.
"So, I'm going to read you The Velveteen Rabbit."

The bears were very excited.

"What's this?" The little bear that always plays the piano was still going to town. "Ahem! Trying to read over here."

"Oh, no! I didn't even hear you come in! Once I get going with Rachmaninoff my mind and soul take flight. May I join you to listen to the story?"
"Of course!"

Piper started to read and she read and read into the night.

The bears listened, enraptured at how the stuffed bunny became real because a little boy loved him. They all went to bed that night with sweet, sweet dreams.

Mini butcher block table

2010-09-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

Made a butcher-block-style table out of Popsicle sticks and turned legs. Also been making some books. Got to get the bottom on that cake stand :0

Books - some paper, some foam - depending on whether they will be in a bookcase or on the coffee table.

Painted and decoupaged some more metal minis from Mesh.

Made daffodils with Lolly's mini group a while back. Linda taught. Just got around to taking a pic.

Piper eats cake - Petite Blythe dollhouse pics

2010-09-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Piper just got a new dress and decided to celebrate with some cake.
One of the bears joined her.

"Can you hold a fork with those big paws?"

"Ooh. Sounds like someone is at the door."

It's Mr. Rabbeler!
"Hi, my name is Piper, I just moved to Brookhaven."
"I'm Mr. Rabbeler. I've lived along this brook since I was a bunny. I brought you a housewarming donut. If you ever need anything just let me know."
"I'm just eating cake now to celebrate getting a new dress."
"Dots nice! It's a really wonderful dress."
"Thanks. Will you come by some time for tea and cupcakes?"
"I would love it!"

As Piper watched Mr. Rabbeler leave she felt that they would be the best of friends.

Miniature cupcakes, cakes, vases and flowers

2010-09-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Made the paper flowers from a Bonnie Lavish kit. Flower vase is polymer clay with varnish. The tall vase is a metal one I purchased from Mesh Miniatures and painted a la Alice Marques Gegers.

Made the baked goods using Christel Jensen dvd and cake tutorial by Betsy Niederer for CDHM. Used liquid Kato mixed with Premo for icing. These are my first polymer clay foods that worked. Yay!

Bought some tiny turnings from Tiny Tique and cut them down into spools for a sewing box. Pin cushion from Lolly's.

A few new things

2010-09-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

I've made some new items. This paper pitcher is another one from Marlies tutorial, but I changed the size and spout shape.

Purchased a couple of paintings at the Tom Bishop show. They are watercolors by Serna Sheridan (she's a member of Northbrook Minis). The one on the left is the Connemara mountains in Ireland and the right is the Morton Arboretum here in Illinois.

Built a kitchen cabinet and matching pot-rack. Also built a little thingy around the upper part of the oven hood - I wasn't thrilled with how that copper sheeting met the ceiling.Made the Daffodils with Lolly's group.

Will add cabinet handles as soon as I find something shiny in gold or copper.

Cut down the hutch, added toothpics to hold plates, trim so plates wouldn't roll off. For pot-rack I used a pewter picture frame, cut down headpins for cage and surrounded with popsicle sticks.

Piper, the Petite Blythe, arrives at Brookhaven

2010-09-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Piper arrived today from Hong Kong! She spent a while checking out the house and I think she's excited to live here.

"Oooh. Shiny."

"Am I allowed in the attic?"

She's anxious to get started reading The Velveteen Rabbit.

She also expressed interest in writing and doing some sketching.

"This house is perfect for me!"

It was a big day.

Dollhouse nursery with baby toile: cuteness increase in progress

2010-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

I painted some furniture for the baby's room. The wallpaper is scrapbooking paper. Took pieces of it and decoupaged them to the front of the "cabinets" & painted and cut a matching border for the room. Faux moleskin carpeting - so soft!

Brookhaven: a refined dollhouse overrun by wild bears

2010-08-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

Been working so hard painting furniture and cutting stair railings I didn't notice some bears had moved in on the place. Have no idea how I'll ever get them to leave. Great part is they're not that picky and don't care that the place isn't "done."

One of the little ones plays the piano and the others like to lounge around and listen. At least the room has light now...and a sofa.

Did a divider in bathroom so that the front section can be a dressing room. Armoire to come.

Kitchen now has light and a copper oven hood I made from cardboard and copper sheeting.

Miniature knitting for the dollhouse dressing area (spoiler alert: it will be in the bathroom) :)

2010-08-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Knitted dress in the round out of silk. No pattern.

Knitted boat neck top in the round with DMC 80 cotton. No pattern.

Miniature felt Pea Coat in mustard

2010-08-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

Made a pea coat! Will post a tutorial if there is interest. Let me know :)

Miniature apple green desk for the dollhouse craft room

2010-08-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Just painted this desk. It was stained wood before. Did 4 coats of Soft Apple & 1 coat varnish. I also painted the bookcase on the right and added freshwater pearl handles.
Still haven't done the floor - but it's the last one without a covering! And must do something about the crazy attic window.

Miniature Vignette: $5 Cup of Coffee

2010-06-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

The annual project for North Shore Minis was a dome this year. I decided to see if I could do a vignette and spend less than $5. The table is made of an old wrought iron candle base with a cd on top with tongue depressors glued to it. The chairs are made of polymer clay and business cards. The pitcher is paper (marlie's tutorial) and the hydrangeas were made with Lolly's mini group. The only items I purchased were the cups and saucers (as part of an inexpensive set) and the flatware (the $3 plastic ones that I painted with gold leaf). So, I succeeded. Let me know if you'd like the chair tutorial. I took pics as I went so I could put something together.
Also, feel free to look at more of the projects on the gallery page at North Shore Mini's site (do the click here for more and there are a ton of pics).

Brookhaven dollhouse interior: Mini progress being made

2010-06-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

Things are moving toward presentable.

Some furniture is just holding the place for it's future, better self.

This is the first I've shown of the kitchen. Got the tile from Tiny Tique at the show. It took forever to strategize the placement. Most of the furniture came with house. I got the cabinets at left from a sweet lady from the town where I grew up (Winston-Salem, NC) - just randomly met her at one of the shows. I'm figuring how to integrate things.

Good things are happening in the bathroom (isn't that what you always want to hear?) Much more to be done. There will be a dressing area in the front part. Check over on the right under "Mini tutorials" to get the how-to on the No-Sew tinfoil curtains. Chandelier from Lolly's.

Stylish Miniature living room: Classin' up the joint

2010-06-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

Put some paintings into the "picture window" moldings. Both are by Watteau. On the left is Champs-Élysées and on the right is The Bird Nester.

The pitcher on the mantle is from Marlies' tutorial and the center piece is a family heirloom called the Horse of Ur. My dad was a psychiatrist and would sometimes barter for payment instead of turning someone away who couldn't afford therapy. In one instance he accepted this bronze item (supposedly from an archaeological dig at Ur) in lieu of money.

The rug under the piano is just a placeholder and is coming up at the side and I glued the piano leg on crooked - oops.

Made a miniature table from a cd and beads

2010-05-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just made this cute little table by cutting a cd with kitchen scissors and gluing square glass beads together with tacky glue. The vase is handpainted by Alice Marques Gegers, the dancing porcelain mouse is from The Garden Path in IL and the stone bowl with greenery is from the adorably inventive Gigi N Studio.

Dollhouse Lighting for Brookhaven: what a difference!

2010-05-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

Just installed a chandelier in the bedroom. Good times.

Made a miniature upholstered chair from foam core & business cards

2010-05-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Made a chair. I built the seat and legs with foam core and the rest is fabric covered business cards. I am working on 2 more of these chairs and have perfected the body using polymer clay instead of foam core. Will post a tutorial soon.

Lolly's had a sale on lights. I bought that bedside lamp for $6. It was a wood and gold base with gold lamay trim - ay caramba! I painted it white and did trim on the lampshade and chair (got it at Tom Bishop show from Tiny-Tique - Judy Bianchi from Huntley, IL). She has adorable fabric and trimmings.

Dollhouse stone floor on the cheap - How to

2010-04-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Just laid a stone floor in the bathroom. Very easy and quick. Just spread a very thin layer (1/8 in) of drywall compound; I used Sheetrock brand All Purpose Joint Compound ($4 at Home Depot). Then take a pencil and make the shapes you want. If you mess up, no biggie--just re-spread and go again. It takes a while to dry. The next day when it's dry sand the ridges in between each "stone". It sands with really light pressure. Voila! Cute, cheap, and easy--just like me...haha.

Miniature Valentine's candy - how to

2010-02-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

Made candies at Northbrook Mini Group. They were really easy.

Squirt the Scribbles 3d paint onto tinfoil. Wait 24 hours and then peel them up.

The serving plate is made of 2 silver stickers stuck to each other and a couple of findings. Easy and cute!

Mr. Rabbeler and his miniature polymer clay chocolate donut

2010-02-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Made the donut out of polymer clay - had to go to Dunkin Donuts for reasearch and development. Studied the color -- came pretty close. Icing is Scribbles 3d paint in Hot Chocolate.

Mr. Rabbeler: The lively miniature clay rabbit figurine

2010-02-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

Made some perfume bottles out of beads and a pitcher out of paper - tutorial at marliesminies.

Also working on some polymer clay rabbits that wear knitted items and do fun, everyday things. The first one is Mr. Rabbeler. He'll be serving a donut on a tray. I knitted his jacket with fingering weight yarn on size 0 needles.

Painted and stamped a miniature writing desk and chair

2010-02-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

Dollhouse Living Room: Most of the heavy lifting is done

2010-02-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Put in the wood floor (used half inch planks) and stained it ebony. Need to touch up the mouldings with milk paint.

Refurbished miniature tables for the dollhouse

2010-01-31T14:26:00.001-08:00

Sanded, painted and distressed a vanity. Will figure out a mirror for it. The roses are paper Lavish Miniatures kit: Rose Granda Flora.
Sanded and ebony stained a hall table.

Dollhouse Fireplace idea

2010-01-31T13:33:00.000-08:00

Found a cheap wooden fireplace and cut a frame in half to glue on the front of it. Painted it all white with acrylic. Took 3 coats.

Started an Etsy!

2010-01-25T18:17:00.001-08:00

I couldn't find any miniature Aubusson rugs on the open market. So I made my own (printed it out onto fabric). I started an Etsy to sell them in case anyone else is looking for that cute, but classy, French look and doesn't want to go to the trouble of making one. Check it out at etsy.com/JenyaRose I hope to have other great items up soon - maybe some decoupaged furniture or mini knitted items.

Shabby Dollhouse bedroom is off to a good start. Reupholstered a mini bench!

2010-01-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

I painted and re-upholstered this bench that I bought from FamilyRoomMiniatures.com. It was walnut and so inexpensive. The woman who runs the site is so sweet too. She and her husband both work full time as well, but plan on retiring into their miniature business. I wish them the best.
I made this quilt yesterday. The squares were supposed to be half inch, but I think my quarter inch sewing machine foot took a bit more off.

Experimenting with paper curtains. The cloth ones went awry. Some of this is just place-holder furniture. Going for a pink, brown, cream and white extravaganza.

Joined a miniature club!

2010-01-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

We made snowmen out of Molding Magic. Really fun group!

Dollhouse wallpaper, window trim and flooring: Things are looking up!

2010-01-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

Got the wallpaper and trim on in Lolly's order: Crown molding first so it has primered wood to hang on to, wallpaper next (back wall first, leave an 8th inch bit on each side to go under the side wallpaper so you don't have a seam. Also leave a bit of space at the floor for baseboard to hang on to wood), then window trim.

Trim and window trim: a note on anything you’re doing mitered corners on (i.e. 45 degree angle cuts). They will not look perfect at first. Just try your best, glue them all in place and then add a dash of magic: Caulk. Yep, no jokes. A contractor friend suggested white caulk for all of the places the trim doesn’t meet the ceiling or windows or corners don’t meet up. It is a dream and has truly brought perfection to my crown molding and window trim.

I'm now putting a wood floor in the bedroom made of tongue depressors with the round bits cut off (cost me $5 for a box of 500 rather than $90 for 3 sheets of premade flooring). I'm not worrying too much about perfection. I will be white-washing the floor for a shabby chic look.

Tacky glue is really not working out for me. Everything I glue down comes back up within minutes, so I switched to super glue for everything (probably against some miniaturist code of ethics, but desperate times…).

BTW if you’re cutting wood with a Dremel just remember to keep the speed relatively high and let the tool do the work. If you push with your own strength to make it cut faster you could lose control and risk cutting something off of your body. Be careful and wear safety glasses! They look a bit nerdy, but much better than your new glass eye will.

Brookhaven: Finished the dollhouse exterior - siding, milk paint, carriage lights

2010-01-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Oy! After finally getting all the siding on properly I painted the entire outside with milk paint. Very happy with the results! It's milky (as the name impies) and has no odor and no toxins. So nice to be able to sit in the living room and paint instead of hiding out in the garage slowly poisoning myself. The milk paint is $14 for a bag so I only bought a White and a Creme. The outside of my house is pink so I just mixed the white with a bit of red acrylic paint. It didn't mix that well, but it gave a less consistent look which I think is more interesting.

I turned the house upside-down and painted all of the ceilings with the Creme colored milk paint. It took 2 coats to cover the electrical wiring (which, btw, was a really easy process - don't be afraid of the electrical - once I got going I breezed through it in 2 hours and it all worked perfectly with the current tester).

I also painted all of my windows and the front door frame with White milk paint - you don't use a primer--just straight on --2 coats and you're done.

I got the carriage lights at FamilyRoomMiniatures.com. They are heavy brass - really high-quality feel, but were very reasonable priced.

The shingles were looking a bit tired, so I ran a thin coat of stain over them to warm up the look - I think it was a redwood color. Love it.

Dollhouse remodel: From oldie-moldy to fabulous in 10 steps

2009-10-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Had a talk with Lolly from Lolly's Dollhouses and she went through the sequence of steps with me. For any of you doing a fixer-upper dollhouse this might be helpful:
1. Purchase windows to replace broken ones.
2. Adjust window openings to fit. I’ll be cutting some openings bigger and getting wood of the same thickness as the house walls and wood gluing it in to make some of the openings smaller.3. Primer the entire house, inside and out, except for any floors I plan on staining. The primer will be a good base for glueing the siding on without the glue absorbing into the wood. Lolly tried to talk me into doing stucco. She showed me a gorgeous grey mansion she stuccoed with white window trim and navy shutters. All you do is put sand in your paint – very realistic looking. But, I’m attached to the idea of light pink wood siding.
4. Attach unprimered, unpainted siding. Hopefully you have the siding with a groove that lets the top piece lay seamlessly on the one beneath it. If not you can bevel the underside edge with an exacto. There is a magical glue (Beacon Multi grip glue) that must be used for siding. Put the glue on back of siding in a zig-zag fashion. Place on house and mush it around to get the glue evenly spread. Pull the siding away from the house so you have drippy strings of glue hanging in the air. Wait 5 seconds and put back down in permanent place. Lay very heavy things on top of it! Primer and paint siding after it is all glued on.5. Wire the entire house. The siding must already be on to support the hammering in of the doohickeys. Do all wiring first so that wallpaper goes over it. It’s carried by thin ribbons of metal so you won’t see it under the paint/wallpaper. Even though I won’t have purchased the fixtures by now I should have the wiring go all the way to the location of each light. I also must remember to take a pic of the house all wired so if there is an electrical problem in the future I will know where the lines run. Lolly said it would be about $80 to wire the whole house.
6. Do not put windows in yet. Put in crown molding first, then wallpaper, the window holes can be razor bladed out so that there is no working around window trim.
7. Put in windows. Inside trim of windows.
8. Floors – paint, hardwood, tile, etc.
9. Baseboard.
10. Furnish

The dollhouse has mold!

2009-09-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

So, waking up, the morning after ripping off all of the siding, it was really hard to breathe--like I slept in a house full of cats. On the sides near the bottom there was some white mold. Lolly said if the mold is white or green you are fine, but “if it’s black take it back!” She said to wear gloves and a mask, make a solution of 1 part bleach to 3 parts water and scrub/wipe the entire house with it and then set it in the sun. At least I know that the dolls that used to live there didn’t have a tiny little meth lab in the basement!

The big switcheroo of '09

2009-09-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Dearest fans--all 3 of you :)--you've been with me through thick yarn and sport weight, but I've moved on to a new craft. Dollhouse miniatures! On Craigslist I found a woman whose mother had a dollhouse custom built for her in Chicago 35 years ago. It was one of those that you are meant to finish--paint the siding, put in the stair rails, install the chimney, etc. She was never really into it, so it sat around for 3 decades.

As you can see it is a fixer upper, but it's a HUGE Colonial with spacious interior and so much potential. I figured it was a good place to start instead of trying to build one from scratch. Of course, after ripping off the siding and removing the hot glue from it for hours I'm questioning that decision. Also the "builder" did a number of things unevenly so they will have to be evened up. Above was a look at the furniture that came with it. A number of good pieces and some items that could use a revamp.

Note half eaten dark chocolate bar in bottom right corner. For emergencies only. Siding in pretty bad shape. Lower right window unable to be saved. TONS of hot glue that had to be scraped off so I can reuse the siding. Voila! Siding-free house ready for work.

The last of the knitting

2009-05-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Been terrible about posting :(
Love my fingerless mittens so much I needed a couple more pairs. Same pattern as the previous brown ones.

Autumn knits

2007-12-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

Lacy Cap Sleeve. I started this at the top using the Barbara Walker method. As I went down I increased by doing a YO near the neck edge every other row (so you get the lacy edge and a nicely shaped neckline). Did some darts at the waist. Loved using the Elsbeth Lavold yarn. My big mistake on this was using a lace pattern for the hem that was written to be knit as a long strip and then to be sewn to the bottom of the tank. Mess! The strip of lace was easy to make; attaching it was the nightmare. It took 3 full times to get the right ratio of pick ups so that it didn’t constrict around the hip area. I want things to hang freely in that area – not hug crazily! I finally got it.

Pattern - my own

Yarn - Elsbeth Lavold Silky Tweed

Needle - size 6

Knit Café book skirt. This is a good pattern - I have no idea why it wasn’t written in the round. I knit it in the round – no lumpy seams on the sides, no extra work when the knitting is done. Oh, I question why someone would write a skirt pattern using 100% cotton yarn – it’s like people don’t think about the fact that you actually have to wear it after knitting. Since I didn’t want the butt to look baggy after sitting, I used a blend with nylon that has an elastic quality. Really enjoyed using this yarn!

Pattern - Knit Cafe

Yarn - Berroco Zen

Needle: size 8 for lace, then 7 for bottom half, then 6 around butt and above

Sparse Summer Knitting

2007-08-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Pattern: Sahara from StitchDiva Studio
Yarn: Berroco Suede and Zen
Needles: size 7

Just a few cute items have made it off the needles this summer. Sahara, knit in the round with Berroco Suede – very fun, easy pattern. Looks good on, except the back of the neck rolls over …hmm. Not sure what to do, except not wear my hair up on Sahara days.

Made a gift for Jackie on her 2nd birthday – Hello Kitty. A very quick knit. I didn’t follow the pattern because it was flat; did it in the round instead. I didn’t want a seam in the back.
Pattern: from generatordesing.com - can't find the site now, email me for it
Yarn: Lion Brand Micro Spun Needles: size 4

Another gift: a Bubar for Grace. He is a distant cousin of the original Bubar; he’s half the size because I used smaller yarn and needles.

Pattern: Kate from Knitty.com

Yarn: KnitPicks Andean Treasure
Needles: size 4

After I gave him to Grace we realized he might have a problem.I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’s just a social drinker.

Mother's Day

2007-06-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

My mom brought me a pic of a flowy low cut cardigan and asked me to make one like it. We went to the A Mano sale and got a bag of Heirloom Breeze in pink – so cute. I did the Barbara Walker method using the Picovoli darts (Grumperina knows her darts!). I didn’t do any increasing on the way down the front (besides the darts). Then I did 2 lace panels that decreased as they got up around the neck line and finishes everything off with a single crochet edge in Crystal Palace Pink. The above pic is at our favorite place for Sunday brunch - Zabies on Ocean Park on Mother's Day. She loved it. She was leaving the next day to model on Alaskan Cruislines and she took it as one of her “favorite pieces”. They actually took photos of her in it on deck, so my sweater might be in a Cruiseline catalogue. Keep your eyes peeled!

Pattern: my own (based on the Barbara Walker info)
Yarn: Heirloom Breeze (12 balls)
Needle: Size 6 (then after increasing with darts I switched to size 7, then 8 around the bottom)

I did another one of those ribbed beanies (in my free pattern section). This time I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Charcoal. Flower pin found elsewhere.
Pattern: my own (in my free pattern section)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease
Needle: size 8

Silk! I went to Sandy, Utah with Tim on a business trip and spent most of the time at an adorable Yarn shop called The Naked Sheep. I bought 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk and made a beret. I had a whole skein left. Then I found the random “Lacy Thong” pattern in the Interweave free patterns online. I was over making practical things. It took me 2 days!
Pattern: http://www.interweaveknits.com/freepatterns/lingerie.asp
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Silk
Needle: Size 5

And here's the "matching" beret. These items are not meant to be worn as an ensemble :)
Pattern: Interweave Knits (Winter 2006)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Silk
Needle: Size 5

Tax Season is Over

2007-04-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

This hat is quick and easy (just like the boy modeling it). The hat is for my husband, but we decided that our mocha-skinned friend, Baracuda, should model it. This is the park where my work friends and I eat lunch every weekday. Funny story: my friend Marc is obsessed with the long grass at the edges of this park. I said that he talks about the grass too much, to which he countered with the deadly “you talk about knitting too much.” That is when he threatened to start a blog about the grass, which, as boring as that sounds, is now in existence at http://onethingalways.blogspot.com/

Pattern: Mine (in the "free patterns" section of my blog - right column - not working right now - I can send you a copy if you need)
Yarn: Lion Brand Micro Spun
Needle: CO w/ size 7, K w/size 4 dpns

My 2nd job as a tax preparer for H&R Block didn't leave much time for knitting this year. But I made it through and somehow eeked this sweater and the above hat. The sweater pattern is my own- seamless, from the top down- culled from the Barbara Walker book. The yarn is Malabrigo, which has needed a few shaves so far with a Bic razor - but I believe won't need many in the future. I did some ribbing on the outside of the sleeve and on the sides of the body - I thought it was a nice tie-in for the ribbed shawl collar. I did 5 hook and eye closures. The only thing I would do differently is to add in some darts in the way that Grumperina did for the Picovoli Tee - that's my new favorite dart method.

Pattern: My own form the Barbara Walker Top Down parameters
Yarn: Malabrigo
Needle: Body uses size 7 Denise, all edgings use size 9 Denise (arms with dpns)

Felted Tote

2007-02-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Yae! This took me no time at all. I designed it using my present everyday bag as my muse. My friend Marc got me the Cascade 220 yarn for Xmas - and the purse feet. My only issue was losing the purse feet in my washing machine - 2 of them fell out while felting. My dh took the middle of the washer out and there they were. I felted my gauge swatch so the size came out perfect.

Pattern: mine - soon to be posted in my free pattern section

Yarn: Cascade 220 (I'll list the exact colors tomorrow)

Needles: size 8

Purse Form: I bought some plastic mesh in the cross stich section of JoAnns for 89 cents and sewed one row to the next row over to shape it.

Lining: Did a lining with pockets for cell phone, blue tooth and my lip liner!

Handles: Bought a length of suede, cut it into 2 sections of 21 inches and took it to the shoe guy in my building to sew the handles on - making sure he knew to grab the purse form in his stitching - I don't want anything stretching out over time.

The winter of socks

2007-02-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

Socks! A number of family members got socks this winter. They're so easy to carry in my bag and they could be worked on during tax class.
Pattern: Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick
Yarn: KnitPicks Andean Treasure in Granite
Needle: size 4 dpns

Pattern: http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html
Yarn: Online (thats the company name) from http://www.littleknits.com/
Needles: size 2 dpnsPattern: http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html

Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes

Needles: size 2 dpns

Fast, Easy Felted Hat

2007-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Pattern: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/iceland-splash-feltedhat.html - without the novelty yarn. Cast on a few extra stitches and decreased them evenly for bigger brim.

Yarn: Knit Picks Sierra in Pool

Needles: size 10 round and dpns

This hat was , once again, a joy to make. I made it for my sister, Candice, for her birthday. This time I was more vigilant during the felting; looking at it in 2 minute intervals. So there was no crazy stretching to do when it came out, just a little shaping. I think the bow was a cute addition - its blowing in the wind - how wintery of it!

I have found the Holy Grail of Sweater Construction

2007-01-24T17:28:00.001-08:00

Seriously people, I’m not sure what to do with myself. After trials and tribulations with set-in sleeves ( see previous posts), I have seen the light and I am saved! Its all about Barbara Walker. She is a genius along the lines of EZ, a knitter who urges others to take control of the finished object from the very beginning. Why shouldn’t we be able to try sweaters on as we go? Why would we waste the 3 dimensionality of knitting on flat patterns? Why can’t we have a fool proof way of doing a set-in sleeve so that you know if you do one simple calculation you will end up with a perfect shoulder cap?

Finally I am able to finish the sweaters that have been sitting in the back of the closet frustrating me when I think about them. I purchased “Top Down Sweaters” by Barbara Walker from Schoolhouse Press and my life will never be the same. I have already skipped to the chapter on Top Down seamless set-in sleeve sweaters (mouthful) and have made perfect size sleeve caps for my dh’s sweater – with one simple calculation! I never thought I would reading a knitting theory book. I wanted to be spoon-fed beautiful patterns and just follow them to paradise. Well, I’ve realized that taking sweater construction into your own hands (haha) is much easier than you think if you have the theories of a genius as the basis from which to work. Oh, and don’t be scared of the front cover of the book. It is straight out of the early eighties. Also there are no pics or patterns in the book just diagrams. Trust me, you’ll understand why and then you’ll never again want to see a model carefully showing off the best angle of a flat pattern sweater that is never going to look like that on you.

So here’s the sweater – started ages ago. The first time it was “finished” the sleeves were puffy with oversized sleeve caps, the second time the sleeve was too tight with no room for the armpit and the third bowl of porridge was just perfect!

Pattern: A mixture of Ann Bud's Set-in-Sleeve pattern and Barbara Walker's info

Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay

Needle: size 9

On the same tip, here's the other sweater that I had thrown into the back of the closet until I could redo the sleeve caps.

Pattern: Rowan Magazine 37? with Barbara Walker style sleeves

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needle: size 5 for garter edging and size 6 for body

Top Down baby sweater and Better Ugg Booties

2007-01-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Mod from the below link
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in Brown and Bernat Baby Soft in pink for the i-cord
Needles: size 7 for body, size 5 dpns for i-cord edging
I found a great pattern online for a top down raglan cardigan(http://www.geocities.com/lindaslists/babysweaterfront.htm) that I modified for chunky Alpaca and to which I added a knit an i-cord border; totally fast project. Actually, if you plan to do this sweater I would replace the i-cord with a crochet border. The i-cord literally took me more time than the whole body of the sweater – no joke. You’d save time and it would be just as cute with a single or double crochet. For the booties I was going to use the Ugg bootie pattern online at diy. Of course, after my horrendous bootie pattern experience noted in the previous post, I decided to do a little research before I committed to the pattern. Needless to say, the reviews were again negative for a complicated pattern not worth the stress. And so I present the easy and quick, Better Ugg Bootie Pattern. The basic design was inspired by Megan Mills of Aukland whose intelligent bootie patterns are published in the Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar. You can access my pattern under Free Patterns in the right column (not working right now - I can send you the pattern if you need).

Bootie Expose

2007-01-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

The time has come to expose the bad bootie pattern writers that are out there making life difficult for knitters. I have never been a great pattern-theorist. I just followed patterns and hoped for the best. But now I’m pissed. I bought Zoe Mellor’s “Adorable Knits for Tots” book for the Mary Jane Booties. Here’s the problem. The pattern is completely unintelligent. After knitting for an hour or two, not knowing what shape you are striving for(because she has no schematic or explanation), you end up with a flat, strangely shaped piece of fabric that you are left to piece together and try to make decent. If I wanted to take a flat piece of fabric and put it together I would take up sewing.
Secondly, the seam is on one side of the sole, making the final product uneven looking if a baby foot is not already in it. Convenient that all of her shots of this bootie have a cute little sausage foot already in them. I was so upset with this stage of the bootie that I didn’t even photograph it before frogging.
I went online to see if the pattern had errors and found a plethora of negative reviews of her patterns, so I decided to see what else was out there. Lo and behold, there is almost the exact same pattern, but without the strap, in the Debbie Bliss Baby Book. Bad pattern writing is a virus! Lucky for me, my sister came upon a small, $3.99 book at the supermarket in Omaha by the cash register. Gotta love the Midwest for having knitting accessible, even in the most mundane places. The book, "Knitting for Babies", a special pub. from fbnr.com, had a Mary Jane bootie pattern that is totally adorable.

Pattern: Knitting for Babies, special pub. from fbnr.com (847-329-5657)

Yarn:KnitPicks Andean Treasure in Wild Rose Heather

Needles: size 3

The pattern starts at the bottom of the sole, goes up through the toe with minimal, but well-placed shaping and binds off at the ankle, ending with grafting the two sides of the cast-on sole together with kitchener stitch. Thank you Lucie Sinkler! Whoever you are, I love that you used your brain while writing this pattern. The beauty of knitting is that you can do it in 3 dimensions. Don’t take that away from us you over-published template monkeys!

After the Lull

2006-12-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

OMG! So the Lull of 2006 finally ended! Here's what happened. The set-in-sleeve dysfunctions were piling up - a sweater for my dh gone awry and a sweaterlette for me: both with puffy shoulders and looking hideous. So I threw them into the corner and just stopped knitting. Keep reading... its going to get better. This knitting boycott went on for 3 months until I attended the Midwest Stitches Convention, which I had signed up for when I was a happy, prolific knitter. I was dreading even doing the swatches for this event, let alone going, but my dh and I had a whole family trip planned around it.

Then came Judy Pascale and Margaret Fisher- sent-from-heaven. (sidenote - took a terribly disorganized and lame class from Debbie New who I highly do not recommend!) Anyway - Margaret's class - called "The Long and Short of Knitting Alterations" was life-altering - I'm not even joking. She taught how to take apart an item into an upper and lower section; basically, darn a scrap yarn through the row above and the row below your chosen cutting place. After cutting, you can lenthen, shorten, reattach, etc. So all I could think about was this scarf gone bad from last summer. My mistake was using cotton for a scarf that was a stockinette based lace. It rolled like a mother and no matter how much starching and ironing and blocking I did, there was no hope.

So I got home and took the scarf apart in 6 sections, then seamed them to eachother width-wise to make the bottom half of a shirt. Let me add now the wierd part of the story. During the Lull I went to Goodwill and bought for $3.99 a knitted top that someone made - it's gorgeous. I later discovered that the mystery knitter used a popular pattern called Lelah. Here's a gallery of them: http://knittingforboozehags.com/gallery/lelah-top-gallery The one I bought looks exactly like the grey one with the green ribbon. Anyway - after making the scarf into the bottom of the shirt I knitted the top in stockinette and voila!

Pattern: Mine, inspired by Lelah (above link). The leaf lace pattern was from Vogue Spring/Summer 2005 - the scarf patterns at the end of the editorials

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine in Blush

Needles: 7 for lace, 5 for yarnovers and midsection, 3 for bust and straps

Pattern: Nautilus Hat http://marniemaclean.com/patterns/Nautilus/ This girl has really cute patterns. I've now done this hat in 3 colors - same yarn. I have since added ribbing in last 5 rows.
Yarn: Royal Cashmere by Plymouth Yarns
Needles: size 7 dpns

If you're in the mood for a really easy project that is adorable this Baby Kimono is a winner. It's knit in one piece yae! and the only "wierd" thing you have to do is the cable cast-on.

Pattern: Baby Kimono - Interweave Knits Summer 2005?
Yarn: Knit Picks Ambrosia - 3 balls of Grass
Needles: size 5

Here's a booty close-up.

Pattern: Family Circle Easy Knitting Publication Holiday 2002
Yarn: Knit Picks Ambrosia in Grass
Needle: size 5

So, then I yearned to do more socks. Here's one of the pairs. Regia 6 - delightful yarn. Got it at Little Knits - online store.

Pattern: http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html

Yarn: Regia 6 from http://www.littleknits.com/

Needles: size 3 dpns

So, then one day I became fascinated with Fair Isle. I got a few books and was enthralled by its rich history. Of course I couldn't just start with a hat of gloves. I went straight in for the vest with traditional steeks and all. Luckily, Eunny Jang, in her infinite wisdom, has created a detailed pattern with steeking instructions for like $5. So I got it. You do the entire thing in the round and then cut the armholes and v-neck that have been steeked.

After about 4 inches I reaized my argysle wasn't working, so I made up a simple Fair Isle stitch pattern with a colorway of 4 colors.

Here's a close-up of the contrasting color steek that I cut between.

It all went well until it was all done. Because I used Cascade 220 and a size 7 needle instead of a thinner yarn and the size 4 that she used my seams turned out really bulky. So I machine steeked it with 2 rows of stitching and cut off the seems. Then I sprayed them with water, manually agitated them (just scrumpling them around) and ironed them down. I think it created a felting effect, because everything stays where it is supposed to. Its a really fun item to wear. I wear another shirt under it because I don't like to feel wool on me, but its not scratchy at all - and not too warm.

The only other mod that I did was decreased stitches in the arm and neck bands and used a size 5 needle. When I didn't do that it was totally Mad Max vest.

Pattern: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/01/deep_v_argyle_vest.html

Yarn: Cascade 220

Needle: size 7 round

The following is a 2 color Brioche that didn't make the final cut. I frogged it and am currently using the Misti Alpaca for a baby jacket with matching Uggs. Going to be seriously cute.

Pattern: Brioche Scarf from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in light pink and Brown ( I do not recommend this yarn for this project. It is too bulky, barely stays on the short dpn, and is scratchy by the face.)

Needles: size 10

Before the Lull

2006-12-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

Pattern: http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html - I used the lightweight pattern and adjusted for heavier yarn
Yarn: Knit Picks Parade - no longer available - but similar to Regia 6 in weight and feel
needles: size 3 dpns
Loved doing these socks in the thicker yarn - they practically knit themselves! So cozy too.

Decided to try felting. I found the following hat pattern online and since you knit it bigger, because it shrinks, while you're working on it it looks like a rasta hat that will have room for a bunch of dreads. I left it in the water maybe a minute or two longer than I should have. When I pulled it out I had to put it on my head and my dh and I had to pull on it vigorously to shape it. The worst part, besides the wet hair, was the smell of wet dog that came off of the wool - seriously gnarly. Next time I will knit a bit bigger brim and leave it in a few minutes less.

Pattern: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/iceland-splash-feltedhat.html - without the novelty yarn
Yarn: Knit Picks Sierra in Leaf
needles: size 10 round and dpns

So in love with fingerless gloves! I never thought of wearing these until I started freezing while working on the computer - BTW if you live in LA for more than a year you completely lose touch with real temperatures and 60 feels absolutely arctic. Found a great online pattern and did a shorter cuff and only 8 rows from end of cuff to thumb gusset - its the perfect fit and doesn't look to big and bulky for work.

Pattern: mod from this PDF: thegivingflower.de/patterns/Cabled_Fingerless2.1_20060304.pdf

Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Granite

Needles: size 4 dpns

I'm having major stress from set-in-sleeve dysfunction! They just rarely seem to fit right! I now have 2 sweaters that I've set aside because they have puffy shoulders; one is for my husband and he's simply not going to go for that look. So I decided to do some items that are flat. Maybe just one item - I could get bored of it. I had some alpaca so I started making a baby blanket. I made it up as I went along - I've heard that babies enjoy poking their fingers through lace and playing with bobbles. It was relaxing and took my mind off the horrid set-in-sleeve monstrosities.

BTW - that's my 34 year old Snoopy on the left - I got him at birth and he's had 2 arm surgeries and a neck procedure. On his right is Belle - his girlffriend since my 12th birthday. Her fur looks a little fresher.

Pattern: Mine

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Cloud, Misti Alpaca Chunky, and some random cashmere

Time for a stuffed animal! I saw the "Kate" pattern in knitty and there was no turning back; although a friend did rename her Bubar - I find it fitting. She's a wonderful addition to the living room, she keeps Ardvark company and always looks happy, whether she's playing, reading or just relaxing.

Pattern: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTkate.html

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andeas in Pumpkin, Violet and Hollyberry

Needle: size 10 ( I would recommend a 7 as the seems are visible and in areas she's a bit holy)

Jumpin' on the Blogwagon!

2006-12-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here they are....my favorite projects of '05. I know its almost ’07 – I’m catching up! I only posted the basic info about the patterns so if you have any further questions please feel free to email me jenyarose@gmail.com. Also regarding any patterns that I have created I would be glad to share with you which source patterns I modified to get to the finished work.

Shrug
Pattern: Mine - the cuffs were borrowed from a sweater in Vogue Fall 2005
Yarn: Debbie Blish Cashmerino Aran

Rose Gloves - softest fingerless mittens ever!

Pattern: Mine

Yarn: GGH Esprit in Slate

Lucky Socks:

Pattern: Beginners Lightweight Sock at http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html

Dudes! This is my favorite sock pattern - it's easy, they fit well and its really efficient for mods.

Yarn: Lang Jawoll Jacquard in Chartre

Needle: size 2 - maybe a little too lightweight for my taste, but I love them because they are my first- born socks.

Capelet

Pattern: Modified from a Lion Brand Free Pattern "Knit Capelet with Crochet Trim"

Yarn: Remnants really: Araucania Nature Cotton in 2 colors, Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille in Rosewood, some random gray Wool Ease-ish yarn and some beautiful autumn toned ribbon yarn

The Candice Sweater: I made this for my sister; the best fitting sweater that has ever come off of my needles.

Pattern: Vogue Knitting Winter 2004/05

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Needle size: 7

The Seraphina Glove

Pattern: used "Cabled Fingerless" : thegivingflower.de/patterns/Cabled_Fingerless2.1_20060304.pdf and replaced the long cable with a design from Nicky Epstein's 2nd edgings book (name?). Knit cuff flat and went into round at palm

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool

Peruvian Poncho

Pattern: modified from a Lion Brand free pattern "Knit Lace Poncho"

Yarn:Araucania Nature Cotton