Sunday, December 21, 2008

Gettin' Crafty

Besides working on homemade gifts for our family in Kansas, (pictures to come after Christmas. We don't want to give away any surprises) we have been busy making a few things for ourselves.

Sophia is currently taking a crotchet class at the library. It is an excellent class. First of all, the class is FREE. Second, all supplies are FREE. Third, the teacher, Deb, is wonderful. She shows the girls (and one boy) how to make each new project and then she just lets them work. They sit around a table where they can talk and socialize as they crotchet. Sophia was so proud of how this mp3 player purse turned out. She said, "I am so proud of myself."


Alexander participates in a weekly carving class. This class is run by a group of retired men who are in a carving club together. When I talked to the organizer of the class the first time, he had such enthusiasm for what the kids are capable of doing. I love that and the fact that this class is also FREE. This is the first project Alexander completed. It took about two months work. His next project is a Colt 45.


I like that both kids have found creative outlets such as these. They both take pride in the work they do and seem to find a calm state in this type of hobby.

For me, I have been working on several sewing and knitting projects, but I am most excited about this simple project. I mentioned in an early post that I have a circulation problem that goes hand in hand with rheumatoid arthritis. If I am outside in the cold for long, my hands get extremely cold. I bought some hand warmers the other day when we were out sledding, but they are disposable. So, I had this great idea to make mini microwavable heating pads. I found directions online for stuffing fabric with long grain rice and cinnamon and then heating in the microwave. The size fits perfectly in the palm of my hands with my gloves on. It won't keep them warm for super long periods, but I think they will work for at least 10-15 minutes which should allow me another 15-30 minutes without panicking from the extreme cold.


*Note: On a cold, snowy day, I tried the heat pads out in my gloves. They are wonderful. They fit in the palm of my hands but kept my whole upper body warm while walking Izzy.

4 comments:

  1. very nice! I just recently learned to knit. The first thing I did was knit Sophie a scarf. Then I knitted my MIL a scarf for christmas. Now I am finishing up a bib for Sophie too. It is so much fun! My mom has put in a request for a scarf :) And I want to make some fingerless mittens for myself. I will be posting pictures of what I did on my blog soon too.

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  2. Nice crafts all around! I'm knitting a scarf for Kat using that exact same pink and purple yarn. :)

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  3. Wow! What cool free classes! I've recently started to try and teach myself to knit. It's not going so well... Lol.

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  4. Heather - Doesn't it feel great to make something for your kids that looks great and keeps them warm?

    Annie - The pink and purple seems to work great with young girls. Sophia picked that out herself.

    RANANDME - Hopefully you will keep working with the knitting - especially if your fingers are moving right! My knitting is still not very professional looking, but I enjoy having something like this to do and figure eventually it has to start looking better!

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