Me In a Nutshell

This quiz kind of nailed my personality; that is to say, I agree with the results.  I feel kind of like Martin in the Simpsons... "systems analyst, systems analyst...", lol.

You Are An INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can. Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge. Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat. A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. In love, you are an easy person to fall for. But you're not an easy person to stay in love with. Although you are quite flexible, you often come off as aloof or argumentative. At work, you are both a logical and creative thinker. You are great at solving problems. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor. How you see yourself: Creative, fair, and tough-minded When other people don't get you, they see you as: arrogant, cold, and robotic

What's Your Personality Type?

Mmmmmm... brownies

You know how you have those old recipe books passed down from older relatives? My favourite is one published by Five Roses Flour in 1932, called "A Guide to Good Cooking". Though I'm not quite sure about some of the savoury dishes ( I can do without "Fluffy Turnip" and "Creamed Sweetbreads", thank you very much), the cookies and pastries are refreshingly simple and delicious. I especially like looking for the ones that have comments written in. Here is one that my grandma noted as "easy + good" - the absolute best brownie recipe I've ever come across. Not only is it dense, chewy and intensely chocolatey, it also has few ingredients and is unbelievably easy to make.

Chocolate Brownies

(also known as Fudge Squares)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/2 cup butter, cut into smaller squares

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature, well beaten

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square pan.

Add butter to melted chocolate, mixing well until butter is melted. Stir in the sugar. When well mixed, add in the beaten eggs. Add flour. Stir to a smooth batter, then add the nuts. Spread in the pan and bake for 25 minutes. When removed from the oven, this mixture will appear to be soft and rather undercooked. Resist the urge to overbake! Let the brownies stand in the pan until they are cool and hardened. They will look and taste like chocolate fudge.

Yum! Try not to eat the whole pan...

The Spoils of Victory

I found a great little thrift store yesterday!!!  It is a little hole in the wall place with an excellent selection of kitsch and really reasonable prices. 

Here are some of my finds...

This makes me feel so nostalgic.  I totally had this activity center!

A neat little German pill packet from the sixties.   Apparently this was a type of fever reducer.

Ha, ha.



I found a wonderful set of Rand McNally flash cards from 1961.  There are three sets: animals, trees and birds. 

AWESOME!

 

Bird Seed Balls

I love birds.  Living in the deep-freeze we call Winnipeg, there's not many that don't migrate south for the cold winter months.  These hardy little guys have to contend with temperatures that are often around -30c plus a cold north wind.  I made these bird seed balls to help provide them with fat and nutrients.  I like to use bacon grease in mine (birds are tiny dinosaurs, after all!) but I'm sure you could adjust this recipe if you don't feel like saving a pot of stinky fat in your fridge for months.  Good substitutes for bacon grease would be lard or suet.  This recipe is very, very messy... but if you have all your supplies ready and laid out, and keep the mixture fairly cold, it can be made slightly less so.  I also suggest having some paper towel handy to wipe the mixture off your hands when you want to pop the bowl into the fridge to chill.

Bird Seed Balls

1 part bacon grease 

1 part peanut butter

2 parts vegetable shortening (softened)

berries or chopped fruit (I used wild cranberries)

wild bird seed

hemp cord cut into 12" lengths, folded in half

Mix the fats together.  Stir in the fruit, and then add enough bird seed to make a fairly stiff "dough".   Chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until hard.  Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball, squishing the hemp cord (folded end in the ball) into the middle.  Keep the two ends long enough to tie later.  If the mixture gets too soft, place it back in the freezer for a few minutes. Roll the finished ball in more bird seed and place in a plastic egg carton or other suitable container.  Freeze until ready to use.  

To hang these, simply tie a square knot in the hemp ends hanging out of the ball and place onto a twig or branch. 

Chickadees really love these.  It's neat to watch them hang upside down to eat!

I've also noticed that our red squirrel routinely makes off with at least one ball each time I put these out.  

Customization Elation

I have finally become sufficiently excited about Blythe again to work on my dolls.  I'm not exactly sure what prompted this, but I think it may have something to do with all the lovely new models being released lately.  I figure if I'm actually using the ones I have, why not get another one?  Justify, justify...

Things have been going alternately well and ill, depending on which model I'm working on.  My AE (Syrie) has been the easiest to work with.  I've only done light changes to her, most working on her hair and sand-matting her face.  Her hair is... a challenge.  It looks great in photos, but is still frizzy if touched too much and feels, well, gross.  The sand-matting went really well, as it had for my RRe.  I find it to be one of the easiest and most dramatic customizations you can do.  It completely changes the look of your doll.  I use 800 grit sandpaper to take off the shiny finish, using light pressure while moving in a small circular motion over the entire head.  I prefer paper to the sanding pads recommended by Puchi Collective, but the tutorial on their site is excellent.  After sanding I always buff lightly with a clean cotton rag to get a semi-matte finish. 

Here's some before and after shots of  Syrie to show the difference.

On the other hand, Nouvelle, my RRe, has proven to be much more of a challenge. I wanted to change her eyelashes... which I decided I needed to open up her head to do. The RRe is an SBL model, which means this is a lot of work. The "traditional" method for opening an SBL head requires scalping the doll and then sawing the plastic dome inside to separate the face plate from the rest of the head. I had heard talk online that it's possible to open SBL heads without sawing, and decided to try the "new" method. Scalping was pretty easy. There was no glue to speak of and the flanges all came out completely in tact. However, pulling the flange out did snap one plastic bit of the gutter in the front - yikes. The next step is to release the eye spring (no problem) and remove the body (accomplished with a bit of work) then soak the head in hot water to soften the glue holding it together. Then you are to pry the pieces apart and go on your merry way. This was not how things worked out. After much soaking and even more prying, wiggling, and swearing, I still have a fused head. I am sorry to say that I did become rather impatient and put several gouges into the plastic along the seams prying with a screwdriver (I'm guessing that's frowned upon in dolly circles, ha,ha).   I'm hoping I can sand these out later. I did get all of Nouvelle's eyelashes removed, hooray, and I am still determined to perform the lobotomy. I just need to rest my tired hand muscles and rebuild my patience a little so I don't smash her open with a hammer.
I will call this "a learning experience", rather than "a clusterfuck" and move on. By which I mean buy more dolls.

What's Wrong With the CPSIA

I've been thinking about this a lot since I heard about it on the Etsy forums.  I think the first thread I saw was from back in October.  At that point most people came to the conclusion that this legislation was aimed at the big retailers and/or Chinese importers, and the heat let off for a while.  Recently this forum topic has re-emerged, as concerned vendors received confirmation from the CPSA or their state governments that this would affect EVERYONE selling ANYTHING for use by children 12 and under.  Basically the law (which goes into effect Feb.10, 2009) requires that manufacturers have all components of all products tested for lead and phthalate content.  The reported cost of testing has put at around $35 per component... and by component, I mean every individual type and colour of thread, fabric, paint, material, finish, etc, etc.  For bigger manufacturers that produce huge batches this isn't too terribly bad, but the expense to the small scale manufacturer or one of a kind crafter would be beyond their means.  And even though some primary components will have already been tested, they must be retested once they are part of a "new" product.  Vintage materials must also be tested.  Worse, this law applies retroactively, meaning that any held over stock must either be tested... or discarded.  This also applies to any used childrens' items, you know, the kind people sell at garage sales or thrift stores.  If products aren't tested and certified, they are considered hazardous and the vendor could be subject to a huge fine for selling these.  Also the CPSA has made it clear that they will be determining whether your product is intended for children, whether or not the product is marketed to older teens and adults.   Art dolls, Blythe, stuffed toys and sculpture have all been defined as children's items because said to be they are perceived that way by the average consumer.  All imports and exports (to and from the US) must be tested.  The panic in the handmade community has been growing as people realize what this means for both buyers and sellers.  The wording of the official document is extremely vague, which has caused incredible confusion as people try to figure out exactly how they will be affected.  There are still a lot of questions about who needs to comply, how to get items tested and how this law will be enforced.   

I have a beautiful little boy.  His health, welfare and happiness are absolutely paramount to me.   I can understand the reasoning behind this law.  I don't know what I would do if he became sick or -god forbid- died from a toy or clothing I gave him.  However the CPSIA obviously goes far beyond what is reasonable.  To deem all untested items hazardous is illogical and reactionary.  

It is important that consumers take responsibility for what we bring into our homes.  We can not expect anyone to do this for us.  This law will severely harm the one group of manufacturers most likely to take the care and effort needed to provide parents with safe products and answer our questions honestly.  

I sincerely hope that this law will be amended.  I don't think small business should be exempt from safety regulations, but there must be some middle ground.  I don't have the answers, but I am trying my best to spread awareness about this issue.  

To learn more, please visit these sites:

www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.html

www.handmadetoyalliance.org

www.nationalbankruptcyday.com

www.fashion-incubator.com

There are also groups on social networking sites like facebook, myspace, etc.

I hope everyone - world wide - puts some thought into this and expresses their solidarity with the small business community.

*edit*

A press release on Jan.8/09 from the CPSA has stated that re-sellers of children's items, such as thrift stores, will be exempt the from certification requirements.

You can read about it here

 

Isaac's Mittens

This is a great pattern for men’s fingerless gloves, from a Beehive pattern booklet published in 1915. These were probably originally meant to be knitted for one’s strapping husband to wear as he completed various greasy, manly, mechanical jobs on the farm in a howling blizzard… hence the 5” wrist garter. Since most of the guys I know use these gloves now in order to take outdoor smoke breaks or operate their iPhones while taking public transit, I usually opt to shorten the wrist to about 3.5”.
I have changed some of the wording in the original pattern to make it easier to follow, but the directions are unchanged. Sadly no gauge was included with the original. I used a much thicker wool than called for in the pattern and though it was a real, ehm, challenge to knit, the gloves came out quite nicely.

Men's Mittens

Original description: Knitted plain (except for the ribbing, to give elasticity in the wrist) these mittens are simple to make and very comfortable in wear, especially where the fingers require to be free.

Materials: 2.5 oz (around 70g) 3-ply yarn
Four 3.0mm double pointed needles

Instructions:

Cast on 52 stitches, placing 16 stitches on the first needle and 18 on each of the other two needles. Work in 2x2 rib for 36 rounds, or to desired length. After a few rows, place a stitch marker at the beginning of the round.

Work 10 rounds in plain knitting.

Begin the thumb: P1, increase in the next stitch (by knitting through the loop in the row just underneath the stitch, then knitting the stitch regularly), K2, increase again in the same manner, P1, K to end of round. The two purl stitches mark the outside of the thumb.

Knit two rounds plain, but continue to purl the two marker stitches.

* Increase row: P1, increase, K to the stitch before the next P stitch, increase again, P1, K to end of round.

K two rounds plain, continuing to P the two marker stitches as established*

Repeat * until there are 18 stitches between the two P stitches. Knit two more rounds plain without increasing. In the next round, K1 (the first purl marker stitch), place 18 stitches on a holder and leave them for the thumb, cast on 4 stitches, K the other purl marker stitch, continue on in plain knitting to finish the round.

Work 10 rounds in plain knitting.

Work 10 rounds in 2x2 ribbing. Bind off loosely.

Thumb: Take up the 18 stitches that were left on the holder and divide them evenly on two needles. With the third needle, pick up 6 stitches along the space between the other two needles.
Knit six rounds plain knitting

Work six rounds 2x2 rib.

Bind off loosely.
Weave in all ends. Block or steam as desired.

A scan of the original pamphlet is available from http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/ in pdf form. It’s in three parts, the first of which is available at http://www.antiquepatterns.dreamhosters.com/BeehiveWoolcraft1.pdf
and contains links to the other two parts.

As far as I know this pattern is in the public domain, and you’re welcome to use it to create items for personal and commercial use. Enjoy!