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Today is April 3rd

Today’s mood: A baby bran muffin and a heap of whipped cream 💕

Easy Bran Muffins

1-1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups bran flakes cereal (crushed)
1 egg
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and cereal in large bowl. Beat egg & milk together in a smaller bowl, once blended, add to flour mixture, stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy) stir in raisins if desired. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each cup 2/3 full.
Bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

We’ve added cinnamon in the past, subbed raisin bran for the cereal and used whatever milk we had on hand (usually almond).

Filling my sometimes sour lemon mood with pink thread carnations 💕

Keeping my mind occupied with meticulous intricacies.

Taking a moment to just breathe 💕

The bathroom clock stopped working sometime in the night, so I put my studio clock in there, just until clocks are an important enough thing to go out and buy again. Time is irrelevant to 2/3rds of our household now, but clocks in every room are old habits. On the upside, the studio feels quaint & charming using an old timey wind up 💕

I hadn’t planned on making masks, but the thought of people not having what they need or possibly being an unintentional asymptomatic covid-19 super spreader is scary and shit is getting real right now.

Sometimes feeling small and useless, so taking my useful skills and making cute masks for strangers and people I love 💕

There are so many resources out there, these are just a few I found really simple and helpful. If you want to donate your efforts to healthcare workers, patients, care centers, shelters and correctional facilities be sure to check locally with what your state requires/needs. 💕

..A Few Mask Patterns..

JoAnn Fabrics – A start to finish YouTube video, uses interfacing and makes a very sturdy mask. (The blue one pictured above uses this pattern)

Approved cotton masks for healthcare facilities from Allina Health & Blue Cross MN.

Simple traditional tie around the head mask from The New York Times.

Tailored mask (intermediate sewing) from State The Label (one size) is a simplified version if this one from Craft Passion (multiple sizes & formats) both of these have a center sewn seam which would perforate the weave and create needle/pin holes from sewing in the fabric, which might make it less effective than the solid sheet pleated fabric versions above.

We are ending our first week of the governor’s Stay Home order and I know I don’t need to tell you life is surreal, we are all living it, take care friends. 💕

3/26/20

We went grocery shopping for my parents the other day, it was strangely normal and at the same time not, seeing lists of sold out items upon entry, posted occupancy limits, worried that we wouldn’t be able to get them what they needed, the simple things they asked for. Worried that the other shopper next to me was getting too close, gloves, no gloves, watching how people touched stuff, and how some seemed so unconcerned.

Tomorrow is my last day of regular work, before the Stay Home order goes into effect and there are times I’m not even sure I’m completely comprehending this, any of it, so much is happening. Lately when it’s quiet and I can fully sink into the reality of it all, I get scared, sometimes letting myself worst case things, sometimes dismissing the seriousness, sometimes just going from moment to moment. I don’t know if it will be ok, I hope so, I really hope so, and that’s probably where a lot of us are at right now.

I’ve been debating putting my little shop on hold. On one hand it’s amazing that I can continue with minimal disruption, possibly even apply more focus to it, virtual marketplaces and online communities are incredible. But, in the same breath I worry about the postal workers, and the health and safety of all the critical workers having any unnecessary burden created by me or adding extra stress on already over stressed people and systems during this stressful time. Keeping up an “everything is normal” attitude when it is absolutely not, guilt in asking you my beautiful friends to put your money in my hands during uncertain times, feeling like a frivolity in a time of necessity. I just don’t know.

But, I do know making things makes me unbelievably happy, so I will always be a maker, even if I’m not always selling, and the idea that people like the things I make enough to want to buy them is humbling, I appreciate and adore everyone one of you. 💕

Right now, for today I’m open, and I’ve put a few handmade treats in the shop for anyone who would like one and for those that don’t, this is just a cute little chocolate bun on a Thursday afternoon. 💕

candy buttons

You might know by now I’m mostly muted shades of soft creams and dusty pinks, taupe on taupe with maybe a few other murky colors thrown in here and there, but not always I guess, I guess sometimes I like a flash of bubblegum pink, that just right apple green, or the sunniest of yellows. I guess we’re all kind of like that, usually almost always one way, but then sometimes not, sometimes we’re a total surprise, a complete contradiction ..I don’t even know, maybe I just really love pens?

It seemed like a while since I did anything different, so I decided on a mostly solids, stash only Nightshift Shawl, pairing all my favorite worsted weight single skeins in a very subtle, very me palette, but then I was all like, nah let’s go with those singles that have been rolling around in the stash for ages, let’s just pick colors that are kinda cohesive, kinda cute, but not really over think it.

The Candy Colors

Blue & green mix – Liberty Wool in Rainforest
Light blue – Cascade 220 (I think)
Green – Berroco Remix in Lawn
Pink – Berroco Remix in Blush
Yellow – Cascade 220 (again I think so)
Multi color – kool-aid dyed wool from back in the early chalklegs dyeing tutorial days (April 2012!)

At first glance I was thinking that the pattern was going to be confusing/challenging, it’s not, it’s really nice and repetitive, and the texture and color changes make it enjoyably perfect.

(p.s this is known as the discontinued colors of Berroco Remix section)

Honestly though, the whole time I wasn’t sure my colors were working, every time I got up to do anything, I’d lay it stretched out on the back of the couch, so later when I walked back into the room I could test myself and see if they startled me. When in doubt, focusing on cute stitch markers helps keep me moving right along, instead of ripping it all out!

I made enough for everyone, so if you’d like your own hand sculpted sweet little Circus Peanut Charm you can find them in my shop. 💕

Really liking this section right here. 💕

Oh did you forget about that yellow? No, no you didn’t. The sunniest of yellows making it or breaking it ..I don’t even know, maybe I just really love yellow now?

Intermittent yellow sewing with all sorts of zipper. 💕

Ok, it’s good, like really good, like wrapping up in a big cozy blanket good, and the fact that it looks like it’s made of candy buttons has me loving it all the more. 💕

Another lovely thing is it’s easily adaptable (I worked mine as written) but you could work more repeats for an even larger shawl or less for a smaller one, use fingering weight instead of worsted, make it completely scrappy or curate a custom fade, stay unconditionally true to your favorite colors or surprisingly contradict yourself.