Generous bounty and small projects.

The blue cupboard is settled in the kitchen.   It gives a lot more storage than the tiny shelves in the corner did and it looks much nicer as well.    The crocks are a gift from a friend, who thought I might be able to use them as set dressing for a medieval event.   For the moment though, they look at home in the new cupboard.  I think the grey jug might move up to the top, so it can keep the tea tin company.  That would give more space to the yellow crocks and allow the cast iron corn bread pan to show off as well.  I'm trying to figure out what to put in the bottom of the cupboard.  As of yet, it's still empty!
I love how the blue and yellow take your eyes away from that awful peachy coloured border.  It hides it nicely and the blue is bold enough to draw one's entire attention.  I fear what is under that wallpaper, so won't remove it until we're totally ready for any surprises!  I think it could be 70's panelling over deteriorating plaster.

 I found a note on my computer monitor the other day.   It said to call my friend Suzi.  It seems she had an abundance of excess green tomatoes and did I want some of them?   Of course I did.  There is a batch of Chow Chow, which I'll admit is a bit more ketchup-like in texture than I'd like.  It's okay tasting.  The front jars are a green tomato mincemeat.  There were several recipes for this chutney, but I tried the one which was most mincemeat like.  Oh, is it ever good!   I can imagine that in a couple of weeks, once the flavours meld a bit more, it will be at least as good or better.

 I realized that it might be a little bit of time before I bother to sit down and twist the fringes of the scarves.  So here they are in all their unfinished glory.  It was one neutral warp in camel and white.  I chose to use a red for one scarf and a browny black for the second and a lovely pewter grey for the third.  The fibre is a wool silk blend, which gives a nice sheen and lovely feel to the finished scarves.  Our guild has a studio room and two of us did this quick project on the 8 shaft loom. 

The neon cherry sock is coming along.  It should be finished by now.   However, when I got to the heel flap of the first sock, I realized that it was going to be too small, so I frogged it and started again, going from 64 to 72 stitches.  The cabling is fairly intense and has little stretch for that area and the slightly thinner yarn is knitting up to a bit of a tighter gauge than I'd anticipated.  No problems though, better to rip it out than have a sock that wouldn't fit anyone around here!  I have to admit that the colour is quite cheerful and bright.

The Cupboard

 

I had this idea for a simple cupboard.  Not the one with the big door I found, that's a later project.  This was just to try out some simple techniques and play around.  So a few pine boards and a trip to the city to pick up some square nails, this is what the simple beginnings looked like.

My original drawings had it a bit wider.  However, when I measured the space in which is is to go, I had to make it narrower, adjusting some front side panel width as well to look balanced. 

While we picked up the square nails, we also picked up some milk paint.  My plans included a two step paint finish, with the yellow under the blue, sanding wear spots so that the yellow showed up.  However, I miscalculated the amount of paint I'd need and didn't get enough yellow.  Instead, just a regular 2 colour finish.  Here the milk paint hasn't dried yet, so it looks really splotchy.

The two coats of paint are dried and two coats of danish oil have been applied.  I know that varnish or polyurethane coatings would have been more durable, but oil gave a really nice patina to the milk paint.  Since this is for dry storage, I figure that it will be okay.

This little latch is the last piece in the project.  It was made after I'd painted and oiled the main cupboard.  It just needs oiling  before being attached.  Then the cupboard can replace a couple of small, ugly, space consuming shelves in the kitchen.