Freeform Crochet
Lately I’ve been entangled in the inspiring world of Freeform Crochet. I stumbled upon it by chance and got instantly hooked – pun intended! Smile!
Limitations are not for me. I like to learn about things, like a new technique, but before I know it I’ve taken the idea apart and rearranged it into something new.
Freeform Crochet does exactly that!
Amy Solovay says on about.com that “Traditional crochet is typically orderly; you’d expect it to be worked in well-organized rounds or rows.” Then she continues: “The freeform crocheter can toss any or all of those expectations out the window if (s)he chooses. Forget the pattern; (s)he’ll make it up as (s)he goes along. Forget the orderly rounds and rows. (S)he will draw up a loop in any spot (s)he chooses, helter-skelter.”
Happy Birthday!
It’s my husband’s birthday. He’s coming home late, but when he does, he’ll get some cake. This is our traditional homemade birthday cake. It’s light and fluffy, perfect for good fillings like fresh berries and whipped cream or pudding. It’s quick to make, easy as pie … err, cake! Let me show you how.
I’m working on a rustic display for our fair booth. A while back I posted a picture of fruit crates on our Facebook page that I made to look old and weathered. The response to this photo was huge and I got several inquires about how to do this.
It’s easy. You might even have everything that’s needed in your kitchen!
How to make new wood look old
The process is very simple. The wood is first painted with tea, then painted with a vinegar/iron mixture.
The Snovej blog is back online. Finally! It took a while due to technical problems, travel, moving, a baby, a wedding and other personal pursuits. There’s still some things to solve and change when time permits.
This hiatus gave me the opportunity to rethink the purpose of this blog. It’s not just about craft and good food.
It’s about being THRIFTY!
I grew up being thrifty. The old Swedish saying “Man tager vad man haver” has been for me a guiding light in solving everyday problems. It roughly translates to “Use what you have” and is attributed to Cajsa Warg, an 18th century famous cook and author.
Dictionaries explain “thrifty” as being frugal or not wasteful. To me it means to solve everyday problems with whatever you have at hand. Like MacGuyver!
It also means to utilize one’s creative juices and to look at things in a different way. Turn them upside down and inside out … or turn yourself!
My intention from now on is to include as much thrifty-ness as possible in my postings. I’ve found some interesting solutions online and I have collected them on my Pinterest. I started a new board called Thrifty!, but there’s a lot of thrifty ideas in the other boards.
Here’s one thrifty story. Last spring I spent time at my daughter’s new home in Minnesota. She had a baby boy and had decided to use cloth diapers. Cloth diapers dry best in the sun since the sunlight bleaches stains in a natural way. But she didn’t have a clothesline and her husband, who could have put up a real system, was not home when she needed it. What could we do? Suspend a line between trees? But that was in the shade. Hmmm …
The clothesline was attached to the porch railing, then to a freestanding ladder and back to the railing. Some weights were added to the ladder to keep it from toppling over from the weight of the laundry. The weights were made of a water filled milk jug and sand filled paint buckets. And the rope for the jug was made from grocery bags!
Thrifty, eh!?
– Marina