The Pinterest Effect

So until someone comes up with a better phrase, I'm just going to call it "The Pinterest Effect", or "Pinterest Psychosis".  You know- that madness that descends upon you after too much exposure to adorable handicrafts and recipes and causes you to think that you can do those sorts of things.


I fall prey to this all the time.


Like yesterday.  Lotus was supposed to have her 4H cooking show, but it was cancelled because we got a fair amount of snow.  So all day, it looked like this outside:

Seriously.  It was like something out of Communist Russia.


So while the kids spent the day going in and out, in and out, sledding then coming in and disrobing, then spending an hour tracking down their gear so they could go outside again, I decided I was going to make this thing that I'd pinned the day before:

Only thing is, when I went to look at how to do it, I realized that it involved knitting.
I so don't knit.  I don't knit even more than I don't quilt.


But I really wanted to make it.  So, deeply in the throes of Pinterest Psychosis, I remembered that while I can't knit, I can fingerknit.



And the word "knit" is right there in the title, so it's got to be close, right?
I grabbed some yarn left over from my previous yarn project, and started finger knitting.  I finger knitted the hell out of the thing, creating a strand that was something like 6 feet long.


I knit until the strand was long enough to loop on itself four times.  Like this:

One continuous strand, looped four times, long enough to wrap around my neck comfortably.  Then I took another strand of yarn and started weaving it in and out of each loop, sort of sewing the pieces together.

While doing all this, I was entertained by Gabriel and his friend, who had abandoned the sub-freezing temperatures of the outdoors, and instead decided to construct the "BIGGEST TRAIN TRACK IN THE WORLD!"

Only they ran into engineering problems early on.  And I'd like to point out two things:  1. Gabriel changed out of the bathing suit for this activity and 2.  There's something about Gabriel that inspires people to cross-dress.


The engineering difficulties soon went from puzzled to peevish to obnoxious, and so Lotus, who was also finger knitting a scarf, decided to divert the boys' attention and try to give them a tutorial.

Only her students clearly weren't listening.
While all this went on, I'd finished securing all my loops together, and had something that looked like this:

It was at that point that I started seriously considering writing this blog post under the lie that Lotus had made this whole thing, since I was beginning to suspect that my final product was not going to exactly match up with my inspiration piece.


But I forged ahead, and went to find a ribbon to bind it all up.  
I chose a orange gros grain ribbon for two reasons- 1. I am convinced that orange goes with everything, and you're not going to change my mind and 2. It was the only ribbon I had.


So I ended up with this thing:

Oh yeah.  Nailed it.  Now it was time for the modeling.  
I went upstairs, looked at myself in the mirror, and debated taking a shower first.  But taking a shower is a really big deal, and so I just slapped on some sunglasses instead.  Think more Audrey Hepburn and less dirty frumpy schlub.

Only, do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a neck cowl when you're taking the picture yourself?  In order to not get an unflattering shot of the triple chin, you have to get the camera waaaaaay up in the air, and that messes with the way the cowl lays.


See?

It's like being in a contortionist act.  
So I thought I'd ask Joaquin to take a picture of me, which is something I usually avoid at all costs.  But I figured I could Photoshop the results into something vaguely acceptable.


Nope.

That's what I got.  Which is probably no better than what the weird looking creation deserved, but I had one last trick up my sleeve.


I'd just change models.

Oh yeah!

Nailed it.

Please be sure to come back tomorrow, when the third installment of "Snapshots from a Sunday" will be up.  That, at least, is one creative endeavor that I can't mess up.