Massachusetts lifted the mask mandate this past weekend which a lot of people are very excited about. I’m not one of them since I still have two unvaccinated children and the chance of spread from a vaccinated person to an unvaccinated person is possible, albeit low. That being said, it is not the vaccinated people spreading it that I’m concerned about. I’m worried about the antivaxxers. In the past, you could spot the people without masks from a mile off and keep your distance. Julius makes a wide berth around adults without masks, and we do too. Those people who couldn’t be bothered to wear masks during a global pandemic to protect others, probably are not listening to the science behind vaccines either. Luckily many folks in MA are actually listening to science…
We are so lucky to live in one of the only countries that is wealthy enough to buy (multiple doses of) vaccines for all their citizens. While I don’t mind wearing my mask enough that I’m going to ditch it yet, I do mind the anxiety that the pandemic has caused. It was amazing – as soon as I got that shot in my arm I felt that sense of dread lift. I’m now even able to look back at the situation around us and reflect on it without panicking. The reflection has brought me to a couple realizations. The most uplifting insight is that the pandemic has brought about the mentality to “not put off until tomorrow what you can do today” (except cleaning – definitely still putting that off until tomorrow, or next week, or next month). I mean just look at my random accomplishments! I have finished projects I started when Julius was just born, mended items that have needed mending for years, started and finished dozens of projects and have reorganized half the house. I’m pretty proud of myself. I’m wondering how long that mentality is going to last when we start leaving the house and the piles of unfinished things blend into the background again…
So this post is dedicated to anti-procrastination! The project I’m going to show you might be the epitome of anti-procrastination, or it might be some serious hardcore procrastination. I’m not sure. Before Julius was born I wanted to create a hot air balloon mobile for Julius and ended up buying one instead. I love the mobile I bought him, so it all worked out. For Patricia I again had dreams of making a mobile. I envisioned a mobile with bees and flowers to match her room’s poppy theme. I had a harder time finding one I liked this time around, so I had slightly more motivation to make one. I wanted to finish one before Patricia moved from her bassinet into her crib so that she had something to stare at, but that (as expected) didn’t happen. She outgrew her bassinet very quickly and by mid January we were sick of tiptoeing in and out of our room every night so not to wake her. At this point though I was fully motivated. I had a concept in my head that I sketched down and completed February 22nd. I bought some supplies and spent many nights making tiny bugs and flowers out of felt to adorn her mobile.
When I had the bugs and flowers all ready, I spiked a fever and thought I had come down with covid from the one stranger that came into our house during the pandemic. Will was also convinced I had covid so I ended up quarantined in my room until I got the results of my covid test. Will and Julius left me food outside the room and I’d feed Patricia completely masked. I was super scared and just stared at my phone waiting for the test results, which took two solid days (in the past they only took 12 hours). Luckily my fever broke and the test came back negative, and that’s when I realized that it had probably had been mastitis the whole time. At some point though, Will decided I could quarantine in the basement instead and I managed to finish stringing the mobile together instead of being bored out of my mind. So mid-March I finally finished Patricia’s mobile and I’m so happy with how it came out! I am pretty proud of myself that given a deadline I only missed the mark by 2 months, despite a toddler and infant and a fever.
Anyway, I’ll try to post the flowers and bugs in a future post, this is just how I strung the whole darn thing together.
Bugs and Flowers Mobile
What you’ll need:
- 12″ wreath ring
- 6″ wreath ring
- 12 felt flowers
- 2 felt bumble bees
- 2 felt dragonflies
- 2 felt butterflies
- 15 pom poms
- crochet thread
- large eyed needle
- Cut a 2 foot length and three 2-yard pieces of crochet thread. Knot the 2 foot length to form a loop then hang from a coat hanger.
- Thread your needle with on of the 2 yard pieces of thread. Pass the needle through the center of a pompom, through the loop, and back down through the center of the pom pom. Remove the needle from the thread, and then pull the thread so the ends hang even. Repeat for the other two 2 yard pieces of thread.
- Hold the 12″ wide wreath ring about 6″ below the bottom of the knotted thread loop.
- Pass one end of a strand of crochet thread through the center of the 12″ ring, around the top and back down. This should hold loosely using the friction of the thread on the ring (I’ll call this a friction knot for lack of a better term).
- Repeat step 4 with the opposite end of the strand of crochet thread. Make sure the friction knot is directly across from the other one.
- Grab a new strand of crochet thread and repeat step 4 6 inches away from the previous friction knot. Repeat step 5 for this thread.
- Repeat step 6 for the final thread.
- Adjust all threads so the hoop hangs parallel to the ground.
- Knot each thread onto the hoop so it will hold tightly.
- Cut two more 2 yard pieces of thread.
- Thread your needle with a piece of thread, then again pass it through the center of the pom pom, through the loop, and back down through the center of the pom pom as in step 2. Even it out so the center of the thread sits at the pom pom.
- Repeat step 11 with the last piece of thread but instead of evening out the thread, instead knot just below the pom pom, pass one end of the needle and thread back up through the pom pom and trim so the end of the thread is hidden in the pom pom. You should now have 3 threads hanging down the mobile unattached.
- Hold the 6″ ring about 5″ below the 12″ hoop.
- Pass one end of a strand of crochet thread through the center of the 6″ ring, around the top and back down. Repeat for the other two threads, spacing the threads evenly around the 6″ ring.
- Knot each thread onto the hoop so it will hold tightly.
- Thread your needle with one of the central 3 threads. Pass through two pompoms and into the top of an insect/flower. Tie a loose knot to hold in place.
- Thread your needle with another central thread. Pass through 1 pompom and into the back of an insect/flower. Tie a loose knot to hold in place.
- Repeat steps 16 and 17 for all insects and 3 flowers, alternating one pompom and 2 pompoms and alternating different insects and flowers.
- Using regular sewing thread stitch a poppy onto the 12″ and 6″ hoop where each thread meets the ring.
- Adjust the insect/flower height in the larger ring so when the inner ring spins it will not hit the insects. My insects were around 10″ below the 12″ ring.
- Adjust the insect/flower height in the smaller ring so the insect/flowers don’t hit the outer insect/flowers when the rings turn. These were about 10″ below the 6″ ring.
- Knot the insects/flowers, then thread the crochet thread back through the flower or insect and trim excess to hide the thread.
- Adjust the pom-poms on each thread so they are centered between the hoop and the insect/flower.
Patricia checking out her mobile from above.
Patricia admiring her mobile from below
Patricia’s view
