Itching for a Stitching

2011-09-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I know I've been gone wayyy too long. I've been spinning, knitting, crocheting and learning about becoming a speech-pathologist. I'm SO busy its hard to find time to update, I'm hoping to show off what I've been spinning very soon as I'm starting to get better at it and less ashamed of my finished products :)

This is what I'm getting ready to dive into. It is 4 pounds of awesome from the Sheep Shed Studio in Encampment, Wyoming.

And this is Annie, my Kromski Minstrel. I stained her myself with Danish Oil in Golden Oak. I'm hoping someday to make her a red head with the red mahogany Danish Oil, but the color is sort of difficult to come by and shipping for it is not cheap!

The wool here was dyed by me in my crockpot with Wilton's Black Food Color Paste

Knitting Conquest!

2011-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

I have never really done serious colorwork on a sweater. I saw this pattern hanging up at hobby lobby from Bernat Studio. It was cute. I needed it. So I grabbed some super soft cotton (I love this cotton! is the brand) and got to work. I had also never made a sweater before. OR altered a pattern before.

As you may be assuming...this was quite a conquest for me. Sweater + colorwork + scaling 4T pattern down to newborn size=

\

Sorry for the shoddy photo. My camera is on the fritz from being left in the rain last summer. Its never been the same :sigh: I'm hoping that hat season will provide me with a new one!

I also want to show you guys my first ad purchase! I purchased ad space on this blog http://www.froggyandthemouse.com/ and I think it looks absolutely great! My good friend over at Ruby Dorcas Designs did the work for me. She's great. Super great. She does my son's birthday invites every year and she did the graphics package for my etsy shop.

Next on my agenda is finishing my ripple scrapghan and perhaps starting a shawl for this fall. (shawl for fall....that rhymes!)

I'll be out of commission for a bit July 1-10th ish as we'll be camping in beautiful Wyoming. I am SO craving that mountain air!

You all should know

2011-06-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

I am a Harry Potter fanatic.

I made this and will be taking it with me to the midnight showing of Harry Potter!
I would love to make more http://www.etsy.com/listing/76079395/golden-snitch-amigurumi

I am also going to be stocked up on gear from my good friend at Quirk Shop

Mainly this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74915427/the-weird-sisters-tee-love-for-tonks

I'm so excited and yet sad that it is all going to be over soon.

Sorry I've been spacey lately--my little guy broke his arm yesterday and I've been applying for day jobs and getting ready for our big move next month (that is the move that will give me enough room for a spinning wheel!). Writing cover letters takes a lot of time. Time that I'd rather spend knitting/crocheting. Hope you're all having a great summer! Vacay for me in a couple of weeks!

November Socks!

2011-06-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

I finally FINALLY finished these socks this weekend.

\

The yarn is serenity sock weight yarn--I got it at Hobby Lobby and this colorway was on sale. Being a child who loves all things vintage--this colorway of gold, olive green and rust orange was right up my alley.

The pattern is easy to do if you are a learning knitter such as myself and I highly recommend it if you're still waiting to get your feet wet in knitting. (no pun intended)

I had made some simple socks before, but I used worsted weight yarn and it was a very simple pattern so the lace weight sock yarn was a challenge for me but well worth it. These socks will actually fit in my shoes!

Now it just needs to stop being 96 degrees outside....

Here is the link to the free pattern on ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/november-socks

If you are not on ravelry.com, I highly recommend it if you are a fiber artist :) Its a website just for us!

Summer fun! Off to Wyoming

2011-06-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

What are you all doing for the summer? Big trips? Projects?

We have a lot going on this summer. Over the 4th of July we are going up to see my inlaws in historic Fort Laramie

Although you may have seen it like this:

At the fort, we walk around and look at all the historic re-enacters, the Calvary, they cook bread in this giant stone oven that you can taste and you can go to the bar to get old timey drinks like Sarsaparilla and Root Beer and stick candy.

On the fourth, they have games for kids including a greased pole climb (hilarious to watch), a potato sack race for all ages (also hilarious), and a penny find where they dump a bunch of pennies on the ground and all the little kids run around like hooligans looking for pennies. Its a good time. The first time I went three or so years ago, I was majorly pregnant with my son (like 37 weeks) and it was HOT.

Then last two years it has been COLD! (yes we were roasting marshmallows on the 4th of July)

And stormy!

This year we are extending our stay and are going to bop up to Yellowstone National Park for some camping. I have my sights set on a campground near Mammoth in Yellowstone:

Isn't it beautiful? So needless to say, I will be in the car a lot. It is about 10 hours to the inlaws, and then maybe another 6-8 hours to Yellowstone. I will be doing a lot of knitting and crocheting. I am going to start with a scrapghan for my new niece or nephew coming at the very beginning of August. If I get that done... I have some other things in mind that I will share in a new post :)

The scrapghan I'm thinking of doing is a ripple afghan like this http://crochetme.com/media/p/89937.aspx

But I will rotate offwhite with other colors in my stash. It is the time of year that I need to stash bust in preparation for my busy season this fall!

Sooo what are your plans for the summer?

FINALS WEEK AHHH

2011-05-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

So here at KU its finals week. Yay......um not. I have been a graduate student for three years and am finally graduating with my master's degree. Now, that is an accomplishment and I'm thrilled, BUT as a graduate student, finals week usually consists of turning in papers and projects that you've been working on the whole semester. Not one big exam that determines your whole semester's performance.

This semester, however, I started taking classes in Speech-Language and Hearing so I can pursue a second master's and a career in that field. All the courses are undergraduate courses and EVERY class has a final. I have FOUR finals. I haven't taken four finals in probably...ohhh....hmmm maybe 5 years when I was a sophomore in undergrad!

So with that said, wish me luck and then get ready for some super awesome new projects! I may even post some cooking stuff and some yarn reviews and stuff. I have lots of plans for the summer :) But first! Tackling exams.

Adventures in Dyeing

2011-05-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to try my hand at dyeing wool roving for spinning. You can really come up with endless color combinations when you're dyeing and spinning your own yarn. My husband chose the colors for this go round. Half the roving is purple and orange and it will be plied with yellow. I used Kool-aid to dye the yarn because it works, the color is bright and it is safe to have in the house around my son and I can use the same pots that I use for cooking.

Here we go, lots of pics!

So this was the final product, the splotches are unexpected, but appreciated. I call it In the Koi Pond

The first thing I had to set up was my music. I chose Ben Folds for this particular project

This is the 1 lb ball of roving I bought. It is mysterious wool top according to the shop lady. They didn't know what kind of lamb it was from! I was intrigued. Its very soft.

I set a big roaster on the stove to heat to about 200 degrees and in the meantime poured 5 or so packs of Kool-Aid into recycled Kimchi jars and a couple inches of water (If you're as fond of kimchi as I am you probably have many of these)

We've achieved the heat! You want it to be hot enough to make the dye stick to the fiber, but not boiling as the boil may agitate the wool enough to felt it. Throughout the dyeing process I kept turning the burner on a bit to warm it up.

I added half a pound of yarn and turned the burner off.

Then I poured the dye in specific spots of the yarn--purple on the sides, orange in the middle.

TA-DA! I let it set for 45 minutes turning on the burner intermittently to keep the water above 150 degrees. You'll know its done when the water is clear after 45 minutes. If you have the time, let it chill overnight until it gets to room temperature. It can sit just fine.

For my second round, I decided to tie the yarn off. so it wasn't as hard to remove from the pot. It turned out much better.

The end result!

Things I would do differently:

Dye smaller amounts at a time
I want to try dyeing premade yarn, because I'm not sure how well the purple and yellow will hold once they are spun
Different colors!
Buy more kool-aid. I thought I was being generous, but apparently not! Use lots and lots and turn the yarn lots.
I want to try this in the crockpot as well.
Basically, I want to do more and more and more! :)

Even if you don't knit or crochet, I recommend giving this a shot! There are great tutorials out there and its just fun to mess with! You could even dye your own yarn and I will knit something out of it for you :)

Wool Lover's anonymous

2011-05-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

This was the kind I always had as a kid :

I loved the blues as well

Alpaca is WARMER than wool

And angora is beautiful

These are just some of the types of animal fibers available to make yarn from. Maybe I'll do a plant based post as well--but lets face it, plants are not nearly as cute.

Going Green Part Deux

2011-05-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

You all had such great ideas on my last post, that I wanted to compile those in their very own post.

Two things happened while I was reading the comments:
1. "Oh! I do that too, but totally forgot that I do it!"
2. "Oh! that's a really great idea, I should do that!"

So here is a compiled list of all of your green doings:

Recycling
Using cold water in the laundry
Using halogen or curly light bulbs
Reducing car usage--taking public transportation
Shopping the local farmer's market (I LOVE doing this one--have you ever had an emu burger? They're delightful)
Energy efficient appliances
Composting
Reusable shopping bags
Cloth Diapering
Using cloth wipes
Repurposing old items (another one of my faves--we got a great rocking chair for my first son this way)
Gardening (another thing I love--growing up on a farm, you learn a lot :))
Green cleaning products (I use vinegar and baking soda when I can)
Turning down the heater and water heater (I do this when I can stand it!)

I love it all! As I said in the last post, I have been making t-shirt yarn for quite a while and hope to crochet a rug from it very soon. I'm really excited for that project to be under way. There are many many wonderful projects that anyone can do to repurpose old materials. Have you done a repurposing project lately? I'd love to hear about it!

Blog Giveaway Winner!

2011-04-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

The blog giveaway winner is blog commenter Jan!

She will get to choose three of my new dishcloths. Didn't win? I'm so very sorry. But hey, you can still get your very own dish cloths at my etsy shop! I am taking all of your facebook responses to heart and will make more to suit YOUR kitchen decor. So thanks for your input and I look forward to playing with color (after all, we have established that I love color right?)

The way I did the drawing, was I took all of the entries, many of you had the max number of entries (3), and lined them up in excel, then I went to random.org and generated a random number:

Blog commenter Jan's name was in row 39 so she is our lucky winner!

Thank you all for playing (it was a blast!) and I will do this again really soon. I'm also going to make another post about all the things we do to benefit the earth--many of you had really great ideas and I'd like to bring those into the spotlight in their very own post :)

Earth Day

2011-04-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late to the party, but hey, you don't have to go "green" on any specific day. You can do it ANY time. I do my part as much as I can--here are some of the simple things I do and I hope they inspire you as well!

I don't use paper towels but on very rare occasions
I use my washable plates and cups
I bring coffee cups with me to school instead of buying a cup at the store.
I type notes for school on my netbook instead of in a notebook
I repurpose all old t-shirts

Some become rags
Some become underwear for my son
Some are made into yarn and crocheted into hot pads
No clothes go to waste! :)

We recycle plastic, paper, cardboard and metal

We keep a relatively modest household anyway--we use our stuff until its dead and then we recycle it or repurpose it. I don't really feel like its "on purpose" or a conscious decision, I just think it comes with being a poor college student and being raised in a farm country where you save everything because you might need it elsewhere. My dad has jars of assorted nails and screws "just in case" and sometimes they came in handy.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not a hoarder. I have no problem getting rid of stuff that I flat out will never use BUT the difference is I don't tend to accumulate a lot of stuff like that in the first place. At least I try not to. Probably someday that will change, once I begin my career and have my own home and not have to rent and move things from place-to-place every few years.

Now for the good part! In the spirit of Earth Day, I'm trying to build up my inventory of items for the home. Including my new reusable cotton dishcloths. I have several other items in the works to decorate your place that I'm so excited to start on! In the meantime, I'd love to do a giveaway of a set of my dishcloths to YOU.

Visit my facebook page for a full range of colors :)

I loved making these because some of them are knitted, some of them are crocheted, and I freestyled all the patterns. Each cloth is unique in its own way. The cotton allows them to be machine washed, although I would probably wash them in cold water alone the first few times as I am unsure of the colorfastness of this yarn. These can be used for facial cloths in the bath, or for washing dishes! They are very versatile. They are also quite large--each is 9" x 8" so they are a bit rectangular. Sizes vary slightly due to the different patterns of each cloth, but as you can see from these pictures they fold up nicely and the size difference is undetectable.

There are three ways to enter (and you can do all three)--

Leave a comment on my kitchen color poll on facebook

Here is a direct link to the post http://www.facebook.com/bowrene/posts/10150167935522086?notif_t=feed_comment

Become a follower of this blog
Leave me a comment on this blog post about what you do to go green!

***Just leave one comment stating what all you have done to enter the drawing***

These are the three entry methods, then I will draw a winner at random.org next week and that lucky winner will get to choose three of my dishcloths for their very own! Please share with your friends as we need to have lots of entries to make things interesting ;)

Have a great week!

Squishies behbehs!

2011-04-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

I looove squishy babies. I'm getting a new nephew or niece this summer and have been making a lot of items for newborns lately.

A new one is a newborn hammock. These are so great for newborn photoshoots

(Disclaimer: Hammocks should only be used for photo shoots and nothing more, babies should be supervised at all times and the hammock should not be suspended more than a few inches off the ground. I am not responsible for accidents!)

Had to get that out ^. Of course it seems obvious, but then you've got the idiots that require the directions on the shampoo bottle. Now...I like to see how different companies mix up the shampoo bottle directions, but let's face it--they are there for a specific kind of person and that person may be the kind that would leave their kid hanging outside in their newborn hammock. <----that is not advised. again, I'm not responsible.

ANYWAY, back to the topic of hammocks and squishie babies. This was my first hammock, and as I got going on it I thought, "man, this is a quick and easy project that others should really try out!" So I wrote a pattern.

Now I'm still working the kinks out, but I think it has actually turned out quite nice. My whole process is kind of agonizing. I sit there (usually in the middle of the night so I don't have to pull my yarn away from my 2-year old) and I have my netbook on one side of me, the yarn on the other and I go row by row or round by round writing down exactly what it is that I'm doing. Sometimes what I'm doing is not quite symmetrical. When I make stuff for people, I don't typically count and pay attention to what I am doing as closely as I do when I'm writing a pattern. When I write patterns, I have to almost preplan each row or round ahead of time so that it will be symmetrical. Ultimately, I produce a better product that way and from then on, when I make that item its better than it ever was. That's a plus!

You can expect this pattern, plus another super special pattern, to come soon AND the baby hammock itself will make its appearance in the shop as well. I'm really excited for this, because it is a different direction with a lot of opportunity for growth.

Did I mention my hammock is modern and chunky and stripey (in pattern, not color)? It is, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Pics will come once the sun is up, I promise!!

Cheers!

Who?

2011-04-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is what I was using Vanna's Choice for:

How ridiculously cute did this turn out? Its basically made by crocheting a tube, and then stitching it up straight across. No decreasing or increasing, you just make a tube big enough for your head circumference and then stitch 'er up!

Oh Vanna White

2011-04-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

That Vanna White makes a mean yarn, I'll tell you what. Now I've been using Vanna's Choice as a cheap acrylic for a long time. Her colors are really rich and some are completely unique. When looking across the yarn aisle, Vanna's Choice by Lionbrand really stands out. Wow this sounds like an ad for Lion Brand--they really should be paying me for this.

Anyway, I bought a particular skein this week and just started using it. IN LOVE.

Its called "Grey Marble" and is a little bit lighter in person. It has awesome black and fawn flecks in it, making your crocheting interesting. You never know what the next row will be like. If you have a particularly tight gauge, as I do, then it just enhances those awesome stitches and brings them into focus moreso than just a plain solid yarn.

My brain is swirling with all the things I want to make with it. Its very earthy and has almost an art-yarn feel to it with all of the different flecks of color.

There are three others of this type available as well

oatmeal

Wheat (which I'm dying to get my hands on)

and

Barley

Even their names suggest the flecks of color spun into each strand. Pure perfection that we typically do not expect from an affordable retail store yarn. Good job LB and Vanna!

Its in your hands--or hair!

2011-04-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

These super cute bows were made for a friend of mine who is opening up a shop soon. I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

What I especially love about these bows are the colors and the fact that I put the color choices in the hands of my buyers. This batch was especially fun because it was such a large lot and I was given a bit of freedom in the color selection.

I hope someone uses these as a bowtie, or attaches them to headbands like this:

These are so super easy to slide onto any old headband, its ridiculous. If you're like me and like to change it up, these bows are absolutely the best. They are so fun to make. I can just chill out and make them and see immediate progress--unlike a lot of my bigger projects.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Supplies!

2011-04-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to keep my business up during my "off" season and have decided to make appliqué flowers for my customers to use any way they choose. I have grand visions of them being placed on baby hats or headbands, affixed to adorable sweaters, maybe used in jewelry or even clipped onto some ballet flats. These are just the right size, so the possibilities are endless!

I'm going to give several listings of colors I match myself, as well as a DIY option where customers can choose a custom color combination. I'm really excited for this as the options are simply endless. It gives me the opportunity to work with lots and lots of colors as well as keeping my business moving throughout the summer.

Here is a preview of what the flowers look like. They are quite simple, 5 petal flowers. I'm going to make larger ones as well as roses and pansies!

Bahhhhhh Bahhhh

2011-04-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

So the funnest thing I've done lately? Taking a spinning class at the yarn barn, which is my local yarn store. It was SO fun. Seriously. It makes me want to toss all my crocheting and knitting supplies and just spin yarn. What I like about it is the pulling motion and treadling with my feet. To get a feel for the pulling I'm talking about, try pulling apart a cotton ball. Its kind of like that. Easy, but good for the soul.

I have been spinning my own yarn on a drop spindle and hope to make some more soon. I am really interested in taking things in their barest form and turning them into something useful. When I cook, I like to do so from scratch and with home grown ingredients, when possible. With yarn, I want to do the same. My dream is to have a few sheep and an alpaca and get wool for spinning. I've raised sheep in the past, so that part I know how to do, but the processing of raw wool is something I have been investigating via youtube. The Yarn Barn also has more advanced classes I can take to learn more about this.

OK. With all of that, I have had sheep on the brain. Lucky for me, I was commissioned to make an adorable sheep for a great little boy. He will go up in the shop soon for your enjoyment!

Knitting in the media

2011-03-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

First, I love this song.
Second there is someone knitting here :)

Wrapping the semester and wrapping up goodies!

2010-11-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

I gave my last presentation for a research class last night, which went well. I'm working on the last edits of my thesis and would love to be able to defend in the next couple of weeks, but I dont' know if my committee will have time. Maybe in January! Then I'll be on the road to my second master's degree in Speech Language Pathology. Then the reeeal world. The scary real world.

Anyway, what have I been crocheting and knitting lately? How about a visual representation :)

Bears are too cute :) Earflaps just make it better.

I want to talk in detail about this one. It is made out of a yarn called "bamboospun" that you can get at hobby lobby. This color is "pink camo" and it is SO amazingly soft. Like ridiculously soft. I want to knit everything in bamboo from here on out. And how about the appliqué? I'm thinking of adding some items like this to the shop, and I've been toying with it for a while because it is super cute and I love the mix of materials and methods.

Finally, these gloves. Theeeese gloves. I'm not sure if I've talked about it before, but I'm not the best knitter. I only recently got into it (like the past year or so) and seriously...it is hard to wrap my crocheting brain around. So for me to successfully knit a pair of gloves is HUGE! The cupcake is part knitted and part crocheted. I want to experiment some more with fusion fiber arts and this was great practice.

That's what I've been up to. School is on until the week of December 15th or so. Hey! If you're a reader, how about a comment? I never know who is reading or if anyone reads :) Give me a comment and let me know if you are a fiber artist, what you do, you can link to your blog or shop or facebook fan page. Are you going black friday shopping? I am and it is my first time going "for real" so I'm kind of excited!

The big sale was great! staying on task

2010-11-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

This week I did a giveaway on my shop for reaching 100 fans on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bowrene

In addition to that, I ran a 15% off sale that was so great. The orders came pouring in, and I'm so thankful. You have no idea how much this has helped me out. I got to create new designs that I will be adding to the shop soon, and the money I earned will go to our Christmas budget. As some of you may know, I am a graduate student and am currently finishing up my thesis and am teaching an intro course for money. If any of you have had a GTAship before...you know they don't pay much :) That's why I'm so very thankful for all my facebook support and readers here on the blog.

You may wonder how I balance everything. I will tell you that I have been working on an empirical research study since 2009 and am just finishing up the writing of the stats and the overall analyses of the huge amount of data I collected. It is well over 60 pages at this point and I'm hoping I'm in the final stages of editing so that I can defend this sucker and be done with it! See what happened there? I got off task. That tends to happen when I'm writing. Again...you may wonder how I balance a two-year old, a busy etsy shop and teaching and being a student. This is the secret: http://tomatoi.st This is a timer for the pomodoro method. What it is is a method where you work for 25 minutes; this is called a "pomodoro". When the timer dings, you must stop, start a "short break" and go do something else--usually I fill my water or tea and bum around on facebook. The timer dings again and you start another pomodoro. You repeat this another couple of times and then you get a long break for 15 minutes. This helps me stay on task and work without distractions but also without getting burned out and frustrated. I mark my pomodoros on a sticky note attached to my monitor and it really helps to watch them build up! I'm obsessed.

Crocheting and knitting--I never have trouble staying on task. I pop in a wonderful Korean drama (http://viikii.net if you're interested) and watch and crochet or knit forever and ever. Crocheting and knitting really are my two passions. I love doing it and am so glad that I get to share what I've made with everyone. Thanks again to all of you.

P.S. The drama I'm currently watching is "Playful Kiss" I want to strangle the main characters, which seems to be a common feeling when I watch Korean dramas, but then I get this weird attachment where I'm happy that they finally end up together :) It also helps improve my Korean. I took 2 classes over the summer and now meet weekly with my Korean teacher for independent lessons. Its a good break from all of my other studies.

Here is what's coming soon to the shop (there's more, but my camera is being a stinker)!

I made a lightbox ^

The winners are in!

2010-11-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

I recently had a drive for upping my facebook fan count. My goal was 100 fans and we exceeded it by ten wahoo! The incentive was that I would give away one of these:

I used a random name chooser to choose ONE lucky winner from all of my facebook fans.

The lucky winner is

DRUMROLL
..
..
..
..
..
Emely W.!

If you are the lucky winner, send me a convo on etsy telling me what size this hat will be! :)

THAT'S NOT ALL (wow I feel like I'm in an infomercial) I have decided to give away TWO runner-up prizes and drew two more names:

Julie G. and Stephanie V. you have won the super secret mystery prizes! I will make you an adult or child sized hat. Just convo me on etsy and let me know what size and gender I am making a hat for!

For all my winners: Be sure to convo me your address as well. If you are new to etsy, feel free to email me at bowrene@gmail.com

Thanks to all my fans, we will do more fun stuff soon! How does a sale sound to you? :)

What on earth have I been doing?

2010-10-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

welllll here are some photos to show you!

This is a hat I made for my niece, its a cupcake with a cherry on top!

This is a looovely Jack Skellington hat I made for an awesome little boy

Theeeese are matching mother and daughter hats. I'm planning on starting up a little line within my etsy shop called "just between us girls" that features matching mother and daughter hats. I love these, they are ribbed and super stretchy. I also am a huge fan of black/pink as a color combo.

Who doesn't love foofa?

and where there's foofa there must be a broooobee! brobee rocks! These horns were removable! The one in my shop I think will be sewn on, though. The horns on this one have buttons on the bottom that button anywhere into the double crocheted hat. I'm thinking of writing up my simple beanie pattern. Its tried and true and I need to share it with the world.

Let me know what you think of all my projects! I'm trying to get 100 fans on my facebook page and then I"ll do a giveaway of a free newsboy! http://facebook.com/bowrene

I'm more active on there than on here, but I swear I'm not annoying. Sometimes I fan things and then the admins are posting asinine information that is not even relevant to the product. You won't get that from me.

I'm interested in expanding my products in shop. What kind of hat do you want? I'm thinking some saggy berets for adults. What do you think?

Destashing Part 1

2010-08-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, as promised I wrote up my new pattern yesterday. It is available in the shop, but I am looking for testers so if you're interested let me know and I'll send it your way!

Here is a picture of the destash hat that I wrote the pattern for and it is available in the shop as well. I used a closure method that is usually used in knitting, but I really like it and used it here! You just pull up long threads of yarn and then weave them in and out of all the stitches and then pull and tie to close up the hat. Its so much easier than all of that increasing and decreasing!

Ignore my tired face, its been a long first full week back at school. I wanted something really fall-y and I happened to have some old orange and brown acrylic. I am really partial to the ripple stitch, and I'm sad that I haven't sold more in my shop. This scarf is one that I'm especially partial to.

Anywho, more to come soon, I swear! :) saludos.

I suck, again. :)

2010-08-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Is anybody out there? Hellooooooooo?

Sorry, I've been really busy and therefore had not been crafting until recently! I stumbled upon this awesome yarn at wal-mart/hobby lobby. Its lionbrand "hometown" usa yarn and it is huge and chunky and awesome!

I can whip up hats in no time! Right now I'm making a cowl out of the lovely orange. I actually got it on closeout at Wally World because they discontinued some of the colors (NO IDEA why)

Anyway, here are some pictures of what I've done with it:

My standard newsboy:

Simple Beanies:

The yarn is wonderful to work with, and the colors are so bright and cute! I really would like to go nuts and buy up all the colors, but I'm currently in destashing mode.

Coming soon, a ripple hat pattern that will be available soon! The hat will also be featured in my Etsy shop. I've been cooking up a storm lately, so maybe I will throw some of that in soon as well as some of the things I"ve whipped up with my NEW sewing machine (from craigslist :))

I did it! And success!

2010-02-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I knitted a whole sock. It is red. I used this pattern: http://mary4169.tripod.com/Easy_Worsted_Socks.pdf

Now, I am told that knitting socks is difficult and not for beginners, and it was difficult, but not anything I couldn't handle. I don't know if I should attribute this to my ability to read crocheting patterns and experience with other fiber arts, or if it genuinely is easy for everyone starting out knitting. Maybe you, my readers, can let me know! I still have to knit the other one...but I'm running out of red yarn--so I think I will make it half red/half navy blue to match my Kansas University! Rock Chalk! Matching socks is not a priority in my life anyway.

I used to really hate knitting and couldn't relax while doing it, but here I am and I obsessively knitted on this sock until is was done and I actually enjoyed it! The only bad thing about making socks is----making the other one to match. By "match" I mean be the same size. If matching color isn't my priority, matching size probably should be, right? Let me know about your sock experiences. I'm also looking for recommendations on types of sock yarn! We dont' make socks much in crocheting, so this whole sock yarn thing is a new experience and I am once again a virgin to the ways of the yarn!

Thanks for reading!

Fiber arts on the big screen and small screen

2010-01-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

I want to do a little series once a week or so on knitting and crocheting (and other fiber arts) in film and tv. I always chuckle when I see it because some actresses really ARE knitting or crocheting and that really makes me smile. Then others are doing a weird imitation.....and its HILARIOUS.

I want to start with I <3 Huckabee's Lily Tomlin really is knitting in this movie:

Here is the trailer, if you haven't seen the movie (I highly recommend it if you like silly artsy movies with Jason Schwartzman!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-t2s0IlVm8

I can't seem to locate a ready made picture of Lily Tomlin actually doing the knitting, and for that I am sorry :( booo. However, see for yourself and let me know if you think she's the real deal!

Care of your Crocheted Items!

2010-01-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

So you've crocheted something or purchased something crocheted or knitted...but how do you care for it?

Personal Preference

Spot clean when possible. Just use a damp clean white cloth to dab at the fibers and allow to air dry. If you must wash the item, hand wash it according to the fiber recommendations (discussed in a minute!). Usually I always use cold if that will get the stain out or dirt out and then lay in the sun to dry (the sun does WONDERS for stains from tomatoes and other stains). With square items, you may have to mold them into place with your hands and pin them to a towel to make them retain their shape. This is called "blocking" and I will cover this in the future.

Machine Washing

I have washed my crocheted items in the washing machine on the delicate cycle in cold water with a light detergent. My tip for doing this *don't care if the item is unraveled and destroyed* This is not very helpful at all, I know, but if you want to wash an item in your washing machine, you have to accept that the item may get destroyed. I would wash my handmade dish towels in the washer just like any other garment, but I might be more careful with an afghan. Discretion is key.

When in doubt

Read or look up the care label for the yarn that your item is made from. If you get your item from me, just let me know you need help and I will be happy to advise you on the care of your garment.

I hope this post is informative and if you have further questions PLEASE! let me know in the comments!

Happy crocheting!

Back and Forth

2010-01-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

I'm so weird. I have no problem cranking out orders in a couple of hours the day that I get them. When I'm working on something for my family or more specifically for ME I blow it off and can't seem to get as much done. I only added 2 inches to the world's ugliest afghan yesterday, which got rid of a good chunk of yarn, because each row is about 8 feet long. I need to work on this afghan to make room in my house. We've done a huge shifting of stuff in the last few months and my yarn lost its nook. So now it is stored in a huge rubbermaid tote in my bedroom. I want that to not happen anymore and am seeking solutions! If you have any suggestions on how to store yarn, let me know. These are a few things I've been looking at:

Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News has these suggestions for storing yarn, but they seem to work best if you actually have a craft room, which I don't. I LOVE the wine rack idea, but it would not last long for me, because I'm a yarn-a-holic.

Chica & Jo suggest using shoe storage solutions for yarn and I love this idea as well. It would be probably a better idea for me.

I'm thinking I want some sort of cubby hole set up that I could maybe hang a decorative fabric over to cover the wide array of clashing colors that i have. Something like this?

Its WAY out of my price range, but I would like to explore similar options. Leave me a comment and let me know how you store your yarn! Low budget tips especially!

Ugliest Afghan!

2010-01-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

Most crocheters and knitters know that when you take part in this sort of hobby, you will have LOTS of leftover yarn and nothing to do with it. You can do many things with your leftover scraps like granny squares like on the back of Roseanne's couch:

The granny square is quite easy and is actually the first thing I learned how to do at age 9! They are worked in the round in almost a checkerboard pattern. There are really easy patterns all over online for free!

Another thing you can do with your scraps is to make amigurumi animals:

Another afghan or scrapghan that many people make is a ripple afghan:

These LOOK difficult, but are actually quite simple. It is a matter of strategically skipping stitches and doubling stitches. I made a ripple scarf last winter, but maybe I'm the only one that loves it, because it has not sold!

All of these ideas are great ways to get rid of scraps; however, I did not go any of these routes 5 years ago. Yes, 5 years ago I decided to destash and started double crocheting with 3 strands held together using a J hook. I have been adding to this blanket for 5 years now. It is currently around 8 feet wide and 4 feet long and getting longer all the way! I added about 6 inches yesterday. Now...this could have been done probably in a more pretty fashion...but I really love the random mixing of the colors! Sorry the pictures are so terrible, but I have camera issues at the moment. BOO!

PHEW! Big day!

2010-01-02T20:05:00.001-08:00

I wrote a pattern for this little guy ^ today! I'm looking for testers if you're interested let me know! It will be your chance to try out my pattern, give me feedback, let me know if it works before it goes live on etsy! I'm really nervous because most of the patterns I used were usually vintage, so I'm not sure if things are still written like that anymore. Please reply if you would like to try my pattern out. I'm letting it rest for tonight, but plan to revisit it tomorrow and should be able to email it to you in pdf form.

Pattern writing is much more difficult than I ever imagined. I really respect the artists that do this all the time! Hopefully this is the start of something for me. For one thing, it will be so much easier to send the pattern via email. When I make items, I take them and my toddler across town to ship them, which isn't a problem, I love doing it, but the appeal of a point and click delivery is what drove my motivation today! :)

Again, let me know if you want to give the pattern a try for me, but please only serious responses, as I would like to have your responses as soon as possible. This dino takes me about 2 hours to make, but I would think with a pattern it would go much faster!

Happy crocheting!

My New Year's Resolutions!

2009-12-31T12:26:00.000-08:00

So 2009 is already over! This time last year I was in a hospital in Nebraska with my son who was on oxygen. He was incredibly sick and we were not at home, so we had to go to an unknown hospital the day after Christmas and were there for a week! In my eyes, this New Year's Eve is already better, even if I am spending it alone. My husband is working long hours all week, which is hard, but not out of the norm. We both work so hard for so very little. This leads me to my New Year's Resolutions!

1. Blog Better!

2. Continue working towards being debt free. This is one I actually enjoy. I enjoy piling my money up on my car debt or on my husband's student loans to watch the balances melt away. We are doing something similar to Dave Ramsey's snowballing, and it works pretty well for us. Hopefully I can achieve this goal, as we don't have much debt--luckily.

3. Get my master's degree! I'm hoping to fulfill this one in May!

4. Lose 20 lbs--This will probably be the most difficult. My family is comprised of amazing cooks, and its hard to pass up. I'm going to try to focus on portion control and eating less junk food. Eventually I will give up my daily pop--but I'm not ready for that yet.

5. Double my Etsy shop listings--This will probably happen over the summer. I will work on new projects for my Etsy listings. That is what I did last summer, so hopefully I can repeat and have even more sales!!

6. Finish my scrapghan--I don't know if I've told you this, yet, but I have the world's ugliest afghan in progress. It is made up of all of my leftover yarns from over the years. I do it by holding three strands from three skeins together and double crocheting back and forth over and over. I have also added in squares that once had a purpose. Its quite the piece, and I'm pretty much in love with how ugly it is. I will take pictures soon.

7. Write a pattern

8. BE A BETTER BLOGGER!--I need to get better at this business and really think of some neat things to do. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

What are your resolutions? Any words of advice on what I have posted for my resolutions?

Again, I'm being a bad blogger

2009-12-22T21:37:00.001-08:00

I totally haven't been blogging lately, but to tell you the truth--I haven't been crocheting!

I have been busy teaching and wrapping up my semester and holiday preparation its just been crazy! I made these peppermint meringues today, and they are sooo yummy. I highly recommend them. If you've never made meringue before, you know when your meringue has reached the "stiff peaks" phase when you can turn the bowl over your head (dangerous!! :)) and the meringue doesn't move. Old trick my grandma taught me.

I have had a couple orders this week for an adult chocolate beanie in navy and for another dragon! I also sold a kitty kat ears hat. Its nice to be able to crochet without any stress from school. Well...not too much stress. I am having to work on thesis stuff a bit.

I'm also reading some fiction for the first time in a long time. We went to the library and I got Love in the Time of Cholera--a book I read parts of it in Spanish. I also got Slaughterhouse Five and The Scarlet Letter. Two books that I have wanted to finish for a long time. I have a bad habit of starting books and running out of time to read them!

I hope everyone's holidays are going well, and my New Year's resolution is to be a better blogger!

Yarns and Needles!

2009-10-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

I know I kind of write with the presumption that my readers know what I'm talking about, so here is a beginner's post!

What you need to crochet:

A hook:
Hooks are tricky--weird numbers and letters and metal or bamboo? I was lucky and inherited most of my needles from my late Great Grandmother, but I have dabbled with different kinds. Lets talk size first. They are "lettered" from A-Q(I think q is the biggest I've seen) so that A is the smallest and Q would be the biggest. I find a J hook to be ideal for starting out (what I started with), but my personal favorite now is the G hook. Its small enough so I can make really tight stitches if I need to, but big enough to still grab large yarn and look like I'm getting somewhere! That is huge for me. I need to see progress!

The other important thing to look at is what kind? I have been pretty loyal to the Boye brand metal hooks. I was told by the woman who taught me to knit that plastic needles can bend with the heat of your hand and tend to break. I have honestly never used any sorts of wood hooks, but I would imagine they would be just fine. I prefer my metal hooks because they keep my hand cool :) Hooks run around $5 or less and they last for life; I have had mine for 15 years, so if you're going to stick with it, metal is the way to go!

Next question is yarn? What yarn do I get? That's tricky. I started out with cheap $2/skein (roll of yarn) Red Heart Super Saver:

You can get it at Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michael's--basically everywhere (not at high end yarneries). If you are unsure if you are going to stick with this crocheting thing, this is the way to go. I find it to be a bit scratchy, but affordable. It is an acrylic yarn. My favorite acrylic yarn is what I buy at Hobby Lobby and it is called: I Love This Yarn!

It is a little more pricey--maybe $2.89 a skein, but well worth it. It is so soft and lovely to work with. They also make cotton and wool that I will talk about now!

My favorite cotton is Sugar n' Cream and I get it at Hobby Lobby as well. You have to be careful with this kind, because they have what is called a dye lot. Dye lots are numbers found on the label that indicate the lot that this skein belongs to. If you are making a large piece, it is important to buy all yarn at once, from the same dye lot because the differences between dye lots are noticeable and striking! Red Heart has no dye lot, which is definitely a benefit.

I have not dabbled too much into other fibers, but I have used wool. It is difficult to wash, so that is a disadvantage, and it can be scratchy--particularly for children. The main benefit is that it is WARM! Alpaca is even warmer. If you're making mittens, or a hat or something similar, wool or alpaca is the way to go. You can also investigate wool blends, which tend to be less scratchy and less expensive.

And that's all you need to get started! Summary--get a metal J hook and start with a cheap acrylic yarn. Work your way into more expensive yarns as you get the hang of it!

I would love to field any questions anyone may have, so just let me know!

The hat that took forever...

2009-10-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

It's done!!

The hat that took forever is finally complete! Its made of a gorgeous soft wool in olive green :) I originally bought it to make a dinosaur with. I made the dino, but had a ton leftover, so voila! New hat for G-money.

I really liked working with this wool, but I started to get impatient with single crocheting around, sooo I started to double crochet around and it went a bit faster. I'm not used to working with smaller weight yarn. My friend works with a lot of fingering and floss and I just can't do it voluntarily. I like to see quick progress, which one would think would wear off after almost 15 years of crocheting.

I finished the hat last night because my lovely neighbor came over to knit with me! I wasn't knitting, of course, but I was working on my hat and managed to complete another, which I will post soon! My neighbor is quite the gifted knitter. Bless her heart, she was trying to explain cableing and all the crazy things knitters do, but I can't wrap my mind around it unless I'm doing it. I can only think about crocheting in the abstract because my knitting is terrible!

It was really nice, though to sit and hang out and work together on our projects. Its tough to find people who can sit and crochet for 4 hours like me.

Its the weekend!

2009-10-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of homework to do, but I also have a lot of hats to do! I'm going to the yarnery today! WOOT!

I AM going to finish Gracen's hat this weekend. There is no other option. It WILL get done and I WILL post a pic of him in it! I can't procrastinate on it anymore. Like I said, I switched to doing dc, so it should go faster now. For some reason this wool is really fine and takes forever to build up. Its really the first time I've really worked with 100% wool before. Shocking, I know.

As I wrote in another post, I'd love to become a yarn snob, but I haven't quite realized that dream. I would love to buy hand dyed yarn, but I just can't bring myself to spend $30 a skein just yet. I also haven't found a colorway that I'm in love with, so it has been easy to turn them down. If you have a colorway to recommend I'd love to see it!

I have the bad habit of talking myself out of buying things, even if I really need them. I was telling my mom that I was going to make some pasta from scratch and she literally reached through the phone and shook me and said "JUST BUY SOME SPAGHETTI!!" I made the pasta anyway because I'm a nerd like that, but she's right. Sometimes you just have to go for it and stop nickel and diming yourself all the time.

Maybe if I find some hand dyed I love, I will get it for my birthday in January!

Why I haven't been crocheting

2009-10-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

I think I will tell you about what I'm studying, to explain why it is that I haven't been blogging or crocheting!

I'm currently working on my thesis at the University of Kansas. I'm getting ready to run a study where I will record a speaker in an anechoic chamber (a chamber that doesn't echo) speaking a passage in English, a passage in Korean, and a list of target words in English. A photo of an anechoic chamber is above, but ours doesn't have the foam inside, because it isn't necessary. The building was built around it and it is basically suspended in midair. Its almost like a big walk in freezer, but not cold. Anyway, you can make pure high quality recordings. Its amazing.

I will then combine the word list over the English "background noise" and the Korean "background noise". My participants will listen to either one of these mashups and will try to remember the 9 words in order. At the end of the trial, the listeners will write down as many words as possible. Then I will analyze their data to see if Korean is more or less distracting than the English background (English will be the native language of all listeners). My pilot study suggests that English is, in fact, more distracting!

So I'm at the stage of finding a speaker, developing a word list and getting approval from the human subjects committee. These stages are all almost complete. Then I will run my participants and hopefully get writing next spring!

I am teaching Language and the Mind discussion sections as well, which keeps me quite busy. This is probably the most boring blog I've ever written (that's what you're thinking :))

I have actually been working on my son's hat a bit more. I've switched from single crocheting it to double to make it go faster! I do have to get cracking on the hats for my MIL so I can have them ready for her by Thanksgiving.

I also want to make some sort of basket for my son's toys. The current set up we have looks junky. I'm thinking about using my t-shirt yarn that I've been getting ready to make (oh face it its going to be a long while before its done).

Ok I HAVE to do better!

2009-10-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

I'm going to start updating again, I swear! I'm working on a wool hat for my son. I've been making about an item a week for other people and will be making something like 12 hats for family this year and for some reason I can do them quickly. My son's hat--not so much. I can't figure out why it takes me so darn long to make things for myself.

It must be the sense of urgency. When I was an undergrad, I always had at least 2 jobs and took overload. I NEED the pressure in order to get things done. Now as a graduate student, I get things done because I have a toddler and a limited time to study. So I get things done during my office hours, and while I'm on campus in the mornings. I really need to get better about blogging and about crocheting for myself and my family. I need to make it a priority! That is my goal!!

Anyway, I have made a bazillion of the brown ribbed newsboys, they've been selling like hotcakes:

I gave my 6 month old neice, Kyla, this cherry blossom beanie I made last summer (my son modeling it :) :

My mom purchased (despite my protests) this hat for a coworkers baby:

So basically, I've been giving away my back stock of things and I now have room to make new things! Hold me to that!

Meet Arcturus Alligator!

2009-07-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

I decided an alligator would be the best start for a sock puppet and he turned out better than I had hoped! Gracen loves him. He has a stuffed tail and beaded eyes and his two front teeth. I named him Arcturus after Regulus Arcturus Black (my lame Harry Potter reference :)). I call him Art for short.

I'm hoping Art will help my sales pick up this month! Its so hard to do this etsy thing. You really have to stay on top of listing your items and promoting yourself. I am facebooking and twittering and it only helps a bit. I welcome any advice on this matter. I'm unsure of what else I should do

Boo. Old projects?

2009-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

So I got no suggestions on what hand puppet to make out of my green yarn! WTH? Its ok, I know you're all busy (all 7 of you followers ;)) I'm really busy too, that's why my postings have been scarce! I will post an old project for you to look at, but I'm going to tell you what I have been up to first.

I have been submitting alchemy requests lately because I want to do more custom work! Its exciting, but at the same time, it is really annoying that nobody has picked me yet :( Its ok. I'll get over it. I know my work is good, I'm just a little misunderstood at the moment! Yeah that's a good excuse :)

Anywho feast your eyes on this!

I know the photo isn't beary good, but thse are two hats I made for two brothers. So cute right? I need to make more of them and list them because I think making your kids look like animals is a popular thing to do right now.

Puppeteer?

2009-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking about making a line of hand puppets. My son loves it when we make his stuffed animals talk. I have some forest green yarn I need to get rid of. Any suggestions? I fixed the comment feature FINALLY. It was something wonky with the layout I had picked, hence the boring one up now. I need to find a new one that will be conducive to allowing comments! Seriously though, I would love ideas on what you would like to see made into a hand puppet. As I always say, if you can imagine it, I can crochet it! I have yet to be stumped, unless you're my husband who requests that I make the entire cast of his video games amigurumi style. I *could* do it, I just won't. He plays a lot of games.

Holy Smokes!

2009-07-13T10:40:00.001-07:00

So, I was out of town for a lonnng time! I haven't crocheted much. I sold three of the dinosaurs so that is basically what I have been up to! I made this adorable dragon as a variation of the t-rex!

I love his tongue. I've been pretty distracted lately because something big is about to happen. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is opening Tuesday night! We got tickets at a nice theatre for midnight! I have been to all of the movies (except one) at midnight along with midnight book releases. Call me crazy, but dangit I just can't help it. Its such a great series. I would love to make a Molly Weasley sweater someday, like the one from Chamber of Secrets:

Isn't it great? Whoever made it is a genious. You kno it has to be handmade, where would you buy something like that? Its kind of depressing to know that the Harry Potter excitement is coming to an end soon. I hope that my children will have something to be SOOO excited about. Anywho, I'm in the process of making a tote bag for my nephew, because he has suddenly become quite interested in matchbox cars and hotwheels and we all ran with it and bought him a whole bunch of them for his 2nd birthday. He needs a bag methinks.

My new friend!

2009-06-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

I made this little guy this evening while vegging out over Degrassi and anticipating my Dr. appt in the morning. I'm fairly sure I have strep or something along those lines. I think I am going to make a couple more of these guys and list them on etsy. This particular guy I'm going to keep for myself. It was made from my great grandma's stash of yarn I got from her and its become a sentimental thing for me to use it. I hope she knows how much I love to crochet and that I want her to be proud of what I am doing with her beloved gift. I wish I'd known her better.

*sigh* enough of my reminiscing! I made a sale yesterday (YAY!) and I'm quite thrilled with how it turned out! I hope my buyer loves it too. It will look adorable on her daughter. It was my first venture into the wild world of cotton. I think I will make one for my little man as well, if I can get him to ever keep a hat on. How ironic is it that I, who almost exclusively crochet baby hats these days, have a son who rips off any hat I try to put on his head!?

I was a crocheter before I was a cheapskate

2009-06-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Therefore, I am forcing myself to become a yarn snob and buy high quality yarns. I just purchased my first skein of cotton and I'm pretty excited about it! I also got two skeins of "haute fur" from Hobby Lobby for $1.19! They will make some adorable baby hats :) I'm busy today, so I must go! I made my first sale in a month this morning!! WAHOO!

Hunter's Orange!

2009-06-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've created a couple things since I last saw you. The ripple scarf that I bought the wrong yarn for is completely fixed! Its not posted on my shop yet, so here is a sneak peek!!

The other thing I made was a hunter orange beanie for my BFF. It is just a simple beanie. No bells, no whistles, just a cute hat made for warmth and simplicity. With this yarn, I made another hat for my nephew before he was born (2 years ago!). I bought hunter's orange because his parents are big hunting enthusiasts. So, naturally, I thought he needed an ear flap hat in bright orange for safety during deer season! At that point, I was winging it and had no idea how big a baby's head was. So I made it as big as my saucepan and even blocked it on my saucepan! It was huge! But in about three or four months, he grew right into it, right on time. See, he was a June baby, and June babies don't typically need hats until they are 3 or 4 months old anyway. It worked out perfectly! What is even better is that the ear flaps help keep the hat on, and my nephew still can wear his hat even at 2 years old. He takes it everywhere. Its so cute! Below is a picture of the beanie I made for my friend. I hope that the baby she gives it too is able to use it and love it as much as my nephew does :)

Small Lovelies

2009-06-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I just need a break. So yesterday, on the way to my nephew's birthday party, I made this:

Its a handy little pin cushion. I worked it in rounds and stuffed it and tied it up using a slip stitch. Not only did it help on my mission to destash, but its kinda cute, and I like it :)

Yesterday, I ran to the yarnery to get yarn to finish a destash ripple scarf I was working on. After I used it for about 5 rows (alternating colors, so its not as easy to undo) when I realized it was "soft white" not "off white". I need new glasses. BAD.

This is my last week off of work. I will have to start my crap summer job next week, so unfortunately, my crocheting will probably slow down. I'm a little sad about it, but vow to try and keep it up! I've enjoyed my time just hanging around watching hulu and youtube and crocheting. *sigh* all good things come to an end. ALWAYS. Its one of those universal facts of life that is actually quite depressing. Someday. That's what I tell myself: "someday I will be able to sit around and crochet and not have to worry about money or anything other than the stitches in hand"

Its a nice thought, right?

Out of Yarn

2009-06-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

So I finished the coozie yesterday, as you can see above ^^. It came out ok. I think it ended up looking like cauliflower, which is hilarity. In fact, I think I'm going to call it a caulicoozie. Witty right? wah wah. That took me all of 20 minutes, and I still had the bug, so I decided to start making a scarf out of some caramel brown and the ecru yarn shown above. I did a typical ripple pattern. Then I ran out of ecru. I was so certain that I had more! So there I was at midnight wandering around looking for ecru yarn. My husband was perplexed and for some reason gets a good chuckle out of the word "skein". Weirdo. Anyway, I think today I shall attempt to continue with my rampant destashing. I want to somehow make a hood with a duckbill, there are far too few animal items in my inventory and repertoire! Or perhaps I will finish my "Here Comes the Sun" bag. Have I mentioned that yet? Its a purse with a sun rising over the hill, its almost done in an amigurumi style, in that you just work in rounds, or maybe like an afghan stitch? No. I think not. More amigurumi. I should probably finish that one first.

Today's project: Cooolzies!

2009-06-12T12:16:00.001-07:00

The coozie. Apparently not everyone knows what I'm talking about. I often find myself saying "you know, that thing you put your drink in to keep your hand from getting cold and your drink from getting hot?"

I either get blank stares, or a "oh yeah, you mean a (insert random *incorrect* word here)"

Anyway. I have a ton of destashing to do and I think this is the best way to do it! I think what I shall do is start by making a simple single crocheted circle, then sc a piece as long as the circumference of that circle (or the circumference of a pop can)!

Hope to have pics soon! That's what I'm doing today!

Oh and I started a facebook page for my etsy!

I appreciate your support!

Vintage Time!

2009-06-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

So I began over the weekend crocheting with a vintage skein left from my great grandmother's house. I felt kinda weird using it, because she was the epitome of a craft genius. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us, but I'm hoping to capture some of her spirit by following in her footsteps as a crafter! I decided that a vintage yarn deserves a vintage feeling pattern, so I used a standard broomstick lace style. As usual, however, I did not use a pattern and winged it. Wang it? Wung it? Hmmm. Anyway! Here is the finished product, one skein of this "ombre sayelle" yarn in "spice" produced a 60" x 6" scarf:

I hope you like it! Its going to be really hard for me if it sells on etsy. I thought about not listing it, but I really need to destash and declutter, so if someone wants it, its theirs! I have plenty more of Great Grandma's afghans and yarns and incomplete projects that I can complete and keep for myself.

What's funny about the yarn is that it had the Duckwall price tag still on it. It was a small skein (think Red Heart Sport size), and it cost $1.29! That's in the 1970s! I thought it would be much cheaper, but apparently the price of yarn has been stable for many many years! I think we may even pay less than that now, for the really cheap stuff. Happy Needles!

Adventures in Upcycling

2009-06-04T13:45:00.001-07:00

So, this morning I made a beanie for my etsy shop. I'm trying to get more adult items in there. I love making baby stuff, and its quick and easy. The adult stuff, I'm finding, is fun as well, I just have to think "what kind of stuff would I want to buy?"

Last night, I cut a bunch of old t-shirts up to make yarn for dish cloths. I have made 2 of 3 that I am going to make. Its really fun and quick! The cutting takes a while, but it is well worth the effort when it comes to crocheting. I love the chunky texture of the thick cotton and it is super fast. I will post pics when I upload them this afternoon! Here are the dishcloths!

To cut the t-shirts up, all you have to do is cut from one side and continue around and around the t-shirt until you reach the sleeves. On one of the tees, I continued up into the shoulder just looping around the front of the shirt, but that seemed to be a waste for an extra foot or two. I am not the most precise, and my scissors were kind of dull, but the yarn actually becomes more interesting with varying weight throughout!

Greetings!

2009-06-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks for stopping by! I'm really excited about this blog. I decided that I want to discuss the home arts by means of a blog, because while there are many of us, we are often scattered. Just when we think these arts are dying, we go out to etsy and craftster and ravelry, etc. and realize crafting is not dead at all. In fact, crocheting and knitting have gotten new life from the creative and resourceful minds of today! Amigurumi crochet is something my great-grandmother would have loved, if she were still alive today. She made the most beautiful afghans, pillows and clothing. Another exciting update for the textile art world is upcycling! I hope to add my tutorial for making plarn (plastic grocery bag yarn) and yarn from old t-shirts. Stay tuned, I will post some pics of my latest projects. Feel free to comment if you have anything you'd like to discuss, or any ideas for me!