I've been neglecting my ... everything. I can't believe I haven't posted anything since August. Oops. I didn't have a very crafty summer, but once fall hit, I started to get back into things. I'm taking a drawing class at the community college, which I'm very excited about, and I've been knitting a lot more.
Starting with drawing... I used to draw a lot when I was much younger, and a bit through high school, but I fell out of practice, especially after college, once I had to work for a living. I never made the time for myself, and as a result, my drawing skills got rather bad. It all seems to be coming back to me, which makes me happy. I guess regular practice is the key. Hopefully I can keep it up once the class is over. I'm so happy with what I can accomplish now, and I just want to keep getting better and better.
I contemplated taking the second half of the drawing class next semester, but I cannot face the prospect of going from January through May/June with no opportunity to take off a big block of time for a vacation. I haven't really had a day off in six months (which doesn't seem too bad, but things have been very stressful at work), and I'd really like to take some time off to relax for a bit.
Anyway! I am trying to knit a lot more. The more I do it, the easier it gets (duh). I made a Baby Surprise Jacket for some friends who had a baby this summer. It knits up into a weird shape that looks nothing like a jacket, but then you add two tiny seams and ta da! Cute baby jacket!
Speaking of ambitious, Halloween came and went, and I actually did manage to give a few friends some pick-me-up care packages (quite a few of my friends seemed to be having a lot of trouble around that time. I blame Mercury retrograde), but I did everything really much later than I had originally planned. I was up until 3 am the Monday before so that I could ensure that the recipients would get the boxes on Halloween day. I made jars of handmade hot chocolate and
I also bought a bunch of tiny glasses and did acid etching on them to house the candles.
Which reminds me--I need to come up with a holiday card design, so I can actually send out cards like I mean to every year.
More later as progress develops.
Halloween is quickly approaching! Kind of!
I would normally sign up for a secret-santa type of exchange on a forum I frequent, called a switch witch. They run 3-4 of them a year, with Halloween being the most popular. It's fun for me, since I tend to go insane and make my recipient lots of stuff, but I also tend to go berserk and spend too much time & money, all on a relative stranger. I never got the same in return that could even closely equate to the time & effort I put into mine. Not that they were bad at all (they were all very lovely), but I just think I tend to overdo it. Heh.
This year I'm going to make up Halloween care packages for friends that I know and love and all that crap. I will probably go and check my autumnal-scent inventory, and end up making a variety of soaps and candles in pumpkin/candy/leafy/smokey/spicy scents.
Last year I made some candy corn/indian corn votives, which turned out super cute.I also made one huge pillar. I mixed a coffee scent with a pumpkin pie scent to acheive a pumpkin-latte candle. I put wax bits in the candle shaped like stars and bats and halloween cats (aww, rhyme). I was so happy with the way it turned out.
I'll probably also make up batches of the Mexican hot chocolate I made from scratch for a few people last year. Andbest of all, the marshmallows. SO GOOD. Last year, I made some vanilla & chocolate
Last year I also screen-printed some Dia de los Meurtos t-shirts for a few people. I still have that screen, so I can make a few more of them, or use it to screen onto wood or tote bags, or something. I recently painted a DdlM skull onto a box, which came out rather well, but the most impressive was the collection of tiny sculpted skulls amidst flowers and ribbons that I put inside of a box last year. Maybe
Yes, I'm a bit over-ambitious, and maybe even a little psychotic. But I love surprising people as much as I love making stuff. I need to make at the very minimum 7 packages, but that may expand quickly to over a dozen. I'd like to ship some abroad to friends in England, but the cost of shipping means I'll have to scale back, since nothing weighs a ton quite like glass jars, candles, and soaps.
Whoa. Socks aren't too bad. Of course I've only done about an inch of ribbing, but the small circumference thing isn't as frustrating as I thought it would be. I'm sure when I get to the heel, it'll be a different story.
The twisted rib was a little awkward at first, but it's fast going now. I cannot wait to start the actual pattern. heh.
I've been one of the beta testers for the knit/crochet site ravelry.com for a little over a month or so. Instead of finishing anything i have been making, or going forth and making something, I keep finding new things that I want to knit. I'm going to have to sprout a few extra pairs of arms, i think. My queue has almost 60 things on it, and that's with me trying to be selective. I keep finding something I like, then I'll find that that designer has also got patterns for 3958 other things I want to wear.
At any rate, I've been itching to make a pair of socks for a while now (I LOVE socks), and recently (on ravelry, the evil!), I've found about 4 or 5 patterns for harry potter-themed socks. I've just casted on to start Bellatrix. Hopefully this isn't way beyond my skill level. I reallllly like this pattern, but I've never done some of the stitches before. I guess this is how you learn! heh. I think I have just enough, or slightly too little yarn, but maybe if I make them shorter, it'll work out. I could also go buy more yarn, but i think that's just asking for trouble to let me loose in a craft/yarn store.
I'll see how far I get by the weekend, and I'll post pictures. I think it will be extremely ambitious of me to say that I'll have any more than an inch or so done of one sock by then, but we shall see!
Would you go on vacation by yourself, and if so where would you go?
Submitted by Sean & Stefan.
Yes definitely. I am hoping to do just that later this year. I have a huge list of places I want to go, but the most immediate plan will probably (and hopefully!) be Costa Rica for either surf camp (hee!) or a cross-country backpacking/horseback adventuure. Maybe next year if I save up, I'll do an excursion to Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam.
I spent all weekend screen printing wedding invitations for a friend. Stupidly, I forgot to either keep a sample for myself, or take pictures of the final product, but I suppose I'll be receiving one in the post.
I'm really happy with the way they turned out! It was a LOT of work, but the finished product was so cute, it was totally worth it.
I found a tutorial for these pyramid bags on Craftster late last year, but I've come up with a really easy & fast way to make lined versions. I've posted this over in that forum, but maybe someone who might actually read this will see it and make one. =)
Step 1:
Cut two pieces of fabric, twice as long as it is tall. These are 5 x
10". Also grab a zipper that is longer than the short side of the
fabric. I'm using a plain polyester 7" zipper. I recently got a lot of about 40 zippers on eBay for I think $12? So, these are also cheap to make.
Step 2:
Line up the short edges of the fabric with the zipper sandwiched in between. Whichever fabric you want for the exterior of the bag should be on the TOP side of the zipper. Sew these 3 together, as close as you can get to the zipper teeth, and as straight as you can.
Line up the other edges of the fabric with the other side of the zipper. Sew.
Step 4:
Pull the two tubes of fabric that you've just created, so that the zipper is as centered as you can get it. Make sure you pull the fabric rather taut so that you don't get any pinched or wrinkled bits. Sew across the bottom.
UNZIP THE ZIPPER. (you'll kick yourself later if you forget!). Pull the two layers of fabric in the other direction, centering the zipper between the two sides.
If you want to insert a handle or strap of some sort, this is the time to do it. I usually put a bit of grosgrain ribbon or something similar just in front of the zipper between the layers of the outside fabric. I'm using enough for a wrist strap, but you can use a shorter ribbon, fabric, leather, etc., or nothing at all if you'd like.
Sew this top seam, over the zipper, stopping about 1" or so from the end of the liner fabric. Trim off the excess bits of zipper from the top & bottom seams of your bag.
Turn the bag right-side-out by pulling it through the gap you just left in the lining. If you forgot to unzip earlier, you can cry now.
Push out the corners of the bag. Pull out the lining. You can now either topstitch the hole in the lining (which I do because it's inside & inconspicuous, and I'm lazy), or if you want a nicer finish, you can hand sew a slip or whip stitch. Push the liner back in.
Ta da! Once you get the hang of this, you can do them really quickly. Start to finish is probably less than 15 minutes!
If you want to be really fancy, you can sew a bit of ric-rac, cording, ribbon, lace, etc. in the bottom and/or top seams of the exterior fabric for a sassier presentation (as in the second photo; that's yellow cording in the bottom seam). Just put them upside down (so the correct side is inside the bag) between the two layers and sew as usual.
I found the pattern for a cute mini skull & crossbones purse at helloyarn.com, and being a lover of all things cute, i had to make it. of course i almost never keep the things i make, so this will probably make its way into a care package soon.
i used paton classic merino wool for this project in black & petal pink. who can resist the cute when the cute is pink? i did modify the pattern a bit first, because the original skull had really long teeth, square eye sockets, and a more rectangular head. it knitted up pretty quick--i did most of it in one day. the body is just straight stockinette, with a quick bind off/cast on for the handle, and a 3-needle bind off (which is suprisingly easy!) on the bottom seam.
the intarsia skull part slowed me down a lot, but it was my first foray into picture knitting. it probably wasn't as tidy as it could have been on the inside, but i figured that the felting process would be pretty forgiving. (luckily, i was correct!)
To felt it, I just threw the bag in with some of my laundry using the warm wash/cool rinse cycle. After the first wash, it looked pretty good, but I decided it would be a bit more tightly felted if I did a second round. So in again it went.
After the second wash cycle, I pulled it out and got this:
You can see it shrunk about 2-3 inches widthwise, and almost 1/3 of it lengthwise (using my laptop for scale). i think the shape is much nicer too--more purse-like. the fiber is now really thick and sturdy, and i think it will stand up to plenty of use and whatever pokey things are placed inside.
The best part is that it used less than a skein of yarn to complete the body (and hardly any to do the skull), so i have enough yarn left over to make a pink purse with a black skull. but right now my project list is rather long, so that will have to wait a bit. ;)
I finally finished the double-knit skull scarf:
I'm also making her a pillow featuring embroidery. Mind you, I haven't embroidered since I was 10 or 11, or thereabouts. I'm in my mid-30s now. So, yeah—ages and ages have passed, but it came back to me pretty quickly. Here are some of the progress shots. I am going to sew it into a completed object (hopefully) tonight.
Soon I will commence the winter sweets cooking extravaganza soon. Chocolates, marshmallows, and hot cocoa powders. I have a feeling I'm going to be very sticky soon.
I'm almost done with the reversible skull scarf that I'm making as a very belated birthday present. It has taken a LOT longer than I expected. It is a bit longer than I imagined, but I think it looks pretty cool. I'm anxious to finish! I really wanted to make some other scarves for friends, but I really want to try to make something for myself. Though I am really itching to make the Binary Scarf for a geek friend of mine. ;)
Last night I watched an episode of Knitty Gritty on the DIY network, which was all about socks. Then I looked at this in-depth sock tutorial. Then I dreamt about socks. So, I think socks might need to be the next thing I start, hopefully this weekend. I would really love to be able to make a pair as amazing as Eunny, but I think I'll have to stick to simple, plain ones for the time being.
I also am in dire need of sweaters. I think I own about 3, and it's currently 32˚F. I got the Valentine issue of Knit.1 and there are some really cute ones that I'd actually wear. Hopefully they are not terribly difficult. The ones in Vogue Knitting look very intimidating.
And speaking of my sick cat, I had to take him to the vet yesterday. The vet requires either a harness/restraint, or a crate in their offices. My ex-boyfriend stole my carrier (Oslo, weighing close to 20 pounds, is rather difficult to carry in a large plastic box), and I had no leash or anything. So I pulled out some "meow" fabric I found at G Street Fabrics on the $2.49 table, some other scrap fabric, some ribbon, and a D-ring. I knew there was a reason I snagged 2 yards of that stuff. =)
At any rate, my design was fairly successful, but if I make another, I'd probably add darts between the neck collar & the back so it fits a bit better, and I'd definitely use those side-release plastic buckles with nylon webbing instead of ribbon that ties underneath. But you use what you have, right?
