I'm not a playa, I just craft a lot

Lotsahats

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:15:06 GMT

Sooo...the craft fair I was trying to get into was cancelled. Now I have hats. Lotsahats. Luckily I had a Plan B... I had a great time at the Charlottesville Holiday City Market and gained lots of experience points. I also sold some hats! The most popular ones happened to be the product of a last minute light bulb flash moment. I finished up a few of these just as my husband finished packing the car for our 2 1/2 hour trip from Norfolk to C-ville:

Magic Stripe Yarn

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:38:52 GMT

I've been trying to knit a slouchy hat from this yarn for months now. I haven't found a pattern that doesn't cause strange pooling or that keeps my attention. I started this simple 3X1 rib hat last week as something to do during my hour long lunch break--since it only takes me five minutes to eat a turkey sandwich. And I am impressed that my random number of cast-on stitches plus the random number of increases has created even striping that spirals up the hat! Look! I know that if you don't knit it doesn't look like much, but trust me, its magic!

More animal hats...

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:28:49 GMT

Handmade Parade!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:01:57 GMT

I have been missing my old crafty self lately. I have been crafting... just not as profusely. It could be because I have a baby now. Mostly, I attribute my lull to the economy. (Obama '08!) I just don't have as much disposable income anymore. I used to craft for fun and for the challenge. And I used to do it for free. Now I am ready to embrace the concept of "craft for profit" as many of the people around me have been suggesting for YEARS! Alas, it is difficult for me to put a price on my skills.

Now I got this Great Idea a couple of weeks ago to start making fleece hats like the ones from a previous post and sell them this fall/winter. I just needed a place to sell my wares. After much web-scouring I think I have found my place in this crafty world... if they will accept me:
The 7 cities crafters HANDMADE PARADE

NFO: Nearly Finished Object

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:21:56 GMT

My super wonderful husband braved the female dominated LYS and put together the most super wonderful Christmas present for me. We had a baby boy on October 24 and he picked out the yarn, pattern book, pattern, and needles for an adorable little baby sweater. It is my first sweater!

The pattern and yarn are from Sublime. Its the vintage car coat knit in the extrafine merino dk in the color pebble instead of the cashmere silk blend. Its washable and I guess the ladies at the LYS made the suggestion to substitute to my overwhelmed husband. He also bought me my first set of Addi Turbo!!!! circular needles in the suggested size US6 (4 mm). I ended up knitting it with my old US7 bamboo straights because I knit tightly and hit gauge right on the nose with them. (My first time knitting a proper gauge swatch too!) I did end up using the Addi's for the ribbing and somehow the lightness combined with the ultra smooth needles caused me to knit even tighter than usual, so it worked out well since the pattern recommends using needles two sizes smaller. It was a very easy project, as are the rest of the patterns in the book. I could see myself knitting most of them for quick easy baby shower gifts. Its a size 6-12 months since my baby is really growing like a weed. He was 8 pounds 7 ounces when he was born and 11 weeks later he is close to 15 pounds. mmmm... breastmilk :D
Did I cover everything? Let me know! On to the pictures:

Yay! He seems to like it! Oh yeah, its a NFO because it hasn't been blocked and is missing buttons. I'll get around to that little bit someday.

4 cm!!!

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:04:16 GMT

I've been dilated 4 cm now for about 2 weeks. And 70% effaced. Lemme show you:

So I am right there between diagrams 'D' and 'E'. And if I was in labor I would be in a stage called 'active labor'. But, I am not in labor. And haven't even felt a contraction. Yet. I was sooooo freaked out when the doctor told me. So I started knitting hats:

A baby stockinette cap with ribbed edge, a cabled cap for me and the start of a spiral rib stocking cap with tassle for my husband because he is goofy and only looks good in goofy hats. And the yarn is SWS in natural denim.

monkey love

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:41:59 GMT

This is my first FO (craftspeak for Finished Object) in quite a while--if you don't count the cotton dishcloths that I made and gave to my sister before I remembered to take pictures. Doh. This is my second pair of socks ever! The first ones I made were for Sock Wars '06. That was fun--I might do it again this year. The socks in my icon are the ones that killed me.

So. I am a frugal crafter and only do one project at a time. Socks seemed to be out of my reach, since I could not find the supplies I needed at my local craft stores. And I hardly ever buy anything online. I gave in a couple of weeks ago when I finally visited knitpicks. I can allow myself an $8 dollar pair of socks... right?

I dunno how I ended up ordering $4.49 a skein yarn instead of $3.29 a hank yarn. Two skeins are required for a 'pair' of socks. I must've pushed the wrong button somewhere ;p

Okay, okay. Just ONE sock.

That's Knitpicks Risata in burgundy. My very first official sock yarn. yea! I also ordered the DPN's from them. Both very nice. I have nothing to compare them to, sadly, but I had no problems with either, if that counts for anything. I ended up using Size #3 needles because:
1. I knit very tightly
2. I wear size US 11 Womens's shoes
3. My feet are all swolled up cuz I'm 8 months pregnant! Yea!

And here is my attempt at avoiding second sock syndrome.

I have already frogged twice-- hence the Risata Ramen. I can't count to 64 anymore and I keep skipping parts of the pattern. Dunno why.

Still not a playa...

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:25:24 GMT

My crafting frenzy has slowed down a little, but here are the rest of the xmas crafts I didn't get to in my last post:

I used a bleach pen to make this shirt for my sis's boy friend. He loves animals and would love to be a vegetarian...but he loves bacon more. :D Coincidentally, my sis gave him a bacon wallet.

Action Shot! He's worn it a few times already.

My other sis in her neckwarmer, reading the rules to the game Dragonology. I never even got around to adjusting the buttons for her. Ah, well.

My other, other sis's tote. Doncha love the monkey fabric?!

Pockets!

My sneaky nephew! "Where'd you get that candycane?!!"

She thinks its reversable... so I guess it is!

My brother asked me to make him a hat for his ginormous head... I was in the middle of it, when the idea came to me to customize it even further. Galaga, of course! So i printed out some pics, charted it, then duplicated stitched this much on it.-->

I tried it on him and its Tooooooo Big! But, all is well. I want to remake the hat with a black background and more little buggy spaceship enemies.

Here's a hat I made for myself from the leftover yarn from my sister's neckwarmer. And some other pink yarn because I was afraid I was gonna run out of green.

My husband chose the color and design for his own gloves. The pattern is cigar from Knitty.com.

He has also already worn them a few times. Time to shave them. And they are so functional-->

Supercrafty!

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 02:32:59 GMT

Here are a few things that I have completed during this holiday season. Surprisingly, I have been able to crank out about one craft a day...whilst my husband makes sure the house is clean and I am fed and the bills are paid. Ahhhh, true love. ;) I am sure there are even more pictures waiting to be uploaded from my 1GB memory card. But, those can wait.

Fleece hat and scarf with butterfly applique for my husband's best friend's fiance's daughter modeled by Odie.

Fetching pattern from Knitty.com. I've made many, many pairs of these. I love the pattern. Even the infamous picot bind off! Paton's Classic Wool in Natural Mix for me Mum and a smaller pair in Dark Grey Mix for a very petite girlfriend. I altered the pattern by omitting one pattern motif (cast on 40 instead of 45) and using smaller needles (homemade size five shishkabobs. haha.) They fit her perfectly!

A ninja for my sister's boyfriend made of black fleece and craft felt. She hasn't given it to him yet and I don't think she is planning on it.

Origami boxes my sister and I made for her to package homemade cookies in for her co-workers. Made with double sided scrapbooking paper and dollar bin ribbons, both from Michael's. We made about 15 of them.

A neckwarmer for my beeg seester. Moda Dea Tweedle Dee in Sagebrush. I adapted the pattern for a stole from the ball band and made it a little narrower and shorter. Then I added the button rows.

I purposely off set the buttons to make it drape like so. It looks completely different on her because she is petite and I am a giant compared to her. (She's like 5'2" and I am 5'8") I have a picture of her in it somewhere...

A camera case for me lined with fleece. The purty fabric was originally bought for my sister's PSP case-->

This is my first time using this type of fabric and it is a pain in the Arse. I have plenty left to correct my many mistakes!

The beginnings of Coronet from Knitty.com. I don't think I actually like this so I may frog it. Moda Dea Washable wool in Moss.

That's it for now. I have so much more to upload from my camera... And yes I do have many sisters.

Cutest update ever!

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 04:41:24 GMT

Since I've seen a couple of references to my fleece beenies on craftgrrl, here's my cousin and her new baby Josephine. She was born on Dec. 8th and I brought mama a matching hat. All together: "awwwwwwwwww!"

A Porpoise Purpose

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 02:41:03 GMT

“Everything--a horse, a vine--is created for some duty...For what task, then, were you yourself created?
A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for.”

~ Marcus Aurelius
The Emperor-Philosopher

The long arms of the world’s tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling plastic material out of their stomachs...People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic...“When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday,” Chen said. “The two dolphins are in very good condition now.”

Gobble, gobble!

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 06:07:55 GMT

Cinnamoroll!

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:16:03 GMT

I have so much fleece left over from the baby hats I posted yesterday! This is by request from my little sister. The character used to be called Baby Cinnamon. I guess even Sanrio is trying to be PC... boo...

I am very bad at taking pictures of things on my head...

Fleece Please!

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 23:14:00 GMT

I used the tute for animal hats from the craftgrrl memories to make these hats for my cousin's baby shower. It was very hard for me to let them go... I love Sanrio! Doesn't everybody?! Sadly, I couldn't make it to the shower, but I heard that the hats were the hit of the party. Yay me!

They're made of fleece, and I am sorry I couldn't get a better picture. Luckily, I remembered to snap a few shots before I packed and wrapped them. I used this chart for the sizes and ended up making them between 12 and 15 inches each to make sure at least one of them fit.

More great last minute costumes...

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:36:23 GMT

My nieces couldn't make up their minds until the night before Halloween so it was up to their crafty aunt (tita) to make their costumes:

could this

from target for $3.77 turn into this?:

Of course, every fairy-princess-butterfly-ballerina already has a leotard and tutu in her closet

and a disney princess dress just needed the crown and necklace

even cuter from the back

and sleeping beauty with her other auntie panda

Headband pattern aka 'I have entered knitting geekdom'

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:38:03 GMT

I wrote a pattern. Wanna see it?
Here's a little intro into i-cords and my version of 'M1' aka 'make one stitch' which is actually called something else entirely in proper knitting circles. I don't know how to gauge so I don't expect you to either. I used size 6 double pointed needles, but you could use regular straight needles. However, when you i-cord with straight needles you simply knit the 4 stitches, then slide them back on your left needle and continue. The pinkish yarn is Patons SWS in Natural Geranium and the green yarn is ModaDea Washable Wool with a green-y name like fern or moss...its in an earlier post...

headband

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:41:31 GMT

I had some precious, precious yarn leftover from my one glove that I posted earlier and made this:

It all started with an i cord. I can try to write up a pattern if anyone is interested.

It is very difficult to take a picture of one's head!

Kinda 'deer caught in the headlights'...

slubs

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:27:49 GMT

WTF!
Check out the comments. That's some funny sh!@.
period.

Cigar Boycott

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:55:42 GMT

I am asthmatic, so I altered the Cigar Gloves from Knitty.com to accomodate my ailment.

I am unable to take a picture that shows the true colors of this glove. It is, of course, my other ball of Patons SWS in Natural Geranium with stripes of leftover Natural Blue. I still only have size 6 DPNs so they turned out a little roomy since the pattern calls for size 5. And I made them using the 'medium' pattern. I have very long hands so I am very happy to have knit gloves that my fingernails don't peek out of.

I washed the dishes!

Wow. An empty sink. I am a knitted dishcloth convert. No pattern, just plain stockinette with a cable in the middle and garter on either edge. My husband loves it, too. He is the one who normally washes the dishes. He gives it his complete approval and doesn't even mind the colors. It is made with Lily Sugar n Cream cotton yarn. He says its more scrubby than his scrubby sponge!

crossposted to craftgrrl

Neptune Festival 2006

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 22:41:56 GMT

I must see these scupltures every year...always. They never cease to amaze me. Last year I tried to take pictures in the dark right before the fireworks. This time we went early, and went home early. I think I have strep throat. Argh. I also managed to score some boardwalk pizza and Kohr Bros peanut butter/chocolate swirl before we fought our way through boardwalk traffic and I collapsed into bed.

I love this frickin' yarn!

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:19:31 GMT

Another pair of fetching from Knitty.com

My sister requested a pair in blue or cream when she saw my green ones (peek a litle further down my journal to see). They really knit up sooo fast. But the yarn really made it nice. It is Patons SWS (soy wool stripes) in natural blue. The size of the project takes advantage of the self striping incredibly well and each tone just melts into the next. It's a pain to work with though because it is splitty. It unwinds itself while you work with it so you have to work to keep the strands together. Other than that I love the colorways it comes in. It was on sale at Michael's (I think) ((maybe I used a coupon)) so I also bought Natural Geranium just because it was pretty.

Death by sock.

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:15:08 GMT

09/29/06/17:30

I will take the necessary time to mourn my passing.

Frankenproject

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 21:27:35 GMT

I lived in Spain as a military dependant from 1996-1999. When I left I swapped my favorite Rollins Band t-shirt for this plaid button up with the lovely Claire Bear for remembrance. Is that a word? It was already worse for wear and I just found it again. So I paired it with a pair of my cords that have seen better days and made her a Christmas present!

I saw something similar posted in craftgrrl a while ago, but I don't remember who or when. Here's the front:

the back:

inside the flap:

inner pocket:

close up of placket buttons that I left on the flap lining:

I only have two spools of thread... well one now since I have used all of this light blue. I am still learning how to sew, so (hahahah) I haven't invested in supplies yet. Orange or the blue of the pants would have been better, but I didn't feel like going to the fabric store and being overwhelmed by the abundance of crafty stuff I have yet to try.
The pants were a size 14. Instead of the bag being HUGE, I cut out a panel from the middle including the zipper and back seam to make it smaller. Yay! One more sewing project down...that makes 4?

Gordan

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 05:02:39 GMT

Ohhh, the drama of war. Click on the pic above to see how it all unfolds. In the most twisted of twisted events, the mod for Sock Wars became a victim of Hurricane Gordan. Just as we all were waiting for the SOCK OF DOOM pattern on the scheduled Friday Morn, taking days off or faking sick, cursing our email inboxes again and again, swatching, switching needles and swatching again, googling 'short row heels', and planning the demise of our targets, YarnMonkey, our brave coordinator was roughing a storm that rendered her helpless in the digital, electricity driven world. Some cried, "Fake!" "We were conned!" Some thought it was merely a suspense builder. Some had forgotten that they had even signed up. Then, someone remembered that YarnMonkey was from Belfast, Ireland. The same place just run over by Gordon. We were all instantly sympathetic. Somehow she manages to contact us not through email, but through her blog. Yay, we have a pattern. We knit in unison while wishing the best for her and her family, simultaneously creating objects of destruction. mwahaha. But! Still unable to email the dossiers individually, YarnMonkey can only provide us with our Target's email addresses on her blog. Not useful for sending socks. There were those who were finished by Saturday morning, but had nowhere to send them to. They took to politely asking for mailing addresses via email. Some have complied, others are strategically refusing. I took the slow and steady approach. I emailed my target to find out if she was still in. She responded with her address and the news that her socks were also waiting to be mailed. I found a mistake in my ribbing aka "Rib of Doom" aka "ROD" that I chose to ignore. As one Sock Warrior says, "frog is a four letter word." So, I embroidered the name of my target into the heels of the sock using duplicate stitch to make up for the boo-boo. I finished Tuesday night and emailed my address to my assassin by request. I will post pictures later, maybe when I am sure that my target has been offed. haha. All in jest.

It's not a sushi roll...

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 21:20:26 GMT

What could it be?

I have been wanting to make a needle roll for myself, and since my sister's birthday is coming up, and since the Hancock fabric store was having a sale, I couldn't put it off any longer. It really took all of my concentration, being new to sewing with a machine and all. I winged it and I didn't use a pattern, I just looked at similar stuff online and modified it to my liking. I only had to rip one seam out... I just left the rest of the mistakes as testimony to handmade crafts! ^_^
This one is for my sister, mine will not get done until I get the sewing bug again.

I used cotton upholstery fabric, light interfacing, ribbon, and hem tape.