Take a look at this wonderful video! I’d embed it here but WordPress is a bit lacking here:
Handmade Portraits: Kiva Ford from Etsy on Vimeo.
One of these days my oldest and I want to learn how to blow glass. It would be amazing to be able to do it as well as Kiva Ford.
… just feeling a bit frazzled. As I’m sure is the case for many, we’ve been working hard to stay above water, so niceties like blogging got put aside for a while. 😛 Still more or less in the same position (thanks, BP! -.-), but we’ll get there, and in the meantime, I’ve decided to come back to blogging and pursuing creative outlets in an effort to stay sane. o.O Anyway, so – to bring things back to all things creative and crafty – here’s a new (to me!) concept I’m looking at trying out – crocheting with poptabs from soda cans. Check out these great links (links pulled from (and adapted from) a fab thread on Ravelry):
Pop Tab Wrap
I also found:
Well, losing the game, so to speak, with NaBloPoMo kinda put me off blogging feed. I decided to get focused on other things for a while – got some projects done, recentered myself. Probably good, in the long run.
SO – here’s what I’ve been up to:
I’m still working on exploring the Newbie Level of crochet. I’ve gotten a few projects done (Please forgive the photo layout – I’m struggling with this template and may chuck it soon. 😛 ) –
Firstly is this LAMB inspired hat. You can find info on the pattern here at Ravelry, and see more pics at my project page here. This one turned out pretty well – da kiddo is pleased – it’s for his girlfriend. He was a bit reluctant to model it for me, tho. ^_-
I also worked up a headband last night. For some reason it gave me fits – frogged it a kajillion times before I really figured out the pattern. Go figure. Anyhoo, while it’s far from perfect, it’s done and I like it. I figure I’ll do more soon.
The pattern (Trebel Crochet Headband) uses just a very little yarn. I can see using project scraps to make more of these. In this case, I used some left over Peaches & Creme from a Christmas present project. (No more information on *that* one right now. Ahem.)
I also frogged a hat I was working on for the other half. He’s finicky. 😛 So, as he likes the yarn I am using, but didn’t like the way the hat was shaping up, I frogged the whole thing. Blech. No fun, frogging an almost done project. Ah well, I have some ideas for creating a Fabulous Hat for the man. We shall see.
I’ve been contemplating picking up knitting needles again. I’ve just been a little intimidated – the last few times I’ve tried, I’ve come away with aching hands and wrists. Guess we’ll see, huh? o.O I’m also working on a few small projects for Christmas.
Oh, I also discovered the most awesome vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I believe I’ll leave that for the next post. 😉
Be well, y’all!
Spent the day not doing some house projects I’d hoped to get around to – seemed like a good day to kick back and just chill a bit….So I spent the time I’d planned on doing some Fall Clearing Out working up this hat. It’s a variation on the L.A.M.B inspired hat on Ravelry. (Modeled by my ever fabulous yet very serious youngest.)
I decided to use Caron Eco Soft just ’cause. Figured it was worth a whirl, and would turn out with a nice texture/feel. It did, but based on the exact pattern it’s a bit small for me – which is a shame, as it’s kinda fun.
I was thinking of gifting it, but it’s a bit funky for most of the potential recipients I can think of. I may give it to Eldest Son’s girlfriend – she *does* have a birthday coming up and she’s a petite little thing. I’ve no doubt it’d fit her well. My only thought is whether she’d like it….Hmm.
LOL – on the other hand, Youngest just reminded me that *his* birthday is in a few days as well, and he’s pretty fond of the hat as well. He has just enough panache to pull it off, too – da boy knows how to wear clothes. Certainly doesn’t get that from me. o.O
Two more pics are below – sorry that last one is blurry – as you might be able to tell, I took these in a hurry.
I took a “mental health day” today – decided to sit and work on April Draven’s Star Slouchy Hat pattern.
I frogged the green band at the bottom more times than I care to admit trying to get the decrease down – the way it’s “supposed to be done was just sliding off whatever part of my head I put it on. I tried the suggested variation for a tighter fit, to no avail, so I fooled around for *way* longer than I care to admit trying to make this work. I ended up just finishing off the post stitches and finishing the hat off. I *think* it was just too small thru the top – that’s my best guess. I’m going to fool with the basic idea – good practice at least, and I kinda like the 32 bit pseudo-glow in the dark thing.
This project made me very aware I have a great deal to learn – I look forward to understanding what to do with in a situation like this, one of these days!
Via the Little Blue Door, I’ve found this fab bus!!! You can learn more at the Knitta Please site – check it out if you’ve not been. I totally *heart* yarn-bombing!!!!
(You can learn a bit more here.)
In keeping with my quick little post yesterday (NaBloPoMo keeps me posting, but antsy and short on time, some days. XD), I thought I’d share some of the web based inspiration I’ve found as I continue my quest towards granny-square-throw-FO-ness.
First off, check out this *KING SIZE* granny-square blanket over at YarnHog’s blog:
I’ll leave you to explore the blog entry, but a couple of points – it’s about 10 pounds, she figures, and it’s 9 feet square. 0.O
To go in a completely opposite direction, check out Kirsty’s Granny Square ring over at her blog, Kootoyoo:
Other inspirations have been PurlBee‘s blog entry “Joelle’s Giant Granny Square” and of course Attic24. Here’s a fab pic of a WIP for her:
I highly recommend her site. She has some nice tutorials, including granny blanket edging, joining granny squares as well as joining granny squares as you go.
On that note, PurlBee has a good basic tutorial. I am also pleased to have Bev’s Country Cottage‘s page on granny squares. Lots of pattern links and some sizing tips (“how many squares of what size do I need?”) here!
I took a break from it in the past few days, but until very recently I’ve been obsessed with Granny Squares. It’s been good practice, and also a great way to use up old stash – specifically bag lots of yarn from Goodwill. I had a whole bunch of scraps from sources like this. So I’ve made a nice start on a granny square throw. This is what I have so far:
Last I counted, there were 29 there. I hope to get back to adding to them this evening – it’d be fun to get enough done for a throw before Thanksgiving. There are a lot of weird colors I’m trying to use little bits of, and some of my combinations are questionable, I’m sure, but I’m trying to not exactly duplicate any square. Those that you see below that look the same are all from different but similar yarns – I think the previous owner had a penchant for acrylic baby blanket making. The odd ball is that little tiny scrap of hot pink – I found that wrapped *inside* another ball of yarn from that stash and felt like I should use it up, which I did.
The I’ve noticed that that previous owner was also sloppy with her instant coffee. Some of this yarn was gross enough when I bought it that it needed a run through the wash on delicate. I keep finding little imperfections inside the yarn balls I’m using, which is a shame. I hate to waste the yarn, so I go ahead and use it, but now I have a couple of squares with little spots like this:
(pardon the shoddy picture – the camera is getting a bit…worn out. ;P)
And this:
I really want to use up this yarn – it seems wrong to not be frugal, to avoid wasting a resource, but I’m worried this isn’t going to come out. Suggestions anyone?
I have to say, as I approach my first Holiday Season as a crocheter and proto-knitter, I’m struggling a bit with veganism and yarn. I’ve been a vegan for more than 4 years, and I don’t buy wool – with the *possible* exception of second hand. However I really do like a good wool yarn. I don’t know if that’s a side effect of having a mom who knitted with wool when I was a kid or what. Maybe so.
There are a lot of synthetics out there, but then I worry about the environmental impact their creation makes. On the other hand, cotton is a very water intensive crop for most farmers. It can be done “dry” but then one is looking at organic yarn, which is a bit beyond my budget at the moment. Actually, a lot of better yarns are beyond my budget at the moment. o.0 So I’m mostly stuck *wanting* to get fancy vegan yarns (bamboo, soy, etc.) but actually purchasing affordable synthetics.
Today I’m going hunting for affordable yarn I can use to create the Delicate Web Wrap from Hooked Throws. You can see the pattern at Lion Yarn (it’s free) or at Ravelry. (I was a bit freaked out to see errata at the Lion site – hope that’s not par for the course for my chosen projects from this book!!) I have some ideas, and I hope I can find what I need – I’m hoping to make this for a relative for Christmas! Wish me luck! ^_^
Looks like I’d better get on the ball if I’m going to get this post in today, for NaBloPoMo. o.0 Whew. I wanted inspiration to write more, but ZOMG, ya know?
I’ve been crocheting like mad – working on different projects, trying to improve my technique and also really enjoying learning to *make* things! I’ve got some mistakes and tribulations to share, as well as some really basic FOs, but not today, methinks – thought I’d stick to showing you a couple of hats.
Firstly, I should mention I mostly taught myself to crochet with the Klutz Learn to Crochet kit
When I got Crochet the Complete Guide
A couple more silly pics of said hat and boy:
Hopefully I didn’t crop these too small for you to see the ribbed effect my stitches gave the hat. Ah well, I learned something, and it’s warm, and he seems happy enough with it, so it’s all good, yes?
Anyhoo, I was reading The Complete Guide when I came across a note about how, unless specified, the hook always goes through both loops. Whoo-boy. After an educational spin around YouTube (Lots of good crochet how-to videos there!) I took a couple of minutes to oh, roll my eyes and sigh dramatically, but then I took to working on new projects that involved really basic stitches. One of them was a rework on this same pattern using Peaches & Creme Shaded Denim worsted weight. (have a big cone of it I got for $3 bucks @ Wally-World). Things went swimmingly for a while:
About 5 steps after this, however, I crocheted half a row just in the front stitch. It looked *really* wonky, so I frogged it back to the mistake and promptly lost track of my increases. I have *no* idea how I should have recovered from this – it was really hard work counting all those stitches and looking for increases. If anyone has advice on this I’m all ears!
I eventually decided to salvage what I had done, quit making increases, and just finished the hat off for Youngest Son. It’s not perfect, but I think it turned out well enough, and YS is pleased:
See you tomorrow!
UnRavelations 