Category: Crafts

Now I'm Here

I have given up hope of finding a “real” library job in the area anytime soon given the current state of the economy. Though I will keep trying, I am going to move in a new direction for the time being and focus more on my crafts and the Bookbinding I home study course that I am doing.

With all the supplies hanging around and all the time I have to entertain myself, I shall fill the hours with spinning and dyeing yarn and fibre, creating knitting and cross-stitch patterns and working on related projects. I have been doing this to some extent but it has been a halfhearted effort and not as productive an endeavour as it could be.

I have finished watching the bookbinding lessons. All that is left is going over the textbook and finding a pair of good-quality dividers (which are proving much harder to locate than I thought) and I can start practicing with that as well.


Good Day Sunshine

I woke up at 8:50 this morning. This is early for me since my sleeping pattern is still that of a student, what with being unemployed and all. It’s very sunny today and is definitely helping my mood.

I should get on working on the theme for my site, but all I want to do is watch my bookbinding DVDs and work on Peacock Tapestry. I pulled it out on Saturday after not touching it for the last 8 months, only to realize the reason I had put it away in the first place was because I am out of some of the colours and can’t stand leaving a section not done. It’s bugging me right this moment, but I’m going to do my best to ignore the feeling and see if there are any more colours I need before going to the store.


Need New Colours

endpaper mitts

This holds in life in general right now as well as for crafting. I’m so so unbelievably sick of all this dreary weather.

My copy of Color in Spinning arrived this morning, which is doing a lot to help with the doldrums. It’s such a great resource, but right now all I’m doing is looking at all the bright and pretty pictures and wishing it was like that outside right now.

I’m also thinking I need to start messing with colours that I normally don’t think to use. On Wednesday during weaving class I realized I inadvertently chose the same colours for my scarf that I used for my Endpaper Mitts last year. This is great because I will have matching outdoor wear, but it really cemented the fact that I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately.


More on the Leaves

I’ve got all of the orange ones done and most of the olive green ones. I’m halfway there! Unfortunately I’m working on a MySQL assignment at the moment and I was on a field trip to Delaware with my weaving class earlier so blocking and pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

BUT! I might have finished a few more by then. It will be worth it, I promise. At least, it will if you’re as obsessed with cute little knitted leaves like I am.

ETA:

One of the normal-sized leaves being blocked:
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One of the smaller leaves for the toe insert being blocked:
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A gods-eye-view of my blocking setup:
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I didn’t notice until afterwards that the towel I was using is the same colour as the main yarn for the socks.


Leaves!

So far so good. It’s been taking me roughly an hour to knit each leaf so far, so I’ve only got 8 of them done. I did one of the green ones for the toe and 7 of the orange ones so far. Once I finish the 8th orange one I’ll block them and take pictures.

These socks are going to be so great when they are done. I’m still at a loss when it comes to how to wear them though. It was brought up at the Knit London meetup this week and I still haven’t decided. I don’t want to wear them without shoes because I’m pretty sure the carpet in here would wear them out super-quick. But at the same time, shoes would do a lot of damage (my boots ripped a huge hole in my angora socks) and I still want to be able to show them off. I think I need to get used to the idea of wearing them around the apartment, or getting clear shoes for the summer.


It's here!

omg omg omg! I checked the mail on my way back in from the doctor, and look what I found:

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Even the kit is a thing of beauty. The pattern is incredibly detailed and includes colour photos of some of the harder-to-explain steps. I’m so excited!

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I’m not going to start it until later today when I finish setting up my loom for weaving class, but I think it’s safe to assume that half the things I was going to do tonight are pushed to tomorrow.

ETA: The yarn came wound into hanks, so before bed I took the time to wind them all into centre-pull balls. At first I was using my thumb, but there was too much of the purple to do that comfortably so I used my spindle as a nostepinne.

Before:

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After:

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Red, Red Wine

“I’d have sworn that with time thoughts of you would leave my head.
I was wrong.” — Neil Diamond

Marin said today that “the Harlot is to knitting trends what Oprah is to book sales” and she’s not far off on that. You see, on Wednesday Stephanie posted about Vintage and people started snapping it up. I ordered it in the Pinot colourway yesterday. The funny thing is, I’m not usually one to go out and buy things just because someone makes them popular. I don’t buy books that Oprah endorses, I tend not to follow trends that Stephanie does either. This isn’t a case of that even though it might seem that way on the surface.

What happened in this case was that Stephanie’s blog was the means through which the gods finally caught me. When I went to the website and saw these socks I swear they were daring me to knit them. I don’t back down from a challenge. Especially when it comes in the form of knitted socks. This might sound like crazy-talk, but I get the sense that these socks are the embodiment of the Dionysian spirit. It’s not just the subject matter. It’s because of the arrogance I sense coming from these socks. They know they are magnificent but at the same time they also know they’re going to make you let go of your fear and inhibitions, make you get into another mindspace and do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do in order to get them done.

Now, I don’t need to commit hubris against the knitting gods and have things come crashing down on my head, but at the same time I realize there’s a lot of work involved here and I refuse to let these socks beat me. I tend to see it as a way of putting my skills to good use serving a higher purpose, whatever that turns out to be.


Stitching Goodies

I’ve again participated in yet another cross-stitch exchange, this one autumn-themed. Now that my package has been received and my partner has gotten hers, I can show off what we’ve done.

Dasha sent me a lovely needlebook that I’ve been using non-stop since it arrived. It’s great. The colours are amazing, the fabric inside is also very fitting, and the size is perfect for the project I’ve been using it with. She also sent an adorable Russian doll keychain, and a very pretty card for my collection.

goodies

See how awesome! I wanted to make myself a needlebook a while ago, but after making my brother a wallet I learned sewing defeats me. I’ve got this one to do once I get some more practise sewing with stuff that I won’t worry about wrecking in the process.

Here’s a closeup of the whole pattern:

whole pattern

And a detail shot of the front:

front detail

I keep taking it out to look at and pet it. Dasha said she keeps doing the same with what I gave her. I’m glad we’re both happy.

I made her the Miniature Autumn Sampler by Teresa Wentzler (I know, I know, I’m obsessed) but turned it into the cover of a book. It’s attached in such a way that she can swap the cover onto a new book if she needs to, or take it off the backing completely for use as something else. Part of the requirement for this exchange was that we had to try new finishing techniques and the stuff online was boring so I made something up. Now, I forgot to take pictures but Dasha took some and gave me permission to use them, so here we are.

Here’s what the finished product looks like:

autumn sampler book

The detail shot of the fruit for those interested:

fruit detail

I did really like doing this piece. It was certainly much easier than my other two projects. Even though it’s a TW it didn’t induce the frustration that usually happens when I work on the others. I liked it so much I might do it again down the road. The pattern is not that costly and I have all the materials, so it’s likely. Of course, now I also want to do some of the freebies that I saw on her site, since they’d be detailed but easy as well.