Crafting Mood

Today I've wanted to do nothing but knit and crochet. The dishes need to be put up, the floors need to be swept, and the towels need to be washed, and...I don't care. There are so many crafting projects that I would rather be working on right now. One of the first things that I want to work on is knitting a cowl neck scarf. I have some yummy burgundy and gold scrap yarn that may be perfect for this. If this is the case, then I hope to have it done by next week :)

Speaking of scrap yarn, I've seen a lot of beautiful scrap yarn blankets in the past and I have been recently inspired to try one out for myself. I've gathered up a little pile of yarn in various colors and textures and have begun crocheting 4x4 inch squares. Each square only takes a few minutes to make. Because of all of the variety of color and texture I don't have to do any fancy stitches to add interest to the blanket. Despite the quick crochet time of each piece, I have a feeling that this blanket will take a long time to complete. Once all of the squares are done, I will have to sew or crochet them all together. If all goes well with this project, I do intend to sell it. All of the blankets that I have sold in the past have been custom made rather than a piece that was entirely my idea from start to finish.

For years I've been saying that I would love to try knitting a headband. I'm thinking of a headband that would be cute with a pony tail or curled hair. I'm far more timid to try this out (which is why I've never tried it) as it will have to be knitted in the round. I despise knitting in the round despite it's wonderfully seamless results. I'll let you know how this goes...if choose to accept this mission.

Oh, I wanted to share a crafting success with you. Just last week, I finally got around to creating a cute felt fabric cupcake applique. My stitching is very sloppy and needs work but I truly enjoyed making this piece! Felt is a little tricky to work with as it is very easy to tear, but is far easier to sew (for me) than any other fabric. I added my new applique to an old scarf that I made ages ago and I think that it really perked it up and gave it a cute focal point. Observe:



What do you think? The details of the cupcake get lost a little in the blurry photograph :( I would love to get my hands on a better camera. The cupcake also adds a bit of kawaii to the scarf as well, which was my intention.

For far too long I have not done any dyeing or spinning of wool. I've still got a ton of wool just waiting to be made into yarn. Spinning is something that I'm still very new to and would love to improve on. Right now I'm spinning on a drop sindle that I made myself. For a first time drop spindle, it's fairly well balanced. It's my drafting skills that need the most improvement. I still have to predraft all of my wool and the yarn always comes out very uneven. Selling yarn that I've spun is a goal of mine, but the uneven quality of my yarn makes it a novelty yarn at best. I'll end this blog with a few photos of yarn that I've either dyed or spun.


This wool was hand dyed using Kool-Aid

I bought this wool from a craft supply store rather than from a local farmer.
I spun it myself, but did not dye it.