Colors, Glass, and New Ideas

The Holidays have come and gone and I have to admit that I'm relieved. I truly enjoy spending time with both my family and the Boyfriend's family, but it is an exhausting experience. It's also been nice to have the traffic back to relatively normal again here by my apartment. Now, I can just sit back and enjoy all of the wonderful gifts that I received! Oh, before I get this blog started, I wanted to note that I often have links to sites throughout each post. Keep an eye open for these links in case you want to know more about the various products that I mention here.

For Christmas, the Boyfriend's step-mom gave me 14 skeins of yarn in various bright colors. I've never had so much yarn at one time! I've spent everyday since Christmas sifting through my collection of knitting and crochet patterns trying to find something epic to make. The yarn that she gave me is Red Heart's Super Saver yarn. It's worsted (4) weight yarn made totally from acrylic. The colors are freaking awesome, but the feel of the yarn is a bit...well, scratchy. It's difficult to make any wearable items from this yarn, which doesn't make it a bad yarn, it's just not a wearable yearn. Despite this I've already started making a scarf using pink, orange, and blue yarn. Oh yes, it's going to burn your retinas when you see it :)

Because each of the 14 skeins has 364 yards of yarn (that's like a zillion football fields), I asked everyone for ideas on stuff to knit or crochet and got some pretty good suggestions. While trying to decide on what to make out of all this new yarn, I've come up with some new ideas for knitting and plan to use my Hobby Lobby gift card to follow through with these ideas. My hope is to eventually get my hands on some bamboo yarn. I've been dying to knit with bamboo as it is super soft and it's a sustainable material. Also, I'd like to try to do more felting with real wool rather than the soy wool I've been using. Because my Rasta scarves get so many complements, I'm cooking up new ideas using the same color combo.

My mom got me way too much for Christmas, but I'm very thankful for it. Part of my move towards being more eco-friendly involves the conversion from plastic to glass. Mom helped me get started by buying me 4 beautiful glass bake ware/food storage pieces from Crate and Barrel. I'd love to link you to the pieces that I have, but I can't find them on the website anymore and think that they may no longer be available. Mom also gave me two glass milk bottles from Farmhouse Wares that I plan to keep filtered water and juice in. By the way, Farmhouse Wares has very pretty stuff for those of you that dig rustic, country, or French Provincial decor. They even have things like honey and tea. I used the cash that I received from family for Christmas to buy a glass canister for our sugar. Pretty much if it's normally packaged in plastic, I want to transfer it to glass.

Summer can't come fast enough for me. I have a topsy turvy that I can't wait to use and may even have the chance to make a composting bin (free soil, yay). Kaya will be happy if I can successfully grow catnip again :)

With a lot of help from my family, I've now got several new items in my apartment that make it far more personal and less like a hotel. I'll save the details on this for my next post and will have some pics for ya.

What gifts did you receive during the Holidays?

Too Long

I apologize for not having posted anything in so long! Thanksgiving, work, and a few special events have taken up nearly all of my time. The boyfriend and I successfully crammed two Thanksgiving dinners into one day! We started the day by eating with his mother's side of the family and ended it with dinner at my aunt's house. He and I had already had Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's family early in November, which made things immensely easier on everyone. We ate at my step-sister's place and got to see some of her newest flower arrangements. She puts together these amazing arrangements with dried, silk, and fresh flowers. I'm hoping that she will soon start selling these arrangements or maybe even doing events like weddings. If I had photos to share with you all, I would, as you have to see her work to believe it.

I worked Friday through Sunday and attended the boyfriend's step-sister's wedding on Saturday. Her wedding was really beautiful. She and her husband are both Georgia football fans and found a classy way of doing the whole wedding in red and black (the team's colors, of course). Both the wedding and reception were at an old train depot in Georgia. I was surprised to see how nice it was on the inside! Because the train tracks are still functional, a train passed by during the reception, which was an unexpected but cool addition.

Earlier last week I had a sort of casual job interview. I didn't get the position that I had applied for, but did get a different position with the same company. Yesterday I stopped by their office and picked up the largest packet of information and forms that I've ever seen! Because of this, I will be busy filling out papers and getting copies of every type of identification just short of my DNA. Hey, I'm just happy that I got another job. Gotz to pay the bills somehow. The individual who is hiring me gave me the name and number of someone that could help me get yet another job at a mental health facility. I called as soon as I returned to my apartment and of course got no answer. Despite leaving a message, I know that I will never get a return call (and I realize that no one will ever answer my calls). I will continue to try, though. If you want a job in which you get a phone, but don't ever have to use it, consider a job in the field of psychology...just sayin'

On a more crafty note, I did knit up a really cute teal/aqua cowl neck scarf. I've been messing with it by adding bows and ribbons. I'm still totally undecided on how to finish it off. Also, I'm a bit frustrated that my circular-knit stockinette stitch curled up. Even after blocking it, the edges still stubbornly rolled right up. You can really see how bad the curl is in this photo:



For lack of a real model, I used the alien head candle:



I've also started on a crochet shrug. The stitch is really pretty and I'm loving it so far. The only problem is that I'm out of yarn and I'm not even half way done :( Boo, I guess I will have to make a trip to the craft store after I get some extra cash this Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, the boyfriend is a Christmas fanatic...now surface in our apartment is untouched by Christmas decorations. This story requires its own post, which I hope you will be seeing tomorrow.

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.

Finally!

After about four or five days without any internet connection, I finally have access to the internet again :) Comcast sent yet another technician out to work on our cable internet. Just as the boyfriend and I thought, it was the modem that was the problem. We'll see how long this one lasts...

Right after I got over the flu, I came down with a mild cold. At least colds are not as bad as H1N1. I was able to work this weekend, despite being sick :) My only concern is that I may have passed my cold onto someone else. Sorry, general public, but I have to pay the bills somehow. Of course, my sales really suffered since I wasn't as perky or as outgoing as one needs to be for my job. Oh well, I get paid no matter what.

Only a few days before I came down with the piggy sniffles, I crocheted up some cute catnip toys for Kaya. She LOVES her toy. I immediately started churning these things out in pretty fall colors. I believe that I mentioned these in a previous blog post. Due to the flu, I was never able to make more than maybe five toys. My mission is to make a crap-load of them before Christmas gets here. I'm a little worried about trying to sell catnip toys that don't actually contain catnip. It's up to the pet parent to add the catnip to the outside of the toy (which would be great for those that use catnip spray). I suppose that I could stuff a little catnip into the inside of the toy, but the real fun happens when "fresh" catnip is added to the outside of the toy. Hopefully, I will get some pics up here soon and you all can give me your opinion on them.

The worst thing that has happened to me this month was, by far, the cancellation of the Miyavi concert that I had tickets to. Only an individual that has been a Japanophile for 14 years would think that contracting the swine flu and having a roommate breakdown and move out during the same week are both not as bad as missing out on a Miyavi concert. Of course our money was refunded and fans are being told that the concert is merely "postponed." I was so broken hearted by this that the boyfriend came home with flowers and took me to dinner at Na Go Ya. I'll post some pics of my beautiful flowers later. It turns out that not only was Miyavi having a difficult time obtaining some sort of permit to perform at certain venues, but he was also suffering from an injury that he sustained during one of his European shows. I hate it for him, but I'm also terribly disappointed. It's not often that I get to attend the concert of my favorite Japanese music artist (aka: this has never happened for me, ever). *sigh* I still have a little hope that he will finish his U.S. tour as he now has an American label.

There are a couple of good things that have come out of the show cancellation. First, it gives us a little more money to go towards the extra large rent that we will be paying this month as we are down by one roommate. Also, our Friday night is now free to spend time with friends and indulge in some Halloween fun :) We plan on going out to eat some place nice and then we are heading out to the Voodoo Bayou, where I will most likely lose my nice dinner. Hopefully having my 6' 5" former wide receiver boyfriend with me will make me feel less freaked out while working our way through a haunted maze. Happy Halloween everyone ;)

Brr

After making what may be a poor decision to stop taking my Tamiflu a day early, I'm finally starting to feel much better. While I was sick, the weather also made a big choice-it became winter. At the beginning of last week it as very mild and pleasant outside. Now, it's in the 40s and 30s! The boyfriend was thoughtful enough to bring my plants in while I was sick so that they wouldn't freeze :) Aww I didn't even have to tell him to do it. The sudden change in season has been a real shock. It felt as if it was suddenly Christmastime. Seems like everyone around here thought so too. The traffic was terrible around the mall area yesterday. I can only assume that everyone woke up to a very chilly morning and realized that there was nothing else to do but get started on early Christmas/Holiday shopping.

About a week ago I crocheted up some cute catnip toys. The first one I made got tested out on our cat, Kaya. She went nuts over the toy! I was very flattered :) It was probably one of the best responses I've gotten to any of my crafted items. She grabbed the toy between her two front paws and rubbed it in a larger circular motion over her face and head. I was hoping to have them available at Little Pink Elephant this week, but for obvious reasons, I wasn't able to get many of them finished. Kaya's adorable reaction to the toy really needs to be caught on video, which I can do, but I'm totally clueless as to how to upload the video.

As of late, I've been leaning more towards crocheting. Partially this is because I wanted to get more practice (for various reasons) but also, I find that crochet moves more quickly than knitting does. Another thing that I've noticed about crochet is that gauge doesn't seem to matter as much as it does in knitting. Has anyone else noticed these differences? Eventually, I hope to be as comfortable with crochet as I am with knitting. I really like the idea of combing these two needle crafts to make some new and interesting items.

For what seems like ages I've been wanting to make various things from felt fabric. What I'm most interested in making is felt appliques to add to my knit/crochet items. Seeing as I'm still not fully mobile, I'm going to give this a try today. I'm actually looking forward to trying something new and not feeling guilty for just sitting on my butt crafting rather than doing housework or something else productive. Crafting is producting though, right?

Etsy Seller Friday

The seller that I have chosen to direct your attention to today has some of the most amazing knit and crochet pieces I've ever seen. Her items are truly wearable pieces of art. Fringe , a seller based in California, uses high quality wool yarn to create beautiful cowls, capelets, and scarves. Please make sure to click on the links that I have provided in this post as I do not have permission to post photos of any of her items here. Fringe often chooses soft pastels and earth tones to knit and crochet with. If you like bolder colors, don't fret, there are several dark red, purple, raspberry, and even black items available in her shop. There are so many things to love about Fringe's items. She masterfully blends yarn, fabric, and ribbon to create pieces that are not only elegant, but practical as well. Because many of her items are made from wool, they are going to be very warm and cozy. I also love that she doesn't just stop at scarves, Fringe makes necklaces from acrylic yarn. Acrylic makes them easy to wash, durable, and comfy to wear close to the skin. Her necklaces can also be worn as belts, again making the choice to use acrylic yarn a wise one. It's difficult to choose only one favorite item from Fringe! If I had to choose just one piece, it would be the Darling Clementine Capelet. If you're considering purchasing one of these awesome pieces from Fringe, you may have noticed that the prices aren't exactly Wal-Evil prices. Keep in mind that when you purchase from Fringe, you are buying a handmade product made from high quality wool or acrylic (when it is an item that may get roughed up a bit more than a scarf). If you love art but have run out of room on your walls or just simply prefer to wear your art, take a peek at Fringe (fringe.etsy.com) and see what all she has to offer for your collection.

Crafting Success

I just spent probably an hour trying to change the look of my blog. I still don't have a clue of what I'm doing, so I apologize for the sort of messy appearance of this blog. Perhaps I will eventually figure out how to properly edit this thing.

On a totally different note, I finally did get something right! I've finished making two Rasta scarves :) I'm very proud of them and am super excited that they are finally available at Little Pink Elephant. If you want to show your love for Reggae this Autumn and Winter, go get them now!!

Another crafting success happened for me just this week. Since I've now got my own place, I've been desperately wanting to get a Holiday/seasonal wreath for our front door but have been shocked by how freaking expensive they are (ranging from $25-$75). Not only that but most wreaths were either dripping in cutesy scarecrows or were a bit too hoity-toity for me. After checking out several different stores, including some secondhand stores, I decided that I would just try making my own wreath. Fourteen dollars and thirty minutes was all it took to make a fairly cute Autumn themed wreath. It isn't perfect and could use a few more dollars worth of work. Overall, it was much cheaper than the wreaths I was looking at in the stores. Plus, I got to customize it (which means that this wreath is sans scarecrows, birds, and frosty vegetables). Because I was able to just stick the floral decorations into the grapevine wreath, I didn't have to purchase any adhesive or binding. I can't wait to get started on a Christmas themed wreath lol. I will have pics of the wreath "in action" later.

Packing

This whole week I've been packing up my things and getting ready to move into my new place. One of the first things that I packed was my knitting needles. I left my crochet hooks out just in case I got bored. I'm glad that I did this as I had to make a trip to my doctor's office one morning and hate just staring at the wall while waiting for the doctor to arrive. I was able to quickly crochet up a couple of dish rags for the new place :) My roommates seemed to like the rags and I really enjoyed making them.

I find that smaller pieces like dish rags, baby booties, and neck warmers are my favorite projects. They don't require much yarn, are finished quickly, and are generally easy to make. With the economy being so wonky at the moment, projects that require little yarn are preferred over things like blankets or long scarves.
Speaking of scarves, I would love to knit another Harry Potter-style scarf. I made one for a friend once and loved the results. Last year I received the Charmed Knits book for Christmas. So far I've only tried the scarf but I look forward to trying some of the other projects as they are super cute :)
Something else that I would like to try soon is bringing some awareness to the amazing sellers on Etsy.com. If you're a crafter, than you probably already know about this site and find yourself drooling over many of the awesome creations that are for sale there. If you haven't heard of the site, I encourage you to check it out. I think that once a week I will devote a post to a different Etsy seller...I will write a little about what they do, why I love their stuff, and post a link to their Etsy shop.
It's late and I've got a lot to do tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.