spring is here April 29, 2008

though you wouldn’t know it from the weather lately. I’m speaking more on my nesting tendencies as of late. I, as I’m sure most girls did, used to have an elaborate plan of what my future home would look like. Of course back then it was 5 stories tall with a giant aquarium built in the center that you could scuba dive in and a laser security system… my needs have changed somewhat, but you get the idea. Maybe it’s because we’re the gatherers, the ones who need a place to settle, but women do seem to enjoy making a space their own, and within the next few months I should finally be able to have my own place. I’m so excited I could pee. This impeding move has inspired a massive surge of nesting, starting with paint swatches.

the colors aren’t so primary in real life… more earthy in tone, and very seventies. I’m not absolutely set, but I do know the bathroom must be yellow. Not sure why, but it must be. I’ll wait until I actually find a place to make my final decision, but I do know that I want to be surrounded by bright colors.

Another thing that has been popping into my head is all the stuff you never think about needing when you’ve lived with your parents for so long. The main thing is linens. My parents have about 30 years of sheets and towels, so I’ve never had to think about needing my own kitchen towel. They’ve always existed in the closet. I’m not sure why, but having my own linens seems to really solidify my independence, and to celebrate I’ve decided to embroider a couple of sets of tea towels using these patterns:

you can tell I’ve already dug into them. They can be found here, and they’re absolutely amazing. They come on a re-usable iron-on transfer sheet, and the image stays after the ink is used up so you can still trace them. Right now my favorite is the veggies with the mix and match faces (although the space girls are a close second).

I would have to say the most exciting accumulation in preparing for my own space is what the post fairy brought me this morning.

it does say medication enclosed… I’m telling myself he used it for packing material

looks exciting, doesn’t it. Maybe this shot will make more sense.

it’s a photo enlarger! I had been planning to buy one in the indefinite future, and had just checked on ebay to see what they were currently going for when I found this baby. There was no reserve, and the auction ended at only $115, with your’s truly as the victor. From what I can tell, it’s in perfect working order (except missing the base board, which I was aware of when I bought it), and it came with lots of goodies.

What I am really excited about is it can hold medium format negatives (2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches as opposed to 35mm) and comes with a separate lens that is necessary to print from them (since the negative is so much larger you need a wider lens to get the light in focus all the way to the edges). I’m just giddy at the fact that I’ll be able to set up my own darkroom once I have my own place. I do have a studio now, but for me the photos have always fueled the work and focused my thinking, so finally having a place to print will be exquisite… even if it is my bathroom.

anyway, that’s all the excitement for now. hopefully next week I’ll have some embroidery samples to show you, and maybe a finished mitten or two!

’bout time April 22, 2008

sorry for the little vacation. I had forgotten what a time suck “real jobs” can be. I think I’ve started to get used to the new schedule, so things should start to get a little more regular around here. My knitting has suffered a little during the new job adjustment, but I have managed to get some things going.

Exhibit A:

I finished serenity (ravelry link). I used about 4.5 skeins of Tatamy Tweed Worsted in turquoise to make the smaller size. Overall I’m very pleased with this. It was a fun knit: not too demanding but definitely required my attention. I really love how the edging turned out.

(you’ll have to excuse the color in the top photo. Apparently my camera decided to eat the color in only that image)

Along with this I had to whip up a pair of booties for the new baby

I think these might even be cuter than the first ones. Some little teal buttons and these will be all set. I normally try not to knit the same pattern too often (a massive fear of boredom) but these booties are just perfect. They’re so adorable you could just puke, and they knit up fast. I was able to finish this pair while watching Romeo + Juliet (that is, in between sobbing and swooning. I have to admit I have a soft spot for Leonardo DiCaprio. That face, plus an extremely talented actor, who can’t love him?).

To round out this baby package I’m planning on knitting up a little toy elephant. I love Ysolda’s patterns, and this little guy is just too cute. The baby shower is set for sometime in May, so hopefully I can whip him out pretty quick.

On other knitting, I’m trying to get a head start on Christmas knitting. My mom’s mittens are coming along steadily.

The pattern is chevalier. I am making some adjustments to the pattern. Nothing major, just making them suit my needs a little better. I’ll be sure to post them once I finish. I also broke my yarn diet the other week.

The top is Cascade 220 in a lovely olive heather. Eventually it will become mittens for my father, as part of his Chistmas present. The bottom is appropriately called Yummy. This is some of the best smelling sock yarn, and it’s in my favorite colors. There was no way to resist. I justified the purchases by saying they’re part of my contribution to Project Spectrum (which they do fit into the Earth months) and part of it is for a gift. So I don’t feel too guilty.

But I do feel slightly guilty about this

Introducing Frankie, Jr. My old ipod bit the dust due to my own stupidity and impulsiveness. The headphone jack was messed up, and I had read somewhere that you could just crack open the ipod, push the jack back into place, and it’d be good as new. Instead of researching how I should properly go about this, I just pried the thing open… and the hard drive fell out. Needless to say it didn’t want to work after that. But now I have this little baby, which I think is a little more appropriately sized for my music needs. I had trouble filling 30GB, and 8GB allows me to put only my favorites on it. And I think this one is a little more difficult to crack open.

up next: Paint swatches, a new table, and nesting fun!

FO sho’ April 17, 2008

Just a quicky, cause it’s gettin’ late

ah… The beauty of cross country bus trips. I was able to finish the pair during my adventure (and vow never to set foot in Atlanta ever again). These round out my project spectrum tasks for “fire”. Now I’m all fired up (hah!) for “earth”, and have found myself really attracted to browns and greens, which works out perfectly. And yet what did I start last night?

Serenity. In my defense, I don’t know the sex of the fetus, and this was the brightest, most gender neutral color I could find. I’m almost finished with the first chart, and it’s proving to be much more exciting than the other blanket.

And to fully round out my domesticity, I give you cake.

This past Friday was my father’s birthday, and the cheapskate that I am, this was his present. I typically am the designated cake-maker (and baker in general), and I figure if I’m making it as a gift I should go all out. I used this recipe and was very happy with the results. I have a feeling this will be made many times more.

I start my new job tomorrow, so wish me luck!

eta: apparently I was an idiot and added this as a page instead of a post. But all is fixed now, and hopefully I’ll find some time this weekend to show all my new stuff.

Little bits of pretty January 25, 2008

I’ve been a knitting fiend these past couple of weeks. The first to show off is my very first sweater

(click on the photos to go to ravelry for more info)

I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I’m not too happy with the length, and I think the stranded yoke may be a bit too much for someone who’s already top-heavy, and it’s kinda itchy…. and I think I may have just convinced myself that it needs to become something else. But I’ll wait a couple of days before I start getting all frog happy. On to something I’m much more happy with:

This is the Honey Bunny from Craftleftovers . This little guy is just too cute. He’s a birthday/christmas present for a friend that’s long overdue. Just some weaving in ends and embroidery and this guy is done. He’s so fluffy and cute I just giggle looking at him. I have a feeling another one of these is in my future. Next on the making-jess-feel-productive list is a slew of baby clothes.

so maybe it’s not *quite* a slew, but it feels like it. Winter seems to be the time in which people decide to commit and procreate, which leaves me with plenty of baby knitting to do. And I couldn’t be happier. While babies themselves kinda creep me out, I love baby stuff, and making baby stuff helps to fight off baby fever (you know, when for no logical reason you have the sudden urge to pop out a wee one, even if you know you’d never be able to stand the thing?). I figure a couple more pairs of booties, some blankets, and a toy or two should get that all out of my system.

I also have these wonderful mittens in the works

They’re an improvised pattern, using some yarn I reclaimed from a sweater. The yarn reminds me of manos de uraguy, in both the color and texture, but there’s one. key. difference. The dye rubs off on my hands while I knit it. I’m not too worried about it… I wanted these to be “workhorse” mittens. Functional, a little pretty, but with the main focus on keeping my hands warm. I figure I’ll give them a nice bath once they’re finished, maybe throw in a little vinegar, see what happens. Maybe I’ll just end up with constantly colorful fingers.

(and thanks to Kristin and Carolyn for helping me with the photo issue… It was so simple, and I’m such a ditz…computers baffle me)

seriously, now January 11, 2008

Something about life after college seems… long. Or rather un-timed. In school it’s simple: semester, break, semester, break, and continue as needed. I’ve managed to still try and hold onto that mindset, thinking that it’s ok if I’m slack during christmas and new year’s because I’ll be able to jump back into it once break is over… but there’s nothing now to signify that break is over, and I keep telling myself, “next week I’ll seriously buckle down and schedule myself proper” and of course we know how that goes. Even little things like posting pictures to ravelry seems like such a time suck (probably because it’s so easy to get distracted there). The worst part of all this is that it’s my studio time that suffers the most, which then makes me feel miserable because I really love my studio time. So seriously, I’m gonna pull this shit together, stop moving like an old man getting up from a chair, and make it work. But enough of this whiny stuff… I have pictures!

amusing little bunny/dog thing

a little man thingy

owls I made using this tutorial

and sock puppets

These were the sewing portion of my friend’s gifts (which there’s actually only one knitted gift, but that requires it’s own special post). All except the owls are of my own design. It was my first real attempt at pattern drafting, and it wasn’t a complete flop, so yay! I was giggling the entire time I was making them because they are just so ridiculous. And the sock puppets… god do I love sock puppets. I surprisingly haven’t made some for myself, but try to find any excuse to make them for others. I think there’s a magical transformation that occurs when someone puts them on their hands, it’s just hilarious.

Anyway, new years was filled with fun and games and drunken-ness. I have several projects in the works, and I’ve spent the past two nights reclaiming old sweaters to start new ones. woo! More soon, and possibly better photos (I’ve managed to get a photoshop and illustrator hook-up… I know a guy, well, girl actually, but I should be getting it in a couple of weeks)

ps- forgot to mention, all of the gifts were made from reclaimed materials (except the socks. that would be… not right). aren’t I just a good little recycler.

hooligans, shenanigans, and general tomfoolery January 3, 2008

Happy new year to one and all! I know I mentioned posting about projects as they finished and such, but we all know how that goes, so just a little update before I bombard you with photos. The cousin and brother both loved their hats. Here’s a link to my brother’s hat bobohat.jpg. Sorry for the link… I’ve been struggling with not having photoshop, and I can’t find a way to shrink file sizes in Apeture… Any suggestions?

Anyway, on to the fun stuff. New Year’s is always an event for my friends and me. It’s when we do our gift exchange, and in general have a good time (isn’t that what New Year’s is about?). In recent years we’ve added a little excitement to our annual night: theme parties. Last year was “I’m Dreaming of a White Trash Christmas”, and this year we had “The Ghosts of Drunkards Past” in which we dressed as famous dead alcoholics.

In attendance we had the lovely (yet blurry) Frances Farmer

Hunter S. Thompson

Bon Scott (he actually had a sock in his pants… I was slightly frightened)

And Bender the Robot

Also in attendance were Zelda Fitzgerald and Caligula (we happen to be rather camera shy).

I hope the next year will be as wonderful as the last for everyone!

Coming soon: All the little goodies, and maybe a slight amount of obscenity

Happy Holidays! December 24, 2007

just popping by to say happy holidays to all. i’ve come to realize i do christmas slightly different than most people. the gift giving begins on christmas eve, and continues till new year’s, when my friends and i have our gift exchange. that being said, it means that i still have gifts in the works, and over the course of the next week or so i’ll post them as they are finished.

i hope everyone has a great time and stays safe!

done and done December 18, 2007

happy, productive weekends result in chipper mondays.

Both mom’s socks and the cousin’s hat are finished (hat pattern will be coming tomorrow). The specs on the socks can be found in the last post, and pattern should be forthcoming. The Bo bo’s hat has also been cast on for, which is the last of the major x-mas knitting. So yay for me!

In addition to all the knitting progress I also finally managed to get a package put together for Ysolda’s card swap. This is my first year participating, so I’m rather excited. All the materials (except for the blank card) were all thrifted or reclaimed. I especially love the “Alouetta” sheet music and the button as a sun. I managed to make my way to the post office today so hopefully it will arrive close to Christmas.

To further set the proper mood for the season, it snowed all day Saturday (and this isn’t one of those exaggeration “all days”, it literally snowed for over 12 hours straight).

This is the scene from my front yard. It’s rather picturesque (minus the recycling bins). It was one of those big fluffy snows that makes everything quite, and it’s slightly warm out so you just want to play in it. What made the night even lovelier, the ever-so-gracious Kristin from Craft Leftovers bought tickets to “An Evening With Shepards” in which all the local shepards held an excellent dinner and silent auction. I believe its entire purpose was to make the need for me to learn how to spin and needle felt an immediate necessity. I was truly impressed with the needle felting items they had. There was a lovely cream silk shawl that had a gorgeous needle felted and beaded trim (unfortunately I have no pictures). I had always thought of needle felting as something similar to applique- i.e. it’s cutesy and a little to sugar-y for my taste, but the girls at Esther’s Place sure know how to make something absolutely beautiful out of roving.

All in all a wonderful weekend, filled with fun, friends, and food. What more can a girls ask for?

I hope all of your’s were as equally pleasant.

when it calls for “wintry” weather… December 11, 2007

… gather the emergency supplies:

tasty chai tea in a smart-ass shakespeare mug, and

the latest in christmas knitting.

these are my mother’s socks, my own design, using Green Prairie Fibers. I’m not quite sure what the official colorway is, but I call it “kelp”. The photo really doesn’t do the color any justice. These are supposed to be done by tomorrow, according to my “strict” schedule, but we all know how that goes. Either way it’s a fun knit, and my first sock design, and sure to be a hit with the mummsies come the 25th… so I’m off to knit!

Hello pandora December 9, 2007

so…. this is my first attempt at a blog. specifically a knitting blog.

I’m a twenty-something living in the midwest, recently finished art grad, and trying to make my own impact on the craft/art community. I do have strong opinions as to craft’s place in the art world, but I feel that will be better understood through the content of the blog, rather than me ranting in a huge diatribe. (not to say that they don’t belong together, but I believe there is a point in which you can say “I am doing art, and I am participating in a craft”)

More importantly, what this blog is supposed to be about- my art, my craft, and my method of transforming objects into something new. This isn’t intended to be solely knitting, but to also include other crafts such as sewing and embroidery, and an outlet for my random creative energies. I don’t know if there is much else to say. there will be random patterns posted, works in progress, FOs and the like… you know, typical blog fodder. Hope you enjoy!