Future Craft.

Angela had the great idea to do a post about future craft plans, so here goes..

First on the list would probably be embroidery. Danielle got me into it this past fall. She made that rockin' dishtowel in the pic. There's a really great website devoted to all things embroidery - they have incredible patterns (super cool designs) and fantastic kits for those of us who are just starting out. It's called Sublime Stitching and their tagline is, "This ain't your gramma's embroidery!" (pretty fun). I made a dishtowel (actually embroidered on a tea towel) for my mom for xmas, but forgot to take a pic as always, so maybe I'll get one posted of it eventually after a visit to the northwest. I'd like to back the stitching with fabric like Danielle did - it's a great way to protect your stitches if you feel like you should (I like the idea, although Jenny @ Sublime say it's unnecessary and she absolutely knows best), plus it adds a nice accent to your work. :-)

Oh, and I found a website through someone's blog (can't remember right now, who's it was) for some flour sack towels to embroider on at P.O.S.H. - they're 30 x 36" vs. the 26 x 28" tea towels - and a bit thicker cotton.

Next on the list is bottle decoupage. Angela and I did some a while back - we each did two, gifting one and keeping the other for ourselves. The one shown in the pic is the one I did and kept for myself - using it for dish soap. I sent the other one to my mom for her birthday with some olive oil (whoa, just realized how long ago we did those - my mom's bday is in May). Anyhoo, we 'borrowed' the idea from an artist at Naked Art in Forest Park. We just kinda guessed at what they did and tried a couple things until they turned out how we intended. I think they turned out great! I'm sure they'll be even better the second go 'round. The bottles are just plain clear ones from World Market - they have all shapes and sizes.

We also have chair recovering plans. Casey and I inherited a dining room set from the former owners of our house when we moved in, and one of the first home projects we did was recover those chairs. My mom actually did most of them with me when I was still looking for a job and she was visiting. She went with me to pick out a different fabric for each chair. I think we finished four out of the six before she had to fly home, and Casey helped me with the rest. It was so fun b/c it completely transformed the beautiful chairs. You can't tell from the photo, but the woodworking details on the chair are really nice - they just needed a fresh start. They're scattered around the house and I love them! :D Angela's ready for some recovering at her house, so we'll go at it whenever she says the word.

We also have plans to do some photoshoots with Eve. She's into photography, so we're hoping we'll learn a thing or two from her while participating in her process. Her photos are amazing - I've just started checking her stuff out on flickr and am uber impressed.

Knitting.

Knitting has been the object of my affection since the summer. First project was (naturally) a scarf in garter stitch. My first chance at sporting it came with a chilly weekend in Chicago (Sept. '07) for the Renegade Craft Festival, but the first pic I can find right now with it on is from the Holiday Ale Fest in Portland (Dec. '07).

After that I made a ridiculous 'To Do' list of knitting for xmas gifts. (Silly me.) I didn't cross off everything on that list, but did manage to take a hat class and knit a hat for little sis, Meg, then made legwarmers for littlest sis, Court (hope to post photos of those one day soon). Also, knitted 3 dishcloths for my mom to go with an embroidered kitchen towel (more on embroidery in another post). For some crazy reason, in the midst of all the holiday knitting I took a sock class... haven't even finished that first sock yet, but it's on the list. hehe. I wanted to make some socks for my grandma, but am now aiming to have some done by her birthday (mid-March).

Other than that I just finished some legwarmers for Danielle's birthday. I was so thrilled to see some Lamb's Pride at Knit Nouveau in exactly her color - vibrant aqua! I loved how they turned out - used the same pattern as I did with Court's, but made them a bit smaller in an effort to prevent them from sliding down. Courtney's were sliders for sure, and for a number of reasons.. I loved how hers were so soft with washable wool, but the weight was heavier, so that combined with a loose fit made them sag down below the calf after a few steps. I'm hoping a little shrinkage from a washing and drying will solve that problem. If not, Sara Z in DC made a brilliant suggestion - a little strip of elastic at the top.. The other pic is of the gorgeous bag Sara had just finished knitting - she felted it at her sisters when we went to Baltimore that Sunday. It turned out terrific - fantastic shade of blue, scalloped edges, pretty ribbed strap and complete with a pocket inside. I was very impressed!

Angela and I have been trying to get together once a week for a craft night. We decided a couple months ago to try and organize a 'Circle of Craftiness' with the idea that we wouldn't confine the group to one craft (like knitting).. everyone brings the project of their choice, whatever they are inspired to work on for the night. It's been a ton of fun so far! Eve joined us one night for some sewing - she hemmed her first pair of pants while we looked on with interest. Sara Leah made it another time and worked on her second sock puppet. I need to get a pic from her - a friend gave her a kit for her birthday (will try and find out the name) and it turned out so very cute. Taylor should be joining us now that we switched to Mondays - can't wait to see what crafty things she's up to...

So, Ang and I have been knitting away. She's working on a scarf (first knitting project) for her husband. I have picked up, torn out and reinvented a scarf for Casey that sadly took a backburner to the frenzy of holiday knitting. She took a couple pics last night to show our progress. We're both about a third of the way there - not too shabby, I'd say. ;)

Hi there.

So, I've decided to give this blog thing a whirl...

Feeling immersed in and surrounded by craftiness, it seemed the right time to begin documenting and sharing. Consequently, these posts will be dedicated to the ideas, progress, successes and failures of crafting - by me and the crafty ladies I have the pleasure of knowing.

Ok, for the first bloggy photo, I'm posting a pic of my very first stack of fabric to introduce my latest crafting craze - sewing!!! It will soon be washed, marked and cut to prepare for sewing lesson no. 2 this Sunday. It was so satisfying opening those packages to see and feel the fabric. We'll see soon enough if I ordered the right amounts - it really twisted my brain in a knot trying to mentally lay out the sections, then convert between yards, fat quarters, inches .., then calculate the necessary quantity while keeping in mind shrinkage post-washing/drying, orientation to selvage edge... Of course, I had to really make it interesting by deciding to use two complimentary colorways - one being the primary fabric for piece #1 with the other as the contrasting colorway, then reversing the combination for piece #2 - that really got the drawings and formulas going. haha.

One of the two sewing projects planned for the near future involves following a pattern -- very scary.. and complicated (more on all that later)! This will be helped along with the lessons.

The other project comes from a kickass book that was gifted to me by a great friend and very crafty lady - it's called Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I highly recommend this book - it really simplifies the sewing process, gives great tips and has quite a few fun sewing projects, most of which challenge you with different techniques.

Ain't that fabric lovely? ;)