yarntherapy

week 3 - dreaming of Mexico

Well, so far, so good. Last week's project was once again completed on Sunday night, but I worked on it all week. I think that is just going to be the pattern - partly because Sunday night is really good crafting time for me, partly because that's just how I deal with deadlines :-) If you give me one, I will utilize every second I am given - don't expect anything early!

So - this week was inspired by my upcoming trip to Mexico and my felt supplies that were still laying around after last week. My midwinter beach break has me dreaming of coral and turquoise, and I had lots of fiber in those colors in my stash. I spent a few nights on the couch watching TV and making beads, and turned them into these bracelets: 

 

The one on the left is strung on clear elastic using a huge upholstery needle. The one one the right uses organza ribbon knotted between the beads - this was my original vision but it turns out to be utterly impractical unless you have a third hand that can tie it on your wrist!

The beads are super easy and fun to make - I layered different shades to add depth and contrast, and even snuck in a little angelica in the coral beads for a little sparkle. To be honest, these aren't really my style, jewelry-wise. I'm not a chunky jewelry girl. But the process was fun, and I may expand on the idea with the ribbon.

So - that's week three! Stay tuned for more crafty goodness. Maybe I'll even get around to photographing and posting about my recently finished knitting stuff!

52 in 52

Oh, hi there. Remember when I had a blog and I wrote about stuff that I made and sometimes people even read it?

Yeah, me too. 

Well, I'm back. I really did want to keep up with the blog but I was having trouble motivating myself. I even lost my crafty mojo there for a while, and projects sat half-finished and sad. I realized I needed more structure in this process, but committing to daily or even weekly posting wasn't going to cut it, especially if the only thing I had to say was "This week I cranked out 90 rows on the back of my Vine Yoke Cardigan" (which is true, btw!)

So, I bring to you - 52 Crafts in 52 Weeks!

In order to have something - anything - to blog about, I am making a craft every week of 2010. Any kind of craft, not just knitting or sewing, but it must be completed between Monday & Sunday of that week. In fact, I hope to explore some things I've never done, so hopefully by the end of the year I will have a nice variety of new skills to show off.

You will notice, of course, that we are now in the third week of 2010. However, I have not been idle and I have met my challenge so far (all two weeks of it!) So far the prevailing theme seems to be flowers. And orange. More work-in-progress photos are in my flickr set, 52 in 52.

Week One - Erin's Card

I needed a card for Erin, who was leaving my show, and that first week of January was crazy - I didn't have time to get a card, and by Saturday I hadn't found time for my craft either. I realized I had time in the morning Sunday to whip something together, and this is the result! Nothing fancy, but I think it's really cute and I was able to use supplies I had on hand. I really dig machine sewing on card stock - it's organic and cool looking, I think.

Week Two - a flower for Jack Bauer

Yeah, this project has already challenged my time-management skills. I once again made it to Sunday without a project. However, I did have one I've been wanting to do for a while, so I parked myself in front of the season premiere of 24, and made this groovy felt flower:

 

Last fall I took a wet felting class at The Yarn Tree in Brooklyn, and I really loved it. I love "painting" with the fiber and seeing the alchemy that a little water, soap, and pressure can create. Definitely something I will do lots more of (especially since I then went slightly insane and bought So. Much. Fiber.) I did a lot of googling for inspiration and learning and found Spiderfelt. I totally love her aesthetic and was thrilled that she offers a kit & tutorial on Etsy.

Here's a cool photo - the fiber laid out and topped with a piece of nylon curtain fabric, then spritzed with soapy solution. I got a ginormous piece of this fabric for three bucks at this funky fabric store in my neighborhood - I think I prefer it to the tulle netting we used in class.

 

So - it has begun! I've even started on week 3, so hopefully I won't be cramming in a project on Sunday night again. Please do check out my flickr set for more info - Typepad takes soooooo long to post photos, it would take me hours to finish a post if I tried to put all my pictures here!

Spending a lovely New Year's eve crafternoon - knitting, mending, blocking, cooking....

2009 was fair-to-middling, with kind of a crappy ending. But I have faith that 2010 will be amazing!

merry christmas

Um, hi.

Yeah, that whole back-to-blogging thing didn't work out so well.

I will give it another try, I'm just trying to decide what I want this thing to be. Blogging was so fun when I started - I need to rediscover that feeling!

Anyway, happy holidays to all, and I'll be back soon.

watch this space

Hey - anyone out there still reading this thing?

Hi guys!

Yes, it's been a while. A very long while. Not really sure why blogging hasn't really been speaking to me, but I think I'm back. I will probably be talking about way more stuff than just my knitting, so I hope that's cool.

For now, let me share with you what I did on my summer vacation  :-)

crafty christmas, part 2: secret santa

Better late than never, I wanted to show what I gave and received at our annual Secret Santa exchange at work - we take it pretty seriously and it's always lots of fun with some verrrrry creative gift giving.

So, I was Santa to one of our performers - Lauren, who in her questionnaire mentioned that she loved travel and all things French (see? questionnaire? told you we take it seriously!) Among other things, like a French gossip magazine and an Eiffel tower necklace, I made her a matched set of passport case and zippered bag from this fabric:

I used this tutorial for the passport case, which I thought was really clear and well written. The one I used for the bag is here, and while it's beautifully photographed, it's slightly more vague in some of its instructions, and I wasn't crazy about leaving raw edges inside. I do love this shape, though, and I'll probably be making more of these, but with a separate lining.

Anyway, they came out looking super cute, and Lauren really liked them. I wish I had taken photos before I gave them away!

My santa turned out to be my buddy Michael (who runs marathons, bakes, and crochets like a madman) He had me totally fooled, with his clever misspelling of my name and crazy cards! He's also an amazing quilter, and my final gift was a table runner in my fave color, green:

It's living on my ugly radiator right now. The gradation of the colors is just so cool, don't you think? The photo really doesn't do it justice. Michael was so pleased with how this turned out that he's teaching a class in how to make it!

1/20/2009

a very crafty Christmas

Happy New Year, everybody! 

I'm just now beginning to recover from the holidays. Everyone I know feels like this year it all really snuck up on us - maybe because Thanksgiving was so late? I don't know, I just know I felt like I was really scrambling to get things done and wasn't able to relax and enjoy it all. My work schedule at holiday time is always nuts, so it's hard to have a relaxing time to begin with. I think I am going to take my cues in the future from Sister Diane's mom - in CraftyPod episode #81, she talks with her mom about the idea of celebrating the whole winter season, and spreading it out over a longer period of time. I really like this idea - I think we all fight the onslaught of Christmas when it seems to appear in the stores before Halloween, but the fact is, you need to plan and be organized and get stuff done in advance. If that means making ornaments and planning meals in October, so be it. I mean, it's all fun to do, why not give yourself more time to enjoy it?

Not that my holidays were anything but wonderful! I hosted a Christmas tapas dinner get-together (which you can read more about here!) Essentially I finally had the party I've been wanting to have ever since I got back from Spain last year. It was super fun and yummy!

I received my back-tack gifts from Helen in London and they inspired my homespun holiday decor. First, a sweet and yummy smelling cinnamon wreath, which went right on my door because I was too lazy to buy a tree or wreath this year:

Next was Evaline, the sparkly Christmas angel. She sat on my mantel:

Seriously, how cute is she? The ribbon edged with stars is to die for:

And finally, a "Correspondence Compendium" made from more TDF fabrics:

and inside:

Isn't it all just great? I had so much fun putting together Helen's gifts, and it was lovely to receive such gorgeous stuff from her. Check out the flickr group to see how everyone interpreted the "Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh" theme.

So like I said, I was too busy/lazy to get a tree this year (I wasn't really home enough to enjoy it, anyway.) I moved my dress form into the living room and used it to display a few ornaments - I used only handmade ornaments, and a few gold-embroidered Indian hearts that were a gift from my dad. I put some pinecones and bittersweet on the mantel, made some orange & clove pomanders, and scattered a few other ornaments around the living room. I really liked the overall feel, though I did miss having lights up. Next year!

Here's my "tree":

(I think I finally figured out how to post rotated photos - did you know there's a separate folder for modified photos???)

Anyway - that's enough for the moment. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday and that you are enjoying your new year so far!

the big reveal!

back-tack gifts for Helen
Originally uploaded by laurelann

Now that Helen has received her package, I can show you all the gifts I made!

I wanted to involve all five of the senses, so here is what I came up with:

For "Gold", a very sparkly gold bracelet and a CD of holiday songs. The pattern for the bracelet is Bauble, from the Spring 2007 Knitty. Super fun and surprisingly easy to make!

"Frankincense" is a super soft cotton chenille washcloth and some "Frankincense" soap.

"Myrrh" is a banner saying "Cheers!" made from tiny embroidery hoops and some homemade mulling spices.

I packaged everything in handmade drawstring bags that can be used later on as project bags or storage. More pictures can be found here!

whew. that was close.

Dad's scarf, finished seconds before it was wrapped, packed, and shipped to Seattle:

Another crappy photo, sorry guys. I had to adjust the contrast so the cables showed up. I love the finished product, though! It got a bit tedious after a while, but aren't all scarves like that? The pattern is Norah Gaughan's Here and There Cables from Scarf Style, the yarn is Valley Yarns Northampton. It's not super soft and squishy but it is very warm and sturdy and dad-like. The pattern is reversible and very cool looking, I think!