I am getting better at my method for making these bracelets. The first one took me about 4 hours. This one took me 2.

In preparation for the stART on the street festival this weekend, I put together some finished items to complement my selection of handspun and hand-dyed yarns. Labor day weekend, I was a busy little bunny and made several knitting needle cases, which I really like.

This one features a fun polka dot print:


This one was made from a thrift store purchase of a very cute (and extremely tiny) skirt and has a surprise inside:




And last, I made this one toward the end of the day, when, apparently, I had lost my ability to measure accurately.


As you can see, the flap which is supposed to hold the needles in place doesn't actually cover the tops of the needles, rendering it useless. *sigh* So I am keeping this one for me.

New yarn

I spun this up a while ago, but didn't get around to taking pictures. It's a superwash merino, tencel blend with a little bit of angelina. Sooooo soft and yummy!



Also, I am pleased to note that I am vending at stART on the street this Sunday. If you are in the Worcester area, stop by and say Hello!

An Apron for M - or Why do I always end up making Pink things?

About a year ago, I made an apron for a swap, and several of my friends kind of fell in love with it. M finally bought some fabric and notions and asked me to make her one.



I think it came out pretty cute, though VERY pink. And I hope to never make anything with bias tape again.

A few weekends ago, I got together with M to help her make some earrings for her bridesmaids (you may remember this post about my earring experiment that went out of control). During our crafting day, M posed the idea that perhaps she could make bracelets to match the earrings, and true to form, I began experimenting.

Last night, I finished this:



Although I am happy with the results, it took much longer than I would like, but I have an idea which might help speed up the process. It's sad that I have to go to work now, instead of playing with my beads.

I have not managed to complete any crafting projects in several weeks. I hate being sick! If I could sleep for about a month, I might feel better.

Despite the illness, I had an opportunity to go on a dinner cruise the other evening, and since I have totally missed out on going the last 2 years, I was determined to make it out for a night of fun. Thought I would share some pictures, in lieu of having anything crafty to talk about. Photography is kinda crafty, right?

On Saturday, I headed out to western MA to visit a friend and check out the Easthampton Bear Fest. If you happen to live in the area and you like that sort of thing, I recommend checking it out (preferably in the near future while the bears are still mostly intact).

Otherwise, you can check out my pictures here.


I mean, really. How do you say no to that?

Although it was overcast and a little humid, the rain did hold off until after we had completed our walk around town. We also had an awesome lunch which included "Pierogi Skins" as an appetizer. Yes, they were, in fact, pierogis covered in melted cheese. Yum! Then we had ice cream for dessert. So, it was definitely a good day.

I am actually making a sweater

Look! I have proof:




Yummy!

Finished another needlecase a little while ago. I think it looks pretty cool:


The best part? This is what it looks like on the back:



This is not at all craft related, but it amuses me:


Moo!

It looks like Amber and I will be moving into some new and exciting studio space in a month or so. Whee!

It's funny because we were just starting to talk about how we needed to decorate the space more, because everyone else has been painting and making their studios look all pretty, and ours, well, it kind of looks like a dump. :(

I am looking forward to settling in to the new space.

Also, I successfully cast on for a sweater. Yay!

I attempted to cast on a sweater last night. I learned that 9:30 - 10:00 pm is not the right time for me to begin a new project. I needed to cast on 94 stitches. As usually, I cast on counting very carefully, then counted again to make sure I had the correct number of stitches. And then started the first row. Missed a repeat of the pattern somewhere in the middle and ended up with 5 too many stitches still on the needle. Took it out, cast on again. Was apparently a little lax with my counting, ended up 2 stitches short. Took it out again.... You see where this is going.

I stopped trying to cast on the sweater at about 12:30 am. The current status of the project is that the yarn has been wound up again (minus the bits at the end that were getting a little fuzzy from overuse.

*sigh*

I have exciting new yarns to share!

First of all, I have been working for a while on spinning up some kind of funky grey fiber that I have had in my stash for some time. It's a blend of wool, a little bit of sparkle, mohair, random other fibers, and there is supposed to be a glow-in-the-dark fiber blended in, though I haven't been able to confirm that it actually glows in the dark (either because it is old, and no longer glows, or because it is blended in so well that it is not noticeable). Anyway, I ended up making 3 coordinating yarns from it, which I call Ghost Stories:



In "Lady in White," the gray fiber is plied with a natural creamy white alpaca.
In "Haunted," the fiber is plied with itself.
And in "Shadows," the gray is plied with natural black alpaca.

Next up, is a yarn that I am particularly proud of; it's my first attempt at navajo plying (which is a method of plying that allows you to turn 1 thread of yarn into a 3 ply yarn).



I am calling it "Tutti Frutti". The fiber was really colorful, so there are some fairly drastic color changes, and the yarn ended up being really sproingy, so it should be an interesting Knit.

I found the navajo plying so enjoyable, that I immediately spun up another yarn and used the same process.



This is a baby camel and silk blend from Foxfire Fibers in their "Wisteria" colorway. Spinning it was a dream, and I wished that I had more than 2 oz of it, because I didn't want it to end. I specifically spun this to maintain the integrity of the color changes in the fiber, so the plying technique turned it into a gently self-striping yarn. I am not sure what I am going to make with it - maybe wrist warmers or some kind of scarflette, definitely something that will go next to the skin. Did I mention that it was dreamy?

Goals 2009 check-in

I am pleased to say that I have made some progress on my craft goals for 2009. Not much progress, but still. Socks are still in limbo, as is the sweater project. However, I am now confirmed as a vendor at my very first craft fair. Yay! The fair isn't until September, but I am very excited about it.

A friend of mine is getting married, and she was looking at jewelry to buy for her bridesmaids, but was finding everything to be very expensive. She got it into her head that it would be a good idea to make some jewelry for them, so of course, she turned to me for help. She showed me a picture of the earrings she wanted to try and replicate.

I meant to mock up a single pair of earrings, but got a little carried away:









Fun, right?

My pretty little pink

It seems like everything is in progress. I have 2 different yarns that are still on the bobbins, in various stages of completion. I am also working on another little crocheted purse, which just needs handles and a lining to be complete now. And of course, the neverending socks of doom are still on the needles, along with a few other semi-abandoned projects.

On the plus side, I did complete a set of hair sticks that I promised to a co-worker months ago, but didn't take a pic. They came out pretty though. I used black hair sticks, black coated wire and a variety of red beads.

I also completed another necklace. Don't laugh, but it's pink. I don't know what it is with me and pink these days. I have been noticing that I have a lot of pink crafting supplies and I am not quite sure why that is, unless I have secretly loved the color pink and have been afraid to admit it to myself. Nah. I don't think that's it.

In any case, here's the necklace:

I rarely make anything for myself. Somehow, it just doesn't seem like as much fun as when I am making things for other people. But I haven't been feeling particularly creative lately, and thought that making myself a present might perk me up. I've had all the materials to make this necklace for some time, in fact, I bought all the beads at the same time, with the intention of using them together, but then, like so many of my fantastic ideas, it took 2 years or so to come to fruition.

In any case, here's the final product:



Also, I took these pics of the studio a few weeks ago, after I put the lights up on the bar.





Pretty awesome, right?

I have been supremely un-crafty this week. I haven't worked on any of my projects. Instead I have been playing Guitar Hero. Yeah, I know, I am a slacker.


But I do still have one more item to share from last week. I call this one "Blossoming".

So here is one of the yarns that I finished last weekend. This was inspired by this month's EtsyFAST challenge. Our theme was "books" which I took pretty literally, because I am funny that way.

I call this one "Leatherbound"

I swear by my pretty floral needle case.

Spent some time at the studio this weekend, and finished a new knitting needle case and lots of yarn. Check it out:






I have 2 other new yarns as well, but no pictures yet.

Also, I hung lights on our bar, and it looks AWESOME!

Had an excellent weekend at Open Studios. Got to hang out with my studiomate and do some spinning, and even had a sale. Some number of years ago, I made myself a cute black hat with kitty ears...only due to a serious inability to judge height, I made the decreases too soon, and the thing barely covered the top of my forehead. I was very pleased to finally find it a happy home with someone who will actually be able to wear it. The nice weather brought all the people out so it was pretty fun.

We also bought a new bar for the studio, which will make a nice place to work and greet people on open studio days, in addition to providing a flat surface for measuring fabric and the like. We are going to decorate it with red christmas lights to enhance our "college dorm" design aesthetic. Amber recently purchased some huge hanging paper lanterns and we have other lights up on the wall, and tiny paper lanterns at our door. It feels all fun and quirky there now....just like us!