Ok, so I'm probably the world's slowest knitter. It took me over a month to finish this shawl, but I was working on Sampler goodies, and the cast off edge really had me thinking for a bunch of days. I wanted to match the cast on edge, which was just twisted loops. I actually cast on first with long-tail and the chenille, but when I tried to gently stretch it out, I ended up breaking the yarn, and had to start over again.
It worked out ok, I'm very pleased with the outcome - even if it did take a while for the simplest knit project ever! LOL It's just garter stitch (horizontally,) and clip each end to knot & fringe. Easy Peasy! (I actually ended up sewing the cast off edge, if anybody's interested I can post pics of how I did it. It was kind of painstaking with the hairy Suri Dream yarn, but I imagine it would be easier with non-hairy yarn.)
You can find the pattern at here at Magknits. Super simple, and I'm sure you can substitute just about any yarn combinations your heart desires. The original pattern calls for 3 yarns, but I was happy with just 2 (that my Mom gave me for Christmas - Thanks Mom!) And I significantly changed the pattern repeats since I was only using 2, but I love my version and isn't that the point of knitting for yourself?!?!? LOL I'm soooo looking forward to bringing it with on my next cruise - Hawaii in October!
Please forgive these photos... I just had to get to the grocery store before sunset; and that means these are lit with a flash (ick!) Sorry! I'm hoping the sun peaks it's head out over the weekend, so I can shoot another round of pics. Cross your fingers for me!Specs:
I finally got some time to work on my sister's belated Christmas present - the Amy Butler Patchwork Bag. At first I was hoping the book would have pattern pieces for this bag, but upon closer inspection the only pattern piece provided was for the zipper pull charm (which is just 2 circles, folks! LOL) The bag itself is all right angles, so I'm left to measure out all of my rectangles. It isn't too tough, but the AB pattern pieces are on nice paper, instead of tissue paper; and I was hoping to get the chance to work with a non-tissue pattern. (Tissue's really not that bad, but it can be tricky!)
I must also add, that I purchased a clear quilting ruler for this project, and boy, I couldn't be MORE pleased with it. It seemed expensive, at 12$ for a 4 1/2" by 12 1/2" clear ruler, but with all of the markings it has on it, and how well it works with my cutting mat, it saved me tons of time cutting & scoring packaging for The Sampler. If you don't have a quilting ruler, I'd HIGHLY recommend it! It's going to make cutting 1" squares for tsumami kanzashi flowers even easier and more precise than with my cork-backed steel ruler. And, more precise squares of fabric mean they're easier to fold into each petal, and less hassle to handle & sew together. Hooray!I'm also happy to announce that I'll be adding patchwork bags to my Etsy store soon, of course with tsumami kanzashi flowers on them! I really like making bags, I think it's so much more fun to carry something unique, rather than something there's 18,000 of out there!
This past week has been particularly hard, my grandmother passed away last Wednesday. She was 85, and had been sick for a very long time; but I'm still surprised at how much it hurts. I'm also surprised at how differently I'm dealing with it than the rest of my family; even though I was raised Christian, I don't believe everything I learned in grade school. I'm left questioning what's next after we die, and because I have no solid answer, there's fear in my mind. I think everyone has to go through it and deal with death on their own terms. I don't doubt that faith gives a lot of people security, and comfort; but I don't believe in heaven and hell the same way most people do, and I struggle to define those concepts for myself. For me, they're much more abstract, and most of the time I'm happy with my own definitions of those concepts. But this week, abstract consructs give me little comfort. I'm thankful though, that my Mom understands how differently I deal with things, and that she still knows what I need when I hurt. I love you, Mom!
Hillary's blog was actually the first craft blog I ever visited last year! I was looking for toy patterns, I'd already made a bunch of home décor items, and wanted something 3D that wasn't too big of a project. I found her Pointy Kitty pattern, and knew I had to jump (headfirst!) into the crafty-blogging community. She's amazingly talented, and her toy & embroidery patterns are adorable! If you haven't seen her blog, quit reading & go now! It's that good!She has a wonderful freebies section in her store, and her items usually go like hotcakes! I've been wanting her robot stuffy pattern ever since it came out; but I have so many projects going on right now, I just couldn't add one more to it! (It's totally on my wish list, I just know I'll spend a while picking fabrics out, though! LOL) She's also one of the judges for the Softy Awards, which I'm super excited about. I don't envy the judges task of finding a winner in each category, though! There's tons! (I threw my Pointy Kitty, and his lil sis, Wee Curvy Kitten in the mix - wish them luck!)Her store is packed with fun crafty items, including these Stitchette embroidery patterns, the Robot stuffy I mentioned, and much, much more! Go take a look!
Well, normally I'm not one for such commercial holidays, but I've seen so many awesome cupcakes around Blogland lately, and I had cake mix & frosting sitting around… So, I thought I'd throw my hat in, and whip up some V-day treats. These are made with a butter white cake mix and cream cheese frosting. I tried to make heart templates from paper to dust the red sugars on in a fun pattern, but only 2 came out heart shaped! LOL Can you tell which 2? Bwahahaha!My husband keeps reminding me that they still taste just as good; but I still wish they'd come out a little better. Oh well! The cake mix made 2 dozen cupcakes, but I only have a dozen left! I knew I should have taken the pictures when I made them, but it was dark, and I was hoping for some sun to photograph them. (I should have done it Saturday, it was sooo blue and sunny; Sunday rolled around and it went back to grey! So, sorry for the crappy lighting!) I hope everyone has a nice Valentine's Day!
Double whew! I mentioned last week that I'm contributing to The Sampler for March; well, what I neglected to mention was how bad I procrastinated a lot of the hand sewing. By a lot I mean I had 19 flowers to sew buttons & snaps to, and I totally made my life harder by using waaaaay too much fabric glue; making all 19 real buggers to sew through. Oh well, my fingertips are a little abused, but I can rest them now - because I'm done! I finished all 30 flower snaps with accessories over the weekend, and will be dropping them in the mail later today! I'm super excited and nervous, I don't really know what to expect from the experience. But I'm hoping it will make at least one more sale for me (bringing my grand total to 2 sales!) Or maybe just get my name & product out there… *crosses fingers* Here's to hoping!
I found Girl On The Rocks through Whiplash, and I knew I had to add her to my RSS reader. She makes cute and very practical items, and I just love her style! Her atari themed altoid tin had me doubled over with laughter when I saw it - I knew it'd make a comeback sooner or later! LOL Seriously, though - the detail on the tin is awesome! It's even got a faux wood-grain interior! Check out her Etsy store for it and lots more - including bacon buttons! You'll love these Shirley! :P 
She's also written some cool patterns, I love the Drip coasters made from leftover sock yarn; and Shirley recently made a tissue cover from her Sniffles tissue cover pattern. I'm contemplating sizing up her beer cozy pattern, King's Cozy, for a wine bottle - my husband and I love full bodied reds!
I also had to bookmark her because we share the same name (even if she spells it differently than I do, it still starts with a K! LOL)
I really like spotlighting blogs I enjoy, and I'd love to hear about your favorite blogs too! I'm always looking for new ones, so please send me an email or leave a comment with your suggestions! Thanks!
Shirley, from Warm Fuzzies, tagged me for the "6 Weird Things" meme, and although I seem to be about a month behind everybody else, I'm happy to share my weirdness. I'm just not sure if there's anybody left who hasn't done it yet! LOLRULES: People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.1. At meals, I must have something crunchy, or I won't eat very much. I have issues with soft foods, and I'm very picky about eating them. Pasta is ok when it's hot, and with rolls or bread; but if it cools, or I don't have a side, I'll just push it around the plate. (Consequently, I microwave freshly made pasta, so it stays hot extra long.)2. When I was 13, I worked at a comic book shop. I got paid in comics and Star Trek; The Next Generation trading cards. I'm not kidding! I think I'm only missing 7 cards out of the 300+ card set!!! LOL Yes, I'm a total geek... I stil watch ST;TNG fairly often!3. In high school, I used to dream in German. By my junior year, I'd taken 6 years on German and was pretty fluent. I even spent some time translating Grimm's Fairy Tales. Now I wish I could understand the few words I hear on tv every so often.4. I crack my joints, a lot. I mean a lot! And not just my hands and feet, I crack my neck, back, knees, hips and well, if I can twist it enough, it'll crack. Teachers and parents have been telling me to stop for as long as I can remember, saying I'll get arthritis, or worse. But honestly, it hurts worse when I don't crack them. 5. I wanted to own and run a jewelry gallery/store when I was younger. All together I've had 5 years of silversmithing, and I really miss it. It's been about 3 years since I had access to a jewelry lab, and although I still do some metal work, it's not as involved or detailed as my work used to be. This isn't that weird, but I thought it was interesting anyway!6. I've decided to quit drinking coke during February, and I'm using a really interesting motivation to do it - a Blythe doll! Seriously, I'm very addicted to both the sugar and caffeine, and have decided to kick the habit. I knew I'd need some serious incentive though, and so far, it's working very well! 3 more weeks to go!I'm tagging Girl on the Rocks, June, my sister Jenn and Laura. I think everyone else I know has already done this one, but if you haven't I'll be happy to tag you too! Weird things are fun and funny!
Whew! I knew it was going to be a lot of work to get stuff ready to contribute to The Sampler; but I had no idea how pressured I was going to feel by the deadline. I guess it doesn't really matter if I miss it, because there will be another Sampler next month; but I can't help but feel the pressure! *insert Freddie Mercury singing Under Pressure*
Right now my laser printer's on the fritz, so I keep thinking about having my business cards printed for me. I need to investigate some prices & options though, I'd like to be able to reorder if I want/need to, and I want to make sure I'm happy with everything. Any suggestions? Particularly in the western suburban Chicago area - I'd really appreciate it! Also online options are totally appreciated, although right now I'm not sure I could get anything shipped to me within my deadline. (I need to get my products to The Sampler by Feb 15th.)
I'm contributing 30 plum blossoms with either a snap hair clip or pin. A handful are pink, just because I got bored making all white. :P
Getting things ready for my upcoming Sampler donation has really tapped me out lately, but I've been wanting to get back to my Tree Branch jewelry for a while now - so I did! This pendant is about 6" long, and is made of copper craft wire and round pearls in gold and bronze. The wire is not real copper, only copper colored, but I've had a devil of a time lately trying to get findings to match. Do you think it would look weird on a silver chain? I'm so picky, I always balk at having to mix metal colors when I don't want to. (If you know where I can get findings this color - PLEASE let me know!)
I added an extra loop on the side, so it wouldn't hang completely vertical, but have a swaying, windswept branch-ey feel to it. I'm thinking of adding this to my Etsy store, but I keep going back and forth because it doesn't have a chain right now. Any thoughts? I'd really like to hear them about this piece, I'm a little unsure of it right now.
For Christmas last year, I told my sister that I'd like to make her a bag. I made one for my Mom, and thought she might like a handmade one as well. I let her pick what she wanted, and it turned out that she picked the Patchwork bag in the back of Amy Butler's book, In Stitches. Needless to say, we both procrastinated on picking out fabrics, because I just bought these last Thursday with her! LOL
I'm really pleased with our selections, even though blue & red isn't my favorite color palette (20 bonus points for whoever can guess what my favorite color palette is! LOL) We started with the Asian girls, and built the others around it, and I'm hoping it will look very nice patched together and quilted.
Now, I just have to decide what pattern I'm going to piece the side panels together with (I'm thinking maybe log cabins,) and the pattern & spacing of the quilting lines! All of the fabrics are cotton quilting, and so I picked up some thick Peltex interfacing to give the finished bag a stiffer shape. The pattern calls for heavyweight upholstery fabrics, but I think the cotton will quilt better, and it's definitely easier to work with!
On another note, I'd love to hear where you buy fabric - especially for Japanese prints! I prefer to buy in person, in a store; but I live pretty far outside Chicago, so trips downtown are usually just a couple times a year. Internet shopping is certainly more convienent, but it can be tricky (somtimes impossible!) to match colors or coordinate prints. My favorite online fabric stores are - Fashion Fabrics Club, Fabric Tales and Reprot Depot, I also love Vogue Fabric (they have an online store too!)
Ok, so admittedly she's already a craft-blogging superstar, but I couldn't resist linking to Betz White's blog this week. She makes the most incredibly delicious looking cupcakes out of recycled sweaters, among many other wonderful goodies. If you have some old sweaters laying around, try her felted brooch tutorial, or her cutie pie! (I'm sooo scouting the right colors for both of these right now!)If you're lucky enough to live in/around the Minneapolis area, she'll be teaching a couple workshops at the Sewing Lounge this spring - one on recycling sweaters, one on shibori felting. I wish I could attend, I absolutely love taking a sharp pair of scissors to old sweaters! LOL
She also has a new book coming out soon, I can't wait! LOL I believe she's shooting photos for it very soon. Betz, I hope you get lots of awesome photos, and you have a wonderful trip! I wonder when pre-orders start?!?! :D
My Mom's been having a really stressful time lately; her mother is very sick, and not showing very much improvement over the last 6 months. So, when she mentioned to me the last time I saw her, that she loved my birthday present to myself - my Betz White inspired cupcake pin cushion; I knew I had to make her one as well.
To make this one extra special I even added some fun ribbon trim, and a cherry on top! It's actually a felted bead, dyed with cherry watermelon Kool-Aid, and a fleece "mint leaf" - but it's all anchored to a silk pin, so it's totally removable, too!
An update on my broken heater - it's not broken anymore! My husband is so handy, he saved us a trip out from the HVAC guy! I guess it was just a valve or switch being flaky... or maybe it was a valve switch... I dunno, and I kinda don't care - because I'm not freezing anymore! LOL
Oh yes, it's as good as it looks and sounds! The only secret, is that it's SUPER easy to make! Seriously, this is the easiest dessert I've ever found for family get-togethers, or when you just want to spoil yourself with a restaurant style confection. The hardest part is pushing the raspberry sauce through a strainer, and I suppose I could've settled for less than every drop of liquid on this step. I'm a little weird, what can I say? LOLJust another quickie note - normally I'd pour the just-mixed mousse to set up in whatever fancy container I was planning on serving it in (usually individual servings.) This time I let it set up in a different container (ie a bowl,) and tried to make it look smooth after adding it to my glass. As you can see, it doesn't look smooth on the surface, but if you make it right, this is the smoothest, lightest dessert ever!Since berries are out of season here in Chicago, I'd also recommend serving more hardy fruit with the chocolate mousse, like sliced oranges in a sugar sauce (or Grand Marnier!)For the mousse, you'll need:1 2/3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream8 oz fine white chocolate (Lindt is best!)For quicker results, chill large bowl & beaters in freezer for 30 minutes prior to start. Melt chocolate and 2/3 cup cream in double boiler or microwave. (For microwave, start with 1 minute on high, and add 30 seconds as necessary. Chopping the chocolate will help it melt quicker, as well.) Don't worry about a few tiny lumps, the heat from the rest of the chocolate will smooth everything out. Set aside for 30 minutes. This step is crucial, you may want to rush it, but be patient! After a half an hour, take bowl & beaters out of freezer & whip remaining 1 cup cream til stiff peaks form. My original recipe calls for beating to soft peaks, but I think the whole thing sets up a little better when you beat just a little more than soft. If you've chilled the metal parts, it should take 3-4 minutes, if you haven't it can take more than 5. When you've achieved slightly stiff peaks, you can add the whipped cream to the cooled chocolate mixture, in 2 additions. The first will seem lumpy, but fold the cream as gently as possible, and the second addition should even things out a bit. Try not to over-mix these two, it'll be a much lighter mousse if it's done properly. Cover & chill, at least 2 hours. Serves 4-6
This recipe will also work with other chocolates, if you're not a fan of white. I've used both milk & dark chocolates with very good results!
For the sauce, you'll need:2 cups fresh raspberries, washed1 cup confectioner's sugar1/4 cup Chambord (raspberry flavored liquor)3 Tbs fresh lemon juicePuree all ingredients in food processor or blender. Pour through strainer, and discard seeds. Cover & keep in refrigerator. Makes 2 cups
On another, and on a much more horrible note, our heater broke sometime between last night and this morning. Yes, I live in Chicago... and yes it's the middle of winter. Oy. Cross your fingers it's not too long/expensive to fix! It's frickin' freezing at my house today!
I'd like to try something new this year, and spotlight other bloggers that I enjoy and admire. Some might not be all that new, there's so many superstars out here in Blogland! LOL I hope you'll find both the new and old fun and inspiring, and I'd love to hear what blogs you love, too!
First up is an amazingly talented friend of mine, Shirley from Warm Fuzzies. Her stuffies are absolutely adorable, and I love the quality of her photography. What I think really sets her apart though, is her stories - and how she writes them.
They're never too sweet for me, (I hate super-sweet all the time, I like balanced sweet.) She puts so much personality into her finished objects, through her words; I really admire her ability, and aspire to it myself! I hope you enjoy perusing her blog, it's filled with fun things to be inspired by, and great tutorials!
I think we've all felt this way about a project or two...
But the evil side of my conscience says, "But he was your first intarsia project, he sings the doom song, *and* he can dance. Plus, he can make bacon soap. And he's pink. Just look at him, he's so comfy on your bed already..." And I snapped. I just had to have him. Shame on me.
No shame, Shirley... we really feel you! (Especially because the second of almost anything I make is just a little bit better! LOL) Maybe not so much about that bacon soap, though.... ha!
