Thursday, August 31, 2006

Sink Pirate...

Here's the finished skull dishcloth:

Sink Pirate

I used Peaches & Creme cotton in ecru, and modified a chart for the sweater in SnB Happy Hooker, winged it on the stitch count. I think it is the perfect size, although knitting it was a little tough on the hands, as I used #3 needles. I think the recommended size is #7 or #8 for that yarn, so things got a little tight! Anyway, he's off to rule someone else's sink...but I've enough cotton left over to make another one for myself. Every sink should have one!

Working View....

Just a short one today...here's another view from my windows...a little later in the evening than the last:

Waxing & Waning...

And here's progress on the birthday dishcloth I mentioned. A soon to be skull- should be able to finish it tonight.

bones....

Sunday, August 27, 2006

The Weekend...

A great relaxing weekend...lots of knitting time and catching up on 24. This morning I went to the Antique Fair a few blocks from my apartment. Lots of stuff, although I thought it was either pretty crappy or fairly overpriced. I did find some sewing related stuff- some vintage transfers ($1) I want to use for Christmas presies, and a great old tin full of a gorgeous variety of old sewing needles stil in the original packages ($2.50). Too tired to take photos at this point, instead, here's what I managed to start and finish on Friday night:

Attempt #1 Prior to Felting Cloche..

I didn't have a pattern, so just sort of knit until I thought it was a good time to decrease. I've already felted it, and it is a little big, so I might have to give it another go.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Oh, and that's my ultra-rad Voltron you can see protecting the hat. He was $2 at Village Thrift, and I had to fight off three 6-year olds on my way to the checkout. It was worth it- he looks great above the fireplace.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Recycling....

First recycled knit/yarn foray.

A while ago I was reading a lot about recycling thrift store sweaters for yarn (see here and here), and have been wanting to try it. So, last time I went to Village Thrift, I was specifically on the look-out for a piece of knitwear I could unravel. Being summer, knitwear seemed to be in short supply, but I did find this.

30c Sweater

60 cents, and yellow tags were 50% off that day, so I got it for 30c. Originally I had planned to just unravel the whole thing and knit something else, but as I began to take it apart,

Undone...

some new ideas began to form. Here are the by-products after the unraveling: (Click on photo to go to Flickr & view notes)

All in a heap

I’m hoping to be able to post an ‘after’ photo in a week or two showing the final bounty produced from one sweater, for 30c. Stayed tuned.

Friday, August 18, 2006

SO SATISFYING

I mentioned previously that I went to Village Thrift last weekend. Oh how I love those stores. Besides the album cover I picked up a few additional items, leaving with a fairly eclectic haul, including this:

Village Skirt

Never worn, with all the tags! It is completely clean, no stains, but does look fairly crinkled, as I have not yet had it dry-cleaned but the fabric is gorgeous- a linen/silk blend. This photo does not do justice to the gorgeous colour. Fully lined with grosgrain ribbon facing on the seams. Check this out:

Dana Buchman

Tag

Original Tags- $168.00 at Saks!

Suggested Retail

And how much did I pay?

$1.50


In case you can’t read that, it says $1.50. That’s right, One fifty. LOVE IT!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Thinking....

Today I was thinking about all the things I want to start and get done. I am really hoping that besides a record of my projects and other comings & goings, the blog will motivate me to keep moving forward and complete projects, as well as expand my skills. As I mentioned in the last post, in addition to all the knitting and projects, I also have the craft “room” to pull together. A desk has been purchased. Very plain, very simple, versatile and as large as the space will accommodate. Meet Mikael, from Ikea.

Mikael

Now I have the ‘bones' of the room in place, and the shelving unit reconfigured, I just need to get cracking on the ‘prettying up’ of things. Here’s the full list. I’ve decided I will add this list to the side bar of the blog to inspire me to get to it! A lot are fairly simple, but require a quick trip to the hardware shop, which I may not be able to make until next week, given that this weekend is our annual trip to Wisconsin for the Sun Prairie Sweet Corn festival.

Craft Room Prep:

Get the wall shelves mounted
Build a notice board (Homasote)
Make sewing machine cover
Curtain to cover HVAC door
Chair cushion and/or cover
Flat curtain for shelving unit
Thread holders
Cover and/or label boxes
Buy Hanging Lamp
Smile & Enjoy!

Finally, I LOVE this:

IK Babette Crochet Blanket

It is the Babette crochet blanket from IK Crochet Spring 2006. The blurb says it is inspired by Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy, but when I look at it the first thing that comes to mind is Klimt. It would be such a good 'TV project'..something repetitive and mindless for the coming winter. Unfortunately, the approximate cost of this using the recommended Koigu is in the vicinty of $270. As if I don't have enough to do, I might make it my ongoing mission to source similar colours of a different [cheaper] yarn..not that I don't love koigu, but that is A LOT, not to mention, I havce found it hard to get, even on back order, here in Chicago.

Monday, August 14, 2006

What to do next?

Right: Naramach is blocking tonight. I am now in the wonderful position to choose something else to work on. Do I choose to finish one or all of these WIPs: (click on photo and then roll over the image to view what each one is)

Arrrggggghhh!

OR, do I choose from the huge list of other 'new' projects....??

Antigua Poncho (Have yarn already)
Crocheted Bedfellow (SnB Happy Hooker)
A Felted Cloche (Have yarn to use)
Paisley Carpet Bag (Have yarn already)
Moccasin Socks (Knitter's Almanac)
Karis (Started, but need to frog and begin again)

Not to mention these, that I have no yarn for:
Go-with-everything-cardy (Peace Fleece)
Indian Summer Jacket (Cotton yarn – would love to make for vacation)
Eunny’s Vest (Perfect for Fall, but am having a hard time choosing colours…)
Christmas Socks (3 pairs)

Oh, and on top of ALL that, I really want to design a new masthead for the blog, not to mention finish the re-decorating of the craft room.

Whew, I really need to break it down, y’all!

Please help!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Woo Hoo!

Finally, I have finished all the actual knitting for Napramach, and all that remains is the weaving in of the [many!] ends. I'm hoping to do that today and tomorrow night, and then block it. I'm excited, because I had told myself that I couldn't begin another project (or even pick up an in progress one) until this one was done. So, now I can look at my list of ideas and sink my teeth into something else. (No photos until it is pinned out)

This weekend has been great- yesterday I went to see Strangers with Candy, which was hilarious. Amy Sedaris is absolutely brilliant. Oh how I would have loved to work on costume for that show. After the movie we went shopping, and I picked up a few things at Village Thrift. I'll save them for their own posts, except for this:

Soul of Spain Album Cover

I think I've mentioned that I am on a bit of a yellow kick at the moment, which is very strange for me. Anyway, I was browsing through all the records and this one really caught my eye. 45c. I'm going to put it up on the shelf above my craft desk.

Today I've had a lazy morning, watched the season 2 finale of Project Runway, and am about to head out to return library books, videos and take care of some general odds & ends.

Hope your weekend was great!

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Look Familiar?

I know progress photos are usually pretty boring. This one is an exception...it is extra-specially BORING!

Napramach

(Sorry about the very bad photo...it's late, light is poor, etc etc)

I have finally finished the two main pieces of Napramach. The photos I had a couple of weeks ago were very similiar [read identical] to these, EXCEPT for the mess at the back, while I figured out fair isle. I actually ripped out one whole side and re-did it from scratch. I'm much quicker now, but it has taken a long time to get it done, as there has been [seemingly] no time this week. So, even though I was hoping to make progress today on my craft room organisation, every time I tried to do something else, I was pulled back to this project. I REALLY want to get it finished. Usually I don't have a problem with starting another project (my theory on this is that it keeps you motivated to have projects to pick and choose from, or actually to finish a whole new one while you have a different one 'slow cooking' in the background). BUT, for some reason, try as I might, I just can't pick up anything else while I still have this on the needles. Maybe it's the Olympic Sprit of perseverence- never say die!

Anyway, after ripping this out so many times, I was on a roll. Then I spotted a mistake. Can you see it?

Napramach Close Up

Yes, yes, I mean besides all the lumps and bumps and crazy uneven edges? I'm not fixing it. I can't pull this thing out again...I have too many other things on the to-do list.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

It's Here!

Look what arrived in the post on Monday:

Sew EZ Arrived

Yay!! A real blocking board. I got the large SEW EZ board direct from Guardian . Also, on the same day, my package from West Elm containing my new candlestick. I'm using this candlestick as the inspiration for the feel and colours in my craft 'room' [read 'small nook']. When I was at Ikea picking up the desk, I also bought a set of sheets for $9.99. I really like the design and colour, and am going to use the sheet fabric as part of the decor in the room. Here it all is together:

SEW EZ

I am planning on a luxurious WHOLE DAY at home this coming Sunday, and will be hopefully doing some sewing and getting the craft room ready for crafting. I started a list of everything to be done...curtains, sewing machione cover, cushion, shelves, cover boxes, make cotton reel holder...just for starters... a busy day coming up! (Not to mention blocking everything and anything in sight...if the cat is smart, she'll stay out of the way!)