Craft slut..

I love crafting.

Raise a child among a family of crafters (men and women!), add in a few crafting friends of the family and a joy for anything crafty done with Girl Guides this means I'm a bit of a craft slut.

I got to try many things over the years, some of which I still have and some of which I wish I did.. and many more that have gone by the wayside, or I wish they had. Some crafts I've tried: tole painting, knitting (duh), crochet, sewing, quilting, spinning, latch hook, cross-stitch, embroidery, plastic canvas, woodworking (I did say the men were crafters!), scrapbooking, beading.. really, I could go on. I've probably done most of the mini sort-of crafts that happen at camps also (my camp hat probably weighs about five lbs when I have everything pinned to it, no lie).

Of course most fell by the wayside for a good reason, like I prefer to do things with less potential for loss of digits and I really have no room for paints and wooden doodads everywhere. I don't want things taking up space so USEFUL crafts are good. Knitting, crochet, spinning (not too much, not enough to knit a pair of mittens yet! But one day..) and sewing..

Sewing. I love sewing, but my machine has been tucked away for too damn long. The last time I took it out, I was working on the dining room table and made a costume the day before halloween for my precocious boy. Never again, I plan ahead now!

I buy the stuff at the store. :p

Actually, I want to sew more. I see lovely quilts and think it would be great to turn out one or two (why would I need more?), maybe a dress or something.. or even a costume for myself for cosplay!

Tomorrow is the unused fabric sale.. so I am sitting here writing a blog post while i try to figure out what I want to buy. Fabric for cosplay? Quilts? Anything else? Do I really need to add to my fabric stash (almost as large as my yarn stash, but older)? Oooo I dunno.. we'll see.

Stay tuned to see if I will first get my craft room fixed up so I can.. you know.. craft in it!

Hunkering down..

It's winter, storms are inevitable no matter how we might hope that the Chinook will blow through right until spring keeping it around a nice and toasty 0 with hardly any snow (at least on the roads!).

Well that luck ran out today with the storm that blew in, snow started flying before lunch while we were at swimming lessons and just seemed to get worse as the day went on. Thankfully not as bad as some of the places that have been hit lately, but still blowing around and making roads treacherous while I ran errands. Nearly froze my fingers getting bottles out of the car at the recycling depot, which is a reminder to wear your mittens! Might not be that cold but the wind chill can really mess with that!

Once the errands were done for the day, I settled in and made a big pot of hamburger soup (that seems to be our main cold comfort food, or at least one of them, the recipe came from my Nana) and now that the soup has been eaten and supper dishes put away it's time for a bit more hunkering down.

A movie night in with a friend (Easy A) is the plan, a big bowl of highly buttered popcorn and a large mug of tea and my knitting and probably her embroidery (I'm easing her into the knitting and picked up some of my old cross-stitch also).

What's on the needles?

Well, as always a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I finally finished the outer layer of the Fiddlehead mittens and now that they have been blocked I can do the lining. I've also got to finish my Mr Greenjeans, the multiple pairs of socks and the two shawls on the needles. That's my resolution btw. Finish a sweater for myself and finish as many projects on the needles as I can without starting too many new ones. I have plenty of variety started for my Flibbertigibbet ways, travel size and less so also, so it shouldn't be too hard to do.

Putting a tired Velociraptor to bed and then to settle in for a nice evening.

I guess I need to prove that I really do knit, and get FO's!

This summer has been a long one with some knitting happening, but not a lot (the story of my life) and of course there are other things I want to do. Like this Quilt-a-long is done, but the instructions are there! I have plenty of fabric and my sewing machine gathering dust in a corner of my craft room.

I also have finally located the instructions for this lovely cross-stitch which I have moved around and misplaced for years (I used to be a fairly avid cross-stitcher, and I still enjoy it but I found knitting more versatile for usable FOs. I have a couple of kits in a box I mean to do.) I also havea gift card for Michael's, which means I can spend it on cross-stitch stuff and then use whatever is left for any knitting supplies I need but don't yet have..

This summer we went off to NS for a week for a family reunion. It was wonderful to see everyone who could make it from Mom's immediate family (all 32 of us, Mom's from a big family!) as well as spend some time at the beach and doing just a little sight seeing.

Did I finish the Mystic Waters? Well, I realized I wasn't going to do the full size version, but I did finish the smaller version (leaving with with enough yarn for another shawl also of course!)

I didn't take any pictures of it out East, but I got some while wandering at home.


I also picked up some souvenirs while wandering in NS. A new skein of Fleece Artist, some Zauberball and a darning egg (which I need because my favourite socks I knit are already getting holey.. I know there are other options but how could I pass up a handmade darning egg as a souvenir? Useful and memorable!)



Note: I didn't realize they were similar colours until I got back home.. I bought the Zauberball on my first day there at The Loop Cafe and the Fleece Artist the last day back just before our flight at LK Yarns, both in Halifax.

Now that I've proved I CAN finish items.. I need to get cracking!

I'm sorry, I can't help myself..

Not a lot of knitting happening here. Life constantly gets in the way. Picking at the Mystic Waters shawl slowly but steadily though. Decided I don't have time to do the large version so I'll do the small and should be done by the time it's vacation as long as I stay the course. 60% done and a month away.. can I do it? Yes I can! Betcha once I finish it stops raining.. hopefully the mystic part isn't me making it rain, I'd have a loooot of people mad at me..

In other things, I came across this joke today and I just had to share:

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting!

Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, 'PULL OVER!'

'NO!' the blonde yelled back, 'IT'S A SCARF!'


Tomorrow should be fun as I am off to the yarn tasting at the LYS. Can't wait!!

Hmm what to update?

So much happening all the time, busy with new friends and old and keeping things sane around the house, but I do manage to squeeze in some knitting now and again!

What's on the needles?



Fiddlehead Mittens, I've finished the outside shell of one, and started the second but not gotten too far as I realized I wanted to finish..



Mystic Waters before I go on vacation, so I can WEAR it. Velociraptor is in swimming lessons now, so that is a whole block of uninterrupted knitting time while he is in the pool I can sit with my knitting and a coffee. The only problem is, with the charts for the above I prefer it as a home project so I bring along with me something a little more portable..



Sunday Swing Socks! Because I have yet to finish a pair since my Saturday Socks (anyone else wondering if there are other days of the week socks? I looked in Ravelry and couldn't find any so I will either need to choose ones and make them for each day of the week or make my own patterns.. hmm..)

And of course because I don't have enough crafts, I was shared a link to this lovely quilt and this quilt along. I have plenty of fabric (mostly cottons) in my bins in my not-yet-set-up sewing room (other bins from my yarn, of course) and I am thinking I need to shuffle my room around, get that darn sewing machine set up and try out some quilting. Just for fun!

I will at some point, not quite this instant though.

And of course today it feels like spring, which has got me thinking of my future garden (the first I'll have that's not just a couple feet of dirt by the front step, good enough only for some pansies and marigolds).

Not enough time for everything!

Oh, and I am debating whether or not to frog Phoenix Rising and start again. There is a MASSIVE MASSIVE mistake in the middle, one even a non-knitter could easily pick out which will only be worse when blocked. So I am seriously considering despite being almost done.

Le sigh.

First Post of 2010

So it's a new year! I'm hoping this year goes as good as (better in fact, because there were some hiccups that I really, really would rather not have had to deal with.. but I'll manage).

On the crafty front, as always there are lots of plans and no real follow through happening. Which is my own fault being so flibbertigibbet and just busy in general. Plans for this year? Finish the sweater for Velociraptor (thank goodness it's a top down and he's skinny!), finish at least one sweater for myself, one shawl and just really actually finish several projects instead of constantly casting on new ones. I have plenty to keep me busy.

Also, I need to set up the knitting/sewing room. It's currently half unpacked and half boxed up. Mostly organized at least as I know what is in what boxes and the needles and notions are unpacked and in my wardrobe. But this way I can maybe display some things that I otherwise haven't been able to for years.

Of course I am also wanting to do some of my Cross-stitch now that I know where it is. Or mostly. I can't seem to locate one chart for the Alluring Sorceress which I think would just be great to make and put up in my craft room. It's one of the ones that has been floating around my stuff and calling to me but I always forget to go get supplies.. well I got a gift card for Michael's and today was wandering around wondering what to buy there. None of the needles appealed to me, the yarns were okay but nothing really cried out especially since I have what.. two large rubbermaid tubs of other yarns that cry out to me 'knit me!'?

Then I found the cross-stitch aisle. TWO. I don't think I've ever seen that much cross-stitch items in one place before and it got me fired up to do that again. So I went digging and found the charms for the sorceress, but not the chart. I know it's here somewhere.. it will turn up. In the meantime, knitting keeps moving on.

Holiday knitting

I told myself this year I wouldn't.

The last time I did it, I never got all I wanted done and I still have the yarn floating around, AND I want to try and finish some projects I still have on the needles (mainly Phoenix Rising and Mr Greenjeans) so I can move on to some others like Mystic Waters*, Silver Birches or Elsewhere, the latter which I am thinking of spending my birthday money on to buy the yarn for. Madelinetosh..

But my mind keeps insisting. Budget is tight this year.. you have ALL this yarn, and planned to make stuff anyway. Why not make the remaining tea cozies? (Two.) Make some mittens (three pair). That clears away a few people, and they are small projects you can take with you.

But! I no longer bus it. I have lost all that prime knitting time, not only that but if I do take the bus from where I now live I have about five minutes seated then stand the rest of the way. Not conducive to knitting because if you stumble you might stab yourself or a fellow bus rider.

And! And my knitting is all scattered. I have some pieces here, some things there, a couple tubs of rubbermaid to dig through just to find all the needles and yarn I need for it.

But all I can think is how nice it would be to make some people some gloves or mittens for winter.

Bah.

*We're going to the ocean next year, wouldn't it be nice to have the Mystic Waters shawl to keep me cozy?