Nalbinding

I'm going to have to try this soon.

Jester Hat

Today I worked on the 'liripipe' of my silky wool jester hat. This part is pretty slow going because the yarn is sock yarn and the needles are small, but if I can hang in there it's going to make a great hat. I plan to change colors and use wool-ease or whatever other wool I have on hand.

Craft an hour day

Today I decided to work on a different craft each hour.
So for the first hour from 11 to noon, I started a jester hat knitted in a wool/silk blend yarn.






From 12 to 1 I am working on a belly dancing 2 panel lace overskirt. I actually finished it in under an hour so I'm going to take photos now. This skirt has stretchy drawstrings so no matter how much weight I gain or lose, it will still fit.

From 1 to 2: Design a wrap dress to be made in stretch velour. I wanted to use the fabric in the photo but there is not enough of it. Not to worry. I found my box of velour so I'll find a bigger piece of something.




From 2 to 3: Write a tutorial for the belly dance skirt above: http://hubpages.com/hub/Tutorial-Super-Simple-Belly-Dance-Skirt-Fits-Any-Size

From 3 to 4 I worked on a crocheted hat.




From 4 to 5 I worked on my quilt.
See photo in previous post.

quilting and costuming

I may be working on my quilt, but my mind is working on my next belly dancing costume. It seems I don't have enough bits to make a whole costume that fits me anymore so I'm going to have to start from scratch. Even this purple blouse I made is pretty ratty looking now and needs to be replaced.

crazy hat

Almost done with my telescoping crocheted crazy hat. Now I want to make one in wool.

Postage Stamp Quilt Update

Way past my bedtime. Tonight I worked on the postage stamp quilt. I decided each strip should be 32 squares long. Then I will add sashing (borders) around it after the patchwork is done so I can tell what the best color choice will be.

I also updated the build-along on hubpges and added some youtube videos for those that need more quilting ideas.

Now it's off to bed for me.

Why do I want to Tat?

My mom loved to tat. She passed away of lung cancer. As far as I know I'm the only one of her four daughters that has even tried to tat. My older sister might have, but she may be dead too. So I feel I want to carry on the legacy from my mother. Sadly, her estate was dispatched haphazardly and I didn't get a single sample of any of her tatting or needlework. I remember she liked the Workbasket magazine because it always had at least one tatting pattern per issue.

Here is a tatting blog: http://tattingchic.blogspot.com/ in case you don't know what tatting is.

Irony

All my life I've tried to convince people that knitting and crocheting isn't just for grannies but the stereotype has persisted. I was in grammer school when I learned how to crochet and I was in high school when I learned how to knit.
Finally people are trying to convince the whole world that it's an art for the young and it's fashionable and not dumpy and dowdy like grannie's old afgans.

Bad news folks. Come Sept. I will be a grandmother. So now the very message I tried to get across all my life is about to backfire on me. I fought for the cause all my life and now I'm the stereotypical grandmother who knits and crochets. Save me.

Tatting

I gathered the supplies together so I can refresh my memory on tatting. But it's not on today's schedule. Today is clean-up day as it's getting hard to walk in here. Crafts have a way of taking over your life.

choices

It's going to be a scorcher today. So I'm off to a slow start this morning. I am debating whether I want to knit or crochet or sew today. I started a quilt that needs my love and attention. And there is all that beadwork crying out to be finished. It might be fun to make a hat though. Decisions, decisions.

Knitters and Spinners

On Sat. I met some knitters and spinners at a juggling festival.

Crochet in public

Today I took my crochet to the movie theater with me and I'm glad I did because the internet said the movie started at 10 till 11 and when I got there at 10 till 11 they told me it started at 10:30 and the next one wasn't until 1:30. So because I had a crochet project with me, I filled up the 2 1/2 hour gap with some shopping, a lunch, and then working on my hat for about an hour at a table inside the Buena Park Mall. One lady who was 67 stopped to chat about crochet and an asian couple with a little boy stared in great wonder to see what the crazy lady was crocheting. So here's a rule to live by: Always have a project with you because you never know when you might need it.

Fair Isle Purse

I started a Fair Isle knitted purse last night, but when I looked at it this morning, I saw the pattern had gone awry somewhere and I didn't really like the way the red yarn looked, as it was slightly thicker than the other yarn. So I ripped it all out and started over after 12 rows. My only regret is I didn't snap a picture first for comparison. So after many hours today I got back to 12 rows finished again. I swapped the red yarn out for purple. And I'm liking it so far so I did take some photos.

Fair Isle Knitting

After working on 2 existing knitting projects today (scarf and bunny handpuppet) I could stand it no longer. I was dying to start a new fair isle purse. So I've done about 9 rows on that so far. Unfortunately it's 1 AM and I'm getting cross-eyed so I had to put it away for the night. After I type this blog post I'm heading to bed. Goodnight crafters.

If you are on Twitter or Plurk my name there is craftinator. Add me.

Postage Stamp Quilt Build Along

Postage Stamp Quilt Build Along

I started a build along article to go with this quilt to help keep me motivated.

I'm in a knitting mood

I'm in a knitting mood today so I dug up the scarves I was working on on the train and thought I'd make some headway on those.

Handmade Gifts That Are Practically Free

Handmade Gifts That Are Practically Free

More crafts for next to nothing.

Learn to Sew

Learn to Sew

This is an article I wrote on sewing for beginners.

Crafts on a shoestring

Crafts on a shoestring

Quilting

I designed one quilt on a graph and then started working on a different one. I'm weird like that. Then I also worked on a fabric pin with a ballerina charm.

Drawing Day

There's a world wide drawing day? Who knew. Evidently it was yesterday. DRAW.

beading, knitting, chatterboxes

Today on the train I learned to do right angle tubular beadweaving and tried to figure out the herringbone weave and a ring pattern. Not much luck with that as the guy in front of me chatted to the girl across the aisle for the entire 5 hour and 40 minute train ride. I don't know where they sat after we switched trains in LA but I made it a point to sit in another car. Then I sat next to a chatterbox on a cellphone. She was still talking when I got off the train in Anaheim.

I got some knitting done on my scarf during the 50 minute wait at the LA train terminal. When I picked up one of my bags later one of the knitting needles slid out but the guy behind me spotted it and let me know.

Coming home today

I painted faces for four hours on Sat. I also started a peyote stitch freeform necklace in red & purple & made some progress on that yesterday. I got two new beading books to read on the train ride home. That should keep me busy for awhile. Both are on beadweaving. Peyote Stitch Beading Projects by Bead & Button Magazine and The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving by Carol Wilcox Wells. They both have excellent photos and diagrams and lots of inspiration.
I also thumbed through Sew Somerset magazine and got some good brooch ideas using fabric and trim scraps. I may have to subscribe to that magazine.