I kind of fell off the knitting wagon for a while there. But I am back! And with full force.
A custom pair of wristwarmers in a two-tone fashion. These are made of 100% alpaca yarn with bronze buttons. They are definitely one of my favorite pairs of all time that I've made so far. *And* I knit them from my current stash.
This was an experiment using size 17 knitting needles with double strands of worsted yarn. It's acrylic but incredibly warm.
I've already gotten compliments on this!
I have a 3rd project I've finished but I can't show it since I know the gift recipient reads this blog ;)
Check out folduscandidate.com and make your own candidate. I find it to be a humorous way to grab people's attention about the upcoming election. If you make one, let me know! I may give it a go this weekend.
And don't forget to register and vote on November 4th. This is going to be, as Senator Joe Biden said at last night's VP debate, "the most important election you'll ever vote in your entire life".
A few months ago, my friend Kat returned from the Ukraine after visiting her family. As a souvenir, she gave me the most beautiful multi-colored skein of authentic Ukrainian mohair yarn. It was so soft and wispy and I had to come up with just the right project for it.
What could I come up with that would use up one skein? That would show off the yarn's details and colors just in the right way? At my local knitting group, I was patiently taught how to double and triple crochet and I quickly put the new skills to good use. This is using the same pattern as the previous scarf I posted. This scarf is using a 3c and 1c in rows whereas the other used it the long way to create columns. I actually finished this one first but photographed the other one quicker since I had to give it away and therefore had to get a photo-op in. This was a superfluous artsy shot. Isn't it purdy? I love how it looks as if you are walking in the clouds, looking up at the sky...
Hope you're all having a great beginning to the week! (Despite the economic turmoil lately..)
Bre Pettis from Etsy/Make has a new show pilot out:
"The pilot is all about Nikola Tesla and the war of the currents between Tesla and Edison. In the show I learn how to blow a neon tube, explore wireless electricity and build an AC generator from a bike. I also go to Boston to visit an MIT space lab to see how the principles that Tesla pioneered are being applied to space propulsion."
Sounds like an amazing show. Check it out tonight on the History Channel at 8pm and midnight.
After thinking of what to get my friend Pam for her birthday, I decided that I'd get her 2 somethings - 1 something small that was bought and 1 handmade something. Voila! It was received with much appreciation. All in all a good out come :)
Sweet! Shop is just about done. You may have noticed that there is a Scarves section now too. The next shop update will bring something new to your eyes.. mini-scarves! And plenty of more wristwarmers. It's going to be a cozy Fall season.
I've been dabbling with the idea of making more crochet phone pouches for the new shop.. then I started to think, why not iPhone cozies? Would these be useful? This is the first prototype mockup - call it v 1.0. It's still up for improvements.. any feedback?
And as I said earlier to BananaBoy since this is still under wraps, "Don't go leaking this to Gizmodo." ;)
Several months ago, I made a custom pair of wristwarmers for Enchanted Droppings. It's my first pair which are textured and long with buttons.
Here they are posing with Mang's pig stapler: And here they are being modeled by Enchanted Droppings herself! It's a bit too warm in the office lately to wear them around here.. guess next time, I'll finish them before summer is around the corner ;)
A little while ago (read: a long time ago) I wrote about my part of the Crafty Daisies Swap I had participated in. It took quite a while for my softie to come in the mail. My swap partner Lusterbee was getting worried that it had been 2 weeks since she'd sent out the package and I still hadn't gotten it. In the end, I did get it! The box looked like it had been stepped on, thrown about and punched at. It was a pretty amazing sight.. The USPS had carefully put the beat up box in a plastic bag with a message of "We're sorry. Blah blah blah. We apologize for the inconvenience.."
In any case, here is the Owl-E! I've kept him at the office so I thought it'd be appropriate to take the photos while at my desk. (not to mention that it was a summer Friday yesterday and I had some time to kill before heading out).
Isn't my little owl adorable?! I love the handsewn beak and the button eyes the best. It's all very cute. The note that came with it - figured you guys might want to check out the blog and tutorial it came from. Lusterbee is a pretty cool chick and we've kept in touch. This has been a great experience. I think I'll be participating in more swaps now :)
Voila! Sewed in the edges. A quick 90+ degree photoshoot in the backyard. And now the neckerchief is ready to be seen by the world.
(details: easiest. project. evar. CO 4 stitches with size 10.5 needles. Increase one stitch at beginning of row every 2 rows. Then do the reverse on the way back and create a wide triangle. Could easily be adapted for a large shawl and the garter stitch looks beautiful in its simplicity with silk and large loops.)
This bumble bee softie was made as part of the recent Softie Swap from the Crafty Daisies blog for my swap partner, Lusterbee. She got it and loves it. Now I want to make another bee!
This project was to be a Mother's Day gift for my mom.. She's a big fan of neckerchiefs and silk ones at that. I had bought 2 skeins of silk yarn while in Argentina with the intention of making her a shawl. But I noticed.. she doesn't wear shawls. She has a few dozen mini scarves and can't seem to get enough of them. Not to mention that I couldn't work on this project on the train considering only my size 5 circulars and size 8 flat needles were train friendly and I'd be needing size 10s... so I figured a small project would do just fine.
This in its early stages at about 35% done: This was after the second attempt. I should've known that using metal needles + silk yarn was going to be troublesome - it makes for some very fast knitting.. but.. one of the stitches slipped off at one point. I tried undoing rows and picking the stitches up but silk is VERY slippery! The whole thing became undone.. le sigh..
I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd do a quick podcast review. This ties into "spending less time online".
Really, what does it come down to? Being efficient.
And nothing's more efficient than a podcast that will catch you up with the latest industry news in a few minutes to an hour.
The podcasts mentioned below are my current favorites. They range from general news to tech news to randomness to craftiness (listed counterclockwise):
This American Life There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always.
Craft.Rock.Live. Vickie Howell's podcast which lasted for one season. She has an interview with Greenday's lead singer's wife as well as other crafty divas.
NYTimes Podcast News on the go: Front page news, NYT Tech Talk, Political Points: On The Presidential Campaign, Science Times, Only in New York
This Week in Tech: TWiT Join Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, John C. Dvorak, and other tech luminaries in a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in high tech
That is all folks! Check out these podcasts when you have a chance. Let me know if you've converted to any of them :)
I've begun my first sweater! I started this last Sunday when I was trying to calm down the day before my thesis presentation. It's a very relaxing knit since it's a basic pattern and it's constructed all in one piece (meaning - no seaming). If you've kept up to date with the blog here, you probably remember that I was going to start Zephyr's Rusted Root sweater first. After two tries at it, I figured that maybe I should start simple and work my way up to more complex patterns with lace involved. And so, I chose the Buttony Sweater which is pretty ideal for a beginner's project. So far, so good. I wanted to wear the sweater I first constructed as soon as I had finished it. Since I'm working on this in May, it's a short sleeved sweater made out of a cotton yarn. I'm a bit worried that I made it too small. Ah well.. we'll see how it turns out after the first wash. I'll add more details later about the project itself. For now, I'll just provide a progress shot!
A lot of classmates of mine have customized their Mac laptops to hide the Apple logo. This is primarily due to the fact that 98% of my department uses all of 2 laptop models so there needs to be a way to differentiate amongst the sea of Mac Books and Mac Book Pros.
I have an XPS laptop from Dell which is pretty rare considering the Apple fan kids surrounding me. I figured I'd give the logo hiding a try for kicks. A few pieces of felt, lots of white glue and scissors and about half an hour later:
While I've been writing, coding, sketching and Photoshopping away this past month, I have actually done some crafty stuff. When it's late and I can barely keep my eyes open on the train ride back home from school, it's nice to find a skein of yarn and some needles to entertain me. I've also started to use the mp3 player my friends got me for my birthday more frequently. Yes, I'm actually using it. More than once a month. Surprising, isn't it? I've found it useful for keeping up to date with my favorite podcasts. Now I can listen, crochet/knit and head to places - talk about multitasking. (note to self: gotta write about podcasts next..)
In any case, here are some photos of the stuff I've been making. I'm trying out different techniques with the two new stitches I've learned - decreasing and yarn overs. In layman's terms - I'm making holes. I figure it's a long way until it gets cold again in the states so I'll be keeping these "in stock" for the shop opening. If you're in Australia or another country where the weather is now starting to get chilly and you'd like a pair, drop me a line! Several of these are still in the works - they just need to have the ends sewn in, buttons sewn on and they will then be ready to be tucked away where they can stay nice and cozy until it's time to make their debut.
I'm currently working on a thesis project for my graduate degree. I'm basing it on creating a site where the crafty community can come together as one. Somewhere that would serve as a learning and community tool. This would work in conjunction with Etsy if anything, in no way is it competition. I love Etsy far too much :)
I just want to ask you guys a couple of questions.. I'd love to hear from crafters and lovers of crafty things alike (so either you make stuff and/or you like to receive/buy handmade goods)
Mini survey:
1) What's the ONE thing you'd LOVE to see on a crafty site?
2) And.. what's the ONE thing you HATE about current crafty websites?
Be as brutally honest as you can be. (email me at mellowbeing[!at]gmail.com directly if you don't want to publicly post your reply in the blog)
I just read about an ongoing contest over at Life With...Sarah 's blog. I figured if I don't win, I'll at least have an interesting photo of my button collection. I've been playing with masks in Photoshop lately. I made a "button" out of the many, many buttons I own. They are sorted by color mainly but some are by materials (silver, metal buttons) vs. mixed materials such as gold metal buttons with black plastic centers. These are obviously very different and are then sorted in their respective baggies. (yes, very obvious to.. me heh). All in all, a fun exercise.
I registered myself already and have alerted several friends about the project. Basically, create something new every day. It's a nice little project that only takes up a month - not as daunting as the 365 day project. Anywho, will be posting here about it. Stay tuned!
As the New Year starts, I have to write the mandatory blog post about what I'll be hoping to accomplish these next 365 or so days (a bit late on that.. so, first thing to add to list: Less Procrastation. ha!)
Projects I want to finish (finally!) in 2008 which I started in '07..
- Green/pink wristwarmers: add buttons - Fuschia/light pink wristwarmers: finish second and sew in ends - Crochet orange clutch: need to add lining and clean border with other color - Purple scarflette: add silver buttons so I can wear it - First DPN project: make the second blue/tan wristwarmer - Laptop bag: modeled after yarnstorm's jelly bean cushions (50% done with solid color, need to start adding the other colors) - Crochet "grannie" blanket: goal is to use up all the free Lion Brand yarn I scored while at Maker Faire in October 2007 - Begin and finish my very first clothing project. It's the first pattern I've purchased (pictured above) - Rusted Root - which is so beautiful but I'm incredibly scared since it involves a lace leaf pattern.. should take a while as well since it involves size 5 needles mostly. I bought this very pretty medium blue cotton yarn for it a few months ago.. need to get started on that!
Major goal of 2008:
Oh and the major aim of this year is to knit at least 1/2 of my stash so I'll have more space in my room.. it'd be nice to have more floor space once again.
Happy New Year's one and all! A quick update to show ya what I've been up to lately (rather than writing a bit too much about the last month or so..)
In order: Christmas Eve, small dinner at my house where I finally used tips from Lifehacker's blog on how to fold napkins prettily, handmade Christmas gifts for friends - crochet peeling banana doll wearing the official "B.a.G." badge (spell it out), ninja plushie doll, 3 sets of jewelry for 3 lovely girls and my recently decorated room with several posters and postcards. I believe that brings us up to date?
Finally, the major shop update is here! I've put up a whopping 9 new pairs of wristwarmers in the shop. I was severely influenced by the good weather we've had this summer and early Fall so there are no dark colors here.. mostly bright and sunny yellows, pinks, greens and blues. Definitely make the dreary cold days a little less bleak. Well, without further ado, here are some photos of my finished creations:
You can find these in my shop along with several other new pairs. Enjoy!
Ah, the significance of 42! Now may I have the pleasure of telling you that 42 is the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything? Okay, if you know me - you've heard that one a few dozen times by now.. otherwise, it's in reference to Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams.
It's too bad this post is significant in number and yet the content isn't all too eventful.
Some things of note: - New blog look! I've *finally* integrated my blog with the new site look.. and you can even now navigate through the incomplete (not launched) site. You may notice it's located at craftic.com/mb which is where I'm temporarily hosting my files until I finish everything and move it over to mellowbeing.com. All in due time.. (or rather, I'm aiming for Nov 1st launch date. 2 days before my birthday! whoohoo!)
- I'm off to MAKER FAIRE!! I will be in Austin, TX. Hellz yeah! I may be bringing back some cowboy stuff.. like a cowgirl hat, some boots and maybe an actual cowboy ;)
I seriously need to stop procrastinating and start packing for it.. bringing my camera, laptop, sunblock (it's 90 there now.. how crazy..) aaaand business cards because you just never know.
Will post a ton of pictures when I get back. This blog has been photo-less for a while now so it's time to remedy that.
As known in the crafty world, Yarnstorm is a very popular blogger who writes about wine, chocolate, baking, crafts, etc. Based on her 'template' look of how she sets up a blog entry, I've based the following on this entry of hers.
A little while ago, I received this beautifully illustrated package from Michelle from Eggman Studios while at the office. It made a nice little break from the work day in a the windowless room.
(to cover up my address, I've used a work in progress of mine.. call it a sneak preview ;)
The tree stump print is a great piece of artwork - it was going on my wall as soon as I could figure out how to show it off properly. Now, what kind of craft geek would I be if I didn't turn this gift into a project? Welp, I was on a mission to recreate the white frame Michelle uses in her listings. I was a bit too eager to begin the project so I didn't get a shot of the print itself but I shall provide the one "borrowed" off her blog: And so, the crafty afternoon began by trying to figure out which materials to use. I started off by choosing: - some rich yellow felt - cardboard from an embroidery kit I apparently have - the necessary pencil and a sheet of 8"x11" graph paper. I was hoping to draw freehand the shape of the frame but in the end, I was getting very anal about the project and started to obsessively erase curves because they were too wide or tall on some sides. Best solution? Pick one corner you like best and just use that four ways. As shown here: The graph paper ended up being smaller than the cardboard paper so I had to draw it and redraw a larger version onto the felt that was about 3/4" wider. I kind of liked the edge once I looked at it longer but a hand drawn black edge looked a bit messy. Now, my knitting was sitting next to me.. so.. I had to incorporate it :) With my newly acquired embroidery skills so patiently taught to me by Haasome at Etsy's Cupcake Crafts Day, I was on my way to embroidering the green yarn onto the felt. Btw, is it just me or is this post really color coordinated? The pink from the knitting matches the postage stamp, the pencil matches the felt and the green brings out the grass in the painting. Hmm..
I was contemplating whether to mix it up and place the print next to my smaller postcards or to give it its own special area. In the end, I figured this will have to go in its own little nook above my crafty stash. Without my further ado, voila!
If you'll be in the Philadelphia area this Saturday, make a stop by the 40th Street Summer Series' Alternative Craft & Art Fair! This will be the BIG finale to the summer series so expect lots of good things such as food, poetry readings, face painting and more.
Yours truly will be showing off her latest wristwarmers, pins, cozies, notecards and maybe even brooches.. sharing a booth with Haasome and her adorable pouches, aprons, wallets and I've heard - wristlets! So stop by and say hello :) If you mention that you read this blog entry, then maybe you'll get a little freebie ;)
I think there are still openings for artists - it's a bit last minute but totally worth it. We were at the Brooklyn one a few months ago and it was a good time for all.
A few weeks ago while browsing the Etsy forums, I found a "Geeks, Nerds, etc" post where it was just a place for any geek/nerd/dork/whatever-you-want-to-call-yourself could hang out. I jumped in and mentioned my "Uber Geeky Pin" which has 42 printed in binary. You already have a Douglas Adams reference but to have it written in 0s and 1s? Well, that's just l33t. ;)
I had the pleasure of making the aquaintances of Whamodyne and NorthStarJewelry on the thread. They are some pretty cool geeks. Whamodyne ended up purchasing two pins from me, the "In Soviet Russia, Pin Reads You" pin and the Moo pin. Some pics Ray (aka Whamodyne) sent me: and: As Ray wrote me: This is my "guy purse" - my beat up, used, stained, torn, repaired butvery loved old map bag. It's where I keep my sketchbook and inspirationnotes and pens and a tape measure and my wallet and camera when I'm outhunting the next cool idea.
And Beth (NorthStarJewelry), was inspired by my 101010 pin and made herself a stamped pendant:(kinda hard to tell from the pic but at least you get to see one of my favorite ThinkGeek tshirts). Lastly, I want to do some promoting for their shops and show you my favorite items! You can find this Lightbulb Stand at Ray's shop. And the following Celtic Knot pendant from Beth's shop. You will find such neat treasures in their stores that you'll find it a hard time choosing just one thing :)
A few of weeks ago, Michelle from Eggman Studios, wrote a post on her blog asking if anyone would be interested in some less-than-perfect printouts from her printing experiments. I replied that I'd like one and she was very awesome to send me a perfect copy that was sales quality! I was secretly hoping she'd send the tree stump print she had written about but I would've been happy with any of her work :)
I received this beautifully illustrated package while at the office. It made a nice little break from the work day in a the windowless room and see some pretty colors heh.
(to cover up my address, I've used a work in progress of mine.. call it a sneak preview ;)
I did indeed receive the tree stump print :D It's a great piece of artwork - it was going on my wall as soon as I could figure out how to show it off properly. Now, what kind of craft geek would I be if I didn't turn this gift into a project? Welp, I was on a mission to recreate the white frame Michelle uses in her listings. I was a bit too eager to begin the project so I didn't get a shot of the print itself but I shall provide the one "borrowed" off her blog: And so, the crafty afternoon began by trying to figure out which materials to use. I started off by choosing some rich yellow felt, some cardboard from an embroidery kit I apparently have (I really need to revisit my stash more often) and the necessary pencil and graph paper. I was hoping to draw freehand the shape of the frame but in the end, I was getting very anal about the project and started to obsessively erase curves because they were too wide or tall on some sides. Best solution? Pick one corner you like best and just use that four ways. As shown here: The graph paper ended up being smaller than the cardboard paper so I had to draw it and redraw a larger version onto the felt that was about 3/4" wider. I kind of liked the edge once I looked at it longer but a hand drawn black edge looked a bit messy. Now, my knitting was sitting next to me.. so.. I had to incorporate it :) With my newly acquired embroidery skills so patiently taught to me by Haasome at Etsy's Cupcake Crafts Day, I was on my way to embroidering the green yarn onto the felt. Btw, is it just me or is this post really color coordinated? The pink from the knitting matches the postage stamp, the pencil matches the felt and the green brings out the grass in the painting. Hmm..
I was contemplating whether to mix it up and place the print next to my smaller postcards or to give it its own special area. In the end, I figured this will have to go in its own little nook above my crafty stash. Without my further ado, voila!
Today's post is a quick one and a very recent discovery ( I just learned about it this morning. Edit: Thanks to my friend Boris for telling me about this! :) ).
There's a new up and coming knitting & crochet social community website called Ravelry.com. According to their site:
"Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration...
...So what can you personally do on Ravelry? You can talk about your own projects, integrate that information into your personal website and contribute to someone else's project a world away."
Apparently it's incredibly popular already even though it's in seemingly alpha/beta mode. Who knew there was such a huge demand for a site only about knitting & crochet? I sent in my request for an invite to the site this morning and when I went to check around lunchtime what my status was on their list, these were the results:
* You are #16981 on the list. * 11050 people are ahead of you in line. * 204 people are behind you in line.
There are indeed yarn nerds other than myself but that's a lot of them! If you're already a user on the site, let me know what it's like - if it lives up to the hype, etc.
[Okay, I have several topics to write about that have been in the queue for at least a month and I will be getting through them soon!]
This entry has been a long way coming but I've been so busy that I haven't had time to take pictures while there's still daylight outside (I can barely wake up in time to make it to work as it is). [to note how late this entry is, these events took place on June 15 & 16]
Welp, I just wanted to share some photos with you from the events. The following is the black Etsy bag all the partiers got with goodies inside. I, being the klutz that I am, left mine in the taxi cab while traveling from that party to a friend's birthday party. While at Renegade Craft Fair, the Etsy crew was nice enough to give me another one :D
The party was awesome. We (Haasome, Kat, our friend Chris and I) had some pizza, Brooklyn lager and were too full to venture out and eat some cake. There was also a pinata broken which my friend Kat was brave enough to go see and bring back goodies. We chatted with Haim, one of the Etsy admins, and had some good laughs.
The necklace in the picture is from Imogene, whose booth I visited at Renegade Fair. It has become of my favorite pieces of jewelry - vintage key on brass necklace, it's so purdy :)
While at Renegade, Haasome and I stopped by the Adorn Magazine booth as we were about to leave. We figured, hey, why not and sign up for their raffle since it's happening in 15 minutes anyway? Well I was very lucky to be one of the 20 something winners. Eee! I, of course, needed more yarn.. (sarcasm goes here). Hehe, but I can't complain. I love the colors and they're perfect for winter knitting since they're wool yarns. I had been meaning to get some fabric glue and some bigger knitting needles so I'm so glad to have gotten this goodie bag! There's a hole puncher, a book on crochet scarves, ribbons and a few other things. Pretty sweet, eh?
I've been meaning to write for some time now and of course I have a few ideas of what to write next but taking pictures of the things I'd like to show you has been hindering this process. So instead, I shall show you a photo someone else took!
I barely look at Blogger's list of featured blogs but today for some reason, I decided to give one blog on the list a try. Maybe with a name like "Bent Objects" my curiosity was piqued and I had an inkling that it'd be art inspired. And it is! I highly, highly recommend you visiting this blog ASAP. It's one persons adventures with wire and every day objects and put together to create sometimes hilarious, sometimes thought provoking pieces. This particular piece is just so funny and appropriate for a crafty blog :) There are some great posts there and I've already bookmarked it in my del.icio.us account.
(Geeky update: In one week, I have joined both digg.com and del.icio.us. Now all I need are Twitter and Flicker accounts and I will be fully integrated in the web 2.0 era. For now, I don't have much use for either site.. unless you have suggestions, dear readers?)
Today I'd like to draw your attention to my new favorite shop on Etsy - Tiger Girl. She makes really cute jewelry and I'm especially liking these: They're called "Green with Envy Earrings" and I love them! Very unique beads and of course, I'm a sucker for green things and leaves and flowers :) Check out her shop, you know you wanna.
I've decided to take a week off from work because I honestly just needed a break. I haven't taken a real vacation in quite a while. Weekend day trips (which turn out to be 8 hour rides to Atlantic City..) are awesome for the soul but sometimes, you just need a longer relaxation break.
In order to celebrate this week of bumming around, I have put up a Sale on my Etsy shop, have promised myself to update this blog once a day as well as work on my website (mellowbeing.com) in addition to actually finishing "work" work as well as schoolwork. I promise it won't be an unproductive week. I'm also looking forward to the Museum Mile Festival this Tuesday (tomorrow)! 3 hours of free access to any museum along the 23 car-free blocks 5th Avenue between 82nd & 105th. So I know the real reason you're reading this blog. To see the finished pirate wristwarmer! (yes, singular.. just started working on the 2nd one last night..) It's made of black and white 100% cotton yarns with my own pattern (who doesn't love drawing on graph paper with a pencil and eraser in hand?). Voila!
