Branching Out Crafts

02/05/2021

Today's adventures in crafting involve paint and a spastic kitten...
I used to have a shawl pinned up behind the sofa. It was becoming an aggravation as every time my husband shaved his head (and I retrimmed mine), it would stick to the shawl for days afterwards till the hair softened again. So, being the sci-fi geeks that we are, we looked for some new options. I have 3 canvases: 1 will be Star Wars themed, 1 will be Star Trek themed, and the last will be Firefly themed- our 3 favorite shows. We enjoyed the shawl for a few years now, but I'm ready for something that doesn't cling to the back of my head when I go to stand up lol.
Are you one of the "new year, new decorations" crew? Do you enjoy a stasis decor for years (or more) at a time? Do you create your wall art yourself or purchase made from stores or local crafters? Share some of your favorite displayed items!
(These paintings- except for the first and unfinished one- were found in searches. They didn't list creators with them or I'd share, but they are my inspiration for my project.)

01/25/2021

It's finally coming together. I think I'm going to need another couple balls of the Peach Frost, though. I'm down to an egg sized amount lol. There's been many rip outs and I play with front and back post stitches, triple crochet to open and rows up and how to get expanding shells to lay right. But, I finally, finally, think I'm on the right path. So, of course, I run out of yarn lol.

What projects are you working on today? It's rainy and ick here so it's definitely indoor crafts, gardening had to wait a day or so. Although I did get my avocado repotted over the weekend. He had gotten far too root bound in his previous bucket.

01/11/2021

Did you discover your craft on your own? Did you come from a line of crafty people? What are some of your family momentos handed down? Are you creating your own? Plants and pets count as family members and crocheting or painting a plant pot counts just like knit dog sweaters. Every family counts here.

These are 3 blankets made by 3 women in my family:
*The quilt far left is by a maternal great aunt.
*The middle is an afghan my mom made me as a small child.
*The far right is an afghan my maternal grandmother made.

The crafting gene was strong on both sides. The paternal side, my grandmother was big on gardening, and she crocheted as well. I hated anything but coloring as a kid. It wasn't until I was trapped in doctor waiting rooms while pregnant that I started to pull back out my rusty, and previously despised, crochet lessons lol. Now I find it soothing...most of the time lol.

01/08/2021

Working on a pattern for a new shawl. I have a ball of Loops & Threads Joy DK in Mint and one of Peach Frost. Today is cold and wet and ick outside. So I'm cuddling my sweatered sidekick and fuzzy menace, making something soft, warm, and hopefully pretty lol. Right now it kind of looks like a lacy manta ray.

Sorry for the radio silence over the holidays. I spent the time with my family and fuzzy loves.

What crafts bring you comfort? Knitting or crochet? Tunisian crochet? Knooking? Cross stitch or embroidery? Sewing and or quilting? Quilling? Tatting? Woodwork? Leather work? Painting? Drawing? Writing? Graphic design? Gardening? Beading? Weaving? I know I'm forgetting a lot but this list got long lol. Anyways, what are your crafting passions and do you have any you'd like to learn?

12/17/2020

Whew. I finished the rounds of ribbing on my Shining tribute hat. Now on to the fun stuff, color work! I forgot how much untangling yarn in between rounds was lol.
What fun projects are you working on?

12/13/2020

Looking for a use for colorful scrap yarns? Have a toilet paper tube laying around for the cat to play with? You can yarn wrap a wreath, or crochet or knit wrap, and then add these cute little pompom style hats. Maybe add some pine cones, touch them up with spray paint if you really want to jazz it up. It's a cute idea, and easy enough to make up. You can even add them to some burlap and bunting garland for a festive touch.

This cute idea uses yarn and a toilet roll to make a cheap Christmas Ornament. It's a yarn wrapped around and formed into a hat. I saw the idea on Tik Tok bu...

12/09/2020

So, I've been playing around with some ideas. I haven't written a pattern in forever and have been feeling the itch. This was my inspiration. So far I have planned a 2x2 rib in solid black, then a repeating graph in this pattern, then a graphed out ribbon wrap above the iconic carpet pattern with alternating images from the story, then back to black to decrease- pompom addition is still up for debate lol.
Do you design as well as craft? Do you sell your patterns or your creations?

12/02/2020

Yes, please. I'll leave out cookies...in a tupperware lol. Can't leave them on a plate because, well, cats.

What crafty things are you all looking for? Or have gifted yourself during online sales? 😉

11/28/2020

Well, if you say so...

There's a lot of sales going on right now. What are some of the online yarn options you prefer? Or are you an equal opportunity yarn hoarder? I love Webbs, Hobbii, Yarnspirations, Michael's and JoAnn's, as well as my local yarn stores Charlotte Yarn, A Tangled Yarn Shop, The Fibre Studio, Cheers to Ewe, Knit One Stitch Too, and Stash in Charlotte.

11/24/2020

So, I finally settled on a project. I spent some time petting the yarn stash, and looking through patterns. I found a cabled cowl I'd made before, and some yarn that will color block through the cables prettily. Cascade wools in black, hot pink, charcoal, light pink, and heather grey. The pattern calls for 3 colors, but these are small cakes so it should balance out. The pattern is called Fade To Black by Laura Reinbach, and is free on Ravelry. The 3 shades of grey was my previous work up of the pattern. It's a thick, warm cowl that pulls up high enough to cover ears and even to pull over your head.

What fun and madness are you all working on? Or are you knee deep in holiday preparations?

11/20/2020

Ever have one of those "I don't know what to do" days? That's me today. I unraveled 2 shawls and the October Hat. The 2 shawls because: 1 wasn't working out to the pattern I was making in my head, the other I thought I wanted to do a simple garter to show off the color changing but didn't like it. The October Hat, well, I had finally finished the 5" of ribbing, was in round 11 of the 18 repeat cable pattern and realized 7 rows back there was a major oopsie. Like, the cables were going in the opposite direction kind of oopsie. So, I tried a safety line and unraveled it to that point. Yeah, the attempts to pick up the loops flubbed badly. I kept going back a row to try again. Eventually I just frogged the whole thing lol. Now I'm staring and several yarn combinations in confusion. I think I'm going to color or read for a bit till inspiration hits. Hopefully your crafts are behaving better lol.

11/19/2020

The rosacea blisters and swelling have receded enough so that I can once again wear my glasses comfortably. Woot! That means I finally get into the cables part of October Hat. Yay! I typed up the chart because I'm not as fluent in knitting charts as I am crochet yet. But, that's also why I'm picking up a lot of cable patterns. I want to be able to get to the point where I recognize those symbols as well as I do crochet ones.
It's funny:
*I prefer crochet charts over typed out patterns, but I prefer typed knitting typed out over charts.
*I crochet loose and knit tight.
*I have to go down 2 hook sizes, but up a needle size or 2 to get the correct gauge.
*I prefer acrylics for crochet and wools for knit.
*I prefer tight and dense crochet patterns, but want a light drape for my knitting.
I love both but my techniques and preferences between the 2 are very opposite.
Do you have 2 crafts that are similar but you do differently?