Torture Device or... Craft?

Today was one of those days where I take a step back from my daily dose of craft and wonder what other people would think if they came upon me. You see, it may look like I am creating some kind of device with the nefarious purpose of torture.

 

...And I kind of see why. Yes, there are a bunch of tiny spikes in a row. And, yes, that probably would hurt if it were used against you.

But, really, it's not as bad as it looks.

What you're actually looking at is some clothespins with thumbtacks for use with bulletin boards. I like to put up my student's work in my classroom and these will let me change out the projects much easier. No more staples or handfuls of thumb tacks while balancing on a chair!

Total Cost for 36 clothespin bulletin pins: $2. (Thank you, Dollar Tree!)

Netflix and Crafting

Whenever someone sees me crafting for the first time, they tend to react in a similar way: "Wow, I could never [insert craft here]," or "I don't know how you have the time to do that!" Once someone says this, I fell almost sad that they have never experienced crafting. 

Think about how many people crafted a hundred years ago. Sure, a lot of it was required. You kind of had to be able to sew a button back on or knit socks for the winter. But it also had to do with having some to occupy yourself. Before the glorious invention of TV people had much more time to fill up. Ok, they could read a book or write in their journal. But what if they wanted to be a little more social? Crafting allowed people to sit together and chat while they worked on their handiwork. The beauty of crafting is that you can multitask. 

Fast forward to modern day.

I am one of those people who can't sit still to watch TV. Many others cope by being on their phones also. I admit that I will spend a lot of time on my phone while watching TV. 

Unless... 

I craft. If I can keep my hands busy it makes sitting still and paying attention much easier. I have been known to make it through entire movies like Mad Max: Fury Road (which I would recommend if you enjoy weird characters, cartoon violence, and minimal plot or character development) with cross stitching in my hands.

This is my newest project. It's from FiddleSticksAU and it's going to read "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." It has witnessed Iron Man 2, Thor, Mad Max: Fury Road, A Ballerina's Tale, and other TV shows like America's Next Top Model thus far.

So the next time someone asks me how I can do such a tedious, complicated thing, I'll answer: "Lots of Netflix." 

Spinning Again

It's summer and I finally have time to knit and spin again!
Today I started spinning 200g of a burnt orange Wool of the Andes roving from Knit Picks. I'm hoping for a fingering weight, but I tend to spin thicker yarns, so we will see!

Oh my Glob!

Here's a second Lumpy Space Princess cross stitch!  The pattern is in my Etsy shop as an Instant Download (cool new-ish Etsy tool).

I attempted to make the original into a card with so-so results.  Apparently there are cards made specifically for this, so you don't have to spend 30 minutes with a ruler, pencil, and scissors to get the window made.  Despite reading that double-sided tape was the key, I forgot that I had some and just kind of MacGuyvered it.

Anyhoodle, I like how it turned out!  My current cross stitch project is Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony.  She is all pink, and it took *ages* to find the right pinks.

Lump Off!! Cross Stitch (In Etsy Shop)

Lumpy Space Princess is one of the funniest, weirdest characters on Adventure Time.  She's always saying "Oh my Glob!" and "Lump off!" like a weird space princess Valley Girl.  Yesterday I was itching for a small project to do and came up with this.

It took a few hours to complete, and I am in love with the result!  I don't have a plan for the piece, so I cut it into a rectangle and pulled some of the Aida strands off.

Artsy angle!

The pattern is now for sale in my Etsy Shop!  I'm going to be putting patterns into my shop for the first time.  It's cool because there is no shipping to deal with; someone buys the pattern and it is immediately sent to their email. 

Next up: Another LSP cross stitch!

Cross Stitching. Forever.

I decided to stitch a picture that I really like of me and my mom.  It was taken in a photobooth at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles a couple years ago.  Hence the mustache on my mother.  Now I'm not really sure why I thought this would be a good idea.  I mean, it's cool and unique.  But it's about 100 times bigger than any of my other projects.

Current progress of portraits.  Will it ever end?

 The first stitches were those in the highlight of my mom's left cheek.  After completing that little blob of purple, I (foolishly) thought that it wouldn't take too long. 

Let's take a break here and talk about math.  There are 12,025 stitches in this pattern.  That little blob?  About 75.  Which is just 1/160th, or 0.6%, of the entire pattern.  I probably should have thought more about the time needed to complete this piece... it was supposed to be a Father's Day present.  Oops.

There are 7 colors of thread in this piece.  When I first went to pick out the colors, I had a list from the KG-Chart program's generated pattern.  After picking up all the colors, I noticed that I had some blues and some purples in my hand, all mixed together.  Not a smooth gradient!  So I used my Color Sense (thanks, Mom!) to pick out my own gradient.  Now I know that KG-Chart doesn't have super accurate colors.  Or that my computer monitor is extremely off.

Well, I'm going to go watch My Little Pony and stitch some more. (Don't knock it 'til you try it--it's a charming, funny show.)

First Manly Sock Completed

In just one week, I knit a whole sock! Considering that the last two pairs I made took 5 months and almost a year, this is great progress!

Really, though, knitting is all about momentum: if you put that project down for too long,  it probably will stay a WIP for a looooong time. (Maybe I should say "I"...some knitters are made of stronger stuff than I and can have tons of projects going at once and finish then all in a reasonable amount if time.)

Anyhoodle, tip for everyone: make sure to double check foot size of the person you are making socks for! I had to tear out the toe and add an inch to the foot because I was making the sock to fit my feet. And they aren't meant for me.