15 posts tagged “craft”
Free spinning demo, knitting and crochet clinic to be given by FiberTherapy.org at the Funky Finds Spring Fling!
Well, another newspaper article about our www.fibertherapy.org group ran again in one of the local papers. This time, it was on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Burleson Star! Let's hear it for free publicity!
We've had a good response from the articles. About four respondents have inquired about our group through our website after reading the article. I look forward to meeting the newcomers and adding a daytime group soon, to accomodate more fiber artitsts! Sometimes we have to spread out of our couch and chairs seating and over-flow to the table area. What a great problem to have!
Viva la FiberTherapy!
RM
A while back, I posted photos of my new Inkle loom, which I WON in a drawing. Well...I had warped it twice, with some disappointing yarn choices, so I finally re-warped it two days ago with some vintage sewing thread given to me by my dear friend and neighbor, Angelia. It is done in a light purple, darker purple and a deep wine color.
The thread was so thin that I felt my large wooden shuttle would not be the right size for the project, so I grabbed my copper (brass?) shuttle that my friend Clancy made for my net tying, as in fishing or decorative nets. It was kind of tarnished, because I haven't made any netting in a long time, but as I used it to weave the ribbon on my inkle loom, it polished up so nicely with just the oils from my hands! Lovely. He is also Noreen Crone-Findlay's Son-In-Law, I might add!
So, when warping, I decided that I wanted an ample border on one edge to be able to sew onto a garment without crowding the ribbon, so I made the lighter color edge wider than the darker purple edge. I was also running out of heddles, and rather than make up some more, I just started the darker purple border sooner than I had intended. This was just practice, after all! I also made the alternating color band in the middle by tying on a new color each wrap of the warp just for about eight or so wraps. I will certainly have a lot of fun playing around with the set-up in the future, now that I know what I'm doing, I can't wait to warp on a wider ribbon in a width and style perfect for the straps on a new hand-knit top for me!!! Silk thread next time, maybe? Wee! What fun. :-) Sorry...I just get really excited about this kind of thing.
Perfect for weddings, valentines, baby showers, tree decorations, etc., these little acorns were inspired by my friend Lisa Jordan over at Lil Fish Studios . See, I love her little hand-crafted, felted wool acorns, but alas...we are all allergic to wool in my house. A truly sad discovery for a fiber artist, like myself, let me tell you!
So, I made these acorns to satisfy my craving for cuteness without having to scratch, sneeze, or wipe away tears from stinging eyes.
Click Here or Here for full instructions with photos.
Hello lovelies! Sometimes I use Flickr as a blog instead of posting here on my craft blog. That is because there are more of my crafty friends on Flickr than there are on Vox and they can easily post comments there. So, before I forget...
Here are some fingerless mitts I've been knitting for my mom. She says that the hospital, in which she receives her chemotherapy treatments, is as cold as an ice box. So, I wanted to make her some nice hand warmers out of the lovely cashmere and silk light-fingering-weight yarn that Amy of www.MadelineTosh.com hand-dyed for me. It has been a lovely experience! The yarn, plus KnitPicks size 0 circular needles and a sock pattern that I adapted to sprout a nice, graduated thumb gusset has yeilded an exceedingly smooth knitting week. The sock pattern, "Spring Forward" by Linda Welch, is found here on Knitty. My Ravelry page has some preliminary notes for this project here. Once I have tested my notes on the second mitt, I'll post instructions (free gratis, of course) for adding the thumb gusset, thus turning them into 'Hand Springs' fingerless mitts.
Click on thumbnails to view larger photos.
Wow...my younger brother and his wife had their baby Samuel yesterday! Yes...that would be Father's Day for those Vox friends celebrating along with the U.S. calendar.
So, I whipped up the finishing touches to my Baby Surprise Jacket (pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman) and ran it up to them in the hospital today. My....what a beautiful child he is! No mottling of the skin, nor conical head. Just perfect!
Here are some photos of the precious family..Click on photos for larger pics.
And happy cousin Lizzie holding the jacket that I made for Samuel Joseph.
I wonder how many independent and stubborn knitters in the world who, like myself, have all but banned the books written by the 'most popular' modern-day Knitting Gurus from their bookshelves because they see it as hopping on a bandwagon, going main-stream or being too trendy for them.
I have to admit...I never had the desire to read any of the Yarn Harlot's stuff before today.
I thought it was cool for her to get to have photos of thousands of people holding her socks, or her holding other's socks in progress on the needles (as is her signature move) while she travels to speaking engagements all across the globe. I guess I felt like she must have enough fans without me becoming one. Does that make any sense? Maybe it was jealousy. Maybe I felt like it should be me.
I don't know...anyway...here's where the Traveling Mercies post title comes in. Today at the library, I came across one of her books called Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off - The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting. Now, anything having to do with traveling just intrigues me. Well, this was a knitting book with a travel theme! Doubly interesting! When I scanned through the book, I noticed the clever way she compared knitting to traveling. It really got my attention. So, I checked it out.
I came home and started to read it. I was extremely INTO the book, almost instantly. I thought to myself, "Oh no. I'm becoming a Yarn Harlot Fan!" Argh!!!! The thing that I didn't want to do! I didn't want to become some sort of freaky fanatic who drives three hours to get my photo taken holding a Yarn Harlot sock! I didn't want to give up being 'too avant-garde for the Best Seller List Club'.
Then, I saw them...three or four words within the first few chapters. Words that you don't want your young children repeating. As harmless as they are to most people in today's society, the words suck, hell and crap were never allowed in our vocabulary growing up. I don't even use them to this day out of respect for my elders (who probably blurt them out on a regular basis by now)...in fact this post is the first time in 35 years that I have ever spelled them out in that context. It's just the ultra-moral conservative code I have made for myself.
So...NOW I have a reason to retreat, right? NOW I have a reason to put the book down. I mean, I WILL NOT read such things written by someone called a Yarn HARLOT!
Would you believe, two years ago, I would have stopped reading at the first offensive word? In fact, I may not have checked it out at all for the sake of the moniker 'Yarn Harlot' alone. It's true! That's how I lived my life. You couldn't say 'butt' in my presence without me either sneering, scolding or marking you as an uncouth lout for using such a word. "We don't say that word...say 'bottom' or 'rear-end'". Seriously, you know people like that, don't you? Are you such an individual?
Well, I am so proud to say that within the last two years I have certainly mellowed and learned a lot about acceptance, tolerance and love. Can you guess from where I've learned these things? Well, I'll tell you...from a wonderful on-line crafting community. I joined Craftster.org about two years ago and it opened my eyes to different cultures, ways of life and camaraderie that I had never known before. I quickly found that I could either cancel my membership because I saw some posts with words that I didn't like to read and realized that some folks there were of different sexual and religious persuasions than I was, or I could stay in that super-creative atmosphere and learn so much from crafters from all over the world. Obviously, I decided to stick it out and not run away from fear of the unknown. I tell you, I learned a lot more than great crafting techniques there. I seriously learned to connect with and not 'disconnect' from people who did some of the things in the morally grey area that I saw as 'wrong' in the morally black and white world in which I lived.
So, my friends and family...I'm a changed woman. I know some of you who are 'on the straight and narrow' will be just as narrow as I used to be in your thoughts about my revelation, but I really can't help that. You may think, "Well, that's what she gets for consorting with sinners." I know that's what you might be thinking because I had the same thoughts you do about it for the first 30 years of my cognitive-thought life. It's what I was taught. Oh...and if you are offended and think that I could not be referring to YOU, then chill! I must not be talking about you. Hee-hee.
Obviously, not everyone can relate to this way of thinking...but I really used to feel sorry for people like me. I felt as though they had lost 'the righteous way'...and had fallen into a sea of mediocrity. Please, my dear family and long-time church-going friends...may I put your mind at ease? I feel set free! I have had a world of people put before me and I've been asked to love them, genuinely. And only now can I love them, faults and all. So, be encouraged...because that means that I can even love myself now. My imperfect self...and even you, too! :-) Even if you say the word 'butt'! Whoa!
So...back on topic. Today, I've become a Yarn Harlot fan. You may even see a photo some day of me standing next to her with a sock in both of our hands! I can't wait to finish reading this book. It even made me cry two times thus far. Not because it's sad in any way...but I had to shed a few tears for being blessed with the Traveling Mercies that have led me to a greater love of people, art, hobbies, excellent authors, traveling, culture, tolerance and humility.
I am forever your humble creative friend,
RM
Whew. I got too excited there for a little bit! I received my swap package from Laurraine today and I couldn't have been more impressed with everything! I couldn't wait for my four year old to finish her computer game, so I called her up in Canada to thank her. What a treat it was to speak with her! She is just as delightful as I knew she would be.
So...here's the loot! Woo-hoo!
Click on the images for a larger view.
Some of the yarn is for knitting into dishcloths for her, to be included in my swap package to her, and the rest is for ME! Wee!
The fabric...um, yes. It's only Japanese fabric...from Japan! She picked it up especially for me on her last trip there.
You already saw the teacup pouch (sent with fabulously scented tea bags)...I can assure you, it's even lovelier in person! Then there's the adorable lavender sachets that she makes. Just darling!
So...you can see why I'm emotionally spent right now! Getting such a grand package and talking with her on the phone...it's been a really fun morning!
Thanks Patchy!
RM
I've come to the conclusion that I must really be honest with myself about the things I create, especially where clothing is concerned.
I must ask myself this question and be brutally honest with myself as to the answer:
Would I want to wear my items if I had NOT made them myself?
In other words, if I had seen it for sale on a store shelf, would I have grabbed it up and headed for the dressing room or register with a silly grin on my face, or would I have passed it right on by without giving it a second thought?
I feel that I sometimes work with a material that I would not normally use simply because it is what is on hand. If I do have fabric or yarn sitting around that is not my style, it was either 'too good of a deal to pass up', inherited or it was given to me by a generous friend. Most of the time I try to only buy or accept the things that I know I'll use, but sometimes the 'pack rat' in me loses touch of reality which can lead to the creation of a garment that I myself would not usually wear. I do understand that not everyone has my tastes and that someone else may want to buy it from me, but then it's sitting there in my shop, regarded by viewers as a direct representation of my style and taste.
As hard as it is for someone like me who loves to 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' to not stash any and all supplies away for a future project, I must be truthful with myself about my materials.
Will I use that which I do not love?
Then, an even more important thing to think about is...
Is it fair to my loved ones and friends to make them something handmade if I myself am unhappy with the materials that I use?
Yes, the hat that I knitted in the photo above is pretty cute, but my daughter would not have worn it if I had paid her off in ice cream! (I tried.)
How many coarse, ugly-colored knitted or crocheted hats must people have hidden away in their sock drawers since the invention of acrylic yarn? How many people have hand sewn items in their closets that will never see the light of day because all their moms or wives buy is cheap, unfashionable, discounted fabric prints which in all honesty, had they been seen in a garment on the racks of a department store, would have certainly been passed over by the same women who buy it by the yards?
As someone who has just packed up a box of fabric that she herself has bought at discount prices, I urge you...
"Don't walk away from the store with cloth or yarn that you're not thrilled about...no matter the price!"
I really don't want to sound harsh, and I'm not saying that I wouldn't be pleased as punch to find a $1.00 fabric table or even a gently-used cotton bed sheet with a fabulous print that is just perfect for a project. It just seems to me that we, as artists who display pride in the skill and dedication to the quality of our workmanship, should be willing to seek out the kind of quality in materials necessary to maintain that high standard.
Now, remember...I am Recycle Micol! So don't worry about any supplies currently in my stash going to waste, of course. I do like to use a lot of vintage and repurposed fabrics and materials which I feel represent me perfectly in my crafting. When I do have to 'weed out' some undesirable supplies for lack of storage space, I would never let anything that can be useful to someone else just go into a landfill somewhere. I have wonderful local artist friends who work in costuming for the theater and others who design their own crafts who always benefit from donations of my fabric and craft destash sessions.
So, I hereby vow: I will not create with materials that are not thoroughly pleasing to me.
With all due respect and love for myself and others,
RM
If you love arts and crafts, you'll love this music video! All details on my blogspot blog HERE.
Enjoy!
RM
