After several months of lackadaisical knitting, I finally completed the Clapotis! I'm really pleased with the end result. Though, next time I knit it, I'll add another repeat of the straight section. This turned out a little on the short side, but it's a great spring scarf. Now, if only all this snow would hurry up and melt!

For some reason I think it takes me about 4 times as long as normal people to *get* knitting patterns. But once I totally understand the construction, I'm all set.

Knit with:
Silky Wool from Elsebeth Lavold
Finished February 2007

I'm sort of in the middle of lots of crafting projects at the moment. All the snow and crappy weather definitely makes it a little easier to hunker down and work on stuff. But seriously, this Clapotis may be the death of me. It's not that it's difficult to knit. Once you sort of figure out what the pattern's supposed to be doing, it's easy to admire the structure and mathematics of it and just sort of move along quite effortlessly. But somehow, it's just taking eons for me to finish.

I'm knitting it up in some lovely dusky teal Silky Wool from Elsebeth Lavold. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have chosen this yarn. While it looks nice and will have a great drape, plucking out those dropped stitches takes quite a while.

Again, I love the pattern, but I'm not quite sure I can totally understand the rabidness fever that seems to follow this pattern. Knitting in Public's blog provides a list of the well-documented scarf and its following.

My friend, Em's, birthday is today so I whipped up this little winter hat to match her new coat. I'm hoping my memory serves right and the aqua in the hat will match the aqua of her coat. *fingers crossed* I used trusty Cascade 220 which is pretty much a wonder wool. The lil' button is stamped with fabric ink. It's also cleverly disguising the jog. I know there's a way to fix that while you're knitting, but I never seem to get it quite right.

This hat pattern is the only pattern I've ever been able to memorize. It's handy since it's fairly quick and super basic. But I've just never been able to memorize anything useful. Years of piano lessons and recitals and I still have to refer to sheet music to play much of anything. I think I just don't have capacity for memorizing anything other than Wham lyrics or something. But this hat pattern--it's in there with "Careless Whisper. "

Did everyone already know that the London-based Victoria & Albert Museum has free vintage knitting patterns on their website? They do--see here. I was looking for a free knitting pattern for a tea cosy and stumbled across the page on the V&A website. They, in fact, have a whole knitting section that's really interesting and lovely. I'm espcially in love with this knit house:



I love it! I want to live a knit house. . . not practical I know, but at least I'd have a clue about home repairs.

If anyone has any information about free knitting patterns for a tea cosy that looks like this--please let me know!

Ok, I technically didn't make this bread. . .my boyfriend did. But I thought I'd just mention it. This was made from the now-famous New York Times article about no-knead bread. Basically you just throw together the ingredients and then let it rise for 18 hours. Then, bake at a really high temperature.

I had also recently read the entry in Not Martha's blog about finding the Chefmate pot at Target for $40 that seems to work as well as the Le Creuset one. We nabbed one in the red enamel (to contribute to our burgeoning red enamel collection of crockery). The pot worked beautifully. Of course, you must remove the knob since you're heating the oven to 500 degrees.

The bread turned out so well and so delicious!

So, here's the hat that I whipped up in order to accompany this scarf. I finally figured out what yarn I was using: Nashua Creative Focus worsted weight. It's a nice, basic yarn with lots of great colors. I've never seen it since I bought it, but I recommend it.

I was worried that the scarf and hat together would be too matchy-matchy (or "DTM"--dyed-to-match--as Michael Kors would say!), but I think it's ok. A good thing that I finished the hat up this week since it's 4 degrees today!

This is just one corner of my craft room. I had to make these new curtains because people finally moved into the house next door. The previous curtains were from Ikea and sheer and lovely. But lately I'd been feeling like I was on display. So, I found this tapestry or sheet or whatever it's supposed to be at Urban Outfitters. I'm obsessed with red-and-white, so it fits in well.

What you can't see in this pic is my hulking (and awesome) Ikea shelving that now stores all my craft supplies and covers one entire wall. I'm so happy to have everything in one spot. I can't wait to go label-maker crazy either. I don't know what it is, but I just love making labels! A friend of mine has the same penchant and went through her entire pantry labeling things. I guess it really bothered her boyfriend/roommate who said that seeing all those labels (like "Cereal" or "Flour")made him feel like he was living in a halfway house!

I'm cheating slightly because I finished this scarf a little while ago, but I'm really trying desparately to improve chronicling my various crafty endeavors.

I made this for my beau to go with a brown winter jacket of his. I nabbed the yarn at Woolcott and now can't remember the brand and seem to have misplaced/lost all the labels. But it's much like Brown Sheep--verstaile and only slightly itchy. I knitted it up on 8's. The color repeats, but the striping duration is totally random--I think it turned out ok, though.

The absolute worst part was weaving in all the ends! I think it took my procrastinating self a month to get 'round to doing that odious task!

Well, I finished another crafty item. . . though I can't pat myself on the back too much since this was technically supposed to be a Xmas gift and it's late January now. One month late. . . not exactly prompt!

I got the owl stencil at the Cambridge Quilt Shop, so it's probably really for quilting, but I embroidered the pattern and added the button eyes. The fabric is, of course, Amy Butler. I also ended up putting a zipper in the back, which is ok but not really very subtle.

I've made lots of envelope pillows, but I always end up with the same problem--after a while the fabric sort of stretches a little and it ends up looking a little deflated and gape-y. Anyone else experience this? I've started installing zippers or velco. Maybe I just have a penchant for overly puffy pillows?

P.S. If you live in the area, I recommend the Cambridge Quilt Shop! It's a expensive, but they almost always have really great stuff (Kaffe Fasset, Amy Butler, Heather Ross, etc.). It's in Cambridge, but only just--pretty much in Belmont.

Ok, continuing on with the finishing motif. . . I finally finished this crocheted scarf that I started a few months ago. It's made mostly from a bunch of yarn I had laying around--mostly Bulky Brown Sheep. It's my second ever crocheting project. I'm getting the hang of it, but clearly my edges are a little bit of a mess. I added the fringe to sort of cover up the fact that they're unintentionally jagged!

Now I need to learn something other than single crochet! I always need to repeat something 4000 times before I get comfortable. But I think I'm ready to move on to something else. . .

Any suggestions for a not-too-adventurous beginning crocheter?

Does anyone know where to find this loverly fabric? It's a Robert Kaufman corduroy. Either online or in the Boston area. Thanks!!!

Along with my hundreds of other new year's resolutions (including update blog more often than once every 6 months!), one of my big ones is to actually *finish* as many craft projects as possible. I'm so bad. I'll often get to the point in a knitting project where all I have to do is weave in ends or sew a seam and I'll just stop. I'm not sure why I do that, but it's sort of chronic! I'm sure there's something psychological about it. But I'm off to a good start and have actually finished a couple projects.

The above hat is knitting from this pattern with
Malabrigio yarn, which I love!

I loved the pattern, but modified it slightly, thusly:
1). I only did one K row at the beginning because I don't read instructions well!
2). I had to do 7 pattern repeats instead of 5 (as the pattern recommends) because I have the BIGGEST head ever apparently. The first time I knit it, it was like a small beret just sitting atop my gigantic head.

But it's great--knits up in a jiffy and is so warm and cozy! Of course, that won't help me with all these 70 degree+ days in Boston. . .in January!

. . . it's only 7 days away!

Please look at this most beautiful pin cushion that wonderlandq made for my 33rd birthday. First of all, it's a bird. . . which I love love love. Second, it's sitting on a measuring tape nest!!! I adore it so much! Not sure how I'm going to work up the courage to actually stick pins in it, though.

I ended up with a whirlwind craft room cleaning session on Saturday. . . mostly so that birdie can be appropriately displayed on my sewing table. For some reason in this pic it looks like my craft room is foggy, but it really isn't in real life. That would be odd, but would account for some of my less-than-accurate crafts!

I have so many pix that I took at the Bazaar Bizarre/Maker Faire in San Mateo from this past weekend that I had a hard time picking just one. . . but go to my Flickr to check them all out!

The BB went swimmingly--especially for the first time and organizing something from across the country. I hope they invite us back again and that people had a fun time! Beautiful weather (well, perhaps a little gusty on Sunday) which was so lovely. The vendors were all so friendly and really gracious. I have to also say that people's booths looked amazing!

Highlights:
* curious gopher poking his head out of his hole near the BazBiz craft tables
* hanging with craft ladies extraordinaire: Leah, Susie, Alison, Kristin (esp. accepting dares from Miss Susie)
* workshop on knitted toys led by Jess Hutch. It was so great--very detailed, lots of tips and tricks!
* seeing Diana Eng from Project Runway
* free stuff--the wonderful Marie provided a crafters survival pack that rocked; free tote bag from Make (like I need more tote bags!)
* strange little kids making stuff at the Crafster workshop (one kid was making a "church with a baby inside who's eating the holy bible!")
* trying not to buy everything!

I had such a great time being in California. . . highlights of the non-Maker Faire of my weekend:
* easy-going traveling with Dave and Leah
* hanging with my best mate, Steve, and his lady friend, Liz, and Volker
* drinks at the Tonga Room
* burritos in the Mission. shopping in the Mission (Otsu, Candy Shoppe, McSweeney's shoppe)
* wearing a gigantic foam cowboy hat at the Athletics baseball game
* driving around the gorgeous Headlands in Marin

Such a full weekend, but so so so fun!

I have a compulsive problem with fabric. . . and shopping on the internet for it isn't helping! But I can't stop! This is a weirdly colored photo of my newest obsessions:
(from left to right)
* Joann's reproduction fabric of vintage patterns. They're so cute--and super cheap!
* ReproDepot's amazing Japanese import fabrics! Oh swoon--there's just so many. It would be so easy to drop an entire pay check on lovely fabrics. This one has a tiny sewing/crafting theme.
* Then the last 3 are the new Denyse Schmidt which I bought at Cia's Palette. I heart Cia's Palette so much! Not only because they have the lovliest fabrics (really--such a stellar selection!), but also because I had a shipping problem (thieves in my building) and Cia was SO accomodating and sweet. Go buy lots of fabric from her because she rocks!

Whenever I buy new fabric I leave it all neatly folded up for me to stare at--I dare not cut it! But after a few weeks that initial reverece wears off and I'll tear into them!

Leaving tomorrow for the Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco--if you know anyone in the area, tell them to go! I think it's going to be a great event. I've signed up for the Jess Hutch's knitted toy workshop, too!

http://www.bazaarbizarre.org
http://makezine.com/faire

So, a few weeks ago I gave in and bought the Debbie Stoller corchet book. I've wanted to learn to crochet for a long time and a few have tried to teach me, but it never really took. I think her instructions and drawings are really great and so helpful. So, I'm a pro at single crochet--I'll have to move on to crocheting in circles. That'll be next.

This is the stripey scarf (sort of) from the book. It's super long, crocheted from Brown Sheet worsted wool.

I'm definitely more of a knitter at heart and always will be, I suspect. But there are definitely a few things I really like about crocheting:

* it's fast and easier than knitting
* uses up a lot of yarn (not necessarily good, but I have a huge stash so it can help me plow through it)
* great for embellishments (flowers, etc.)

After BBSF I'm hoping to finish my Sockapalooza socks then back to some more crocheting!

I finally bought the yarn for my Sockapalooza sock swap. It's called Zitron and it's from Germany. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with that yarn?

I have a mere 3 weeks to get my socks done. But I have a lot of traveling time (going to San Francisco for the Bazaar Bizarre = potentially a lot of time in airports), so I'm confident. I'd love to take on a challenging lacey lil' number, but I think my sock pal is going to have to settle for a basic pattern. It's funny--these socks look like the weather was this weekend. Grey, dreary with glimmers of lightness.

I'm a little intimidated because my sock pal seems *very* accomplished knitting-wise. This is my first swap ever, too--so I want it to be good. Luckily, she and I wear the same size shoe, so measuring will be a breeze.

I’ve been so MIA in LJ world lately. I’m getting ready for the Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco in a couple weeks. I’m so far behind in my crafting activities, but I always seem to manage to pull it together. Lucky for me I’m splitting the booth with the lovely Kristen!

Two weeks ago Scott and I went to Los Angeles for a brief get away. We had loads of frequent flyer miles Check out all our pix at my Flickr.

( Detailed itinerary behind the cut )

I started this quilt for my friends Jenny and Jon who had their baby around Xmas. The baby's name is Maeve Margaret, which I declare to be the most lady like name ever!

I worked on the piecing of it during the time that I should have been getting ready for the Bazaar Bizarre in Boston (why oh why do I always start *other* projects when I'm stressed?!). Then, I just finished up the tufting today and sewed on the bias tape this afternoon. I had high hopes for doing more interesting quilting--I had visions of circles and stars--but thought it might end up sitting around longer. So, in the interest of actually sending this quilt to the baby while the kid's still. . . a baby, I went for the simple quilting.

You can see a larger view here and another detail shot here.