Tag: sewing

babies on the brain.

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i found out my boyfriend’s cousin is having a baby girl! the shower is in mid-september. i really wanted to make something for the baby rather than buying. So i hunted on ravelry for some cute patterns. i finally decided to make the duck slippers, so i cast on and quickly realized this pattern was waaaay out of my league. i couldn’t get past row 3, and i became very frustrated. so i abandoned duck feet, and decided to make the booties (rav) that i have seen several times, but i have never had a need to make them.

i think they are adorable. i hope they don’t look too much like the baltimore ravens. i had the purple alpaca in my stash from the free Classic Elite Yarns mini skein giveaway, and it was the perfect amount for these. 
so in the vein of little ones, i found a really cute lamb pattern. i found some white fuzzy yarn in my stash, and for the legs/head, i used some leftover alpaca that is the most lovely blue. i think am too attached to him to give it away….
i think im going to make a baby blanket to go with the booties. we’ll see what happens! im going to the beach on wednesday so i hope i have lots of time for knitting and thinking of ideas.
currently listening: nick drake, pink moon

wouldn’t it be nice?

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endpaper mitts: in progress—- only ½ a repeat left on chart a.
brioche hat: on hold—- decreasing is extremely confusing/tricky
mitred blanket: semi-in-progress—- halfway through the blocks construction, but nervous that the finished blanket wont be big enough, wall hanging?
shadow sweater: mneh—- i tried picking this up again the other day, with not much success.

in other crafting notes, i made a pocket t from a plain v-neck t shirt and some old fabric i had in my stash. i like how it turned out!!

hoping to jump back into all of these so i have some beach knitting to do at the end of the month!!

currently listening: pet sounds, the beach boys

halloween report.

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salvador dali fashioned a surrealist art object called “Aphrodisiac Phone” or “Lobster Phone.” it looked like this:

he eventually created six of these working telephones. further reading. 

for halloween i wanted to be dali’s art object. i contemplated making the lobster out of paper mache, but i thought that would be fragile, so i decided to sew it. i went to joanns and looked through the fabric remnants and found some red fleece. next, i sketched out the pieces id need to make (two claws, a body, and some little feet):
and i set to work. i didn’t really follow more of a pattern than this. it turned out a little quirky, but i thought that was part of the lobster’s charm. well, that and the button eyes. when i finished, i sewed on a little friend that a coworker gave to me:
perfect. the one difficult obstacle was figuring out how to get this giant stuffed lobster to stay on my head. i sewed velcro on his stomach, and then also onto a black hat. it was wobbly, but it worked. for the cord i very loosely crocheted a black chain that i sewed into the lobster tail and then pinned to my side, and i made a dial by printing and cutting two pieces of paper reinforced with packing tape. here’s an after-wearing picture (it got sorta beat up with use):
as for the rest, i wore a black dress, tights and shoes and voila! lobster phone! final product (with strongbad boyfriend):


happy belated halloween.

forward-thinking.

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i finished the cowl. i like it very much.. i think it will be very practical, especially when cycling. every time ive worn a scarf its wrangled its way away from my neck to dangle in front of me, which distracts and aggravates me, but also could be hazardous (on a bicycle). the cowl can’t come undone– as someone pointed out, ‘its just a tube.’ 


so ive started on some arm warmers for jacob. i am kinda scared they will be difficult to get right, but i got a few rows in last night, and made it through the first try-on phase. lets hope the success continues. he wants me to sew elastic into the tops so they stay up and close to his upper arm. ive been researching online and i dont seem to have come to any particular conclusions about how to tackle this request.

2010!

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hello world. welcome to a new decade. yes! christmas has come and gone, and now i feel free to work on personal projects again. 2009 was quite the year.. i picked up knitting, i made lots of beautiful things, i met some incredible people. i feel very lucky to live my life.
so BACKTRACK.. a couple highlights of last year:

here are some craft goals i have for this year:
• finish the sweater. preferably before it gets warm out.
• learn insartia.
• knit a pair of socks.
• make a leather purse.
so, first up….

halloweenie

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so halloween was last night. i went as a wolf(e) in sheep’s clothing. i thought it was pretty cute. i found this fabulous wolf hat at a secondhand store, crocheted some ears, and sewed them onto the top of it. michelle picked up some sheep-y fabric for me to make a dress-like thing. and a tail. and some pockets. since i just sewed it up quickly and left the edges raw, my room seemed like spring at a sheep shearing establishment after i finished, because the fuzzies got EVERYWHERE. the final product was pretty worth it, though.

so where did i go in my ensemble, you may ask? answer: EVALINE. this thing was a giant halloween party that featured a homemade roller coaster. my entrance fee was waived because i happened to talk to the owner of the whole event.. and got the password to get in. he seemed pretty nice, and told me he doesnt really make money, but breaks even every year. hmm… maybe next time dont tell complete strangers how to get infor free? anyway.. this party has been happening every halloween for 17 years, and i had a really awesome time. 

ps still working on the sweater.. and a hat, and some other stuff.

suitcase + balloons = art?

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on friday i was part of an art exhibition in Lawrenceville. Last weekend I made a dress using a vintage patten and it turned out very large, so for a few days i was perplexed with what to do next. a friend helped me out with an idea of elevating the dress with balloons. i had a very busy week and i did not get a chance to completely think this through before friday.. so after leaving work early i picked up twenty balloons, ran home to get my dress, a suitcase, and some patience, and scooted down to the gallery to set it up before the show started.

for some reason i had the notion that this was going to work on the first try. it didnt. it also did not work the second, third, or fourth time. after i became completely exasperated, i realized the dress was unable to be held up by balloons alone. i called michelle and she came down to the space to help me. i ended up suspending the dress from the ceiling by wire, and then stuffed the dress full of balloons and ‘tied it down’ with a suitcase. considering the entire process of making this piece work, i am very happy with how it turned out.

the opening was a huge success and lots of people showed up. i enjoyed myself, but i dont really have positive aversions to art right now. its pretty frustrating for me because i think that its important for art to have a purpose, which is why i hold pottery and fiber arts in higher esteem than abstract canvasses and conceptual art in general. i understand rothko and hesse but i think that today’s contemporary art movement is too concerned with getting “in” the art scene and not so much with integrity and creative executions of great ideas.

..but dont take my word for it.

(special thanks to michelle for the photogs)