Exciting Things to Come

Pretty soon I will have a ton of new D.I.Y. projects to show off here! We found out we are expecting our first child and we are thrilled. (The first trimester exhaustion is partially responsible for my crafty slacking lately.) We find out the sex of the baby in about 6 weeks, and then we will be hard at work making an awesome nursery, so stay tuned!

Slacker

I have been so tired this week, I still haven't gotten any crafting finished up. I am only a few steps away from finishing my chalkboard. I also really need to get back on board with my knitting. I think that part of the problem is that since work is so hectic, I am brain dead by the time I get home. I just want to veg and not think at all, unfortunately this is not very conducive to crafting!

Blanket

I am still working on Anastacia's baby blanket. Someday, I will finish it. It looks fantastic so far. I will confess, part of the delay is because I picked up some Madeline Tosh yarn and cast on the Honeycomb Cowl. I couldn't resist. I need to buckle down and focus on finishing up the op art blanket!

Melted Crayon Art

This weekend I decided to go ahead and try the Melted Crayon Art that I keep seeing on www.pinterest.com. The above picture was my inspiration.

I thought the project was relatively simple. I took the crayon wrappers off complete

ly and hot-glued each crayon to the top of the canvas. That was the most tedious part. I started using my crafting heat gun to melt them and it was taking forever for them to melt. Deven let me borrow his garage heat gun and that made things go MUCH quicker. This was definitely an outdoor project, as there was a lot of dripping. Overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Here is the finished product. Deven was nice enough to draw the silhouettes for me. I love how it turned out!

Here it is hanging on the wall. I have to get another canvas and some more blue crayons, and I will be making it a companion.

Crafting Hiatus

I have not done much with crafting lately. Between school and work, I have just been really busy. I was on vacation from work this past week, but we were in Austin for most of it so I didn't get a whole lot done. I am still chugging away on my Op-art blanket though. Anastacia was born last Thursday, so I really need to finish it up!

Sewing Fail

Well I sat down last Saturday to work on my sewing and was met with disappointment. The fabric that I got was not as wide as the bolt claimed it was. After I pre-washed it, it was really really not as wide. Since the apron I made is cut on the bias, there is not possible way to use this fabric so I am back to the drawing board.

I then started working on a purse, but my machine messed up. I am having some kind of trouble with the bobbin and it is not wanting to sew. Boo!

Sewing

I've decided that I need to learn how to sew. I asked my mother for a sewing machine for Christmas so that I can learn. She was kind enough to oblige me and get me one.

I picked out a cute pattern for a three-tiered ruffled apron that ties around the waist. It has a kind of vintage feel, so I went on the search for a vintagey feeling fabric that I thought would be cute with it. I found one that I loved that is turquoise, lime, and red. I bought the fabric I needed and took it home.

Following the advice from the pattern, I prewashed the fabric. This particular pattern calls for 45" wide fabric. The fabric I bought said it was 44-45. After washing it, it was 41 1/2. I went back to the fabric store and measured it on the bolt. The actual fabric was only 43 1/2. Since the apron I want to make is cut on the bias, I will not be able to use this fabric. I am really annoyed about it. If a fabric is supposed to be 45, it should be 45!!!

Progress Update: Op Art Blanket

It is really hard to get a good picture of this blanket. It is knit on two circular needles and really bunched up, so it is hard to tell how big it actually it. But it is bigger than it looks in these pictures. I actually only have 3 stripes of color to finish on it. They will take a while though because they are 12,14, and 16 rows respectively. Plus, each row adds four stiches. I am really pleased with the progression thus far. I love love love the color combination. I am dreading weaving in all of the ends though!

From Pinterest to Reality: Frosted Glass Edition

Knitting Needle Holder

This is a vase that I picked up at IKEA (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00017133/) for $1.99 last time we were in Texas, back in June. I originally bought it to go on some shelves we added to our bedroom, but it ended up being too tall. Since then, it has floated aimlessly around our house with a pathetic little clump of wooden roses in it. This weekend I was working in my craft room and I realized it would be perfect to hold my longer knitting needles. I also recently saw this post on pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/55169164154894861/ and decided I wanted to try my hand at it. So I went to Walmart and picked up a can of Spray Frosted Glass and a bag of rubber bands.

This is after I placed the rubber bands. I had the hardest time getting any of the very thin bands to stay in place, they kept sliding down and twisting. If I were to do it over, I would not use the thin bands.

This is after the glass had been sprayed, waiting for it to dry. It goes on clear and then eventually frosts as it dries. We did about 3 thick coats, which I think was too much.

This is after it had dried completely and I took the rubber bands off. The reason I think 3 coats were too many is because you can see how it was so thick it left some residue from where it had been on the rubber bands. I think probably 1 or 2 would have been plenty.

This is after the vase had been washed and scrubbed, removing all of the residue. It looks much much better after that step.

Here are a few shots of the vase in action as a needle holder, it worked out pretty well.

This project ended up being very simple and inexpensive. If I were to do it again, I would not use the very thin rubber bands and I would put a thinner coat on the glass. Other than that, I think it turned out great! I am now seriously considering frosting the glass on all of my yarn cube doors!

Op Art Blanket

My Op-Art Blanket is coming right along. I am really enjoying working on it. A lot of the reviews of the pattern said they thought it got very tedious, especially the purl rows. I enjoy the simpleness of the blanket because I can work on it while doing other things- chatting with my hubby or watching TV. I think the purl rows go almost as fast for me as the knit rows do. I was thinking about that and I think part of the reason for that is because I knit "Continental" style rather than "English" style. Because of this, my purl rows go faster. I am relieved that I learned how to knit Continental because most people have to learn it to do color-work and I already know it.


The weirdest thing that I have noticed about this blanket is that it calls for 3 skeins of each of the two colors. I am probably 1/2 way through my first skein of pink and my first skein of brown, but I am really far into the blanket. Unless I am seriously underestimating the amount of yarn the largest rows will require then I feel like I am going to have a lot of leftover yarn. I guess we will see...

The Year of Fearless Knitting

October 2011 marked 2 years since I have learned how to knit. In that time, I have made about 50 bajillion scarfs (that is the scientific number), a few pairs of slippers, some hats,
some robots, and a few odds and ends. In that time, I have had my fair share of incidents as well. Sockgate 2010 comes to mind, but that is a separate post. There was also the Mohawk hat incident, but again, I think it deserves it's own post. These incidents have made me leery, cautious, and afraid to branch out to anything new. However, I
am changing all that. This is the year of fearless knitting! I am not going to be held back by worrying that I don't know how to do it. That is why they call it learning.

Here are some things I already have queued up for 2012:

The Op Art Blanket:

Technique I Didn't Know: Knitting With Two Circular Needles & Colorworking

The Audubon Shrug:

Technique I Didn't Know: Garment Construction

The Akeno Sweater:

Technique I Didn't Know: Garment Construction & Colorworking

(This particular sweater was promised to my husband in Spring of 2010)

A Sock:

Technique I Didn't Know: Sock Knitting

(More about this in the Sockgate 2010 post)

Finally, this year, I will conquer the Mohawk Hat:

Technique I Didn't Know: Felting

(More about this in the Mohawk Hat Post)