Need More Fiber: 2007

Monday, November 26, 2007

scrapbooking

I should post a picture of the Stockings I made... they are ready now, all 18, knit and named and just waiting to get to the right place, get hanged up and filled. But to do that I need to take a picture of them, and that demands things I don't have the energy or lust to do right now... Perhaps you'll get a picture when they are hanging and filled :-)

------------------------

I got inspired by scrapbooking. Some of you know that I'm not only textile fibers, but paper is one of my passions too :-)

I have always wanted nice, beautifully filled photo albums with witty text and all that - and never got to that. This year I wanted to make a Christmas scrapbook album... and I have surfed the net to get inspiration and ideas. I got them too :-D I have been drawing for three days now (yes, drawing, with a pen on a paper, as I don't dare to loose it all in a computer crash...)

---

I have moved this and other scrapbooking entries into my new blog on scrapbooking; Shiny Pictures and Bookmarks. The name refers to scraps' Swedish and Finnish names - in Swedish they are called "bookmarks" - bokmärken - and in Finnish "shiny pictures" or "glossy pictures" - kiiltokuvat.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Easy knit doll

When I was young everyone was knitting this kind of dolls. They were VERY popular, especially knit as a sailor; with blue pants and striped shirt and fluffy beard.

You start with toes-up sock pattern and knit as sock foot. That will be the legs, the body and face, so change colors as proceed :-) For example, the gnome doll in the middle has about 10 layers white, 10 red for pants, 20 green for the shirt and 15 for face.
Then starts the decreases for the top of the head, or hat, if you want to have a hat. The easiest is of course to just bind off the top of the head and then just shir (gather) it closed after filling the doll. If you finish it with a nice decreases, you have to fill the doll before you close the top of the head...
After that, you will mark the legs and arms by sewing, and you will "strangle" the doll, and mark the neck - shir (gather) the neck and then bind the ends of the yarn a couple of times hard around the neck to make it clearer. (I am going to post a picture, when Blogger agrees to co-operate with me ;-))
Then you decorate the doll by embroidering eyes and mouth, by adding hair and beard, by adding belt buckles, shoelaces, glasses, jewelry and anything you like.

The girls have skirts. There are several ways of doing this. Either you knit the skirt separately and sew it on the doll, or you pick up stitches from the dolls waist and knit the skirt afterwards, or you knit one round at the waist with double yarn, and separate the double stitches to two layers... Or which ever way you want.

Other easy crafts of this kind:
yarn dolls : angel, jack frost (snowman), santa I, santa II, yarn doll
roly poly dolls: clown, santa, angel and snowman at Free Patterns.com. It's a bit difficult to find patterns there, one cannot link straight to patterns, so go to Crochet; Special Occasions and there choose Christmas. I think they are on the second page.
finger puppets: Tubby Finger Puppets, Dear Friends Finger Puppets, Finger Puppets, Frog Finger Puppet, Pig Finger Puppet, Pocket Monster Finger Puppet

Free sock patterns on-line

Because it doesn't take long to knit a pair of socks, and I don't know ANYONE who doesn't like socks... ;-)
(In fact it's better to give a teacher a pair of socks than anything with apples.)

Alli's Anklet Sox
American Flag Socks
Amy’s Socks!
Ankle socks
ANKLE SOCKS
Annabelle's Entrelac Socks
Aran Braid Socks
Baba's Bed Socks
Basic Baby Socks
Basic Opal Socks w/German Heel & Toe
BASIC SOCK
Basic Sock Pattern
Basic Socks
Bavarian sock
Bavarian Sock Pattern
Bed Socks
Bedsocks in chunky wool
Bell Lace Wool-Ease Socks
Best Friends Socks
Bev's Quick Knit 2 Needle Socks
Bev's REALLY Quick Knit Socks
Bicycle Socks
Bigfoot Socks
Blue Jeans Socks
Blueberry Waffle Socks
Bored with Kilt Hose Socks
Broadripple Socks
Burgundy Ragg Socks
Butterfly Bows Anklets
Butterfly Rib Socks
Cable Check Socks
Cable Twist Socks
Cabled Boot Socks
Camille's Boot Socks
CANADIAN MINI SOCK Pattern
Cat's Paw Socks
Certainly Is Interesting Sock
Chevron Lace Socks
Chevron Sock
Child's sock
Children In Common Socks
Children’s Slipper Socks
Child’s Dalmatian’s Band Heel – Round Toe
Chilli Pepper Socks
Christmas Stocking
Christmas Stocking Knitting Pattern
CHUNKY SOCK
Cloverleaf Eyelet Rib Socks for Little Girls
Colour Around Socks
Comfort Socks
Comfy Ribbed Socks
Cookie Socks
Cookies n Cream Socks
Cottage Socks
Crusoe Socks
Cuff-down Short-row heel Socks
Cut your teeth socks
Daughter Socks
Deer Tracks
Deformed Socks
Denise's Toe-up Sock
Diagonal Fixation Socks
Diamonds In The Rough Socks
Diana's String Doodle Socks
Dmitri's Cats Paw Socks
E-Z Knit, E-Z Fit Tube Socks
Easy Baby Socks
Easy Kid’s Socks II
Ellinore’s Teenage Socks
EMC2 (Easy Mini Cabled Multi Coloured) Socks
Errant Ankles Lace Socks
Eyelet Rib Socks
EZ Ripple Socks
Fancy Chevron Lace Socks
Fancy Footies
Fast Florida Footies
Feather And Fan Socks
Fern Lace Panel Socks
Fern Leaf Lace Socks
Fingering Wt Semi-Slouch Sock
Fishnet Stockings
Fluted Banister Socks
Folksy Socks
Folksy Socks Revisited
Fringed Sock
Garter Bar Slip Stitch Socks
Geisha sock
Generic Sock Pattern
Glow in the Dark Socks
Green Riblets Socks
Highland Socks
Holey Sock Pattern
Hop Scotch Socks
Husbeast socks
Ice House Socks
Impossible Socks
iPod Socks
Ipod Tube Sock
Japanese Feather Socks
Jazz Up Your Self- Striping Socks
Jean Socks
Jelly Bean Toe Up Socks
Jennifer's Mini-Sock
Jewel Boxes Socks
Joan's Socks
John Anderson's Kilt Hose
John's Anniversox
Juani's Braided Socks
Judy's Kick-back Two-color Socks
Karen's Lace Socks
Karen's Red Socks
Kath's Socks
Kick-back Two-Color Socks
Kid Merino Socks in Rainbow Stripes
Kilt Hose
Knitlist Get-together Cable Sock Pattern
Knitted Ripple Stocking
Koigu Sock Pattern
KOLORFUL KIDS SOX
Lace Top, Toe Up Regia Color Sock
Lady Tiger Ankle Socks
Lady's Hunting Socks
Liberty Socks
Lime Socklettes
Links Of Lace Socks
Little Blue Sock
Little Shell Socks
Lizard Socks
Lolita Legs
Lolita Toes
Long socks and Bed socks
Look At Me (American Flag) Socks
Lopi Socks
Marshfield Sock
Martha's Semi-Slouch Socks
Matt's Fixation Socks
Melanie's House Socks
Men's Socks
Men's Socks
Men's Socks
Mens Berlin Socks
Mesh Stockings
MICHELLE'S BASIC SOCKS
MINI SOX
Mini Waffle Socks
Mini-sock, Sideways
Mistake Rib Socks
Mock Cable Socks
Mom's Socks
Monkey Socks
Moonlight Slippersock
Mother Socks
MY BASIC SOCKS
My Mother- in- Law's Socks
My Petticoat Socks
Nature Socks
No-Pickup Gusset Heel Sock - Small Child Size
Non-Stop Heel Sock
North Country Cotton Baby Socks
Not For Skinny Legs Socks
Not Just For Golf Socks
Not Really Cable Socks
Obstacles Sock
Ocean Socks
Old Shale Two Yarn Sock Pattern
One-Ball Picot Hemmed Socks
Ooh La La Socks
Opal Kid's Sock
Pancake Socks
Parquet Socks
Patons Kroy Socks
PATRIOTIC SPIRALS Socks
Paul's Seven Socks
Perfect Socks
Pine Tree Socks
Pine Tree Toe Up Socks
Pink Ribbons Breast Cancer Awareness Sock
Plain and Spiral Socks
Pom Squad Sock
Popcorn Top Kilt Hose
Purl When Ready Socks
Purple and Grey Striped Socks
Purple Birthday Socks
Purple Passion Socks
Purple Riblets
Quick Knit Eyelets
Rainbow Spirals Socks
Really Cool Socks
Red and White Socks
Regular and Hospital Socks
Rib it to me socks
Ribber Socks
Ribbers
Ribby Sockotta Socks
Roman Rib Stitch Toe-Up Socks
Round Socks
Ruth's Socks
Samantha's Fixation Socks
SAMBURU SOCKS
SANDAL SOX
Sari's Aran Socks
Sassy Stripes
Sausage Socks
Scallop Stitch Socks
Shaker Socks
Sheepish Socks
Significant Other Sock
Simple Toe Up Socks in Four Sizes
Simple Toe Up Sox
Simple Zig Zag Eyelet Socks
Skull Socks of Fury
Slipper socks
Slippers Triangle Socks
SOCK IT TO ME PLAIN TOE-UP SOCKS FOR THE FAMILY
SOCK IT TO ME TOE-UP CHEVRON PATTERN SOCKS
Socks In Three Sizes
Socks O'Plenty
Socksquatch Socks
Speckled Socks
Spiral Socks For Toddlers
Staggered Rib Sox
Stout and Short WoolEase Socks
Straight-Laced Socks
String Socks
Striped Stockinette Socks
Sunset Socks
Super Quick Baby Socks
Sweden Socks
Tangled Garden Socks
Texture and Lace Socks
The Tour Socklet
Thermal Socks
Thrummed Socks
Tiptoe Through The Tulips
To Bee or not to Bee Sox
Toddler Socks
Too Hot to Knit Socks
TOUR DE LANCE SOCKS
Tulip Socks
Twisted Rib Socks
Two Needle Socks
Uni-Solid Lace Sock
VALENTINE HEART SOCKS
Very Tall Socks
Winter Blue's Sox
Worsted Weight Socks
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booties
You're Putting Me On Socks
Yukon Leaves for 8 inch Cuff
Zigzag cuff socks

Monday, October 22, 2007

David's Star Dishcloth pattern

I designed a couple of dishcloths for Purim last year, and I was asked if I could publish the patterns...

Mordechai or Star of David

cast on 47 stitches
1.- 4. *K1 P1* K1
5. K1 P1 K1 P7 K1 P8 K2 P5 K2 P8 K1 P7 K1 P1 K1
6. K1 P1 K1 P1 K6 P1 K7 P4 K3 P4 K7 P1 K6 P1 K1 P1 K1
7. K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1
8. K1 P1 K1 P1 K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 K13 K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 P1 K1 P1 K1
9. K1 P1 K1 P1 K13 P5 K1 P1 K1 P5 K13 P1 K1 P1 K1
10. K1 P1 K1 P1 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P1 K1 P1 K1
11. K1 P1 K1 P2 K4 P3 K4 P7 K1 P7 K4 P3 K4 P2 K1 P1 K1
12. K1 P1 K1 P1 K2 P2 K5 P2 K8 P1 K8 P2 K5 P2 K2 P1 K1 P1 K1
13. K1 P1 K1 P4 K1 P5 K1 P19 K1 P5 K1 P4 K1 P1 K1
14. K1 P1 K1 P1 K2 P2 K5 P2 K8 P1 K8 P2 K5 P2 K2 P1 K1 P1 K1
15. K1 P1 K1 P2 K4 P3 K4 P7 K1 P7 K4 P3 K4 P2 K1 P1 K1
16. K1 P1 K1 P1 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P1 K1 P1 K1
17. K1 P1 K1 P1 K13 P5 K1 P1 K1 P5 K13 P1 K1 P1 K1
18. K1 P1 K1 P1 K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 K13 K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 P1 K1 P1 K1
19. K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1
20. K1 P1 K1 P1 K6 P1 K7 P4 K3 P4 K7 P1 K6 P1 K1 P1 K1
21. - 52. repeat 5.-20. twice
53. K1 P1 K1 P7 K1 P8 K2 P5 K2 P8 K1 P7 K1 P1 K1
54. -57. *K1 P1* K1

Star of David pattern
over 26 stitches + 13 stitches, if you want it symmetric

1. *P6 K1 P8 K2 P5 K2 P2*
2. *K6 P1 K7 P4 K3 P4 K1*
3. *P5 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P1*
4. *K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 K13*
5. *K13 P5 K1 P1 K1 P5*
6. *K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6*
7. *P1 K4 P3 K4 P7 K1 P6*
8. *K2 P2 K5 P2 K8 P1 K6*
9. *P3 K1 P5 K1 P16*
10. *K2 P2 K5 P2 K8 P1 K6*
11. *P1 K4 P3 K4 P7 K1 P6*
12. *K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P6 K1 P1 K1 P6*
13. *K13 P5 K1 P1 K1 P5*
14. *K5 P1 K1 P1 K5 K13*
15. *P5 K1 P1 K1 P6 K1 P2 K1 P3 K1 P2 K1 P1*
16. *K6 P1 K7 P4 K3 P4 K1*

After knitting this as many times as you want to, finish it with
17 *P6 K1 P8 K2 P5 K2 P2*

I HOPE this is correct, but if there are mistakes, just send me a note and I'll check it up :-)

Hugs,
Ket

Monday, October 15, 2007

Joulusukat

I have been knitting some Yule stockings...
I should make 18 of them... ;-)
So I'm almost desperately searching for color patterns that fit Yule stockings :-D

I suppose it's enough that they are of green, red and white... These do look Christmassy :-)

Friday, September 28, 2007

Ultimate "Special Folks" Crocheted Gift Basket

Ultimate "Special Folks" Crocheted Gift Basket

Theme: Crocheters and Knitters

Week 1

Crocheters Take-a-long Tool Kit
'Ditch Your Hooks' Hook Cover
Aluminum Crochet Hook Case
Steel Crochet Hook Case
Afghan Hook, Cro-Hook or Knitting Needle Roll
Afghan Hook Case with lid
Crochet Hook Caddy
Crochet Hook Case
Crochet Hook Caddy (cup)
Crochet Hook Cover

Week 2

Double Strand Thread Holder
Handy Crochet Thread Holder
Victorian Thread Holder

Lori's Yarn Holder
Knit Yarn Holder

Week 3

Sally's Shopper Tote
Floral Tote
Fiesta Tote
Tote Purse
Beach Tote

Week 4

Crochet Guardian Angel Frog
Hat Pincushion
Yarn Pincushion
Aunt B's Patterns has nice crochet hook holders

Extras! (And other crafts)

The "Frog" Page
Crochet Survival Kit
Quilted Needlework Bag

Theme: Sewers & Other Needleworkers

Week 1

Sally's Shopper Tote
Floral Tote
Fiesta Tote
Tote Purse
Beach Tote

Week 2
Mending Caddy
Needle case
Seamless Sewing Box

Week 3
Embroidery Floss Holder
Scissorscover

Week 4
At Freepatterns, crochet, decorations and knick-knacks, is
***Tomato Pincushion***
***Wrist Pincushion***
Aunt B's Patterns has nice pincushions/scissorholder
cupcake pincushion
Another cupcake pincushion
Donut pincushion
Hat Pincushion
Another hat pincushion
Vintage Pineapple-pattern pincushion
chair pincushion
Circular Pillow Pincushion

Extras! (And other crafts)

Printable fabric organizer form
Printable quilt labels
Printable quilt labels 2
HP's free printable projects

Guardian angel survival kit

Sewing Kit
Sewing Wreath
Quilted Needlework Bag
Teacup Pincushion
6 pocket needlebook

Theme: Newlywed's First Christmas Together
(Make some of these crocheted "couples" and add the year!)

Week 1
Mrs. Claus Air Freshener
Santa Air Freshener

Santa Doll Outfit
Mrs. Claus Doll Outfit

***Santa & Mrs. Santa - crocheted outfits for dolls at Freepatterns

Jack Frost doll 11"
mrs. Claus doll 9"

Week 2
Mr. & Mrs. Snowman
Snowman cocoa mix jar
Washcloth bride and groom snowpeople - crocheted washcloths here...

Week 3
Ginger Girl Ornament
Gingerman Ornament
Gingerbread boy
gingerbread man

Country Rag Boy Ornament
Country Rag Girl Ornament

Week 4
Computer Angels
Ice Skates Christmas Ornament (make one "his" and one "hers")
Victorian Rose Wreath Ornament (add a wedding photo)
Christmas Card Ornament (substitute a wedding invitation)

Extras! (And other crafts)

Newlyweds Survival Kit

***Mr. & Mrs. Santa Sit-ems*** - FreePatterns' plastic canvas patterns
Snowman votive candle holder - it doesn't take too much creativity to create the snowmaidpartner to this
Snowmaid jar candle holder - dito ;-)
Bias tape snow family
Mr. and Mrs. Snowhappy
Marshmallow snowmen
mr. and mrs. santa lapel pins
mr. and mrs. mitten
Snowfolks beanbags
Snowman nativity

Friday, August 24, 2007

"Funny" Response For A Handcrafted Gift

"I did a crazy patchwork vest for my 4-year-old niece, painstakingly decorated and added embroideries to appeal, and buttons and beads. It took me weeks: my sister-in-law offered me $4 as payment 'as scraps were only used.'

My very first lap quilt that I made was done with 12 blocks different patterns--all done by hand--I was very proud of it and gave it to my mother-in-law: she used it as the dogs blanket.

I gave my father in law a decoupaged, papier-mache book box for his bible with angels and clouds, gold embellishments, and sayings: he thanked my 6-year-old for the lovely box he made!
Just one more: they call my house 'the fire trap' because of my collections for crafting!"
-- Julie

Er... What a horrible family she married herself into!

Leaf book box

"As scraps were only used"...
Firstly, I don't think any payment would have been necessary, but if the SIL had asked her to do the vest against payment, then it's another issue.
Secondly, this story reminds me of the sock story I heard during Socktober 2006...
A woman was knitting socks in public and some stranger came by and admired the socks. She wanted her to knit her a pair as well. The knitter asked if it was ok with... let's say 10 dollars wage for one hour's work, and the lady thought it was ok. Then the knitter tells the lady that in that case the socks - yarn and work - would cost her over 100 dollars...
(Or something like that. I don't quite remember the story, but this is the spirit of it.)
So - the MATERIALS for the vest didn't probably cost too much - even though the embellishment, embroidery threads etc. cost more than I like - but the WORK put in it was way more than "scraps"...

I really don't like people who see the crafts as just pottering and worth nothing... Of course, it's rather effortless to me, but I have several years of education and a natural talent for crafting. Somehow it's especially people born with a thumb in the middle of their hand, people who couldn't knit a sock or sew a button to save their lives, who has the least appreciation and understanding of the value of crafting.

About the MIL's blanket - perhaps she loves the dog more than her children, and therefore giving the quilt to the dog was giving it a very honorable and high place in the family... One never knows.

About FIL's Bible box - Quite a compliment to the 6-years-old... and perhaps he appreciates and uses it because he thinks it's made by his grandchild ;-)

But... I'm 100% sure of that the box did NOT look like made by a child...
And as the family "lovingly" refers to their DIL/SIL's house as "fire trap", they KNOW she does things like that... It wouldn't take a lot of intelligence and ability to draw conclusions to KNOW that the box was made by the MOTHER of the 6-year-old, and not the child. Considering that... What a f-ing insult to say to a crafter that her work is child's play, unskillfully done, looks like something kids do in kindergarten... *brr*

"My friend Nancy is a masterful and prolific quilter. She created a beautiful baby quilt for a friend. When she presented this wonderful gift to her friend, the mother-in-law said the quilt was so beautiful Nancy couldn't possibly have made it."
-- Anne

P.S. As I was checking out the other Interweave Press magazines, I found this: "Monk's Belt"
That I can do too with my little children's play loom :-) Looks very nice, I think :-)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Fiber art in small scale

*Fabric and Fiber Postcards (Fiber PC's)

More examples of fabric postcards

*Artist Trading Dolls (ATD)

*Fiber Art Trading Card (ATC)

*Artist Trading Pins (ATP)

Here's some nice buttons
and here Bunch of Brooches

*Fiber Inchies

*Fiber Trading Books

* Mini Doll Quilts

All these art forms are related to each other. This is miniature fabric art.
A fabric postcard is a 3-1/2" x 5" fabric block
A fiber art trading card is a 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" fabric block
An artist trading doll is a "hybrid" of an ATC and a paperdoll. I have noticed that they are often made in "jumping jack" form, with movable limbs.
A fabric inchie is - naturally - a 1" x 1" fabric block
A fiber art trading pin is a pin, a brooch, made of fabric - no limits in size, techniques or form

A fiber art trading book is a fabric book - a book made of fabric. Here too there are no limits. Some make the whole book of fabric, like children's picture books, some make an altered book, covering an existing book with fabric art blocks.
(You can make it a "Decorative friendship book")

A doll quilt is exactly what it says - a miniature quilt, doll size. So - it too can alter in size from ATC size to baby quilt size. The doll quilts are usually very traditional pieced quilts, but the fabric artists are getting into this area of fiber crafts as well.

I think this is very exciting and inspiring... Now if I only could stop procrastinating and get some done :-D

Friday, August 17, 2007

Coin purse

Another great stocking stuffer :-)
(Yes, put in a couple of coins... everyone appreciates it LOL)

Zippered Pouch with Pocket (more pouches and pockets in the right hand column)
Very simple coin-card-whatever purse
Arm Band Purse
Bird Coin Purse
teepee coin purse
ponytail holders and mini coin purse
crocheted flower coin purse
tetrapocket
Simply Seamless Pouch
Drawstring Coin Purse

Feathers and Fans, Waves and Shells

rabbit tracks
Originally uploaded by ketutar

You could easily knit a pretty scarf as a stocking filler :-)

This "Feathers and Fans" lace pattern is easy and quick, and a good way to learn to knit lace.

"how to"?
feather and fan lace

Here's the "rabbit tracks" I made for a swap pal a year (or two) ago - I think it looks like cat paw marks :-)

Very pretty scarf
Misty Garden scarf
"Old Fashioned Shell Tidy"
Wave and Shell shawl
Knitpicks has a "Shadows" scarf - it might be a little problematic to get to the pattern though... Go through "patterns - scarfs" (You will find other nice patterns as well ;-))
Feather and Fan baby blanket - just make it narrow enough
Feather and Fan lace scarf

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

It's August...

funny, actually... It's been August for two weeks now. It's soon September. Time flies...

This month's theme in "Month of Softies" is "The Place Where I Live".
"This can be as broad or as narrow as you like, from the favorite room in your house, to the universe itself. What can you create in softie form that would represent this place?"

Tie One On had a July-August theme... and I missed to check it up already in July ;-)
It's "local pride" :-) I'm very locally proud :-) FINLAND!!!!!

And the colors for the current Color*iffic swap are red, blue and yellow. Yuk.

There's some interesting swaps going on, but I'm going to be strong. No more swaps for me.

Monday, August 13, 2007

I want to be a shrone... LOL

I found something today... Hall of Shrones. These people sound all like interesting people :-) Yeah, I want to be just like that, when I'm... er... well... some day :-D
But it is an interesting goal though... how to be a dirty old grand dame?

I also found something else... LibraryThing... where you can catalogue your books... I have been doing that the last couple of days and so far I have listed about 600 books... and still about half undone... My hubby and I estimated our common library to be about 1500 volumes. We love books :-)

Monday, August 06, 2007

Now I have taken pictures...

but OF COURSE I can't find the cord that's needed between the camera and computer... *sigh*

I have my butterfly curtain, 6 doilies, 2 dishcloths and baby bear's blankie, but - no photo evidence ;-)

---

10 minutes later... I decided to make the last effort to find the bloody cord, crawled under the table and - guess what... it was jammed between the table leg and drawer and hidden behind a box of paper... So I found it.
And here's the photo evidence LOL

On the left, on
Baby Bear's Blankie (made with plain granny squares, bear squares and daisy squares and colorful cotton)
DW cloth and Danielle Côté's Victoria cloth;
double pineapple doily; texas star doily; Nancy Hearn's White Doily; Flower Posy doily and Wisteria doily - and then one I don't remember name of... I doubt I have the pattern saved either... Anyway, that's what I have been doing this summer :-)

Below the butterfly curtain (Yes, I know it's too short... I am going to sew it on a piece of cloth, so that it hangs over the window and can be seen properly - and so that the star sun catchers can be fastened on the cloth instead of the lace... Perhaps I should just add a longer string and hang them from the curtain rail... Stupid me... abusing pretty lace... :-( )

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Kaffe envy

I am so envious to Kaffe Fassett... this is pure, vicious, poisonous envy I'm having... Nothing good in this.

Kaffe is an American mediocre artist living in UK, and everyone knows who he is... because he did what women have been doing for centuries, but he's a guy, he's exotic (American in Europe) and his color sense is... something I - or anyone else - have never met before. I suppose it's that women during the centuries have always been too careful, too aware of the rules, had too good taste and eye for color... and I suppose that's the reason why I'm so envious. It feels like he not only got away from breaking all the rules and making kitsch desirable, he got famous and rich with it too... it's like rewarding men for what women have been punished for doing... I don't think he deserves all this.

Another whom I don't think deserves what he's got is Dan Brown. He isn't a good writer, his ideas are not his own... I feel I could write a better book any day... why haven't I?

Holy Grail, Holy Gruel and Holy Smoke, felted by Debbie New

And that - I assume - is the real reason to my envy. I haven't done it. If I had, I wouldn't envy.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Getting inspired

July sock... to publish a pattern every month... *hmm*

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

World's biggest stash

This is Anna's Mother-in-law's stash... or part of it. She presents this "Church of Knitters" in her blog "Mochimochi".

My own stash isn't this big and after seeing this I pray it will never get this big either... though I am inheriting my mother's stash (from 70's and on) and as she is of a crafting family, there's quite a lot of it - but not this much... and I am tossing away some of it. My mother has a taste of novelty yarn, which I personally detest.

My first thought after seeing this room was "Dawna would be thrilled to get to organize THIS!"
Then I wanted to take a picture of my stash as a comparison... but before I can do that, I need to clean up this mess... because I'm a REALLY messy person (Remember, dogs play with yarn?)
Right now my stash is all over the living room, buried under paper, dog's "mess" (sticks and bones), books and clothes... So - no pictures. I have no problems saying that I'm messy, because no-one believes the extend of it anyway - EVERYONE's a little messy. Even people with "cleaning sickness" believe to be messy.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

5th Anniversary Resources

6th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Wood

Related:

6th Anniversary Resources

7th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Wool or Copper

Modern Gifts:

Desk Sets

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Related:

7th Anniversary Resources

8th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

9th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Leather

Related:

9th Anniversary Resources

10th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Tin or Aluminum

Modern Gifts:

Diamond Jewelry

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Related:

25th Anniversary Resources

26th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

27th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

28th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Orchids

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

Related:

50th Anniversary Resources

52nd Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

55th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

60th Wedding Anniversary

Traditional Gifts:

Modern Gifts:

Celebrating:

Ideas and Symbols

The Rules:

Have fun reducing your stash.
There is no time limit- people have different size projects they would like to work on.
Thou shall not purchase any new patterns until 10 projects have been stitched. Pattern size does not matter.
Freebies count as part of your total and you can aquire them at any point.
Rinse, lather and repeat, as needed, in order to reduce unused stash.
The official start date of this challenge is May 1, 2007.

I have received a lot of yarn from my mother - most of her stash, actually :-) So I think this challenge would be great for me... and I have A VERY LONG LIST of "to do"... There's also a 50 projects challenge...

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101 Things To Do in 1001 Days

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Well... I think I have made an effort to do this as well.... er... I hope not. Because I haven't done anything.

101 goals... hmm...

I want to get into the school
move to Turku
learn French properly and fluently
Pay the bill to the library and start using it again *blush*
get the sewing machine to the repair man and get it fixed
get the dog vaccinated against rabies
make the yule stockings
fill to the stockings
knit the socks on my to do list
Read the classics on my list
(my craft projects list on 43 things)
Get the house cleaned properly
get rid of 1/10 of the book collection
write the cook book
write the witch book
write the craft book
buy a washing machine
Get the laundry pile done
Get ourselves a "kolonilott"
De-clutter
make this apartment a HOME instead of a place to live in

I have a problem with this... I'm optimistic, idealistic and over-achiever... So I'd need to break these up to baby-steps...