Collage postcards

Wow, almost a whole year without an update in this blog. Sad to say, I've found it hard to make time for crafting over this past year but I'm hopping to remedy that once I move. I have been working on some crafty things lately which I've got pictures of to share.Back around mid January, blogger and crafter iHanna set up a postcard swap on her site.

Like many other crafters, I signed up to make postcards and send them out to fellow crafters around the globe. I'm only now getting around to posting the pictures of the ones I made. I stuck to using water colour paper, acrylic paint, magazine clippings, craft paper, mod podge and little glitter glue as my materials. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of Anne Taintor and quote collector, both of which heavily influenced the designs. While I did ten postcards, only nine are featured in the photographs. Without further ado, here they are! As always, if you wish to see them larger, simply click on the picture:

Craft project numero two: The garter stitch scarf.

Ah, what’s not to love about the garter stitch? It’s quick, easy and versatile. With this simple stitch one can whip up a hat, a scarf, hell even a blanket in no time. It also allows a knitter to easily experiment with different yarn types and combining yarns, something that is a lot more difficult with more complicated patterns or stitches.

This weekend I was doing a little of my own experimenting with knitting with two yarns at the same time. I used NoBo Concerto, a Sport 5 ply acrylic, mohair and, metallic yarn with one of my favorite yarns, Sean Sheep Lilydale, which is a bulky 12ply nylon and acrylic mix to knit a 57 inch scarf on 9mm needles. Add a five inch fringe made from the lilydale and some Sean Sheep Wooloomooloo, and here’s the end result:

(Click on image to see a larger view)

I’m rather happy with the end product though it was a bit hard trying to take an interesting picture of it. All my friends were working or out of town this weekend so I headed down to the Basilica in St. John’s and used the trees nearby as my model.

My next two projects are a pair of fingerless gloves and a lacy wrap. Stay tuned!

First dance with Mary Janes

This is an old project I completed a few months ago but I wanted to post something to get myself started on this blog while I work on my current projects. A pair of simple Mary Jane slippers made from Paton’s Shetland chunky wool on size 9 straight needles. It was a fairly simple project that was completed in about two days and resulted in a pair of very comfy slippers. The pattern can be found here on crafster.org.

My current project is a scarf. I know, simple as hell but I’m working a few new yarns and I want to experiment with them first. There’s nothing like knitting a simple garter stitch scarf for a test run! Frankly, I think there aren’t enough patterns that utilize the garter stitch. Most of the knitting patterns I find focus on stockinet stitch or cables or ribbing. Perhaps I need to look into substituting garter stitch for stockinet in a few patterns and see what the results are.

While I’m off experimenting, I also want to try some of the suggestions made on the 100 Ideas to Spark you into Creative Action list by iHanna.

This is a pretty cute list and worth checking out for a little inspiration. Here are just a few of my favorite creative ideas mentioned on the list:

11. Play with water soluble crayons on paper and drench it in water
15. Try experimenting with glass fusing to make jewelry gifts
17. Share generous and interesting articles with your friends so that they too can learn new stuff
50. Take on a big blanket project (or something else that is time consuming) with no deadline date or stress involved, enjoy taking your time with it
53. Do Daily Art Cards for a distinct period of time - just to challenge yourself
73. If you’re depressed you can always cut out and glue images, it could change your day
91. Make your own paper beads from recycled newspaper.
98. Wear the crazy things you make - with pride! You’re as special as your creations.
99. Write someone you like and let them know that what they do is meaningful.

Obligatory Intro post

Welcome to the start of my new blog. I’ve been blogging on Livejournal for about five years and decided to try my hand at a craft journal on Blogspot. My goal? To post craft and art related materials, both things I’ve created myself and works created by others as part of my ongoing virtual scrapbook. Now let’s see if I can actually keep this goal.