Paper Embroidery

Anyone else in a stitching mood?  I blame the warmer weather....  Unfortunately, I left my waste fabric at home and I didn't want to ruin good fabric with practicing, so I "spruced up" some old drawings! ^.^  I like them enough but, well, you be the judge.

This minotaur look like he needed some color.  And I didn't just want to surround him in lazy daisies and swirls but, rather, keep some of the fierceness.



Haha, yes, I really did just add four spots of red.  I think I liked this drawing too much to play with it :p  I have long lecture classes tomorrow, maybe I'll get some doodling done that I won't worry about messing up.



Of course, I should also acknowledge the original artist, whose work I mostly just redrew: DeviantArt

Also, a turtle!  (I believe I drew it from a photo in a National Geographic.)  He was so grumpy looking!  (And he's the boyfriend's favorite of everything on this page!)



I wish I had more than just that one color of green embroidery floss...  The lighter green is actually mercerized cotton crochet thread, so it's thicker, horribly splitty and even tore once.  Ack..  Oh, and you've seen it before!  Can you see the irises?  They're green too!  Excuse the weird brown-yellow smudges; there's a colored pencil drawing facing this page and the pigment transfered.



Yeah, I was really in the mood to stitch...  But there's only one more, I promise!  This is just a freeform doodle.  I needed some chain stitch practice and buttonhole circles are just pretty.



So that's chain stitch around the center circle, backstitch as its radii, and buttonhole all around.  I wish the chain sttich wasn't quite as obscured... but now I know for next time.  Hey, I might even use more colors in the future! ^.^



- Cristy

Currently Watching: White Collar

Stitch Markers...

... are the fastest, most instant-gratification type project ever.  And since my crochet-masquerading-as-knit markers were aggravating me last night, I had to have these.



Better yet, they help me use up some old poly beads I made, as well as hemp string.  (As much as I like polyclay and jewelry stuff, knitting is so much more me.)  Yay for summer camp-style crafting! ^.^  Expect more of these...

- Cristy

Currently Listening to: "Home" - Three Days Grace

A Hat for Harblz

Oh, the alliteration was too easy...  Anyways, I've been working on a few things (expect about 3 posts in the next 24 hours ^.^), one of which is a hat to keep the boyfriend's noggin warm.  It's not completely done yet, since I have ends to weave in, but I wanted to post!  I'll probably add more photos sometime tomorrow too, since it's a pain in the butt trying to take pictures of your own head.



I used Cascade 220 in brown (9557-0132), blue (8339-7546), and off-white/natural (8010-7408).  The boyfriend picked out his color combination himself, so he's not allowed to whine either!  Seriously, I love Cascade.  My local Michael's doesn't carry yarn like it, so I can only get it at Yarns, Etc in Chapel Hill.  Please excuse the numbers.  I'm terrible at maintaining my Ravelry, and it's easier to just keep the color and lot numbers with the project!



Oh, cameras are scary things...  And I completely forgot to tell you what pattern this is!  It's the extremely popular Turn A Square Hat, which you can find on Ravelry (there's even a Spanish version!).  Unfortunately, you need a Ravelry account to get the pattern, but Brooklyn Tweed does have a fantastic blog that is exceedingly well illustrated.  Homepage and blog, actually.

Am I forgetting anything?  I think my brain is pretty out today, despite (or because of) getting 10 hours of sleep last night.  Barely awoke in time for class...

- Cristy

Currently Listening to: "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand

Weekend Spinning

The night before I left home, I managed to get some spinning done on my wheel!  It's a mix of montedale and mohair, and it's *gorgeous* and extremely airy, especially when drafting.  (The first two pictures are what I get for taking photos at 2am...)



And I know some people like to see the yarn on the bobbin...



But I managed to get a few more pictures the morning we left (at 8 am..), so these were taken just as the winter sun was rising.

If I'd been thinking, I would've gotten yardage, wpi, etc, but I'm fairly certain it's fingering or sport weight.  And this is just a vague guess, but somewhere around 100 yds?



And isn't the sheen lovely?  I think it's the mohair.  (Seriously, I couldn't stop petting the fiber...)



Now I just need to fine the perfect pattern for the yarn...  (And luckily, yardage really isn't an issue, since this is just a fraction of the fiber I have left!)  It has to be something special.  I'd say a lacy shawl, but I'm not really a shawl-wearing kind of person, and I really do want to enjoy what I make.  (I will eventually love shawls, just give me a few more years decades...)  A special afghan or wrap might be nice for reading though...  Suggestions would be greating appreciated!!

- Cristy

PS - Current projects are a hat for the boyfriend, gloves for me, and my mother's scarf, so expect updates on those too!

Currently Watching: Spartacus

Tutorial: Crocheting Around a Ring

This is the simplest method I've found for crocheting around a ring, mainly because it uses basic techniques of crochet rather than knots.  I apologize for the one-handed ness of the photos, but I needed a camera hand.  If you're left handed, you should be able to save the pictures to your computer and then reverse, or mirror image, them.  And remember, if an image is too small, you should be able to click on them for the full version.

It's a bit image heavy, so

Project: Scarf Hanger

Yep, I finished my project and I'm posting when I said I would!  (One of my goals for this year, as well as a few others...)  It's just a hanger for scarves, gloves, or anything else you might want to organize!  I've already used mine to move back to college after winter break, and it's so much easier being able to grab everything at once!  The best part is that it can either lay flat or be folded up for storage (just accordion fold up from the bottom).  The concept is relatively simple, but I've written up a whole walk-through which should hopefully clear up any questions.  Since I started getting wordy,

Sneak Peak: New Project

Remember that new project I hinted at about two posts ago?  Well, here's more!  These are the materials:  Yarn (preferably cotton), large plastic rings (I'll even give you my sources :p), Button (you only need one, and a toggle would work just as well), and a crochet hook that matches the weight of your yarn (not pictured, my bad...).



Hopefully, I'll have this finished by the end of the week and posted before classes start on Monday!

- Cristy

Finished - Gamer Gloves!

I finally finished them about two nights ago, and my brother's been wearing them ever since!  He even tried to take them to dinner before I had the ends woven in...  Unfortunately, it's made it a bit hard to take pictures, but I have lots of action photos!

I call this one "Portrait of a Gamer."  Mouth agape, yet eyes strangely focused...



My brother's also asked me to add some marker to distinguish between the right and left, but it'll probably be something simple, like a stripe across the top of each wrist.  I used Jen's surprisingly strechy bindoff (featured on Knitty).  It creates a ridge where you bind off, but my brother hasn't complained about it...



I love both pairs that I've made so far, enough that I'm considering a pair for myself too...  I just need to choose a color. ^.^  But for right now, I'm just happy my brother loves his new gloves!

- Cristy

Currently Watching: The Dog Whisperer - National Geographic Channel

Gamer Gloves

I started my brother's gloves a few days ago.  I'd meant to spend most of this week finishing my mother's scarf, but apparently, she gets Thursday and Friday off of work, so I couldn't really get to it...  But look!  A whole glove finished!



And it the proportions look monstrously off, it's because they are!  My brother has huge hands, but only wanted the fingers to come to the first knuckle because it interferes less with typing and video game controls.  My hand, in comparison:



I've started the matching pair, so hopefully I'll be finished by tonight or tomorrow!  Then, maybe more working on the Swirls Scarf or I'll start a new project I have planned.  It's something very new and pattern-less, so I can actually do a tutorial too ^.^  Oh, and recycled, so I'm even being green.

- Cristy

Currently Listening to: "The Spark of Ignition" -  Beautiful Sin

PS: Happy New Year!  I'm still working on resolutions...