crocheting at knitting group
craft weekend in progress
I’m at another Get The Craft Out this weekend and working on a basket. It’s made out of recycled magazines and not quite as easy as I thought it would be.
I brought a few knitting and crochet projects that I haven’t even gotten out yet. Hoping I get a little better at this. Finished pic to come soon.
pink and gray granny stripe scarf
I’ve been wanting to try a granny stripe scarf for awhile. When a friend asked for donations for the United Way Helping Hands Auction, I decided to give it a whirl.
It goes by really fast and is as addicting as a square. My color scheme was inspired by the Two-Color Crochet Cowl over at the Purl Bee. Also, hot pink and gray were the colors for my high school class. (Pink and Gray! All the Way!)
This is also the first time I’ve used a hook with a handle. I’m not sure I like it. Any hook-with-handle lovers out there?
I took this picture last week and spent some time working on it at the craft retreat. I’m almost finished and will share post-blocking pics soon.
operation deconstruction
Making another nature bag. Forgot how much fun it is to take things apart.
Also, I’m excited to be sewing again. It’s been way too long.
sweet mending satisfaction
A friend sent me a photo of her daughter’s dress and asked the best way to fix it. She was either going to finish it on the machine or add ric rac to cover the frayed ends.
I told her to bring it over. There were a few dropped stitches that I fixed with a crochet hook. Then I hand-sewed the rest with matching thread and duplicate stitches.
It’s not perfect, but I have to admit that I was kind of impressed with my own work.
Does anyone else get this excited over mending? Please tell me I’m not the only one!
how to create silhouette clip art in 3 easy steps
When I was playing around with my TKD Girl idea, I grabbed an image off the Internet to mock up some ideas. Once I realized I was actually going to do something with it, I needed to create artwork of my own.
Making silhouettes isn’t hard. In fact, technology has made it much easier than when I first started my career in graphic design.
1. Find an image.
That used to mean heading to the library and photocopying something out of a book. Now you can just print something off of the Internet.
2. Trace the image.
I like to start with pencil. I trace around the important details while adding some of my own (see the long hair above). Then I outline the edges with a fine point sharpie and fill in the rest with a regular sharpie.
3. Scan and clean up the image.
Before programs like Illustrator, I used to fine tune my images with opaque paint. The elbow that looks awkward? Paint over it with white, let dry, try again with black. Now I just scan my drawing into the computer and edit the vector artwork.
The upside of silhouettes is that you don’t have to worry about details like drawing a face. Without the context of clothing, however, the shape might look lumpy in the wrong places. I had to fiddle around with the outline of TKD Girl’s jacket so her shoulders, elbow and waist looked more balanced and natural.
See? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Now go make some art!
green sunday
I know I slacked off on my Summer CSA posts. I should probably do a wrap-up of the second half, but after spending the day preserving greens, I need to talk about the Winter CSA.
It’s every two weeks. We’ve only had one pickup so far and boy did we get a lot of greens. Granted, the only “official” ones were in a bag of mixed greens, but we also got carrots, beets and radishes. All of those came with big bunches of leaves on top!
It’s not really pesto season anymore so I did a lot of blanching and freezing today. My fingernails might even be a little green. I ready for soup season to begin!
satin stitch: making a buttonhole smaller
A few years ago I found a really nice raincoat at a garage sale. It’s got a removable, quilted lining that makes it extra toasty on cold days.
I love everything about it except one thing: the buttons. They’re always popping out of the holes. I chalked it up to the fabric being slippery, but one day while I was complaining about them, my daughter said: Why don’t you just make the buttonholes smaller? Upon closer inspection, I realized they are bigger than necessary.
Smart kid!
I’m closing them up with a little bit of satin stitch on the side of the hole that will be hidden when buttoned. I’m ready for the cold, rainy autumn days ahead — if we ever get any.
kick like a girl
I’m working on some artwork for my daughter. We’ve talked about decorating her Tae Kwon Do tote bag. I figured an iron-on decal would be easiest. Thinking about a t-shirt, too.
scrappy crochet scarf 2 progress
