A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

lacy crochet

I took my knitting on the road this weekend and came back with a big fat nothing. I was hoping to work on the beginner's ribbed scarf from SNB and thought I pretty much had purling down, but I spent 5 plus hours knitting and frogging the thing until I wanted to scream at my sweet husband. It turns out that the math involved in "knit 2, purl 2" was beyond me (this is why I was an English major) and, on top of that, I kept adding stitches and ending in knits instead of purls.... How in the world do you add extra stitches???

Since I don't actually have any progress to show, here's a peek at the book that's keeping me inspired past frustration. It's my first Japanese craft book and I love it. Especially since it cost me $15 instead of the usual $30 and no shipping. Oh, and it's in my native language--also a plus.

 

I realize this is crochet, but that's next on my list after I get a bit more knitting under my belt. Whoever finally decided to publish a Japanese craft book in English is a genius, I tell you.

pillows and a torture tool

A couple of new pillow covers I've just added to my Etsy shop.

I've got to come up with a better place for taking pictures. Have you seen Malka's amazing designs? Her fabrics and quilting are drop dead gorgeous but her photos make me want to redesign my entire house around one pillow.

The top pillow cover now reminds me of this bag, but I had almost forgotten about it. Actually, I woke up in the middle of the night with the idea to chop up this wonderful vintage Swedish dish towel/table cloth I had just found. This same person who hoards stacks of fabric and paper too pretty to cut into chopped up the thing without a second thought. And I'm glad I did. I really love how it turned out, but it doesn't go with a thing in my house. Plus, we might be getting close to the exceeding the appropriate number of pillows you can have without making your home look like a fluffy showroom. Not quite there, but almost.

Speaking of not quite there, but almost: behold my second completed knitting project. I call this one washcloth. Don't you love her? Beautiful (okay, I admit, that might be pushing it) and functional.

She made her appearance last week and has been caressed by every member of the family. No one seems to mind her less than perfect appearance or the fact that this is a freaking washcloth, people, that took me a week to make! I don't know how I'll ever be able to knit an actual sweater or blanket for another person. Unless I tie them down and make them watch the entire process (I'm picturing something like A Clockwork Orange here) so they know exactly how much hard work went into it. Even that, maybe I'd have to poke them in the eye with the knitting needle every few stitches so they can really feel how hard I worked. Sounds fair to me.

ta-daaa!

There she is! My first knitting project. Not exactly a FO (finished object), more like practice. But I like to call her: bookmark. Oh, yes. I am one proud momma and hardly even notice her imperfections--as a new momma should. When I gaze upon her, my eyes don't naturally go to the gaping hole in her middle, the sloppy stitches or the weird impromptu tied corner (It took me a bit to get the hang of binding off). Nope, I hardly even remember they're there.

I'm actually near finishing my second knitting project so I guess the old Stitch 'N Bitch is doing the job pretty well. My honey, who I mentioned was sweet enough to buy me the books, was initially turned off by the name, but then I showed him this project.

I might have mentioned something about wearing this when I knit. But, now, he's anxiously awaiting the development of my skills. The sweetheart! It is so good to have a man who encourages your interests.

more pillow love and a journal

You can now find these new pillows and a fabric art journal along with a few other things over in my Etsy shop. I hope you like them. I am crazy into the pillows right now and have several more in the works. These first two are complete pillows because they kind of developed on their own, but my future pillows will be removable covers only. I'm thinking this will keep the cost of the pillows and the shipping as low as possible. This way, if you want to recover a pillow you already own, you will only have to pay for the cover. I hate paying for things I already have plus, as you know, I'm all about simplicity. Here's a peek at the art journal which was featured in Stampington & Company's special publication Sew Somerset. Check out the Etsy listing for more pictures.

*ETA: Art journal is now SOLD. 

go ahead and say it.

Behold, my most recent purchases. I must be crazy to take up a new hobby when I don't have enough time to do a fraction of the things I'd like to do to keep up my current hobbies. When the to-do list overfloweth...take on something new, I like to say. I fell in love with this Japanese crochet book at the bookstore last week and couldn't leave it behind--it was the last one!!--even though I don't have a clue how to crochet. (Have you seen Vintage Crochet by Susan Cropper?? I got all geeky over it in Borders a few months ago but managed to make it out of the bookstore without spending retail on this beautiful--but useless, to me--book that I certainly didn't need. Now I wish I had splurged anyway.) I got all confused trying to figure out whether I should learn to knit or crochet first and which book to get, but since the husband was buying and I might not get this chance again for a while, I just closed my eyes, played eenie, meenie, minie, moe and walked out with these. So far so good. I'm trying the knitting first, but crochet will be hot on its heels I can tell you now. Actually, this is a perfect addition to my hobby repertoire. I hate to sit without something to do with my hands and love detailed oriented, repetitive projects that are more like puzzles to solve. Yikes, what a geek. But I'll be a knitting geek soon enough! Any tips for the newbie, please, or know any books that could help?

I did manage to finish up some pillows last week and thus justify my spending a wee bit. In a certain sense. Sort of.

These pillows are for the house but I'm working on some more for the shop which needs a good update. The bottom pillow is machine quilted inside the squares but hand quilted around the edges. Way too time consuming, but very enjoyable I have to say.

I have lots more to share, but my family needs to be fed at least once a day. I can't wait to show you more pillow love, so come back tomorrow, please!

colorful inspiration

I'm still working on my wip's, but here are a just few things that have been inspiring me lately.

1. Almofada birds in love, 2. Para acabar bem a semana..., 3. uma surpresa deliciosa!, 4. pegas, 5. in need of a rest!/a precisar de um descanso!, 6. manique - hot pot holder, 7. Removable Pocket, 8. wallet n.7/carteira n.7, 9. wallet n.7/carteira n.7, 10. small present/pequeno presente, 11. Pincushions, 12. around the world / á volta do mundo, 13. Pillow pair , 14. Birds Quilt, 15. Pillow pair , 16. Project