Saturday, August 28, 2010

Been cooking up something new


and no, I won't talk about the perch fish filets we had for dinner, either, I seldom do food posts, even though I do love to eat, just not make a big fuzz about cooking in general.

While I will always make hats, I was looking for a creative outlet that would not involve crocheting, so, I came up with knitting. I have been drawn to large acrylic needles and structured yarns, and if you crochet you know that loopy, knotty, boucles and highly structured yarns don't lend themselves very well to crocheting, unless you like to torture yourself.

But knitted with a simple garter stitch, these yarns come out alive and interesting.
And the trimming can be done in crochet as alternative to generic fringes.

And with my pictures I am entering the full size mannequin era, I am just not into modeling everything myself when the design calls for arms and shoulders.

Have a great Sunday and blessed be!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

My summer working space

has been outside on our patio.
Crocheting is so much fun, you can just take it anywhere you go, no heavy machines, no electricity.
Natural sunlight is balm for strained eyes, especially when working with dark yarns.
My 70s owl wall hanging is functioning as sun blocker until we find fitting awnings.
Another cool find at the local thrift store, talking about memory lanes:)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Memory Lane -- 1970s

Growing up in the 1970s...a teen without a cell phone, in fact we didn't even have a land line. I went to the public phone booth to call my friends.
Embroidered blouses,  plateau shoes that made you trip over while crossing the street. Picking up the first feminist magazines at the newsstands. Dance-clubs were called "Discotheques" and you wouldn't know if a guy or a girl was walking in front of you until they turned around. It was hip to be political interested, preferably in the left wing. "Spiegel" was the weekly mag to read, besides "Bravo", the teen magazine of its time which introduced sexual education on a broad basis.
Hitch-hiking and shrinking jeans in the bath tub. A priceless decade to be young.



The music was as versatile as 10 years passed between the mod 60s and the pop 80s:


Monday, August 9, 2010

New tools are like new toys

Snatched up on Ebay from this talented woodcrafter:
njmresearch
who doesn't have anything for sale at this time. But check him out if you like handcrafted fiber tools.
As a craft biz woman in a small town I would be lost without Ebay, having the world's products right at my finger tips. It seems like people who have access to a large selection in big cities are the ones who tend to being a bit snobbish when it comes to Ebay. For many of us, it's Ebay, Etsy and other internet sources if we don't want to settle with our local Walmart:)  (And thank goodness for thrift stores with their eclectic wares!!!)


Shawl stick and crochet hook caddy:


 







 














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Rosewood handmade circular knitting needles