Saturday, June 29, 2013

My heart beets for a good pun

**A quick administrative note! Just a reminder, as I'm sure you are all aware, Google Reader is shutting down on July 1st, so be sure to switch your subscriptions over to a new service.  Personally, I'm using Feedly - it has both an add-on for Firefox and a web-only version, and it has a one-click sync with Google Reader, so it will automatically import all your subscriptions and saved articles.  I think a lot of people also like Bloglovin, so you might also give that one a try if you haven't already picked a new reader.  That's all, happy reading!**

Ooh, a rare art project from me :)  I don't really do much in the way of classical art projects - I'm more crafty than artistic I guess. I made this little painting for N for his birthday this year.  We kind of have a thing about beets, we're even growing a whole trough of them!

I used a small spare piece of Bristol paper (it's like a nice cardstock) and these really cool pearlescent watercolors.  They give your illustration a nice shimmer at the right angle; I regret I couldn't really take a good picture of it.

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Sparkly Ruffle Scarf

Another knit project!

My mother saw this at some craft fair or something and got it in her head that I could totally make this.  At least I got a nice pair of bamboo knitting needles out of it?

It's just one ball of those popular sashay ruffle yarns or whatever brand it is that's the newest novelty yarn.  Honestly, it was a huge pain in the ass to work with.  You had to stop every three rows or so and stretch out the mesh some more, and I couldn't really find a good way to hold the yarn while I worked it.  And on top of all that, there was a damn break/knot in the middle of the ball.  Like the yarn had broken and then somebody just tied a big old knot to put it back together.  This really made things worse because the mesh can't be stretched out when there's a knot tying all the strands together.

Anyways, frustrations and complaints aside, it's kind of an interesting scarf.  Not something I would wear, but I could see how other people would be into it.  It's surprisingly heavy since it looks all light and floofy.

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Anyone else worked with cool/frustrating novelty yarns lately?

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Dust Bunny (or Fish bunny depending on how you look at it)

Ok, honestly, this pattern was kind of dumb.  I thought, "Oh! I'll just whip this up really quick. No problem. One hour, tops!" Nope, unfinished bunny parts rolled around in my bag for weeks, and I refused to sew the damn thing together.  I was mostly unmotivated by the fact that I thought it was ugly.  I don't even know what possessed me to make it in the first place.  It looks like a fish the way its paws stick out to the side!

This is another Voodoo Maggie pattern.  People probably generally enjoy the simplicity of the pattern, so it's probably not the pattern's fault.  It's really probably my fault for picking such a dull brown.

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See how much I disliked this? I couldn't even bother to take a clear picture..

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Cotton Fruit Coasters

When these popped up on Craftgawker, I loved it!  We stayed with some relatives on our state national parks trip, so I thought these would make the perfect host/hostess gifts!

I used cotton yarn instead of acrylic as noted in the original pattern since cotton is much more absorbent for sweaty drinks.  (Except for the pink of the watermelon since I didn't have any pink cotton yarn. And I regretted it greatly because I don't like the texture)

Get the free pattern over at Repeat Crafter Me!

A few notes on the patterns:

For the pear and apple, I added a pattern of [inc, 1 sc] around the circular part of the green edge so that the coaster would stay flatter.

For the orange and lemon, I actually embroidered lazy daisy-type chain stitches instead of doing surface slip stitching.

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Aren't these great little favors? And super quick to whip up!

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I find that the patterns really lend themselves to variation fairly well although these several fruits are really the most recognizable. 

Variations!:
-pink grapefruit from the lemon pattern (pink inside, yellow rind)
-kiwi with slight modifications to the lime pattern (green inside, brown outside, dark brown seeds)
-avocado (pear pattern, green inside, dark brown outside, light brown pit)

I think it could also be really cute to do a hamburger and make all the parts and stack 'em up with a little toothpick!

I think I'll make these variations (I've already mostly made the kiwi) for the next time I need little gifts.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Well do ya.. punk

Honestly, I've never watched this movie, and I feel that I should (Honestly, I also do not actually know the name of this movie...The Godfather? Is that right?).  Then I would understand what this is about.  Right now, I can only appreciate this as a really good piece of graffiti.  Just look at all those cut outs!

You know how some people consider themselves movie buffs?  I guess you could call me a movie un-buff?  I have never seen most of the classics or really any movies that were in vogue when I was growing up.  I mean, I just saw The Sound of Music a couple of months ago, on VHS!

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