Doing it wrong.

Class went very well, in spite of a pattern snafu. I really liked my student. She's a teenager (I said 'liked' and 'teenager' together???), but she's a pretty crafty gal and really wanted to learn. I hope she got a lot from the class.

Craft night went well too. Sent knitting needles home with a couple of people with some yarn, my friend A gave me some buttons she got off Etsy and they're perfect. I gave her some vinyl wall decal I got for being at JoAnn's on demo day. I was going to play with it myself, but I do NOT need more crafty hobbies. I'm apparently trying to limit myself to 50 or something.



In spite of my very busy weekend, I made a tiny bit of progress on the pattern I'm doing.



I picked up a scrap of synthetic leather for a future embroidery project.

I enjoyed this weekend, but I'm glad it's Monday. In spite of the fact that I have *some* work to do today (and all the laundry), at least I'm not in 500 directions at once.

I hope you guys had a good weekend.

Busy weekend begins.

All set to start classes at noon.

I also have 3.5 flowers done in the border for the Paris order. Not as far as I wanted to get, but I had other things to do. I'll work on it this evening.

Off to crash for a while and then head up to work.

A piece for Smac, and other current events.

Just got this thread in this week. Ordered it from Sublime Stitching. It's Glow-in-the-dark. I'll probably be writing a review on it once I get some time to work with it. I'm disappointed in how quickly the glow fades, though.

Why am I too busy? Atop everything else, there's this:



It looks like Garden Party...but there's way too much thread there. It's going to be much bigger than Garden Party, and completely reworked on the inside. This will be going with Valdani to London and Paris for some shows they'll be attending. I just have to stitch it up in time, which will be a task and a half. There will be pictures along the way, I'm sure.

In other news, I wrote a couple of articles that got published today. This one is on DIY 4th of July party invitations, and this one is about local knitting and craft events at my public library. If you're local, you might want to check them out. Especially the craft swap. Clear out the stash you won't use and make way for new!

I have some other stuff in various stages of completion as well. The mug warmer is almost done, I'm drafting a sugar skull pattern for embroidering on a bag, and I'd like to finish one of my custom orders this weekend or early next week.

I'm teaching quilting all weekend, and thankful to have the opportunity in this economy. I'm also hosting a stitch and bitch on Saturday night, so my weekend is going to be slightly crazy.

Obviously, this is the way I prefer it ;) Anyone else have crafty plans this weekend or should I just die of embarrassment now?

Micheal Jackson dead at 50

I can hardly believe it. Michael Jackson is dead. I wrote an article about his contribution to the independent crafts world as well as fashion and pop culture. It lists my sources for his death as well.

I have mixed feelings on the issue...but it's still sad.

Mmm, coffee.

I'm working on Knit Picks' Cabled Mug Cozy pattern right now, and it's cute so far.

I have time to work on this because:





I got those Men's Convertible Gloves done (another Knit Picks pattern). I love finally finishing patterns that were in my craft bowl. It's still overflowing (as usual) but not as badly.

Craft articles

I've put up some new articles, in case people are interested.



How to braid wool roving, with pictures! I've shrunk my stash so I now have room for more.

Free Cross Stitch Patterns, because we love them. I've tried to find quality patterns that're still free for this article.

Downloadable/printable cross stitch patterns from good designers who are embracing the internet age. Also, look for freebies from the designers/websites in this list.

Knit Picks Gloves, DPNs, Stitch Markers, and Other Accomplishments/Failures

Accomplishments the past few days:



Even though I used DPNs to hold my stitches, I still managed to finish 1.5 gloves. The pattern is from Knit Picks, it's the Men's Convertible Gloves pattern. Making them for a friend, and then I have to make another pair.



I am not a perfect knitter, but they say practice makes perfect? One glove complete, the other is almost complete.



I managed to take a picture today of my TUSAL jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long The best SAL ever, in that it involves saving your threads and other tiny needlework bits. You work on whatever you want and save the leftovers. Yeah, there's yarn in there. There are tiny shreds of quilting fabric in there too, because I can't follow instructions. I love this SAL. It's my favorite. You should join.

I cranked out a couple of articles for one site this weekend. One was even crafts related.

I also managed to get up to work to add some classes to my teaching schedule as well as pick up some supplies.



Wire. Oddly, all of this is for knitting. The wire, the fabric, the beads. How? The fabric is becoming a needle organizer to hold my DPNs, and the beads and wire are for stitch holders because if everyone else jumped off a bridge I'd do it too.

The problem here comes up in my list of:

Failures



I know NOTHING about beading. Beads in needlework? Oh sure. Beads on wire? I don't know wire. I don't know supplies or tools or the best way to thread things unless it pertains to needlework. After attempting to close these things 3 different ways I've admitted defeat and will now do what I was avoiding doing earlier. Find and read some instructions.

*sigh*

I also have no idea what this guy is supposed to be:





I am befuddled.

Another failure...2 partial socks started, 2 frogged. One is a Knit Picks pattern. The other, well I just knitted it on needles that were apparently too big so that's not a big deal. At least I did it correctly!



Pretty sock from Knit Picks pattern with Knit Picks yarn on Knit Picks needles...all frogged now. The other sock, I was halfway down the foot before I realized it needed to be frogged. :( I can't yet check 'make a pair of socks' off my list of goals.

In other failures, I took pictures for an article to write on storing wool roving but have yet to write the article, re-size them, and upload them.

Knitting socks, and Valdani threads.

My order from Knit Picks came today. I'm trying to learn to knit socks (shouldn't be too hard) so I can knock it off my list of 101 things to complete in 1,001 days. The color of the yarn is Peacock multi (sock yarn) and the brown yarn is for some Men's Convertible gloves (there'll be pictures of the pair I'm currently finishing up soon...this is yet another pair).

In an interesting twist of events (common around here), JoAnn's asked if I'd teach a class on how to knit socks that will start up this fall. You betcha?



Welcome to crash course crafting. My name is Rabid and I'll be your host for this roller coaster ride...

In other news, remember Garden Party? The free pattern is here. At any rate, I'm making a much bigger and more intricate one for Valdani to take overseas.

The color of the thread is the same, but the fabric is different and the design will be adapted considerably so it'll look different.



If you're interested, keep on coming back. I have to have it out of here by August so it'll be another mad dash to the finish line. Just how I like it.

Bias tape tutorial

Remember yesterday when I was trying to convince you it's easy to make bias tape?

I found a tutorial this morning.

I told you it's easy :D



Not hard, I promise. Plus...think of all the potential craft ideas you could come up with if you only had cute bias tape!

Knitting in public day, work edition.

I did indeed knit in public today. I also informed people that it was world wide knitting in public day. They didn't believe me.

Other things I brought to work today?





I made a tote for the Sewing 201 class at JoAnn's. It's surprisingly roomy. I'm not done with this tote, however. I have embroidery plans for it.

Atop the tote, I've been working on this quilted fruit placemat for quilting 101 for the past two days.





Stitches in the ditches...



Making your own bias tape is almost a requirement for quilting. Bias tape is available pre-made, but it doesn't match your quilt and makes it look blah. Most often, you'll be stuck making your own if you want a quality quilt. Fortunately, it's not nearly as hard as you'd think.



Little stitches on the backside...and they all look just the same. Bias tape is secured to the back of your quilt edging with stitches done by hand to prevent showing through the front.



Watermelon!

I think it's adorable.

I might just take a break from crafts this weekend before I start it all again next week. I think I've earned it? Jury's still out.

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Tomorrow I'll be demonstrating for the classes at JoAnn's Open House (get there for 50% off select classes and learn a new skill!) and I'll be knitting. Why? Because tomorrow is world wide knit in public day and you can bet I'll be KIP with the rest of the crazy crafters. How about you? Any plans for knitting in public tomorrow?

If you want more information about world wide knit in public day, visit their website and get busy!

As for me, I'm still making preparations for demonstrations tomorrow.



Hopefully I'll have at least THIS done and it can come with me tomorrow. HOPEFULLY I'll have more things done as well.



Something I'm working on so I can write an article. Of course, I'll only be able to complete this little project once my demonstration stuff is together/done. Ugh.

In good news though...



Tada! Got my business cards. Pretty nifty for free (plus shipping of course).

I'd say more but I HAVE to get this craft stuff done for tomorrow.

Bad Juju!

Meet Juju. He's a knitted amigarumi um...doll. Yes, that's it. A doll.

If you'd like to knit your own, knock yourself out.

For now, Juju and I have plans.

Florida

Update on the long-lost project. I'm almost done.

I actually call it Florida because I picked up the supplies on a trip there. Crafters know that when we settle in on vacation, we have to find the craft stores and pick up a souvenir that we have to make ourselves.



That's how much detail is around the edges. The squares that were blank before are now 'sunflowers'. That's what this window pattern is called.



With all that stitching around the edges (some of it was modified from the original pattern), I thought the middle looked pretty plain so I decided to spice it up a bit with a stitch I just learned called the plaited square stitch.

I marked out the base stitches, wove over them, wove around those stitches, removed the framing threads, and voila!



It's my first time with this stitch, so it's not perfect, but I really like it. It looks complex on the front, but if you look at the back...



...that's all that's holding the design in place! Pretty neat, huh?



I think it looks pretty small in the center though, so I'm going to come up with a curvy border that will look good there and cover up some of that fabric.

Oddly, when I picked up that colorway of floss (Carnival, by Caron Collection), I was told I'd never be able to find a fabric that would go with it.

What do you think? Did I manage it anyway? ;)

Now I'll have to get to felting that bag and finish up this Bad Juju. There will be pics.

Packages!

Look what came to my doorstep today.



Two packages! I have plans for these *rubs hands together*.

Problem is...these are supposed to go in the same pattern but they don't match.



I am not a happy camper. This design is on a deadline.

Mr. X Stitch

I made Mr. X Stitch's blog with those cakes. I'm always shocked when someone takes notice of something I've done. Check it out here if you like :)

I try to read Mr. X Stitch regularly as of late. Imagine my surprise to see something I recognized...

Projects in the works.

Knitting basket from Ravelry is ready for felting. This will be my first felted project.



This is how much yarn I have left over after completing the project. I spun it up myself. I'm not sure what to do with it, but I love it. The colorway is Endicott.



This is a whole MESS of craft stuff. Almost all of it is for classes I'll be teaching at JoAnn's, which you can read more about here. I'm deciding which one I'm going to be demonstrating at the open house on the 13th.

Local events

My local JoAnn's is having an open house this month, with 50% off select classes. Ever been to a class at JoAnn's? They have quite a few.

I'm dying to make the placemats.