Street Art Sundays

I love street art. It's inspiring and surprising. I love finding it in unexpected places or at times when I'm not even looking.

I've decided to do a little "series", if you will, on the blog. One piece of street art every sunday. My goal is to do it for at least all of September. I figure it will get me exploring my new neighborhood in an interesting way.

This one is from my street...

Going Green

It must seem as though I've abandoned this blog. But I like to think of it as just a long sabbatical. A lot has happened in my life. For one thing, I moved. This is exciting because now I've got my own craft room! It's a little porch that gets a lot of sunlight. Consider these the "before" shots because I plan to paint it & spruce it up a lot.


It's not much, but having any sort of space for my art is really exciting. I was also away in Africa for about 3 weeks which was an all around life changing experience. You can see my pictures from that trip on my flickr account. But for the trip I splurged on a new digital camera which should mean nicer photos on this blog too. For example...
I love this camera & it's made me want to play with photography more again.

In all of this busylifestuff, I had also taken a knitting sabbatical of about 2 months! TWO MONTHS!!! But, of course, once I picked it up again about a week ago I was instantly addicted again. I finished the Bonsai Tunic from Spring 2007 Interweave.
I used Karabella Yarn in Aurora "Green Leaf". It's a much heavier yarn then the pattern calls for, but it's what I had in the stash. Now it'll be a suitable layer for winter too. But I loved knitting this & I love the way it looks on. Our new kitty, Rosca, approves.
I've also become quickly addicted to Ravelry. It's like a way to fine tune your knitting addiction.

Anyway, now that things have settled down a bit, I hope to get this blog back in gear with tons of inspiration.

Lil bun

Two views of the same cute lil bun. I made this for a friend of mine who had a baby using the free download from wee wonderfuls.

I always love making dolls, but I never want to give them away. This is problematic, them being gifts and all. I'll have to make some dolls just for me.

This project also made me want to experiment with embroidery more. (You know, cuz I need another craft obsession) But I see a lot of potential for stencils with some embroidery accents.

A variety to share

I came across this post the other day which really spoke to a lot of my thoughts and feelings about owning the label "artist". It's way easier to say I'm a social worker, or at maximum for me to say "I used to be an art major". But it's something that I'm working on, because I really can not imagine my life with out art, so I should not be insecure about asserting it's prominence in my life.

In my quest to own being an artist, it's been vital to surround myself with people who nurture my artistic endeavors. Miles is definitely one of those people. I love when he comes to stay with me and we can bounce ideas off of each other & motivate each other. He finally lit a fire under my ass to finish some stencils that I've had laying around the house for, no joke, a year.

"Knitting is Love"
I am not completely satisfied with this piece yet. I think it still needs some fine tuning. But I had to share it because I loved the concept of it so much. It's from an original sketch I did.

I'm pretty happy with this giraffe too. It just needs a better spray. I'm envisioning it on skirts in the future I think.

"Frida"
This is the piece I've had laying around my house for a year. Or more accurately, two homes, since I've trudged it along. I've had it about 85% done for the majority of that time and then I just got sick of looking at it & decided it was going to come out bad anyway (hello self deprecation). It drove Miles nuts. So he finished the last bit, and voila! It's gorgeous!! What the hell was my problem? Now I think it will stand as a reminder for me of how much I hold myself back artistically because I can't own my talents.

I think those are the first stencils projects I've shared on this blog. I haven't been doing too many lately. But after spraying these, I've been re-inspired.

I also realized that I never posted about this fantastic shirt I refashioned. I got it from a dear friend at a clothing swap. It's just a plain ol' striped shirt that I was going to cut into strips & make fabric yarn out of.

(I can't believe I actually remembered to take a before picture)
This is what it became instead...

This is a not-so-great photo of what it is now. I really love it and these photos don't do it justice. I used the sleeves to make pockets too, because I am a firm believer that everything should have pockets.

Last, but not least, a new knitting project! I've been so bogged down with school, my internship, and doing fundraising so I can study abroad this summer that I've had zero time for knitting. Most of my crafting has been sewing, and only things that I think folks will buy. It's nice to be doing something more frivolous.
This little green thing has aspirations to one day become the bonsai tunic from Interweave. The yarn I'm using is a super soft wool blend, which isn't necessarily the ideal for a spring project. But it's what I have in the stash & I'm broke, so whatevs.

Geez, stenciling, sewing and knitting projects to show! I'm practically a Renaissance woman!

A lot in progress.

I've been waaaaay lax on the updates lately. That's mostly because I've had way more things in progress than I can keep up on!

In the knitting department....
Finished Jaywalkers!!! For those who are observant (or not completely blind) you might notice that the toes do not match in color. That's because, in true knittydigital fashion, I ran out of yarn. Not just any yarn. Yarn from my beloved, but now closed, local yarn shop. Yarn that is no longer being produced in this color variation. So what you see above was my attempt to substitute similar colors using Rowan 4ply cotton. Not the greatest, I know. But I don't care. I love them anyway.

Things have been quiet on the knitting front since the jaywalkers because I have been sewing like a MAD woman. I have been making various crafts & selling them to raise money to study abroad in Africa this summer. So far, I've tabled twice & these pictures are just a teeny portion of my first sale.

Tote bags,

Check book covers..

& fabric bracelets.

I've also been making small fabric pencil case/makeup type bags too. My sewing has really greatly improved. I learned how to put the zipper foot into my sewing machine & the iron has been used more than...well, ever. I'm making a whole big batch of more stuff for a fundraiser this week too, so hopefully I'll have even more pictures to share.

Putting myself out(side) & out(there)

I finished my Hedera socks! I love them so much that I braved the freezing temperatures to get some half decent photos of them..

Yarn: Rowan 4ply cotton in "Bloom"
Needles: size 1 bamboo dpns
Knit time: about two weeks. Once I got the pattern down, the second sock was a breeze.

I loved that these were a stashbuster too! Although I still have one ball left, I'm thinking it will go into making some striped socks at some point. I also love that these are cotton so I can put them in the wash. I have much respect for you fancy-hand-wash-yarn sock knitters. But I am not the one. That's too much maintenance for me.

In keeping with my recent sock kick (ha! get it?), the minute I finished this pair I felt a great sense of loss. So, I cast on some Jaywalkers.

Also, I'm thinking about participating in a "Craft Derby" this weekend. I really want to start putting some of my original work out there. I'm also needing to raise money big time for this summer. So I'm trying to spray some stencils (new & old) and do some sewing. But I'm also trying to be realistic about what I can get done in 3 days while still allotting time for school, sleep and eating. ::Sigh:: If only I could do nothing but craft.

And speaking of me trying to put my stuff out there, I realized today that on the 24th of this month, this blog is officially a year old. That's crazy. Time flies when you're having fun! Looking back at my entries though, I've mostly just shared things I've knit that were other people's patterns. And while I enjoy doing that, I think I have more in my repertoire to share. I've made a mental note to work on that.

sew what

I ran into my former sewing instructor this weekend, and when she asked me the inevitable "have you been sewing anything?" question, I hung my head in shame and mumbled something about my whole ridiculous pile of intended projects. It inspired me to get my butt in gear & do some of the small projects that have been on my "to do" list.

This long tubular thingy is a plastic grocery bag dispenser ala Dioramarama....

It's so simple, but genius. I made it with this vintage fabric that I scored in New Paltz. In hindsight, maybe that wasn't the best idea since I intend on making a skirt out of it too. And it's maybe a little weird to have a skirt that matches your grocery bag dispenser, but whatevs.

I also made this draft-keeper-outer (which I'm sure has a much more official name) for my friend Doc. It was just the perfect project to use the sock monkey faces on.

I also finished knitting one of my socks, which I will not bore you with. It's a bit anti-climactic to show one finished sock when you still have a whole other one to make.