Hello, stranger.

My my, it's been a long time. My first semester of grad school took up a whole lot of my time. Oh, I still crafted. But there was no time for a proper blogging about it.

I finished my 6 week sewing class. The projects I have to show for it seem kind of plain and minimal in comparison to all of the things I learned. I learned some great hand sewing techniques, which actually greatly improves my enjoyment of the task. (If I can manage to take better pictures, I'll share the techniques I learned for those interested) I learned a great deal about my machine & a whole lot about the magic & importance of prep work in sewing.

Our first project was a pillow & pillow cover. Simple, but enjoyable.

Then we did a lined tote bag. The end result is pretty nice actually, but I wasn't a fan of the project. It was a lot of work to get it to fit properly & I'm not enough of a fan of bags to justify that kind of work. But I must say, I still learned a lot & have a great appreciation for those that do make bags so well.

Our last project was a wrap skirt. And thanks to my fabric purchasing, I learned about the skill of making the most of a piece of fabric when you've bought juuuuuussst enough (but barely). It's a little big, but I love it anyway. And as silly as it sounds, my favorite thing about it is that it has pockets. I think everything should have pockets.

Note: you'll have to excuse my picture taking. You should know that I don't even own a full-length mirror. Thus, photos like this need to be taken in the laundry room of my building in quick spurts so as not to appear like a crazed ego maniac to the other tenents.

This is a better shot of the colors though...

...with my new boots, which by the way..ahem, also have pockets.

Of course there was also holiday crafting to be done. I started making fabric ornaments like the ones my mom made for our tree when I was a kid. I always liked those best. But for reasons I won't go into now, I didn't end up giving them to anyone this year. So instead they are going into the fund of christmas crafts for next year.

But I did make myself some fabulous soft trees for my apartment, using the pattern by Little Birds. I love everything this woman makes. They are so simple, but beautiful & gratifying.

I also knit my brother a cabled hat around thanksgiving, as modeled below by my nephew. It's the "Basic Cable" hat from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. You can't even really see it very well in the photo, but seriously..with a face this cute, who cares about a damn hat?!

knit this.

Some log cabin knitting (which seems to be all the rage these days):

It's quick & fun & is using up spare bits from a baby blanket.

A second attempt at making socks....using yarn I got at Rhinebeck.

And speaking of Rhinebeck, here's a blurry picture of some of my spoils.

Oh the things I shall knit!

I also started my sewing class. I was pretty darn sure of myself thinking I wouldn't really be learning anything at first since I've managed to make a thing or two on my sewing machine already. Turns out I wasn't threading it properly! Well, that explains why my bobbins weren't filling tightly.

I'm also learning how to do some cleaner techniques & finishing as well as the importance of doing the prep work (a lesson I so desperately need to learn). We're only making the insert to a pillow right now, so I don't have much in the way of photos to share. But needless to say, I'm still very excited about the possibilities this class has to offer.

An alarm keeps going off in my head that says I better start thinking about holiday gifts ASAP, but umm..I'm hitting the snooze button.

first cables!

I just finished this cable knit sweater & I absolutely love it. So excuse me while I gush about it a little bit.

Pattern: a modified version of Platinum, from Knit Scene Fall 2006
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8 in Rust color (just a little over 6 skeins)
Knit time: Done in about a week and a half (and during midterm week no less!)

I just loved knitting this! It was my first time knitting cables. I was rather intimidated by cables. I'm always intimidated by the idea of something & then find in actuality it's really manageable, & cables were no exception.

There are some imperfections on one side of my cabling, but I kept them in there cuz I loved the imperfections too. Plus, there is definitly one specific cable that commemorates my attempt to cable while watching an amazing CSI:Las Vegas episode directed by Tarantino. Geeky? yes, yes it is.

I also absolutely love this yarn. In case there was any impression otherwise, let me declare that I am no yarn snob. I picked it up because I loved the color, it was super soft, and on sale for $3 a skein. I had never even heard of Karabella yarn until Heather identified it for me. And now that I am so smitten with it, I discover that it usually retails for $8.50 for a 98yd skein! Yikes!! I don't know about you, but that's expensive for me. Now I shall be scouring sale bins with direct purpose.

It's really nice to feel good about the things you make. And I think I'm a bit addicted to recreating that feeling as well.

oh me oh my

Sooo, Rhineback sheep & wool festival was fantastic. It truly was an indulging of the senses. I got to go with two of my loves, Heather & Meaghan. We haven't hung out all together in almost 2 and a half years. So, that in it's self was a treat. But oh wait, my friends...there is more.

Like gorgeous foliage because the hudson valley was in it's prime..
And magnificent yarn that I was allowed, no encouraged, to fondle. (Yeah, I'm still bitter over that Italy experience) It was just tents and tents full of colorful yarns in varying textures..


and there were adorable angora bunnies, leading me to add "start a llama & angora bunny farm" on my to-do list...


and cutsey sheep...


and lots o llamas!

Oh, but it was so much more than that! It was delicious food! (Lamb ravioli, who knew?) And beautiful spinning wheels, and hundreds of people who make crafting & fiber arts a vital part of their lives, and cute fat headed babies wearing hand knits, and recognizing peoples sewing & knitting before realizing that I was looking at people whose blog I read. Ugh, it was just so damn good.

For the most part, I only allowed myself to buy yarn that I had specific projects in the near future for. I'm making that my stash goal. But I indulged in a tiny bit more than that too. I got some very soft and luxurious alpaca to knit myself a peak cap. And some sock yarn, because I'm determined to learn how to knit socks. And I got some merino wool in an amazing turqoise color to make myself the hot lava cardigan. I also got my self some rasberry colored merino, that I have no idea what i'm going to do with, but needed anyway. I was hoping to take some photos of all of this yarny goodness, but alas..I am back to my regularly scheduled program of interning & classes & not seeing very much daylight.

Besides living it up in Rhineback, I also taught myself how to cable knit one sleepless night.

It's a little wonky on the bottom left side. I figured out what I was doing wrong though. Maybe I should've gone back to fix it, but I wanted to keep it as a signature or something. Who knows, maybe it's just the novelty of accomplishing it & as I get better at it this sweater is going to annoy the hell out of me. But I'm willing to take that chance.

The final product from the pattern I am using it actually intended to look like this, but am extending the length. The color of my yarn is actually a rusty orange brown too. I'm just loving it. After only a little over a week I'm about 85% done & I can't wait till it's finished.

I'm also EXTREMELY excited about the 6-week sewing class I signed up for. It starts in the beginning of November. And I have a feeling you are going to see more from me in the way of sewing.

notions

These photos are rather blurry, but you get the general ideas. I'm starting to think it's a combination of a sucky digital camera & poor natural lighting in my apartment.
I finished the Ruby pattern pretty quickly. Then I tried it on and realized even quicker that I'm going to have to frog & redo the front. Even though this is a layered piece, it emphasizes my boobs waaaaayyy too much. I didn't think it would so much. It's just not my style.
I finally finally FINALLY finished the Pinwheel Baby Blanket. It feels like I've been working on it for a life time. It was a boring knit. In hindsight I would have used a yarn with variated color to make it more interesting. I didn't realize until I uploaded this photo that it has a stripe around it from when I used a skein from another dye lot. And all and all I'm just not all that crazy about it. I liked the idea of a round baby blanket, but now I just kinda feel like the baby is gonna be wrapped up like a burrito in it. But you know what? What's done is done. (Um, excuse the crankiness, people. It's midterm season.)
This little fella makes me feel more at ease with sending a baby blanket I'm not crazy about. Cuz the zebra is the other part of the gift and I just LOVE him. In fact, I'm having a bit of a tough time with the idea of parting with him.
Quick knit, stash buster, and a cute smile to boot! Made from Fiona McTague's Knitted Toys.
I think I need to make more toys in my crafting.

urban romance

I suspect that if you are reading this blog, you probably know me already. But, in the off chance you don't, I'll tell you something about me...

I have a deep deep love for street art. It's a serious romance. And I pretty much look for it wherever I go. Some of the best pieces are the ones that find you though.

This is a random little something I found in Italy & liked a whole lot for no particular reason. I think it might have been in Florence. It sounds strange but things like this renew me, especially when I start to feel weighted down by a city.
I saw a ton of other amazing graffitti when I was in Italy this summer. I didn't really get pictures of it though because I usually found the best stuff when I was on a moving train or speeding boat.

When I was in New Paltz this past weekend, I was standing around waiting & looked up to see a post-it note on the remains of a phone booth. It said something to the effect of.."It's perfectly okay to be lonely." It was definitly one of those things that finds you.

a resurfacing

Don't believe the rumors. I have not been swept up into the bermuda triangle. Nor have I run away with the circus. I'm not ruling out these opportunities to disappear, but maybe I'll hold off till spring at least. No, folks..I've just been....without internet. (insert collective gasp here)

Despite the lack of communication, classes & sifting through a sea of boxes, I have managed to craft. I even finally finished Diamonique!!! Albeit with some mistakes here & there. The most annoying of which is the front armholes. As was instructed for the back, I was supposed to knit on both the "wrong" & "right" sides so the armhole didn't curl & I neglected to do that. I'm the type of gal who needs to be reminded of such things once I get to a new section. Anyway, I had to go back & pick up stitches to do some minor ribbing. I'm hoping it won't stick out so much once I've layered clothing underneath it.
Now I'm working on the Saunshine pattern that came with the Diamonique pattern. I didn't initially have intentions of making it, but decided to in the interest of using some of my yarn stash. However, the problem with my stash is that I don't have enough of any type of yarn to complete a project. It's just a large assortment of one or two skeins of random things. So sometimes I end up collecting more yarn to be able to finish "stash busting" projects. It makes no kind of sense, I know. But I don't really want to have a stash! I really need to get in gear & have a craft swap.

Aside from that, I'm still working on a baby blanket which continues to be the bane of my existence. I also knit a stuffed zebra that I'm quite proud of, but I'll post pictures when I get around to giving her eyes. It will be soon though. For real, it will! Baby shower is next weekend so it's gotta be done.

I also recently attended the NYC Knit Out & Crochet. I had a great time, but the event itself was kinda...ehh. I think it always sits so warmly in my mind since it's an excuse to hang out with one of my close friends from college. Sitting on a park bench in NYC, knitting & catching up with Meg= awesome. Large yarn companies trying to give me advertisements for their overpriced yarns & books= eh..not so much. Plus, there's always the risk of getting trampled by a stampede of aggressive old ladies when they are giving out free stuff at a booth. But I must say, I did also see some cool stuff & learned intarsia knitting.

On another note, I took this random shot on the way out to school the other day because I realized I hade made most of what I was wearing. And I don't think I can really describe how amazing that feels. I knit that top, made that skirt out of a pair of old jeans, and sewed pieces of one of my favorite shirts to that canvas bag. Yay me!