Garage Sales

One of my favorite things about spring is garage sales.  I love the hunt.  The thrill of finding something great.  The low prices.  The sustainability factor of finding use for something that  someone doesn't want any more.  That is right folks, garage saleing is green.  You should do it.

On Saturday I did my first garage saleing of the season.  I hit a big sale that a group of Peoria moms put on every year and then hit a few sales on the way home.  I just followed the signs. 

I got D lots of great stuff but what I am very excited for is what I found for me.

Pretty great, huh?

Do have have immediate use for spray Modge Podge or spray adhesive?  No, nut they are great crafting tools to have around and at $1 each the price was right.

I also got this great box with everything in side for $2
I love the box.
I love the thread.

And I love what was all under it....buttons!  That was a surprise when I got home.  I though it was just full of thread.  I love random buttons.  You never know when you'll need one.

Pretty successful garage saleing.

Do you go garage saleing?   Any good finds?

2 New Tricks

It was a good weekend for crafting.

On Saturday morning I took a class on beginning spinning at The Fiber Universe.  Melinda and Erin (the owners) are so nice.  Melinda got the spinning wheel all set up for me and had me practice each aprt of spinning and then I tried to put it all together.  I forgot to take pictures at the class but, this is what I made:

Spinning is hard.  I thought it would be a bit easier because all the spinning I have seen looks effortless.  Well it is effortless looking, because those spinners have practiced a lot.  A spinner has to do three things at once.  First the feet must trundle.  This means pressing the trundle or foot lever that makes the spinning will spin.  You have to have the wheel spin at the right speed.  I was really good at trundling fast, but not slow and slow was the required speed.  While your foot (or feet depending on how many levers your spinning wheel has) trundles, your left had holds tension so that the twists enter the roving (the unspun wool).

This is my roving:

So while the right hand is holding tension making sure proper twists are added to the yarn and making sure the yarn goes on the spindle, the right hand is roving, aka thinning out the roving, so that the yarn can be spun to the thickness you want.

This is a lot going on.  For a while I did the foot part, while Melinda did the hands.  Then we switched so I was doing the hands and she was doing the foot part.  Then, I put it together.  It took the entire two hour class for me to make a wee bit of yarn.  I have a lot more roving left and Melinda was nice enough to say I can come in the shop and use the spinning wheel whenever.

Leaving The Fiber Universe on Saturday, I thought I'd never want to take up spinning.  It was a bit difficult and requiring too many hours to master at this stage in my life (I do have a three-year-old daughter, husband, dogs, other family, running and reading to think about, let alone knitting and other crafts).  However, since then, I have thought more and more about spinning, excited for the challenge.  I even looked at spinning wheels online today.  They are pretty expensive compared to my other crafting supplies.  Melinda said that a beginner wheel would cost between $200-400, but I would get one used cheaper, if I find a seller.  I am not in the market right now, but if one happened to cross my path in the right condition and price, I may become a spinning wheel owner.

I also found out that Sleeping Beauty could never have pricked her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel and die because spinning wheels spindles do not have a point.  Melinda told me the whole history.  I am so crushed.

Ok, so I have a second trick.  Also on Saturday I decided to learn to do cables without a cable needle.  I was going on a several hour car ride on Sunday and I figured it would be best to knit in the car without a cable needle.  One less thing to loose, right?  So I watched this video:

Its shocking, right?  Taking stitches off the needles, oh my.  But really after the first few attempts, it goes quite easy.  This method only for cabling a few stitches, three at the most, I would say.  It has been great to cable away without a cable needle.  It is so much faster and less cumbersome.

This is what I am cabling:

There is a lot of cabling going on so it was almost a necessity I learned to go at it without a cabling needle.

This scarf is a Christmas present so I have to get a move on it.  I might have to finish season 3 of Doctor Who to get this finished up in time.

Handmade Gift Exchange Fall 2011

A wonderful little blog called Craftaholics Anonymous puts on an event called Handmade Gift Exchange

I decided to participate this year.  My partner was Kristin from My Junk Drawer.

I send her a crocheted scarf and three dishcloths.  You may remember the dishcloths from my post about  Christmas Cloths (Set 2).  I forgot however to take photos of the scarf before I sent it out.  I love the scarf pattern I used.  It is one of my favorites to crochet.  Here is one of my other scarves using that pattern:

 

It is lacy and airy and that is why I picked that pattern because Kristen lives in California.  She told me she loves scarves and the color green so I made her a green scarf with this yarn:

 

Everyone likes a little sparkle right?

In exchange, Kristen sent me this:

A sign for my craft books shelf and a pin for my coat.  I love them.

She emailed me last week saying her son had colored all over what she had made me.  I know her pain.  My daughter has left her mark on more than one of my crafts.  I like these substitutes, but I probably would have enjoyed anything she made.

I know there is another exchange in the summer and I will definitely participate again.

Made the Leap

Last night I made the leap, I went to open knitting night at The Fiber Universe.  Why is this so exciting?  Well I have never gone to knit with a group since I moved to Peoria two years ago. I joined a Meet-up knitting group (Knitorious) a long time ago and have never attend an actual meet-up session even through I could walk to the meeting spot from my house and I'll admit, I never went because I was scared to try something new in a new place with new people.  In Nashville, I had a steady lunch date to knit with some pretty wonderful ladies, and I even attended a Knit in Public event.  Since moving to Peoria, my knitting has been home bound with a few trips to knit in vehicles (obviously while I did not drive) or a bit on my lunch break at work.  I have had difficulty making friends and joining in on new situations in Peoria, so this really was a  leap for me, I was so nervous.

Knitting night was great because I got to talk to other people who love yarncrafting as much as me, or more.  There were definitely a few who loved it more, a level I aspire to.  I even recognized two ladies from my visit to the grand opening of the LYS. I remember helping them pick out the colors for a hat.  I did not remember their faces, but I remembered the hat pattern and the yarn selection.  I loved the comradely of different people, all at different levels of skill and knowledge of knitting or crocheting, sharing and working together, but all at their own pace and own project.  I hope I can go again in two weeks (I figure they will be closed for Turkey Day).

I worked merrily on another one of these:

I finished my first mitten on Wednesday night, so I started my second mitten on Thursday for knit night.  This first mitten is a bit wonky.  It does not fit my daughter and the stitches are uneven, but it was my first try at a mitten and I am happy with it. 

I am starting to rely on my pattern reading ability and not watching online videos. I am trying to build confidence and hey, it worked: I made a mitten.  It is totally recognizable as a mitten too, not something someone would have to say "It's wonderful...what is it?"  Definitely a mitten.

Now that I have this first one out of the way, I am making my first mitten again (the one I started a knit night).  I hope that is fits my daughter this time around.  She is just happy that it is her favorite color, but I'm striving for a bit more. I am watching the mitten length closely this time and maybe adding a bit more length to the finger tips.  She is a 95 percentile (or higher) sort of toddler, so her hands are not normal toddler hand sized.

Maybe I can finish the new pair up by the end of the weekend?  We'll see.  My husband says we have a lot to do around the house this weekend.  He is right, I just didn't know we were going to do anything about it.

Swapping with Whoopdwhoop

I am a crafter and I love to make things, but I am adverse to selling them.   I have a lot of friends and family that take my items for free, but mostly, I don't think I make things in selling quality.  It just seems like an unattainable level of quality.  I am a pretty good knitter and crocheter, but something about selling my items puts me beyond my comfort zone.  So, instead I swap. 

I follow a lot of crafting blogs for inspiration and free patterns/tutorials.  I am a firm believer that my crafting shouldn't cost too much, but I do spend quite a bit on yarn in a year.  Anyway, one blog pointed me to Whoopdwhoop the "currency free marketplace."  Basically you make stuff then add your creations to the market.  You earn "whoops" as currency for adding items and for "selling:" items to other whoopers for their whoops.  Get it?

I joined a several months ago in May and got regular requests for items.  Then I haven't received a single swap request in three months until last week.  Last week I got one full request and two future requests if I can make my creations just a bit bigger.  Then today, I got another swap request for a pair of earrings.  I wonder if people are starting to think about Christmas gifts. 

So I set out to make my swap from last week.  It is a cute crocheted butterfly hat.  Seen here modeled by my niece just after her first round of chemo this past spring.

 

For some reason it was super easy to make this first hat for my niece, but I had to make four hats this weekend just to get the hat to be about the right size for a toddler for my swapper.  I tried different yarns and hooks.  I kept playing with my gauge, but the pattern doesn't have a gauge; I was just hoping it would turn out.  Something was always wrong so, for my final attempt I used the exact yarn as I made this hat out of  (had to go shopping, I was trying to make it from yarn I already owned) and the exact same hook.  Well, the small shopping trip paid off and the hat finally turned out right and I sent it out to California.

My next trick with this pattern is to make it adult sized so I can fulfill another possible request.  I just like that people like what I have made.  I love making things.

Now I have a pretty good bank of whoops and I can go shopping and get something I want.

If you are on Whoopdwhoop, check me out: http://whoopdwhoop.com/profile/view/u.id/1553/n/michelle523

My "Craftiness"

My life tends to go in obsessive cycles.  I will read, read and read until I stop.  Then I make stuff until I stop and go back to reading.  I am not one to sit still.  Even when I am sitting "still"  I am moving.  I have that horrible leg shake.  My husband is always getting on my case because I rock the dining room table or couch or where ever I am with my leg.

To better help me sit "still"  I knit, crochet, make cards, sew, scrapbook, make jewelry and try my hand at other fun crafty things I see on Pinterest and other places.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I've made a few things this year.

I am high strung and I need lots of things to keep me busy.  Crafting helps me sit "still" otherwise I am not sure how long I could sit.  Could I watch a whole movie without knitting?  In a theatre yes, at home no way; not without something else to do.  I think I inherited this trait from my mother.  Time will tell if I have passed the gene on but all signs are pointing to yes at this point.  

Besides the fact the knitting and crocheting (main hobbies) make me sit, they also provide wonderful handmade gifts and a wonderful stress release.  A study by Harvard University shows that knitting has similar stress reducing abilities like yoga and meditation (check out Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Links Between Knitting, Spirituality, and Creativity).  

Knitting is also great for lunch breaks because most of my projects are portable, small and easy,  with easy to remember or follow patterns.

I will be forever indebted to my mom for teaching me to crochet and instilling a love of crafting.  I am also indebted to Molly, who taught me and several other librarians how to knit one lovely spring day.  I haven't be able to stop since.