Caffie Crafts

Quilting Inspiration

2012-02-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

I really don't want to make another quilt, but these might make me change my mind.

via Modern Quilt Guild

Photos for the Web

2012-02-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

You really don't need any special equipment to take photos for web pages, especially if the pictures are taken fairly close to the object. All you really need is a digital camera, a neutral background, and photo editing software.
For example, I took this photo with my iPhone in a coffee house with just regular lighting on a sheet of paper:

And here is the same photo with a few adjustments to the levels in PhotoShop (I also resized and cropped the photo):

Noro Silk Garden, color 269

2012-01-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

Now I've seen this colorway twice today, and I love it in both projects. This may be the most muted colorway that Noro makes, but it's gorgeous! However, it seems to be discontinued! There is a similar colorway in Kureyon that would work in the patterns.

First pattern: Deille by Mathew Gnagy in Knitting of the Axis. This lace cardigan is knit sideways so that the striping occurs vertically. The subtle monochromatic colors work nicely and don't stand out too much.

Second pattern: Oyster Mittens by Rebecca of "Dolies are Stylish" -- They do look like the pearly inside of an oyster shell or the oyster itself.

I'm Still Crafting!

2012-01-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been missing from this blog for awhile...there haven't been many finished projects, while there are a few in progress. Under the "Finished" heading: a pair of slippers for my friend Marnie. She mentioned the "corn cob" slippers her grandma used to knit, so I resolved to find a pattern and make her some.

I used Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Washable Ewe in Clover and Duckling. My original plan was to knit a pair of slippers that looked like corn cobs. But the pattern recommended holding two strands of worsted weight yarn together (and it did make a nicer fabric). The pattern I used was Aunt Maggie's Slippers by Beverly A. Qualheim. (Links are to the Ravelry information.)

Heels and Toes

2011-11-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today I spent some time learning some new techniques for knitting sock heels and toes. Donna Druchunas has spent quite a lot of time researching knitting traditions in Lithuania. I can't wait for her book! I learned tons and have some samples to photograph and post. But I'm worn out...commuting is hard work.

Haute Knits

2011-10-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

Showing up in fashion, knitters know how easy these would be to create...if you wanted to.

via Outsapop Trashion

Beer Squirrels

2011-10-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make these for awhile, but I hadn't gotten around to trying to make a pattern. Fortunately, Jessica Correa did the work for me. Using her free pattern on Ravelry, I got started with these little fellows. They need to be washable, so I used Red Heart "Soft" in Toast and Red Heart "Fur Sure" in Camel. (I don't expect them to go through the washing machine, though.)

D&J Hobby in Campbell used to be my go-to store for googly eyes, but while I found 8mm sew on eyes, they are really phasing out the craft side of the store and moving towards radio controlled models. Affordable Treasures in Los Gatos is a good source, or I may just have to buy online.

About the squirrels, I made four so that you can have a few friends over for drinks, and everyone gets a cozy. There is plenty of the body yarn left over, there's almost 200 yards in a ball. I used small amounts of Cascade 220 Superwash for teeth and tongues.

There were lots of fiddly bits to knit. I knit the ears, teeth, and tongues directly on the body, but knitted the arms and tails separately, then sewed on. The pattern calls for a few different needle sizes, but I used just two: US 7 for everything except the tails, and US 13 for the tails (the long pile of the "Fur Sure" made it very difficult to use anything smaller).

Squirrel Beer Cozies

More Photos of the Hammock Quilt

2011-10-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, although the weather is cooperative, the hammock is put away for another year. But the hammock quilt is ready! Final dimensions: 54" x 56" [approximately].

It seems like there was a majority of the middle aqua tones. This is mostly random; I did "cheat" and try to mix up the colors and prints in each long strip. But I just stitched the long strips together willy-nilly. Here's a close up of the mix of patterns and colors, which shows off the wrinkles in high relief.

And here's a shot of the back. Yes, the strips are crooked. They are just applied to the surface of the darker fabric. I am super-lazy! Anything worth doing is worth doing fast just to get it done. I really rushed on cutting and sewing the backing. It was the home stretch and I could see the finish line.

I'm debating quilting along the long strips. And then would I use the light aqua thread or coral thread? Or a mixture? See, it gets all difficult.

Beer Squirrels

2011-10-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

They're coming along nicely! Currently they all have bodies and ears. Now for tongues and teeth, then tails and eyes.

Four Squirrels, one still without ears, one modeling on the bottle

Aha!

2011-10-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

It was 2009 when I bought the jelly roll. Quilting takes a lot of time and space. I can see the attraction of mini quilts. You get to play with color and pattern, but it doesn't take as much space. Perhaps I will try that.

Thoughts on the Hammock Quilt

2011-10-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

I don't even want to think about when I picked out the jelly roll for this quilt. I'm going to say it was 2009, but it might have been 2008. I chose a pattern for it and started cutting the strips to size. Then a year passed...

via Amy Butler

I put the strips in order of color value, light to dark, so that each band of the quilt would at least have the same number of light and darker pieces. I didn't want to end up with a bunch of one value or pattern left at the end.
Putting the pieces together into long bands didn't take too long once I got started. Then I needed to press the seams, and that took some time to get around to. More months passed...
The seams were pressed, and then I needed to figure out how to arrange the long bands. I tried laying them out, but I didn't have enough room anywhere to really tell how it would look. My next strategy was to bravely sew the bands together randomly. That also went quickly, but then more pressing was required.

detail of my hammock quilt top

Originally, I had thought about using a small duvet from IKEA for the batting and an IKEA sheet for the backing. The small duvet worked, but none of the colors for the sheets worked with the fabrics. By now, the whole jelly roll fabric line was discontinued. So I took some extra strips to the fabric store to find something for the backing. I found two watery prints that worked, so I could piece them together along with some of the leftover bits of the jelly roll to tie the front and back together.

The pattern calls for making a kind of "sandwich" of the front, back, and batting. I wasn't sure about this...I thought that it might look better with binding. But I didn't want to make my own binding and none of the colors of pre-made binding worked with the jelly roll fabrics, so I went ahead with the "sandwich." Now I'm stuck at the point of top-stitching around the edges and closing the hole I used to turn the quilt.

And I need to figure out if I want to quilt it or not, and if I quilt it, what pattern? Decisions! Choices!

Quilting + Friends & Family Sale

2011-09-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

Chronicle Books has the perfect book for those who are addicted to Jelly Rolls, etc. but don't know what they want to make out of them. Little Bits Quilting Bee has lots of great ideas and inspiring photos. Plus, Chronicle Books is in the midst of a Friends & Family sale, so take a peek and get inspired!

via Chronicle Books

It's Knitting Time!

2011-09-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

New BrooklynTweed Look Book is out. And I want to knit them all...but Bedford is a favorite.

via Brooklyn Tweed

Thoughts on Creativity

2011-09-12T19:30:00.001-07:00

Read and consider...

Quilt Thoughts

2011-09-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

Maybe I will make the quilt without binding...It doesn't call for binding, but I thought it looked a bit unfinished. I picked out some binding, but I'm not completely happy with it. And then I saw this tutorial, and if I stitch along the edges real close...maybe that will work.

Wrapping Up Summer

2011-09-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ha, ha! Summer probably has a ways to go, but I did finish a cape/shawl out of Cascade Sierra to help with the transition to cooler days. I picked up this yarn at commuknity in San Jose. These were end lots or discontinued colors of Sierra, so there were only single skeins available. I tried a striped version of the Kauai wrap, but I had trouble getting the carries up the side to look neat. And while I liked the way the colors looked together, there wasn't much contrast.

Using the pattern for Colonnade modified for the lighter weight yarn, I am please with the way it turned out, but the contrast between colors is certainly right out there! I found the perfect button at Green Planet Yarn. They have a great selection of tagua nut buttons in a wide variety of colors. I found one to match the Bermuda Blue and one to match the Waterlily yarn. I ended up using the first button as a fastener.

Button Love

2011-08-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

I believe how close these buttons match the color of the yarn! And I didn't bring the shawl with me to the store! Found these tagua nut buttons at Green Planet Yarn (they have some other wonderful buttons, not to mention yarns).

I still need to weave in the ends and figure out where to put the button. And block the shawl thoroughly, but you can see where it's going.

After Pressing

2011-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a freshly pressed seam...now I need to make the binding/border for the top and sew it on. Currently the top measures 52" x 54". I really need to win this.

Before Blocking

2011-08-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

But after knitting! This project was just what I was looking for. I was thinking of knitting another Citron but that wasn't exactly right for these yarns. When I saw the sample was made out of yarns similar in color to what I had, I knew it was the one. Now I just need to block it.

Wonder if I have time to go to Petaluma this weekend...

2011-08-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Craftaluma - How the Craft was Won

As Promised...

2011-08-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Photo of the pool sign with resin coating:

This shows a glossy reflection in the upper left corner of the sign. It also shows a concerning "stain." The paint seems to be discolored in the middle of the sign. I think it's the white paint, but I don't know why it looks like it is dissolving...UV rays?

Hammock Quilt Progress

2011-08-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

All of the strips are now sewn together! I did this completely randomly. And without really being careful about the seams or using pins. I'm not a quilter. :-)

Now I need to press the seams open and check to make sure that I didn't catch any of the cross-seams in the stitching.

It's great to see progress! I may work slowly, but if I like the project I'll eventually finish it.

Summer Poncho

2011-08-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Finished! This used up most of the Ella Rae Shibu -- I have part of a ball left. The garter stitch is very stretchy, and so I didn't use all of the yardage required although I did complete more repeats of the pattern than written.

New Obsession

2011-08-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

After working on an outdoor sign this weekend, I'm in love with resin! Well, it has a beautiful, thick, glossy finish, but it is soooo bad for the environment. So, my love affair will be secret and/or brief. For awhile there I was thinking of putting resin on anything that didn't move. :-)

Tips:

Put the finish on when the project is new. The sign has been outdoors for 5 years and has some sun and water damage.
Use enough resin to get an even finish. I skimped a bit (since I wasn't sure how much to get) and there are some low spots.
Get all your tools together -- gloves, safety glasses, mask, stirring stick, pail large enough to mix resin and hardener, and a foam brush. And maybe an extra set of hands. It would have been nice to scrape out the pail to get every last drop.

Photos to follow later...

On the Needles...

2011-07-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Currently I have 3 active projects on the needles:

Blue silk poncho
Hemp/Wool "cocoon"
Pink poncho for Jennifer

In addition to trying to clear my bookshelves of unread books, I'm trying to clear out my yarn stash, and it is Jennifer's b-day. I also have my "scrapbooking" knitting project that is another attempt to make something out of old yarn -- the French Scarf.

Below are the blue silk poncho and the French scarf in progress: