Some of you may have been wondering why my posts have been few (er) and far (ther) between lately. Well, if you're a friend on flickr or facebook you already know the big news but I wanted to share it here as well.
Here's my latest WIP - KnittyGrittyBaby.
Estimated completion date - May 23, 2010!
Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating! My favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving Day/Day after Thanksgiving is to make things! I love getting cozy at home with my yarn, fabric, fiber and lots of pumpkin pie and make all sorts of Holiday crafts.
I wanted to share this free fabric styrofoam ball pattern with you - this is something I love making, just can't make enough of them and it's easy enough to make with family (even my hubby gets in the mix and makes a few!) You can use different colors of fabric for a harvest or holiday theme. They can be used in the tree as ornaments by stringing ribbon in the bottom, hang them in windows, set along the mantle or placed in a bowl as table decoration. Lots of lovely ways to use them!
Details behind the cut....
Supplies are easy, most of them you'll probably already have around the house. You'll need -
Start by cutting your fabric in 2 inch strips as shown above.
After you've cut the strips, cut each strip into 2 inch widths so you end up with 2x2inch squares
You'll have a nice pretty stack of squares!
Now, pull up a chair, put on a movie and let's get pinning! Start by pinning a square of fabric to the top of the styrofoam ball on each of the four corners.
Now, you're going to learn how to fold the fabric squares. Start by folding the fabric in half.
Next, fold the fabric in half again and hold it as shown above. The open edge should be on the right and the bottom. The top left corner should have the point. (click to zoom in if you need to see it closer)
Now, pin. Place the fabric on the ball covering part of the fabric square you already have. Pin just the left hand corner with the finished point pointing up
Now, pin the second one. You'll place a pin on the left hand side of the second square effectively pinning both sides of the first square, and the left side of the second.
You continue doing this around and around and finish the first round.
Start a second round slightly offset from the first and continue on your way, round after round.
Continue along to the bottom. As the ball gets smaller, make the fabric squares closer and closer together. When you get to the bottom, finish it as shown above. A few squares stacked on top of eachother to create a finishing touch.
Voila! You've made a fabric ball! Gorgeous!
Here's a sampling of the latest balls I've completed. Note how the changes in fabric completely change the look and feel. Large scale prints, sparkly, leaves, trees and more. Each one is unique and gorgeous!
Careful! It's hard to make just one!
Happy Crafting All!
You may have remembered this little handspun granny square... Lightning finally struck and I knew what it wanted to be- a pillow!
I used a 1/2yd of Kaffe fabric for the background and backing. Using my sewing machine and the walking foot I sewed the square into place first, then I constructed the rest of the pillow. This made the crocheted part sewn twice, to create a more sturdy pillow that wouldn't fall apart.
I'm calling this pillow "In the Garden" because the handspun looks like roses or tulips (the colorway is a Spunky club colorway called Tulips) and the green background with various shades looks like flowers.
Each step of this pillow creation was taken with care - It was handspun from hand-dyed fiber, hand crocheted and then sewn. It's a great way to use up small bits of fiber (this project took 4 ounces and approx 270 yards). The handspun creates a extra soft, lofty surface on the pillow that just makes you want to put your head down on it.
I'm thrilled with the way it turned out, and I'm planning another pillow project like this now!
I need a new hobby like I need a hole in the head most likely but yet I couldn't resist! As a early birthday gift (I'm turning 30 in october! the big 3-0!) hubby ordered me something I had been wanting for a very long time
A Flip loom! A 20 inch flip loom to be exact, with 8,10 and 12 dent heddles. I immediately tried to figure out the warping instructions.
And before I knew it, I had started a scarf (in blue moon bella coola STR Mediumweight). A few evenings work and it's done! My yarn better start hiding, I'm starting to eye everything in my stash as a potential weaving project. Nothing will be safe for long!
I just sent this to typepad about the new comment options on typepad. Norma has said it better than I could, but I had to send my two cents in.
Comment Options on New Typepad
Hi - I'm running into a comment issue on the new version of typepad. The main one that I'm sure you're already aware of is that the new commenting platform will no longer allow me to respond directly by email to the person who has left the comment. Responding, by default will post my response to the blog.
Now, I know on certain blogs, people like this, they want to encourage a conversation. However, this is not true across all blogs. Craft blogs especially have a closer community of interaction that involves responding to each email individually with personal notes and comments.
Please strongly consider adding a option to format comments that are delivered to us via email. Those that want the general respond option can have it. The rest of us should have the ability to leave it the way it was. I'm a software developer and project manager by trade, the level of effort to implement such a function would be low and easy and yield great margins in customer satisfaction. I've run across too many blogs to count lately up in arms about your change.
I have to be honest, the reason I switched to typepad years ago was its comment functionality and ease of use. If as a company you are making the conscious decision to make such a radical change without consideration for your user base, this platform no longer provides value for me and I will have to strongly consider moving elsewhere.
The second issue I've noticed that is more of a bug than a feature issue is that your comment notification emails no longer include the person's URL. Now that they've been re-formatted that piece of information is missing. The only way I know if they have a URL to visit is to click through to the comment they left and click from there. Please let me know when this bug is resolved.
Thank you,
Kmckiernan
Anyhow! I'm hoping to get caught up on blog comments this weekend, but in the meantime I wanted to share some more home renovations with you while I'm on a finishing kick. Can't waste a good finishing kick! =)
Here you have a before photo of my living room (from the house listing site) - a little outdated, and in need of some personality.
Dig those copper blinds and gold fan!
I had originally planned to tear down the picture framed white molding on the walls. Sadly it was hot glued on and removing it was tearing major holes in the wall. Rather than have to patch and texturize the whole thing to match the existing walls, I decided to make it work for me.
I used the same high gloss white I used before to paint the molding by hand, then painted the walls that same gorgeous silvery grey I use throughout the house (the colorway "quill" from olympia paint I buy at lowe's. gorgeous color!). The finishing work on this room was brutal, all the little edges and details it took me about 12 hours of painting (and 3 coats for coverage) over the weekend.
A new light fixture, some spray painted silver plug covers (I'll tell you how I do that later), hung some curtains, rearranged furniture and done!
The only thing left in that room is to decide what to do with the fireplace and installing the white plantation blinds in the window. I pulled the mantle off to paint it and I'm sorely tempted to rip out the cheapie ceramic tile on the fireplace surround and re-tile it myself with something that matches. The cost on that project would be minimal but oh so time intensive. I'll keep debating with myself. Anyone have any opinions?
Total cost of this room was a little more than the last one... $382. The fan was $130, and the other big costs are the blinds at $80 apiece for the large ones (2 large windows) and 2 smaller windows at $28 apiece making up a large part of the cost of this room. Anything's better than those ugly copper blinds and old fan though! =)
I love checklists and checking off rooms as they are done. Check check! On to the next room....
I spent my Labor Day weekend, well, laboring as usual. All my free time is spent working on the house and we're making great progress. I'm so thrilled with one of the latest projects we just finished on a budget I just couldn't wait to share!
Before.... a ugly, dark den/office (photos from the house listing, not my stuff) =)
Many, many coats of paint later in a high gloss white, some new painted walls and a lot of caulk we have a beautiful finished built in book case....
Total cost of renovation? $30! 1 Can of high gloss paint, 2 new $.59 white plugs rewired to replace the cream ones and unlimited amounts of elbow grease. Love it - my favorite home renovation to date!
Happy Monday!
Geeze - time is flying by. Since I last checked in, so much progress has been made on the house. Every hour I haven't been working, I've been spending painting, spackling, installing new light fixtures and planning projects. It's been completely exhausting but rewarding work. The house looks completely different. Shiny new walls with white glossy trim have just freshed everything up. It feels so clean and airy, much better than before. I have bits and pieces of rooms completed but just as soon as I manage to finish 1 room, I'll take photos to share.
In the meantime, there's been some knitting...
Handspun merino/silk in the colorway Kelp from tactile fiber arts knitted into a lacy baktus. I love love love this pattern - words cannot convey how delightful knitting this has been.
And some sewing....
A lovely tanglewood bag from posie gets cosy. Maybe I'll manage to finish it in the next year or so at the rate I'm going ;)
If you've been looking for me lately...you would have found me in here -
Stripping wallpaper off the walls.
I guess I haven't told you much about our new house we just bought. It's an older home, 25 years old situated in a nice area. I bought it mostly for the location, the backyard backs onto a golfcourse and is a lovely little utopia back there. The dogs love it, and they don't chase the golfers...much.
The house is across the street from a large park where I can take the dogs and run every afternoon. I'll show photos of the park later. It has a large lake in the middle, lots of birds and wildlife and more. We're just over the bridge from downtown new orleans, right by the ferry you can take across the missippi. You can go biking along the levvy and we often walk there in the evenings.
Listing photo: We call it the barn house - as in we're the first barn house on the right. Which is a joke because we're the only barn house on the right! =)
The house itself needs updating. Much of it hasn't been touched in the last 25 years. It was built solid, so it has tons of lovely architectural details including 3 (!!) fireplaces, built ins, wood beams and more. The layout is very solid and wide open which I love. It's about 2750 square feet, 3 bed, 2.5 bath. The bedrooms are all upstairs. The downstairs is wide open with a large kitchen, breakfast nook, living room/great room and then a more formal dining room area that I use as my office. Yep, my office has a fireplace in it - not like you'd ever need it in the 100degree heat!
The bones are good but the details need updating. In the next 6 months or so we will be renovating the kitchen, all the bathrooms, painting every wall, replacing every light fixture, handle, laying new floors, etc. And don't forget about replacing the blinds! It's a LOT of work but I'm excited to get started. We've done this before, but I always forget how much work it is until I get started.
I have been watching way too much HGTV!
We're starting with the kitchen. I have some big plans for this kitchen. It will be done on a budget, just like we do everything else. Rather than tear it out, we will keep the cabinets and paint or refinish them. I'm leaning towards paint. Anyone ever painted their cabinets before? Have some recommendations?
The walls will be painted "Quill" which is a lovely grey/tan color, very neutral, very re-sellable. We'll do granite on the kitchen counters and bar area. Reuse the existing cooktop. A new wall oven will get put in, and some sort of undermount sink. Floors too - new ceramic tile throughout the first floor which will sweep into the kitchen. Total renovation costs? Less than 10k for sure, probably closer to 7k as I have it estimated now. Granite will be about half that budget as the bar is a huge area on a curve. The other major budget breaker will be the new wall ovens which will be 2-3k typically, unless I can find one on a deal. Other than that, paint is cheap. I will refinish the existing handles on the cabinets and put them back on with silver spraypaint. A sink and new hardware along with garbage disposal won't cost more than $500 for all.
Let's see how well I can stick to that budget, eh? I'll report back later with final costs. =)