Curtains!!

Howdy, I have not posted about christmas gifts I made... Maybe someday I will get to that. 

I have a new-to-me phone! So better picture taking is in my future! Hopefully this will help my blog look better and i may even post a little more frequently. We'll see!

This is just a quick post about curtains I am making for our new house. 

Check out these ducks. We plan to put these in the master bathroom. Found this at JoAnns.

A sweet pattern to go in our teal & cream room. (Two of the bedrooms have molding halfway up the wall). From Fabric Depot.

This is a small print to go in the Lincoln Lattice Green room (green on the bottom, a light gray is on the upper wall of that room.) From Fabric Depot.

I am ironing and hopefully starting to sew today. This morning we went shopping for bedroom curtain fabric but only brought home a few samples: 

Our bedroom walls are a light green.

A note about curtain rods- a lot are ugly or spendy. I got these small ones on sale at Jo Ann fabrics and we got some basic white ones from Ikea. We hope to do double rod -sheers & regular curtains on our two larger windows. 

Okay. Time to get sewing!

PS: Living room curtains??? Hard decisions to make!

Christmas Print 2015!

Every year for the last several (8?) years I have made a Christmas print. They often contain cats or snowy scenes. Generally they have the year as part of the print, and red, black, light blue are common colors I use.  Hopefully when we unpack I can find copies of the previous prints, and next year find a good way to display them at Christmas time, with room to add on.

They are generally block prints, but some years have been screen printed. Here is last years which was a screen print. (I hand painted the stencil).

2007 & 2008 block prints...

This year with my screen printing stuff packed up, I decided to go with block printing. I sketched many rough designs, trying to come up with a good idea. Three Little Kittens? A Loon? Owl? Elephant? A print with multiple ornaments? I had originally thought of a simple fireplace print. Then when we had more house drama and I thought we may never close on the house I gave up on the idea and then started trying to come up with others. Now that we officially got the house, I decided to stick with the fireplace. To add the usual Upsidedown Cat charm, I added a bear in a winter sweater and some Christmas decor on the mantle (Stay tuned for a later post.,,!)

Anyway. In the midst of deep cleaning the house, I knew I had to get this print done because we give it to family and friends as our Christmas card. So.. I started carving, and today with a free afternoon, I printed the red. This block was a little bigger than some cards I have made. It was a little bendy and my brayer is smaller than the block so I had to be more careful about inking the block to make it even.

Color two, the black layer, was hard to line up... I was feeling really frustrated with the first several prints (Hint: use your more messed up first layer prints as practice prints with the 2nd layer!). I traced around my block on a piece of white paper, cut out the rectangle and carefully used the paper frame as a pretty close guide of where to place my block, trying to match two corners as best I could before letting the block touch the paper. It worked well and I'm pleased that most of the prints turned out well. In printmaking you generally lose some prints with each new color/layer you have, and plan accordingly so hopefully you will end up with the amount you want. I did not count them yet, but I think I printed about 50.

Here is the final result:

Perhaps some day if I have free time (haha, so many quilts on my list), I may get inspired to make some cards to sell. Could be a cool Upsidedown Cat merch item and something I could maybe sell online. We'll see... It would be good if I did something related to printmaking, since I took a lot of classes, and it can be used in so many ways.

Currently

Currently listening to: https://www.seamworkmag.com/radio So cool that Colette Patterns has a podcast. I am still secretly hoping to work for them one day, though I will have to learn to be a better sewer. I know I have great potential (haha), and a class or two might do me good!

I finished knitting the cabled brown hat, and I am just waiting for my husband to try it on and make sure it will fit him. I need to weave in the ends still, and take photos.

I also finished the little Stella sweater, I wove in the ends and just need to take photos.

Today working on this hat: http://www.purlbee.com/2014/01/23/lauras-loop-garter-ear-flap-hat/
It is in dark blue Noro Silk Garden Solo yarn. That yarn, and the brown yarn for the other hat, I believe are contributing to my right thumb getting quite rough and so I have been limiting my knitting somewhat. The blue Noro was an impulse 1 skein buy, and I like how it is knitting up for the hat, but I am not sure if I will have enough yarn when I am done that I will have wished I had made the next size up.

We placed an offer on a house, and will hopefully know soon if it is accepted. I have been researching the area a little and looking for yarn stores/groups. So far nothing in the immediate area but a few yarn stores about 15 mins away. The library looks like it may have a knitting group. It seems like a great way to meet women, and I guess it would just depend on the schedule, as I may be working.

I would love to host someday a some-what regular crafty get-together. (Every other month, 4 times a year?) I have had a few craft parties and they are always fun, even if not a lot of crafting gets done. It is mainly an excuse to hang out and talk. The cool thing about having a house some day is that there will be space to host parties.

I am trying to think ahead about knitting or sewing some gifts, with this house-buying we are trying to do, I need to get creative for Christmas presents. I might make a few mug cozies, and then see what else I can come up with. For now though, I think I need to take a knitting break so my thumb can heal a little. Besides this blue hat, which is currently for no one in particular, I think I will try to work exclusively on present ideas (even though I am dying to start a cowl for myself that I already have yarn for). Ha.

Crazy Times

Yep. We moved temporarily in with my folks. House hunting still. I have been knitting through some yarn that was in my old room. Basically making short scarf-like rectangles. Not really sure what I am making. I guess a rug, though probably not too practical. Hoping the colors may work out somehow. (Maybe adding black panels to space things out?) But mainly knitting just to knit. I am trying to work through the majority of my yarn before I buy more. I will post a photo when I can, my phone doesn't want to email it for some reason.

The knitting I carry in my purse is a spiral pattern baby hat. I do like the pattern but find the whole thing a little boring, maybe because I'm not sure if it will be sized right, it is really stretchy so I'm not sure how tall to go. Also I have no specific baby in mind for it. Oh well if it doesn't work out I still learned a cool pattern. 

Also starting to brainstorm some ideas about how to release my husband's next cd. They need to get it mastered and duplicated. I have been trying to think of some merch ideas. Like a poster or printed book, something do-able yet awesome. They may do a preorder to raise some money to get it made. 

The dream continues that if we do get a house with enough rooms, I can use one for a craft room. This would be amazing because then I can get all my stuff in one place and organize it, hopefully use it too! I do want to make clothes still. Colette patterns is putting out so much good info and I have so little time to absorb it. I have bought several of their patterns but have yet to buy fabric etc.  I have a fabric depot gift card so I hope maybe to make some curtains, or pillow covers etc if we get a house. Something to make it feel like home! I kind of am also interested in the black-out curtain idea, for light and also to see how much sound it blocks out. 

I think some getting-back-into-sewing projects could be simple things like PJ pants or a simple top. Or of course one of the quilts I already have the squares cut for. ;)

Tiny Stitches

The house is the cleanest it has ever been, Though it still needs a little work before the open house this weekend. Today I am touch up painting and doing various little jobs like cleaning bugs out of light fixtures.

 A bad photo...

 I had a few hours of free time and started working again on a counted cross-stitch. This is from a garage sale, and it is from 1995. An interesting subject matter but very stereo typically cross-stitchy. It takes so long to make any amount of progress... but since I have a lot of stuff packed, i thought it would be a good idea. It is harder to watch movies, etc, but I have been listening to lots of audio-books.

Finally planting

My parents came over today to help me make a fence around the garden. I am late planting partly because we weren't sure for a while if we were moving. Also, Our housemates have chickens and they like to peck at things. I was originally just planning on putting up some chicken wire, but today it became a little more complicated. We used the lattuce and wood from a scrap pile. We made a functional door with hinges...(so fancy!) I'm so grateful to finally plant and i hope the chickens can't hop over the lower side. I had 3 volunteer tomatos and bought 1 tomato plant, 1 bell pepper, and some basil. Yum!! Can't wait!

Dresser Finished

 Yay. I finished my dresser a few weeks ago. So shiny.

 Wood. I also learned that it was my dad's dresser when he was growing up (crazy.)

I had to remove my indie-pop upsidedown cat doodle I drew on the side of it probably in 2005ish.

Summer Projects

 Today I finished stripping the last 3 drawers of my dresser. I started last summer, and it feels so good to be making progress. I love real wood, and hopefully next week or so I can tackle the rest of it. I think I will stain it maybe a medium tone, or maybe even a red of some sort.

This is the first of my Afterthought Heel socks. I'm very pleased with them, and the whole process was much faster than usually when I make socks. I will start the next one soon. The yarn is Heritage Paints sock yarn by Cascade.

Tonight I also finished up knitting the felted red slippers I am making. I just need to seam together the soul and felt them. Today I also cut out triangles for a black and white quilt I have been planning for some time. The last time I tried to lay out the quilt I got overwhelmed by the pattern. There's supposed to be darks, whites, and then like a dark "gray" and light "gray" of values. Each piece's value is relative to those around it, so I kept moving pieces around and then gave up after a while. I have a few more fabrics added now, and I'm also contemplating making the quilt smaller, like a twin perhaps just to help make it less overwhelming, and also to have room to lay it out on the livingroom floor.

Knitted Rag Rug

I have made a few rag rugs over the years. Braided, sewn, and finally I knitted one! I love rag rugs because they help me use up small amounts of fabric. For this rug I cut strips of fabric that were 1&1/2 inches wide and as long as my scraps were...

The other fun thing about scraps is that I look at them and remember (for the most part) all the stories of the fabric, where I got it, what projects I've used it in, etc. This one had a lot of black and white because I've been cutting triangles for a black and white quilt.

It's sort of small, but okay for a kitchen sink rug, etc. I'm excited because I got some bigger needles, size 15 which means the next rug will not be so tight to knit. Maybe in 6 months or a year or so I will have enough scraps again to make another one. 

Springtime

I'm trying to work a little more on my website. I know it's not a very exciting site, but still nice to have a place to show photos (even though they're not the best photos). I know it has not been updated that much lately. sad, huh.

Last Sunday I spent a few hours working on my Clothing Book. I started it in 2009, so you know, it should be finished by now. I would love to make some sort of nerdy graph or something about how my clothes have changed from 2009 to 2012. I have gotten rid of a lot of them... specifically T shirts from high school...i had soo many, and now my new goal is to try to make non T shirt shirts, or buy them.

Also I am trying to think of what to do with my Stash. Maybe almost half is quilt squares that are already cut out. I guess that is good...I just need to find time to sew quilts. The rest of my Stash is small-ish pieces. I can use them for small projects but not really enough to make garments I guess.

Here's a project I will probably do:

A Wrist Rest for at the computer. I probably do need one, and it will be good for small pieces.
While I was researching a little bit about stash projects other people have done, I found this site.

Today I started a knit rag rug. I have braided and sewn rag rugs, but never knitted one. It is really hard on the hands and wrists so I will have to work on it in smaller doses.  I'm using about 1 1/2 inch strips of fabric, and size 13 needles. (probably 15s or larger would be easier) So far it has been fun, but I have decided against flannel scraps, as it makes it too thick. It's about 17 inches wide, and I guess we'll just have to see how long I can make it! :)

Seed Stitch

Super simple (if you knit) seed stitch dish towel. I started a few rows yesterday morning, and then finished it later in the day while spending several hours hanging out at Sound Ghost Studios. It's pretty small, only 7x6 inches. Good for a wash cloth, or more likely for scrubbing dishes. I love the cotton yarn. I used size 4 needles.

I've started a second one in a ribbed pattern, but I will show pictures when I am done with it.

Knitting Dishcloths

 Here's a dishcloth that I made! Yay! This is actually the 2nd one and it turned out way better than the first on. I think mainly due to the yarn (Peaches and Cream) being thicker, so it is not too floppy. I also prefer the colors I guess.

Here's the first one:

Cotton from my stash. The pattern is free and is Here

Embroidery and such

I have finally uploaded some photos! Hurrah!
First in Knitting news: this is the shrug I started, which is i guess going okay, though i have no idea if it will fit me. I have put it aside for a little while. and in the meantime (how my crafting always seems to go) I finished a cowl in a pretty red yarn. I'm wearing it right now! The shrug is 2 strands together, hot pink and red.

In the last few years I've found I really do love embroidery. I got these awesome United States Birds patterns. So far I have made 3 dish towels. The one up above is the ugly duckling (not really a duck, but it is pretty ugly. I used fat quarters, and some fabric from my stash and traced the images on the fabric, using my light table. After these first 3, I feel like i know better what works and what doesn't. On the light table I really need like white or thin fabrics to be able to see the designs enough to trace them. So, since I don't have a ton of light fabric, also since the first 3 ended up being sort of small, I came up with another idea: To make a double sided 4 pane type of dish towel, where at least 1 of the squares can be light enough for me to put the design on. I have soooo much fabric, maybe it will help me get through some of my stash. I'm also embroidering the bird names on the towels so it is more educational (for me and everyone).

My favorite so far! (the fabric is cream/white in real life). I guess I should take more photos of the finished projects with the hems on them, I also added some loops for fun, so I can hang them up. (Assuming I will have hooks to hook them on someday.)

Here's a list of state birds! It's so amazing how many states share the same bird, but the patterns are varied, so that is kind of nice. I think it would be awesome to do a whole quilt, but it would be soo much work.

blah blah. So i guess i should cut up more fabric for the 4 pane dish towels!

Knitting Needle Holder

At long last, i have made a knitting needle holder. I had been planning to make one for years... i was looking at patterns a while ago, but never made one. Today while trying to organize my room (an on-going issue i am working on) I decided making a needle holder would help.

so... i started in a few hours ago and i'm soo happy with the result, though i may make a few minor additions. I know i have more needles to add. and the 2nd row is a little too tall, because my double pointed needles are barely peeking out of the pockets. anyway... i love it.

I used fabric from my friend Alissa. she had them as curtains or a bedspread or something. the flowers are vintage, and the stripes are Ikea. I used my sister's sewing machine which has fancy stitches. I love how it turned out.