Holiday Beading

For the holidays, we go to visit our family and spend a few days with them. It's a time of joy, eating a ton of food, and spending time with our loved ones.

It's also the time when my SIL and I sit down and play with beads! The day after Thanksgiving, she brought out all of her bead boxes and we set to play! I brought my own beading supplies with me, but hers are far greater than mine.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of time to bead too much, but I did get some lovely pieces done. I had a few pendants in my beading box that needed to get strung and beaded.

I purchased this bronze cast dragon a few years ago and had unsuccessfully made anything with it.
The Asian dragon is often depicted chasing the pearl of wisdom, so I used bronze coloured pearls. The jade stones represent Asia. The red stones are horn. The red beads added enough character to make this necklace work. I had previously tried using all jade or all pearls (and various combinations), but it wasn't until I added the red beads that it all came together. I primarily used the red horn because it is very light and durable, and helps offset the weight of the bronze dragon.

Pendant: Bronze cast dragon.

Beads: jade, pearl, and horn.

I had bought the silver pendant from a museum store and it sat unworn for quite a number of years. The Ancient Egyptians often used carnelian and lapis in their necklaces as well as a form of powdered quartz beads called "faience". My SIL had some glass beads that reminded me of faience (but not quite), so I intermingled the two along with silver spacer beads that had an Egyptian-esque feel to them.

Pendant: Ancient Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet

Beads: Silver, Carnelian, Lapis, and Glass

This piece had been sitting for quite some time. I bought it while I was in Venice, Italy. The heart was a hand-blown Murano glass, but it had been strung with cheap plastic beads and the whole piece was quite ugly & gaudy, but I had fallen in love with the heart pendant. I had bought some 'matching' red glass beads from a store and set up about to re-make it to show case the lovely "heart" and remind me of our vacation.

Pendant: Murano Red Glass

Beads: Czech glass and pearls

Sewing: Project Bags Galore

I've been trying to get back into sewing, but between the holidays, time constraints, and other projects, I haven't been able to really dive into any new larger projects. So, in lieu of larger sewing projects, I've been working on small project bags that only take about 20 minutes to make each one. It satisfies a quick need to just make something small without a lot of effort. It's the basic pattern I've used to make small project bags.

Also, I participated in a knitting swap for the Savvy Girls Podcast (Swapetition 2), so I also made some project bags for my secret swappee. I think it's a nice personlized touch.

I found some lovely remnant fabric at Joann's Fabrics that were just enough to make a project bag or two....

(My swapee received a project bag big enough for socks)

...including this lovely print of Disney Villainess. It made a nice medium size bag that is big enough for a sport-weight shawl project.

I had this fabric in my Stash^TM that I purchased from the LA Garment District. If you look closely, it has tiny skulls in the middle of the fleur de lises. It made a very nice reticule for some of my historical clothing (and double as a knitting project bag).

My Boys were on hand to help supervise the making of the bags. Little do they realize that it's primarily to keep them out of my fiber!

Working & Knitting

At my last job, I had a fairly long commute  (minimum of 30 minutes each way) in which I had a lot of knitting time. While I was there, I got numerous sweaters, socks, and other knitted goods done.

When I got my new job, my commute dropped down to 20 minutes (walking) then 12 minutes (riding a bicycle), which was all sorts of awesome. But my shortened commute severely cut into my knitting time and, consequently, the number of finished objects I've been able to accomplish.

However, for the past couple of months, I've discovered new knitting time at work --- the dreaded meeting! I often have meetings that merely require minimal participation on my end, but that do require my attention.

I have found it an excellent source of uninterrupted knitting time where I can knit some mindless things, such as vanilla socks. I tend to have meetings that total at least 6 hours per week.

I usually knit something that is very simple and doesn't take up much room. I tend to knit just under the meeting table as to not distract anyone (so no sweaters or complicated lace). As a result, I've gotten a few simple hats and vanilla socks done! 

My fellow employees are always surprised to find me knitting (as I tend to keep the knitting under the table or from plain view). And everyone pretty much marvels how I can knit and be in the meeting at the same time. I had one manager remark at how amazed that I could knit and hold a discussion at the same time. Of course, every knitter knows that this is pretty much cake and is a good way to keep yourself attentive.

Many ask why I knit in meetings. I often point out that many people aren't paying attention by either working on their laptops or reading their phones. At least, I pay attention while knitting, which they can't dispute. And no one ever challenges me or asks me to stop. In fact, most of the managers and other bosses find it awesome. :-)

It's nice to find some dedicated knitting time during the day. While I don't like meetings (who doesn't), I tend to not dread the boredom anymore.

Aliens!

Technically, I'm supposed to be on a fabric diet, as my Viking & I have a ton of fabric already. We're only allowed a few things -- gift fabric, lining fabric, etc. But then, you see something and you just fall in love.

Case in point.....

I mean, cute little green aliens! What's not to love? And with a sale at Joann's plus a 20% off a total purchase coupon, it's even a double score! So, I picked up 2.25 yards of it to make new jammies. I washed the fabric before I left for Portland and promptly forgot about my cute little aliens.

I realized that it had been nearly 3 weeks since I last sewed anything, and I was getting the urge to make sew. But, I didn't want to completely dive into a long term project, so I decided to pull out my aliens and make myself pajamas.

(Apparently, November is the month to make pajamas, because I checked my old posts, and it was November 2013 that I made my last set of jammies for the Pajama-Jam-Jam at Purlescence Yarns last year).

I ironed the fabric, and cut out the all-too-familiar pattern I had used previously (with my previous set of modifications -- elastic waistband instead of drawstrings.)

Luckily, I have a ton of elastic. (Part of my modification to the pattern is to add 2 inches at the top of the waist to allow me to fold over a waistband to accommodate the 1.5" elastic band)

Unfortunately, I realized as I was cutting it that I did not have quite enough fabric; the pattern called for 2 5/8 yards. So, I decided to merely serge the bottom of the pajamas instead of having a fold over hem, which would give me enough yardage.

Cutting, sewing, and pressing the fabric into pajama shape was very easy and quick. (And yes, I do press all my seams, even for pajamas).

And of course, the cats found the fabric scraps enticing.....

I love the colours.

It was a quick and easy project that I was able to complete in 2 hours, and satisfied the sewing itch. Plus, it now gives me an additional pair of warm flannel pajamas to wear that goes with the motley of other jammies I made previously.

Knitting in Portland

Recently, I went on a trip up to Portland, OR with my DH, the Viking, and a very good friend to relax, see friends, and have fun.

If you ever have a chance to go to Portland, you should. Knitters are everywhere in Portland. It's so fiber friendly. I don't know how many knitters I ran into whilst there but I have a bunch of new Ravelry contacts now. Plus, it's almost always sweater weather in Portland. Nearly everyone had some form of knitwear, from hats, scarves, to sweaters about. (And I was no exception. I actually got to wear some sweaters there!)

Like a good knitter, I planned what knitting projects to take, because I didn't want to be without (before I even packed my clothes).

1. A project that I could sit, knit, and talk without problems whilst hanging out at the pub with friends -- socks, naturally. 
2. A project that I could knit that required a modicum of attention, but not too much -- a stockinette sweater with short row shaping. 
3. A project that required some concentration for the flight there & back...or when I had some spare cycles to devote to it --- a psuedo-lace shawl.

I finished my socks about half way through the trip. They were perfect for knitting at the pub, at the movie theatre, or when riding in the car for short trips. As an added bonus, I got to wear them during trip.

We did the required stop at Voodoo Doughnuts.

I also brought some extra sock yarn with me, just in case. So once these socks were finished, I cast on another pair, and promptly got about 1/3 of the way through the sock.

While I primarily knitted my socks whilst out and about, I did accomplish other knitting.  I found that I had a few mornings to myself at the restaurant cafe, whilst DH and my friends slept in later than I did. The staff were extremely nice and helpful and let me knit unmolested for quite some time whilst refreshing my tea. This is the 3-in-1 sweater.

Knitting by Friday

In two days, I got a lot of knitting done on the sweater, even with the short rows, during my breakfasts.

Knitting by Saturday

There was also time to knit on my lace-y shawl, (Unleaving Pattern in Knitty), but mostly on the plane. However, I got a good 6 inches accomplished on it. 

A few folks asked me about the app I was using to keep track of my lace & sweater knitting. They were fascinated, and I was more than happy to tell them about the KnitCompanion app, which I reviewed last year. I highly recommend it. It allows me to carry all of my patterns and keep track of where I am in each pattern so I can switch projects as necessary.

I was very surprised at how much knitting I got done on my trip. I thought I overplanned (like usual), but it turns out that it was enough. I had a good combination of down time and activity that allowed for a lot of knitting -- which left me with a chunk of knitting done on two projects, one FO, and one new project! It was a very relaxing vacation.

However, potential tragedy might have struck my in Portland, save for the very friendly town. We watched a late night movie at the hotel we were staying at over our trip (yes, they had their own movie theatre).

While waiting at the theatre lobby for the previous movie to end (and knitting), I dropped my spare pair knitting needles and the hotel staff remembered who was knitting, and found me in the dark to return them to me!!

We saw Army of Darkness that night.

Talk about customer service and memory!

The only thing I did NOT get to do in Portland was visit the yarn shops, only because when we managed to get to downtown Portland, I kinda lost all track of time at the mecca of bookstores, Powell's Books, and by the time we left, all of the yarn shops had closed. 

I'm not sure if that makes me a bad knitter or a really good geek!

I did see a few from the outside, and they did look lovely.  After all, I didn't really need anymore yarn, right? At least, that is what I'm telling myself.

I highly recommend visiting Portland if you ever get a chance. We do have family there, and I will be returning...and next time, I'll definitely be going to the yarn shops!

FO Wrap up!

I'm a bit behind on my blogging activities as of late, mostly because I've been knitting and have managed to finish a few projects that have been languishing on the needles. I'm also still working on my quiver, but I'm missing some hardware that I need to buy, so that project is languishing now until I can get to the store.

First, I finished my Ribby Cardigan by Bonne Marie Burns using Cascade Greenland (discontinued). It came out lovely. I added grosgrain ribbon to the edge, but have not yet put in a zipper because I can't seem to find one in the right size or appropriate color (either matching or contrasting). However, I have worn it a few times without it as I tend not to close my cardigans.

I also finished a hat, but it's for a gift for someone who reads this blog, so I can't post it here. In addition, I've been working on socks, and used my cat as a prop for a photo of the finished object.

Of course, when he woke up, he was like, "What is this? SOCKS? Nom nom nom!"

(He actually didn't hurt the socks, but it was a cute photo.)

Archery Leads to Leatherworking (Part 3)

Once the quiver had been stained appropriately, it was time to turn the flat piece of leather into a tube to hold arrows. Leather stitching is a bit of a tricky animal at times, but one of my go-to books on the subject is very helpful.

I had punched holes into the leather for stitching and lacing prior to making it into a tube. However,  trying to wrangle the leather into a tube was fairly difficult until I managed to get a third of the way. And then it was smooth sailing. (This is when I find myself wishing for several sets of arms to help)

Once I was done, the patterning on the stitching looks like this:

Once the tube was completed, I added the bottom stopper to the quiver, which was a royal pain in the arse to attach to the tube despite having lined up the holes on the quiver and the stopper. It took about 2 hours to finish.

Afterwards, I laced the top of the quiver with a "Single Loop Lacing".

Here's the final quiver.

Now, it's a matter of putting on the appropriate hardware so that it hangs correctly at my side or on my back. (To be continued.... Additional posts about this topic can be found here.)

Gift of a Shawl.

It's not that often that I get any hand-crafted gifts. It's not that I don't want them, but I know how much time and effort it takes to create something and my friends/family are busy with their own schedule and projects. Consequently, whenever I get a handcrafted gift, it makes me super happy, pleased, and just extremely grateful.

This past weekend, a friend's mom (another knitter) sent us whole bunch of knitted shawls, and cowls via her daughter; sending an array of items that she thought we might like. All of us oooh'ed and aaaahh'd over the workmanship (each person being a maker herself) and picked out what suited her the most.

I picked out a shawl, Spellbound, designed by Boo Knits, in a lovely gold merino / silk blend. Let me tell ya...the workmanship is gorgeous. She knitted it with beads! (Something I have not yet had the gumption to do). And it's blocked beautifully.

For each knitted piece, she included a card with the name of the design as well as the fiber type of the yarn. I developed a love for shawls when my office got too cold, but where it was too warm to wear a sweater, except that I hate knitting shawls -- all the miles and miles and miles of stitches. But, this shawl is perfect.

And let me tell ya, getting a knitted gift like this shawl is just all sorts of amazing awesomeness. It kinda makes me wish I had more friends that knitted me gifts. :-)

For those interested, she has her own Etsy shop.

Archery Leads to Leatherworking (Part 2)

After doing a lot of research -- pouring over some of my design books and looking at the Internet -- I finally decided on a simple, yet (IMNSHO) elegant design of a dragon.

Dragon, you say? A bit cliche, I know, but hey, I'm a geek that loves Sci-Fi / Fantasy, so you'll just have to deal. :-P

I made a test of the design I wanted to use.

I had some issues with it, mostly because I just starting with leather carving. I had to modify the pattern a bit -- enlarge the wings, etc. -- to make it easier for me to carve it on the final piece.

Once I traced the final pattern onto the leather, I started cutting and beveling. When you carve leather, you have to get it wet (called "casing"). Carving is a bit tedious and slow going, and I had to stop and rest, but I really liked the end result.

("Casing" the leather)

Because you have to get the leather wet in order to carve it, the leather gets dry. An application of neetsfeet oil removes the dryness and darkens it a little bit.

Then it was a matter of applying the leather stains (black & brown) to the leather, painting the dragon, then applying a clear finishing coat to protect the paint and stain. This process requires a bit of time (several days) for the leather to dry in between coats of stain/paint/finishing.

Unfortunately, I forgot to snap some in-progress photos of the process, but here's one finished photo.

Once the flat quiver was completely dry, it was time to start lacing it into a tube.

To be continued.....

More posts about this topic here.

Archery Leads to Leathercrafting (1)

Recently, I took up archery, because it's one of those things I've always wanted to do. (Not to mention that Huntress probably influenced me "slightly" as a kid, followed closely by Green Arrow.) Plus, honestly, archery is COOL.

I've been at it for about a month and not doing too badly.

However, the one thing that taking up a new hobby is that it allows me to learn a new crafty skillset! (For The Win!!!)  Archery has a few accessories that have often been made from leather -- quivers and armguards. I already know the rudimentary basics of leatherworking, but, I didn't want a plain quiver, I wanted a design on it, which meant I needed to learn a bit of leather carving.  I felt that leather carving was a complimentary skill set to my rudimentary leathercrafting skills.

First, I did a whole bunch of research on the Internet for quivers, because I needed to figure out what type of quiver I wanted and how to make it.  (For those interested, I have a Pinterest board for leatherworking ideas.) While I researched quiver patterns, I started practicing leather carving.

I stumbled across a Flickr album for a hip quiver class where folks were learning leather carving, which had good enough photos to make my own pattern. They were kind enough to include dimensions for their quiver, which I used as a guideline to make my own pattern.

(Image copyrighted to evrardarcher on Flickr)

I used poster board and painters tape to make a mockup of the pattern.

I liked it, so it was time to cut out the leather.

I had some suitable veg-tanned leather lying around (as you do), and got started. I also made a bottom stopper for the quiver, which would fit inside the quiver.

To make the bottom stopper, I cut out the leather, got it wet, then formed it over an appropriate sized plastic container with rubber bands. When it dried, it was the appropriate shape.

Now that I had the leather quiver cut out, it was time to tool (i.e. carve) the leather with a pattern that I picked out.

(Additional progress posts can be found here.)