Monday, 22 April 2013

4KCBWDAY1 House of Bee




 

After a bit of confusion as to which house I should choose, I decided that at my barest bones I am definitely a BEE.  Though I do enjoy incorporating a challenging twist like Monkeys, and love embellishing and bedazzling things like Peacocks, I'm well known by family and friends to be a Producer.

You may notice a trend...
I hand spun some super fun compound yarn...
...and this is how it knit up!
 I'm that strange duck who CAN NOT leave the house without a project (or three, because at least in terms of crafting I'm attention deficit).  I tweaked one of my inkle looms for portability so that I could take it with me to the park in the summer.  I typically have at least one project that is car friendly, like my drop spindle or a little crochet lace edging, and I'm the one at the family bbq sitting in the shade under a tree with my knitting.  Occasionally I try to force myself to leave the bag of many things at
home and try to, you know, socialize a bit.  I have a lot of anxiety though. So I tend to run back for it at the last minute.
For weaving in the park
I am often asked how I get so much done. I just plain can't sit still. If I find myself in the van, or waiting in the doctor's office, or at a function without anything to fall into, I turn into a Twitchy-Mc Twitchypants.  I used to smoke upwards of a pack a day.  Then I replaced my cigarette with a crochet hook, and it grew to include knitting, spinning and whatever else I can get my fingers tangled in. I also immerse myself in projects to ward off depression. There is a direct correlation between how much I'm producing and how many demons are hovering in the wings. But mostly? I just LOVE making things and I'm totally obsessed with process. What I do isn't work to me but it also isn't a hobby.  I believe it's my vocation.

Rainbow!







I do this obsessively
Some of my hand woven inkle bands
It's so exciting when people are sharing ideas and creating things together.  To me there is no fellowship that compares. My very favorite memories are of time spent with a few friends, when we got so busy crafting we forgot to talk, and our hot drinks got cold. It didn't matter at all because we were just content to be together, sharing the same space, feeling the sun warming our faces, with only the sound of the birds in the trees, kitties purring, needles clicking, pencils scritching....

I am also in love with texture
I love showing the things I make, talking about and demonstrating process, teaching and encouraging others to pick up a project. I believe we are all creative beings, and that creativity is relative. Sometimes it is simple and spontaneous like taking off your shoes and making squishy footprints in the mud, tossing a handful of leaves into the wind, whistling a tune, or doing a car dance*.  It can be complex and deliberate like an elegant equation, intricate lace, a musical score, or a novel.  It's in our children and grandchildren, in our garden, our muscle cars and choppers.  Tattoos, graffiti, yarn bombs, beat poetry, surfing the perfect wave, the runner's high. It can be an "ah-hah!" moment or a "ha ha!" moment.   It's the moment we take notice.  It's in the marks we make, and we should make as many as we possibly can.

Happy creating!

*Car dancing is one of my favorite things. Sit in the seat, buckle the belt, turn the radio on, or slide in a groovin' cd, and get down with your bad self. This gets really awesome at stop lights, in parking lots or in traffic jams, really ESPECIALLY awesome if you can persuade everyone in the car to do it, and totally hilarious if the dudes in the cars around you join in.

So, THIS, and THIS. Not to be confused with THIS, which is also unbelievably cool, but requires some seriously mad skills.  Please drive safe.

Find out more about Eskimimimakes Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013!


Friday, 29 March 2013

Adventures in Crochet


 If you know me you know that I am constantly wishing I had more arms.  Like an octopus.  Or like  two octopuses stuck together.  But not in the Discovery channel way.
Annnnd now that I've ooged you out...

Fall is one of my two top productive time periods because I enjoy giving hand made gifts at Christmas.  This past fall was especially productive because we were living in a temporary home without any internet. So I went crochet crazy! 


 These are coasters I made for my sister in law in her two favorite colours.

 

Each one was an experiment so that I could learn a new thing, or try combining things.

And the rainbow wiggle crochet coasters were made for my brother. Those are all wiggled differently too, mainly so that I wouldn't get bored.

 

I thought wiggle crochet would lend itself neatly to a bracelet, so I gave it a try!  This one was a treat for myself and I wear it often.


Hot pads! (are they called trivets?)


These are one of a kind. The backs are crocheted solid, some just one colour and some in a gradient. and the front is made with filet crochet and/or motif that allows the back to be seen.  I really like this idea, and plan to do more.  It's a wonderful way to bust my stash, and keep my distract-y brain from getting bored, because I am changing colours fairly often, and using different motifs every time.  I dye a lot of in between colours myself, which helps me do gradients. Pretty much every time I have a dye bath going I toss in a skein of crochet thread (or six) for fun. 




 I made two sets as well, done with Irish crochet roses at the center. My absolute favorite to do was the rainbow one. For my colour changes I crocheted in all the ends as I went so it wasn't a chore at the end. 



 And lastly, I am currently working on small wiggle crochet table runner/hot pad thingy for myself. I'm using Clea Fiesta for this bad boy.  More rainbow-y goodness!  I confess I am finding it slightly tedious, because it is all double crochet around and around and around... but it's a great take along project, and we do a fair bit of driving.



Thank you very much or stopping by!  
A quick question before I go: Do you have a favorite crafting colour combination or, if it changes like mine, what is your current one?

Happy creating!
JQ

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Navajo Plied Hand Spun Rainbow Leftover Yarn.



I had this idea about taking all these small balls of leftover yarn bits and turning them into an art yarn, but I wasn't sure what kind of result I was going to get, since I don't know very much about the technical side of spinning.  Lately I've just been playing around with some core spinning and spinning with beads and scraps of fabric, and hoping for the best.  I thought I should stop thinking about it and just spin already.  And here it is!  It's glorious and squishy and I HEART IT.  I dub it...

Rainbow Blitz!!!
  Hand spun art yarn using tiny balls of leftover yarn in all different colours, fibers and textures: mostly cotton, rayon, and chenille; as well as some linen and some unknown.

Two-ply. One of those plies consists of all the leftover bits of yarn, Navajo plied together, and the second ply is size 30 mercerized cotton crochet thread in pale blue.

I totally couldn't stop taking pictures.  Managed to pare it down to just 8!

 
 
 







JQ