Craft Fairs and Babies

So, I went to Felt Club a few weeks ago. It seemed more like the movie Fight Club in that I had to almost battle my way through the aisles. My heart rate did climb, but it was because I almost had a panic attack due to the crowd. Don't get me wrong--it was still neat. But I could only manage to stay a few minutes before I just had to leave. I don't do well with crowds. This was the scene.

On the other hand, the next weekend I went to Bazaar Bizarre at the Shrine Auditorium. In conjunction with that craft fair, there was Swap-O-Rama-Rama. I had such a great time looking at what everyone had made. Plus, I picked up quite a few neato things at the Swap. The best thing about the Swap was that they had stations to redesign the clothes you picked up. I got one thing embroidered and two more shirts silkscreened. And seeing what people were doing with their sewing machines made me wish Christmas would hurry up and arrive so that I could get my brand new sewing machine! (More on that in future posts.)

The same weekend as Felt Club, I went to a baby shower for a co-worker who had twin boys. Here's my friend Elaine holding one of the babies. Ah...


And here's another of the party people holding one of the boys. He's wearing a hat I made (one for each of the babies). So adorable.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I posted about these things before time got away from me.

Holiday Crafting

Now that Christmas is officially over and most people have opened their presents from me, I can safely blog about what I made. First, we have the 150 magnets that we made! It's hard to tell in the picture, but we got super creative on these. (By we, I mean David and me. He really got into picking out the pictures, even finding a special Thor picture for his cousin Cliff.) I'm really pleased with how these turned out. Also, it was cool to be able to give people such individualized gifts (including a special X rated version for our friend Josh). I think we ended up giving out 23 sets. Wow! Thanks to the Supercrafty book for the instructions. Oh--and we started out using E-3000 (right name?), but the fumes and lingering stink afterward made me kinda sick. So, we switched to a non-toxic clear glue that seemed to work really well. Yea!


Next is the very pink accidently felted (not by me) wool sweater I picked up for Tiana at Salvation Army. All the felted accents are by me. At first, I just had three dots, all sold color. I played around with it and decided on this. Isn't it cute and just perfect for a 5 year old who lives in Denver? Needle felting is great fun. So far, I've found that I can make a cute cat toy in a matter of minutes. Now I'll have to turn my attention to felted accents on booties for Josh. Just you wait, Josh! (But these won't be X-rated.)


Finally, here is the lacey thing I worked on for the Knitty Gritty show. By making just a few alterations, I was able to turn it into this cool scarf/wrap thing for my mom. Excuse the picture of me in my pajamas.


And here's a dramatic close-up.


Next--Holiday pictures galore!

My Stint as a Knitster on Knitty Gritty

You can tell that things have been a bit hectic around here, can't you? So, I'm finally getting around to blogging about my big TV debut as a Knitster on a wedding themed episode of the DIY show Knitty Gritty. I did this a couple of weeks ago and managed to show just about everyone I know some picures--except you, dear blog readers. Anyway, they were taping three separate Knitty Gritty shows that day and preparing for some more the next day, so there were tons of knitters around. I got there at 8:30 and didn't leave until 5:00. I'm glad I took the whole day off from work! We spent much of the morning waiting around on some couches and then in the Green Room. I was there with my fellow Knitsters Anne and Aubrey who both live in the OC. Aubrey's getting married next year, and Anne is going to be in the wedding, so it was fantastic they could be on such a show together.

Here's Anne, me, and Aubrey on the set during a quiet moment. The set looked like a cozy knitting lounge. The only thing missing? Soy lattes, of course! That's my wedding shawl on my lap there. I got to talk about it on the show (wow! I got a speaking role!) and show it to the camera. Oh--and yes, they did put a little make-up on me, but it was tolerable. If you know me at all, you know that I'm pretty anti make-up, but I had to make some sacrifices, right?
Here's another shot of me on the Knitty Gritty couch with Anne showing off her fingerless gloves (her own pattern). Yes, that's me with a mic on. Wow!

This was our project--a knitted bridal veil. Here is the host, Vicki Howell with the guest Suss Cousins of Suss Designs. This was after we had wrapped, and they were being silly.

Finally, here's me with Vicki at the Craft table as she was dashing for a wardrobe change.

Some of the other knitters whose blog I read taped for Knitty Gritty, including Yarn Harlot and Marnie MacLean. Overall, it sounds like everyone had a great time. I know I did. (But I wouldn't want to do it everyday--that's for sure. I got SO tired.)

Look for the wedding themed show with Suss Cousins to air sometime late next year on DIY and HGTV. I hope I won't be too embarassed.

Carry on!

I'm back!

First, let me apologize for being absent for so long. Just like everyone, the crazy scheduling of the holiday season (and the end of the semester) has gotten the better of me. Foolishly, I've been directing people to my blog even though I haven't posted since Thanksgiving. Shameful. Anyway, here's a quick post just to let you know I'm still out here. My plan is to get all caught up today.

I've been doing oh so many crafty things lately. A couple of weeks ago, I purchased my first needle felting kit from That Yarn Store. Look what I did! Yeah--I know it's not that great, but it was my first attempt.

Yesterday, I worked on Tiana's sweater and tried my hand at a couple of felted cat balls. Thomas approved of the cat toys and batted them around a lot. However, the situation grew perilous when he tried to reach his paw over to one while I was needle felting it. Ouch--felted paw! Luckily, no harm came to him.

This is the cute cardigan I made for a co-worker who's due later this month. It's from Mason-Dixon Knitting (which I think I'm going to get for Christmas--yea!). I didn't use the dishcloth cotton the pattern called for. Instead, I used some leftover Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton. Lovely. It also called for ribbon ties, but I opted to just stitch up the front a bit (done after I took this picture). The mother-to-be said her cat could wear it once the baby had outgrown it! I liked the pattern quite a bit. It kept me focused during the Thanksgiving holiday.

One post--DONE!

Camping at the Beach

This is old news (back before Thanksgiving) but news nonetheless. Craig, David, and I went camping at Point Mugu State Park. To prepare, I knit Craig these fingerless gloves. (I started them back in February, fiddled with the measurements, knit a cuff, and gave up. The camping trip gave me the motivation to finish them.)

Anyway, we considered this a trial camping trip--only one night and no pressure if we forgot anything. Boy--did we forget something. So, we're all having a nice time talking and keeping warm by the fire. We even got to listen to the big USC game on AM radio (with some Tex-Mex music bleeding through). Then David and I decided to put up our tent. Guess what--we had everything but the poles. I hadn't used the tent since Niki lived in LA (oh, say 6 years ago), and I guess the tent and its poles got separated. So David and I slept in the car. We emptied out the trunk and put the back seats down so we could sleep cocooned in the trunk. I was pretty comfortable, but David had a rough night. In fact, he got up really early and walked to the beach. Craig snapped this picture of a lone figure silhouetted at the beach only to discover later on that it was David.
Here are some strangers underneath the cool bridge that was right by the campground.

And here I am, all grubby.
Next time: coffee pot, tent poles, hot food, lantern. Other than that, it was a successful first venture.