I had a banner day today! My buddy, Monica invited me and a new buddy (to me! Monica’s known Nancy for ages), Nancy, over and we Arm Knitted. No needles, just chunky yarn and our arms. It made NO sense to me at first. Casting on is the hardest part. Once the yarn was cast on, it was easy…I actually imagined my arms as knitting needles, clacking back and forth. I wonder if you can purl this way? Well, I’m going to find out because I’m doing it again! It was LOVELY, satisfying, and fun.
There seems to be a few things you can make with this technique – big things, like carpets and blankets. This man makes furniture with his arm knitted pieces!
The only thing is, what the heck do you do when you have to go to the bathroom? Or take a break? Monica, Nancy and I discussed this at length and decided you’d need someone to hold all your stitches for you OR get a mannequin. Good thing I work at an art school. I’m sure I could borrow a few – have a few projects going on at a time. Or maybe this guy would help!
Just in case you’d like to learn how to arm knit, watch this video over and over with 2 big balls of chunky yarn on your arms.
Hang in there through the cast on, because the knitting part is really fun and easy.
Last month, I started thinking about things to make with some the beautiful sari yarn from Trunk Craft Works. At first, I thought I would crochet some flowers, but as I made them, I didn’t like the way they looked when they were finished. They were a bit lumpy and misshapen no matter how much I blocked them. I tried making some buttons, but that was a bit boring. Then I found this cute little fish pattern and tried some of those. CUTE! I like how they turned out. I think I can make another 3 or 4 fish out of the yarn I still have and I’ll have a whole school of fish in no time. I can use them as little decorations, glue a magnet to the back and hang them on the fridge, or sew them on to something like scarf or a little bag. I can also make some little fishing rods with fishing line. CUTE!
I have had some experience snorkeling in the deep blue sea. I have also scared myself when I thought something touched my foot and I screamed into my snorkel and then hoped no one heard me. I just kept swimming and didn’t really put my head up out of the water for bit. I can’t say I’ve seen any fish this colour, but they could be out there. The ocean is a vast place!
When someone asks me if I want to go see monks, I will always say, “YES!” because every other day? I don’t hang out with monks. In robes. Especially when those monks make crafts. YES!
Lelainia and I got to Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden at 9:50 this morning. We hung out under a nearby awning while it poured rain until the gardens opened at 10 am. We got there so early, we even beat the monks. Who could blame them? It was a rainy, Sunday morning. [click to continue…]
…said Edith at the quilting class last weekend. I shook my head. “No way I’m getting hooked on it. I’m terrible with all this measuring.”. I limped along at the course on Saturday, was very busy on Sunday and then busy again (cooking up all those tarts) on Monday, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking about the Halloween cat paper piecing project on Sonja’s website.
Even though it was nine o’clock at night, I started sewing, and just after midnight I had completed the Halloween cat! All by myself! And it looked right! All the things I learned at the course came together and I was able to finish an entire block.
I went to bed last night very proud of myself. All day at work today, I dreamt of getting home and sewing another block. And that’s exactly what I did. [click to continue…]
It was a banner day. It started at the very civilized time of 10 am out at the University of the Fraser Valley where I learned how to paper piece – a fancy and finicky way to create cute little images for quilting projects. Seeing as my strengths in quilting don’t really include being accurate [...]
Bummed out after yesterday’s crappy quilting crapfest, I thought today would be a good day to make something easy. What is easier than a coat of paint on an acorn? A coat of glitter on an acorn!
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” – George Bernard Shaw I’m not sure how honorable or useful a Halloween Union Jack quilt top is, but it has met it’s fate with the seam ripper tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever ripped apart [...]
…because today we cleaned out the garage and went to the dump. And the recycling station. Even I couldn’t find any inspiration for photography in that scenario. And there will be no shameful, “before and after” photos, either. Why on earth do I feel the need to keep all the boxes I’ve ever received, empty, [...]
Mike’s work schedule has changed and he is now getting up at (oof) 5:30 am. I started getting up early (but not that early) so I could get some sewing in the morning before heading off to work. I even made dinner this morning so all we needed to do was heat it up tonight. [...]
This is the welcome party these days when I come home from work. That’s Donner, peering over the top of the stairs. He knows that it will be minutes before he gets his dinner, so I’d assume he’s happy to see me. The days are noticeably getting shorter – it gets dark by about 9 [...]
