Them Darn Socks!

I darned socks! I really darned them! And it's about time. I have been putting this task off for almost a year (sorry, Jess!) for fear of failure or hardship. Now, I have finally conquered the beast! It is truly a satisfying thing to make your own socks; to transform them from a ball of yarn to warm woolly feet covers. But it is an entirely new level of satisfaction to mend those handmade objects when they start to wear out. These socks will rise again!!! 

I used a wonderful tutorial at HJS Studio. The concept was easy enough to grasp but it took some practice to master the row turns and to figure out how to create stitches that were no longer there*. The threaded guidelines really did help. I had neither a darning egg nor a light bulb to place behind the hole so I just used a rounded hairspray bottle. Whatever works!

I am very pleased with how they turned out. The darning isn't exactly invisible, but I think it adds character and is a testament to how well-used these socks are (or how sharp the owner's heals are!). It works so well I am tempted to duplicate stitch the entire bottom of the sock to save the trouble of patching the holes later. Can't stop me now! I'm a darning fool!

*Word of advice: If you see the beginning of a hole in your beloved knitwear- STOP!- take off the knitted object and darn that hole before things get out of hand! It is much easier to darn a thinning patch in a sweater or sock than to recreate stitches from a hole that is five stitches wide and four rows deep. Trust me!

Handmade Christmas

Every year for Christmas, my siblings do a gift exchange. There are five of us plus three in-laws, so in order to preserve our wallets and our sanity (and to make it a little fun), we choose a name out of a hat and get a gift for that person. In the past few years, we have changed the rules of the game to encouraged everyone to give handmade, "recycled" or local gifts. Not a hard-n-fast rule, but I think it helps us to be thoughtful consumers and siblings.

This year I got the twin, and I decided to take on the challenge of sewing a shirt. I got this amazing wool fabric from the Pendleton Mills Factory while I was journeying across the country, and it was calling to be made into a sweet button-up. The pattern came from BurdaStyle and I got a lot of internet help along the way. I decided to make a muslin prototype to insure a proper fit and to practice all the construction. I'll post the final pictures once I complete the shirt...

Very Berry Cowl

More knitting! I'm knitting crazy these days. Actually, I'm project crazy these days! So many ideas and inspirations floating around. I spent over 2 hours in the library the other day digging through books on all sorts of topics: cooking, knitting, printmaking, sewing, raw food diets, homemade cosmetics. I left with a stack of books up to my chin. I must have been quite a sight trying to unlock my car door while balancing my own personal library.
This little beauty, however, was born from the world-wide-web and not a library expedition. The pattern was created by Juilanne Smith, but I have adjusted it for my own purposes. The double-knit purple yarn created a nice, bulky stitch so I only had to do one cable every 10 rows, alternating sides which gives it it's lovely twisty nature. It is knit around sideways with a provisional cast-on and finished with a kitchener stitch. It was my first crack at the provisional cast-on method (thank you, knittinghelp.com!) and I used the cable of a circular needle to hold the stitches which made them really easy to pick up when it came time for the kitchener. Love it!

Owl Silkscreen

Owl Linocut transferred to hand-painted silkscreen for super awesome Christmas presents. This is my first silkscreen with my new Speedball kit. I tried to find some feedback on which kit would be best, but had little luck. I ended up buying the Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Toolkit. It has the bare essentials. I figured it would get me started and I would end up buying my own ink colors. I think it's working well so far!

Owl Linocut

Apparently owls are hot right now. Everyone has their own owl style. This was my approach to the owl craze. This is part one of a two-part process. Next step: Silkscreen!

Twisted hat

One of the many knitting projects I have taken on in my unemployment. I really love the simple, unique cable pattern on this hat. Perfect for men and women! You can find the pattern for free on the Joko Knits blog. I discovered it on Ravelry, my new knitting community. Check it out! I had to adjust the size a little to fit the gauge and added fold-able brim per request of the recipient. I think I prefer it sans fold. I used Cascade Yarns 128 in Olive. Love this pattern. So easy!

Homemade Halloween: Chicken and Egg

This is the beginning of a new Halloween costume trend: The Sweatshirt Costume! It's amazing what you can come up with when you have a sweatshirt, a little felt, and some sewing know-how. Plus some rad spandex pants and leg warmers. Wish I had a better picture.

Altoid Box Remade

This little project came about when I was trying to think of a gift for a friend to take on the road. I imagined it as a light travel box that could be set up on bedside tables or peeked into during long van rides. Fox and chicken make an unlikely traveling duo, but they have set up a lovely camp together and fox plays a mean banjo. Chicken clucks along.


It is mostly made from paper, colored pencils, and glue, but the ground is felted wool and the night sky is watercolors and salt. The moon and clouds protrude from the background with the help of little paper cubes made from vellum. And the hobo bag is tied on with string.

Birthday Birds

Mary's imagination

And speaking of independent artists... I recently discovered the website of a family friend. Mary and I were both bridesmaids in my younger brother's wedding this past August. She has been friends with my brother and sister-in-law since their high school days. Her work is wonderful and whimsical and I can't wait to see more. Check it out!

This one's for my homies

Speaking of the Bellingham Farmers Market, I must give a shout out to the amazing women of Spincycle Yarns. I have been drooling over their yarns since I first glimpsed them last spring. I bought this beautiful skein for my mother's birthday; it's called "fallen leaves". All the yarns are hand-dyed, hand-spun, all-natural, mostly-local fibers. This enterprising duo bring pep and spunk to an age-old art. This ain't your grandma's yarn store. Not that her store isn't cool too. I mean, you can't go wrong with wool. I'm just saying, they bring a young, hipster sensibility to the craft. Check out their website (spincycleyarns.com) for more woolly wonders to behold. Support independent artists!

Easter Softies

Happy Birthday, Dottie!

Dorothy celebrated 24 years on planet earth at the end of last month. We had two celebration-one with our Monday night dinner group and one on the actually birth day (February 28). And of course this called for two whole cakes. The first was a chocolate-guinness cake with mascarpone frosting and the second (at the special request of the birthday girl) was a pineapple upside-down cake. Both were taken from Smitten Kitchen recipes, but with some twists. The Chocolate-Guinness Cake recipe was baked in two round cake pans instead of a bundt. And in exchange for the chocolate ganache topping, I followed the Tiramisu filling/frosting recipe (adding an extra tablespoon of amaretto for good measure). I followed Deb's tiramisu cake assembly instructions, but left the espresso extract out of the final frosting and smooshed some slivered almonds into the side of the cake. The Pineapple Upside-Down Cake was perfect, but I decided to try 2 tsp of cardamom (anymore would be overwhelming, I think). They were a smash success! I just wish my nighttime photography was more flattering. Cheers to Dort!

Strangely Felt

I've been needle felting for a while now. My most recent project was a purple octopus for my twin brother. Octopus are so hot right now. They're the darling of the indie craft scene. I even found him a pair of octopus boxers GAP to send along. But I've been an octopus fan since I took an Invertebrate Zoology class in college and saw this video:



They are masters of camouflage- chameleons eat your hearts out! Really, I could spend hours on YouTube looking up octopus videos!


After the octopus, I decided it was time to set aside the needles and finally try wet felting loose wool. The project: a short scarf or neck warmer. The end result was satisfactory, but the process was a bit hairy (pun intended). On the suggestion of the yarn store lady, I used a jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with an edge) to try and contain the soapy water during the felting stage. However, I did not have a big enough space even to contain my little scarf. Imagine lots of water on the floor and the front of my pants. And I couldn't create an even thickness. Once the wool was felted to a certain point, I couldn't work more wool into the thin spots... Any suggestions? I think there was too much water. I did have great success using a sushi mat for the fulling process and it was easier when I could move the project into the sink (less water on my crotch).

In the end, I did use the needles to do a bit of troubleshooting. Perhaps it's a bit more difficult than the knit-and-felt, but think the color and texture possibilities are far more interesting with wet felting.

Animal Bags

What have I been doing with myself this past month, you ask? Well, I've been crafting my little tail off. Before I got out of the purse sewing business (read: laid off), I made myself a vinyl appliqué keepsake: Fox in the Woods Messenger Bag. All sewn by yours truly! I also made a Bunny Purse for Dorothy's Birthday. The animal patch brought to you by Thistledown productions. I am happy to a least have gotten some good skills out of my time at Persnickity. And a cute bag!

Valentine's Day at 824 Mason St

What's the point of living in community if you can't give and receive handmade cards on Valentine's Day?! My craft project last week was to make paper-bag mailboxes for each roommate. On Wednesday we all made little cards to drop inside. I cut up old grocery bags with handles, folded, and sewed them with yarn for a nice pocket to hang on the wall. I think we're going to keep them up for everyday notes.
Note: Dorothy's cherry blossoms are made with a twig wrapped in yarn with pink tissue paper flowers.

Christmas Felting

This was the season of felting for me. For the Lier sibling gift exchanged, I made my brother a killer pair of knit-n-felt slippers. The pattern came from a great book called Knit One, Felt Too. Clever title, good projects. Like the bad blogger that I am, I forgot to take a picture of the final product. But you can see below what they looked like pre-felting.



My twin was very incredulous about the size of these puppies, but after three runs through the washing machine, they fit like a glove... or a really good pair of slippers.

I also got back into the needle felting groove. I think it is the perfect travel project. And they let me take the sharp needles on the plane! My two projects: a blue llama and an orange octopus. This time I took some before and after shots.

It's knitting season

The wind is whipping the trees bare and the cold dampness is seeping into my bones. Washington winter is upon us. Of course it is sad to see the sun fade away behind a thick blanket of gray, however, this means it is time to bring out the buckets of wool and get all your needles in a row. It's knitting season! My first project: arm warmers. It was my first run with size 2 needles and that multicolored yarn that knits up in stripes. Socks are next!

Vancouver Crafting

My sister and I took advantage of the rainy Vancouver skies last weekend and paid a visit to the famous Dressew. This amazing sewing store is two floors chock full of every bell and whistle one would ever need to create the ultimate sewing project. Walls of fabric. Aisles of zippers. Piles of buttons. And all at wicked cheap prices. Even for Canada! You can check out the cool project I made for Kevin's birthday this spring. All the supplies came from Dressew. Every little grommet.

On this particular mission, I was focused on pouches. For those of you who keep up with my sister's blog, you may remember the cute bear pouch she made last month. On that rainy Saturday, we were going to have a pouch-making lesson. With supplies in hand, we made our way back to the apartment and spent the day cutting and sewing and eating samosas. The guys read and baked cookies and played with the bunny.

Here's the final product. I added a little flurish of my own: hand-carved bird stencil. The bird is complemented by the bright red lining. It still needs a strap or something for the zipper, but I think it's quite sharp looking.