Crafty Sheep

How about now?

By Alexis on May 17, 2012 in felt

Does this look like anything yet?

….no?

Ok then, back to work.

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No Socks for You!

By Alexis on May 16, 2012 in knitting

“You know you can buy a ten pack of socks at walmart for, like, $2.99, right?”

If you are a knitter, you’ve probably skewered at least one person with your double-pointed needles for asking this question.

It’s not just knitters – people ask crafters of all stripes the same type of question:

Why sew when you can go to the mall and get five shirts in half the time?

Why make a card when Hallmark sells them for a couple bucks?

~~Why is there a knitting needle in my eyeball?~~

BECAUSE IT MAKES ME HAPPY, GODDAMMIT.

Enjoy your 10-pack of plain white socks for Christmas, cause you ain’t gettin’ NUTTIN’ handmade from me. *triple snap*

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FLAN!

By Alexis on May 7, 2012 in cross stitch

This weekend I worked on May’s dessert of the month, FLAN! (it’s just more fun in all caps)

I also got some new running shoes. They were pretty boring, since the only color they had in the women’s size was gray. But now they’re spiffy!

Fact: orange laces improve your 5k time by 4.5%.

I’ve been thinking about possible projects for the May color challenge, and I’m looking forward to playing around and seeing what I come up with. The colors seem kind of nautical to me, so I might go in that direction. Or I might not. Non-stop excitement up in here!

Hope you all had a great weekend, and here’s to a crafty week!

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May Color Challenge

By Alexis on May 5, 2012 in Color Challenge

It was a very close vote, but we have a winner! And the May color palette is…

Printed Color!

Here are the DMC numbers of the colors that I’m using – feel free to make different selections based on what you have on hand, or you can use these suggestions.

If you’re new to the challenge, here’s how it works:

Create (stitch, sew, papercrafting, whatever you want!) any project that you like using the Printed Color palette.
Add your photos to the flickr group by the end of the day on May 31, 2012.
I’ll post a roundup of all projects with links back to your blog or flickr page during the first couple of days in June
Revel in everyone’s creativity and how different the projects are despite all using the same color scheme.

Grab a badge and let’s get to it!

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April Color Challenge Projects

By Alexis on May 3, 2012 in Color Challenge, cross stitch, embroidery

When I decided to do this challenge, I wasn’t sure if anyone else would want to play along. I’m thrilled that two very talented ladies decided to participate!

Lisa made this lovely tea towel. Take a look at her progress shot:

And the finished towel:

How amazing is that satin stitching? I love it. And did you see how she did the border? It pulls together the whole thing and finishes it off very nicely, I think.

Pam made this beautiful embroidered wrist cuff.

I usually put my finished pieces in a hoop to hang on the wall, so I love how Pam made something that’s functional and pretty. This is what the whole cuff looks like:

The fabric is perfect – it complements her embroidery without overwhelming it.

And here’s my Easter bunny (free pattern from Hancock’s House of Happy)

Bunny butt closeup!

Lisa and Pam, I’m so glad you participated! I hope you enjoyed the challenge!

This Saturday I’ll be posting the results of your vote and the floss color suggestions for May. I hope some more of you jump in for the next round!

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We can be them two birds of a feather

By Alexis on May 1, 2012 in cross stitch, personal

Cotton is the traditional gift for the second wedding anniversary.

(Wait, I mean the second anniversary, not the second wedding…*shakes fist at misplaced modifiers*)

Lucky for Will, I just happened to have some Aida 14-ct fabric hanging around.

Really, what better way to commemorate the love, devotion, and commitment of two people than with a Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog cross stitch?

THERE IS NO BETTER WAY. Because I said so.

Here, have a slideshow.

You can play I Spy!

Some things to look for:

-Bride-to-be in sweatpants. Hottt.
-A cameo by Roo, who I really wanted to be our ringbearer but he’s just not that coordinated.
-My sister writing her toast 10 minutes before she gave it. It was fantastic and made me cry. Procrastination for the win!
-Will and I drinking from that silver cup at the same time (German wedding tradition) while I try really, really hard not to spill BRIGHT RED punch on my dress.
-Making portraits beside a field and a barn. Not pictured – the dead tick I found in my hair the next morning.
-My homemade wedding bouquet.

*EDIT: I fat-fingered the caption on the slideshow. Our anniversary is TODAY, May 1, NOT May 10. I do know what day I got married, I swear. I’ll fix it when I get home tonight.

Pattern by Wee Little Stitches. Lovely wedding photography by Beth Oram and Chris Mulready.

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Road Trip!

By Alexis on April 27, 2012 in knitting

Will and I are headed out today for a mini-vacation! Yay!

We’re not going far, just a few hours away and only for the weekend, but long enough that I’ll need something to occupy myself. I’ve tried to stitch in the car (cross stitch and embroidery) and it really hasn’t worked out well. Anything that I make progress on usually has to be ripped back when I realize I’ve miscounted or just doesn’t look right.

And so I return to this project – the Holly Berries Scarf (ravelry link) from Victorian Lace Today (which, um, I did not pay $140 for. Apparently it’s out of print now).

I worked on this diligently in the beginning and then got bored, so I shoved it in a drawer and didn’t think about it for over a year. Then I pulled it out, and, surprise! It’s a 90% finished scarf!

Sweet.

Granted, it’s a tad more complicated than I usually prefer for car knitting, but once you get the hang of the chart it’s not so bad.

Just the damn bobbles.

I hate making them but they just look so pretty.

This post is brought to you by the letter R and the number one billion, because that’s how many times I had to remove Roo from the table to get one cat-free picture of a scarf in a bag.

Coming up next week:

your wonderful April Color Challenge projects (there’s still time! Finish them up and add your photos to the flickr group!)
geeky cross stitch
May Color Challenge palette revealed
a very special slideshow

Stay tuned! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Vote for the May Color Challenge Palette!

By Alexis on April 25, 2012 in Color Challenge

Instead of just choosing whatever color palette I wanted for May, I thought I’d put it to a vote!

Here are the contenders:

printed color | fun and bold

kitten tints | soft and sweet

silk tones | exotic and eye-catching

What’ll it be?

Vote vote vote! Like a baby stoat! Poll closes at midnight on April 30!

Also, you can’t see the results, only I can do that. Mustn’t ruin the surprise!

You’ll find out on May 5 which color palette has been chosen (I need time to photograph the floss – dude, you have to wait).

Comments { 2 }

Three cats and a laser pointer, two ways

By Alexis on April 23, 2012 in crazy cat lady, embroidery

I’ve had this idea – a cats and laser pointer embroidery, based on my three cats – floating around in my brain for a while, and this weekend I was finally able to get it out of my head and into the real world.

My first attempt was…meh.

I love the laser pointer dot. On the very first go-round it was a French knot, and it just didn’t look right. The satin stitch, though, is exactly what I wanted it to look like.

The outlines were too chunky for me, and my stem stitch was all over the place. Plus Roo’s tail (cat on the left) was just…no. Not right at all. Looks like he’s waving hello with his back leg. I also didn’t really like the color I had picked out for Beckham.

So I ripped it all out (except for my beloved dot, of course) and started again – this time with one strand of black floss and ditching the stem stitch.

I’m much, much happier with this one.

Total departure from the kind of work I usually do – no bright colors and no felt.

I don’t consider myself to be artistic at all (in terms of drawing), but I’m very proud of this, since it was based on a sketch that I did. It’s not perfect, but it’s nice to step outside my comfort zone once in a while and challenge my own ideas of what I can and can’t do. Drawing is a skill like anything else – it’ll only get better with practice!

I’m intrigued by what can be done with simple outlines. Cats are so expressive and have such great lines – when they stretch and their spine curves up, or they’re curled up tightly, tail to nose, or sprawled on the floor, belly up, looking as undignified as a cat can possibly look. I have roughly 1.5 billion photos of my own cats to use as a reference, so you’ll probably see more pieces like this in the future.

The fluffy one is my favorite. Of course. He’s fun to stitch!

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In which I don’t really talk about crafts much at all

By Alexis on April 20, 2012 in personal

Nope, not a craft project.

This is what’s been occupying my time lately in lieu of crafty things.

(the 3rd book is CORE Performance, not ORE Performance – I have no interest in mining)

You see, running and I have always had a relationship like a couple of teenagers – on-again, off-again, I LOVE YOU AND CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOU one day, I HATE YOU WITH THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS the next.

Right now we’re back on, but it’s more like an abusive relationship than anything else. Twinges in my knees, tight hip flexors, and a literal pain in the butt.

I want to run. I want to run so, so badly. But weak core muscles have given me an odd, bendy stride, where my hip drops with each step and my knees don’t track in a straight line, but turn slightly inwards and brush together.

It’s not pretty. It’s not that healthy, either.

As much as I DON’T WANT TO, I have to fix this. Getting stronger and more flexible is the only way that I’ll be able to run without hurting myself.

So instead of curling up on the couch with my cross stitch at the end of the day, I dive into these books, and I work out.

It’s a slow, frustrating process. I’m correcting 27 years’ worth of bad habits (standing cross-legged, sitting like a W), so it won’t happen overnight.

Plus I hate doing squats and lunges. And every books says to do squats and lunges. Damn you, books, and your science-y science!

I’ve registered for a series of 5-k races that take place this summer, one a month from May til September. I did the series a few years ago and it was great, so I’m really excited to do it again. Hopefully I’ll see lots of progress between now and then! Plus, you know, not crippling myself at the races. That’d be nice, too.

This new ~~obsession~~ focus doesn’t mean anything for the blog – I’ve got a long list of projects that I want to do, and I definitely want to keep the color challenge going.

The only difference is that I’ll have EARNED my sitting-on-my-butt time, instead of going straight from my office chair to my couch.

Hey, don’t worry. I couldn’t have you head into the weekend without any crafty pictures. Here are a few pieces that I’ve been enjoying on flickr lately. Happy Friday! May your weekend be lovely and injury-free.