Brief and short is better than nothing

I don't have as much time for blogging as I would like to have. I've got two exams coming up: one written exam, which will be fairly easy and one oral exam, which will be fairly hard with lots of stuff to memorize and understand(it's mostly logic stuff again...).
If I'm not learning, I'm crafting or surfing the net a bit. Writing blog entries would take away the little free time I have, so they will be scarce and probably also quite brief. I will try to make up for that with a few photos though ;-)

1.fleamarket finds:
lots of quality fabric for 2€ per meter! Bottom fabrics for free!:

School weaving loom, 3€:


From my grandaunt:


2. finished projects:
The best hat pattern ever: le slouch from knitandtonic!


Sublime napkins:

More Shrinky Dink fun:

3. WIP's
my own version of the Chevron scarf:

my coat, old photo, has grown double since then:

socks out of this yarn, on hold at the moment, have to finish another pair for a grandaunt of mine first:

I rediscovered it

Ah, my Bloglust has returned to me, only I have little time to blog! I have so many crafty projects and ideas I want to finish this weekend so I will begin this post now and every spare second inbetween waiting for things to cool of, heat up etc I will add something. Let's see how that goes...
...I have a bunch of finished projects to show you, but since they are so many, I thought I would just show you one sample and than let you discover the rest on flickr. If you have any questions about those or want me to write more about a project here, tell me and I will answer...

...OH MY GOD!!!! I didn't realized how many projects I had finished since my last substantial crafty blog post. Ok, I will show you one project that I'm pretty proud of, because it took the longest from idea to FO.

Yes, it's a cross stitch. You might now about subversive cross stitch. I always liked the designs but from the first time I saw them I knew I would want to make my own. Besides all you need is an alphabet, right? Well, yes and a text. Which is half of the problem, cause I didn't wanted anything too vulgare, just something a bit fun and quirky. Finally one day, I had this idea(among others that are not yet stitched): "Angsthase". Which means coward in german, but it's composed of the words Angst=fear and Hase=Bunny. Kind of cute, isn't it?...

...The Scoop de Jour is finished and has already been worn. I'm shocked I haven't posted a pic yet, I was a 100% sure I already did!...

...Just wanted to post the pic and write the info, but there's no pic in my folder! Seems like I didn't take one!?? Too dark to take one now, but I will post about it tomorrow as I did some minor changes to the pattern etc...

...to be continued...

Flower obsessed

Since all of my WIP's are long term projects(except for socks, but I'm not in a sock mood lately), I decided to look for some little projects I can do inbetween.
I skipped through some of my knitting and craft books and saw a flower brooch in the "Crafter's Companion". I've made some flowers before out of craft felt(the thin type), but always wanted something with a bit more depth to it.
So I got out all of the fabric that hid in my wardrobe and searched through it...and then I went crazy making fabric flowers! The big black, the blue and the purple flower are based on that pattern more or less. They are nice, but didn't looked as "finished" as I wanted them to. So I did a quick google search yesterday evening for fabric flowers and stumbled across fabric yo-yo's. Something I have wanted to try for some time, but hestitated cause I would have to handstitch them. I suck at handstitching and get very impatient with that stupid needle. I had read somewhere about a yoyo-maker/template thingy(I think it's from clover) and had thought it a good idea at that time, something that would help even me sewing these.
Not anymore, because yesterday I sewed my first yo-yo in no time at all and I do ask myself why anybody would need that clover thing. I mean, if I can sew a yoyo, everybody probably can. Is there something to it that escapes me?

Today I finished a bunch of more yoyo's and then essembled three of them into this flower. It still needs to have a pin attached to its back, but then it's ready to be pinned to my blazer or bag or...

And then I colored one of the really cheap notebooks I brought at the euro store last week. They were only 50 cents and I'm definately going back to get more of them. This one has already been claimed in a swap:

FO's 2007

Here's a list of the finished projects for 2007:

January
Le Slouch
Socks out of handdyed yarn
Wrist warmers out of handdyed yarn
silk scarf
crocheted purse
sewn shopping bags

February
messenger bag
Caliometry

March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

continously added

I don't have much time to blog, but a lot to blog about, so I thought I would just start a post and add to it whenever I have the time. Starting this now on sunday, we will see when it's really published. Edit: published on monday, so not too long, though no photos, sorry!

1. The Sesam sweater
It's almost finished! I really love the color combo and the pattern is a rather quick knit despise the needle size(3mm). I made a mistake in the sleeve cap where I forgot to change color once and will have to rip back. Of course I noticed this after I already bound off... one should probably not knit after 23.00 after a long learning day.
Even if I manage to reknit the cap the next week, I won't be able to complete the sweater since I have no buttons for it, so I can't knit the button band yet. I want some contrasting buttons in the burgund/red that the yarn is which will probably be a little problem. I'll have to compare buttons and probably visit many stores to find some which is not going to happen before the exam.

2. dyeing yarn+socks
I got my order of Ashford dyes this week and have been dyeing quite a lot even before it arrived. I dyed some beautifull yarn, if I might say so. Already knit a pair of socks out of the first yarn I dyed and they are nice to wear. A bit softer than regular sock yarn.
The second batch of dyeing didn't come out that great and the two different colorways came out quite alike. I might offer one of them up for swap, though I'm not sure yet.

3. Knitty SP
Yes, I'm participating again. I just love the Knitty SP and the nice folks I've met through it. The last one was real fun and I hope this one will be too.
I thought about it for a longer time whether or not to join, because of my exams(of which there will be a number shall I pass the next one, otherwise I'm stuck...), but figured there's always enough time for shopping and sending emails. Might not be able to knit much for my downstream SP as I did for my last, but then that's not really a requirement.

4. exams
I'm worried to say the least. I really have to pass this next one. Granted everyone thinks it's the hardest to pass for your "Vordiplom", but that's not what I'm really worried about. I'm worried that I'll mess up, because I'm too nervous during the exam and will have a black-out again. Or that I don't understand the questions right etc.

5. wanted list
There's a couple of things I really would like to buy including yarns to test. I don't have a strict new years resolution, but I want to knit from my stash for awhile, so I'm not going to buy any of these just now. Still thought it would be a good idea to write them down so I don't forget about it.

• SWTC Karaoke
• Noro Kureyon
• a messenger bag big enough to hold my university folder; I could sew one myself, but I'm not in the mood. On the other hand I can't spend a fortune on it either.
• hand carders
• SWTC Tofutsies
• more spinning fiber
• Hello Kitty cotton fabric

6. needle felting
When I ordered the ashford dyes I got some needles for felting and a foam pad too. I've been wanting to try needle felting for awhile. Well, it takes a lot of time and you have to concentrate on it or you will hurt yourself, but it's fun too!

7. sewing
Awhile ago I brought a bedsheat and pillow case for cheap at ikea. It's all black and white ith swirly motives on it. Back then I had the idea to color it and sew it up into a skirt. Well, it had been laying around since then, but when I saw blog post(can't remember which one) about coloring ikea fabric(though a different one) with fabric markers, I remembered it. Coloring it was a lot of mindless fun, felt like beeing a little kid with a coloring book again! The skirt is almost finished now.

8. podcasts
Ever since I got my Ipod nano for birthday, I've been a podcast addict! They are a lot of fun and it's nice to have something to listen to besides music when knitting or having to clean up etc. My fav knitting podcast are CastOn, limeandviolet and Sticks&Strings(mainly because of his voice ;-) ).

9. blogs
I am subsribed to way too many blogs on bloglines! I found that I'm not really reading every post but mostly just look at pictures... Once I find the time I'm going to seperate the list into blogs I really want to read + follow and other blogs.

10. oh boy, this is really getting long! Anybody still reading?

11. youtube
In the past I sometimes wrote down at the end of a post what music I currently listened to. I don't always do that cause I'm not always listening to music.
Anyway, thought I would share some videos, especially of bands/musicians you probably don't know.
Gentleman-Superior
Farin Urlaub-Zehn
The Staggers-Wild Teen
Bela B. feat. Charlotte Roche-1. 2. 3....
Seeed-Ding
Jan Delay-Klar

christmas presents

Untill 5minutes ago the sun was shining and I actually had time to take photos of some of the christmas presents I made lately. The only missing things are the sweaters for my cousins*. My mum must have put them away after I washed them and I can't find them now, but I'll take a photo of them before they get gifted.

These are some easy-peasy fleece scarves for my aunt, her husband and kids. They were so easy and fast to make, it took way longer to find the fleece fabric up in the attic(which is still not cleaned up as my mum prefered to go partying all weekend...)

And here are my mum's gifts. You might remember the silk yarn I brought in summer? I was determined to knit her a doily for her birthday, but I never came past the first two rows..it was just too fiddly and the silk didn't help at all. For some time I thought about starting another try for christmas, but I had way too much to do for university, so I ended up buying cotton yarn and crocheting this doily with a 1.5mm hook! It's not been blocked yet and probably will be gifted unblocked as I won't be alone at home to do so. Oh, and this doily only took me a weekend to finish!

In addition she will also get these socks out of 6ply sock yarn to be worn on cold days at home.


*also missing are the felted coasters for my aunt...wish I would remember where I put them...

teaser post

I finally found some time to blog, in the wee hours of the morning! But I only have a few minutes and just two photos :-( So this is more of a teaser post than a real one. I may have some time later or tomorrow to show some knitting content etc.

I have brought a lot of stuff recently and most of it is indeed craft related. The teaser for that is this:

It's "the Crafter's Companion" and I brought it during the Hipknits sale. I've been wanting to order it for some time, but resisted the temptation...untill the sale. I didn't brought anything else there though as I was too later for the silk and really, I don't need more yarn...
The second pic is a craft teaser:

Yes, that's Fira from Ikea! To the right you can see some Ikea boxes I brought and painted years ago and during my last trip to Ikea I thought I could use another one. I should have gotten suspicious when the package was so flat...
...you now have to assemble it yourself! That includes hammering nails into the wood, preferably straight and not bend. I've got no problem at all with drilling holes, using screwdrivers etc, but my weak point always have been nails. Let's just say it took me quite some time to put this one together though only two nails were waisted during the process.
Painting was so much easier and fun! I also painted the picture frame and inserted a postcard I brought along many other things at a dissolving of a household(that was 2 weeks ago in Cuxhaven...I really have a lot to blog about!).

Swaps are fun!!!

I love swaps of any kind, but lately craftster's swaps have just been perfect. Apart from getting nice selfmade things, I also love to craft for others who will appreciate it. Even if your family and friends oh's and ah's about what you make them, unless they craft too, they mostly don't know how much time and thought was put into it. But other crafters do and I just feel a lot more free when sending to one. I also like the themed swaps where you have to craft according to one theme and then see how everyone interpreted it and the ideas they come up with.
The latest swap has been the Hogfather swap which was based on the book "Hogfather" from Terry Pratchett, one of my alltime favorit authors!
Here's what I send minus a knitted hat that I forgot to photograph:

The main item was a tote with a cross stitched Death of Rats.

I'm not going to say much about this in case you want to read the book, but everyone who has already read it will recognize this ;-)

As Death is one of the main characters of the book, a little skull purse is just appropriate. Never ever will I combine metallic thread with my sewing machine again!

And a quote on a pen holder "HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMANS"

DIY-pins

Third try: Making a shawl pin
This time using brass wire I found at the hardware store while searching for cork to make my own pinboard(didn't find anything suitable).
Thanks to this great tutorial my first try almost looks like a real pin, a bit deformed, but a pin nonetheless.

Consequently the second try was much better. Still a bit wonky, but if in use you can't see it at all!

There would have been a third pin by now, but my fingers hurt a bit from bending the wire. It was quite a wrestling thing to get the wire to take the shape I wanted especially bending one end around the pin(left in the pics).
Nevertheless once my financial situation has sorted(mid-october most likely) I will definately buy one of the cool pins from Chris. Have you seen the sheep pins?!! Or the dragonfly pins?!!

I haven't learned much yet for several reasons unrelated to the crafting(and knitting btw.). I had major headaches and cramps; yepp, it's that time of the month. Once my exams are over and I have a bit more time, I'm definately going to pay a doctor a visit...

Anyway, I also finished knitting the purple sweater, but it will need a lot of blocking right now. The arms are a bit too short and my knitting is more uneven then normally. The Shine Sport was quite slippery, but so worth it!

I also decided that I won't send my friend a bag. She would have to get it back to Germany and before she left already complaint about how she should get everything back again. So she's getting a homesickness-package instead filled with german goodies and an article about Hamburg ;-)

P.S.: my dad is the worst sick person ever! He's acting like a little kid! We're talking about a grown man, who despite his several health issues in the past few years still looks intimidating according to various of my friends(he's really nice though). Honestly, one more stupid question of him or an "I won't go to hospital tomorrow if I don't feel better" and I'm going to scream! Yes, it's probably just a cold, but it could also be something else! [for example malaria though highly unlikely now]