Community Crafts

As I may have mentioned before, my friend Cara and myself work out of a studio called The Community Crafts Studio. About once a month, we hold an "open studio" where crafty folk can work on their projects, share ideas and participate in the occasional workshop.

On Saturday, we held another "open studio" and asked for people to bring any projects they have made or would like to make using recycled or re-purposed materials. We talked about "plarn" - yarn made from plastic grocery bags...ReadyMade magazine, which is one of my personal faves...origami boxes made from magazines...rehabbed vintage jewelry...and on and on.

Sara B. brought in some old buttons and shared how to make stretchy bracelets. Below, you can see Cara working on her creation...my Mom's finished bracelet and some other finished samples.







The day wasn't all about buttons and bracelets. Here you can see Kathy, Jan and Pat working and gossiping...er, I mean SOCIALIZING! Socializing. Yes, we call it socializing!



Here are some samples of things finished or in progress. (From top: Linda's yarn holder, Pat's Lace Scarf, Kathy learning "V-Stitch", Mom's art...









A good time is always had by all.
Of course...the snacks don't hurt either. As Cartman said once, you gotta have "punch and pie"!

WIP It. WIP It Good!

Yes. I am aware that I spelled it "WIP".
It is knit- and crochet-speak for Work In Progress.

...and I have too many of them. I can't help it!
It's too easy to start on something...and then get distracted by-OOO! Shiny! (You know what I'm talkin' about.) You all do it. Whether it's home decor or jewelry or whatever.

So here are two of my current WIPs...



This Queen Anne's Lace Scarf above is Mom's Mother's Day Gift.
(It's okay. I had to have her approve the color, so she is aware of it. I'm not giving away any secrets or surprises here.)



This above piece is going to be a little shawlette.
I'm really pleased with how it's coming along.
(That's for me!)

It. Is. Finished.

After starting this and getting almost half of the way through it and finding a screw up on the edge and having to rip that part out and setting it down for two months because I was mad I lost that much of it and feeling guilty every time I looked at the thing and wanting to finish it but having to fend off the cat who wanted to sleep on it and...

It. Is. Finished.

Did I mention that I THEN couldn't find the frickin' perfect button that I picked out and put someplace for "safe keeping"? I did find it. Perfect, isn't it?







I actually think this turned out really well. Even after all the hassle and delays.
I like it. I like it a lot.

Tulip Trees In Bloom

Ah...Spring.
Things blooming. Noses sneezing.
No, this post isn't about snot. I promise.

It's about me finally getting this scarf done!! Not that it was difficult or particularly time consuming once it got going. Just took awhile to get it "off the ground." I had found a couple of similar patterns to the one I ended up using. (Should have gone with my first choice rather than be fooled by something that contained impressive graphically designed instructions but wasn't worth a crap.) THIS pattern was found on Khebhin Gibbon's blog via Ravelry: Click Here to find it.

...and I promise, it's a good one!




Lacy. Soft. I love how the yarn has a vintage feel to it. Yes, it's a little curled up - these photos are pre-blocking. I was just SOOO happy to finally wear it. The day I put it on, I looked around and the tulip trees and redbud trees were blooming. Looked just like this scarf. Ah, Spring...Glad you could join us.