tatting freeform

Can't remember if I've ever posted any examples of freeform tatting I've done... so here goes! When I decide to do one of these pieces, I decide what color or colors I'm interested in, I fill two shuttles and off I go! I don't follow any pattern, I just see where the tatting leads me and take it from there.

Is is a doily? a big coaster? or something to frame? who knows! It's hard to tell, but there are two shades of green here. Size 20 thread, approximately 7" x 5" (18cm x13cm).

Another example in size 20 thread. Approximatley 6" x 5" (15cm x 13cm)

swatches

Aaahhh, it's been a slow week for crafting, but I did manage to crochet up a few swatches to serve as examples for crochet classes this Fall.

And... I liked the pic!

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as time goes by

I've been playing for a while with this little heart shaped motif and I thought it would make a nice necklace:

Tatted this one a while back in Cebelia 10 as a tester. Seemed a bit too frilly.

Did a slightly less frilly one with Lizbeth 10.

I thought these would work pretty well for a single motif kind of necklace, and the size 10 thread worked well for that. Then ..... I turned one of the motifs upside down and placed it under the other .... and I really like the look. It reminded me of an hour glass.. so...

Hourglass necklace, size 50 Handy Hands thread in black. Very delicate.It measures about 2" x 1.25" (5cm x 3.5.

You can see here the relative size difference of the size 10 and 50 threads.

what i'm working on ...

The recent hot, muggy weather gets my crafting mojo way down, but I do have a few projects in the mix right now ... some new, some old. In crochet, I've been using Cascade Ultra Pima in a lovely shade of green to try out the double bobble scarf pattern (ok, I might have tweaked it a bit) found in Kathy Merrick's book, Crochet in Color:

Another round of bobbles and I'll be done! Yay!

I've also been working up another freeform tatted piece... I'm never sure what to call these when people ask ... I guess freeform "doily", I never really use them for that purpose though.

Freeform tatted piece. Using Lizbeth 10 in this black/white variegated. I'm still not sure how I feel about this variegation... it's interesting.

You can find the accessories, patterns and yarn for all of these right at Crunchy Banana... come on by! I can also help if you run into problems.

vietnam vets memorial bikers today

Today is the 2nd annual Vietnam Veterans Tribute Ride. If you're in the area come on out to support the riders!

books now in!

Yay! We received a new shipment of crochet books this week, have a look at just a selection in this pic:

Got in several books on amigurumi - very cute stuff! There are now several different books just for beginners that take you through all the steps in learning how to crochet. Also a few copies of Margaret Hubert's gorgeous new book, The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet. Stop in and have a look!

Also ... we got our new carpet installed this past week!

open!

We got a late start today, but yay! We're open for business!!

A view from the street

Another outside view

My counter with Native American flutes and ocarinas. I take credit cards! :)

The view straight in from the door. Note the blue tarps... we're still in renovations!

less than 24 hours away

 My husband has worked tirelessly. Our son has been a great helper. My brothers made us gorgeous steps. My sister has brought lunches every day and lent a hand wherever needed. We have a great electrician who has put in lots of hours to be sure we're well lit.

We're all exhausted!!

Although our grand opening will be later this month, tomorrow will be the "petit" opening. There's still lots to do and the carpeting won't be installed until later next week, but I'm very excited about this venture and very grateful to everyone who has helped make this possible. Here are some "pre-opening" pics from today.... more to come!

getting closer

Inch by inch as they say ... changes are happening daily at this point. We're aiming at Friday!

marketing bag redo

My crafting mojo has been all over the place lately, so during times like these I usually take up some project that doesn't require too much brain power. For some people that's dishcloths. I must admit... I've never crocheted a dishcloth! Not that I have anything against them, mind you, I just would never use one myself so I guess I'm skeptical that others do. I also remember my mother using dishcloths and bleaching them every so often so I'm not sure how well any crocheted cloth would stand up to that.

Oh, I'm a sponge/scrubber kind of dish washing woman, btw. But that's neither here nor there. How did I get on the topic of dishcloths? Oh, yeah... some people love making them when they have leftover yarn, a quick easy project to throw in your bag, etc...

I tend to make purses, pouches, bags big and small. Yes, I am a bag whore (you too can join the Ravelry group by said name if you're so inclined and feel safe and warm with others who share your addiction).

So.... not knowing what else to do I crocheted up this market bag using Peaches & Cream 100% cotton:

Well, I don't know what I was thinking, but I made it too long (one can of beans and it was dragging on the floor) and the way I did the handle made it hard to even get that can of beans in there. I was not pleased.

So ... I unweaved the ends (I never knot anything, but do weave in long ends) and took out about a third of it. I also changed the handles (four rows of slip stitch each) and now I'm very please with the result.

And oh yay! I think I have enough yarn left over for some dishcloths!!

Things I buy at yard sales

It's Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. and at least here in the northeast it's the unofficial start of the Summer season and that means.... yard sales! Here's just a look at some of the things I found as I wandered about my town today. So here's what I do with a couple hours to waste and $5 in my pocket!

I like these Amish dolls. I think they're handmade, there were no "made in China" tags and there was hand stitching in places.

Flower Looms! These vintage books were in great shape, from 1968 -1971. I do think I have a vague memory of these as a kid. They are just too kitschy fun!

Another vintage book (1974) of crocheted and knitted gift items.

And... I know I'll figure out something to do with these! A big baggie full of little wooden plant pots of various sizes.

I did find some other things, like two nice shelves for my shop that I can use for displaying items. Of course, my husband's best buy was a Scalextric racetrack... great fun!

low tech weaving

a shot of my work space with low-tech woven pouches

The potholder loom scarf got me thinking more about weaving. It's not a fiber craft I know lots about, nor is it anything I've ever given much of a try, so I decided to do a bit of research. I had seen various large scale weaving looms.. you know, those big ones with a bench that probably make blanket-sized fabrics and would no doubt take up my whole living room, not to mention cost thousands of dollars. Needless to say, as a rank beginning weaver that's just too much too soon... sooooooooo ... I went low tech! I perused a few websites, looked over a few examples and made myself a couple very low tech little cardboard looms.

close up of pouches

I used some scraps of yarn and produced two little woven pouches. The one on the right was my first creation and measures about  3" x 4". The little white one on the left was the second, measuring just under 2" square. These were fun to do and extremely low tech, which I like! I found what I thought were easy to follow instructions for the cardboard loom here.

Wearable Potholders

Soooo.... I decided to play around a bit with some yarn on my potholder loom. I had bought the loom on a whim a few months ago as something to busy myself with over a weekend, and cranked out a few potholders with the nylon strips included with the kit. I can remember making them as a kid and giving them out as Christmas and wedding gifts to the unsuspecting. It quickly came back to me why working with those loops are so annoying! And yet ... weaving squares gets to be addictive! I ended up stitching them together (something I really dislike and is why I try to avoid projects made of multiple "parts" ::shudder::) and giving it a slip stitch border. Here's the result:

close-up of scarf section

I used some leftover yarn to try out the process since I have never used yarn on a potholder loom before. It's a dk/baby/light worsted weight yarn. I got the idea from tweets I had seen from Noreen Crone-Findlay. The lighter weight yarn gives it a "lacier" look.

nine sections joined together

As I mentioned, it does get addictive weaving the squares (or am I just obsessive?), so before I knew it I had used up all the yarn and decided to join them all to make this scarf. Interesting, eh? Looks better in person, really, and I kinda liked the "raggety anne" look of it, especially my joining - I mentioned I hate doing that, right?

a regular metal potholder loom

All in all, it was fun and now I'm thinking of another project. Working with yarn seems so much easier than those pesky loopers despite how happy the little girl is on the box - gotta love those "old timey" boxes they like to sell things in. It felt like 1950 all over again! Not that I was there in 1950 when you were able to "amaze your friends" (lower left hand corner of box) with your potholders.

amigurumis anyone?

Octi, as my son named him, his head is about an inch and a half across

I've been crocheting small things for some time, so the whole idea of amigurumis is not entirely new, but some of the designs people come up with are just adorable.... soooooo... I had some yarn left over from a baby blanket and some hats I had done for a charity project and I decided to try my hand a few little friends:

my son thought Octi needed a friend... so here's Mr. Squid ... yeah, yeah, I know the eyes should be opposite... I plead artistic license!

this little fellow stands about six inches tall (not including ears)

the making of Crunchy Banana

It's always fun to see before and after pictures of something.... so here you have it! Here are some before pics of what my shop looks like right now!

 Here's the view as you walk in!

 My counter area.

 This will be the workshop space. 

We will take the toilet and sink out of the main area ... though I thought it might be interesting to just leave it there and if someone came in and asked if there was a restroom to just point over to it . :D

Here's a view of the old tin ceiling that was uncovered. As you can see we'll need a few replacement panels.

I can't wait for the after pics! So far about five walls have come down to widen and brighten the space. My current laundry room will be left with no windows since we've given that space over to the shop, but I can do without peering out the window while I fold clothes if it makes my shop brighter. Stay tuned!

crocheted summer scarves - Opera .. how I will miss ye!

two current project using Opera thread, size 10 and 5 respectively

I was really bummed to hear a few months back that Coats would no longer be making Opera 100% cotton thread. It had to be my absolute favorite crochet thread... beautiful shine, unique twist and super soft... but alas. I bought up as much as I could find and I still search for it now and then.

A couple weeks ago I started up two projects (both summery scarves) using Opera. They are pictured up above together, so here's some close ups:

a pale dusty rose, Opera size 10

close up of my purplicious broomstick scarf in Opera size 5 thread

But ... not to fear... there's always hope... doors close, windows open, that kinda thing. At the recent Finger Lakes Tatting Conference one of the vendors introduced me to Venus. I haven't had a chance to work with it yet, but it looks promising.

Venus cotton thread, although the package says 20, this is a traditional US size 10

bulky cotton

Cotton is my absolute favorite natural. I like the feel, the sheen ... though bamboo is pretty cool too.

This summer I'll be offering a class or two in needle tatting -- which I pretty much gave up once I mastered the shuttle. Needle tatting works especially well when using thicker, bulkier yarns since you don't need to wind it all on a giant tatting shuttle that probably wouldn't get you too far anyway... soooo.... I had found this Laines du Nord Cleo (100 gr. 110m/119 yds) in a sale bin and picked up a few balls. It's a bulky 100% cotton yarn and I loved the shine. To try it out I first crocheted up this filet scarf:

Here's a detail shot:

filet crochet I just filled in a random space every other row, single crochet edging

This yarn seemed like a good candidate to use for brushing up on my needle tatting skills so here's the motif I needle tatted up:

I really like this yarn and it's bulky look. It was, however a bit "splity" to crochet with, but not so much that I'd never use it again.