Resolutions? Not Anymore!

During the later part of last year, things were getting busy and I didn't have as much time as I'd like to craft. My stash was getting out of hand, my yarns were everywhere and I couldn't keep up with all the wonderful patterns out there. Mom couldn't sit on the sofa because there was knitting needles planted there growing mushrooms. So, sometime end of last year, I made a resolution to stop purchasing yarn and mags.

Despite a devious crafty little mind going crazy trying to work ways out to circumvent my restraint every now and then, I've managed to behave myself quite well. I'm pretty surprised myself. A rummage through my stash recently was a startling revelation.

My new stash since beginning of this year. Yay!



Clockwise, the 2 balls of blue green yarns you see on your right are Candy from Artful Yarns. The one and only time I succumbed to eBay. Next, there's yummy organic cotton yarn sampler in all their colorways and 1 skein of mulberry silk yarn. The organic yarns and silk was something that I had wanted for the longest time.

You probably can't read the piece of paper there in the middle of the yarns. But it came with the cotton yarns. For those unfamiliar with organic cotton, here's what it reads

"Color grown cotton will not fade with washing; instead the colors become richer and brighter. If the color fades with sunlight, simply wash it and add a little washing soda to brighten it again.

For sampling, the greatest change happens when you place yarn in water, heat to boiling, take off heat and let yarn cool in the water. This can be done in a microwave also, use plenty of water. Try different alkaline solutions for different color changes. Add some washing soda."

And get this... These yarns in the picture are all that I've purchased this year. Can you believe it? Well, neither can I. That's just 2 purchases for the past 10 months. Considering that I've been relatively good, This a little additional to the stash won't hurt....Right?

Experimental Knitting

One of my friends recently started knitting. She's taken to knitting and crocheting like a fish to water. :) I asked for her kind permision to post her very first knit here.



She wanted to do a bikini for her young niece. So after a few basic knit and purl lessons, we went off shopping for yarns. She settled for Sirdar DK Pure Cotton in a nice bright pastel yellow. Isn't it the cutest thing?

Experimentation

I've recently started to dabble in a lot of other stuff these couple of months. Beading was one of them. So, I finally got around to experimenting with beads and wire knitting and made a bracelet.



I made a couple of them. Quite interesting. The crocheted ones weren't as great though, it looked very messy. Have you ever tried to unravel crocheted wire? :) Well, don't.



Pace yourself if you want to try it. Knitting with wire is painful to your fingers too much at one go, it is also quite slippery on the needles.

reVamp

Hello my dear friends!

It certainly had been time to change my blog for the longest time and I finally got around to it. Hope you enjoy the new look.

Life have been full to the brim. There's been some creativity and craftiness but I hadn't time to take photos and blog. Rather then one big entry, it'll probably be more palatable in small doses. So, here's one update.

Claying Around


Some friends and I decided one day to go for claying lessons. Thus we engineered our foray into clay. That was fun! We were all given a tour and explanation on how it is done and then given basic instructions on how to do a simple bowl. Unfortunately, by the time we remembered we had a camera, our hands were all so full with clay, there was no one left to take pictures. We all had fun building our lopesided clay bowls. After we were done, we left them there for the baking and finishing process to be picked up after 2 weeks. So here's my lopesided clay container.



Branching Out


Miss Branching Out was a gift meant for my Aunt in US. I've been dragging my feet on it for the longest time after I messed up the instructions and sat on my wooden needles during a tense moment in CSI: Miami. Yes, one of my wooden needles broke. I was so upset after I didn't look at it for a long time. (*Yes, I do realize it wasn't Miss Branching Out's fault)

After neglecting it in my WIP pile for so long, I jumped when I realized that my deadline was up. Mom was going to US and I only had a few days left before she does. I was definitely out of time. I had to whip her out, fast. This time round I really enjoyed the pattern better then my first time. Kinda sad when I reached the end of the scarf. But anyway, I barely had time to finish blocking it. I had just enough time to hang it on the laundry pole and snap a hurried picture before mom carried it off to be packed.

I wish I didnt' procrastinated so I could take a better picture. This picture really does not do justice to the color of the yarn. It was a beautiful blue with wisp of gold and red thread running through it so that the color changes subtly every 5 inches or so. But I was very glad it turned out so pretty. Anyway, pretty lil Miss Branching Out is now with my aunty.