Following The Muse

It's been a little while since I've shared any finished makes. I've been busy making more things! In April, I finished knitting a retro-inspired top called St. Moritz from a book called Knitting It Old School that I've had for a couple of years. I love how the top turned out, except the yarn is too rough to wear next to my skin. It felt fine while I worked with it and the swatch didn't feel bad - and I've used this yarn before in another color and it's great. I guess this bright magenta just wanted to be rough!

I also finally made a kimono-style jacket. The fabric has been in my stash for decades...and I kind of hate being old enough to say that! But the kimono turned out great. I used a "pattern" from pinterest and every bit of my piece of fabric. I made a sash, too, but forgot to take it out for a picture.

I also recently finished crocheting a drapey vest, also with deep stash. The yarn is from Goodwill, bought when the boy child was a new baby. A local yarn distributor had donated their whole supply. The labels are all in Greek, but I think this yarn is cotton with some nylon for the silvery strands.

I've been distracted, though, by my bead stash. Every time I start to work on something the beads grab my attention. I've found that they're a great way for me to refocus my thoughts when I get really upset (often, as it turns out, in my life). I just turn on some music and start stringing. Time flies by and I'm much calmer. I've finished these necklaces so far in the past four weeks or so:

The one on the left is an experiment - I strung about six feet of seed beads on some silk yarn (thread weight) and held it with a second strand of the silk to crochet a chain. Then I chained that chain with a bigger hook and tied it into a circle. It's really light for how chunky it is. I started it as a ind of prototype for an idea that's been haunting me. Since it turned out so cool my bigger project has been green-lighted. Last week was the anniversary of Marilyn's birthday - she would have been 90 years old. I'm working on a project to celebrate her life - and not just the glamorous movie star part. It's also from stash materials. Since she grew up in the Depression I'm sure she would appreciate and understand why. I've also had Theda Bara on my mind. I recently saw A Fool There Was, I think the only movie she made that still fully exists. It has stuck in my mind for both the beautiful clothes and the content. We still have movies about "bad" women who ruin the men who fall for them. Some things just don't change, do they? Eric borrowed the first season of Game of Thrones from a friend and we've watched about half of it. It's not doing much for me. I know it's hugely popular. I'm not seeing why. I don't like shows that take several episodes to a full season to get "interesting" - I want to like at least one character right away. I also don't care for "bad people are bad, good people are stupid" kinds of stories. I do quite like a new show called Houdini and Doyle that's on Fox. It's a police procedural, like so many shows, but it's main characters are Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle. I couldn't resist! The main police officer is a beautiful woman who reminds me of Hermione in her logical approach to things. The costumes are gorgeous. It's nice to enjoy a show after so many have crapped out on me. Of course, we're now into the summer television season, so I should maybe look for new stuff. I'm enjoying old movies so much, though, that I forget! I did recently watch The Great Gatsby. Kerry had told me that it's his favorite, so I had to check it out. I love the book and have read it several times (but couldn't find it for him to read, darn it!). It's a beautiful movie. I think it really captured the feeling of the book with the opulence next to the desolation in such a small area. I'd love to find an autographed copy of the DVD for Kerry for Christmas. Maybe I'll be able to save up enough in six months! Okay, I'd better get going. I have work to finish before the lure of the bead stash grabs me again. What will I do when the well runs dry? Oh, I'll think about that another time. See y'all later!

Too Sparkly? Nah!

Last week I couldn't sleep, so I just snuggled under my covers and thought about things. I wondered how I didn't have any pins to glue on the back of the shrink plastic dragon I'd made when my stash of supplies is so big and varied. Then I thought about other things that could be made with the shrink plastic and how they could be made and decided to experiment with earrings. The next day I found some round things to trace and a purple marker. I made a bunch of different sized circles and colored them on both sides before baking them. The color wasn't quite as strong as I'd hoped, so I got out the glitter nail polish. I used three different polishes to get a look that was perfect. I super-glued some posts on the back, linked the circles together, and voila!

They're very long but super light and make a gentle jingle when I move. I love them. I need to put some top coat on them to keep the sparkles where they are, though, so I don't wind up with chips around the edges. They touch my shoulders and I have to wear my hair up so I don't get tangled up, but look at how they are when worn (but ignore how icky I look):

Of course, I have tons more ideas for big, sparkly earrings now. I have a place to work, too, so I don't have to clean up my mess to fix dinner or anything. The ideas will have to be written down and sketched for now, though, because I seem to be developing the hereditary arthritis in my hands. It's not a good time. Last night I could barely turn a door knob. I won't stop doing what I do, though, because I would probably explode in frustration. There are too many things to make for me to just give it all up. When I'm hurting a lot I enjoy an old movie or two and admire the brilliant actresses of the 30s and 40s - and not knitting while watching means that silent movies are easier to keep up with because I read all of the cards. Well, I'd better get going. Joshua seems to be up to no good. He's got spring fever and can't keep from climbing the screens to try to chase the birds and squirrels. I'd better go get him before he gets stuck somewhere.

My Latest Projects

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Sorry about that! My allergies and a black mood have been kicking my butt - not to mention track meets for my girl and lifting weights with my boy. I realized that I hadn't shared my finished beaded stole with you! It was started in January and went on hold for a bit in February when the crochet hook went through my finger (my finger still hurts, too, because the hook grazed my knuckle) but I finished it on time to get my Astronomy OWL for the House Cup. As I was knitting I realized that the pink yarn wasn't working for me so I overdyed it and it's perfect now. What do you think?

It's only slightly lighter in real life. I've worn it several times because I'm so happy with it. I've been making bracelets, too. I love bracelets - they're probably my favorite jewelry. Sadly I never got any friendship bracelets - they started being popular when I got out of that age group. Here's what I've done so far:

This one is fairly easy. I got the idea from Pinterest - a zipper edged with lace. I added a thin row of glitter because I like glitter (and have lots of it in the craft stash). It's fastened with a lobster claw clasp that hooks onto the zipper pull.

The bottom one is also easy - a zipper with the tape cut off. It's the same clasp as the above one. Both of these still zip, too, so a smaller wrist could unzip it a bit to make it fit. The top one is some of my favorite buttons - gorgeous shells that are pretty weighty and beautiful. The full bracelet looks like this:

It was pretty simple to thread some thin cotton through the holes. I got the idea from a blog but didn't add anything else because I wanted to show the buttons. I couldn't capture the colors, though - pink, violet, gray, white shimmering together. You can imagine, though, if you've seen abalone shells. They're very similar. I experimented with some flowers:

because all of the craft sites and blogs have amazing zipper flowers and I love them. The bigger one has a pin back on it so I can put it on a hatband or jacket. The smaller one has an alligator clip so it can go in my hair. I will be making more of these - they're not too tricky and I have a bunch of zippers from an auction haul last spring. One of the boards I follow on Pinterest is all zippers so expect more "toothy" things from me! One of Khloe's friends had a baby last Friday. Yes, she's too young, but it's not my place to be judgy. Sunshine (her real name) is a sweet girl so I made a pair of socks for the little guy:

I wanted to make some purple ones but, darn it, I couldn't find my little ball of purple sock yarn. (I know it's here somewhere!) We'll be going to visit them in a few days - we don't want to be rude and come over right away while she's still settling into motherhood. We got her a set of supplies, too - lotion, soap, powder - and if I can I'll pick up a pack of diapers because the little ones go through them like crazy. Finally, my mom got Khloe and me a rubber band loom. I'm still figuring it out but before long you'll be seeing lots of creations from it. I know they're for little kids but I think the rubber band bracelets are really neat and I know that people have been making all kinds of other things with them. (I love looms of all sorts. I have several hand-sized weaving looms and a beading loom. I'm aching for a bigger loom to make scarves and stoles but it will have to wait for a bit longer.) Okay, that's all for now. I have another button bracelet to finish and some sewing to work on - and loads of other works in progress. See you all soon!