Handwoven Shawl

This is my first weaving project that I've finished. It's soy silk (warp) with mercerized cotton (weft). It is somewhat uncommon for a woven item in that the stripes run along the length rather than the width. It's super soft and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!!
It's a twill pattern that used a straight draw threading. It was somewhat simple and a good project to start out with.

Save the Date Cards

Here's what we ultimately designed and printed after taking the screen printing class! We had a lot of fun with the whole process. Our screen printing teacher was such a cool guy and he really helped us out a lot (Chet at the T Factory at the UCSD craft center = amazing!).

Screen printing

Chris and I have been taking a screen printing class to prepare to print our own Save the Date cards and invitations. Here are some of the things we've been printing!

This was my project for the first week, which was black-and-white. We had to cut the image out of tracing paper; then, we put the tracing paper under the screen as we pulled the ink. The image is a copy of a window from V for Vendetta by Alan Moore.

This was Chris' project for the first week: an image from one of the Sin City books by Frank Miller.

The second week, we cut images from rubylith. The rubylith was used to transfer the image onto the screen, and then we just pulled the ink.  The above image is mine; below is Chris's.

Most recently, we did a high-contrast project, where the image could not have any mid-tones (grays). For this, we just Photoshopped an image and sent it to the instructor digitally. He printed it (with a regular printer) on a transparency and then used that to expose the screen and transfer the image.

ohmygosh it's March

Well, it just so happens that I started school shortly after the last posting...when that happened, my crafting time became pretty much non-existent. Wah-wah. It's okay, though, because I'm getting smarter and stuff.

I have been steadily working on one project, though, which is another scarf for a friend. It's knit, and it uses a really different kind of pattern, which I love. It's super easy too; it took me a minute to figure out the whole "slip stitches with yarn in front" thing, but once you start doing it, it makes sense.

Anyway, here it is:

I also made myself a little cheat sheet for the first few stitches of each row:

So, for example, row 8 says "k5, p3" so I start knitting the row with that and then just do k3, p3 until you get to the last three stitches of the row, which are always sl 3. It's a lot easier than either following along with the full pattern (once you get the hang of the pattern, you don't really need all of that info), or trying to count it out every time I start a new row. After I finished that row, I'd put a dot in the right column and keep going!

It's not done yet, but I think I'll have it done just in time for Summer. :)

Happy New Year!

I realized that I had off-loaded a lot of stuff I made before I even took pictures of it...oops! I'm going to make an effort to take pics of things as soon as they are finished so that doesn't happen.
Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely New Year's and is starting the year refreshed.
Here's a scarf I knitted (my first knit project!) out of some alpaca yarn my mom sent me:

As you can see, it curled up along the edges...it's because I didn't use a pattern and so had decided to knit one side and purl the other; as it turns out, that's called a stockinette stitch and will always make your piece curl.  It's most often used for sweaters, because when you attach a seam it doesn't curl anymore. Oh well, lesson learned, and it's still a pretty rad scarf.

I started a new knit project as well, which I am excited enough about that it's taking up almost all of my crafting time :)
It's called a curbing bag and it's pretty fun to make.

I am also determined to get back to my weaving project this month!!
Finally, Chris and I got engaged, so I apologize in advance for the fact that many of the future projects this year will probably be wedding related. But still lotsa fun!

Wood work by Tom

Chris's brother, Tom, works with wood a lot. He made some Christmas gifts that we love, so I thought I'd post them!
He said he cut them and turned them on a lathe.

I finished a handful of things over the holidays as well, so I'll work on photos and posting for those soon.

Update

Ah! So I've fallen a little behind in posting.  But it's mostly because I have a lot ongoing and not a lot getting finished...I've been working on my own designs/patterns, which is actually a lot more challenging than I thought it would be! I have about 30 little scraps laying around that started as something and then I didn't like the shape so I ditched them. =P
Anyway, I did manage to finish a scarf made from yarn my mom got me (100% alpaca - very soft and chic).

 [I hate taking pictures of myself...]

The scarf is crocheted - it's just straight hdc, working back loops only throughout. I learned how to knit when my mom visited for thanksgiving, so look out for more knit projects soon! I'm working on a knit headband to match the scarf currently.

I also made a little Santa hat for the Butis:

Finally, the ring is almost done - I soldered the bezel onto the band and now just need to get the stone in there!! I'm hoping to finish all of the jewelry projects this Sunday...

Chris is still finishing up his most recent neon projects - kinda slow going because he has his qualifying exam soon. (Wish him luck!) But he did make us some delicious Guinness ice cream for thanksgiving. :)
My mom also made me this lovely floppy hat, which is just adorable.
[More guest spots on my uber-talented family to come later!]

Penguin

I made a penguin for my mom, since she likes penguins.  I started using a pattern at first, but I wasn't liking how it was coming out, so I modified it a whole bunch...I'm still not super pleased with all of the details, but I learned from it, and it's still pretty cute.

The body is basically an elongated ball, so the pattern is pretty simple. I'm going to shorthand it here; email if you would like further details.

Body
Rd 1 - Ch 2, sc 5 in first ch
Rds 2-8 - increase each round
Rds 9-19 - sustain same number of stitches
Rds 20-26 - decrease each round
You'll need to stop at about round 22 or 23 and hold off on finishing the body until you finish the other pieces. It's a lot easier to sew them on when it's not stuffed yet (except the feet, which you will have to sew on after stuffing). Once you finish those and sew them on, then you can stuff it and finish it off.

Belly & Wings
Use white for belly; use black for wings and make 2. Fold wings in half and sew shut.
Rd 1 - Ch 2, sc 5 in first ch
Rds 2-4 - increase each round

Feet (make 2)
Rd 1- Ch 2, sc 6 in first ch
Rd 2 - 2 sc in each st
Rd 3 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next, repeat from *
Rd 4 - only work first 5 stitches:
in first st - 1 sc
in second st - hdc, dc, tr, dc, ch
in third st - hdc, dc, tr, dc, ch
in fourth st - hdc, dc, tr, dc, ch
in fifth st - slip st
finish off.


I also made another (larger) Buti with a hat, and another hat for the little guy as well.

One of these days I'll get a better camera, I swear...
:(

Jewelry Casting

I casted a few more pieces and soldered my ring shut. I bet you all forgot about that ring, but I'm still working on it!!
I'm going to make these into charms, probably earrings. They're unfinished, but they will be a nice polished silver (with jump rings) when they're done.

Here's the ring for now...still not the finished color, and I'm going to set a stone on it (hopefully next week).

I've finished crocheting this guy too...just need to stuff and assemble him, so for  now he's just a pile of pieces.

I've been working on making more Butis and more accessories for the Butis, so I'll also post some of those once I get a few more and can take some pics.

:)

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather!

Buti wit a top hat

Buti pattern available for purchase here.

I made the top hat myself, using a basic pattern:

use st marker throughout

Rd 1 - ch 2, 6 sc in first ch (don't close loop/ no slip st)

Rd 2 - 2 sc in each sc from previous rd

Rd 3 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st, repeat from * until end of rd

Rd 4 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts, repeat from * until end of rd

Rd 5 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts, repeat from * until end of rd

Rd 6 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts, repeat from * until end of rd

Rd 7 - *2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 5 sts, repeat from * until end of rd

Rd 8 - work this round in back loops only - 1 sc in each st

Rds 9 - 21 - 1 sc in each st (work both loops)

Rd 22 - work back loops only - 1 sc in each st

Rds 23 - 27 - 1 sc in each st

Finish off

I think it looks best flipped inside out, so that the ridges created from your back loop only rounds show. It will shape better too.

I added some mini peacock feathers to dress it up.

Email or comment if you have any questions or feedback!

:)

Crocheted X-Mas Goodies

Here's the finished snowman! The pattern is available for free if you click here.

I also made a bunch of teeny little stars. Again, pattern is available for free here.

Crochet Projects

I've been busy crocheting a lot to get ready for Christmas...and the Holiday insanity begins!!

Completed Peacock Costume

Peacock Costume, Part 2

Ok, so by now you should have the whole project laid out with wrapping paper in between layers. Gather up each layer and keep them all separate (so that you can re-create the same layout again).

Take each piece of wrapping paper and use it as a stencil to cut out a piece of fabric.  Make sure you leave room to hem the edges.  Also, leave a lot of extra fabric below the base of the triangle - we left about 1.5 feet.  We're later going to use it to make a belt loop so that you can wear the tail as a belt.  If you scroll down, you can see in one of the later photos what it looks like.

We folded the fabric in half before cutting to ensure symmetry (plus, then you only have to make one cut).

Do this for each layer/piece of wrapping paper, alternating fabric colors. Then, hem the edges of each piece with a sewing machine.  We had some trouble with our sewing machine, so, as you can see, it's not precision work.  It'll all get covered up by the feathers.

Now, reassemble the bottom layer like you had it before.  Use a hot glue gun to glue each feather down to the fabric.  The best way to do this is to apply the hot glue to the back side of the feather, press it down on the fabric, and allow it to dry.  Then put a dot of glue at the end of each feather stem.

Be careful not to get the gun too close to the actual feathers - it will melt them; the stems are ok, but the feathers are easily ruined.  Also, keep in mind that the more glue you use, the stiffer the fabric will become, and the harder it will be to close up the tail later.

Let it cool before you start with the next layer.  You can glue each layer separately or on top of the previous layer - we're going to glue all of them together at the end anyhow.

Once you've glued on all of the feathers you're going to use, glue each layer to the previous layer, using three dots of glue (one dot at each corner).  At this point, the tail is essentially done!  All it needs is a little cleaning up and a drawstring to close it.

So cut a wide strip of fabric, hem the edges, and hot glue it to the back side of the tail. Make sure that the fabric is in a U shape, and is as perpendicular as possible to the feathers.  The more precise the perpendicular-ness, the better the tail will bunch up when it closes.  If you don't do this properly, it could end up just cracking the feather stems and not really closing up the tail.

Once the edges of the fabric are glued and cooled, pull a drawstring through (I used a shoelace).  

Flip the tail back over so that the right side is up.  Cut off the excess fabric left on the edges of the layers which you glued the fabric to.  If you end up cutting off some of the spots where you had the layers secured to one another, re-glue them.

Fold the excess fabric under the back side of the tail to create a belt loop, and slide a belt through.  You want to leave as little slack as possible, so try to get the belt as close to the feathers as you can (without overlapping any of it).

Pin the fabric where it needs to be sewn, then pull the belt out and sew it.  I hand-stitched this part because it would have been tough to get it in the sewing machine; I'd recommend you do the same.

Again, trim off any excess fabric from the back side of the belt loop.

Now you can pull the belt through and try it on!  The last thing I did was (while wearing it) wrap some fabric around the belt to integrate it a little better.  Now you can wear the tail up (just pull it up over your head) or down, closed (pull and tie the drawstring) or open...pretty cool, huh?  :)

I hope you enjoy the costume! I'll post a final picture of the whole outfit on Halloween.