Knit City!

Aug. 26th, 2024 09:09 am
calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
Fibre arts festivals have become a real thing here and I'm so happy about it! It started with one and grew and grew and now I can shop hand-dyed yarns in person!

Mom and I went to Knit City the other weekend and it was amazing! I bought a budgie bag and filled it with the goodies you see here! Knit City is usually held in Vancouver, BC or Toronto, ON, but now it's going to rotate between Calgary and Vancouver. Yay!




ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I finished the hugelkultur pot. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) I still have the second one to fill, but this one is done for now. \o/

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ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I started on my hugelkultur pot project. The pot is about 21" at the outside top, 18" at the inside top, 16" tall, and 10 1/2" at the base.

I've been thinking about how I wanted to fill it. I didn't want to use all potting soil because sometimes it's too heavy and other times too light. I didn't want to use gravel or ceramic shards for drainage because eventually I'll want to dump it and refill it. So I hit on the idea of using sticks as the bottom layer, because they'll make good drainage but can also break down over time. Also, I love the idea of using things from my yard. A key rule of permaculture is "Obtain A Yield," and that can be anything you find useful. In this case, I'm using cut brush to improve drainage, so it's productive rather than just a pile of branches in the way of the lawnmower. I'll be adding leaves, compost, and potting soil later.

Hugelkultur is a type of no-turn compost similar to lasagna gardening where you make a pile of stuff, only this version can include anything from sticks to whole trees on the bottom. Eventually the wood decomposes.

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calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
Hubs is a lucky guy--here's the second sweater I made for him on my Ultimate Sweater Machine. I avoided the mistakes I made in my first sweater, but also made some new ones, doh! I have to adjust the length of the arms and then it will be done done.

The yarn is Premier Anti-Pilling yarn in spruce and pine. The yarn looked more "green" on the website, but it turned out to accidentally match our couch.


Green knit sweater on a green couch

Fiber Fairs

Jan. 5th, 2024 05:12 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
I got to talking about fiber fairs with a friend. They're easy to miss. They tend to advertise only in a few places where they expect their audience to be, like feed stores (for sheepfarmers) and yarn stores (for crafters).  So I thought other folks might enjoy the references I found.

Here are some:

https://www.thatchedroofcottage.com/2024-fiber-arts-festivals

https://www.knittersreview.com/upcoming_events/

To find these, search "fiber fair" or "fiber festival" + city, state, or other place near you (or the year).
ysabetwordsmith: (Rose-Bay)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The 2024 Rose and Bay Awards are now open for nominations, honoring excellence in cyberfunded creativity, aka crowdfunding! Please make your nominations and pass the word to all the crowdfunders you know and encourage them to participate. It would be especially helpful for folks you know via places like Kickstarter or Patreon, as I'm not on those sites.

These are the handlers for the 2024 award season:
Art: [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Nominate art! Vote for art!
Fiction: [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Nominate fiction! Vote for fiction!
Poetry: [personal profile] nsfwords Nominate poetry! Vote for poetry!
Webcomic: [personal profile] nsfwords Nominate webcomics! Vote for webcomics!
Other Project: [personal profile] fuzzyred Nominate other projects! Vote for other projects!
Patron: [personal profile] fuzzyred Nominate patrons! Vote for patrons!

If any of the craft projects you make or admire are crowdfunded, check to see if they're eligible! In particular, "Make 100" type projects are often run through crowdfunding hubs like Kickstarter. Most craft projects will go under either Art (e.g. watercolors, collage) or Other Project (e.g. crochet, jewelry), but if you're not sure you can always ask the category handler(s) for advice.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
[personal profile] nsfwords has volunteered to host the March bingo fest in [community profile] allbingo. If you want an idea what that could look like, see the bingo fest and meet and greet pages from the 2022 round. Fills can be writing about a craft, making a craft, taking a picture of a project, whatever you like. Everyone is welcome to participate; this is a high-inspiration, low-stress community.

Here is the entry from the 2024 Community Calendar:

[recurring]
National Craft Month Fest hosted by [personal profile] nsfwords
This is a fest focusing on the myriad joys (and frustrations) of Crafting.
Posting will be March 1-30.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Happy Boxing Day! For many folks, today is when they take down the Christmas tree, wreaths, garlands, and other holiday decorations. Cut evergreens or other natural materials can be repurposed in many ways.

For one popular example, you can turn a Christmas tree into a wildlife feeder. See some ideas for that in the previous post "Holiday Tree for the Birds." If you still have holiday guests, then repurposing your greenery can make for a fun family craft activity. Here are some other ideas...

Read more... )

Tee hee!

Dec. 23rd, 2023 06:56 pm
calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
As I like to say "Late for this year, early for next!"



calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
I bought Mom and I a Lumos neck light for Christmas. I was going to buy a cheaper one, the Lizard Light, but a lot of reviews complained about the battery life. This one comes with a USB cable to infinitely recharge and also has three colour temperatures in addition to being totally adjustable. I can't say anything bad about it after a month of use. It's great for dark coloured yarns, as you can see below! This yarn is dark navy.

They had a Black Friday sale, so you may want to stay tuned for other holiday sales! There's no shortage of YouTube reviews if you want to check it out.


Pin loom with dark yarn
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
I've had one of these things for years. Periodically I have to take it apart and rebuild it, when the potpourri loses its scent and/or the string of lights gives out.

This year I couldn't find a string of 20 so I wound up with a string of 50. Note that you need incandescent bulbs not LED bulbs, as it's the faint heat which releases more scent from the potpourri. I managed to cram them all in there, once I realized that I needed to skip my usual method of putting a toilet paper tube in the middle while packing to keep the lights on the outside. It's hard to find good potpourri nowadays, with small pieces -- it's mostly huge chunks meant for a large open display bowl. I did add a couple of cinnamon sticks and some cinnamon-scented larch cones.

Anyhow, I got it working again. :D
calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
A day late, but better late than never! I was downtown on Friday and snapped a pic of various handmade poppies that adorn the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The knit and crochet poppies--some with buttons for centres and in a hue of reds--were created in 2018 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of armistice. 7000+ poppies make up the display and were contributed by parishoners and people worldwide. Here's a more in-depth story about the poppies.


Handmade poppies hanging from a lamppost
darkcedars: magungensis african violet (Default)
[personal profile] darkcedars
I made three finger gloves or split mittens.  Posted how I made these on my journal, if you are interested. My husband is demanding a green set, because these are ninja turtle hands. 

gray three finger gloves where the split is between the middle and ring fingers
calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
One of the problems with being a textile artist is that your art tips over into the craft category. I bought a flatbed knitting machine a couple of years ago and finally made a sweater on it. I was so committed to the sweater that I have been avoiding starting anything new. I thought it could be completed over Christmas break and maybe it could have if I didn't run out of yarn. This was one time that an emergency trip to Michaels couldn't be made :-D I decided to take my time to learn and make mistakes anyway.

Could artier sweaters be in my future? I think so! A few more adjustments and it will fit hubs perfectly.

You can follow along on my sweater journey on Twitter!






Ooops, I didn't realize Twitter didn't allow free for all viewing anymore :-D


Blue sweater
smallhobbit: (zentangle)
[personal profile] smallhobbit
Every month I go to a crafting class called Dare to Dabble.  This month we were Copper Embossing and [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith suggested I make a post here.

This was my final result:






Further details can be found on my journal
yourlibrarian: Iron Man lifts a giant present (HOL-IronManPresent-benchable.jpg)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
Various necklaces made for friends:

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calzephyr: Scott Pilgrim generator (Default)
[personal profile] calzephyr
I added two new books to my craft bookshelf this month, Amazing Circular Weaving and Weaving On A Little Loom.

Buying craft books can be a little iffy, so I'm happy to recommend them. Both have good, clear photos, and instructions not only for the projects, but for those new to weaving. You'll be able to get up and running with successful results in no time.

Although I took a class at art college on weaving with a four harness loom, I couldn't master it at all and it left me feeling like I'd never weave again. Turns out I have a lot of enthusiasm for little looms. TBH, anything can become a loom as long as you have something to hold the warp threads. It could be a tissue box, a piece of cardboard or a scrap of wood :-)


Photo of two books referenced in the above post
svnsettia: (Default)
[personal profile] svnsettia
hello hello!! would anyone be interested if i organized a sticker exchange? ₍ᐢ ̥ ̞ ̥ᐢ₎ ♥ basically i'd make a google form so people can sign up, and participants would be put in groups of 2-4 people (according to their preference) to exchange stickers with. they could be any kind of stickers--sheets, waterproof vinyl, lazer cut, puffy, etc--and preferences and amounts would be shared with your partner/group before the exchange. 

for example: i'd get assigned a group, and then we'd exchange addresses. we agree that we'll send each other around eight sticker sheets each, and that they should all be flat (not puffy) stickers. each of us will go to stores in our neighbourhood and buy sticker sheets that fit each other's preferences, and then mail them to each other with little thank you cards. if i were in a group of 4, i'd get three of each sheet (one for each of my three group members) and send the same stickers out to everyone. 

please comment on this post or send me a message if you're interested, and i'll send you the link for the google form! feel free to share this post with your friends if you think they'd be interested ٩(ˊᗜˋ )و thanks for reading!
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