Massive computer issues in chalkland (yes the one that is ALWAYS giving me issue) I have been nursing it along, patches so my old programs will still work, backing things up and hoping I got it all, but I’m sure I didn’t. I have a few more ideas to try, before I call it a day or punch it in its flipping computer face!
I have been forced to use Jason’s laptop and it’s like trying to say the alphabet backwards, brush your teeth with the opposite hand or that embarrassing moment when you second guess your equating skills and have to work simple math with your fingers. It should be easy, effortless and elementary until you try to, then it makes you all flustered, angry and uncomfortable.
I have no favorites on here, none of my “programs”, no music (well not my music anyways), nerdy-est of all, the wallpaper is a scientific rendering of the stars within 20 light years from galactic center (total geek) and trust me, Jason is none to thrilled to have me messing about on here.
But I’ve been keeping busy in other ways!
Bert got a bunny suit for easter! The pattern is from Theatre of Yarns and fits her Constance doll (that’s Bert to us) pattern perfectly and also real life babies.
I worked up some really sweet bunny slippers, the pattern is from Lorin Jean at Two Girls Patterns.
I knit a gigantic lace square (12″ x 12″) this is a Japanese charted pattern called the Kunst Lace Square. I originally started this as a dishcloth (beautiful right!) but as it got bigger and bigger I regretted using worsted cotton, nothing worse than an unruly huge floppy saggy soggy dishcloth …ugh…
Wow, look how magical they would be joined together in a blanket!
p.s. The only computer with Photoshop was my now dead one, fudge!
Silly little frog, made mini using crochet thread and turned into a pin by stitching a bar pin on the back. I stuck it on Lex’s favorite bag and waited for her to see it!
An oversized garden owl for my sister, made with cheap weatherproof acrylic, so she can hang it outside to freak out the animals! The pattern is Owl Hanger In Macrame Style from Thomasina Cummings.
It’s a big one compared to my other owls, measuring in at just over 14” wide by 18½” long (without the 6” tail feathers!) I made super bulky yarn from worsted weight, using this incredible plying method!
Ok time to get back to reality or at least off Jason’s annoying laptop and get back to work on mine, either that f’ing computer will blow up or I will ..it’s always so love/hate with me, wish me luck.
You might remember every year around this time I participate in the annual potholder swap over on Ravelry and every year I go on a pattern rampage, trying to find the “one”, I even sleuth throughout the year looking for awesome patterns for the next year, and every year I forego all my previous must-makes & past favorites and search out something brand new! Sometimes I can’t be satisfied with ready made patterns, so I make my own, adapting and mashing together several different ideas to come up with something completely me, something I adore and when I have trouble parting with it, I know it’s the “one”.
2013 swap year requirement is only 3 potholders!
It’s a little Scandinavian cookie-ish, slightly jammie dodger esque, topped off with a sweetly petite black licorice trim.
These have an all black back, to give it the perfect amount of angst!
I know, I know black!? ACK, but it’s just right for hiding any slops, spills or scorch and I really love the contrast.
(I tried to photograph it, but honestly, it ended up just looking like a cartoon hole)
Some of the “sample” potholders from my 2012-2013 potholder trials
Over the years I have made potholders of all shapes and sizes, and in all weights of cotton. They are some of my favorite kitchen things to make and gift, because they are as uniquely beautiful, as they are utterly useful.
For all the hell my computer puts me through, I will say I try to give it back just as much. From hard shutdowns (sometimes there is but one choice), blown monitors, cracks, hacks and patches to get my old favorite programs to keep working with my newer systems. I even went through a time when I tried to cheaply refill the printer ink cartridges myself (you know the bottles of pigment with the big syringes and diagrams on where to stab! ..after the magenta hands fiasco, I haven’t a problem paying the outrageous $70 for the factory filled ones. (Motice I still feel the need to say “outrageous” though :)
Back in the day I had a top-loading printer and I could literally send everything through it without a glitch, paper bags, thick cotton rag, plastic sheets, you’d be surprised at what I tried to stuff in it. I could adjust the pull wheel for almost any thickness of material, it was a tough old beast, but after years of love & abuse it finally died (still sadly missed). I replaced it with a front loader that frustrates me beyond belief, with paper jams, errors and red flashing lights, it never occurred to me that with this style of front loading, whatever I put in would need to contort at such a sharp angle, in such a little U-turn space, it would unavoidably always be getting stuck! I actually have to pop off the back and hand feed in my thick craft stock and forget about weird shaped papers or alternative materials gliding smoothly through this whiny baby. I thought my creative printing days were over, or at least tamed down until I could justify a spanking new, everything I ever wanted super printer.
In walks printable fabric, you either already know of this magic (with a nod & a smile) or you are ..WHAT the WHAT!?! .. PRINTABLE FABRIC!?! Best of all my average home computer users (with standard “it came with it” hardware) they make some just for inkjet printers. It’s available in several different types of fabric, it’s paper backed for smooth feeding through your machine and it comes in pre-cut paper sized sheets or on larger rolls. In the past (my old printer past) I had ironed fabric onto freezer paper and sent it through the printer, the only problem was the inkjet colors weren’t permanent and would wash out, unless I bought a special liquid setting agent (bubble jet set) and pretreated my fabric with it. But this new stuff is ready to go straight out of the package, print your design, let the ink dry, peel off the paper back, rinse in water and lay out to dry or iron if you’re too antsy to let it air dry, poof it’s ready to be used! There are lots of different brands sold online and in fabric & craft stores (search or ask for “inkjet printable fabric” sheets/rolls), I have only used the cotton and the silk that come on a roll, but I am thoroughly impressed and shitty printer satisfied for the time being, YAY!
Look, I made a Alice in Wonderland Silk Cameo!
The Jist: I wanted it to be slightly luminescent, so I used hobotai silk printer fabric, which is very thin & shiny ..think coat lining and you’ll know what silk I am talking about. I printed the graphic to the scale I wanted and cut it out leaving a ½” of plain unprinted silk around the image, next I cut an oval slightly smaller than the printed image size, out of thick acid free cardboard (this became the back), I then I added a layer of thin cotton batting on top of the cardboard for a little puffy plush and stretched the printed fabric over the back pad and glued it down, making sure it was really taut and had no wrinkles or puckers on the front.
Finishing: I crocheted a freeform oval bezel, basically like a little oval dish to set the whole cameo in and it does a perfect job hiding all the gathers and glue on the back. To attach the puffy alice pad to crochet bezel I made little tiny tacking stitches in red so they would disappear in the crochet. I added a few beads just for fun. You could probably even get away with glueing this too :)
I made a cotton chalklegs rosette for my knit bag, I just covered the biggest button blank I could find.
(Ravelry info on my suffragette bag here & you can get the pattern for free at Purl Bee :)
I have also printed out linen “amanda tags” for myself that I stitch on to all the things I make. Mine are pretty minimalist but you could go all out! (Ravelry info on my shell bag here)
Oh the possibilities, you could print out a picture of your pet and make a pet pillow, or dig through the family album and find an old romantic black and white photo and use it as a ring bearer pillow at the next wedding or to make life like photo dolls, put your very own logo and images on patches & appliqués, not to mention all the custom printed fabrics you could make for quilting and crafting!
When I’m too lazy to draw, my favorite resource for copyright/royalty free graphics is the Dover Pictorial Archives, an incredible collection of imagery from the late 1800’s – mid 1900’s. They offer books and CD’s filled with high-resolution Victorian greeting cards, photographs and valentines, old advertising posters and breathtaking ornamental cuts and engravings, they even have botanical and insect etchings. You will be happily overwhelmed in a completely satisfying and affordable way. You can also find wonderful vintage images free online at the Graphics Fairy too!
chalklegs.com 