Category: Crafts

Fall and winter are my most favorite times of the year. I love the cool weather, and to be honest I cannot tell you which season I like the most…

Autumn brings along the changing of the foliage…which is lovely I must say, and gives me a chance to take numerous photos. Winter is always magical with a nice dusting or whole heap of snow. It’s makes a perfect excuse for my daughter and I to gather around out wood stove with a board game, good book, or something crafty while we create Smores, or I prepare food cooked on our wood stove.

Autumn is also a time for planting of fall crops, Hallows End (within World of Warcraft), and it’s when I do most of my soapmaking. This fall (since I’m working a few hours weekly out of the home) I most likely won’t do my fall soapmaking until next month. I use a variety of ingredients in soapmaking, but standard items are essential oils, and a variety of herbs/flowers that I grow in our yard.  Naturally I have people that I’ll be gifting with handmade soap.

If you haven’t used handmade soap, you really should. In many cases it’s much gentler than the soap you’d purchase from a store, and it tends to do a much better job of conditioning and keeping your skin soft too. Lye, a caustic chemical that is used in most soapmaking, is made harmless through a bit of chemistry. Did you know you can neutralize a lye spill by applying vinegar to the affected area.  I must say I get a chuckle at some of the anti-acrylic yarn rants that center around “I don’t use man-made yarns because they use caustic chemicals”. I’m guessing some of the same ones going on that tangent use the traditional soaps, laundry detergents that use those ‘caustic chemicals.

Naturally I’ll be gifting a few people with my homemade soap, including a few of my blog pals like Nicole (Happy Birthday Nicole!) and of course Curls & Q.

 

 

 

Yesterday, I had every intention of finishing up the knitted amigurumi snake for Mr. B, our Shih Tzu. but after knitting a few rows, I put aside the amigurumi snake.

This past June, I’d mentioned that I’d set aside sweaters to unravel but I never got around to unravelling any of them, until yesterday. This sweater came from one of the bags I regularly receive from a second hand clothing store.

One day, I’ll take a picture of the amount of bags we receive. We move through the bags  quickly, so they don’t stay long in our house I like a neat house. I go through the bags, and send them to a few local churches and homeless shelters. Some items, such as clothing that require special care (such as the above sweater) I set aside because the charity ministries want easy care clothing.

 

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come..

For some reason, while unravelling the sweater, the above Bible verse popped into my brain…

Last evening, while my daughter and I were playing games, I unravelled this Ralph Lauren sweater. Recycling items is practiced in our household, because I dislike wasting. So naturally I leap at the opportunity to recycle sweaters for the yarn. Not only does it add to my yarn stash, but the old item gets new life when it’s made into a lovely crochet or knitted project.

 

I’m thinking this sweater was seamed with a machine? Since I had to stop at the end of each knitting row and untangle knots.

Which made unravelling this sweater extremely slow…

 

 

And that was perfectly fine, the time passed by quickly as my daughter and I spent time together. And due to how this sweater was constructed, a yarn ball winder wouldn’t have been much faster.

 

About three hours later, the end was in sight. My daughter commented on how long it took me to do this task. My response, never give up! Obstacles will appear throughout your life, keep moving forward.

 

My perseverance was rewarded, as you can see I have four yarn balls. Yeah me! These yarn balls are a lot larger than they appear here. The good news is I now have a bulky weight wool/alpaca yarn. It’s extremely soft. I have enough of this yarn to create several small projects, and I know I’ll enjoy making hand-crafted items for my fiber worthy folks.

Unravelling sweaters normally don’t as long as this sweater, but again, that everything to do with how the sides were seamed.

This morning, after we return from our Lutheran church. I’ll wind the yarn into hanks, hand wash the yarn, and spread it out to dry. I’ll have to post pictures of my homemade yarn skein winder.

What will I unravel next?

Next to unravel, a 100% cashmere sweater. That sweater is hand-knit. It also came from one of those bags I received from the second hand shop. My skin is sensitive to most animal fibers, and it’s too big for me size 14  (I’m a size 4). So while it’s lovely, I’ll be unravelling this sweater to make into into a lovely handcrafted item. The yarn is lace weight, and I believe at least one of the items I make from the yarn is a lacy scarf. Last evening, I unravelled a few rows, and am pleased that it’ll go much faster. I guess I should invest in a yarn ball winder, right? The latest sweater that I’m unravelling would be a perfect candidate for a yarn ball winder.

How do I unravel a sweater?

Unravelling sweaters for the yarn is nothing new to me, and it’s something I’ve done since I was a child. but if you’re new to it please check outHow to Spin Yarn’s YouTube tutorial on .

“Opal, whenever I see you, you’re always doing something creative!” Is what my aunt said, when she saw me in South Carolina. That aunt happens to be my favorite, and I only see her twice yearly since she lives in Florida.  “My hands need to stay busy otherwise I get bored!” was my response

And that’s the truth, the only times when my hands are are resting is when I’m sleeping…

Throughout the day, my hands do stay active whether I’m playing with my daughter, completing work for clients, working in our garden, which involves harvesting, weeding, flicking off bugs, and tilling the soil I also keep my hands active with my creative crafts. These days, most of my reading is done via audio books. I have the audio books playing while I’m doing housework, or working on a craft.

Idle hands are the devil’s handiwork

As a child, I remember hearing my mother say that a few times. You might have heard that expression too. My mothers hands are rarely idle, my father is the same way. Because it’s a motto I liked, I’ve stuck with it. Of course, part of my active time, is spent working with crafts I enjoy. That counts right?

I guess my hands need to get active with my 17″ MacBook Pro, right? I haven’t fixed that yet, perhaps tomorrow…

Just for fun, I decided to include a list of crafts that have kept my hands active since last Tuesday. I need to set up a photo editing software program on this desktop computer, so I can share the pictures here. Because if I’m honest with myself, I most likely won’t get around to fixing my laptop until this weekend.

Crafts that have kept my hands active since last Tuesday

1. Two preemie knitted beanie hats for local hospital; for those interested in doing something similar call your local hospital and see if they accept crocheted and knitted preemie caps. Several hospitals have charity related groups that donate handcrafted items to other areas of the hospital such as PICU (pediatric intensive care unit).
2. Knitted bedroom slippers for me. Shocking I know, I rarely make items for myself. My crafts are usually for others. I also crocheted some flowers onto the slippers. I made the slippers differently, since I didn’t knit in the round. I knitted straight, and sewed up the seams. The knitted slippers were simple to make, I used a basic rib stitch; k3, p3. The project is simple, and would make excellent Christmas gifts or “thinking of you gifts”. Next time, I’m going to get more fancy, and do something with cables and perhaps a bit of Fair isle (making patterns with different colored yarns) too.
3. Two knitted lace bookmarks. I used the free knitting pattern Leaf me Alone… I’m Reading. They’re a bit fancier than the crocheted bookworm bookmarks that I made for my daughter’s classmates. I saw the knitted lace bookmark pattern on Nicki’s website, so stop by her creative corner and check out her knitted bookmark, she did a great job. I used my Options nickel plated needles. I must say the Knit Picks interchangeable knitting needles does a wonderful job with lace. They have the pointy tips which I adore. I’ve made two of the bookmarks, the first was given to my daughter, and the second I gave to my mother. I’ll make one for me, since I love to read also. I already have ideas on how to incorporate the leaf design into other projects.
4. Three shawls for my daughter’s Monster High dolls; crochet was also added to these shawls – I’ll definitely have to post pictures of this, the dolls are adorable. Looking at them,  makes me wish I had some of those crocheted and knitted garments.
5. Knitted Kindle Fire cover; one of fathers birthday presents — which is tomorrow

I’m a fast knitter, that prefers to knit at a slower pace — most of the time. Last week my hands and knitting needles were flying, which is what happens when I have a lot on mind. I’ve found that either knitting, sewing, embroidery puts me in my happy place quickly; more than any other crafts that I do. Perhaps it’s because I’ve done those the longest? Over 32 years with each of those crafts. So those are the crafts I turn to when I need inspiration, or simply need to relax. Today, I haven’t had time for knitting more than a few short rows (cast on was just 40 stitches) of a project. But I plan on knitting a few rows before I sleep this evening.

A bit busy…

I arrived home from a board meeting about forty minutes ago, and I just realized something…

For the next two years, three weeks out of each month, one of my evenings for that week, will be spent at a board meeting. I serve on three different boards. Good thing I enjoy the faith based charity related ministries and the people I’m working with right? And no… knitting or crocheting is not an option at any of the meetings. I’m an active participant.