Saturday, July 7, 2007

I seem to have unraveled...

...a sweater, that is.

It all started yesterday, when I went to Goodwill (I don't go there often, too far away and there's never any craft stuff) and got a sweater for like $5. I saw some others I might want, but this one was just a practice, so I only got one. It's some kind of silk/cotton/angora blend. I wish I'd looked closer at how thick the yarn was, but I'll find a way to use the thinner stuff.

Here is my sweater:












Notice the lovely shaping that sort of looks like fake pockets on the front, and the collar...




Aaaahhh!! The collar is eating my face!






Once I got past the seams, which were all pretty good (though I couldn't find a seam ripper for the labels :( ), I ripped apart the collar and sleeve cuffs, which were of a thicker yarn than the rest of it...






Still eating my head...









All ripped up! I added the 7up can at the last moment for a reference.


Then, I had to figure out how to wind it into hanks. Or rather, what to wind it around...





Object 1: a shoebox lid. Worked great, but my arms got tired and there was almost too much yarn for this one.






Object 2: a girl scout cookie box. I knew those were good for something...(besides, you know, storing stuff in your closet or delivering cookies. Yum!) Worked, but it seemed awkward. (Side note: one sleeve wrapped approximately 260 times around the box)





Object 3: spinning desk chair. I thought that since, you know, it spins, it would make the job that much faster. Nope. In fact, on the second main body part, my yarn broke like two or three times (I think I was putting too much tension on the poor stuff, though).
Still seemed tedious. Me thinks I need a new technique (or a chair that doesn't raise/lower when you spin it.)


Finally, at approx. 11:40 pm:





Done, with piles and piles of yarn to wash, wind into balls, and figure out a use for. Oh, yay. *rolls eyes sarcastically*

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Intro...

Well, since my first post seems to have worked (I really couldn't think of anything to write about at the moment I posted that:), I suppose I ought to introduce myself a little.

Hi, my name is Jen, and I live in Minnesota.

I like to do a variety of crafts, but never seem to be able to stay with one long enough to finish a project (though I'm working on that!). This is what I like to call my "circle of obsessions", and it doesn't only apply to crafts. It also applies to certain computer games and to reading fanfiction. Basically, I obsess about something non-stop for about a week or two, then move on to something else. Thus why I have a dress that is pretty much done but is yet to be hemmed and the top needs to be finished, a teddy bear sweater with only one sleeve, numerous amigurumi crochet projects left unfinished in various places throughout my room, and ideas galore for making soap but no actual ingredients purchased/actual soap produced yet.

If you didn't get it from that last paragraph, I like to: knit, crochet, and sew (though really I like the planning more than the doing), with some cross-stitching/embroidery experience on the side, and I would like to get into making soap and possibly lotion bars (the only thing stopping me on those ones is finding the ingredients. In my area, coconut oil isn't cheap, and I haven't yet convinced myself to try using lard... And I can't find any beeswax at an affordable price anywhere nearby for the lotion bars...)

Umm... that seems to be it for now, I might put some pictures of my past projects if I get around to it...

~Jen

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Whoo! I have a blog!

Ok, so I've just set up my "craft blog", so we'll see if I can post this in one go.