Slow Week

 It has been a slow crafting week here. I am a public school teacher, and we had parent/teacher conferences, which means I worked many more hours than usual. Also, I got my second COVID vaccine on Tuesday (yay!), which gave me flu-like symptoms yesterday, so absolutely no crafting was done in that time. 

So, in the absence of lots of amazing crafty things to tell you, I thought I would show off what I have in the works right this minute. I'll split them into categories- long-term WIPs (works in progress), medium-length WIPs, and short-term WIPs. It turns out that I have several long-term WIPs, so today's post is just going to feature them. Check back in a few days for my other WIPs!

Long-term WIPs:

I've been making a pile of woven 4"x4" pin loom squares for an afghan for years now. Here's one of the squares:

I'm starting a pile of woven 2"x2" squares to assemble into larger projects at a later date. Here is a recent one:

I'm working on a crocheted "Catch-All", something to hang over the door with pockets to store things:

I'm working on a crocheted afghan, one square at a time: 

I'm working on a crocheted sweater made up of flower/leaf motifs: 

I'm working on a large crocheted afghan that I started YEARS ago: 

And I'm working on a "toothbrush rug", a skill similar to knitting or crochet, but it uses a large needle to sew loops:

You would think I would have enough to work on just from those projects, but no! The grass is always greener on the next project, so of course I have plenty of other things I've been working on besides these. Check back soon to see my other WIPs. 

Happy crafting!

Sprang Weaving

I know that I have talked about last month's Fiberuary a bit already, but I want to go out of my way to talk about one part of it that I particularly enjoyed- the classes on sprang weaving. Here is a link to a Wikipedia page about sprang, if you have no idea what I'm talking about. 

I took the Beginning Sprang Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 classes, and I'm planning to watch the video for Intermediate Sprang that the same teacher taught. I really liked it, and it went super fast once I got the hang of it! By the way, the classes are on YouTube for FREE for a limited time only!

In Beginning Sprang Pt 1, which you can find here until April 1, I learned how to warp my loom, which I constructed out of an embroidery frame and some dowels. Here is what it looked like when I was done:

In Beginning Sprang Pt. 2, which you can find here until April 1, we learned how to weave and created a small bag. Here is my bag, which I will use to hold spinning accessories on my wheel: 

I really enjoyed this! I'm looking forward to watching the Intermediate Sprang class, which is all about interlacing and twills. The class teaches you to make a bracelet. You can watch it here until April 1. 

If you're interested in learning more about Sprang, here are some resources that I'm looking forward to reading/watching, but haven't gotten to yet: 

This blog post from The Sojourning Spinner.

There are some free (and paid) patterns and a gallery of finished items at spranglady.com.

Here is a PDF with a pattern for a bag and tons of other information. 

Here is another good article from stringpage.com. 

There are a ton of sprang weaving videos on YouTube here. 

*Please note: none of this material is mine, I'm just sharing things I've found on the internet through a basic Google search. 

So, if you're in the mood to try something new, I highly recommend some basic sprang! Good luck, and happy crafting!

February 2021 Wrap Up

It's time for the monthly wrap up! February skated by even faster than January. How is it that this time last year seemed to stretch for ages, and now time is flying? The shortest month of the year always seems, well, short, but even more so this year. Here are the projects I completed in February:

I got out my Schacht Flip loom and made these plainweave towels with magnetic closures to put on my oven handle:

I made this tiny knitted bee in black and gray, to be a Glumbumble from Harry Potter lore:

I crocheted this great cowl, which was a test for a crochet designer. It was a lovely stitch to work, it is delightfully squishy, and it is quite warm, perfect for this time of year:

I knitted this amazing shawl, which took most of my crafting time this month, but I loved every second of it. I also learned the sewn bind-off, which is amazingly easy, though time-consuming:

I finished the month by practicing some brush lettering. I made this nice sign to hang in my craft space. The Elder Dorm refers to the name of the group that I am friends with on the crafting website Ravelry:

And that's it! I have several works-in-progress right now that I hope to finish in the coming weeks, including another knitted shawl, a sprang weaving project, an inkle weaving band, a knitted gnome, and a brioche cowl, but you know I'm going to want to start new things, too, so we'll see what I get through this month! :-)

What are you working on right now? What are you excited to start? Are you forcing yourself to slog through a project because you want the finished object? Let me know in the comments!

Happy crafting!

Tutorials

 What fun craft tutorials have you found on the internet recently? I'm constantly perusing Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest looking for fun, crafty ideas, and I thought it would be fun to share a few of my most recent favorites here. 

There are probably a million free craft tutorials on gathered.how, but my most recent favs are:

1. This macramé purse. 

2. These patchwork birds. 

3. This crocheted scarf. (You have to scroll down a bit and click the link to get the PDF.)

There are a ton of weaving tutorials on YouTube by Spruce and Linen. A few favorites are:

1. Two Color Diamond Twill

2. Arrow Pattern Woven Wall Hanging

3. Overshot Weaving Tutorial

My favorite weaving teacher is Lindsey Campbell at Hello Hydrangea. She has a wide selection of weaving, macramé, punch needle, and locker hooking video classes that you can take for a fee (and I highly recommend them), but if you're looking to try something free first, here are a couple things from her:

1. Layered Macramé Wall Hanging

2. How to Dye Rope

3. DIY Woven Necklace

Another favorite crafter is Anne Weil from Flax & Twine. She has lots of beautiful craft kits, some of which I have gladly dropped money on, but she also has some free patterns/tutorials spread about on the internet: 

1. Here is her Soft Bobble Crochet Blanket.

2. This beautiful Woven Easter Basket.

3. This super-easy Monogram Tote Bag.

Someone I just very recently discovered is Chantel Conlon at Lots of Knots. She sells macramé supplies and has beautiful YouTube tutorials for tons of cute projects. Here are a couple I spotted, though I haven't watched any yet:

1. Macramé Easter Bunny

2. DIY Easy Beginner Macramé Wall Hanging

3. Animal/Pet Paw Print

Honestly, I could keep going, probably for a long time. There are so many talented artists out there who are so kind as to give us free content. Please consider trying out a couple things above, and if you like them, go to their websites and throw some money their way, either through classes or materials. Support your favorite artists!

What other types of tutorials would you like? I could go searching for more, I never tire of it! Let me know what you think in the comments. 

Happy crafting!

Fiberuary

I was invited to a Facebook group called "Fiberuary" by a friend, and holy cow have I had a blast with it! This group was put together by a SCA (click to learn more about SCAs), but anyone can participate. The group is putting on many different fiber-related classes throughout the month, and I've already taken part in a few. Classes that have happened or are yet happening this month include weaving, nalebinding, sewing, crocheting, fabric stamping, shuttle tatting, embroidery, felting, fiber preparation and dyeing, cordmaking, knitting, and spinning.

Here is what I've attended this month, and what I learned:

Beginning Nalebinding- I was only able to attend part of this class, as I had to get up early and it was scheduled pretty late. I learned how to "cast on" a nalebinding project, and I look forward to watching the recording of the class (available on YouTube here) to learn how to create a hat from the Mammen stitch.

Beginning Inkle Weaving Prt. 1- A quick, hour-long class to learn how to warp our looms. I've warped an inkle loom before, but only for a couple projects, and probably nearly a decade ago. It was nice to use this class as a catalyst to get my inkle loom back out and dust her off! You can view the class here. 

Beginning Sprang Prt. 1- I just watched this when it was live, and then I watched the recording here later and actually warped my loom. It was a great option for me! I was able to watch carefully the first time and then replay the video as many times as necessary to feel good about my warped loom. 

Beginning Inkle Weaving Prt. 2- Another hour-long class to check in with weaving progress and then go through how to take the finished bands off the loom and finish them. I didn't get to watch the very end of this class when it was live, but I'll be able to watch the YouTube video here later. You can see what I've done so far in this class in the picture at the top of this entry. 

Beginning Sprang Prt. 2- This class was about doing the actual weaving on the loom and completing a small pouch. Unfortunately I had to join the class a bit late, and by the time I joined I had missed things and I was so busy trying to catch up that I missed key elements. I finally signed off early and decided to watch the recording later. It's not on YouTube yet, but it will be soon. I should have done what I did the first time- just watched at first so I could really focus on what she was doing, and then done the weaving later with the recording. Oh well, I've learned a lesson! 

This is it so far, but there may be more classes that I'm able to check out yet this month! I look forward to completing some nalebinding (perhaps a hat), my inkle band, and my sprang pouch. I'll be sure to show off photos when they're done!

If you're interested in joining in with any classes, you can check out the Facebook page here.

Happy crafting!

What books are on your bedside table?

 I always have a pile of books and/or magazines on my bedside table. I just like to have reading options! Here is my current pile:

I'm currently reading, from top to bottom:

Easy Weaving with Little Looms, Holiday 2020- this magazine is full of projects and tips for pin loom weaving, rigid heddle weaving, and more. I'm nearly done with it, and my favorite part has been reading the article titled, "The Versatile Pin Loom" by Deborah Bagley. It's amazing what you can sew out of those little squares!

Fat Quarter Workshop, by Stephanie Soebbing- I just got this quilting book in, and so far all I have done is page through the projects, but I can't wait to dive into reading information about all different kinds of quilting techniques. I wish I had more room in my house- I have an enormous yarn stash, but the size of the yarn stash means that I have no room for a fabric stash, so random quilting projects can't really accumulate. That's probably a good thing, I suppose. :-)

The Art of Tapestry Weaving, by Rebecca Mezoff- I'm only one chapter in, and already I'm hooked. I love the conversation of how to make tapestry, woven together with the history of tapestry, along with beautiful photo examples. 

The Weaving Explorer, by Deborah Jarchow and Gwen Steege- I haven't actually started reading this yet, but I've paged through and looked at the projects. I love how there is a little bit of everything weaving-related. It really speaks to my craft-dabbler heart. 

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book- This book has an incredible amount of knitting information. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but so far I've found tons of different options for cast-ons, bind-offs, seaming, and more. By the time I make it through this book I should be an expert!

The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson- This lexicon just lives on my bedside table. I read it cover to cover once, and now I regularly look up sheep breeds and fiber qualities when I come across things in my other readings. This is perhaps my favorite fiber-related book!

And unless you think that all I do is read fiber-related non-fiction, I'm also currently reading "Yarned and Dangerous" by Sadie Hartwell on my iPad. This is a knitting mystery about an aspiring fashion designer who travels "back home" to take care of her uncle after a car accident that broke his leg and killed his wife. The main character is supposed to help close up the knitting shop that was owned by her uncle's wife, but then she discovers a body in the back room. I just got to that point, so things are getting exciting. I look forward to finding out what happens next!

So, that's what I have on the bedside table right now. How about you? 

January 2021 Wrap Up

 It's time for the monthly wrap up! January seemed to fly by, and I didn't get nearly as many things done as I wanted, but I still had a great time making what I did accomplish!

I sewed a music-themed mask:

I sewed some scrunchies for a friend:

I weaved a little Minute Weaver square:

I weaved a Christmas ornament that looks like a piece of candy on my Zoom Loom:

I weaved this lovely felted wool bowl:

And I knit these trans-pride fingerless mitts for a friend's child:

I'm noticing lots of weaving and sewing, and less knitting and crocheting! I think I just have time for small/quick things now, and the sewing and weaving I am doing are all small projects that I can complete fairly quickly. I hope that I have a bit more time to enjoy some bigger projects in the near future!

I have lots of fun things planned for February! Will I get to all of them? Certainly not, but I hope that I can explore as much as possible with the time that I have. 

Happy crafting!