Tuesday, June 29, 2010

MaggiKnits Workshop Day 2

Another great day with Maggie Jackson.  I think my hands were tired on this 2nd day of nonstop knitting, because I was pokey!  I kept getting behind so Maggie just laughed at me and would take my knitting out of my hands to catch me up.  I told her I was going to post this pic and she said, "Oh no.  Now people are going to think they can come to a MaggiKnits workshop and I'll do their knitting for them!"  LOL!  She is so much fun and I promise--she doesn't knit for everybody.

We learned how to add embellishments, like a tube-bow and a scrap bow:

Then we learned how to make a 2-color picot with a rag embellishment:

Now at this point, I love my colors and while I don't really see myself using the bows, it was good to learn how to do them.  From here on out, I wasn't crazy about my color choices, but again, I really liked learning the techniques--I'll just have to figure out how to incorporate them into my own style as I knit.  The next skills were learning how to do a twisted split and a frill tube: 

I'm so glad I chose to attend both days of the workshop, because I got a lot out of them and I truly enjoyed meeting Maggie.  She's an amazingly charismatic person and her stories are absolutely fabulous!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

MaggiKnits Workshop

Today I went to a great workshop with Maggie Jackson of Maggiknits.  She really encourages you to try new things and to add to your pieces to give them interest.  Many of her designs are created from squares and rectangles with extra "fancy" yarn thrown in.  We began with a skein of her 3-thread linen, 1 solid color stash piece, and 3 "fancy" (as she calls them) stash pieces.  There was a ton of yarn to look through and finding the right colors alone could have taken me all day!





After finding the colors, we all started knitting!  We started with the solid linen and knitted knotted-rag pieces in for the first effect:


The next skill was learning how to do splits with different colors:


After lunch we had a mini fashion show where Maggie put each of us in her pieces and showed us what to look for to compliment our shapes and styles and give us new ideas for knitting.  Then we were back to the table to create the tube stitch and the ladder stitch:


All-in-all, it was a super fun day.  Maggie is entertaining, knowledgeable, patient, and was able to keep a bunch of ladies on-task.  I'll be back to the shop again tomorrow for Day 2 . . .




Friday, June 25, 2010

Felting & Sunbathing

This was my perch today.  The telephone woke me up WAY too early today (geesh--who calls at 7:30 am???), so I decided to use my time wisely.  After my run, I set up shop in my favorite spot on the back deck with coffee and wool.  I know, seems a little crazy sitting in the sun with wool, but I'm working on my very first felting project.  I have a fabulous tan with crazy lines on my legs from where the wool protected those UV rays.  So now you're asking yourself, where did that chick get those fabulous chairs?


These are the awesome chairs that The-Very-Talented-Sprinkle-of-Creativity-Megan made for me.  We found the unfinished chairs at Menards.  One night I went through a bunch of art showing her the style of stuff I like.  This was what she came up with.  I'm so in love with these chairs!  I sit in one every single night.  Megan, you rock!  I thought I was breaking my selfish knitting rule and knitted her a Marshmallow Scarf for the chairs, but clearly, the scarf is not an even swap.  Don't worry, Megs, I know I still owe you!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

(My phone doesn't take the best pics, but hey, I needed to show off my happy face!)



Yea!!!!  It's finally finished.  I decided that no matter how beautiful the day, I was going to finish my Razor Cami and I did!  Here's the final result:


I added a bit of Maggi's Rag by MaggiKnits around the bustline and threw a few beads on the ends.  I like that it gives it just a little somethin' to make it different.

I'm super excited because I went to Needle on a Haystack to force myself to complete this project.  I discovered that Maggie Jackson of MaggiKnits is going to be there this weekend doing a fashion show and workshops, so of course I signed up for an all-day workshop.  I can't wait to learn some fun new techniques and maybe meet a few fun folks!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Fix It if It's Broken


(I forgot to take a pic of this project before I put the fabric on the first drawer, so I apologize for that.)

This set of drawers which used to house all kinds of fun crafting supplies has been sitting in storage for about 5 years.  At the time it went in, I taped all the drawers shut with some fabulous packing tape.  When my new abode required more drawers in the bathroom, I thought it was time to pull this guy out of storage.  The tape, however, did not agree and had permanently affixed itself.  Being the crafting-genius that I am, I didn't just reach for the Goo Gone, but instead chose Goo Gone Extreme.  Hint: Goo Gone Extreme eats plastic.  Not a good idea.  So--what was I to do?


I found this fun fabric at a place in Holland called Found on 8th St.  The store owner carries lots of cool vintage and vintage-style furniture and accessories.  She used to own Roxie's Vintage Clothing in Holland, which I am sad to say is no longer in business.  I used spray adhesive and that has seemed to hold it in place.  I sprayed the plastic "drawer-holder-thingie" with Krylon for plastics.  It took me no time at all and I like the results.  If I get uber-motivated, I might pull the fabric off the bottom 2 drawers and go with a solid color, or mix it up.  It's a little busy for my taste, but an easy project all the same.


RAZOR CAMI UPDATE:
I am pluggin' away at that Razor Cami (see post below).  It's essentially finished, but I'm working out the seam edging and the straps.  I hope to have it completed by the weekend if I'd just stop doing all of these other projects--like moving my mom into a new home after 35 years in the same place, I might accomplish that goal.  Whew!