We makes things! A thread for crafters

[Morwenna]

I love those stars, Hobby!

Well, I've been extremely lazy (so what else is new), but I keep bumping into that bag of yarn a friend gave me a couple years ago. There's a pair of needles in it too. I think my STUFF is trying to tell me something...

[SilverScribe]

LOL, you and heliona both . . .

I made a friend of mine a "Christmas Apron" yesterday. I promised it to her last year, so I figured I better get it done. It's one of those that has a little hand towel sewn onto the front . . . but I just realized I didn't put a pocket on it . . .

Unfortunately, I also wrapped it before I took a picture . . .

:D:D

[truehobbit]

Scribbles, thanks! And those ornaments are really adorable - I can imagine it was fun assembling them over a nice cuppa and some cake or so.

What are those snowflakes made of - and how are they made? They look quite impressive.

And that cross-stitch pattern is just perfect for a friend with a chicken-themed lunch place. It looks like it's quite a lot of stitches, but not so many colours, so if you just keep at it, it should be quick work.


heliona, thanks, it's lovely you put them up on your tree.

Yes, two went to heliona, one to my friend in Vienna and just one went to our tree, but it's not the only one there.
Biscuits definitely count. (I have a piccie of some of my baking this year that I like - should get it from the camera and on to flickr sometime. )

Morwenna, thanks! And, yep, I think that yarn might be yearning to be used (ouch, bad pun alert ).

I've been very tempted to do some knitting recently, too - it's just the season for it. And I have a lot of yarn waiting to be used, too. It's just that knitted stuff takes up so much more room than most everything else you make.

Also, if I make a sweater, size is a problem - I tend to make everything too large because I'm terrified it'll turn out too small... (I bought wool to make an Aran sweater a couple of years ago...haven't started yet. My excuse is that I need to find a pattern that's certified Aran...(I actually have quite a few Aran-style patterns I could use, and from what I read there's no such thing as 'original' Aran style.) )

So I mostly just make scarves - I use an easy, cosy looking (to my mind) pattern, and they are fun making, but I already have four of them now, so I really shouldn't make more.
Anyone in dire need of a knitted scarf, maybe...?

[SilverScribe]

What are those snowflakes made of - and how are they made? They look quite impressive.

LOL thanks! Believe it or not, they're made from the plastic things that hold a six pack of pop or beer . . . :D:D

My girlfriend showed me how to do them, but for the life of me I can't remember now. I'll have to get her to e-mail me the instructions again.

:D:D

[PatriotBlade]

I've been very tempted to do some knitting recently, too - it's just the season for it. And I have a lot of yarn waiting to be used, too. It's just that knitted stuff takes up so much more room than most everything else you make.


So I mostly just make scarves - I use an easy, cosy looking (to my mind) pattern, and they are fun making, but I already have four of them now, so I really shouldn't make more.
Anyone in dire need of a knitted scarf, maybe...?

Not around here. I've already supplied almost everyone I know with a knitted scarf, since that's all I can make.

[heliona]

Not around here. I've already supplied almost everyone I know with a knitted scarf, since that's all I can make.

I'm exactly the same. I need to finish a scarf I've nearly got to the end of (this time it is for myself) and then I'm (in theory!) starting on a more ambitious project: a hat! I have the round needles and some gorgeous yarn, I just need to drag up the courage to start it (because I know I'm going to be stopping and starting quite a lot before I get it right!).

Hobby, I completely forgot to take photos of the stars on our tree. And the tree is now outside, waiting to be recycled. Oh well, until next year.

[truehobbit]

Scribbles - for a second I thought of that, but then I couldn't imagine how that would be possible.

PB, then you're more courageous than I am. I may give a little cross-stitched book-mark or so to a friend, but major stuff like hand-knitted-scarves I would be embarrassed to give to someone who's just a friend.

As it has recently been mentioned that cookies and things count as 'things we make' here are some pics of things I made...

Christmas cookies, the rest of my birthday cake, and some of the plum liqueur I made and had just bottled here

I used the leftover honey from my birthday cake (which is a gingerbread dough with apple/raisin/almond filling) to make some gingerbread and a very small gingerbread house.

This year, I also learned to make "Fröbel-stars" (named after the pedagogue who invented these stars, made from paper strips).

[SilverScribe]

Mmmmm hobby, are those Vanillekipferl I see??? *drool*

Even if they're not, your baking looks delicious. Not that I need to eat any more baking, man alive I'm almost glad the holiday season is over if only to spare my poor hips any more humiliation . . .

Speaking of making things, I hope, er NEED to get a lot done on my little "Chicken" picture this weekend. Chinese New Year is exactly a month away!!

:D:D

[truehobbit]

Mmmmm hobby, are those Vanillekipferl I see??? *drool*

They are indeed!
I find them sweet enough as they are, so I don't cover them in confectionary's sugar, as would be required traditionally.

I hear you about putting on weight though...

Good luck on the Chickens!

[heliona]

I finished my scarf! Apart from darning in the stray ends, it's completely finished.

And Hobby, kniiting scarves is easy-peasy. I'd say they're probably the easiest thing to do. The ones I've knitted for my friends have all been plain knit stitch, but I branched out and the one I did for myself is knit 2, purl 2. It makes a nice ribbed pattern.

[truehobbit]

I know. I'm a pretty decent knitter, and as I said I made as many scarves for myself as I can possibly wear. I've also given hand-knitted scarves and sweaters to my family. I just don't have the nerve to give something like that to 'just' friends. Christmas ornaments - yes; candy - yes: needlework bookmarks - yes - but actual hand-made clothing? I don't know, that feels like an up close and personal thing to give, so I'd only gift that if I was sure the recipient was comfortable with it.

Waiting for pics, heliona!

[heliona]

But a scarf's not really clothing, though, is it?

I think I can see where you're coming from, in that you may not pick a colour they like etc. The only ones I've made are for close friends that I know very well (although it turned out that one of them was allergic to the wool I used, so she can only wear the scarf over the top of turtle-necks. But she did like it!).

I will take a photo once I've properly finished it.

[SilverScribe]

Ooooo more piccies!! Bring 'em on!!

I found something interesting at Micheal's the other day and picked it up, thinking that this will be a perfect piece to place with the "Fords of Isen" that I'm currently working on . . .

New Piece

I thought, "Hey, ShadowFax!!" Or Asfaloth, I haven't decided yet. The only thing is, when I opened it up today to have a look at the charts, I discovered it's not cross-stitch, it's Needlepoint!!

I've not done needlepoint since I was oh, let's see, maybe 12? LOLOL So this may be a challenge . . .

Of course, no bigger a challenge than that Celestial Dragon . . .

:D:D

[Morwenna]

Wow! Such ambition around here!

The only project I'm taking on right now is shoveling out this apartment. We did the Christmas-baking thing but I reserve that for the Cooking Guild or the foodie chat thread.

And I REALLY have to find and figure out that camera! That ought to be my next project--learning how to use a digital camera along with my computer! Have you any idea how many people out there are still waiting to see pix of our cats, and I have NO kitten pix of Mackie, who's now 2, and no adult pix of Oreo, who's getting older by the second? Never mind the felt wise men I made back in 1971 and still drag out during the holidays.

Ribbed scarves are warmer than flat ones.

[heliona]

Well, I suppose I promised photos, didn't I?

Here are two, although they are not of anything I've mentioned before, I don't think!

They are of a bag that I painted at an unusual hen party. We went to a craft place where we could pick all manner of things to paint, from wooden bracelets, to bird boxes, coasters, and a canvas bag. I chose the bag, because I thought it would be something I'd actually use.

Here are the sides:

The first, flowery side

The second, LOTR-themed, side - I did this from memory, so I quite chuffed with it. (There was no silver paint, so pale blue had to suffice.)

[Morwenna]

That's cool, heliona! I love painted canvas, though I've never tried to do it myself. I have a couple stenciled ones done by a craftswoman whose work I see at Pennsic and some conventions.

[heliona]

It wasn't actually that difficult. Of course, the flowery side was pretty much all stencils and stamps. The blue and yellow bits at the bottom are actually life-rings, but I didn't realise that until I'd painted them, so I had to add in bits to make them into flowers.

As for the Tree of Gondor, I penciled it out first, so although it was done free-hand, I had some guide.

[PatriotBlade]

Wow!!! I have truely been away too long!

[Morwenna]

I reeeeally need to get some more knitting needles!!! Now that I've gone online and found the whole afghan book that has the pattern I used to make 2 gifts back in the dark ages... Now I haunt the craft stores and ogle all the yarn, and now I've found a brand that has a group of colors that'd be just perfect for my living room...

[SilverScribe]

Hey! waves to PB and Morwenna . . .

I don't know if anyone else is the same, but I find that most of my "craft" type projects get done during the cold months, LOL. In spring, summer and fall, the garden and yard take up so much spare time that I hardly touch any of my craft projects.

I looked at the last date I had marked down on my Fords of Isen cross stitch project, and it was a year ago October!! So now that winter has officially arrived in my part of The Great White North, I guess it's time to pick up where I left off.

Which, when it comes to that Celestial Dragon . . . means about an hour to figure out exactly where I really am . . .

:D:D

[heliona]

Scribbles, I'm exactly the same. I don't do anything particularly creative during the summer. The same thing goes for my baking - I only start doing it when it gets chilly. It's a sort of build up to Christmas.

Oh gosh, I suppose I should dig out my knitting. Every year I do the same thing and I end up having to remember how to knit. Seeing as my project for this winter is a hat, which therefore involves knitting on the round, something I have never done before, I may have my work cut out for me.

[portia]

This year, I also learned to make "Fröbel-stars" (named after the pedagogue who invented these stars, made from paper strips).

I have also seen them called "Moravian" or "German" stars. I love them. I have to be very careful following the directions or they turn out wrong. But even then, they make very nice package toppers.

Bass Pro Shops advertized a crafting area for kids and briefly showed a reindeer, made out of craft sticks. I had all the parts, so I tried it. It came out well and was extremely easy, so I hope to see if my g-children want to make some, when I visit.

Crafters may be interested in a board I've been visiting for several years. It is on HGTV.com, under "message Board" and "Crafts. The most fun and interesting crafts and people are on "Holiday Crafts"

[PatriotBlade]

I want to learn what exactly Herbed Candy is and how to make it.

[Morwenna]

Now I'm studying the afghan patterns I've got that aren't too confusing to read through, and trying to decide which one would look best with the 3 colors I've chosen in my mind for that living room afghan. The one that's in there now, which my mother made for me a zillion years ago, I discovered is too small to be a really good wrap in the chilly weather; lap robe yes, blanket no. And our other afghans (from both our mothers) just don't go with the color scheme (not that hubby cares, but I do). The next closest one in color is even smaller than the one that's there now.

The room has a rug that's dark red with black and tan, the leather chair is dark green, and the couch is sort of a gray-green, so the color scheme can't really be my beloved blue & purple; that's for the bedroom! The yarns I have my eye on are burgundy, dark green, and beige. The one in there now is dark orange (which at least matches the old ottoman), gold, and greenish-brown; it looks OK, and I'll probably keep it displayed there for part of the year. But I know I can do better.

[SilverScribe]

I'm sure your new afghan will be just grand Morwenna, will you post piccies as you progress?

I've been busy making bows for our tree this year. We're going to go very simple for a change, and I found three matching spools of gorgeous wired ribbon at Michaels last week. The material is sheer gold with red and green designs, one roll is poinsettas, one is holly and the other is christmas trees.

I'll try and get piccies when I'm done.

:D:D

[Morwenna]

Believe it or not, I've never tried posting a pic anywhere... I don't even know how to use my digital camera, much less how to upload or download anything. I've never even taken a picture of my cats, since I took some kitten pix of Oreo with a borrowed disposable camera 10 years ago!

[SilverScribe]

Ah, that's too bad. Digital cameras are really easy to use (though I'm a crap photographer even with a good one, LOL) and uploading is as easy as plugging one end of a usb cable into the camera and the other into your computer and voila! You can copy the pics to your computer (into a folder you create on your hard drive) or upload them directly to a site like Photobucket, which is free.

But I understand there's some folks who just don't "do" digital photo sharing and that's okay too. (My own mom can't be convinced to even own a computer, much less a digital camera LOLOL!)

I (finally!) finished all the new bows so we decorated our tree on Friday evening . . . We decided to go very simple for this year, so in addition to the new bows I used some large and small red ones that we already had. Along with our Phillipine Straw Angels I think it all came together rather well. I think it needs just a few gold icicles to give a bit of shimmer, but I need to pick some up. All I have is silver for some reason . . . LOL.

:D:D

[Morwenna]

Oh that tree is gorgeous!

We just got a tree on Friday but we haven't been around to decorate it! We'll have to tackle it tonight--afer the meeting and the baking, unless hubby surprises me while I'm here at work...

No projects for me (except baking) till after the New Year!

[SilverScribe]

Thanks morwenna!

Here's a picture of it after I found some long gold icicles to add . . . it gives the tree a wee bit of glitter. The icicles are quite amazing too, in the sunlight they give off all the colours of the rainbow . . . but I'm a crap photographer so that feature never really shows up in the pics, LOL.

:D:D

[Vanaladiel]

With this Christmas I got our niece Lori some stamps and stamp pads so I am going to teach her how to make her own stationary and cards. So I have decided to get back into it myself.

With this move we are setting up a library/music room and I have convinced Ryan that I will need a small table there too for doing my own cards and having that stuff set up so that I can easily get to it. I am actually kind of excited to get back into it and have it available and easy to use.