Crafternoon 4: Arts in Action

During day 3 of Panoply, Lamar & I stopped by the Arts in Action tents & I had my first real spinning lesson!  There were 2 ladies on spinning wheels & one lady on a loom.  I have been getting more interested in learning how to spin my own yarn from fiber.  I just feel that that is the next step in my yarn crafting. So here is the nice spinner lady showing me how to use a homemade drop spindle:

Please excuse the cheesy grin on my face. I've just watched so many videos on youtube about spinning & I was super excited that yarn was being made with my own hands!!! When I asked her how to make the spindle myself, she just gave it to me o.O YAY! Plus, she gave me a bag of pink fiber... Honestly, I don't know what I would make from pink yarn, but it'll be hand spun by me pink yarn...

The spinner ladies gave me some info about where to find reasonably priced fiber in town.  Who knows, maybe I'll become a talented spinner. Yay for new skills!

So yeah, that was the Panoply Day 3 highlight :)

Panoply Arts Festival: Day 1

Panoply Day One ^.^

I am loving the fact that it is Panoply time again.  This afternoon Lamar & I walked around for like 2 hours.  We saw a really great student improv acting group called Acting Up. They were great.  Example:

101 artists walk into a restaurant. One of the artists asks the maitre'd for a table. The maitre'd turns & says, "Sorry, we don't serve your..." The artist interrupts & says, "OK, Ima let you finish, but Beyonce's video was the best video ever."

 I was impressed with the girl that came up with that one. After leaving the improv show, we spotted a juggler on stilts o.O I asked if I could take her picture & she said sure but I had to be IN it.  Then I got the bright idea to do this:

Yes, I high-fived a juggler on stilts! Woot for me, lol!  She was really friendly.  Now I want to learn to juggle... Youtube here I come :)

There is a section called the Global Village where each tent is dedicated to a particular ethnicity or nationality.  We didn't stop by any of those tents today, but we will either tomorrow or Sunday.

Lastly, we passed another street performer. One that made me so nervous, I SWORE that I'd pee my pants if she touched me!  My chest was tight for a good 10 minutes after we left her. What kind of street performer did I cross paths with???

Freakin... Living... Statue...

I didn't realize that my aversion to mimes was so serious until today... I may look like I'm having the time of my life, but no... that is full on nervous freak out laughter.

That's all for today! If you have any summer arts festivals in your area, you should definitely go. It's great. :)

Community Art Installment (It spells Panoply)

What's on My Hook #5

This has got to be the best What's on My Hook yet!!!

Bark Park Crocheting

Why? Because I have finished ALL of the granny squares for my blanket! UGH! I'm so excited & happy & ready to sew it all together :)

Waiting to be stitched :)

When I first laid out the color graph, the vertical stripes in the photo were actually horizontal.  Looking at the blanket now, I'm glad that it looks the way it does.

Now, once I join all the blocks & weave in the ends, I have to do a border. I'm considering a granny stripe one to match the stitch throughout.

I love this blanket so much, I almost hate to give it away :)

Tuesday Favorites #2

Hello there!

I was thinking about what favorite things I could write about today & was coming up short... Why? Because more than half of today was spent sick in bed :( Poor me...

But here it is 11 at night & I came across this video by The Girls with Glasses on youtube. The background song is one of my favorite movie moments from "Girl, Interrupted." Plus their video is quite cute ^.^ Enjoy!

Stargazing... Bust

Sadly, our plan to watch the Lyrid shower was a bust due to complete & utter cloud cover -_-  So instead of watching Mother Nature's awesomeness, I worked on my striped granny squares. I decided to finish all of the blocks for the rest of the afghan instead of piecing it together a row at a time.  After 2 episodes of Breakout Kings & most of a skein of green yarn... I'm done for tonight.  Tomorrow I'll finish the 3 grannies needing the green stripe & put the last cream stripe on all of them.  This afghan will be completed very soon!

15 grannies in the works...

Good night :)

Sabbath Crafting

Hey there ^.^

This afternoon, roommate & I were discussing what kind of brooches we could make for the shop & she said we should make a book. So I played around with some yarn ideas and made this:

It has "pages" inside & I think the only thing I'm going to adjust is the size. It's about 3" high & 2.5" wide... I may trim one row off the top & 3 stitches off the sides... hmm... clearly the pattern is still being tweaked.

Grannies & Kings & Hearts, Oh my!

Hi there!
I have been crocheting for like 3-4 hours & am super glad to say that all of the solid blocks for the cream/green/brown afghan are finished! (I still need to settle on a name for it, by the way.) I have about 5 weeks left to finish it... le'sigh... It will be done though.

Granny Squares & Breakout Kings

In other news, I woke up with the WORST neck/shoulder/back pain ever. Ever!  I couldn't look down or much to either side.  How the heck was I sleeping and how can I get my poor little neck to loosen up? I've been stretching it all day long, hopefully it'll feel better tomorrow.

Now, in the midst of the afghan making, I took a bit of time to work on brooch ideas. After finishing the heart brooch, I decided to try creating a musical note. I graphed it and worked it in single stitches. The only issues I have with the finished piece is that it's HUGE... I'm thinking I'll cut it in half... or something...

Graph & finished note

Finished <3 brooch

Well, it's now past 5am & I really don't know why I've been up so long... I should be sleepy... shrug, I'll blame it on the neck pain. Anywho, have a wonderful Saturday & do something that makes you smile.

What's on My Hook #4

Hello!

I hope you have had a nice day & are enjoying a peaceful evening.  Tonight, I decided to work on some little crochet 'quickies.'  I made this heart, but figured it was too big. So I'm remaking it with a smaller needle. The goal is to attach a bar pin to the back for a little crochet brooch.

--Later--

This was a nice break from the millions of granny squares I've been making for the cream/brown/green blanket. It's more than halfway done :)  Anywho, I made a heart pillow w/ initials.  I'm thinking of making these for the shop.

The heart brooch didn't work out the way I wanted it to. It's still too big. It'll be better as an applique'. The only way it would be ok as a brooch, would be if I can shrink it by another inch or so... hmm gotta love crochet problem solving & pattern rewriting -_- I think I'll work on that tomorrow.

Not So Blue Monday #4: Etsy Finds

So on this Not so Blue Monday, I'm taking a moment to browse Etsy.  Here are a few things that brought a smile to my face :]
1: The "Can You Read This" Dog Tag from Billetsdoux


This tag would be perfect for my littlest dog.  Even though we're always telling her not to lick faces, she manages to sneak her doggy kisses in... le'sigh... One day she'll learn. :)

2: Ceramic Heart with Leaves Bobby Pins from Ceraminic.

These are cute & useful since bobby pins are a natural girl staple.  I'm already picturing these pinning down the edges of buns or twists or whatever. The color makes me smile as does the thought of them peeking out from the midst of my hair.

3: Smile Print from Seventytree.

My bedroom is sorely lacking in the area of wall art... I mean I have a box of photo frames but have never sat down to put photos in them... I have ideal spaces for hanging pieces, but have not purchased any... This print would be perfect for me.  I love photography & always tell myself to get out and shoot.  Plus the camera here looks just like my 35mm & that's my baby.

4: Rain Cloud Natural Canvas Pillow from PonyAndPoppy.

I have a love/hate relationship with rainy days.  I love them when I can be relaxed & cozy. I hate them because they seem to always get me down.  *shrug*  But in these pollen overloaded northern Alabama spring days, they are very much my best friends.  So here's to the best kind of rainy days: cozy, warm, & full of stuffing ;)

5: Chevon Stripe Blanket from CThandmade.

Crochet chevron striped blankets are quickly becoming one of my favorite things... I want to make one sooo badly, but I just can't get down with that many single stitches even with a big hook... *chuckle*  I love the color on this one. It's so bright & clean. I can imagine snuggling in this blanket watching HGTV. Maybe I will tackle a chevron blanket... just with 3 strands of yarn & a 10mm hook, ^.^
~~~~

Well, that's all for this week's Not So Blue Monday.  This day started off full of anxiety & a weird cloudy feeling, but taking the time to browse the pretty wares on Etsy really brought a bit of sunshine to a day that threatened drearyness.

Please visit the shops I've linked to.  I'm sure they'd love it. :)

Absence

Hello there... We are still alive here at Apt 203. My computer had an unfortunate accident & is in the shop :( Hopefully, I'll have it back this week.  Not having my comp definitely makes it harder to post regularly because blogging at work is generally frowned upon in this office.

But do not fret! When I am able, I will update with all the lovely crafty goodness that has been going on in the Apt. We've got refashions, crochet hearts & stars,  handmade hollow books, and granny square blanket progress shots ^.^