Clearly, I need to learn how to Crochet
I told my mom I'd knit her an Swedish Olympic Team hat after I finished the reindeer hat.* The problem with this, of course, is that the Swedish hat is crocheted. I have made 5 false starts and 1 very ugly knit hat that doesn't have the delicious bobbliness of the original nor the charm of the pattern that is the underlying basis of the hat.
Oh, it is ugly. UGLY. U. G. L. Y. Awkward ugly. So I'm starting again. I had an idea as I was internally eviscerating the hat as I finished knitting it that may result in a less ugly hat. If I wasn't going to an auction tomorrow, I'd spend the day teaching myself to crochet.
*Yes, I'm procrastinating a tricky mosaic problem like no one has ever procrastinated anything ever before.
No Peeps for me this year!
I don't know where time went. I thought I had plenty of time before I needed to start my Peepsorama for the annual Washington Post Peep Diorama Contest. Suddenly, it's the end of February and they are due on March 1. Woe! Woe is me!
I had two killer ideas, and 3 very good ones, and none of them are going to happen this year. I even snagged some peep cats this year at Halloween in hard-to-find brown. I could kick myself. Next year, someone needs to remind me in January to start putting the peeptacle together.
This is what I did last year, which got NO love.
Olympics + Knitting = This
Although I loved the hats the US Olympic team was sporting at the Olympics, I was unwilling to send Ralph Lauren $75 for the pleasure of owning one. Luckily, the folks at clever knits came up with a pattern! (on Ravelry and on the web). So I went ahead and made one for myself.
The Hat
As you can see, I tweaked the colors (I knit it from my stash of yarn), and made a rolled brim. If you make this, I'd remove the white space above and below the reindeer, which will reduce the height and be more accurate, to boot!
Next up: a variation on the Swedish crocheted Olympic hat for my mom
Experimental Ring
This is an experimental sheep ring. I like the idea of mosaic animal rings a lot, but the small workspace is a real challenge!
Fairy Tale and Nature Pendants
These pendants are made from rescued washers, vintage paper, and ribbon. The images are taken from tattered remains of books and magazines and brochures that I could not conserve enough to sell as lovely vintageness.
Sometimes I think I am Six.
I managed to spill a large amount of weldbond on myself this morning. I am coated in the stuff, and judging how successful the first shower I took was, I'm a little concerned that I am not going to be able to restore my shirt back to it's original semi-pristine state.
I've been sealing bases all morning in anticipation of a prodigious output coming up - look for my series of curling-related mosaics! I also anticipate a series of autobiographical mosaics depicting me hitting various NBC announcers over the head as they do their best to ruin the Olympics for me, just as they have tried for years to kill the natural drama and inject made-for-TV drama instead.
Working with Odd Bits of Glass
Some of the bits and pieces of Blenko Glass I picked up from the one of the discard piles last summer
I've been experimenting with the odd bits of broken glass lately, and I think that they will be best used in traditional stained glass techniques than in the mosaics. So I'm going to have to pick up the soldering gun again. I have soldered since my tragic soldering iron accident in high school, but I'm definitely rusty. I'm going to have to do a few small projects while I rediscover how to get really nicely-finished lines.
Mosaic Rings
I've been making a bunch of Mosaic and Pottery rings lately, inspired by the beautiful ones my friend Kari Crump has been making. I started by making one - with a piece of Copeland Spode's Cowslip pottery - for a friend, and got onto a roll.
A Knitting Update
After a big rush of creativity in December (I made mosaics and bird feeders and hanging Santas and small prints), I'm taking a few days off at the beginning of the year. Theoretically, I'm going to spend some Studio time doing an inventory of supplies, but mostly, I want to upgrade my auction knitting project to something more than barely begun. I'm making a pair of gloves using the remainder of the yarn from my socks and some nice nubbly yarn that requires attention to avoid dropping stitches.
I have several projects sitting around, but those are the biggest priority. I'm not just saying that because I bought some nice sock yarn from Jennie's store that I'd like to use, and I can't justify starting another project. I'd also like to finish these gloves before July.
