Incoherent Scribblings

SBQ: Other Crafts

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:

Are there other crafts that you have tried and abandoned? Why do you like stitching better?

Although I haven’t technically abandoned it, the craft that came to mind when I read this question was knitting. I taught myself the basics of knitting a couple of years ago but never got past some dishcloths.

I actually enjoyed learning how to knit and one of my current colleagues has even invited me to her knitting group and offered to teach me some more advanced techniques, but I have yet to take her up on her offer.

I suppose the reason I prefer to stitch is simply because I am not as good at knitting as I am stitching and when I have time to spend crafting I would rather do something I am good at. Yes, I know that I will never become a proficient knitter unless I practice, but I just don’t want to put forth the effort.

In addition to that, I also don’t knit because I don’t have any knitting stash. Sure it is a flimsy excuse because I could always buy some yarn and needles, but that fact is when I have money to spend on crafts I would much rather buy cross stitch charts, embroidery floss, and hand-dyed fabrics!

A Vintage Sewing Machine

Vintage Sewing Machine
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian

After hearing an announcement on the local radio station, I attended an estate sale this weekend. I am still looking for things to furnish my apartment and I thought this might be a good opportunity to find some things to fill the vacant spots in my rooms.

I first scoped it out on Friday night after work. I wasn’t sure if there would be anything that I wanted so I went under the pretense of “just looking.” I wandered around the house (which I liked too by the way) with the plan of heading to the kitchen to see what kind of small appliances they had. I found some things I was interested in, but considering how cheap small kitchen appliances are anymore, I felt that most were overpriced.

As I wandered into the garage I found a dresser that I liked. It too was a bit overpriced, but I thought that I might be willing to pay the price anyway. I reminded myself to talk to the man that was in charge of the sale before I left concerning the dresser and continued to roam about.

After glancing through the rooms and taking a mental inventory of what was there, I spotted it: A vintage sewing machine complete with cabinet and stool.

I took a quick, but longing glance at it and continued on to the cash register with a few moderately priced but good quality kitchen things.

As my merchandise was being rung up, I asked about the dresser. I was told that starting Saturday morning at nine, all the remaining items would be half-price and at 2:00 on Saturday all that was left would be auctioned off. I decided at that moment I wanted the dresser, but not until the next morning.

As I made my plans to return to the sale bright and early this morning, my thoughts kept going back to the sewing machine I had seen. If it worked, it would be worth half-price. It looked like it was in good shape: It was clean and it seemed like all the parts moved.

I went to bed with my mind made-up: If they were still there when I arrived Saturday morning, I would definitely buy the dresser and if the sewing machine worked, I would buy it too.

When I got to the sale at 9:20 this morning, it was packed. Obviously everyone else had decided to wait until half-off Saturday too. I was worried that the things I wanted had been claimed by someone else, but I was lucky. The sewing machine was still in the bedroom and the dresser in the garage.

When the auctioneer saw me he greeted me with his Texas drawl and remarked how he wondered if he would be seeing me again. We talked briefly about the dresser and marked it as sold and then I asked him about the sewing machine. I wanted to know if I could try it before I bought it. He agreed that was a good idea so we set it up, tested it, and marked it as sold too.

Even though I wasn’t exactly looking for a sewing machine, I am so glad I found it. I have wanted to have my own sewing machine again ever since I came back to the States and while a new one would be nice, I love the vintage look and feel of this one and for what I want it for (i.e., crafts) I think it will do a wonderful job.

Flo and Knitting

First up is a progress picture of “Fairy Flora.”

The picture really sucks but at 15″ long, Flo will no longer fit on my scanner. I tried slapping two scans together, but couldn’t get them to line up so I just gave up and used the camera. This picture makes the fabric look a lot more olive green than it is in real life. If you would like a better idea of the true fabric color, look at the previous progress scans in my gallery.

I don’t think that I am quite half done with this project yet, but I have reached the bottom of the pattern: In other words, Flo will get no longer. The chart claims that on 32 count Flo will end up being 20″ tall and as I still have to add her wings, I believe it.

And now for something completely different…

For those of you who stop by my main blog now and again you will know that I joined in the 101 Things in 1001 Days madness. If you have not read my list, one item that I have under general craftiness is to knit myself an afghan.

Now I am not sure what technically constitutes an “afghan,” but yesterday my Lion Brand Yarn weekly newsletter came with a pattern for something that is called “My Favorite Blankie.” It is a beginner’s pattern which will result in a 34″ blanket and so once I get back to the US I think I will go shopping for some yarn to make it.

If all goes well and I catch the knitting bug, I hope that it will be a prelude to something larger and more complex. If not, I will still have completed a significant knitting project and that is really what that particular item on my list is all about anyway.

And now, I am off to finish my needleroll for XXX.

Dyeing Again

While I was visiting Dawn about a month ago, I got to see her hand-dyed fabric up close and personal. Let me tell you something… she does a great job!

Anyway, it got my dyeing bug itching again and so I decided I wanted to give dyeing another try. Last time I dyed I was disappointed because my results didn’t have the lovely “marbling” effect that I so coveted.

After reading about some different methods on Paula Burch’s site, I thought that the “Low Water Immersion” method might give me what I was looking for. So today I made a trip to my craft store and picked up some dye so I could try again.

Because I have come to the conclusion that I prefer to stitch on 32 count linen, this time I decided to go ahead and try the “Low Water Immersion” method on some white Belfast that I had lying around. And I have to tell you, I *HEART* the results!

I call the green piece “Celery Dream” and the turquoise one “Turquoise Sky.” “Celery Dream” is a little bit brighter in real life than the scan shows, though “Turquoise Sky’s” color is pretty accurate.

Originally I had hoped that I could stitch “Celtic Spring” on “Celery Dream,” but the fabric is just a tad too small. Oh well, I still have some of that green dye left. Maybe I will just have to dye another piece!

A Stitcher Who Knits

I haven’t been cross stitching very much for the past couple of days. I put a few hours into Nicki’s RR, but to be honest, after finishing Vash’s RR last Wednesday I was ready to start a new project.

Since I am still waiting for fabric and beads for “Celtic Spring,” I was going to start “Catch the Wind,” but unfortunately, my plans were foiled. Even though I had almost all the colors I needed, I just so happened to be missing the colors needed to start in the center! I briefly considered starting at a corner, but then changed my mind since we all know that when I don’t start in the middle I get my project off-center every single time!

It was at that point that I decided maybe a break from cross stitching for a day or two wouldn’t hurt, so I picked up my knitting. I started by continuing to work on my scarf, but for some reason, ever since I finished the second skein of yarn on it I have had doubts about it.

The first thing that I noticed was that I was getting bored repeating the knit, knit, purl and wasn’t sure that I would be able to make it through four more skeins of yarn. Shortly after I admitted that I was bored with the pattern, I realized I had dropped a stitch and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out exactly where. I then started getting grumpy and complained to myself that it was silly for me to be knitting a scarf when I have at least five perfectly good scarves in my closet. At that point, I walked away from it.

After thinking things over for a few hours I decided that I would rather have an afghan instead. However, instead of tackling a full-sized afghan, I decided that for the time being I would rather knit small things that I can finish quickly and use to learn a variety of different techniques. As a result, I ripped the scarf apart decided to use the yarn I bought for it to knit a bunch (not sure how many yet) of blocks/squares and eventually sew them together into an afghan.

The above example is called a Seed Stitch/Basketweave Square and is the first square in what I hope will one day turn into my first knitted afghan. The seed stitch was used as the square’s border and as the name suggests, the pattern that appears on the inner part of the square resembles a basket weave. It is approximately eight inches square and I really love the way the basket weave pattern shows up!

I think that for those of us that enjoy both stitching and knitting you are either a knitter who stitches or a stitcher who knits. I would venture to say that I will always be the latter because even though I have really enjoyed knitting the past couple of days I must admit that after a trip to my LNS to pick up floss today I am really itching to get back to stitching tomorrow!