Holidays Day 1

I haven't really figured out yet what I am going to do with respect to getting crafting done whilst still having a good time with my hobby and relaxing. I don't really want to make a list cause it's so anal for something that should be fun. On the other hand, it's so easy to just faff about, a bit of this and a bit of that, and turn around at the end of a fortnight and not really get anything done at all. I might end up relaxed but I know that I will be upset or mad at myself for not really achieving anything ... yet more WIPs ...

So, at the bare minimum, I'm going to post photos every day of my holidays. I will probably get a list thing happening over the weekend.



This though is a rough pile of some of the things I really really want to get done. The ball of yarn is Socks that Rock in Downpour or Mudslide, I should check. I balled it up about 6 months ago to make myself a pair of socks. The other skein is Mars Quake from Lisa Souza. I want to make myself a shawl from it. The newest crosstitch I started, last month. It's flappers and 1920s thang. And the hexagons. Still.

A tonne of other things are not in the picture. Steady as she goes.

Craft Plans

I'm in the process of self auditing and thinking about 2009, not in a resolutions sort of way but more in a "where do I want to be this time next year" thing.

So as I stand here and look at the craft things I achieved this year ... well, I'm kinda bummed to tell the truth. I mostly made items to gift and whilst that is always fun and a pleasure, they were late to most recipients. So I not only feel bad that I have little in my own possession craft-wise to show for this year, the gifts I made missed the occasions entirely too.

AND I missed an opportunity to supply Boeme Bebe merchandise to a real live store in the US just cause I didn't have myself together this year across the board to deal with it.

So, where to in 2009? I brainstormed a very long (general life) list last night of things I would like to not still have to do by this time next year and I think not having these things weighing down on me as STILL Not Finished, will bring me further along the path to happiness. In terms of craft, I feel like I have wasted money on supplies that go unused. And I feel like I miss out on the pleasure of finishing, feeling the sense of accomplishment and enjoying projects I have made.

I still have presents I want to make and gift. So I need to sometimes be unselfishly crafting! I also have new projects I want to be able to start, cause that's always fun. But I also want to not have these WIPs that have been hanging around, sometimes for YEARS, hanging around taunting me anymore.

So it seems like I need a balance of old and new, for me and for presents, and across my crafts. I feel like it needs RULES or a LIST and I hate to feel that craft, something that is fun and for recreation time, needs to be regimented.

Not sure yet what to do.

Updating

Way back in the past of August, I began the mammoth task of tacking these hexagons. Here's how I'm going with that. I have about 100 of the 600 left to go. After I took this photo I spread them out like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and I'm figuring out how to sew em together.



And a Finished Object!!!
I'm not sure how long I've been working on this. Let's just call it "awhile". Anyway. My very first lace project. It's made using Lisa Souza's Sock Yarn in the colour Delft. And a shawl patten I got from Knitty (how's that for vague on the details?).



The whole time I was knitting this (and it was a looong time and it turns out I can't knit lace tired as it is hard to unpick) I was really worried I was doing it wrong. I'd heard that lace looks like a dog's breakfast and the reward is the magic at the end when you block it. So I hung in there.

And lo and behold! Magic!!



And up close for the shell-lace pattern:

Craft Goals

I've been cleaning out and organising my craft corner in my study. The thinking was that if I could see all the lovely different craft supply stashes, I wouldn't feel bad being on a craft diet and I'd also get onto finishing some of my projects. It's coming together nicely. A good side effect has been organising and turfing some of my books in order to keep one whole bookcase for craft. But I've also realised how little crafting I have done for myself this year. I have a lot of skeins of sock yarn for socks for me that remain unmade. And also a few skeins for shawls that likewise remain unmade. And a looooot of fabrix stash for cute funky out there projects I'm going to make one day.

The trouble is ... when is this "one day"? When will there be time for projects for myself? And when that time comes, will I still love all those fabrics and yarns? I do kind of go through taste phases.

So I decided to finish just one project by the end of the year ... tick tick tick tick ... I think it's going to be a silk cushion cover I bought at one of the craft shows earlier in the year. Needs like three seams and some overlocking or something. The thing though that is the hardest hurdle for me is cutting up the fabric. I have a fear of cutting it and ruining it - any piece of gorgeous fabric. I think in part that's why I like yarn so much. If you don't like what you knit, you can unpick it and start again! Not so with funky fat quarters.

The other thing though that I've been thinking about is setting some kind of project goals list for 2009 so I don't end up complaining about how I gifted everything I made this year again next year. Not sure what or how yet. Just mulling over the idea at this stage.

Fabric Stash!

Thought I'd post the new additions to the stash:




The two pink ones are the ones part of the whole Pink Kitty set that I've been collecting. I want to do some kind of 1950s but retro thing ... I just don't know what yet.





And this one ... I have another piece in the same design - the cups and saucers with steam rising out. I'm thinking of just doing something really simple, like cutting out the squares from this panel and doing something fancy interspersed with the other fabric piece in alternate squares. Or something. This might very well be the small project I try and finish up before the end of the year. And I want to hang it in my kitchen.

A craft post at long last!

Wow was it really the first of June since last I posted here? That's 5 months ago! I guess I really did lose my craft mojo around the time that I met the new boy. For a while I wondered if I had lost the need to craft or no longer needed what craft brings to me, having met someone who seemed to so perfectly fit with me - I no longer needed craft to fill a gap or to inspire me or to be my creative outlet. Then we brokeup and I didn't feel like crafting. Then we ... well it's complicated.

But. I am crafting again. Have been for a little while now. And I think the pressure of keeping a craft blog for me is about the photos - craftblogs NEED photos and photos are hard for me. I'm going to try and balance that a bit. Let's see how I go.

But the reason for the post today is ... today I went craft shop crawling with my friend C. And ... I have a serious fabric addiction. I was totally going to just look and browse and support C and then have coffee. But in the first frigging shop I found a couple of fabrics I didn't have that are in the same set as some I am collecting. Well! I had to have them of course. And this was the first time ever I actually got fabrics cut - I totally have only ever bought fat quarters.

On the way out I decided that in exchange for positive fabric stash accumulation, I HAVE to finish SOMETHING by the end of this year. A project. And I think socks don't count. Course as C pointed out, that's only 3 weeks away. Sheesh!