This year was by far the best year of my life. I've continued to make, and deeply fell in love with crafts. Ali and I started craft nights on Wednesdays, which kind of fell apart but because of it we are crafting every night, and I started working with different mediums and learned so many new things. For the first time, knitting felt relaxing instead of stressful, and I learned how to silkscreen, needlefelt, and so much more! The amount of money I spent at craft stores was outrageous, as well as the number of times I visit JoAnn every week, but everything was so worth it. I am a happy girl. This is what 2007 in crafts looked like.
I learned how to cable knit, to use double pointed needles, and to knit in a circle. Thanks to knittinghelp.com. For a while the only thing I was not happy with was the frustration that came with the lack of knowledge in knitting, but I think I'm doing better, and I couldn't have done it without knittinghelp.com.
For my mom's Christmast present, I made this jewelry box. She asked me to make her something that isn't too crazy, but I just felt like gluing all the jewels I can find and painting it yellow. She loved it!
These little dummies were the first few of many plushies I made this year. I gave the bunny to mom for Mother's day, and I made the fruits while Justin was in Paris. I also made a bunny just like in green that for my favorite teacher in high school and I hope he still loves it as much as he did when he first saw the bunny.
It is really hard to work with felt lately, since I spoiled myself with fancy wool felt for the white elephant party gift, because sewing acrylic felt makes me feel bad inside.
This year I also organized my embroidery floss box for the first time in about 4 years. It looks so pretty now.
I am not a very organized person, but when it comes to craft supplies I am really crazy and neat. I guess that is how much I love it. I'm constantly cleaning my workspace and organizing everything!
Then I made some knitting needles with buttons and wood sticks. I love the feeling of carving wood, and E6000 is amazing. I made a pair for Ali and pair for myself.
I made a white elephant named Finney for the aforementioned white elephant party using fancy white felt. I really didn't want to give him away, but when the day came, I knew it was the right thing to do. Luckily, my friend Mallory ended up with Finney, and I ended up with a gift she put together, which consisted of a handmade pouch that I use to store all my knitting accessories, a doggy calendar, and candy in this lovely drawstring bag I now use to transport my knitting projects. It couldn't have been more perfect. I got something handmade for something I made. I wish everyone had made their presents.
That's Finney and that's the pouch. Aren't they lovely?
This is the first thing I've ever needle felted, and the first knitting project that I've finished that is not a scarf. It looks kind of silly and frumpy, it's a laptop case and I love the big red swirly button.
Enough with things I've made, now it's time for things other people made that I love so much. Going to Felt Club and purchasing Heidi Kenney's cutie banana was the best feeling in the world. Justin bought me the bunny at the museum store, and she is the cutest. While Caitlin was in New York, she bought this Tigre for me, and Jeff brought me back the Homer Simpson and the Batman that I call Bateman when he moved back to California. I don't know why I didn't run into any finger puppet vendors while I was in New York. At least I have friends who would buy them for me!
Last but not least, I knitted a hat tonight, while watching the Law and Order marathon. It's the first hat that I knitted that is actually wearable.
I want to make a new year resolution to make at least one thing a day, but I don't want to make things just because I said I would. So my new year resolution is to be as creative as I can be! Also, I bought a pair of gold Ginger scissors with JoAnn gift card Justin's mom got me! So fancy! I'll definitely be sewing more with these new scissors, after I get both of my machines and serger fixed. Hopefully next year, crafting will be even more exciting for me and for everyone else everywhere! Happy new year!
This Valentine's day I made potato prints and made valentines. It was the best. I love the texture and the feeling of working with a potato.
Then I made my mom a potholder as a Valentine's day present, and she likes it so much that she won't even use it.
I bought a bunch of plaques over the winter because I thought I would make hanging loveliness for people for Christmas. I never got around to it, but now I have all these things I can make for my wall! One thing I made is this cat thing with actual yarn ball, inspired by Justin's roommate's vintage art. Here's picture of the original, and my version of the cat thing next to my favorite green shoes.
The other night, I helped Justin's roommate Nick with a V-day present for a lady and it is the sweetest thing ever! He saved up the ends of guitar strings for years, and I strung them together and added a clasp. It is brilliant. Then we ate some garlicy pasta and watched Mr. Show and went to bed. The best.
Sorry Abe, I didn't realize it was your birthday until two hours ago. I freaked out and made a fuse bead thing of your lovely beautiful face. I hope everything is okay and you're not mad at me. I love you. SO much.
This week's cool African American person is Frederick Douglas! i messed up the screen and his face is kind of scary, but the screens kept on dying and I had to print at least one of them. This is it! I might make another one, but right now, I'm kind of happy with how freaky it looks. Thank you Frederick Douglas for caring about slave issues.
I finished my first quilt the other day, and the whole experience was very rewarding. Going into this, without research, and not knowing what kind of commitment I needed to have, it was very difficult. But few Mondays ago, I had to end the 4 month long process of not finishing the quilt. My favorite part is that I can actually cuddle with what had been scraps of fabric, and the light that comes through the quilt when I hold it up to the light. 
I am pretty much infatuated with all the uneven parts, which is pretty much the whole quilt. If I were to do it again, I would definitely plan but right now it's kind of hard to even think about the next one. I wish quilts were easier to make so I can make one everyday, but then I wouldn't feel so good to cuddle with them. And next time, I would definitely make a pattern. For this one, I used self developed quilt making skills and made it according to my assumption of how it was made, rather than planning ahead with research and preparation. I want to do it for real next time!
They are my new favorite. Ali bought me 10,000 beads for last Christmas and tonight we worked with them. They are so amazing. I really love how tacky they are. I love fuse beads!
I learned how to cable knit, to use double pointed needles, and to knit in a circle. Thanks to knittinghelp.com. For a while the only thing I was not happy with was the frustration that came with the lack of knowledge in knitting, but I think I'm doing better, and I couldn't have done it without knittinghelp.com.
For my mom's Christmast present, I made this jewelry box. She asked me to make her something that isn't too crazy, but I just felt like gluing all the jewels I can find and painting it yellow. She loved it!
These little dummies were the first few of many plushies I made this year. I gave the bunny to mom for Mother's day, and I made the fruits while Justin was in Paris. I also made a bunny just like in green that for my favorite teacher in high school and I hope he still loves it as much as he did when he first saw the bunny.
I am not a very organized person, but when it comes to craft supplies I am really crazy and neat. I guess that is how much I love it. I'm constantly cleaning my workspace and organizing everything!
And today I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves but they are too snug because I couldn't find my size 6 needles so instead i knitted with size 8 ones. I am almost thinking about unraveling the whole thing and starting over, or even felting it, but I don't know how much they will shrink?
The usual crafters Ali, Justin, Julian and myself relocated to Ali's house and invited our friends Caitlin, Andy, Erin, David, Lori and Jeff to celebrate the one month anniversary of craft nights on Wednesdays. As always, I made some silly pins, and there is a picture of one of them. Ali worked on her crocheting, while Julian painted, Justin watercolored, Caitlin and Andy weaved bracelets, David painted patches, and Lori and Erin sat and entertained us. 
It is always nice to get together with friends, but it was especially nice because we had the craft juices, and plenty of wine of course, flowing through our minds. It was a beautiful night.
I am going to document my craft creations, collabos, and crazy cuties on this blog. My bestfriend Ali and I decided to craft every Wednesday night, and last Wednesday was our first. Here is the outcome.
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