Scarves and Lion's Brand Fisherman's Wool

The first thing you learn to knit or crochet is a scarf. There are a few reasons for this:

Flat things are easier.
"Square" things are easier...as opposed to things that involve working in rounds, such as hats.
Scarves are quick. Relatively speaking.

I love to make scarves. Sure, they're easy, but they are also a great way to try out new stitches. It's very easy to make scarves that are different with a simple tweak here and there. Take this scarf for example:

While the majority of the scarf is done in stockinette stitch (the simplest of knitting patterns), the edges are a bit of fun, with a purl 5, knit 5, purl 5 set of stripes that move one stitch with each row. The effect is a couple sets of stripes that just make the scarf a little more fun.

I totally dig details like this. Scarves (or other accessories or pieces of clothing) don't have to be crazily ornate to be beautiful.

And may I just scream the praises of Lion's Brand Fisherman Wool?

For those of you who don't work in the fiber arts, there are two basic types of yarn -- acrylic and wool. (In reality, there are hundreds of different fibers, but I would say that these are the two most common). Acrylic is cheap, so I often use it for crochet projects because crocheting in general uses up more yarn than knitting. But when I began to knit with some regularity not long ago, I started exploring the world of wool yarn. Paton's makes a decent yarn in some fun colors, but until recently, that was all the wool my Michael's store had....

Until November. I found a beautiful wool made by Lion's Brand, which, as previously mentioned, is called Fisherman's Wool. This evokes awesome memories for me, as I had this sweet fisherman sweater in high school that used to belong to my Dad. But this yarn...oh, the yarn.

Wool is usually a tricky thing. It can be scratchy, frankly. But the Fisherman Wool is "100% pure virgin wool", and it has all the natural wool oils in it, which make it just wonderfully soft. And the colors are all browns, whites, and ivories -- nothing dyed or fake. (Don't get me wrong, I love me a good chartreuse green or variegated striped yarn, but there is something soothing about muted tones.)

I discovered this wool when I was making a scarf for my father for Christmas, and I bought way more than I needed. So I've been created projects here and there from the remnants, like the scarf above, and another of my reusable coffee sleeves:

Love, love, love.

Collage and the Handwritten Letter

I worked last weekend on a project using a process near and dear to my heart: collage.

I have adored collage since, oh, middle school. Nothing gave me greater joy that destroying my parents' old magazines (Rolling Stones always had the best clippings due to their ginormous format). And for a girl who wanted desperately to be artsy but didn't have the ability to do anything life-like (good Lord, you should see my drawings), collage was a great way to feel creatively accomplished.

I liked to collage doors. They were a huge, flat, functional surface that was great for displaying things. In collage, my freshman year, my roommate (the sweetly awesome Catherine) brought me back some catalogs from a jaunt she took to Chicago. I think they were from Urban Outfitter, but they had beautiful western landscapes with lots of dusty reds and turquoise blues. I was in heaven. They were shred to pieces and collaged onto our dorm-room door immediately. (Bless you, Pangborn Hall)

So, when I bought some nicely-colored cardstock the other day, and had a brand-new bone tool in hand for perforating, I slowly dug out my old collage box, full of already-ripped out pages and pictures from years past. I cut and folded my notecards, and went to work.

I like quirk. I like things that are silly and nonsensical. I approached these cards as such, and came up with a set of 8 fun little notecards:

Then I tied them in a bow, and put them in my shop.

I'm also a huge fan of the handwritten letter. There's something magical about getting a card or note from a friend that they took the time to write out. The cards and mementos I treasure most are those from friends, where I can see their handwriting and see the time and thought they put into their words. It's just more personal somehow.

More cards to come! I found a sweet little deal at Michael's where they sell cards and envelopes in a little variety pack. I plan on adding to the card stock (Ha! Get it?) soon.

Felted Clutch

Last weekend was truly delightful. I spent lots of time lazing about, watching reruns of LA Ink on Netflix, snuggling with Pascal (kitty extraordinaire), and knitting. Oh, knitting. The perfect task to keep my poor jumpy hands busy while I veg.

I often use knitting as a time-filler, so I like projects that require minimal thinking -- stockinette stitches or simple ribs are awesome and relatively mindless. I worked on this swatch over the weekend, with some sweet self-changing yarn by Paton's:

 It was super easy and mindless, but then the fun begins...

I've done just the tiniest bit of felting lately, which is when you use wool for knitting (or crocheting), and after you're done making whatever you're making, you agitate it in the washing machine to turn it into felt. It only works with wool yarn, but the effect is pretty sweet, and after you felt something, it has a lot more weight and sturdiness to it. On the other hand, it also shrinks. After felting this swatch here, I turned it into a cute little clutch:

Super simple -- just sew a seam up the sides, stitch on a snap, and done. How fun is this for a night out, or errands, when you don't want to carry your purse?

I'm going to keep working at it, do some with space for credit cards/IDs, but the general product is laid out, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. The most exciting part? A trip to the yarn store soon to find some really nice wool to work with. Michael's, dear to my heart, doesn't have the greatest selection :( And besides, there's something magical about a yarn store.

Fiber Arts

Printmaking has been on hold for a bit now. Partly because I no longer have free and open access to the studio (since my class is over), and partly because the holidays are just busy. Also, partly because I've been spending time bonding with this guy:

Just because I haven't been printmaking, however, doesn't mean I haven't been using my creative juices. I've been turning, instead, to the fiber arts.

When I was 9, my grandmother taught me how to crochet. I started a rose-colored blanket with her that day that I never finished, but I've always had a bag of yarn lying around, with pieces of projects and scraps of leftovers. I love to make gifts for people -- scarves and hats and sweaters and such.

In the past year, I've really tried to expand my crochet repertoire, and move beyond your basic winter hat and scarf. I did this cardigan for my wedding a year ago (today!):

and I made this pretty sweet quilt last year out of yarn scraps.

Today, I was going through all of my yarn, and I have a ton of leftover from various projects. Trying to think of something quick and easy to make with the nubbins, I came up with these guys:

Now, I've recently become a coffee drinker. And I unashamedly like coffee with annoying flavors like blueberry (sorry, you coffee snobs, but it's just delicious). I asked for a couple travel mugs for Xmas, which my dear brother Sam provided, but it turns out that this metal one, which I quite enjoy, gets really freaking cold in the walking time between my car and the school during these chilly Vermont winters. (By the by, we've gotten 30 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. And likely will STILL have school tomorrow) So, when I hunkered down after Mass today, determined not to leave the house for the rest of the day, creating a few little coffee cozies with some of my scrap yarn seemed like a brilliant idea.

I envision swiping a few Starbucks/gas station cups in the near future to test the fit and size, but I think that they could be used on those cups, too. And heck, since I'm a granola Vermonter now, just think of the trees one would save if you didn't have those silly paper sleeves or (God forbid), the extra cup on the outside of the regular cup.

I'm going to tweak my methods a bit, but before long, look for these guys in the Etsy store!