Valentine's Day is just around the corner, but I, of course, haven't done anything other than eat my fair share of Hershey's kisses and red jelly beans – thanks, Lisa!
Here are a few ideas for you, just in case you're a Last-Minute Lucy like me.
And next week's issue of "Get Crafty," my e-newsletter, will be chock-full of Valentine's Day ideas. It comes out on Monday, so you still have time to sign up.
(PS Don't forget, you can enter to win a copy of The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos until Sunday night!)
Today is National Sweater Day – do you know where your cardigan is?
Image from WWF; photography, Stephen Welstead
On Sweater Day, the WWF encourages to turn down the heat and pop on a sweater. If each of us did this every day, we'd save an incredible amount of energy across Canada. Frankly, I think every day should be Sweater Day.
Speaking of sweaters, I've got just an inch left on the collar of my current project – so close!
I was hoping to wear it today, but alas, sleep trumps knitting every time. Maybe I'll celebrate belatedly, and wear it tomorrow.
Are you marking Sweater Day by turning down your heat and wearing your favourite handknit?
PS See behind-the-scenes photos from the Sweater Day poster photo shoot (via KnittyBlog).
I'm not one to do up my house for every holiday and event (though I admire the people who have the creativity to come up with decorations for Groundhog Day), but a little colour in the middle of a grey February is always welcome. So here's a quick craft to warm up your kitchen: a hearty tea towel.
This project involves simple freezer paper stencilling made even simpler: Instead of drawing and cutting out my own design, I used two different sizes of heart-shaped paper punches to make a stencil. Just iron on, paint, let dry, iron again, and you're done! I reused the stencil in an attempt to make a matching pair, but the wax didn't stick as well the second time and the paint bled. (Lesson learned.) I did this project with a group of friends, who were all way more adventurous and made their own designs.
Mary's lovely monogram
Jenna's crazy hearts
With just a bit of freezer paper, some paint and super cheap Ikea tea towels, you could easily make a whole year's worth of simple holiday decor. Guess I'd better start looking for four-leaf clover paper punches!
This weekend, inspired by my friend Sherrie, I tried something new – making candles. It's something I've wanted to try for a long time, and I'm so happy I finally did.
Materials: recycled jam jars, bamboo skewers, candle wicking and the metal tabs you use to anchor the wick, and a giant block of beeswax. I got mine at the farmer's market, but you can actually get it at the health food or art supply store, too. I got the wicking and the tabs at the art supply store, for about $5.
I melted the wax in a stainless steel bowl (thank you, Value Village!) over simmering water. It took some time.
Meanwhile, I set up the jars. It's pretty straightforward. I used melted wax from another candle to anchor the wicks in the bottom of the jars, and wrapped the wicks around the bamboo skewers to keep them straight.
Checking in on the beeswax...
Ready to pour! I covered my work surface with parchment paper just to keep things clean. I used a 1/2 cup ladle that I had lying around (where do these things come from?) to pour the wax because I thought it might keep things a bit tidier.
Here goes...
The wax started to cool almost immediately. It took another six hours or so for them to harden completely.
Ta-da! That giant block of beeswax yielded three candles – and made my house smell amazing for the rest of the day. I can't wait to try them out.
I think these would make a great gift, and provided you're doing all the work with the hot wax, it would be a fun project to do with your kids, too. They could help cut and tie the wicks, supervise the pouring, and create special labels for the candles. Maybe as a Valentine's Day present for someone special?
(If this has piqued your interest, here's lots more info on making candles.)
Today I'm excited to be participating in the blog tour for a fabulous new release from Interweave Press: The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos by Heidi Adnum. Giveaway details are below, but I'd love to tell you a bit about this book first...
This book is TERRIFIC. I took it home with me this weekend and almost as soon as I started to read it, I was wishing that I qualified for my own giveaways. I've struggled to take interesting photos of my just-cast-off socks, but with this book, I think the struggles will be over!
Whether you take photos of your handmade items to sell on Etsy, to show off on your blog or to feature in your portfolio, you're sure to find this book comes in handy. It starts with the basics – how to use light, what those mysterious terms like "aperture" and "exposure" mean, and how to choose a camera. I've read about this stuff again and again, but with this book it finally clicked!
From there, you'll learn about how to tell a story with a photograph, and then read tips and techniques broken down by product or craft (accessories, knitting, etc.) The chapters cover planning and set-up, composition and common problems – everything you need to know to help you set up a successful craft photo shoot. At the end, you'll read all about post-production, photo editing, and business advice.
There's also a practitioner spotlight for each craft– an interview with a photographer who is a superstar at taking great shots of his or her crafts. I loved these and noticed many of my favourite crafters and crafts were featured. Paging through this book was like reading a Who's Who of craft photography.
Of course, the photographs are fantastic, and the book is as gorgeous as it is informative. (Click through to take a peek inside the book.)
For your chance to win, leave ONE comment telling us your greatest challenge when it comes to taking great photos of your Finished Objects. The contest is open to Canadian residents only. Contest will run until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, February 12, 2012; I'll post a winner here on Monday, February 13. Good luck!
(Want to read more about the book? Visit some of the other stops on the blog tour, below. You'll find other giveaways, as well as posts by featured crafters and photographers.)
And in the UK:
And in Australia:
Thanks so much to everyone who entered for a chance to win the copy of Kate Atherley's new book, Beyond Knit & Purl.
It's great to see such a response and always inspiring to see the ways you want to challenge yourselves (and your knitting!). The winner is:
Congratulations, Michele, I'll be in touch shortly! And stay tuned, because there's another giveaway coming right up.
This weekend I've got all sorts of things to do, but I'm hoping that I'll have time for a bit of crafting. After all, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and it's a great excuse to get out my red, pink and white craft supplies and get crafty.
After last week's Valentine's Day roundup, I found three more fabulous Valentine's Day crafts that I thought you might be interested in:
I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cup of tea to read (and pore over the photos in) this edition of What's in Your Toolbox with Lotta Jansdotter. And I'm adding this lovely shawl to my (endless, I'm afraid) to-knit list. How will you spend your crafty time this weekend?
PS Don't forget – you can enter for a chance to win Kate Atherley's book until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday night!
This week, I've been spending a lot of time waiting. In ERs, in sickrooms, on the road, in parking lots, on trains and on streetcars. Helping loved ones get better involves driving hundreds of kilometres, drinking many pots of tea and spending lots of quiet hours watching them sleep away their maladies.
All this waiting means my travelling craft bag is getting a workout. When I head out, I make sure it's packed with portable projects and supplies. And since I love those What's in Her Bag behind-the-scenes things, here's a peek at what's inside:
- My current project. This week, it's my cross-stitch seed packet and a Simple Things shawlette.
- Stork scissors. These are the perfect little snippers for embroidery and yarn ends.
- Knitting markers and notions. These little guys are always handy – and you can never have too many.
- Needle holders and stoppers. I hate when stitches drop off the knitting needles in my bag. These little springs keep your needles together, even on the go, and these sticky point protectors are great for keeping rogue stitches where they belong.
- Stitch holders and waste yarn. These are great for holding on to stitches you're going to work later.
- Tape measure. Sometimes a retractable ruler is just a wee bit more accurate than your eyeball at measuring, isn't it?
- Crochet hook. This is essential for picking up dropped stitches and fixing runs in your knitting.
- Tapestry needles. I always seem to be on the move when I'm sewing in ends on knitted projects. These big blunt needles are a must-have.
- Cable needle. I love my compact curved cable needle because it stays in my knitting a little better than the longer ones with the bump in the middle.
- Highlighter. For marking up stitching charts, there is nothing that saves your sanity better than a fine-tip highlighter.
What do you carry in your travelling craft bag? Is there something I should be adding to mine?
Share in the comments below!
I'm so excited for tomorrow: I love Groundhog Day. (I've even met Shubenacadie Sam!) This holiday has everything – a bit of family history, a bit of folklore, cute animals...
Image, groundhog.org.
Actually, make that almost everything. Because unlike that other February holiday, Groundhog Day is drastically under-served in the greeting card department.
So today I set out to create a quick and easy Groundhog Day card. Using basic craft supplies, it's not hard at all to create this pop-up card.
You'll need construction paper, scissors, a pen and a glue stick. Halve the construction paper so the pieces are approx 6 x 8 inches, and fold the blue sheet and the white sheet in half.
Using a pencil and ruler and starting at the folded edge of the blue construction paper, draw three pairs of lines as shown. These will form the supports for the pop-up parts of the card. With the scissors, snip along the lines.
Open up the sheet of construction paper and poke the strips through (as shown above). It's a bit fiddly but not too difficult. Glue the white construction paper to the blue to form the outside of the card.
Next, it's time for a bit of drawing and cut-and-paste. I cut out a sun, a couple of shrubberies, and two groundhogs – one full size, and one that just shows from the shoulders up. (I did a quick image search online and there were lots of groundhog models to choose from!)
Glue the sun to the back of the card, and glue the groundhog and the shrubberies to the uprights. Use a black pencil crayon to draw a "hole" around the groundhog. Glue the groundhog head to the outside of the card. Write your message inside the card.
Ta-da! And you're done. Now you've got a card to give to your favourite person tomorrow. I hope that you have a very happy Groundhog Day!
This week we're giving away a copy of Beyond Knit and Purl, a new book by Kate Atherley. Today, we're featuring one of the projects from her book as a little treat for all our readers.
Kate points out that this is a great way to practice your cable skills before starting a more complicated project – and that one of these would make a sweet little Valentine's Day gift.
Cables Mini Project: Coffee Cup Cozy
Choose a color that matches how you take your coffee so spills don’t show.
Finished Measurements:
3.25 inches/8 cm wide, 9 inches/23 cm around unstretched; will stretch easily to fit the largest take-out coffee cup.
Materials:
- 1 ball Sirdar Eco Wool DK (100% undyed virgin wool, 100m/50gm ball; color 201—grey)
- Designer’s Tip: If you can’t find this yarn, any worsted weight wool like Cascade 220, or Paton’s Classic Merino will work nicely!
- 4mm (US #6) straight needles—wood, bamboo or plastic needles are easiest
- Cable needle
- Yarn needle
Gauge:
22 stitches and 28 rows across 4 inches/10cm in stockinette stitch on 4mm needles.
Method:
Cast on 20 sts.
Row 1 [RS]: K4, p2, k8, p2, k4.
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8 [WS]: K6, p8, k6.
Row 3 [RS]: K4, p2, k8, p2, k4.
Row 5 [RS]: K4, p2, C8R*, p2, k4.
Row 7 [RS]: K4, p2, k8, p2, k4.
*C8R: Slip next 4 sts to cable needle and hold in back; k4, then k4 from cable needle.
Repeat the last 8 rows until piece measures 9 inches long, ending after a Row 1.
Bind off, leaving a 12 inch tail to use for seaming.
Finishing:
Wash the piece.
With RS facing, seam using the invisible horizontal seaming method as given below, using the tail left over from the cast-off.
How To Work the Invisible Horizontal Seam
If you look closely at your knitting, you’ll see that at the bottom of each knit stitch – each V – you’ll see a point. You’ll use these for seaming.
Fold the coffee cozy in half along the short side, with right sides facing you, and line up the cast-on and bind off edges. The cast-off tail should be on your right if you’re right-handed; on your left if you’re left-handed. Thread your darning needle with your cast-off tail.
Starting with the cast-on edge (that is, the edge that doesn’t have the tail attached to it), run the darning needle under the point of the V of the first stitch, right at the edge.
Next, run under the corresponding V on the other side, right up by the cast-off edge. And then back across the other side, going in where you came out, and under the next V....
And so forth. When seaming purl stitches, the v is still there, it’s just hiding a little bit. Stretch the fabric out to see the V's.
Pull snug as you work. When you get to the end, weave in your ends.
Don't forget that you've got a chance to win a copy of Kate's book, Beyond Knit and Purl. Just leave a comment on the giveaway post for your chance to win.
