New Craft: Drop-spindle Spinning

Recently I've picked up a new craft - spinning yarn using a drop spindle. After learning what a drop spindle is from a blog I follow, last Christmas I asked for and received a kit to start spinning.  There's a lot to learn - both in technique and in terminology - but it's been so interesting to tackle a new project.

I started with a top-whorl spindle, some commercially-prepared roving (dyed wool that has been combed into a long thick strand, ready for spinning), and this YouTube video.

Since then I have been learning a lot, and my mom has joined this adventure too, so we've had a lot of fun learning together.  I'll share more later about what else I'm working on with spinning, but for now here are some photos of my first skein of yarn!

If you're thinking of endeavoring into this craft, feel free to ask any questions and perhaps I'll be able to offer some advice from the little knowledge I've gained so far.

 More photos below...

Card-making Projects: Colored Pencil greeting cards

Here's a quick project that I was working on a week or so ago.  I picked up some scrap paper and my colored pencils one night and came up with these little cards.  I sketched the design lightly in pencil, then almost entirely erased the marks so they were just visible, then I went over them with a colored pencil, adding some shading here and there.  I've never been great at drawing things free hand, but I think these turned out alright!  Look below for more photos.

Sewing Projects: Cloth Napkins

 In an effort to use less disposable paper products, I set out to the thrift store to find an old tablecloth.  The plan was to cut them into cloth napkins.  Luckily, I came across a set of four cloth napkins, already finished and in a nice cream color.  All I did was embroider a couple running stitches in blue across each napkin to add a little character.  Enjoy a couple more photos below!

Around Home: My Parents' House

In the fall of 2009, my parents sold their 21-year-old house and moved into a 175-year-old house, fulfilling a long-time dream of theirs to fix up and live in a historic home.  The house, a Dutch colonial style built in 1835, was originally a general store and was converted to a house a few years after it was built.  My parents have been working one room at a time to restore it.  Here are just a couple photos from the main floor entryway and living room.  Enjoy!

Sewing Projects: Sweater Vest Pillow

This project, a pillow made out of a sweater vest and some plaid wool fabric, was a Christmas gift for my dad, and I finally got around to photographing it while I stayed at their house last weekend.  I came across this 100% shetland wool vest at a thrift store while on the hunt for a wool sweater to make my brother-in-law's mittens.  I didn't yet have a project in mind for the vest, but with the charming argyle pattern, I couldn't pass it up.  Read on for more details and photos.

Home Decor Projects: Old Window Picture Frame

This one has been up in our house for quite some time, but I still wanted to share it with all of you.  We bought this window frame from an antique market for $6, then filled each pane with a photograph from our wedding.  The panes happened to fit 8x10 photos, with an inch of margin around each one.  The idea was for the photos to look like they are floating within each frame.  We thought of buying a separate pane of glass to go behind each photo and "sandwich" the photo into place.  However, we ended up going a much cheaper and simpler route by tacking each corner into place with a small square of Scotch tape!  If you look closely, you can see about 1/8" of tape sticking out from each corner, but for simplicity's sake we were willing to compromise.  The entire frame is hung with some nails and wire in the back, with a heavy duty hook.  We get lots of compliments on this!

More pictures below...

Card-making Projects: Pennant Greeting Cards

Here's just a little inspiration for those who like to make homemade greeting cards.  This is a newer hobby of mine, which I started after a particularly stressful time picking out a last-minute card at the store.  It was heartbreaking to me to buy a $4 piece of cardstock that only partially fit the person I was buying it for.  Card-buying has always been a stressor for me, so I've started leisurely making cards during my free time.  That way, I always have some on hand for simple thank you notes, etc.  I also try to make birthday cards ahead of time, tailored more specifically to the recipient.  This has drastically improved the card-giving experience for me, as these are usually well-received, AND I can feel great about investing more time and creativity than money in something that's ultimately more appropriate anyway.

And so, in some free time the other day I made these pennant cards, blank on the inside and ready to have a "Happy Birthday" or "Congratulations" written on the front.  Each was made using white cardstock folded in half.  Then I took some scrapbook paper and cut tiny triangles (to make this easier, cut a strip 1/2" wide, then cut at angles all the way across).  Then I used a thick black pen to draw a sloping line, then used a gluestick to stick on the triangles.  Have fun with different paper patterns!
More photos below...

Sewing Projects: Fabric Book Holder

Last month, my husband and I were blessed with another beautiful niece!  Along with all the excitement of a new baby in the family, I also had a chance to make some cute things for the new little one.  Just before her baby shower, my sister-in-law mentioned these fabric book holders that she had seen online.  I had seen them too, and offered to make them for her as a gift.

Crochet Projects: More Glittens, and Lining tutorial

This has perhaps been my most popular crochet project!  I first blogged about it here, and have made 8 pairs of these mittens now!  I made a pair for my mother-in-law for her birthday in December, this time adding a flannel lining.  This helped to keep out the wind and it made the inside much softer (the wool can tend to be a bit scratchy).  When I showed off this pair at work, I received three orders from coworkers!  Here are some photos of those, plus a brief explanation of how I did the lining (sorry no photos of that).

Sewing Projects: Owls

Here's a fairly easy sewing project, inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest.  My niece happens to love owls, and her mother happened to throw a woodland-themed 2nd birthday for her, so these owls were a perfect present!  Here's a tutorial on how they were made:

Knitting Project: Leg Warmers and Headband

Hey Everyone,
So sorry to have been so long in posting!  Indeed I have been very busy crafting - too busy to post!  With the holidays came hand-made gifts for just about everyone in the family.  A crocheted shrug for Mom, felted wool pillow for Dad, sewn linen cowl for my SIL, a paper-to-wood photo for my in-laws, upcycled sweater hat and mittens for my niece, and THESE knitted leg warmers for my sister.  Unfortunately, I missed photographing most of these projects, as they were usually immediately wrapped after I finished them.

I did get a chance to photograph my sister wearing her new leg warmers, as she wore them over to our house the other day!  By Christmas, I only had one done, so she waited patiently until last week for the other one.  To make it up to her, I also made her a warm headband out of the extra wool :-).

Sewing Projects: Felted Wool Mittens

I've gotten a bit of a reputation in my family for making handmade gifts.  This is great, because I think my family is starting to understand and appreciate all that goes in to a handmade gift - the thoughtfulness and the time especially.

It's been harder to make gifts for the men in my family, given that they don't particularly like to accessorize or decorate.  So when my brother-in-law says, 5 days before his birthday, that he'd love a homemade gift, I was a little stumped.  Normally I would knit or crochet something, but I didn't have the time.  Luckily this idea came to mind:  felted wool mittens.  Read on to learn how I made these.