just maryse

Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi

want to make your own teeny-tiny feejee mermaid?   then you need the wonderfully adorable book  Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec.

the book opens with a section on the materials and tools needed to make these truly tiny little toys. then there's a section on techniques for knitting toys in general and more specifically toys this small. the book ends with a few pages of basic knitting essentials. 

the bulk of the book though is made up of 40 or so patterns for the cutest little toys you'll ever see.

anna has given us CHICKENS!

 

EGGS!

a healthy fruity snack in the form of a tiny pear

and a dessert-y splurge in the form of cupcakes. (i don't recommend eating them though, plus they have eyes, which is freaky).

 GNOMES!!

 AND CAVEMEN!

 and just in time for halloween, there are tiny ghosts.

and for christmas, reindeer.

and monkeys, mermaids, a telephone, ROBOTS...

yes. ROBOTS.

Telling Secrets

i do a fair amount of secret crafting.  sometimes it's because i'm working on a new design that i don't want to show until it's done.  or other times, i'm working on a gift for someone.  and i do do (heh doodoo) a fair amount of test knitting.  sometimes that secret keeping timeline can be weeks, months, and even years!  well at least a year and a half.

so when i get the ok to let loose, it's very exciting.

 

here are 2 of the many Sleight of Hand Mitten (by Mary Lou Egan) combinations.

 

my version of Ellen Bloom's Granny Greenbag.

 

five blocks for Kay Gardiner and Anne Shay's Fussy Cut Blanket.

want to make you're own?  you can find all of these patterns (and others) in Craft Activism: People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In by Joan Tapper and Gale Zucker.

want to read more about this great book and the crafters featured in it? check out the craft activism blog. 

Wendy Knits Lace

i am not really a lace knitter. i've done a little lace knitting in the past. (i did make this sweater a bazillion years ago).  but lately i've been enjoying multi-colored mindless knitting. i think multicolored yarns can overpower lace stitches. and knitting lace for me is as far from mindless as i get.

but that doesn't mean that i'm not interested.

Wendy Johnson has just released a new book on how to knit lace and if you've never knit lace or if you've only knit lace by the seat of your pants (like me) then you may need this book.  

Part I of the book covers the basics of knitting lace.   Not a page is wasted on general knitting how-tos (thank christ),  but rather this section is filled with information about needle types, and yarns, a lesson on following charts and how to block your work.  She then goes over how to fix mistakes and lifelines.

 

Part II covers lace knitting techniques.  She describes several methods for casting on, different types of joins, different ways of binding off.  She reviews the various ways to decrease and increase.  This is all information that is available in any good knitting tome, but i like how she does it here, by including clear, black and white drawings and i like that it's all in one place.

Part III is full of patterns.  There are 22 patterns included in this book:  2 cowls, 4 scarves/stoles, 4 shawls, 1 afghan, 3 mittens/gloves/mitts, 3 pair of socks, 2 hats and 3 sweaters. 

my favorites include the vortex spiral afghan (yay big needles, worsted weight!), the vintage knee socks ..

and the Rhossili Beach Watch Cap (see below).

 

The photography is lovely; the text is clearly written and there are charts through out.  (I can't comment on the quality of the charts/instructions as I didn't actually knit anything).

 

I really like this book and if you'd like to include some lace knitting in your future, i think you will too.

An Announcement!

no i'm not pregnant.  heh.

but my photography is featured in the latest eMag from Interweave Knits called EntreKnits.

so that's exciting, for me anyway.

 and that would of course be reason enough to purchase this issue -- heh -- but there's MORE!  it's a wonderful little eMag that explores such techniques as mitered squares, entrelac, and modular knitting.  i especially love this pretty cowl.

and i think you need to check it out.

PCers can get their copy here.  If you have a mac, get it here.

That's all!

 

ETA:  these are not the photos in the eMag. 

Red

something's been bugging me lately.  nothing too serious.  just a little nagging thing. 

i have no idea where all of my time goes.  

 

i work a regular 40 hour a week job with some commuting time but since i've been living in the city, it's probably no more than an hour or two tops a day.  i don't have kids.  i live in a 400 square foot room.  (omg i'm in college again!!!!)  so you would think i had tons of free time to do whatever it is that i want to do! 

 

and the thing is i do! but i seem to have nothing to show for that time.  in the time it's taken me to knit one pair of socks or two, my friend chawne has made blankets and spun and quilts and all sorts of shit. and there are others out there just like her.   and i'm wondering, what is it that i'm doing or not doing that makes me so unproductive.   do i play too many iphone games?  do i need to step away from the computer more?  limit my time on pinterest? or do i sleep too much?

 

now, in addition, i'm starting to slowly gain back all of the weight i had lost in the fall, and that makes me sad and slow and tired.  so i know that i need to exercise more.  which i know will just eat more time away from my crafty pursuits.  heh.  (it's been suggested that i knit and walk but i'm not 100% sure that would really work).

 

anyway, all of this is more rhetorical than anything.  i just have to figure things out i guess.  procrastinate less.  do more. 

in the meantime, i'm taking photos of red things because on top of everything else, IT'S ONLY NOW THAT I'M BLOGGING ABOUT THIS YEAR'S PROJECT SPECTRUM!!!! 

i tend to love all colors (well expect for baby pink, barbie doll peach and beige) and i'll obsess about certain colors for a bit -- such as mustardy yellow or aqua.  but red is my favorite color.  it was no accident that this beautiful quilt includes so much red or that i drive a red car. 

so yeah that's about it.

 

January 2011 -- A Recap

 

i think if there's a word to describe this past month i think it would be SNOW.  in the northeast we got a healthy dumping (with more to come on wednesday).

there was also a shit load of spinning.

 

 

 

i finished a pair of socks. 

 

and "buried" an old friend.

 

yeah, ouch.  january was a very expensive month.  sure i could have lived without a new camera.  but you know that wasn't going to happen.  dear nikon d80, you were good to me.  i hope the d90 is as good.

so that's about it!  no real change in my personal life.  i'm doing fine.  much better than i was doing 5 months ago.  back then i never thought i'd feel normal again.  i'm getting there.

 

 

 

 

A 2010 Crafty Retrospective

the other day, i said i would look forward from now on.  no looking back.  but one aspect of my life that didn't suck ass was my crafty life.

 

i wasn't super productive, but i did try a few things.  i became obsessed with cross stitch, and i started my first quilt.  i knitted a few pairs of socks, spun some wool.  i self-published the very braidy cowl and the oh jamie, my jamie socks.  i had two patterns published in crochet today:  your nana's potholders and the petal pillows.  and the secret design projects i had been working on the summer of 2009, finally appeared this fall in Knitting It Old School:  sunshine day and the go go granny (my personal favorite).   and i had the opportunity to work with gale zucker and joan tapper on their latest collaboration as project manager, photo assistant and stylist, chicken wrangler, sample knitter and crocheter and mitten model.  it was great fun.  well most of it.  wearing wool mittens in 90 degree weather was a challenge.  heh.

i lost my mojo for a couple of months, but over all i had a crafty good time.  i plan on more of the same in 2011.

And It's Back!

for a couple of months, i couldn't focus on anything.  i just wanted to sleep or disappear and not feel anything.  i still don't dare to dream and i'm having trouble planning ahead more than just a week or two ahead.  (my therapist says that that's ok.)  but what has come back with a vengence is my crafty mojo.  my fingers itch with anticipation of carrying a hook or needle.  and my head is filled with colors and shapes that i want to experiment with.  my job is seriously getting in the way.  heh.

in the past 2 months i've made one pair of socks.

and started another (i'm on the second sock.  no second sock syndrome for me!)

 

i've got a cowl on the needles in this crazy turquoise color (my favorite color of the moment).

and i haven't forgotten about the insanity blanket.

 

finally, last but not least, i started a crocheted blanket. a nice break from all of the crazy color i normally work with. kind of like a palette (heh) cleanse.

if i had my spinning wheel with me, i'd probably be spinning too. 

it feels good to feel a little bit more like myself. and i have to admit when i'm knitting/crocheting i kind of forget what's going on in my real life.  and that's a good thing. 

 

 

 

Oh Jamie, my Jamie!

Phew! Just under the wire.  I think so anyway.  What you ask?  Well the Sock Revived Design contest.  The extended submission deadline was just a few minutes ago, but I think I made it.

If not, doesn't matter, I'm still going to show you this crazy assed sock I've made along with the pattern.  Because I'm a giver.

Anyway, as you may know, I've been rather obsessed with the Outlander series of books , and it seems that that obsession inspired a sock fit for a Laird.  Or a Sassenach. 

The crowned stags figure in the Fraser Clan Crest (the clan of the very sexy male protagonist) and the strawberry, which I've incorporated into the toe of the sock, has some symbolism in the story.  The Fraser clan is also originally from France, and the word for strawberry in french is "fraise" and a strawberry plant is called a "fraisier."  See how that works?

I have to say, the strawberry really is my favorite part.

Anyway, if you're interested, I've posted the pattern here.  And here on Ravelry.

A Very Braidy Cowl

Inspired by the cable-y goodness of the 16 cable hat, I created a cowl that is warm and comforting around the neck with its giant, fat braidy cables.  So in honor of the fact that SPA is just days away and I know some of you will need a relatively easy and portable knitting project to work on while drinking, I've published the Very Braidy Cowl.

i knit this with one skein of Plymouth Encore (i know i know, IT'S GOT ACRYLIC IN IT) but you could easily use Cascade 220 or any worsted weight yarn.  the pattern link is in my sidebar there and on Ravelry here.

i hope you like it.  Happy SPA!