what?

confession: I have 4 personal blogs, 2 group-maintained blogs, and 2 social network sites that I post to occasionally. obviously, I don't keep up with all of them. the thing is, I really would like a consistent online presence, but I compartmentalize everything in a weird way. I create boundaries for the blogs, and sometimes my life just doesn't have the content so support them. in the instance of this blog, it's more that my camera stopped cooperating with me as it once did, and craft blogs just aren't that fun without pictures.

I've held onto each of my personal blogs for various reasons. the longest-standing one is just one that I've always returned to over the years. it's just a place for me to dump personal information on a certain group of people that probably wouldn't care if they never read about me again. I mean, I personally know most of them, but those people that actually would be interested in my posts could very well find out all my pertinent personal bizness by calling me. it's just hard to let it go. I don't even tell new people about it, and I rarely post anymore. the only time that I post, honestly, is when I feel completely isolated in life and need to vent. I don't think I want to project that anymore. I haven't deleted it because, as a writer, it's hard to throw away stuff like that. I might see if I can at least download it to my computer first.

then I have the "fredanism" site. it started as a place to house poetry and the little bit of art that I do. on my latest zines, I had put the site on the back of it. it morphed a little into a place where I could also tell people about the shows I do occasionally, and to critique my own performances. it shows the stuff that is close to my heart and soul, the stuff that I'm religious about. I haven't posted to this one in a while because, well, I just wasn't posting. I really like the name, attention-hungry person that I am. we'll see if I keep it.

I have this site. I really like the name. again with that reason. I like naming things, can't you tell? (actually, I like the names of all of my blogs... the personal one is "blue penny thoughts." no, I will not give a link, and if you look it up, the entries are locked. you might get some really really old posts that have stupid quizzes or what not on them, but that's about it.) I like showing my crafts, but I am not always crafty. I have been working on some crazy stuff lately, and though I still need to get a new camera, I will have stuff to share. I am also working toward being a more consistently paid crafty person, so we'll see how that goes. I feel that part of doing that will be having a more solid approach. hyping my shit. yeah.

I have another crafty blog, too, "apocalypse crafting." the intent with that one was to merge my crafty stuff with my scavenger tendencies, and to really focus on that. of course, I really like the name, but I don't think it warrants a whole blog. I think I can just do segments that feature that name on this blog.

I don't know exactly why I am expressing all of this here. I mean, I know I need to process a lot of things, and typing it out really helps. somehow, sharing all of this, even with a limited online audience (or none at all, who knows?) is very soothing. of course this is self-indulgent and probably not very fun for anyone to read, but it's all about me, now, isn't it? okay, it's not really.

the point is, is that I will be updating this blog a bit more with some awesome crafty stuff. I've toyed with the idea of combining fredanism with stranded, but I just don't know if there is enough overlap in the audiences to justify such a move. one day, I will have my own website, and these blogs will just be sections within it and then I'll feel much tidier about the whole thing. so for now, I think that I will be focusing on this and the fredanism blog, as two separate things, and then paring down everything else I've got going on. I really shouldn't be blurting out all my personal stuff online (even if my readership is limited to those on my friend list) and my creative writing is explicit enough for those times when I decide that it's okay to blurt out all that stuff. and I realize that I have wonderful friends and family to go to when I need it and that I should remember that. and if I can't, to use freaking notebook. sheesh.

and now, I will stop processing, thank you kindly for indulging me.

stay tuned, because I have some fun stuff going on that I will be sharing. teaser: really big pom-pom. if anyone is actually reading this, go ahead and comment with a guess about how big the thing is (going to be... it's almost done!)

gah!

so I'm waiting for a new mini-USB cord for my camera, so I can actually put some pictures up on this thing. what I will have to share: some really crappy photos of an adorable bunny hat for a friends bebe, photos of some recycled yarn (I've become addicted to pulling sweaters apart), and a hat. probably some other stuff, too.

one of my New Year's resolutions is to post to this blog once a week, or thereabouts, because I really would like to keep track of what I'm doing. my scatterbrained self actually started a new blog, which I won't even link to at this point because I haven't even made any entries. d'oh! it's called Apocalypse Crafting, and once I am a good girl about this blog, that I put a lot of effort into starting and promoting oh so long ago, I will use that one to specialize a little with recycled crafting. I think. I might just put that stuff here, so I'm not spreading myself so thin. to be perfectly honest, it's that I like how "Apocalypse Crafting" sounds. it's one of my weird writer traits, coming up with titles.

anywho, I'm about to go to a lovely craft circle! yay!

busy busy busy

no pics for this post, but I've been busy chaining my little heart out! I'm going to have an installation at Load of Fun (120 W. North Ave, B'more), of a huge crocheted spider web... you can see it next weekend in all of it's glory. photos soon, once it's up.

I'm actually back.

My computer is a dinosaur, and for the longest time, I was not able to rescue photos from my camera fast enough to make craft blogging seem fun. Something was up with the software, and blahdie blah blah blah. Anyway, I got images transferred to a CD, and on it came new software for pickshas, and here we go. The first image is a (rather poor) detail of a net hat that I made for Emily. Double stranded crochet. Very fun and fast.






As you can tell, she's rather, um, camera shy. Yeah. Right. So there's going to be lots of pictures of her in this post. I wish I would've taken some better detail shots, especially since I actually did something similar to short row shaping in the back of the hat to make it more slouchy. This was a commission of Emily's design. ("Make me a net hat that's baggy." Or something similar.)

It's actually from last fall, but she wears it all the time, which makes me pretty happy.

This next thing was stolen from me, by, well, guess... here's her mug shot...




I was making i-cord, with the thought of making some kind of jewelry sort of item, when she said that she really liked it and wanted to use it as a headband. It's nice to have someone to knit and crochet for, especially when she comes up with cool ways to use things. It's not like I had an idea of what the i-cord was for anyway. I'm developing plans, but I need to make sure I don't give the pieces away before I use them!




So, let me now introduce you to Yinja. He looks quite similar to one of the cats around here, Yin. The only difference between the two kitties is that Yinja is a ninja. And he's crocheted. Again, not good with the getting of the detail pictures, but I promise to be much better at that in the future. Better than I am at updating, which I will be better at as well. I made this guy for Yin's papa, Flow. Amigurumi fascinates me, but we'll see how much I get into it. I might make some weird little creatures, but they really can be time consuming. This one is my own figuring out.

Finally, we have Silvanus, for yet another roommate, 'Chel. Yes, I have lots of roommates, and you haven't even met them all yet. My first try at stranded color work! I was rather pleased.

Still to come, I finished Em's Mon Petit Chou hipsters, they're cute on her butt, for sure! If I can capture her, I'll show pictures of the finished panties, modeled by the owner. Also, I tried my hand at overlay crochet, which I love and will be trying very hard to develop my own patterns. I still owe Lyle a tam with a brim, and I've scrapped the project a few times, but need to get him one before it gets cold. Plus, pictures of crocheted spider webs, and plans to make a ginourmous one for Halloween.

Okay. Hopefully this post (and subsequent posts on a regular basis) will make up for my disappearance.

where is the time?

next week, I promise to have pictures more updates. I have been bogged down with work. I'm sorry to have started this, to not have some steady content yet.

my first hyperbolic plane

so this squirrelly little guy is my first or second crocheted hyperbolic plane. there are two of these fellows, but the other lacks beading, because applying 192 seed beads is a bit... tedious. i wanted to make two so that i could have earrings, but i decided that it was not worth the effort. this will make a lovely necklace for my friend dana; she fell in love with him, and i will happily relinquish him to her once i figure out how i'd like to string him.

if you google "hyperbolic plane," you'll find all sorts of information about the math behind this figure. the really neat thing is that you'll probably find links o' plenty for knit and crocheted models.

it's really easy to make one. i used some nylon that i had found in a thrift store in hawai'i. it's pretty important to make sure that the fabric will be nice and sturdy, so choose your needle/hook and yarn accordingly. hyperbolic planes start small, then expand, so start with only a few stitches. i started with 3, but i think i'm only going to start with 1 next time. i doubled the amount of stitches each increase row, though you can most certainly increase at a different rate. how beautiful math is!

i do love the beads, but again, not enough to make them a standard detail; instead, i'm going to do the last row in a contrasting color. i probably will try my hand at making a set for earrings very shortly, because i would like to shop them around at some local places. i also want to get my online store up and running sometime very soon.

i have yet to do more than cast on for emily's mon petit chou hipsters. i guess i needed a break. i'm going to start those back up sometime this week. i've cursed myself because in the past week, i've mentally added at least 10 new projects to my wish list. next post will most likely be about several other works-in-progress.

salut!

for my inaugural post, i present knitty's mon petit chou hipsters. i did (not?) enjoy making these! i am in love with the design, it is truly elegant. i strongly recommend kate gilbert's chart. following the instructions line-by-line made me want to stab my eyes out with my knitting needles, and i normally prefer to do it that way. this pattern gave me a new appreciation for charts; this is my first knitted lace piece, though.



the picot edging is so beautiful, as is the lace. i intend to start logging my hours on projects; this one i estimate that i spent about 30 hours knitting, most of which was spent frogging... ehem... i mean, admiring the design of everything. it truly is clever.

i used the recommended yarn and needle sizes, though i must admit that i did my gauge swatch with the wrong size needles. however, i did it with the yarn relaxed (it is elasticized), and i figured that by having the tight tension for which the pattern called, i would be okay. i also knit a size smaller than what is suggested for my size. i knew to do this because i had to start over so many times.

what is so nice about these hipsters is that i really get the sense that they can be made to fit anyone. just add/subtract repeats as necessary, and the pattern does give good instructions for adjusting how high they rise, and what to do to get the perfect fit.

the laces finish it off so well, and combined with the stretchiness of lace and the yarn itself, these are some comfy undies. really. i wouldn't wear them under any thin fabric, because even after washing, they are pretty bumpy. under jeans, thick corduroys, or a loose skirt i think they'll be fine. i haven't truly test-driven them yet because i've been wanting to show them off to all of my friends without actually pulling my skirt up or dropping my pants.

i made them for burning man, so i could have a little something to wear if i don't feel like being completely sky-clad.


i wasn't going to have an action shot, but the masses in the livejournal knitting community kept asking for one, and after taking many different shots, this was one that i don't mind sharing. you know how sometimes stuffing shows through a stuffed toy when a picture is taken of it? without divulging way too much information, i will just say that there will be no frontal photos shown of this item.

i already have started another pair, much smaller, for my roommate emily. i am making hers in a variegated colorway, so this should be interesting.

there will probably be a frenzy of posting over the next several weeks because, you know, i just started this thing, so i have a lot to show you! i tend to free-form crochet, and use patterns to knit, but i'm branching out. i will eventually have patterns of my own creation available, but i'm keeping what they are a secret for right now, because i'm going to submit them to different sites first. i guess this entry is not too much by way of introduction, but i'll get to that sometime very soon. i also will be adding a lot more content in the links, because there are so many wonderful resources out there!