Crafting ADD, it's got the best of me!

I know, I know, it's been far too long since I've posted. I have not been keeping up with my resolutions very well (on so many fronts, more on that in a minute). Maybe the length of this post will make up for my absence?

I do have 2 quickie projects that I've finished and need to post, but they're not overly exciting, which I guess is why I haven't yet gotten around to blogging about them.

I have, however, been working on about eight different projects that I am excited about (which just means that I have to wait that much longer to experience each of them in all of their glory, oops!):

1. The Aidez sweater, knit in this lovely red yarn that Emma Jayne swapped with me!

[One of the cables is backwards, but by the time I realized, I was too lazy to redo it.]

I feel like I'm a fairly proficient knitter, in that I can usually figure out complicated stitches and new patterns pretty easily. I've made gloves (fingerless and fingered) and plenty of little plushies, but have never ever made a sweater (probably because I usually don't buy enough yarn for one!). I considered going with something simpler for a first try, but a friend suggested that I might get too bored with stockinette stitch for the whole thing. I...think she was probably right. That being said, this IS a tricky pattern, and certainly not for the faint of heart! These are the instructions that are spread out in front of me whenever I'm working on it: 

I was chugging along on this faithfully for a while, until I got distracted by:

2. This pattern by Satsuma Street on Etsy. My mom used to do a lot of counted cross stitch when I was a kid, and I guess I just always saw it as an old lady, country-type craft. Until I saw a few of these patterns. So beautiful! I was due for a visit home to my parents and, among the many things I was excited for, one of the main ones was stealing my mom's cross stitching supplies so I could get started on this! Unfortunately, the original weekend I'd planned to go home was a bust because of the terrible weather, so I had to wait patiently (or not-so-patiently) for one. more. week.

[This picture was taken RIGHT after I realized I screwed something up. Oops, so much for the counting part of that "counted" cross stitch thing.]

Thankfully, this is coming together fairly quickly, and I'm loving it! I added quite a bit to my stash with the supplies for this project, but nothing was bought new, really just transferred from one stash to another. And I've modified the colors in this pattern a bit, working with what I have on hand rather than buying the just-right color that the pattern calls for. I already have plans for two more patterns, which are unfortunately much more complicated. We'll see how fast I get sick of it, ha.

3. While I unfortunately haven't cut into much of my yardage (honestly, because most of it is less than a yard and not garment-worthy), I have been cutting into my stash of Goodwill-bought clothes that I intended to refashion. (They used to do this promotion in my town where they'd let you stuff a paper bag full of anything with that week's color tag for $5. You'd be amazed how much could fit...I figure that most of the things I bought during these binges cost about $0.25 each.)

I tried to buy the biggest skirts I could find, so I'd have as much yardage as possible to work with, but I apparently wasn't too successful in all cases. A lot of things were way too small to ever be able to work as a garment for me, but I loved a lot of the patterns, so I started cutting out squares for a quilt inspired by this beauty. (Of course, it's a rainbow.)

[Okay, so I've got a ways to go for my rainbow, but...it's a work in progress.]

4. Pattern weights with the scraps of those scraps above.

[Is that super-efficient, or what?]

5. A pair of shorts, made from one of the Goodwill skirts that actually was big enough to do something with.

First attempt: the butt was way too big. Second attempt: oops, too small. I'm determined to finish these, even if they're probably not wearable, so I can get some practice fitting my Midwestern pancake butt. I have the perfect fabric in mind for them, because...

6. Oops, I haven't been doing so well with my stash diet resolutions. What can I say, I got the shopping bug, found out that my favorite fabric store was having one of their semi-annual sales (up to 90% off, you guys!), and had to stop by on my visit home (it's probably a good thing there's not one of these closer to where I live). I got one new sewing pattern (and conveniently, Gertie has started a sew-along for it!), 10.5 yards of fabric (4 yards of which of which only cost $0.50/yard!), and 3 sewing machine feet (at about 75% off, and I seriously needed them - well, at least the zipper foot). (I mean, I kinda really did "need" bigger yardages, right? The 0.5 yards was for the quilt, and the other 3 fabrics were 10 yards in total, intended for dresses or skirts.)

I was so excited about one of these fabrics, you guys have no idea, because I knew it would make adorable Tania culottes (a pattern I recently acquired through a swap with Jana). I bought the fabric last Friday and cut into it only 8 days later (that's such a record for me). Now, they're almost finished, save the hem. Here's a sneak peak (full post to come when they're finished!):

And the best news? There's definitely enough fabric left to make a pair of shorts (probably enough fabric for 2 pairs, except I know I'll screw one of them up, given my recent shorts history).

7. I finally finished the men's polo refashion I'd left sitting around for ages. All it needed was a seam around the collar, but I couldn't get it to lay right the first couple of times I tried, so I gave up for a while. When I went back to it, I really don't know what the issue was to begin with. However, after wearing it once, I realized it was too long (awkwardly so) and didn't really bunch up nicely along the waist. I found (what I consider to be) an elegant solution. Full post to come, but for now, here's another sneak peak:

8. I also tried working on another Goodwill refashion. I think this one went even worse than the shorts - there is absolutely no way to make this wearable. *sigh* Inspiration:

[Image from: Cotton and Curls]

My disaster:

[Please ignore the mess in the background, and the ridiculous faces.]

This goes straight into the scrap pile, there's just no saving it.

9. Much more knitting, looking for a companion to the rainbow zigzags I mentioned a while ago. Unfortunately, this was also a failure, but...live and learn!

I also finally got around to altering some ill-fitting shirts.

So, I've definitely been busy, but sorry for the silence around here! I'll try to be better about posting in the future. :) (Hmm, and maybe actually finishing things I've started, oops.)

Easter (?) cake

As you guys might've noticed, I kind of have a thing for rainbows. I've been wanting to make this cake forEVER, but don't typically like to have cakes lying around for no reason: 

 

[Source: IAmBaker]

So, last week we had a potluck for work. I was actually planning to make croquetas, but the weather was HORRIBLE and I barely made it home as it was, let alone if I had made a stop at the grocery store. Thus, I had to work with what I already had in my apartment. I had a million other things to do, so I decided to be lazy and use boxed cake mix and canned frosting, with the hopes of at least making it pretty, if not over-the-top delicious. 

I ended up not having a grass tip, but used another (no clue what it's called) that I thought would provide a similar look. I mixed up some random colors, which all ended up being pastels, hence the "Easter" title. I also ran out of icing and couldn't fill in all of the holes as above, so I had to get creative with a knife and fill in the empty spaces.

Yeah, it really looks NOTHING like the cake above, but...I still kinda like it! It's kind of abstract and just very colorful. I do want to make another attempt at some point, though...I'll just have to make sure to have enough icing on hand next time!

Progress!

No new finished projects to show you yet, but I have been making progress, slowly but surely.

First up, the t-shirt quilt:

Yep, second row from the bottom definitely needs to be re-done, as well as a couple of other spots, but...I just want to get this thing off of my floor, ha. Also, please disregard the messy cables in the corner. 

Also, I've been working like a best on finishing the leftover rainbow blanket I showed you guys. Progress so far: 

So many fewer colors means that this is coming together much more quickly. I'll usually knit at least 2 rows at a time, in between...whatever else I might be doing. Dinner, phone calls, etc. I feel like I'm flying through this, which is good because it gives me a sense of accomplishment, but I have no idea what I'm going to knit once this is done!

This is not really a true color...and it makes more sense in my head than it does in this picture. I figure the big red swatch is opposite of the red end of the rainbow, and likewise with the purple - it'll be kind of a mirror image so the different reds and purples won't clash. I dunno what I'm saying. Hopefully it'll look good when it's finished, and then I'll be able to show it off to all of you. :)

As promised, UFOs!

(Don't make cheesy X-files joke, don't make cheesy X-files joke) That's right, today we're talking about Unfinished Objects! Almost every crafter I know has at least one of these lying around, and most of us have multiples (I think the only two exceptions I've heard of are my friend Allie, who has a one-track crafting mind, and the lovely LLadybird (she has a great post about her method here)). 

I, on the other hand, am a master at getting really into a project, and when things get hard or busy or boring, walking away for weeks or months (or years? oops). I took these photos when I started the projects below, but have yet to finish any of them. I'm sure there are more UFOs lying around my apartment, and as I make a serious effort to dig through/use up/organize my stash this year, I'm sure I'll be finding more of them. 

Polo shirt refashion 
Inspiration:

[Image from: Merrick's Art]

 
Merrick has a great tutorial on a men's polo shirt to women's comfy casual top refashion. (At one point I had another similar pin in my queue (that's how much I liked it!), but I liked Merrick's tutorial better.) She made it look so easy, and, when I found this slightly less than perfect shirt of my dad's in the Goodwill pile, I knew I had to try it for myself. 

 

This picture is super unflattering (I swear there's a shape hiding under there, and I cannot for the life of me get it less yellow), but, knowing that I didn't have much to lose, I dove right in and started cutting!   

 

I actually managed to get a pretty decent fit on this one before it wandered into UFO-land, too. Alas

Why did I stop?

I cut the neck line a little too wide, unfortunately, and when, after a lot of fighting with the serger, I still couldn't get it sewn down properly, I had to walk away. I think I moved shortly thereafter, and haven't managed to dig this out again.

Time in purgatory

I started this in...May 2013? Dang, that's embarrassing, especially considering I was so close to being finished!

Plans to finish

Eh, I'm not even sure where this is right now, and it's too cold to wear it, anyway. I would like to finish it sooner rather than later, though! What's stopping me now is that both my serger and my sewing machine are in need of some TLC, and that's just NO FUN, so instead of sucking it up and taking the time, I just keep working on bits and pieces of easier projects.

Zigzag rainbow...something
Inspiration:

[Image from: Purl Bee Soho]

I saw this super-cute Chevron Knit Baby blanket and knew I wanted a larger version. I still had quite a bit of yarn left over from my granny square blanket, so I figured I'd put it to good use!

 [Sorry about the funky draping, it's still on the needles, which aren't long enough to spread it out all the way.]

Since I had varying amounts of yarn left, I decided to do the rows in a 12-10-8-10-12 pattern, which worked until the second-to-last row, where the amount of yarn I had left me one row short.

Why did I stop?

The aforementioned shortage of yarn (I'm not sure what kind of a solution I was hoping to come up with, but no, yarn did not magically grow while I let the project sit). It's also not really big enough to be much of anything right now. There are no babies in the family, and I'm out of my rainbow stash of yarn. In fact, I'm out of most of my entire stash of yarn. I was thinking about getting some new black and white yarn (*gasp* I know, but it's not considered breaking the rules if it's bought to finish a project) and doing a solid colorblock, rather than so many rows of alternating colors, right next to this piece, but I think the blanket would still be too short. My original plan was to have 4 similarly sized pieces in various colors, but...that might be overly ambitious. 

Time in purgatory

I started this in October, and worked on it pretty steadily until just before Christmas. As with my cowl, I have to rip out almost every row of this. I invariably K2FB instead of K2T, or vice versa, and sometimes my counting is way off. Ugh.

Plans to finish

I actually just recently picked this up again and used up the last 2 colors! Now to figure out what comes next...

(Mom, if you're reading this right now, STOP!) :)

Stencil text on pillows

Inspiration:

[Image from: Wit and Whistle]

If you guys are on Pinterest as much as I am, I'm sure you've seen this (or a similar) picture floating around.

I knew I wanted to make one of these, but I couldn't quite decide what I wanted it to say. I was shopping at Hancock Fabrics one day and found a couple of these in the remnant bin:

This one alone is almost a full yard, and I'm pretty sure this was during a half off remnant sale, so it only cost me $1! 

I was fairly certain that I had the rest of the supplies I needed lying around, too, but a day of digging through the basement didn't yield the stencils I knew I had, so I picked some up at JoAnn with a half off coupon.

I used to love this pillow set, but it's kind of stained and not really suitable for company anymore, so...into the new pillow cover it goes!

Eventually, it dawned on me what I wanted to write on here - the lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine." My mom always used to sing it to me as a kid, and I knew she'd love this sentimental, hand-made gift. (Although, when you look up the lyrics to the entire song, they're a bit...disturbing. Not quite as sunshine-y as you'd think.)

I got to work with my stencils, a pencil, and a ruler and tried to cram all of the text on to the pillowcase. I accidentally traced the same chunk of text twice, which was frustrating, but eventually fixed it. I realized I'd have to leave out the "please," but otherwise I'm happy with the way this turned out!

Why did I stop?

I think that I was afraid that, in washing out the pencil lines, the marker would bleed through (even though I'm pretty sure I used a special fabric marker - go figure). Then, aforementioned move meant that this got buried in the bottom of a bin.

Time in purgatory

This was also started in May 2013. :( I was on a roll back then...too bad I couldn't finish what I started!

Plans to finish

I finally dug this thing out of the bin I'd stuffed it into to photograph it, and it is now lying on my floor, where it will stay until I can finally get the darn thing washed! After that I just need to iron on some interfacing and pick out a back piece. I initially thought I should use the same fabric for the back, but now I think it might be nice to give it a pop of color and interest. Time to dig through the stash!

Crocheted rainbow blanket

So, I started crocheting these granny squares last January/February, and actually finished all 70 of them pretty quickly (it was seriously addicting, even though it killed my fingers/hands after a while). However, I just got around to sewing them all together last month...it's so easy for me to start projects, but so hard to finish them! I'm really excited about this one, though, especially now that fall is here. It'll be just one of the 6+ blankets that I'll need to keep me warm through the winter (I seriously slept with 3-4 blankets on my bed last year). 

So, without further ado, here it is!

 

I was obviously far too lazy to block it properly, but I figure it'll all work out after I wash it...right? Also, I have to remember to wash it with one of those color catcher things...I'd hate for the pretty border to be ruined!

It's based off of this beautiful blanket:

 [Image from: The Purlbee]

I didn't quite have the money to shell out for the beautiful yarn she used, so I bought some Sugar n Cream yarn from Michael's/Hobby Lobby/JoAnn/wherever it was on sale. I used about 30 different colors, plus 5-6 (little) skeins of cream yarn, so I figure this project cost me about $45. Stash busted: nothing. But now I've got a decent amount of all of those colors left, so I need to find another rainbow project to use them on. Any suggestions?