oh cripes.

it's been a long time.

well folks, it's been a few months...a lot of months...since i've posted here.

so. to ease my guilt. some scarves:



pretty pretty very dark turquoise scarf.
i knitted this with circular needles. i knitted it with large ones so it stretches out a lot. the yarn is oh so amazing.
it's a standard fingering weight, plied with sparkle, and has textured bits of fabric in the same color spun in.

i got it at the best little place: garden district needleworks
this store is like an amazing mecca. for yarn. ohmuhguh. you walk in and it's like
"AH. YARNYARNYARN. AH."
they have handspun, novelty, beautiful handdyed ribbon yarn, everything. knitting supplies, even knitting classes.
[it was there i learned to purl. i walked in, got into a discussion with the owner, mentioned my difficulties with it as i taught myself how to knit, and boom. i learned purling right there.]

so yeah. if you're ever in New Orleans, take a detour down magazine st. [well worth it for the amazing shops and eateries anyways] and go indulge in some yarnporn. seriously.

another picture of the scarf a bit closer:



scarf i just made:





it's made with yarnbee thistle, in the green toned color.
it's knit using the "condo knitting" stitch, or dropped stitch knitting.

and a hat:



i've made scads of other things. but for now, two of my latest presents. mmm:

this book, and also it's second edition. the cable knitting one.
i have nice friends.

now to learn how to cable knit...hm...

FRUiTSY goodness

I've received my package from my swap partner at this website, and woooow. the stuff is gorgeous.
post is here, and here come some piccctures.
here we go [excuse the ugly hair and weird face. I loathe short hair, but lucky for me, it's already longer now than it was in these pictures. I love fast-growing hair.]:


the whole outfit [click the nice thumbnail for the biiig picture]

purse and skirt.


blouse and jacket


the back of the shirt/back of the skirt


blouse detail.

I just have to say how humbled I am as a crafter. Even though I've been doing this for a while, my partner's skillz at the machine are positively breathtaking. It has both inspired me and astonished me, and I'm very much feeling I was on the long end of THIS deal.
whew. Everything is lovely, and I'm so excited.
Now.
Where to wear it?

dyed some roving, yippee

Ok, it's been a long time.
I'm trying to figure out how to work this blog, so forgive me if my psots are sporadic for a time. now that I'll actually be home and craftin' for a while, here's what I did yesterday:
it's about four ounces of the merino roving I got, undyed, off of ebay a month ago.
I used koolaid, I believe it was lemon lime, to dye this particular piece.
I have since used the strawberry, and the orange, I think, to dye the rest of the half pound.
I don't have pictures of the other rovings after being dyed, but this was my favorite.
It was my first venture into dyeing with Koolaid, and it was much easier than I thought.
it's so simple. You soak the fiber in hot water with a dollop of vinegar, for about fifteen to thiry minutes. While that's soaking, dump as many packages of Koolaid into a soup pot[ with water] as you've got ounces of fiber, and start it simmering, and then add some more vinegar.. don't let it boil, just get it plenty hot. once the fiber's ready, dump it into the hot koolaid [well..don't dump...lay it in there.] add more water until the fiber is covered, if it isn't already, and turn it down.
let is simmer until the water is clear, or milky, depending on the koolaid you use. make sure you turn the fiber a lot, especially if you've got a larger amount, or the color gets mottled.
this should take very little time, less than forty five minutes. the roving soaks up the color quickly if it's a large amount, thus, turning is needed to ensure even coloring [I didn't turn this one well, it was my largest batch, so it's not quite even]
the result is a slightly scented roving, beautifully colored. some colors are brighter, and other a bit darker and fuller, just depends on the roving, texture, temperature, etc.
easy as pie. All the roving is spun up now. pictures t come soon.

Homespun stuff. yay!

Among one of my [many] craft ventures includes spinning yarn.
This is a fairly new hobby, though I've done pretty well with it, sold some of my yarns, etc. and I've spun up several skeins.
I recieved a spindle kit for my birthday, containing a top whorl spindle, and several different colors and textures of different amounts of fiber.
<-- second skein. Came with the spindle, probably about an ounce of fiber. Feels like Merino or Corriedale fiber.



this next skein is a royal purple color. the small picture is a texture picture that is a bit more accurately colored than the full picture. this skein I recently sold, and is made of merino fibers.
This last skein is one I spun most recently. 154 yards of Romney wool blend, 8 ounces.
it's a very pretty color, and I look forward to spinning or selling.

There's a little sample of some of the skeins I've made [I've made about six or seven] but those are some of the most varied.
I have a half pound of merino in the mail [yay!] and since it's undyed, I look forward to expirementing.
I'll post results tommorrow.
Coming up: my new bag that I love! how I made it, short tute, etc.

new blog-launch

my xanga was getting too closed for real, cool exposure of crafty stuff.
thus, I have opened this new blog, which cleverly utilizes my initials to express my craftiness [BCM. yay! BCraftyM]

So, from now on, I will be using this blog for crafty ventures, and my xanga site for my general thoughts, daily journalings, etc.
my entries will include the many various things I make, including:
homespun yarn
felted things
purses, sewn and knitted
scarfs, sewn and knitted
shoes [reconstructed, sewn, whatever]
clothing items [skirts, reconstructed shirts, knitted, sewn, or felted, I make it all]
hats [knitted, sewn, whatever else you can do]

basically, I'm an enthusist of all sorts of crafts. I use everything from a glue gun, to an iron, to a washing machine, to a sewing machine, to a needle and thread to make my stuff.
some of my things you can find on auction at www.ebay.com. more specifically, here
whenever I post something here and then sell it, I will post the link for it on ebay so that you too can have the random productions of my somewhat muddled, but very funky mind. ;-)
whenever I can, without hurting my business [:)] I will post instructions on how to make things, when requested.
I'll be providing tips and other handy little things I've learned as I learn them and as I make things where these ideas are utilized.
For those who are also craft nerds like me [in the best of sense ;-)] If you ever see anything here you might be interested in doing a crafty swap for, just let me know and I'll see about working things out.
contact me through a comment here.
I am a member of www.craftster.org, so if you'd like to get in touch with me there, my screenname is TinkerbellForever.
hope to be posting some fun stuff soon!
-BCrafty