dreaming of hawaii

i know that it's been a while since posting (for whomever may be reading my blog regularly!) but life has been so hectic lately that i have not had time to do proper research on any piece i have, nor have i had time to be creative. mostly i've worked nonstop and then read the twilight series as a getaway. (our book club gave in to an easy read this month, so i ventured into teen angst, and did not put it down until i was properly finished so i could feel good about something...anything...i could cross off my checklist.)

it's times like these that i start to fantasize about being in hawaii.

we went to hawaii for our honeymoon and it was truly such a perfect vacation.

so, i've decided to write about one of the things that we have on our walls in our bedroom.

hanging above our dresser are these two leis from our honeymoon in hawaii.

(for this post, i'm going to offer a little mood music...and then let you visit a little of my current 'happy place' through some honeymoon pictures.)

we stayed at the fairmont orchid for the first part of our honeymoon. it was such an amazing hotel... beauty around every corner, peaceful quiet, and amazing service. whenever life gets tough, we say, 'oh the fairmont!' it was our heaven-on-earth. these pictures show the grounds and the outdoor patio where we had breakfast the first day. it was blissful- soft music playing, lots of yummy food, and the best breeze ever.

that day we spent the entire day at the pool, under the hugest umbrella ever, on completely comfortable padded lounge chairs. unlike our other hotel, this one was deserted- we had the whole pool to ourselves, it seemed. marc slept and i read- perfect! i love the palm trees reflected in his sunglasses. :)

the second day we ventured out around the big island.

we went to a lovely botanic garden that was truly impressive. i also got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but that isn't part of my hawaiian daydreams anymore. :)

while we were out we found this little snack shack that had the BEST smoothies and i also had a chicken wrap that was uh-ma-zing. we sat on the porch and took in the scenery.

i loved the flora of hawaii and was amazed by the shapes i saw. i'm remodeling our place to be a little reminiscent of hawaii, and want to redo our pillows and decor... perhaps these pictures will inspire some lines and designs.

our copy room at school has pictures of hawaii posted up all over. in some ways, i think it is torturous that they are there- as if they are mocking how chained we are to our jobs. on the other hand, sometimes i sit there while i wait and imagine being in hawaii right at that moment. seriously, i want to go back. i know it is cliche, but there's a reason for it.

i've got a lot of stories to tell about me, and my mom, and i know i've shared a lot of lovey dovey stories about marc and i. but they're the easiest ones to tell b/c i already have the pictures and i know the stories. so for now, until i get my head above water, they are the ones i will share. plus, it was so wonderful to think on hawaii for a little bit, i had to share my pictures and music with you as well.

at least you know what i'm thinking. :)

giraffe stamp

my junior year in college, i took an art class for one of my summer classes. one of my favorite products from the class is this stamp i made. i had taken a picture from the san francisco zoo of two giraffes. i sketched the photo in my book but changed the giraffes slightly so it looked like they were embracing. then, we placed our sketches on top of a block of rubber (perhaps it was a large eraser, i've heard that is a popular way to start making stamps.) we carved out the stamp with this little handheld tool and i was really impressed with how good it turned out! the stamp eventually broke apart, and this is all i have left. i keep it in a little collage on corkboard, along with a few other little things i've done.

when i met marc, he had been previously married. he and his ex-wife lost their son in labor. whenever he would speak of zion, his son, i felt he brought me into very hallowed, sorrowed space. it is a privilege and honor to share in another person's grief.

on our first date, marc and i went to the zoo, among other places. it was an amazing, wonderful day! a ten-hour first date and soooo fun. (i will definitely tell you that story sometime soon!) we took all kinds of pictures, including one of a giraffe- marc's reminder of his son. on our third date, he came to my house. he asked about every... single... thing... on my walls. that spoke to my heart, because my walls hold so much meaning. when i showed him this picture, neither of us said anything, but all of a sudden, the picture took on such a different meaning to me. where i used to see only love, i now see comfort, and sympathy, and support. the love itself in the picture seems deeper. i know that there isn't a baby in this picture, and i'm not foolish enough to believe i understand that incredible pain. but i know what it feels like to love someone who does. and now i like that picture even more.

finding a needle in a haystack

This past summer I went with my mom to a local needlepoint chapter meeting (I think of EGA? ANG?) It was in July, and I was hoping to learn how to make ornaments as gifts for a few weddings coming up. While attending that class, they mentioned the piece for the following month: The Lily Pond, by Susan Goodman. Susan prints photos onto her canvases, and I think that is a really neat look. What's more, the kit was at a really great price. I talked with Susan and she assured me that it would be an easy piece for me to do. So I ordered it.

Now, my mother-in-law, Brenda, is just about the sweetest person I know. She always tells us not to give her anything for Christmas- that spending time together is all she wants. But I am my mother's daughter, and that means I just cannot not give a gift. (Double negative necessary.) So, I figure a really good compromise is something handmade that did not cost very much money. I set out to stitch this for Brenda.

Of course, time flies when you are a teacher, and so it was way too close to Christmas as I was trying to finish the piece. And, along the way, I had several bad encounters with needles that seriously pushed my progress back.

First, I was home one day- not sure where Marc was (perhaps a day off of school??) and I was rethreading my needle on the couch. Suddenly, the needle was gone- where could it be?? I was sitting criss-cross with a big opening in my lap. Surely the needle had fallen there. I felt around- no needle. I looked at my clothes, my canvas- no needle. Very carefully I lifted up one leg to see if the needle was under it. When you lift one leg, your weight shifts to the other one. That did it. The needle was lodged under- you guessed it- my rear end, and the weight shift pushed it in- deep. Frantically, I froze (if that is possible.) I lifted myself off the couch with my hands and stood in the living room alone, thinking, 'oh no. What will I do?' Very uncomfortably, very scared, I found the needle and removed it. Luckily- no blood. I had a haircut appointment in minutes, so I rushed out of the house- lightheadedly, and went to the salon. Where I told a nearly complete stranger the story, and watched through the mirror as she gave very uncomfortable side glances and awkward responses to my story. Should have kept it to myself. But funny, right??

Second needle catastrophe: we were on the plane headed to Indiana, and I was madly trying to finish before we got there so I could give it to Brenda. Not two minutes into stitching, I lost my needle again! This time, I saw it go flying into the carpet abyss under our seats. (I was in the window seat.) I tried all the other needles- they both had snaggy eyes and did not fit my thread properly. So now, I was stuck- how would I finish?? I searched... and searched... and searched under the seat for the needle. Not easy, given economy seating. Thank goodness we had a free seat in between us so I had room to move around. It was nowhere- how can you lose a needle in a confined space? While I sat there, head between my legs, we went through some bad turbulence and I got completely nauseous...and waited for a while before searching again. Finally, I had an epiphany: I would use my cell phone light! So I waited until we touched down, then while the rest of the passengers deplaned, I cast the blue-gray cell phone light under the seat. There it was- tucked in the crevasse between the carpet and the metal siding.

We got in past midnight and the next morning I woke up early and finished the piece.

And it all worked out- I hadn't finished it in time to have it framed at home, so Brenda and I decided to go to the framer's together and she could pick it out herself. Turns out we didn't have time while I was there, so she went later. She chose a raspberry/burgundy matting that went really well with the place she would hang it in her house. I don't think I would have thought to use those colors in the matting-there are so many to choose from, and it totally makes sense when I think about Brenda's house. I am so glad that it all worked out this way. It's funny when we give gifts, how much they are a reflection of ourselves. But, it's neat to think that in a way, we got to collaborate on the finished product together.

snowflake felt project

tonight we are hanging out at home, so i thought i would share my latest project.

plus, this way you can see a little bit of the home remodel i've been talking about. (see the blue tape on the floor... our new hardwood flooring!)

i left my knitting at my mom's house, so i was trying to figure out what to do while marc emailed some clients and we watched t.v.

i started out with one of the felt coasters i had left from my friend kelly's baby shower in january.

then i laid it on top of some white felt i had sitting around the house.

check out my new tools from great american quilt factory. (these are felting tools, not quilting tools, f.y.i.)

i had this thread from a really really old needlepoint project- an alphabet sampler- no idea where it went.

here is the project so far. not exactly sure what i'm doing or what it will become, but i think an ornament.

(p.s. don't know how long i'll continue to post so very often, but i'm in the honeymoon phase of this blog, so we'll just let it be how it is for now.)

:)

experimenting with felt

today (snow day!) i made two fun discoveries:

• craft podcasts on craftypod (mom, i know you read this, so i'll tell you: they have one titled, 'stupid sock creatures' and another on artist trading cards.) today i listened to one about felt.
• an article about the downside of being a 'jack of all trades' creatively speaking. excerpt:

"When we begin a new hobby or creative pursuit, so often we pick something that seems easy. We judge ourselves, reach a verdict, and lower the bar for what we are willing to try. We avoid things that might be painful or frustrating because there is no immediate payoff, and often that shortsightedness keeps us from being the person we would dearly love to be. I know. I’ve done it dozens of times.

What I didn’t really grasp when I was a kid, taking up and quitting many hobbies, was the concept of what I call “creative compound interest”. We all know that compound interest in the financial sense means that any interest added to the principal, then also earns interest. Acquiring new skills works the same way. The payoff is really small for a long time, and that can be extremely frustrating, but eventually, if you stick to the plan, you amass your “million dollars”. And the more you have in your account, the quicker you get there. It’s long term investing in yourself. And it works." from make + meaning

one of the hardest things about sharing in such a public space is the wish to be 'finished' and 'spectacular.' but i like trying new things, and i am very interested in a lot of different areas: knitting, sewing, fiberarts, embellishment, embroidery, etc. problem is, i'm not ALL that good at any of them, yet. and i know that i'll eventually find my niche(s). i've been working on this part of my life for at least ten years now, but never with a ton of steam- more as an outlet from time to time. but now, i'm starting to really have some fun.

...so, if i really want this to be a place to tell the story behind handmade treasures, i'm going to have to be okay with sharing me behind the scenes as i figure it out. this is all a long winded way of saying,

'hey- what i'm sharing today isn't necessarily awesome... yet.'

i guess creativity is a tension between an item being 'finished' and a process that goes on and on through lots of projects. so we have to be happy with the stops on the way. and i have challenged myself to be okay with that and enjoy the process, mistakes, and lessons learned.

i've been really into felt for about six months now, and i am finding it is such a versatile medium that i feel boundless in using it. which can be paralyzing! and totally fun! so i am telling myself to 'expect nothing' yet and just get to know it. here are a few things i have worked on:

(felt kits from fancy tiger.) (thanks, mom.)

i played with some felt a few nights ago and like the 'cable' look- will work on that some more.

i also bought some stuff that looks seriously like colored dryer lint. when i bunched it up and needle felted it, it made these really fun raised, dense bumps. fun! so i kept making them. i also tried 'braiding' my roving (see the purple far right.) fun as well, but need to work on that. see the mustard clump? yeah, i totally do not like that part! i am wondering if i stitched and beaded on top of this and cleaned it up a bit, if it might be a fun journal/album cover, or little clutch.

i made this with alison one saturday at my mom's house using her embellishing machine (so fun!) this one i think has the most promise- and i definitely want to make it into a envelope-style clutch.

on a side note, if you are wondering where stories of my mom went, it's because i am wondering where my camera went. it's here somewhere, buried under all the displaced home things around our place while we remodel. i feel okay taking photobooth pictures of my work but it would NOT do hers any justice!

but don't worry- i have SUCH a good story coming soon! :)

gray sunset wrap

one reason i love working through a project is that so many stories get woven into one.

there's the 'life' story that reminds you of that moment in time.

but there's also the 'craft' story. i don't mean the michaels/puffy paint 'craft'. i mean the pieces where you think: that's the piece where i learned how to ____________. honing your craft.

this piece is kinda like that.

first, the 'life' of this piece. one day, at a school staffing, i noticed the wrap on a fellow coworker. it seemed simple enough: rectangular, one button hole, three buttons. i thought, "i could make that."

a few weeks later, i was in indianapolis with my husband for the holidays. i was itching for something to do, so my mother-in-law took me to the greatest knitting shop, called knit stop. it would be so dangerous for me if it weren't safely tucked away in another city several states over.

sweet brenda tolerated many minutes (hours?) of my awe and pure indecisiveness before suggesting, 'that yarn looks good.' and it did. it was amazing. it was lang yarns, mille colori big, color 757.0070

i got started on the wrap while in indy, and finished it up within the month. my mom had knitted some socks for me for christmas, chastising me for not finishing projects. so i was sure to get this one done!

one of the most interesting 'accidents' of this yarn is the striping pattern. the width of the wrap matched the length of each color stripe perfectly, so the wrap ended up having these beautiful stripes that looked intentionally gradual instead of the typical striping clumps seen in knitting projects. i'm not very big on that kind of striped look, so this accident worked in my favor.

through this project, i learned how to knit buttonholes and sew on buttons properly. (i've sewed on buttons for years but will forever do it differently now!) i also learned how to block a knitted piece. the folks down at fancy tiger told me how to do it. although i'm not sure it worked out totally well. perhaps its because the yarn is 50% wool, 50% acrylic. perhaps it was the style of the wrap. you see, i used the stockinette stitch for this piece and experienced a lot of curling (not suprisingly.) i need as much width as i can get to achieve the look i want with this wrap. so i needed to do something to weigh it down, or make it lay flat. the fancy tiger folks advised i wash it in warm water with woolite, rinse it in warm water, and pin it on a towel. the pictures below show the process, except before i went back through and added a crazy amount of pins.

it helped, but isn't the best yet. my new idea- use our steamer and have marc steam it while i hold it spread out. you might think that's a weird idea but it worked great on the curly edge i got from the pins. we'll see. if nothing else works, i will add a gray border in garter stitch. but i really don't want to do that.

the piece is finished, but because the finishing isn't finished the way i want, i'm tagging this as an unfinished project. any blocking tips are appreciated. :)

baby fern

this is a dishcloth that i knitted for a girl at school, amy. she had loaned me a really neat wrap that i wanted to use as a pattern and knit. trouble is, i kept the wrap for sooooo long. of course, she was gracious in waiting for it, but i felt bad- we didn't know each other well enough for me to behave so badly.

i used sugar & cream yarn in potpourri ombre. i followed a baby fern dishcloth pattern. (in this picture, i am holding the dishcloth upside down.) it was really fun to knit because it was MUCH quicker than the wrap i had been working on or the sweater i've been working on for...ev...er. (more on those some other post.)

in knitting this piece, i did not actually like the pattern. it isn't symmetrical- i don't like the vertical column on the left. i knitted a second dishcloth for my mother-in-law and fixed the pattern, which i will include in a later post. it looked much better! one thing i learned from this project is that it is worth ripping out stitches to get something right. i'm sure that others don't see the mistakes you make so easily, but in giving a gift, it is hard for me to have something be off. :)