WatchME: Epi2- What a Weird Week

WatchME: Epi1- CraftyME Welcomes You

CraftyME: Kool I'm Dyeing....

Hello SBSM readers.
 Seeing as I'm always talking about this person they call CraftyME, I guess I'd better show some reasons why she got that name. So, I joined this group on OCS called Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup challenge otherwise known as HPKCHC or just HPKC or..well whatever I feel like typing at the time. Every participant/student gets sorted into one of 4 houses a la Harry Potter, Gryfinndor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and the most awestacular house of all HUFFLEPUFF. Can you tell which one I'm in?)

Every month for the 3 month term, you are assigned 8 different class homework assignments. You are only required to complete one. But you know me, overachiever that I am, I went for all 8 in both Jan & Feb. I don't know if I'm gonna make all 8 for March, I'm sure I'll try to find some way. So needless to say, CraftyME has been SUPER extra busy. I'll do a semester summary at a later unspecified date and time, because I really want to talk about one assignment in particular for March.

Our assignment in Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) class for March is to turn theory into practice and try a new technique. Um hello paging WannaME?!?! Where to even start right? But I narrowed it down and decided to try my hand at yarn dyeing. Did you know that you can dye yarn using Kool-Aid? And apparently back in the day people used to use it even dye their hair. Yet again OCS has roped me into some new method of obsession/coveting. So I joined yet another group on OCS, What a Kool way to Dye ordered up some Knit Picks Bare superwash fingering yarn, grabbed some Kool-Aid from the market and got started.

I began by re-skeining my yarn. I wanted really long color repeats, so I stretched it around a couple of chairs. (Knot untangling experience #1 of like 5).  Make sure you tie the hank in several places to help prevent tangling once yarn is wet.

 Speaking of wet, next you have to soak the yarn in lukewarm water for like 30 minutes.

This gave me time to decide which flavors/colorways I was gonna go with, grape, pink lemonade, and black cherry. I mixed up 2 1/2 packets of each using enough water to fill the jars like 3/4 full.

Set the jars in a large pot with some water. Add your yarn and then bring the large pot of water to a boil.

Once it starts to boil turn off the heat and just let the yarn cool down while resting in the water. . You will be so tempted to just stand there and ohh and ahh. Trust me on this, go away.

Then come back and see the magic.

Those once murky jars of colored water will now be completely clear once again.

Rinse the newly dyed yarn in luke warm water and set to dry.

Enjoy your fruity pretty new yarn. And begin searching for even more colors, I mean flavors.

 Side bar: Now I'm irked remember back in the day there used to be like fiftyeleven flavors of Kool-aid on the shelf. Now it's just like cherry, grape, orange, and tropical punch. I never even like the red and the purple. If you find some lime or blue-raspberry or anything exotic hook ya girl up. Please and Thank You. Happy Crafting
ME

CraftyME: Watch it now....

Hey YOUs,
 Just popping in real quick to show off my current project. I finally did it...Cast on for my first sweater!! Yay. Go ME go ME.

It's the $5 in Paris sweater. But my version is Phree in Philly. So I'm not staying here long cause I gotta get back to knitting. More details to come. Catchya later.

CraftyME: Prepping for Stitches East....

CraftyME decided to prep for Stitches by actually using some of the fiber-y goodness I acquired on my visit to Maryland Sheep & Wool Fest back in May. I mean I did kinda splurge a bit, so I should at least know if those were good purchases or not, right? They all pass the pretty test, but how are they to work with and will they make a pretty FO as well.

 Let's start with the biggest splurge, shall we?

Tess Designer Yarns MicroFiber Ribbon

Had I not purchased this yarn, I would have probably stayed pretty close to my MDS&W budget. It was a bit pricey. But I had I not purchased this yarn, I would not have been able to make the awesome-ness known as my RockStar Coachella. I loved working with this yarn. If $ were no object, I would def add this to the SE list.

Tess Designer Yarns Superwash Merino Lace

Um yeah, no. I can't say that I care for this yarn. But it has nothing to do with the quality of the yarn. I just came to a realization after trying to make the famed Citron. Me and lace weight yarn do not equal a match. It is entirely to light for my tastes. I felt like I was gonna break it the whole time. I considered adding beads to try to weigh it down a bit. But yeah, I tossed this project in the "Sure I'll finish this....one day..." basket with the quickness.

Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock & Baby Yarn

I like this yarn. I like the way it feels to work with it. I like the color. I don't love the color. That's the only thing. I'm not a fan of variegated yarn. I wasn't sure how this was gonna knit up, but it was so pretty in the skein. Luckily, it's not uber-pool-y like some variegates. So it gets a like. Maybe in another color-way it could get a love. Now as for this project, it's in time out. You know how I posted about life lines? Yeah, well some how one of my life lines didn't stay put like it was supposed. And it just happened to be discovered as I was finishing up the last row in a chart.  The row that as soon as I finished it, I would have been adding a lifeline into the next one. Yeah that one.  So instead of a FO we've got a TO until I feel like frogging back to the previous lifeline.

Miss Babs Windsor Handpainted Sock Yarn

I LOVE this yarn!! The color is beautiful and working with it is a dream. It's slightly heavier than the other sock yarns that I have used to knit sox. And that makes the sox just fly off my needles. Had I not taken the time to work on some other projects, I would have been finished with my Iris Ivys. I'm definitely buying some more of this stuff.

Tess Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby

The color of this yarn is so pretty. And I have 2 skeins. I just don't know what to make with it. But in the efforts to sample, I did go ahead and wind it up. I'm torn between making the Revontuli wrap or just casting on some sox. I don't really know if this yarn is gonna be stripey, variegated, or some where in between. Hmm what to do, what to do? We'll come back to this one.

Creatively Dyed Yarn Beaches

Ugh this yarn is the bain of my existence right now!! I love the colorway. Such a pretty green. So much yardage. And I even have the project picked out for it. Well 2 projects that I can't decide between, Fizzi or Multnomah . But IDK what happened. After I wound up the Tess SuperSocks, I put this one on my swift. Very quickly it became apparent that something was amiss within the skein.

 And now I'm left with this. I spent a whole night trying to detangle and wind by hand. Dude if I didn't spend damn near $30 on this yarn, I would so be throwing it in the trash right about now. So it too is on TO until I feel like diving back into the detangling process.

As it stands right now, I will be adding Miss Babs Windsor to my must purchase list. And Tess MicroFiber ribbon will go on the splurge list. Next up we'll see what vendor list stalking will turn up. Stay tuned.

CraftyME: sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

Can I just say I F'LUV Sundays. More than just Sundays, I luv Football Sundays. In Casa de ME, Sundays in the fall are certified "Be a lazy bum all day long, lay on the couch, snack, watch football. ALL DAY" Well for ME, I try to get most of the chores done on Saturday and then finish up what's left bright and early Sunday morning. No sleeping in for me.  But it's so ok. Cause come 1pm I'm chillaxin til bedtime.

Do you know what this means to a Crafty person such as myself??? 8-9 hrs of basically free knitting time. yessirre bob. Of course that includes bathroom breaks, and snack breaks, and checking on MiniME, oh and a nap. But yeah I just sit and knit and watch the games. Ah that's living man, that's living.

This Sunday was devoted to knitting slouchy, cabled hats. This past week I cast on the SYTYCD hat in hopes having a cute little "I'm a lazy bum who doesn't feel like re-twisting my locs this week" hat.You know just a little something to toss on in case I went out Sat nite. Unfortunately, just because size 8 and size 6 dpns are the same color, they aren't the same size. And if you knit a hat on size 6s instead of size 8s, you end up with a cute little hat. Emphasis on the word LITTLE. Luckily, it's just small enough to fit MiniME, so she will be rocking it to school this fall.

So Sat morning I ran out to AC Moore (after doing a little bit of damage at Old Navy's $16 jacket sale) to pick up some size 10 dpns and a size 11 24" circular needle to try my hand at the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret. Just to change it up a bit. Got the ribbing done on the 10s no prob. But once I switched to the circs, things got a little dicey. The pattern says you have to magic loop for a little bit. Um hello, either I was doing something really wrong or you can't really magic loop on 24". It wasn't happening. Yeah, Sunday morning, I kindly drove all the way back to AC Moore and exchanged those circs for some dpns.

Now cableing is tricky in and of itself with that pesky little cable needle. Then toss in a set of 5 double pointed needles and it becomes a whole new ball game. 

However, I'm very happy to say it was so worth it. Cause now I have a jaunty little cap to sport on my so in-need of being re twisted locs.

 Oh by the by. Let me introduce my new hat models Violet and Blue.

 I picked up Violet for MiniME on Saturday's outing. Of course MOH took one look at it her and was like "It's like a real life Chuzzle!!!! Do they have it in Blue?!?!?" He loves that game. So Sunday I had to get one for him too. Soon they will be joined by Scarlett because now that I look at them, they are kinda really cute. WannaME wants one too. lol.

CraftyME: SpinME Got me going in circles...

So, Remember way back when I went to MDS&W? I got a little intrigued with the idea of spinning.

But then I tried it in a demo and was like nah maybe another time.

 Later in the summer I got the idea again. This time I ordered a couple of spindles from Etsy. I keep trying it and I keep not getting the hang of it.

And then I keep trying some more. This time the try came courtesy of a chance finding on OCS (onlinecrackspot aka ravelry.) I had been taking a little bit of a time out from OCS just because I wasn't feeling particularly crafty/sociable. But one Sat morning when I was determined to put myself back out there in the world, I saw a single post on a local board. Come spin with us today for WWSIP day. That's World Wide Spin In Public day for my non crafty friends. There were only 3 people signed up for it. I decided to take a walk on the wild side and drive on down to Franklin Square Park.

So I get there and all I see are kids playing in the playground and riding the colorful carousel.

 And a bunch of teenagers gathering around the beautiful fountain. Yeah no spinners. I sat and waited and waited and sat. After a while I started to give up on my chance to learn from some real life spinners and began to walk back to my car. Well sitting there at the far corner of the park was a lady with drop spindle spinning away.

 And she was talking to another lady who had a spinning wheel folded up on a little cart next to her! Yay! I could get some help after all!

Soon we 3 became more. And just as one hopes when you have a WWanythingIP event, people were intrigued. Some even shyly inquired about our activity.

I got some really helpful tips on getting started with my drop spindle. Come to find out my spindle may be a little to heavy for the type of roving I was using.

That's why I kept having such a hard time drafting. So you know what this means right? I get to add a new spindle to my shopping list for Stitches East!!! Now to find some $$$ to pay for it. lol. Hey man I've gotta master this here spinning thing. I just gotta.

HaterME: The Saboteur.....

So apparently Big Brother 12 was on to something with their new twist this summer. And apparently it's catching on across the nation.  
So today, Beastie Boys on rotation .

Sabotage.....

Whyyy; Our Backs Are Now Against The Wall
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage

I Can't Stand It, I Know You Planned It
But I'm Gonna Set It Straight This Watergate
But I Can't Stand Rockin' When I'm In This Place
Because I Feel Disgrace Because You're All In My Face
But Make No Mistakes And Switch Up My Channel
I'm Buddy Rich When I Fly Off The Handle
What Could It Be, It's A Mirage
You're Scheming On A Thing - That's Sabotage

BB12 picked someone to come into the house and instead of playing the game, fighting to win $500K, their mission was to try to screwup everyone else's game. But at least The Saboteur would win $20K. What I don't understand is The Sab who does it for no reason. Well, no that's not true, I'm sure they have their own personal reasons, I just don't get them.

I've been battling Sabs all week. They are trying to jack up my work every time I turn around. And because I keep sidestepping their little traps, they keep trying harder. At first I thought it was my imagination or just little mistakes here or there. But now I can see it's deliberate.

People are funny. Why do they feel the need to tarnish my shine so that they can shine brighter? Don't they know you can't. lol I'm always gonna shine, whether you shine or not. I don't have to dull your shine to do it. I just turn mine up. And being the kind person that I am, I'll even toss some your way.  Heck Diddy said it

Yo, the sun don't shine forever
But as long as it's here then we might as well shine together
Better now than never, business before pleasure
 
But nooooooo since you can't do what I do, you try to mess up what I've done. It's ok. Because now I'll just have to blind you with my light. Plug in the 100 watt bulbs lol.

Something else I've learned this week. The Saboteur is not always someone else. I have found myself being sabotaged from within. WoeIsME can do some serious damage if I don't reign her in. WoeIsME almost had even our fearless superhero, CraftyME throwing in the hooks and needles to join her for some misery companionship.  

But it's okay Cause I'm combating it  ALL with a healthy dose of Estelle "Shine"

Oh this is my song
I'm just like you
I gotta fight to stay strong
Just cause it clears
It don't mean that it's over
I'm a shine
While my lights on
 

I'm a shine
I'm a shine
I'm a shine
While my lights on
I'm a shine
I'm a shine
I'm a shine
While my lights on

CraftyME held on and is still fighting the good fight against the WoeIsME blues.  CraftyME's gonna shine and get her craft on.......

WannaME: Uh oh I've finally done it.....

Just a quick little update. WannaME has finally gone and done it. Yes folks. I've finally given into the temptation. After months and months of fighting it. WannaME just bought a drop spindle kit from ETSY.

As if CraftyME needs another craft. Now I am really gonna give spinning my own yarn a try. Hopefully all will go well and by the time Stitches East comes around in October, I can invest in some awesome fibers and a better spindle. I'll keep you posted on how this works out.

RememberME: Memory Mondays....Tis the season (almost)

Today's Memory Monday was inspired by yesterday. What was yesterday? Yesterday was CHRISTmas in July. And what does this have to do with Memory Mondays? Well, I would like all of my fellow crafters and general gift givers to just take a moment to remember all of the craziness that ensues come December. Everyone has the best intentions all year round. But then December hits and there is just nothing left. No time. No $$. No interest because you are just so over this overly commercialized holiday that no longer has any meaning.

So my friends, be ye crafters, be ye shoppers, be ye broke, or be ye slackers. I raise the call to you today, the day after CHRISTmas in July. Starting now we have 5 months. Pick up the tools of your craft and plunge in. Let's see if we can actually follow through this year. Select small projects. Hit up you local 5 and dime. Don't forget the thrift stores. Gift giving doesnt have to mean breaking the bank. With some well timed planning you can find something for everyone on your gift giving list. Do they have hobbies, favorite colors or things, tv shows etc? Heck grab some old magazines and a picture frame from IKEA. Think of the recepient and go crazy. BOOM insta-collage! Crap did I just give away a potential gift?


All I know is CraftyME's digging in my stash and hands don't fail me now. Cause unfortunately a sista's pockets dont reflect the amount of love I have for my family and friends. I may not get everybody. But I'm gonna try. And just because I can, here's a sneak peek of what's to come....

Merry Xmas in July friends.....