Take the Handmade Pledge

Fight the Big Box syndrome -- take the Handmade Pledge this holiday season.

The pledge says: "I pledge to buy handmade this holiday season, and request that others do the same for me." I am hoping to make a lot of gifts myself, but also plan on doing some fun shopping.

Of course, there probably needs to be an exception for the teenager in my life. Unless I can figure out how to knit a gas gift card, that is.

Etsy!

Well, I've done it. I've started a shop on Etsy. The official address is winemakerssister.etsy.com.

I set it up a few weeks ago and finally added my first items this morning. I'm really overwhelmed with swaps right now and won't have time to do much more right away, but hope to add more items soon.

So far I've added some wine-related notecards (sewing on paper), my infamous Hogwarts/Harry Potter bracelets, and a one-of-a-kind pumpkin bracelet.

Stop by and visit soon!

Lucky Parcels

I love making these little packets! They're regular swaps with the FAA (Fabric Addicts Anonymous) group on Flickr. The idea is to make up parcels for three swap partners based on the current theme. Sometimes the theme is a color, sometimes a subject. As you might suspect, the theme for the top photo is Apples. Usually I use opaque plastic Asian takeout containers (from Target). They're cute, inexpensive, and lightweight. However, I found the little baskets and thought they'd be appropriate for the Apple swap. The baskets contain fabric, a button card I made with apple buttons, apple-scented goodies (candle, lip gloss, etc), and wooden apples (most are hollow).

This is more typical of my usual "Lucky Parcels" (I love the name -- makes me think of a dessert at a Chinese banquet.) The theme was "Black & White." The parcels include fabric, ribbon, buttons, and a bunch of other fabric-related notions.

What I find so fun is the way the parcel itself is the best part of the swap -- everyone does them differently but they're always cute and clever.

And now a word from our sponsors....

Every once in a while, reality breaks through.... and right now it's harvest time at the winery. That means more than just harvesting grapes and making wine. It also means that everyone starts thinking about wineries. So we're busier in the wine cellar and busier in the tasting room. ...and it doesn't help that I've opened our seasonal tasting room in the Dexter Cider Mill. Whew!

The photo above is from our Dexter tasting room.

Cute Hats!

I started this hat last week while staying at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I'm on the board of a nonprofit and was there for their annual conference. I had imagined myself sitting on one of the rockers on the front porch, knitting away. Unfortunately, I had to spend a great deal of my time working and only knitted on the porch for about an hour on the last day. But it was lovely...

Anyway, I thought I'd get more knitting done (I want to make some Christmas gifts) and only got this one mostly completed. It's a cute hat and very easy. I made it from double strands of a lovely alpaca yarn I purchased in Grand Rapids a few weeks ago. The pattern is from Hip Knit Hats (there are quite a few hats in the book that I'd like to make).

Perfect for situations when you don't want to have to think much about what you're knitting.

This one's for the October Coloriffic swap -- the theme is Orange & Blue. I hope my partner likes it....

My Yarn Stash

I love hoarding things, and knitting and sewing seem to exacerbate my condition. It's just lovely to look at a mound of gorgeous yarn waiting for me to find the perfect project... Here is a photo of the organized part of my stash -- the stuff that's appropriate for the public to see.

Of course there's also the seamy underbelly to my stash -- odds (some are very odd) and ends scattered about the house. Many that I'll probably not use again... Although my nieces (Lani & Pauline) want to learn to knit. Some of those odd bits of yarn might be perfect for that use...

The fabulous packages keep on coming...

I'm involved in two "secret pal" swaps right now -- one connected with the Art Techniques Yahoo group and the other, SP11, a knitting secret pal swap. Both of my pals were busy shopping and shipping this week, and I'm the lucky recipient!

On Wednesday, I received this adorable packet of goodies (right) from "Freaky" (as she calls herself). She does such a lovely job of finding wonderful treats!

My SP11's package came the next day -- more gorgeous evergreen-colored yarn, this time Peruvian wool. Enough to make a nice-sized project. The cute little Vogue felting book I've been lusting after for so long. And an adorable tea infuser decorated with a little bee (perfect!).

Thanks so much, ladies. I feel so spoiled!

Spell with Flickr

I love this little tool! You can spell any word you wish, then click on each letter to select other options (if you'd like a different version of a particular letter). The letters are all images from Flickr artists.

Have fun!

Felt

I love felt... all sorts. I like making little hand-sewn doo-dads with wool felt yardage, I like felting old sweaters and using the fabric to make stuff, and I like knitting and then felting bags and other goodies.

Recently I finished a cute little felted bag for my partner in the August Bag Ladies swap. The theme was brown + a color. The photos here show before and after felting.

I've made this bag before, in fact I made several for my nieces for Christmas two years ago. It goes pretty fast, has some nice details, and is a good size.I hope my partner likes it!

More Questions and Answers

Here are the answers to the 2nd set of questions for SP11:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?

Bags. I love bags of all sorts, and keep each project in its own bag.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?

Vacation is my very favorite time to knit. We went on a wonderful vacation last fall -- following old Route 66 from its beginning in Chicago to the end at the Pacific Ocean. But because the road is not always marked well and takes lots of turns, I couldn't do much knitting. The minute-by-minute navigation was so intensive! I really missed being able to knit all along the way.

On a normal vacation, I try to take several projects with me. Especially if we're going to the cabin up-north because there's no access to decent supplies. That way if I finish one thing I have everything I need to start another piece.

3. Where have you traveled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?

I have lots of favorites: our family's cabin in northern Ontario, Chicago, Lake Michigan, London, Mackinac Island, San Francisco, Orkney Island...

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?

I tend to be quite fickle about my favorites -- it depends on my mood. But I'm going to start a bunch of hats for my nieces for Christmas soon out of "Hip Knit Hats." I own it.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?

No. I don't have an iPod. Up until very recently we just had a dial-up Internet connection. We live in a rural area with no access to cable or DSL. We recently got a Sprint wireless card and router and now have what I think of as a "medium" connection. Not yet high speed. So downloads are still somewhat troublesome.

6. If you could only knit with 1 color for the rest of your life, what color would that be?

Probably red. Could I do all sorts of reds? Burgundy, wine, bright red, red-orange...

7. If you were far into a project and then noticed a mistake near the beginning what would you do?

It depends. If it doesn't affect the durability and use, and isn't an eyesore, I'd probably ignore it. I believe in the idea of the rug weavers who deliberately include one mistake in their rugs so it's obvious that it was handmade. OTOH, if it's a problem, I would pull it out and start over.

8. Where is the most unusual spot you've ever knit?

Hmmmmm, that's difficult. While standing in line? At meetings in major museums like the Art Institute of Chicago? That's about as interesting and exciting as I can think of. Sorry.

I think a better question would be "Where is my favorite place to knit?" On the train... lovely and relaxing........ purr...

Goodies in the Mail!

My Secret Pal certainly did get to work quickly! We were assigned partners last Wednesday and I received a package in the mail today.

And, wow, what a package! She sent a note telling me that this was her first swap and she hoped she did well. Yep, SP, you're a natural.

It was as if she knew me well. She obviously read my profiles and followed them (it's amazing how few people are able to manage that). I got 2 skeins of gorgeous yarn -- Misti Alpaca (100% baby alpaca) and Malabrigo Merino from Uruguay. Both are in this luscious jewel-toned deep evergreen... sort of a deep teal. In addition to the yarn there was a wonderful note with two of her amazing photographs, a bookmark with another photo, maple (yum!) syrup and granulated sugar, candles (all in scents I love), a selection of teas, and the new issue of Interweave Knits. ....oh, and she wrapped some of the goodies in this adorable "bee" fabric...

Thanks for everything Secret Pal. I hope you're getting spoiled as well as you're spoiling me!

Shrinky Dinks

I haven't made any Shrinky Dinks in very long time, but picked up some "Shrink Film" at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. I wanted to make some mushroom charms to go with a few other mushroom-themed pieces for a swap.

Making the charms was so much fun! I just drew a mushroom, then traced it on the Shrink Film. I colored it in with Sharpies, cut it out, and then punched a hole at the top.

You need to heat them gently to get them to shrink -- either in a slow oven or with a heat gun. I used the embossing tool I had inherited in Mary's stuff (for the first time). The only tricky part about using that is its blower -- the charm kept blowing around on my worksurface...

It curls as it get heated and shrinks, so I kept flipping it from side to side to even it out. As you get it to its final size, it tends to flatten out. And if not, you can smooth it lightly while it's still hot.

It shrunk quite a bit. I made the original drawings about 3 1/2 inches tall, hoping that wouldn't be too big. They shrunk to about 1 inch tall -- just about the size I was hoping for (or maybe a little smaller). Ta da!