Scarves for the needy

Here is a picture of two scarves which I am planning on giving away this Christmas . I was going to take them to church today to give away, but there was too much snow to go. They are both a simple garter stitch pattern.

Re-entering the bloggest phare

I know it has been quite awhile since I last posted on this blog. I have been busy, but I was also breaking from using the Internet to its full extent. Alas, I am back!
Here is a picture of a square which I crocheted for a quilt (if you can call it that), which my hand weaving and spinning guild is making for our 60th anniversary. It is made out of hand spun merino and tencle yarn.

The animals in the trees

In continuation of the man in the tree here are some animals in trees:

Man in the Tree

I as walking one day with no one insight, I turned around and saw this man staring at me:

The lion and water

I am finished another scarf. This time it looks like a lion:



Who every wears this scarf will have a mane to roar around there neck.

As for the water I knit a möbius
:

Back with a baby's hat!

You might have thought I had given up with this blog, but I have not. After a thesis paper, five exams, one graduation (and another coming up), moving and starting a new job I am back! About the same time I was finished up my thesis one of my friends had a baby girl. I had the cutest baby hat patterns, so I decided to make one for my friend's baby. Here is a picture of the hat:

Isn't it adorable with the little bow at the front?

Question about crocheting with plastic

Do any of you have a suggestion on how I could use the granny square crocheted out of plastic?
These are the suggestions I have had so far:

• Coaster
• Shopping bag
  

Crocheting with plastic

Once again I am continuing with the recycling theme. In response to the website I found about crocheting plastic bags, today I decided to try it. I cut the bag into strips. After trying to join the strips to my work in the usual fashion and being unsuccessful I committed at crocheting no-no. I tied the strips together. Here is a picture of the granny square I produced.



Overall the experience was interesting, but would I try it again I am unsure.

Interesting . . .

This is just an interesting picture of a scarf I crocheted.

Award Won for Rug

The jean rag rug which I posted about while back made by Sunshine's Creations won award from Whip Up. Whip Up also gave awards to many other recycled crafts which you maybe interested in checking out.

Spring is Coming....

...well at least for now. Today I took some pictures of the snow melting while on a walk. It was so great to see the sun shine and all of the snow disappearing. Here are several of the pictures:

"Puddles With Shadow"

"Creek in the Grass"

"Lone Iceberg In Puddle"

Sometimes You Need to Improvise

As I showed you in an older post I am currently working on a shawl. It has progressed quite nicely, but I realized while I was working on it that I was forgetting when to increase. I came to the realization that I needed to come up with away remind myself which row I was on. This is what I came up with:
What is it? A hair elastic attached to the end of my knitting needle. It reminds me that when I am knitting off of that needle I am to increase; when I am knitting on to that needle I am not to increase. Here is a wider angle of the piece:















Part 1

Let the Ocean Roar

Here is a picture of the scarf which is the colours of the sea which was a comment was referring to in my last post. The yarn which it is made out of was slippery to knit. People love to feel the scarf, because it is so soft and fuzzy.

Beginnings

Everything must have a beginning that is fact; therefore all needle craft projects must have a beginning. Here is a picture of the beginning of my latest project:


You may think that this is just a cone of yarn, yet in my imagination it is a beautiful shawl waiting to be let loose. After struggling for several hours trying to conceive of the best way to create the shawl I concluded the a simple garter stitch pattern would do, considering my inexperience with lace knitting. The result thus far is a triangle which size continues to increase:



Part 2

The Coat of Natural Colours

A while back I was working at a pioneer village for the summer as a historical interpreter. As part of my duties I was to demonstrate various pioneer crafts.

This is a picture of a wrap/shawl which I made during my time there. It was knit in four pieces and then sewn together. The yarn is 100% handspun wool which I had spun, but not used over the years.

Here is a picture of a close up of part a section.

The yarn in this section is two ply with one strand being white and the other brown which makes an interesting barber poll.

The Square

Here is a picture of the first granny square for the blanket with my roommate is making:


Part One

Social Networking and Schools

Here is a link to a blog which features a video about a girl with leukemia who attends school via the Internet using Skype. The purpose of the post is to the show how social networking can be used constructively in schools. I really like the comment he makes about tools being constructive or destructive.

Pictures of Crocheting

A few weekends ago I was teaching my roomie to crochet. She wanted to make a baby's blanket for a friend who is having a baby. We started out by going to Wal*Mart to buy some yarn. We came back with some soft pink yarn in two tones.
She did quite well at her crocheting since I had already taught her the basic stitches. The first picture on the left is her starting to make a double crochet. The picture below is after the double crochet was completed.




When the square was completed it looked quite nice. Hopefully I can show I picture when the whole blanket is completed.

Part Two

Recycled Rug

Here is a post from Sunshine's Creations which features a rug which she made out of jeans. I think her about the rug is interesting and I hope that you do too. Once again the saga of recycled needle crafts continues. . .

Censorship and Libraries

For those of you who are interested in reading more about censorship and libraries check out this page from the American Library Association. To keep freedom of speech we need to support our libraries' mission to be censorship free.

Getting the perspective

Pearl knitted wrist warmers Pärlmudd
Originally uploaded by AnnaKika.

Here is a picture of another needle crafter's work. The beads are glistening through out the picture like they are stars. It appears the work goes on forever, yet we know that it does not. It symbolizes that at times our perspective in life can drastically if only we change our angle of view.

What To Do With All Of Those Old Plastic Bags

In light of what I wrote yesterday about reusing things which otherwise we would toss away I found a blog entitled My Recycled Bags.com that is devoted to crocheting recycled materials. The latest post features a handbag made out of VHS tape.

Another Day

Well another day has come and gone. It seems as though all creativity has left me, so I think I will just show several pictures of my work:

Handspun Wensleydale Socks


A Yellow Baby Hat

Freedom to Read Week

Coming up this next week is Freedom to Read Week. Check out this list of challenged books. Why don't you go to your library this week to see what they are doing to celebrate?

Illinois Senator wanting to ban social networking

Check out this post from the Shiftedlibrarian about Illinois Senator Matt Murphy wanting to ban social networking in libraries.

Waste not Want not

Waste is a constant product of our culture. Almost everything we buy or use has some sort of waste by-product. For example when a person buys coffee it comes in a paper cup which is thrown away or when we buy clothing plastic comes attached to it with a piece of paper dangling off. Often times when something no longer wanted it is tossed in the garbage.

The constant discarding of what is no longer needed or wanted was not the norm throughout history. The pioneers had a saying "waste not, want not," meaning if you wasted things that you would want more things. Unlike today they hardly wasted anything.

A while back I took inspiration from the pioneers. I started collecting my old clothing which I no longer wear. The rag rug in the picture is what I produced out of the old clothing. By making it I not only reused my t-shirts, sheets and other clothing I also have a rug to remind me of days gone by.

Unfinished

Many of my crafts over the years have remained 'unfinished' seemingly never to be of use to anyone. Either they are thrown away or pulled a part after years of idleness. At last I heard the saying 'one sock is art.' Now I wonder how about all the other 'unfinished' crafts?. I have confirmed that they too can be art:



This mitten may not keep any thumb warm, but it does makes an interesting picure. Now that it is finished the mitten will never be quite as amusing:

Hanging around 2

This is my first post with words! In my last post I featured a picture of a scarf I made handing off the wall. I feel the picture is an excellent example of what I intend this blog to be - a place where I show off pictures of needle crafts I have constructed while 'hanging around.' In turn my readers can enjoy these pictures while they are hanging around. I hope that what you find here creatively inspiring.

Hanging Around

Blue-gray Scarf on Wall
Originally uploaded by My Needle Craft Pictures.