Friday, November 30, 2012

Knitting for Dragons

My friend, and former co-star, Michael asked me to do a cat bed for his sweet kitty Dragon.  He let me know that Dragon is a big boy, and has outgrown his current bed.  And he provided photographic evidence to support this claim.


And photos don't lie, folks.  

So, who am I to deny a sweet sleepy kitty a place to lay his cat head?

I whipped up another of my cat beds - in grey/green fuzzy fur, with a yellow/green base.  According to Sadie, it's suitably comfortable.  


We hope you enjoy it, Dragon.

Not bad for someone who knows nothing about sports

The other day, my friend Anthony asked me to make a basketball hat for a new baby for a friend of his.    I said yes because I never say no, but the truth is I spent a maddening amount of time pouring over Google images of basketballs before I could figure out how to do it.  

Even thinking about the basketball conjures memories of gym class despair and humiliation.

When I was 14 years old, I got knocked out cold in gym class and had to go to the hospital.  That's how not good at sports I am, and it's probably the seed of the reason that I have zero interest in watching sports, to boot.

However, having said all that, I have to say, I don't think I did too shabby of a job putting this hat together.   My old pal, Crystal Skull, modeled it for the camera before I sent it off to Ant.





















What do you think?

Patience. Forgiveness. Pushing my rage inward.

Whoever said moving can be quick and stress-free is crazy.  What's that?  No one said that ever?  Huh.  Then I guess it's time to get the wax out of my ears.

So.  Okay.  I moved about a month ago.  I'm still trying to figure out what's going on, where I am, who I am, and where all my damn stuff is.

But, rest assured, I've been knitting my face off the whole time.

Right before the move, I endeavored to make a felted tote bag for my sweet friend Heather.  Heather is a lighting designer, and she gave me free range to design the bag however I wanted.  I came up with what I thought was a pretty cool design and set to work.

However.  Unbeknownst to me, some of my 100% wool - which is the most important component of a felting project - was evidently treated with something that made it unfeltable.  And I didn't know this until the tote bag was finished and I attempted to felt it.  One side felted beautifully, and the other side was just an enormous, floppy, soggy mess.

I gave myself a day to swear and kick dirt before I came up with a plan to take it apart, discard the floppy side, re-knit the side I needed, and felt it separately before attaching it to the rest of the bag.

And unfortunately, it happened again.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  But instead, I took some deep, cleansing breaths and tried to channel my calm determination.  (I know that sounds totally ridick but I'm working on patience and forgiving myself these days.  Stop laughing.)

And the third time was the charm.  Kind of.  The side turned out great!  And I stitched it back together, and felted the whole thing together again - which shrunk it down a little bit more, but no big deal.  And then....I realized that one of the handles was twisted.  So, I had to snip the handle and fix it before sewing it and felting it once again.  Shrinking it a bit more.

AND THEN.

I realized that the handles were off center, so the whole bag couldn't lay flat.  SO.  I HAD TO CUT THE HANDLES AND FELT THE GODDAMN THING AGAIN.

By now, it's no longer a tote bag, but a cute little handbag.  And I'm doing some serious deep breathing about the whole debacle.




But it's still pretty cute.


On the upside, this is the first project that I was able to sew in my new custom knit labels!  I was so excited to get them!  Don't you love them?



However, it seems like - for now at least - this is also the last project to get one of my custom labels, because they appear to have been lost in the move.  FML.



Friday, November 9, 2012

Don't Call It A Comeback

Hello puppies.  So....I'm finally in the new apartment.  Jesus Chreesus, what a crazy month it's been.  I don't know if you've heard, but there was a hurricane, and it hit the week we were trying to move.  And then another major storm hit this week, too.

Honestly, the last few weeks have been a blur.  I don't know if I've ever been so stressed and tired and worried for such an extended period.  My right eyelid has been twitching for two weeks, no kidding.  Maybe I should see a doctor.

As far as New York goes, we were some of the lucky ones.  We never lost power, and we didn't sustain any hurricane-related damage.  Although I lost my beloved ukulele in the move, but compared to how much other people lost, I feel like an asshole complaining about it.

I'm still unpacking.  The new apartment is amazing, but it's still a wreck.  And right now, sadly, organizing my craft space is not the highest priority.  But soon, SOON, it will get done.

This week I donated a bunch of scarves and hats that I had knitted years back.  And I frantically knitted some new hats to donate as well.  I wish I could've done more.  I think I'm having some survivor's guilt.

I did have time for one sweet little craft for myself.  I made this little metal and glass ring for myself with a T on it (for my sweet T-Bone).


Okay, guys.  I gotta get back to work.  More to come soon.