The Best Laid Plans of procrastinators rarely get done

But even knowing that I’m a procrastinator and against my better judgement  I think I’m actually going to try out a game plan for July to get back on the creative wagon. It’s going to be a little complicated because I’ll be doing some traveling and a family vacation this month, but maybe having a schedule of sorts will ensure that I’ll actually get something done.

First off I’m going to be participating in the Ami-Along on Ravelry!  I like a number of the designers, but my financial situation is pretty sketchy so I’m not entirely sure how much I can participate with the purchased patterns, though I would really like to support some of these designers.  I think I’ll allot myself at least one purchased pattern, the trouble though is picking which one.  I’m kind of in love with the ridiculousness of cheezombie‘s Knitilus Nautilus, but it’s a knit pattern and while I want to learn to knit, I don’t think that’s the pattern to learn on as it’s a bit more complex than I think I want to start with.  I also really love Adorably Kawaii and definitely have plans to do her freebie patterns.

Setting aside the Ami-Along I’m going to start giving myself that Ami a week project I was considering from earlier.  Since I’m starting with a short week for July (i.e. I was too lazy to actually pick something before today) I’m going to focus on finishing up that MLP:FiM pattern I was supposed to finish two-to-three years ago.  >.>  After that I’ll just start working down my list of stuff I owe people and some of the designs I want to start working on.  I’ll probably map out what I’m working on for the next month so I have something I actually have to stand by.

In other news, the thing with the drop spindle I mentioned.  I’ve played around with it a bit, nothing big because I found out that A Good Yarn, an amazing store in Sarasota, is going to have a drop spindle class on August 1st!  They do have another one in July, but I won’t be able to make it due to scheduling issues.  So that means sometime with month I’m going to be sitting down my spindle before the class to film myself messing royally!  Yay!  I’ll probably also do some recording in the class if they allow it just to show any possible progress I’ve made.

I have finished up the first sleeve of the Prepster Jacket again, but that’s a boring picture so let’s end today with my cat trying to blend in with my plush collection.  Trust me, he’s fluffy enough to qualify.

Until next week!

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Let’s Talk about the Birds and the Bees

So I’ve taken a small break my chain chomp design to work on a project that’s been ongoing/stalled out for quite some time now.  You may not believe this, but I’m one of those crochet dare-devils you’ve heard of.  Yes, a yarn bomber! *cackles madly*

As far as “walking on the wild side” goes it’s pretty tame I’ll admit, but it’s just the kind of social deviance I enjoy.  I’m not much of an artist, but I’ve always admired street art.  Adding a textile facet to it was just icing on the cake.  I even have a group, though it might as well be dead for all the attention I give it these days.  IF you’d like to check out the FB, you can find it here.

Yeah, if you followed the link than you know the page hasn’t been updated in nearly two years. >.>  My fault entirely because I was the major driving force behind it though it originated on Ravelry.  If you’d like to check that out it has had a bit more activity in the last 24 months. I’m going to try and be a bit better about it starting with my newest yarn bomb.

These birds (there are seven total) are not just my first yarn bomb in a while, but also a part of the Art Assignment that I’ve posted about before.  This one is for Stakeout.  I’ve done several yarn bombs, some recorded, others (many) not and I’ll get around to putting together an actual gallery one of these days, but I’ve never stuck around to see how people interact with them.  This time I’m going to pick a place to set up where I can see how people react and if they take them.  I look forward to seeing what people do.

This pattern is Caroline’s Birds by Marlo D Cairns, but I find it a bit hard to follow so I’m going to edit and repost it (obviously I will not be taking credit for the design).  I also altered the design a bit for myself so I’l probably post my design edits and the pattern I came up with for the wings.

I inadvertently dipped my toe in cliché town when I also decided to bang out a quick couple of bees to give to The HIVE, a Community Innovation Center located in the Tampa downtown library.  I like how they turned out and I’ll include their VERY quick pattern below.

Bee

Materials needed:

Black yarn

Yellow yarn

White yarn

Preferred hook (mine’s G)

Yarn needle

Body:

With yellow MR 5 (5sc)

Rnd 2: inc around (10sc)

Rnd 3: work even (10sc)

Change to black

Rnd 4: *sc, inc* 5x (15sc)

Rnd 5: work even (15sc)

Change to yellow

Rnd 6-7: work even (15sc)

Change to black

Rnd 8: *sc, dec* 5x (10sc)

Stuff firmly

Rnd 9: *dec* 5 (5sc)

Fasten off and weave in ends

Wings (make 2)

With white

MR sc, hdc, 3dc, hdc, sc (7st)

Tighten ring to form wing, fasten off

Sew wings onto bee’s back

I hope you find the pattern easy and fun, let me know if there are any mistakes.

Happy stitching!