Not so Crafty - My Work

Just a few less-than-perfect photos of my less-than-perfect craft projects...

A felted purse - needs more felting.

My first sweater. Made from one of those craft store booklets. With awful synthetic yarn - it's darn scratchy. Oh, and it is not pretty on the seams - I don't like the finishing part. At all. That's why the pattern I am using now is seamless. So glad for ravelry - a free site for knitters and crocheters .

Current sweater project...

A nice wool blend sweater from ravelry - girls-cap-sleeved-spring-shirt. No finishing, just knit and wear!

This was a free knit pattern from ravelry. Quick and easy. Great way to use up some of the excess yarn in my stash.

From soulemama tutorial. Very quick hat. I used baby llama wool, incredibly soft and warm.
Here is Sita's...

"Blue Cloud Afghan", from Knitting Green book. This is a beautiful book, and there are a number of great patterns I plan to try.

The yarn is a luxurious hand painted mixture of merino, alpaca, silk and Donegal produced by Araucania Yarns, a group of dedicated  artists and designers dedicated to supporting local sustainable job development in Chile. This lace pattern begins and ends the afghan, the rest is ribbed in mistake pattern. I started it last spring. It is my "in-between" project time, or my "too tired to do anything else" project.

I only recently tried my hand at needle felting. Alina loves the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", so I decided to create the characters. Now, these are probably my third attempt, as I have re-worked these poor bears. First they were just sort of brown shapeless things. My second working I felt better about. Until Sita proclaimed "they look like gorillas!" Third attempt and I am done, for better or worse....

I really hope I can get better with practice.

These are the fairies I made. Sean and Sita were so impressed that I made these, they each wanted to make one themselves. Sean was convinced we could make our fortune selling these on eBay...until I showed him some of the needle felted works available on etsy...

So these are some of the crafts this very uncrafty mom has undertaken in the last year. It's been fun, and challenging, and rewarding.

I would love to hear some of your crafty adventures, or misadventures.
Michelle

Not So Crafty

I am always amazed and inspired by the crafty moms out there. I greatly enjoy my crafting activities, although there is a lot of room for improvement.

What am I gaining from my crafting activities? (Besides some great knitted items, and natural material toys for my children).

• A great sense of satisfaction. I love taking raw material and turning it into something useful and attractive (they are beautiful to me, flaws and all).
• The great feeling of gift-giving, amplified because you took the time and effort to make it yourself.
• Developing my will force - in order for me to do something well, I have to s-l-o-w down. This is big for me as I tend to rush from one thing to another, wanting to "check it off the to-do list".
• Learning to enjoy the process.
• Developing new and useful skills.
• Becoming more self-sufficient.
• Learning to finish what I start - there are some many great projects out there, but I have to discipline myself to finish projects before rushing out to start new ones. Doesn't mean I don't have several projects going at once, but I have to set limits for myself and be sure to go back and finish the projects I have become either bored or frustrated with.
• Being a good role model for my children. I have heard the pride in my 11-year old's voice when he tells someone "my mom made it!".

I want to share some photos of a few of my less-than-perfect crafts. For those of you too intimidated to try knitting or needle felting, or feel inadequate compared to the amazing crafters out there, know that you are not alone. But also know that there is much to be gained simply from the act of trying and doing your best. After all, isn't this what we want for our children?
Michelle