One Stitch Two Stitch

Hankerings - Road Trip Time!

With school almost over and the bright and happy summer ahead, I'm prepping for my road trip up north. I've had my eye on some essentials that I'd love to take along for my trip!

* Great tunes to listen to:  The Looking Away by Animal Kingdom

* This sturdy & stylish chevron tote bag by oktak

* Some writing inspiration  - 642 Things to Write Journal

* This beautiful wooden iphone case by TWoodzing

* Adding some pics to my journal with this Polaroid Instant Digital Camera

* Protect my eyes with these lovely vintage sunglasses from zabbaleen

This Weekend

. . . was made up of sliders, chicken kabobs, beer, key lime pie, dips in the pool, long naps, sunny mornings and rainy afternoons, shaggy dogs, and family. Hope everyone had a lovely Memorial weekend. Sue

This Saturday

. . . was pretty much a lazy one. Seems that all it did was rain. The end of May always welcomes rain in these parts. I stayed most of the day in my pjs in my craft room working on a new chevron blanket and pretty satisfied with staying inside.  Busy or lazy, hope you're day was great. Sue

Crazy Things I Love - Food Party

From time to time, I'll be sharing some bits of craziness that I'm really into (just a little window into some of the bizarre shades of myself!).

One tidbit of weirdness is the psychedelic/surreal IFC show called Food Party  hosted by the quirky Thu Tran.

If Sesame Street and H.R. Pufnstuf were crossed together with a substantial dose of LSD, you'd get Food Party!  The whole premise of the show is absurd because although the show focuses on food, many of the ingredients are more imagined than real.

It's also boldly creative. Seems like no idea is rejected . . . make the kitchen set completely out of cardboard? Sure. Use the most grotesque and oddly fabricated puppets? Check. Have colored felt fingers be the flames for the stove top? Super. Make the neighbor be completely coated with real peanut butter? Absolutely.

But what makes the show for me is Thu, she's a pint-sized pill of irrationality. One minute she's awkwardly shy and then she's brash and unstably verbose (her facial expressions are hilarious). 

I have to warn you, this show isn't for everyone. You'll either love it or hate it. Now let's learn how to make Green Screen Cookies with Thu . . .

 

 

 

 Hope you "thoroughly" enjoyed it! Sue

Colors in Crochet

Starting a new blanket always gets delayed because I'm constantly debating color schemes. I'm that girl you see in the yarn aisle, staring at skeins, picking up indecisively one skein after another. I mean, there are so many possibilities, but which are the best ones that suit my style?

Well, I figured out the answer and it was folded and stacked neatly in my craft room - my fabrics. You must be thinking, she just figured that out now? Yes, I can be a bit slow. Anyway, after taking a look at my prints, I discovered that I can definitely create pretty color schemes for my future blanket projects.

A great example is the apple print (see above pic), I'm loving the muted brights (oxymoron indeed!); more subtle hues like teal, raspberry, apple green, and carnation pink. How do you plan out your color schemes for your knitting/crochet projects?

Basic Borders: Tiny Waves

This is another baby/lap blanket I completed a couple of weeks ago (I'm on a roll with these). I decided to create my own basic trim. I call it "tiny waves." This trim is great to use with medium to worsted yarn, and is very easy to make. Here are the stitches: slip st in any st, sc in same st, *[hdc, dc in next st], sc in next st; rep from * around, join with slip st.  Sue

Pretty in Pink Mosaic

1. Beach tote bag, 2.kawaii 3.rose hip 4.hanaletters 5. Not available, 6.Such Pretty Things 7. 23b 8.Glorius Treats 9. Pink Bunny

Pass the Scrapbook Supplies Please

I've got a serious problem with hoarding anything related to crafts, that includes collecting supplies that I have no use for . . . yet. I'm sure you've been guilty of the same deed . . . you go to your local craft store and find that recycled titanium portable paper trimmer and even though you don't scrapbook, you must have it because it's titanium . . . and it's portable . . . did I mention it's recycled?  

Well, I've been so inspired by all the wonderful blogs that are dedicated to art/photo journals that I purchased a Smash book along with a smattering of Smash supplies a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping to use them this summer since I've never really documented much of my personal life (well, aside from this blog). I've decided to start small, focusing on one theme like a road trip, weekend outings w/my bf, or even a collection of found poetry and instax pics.

Not sure what direction I'll go (got any ideas??), but as you can see from the above pic, my drawers are ready and waiting! Sue

My City Bulletin Board

We're about 3 weeks away until the end of the school year. My students are bubbling with anticipation! But before we hit summer break, I always love to squeeze in one last fun writing assignment. This year I decided on a city theme, so I had the kids write about their top 3 favorite places to visit in Miami. This board is a great way to get the kids excited about spending the summer in their city!

For this bulletin board, think about recurrent symbols that are connected to your city. SInce Miami is known for beach, sand, and water activities, I picked a blue fish-print fabric and used a colorful wavy border (definitely reminded me of the summer and beach).

I sometimes find inspiration for my bulletin board titles from songs and this was one of those times! I knew I had to fit in "This City" by Patrick Stump on my board and I think it worked out nicely. The little hands I created using construction paper and a black sharpie. Hope I've inspired you some! Sue

 

Basic Borders

I hope everyone had a happy and most importantly relaxing Mother's Day. I wasn't able to see my mom for this holiday (she lives up north) but I'll be visiting her for Memorial Day (yay!). Anyhow this past week, I spent the afternoons working on a baby/ lap blanket. I've come to the conclusion that in order for my blankets to be officially coined as "finished" they must have a border. Without one, they seem so sad (at least in my eyes).

I'm not the kind that likes over-the-top frilly borders, but a basic one can really make any granny square blanket pop! 

 

I've been getting ideas from Crochet Borders; it's a great resource for all different kinds of crochet trims. This simple one is called border #104; it just uses alternating double and treble crochet stitches, simple and pretty! Talk Soon, Sue