Spring Break fun in the Art Barn

Last week I was on Spring Break from the museum job, although of course there were things I still took care of. I did manage to do some fun things for me!

I've had lots of fun going thru the Yarn stash, knitting up these little hipster hats...I can see these covering up those man-buns, can't you? Although I did make one for myself, because they're comfy and warm, and easy to wear.(that's the hubby, being a good sport)



I splurged at the fabric store and found this great textured knit to make a cute little dress for Dear Daughter...I can see it with a skinny black belt, and maybe even a jacket or shrug. There are nice pockets, too, always handy!>

Made myself a basic grey tank dress for layering in any season,


and this burn-out knit was perfect, in white/black/cobalt and a nice purple-y mauve. I'm thinking over capri leggings and cami this summer!>

I also cut up a washed and shrunken boiled wool jacket, it has great embroidery all over it. I love my little monster pouches, but had in my mind something else....Lips! What else for holding my Burt's Bees lip gloss??!


March is National Craft Month, you know....what are You making?

Gifts and Such

A good start on winter time creating....did a few craft shows this fall and it was quite fun! Made a custom cashmere kitty for a friend of little brother, she really liked it! And now wants a custom cashmere fox, holding not the classic bunch of grapes, but some sausage links...I'm sure there's a story there!



Knitting little treasures for Christmas: lots of pretty washcloths, to pair with some handmade soaps I bought at a craft show. Some llama and alpaca wristwarmers, 'cause they just feel so nice. And a little pair of orange traffic cones, for said little brother to place on his desk at work. Don't tell him, though, they're supposed to be a surprise!

February Wrap-Up

As we near the end of February 2014, it occurs to me that despite my best couch potato efforts, I have actually accomplished several projects this month! Amazing, I know, but there you have it.

Last night I finished knitting the first of a pair of socks, very pretty! I did FINALLY finish up my brother's Christmas pair of socks, but as they are serviceable black, I didn't photo them.

Yesterday I also whipped up a top for myself, I love it! I got some delicious woven stripe linen at Joanne's of all places....off white and "blackberry". Paired it with a 100% fine cotton knit sweater from the thrift; extra-small sized, ha! One sleeve is the button up front of the cardigan, and the other is the solid back. I had to radically piece them both, but totally worth it to incorporate the pretty silk chiffon trim from the button placket. I even dug out the roll hem foot for the Bernina, PRACTICED on a scrap (whaatt???) before hemming the bottom. I still need to finish the neckline with bias trim, but that won't take but a minute.





Monday I did all the quilting on a new piece, inspired by a photo taken by musician Tim Perdue, who is making quite a name for himself about town as an excellent photographer. Very sensitive images, evocative. I had these blue "bricks" laid out on a stark white background, but apparently I really wasn't sold...a week ago a friend came to the Art Barn to play, and encouraged me to go with my plan to switch out the white for a gray color. She helped me lay out all the bricks & pin them down again. And then....Monday I woke up and realized it was wrong! I had the bricks all lined up vertically, and they really cried out to be diagonal. So I took out all the pins, cut a few more bricks, laid it out, voila! Much better. The quilting is intended to evoke raindrops. I obviously need to bind it, and my plan is to then sew on many, many pearl buttons, like raindrops. Oh, did I mention? Every piece of fabric is from thrift shop clothing! Yep! and so are all the buttons I plan to use. I have been invited to display my work Spring 2015, particularly pieces from reclaimed textiles. So I'm concentrating on some new pieces that use more of those materials. It's really not difficult, given that I use them so regularly in the clothing I make.

That same friend laughed while I sewed up some new Kashmere pets....foxes!! I think they're cute! I love it when I can find argyle cashmere, it gives each animal a distinct personality.

Enjoy the pics, as I start my second sock, and stay warm and cozy as March comes roaring in!

Kreepy Kandy Korn and Kashmere Kuties

I hate wasting scraps of fabrics, and since I had nice chunks of cashmere sweater left after the Kashmere Kitties, dear daughter suggested making little owls with the scraps! I think they're adorable; of course she went back to school with the first 2 I finished. I'll be listing them in the Etsy shop later today.

Craft Magazine had a super cute pattern last week, so I had to knit it up, and it was super easy and quick: Killer Kandy Korn! They have lots of cools ideas every day, and I was thrilled to find something so quick and easy to knit up from bits of yarn I already had, yay!

Halloween Owl Mittens

Finished these, finally! Found them in the art barn, 1 mitten needing a thumb, the other just needed the tip of the top + thumb.

Took them to the Beehive Knitting group last week, and the results of 2 hours? Had to rip it out 3 times! Argh!

But, now they're finished, and just in time for Halloween fun! yay! My own charted design based on the Hello Knitty basic mitten template, and I thought I'd try to figure out how to make it a free download. So other people can join in the fun!

It's a Trilobite Christmas!

or, how to please your geology-archaeology double major daughter!

So, I knitted her a hat with trilobites on it. AND I knitted 3 little trilobite specimens. AND I made some felt beanbag toys with trilobites and brachiopod fossils on them!

I think she liked them!

the Last of 2009!

Ack! a New Year! well, I need to finish off 2009 before I look ahead....


I knitted 2 owls for my daughter for Christmas, from a very cute pattern. The Brown Owl was 2 strands held together, one a heathery wool, and the other an orange-ish alpaca, and the white owl was Cascade 220, with white angora in the head, wings and tail (because there wasn't enough for the whole body) When I felted them in the washer, the brown owl got covered with the little white flecks, and the ladies I knit with thought that was part of his charm, like he'd been hiding in a barn somewhere, so I left them! His eyes are felt and buttons, and the white owl has plastic toy eyes. I love their feet; the little talons! The pattern was very easy!

then I decided to try a new owl mitten pattern, so I came up with this one. When I started knitting, though, I had to subtract some stitches since the variegated background is worsted weight rather than the DK I normally use. Almost done!

Knitting at the Beehive

I can't believe I've not updated since August 4th, but there it is....life, getting in the way again! Not really, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to be amazed at how fast the days go by.

Each month, I host a Knitting circle at the Beehive Bookstore here in town; we meet on the 2nd Thursday from 10am - noon, and again on the 3rd Thursday from 6pm - 8pm. That way, I know I'm going to knit at least twice a month, and with the different times, hopefully everyone has a chance to get out!

The Beehive is a great independent bookstore, and I love the atmosphere there. Yesterday, Trista(left) and Lynn(right), as well as Donna (my mom!) and myself all sat and worked on our projects, sipped coffee or tea and cracked each other up.

Feel free to join us!

Lots of knitting and sewing!

It's been a busy, productive time here lately....I've knitted and re-knitted several sweaters, a pair of socks and a shrug. I've sewn 7 (that's right, SEVEN) tops this past weekend for me and my daughter! I've had my dear friend Phyllis visiting from New York and shopped like a crazy woman!

I finished this lovely sweater from some MCY yarn, and still have 2 skeins left, so I'm trying to decide what else to make. It only took 1.5 skeins for this sweater, the Organic Tee pattern I bought on Etsy. I also frogged the first sweater I made in this pattern and re-knit it 2 sizes smaller.

I tried out this cute pattern, but after the first test, decided the pattern makers were insane to ask you to HAND sew all these pleats around the front neckline, in a knit fabric, no less. Maybe the gold paint on the fabric made it so difficult, but I just don't see the point in handsewing them on a knit. So I re-cut it to take elastic, and made 6 more over the weekend. Here's a few of them!


I also had some cotton voile I bought in Brooklyn, I added side seam slits at the hemline to make up for the fact that it doesn't stretch like knit. I made my daughter the white T with owls, plus a Pink shirt with smaller, more numerous owls. For myself, I had some lovely knit in white with Lavendar TOILE (I love toile!), and I made another T in black ponte with teeny skulls and tiny pink cupcakes all over. Lots of fun! I think I'd like to try elongating it into a cute little dress, too!

World Wide Knit in Public Day! or, Guerilla Knitting in Delaware, Ohio

I've been neglecting my blog, but it's not because I'm lazy!

June 13th was World Wide Knit in Public Day, and the Beehive Bookstore in Delaware, Ohio hosted our get together.

The day started off at 11:30am with me knitting by my lonesome, but I was soon joined by Vicki, then around 1:30 the rest of the crew started coming in! It was a lovely day, not too hot, nice breeze, and we sat at the cafe tables outside. Vicki and I took the opportunity to place some "tags" around town, too!

Fabric for Knitters

I got this super cute Michael Miller fabric online.... too cute!! Great fabrics for knitters and sewers...and the skull and scissors fabric totally matches my tattoo!!


The Turquoise fabric is called "quilt pirates"



The Chocolate brown and pink fabric is called "Knitmare on Elm Street"










The Black and Lime Green fabric is called "That's Sew Wrong"


Somebody out there has a wicked sense of humor! I think I'll quilt the fabric and make up some tote bags and zippered accessory pouches!

and a Hat to Match!

I had originally used the leftover handspun yarn from my Neck Warmer to knit up a bowl that I intended to throw into the washing machine and felt/full. Sort of an Easter basket, I was thinking. BUT....both my husband AND my mom thought it looked like a matching hat for the Neck Warmer. And truthfully, when I plunked it on my head, it didn't look half bad! It was a little big, and the edges were curling up since they were just knit plainly. After thinking about it for a day or two, I ripped it out last night, and re-knit it as a proper hat, with ribbing at the edges and the whole thing is a bit smaller than the bowl!

And now I have a spring color ensemble!

Knitted Neck Warmer

So I purchased some pretty pink variegated yarn at Tiny Canary, which is a cool indie craft fair held in December here in Columbus, and then I rediscovered some nice green yarn that my mom had handspun for me. I played with some coordinating solids in Galway and Cascade, and tried to figure out what I could make with it all. I only had about 95 yards of the pink handspun.

After a half dozen starts and frogs, I came up with a little knitted neckwarmer! Now that my hair is as short as I like it, my neck gets chilly, even when the temp is up! I also wanted something more pastel for spring, and not too long or bulky.


I opted to use just the handspun, because it's a small piece and I didn't want a lot of ends to weave in. I did have a teeny bit of the pink leftover, so I used that, the green handspun, and some of the light pink chunky Galway to knit a bowl that will be felted/fulled in the washing machine. In these colors, it will look pretty with Easter eggs in it!


After I got this knitted up, I needed a button, so again I went to my stash, and found some cool big buttons in funky patterns and colors. They were 3 to a card, I think my daughter or mom gave them to me for Christmas last year or the year before. Anyway, I just sewed the button on, and pushed it through one of the lacey holes in the scarf. I can't wait to wear it out!

One World One Heart GIVEAWAY!!

Yep, that's right, a GIVEAWAY!! Right Here on the blog!

I have joined the One World One Heart giveway, which is currently up to over 430 participants! [Update: 911 participants! Holy Wow!!] Blogs from all over the world, each sponsoring a FREE Giveaway and all you have to do to win is leave a comment on the participating blogs! and let me tell you, some of the items are AMAZING!!

So what am I, Redpantycrafts, giving away?? Well, I'll tell you! I have finished the new Hoot the Owls mittens, (although I haven't photographed them yet, I will this weekend!) and am giving them away! Now I will tell you, they are quite sweet, even though I DID run out of the purple yarn right at the tip of the second mitten. So the thumbs are in a slightly different purple, but they are still warm, cozy, hand knitted by yours truly, and hopefully you will not be disappointed! UPDATE: They're finished!! Yay! So hurry and leave a comment, you might win!
All you have to do is leave a comment on this post! You don't even have to write a blog of your own. But please, DO include your email if you do not have a reply-to blog, because otherwise, how will I let you know if you've won??


Minutia: DEADLINE to leave a comment is MIDNIGHT Eastern Standard Time (in the US) on February 11th.
I will draw a name and post the winner on February 12th. Good Luck!

And the winner is Jeri at LampworkBeads!! Yay!