Not sure if this should go here or in the Image Reproduction...

A sort of story behind this:
My husband and I were at the beach, as usual I was playing in the sand and digging a hole. There were two girls that walked by, I think one was on her cellphone, but they looked like the girly type with the over sized purses and all that stuff and I said quietly to myself "Real chicks play in the sand". I chuckled and thought about it later on and said it would be so cool to have that on a shirt. I got a little behind because this all happened last summer. It actually doesn't make any sense because that's not a normal thing most girls do, but I still think it's funny

As modeled by my bed:




I wanted something cute on the back so I did a crab and a starfish (on the bottom leftside)...I hate those markers! For just about everything, except for the sentence, I had to use a sharpie because the fabric marker was too fat and it was running into the other colors. I had filled in the starfish yellow, dotted his eyes and they bled, then started on part of his outline and it bled, so then I just filled him in orange. Any way I can fix that now after it's been set and washed?



Also, for the girl in the red...she's on her phone. Should I leave that white or fill it in? And what color?


Oh I love it!!! I feel like I should have put more on the front, around the top but I didn't want to draw attention to my lady lumps.   

I also have a thing for drawing stick people.

So I had a picture above my couch that was kind of small for the area. And it didn't really fit the theme. Then I had an idea to do some fabric artwork. I had some brown faux taffeta, stapled that to some canvas frames and used the same paint used on the walls to paint some bamboo stems with leaves. Oh, and I drew them with chalk first, then painted. Works wonders! And here they are finished. I couldn't be more pleased with them!



From left to right:
(Closest to the fabric color, it's a bit warmer and browner than this)




And my somewhat theme



Sorry for all the photos! I'm just so excited!

But I wasn't sure if I should have added any definition to the leaves, like making lines around them, especially with the clumped ones so you can see each individual one. What do you think?


And the artwork that inspired these (I had the hardest time finding a simple bamboo painting!)
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?startat=/getthumb.asp&CID=EFD2C126956D43649D4B6D273C9D2B34&PPID=1&sortby=&c=c&page=1&Search=40471

What do you do when you have woken up for the 5th (?) day in a row with a migraine? SEW!



You will need these two ingredients:

Be sure that you are not using Boil in a bag rice or anything like that as it could catch fire in the microwave (or so I've read). For the herbs, they are optional...I only wish I had some dried lavender but the Sleepy Time will do because of the Chamomile in it.

Basic pattern:

I actually used a spray startch can for the size but then realized that would be too small so I added 1/3" around the edges. Then I sewed them with 1/4" seams. The space at the top should be around 1.5" then tightly and closely whip stitch it when it's filled. My fabric was a flannel that I would marry if it were a person (shh, don't tell my husband ), then I used some plain black cotton for the opposite side. I filled it about 2/3 of the way (you don't want it too packed) with the rice (I think I used about a 1/2c, I had to add extra seeing that 1/4c was too little) and tea/herb mix (I used half a packet for mine).

One more little important step:

Do a small row of reinforcement stitches then clip in the center so it's more flexible.

Heat in the microwave for 1 minute and enjoy!! 

Edit: Ok that didn't actually get rid of the migraine...but it still felt nice. And if anyone decides to make a small one like mine...30 seconds to heat is all you need.

So my husband and I have this cute apartment. The only thing I hate about it is the neighbors upstairs and parts of the floors are a bit crooked with awful patch jobs. We had carpeting mostly throughout except for the kitchen and bathroom which had tiling. I hate carpet because it's so hard to keep clean and one of my cats liked to use it as his scratching post AND bathroom  Then one day I took a peak underneath all the carpets to find there was old hardwood flooring underneath, some finished, some not. So we called the landlord to ask if we could rip it up. "Sure go ahead. Do whatever you want."  Well hell yes I will!! We only have the LR done, for the most part, and the bathroom was just a small update. So first the LR which I only have partials of. Oh, and yes, we did it ALL by hand with 3 different grits because the boards were not level with each other! And we have frost heaves along the wall with the couch on it, haha!


Before - with nasty burber carpet *shudders*



In Process -

- I just had to


Sort of finished, painted walls that didn't end at the floor (I filled them afterwards)


And DONE!






- Water Bamboo, in case you're wondering.

So about the side with the messy screen and furniture - We used the screen with a sheet over it because we don't have a door to this room (which would go next to my sewing desk area), so the paper on the screen was covered with sand dust that I couldn't take off even with a steam cleaner. So I ripped it off and I'm waiting to get a staple gun so I can staple the fabric onto it. Afterwards, it will be covering my husband's jewelry bench in that left corner.




And the bathroom - the only before photo had Anakin sitting on the toilet. And no he doesn't use it 


After, same color paint used in the LR -



Whew! Next up is our dining room and bedroom which don't have as bad of floors. Give me a month for that, lol! What do ya think?

The hood came out a little weird, I think 'cause it's too short, and the pocket would look a little better a bit higher, but I don't care. I still love it!



He's my favorite.

The black fabric was some $1/yard waffle weave stuff I got at Walmart (7.78 yds altogether) and the dinosaur is a flannel that I got from my friend Emily - Jesse Phoenix.

Comments are welcome

And his name really is Luke! We play a SW RPG game, he wants me to make one for myself but I think I'm gonna wait for now...we already have matching combat boots, I don't want to look silly, lol!

I used the Simplicity pattern for this but left the capelet out. I have to do something about the hood though because it's overly pointy and the Jedi/Sith robes have a more rounded hood. I still need to find some type of clasp for the top that doesn't look feminine.




Do you know how hard it is to get an overly happy person to make a serious face?? These are the only good shots I could get. And sorry about the nasty floors, we're in the process of restoring them.

What do ya think? 


My Sith Lord name is Darth Tardius! - Luke is just Luke

I realize it's not knit... but it has to do with it.

My mom, a long time crocheter, has recently decided to take up knitting because of seeing so many patterns she liked, but were knit. So she went to the store and picked up a couple pairs of needles. And...I had a few extra pairs so she's getting them as well as something to put them in.



It's slightly shiny up close  At least in person it is...

I didn't fill/line it though...I see them a lot like that but I think it makes it too bulky. Or is it there for a reason?

And since she does have a ton of crochet hooks, I'll probably be making a much smaller, matching one for those too.

I was on a hiatus but knit a bunch of stuff and now I'm back (I pissed a few people off on here who threatened me in my blog which I then deleted so I decided to delete my account as well but it didn't work so I'm deciding to keep it now...but no blog because I'm not allowed to rant in it when I get frustrated with a project  God forbid).

Anyways...I had made a sweater some time ago that came out utterly huge, but I liked the shell of it. I had some bright blue yarn that looked like it would make a nice cheap sweater, so I took the pattern apart...sort of...and made a simple little V-neck shell/tank top. And it came out awesome, it fits me nearly perfect!  It's not blocked or washed yet so the stitches on top and edge of the armhole look kind of crappy.




I'm hoping to make this in a more comfortable yarn but am not very knowledgeable with the various types. Can anyone recommend a soft and not so humid yarn that is a worsted weight or 4 ply? Bamboo? Or is that too skinny? Something that will be comfortable enough to wear in summer...


My husband now has a new sweater that will keep him warm in well below arctic temperatures...beca use I used acrylic yarn, lol. It's Caron Simply Soft and the pattern is Leo from Knitty.com. I made mistakes with the arms though, I forgot to do the decrease shaping a few stitches in on both the arm hole and top of the sleeves, I did them on the edge instead but I don't think it makes much of a difference. And it actually fits him! It took me almost 6 total rolls of yarn and a lot of sore fingers.




We were going out to Boston one day and I knew it was going to be rainy and snowy but I didn't want to wear a hat, have to take it off and have hat hair so I made a Calorimetry, finally, my husband loved it on me so I made a second one out of the remaining yarn from his sweater. The brown is Lion Brand Wool Ease...and the blue one looks kind of stretched because Lukey decided to try it on one day...





I'm not sure on what brand or type of yarn this is, I got it from my grandmother and it had no label but it feels like a wool/acrylic mix...I think it may be Wool Ease but it doesn't feel as smooth. I was almost done with the second one when I ran out of yarn...4 rows left!! So it's still on the needles until I can find something similar. Really simple with a Rib pattern on either side.






And I almost forgot one...I made some little ankle protectors for my husband to wear underneath his socks because I just bought him some Demonia boots...I had to make some for mine as well to keep my heels from blistering and they worked excellent, the only thing I changed was the back of the heel...instead of it being the K1 Sl1 pattern I did a seed stitch so they're extra squishy...it's acrylic yarn though with a little stretch in it.