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Crafts Page |
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Welcome to my craft room!
Feel free to come in and look around. As you can see, Blitz has already made herself comfortable (lower right corner). I have been crafting for as long as I can remember, and now have my own room to putter around in (actually, the crafts took over the spare bedroom, so as long as its just the two of us, I will have a room to store all of this stuff!). Currently, I sew and knit, and occasionally do cross-stitch. As I was growing up, I experimented with lots of different handcrafts: stenciling, caligraphy, needlepoint, crewel, crochet, latch hook...
Sewing I love sewing! I learned to use a sewing machine on my mom's old Singer, and growing up I often used her Viking. I really liked the Viking (Singer isn't the same it used to be), so a couple years ago I got a Viking Lily sewing machine. I liked the programmed stitches, which are fun for decorating the edge of a project, and I also liked the fact that it can adjust its speed for varying layers of fabric. I sew ALOT of (fake) fur, so this was important to me. I have a few other sewing machines, too. In addition to my Viking, I have two Singers (my mom's original, and the one she bought me for graduation), a cabinet model Singer that originally belonged to my Great-Grandmother, a Serger, an 1800's era Domestic sewing machine that belonged to Chris' great-Aunts, and an 1800's or early 1900's White sewing machine that also belonged to Chris' great-Aunts. Even with all these sewing machines, I still sew things by hand on occasion. I bought some small bear kits (the bears are about 3" tall) and pack them with me when I travel for work. They are just the right size to put in my carry-on, and keep me from going into craft withdrawal when I have to travel! Knitting I also learned to knit as a child, first using one of those peg knitters, then graduating to needles. My first project was a burp rag for my dolls, which I found recently. I made several sweaters for my sisters (and my own) dolls, and even attempted an afghan (still in progress). I had always thought knitting machines were neat, so a while back, I bought a Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine from Herrschner's. It has a row of needles that look like latch hooks, and I push a carriage back and forth along the bed to knit the rows. It goes real fast, and is alot of fun. So far I have made some doll sweaters (my lack of patience encourages me to make small things!), and have started a baby blanket. I will post pictures of my knitting projects in the future. Other Craft Projects Every year, Herrschner's, a craft catalog company in Stevens Point, Wisconsin (30 minutes south of where I grew up) has a wherehouse sale. Some years there are boxes and boxes of cheap craft projects, while other years, it's pretty slim pickings. But every time I went with my mom, we would buy something. And that brings me to my Pile of Projects. I went to several sales, but didn't manage to do many of the projects, and they started to accumulate. My mom had the same affliction (projectitis) and so I took on some of the projects she didn't have time to finish. I had been squirreling the stuff away in different places-- the closet, on some shelves-- so I wasn't sure how many I had accumulated; not to mention, out-of-sight, out of mind-- I kept putting off tackling the stash. So, I decided to dig all the kits out and pile them up, as shown in the picture here. I also counted my kits:
I will be posting to the Pile of Projects page as I complete each project, including pictures. I will have a running tally, in the hopes it will motivate me to finish! |
(sorry for the mess!)
I started this because my mom was a very crafty
lady, and I watched her when I was little, and later learned from her. Unfortunately, mom is no longer
crafting, as she passed away in September, 1999. Even when she was in chemotherapy, she still managed
to crochet a few things on her good days. The picture on the right shows my mom and I on my wedding
day.