ok a couple of things I'M working on now

neither of these is done.

one is a neckwarmer made out of kauni effektgarn and the other is a shawl (pattern is anna's shawl from stickfrossa blog) also made out of kauni

since the neckwarmer goes so close to the skin and let's face it kauni is beautiful BUT NOT THE SOFTEST YARN OUT THERE, i'm going to line it with fleece (you can see the white fleece peeking out from the holes. i'm going to cut the holes out so you can't see the fleece. i've not yet sewn the fleece to the neckwarmer. i'm not done embellishing and beading it.  i didn't use a pattern. i just started knitting and  riffed off of the swiss cheese scarf pattern. i added baubles as you can see and did a LOT of binding off and casting on at the ends as well as making random holes. (oh, i've obviously felted this after i was done knitting)

the shawl pattern i followed faithfully (well as faithfully as i can follow anything) until the end. i added baubles (what can i say, i'm in love with them) and i used an i-cord bind off. i think i'm going to do a crochet fancier border too. as you can see it is NOT blocked. i've not even woven in the ends.

just didn't want anyone to think i've been lax...........

oh man, i'm not even that big of a chocolate fan

BUT THESE look fantastic

vegan thin mints from a billion tastes and tunes picture from there as well

found via


p.s. don't get me wrong. i LIKE chocolate. i just LOVE potato chips MORE

the REAL reason i knit

via

some AMAZING crochet sculptures

can be found RIGHT here



via

from craftzine

gift giving ideas and the like

i've posted the link before, BUT these are wicked cool, EASY (it's ALL in the folding, NOT the knitting) and quick
one of my all time favorites from craft:
felt house slippers

By Liecel Tverli Scully

pic from liecel's tutorial linked above

here's a link to liecel's blog lucky travels

crafty blog

stop by lil fish studios

it's a GREAT (and crafty) blog!

lil' fish studios

there's  a GREAT recipe for peanut soup that looks wicked tasty. it can VERY easily be vegan


here's her etsy store

found via

and, i just found a GREAT feature on her (lil fish that is) on whipup whipup calendar girls, miss january

Pipe Wrench Table

Pipe Wrench Table

family circle has ALL sorts of holiday crafts up

go check it out HERE!





pic: David Prince
wall flowers easy felt crafting

this is in turkish

and the google translator really isn't too much help BUT it's beautiful. there's also a picture tutorial of how to make the individual yarn flowers (which has japanese directions, but seems KIND of easy to figure out). anyway, i thought this was cool

from knitting fairy (yes, i know I HAVE a knitting fairy tattoo. but this is also the name of a turkish blog

ok, i LOVE this idea

 it's such a royal pain in the arse to cart around hot dishes. this is THE perfect solution

How-To: Make a Potluck Dish Cozy from an Old Sweater

 

By Diane Gilleland

 

pic from ms gilleland's tutorial at craftzine linked above 

here's an adorable little crochet scarflet - spiceberry ruffles

from crafty begonia (Picture from crafty begonia)

totally tutorials

tikka

via

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: watch a 1964 beatles concert FREE on itunes

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: watch a 1964 beatles concert FREE on itunes

check out the

Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf

 

at fat free vegan kitchen

the only thing i don't like about this is the word 'tablescapes'

it makes me think of this id-jit (yeah, this is SUPPOSED to be the 'nice' blog, but i AM being nice by only using id-jit)
 see the WHOLE posting at the link below

Holiday Moss Tablescapes

Meg Allan Cole

ok, this IS off the hook

from off the hook astronomy
star trek potholder pattern!!!

pic from the off the hook link above


via

whipup has a roundup of past tutorials

that are going to be wonderful for gift making and giving


kath_red

here's but one: friendship necklaces image and tutorial on that one by honestly wtf (great name, no? great name  YES). i've actually linked to this one before, but i LOVE it, so i'll do it again.

oh man SERIOUS want

i did post another video a while back of mr bucket's work

Fluid-filled dress knit from plastic tubes
 Maggie Koerth-Baker

Fluid Dress from Charlie Bucket on Vimeo.

Charlie Bucket

last week

the ny times had an INTERACTIVE VEGETARIAN thanksgiving


this week it's wapo's turn with a VEGAN thanksgiving! at the end of the article there are some vegan recipes

Vegan potluck celebrates a meat-free Thanksgiving

pic: Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, run by executive director Terry Cummings, hosts an annual vegan potluck each year. Hundreds of people come and interact with the farm's "retired animals." (man, that's a HUGE oinker!)

and:

More than 500 vegan bloggers have joined forces to post daily recipes, observations and sources in November on the Web site Vegan MOFO (or Vegan Month of Food) at veganmofo.wordpress.com.

craftzine points us over to this wicked cool

woven paint chip credit card holder by mark montano, he of the big ass book of crafts fame

 pics: the book pic is from amazon, linked above and the paint chip credit card holder pic is from mr montano's diy also linked above

via craft

get out your needle and threads and canvas for this craftzine link

anSpace Invaders Christmas Cross-Stitch  Posted by Rachel Hobson

............Flickr user even-star created and posted this fun Space Invaders Christmas cross-stitch chart. Get started now to make one for each of your geeky pals this holiday season! [via Mr. X Stitch] ..........

i drink more coffee than water

so you can imagine, i have a TON o' coffee cans. crafting a green world gives us 

five awesome coffee can projects

pic from the crafting a green world diy link above

i don't know if you've ever been to the sites of Marilyn Scott-Waters

known as the toymaker
there are a TON of free paper toys you can make at the first linked site. they are for ALL occasions. they're lovely and fun and pretty and cool and kids AND adults covet them. 

the toymaker's journal

she has a new book out

The Toymaker's Christmas: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself [Paperback]

in yesterday's nyt

they have a interactive vegetarian thanksgiving piece

it is by NO means vegan, but a couple recipes are and the rest COULD be made vegan quite easily. give it a look

i'm ALL over the winter squash, onion and pine nut pizza

pic from the nyt piece linked above

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i have

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i have

my dreams have been answered!!!

i don't want to spend the money on one (they're fairly EXPENSIVE for what they are). this seems fairly easy to make - so i'm going to try
this instructable!
Make Your Own Yarn Winder for Center Pull Balls

by handprints

pic from  handprints 

  instructable linked above

crafting a green world has

a pretty cool posting on how to....aromatherapy play-dough
Julie Finn

pic from the posting linked above

know what these are?

i didn't until i looked at the second picture on the craftzine posting for making these center pieces

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu
pic from craftzine

please stop by and check out the

jewelry and other work of harriete estel berman





extraordinarily beautiful

AND

all made out of recycled materials (well the jewelry is)

i'd love to own a piece (or five)

pic from ms berman's website and the piece is Round Scalloped Bracelet 2007

dances with wools hooks us up to

the bayeux tapestry

watch it. it's pretty damn amazing

martha has a BUNCH of

snowflake decorations for YOU to make

pic from martha stewart's link above

from katheryn ivy

pattern for knitted (and felted) mushrooms (caps and stems to mix and match no less!!!) (as you know i be lovin' me some shrooms. not only to eat, but to decorate with as well)

picture from kathryn ivy
in looking around their site, i also found some wicked GOOD prices on malabrigo (my personal favorite yarn of ALL time). their store is mr yarn. the prices are so good, i just placed an order my own darn self! (knitting those neckwarmers like CRAZY for holiday gifts you know)

found via ANOTHER great blog: a polar bear's tale

wow, i LOVE this box made from a recycled aluminum can!

dangerous minds links us up so  you can make one too

loads o' good stuff on

whipup of late. i ESPECIALLY have some hard love forrap/">this braided t shirt yarn headwrap. which is from sew home grown

LOVE LOVE LOVE this

(pic from sew home grown)

and here's the etsy shop of sew home grown

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: If you're wondering where I am

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: If you're wondering where I am

i'm a sucker for cowls and neckwarmers and the like

the anticraft has a GREAT one up now

cafe au laine

by Simone Van Iderstine

pic from the anticraft linked above

note: cowls and neckwarmers are EASY to knit and quick (as a rule). the holidays are coming up and they make GREAT gifts.

i'm diggin this and

i'll bet it wouldn't be that hard (OR expensive) to make (i'd NOT have them sharpened)


Shelf made from pencil crayons  
(made by: Dominic Wilcox)

Cory Doctorow 

this is what i'm working on now

holes and bobbles and a few short rows thrown in for good measure. increases and decreases. no particular pattern, just winging it. i'm going to do a few more inches and make sure i end up with (well a few rows BEFORE the end) a row of holes. i'm going to then sew some beads on the right side and felt it (in a pillowcase in the washer. i'm far too lazy to do it manually). then i'll sew a few buttons on to match the end holes and voila, A NECKWARMER! if it comes out half way decently, i'm going to give it as a christmas gift. if not, well it's all mine! it too is done in kauni effektgarn

quite a difference from the kauni rainbow shawl i'm also working on (NO NO NO, i'm NOT done with that either)