also diggin' these abyss legwarmers

found via

from boho knits pic from boho knits as well

man, these would make wonderful gifts ESPECIALLY IF ONE LIVES IN NEW ENGLAND!!!

i'm diggin' it!

angry birds in LEGO

Awesome. Angry Birds in Lego by Tsang Yiu Keung. [via Sprite Stitch]

a dreamcatcher (you can make VEGAN)

by using paper feathers
here is HOW TO DO IT

pic from the craftzine link above

from the etsy shop of

artisan cake company
edible angry birds cake toppers (pic from the etsy shop linked above)

via

me and my wreath fetish again

here's a lovely HELLO SPRING! wreath tutorial from art-is-tree
pic from the tutorial linked above

(found via totally tutorials

oh my goddess, i LOVE this felt alphabet book

from feltorama. and  you can find the tutorial HERE

pic from the felo-o-rama tutorial linked above and below is the link to the ORIGINAL tute

craitlyn.blogspot.com

here's an idea.............

do some volunteer crafting!

how about knitting or crocheting a nine inch square for pine street inn knit along

visit their site for the faqs and the abouts and the this' and the thats. c'mon. a nine inch square. how hard is that?

cowls, hoods, neck warmers, they're ALL my 'thing'

i can't stop knitting them (by the way, of ALL the ones i've knitted, i've NOT kept one of 'em).  they're easy to knit and fast too! they make a great gift and are useful (especially on a day like today where the temp is below zero WITHOUT a wind chill factor)

whipup has links to a BUNCH of patterns

enjoy!

pic from the whipup posting linked above

from etsy storque

debbie stoller's hip hop blanket (oh i SO want to make this)   designed by Jennifer Lippman-Bruno,

Photo by Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting

studiodax has a WONDERFUL tutorial on

how to make a simple wire heart pendant. it's lovely! the pic is from the tutorial at

here's a link to her studiodax etsy shop (LOADS of nice things at pretty darn good prices too)

via

the consumerist hooks you up with

55 GREEN ways to use a YELLOW lemon

pic: chloeloe)

i've been waiting and waiting and waiting...........

FINALLY the winter issue of knitty is UP

photo cover from the winter 2011 knitty by Sean Rangel

there's a pretty darn cute

tutorial for embellishing socks over at alisa burke's blog (found via whip up

the winter edition

of elizabeth abernathy's magazine is out. stop by her website and take a peek

i have her forest nuno (fall 2010) and LOVE it. i WILL get the winter  shades of gray one as well

from how about orange, here's a nice little

fabric flower tutorial

pic: from the how about orange tutorial linked above

wow

etsy shop: stellar quilts

my latest piece

it is NOT blocked yet
a beaded neck piece
modeled by the lovely sharon

pre-thread lots and then lots more size 6 glass beads on yarn
cast on 72 stitches and join without twisting (and of course place a marker at join)
k2, p1around placing a bead in each purl on every other row
continue this pattern for about 4 inches give or take
make a little ruffle on one end by k2, k1 f&b all the way around
next row, k5, k1 f&b all the way around. do this a few more rows and bind off
then cut several lengths of yarn for fringe. attach to neck piece then put a bead on the end of each length of yarn. tie a knot on each end.
BLOCK (which as i said above, i have NOT done yet)
size 4 needles 16" circular

crafting a green world has

a diy on seven crafty projects YOU can make with zippers


Maria Dryden

pic: from the crafting a green world posting linked above

blocking a beaded neck-thingy i made

it's way too wide for a neck warmer but not wide enough to double. well, live and learn. i used sport weight baby alpaca and smallish circulars (probably a 5). i cast on 88 and did it all in double rib; K2, P2. every other row on the pearls, i slipped in a bead (of course ALL of the beads have to be strung PRIOR to you starting to knit. here it is being blocked. (i'm trying to make it longer and skinnier. we'll see if that works out

if you want to see some absolutely STUNNING crochet work

look NO farther than the flickr stream of fibreromance. man, i don't get jealous but if i did.........................her work would do it

seriously jealous, serious WANT

 some buy shoes. some buy clothes (of course i buy them, but i don't DESIRE them or DREAM of them). what do i dream of? YARN and YARN and MORE YARN (and ok, beads sometimes too)

world's biggest yarn stash from mochimochi land (pic from there as well)

love this from craft!

wicked cool AND stuff you probably already have (i do) How-To: Make a Perpetual Button Calendar for 2011 (and Beyond)

pic from the craft tute linked above

wow!!!

egg carving

via

stop by

living crafts and take a look around. there are free patterns at their blog and ideas and there's a GREAT tutorial for dyeing your own wool fabric

pic from the dye your own wool fabric part i and part ii

by Annette Ringeisen

craftzine has a link to

how to dye fabric using snow which would be VERY appropriate for those of us in new england. we just got hit with a giant nor'easter! here's the link to craftster how to dye fabric using snow. i'm guessing that's where craft got their pics from. the outside snow pic i took yesterday

beading arts has a bunch of links

for online jewelry and beading education

check 'em all out!

knitting and healing

but it doesn't necessarily HAVE to be knitting. i do lots of crafts but knitting makes me the MOST zen. 

Crafting a Recovery

By ANN HOOD

I HAVE been knitting a lot lately — as I do whenever the New England weather turns colder. Baby hats and fingerless gloves. Blankets and dishrags. I’ve returned to a scarf I once grew bored with, a sweater I never finished.
I learned to knit in 2002, six months after my 5-year-old daughter, Grace, died suddenly from a virulent form of strep. I was unable to read or write, and friends suggested I take up knitting; almost immediately I fell under its spell.//////////

 

 

 

pic:

Harrison Hayne

The Daily Irritant: Steve King is my New Favorite Congressman.

The Daily Irritant: Steve King is my New Favorite Congressman.: " And by favorite, I mean most unintentionally entertaining. I've decide that since this country seems hell-bent on electing the most ri..."

truthfully, i only watch the FIRST video. that was enough to convince me. i needed nothing more. that dude is WHACK (and NOT in a good way)

from the sisters 4

say more is more a beaded bib necklace tutorial. looks pretty darn cool!

pic from the sisters 4 tute linked above

after iris' succulents are my absolute favorites

from design sponge flowers a-z: “e” is for echeveria, eryngium and eustoma

pic from design sponge
Read more at Design*Sponge http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/01/flowers-a-z-e-is-for-echeveria-eryngium-and-eustoma.html#ixzz1AcBxga00

five projects for you, using

paper tubes

from Maria Dryden at crafting a green world

pic from one of 'em, it's the instructable on how to build a lamp out of toilet paper tubes 
by by ale anton

you know you want 'em, you know you need 'em

knit convertible mittens

pic from the craftzine pattern posting linked above

i love sea glass

even though i live in a state with an ocean, i don't get to the short that often. PLUS we don't  have a heck of a lot of sea glass in connecticut (that i've seen at any rate)

here's an idea (from boing boing but really from Rich Faulhaber at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories).............now all i need is a cement mixer (put-i put-i)!

How to make sea glass

Mark Frauenfelder  
pic from:
the beach glass machine

look at this wonderful revereible felt basket

at resurrection fern (pic from there as well).

in addition to being a doctor AND a mother the woman crafts and photographs like NO ONE'S bid-nez. i really do admire her

here's a link to her cool etsy shop; knitalatte

got a couple of new iphone photo apps

i want one i want one i want one

yarn monster

found via craftzine

Yarn Monster from toddtreece on Vimeo.

i posted a pic of it, BUT

here's 'the making of' video!

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

while looking at the purl bee's website

i found THE most amazing felt wreath tutorial. it was part of the purl bee's best of 2010

it's the fifth project down, the felt flower winter wreath. it's amazingly cool and seems to be fairly easy to make as well. i know what my next project is!

i'm not the biggest chocolate fan in the universe

BUT i like it, don't get me wrong. there is a wonderful vegan chocolate maker in manchester (connecticut) divine treasures. they also carry them at the whole foods in west hartford center (not the one at bishops corner though????)

anyway i saw the following making chocolate video on on craftzine and wanted to share. it too is VEGAN


Mast Brothers from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

mast brothers chocolate

pic from the mast brothers website linked above

if you're a member of ravelry

please take a look at the patterns of frankie brown

they're amazing. they're free and even though they LOOK complicated, i think most of them have a simple basic process behind them.

like i said, frankie's patterns are free BUT if you're of the mind, she (or i guess it could be he) says you could give a lil' donation to children's liver disease foundation (it's in the uk but i'll bet if you're here in america you can donate too!)

man, just check out the ten stitch wave scarf or the lightening shawl

or really ANY of the patterns. wow, i am WICKED IMPRESSED

oh YUM

and unlike STOREBOUGHT nutella, this version is VEGAN (well if you use vegan sugar it is)
again, OH YUM

(pic from the bonvivant site linked below)


home made nutella

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

found via

project i'm working on now

a beaded neckwarmer. no pattern.

what i did so far:

used blue sky alpaca sport weight. needle is circular 16" i believe a 4. cast on 88 stitches (it is going to be tight, not a loose one. i'm going to do a ruffle on the bottom as well. haven't decided if i'll crochet that on or just knit it). i'm doing a k2, p2 rib. every other row i've put a bead in each of the 2 purls. oh yeah, you have to string the beads FIRST of course. how many? well i don't know. i strung a LOT. when i'm done, i sure will be able to give an accurate count.

 the beads are a size 6 and they do fit on the sport weight yarn. i used one of those blue dental thingys to thread the beads. pics are from my phone so they're not as good as camera pics