Create 365, second set

Things are crawling along. The first thing which has become evident (and should be a no-brainer) is that to be productive, I need to be more organised. It's one thing to sit down for 10 minutes to knock out a pair of earrings, but if I can't quickly find the beads I have in mind for them, I can spend 30 minutes or more looking. Which is exactly what I ended up doing for the pair I made. The idea was to make earrings to sell but I love these too much.

The second thing is a question of when, exactly, I have created, made, recycled, upcycled, whatever. So I'm making that up as I go along.

What do you do when you have old jersey, not right to make a t shirt bag, no more space for dusters, not right for flowery things? Make jersey yarn, to be crocheted into some sort of basket, bowl, bag or mat or something. The thing is, does each recycled item count? Perhaps the yarn, as a craft supply material, doesn't count until it's been made into something? I decided against these two and am counting a 'session', so one jersey long-sleeved top session, and another two sessions making yarn from seven pairs of old knickers and a pair of socks.

Talking of socks, a replacement pair of socks in what has become my 'standard' pattern, utterly in my comfort zone.

I also made the Virus shawl, for more details see this blog post.

My ridiculously long Ravelry queue contains lots of crochet block patterns, which I added for no other reason than they were pretty. I picked one and did a set of four blocks. Even though these are also an intermediate stage on their way to being something else, if I can count a jersey recycling session then I can count a crochet session.

Crochet blocks, socks, earrings and jersey yarn. The Virus shawl has already been given to a friend.

Other WIPs are trickling along. I'm going to have to pick up the pace a bit to meet my target at the end of the year!

Set 2 total: 7

Cumulative total: 14

Create 365

I'm in awe of some of my arty friends, who are so productive and create such loveliness. Even some friends of mine who have been posting about what their naughty Christmas elves have been up to, complete with pictures.

Glancing through old posts, especially those from this time of year, I despair at myself; the same old aims pop up time and again. Lose weight, exercise more, earn some money, learn how to do all sorts of things, get everything sorted out, get a grip!

I spotted a post in which I talked about peyote stitch bezels around stones and the offending articles are still in the UFOs box, where I left them years ago when I couldn't decide how to create the bails. I had another look at them when a crafty friend came round for a cuppa and decided that I would not be able to get a pinch bail or even a jump ring into the beadwork, (because I didn't 'cheat' and use a strip of double-sided tape around the stone, so the beadwork is as tight as I could make it). Beaded bails it is, then.

With the turning of the year at Yule, and thinking about my recent creative impulse, I set a goal. I need to be more productive and to do a major de-stash, so I am going to make, create, renovate, repair, alter and complete 365 things.

I have an appalling record when it comes to personal goals, as they often dissolve and disappear within a month, displaced by important and urgent stuff or other interests. Given that I need to be smarter about the goal setting, I decided posting every day and having a photo of every object would be unfeasible and unsustainable, so I'll post periodically and keep a running total. Although 365 is one object a day, I probably won't complete one a day, but I shall have to try to produce more or less 30 things a month just to keep on track. If I run short of time I might start making lots of earrings (although that at least will help de-stash the beads and give me something to sell!).

I've a long list of crafty things I want to try, and have been saying for years that I should pick my art things up again.

Choreographies will count. Making/repairing elements of the garden will count. Making everyday meals will not count, nor will making a mess (something I can do with no effort at all!) I've also decided that blog posts won't count unless they are tutorials or patterns, but I do need to complete a lot of draft posts too.

So that's a major aim for the year, to bring things back into use and create lovely things. How do you think I'll do? Feel like joining me? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Finished Objects!

I was quite productive over my quiet Christmas and managed the last 20% of some projects in January and February.  At last, I have some Finished Objects (FOs), which feels like quite an achievement!

The Evenstar fingerless mittens are finished and ready to go as a birthday gift-come-pay it forward. My remaining pay-it-forward is a little kai no kuchi box.  I love these and should make myself one, so I have more planned.

The Autumn Leaves 'thing' is now a scarf. Since then, I've finished the ruffle scarf too. Is it possible to have too many scarves? I might have to gift or sell this one.  The ruffleyness is better since I washed it to remove the 'factory' smell of the yarn.

I've washed some artificial silk (polyester-viscose) saris, to see how colourfast they are and how well they wash, in preparation for using them in various projects.

Several other washloads have also been done, but I still didn't manage to empty the basket, however temporarily. I've even made a start on the spring cleaning!

I finally decided how I wanted to do my 'Longshore' random wave crochet blanket, the idea for which has been lurking for a while.  I learnt how to do the different lengths/heights of crochet stitches and tested them out by making a bookmark.

My other 'finished objects' are my tax return, a corporate tax return, accounts, paid bills, a heap of paperwork sorted and filed/recycled/shredded, computer files archived and backed up, and updated risk assessments for my classes.

The 'Sequins on my Balcony' show in Cardigan was a success and I managed to finish the technical spec and cue sheets, and remember all my costume, make-up, etc for the performance. I sorted, washed, dried and priced up belly dance clothing and accessories which I'm selling on behalf of a friend and got one of the printers working so that I could print out labels and class flyers.

I sorted out my issues with the Vite Cowl and that is now finished.  I've also managed, at last, to make a start on fingerless mittens for myself and they are knitting up so fast, they'll soon be finished too!

I should stop boasting, because the To Do list is still as long as my arm.  It's not much really, compared to what some other people manage, but at the moment I feel like Superwoman, and that's a rare event.

It Is A Truth Universally Acknowledged ...

... that no matter how big your stash, you won't have the particular item, or colour, fabric, yarn, matching thread, ribbon, button, beads or tool that you want or need for a project.

In this case, no stitch markers.  What?  How did I manage without stitch markers?  (By using loops of waste yarn in a different colour, as far as I remember.)  Could I manage now without stitch markers?  Yes, of course.  Like so many things, I didn't really need them, but I wanted some pretty stitch markers to the point where I knew I would have to make some, just so that I didn't start to daydream and obsess about stitch markers.

So I put down the project to make some, reflecting that this is probably a good way to generate another UFO (but I couldn't do that, because the project in hand was the baby suit).  I took out my findings and some beads, and checked that the jump and split rings I had would in fact fit the 6mm needles I was using.  No, they wouldn't.  And by the natural law of the stash (that you may have all sorts of stuff, but not the precise thing you need at the time), I didn't have any rings big enough.

Burrowing into the stash to find wire to make larger jump rings, what came to hand first was some old copper wire, scavenged when the old house wiring was stripped out.  I forgot about just making simple jump rings and started playing.
I ended up with a few horseshoe shaped markers which could be used for knitting or crochet and a figure 8 style with a glass crystal bead.
Cravings settled for the time being, I used my stitch markers and finished the baby suit. So much more satisfying than using loops of yarn!

Since I was rather enjoying knitting (and the speed at which you can knit up baby clothes!), I thought I might make some mittens and found some nice patterns, all of which called for double pointed needles (dpns).

... Sure enough, apart from a set of antique steel 1.25mm (at a guess) ~ no dpns in my stash!

Favourite Things (in no particular order)

Sunlight on water, sequins and glitter,

Velvet and satin, silk and brocade,
Gold, silver, copper, brass, bronze and pewter,
Beads, stones and crystals, things that I've made.
Coffee and chocolate, fruits, breads and spices,
Colours and scents, Celtic knotwork and braid,
Dragonflies, butterflies, leaves in the Autumn,
Mothwings and flowers and long summer days.
Blue skies and starry nights, beaches and birds,
Computers and books, lounging, log fire ablaze,
Cats, friendships, happiness, laughter and love,
Music and singing and dancing always.