Creativity by Knitgirlll06

I saw this comment on my blog and although I responded to the person I really want to know, Why is this an issue.  Here’s the comment and tell me what you feel.

1. I noticed all of the pictures you have on here are of black women modeling the garments. I am white. I cannot identify with your totally black pictures. If you want to attract all races, please be courteous and include at least one other race when putting pictures on the site. Thank-You.

After I read this I had to go back again and reread it to make sure this was correct.  This is my take as a blogger, creator and most of all a very proud Black woman who is raising two young ladies that I want to proud of the skin they were born in; while not harboring any resentment or undo prejudice on anyone based on the color of their skin.    I blog for the outlet of sharing aspects of my life with all of you.  And just because there are ads or packaging that I include on my blog that depict black people there are just as many ads, books, podcast, pattern envelopes and the like that showcase other races.  I would never come to your blog looking to see me just to feel included.  I feel included because we’re sharing our love of fibers, notions, and the like.

I hope that we fiber lovers and creative spirits can help break the cycle of race.  For all of us it’s a joy, spark of excitement when we find something new, learn a new method/skill, and most of all find others that share that love.  Please tell me why this issue of race would even be on this woman’s mind when I’m her sister in our love of crafting and womanhood.

Until then, Be blessed, be positive, be truthful, be at peace and be CREATIVE.

I was driving down the street the other day in the midst of all the running and things that make up my daily routine and longed to be sitting somewhere quite with the wind blowing softly, with my Ipod going, and one of my knitting projects making progress.

It seemed as though my routine had become knit, crochet, quilt and sewer friendly and then it all went haywire. So the thing I desire more than anything else right now is time to create and plan and complete my UFO’s that sit in there respective places wondering “where’s the love”

The one thing I have been doing and will share with you is making homemade pizza with my daughters. My youngest loves to cook just like me and so she learned to make homemade dough at school and we thought we’d give it a whirl so I would like to share our creations. First we have a jalapeno and cheese

Then we have Garlic herb crusted cheese and ground beef

Homemade Pizza Dough

In a bowl mix 1 1/4 cup of warm water

with 2 packs of dry yeast, mix well until dissolved

mix in 3 1/2 to 4 cups of sifted flour  add 1 tsp. of salt and mix until it becomes firm.

Place in a bowl that has been greased with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Cover with Saran Wrap and place in a warm dry place for at least 45 mins. to allow the dough to rise.    Then prepare your pizza dough by rolling it out using flour to keep it from being sticky.  This should make enough dough for three medium pizzas.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who came and shared your thoughts with me and helped me celebrate my 3rd Blogversary.  I wished that I could give something to everyone.  Without further ado the winners are: Crochet~ Bianca, Quilting ~ Kristen, Knit~Sabrina, Sewing ~ Vloula. I will be contacting each of you to get your addresses and let you know when you’ll be receiving your prizes.

Congrats to you ladies!

I noticed that I’ve been blogging for the past 3 years as of April 29th and thought I’d have a little party with favors. Since I quilt, knit, crochet and sew a gift from each would be offered. What I’d like to know from you is what propelled you share your crafting life with all of us out here in blogging land? For me, it was a chance to meet others with the same interests, glean as much knowledge as I could from the more experienced crafters, and share my accomplishments and failures with you while building a sisterhood of sorts with each of you. I will be running this contest for 1 week and will choose the winners by random draw and post here May 8th. You have until midnight May 7th to leave your comment answering the questions posed in this post. Good luck and thanks for participating.  5/1 I forgot to mention that with each prize listed there will be an additional prize catered to the winners personal taste.

Quilting Prize

Knitting Prize

Crochet Prize

Sewing Prize

As time has gone on I have tried to step it up a notch as you learn what draws people to your blog. No, I don’t have this down just yet but there has been remarkable improvement. I hope you’ll continue to stop by from time-to-time and be a witness and encourager of my growth.

Yesterday I made a giant leap into the frog pond. I don’t know if I was just overlooking a major flaw in my Ruffled Shrug. I was just about to put my sleeves on holders and discovered that now my collar wasn’t going in the right direction and it wasn’t the right size. Look closely at the garter stitch ridge after the buttonhole it’s suppose the be the other way so that the collar can stand and then flow over the shoulders.

I kept debating as to what I could do but the more I tried to compensate for it the worse it got so I just decided that if I was going to do this I had to do it right. So I frogged my sweater that I’ve been working on for over 3 weeks and cast on again making a few changes so that the size would come out correctly. On a brighter note I did find the button for the shrug at JoAnn’s

I realize that as a crafter we strive for perfection in our work so as to be able to showcase our creative talents and therefore we may wrestle with the decision that I had to make. There are some times when you can fix a mistake and still come out with a great project in the end.

My question to you, how do you handle your crafting mistakes? Are you a perfectionist? Do you see you flaw as an artistic marker showing that no one but God is perfect? (asking this as I’ve heard this many times) Or do you feel that those who aren’t crafters will never know that you made a mistake and wear or display your finished crafts with pride?

Be Blessed, be productive, be truthful, be at peace and be CREATIVE.

Hello everyone, I didn’t want to neglect my weekly offerings. Unfortunately school and family has me making zero progress in my crafting world the last 2 weeks. I still have my Ruffled Shrug on the needles and manage to knit at least 3-5 rows before I sleep this is really moving at a snails pace. I am about an inch away from putting the sleeves on scrap yarn so that’s progress. My daughters footies are still in the same stage and that’s 1/2 way to making the toe section of the footies. I have been thinking of doing a Blogversary Celebration to commemorate my 3rd year of blogging.  That is still up in the air.  My Blogversary is officially on April 29th.  I have a few days to make a decision on that.

I have been listening to my IPod and love love love Y Knits so very much. It’s so nice to see our male counterparts bringing their creative perspective to the knitting and crochet table. As women I don’t think we really take the time to realize that the market hasn’t gotten into including the men in the design and pattern offering process. With podcast like Y Knits and Sticks and Strings it’s a good chance that we’ll see more knitting geared towards our male partners. I have also found Carrie of Socks in the City this podcast is all about socks with interviews with Melissa Oakes-Morgan and the likes. I enjoy hearing about socks and the different patterns and methods and yummy yarns that she talks about on this podcast.

I’m hoping to have something to show on next Friday. In my sewing corner there are 2 tops and a quilt that need to be finished my creative mojo has been replaced with books and tiredness. Have a great week and I’ll see you next week.

So here we are? It’s another Friday and I want to share a bit of what’s been going on in my world. First I would like to say that I made this little dress for my niece that turned 5 on April 9th.

I used cotton print fabric with pink lace trim on the top bodice and on the hem of the dress. She absolutely loved it. My next FO is my first pair of Fetchings made using KnitPicks Merino Style yarn in Dusk. They will be shipped out on Tuesday to my SWAP partner on Ravelry group College Knitters.

I’m currently working on 5 projects. My knitting projects include socks for my oldest DD, my Ruffled Shrug from Knitsimple Magazine Holiday 2007 issue.

In the magazine they used Verikeri by Muench Yarns I love the colorway. My other project is my Green Gable Sweater that has been on the needles for close to a year. I plan to finish it by the summer. I have come to understand the love of starting and finishing projects in a more timely fashion.

Just want to take some time and discuss my feelings for what Ravelry has done for my crafting life. Not sure about you, but I look forward to my Ravelry time everyday. It has been the catalyst for me becoming more accountable to completing projects and stepping out the box and participating in SWAP’s and KAL’s. When you’re a self-taught crafter there is always a sense of inadequacy when reviewing your work. Although I have been knitting, crocheting, quilting and sewing for some time now, you’re always leary of your work as it is very personal and a true extension of yourself. Since being on Ravelry I’ve done several things that have changed me. One, joined over 70 groups and actively try to maintain activity in all of them and that includes staying in contact with all of the people listed on my friends list. How can you call them friends if you never take the time out to say hi? Two, I participated in 2 SWAP’s so far in the past 6 years. Three, I became accountable for my crafts and my crafting area(s) by joining several groups on Ravelry that address these issues. So far the one that has been most craft changing for me has been the Year Long Gift A-Long. I want to thank BrownBerry for starting the Year Long Gift A-Long group on Ravelry.

I hope that you will take the time not only to get the most out of Ravelry but give back to those who so freely give and participate, donate and share your knowledge with someone not at your creative level. The best gifts are those that are a true extension of yourself.

Until next Friday…..Be blessed, be positive, be truthful, be at peace and be CREATIVE.

Hello Everyone  here’s this weeks installment of FOF.  I will also be sharing my newest hobby and it’s HOTTTT.  My first offering is my second pair of Basic Toe-up socks for my youngest DD in Red Cascade Cloud 9 yarn knitted on size 2 Addi Turbo cir using the ML method.

My next offering is my first attempt at the very well known pattern Fetching from Knitty.com and I will have to say this is a very quick knit and I love the finish product.  The one thing I will have to say is this pattern has lessen the apprehension of making gloves in the future.  No, I’m not about to cast on for a pair but they are in the future.  These are being made for the College SWAP on Ravelry.  I made these using KnitPicks Merino Style in Dusk using size 5 DPN’s.

I thought I would have some sewing offerings this week but that wasn’t the case.  I hope to have at least 3 items ready for show on next week but I have to see what my class load will be like as the new semester starts on Monday.

Drumroll please………on to my new hobby, it involves these items:

Do you know what my new hobby is yet?  It’s fun, feminine, seductive, puts your body in tune with itself.  Do you know yet?  Okay, well here’s one more clue and I think you’ll know exactly what I’m up to.  Close your eyes……….NO PEAKING………..I see those fingers spreading………………….

You guessed it.  I’m belly dancing yall.  This is the most fun I’ve ever had with fitness.  That’s because the method gives twofold benefits.  First, it’s something that gets your heart pumping while allowing you to become one with your body.  Secondly, you get to shimmy and shake and feel feminine.  I would love to thank Lamira over on Ravelry for becoming my belly dance mentor.  This is a great new venture and I will keep you updated on my progress.  My goal is to perform one day.  When that happens I will share it with all of you.   Until next week as always Be blessed, be positive, be truthful, be at peace and be CREATIVE. 

I have one item to offer for this week.  Since I have finals this week that has been my focus and not much else has been getting done.  I have next week off and many items I plan to complete.

My first love, crochet has made it back into my life and finding Ms. Afya Ibomu on Uncommon Threads lite the fire under me and got me grabbing my hooks out of the closet.  So here’s my offering for the week.  This is my fifth Soldier Cap from Afya Ibomu’s book Get Your Crochet On!

This was crochet on size G hook and scaled down from the pattern by 6 rows for the body and on the brim I eliminate the last 2 rows since this is for a child.

Until my next post Be blessed, be positive, be truthful, be joyful, be at peace, and be CREATIVE.

Here are my WIP’s for the week.  First we have my newly reformed Ruffles Shrug in Serendipity Tweed from my Flair project.  I’m currently on the ribbed collar as this a top down raglan styled shrug.

Next is my youngest daughter’s Basic Toe-up socks using Cascade Cloud 9 in Red.  As you can see I’m making good progress on these using the ML (magic loop) method and my trusty Addi Turbo circs.  I cast these on 3/19 and hope to be done no later than Weds.  If only I was a faster knitter.

Here’s a new take on Oatmeal Cookies.  I call it my Oatmeal Cranberry Orange Bar w/Orange glaze.  I added orange flavored cranberries to the mix with some orange zest and it turned out pretty good.  Added the orange glaze and OMG sinfully rich now add a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream and OOOOPS there it is a nice twist to the average cookie recipe.  The girls and I loved it.

Now on to the confession.  I have been working on a quilt for the past year and I will through pictures let you take the journey and then I’ll give the present status of this project.

Photo 1.  Black backgroud to make the T-shirts pop.   2.  Switch to Red and pink backgroud per request of recipient.  3.  Trying to place the t-shirts so that the quilt is appealing  4. Ripped all that out and started from scratch and it’s working better.

Current status.  I tried to machine quilt this and even with my walking foot it was not going well.  So now I’m hand quilting this project and it’s long and tedious work but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know the recipient can’t wait to get it.  Now I do have to say in making quilts and have things not work while someone is expecting it puts the creative process in a totally different place.    I finally shared these truths of the Year Long Quilt as a way of making myself take the time to complete it and ship it off.  There have been some times of frustration and then some times of joy while working on this but the biggest thing I have come away with as I near the end of this quilt is that you can’t take things to seriously and to expect the unexpected.

I hope that you will take time to revisit and come to terms with some of the frustrations of creating a piece of work.  Rather it be knitting, sewing, quilting or whatever your crafting media is it’s a learning process and at the end you have grown in knowledge, gained a new perspective and will know what you can or can’t venture into.  It’s all a part of finding your niche.  Until Friday, I hope you all have a great week and as always Be blessed, be positive, be truthful, be joyful, be at peace and be CREATIVE.