The Thrifty Crafter is finally here! It has 6 projects, a guide to yarn types, list of resources, and even a recipe. The main emphasis though, is on sharing all the little ideas and tips I've had over the years. With the projects, I've tried to make them into a gateway for expansion into new ideas and variations. Two projects are knitted - all the others need no technical knowledge of knitting or crocheting.
I am pretty happy with this zine, though of course there's alway things I think of to add when it's too late! But you just have to take a deep breath and let your baby go out into the world.
One of the projects from the zine was actually this...
...which I finished about 3 weeks ago and didn't get around to taking a photo of. When I was scouting around for projects to put in the zine I thought, heck, why not? Yes, I have actually made most of the projects in the zine myself! One I'm still only half way through...
I'm sure you'll find a lot more projects appearing in the Works In Progress section my sidebar as I find them in the back of the cupboard!
When I got sick of working on the zine, I started experimenting with making some knitted and crocheted flowers:
I quite like how some of them are turning out. They're a good zombie craft that I don't have to concentrate on while I'm watching the Olympics (more on that later!). Most of them involve knitting a piece only 4 to 8 stitches wide. So I taught myself to knit backwards so I don't have to turn the knitting every five seconds. That sounds really wanky, doesn't it? But actually it was quite hard and I still feel like I'm 5 years old and learning to knit all over again. My tension is all hinky and the first one turned out more like a parallelogram than a rectangle. I don't know if it's actually faster than turning on each row, but it's less annoying - and that's important! It's fun working with different colours and combinations of crochet and knitting. I'm sure I'll fill the whole tin soon.
I've also been regularly stopping by the Softies for Mirabel Auction for a good drool. After umming and aahing and agonising, I decided to abandon the sewn option for now and just go ahead with a softie in a format I know better and can find the supplies for more easily. Plus you can't really sit on the couch in front of the Olympics with a sewing machine on your lap!
(Actually..... no?)
So I started Monstrous Mirabel (working title) earlier tonight:
I'm going to make her a little more symmetrical and socially normalised than my earlier monsters, and hopefully even 'cute'. I have even committed to getting out the sewing needle and sewing some arms on, and perhaps even some ears! I do have a curved needle that I haven't used yet, and hopefully that'll make it easier.
Oh, and by the way, the Olympics: I've decided that, screw it, I still love it! I had a little cry when Liesel got her gold, and I don't care if they show nothing but Australians - I want to see 'em!
I'm off tomorrow to go to Daylesford for 2 days, where I shall variously be enjoying massaging, a facial, spa soaking, thrift-shopping, gallery-looking and hopefully cocktail drinking! My shoulders are all tensed up in anticipation! I hope everyone has a good weekend. See you!
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