Summit of Awesome

 If you are a crafty person in Portland, you will want to check out this cool event sponsored by the non-profit group Hello Craft starting next Wednesday June 16. I'll be attending workshops on Friday and hope to learn more about selling at crafts fairs: how to jury well, and how to take remote credit card payments.

Here's the official info:

The Summit of Awesome is three days of business and technical education seminars as well as hands-on workshops produced by the non-profit Hello Craft. Taking place in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, OR, from June 16 to 18, this year’s Summit is co-produced by Hello Craft’s event partners and PDX craft superstars, Crafty Wonderland and DIY Lounge. Summit seminar topics range from how to organize craft fairs and develop successful product lines to teaching crafters how to prepare taxes and form LLC’s. At the 2nd annual Summit, Craftnote speakers are crafty renaissance man Mark Montano and BuyOlympia founders Pat Castaldo and Aaron Tuller. Full speaker list can be found here. A special addition to this year’s event is the “Show of Awesome,” a 40-vendor craft show on Saturday, June 19, at Doug Fir Lounge.

Etsy Virtual Labs will be there for Etsians who cannot attend.

Dive into the Procrastination Pool

I am a stalwart ADD-brained procrastinator. (That should be with a capital P.)

Don't believe it? How about that it's only now, after blogging for just about two years, that I finally got around to playing with a little design for this blog. Blogger's made it easy to play with the design, so today you see some new colors and a different layout than you've been accustomed to seeing. It's a work in progess, so be forewarned that you might see it change some more.

Lots of ideas have always flitted into my ambitious little pee brain; however, I am one of those folks for whom being overly busy strikes a chord of terror. It feels overwhelming to have too much to do, so things have to be put out of mind, and that doesn't always happen in a way that guarantees things eventually get done.  It's not unusual for me to have hundreds of unmanifested ideas and to-do items lounging around in the pool at the back of my brain for years. That pool is now full, and something has to change.

To stay focused and to get things done, I have developed lots of coping mechanisms over the years. You may remember from previous posts, if you've been following for a while, about the "Put 50 Things Away" game, the "Hire Yourself as Your Own Assistant" game, or the "Focus of the Day" game. The games become less effective over time, and new games have to be developed.

This is my new one: During June I have vowed to drag one or two things a days from out of the procrastination pool, dry them off in the light of day, and get them done.

So far, so good. Things have gone to the goodwill, clothes have been carted off to drycleaners, the hand-weights have come back out of the closet, and some unfinished objects are being completed.

A big item, that has been put off for the past year, is to start the process of getting some patterns completed and listed for sale on Ravelry. It has always felt like an insurmountable task: all that technical writing and geeky stuff about pattern writing, all the unknowns about getting the Ravelry designer status set up, etc.

Two nights ago, after posting the tutorial for the Understatement Necklace on this blog, I contributed it as a free pattern on Ravelry. Last night I was blown away upon discovering that 270 people in Ravelry had marked the necklace as a favorite, it appeared on the site in 112 queues to be made by Ravelers, and my Etsy store had five times the amount of page views as normal yesterday. Whoa, Nelly! That's exciting!

Good golly, this game could be fun. Care to play along? Do you have any unfinished business lurking around?

Tutorial for the Understatement Necklace

This is a tutorial for the understatement necklace that was featured in the previous post. Go there for pictures of the finished piece and for the supplies list.

This post will cover the steps to make one for yourself. If you want one, but you don't crochet, you can buy one in my Etsy store. If the store is sold out, I'd be happy to custom make one for you. Just let me know.

Crocheters, to start you need to pre-string your beads in the following order: a small 11/0 seed bead, a drop bead ( or a size 6/0 seed bead), and then another 11/0 seed bead. Do this 120 times.

You will be crocheting the beads into 120 clusters.


After you have them all strung, it's helpful to have a little cup in which to put your thread and its supply of beads in waiting.



We are going to start by making the button loop. You may remember that I did not include a button on the supplies list. That was intentional. Some of you crochet a little tighter or a little looser no matter how closely you try to match the gauge. You will want to crochet the button loop before choosing the button because you want to have a snug fit.



The button loop:

• Leaving a 12" tail, make a slip knot with your thread and insert your hook into it. Ch 12.

• Join with a sl st to form a ring, being careful not to twist the chain. Ch 1. Do not turn.

• Work 24 sc into the ring. Join with a sl st to the first sc of the round.

• Pick up the tail and ch 3 using both the tail and the working thread together as one.

• Drop the tail. Ch 3 with just the working thread. Do not cut off the tail. At the end you will come back and bury the tail by weaving it into the back of the sc sts of the button loop.
  

Gauge and Finished Length:

For this project, the gauge is not critical, but I recommend that you aim to get it as close as possible. Your gauge will probably vary over the length of the necklace anyway. Don't worry about it. You can add more beads at the end if you crochet too tightly and want a longer necklace. Conversely, if you crochet more loosely, you can finish the necklace without using all of the beads that were pre-strung.

Aim to have 10-11 bead clusters per 4 inches. You will want to have a finished piece that is 46-48 inches in length.

The Strand of Beads:

• Work a bead cluster chain stitch (see the following explanation). Ch 3.

• Repeat the above until you have used all the beads or have achieved your desired necklace length.

The Bead Cluster Chain Stitch:

Step 1: Move three beads close to your hook as in the photo above.



Step 2: Yarn over.

Step 3: Pull the thread through the loop on your hook, locking the beads into place.




After you have made all the bead clusters, find a button that fits your loop snuggly and sew it on the other end. Weave in the tails at both ends of the necklace.

Finishing:

To give your necklace a professional look, you will want to block it before wearing it.

Put your necklace in a bowl of warm water and let it soak for 20 minutes or so. Then blot it with a hand towel. Next lay the necklace on a blocking board (or your ironing board) so that all the bead clusters are on the same side and the necklace is not twisted. Stretch it ever so slightly and pin it into place. Let it dry for a day before you wear it.

If you make one let me know. I'd love to see photos.

Understatement Necklace

Are you one of those fashionistas that loves the statement necklaces? You know the ones. They come in sizes big and bigger.

They look like a whole garden of flowers was turned into metal or Lucite and attached to a chain by some evil witch whose jealousy over their beauty caused her to cast the spell. The flowers' destiny is to now hang about someone's neck for a year or so until they go out of style. Then it's to the back of the closet along with the 6-inch platform shoes.

Don't get me wrong, there has been many a statement necklace that tempted me to buy it, but then I visualized what it would look like on my body and decided against it. While admiring the complex and wild, I usually go for the simple and clean-lined pieces.


Here's an option for a simple necklace that you could wear with your casual wedding dress or your summer tees.




It's a simple-to-make crocheted necklace with decorative glass beads. You could make it dressier by using silk and actual gemstones.




The beauty of this simple long necklace is that you can wear it once, twice, or three times wrapped around your neck. You can also wear it six or seven times wrapped around your wrist.



It has a simple button closure. Basic crochet skills are all you need. Well, that and some supplies:

1. Size 8 pearl cotton thread
   
2. Size 8 beading needle or any sewing needle that will accept the thread and go through the beads
   
3. A pair of scissors
4. A size 11 crochet hook (Size 9 will work if you crochet tightly.)
5. Some size 11/0 seed beads
6. Some size 3-4 mm drop beads (Alternative: size 6/0 seed beads)
7. Not shown, and not needed yet will be a button. Don't worry about that item just yet.
   

The next blog post will be a tutorial on how to crochet this necklace. If you want to work along, assemble your supplies, come back in a few days, and we'll begin. If you want one and you don't crochet, or you don't want to make your own, check out my store. There might be one there for sale--if not, I could custom make one for you.

Bridge of Glass: Part 2

Having seen such magnificent art glass in the first covered area of the bridge of glass, it was with excitement that we hurried along to the second. There, to the delight of everyone passing underneath was a ceiling of splendor:



The ceiling transformed us into explorers under a sea of glass.



Every inch contained stunning art.



Urchins, seashells, and underwater flora abounded.



Mr. ChaCha and I were transfixed, shooting photo after photo of the magical space.



I kept thinking of my friend, the knitting mermaid, and wondered how she would like this place.



I wondered how this compared to being a deep sea diver.



This was the most incredible art installation that I have seen.


If you ever get a chance to see the Tacoma Museum of Glass, do it! I cannot recommend it enough.

Bridge of Glass: Part 1

We are walking up the stairs to the bridge of glass. It's rather plain looking. Where's all the glass?

Up ahead are two magnificent glass spruce (?) trees that you saw in the last post. They are great, but is that all? I'm thinking that I would never call something a "bridge of glass' if that was all.

Ahead on the bridge are two covered areas to walk through. That's where the magic, and forty-five minutes of shooting photos, began.

The first covered area had a wall of glass and steel cubicles with glass artwork in each. On the opposite side from this was a built-in bench that was the perfect spot to drink in the beautiful colors, do a little meditating, or sit and take photographs.

Here are some of my favorites from this first covered area:




















This last photo of the little putti (Italian word for cherub) is my favorite. Next post I'll show you what was in the second covered section. It's gonna be great!

Tacoma Museum of Glass

On a recent Sunday, Mr. ChaCha and I took a drive to Tacoma, Washington, to visit the Museum of Glass. It was a stellar experience. If you are a glass lover, you owe it to yourself to see this museum if you are visiting the Pacific Northwest.

The museum has several exhibits, a theatre for viewing videos about glass art, a cafe, a working hot shop, and a great gift shop.

A main exhibit when we visited was a collection of work by Preston Singletary, who has taken the symbols, elements, and narratives of his Tlingit ancestry and re-imaged them in glass. It is native American tradition newly manifest in modern glass art form. The collection is totally enthralling and leaves a lasting impression on you.

In the theatre we watched several videos including a documentary in which Preston Singletary and others who have worked with him were interviewed. Seeing the video really informed our viewing experience of the exhibit of his work.

After viewing the videos and the exhibits, you'll definitely want to spend some time in the hot shop.

If you are going to eat, do it first because once you're in the hot shop you won't want to leave. You could easily spend a few hours in there watching the action as a team of glass blowers work together to create items from the design mind of the current visiting glass artist.

Visitors sit in a balcony area that is not far removed from the action. A narrator explains what the team is doing, and the visiting artist may speak about his or her work.



It is very warm in the hot shop, as you can well imagine.



The piece being created gets removed from and reinserted into the furnace many many times. While it is out of the furnace, a glass blower applies a hand-held torch to areas that do not get as hot as the rest of the item--like this end of the piece that is always the first part out of the furnace and the last part back in. On some trips out of the furnace, the item is shaped with various tools.



When the piece is the perfect shape and is ready to be cooled, you'll see one of the team members put on the protective asbestos gloves and helmet. The item is cut from the glass blowing rod and is put into an annealing oven for its cool down period.

Check it out--when it's in operation you can watch live streaming web video of the hot shop activites.

For our cool-down after a spell in the hot shop, we went to see the Bridge of Glass. This is the bridge approach:



Having heard that the bridge is so amazing, I was a little disappointed at how stark it looked. Sure, there were these cool glass trees, but was that it?



Stop by the blog again to see the next post because there will be great pictures from the bridge.

WIP: Red Milonga Wrap

One of the works in process in the studio today is this machine-knit wrap. It is being made of a thin woolen single-ply yarn by Pendleton Woolen Mills. The design is a simple alternation of sections of stockinette stitch and sections of lace faggoting.




As a relative neophyte in the knitting machine world, I have experienced my share of problems with this device. At one point last summer when the previous wrap project was hanging on it, I was swearing at the machine, slamming the weights down on the table, and throwing things in frustration. A couple of hours later, sweet Mr. ChaCha remarked that it sounded like things weren't going very well in the studio that day. You feel a little sheepish after a good tantrum, but sometimes it's the only thing that can diffuse pent-up bad energy.

There are days when I should just stay away from the machine. You know those days--the ones when you run into everything you go near. You stub your toe and while leaning over to hold it you knock over a cola onto your keyboard. I call those days my "sticky energy" days. Everything sticks to me as I go blithely around knocking things over and then tripping.

Using a knitting machine requires a huge amount of patience and extreme alertness. Things that are simple to do with knitting needles are much trickier here. You also might want good lighting and no distractions.

While you are learning, so many mistakes are made that you wonder why on earth anyone would do this instead of using two sticks the old fashioned way. I tried to use these machines and then put them away multiple times over a 15-year period. (Yes, I own more than one. They come in different four different gauges of which I own three.)

Until two years ago, I had only knit things in basic stockinette and felt like that was a huge accomplishment. Now things are going better and I'm on a learning mission.

Here's my biggest tip if you want to learn how to use a knitting machine: get yourself on over to the YouTube, and search for Diana Sullivan. She is my hero. If it weren't for her great videos, I never would have figured out how to use a garter bar.



Here's a closer view. You can't tell from the photo, but when you knit on a machine, the reverse stockinette side is what faces you. If you want purl stitches and knit stitches on the same row you will need to hand-manipulate what will be the purl stitches on the opposite side from the one you see and remake them so the knit stitch side faces you. This is done using little transfer tools.

If you want a whole row of purl stitches on the side opposite you, and you don't want to change each stitch one by one, you can use what is called a "garter bar" to lift all the stitches up off the machine and then turn the work around and reload the stitches onto all those hooks you see in the photo. It can be a tears-provoking task.

The wrap above is 75 stitches in width. Each little stitch sits on its own latch hook. By moving a carriage over the stitches you can knit a row in the time it takes a hand-knitter to knit one stitch.

Whoa! Now you may be thinking, like many hand-knitters do, that this whole deal is fast and therefore "cheating". Let me dispel that myth right away.

Having recently learned to spin on a spinning wheel, I can say that it is much faster than spinning on a drop spindle. I would never say that using a spinning wheel is "cheating". Similarly I would never say that using a sewing machine is somehow cheating because you should do it by hand.

Not everything about a knitting machine is fast. The setup isn't fast. The hand manipulation of stitches isn't fast. Taking care that you do the twelve steps in your pattern routine precisely, so that the whole work does not fall off the machine, is not fast.

The wrap above will probably take me 5-6 hours not including the border that I will crochet around the edges. It might take me 25-30 hours or more by hand. Using a machine allows me to make things in a more affordable way for my customers. So it's a skill worthy of learning, and from the point of view of my customers' pocketbooks, it's so not cheating.

Need vs Want

The perennial question: do I really need this? Or just want it--BAD!

A collection of items was curated around this theme by jvdarcy who honored me by including two of my pieces:

You can go to this lovely gallery on Etsy Treasury East to explore more information about these items. Just click here.

Crochet on the Brain

The brain of a baby girl?

A very sweet friend gave me a most thoughtful gift for my birthday that consisted of several treasures.

First of all, this box of incredible thread made in France and a pamphlet of delicate crochet edging patterns:



This is very exciting because some of the patterns are for hairpin lace edging, and I just recently acquired a small hairpin lace tool.



The cotton is of the most amazing quality. It's so crisp that it almost seems like linen. If there are any crocheters out there who can date the thread by its box, for sure let me know in the comments below.


This is the treasure that you glimpsed in the first photo. It's a hot pad crocheted by someone named Marie. It is a series of raised ruffles crocheted onto a grid of filet crochet.

Here is a close-up of the front:



And one of the back:


This is a fascinating piece of work using a technique I had not seen before. A 15-minute online search finally brought me to a similar, but a simpler pattern. The difference, if you want to try to make one, it that the pattern at the Craft Yarn Council site has a grid of 11 by 11 and is worked in rug yarn. This beauty in the photo has a grid of 19 by 19, and it's worked in either size 5 or size 10 cotton.

Isn't it lovely?