get the word out

i have been meaning to post about the launch of my mom's etsy site. my mom has been crocheting hats (and all kinds of other stuff) for years and years, and i offered to make her an etsy site in an effort to sell her wares online.




if you are a hat person, have a look!
if you know any hat people, spread the word!

knotty plastic

ever since i learned how to crochet i have been wanting to make plastic bag "yarn" and make things (like baskets) out of it. i enjoy crochet, but i have found it to be a rather expensive hobby. all the really yummy yarns are pricey, and it takes quite a bit of yarn to make anything of substance. so yarn alternatives have been high on my mind. plastic bags make a nice yarn alternative, and i have been exploring the use of rags (tshirts, denim, that kind of thing). rags and plastic bags both produce a nice result, but it is fairly labor intensive to cut and assemble the strips, and in the case of rags it is also pretty messy with all the fabric debris.

nevertheless i submit for your looking pleasure:
the results of my experiments

this is one of the early ones, made from some interesting urban outfitter bags, mixed with a bloomingdale's garment bag & some super fresh bags

this one is from those squishy blue bags that the nyt gets delivered in, mixed with some plain white bags and some funky thick plastic/rafia-like twine i found at the asian grocery store

i think the brown bags were super fresh, the dark green from barnes & noble, the white ones are mixed various & the green and gold bag was a holiday bag from the gap.

this one is mixed with some chrarcoal grey wool yarn, and the blue and white bags are from various places....marshall's i think. funny how the bags tell a little story about where i shop.

this is one of the many reasons i haven't had so much time for the blogging...too busy knotting. i have about a half a dozen or more that i haven't photographed yet. my next exploration will be into finding some cheap twine-type somethings to work with. i have been surfing around on the ebay, and i need to go have a look see at the home depot and the like.

knots

i have finally mastered the granny square, and i now have a vague understanding of crochet patterns and how to read them. my problem is "what to make?" there aren't that many things that can be crochet that i really want/need to make.....

so why (you might ask) did i take this class?? well a number of reasons i guess, one of them was the ability to make a modular things out of granny squares such as bags, blankets or book marks (once i get good enough to crochet with tiny thread). but my main inspiration for learning how to crochet was this: a great way to recycle plastic bags

there are many reasons that i love this idea, one of these reasons is the fact that yarn (yummy yarn) is so darn expensive. plastic bags are one of those things that seem to accumulate & multiply & are totally free.

anyway, i am still mastering the small details, and when my class is over i will move onto all my plastic bags. for now i am just learning my stitches and practicing.

i am writing this from "work". i promise to post some pictures when i get a chance.

days

what a huge drag to get sick right now. my sinuses are still a never ending source of mucus, even though i feel much better. i had big plans for this week too, i was going to hit the gym and get back into a healthy routine after all the cheese, pate, chocolate, coconut milk, cheese, chocolate, soy lattes, cheese, heavy cream, and buttery croissants i ate.

instead i have been drinking tea, taking nyquil, drinking water, blowing my nose, coughing, drinking juice, sneezing and drinking more tea. fun stuff.

i did spend 2 days at my computer making myself a 2007 appointment calender (this was after i got sick of lounging on the couch watching television). while we were in portland at office i found this cool plastic notebook "wrap" with a little ziploc pocket made by muji. i had heard about muji and looked at their website, but i have never been able to look or touch. they make very clever and pretty things. in addition to my plastic sleeve i also bought some little white clippy things.




so why did this calender project take 2 days? i made myself a calenders in '04 and '05, so i already had the document set up, i just had to fix all the dates, make a few design revisions and re size the whole thing a little smaller so that it would fit into my new plastic pocket.

making a document so that you can print on both sides of the page and everything lines up correctly is a puzzle, and i always manage to screw it up. this is why it took 2 days, and lots of paper, and i ended up having to make 2 because the first one wasn't quite right.

here are some pictures of the finished product (which i have already decorated with some stickers that i acquired over the holiday)

front cover

inside front
(with pretty goldfish paper end sheets)

inside spread

map (for emergency reference purposes)
and a page for phone numbers and addresses

inside back

back

it was fun to make something that i get to keep after all the recent gifting away.