Back to my Roots, or, Reclaiming my Mojo

I learned to knit in December of 2005. I learned how to crochet in December of 2006. I learned how to needlepoint in 2000 or thereabouts, I think. But when did I learn how to bead? Some time in or around 1991. My mom taught me how to make daisy chains, and from there, there was no stopping me. At sixteen, I sold my jewelry at a little market (making next to nothing). I sewed beads onto paper, making a sign that read "Beaded Bijoux." That was probably when I found my place in the crafting community. My friends came to my house for "bead days." I was in bead heaven. In college, I taught my friends how to make beaded lizards. I have pictures of a lot of these things, which I will put up here some time. Some of them are at my mom's house in Australia, so that makes them slightly inaccessible, and others are *gasp* not on a digital camera, and I don't have a scanner at home.

For Christmas, I made the other paralegals I work with beaded necklaces. The center of the necklaces are little hexagons.

There is a story behind these hexagons. I adapted them from the base of a pattern for a beaded box. This pattern was published in Bead and Button Magazine in the late '90s, right around the time when Austin Powers, the Spy who Shagged Me, came out. My friends and I loved that movie, and my mother proclaimed that everything was "Very shaggadelic!" It was the Austin Powers movie where Austin Powers "lost his mojo," so I decided that I would make a box for my mojo - it was my mojo box!

I want to start making jewelry that is really fun, but still wearable for people who are not as eccentric as I am. The mojo hexagon was perfect! And their new owners said they love them, so it all paid off!

At Last

I actually finished something on time.

A hint: Tomorrow is the last day of work before Christmas.

As promised

This is Sam in his new hat.

In other news, my hand hurts from knitting too much. I've been knitting something for Sam in front of him. We had something of a Sopranos marathon yesterday (in just six months or so, we finished seven years worth of episodes) and watched a pay-per-view movie with his parents the night before last, so I just couldn't see wasting the perfect knitting opportunity. But he still doesn't quite know what it is (although I'm sure he could probably guess by now...)

But today is my day off work, and there will be no knitting for me (though there might be crafting...)

Dear Knitting Blog,

Yesterday, my work friend and I went to the craft fair at Bryant Park during our lunch break. There are so many awesome things there for sale. Not only did it challenge my ability to resist the temptation to buy things, it made me itch to make things and it also made me itch to design things to sell. Many of the artists had used very bulky yarns, which would make knitting hats more cost effective (as far as production time). This would be especially for me, because I am a pretty slow knitter.

Last night, I finally gave Sam the hat I knit him for Hanukka. The thing took me forever, because I redid it when I was almost half way through, and then when I got to the top, I feared that it was too short. I kept trying it on myself, dpns sticking out of the top, over and over, until I finally decided to rip it out to where I started my decreases. The result was a hat that is a teeny tiny bit too wide and a teeny tiny bit too long, but that still works. In both cases, I really should have left what I had (for once!) But the hat works. It has ribbing, and I designed it myself. I made it out of alpaca, which I bought after Sam told me that he loved the alpaca that I bought for my dad's scarf. Overall, he's happy with it and so am I. I promise I will post a picture of Sam in his new hat, but he's not here for me to take a picture now, and I don't have the pictures that his parents took (of us on Hanukka) yet.

Speaking of my dad's scarf, the 12th as a finish date is looking bleak, considering the fact that I have yet to start the thing. But at least I thought of a pattern. It's actually the pattern from one of his cotton sweaters, and will use that. (My dad's wool allergy gives him such an interesting winter wardrobe!) It's a really easy pattern that actually works out in a really cool way! It's simply:

k(kkpkkkpk), repeating the bracketed section until desired width.

The pattern is the same for rs and ws. It's not ribbing or seed stitch, but sort of a hybrid of both. If all goes according to plan, this will turn out to look like stripes of knit, purl, and garter stitches.

Love,
Adina