Tag: diy

Releasing and Rewarding Myself

On By elizabeth kay boothIn Uncategorized3 Comments

I have finished a number of projects, am in the process of rearranging rooms in my house to accommodate my kids’ needs, as well as my own need for a studio workspace, and have had to be very disciplined to keep myself on track.

Now that I have accomplished my goals, I am releasing myself to start some new projects and find new inspiration. (Always energizing things for me!) When I get turned loose to surf the web, I always find way more things to do than I will ever have time for (we all have this problem when we look at our Ravelry favorites, don’t we?), and my Links to Inspire category was created for this reason.

Of all the cool things I’ve come across, here are my favorites:

  1. I love, love, LOVE a cool stashbusting project! And this one uses 3 strands of yarn at once, which would be really helpful if you have a huge variety of leftovers you thought you’d never be able to find a way to make work together. Just an idea: lay out your colors and pair according to light and dark, or warm and cool. Or you can do it according to color families – reds of varying shades together, blues, etc.
  2. A tried and true way to clear your head – plus, you get to buy a pretty notebook.
  3. A cool DIY project and a beautiful way to enjoy flowers.
  4. I am going to make EVERY pattern in this book. Doesn’t happen too often that I like every pattern in a book, but this one – YES PLEASE! Plus, by the time I make it through the book, I will have tried about every short-row technique there is.

I believe when you work really hard and meet your goals, you should release yourself from obligations for a specified amount of time and reward yourself, which is exactly what I am going to do over the weekend. Enjoy yours too!

via Release

Advertisement

DIY Links to Brighten Up a Monday

On By elizabeth kay boothIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

After being laid up for 6 weeks, you can imagine how nice it is to be able to get back to normal. I started feeling very sluggish, and sitting on the couch watching things pile up to do around the house made me cringe, to say the least. I had the pleasure of celebrating Chilean independence day with my dear friend Friday night, then woke up Saturday morning and realized my son had a playdate here at the house the next day, and it was time to get things in order. I am in the frame of mind to freshen things up while I’m cleaning and have kept my eye open for inexpensive, yet rewarding ways to add fun details to our space. Have fun taking a look, and feel free to share your own with me!

  1. When in doubt, lots of clean white always makes a space feel fresh.
  2. The motherlode resource if you’re really ready to dive in!
  3. Somehow, this just makes a simple glass of icewater so much more appealing.
  4. Because all sprucing up, at least in my experience, involves some time spent organizing.
  5. Our cats are such an important part of our family, and this isn’t exactly DIY, but it made me smile, as I’m sure it will all cat owners.

Colorful Photography and DIY Ideas Are My Fave

On By elizabeth kay boothIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As you all know, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and inspiration, and I just happened across a blog I thought was particularly full of both! You Are My Fave is full of DIY ideas, fun, colorful photography, and actually, some of my favorite things, such as abstract art. Good things are meant to be shared, so I hope you’ll enjoy browsing it as much as I did!

My First Love – Craftwise

On By elizabeth kay boothIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Where knitting can have a negative connotation, crochet can end up receiving the same in double. I learned to crochet before I learned to knit, and I still love it. When my friend first taught me, I came straight home, put my kids to bed, and sat up until 3 am practicing so I wouldn’t forget how to do it before I saw her again!

It is often alot easier to find knitting patterns that inspire me, but every once in awhile, I find a crochet treasure trove. This is a shame, as both crafts are equally satisfying and are art forms in their own right. Props to this site for having some great crochet and free patterns!

Adding Fringe: A Tutorial

On By elizabeth kay boothIn From Inspiration to Needles2 Comments

Every knitter and crocheter I’ve ever met has certain things they’re afraid/intimidated to try. I hadn’t been knitting for very long before I made myself a sweater…then I did some cables, and then some colorwork…but for some reason, I avoided projects that required fringe. However, in my experience, once I put my mind to learning something new, it is rarely as difficult or scary as I anticipated. I just designed a chunky knit scarf, and looked at several different ways of finishing it, and kept coming back to fringe. Let me just say, of all the knitting techniques you might be intimidated to try, adding fringe should NOT be one of them! I’m sure there are many other tutorials on how to do this, but I decided to do my own, just to show you all how simple this is to do!

Your tools: scissors, your fringe, which I advise pre-cutting before you sit down to add it, and a crochet hook (I used a size N - 9.00 mm
Your tools: scissors, your fringe, which I advise pre-cutting before you sit down to add it, and a crochet hook (I used a size N – 9.00 mm
Folding the strands of fringe in half, use the crochet hook to pull them through the edge from right to wrong side.
Folding the strands of fringe in half, use the crochet hook to pull them through the edge from right to wrong side.
At this point, you can pull the ends taut against the hook to even them out, if needed.
At this point, you can pull the ends taut against the hook to even them out, if needed.
Use the crochet hook to draw the loose ends through the loop created on the folded end.
Use the crochet hook to draw the loose ends through the loop created on the folded end.
Tighten it up, and you have your fringe! This is what the wrong side will look like.
Tighten it up, and you have your fringe! This is what the wrong side will look like.

Free pattern and my styling ideas are soon to follow. If anyone decides to make this, I would love to see your FOs when they’re done. 🙂