Soapdeli hipped me to a site called byhand.me. You can create spotlights, (which are like treasuries, only you don't have to wait to get lucky), which are then tweeted about on twitter. Each square links back to the item shown, and you can input the items directly, and re-arrange them by using the item number from a variety of handmade sites.
it's looking like a great way to get your items seen. =-)
last night, i decided to go to timothy adam's blog to learn to social bookmark. i signed up for a lot of bookmarking websites and then went through the tutorial. went ot go do it all for myself and i have to keep signing in - a lot of my passwords were coming up as not valid even though i had just created and validated them.
after a couple of hours and some rum, i decided- screw it! but i'm not that great at giving up stuff that's already beaten my ass so i decided to try again today. same thing.
ate some tacos, forgot about it all, la la la, stuff is great.
came back, decided to submit my shop on timothy's blog here what is with this whole choosing who you want to comment as stuff. really, i mean come on! choosing who i am isn't working for me either- the 4 comments i thought i was leaving didn't go through, so now i probably look like an asshole who hasn't fully read the rules or something. what is with complicating things- why can't it just be simple!!
it's a blogger blog, i mean, use my effin blogger login what ever thing!
people tell me i should write a book. i don't think i talk a lot, and i don't think i have much to say, so i don't know why they're suggesting that i wriht rather than talk to them, lol.
but, after hearing it so many times, i'm thinking i may be able to do it.
a zine!
i'm now researching zines, how to go about publishing, and printing, or if i want to just do it at home or kinkos or some place like that. whether i want to sell them in my artfire shop... and so on.
i have to say that too much thinking can overwhelm a person, so i'm going to see who else i can get to think for me.
do you create zines? have a blog about it or simply have input on it?
so, i did get the hat done- almost. after looking at the picture and asking one other person, i've decided to add a pom pom to the top. it's already made, i just wasn't sure if it would look right on there. i'm wondering about the washability of things with pom-poms. i love that a lot of my stuff is easy to care for, but what will the care instructions for this one say?
of my to do list, i got around to 3. and i didn't go to bed until about 3am. i'd say i need a productivity boost =-(
I wanted to blurt this one out on twitter, but it seems to be having an issue or two at the moment, so.. here's my latest addition to Artfire: Thanks for looking =-)
Michelle aka glassidentities, mentioned that she was going to learn to knit, so i thought i'd jump in too. i had tried to knit before, but got way frustrated with it, and never got down to learning the stitch that makes the cute stuff (you know, the one that looks kinda braided) the first stitch lesson in the 'i taught myself to knit' book was this one. i think i did ok, there's only one hole on one side and a few of what looks like snags on the other. i used a random ball of yarn that i had laying around, but it wasn't enough to finish a square.
i still have some of that aweful white yarn that i used for the special olympics scarves, so i think i'll practice with that until i get the hang of it.
last month or so, i went to michaels and they were having an awesome sale on yarn. While i was grabbing as much as my little pocket book could hold, i also picked up a set of pom-pom makers. before, i was just doing the whole wrap around the fingers thing and having to trip a lot of the pom-pom away. but those little things- i LOVE. i think they've got me looking for more reasons to make pom-poms now. my first one didn't turn out too pretty, but i've learned that it was because i didn't wrap it around tight enough. i used the medium sized maker for the pom-poms that are attatched to an earflap hat that i made last night and will be listing very soon.
I love the way this hat turned out! so much so that i'm thinking of doing a more girly version (even tho this one could be worn by both sexes)
It's been a while since i listed anything new in my shop. i'm hoping that this one will break my lazy streak. Click the picture to check it out or see my whole shop HERE.
On a side note- i've added a piece to the left column of this blog that shows what i'm currently reading and what i've read in the past. i'm finding myself reading a lot and loving it, so please feel free to check out what i'm up to as far as that goes too =-)
The other day, i decided that i was going to draft the wool that i received and was excited. i've figured out how thin i have to draft in order to get a worsted weight. but before i did, i was getting way too many breaks in the wool. very frustrating.
after watching this tutorial once, about a week ago in the wee hours, i figured, hey! i got it!
this video is SO helpful.
but, when you're a bit too cocky about what you're trying to do, stuff tends to umm. get jacked up. So, i was finding myself with lots of broken off pieces that were about 8 inches long. growl.
i'm over it now tho =-)
for some reason, i was expecting to get a really - sort of- ugly yarn out of the roving which kind of looked like a camouflage with white in it. orange, brown, green, black, and white.
This is what i got. - i still have lots left to draft and spin. i got about 30 yards out of this practice round This is what it looked like while it was wrapped around a chair. of course, it got fuzzier and a little less sheeny when i put it in the hot water, but i'm hoping that the dullness was because of the water.
It's not too bad, i guess. the little blue violet thing that's there is the second one i tried, and the green is the 3rd. the first is just too terrible.
i didn't find it hard at all working with the silk caps. they seemed pretty easy to get fairly even draftings from, but when it came time to spin, there were a few really thin spots and more than plenty thick ones. but it's all good. i'm not sure if i'll use the yarn i've made because i'm pretty much used to using acrylic and cotton. silk seems so exotic and with it being only one ply i'm like, umm, i dunno...
i'm already looking forward to being able to make plied yarns (probably because of the whole acrylic/cotton thing) and i have a lot of wool to practice with. Thanks to my buddy Monet of Shady Fibers.
so far, spinning has been wonderful, and i'm so excited to be learning a new craft =-)
Soapdeli hipped me to a site called byhand.me. You can create spotlights, (which are like treasuries, only you don't have to wait to get lucky), which are then tweeted about on twitter. Each square links back to the item shown, and you can input the items directly, and re-arrange them by using the item number from a variety of handmade sites.
Thanks for looking =-)
The other day, i decided that i was going to draft the wool that i received and was excited. i've figured out how thin i have to draft in order to get a worsted weight. but before i did, i was getting way too many breaks in the wool.
This is what it looked like while it was wrapped around a chair. of course, it got fuzzier and a little less sheeny when i put it in the hot water, but i'm hoping that the dullness was because of the water.
