Home » Discussion Forums » Talk » One for all the fibercrafters!
| One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1062] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 18:02  |
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I was just noticing how many threads are threatening to veer off into fiberstuff talk, so decided to create one dedicated to it!
I'm on Ravelry (though pretty new there) as Mori-neko. I sorta grew up doing various fiber stuff, though I got pretty rusty on a lot of it recently! I theoretically know how to spin and weave (though if you ask me to thread a loom, it'll take a bit). I can sew pretty handily, and keep getting drafted into doing so for whatever show I'm working on. I do embroidery and cross-stitch... I've recently taken my first tentative steps away from stamped embroidery into counted cross-stitch (did these adorable see-no/hear-no/speak-no evil tree froggies). Last winter I asked my mom to send me something to do with my hands, and she sent me a few balls of a gorgeous varigated wool yarn (pretty heavy weight, dunno what it'd be called) in gold, dark orange, and green that I made into a (very) long and fring-y scarf. I've got a ball of it left over that I keep meaning to make into fingerless gloves, but get intimidated by the patterns I've found...
I'm also in the middle of (well, barely started) doing the Diva Halter from the Domiknitrix book. Mine's going to be in cotton, charcoal grey and turquoise. ^_^
And I've been playing with doing wire jewelry using knitting/crochet... got some really pretty stuff, and it turns out pretty quickly while I'm watching movies or whatever.
Oh! And for any other gamers out there, I'm crocheting Katamari for several friends as christmas presents (I just need a good not-horribly-expensive source for magnets for 'em...).
Anyhow, off to class goes the good little student!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1068 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 18:52  |
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Yay! *admires the shiny thread*
I've been sewing--in a sort of slap-dash way--my whole life. The catch is that I hate to follow directions, and I'm always improvising, so sewing by patterns or cross stitch has never really been my thing. But I love costumes, and I was the costume designer/crazy person attempting to sew show from scratch for several shows while I was in college. After I graduated in May, I started to get a little stir-crazy...so I talked my sister (hah, that makes it sound like it was hard) into letting me make her a costume out of duct tape. XD
Most recently I've learned to knit, and now I adore knitting and I don't know how I lived without it all these years. It's like knitting is the hobby I've been searching for my whole life. I've learned the most basic elements of crochet, but I haven't practiced it much yet, and I am dying to learn how to spin, but don't even have a spindle yet--but I will soon! Especially now that I have an enabler/spinning sensei XD
Also, crocheting jewelry with wire sounds awesome! What does it look like when you're done?
[edit] And my username on Ravelry is Charismitaine!
[Updated on: Tue, 14 October 2008 18:59]
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1071 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 18:57 |
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Im not sure if this counts, but as part of my SCA interests Im teaching myself needlelace.
And I have been lucky enough to find a tutor in bobbin lace and hope to go back to classes soon.
I have and can crochet, and enjoy Teresa Wentzler cross stitch, but I have never been able to get the hang of knitting.
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1073 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 19:00 |
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Hurrah! Someone (not me!) posted a thread. Now I don't look like such a virus. 
My mom taught me how to crochet when I was fourteen, and I went on to make many blankets for friends and family. (Still haven't made one for myself. I have one in progress, but...)
A couple years ago, I decided to learn to knit, so I got one of those "I Taught Myself Knitting!" kits from Michael's...and shortly after discovered the wonders of local yarn stores with wool and alpaca and silk and and and-- I became a sock-knitting freak.
In May 08, my mom sent a spindle kit for my birthday. Now I have an intimidating fiber stash, as well as a yarn stash. (Intimidating only because I use a handspindle, not a wheel (maybe some day!) and it takes forEVER to spin things on the spindle.)
I'm avoiding things like weaving and other forms of fiber prep (carding and blending and so on), and dying. I don't know that I could handle any more obsession than this. It's dangerous here!
PS. I am UnicornWarlord on Ravelry. Add me to your friends!
[Updated on: Tue, 14 October 2008 19:01]
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1108 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 20:43 |
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 Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
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I can jump in here. My mother taught me to embroider when I was five or so. I did a lot of simple work before moving on to cross stitch (doing traditional Greek designs and copying stuff my grandmother had embroidered). She also tried to teach me knitting but failed. It was my Aunt who taught me the Greek way (the placement of the needles differs: you tuck the working needle under your armpit) and that worked for me and I was off. I knitted a lot for many years and then gave it up for lack of time in grad school, when I took up making jewellery, which I still do, when in the mood. I have recently been reintroduced by Jodi, the virulent fibre-virus (yes, I coined the phrase) bless her and am knitting once more and spending too much money on yarn. I too am on ravelry as Susan-from-Athens.
Besides knitting, I learned to crochet while still in primary school (Greek girls are supposed to be accomplished in this way, and I always loved doing things with my hands) but I never took to it the way I did to knitting. I can't or won't sew, but still embroider from time to time and have been known to weave, knot, and cross-stitch. I have recently, since a visit to a Museum or three, become fascinated in samplers and am now planning an expansion in that direction. Where I will find the time I do not know.
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1110 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 21:03 |
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jmeadows- if you're already spinning, then it's really not far to mix fiber types! You should experiment!
I started dying stuff very young... I did science fair experiments dying various fabrics with brown onion skins (and won a bunch of prizes, too!). I did a more elaborate version a couple years later, using mordants and stuff (things you add to the dye bath that change the way it affects fabric), and then a few years after that I played around with organic indigo (gorgeous color, nasty smell). It wasn't until I started helping a costume designer friend with stuff that I got to play with more mainstream dyes.
When I was 5 or so, one of my big presents was a little wooden loom, and I grew up card weaving as well. My mother actually wove my talis for when I was Bat
Mitzvah'd. I'm so incredibly out of practice with spinning... I have no idea where my drop spindle(s) is. I've got a wheel, but it's not been used for a while... one of my cats kept chewing through the band on it and I got tired of replacing it. I really should pick it up again, especially since I'm knitting/crocheting now and it would be awesome to have my own yarn to do it with (and since that cat has passed away and will no longer chew through it...).
I've got a few pictures of the wire stuff I've been doing. The first two are crochet, the third is just wrapping, and the fourth is knitting. The knitted one is with 24ga wire, which tore my hands up pretty bad...I made two of them so I've got a matching pair. I've done more pieces since these, but haven't taken pictures (and apologies in advance for the bad photography!).
http://www.polybemani.net/uploader/userfiles/8/Rosette%20Nec klace.JPG
http://www.polybemani.net/uploader/userfiles/8/goldstone%20c hain.JPG
http://www.polybemani.net/uploader/userfiles/8/Hatpin.JPG
http://www.polybemani.net/uploader/userfiles/8/Photo%205.jpg
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1111 is a reply to message #1110 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 21:11 |
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| Mori-neko wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 21:03 |
jmeadows- if you're already spinning, then it's really not far to mix fiber types! You should experiment!
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*faints* I mean, I spin blends. Wool, bamboo, silk (well, planning), other stuff... I'm just not sure it's safe for me to own a drum carder or purchase fleece.
Your photos are lovely!
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1112 is a reply to message #1111 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 21:14 |
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| jmeadows wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 21:11 |
| Mori-neko wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 21:03 |
jmeadows- if you're already spinning, then it's really not far to mix fiber types! You should experiment!
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*faints* I mean, I spin blends. Wool, bamboo, silk (well, planning), other stuff... I'm just not sure it's safe for me to own a drum carder or purchase fleece.
Your photos are lovely!
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I've actually done silk from cocoons... I don't recall the exact circumstances, but I wound up with a batch of silkworms, which went through their standard process and gave me a (small) pile of cocoons to spin. We also at one point (since my mother can spin and weave etc. as well) got a full fleece to play with....
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 Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1118 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 21:53 |
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nice thread but a little bit intimidating for us starter babies. i don't sew very well so i collaborate with my friend who is a fantastic sewer and i design the quilt and we put it together.
[Updated on: Thu, 16 October 2008 16:39]
Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1123 is a reply to message #1121 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 22:08 |
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| Black Bear wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 22:01 |
| jmeadows wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 19:00 |
Hurrah! Someone (not me!) posted a thread. Now I don't look like such a virus.
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Yes, you do.
Just yesterday you tried to convince me to try knitting things out of alpaca when I pleaded a wool allergy. That's totally viral.
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There's LOTS of things to knit that aren't wool! That's hardly an excuse.... I've got the FABULOUS cotton, for example.
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1128 is a reply to message #1112 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 22:22 |
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| Mori-neko wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 21:14 |
I've actually done silk from cocoons... I don't recall the exact circumstances, but I wound up with a batch of silkworms, which went through their standard process and gave me a (small) pile of cocoons to spin. We also at one point (since my mother can spin and weave etc. as well) got a full fleece to play with....
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Ooh, how fancy!
I went to a fiber festval a couple weeks ago and picked up some silk caps. The guy who sold them to me explained how to do it, but I'm still pretty nervous! I'd hate to mess them up!
How did you like the cocoons?
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1130 is a reply to message #1121 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 22:24 |
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| Black Bear wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 22:01 |
Yes, you do.
Just yesterday you tried to convince me to try knitting things out of alpaca when I pleaded a wool allergy. That's totally viral.
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There's also linen, hemp, cotton, silk, tons of synthetic fibers... Oh, oh, angora, cashmere (mmm), mohair (seems itchy to me, though), and quivet! (I think that's how you spell it, but I am just as likely wrong. It's expensive, at any rate, but supposed to be very soft.)
[Updated on: Tue, 14 October 2008 22:26]
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1136 is a reply to message #1130 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 22:49 |
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Black Bear
Messages: 3239
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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| jmeadows wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 22:24 |
There's also linen, hemp, cotton, silk, tons of synthetic fibers... Oh, oh, angora, cashmere (mmm), mohair (seems itchy to me, though), and quivet! (I think that's how you spell it, but I am just as likely wrong. It's expensive, at any rate, but supposed to be very soft.)
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You see--like a virus, it multiplies, overwhelming its target! 
"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1140 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 23:09 |
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Mori, those are fabulous! *coos with admiration*
A friend of mine (Reading Angel here on the forum) has a llama that should really be shorn next year (Texas heat is hard on hairy creatures), and I've promised to help them find out all about the glorious fiber process--mostly so that I can learn it myself XD
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1142 is a reply to message #1140 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 23:55 |
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They're really fun to do, too. The crocheted ones were done with a size E hook and 30ga copper wire and goldstone beads. I -love- goldstone.
I want to work with some silver wire, but it's awfully expensive...
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1161 is a reply to message #1121 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 05:42 |
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Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
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| Black Bear wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 05:01 |
| jmeadows wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 19:00 |
Hurrah! Someone (not me!) posted a thread. Now I don't look like such a virus.
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Yes, you do.
Just yesterday you tried to convince me to try knitting things out of alpaca when I pleaded a wool allergy. That's totally viral.
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It is Jodi. A nice virus. With our own good in mind. But potent! However I agree with you about going to another fibre. Cotton is wonderful to knit with, so is silk. Don't miss out Black Bear. You too can be infected. Join the Jodi-positive strain of this forum!
holmes44 don't be intimidated. We all started out once. And as we keep adding to our addictions we are all frequently beginners again, so feel happy to help others along the way and ask for help too. Hey, you got going on the forum (as did I), you got your avatar up (as did I) and neither of us was particularly sure about that to begin with, were we? Baby-steps sounds a bit patronising and psycho-babblish but that is the way most of us learn anything. Expanding our horizons day by day. Now if only we could expand our days to fit our horizons .
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1171 is a reply to message #1160 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 10:45 |
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| Susan from Athens wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 05:37 |
| Mori-neko wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 06:55 |
They're really fun to do, too. The crocheted ones were done with a size E hook and 30ga copper wire and goldstone beads. I -love- goldstone.
I want to work with some silver wire, but it's awfully expensive...
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Your stuff is lovely. I have a crocheted silver bracelet with pearls and have thought of trying but worried what it would do to my hands and to my pocket book! Well done anyhow!
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Thank you!
Working with the fine copper wire is actually pretty nice on my hands. The 24ga that the cuff is made out of was murder though.... I did a couple things with steel wire that was really fine, but much less malleable than the copper, and that tore me up pretty good too. I've got one that I did with some insulated malleable wire I got from Radio Shack and a very tiny hook that came out pretty neat... A couple nice things about working with wire: it's MUCH harder to drop stitches (I've managed it, but most of the time if you're hooks/needles come out, the stitch stays there), and it can be easier to see some of the intricacy in the piece, especially when you're using small hooks. On the other hand, I keep finding myself looking for new wire to try (I got a reel of 32ga copper wire designed for making electromagnets that I'm working with now).
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1178 is a reply to message #1140 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 11:33 |
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The llama should have been shorn this year... I'm still unclear as to why we didn't, poor thing. But, we'll have to catch her and wash her thoroughly before we can sheer her... I wonder if we can sheer the baby llama or if it's better to wait a bit? His wool is much cleaner than Wilma's is...
Hello, fibercrafters! Y'all can call me Angel. I've been knitting for nearly a month now, I guess, thanks to Charismitaine. I used to know how to crochet but it's been about 8 years since I've done anything with crochet, but luckily I had all this yarn sitting about from that handy for when I started knitting. I'm not very good at embroidery but I can do it. It helps if I have a pattern to follow, though.
I have been working on a cross-stitch pattern for nearly four years now - I pick it up when I have nothing else going on and do steady work for a few weeks and then get bored because I've finished the interesting part and am now putting the trees around the outside and the shadows in the background.
I'm also fairly handy with a sewing machine, my Mom has been a quilter since I can remember, and I made my first quilt when I was 9. I'd rather sew costumes, though, than quilts since I have a tendency not to sew in a straight line and that's much more important in making a quilt... I'm working on a skirt made entirely of men's ties, but I've yet to decide how long/short it's going to be and the exact construction is still under debate.
"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1183 is a reply to message #1173 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 11:56 |
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| Laura wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 10:56 |
I have to agree Mori-Neko, your stuff is beautiful.
I myself am a crocheter and a beginning knitter. I languished in confusion for a long time until I realized that the knitting my grandmother taught me was continental combined, which is why the way I did it looked so different from everyone else. I have since adapted to plain old continental for ease in following diagrams and whatnot.
I can handle anything square/rectangular, or circular, if it's crochet. I haven't graduated to anything differently shaped, like clothing. But I have just successfully taught myself cable knit! I really want to make an afghan out of my remnants for "Afghans for Afghans," but that depends on my mother being able to find all of my scraps which are somewhere in her basement. I am too poor to buy a whole afghan's worth of new wool yarn. (The charity won't send acrylic blankets over, because Afghanistan is COLD and they aren't exactly living in comfortably heated houses).
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I'd learned to knit long ago from my mother, then didn't do it for a long time (there's less call for knitted stuff in SoCal, and I never got into socks). Moved up to Oregon, and suddenly there's cold weather! Joy! The Domiknitrix book was one she found and got me, and it has instructions for two basic styles of knitting... until then I didn't even know there WAS another way to do it! I tried doing the one that's right-dominant, and simply couldn't (tried it reversed, since I'm a lefty, too, but couldn't do that either), so I'm sticking to the style that uses both hands.
The shaping on this halter has me a bit intimidated.... I've done the rows of ribbing, where that's all you're doing, and have kind of stalled out because I'm scared of getting my increases and decreases all wrong....
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1187 is a reply to message #1183 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 12:05 |
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Laura
Messages: 196
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern USA |
Senior Member |
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Yeah, increases and decreases are intimidating. I have gotten a lot more confidence from http://www.knittinghelp.com. (I am link impaired, it seems). The videos there are extremely clear.
[Updated on: Wed, 15 October 2008 12:06]
Known on both Ravelry and LibraryThing as thelorelei.
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1207 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 14:52 |
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Look what I just found!
Now I really want to try it! If only I had a spindle...
"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1208 is a reply to message #1207 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 14:54 |
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| Reading Angel wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 14:52 |
Look what I just found!
Now I really want to try it! If only I had a spindle...
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That's awesome!
But you don't think you'd get papercuts?
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1211 is a reply to message #1208 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 15:04 |
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Can you get papercuts from newspaper? That hadn't occurred to me... I just think it looks cool and fairly simple and a great thing to recycle all the newspapers that just get thrown away around here...
"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1212 is a reply to message #1211 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 15:08 |
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| Reading Angel wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 15:04 |
Can you get papercuts from newspaper? That hadn't occurred to me... I just think it looks cool and fairly simple and a great thing to recycle all the newspapers that just get thrown away around here...
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Some of us can get papercuts from anything!
I agree, though. It looks cool, and would be great for recycling.
Smooshes!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1215 is a reply to message #1110 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 15:25 |
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| Mori-neko wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 02:03 |
I've got a few pictures of the wire stuff I've been doing.
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These are just fantastic, mori-neko! I reallly love the goldstone chain, what a superb piece of jewellery (stroking screen!)
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1256 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 18:15 |
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Well, I just figured out how I wanted to do the clasp for a bracelet in similar style to that chain (it's about an inch and a half wide, with a row of goldstone in the center). I also just found a resource for ordering the specific wire I was using online... it's about $4 for a 40 yard spool of copper. I think when I'm a bit more flush, I'm going to order a bunch. I actually want to figure out pricing so I can sell it. *grin*
Also, that newspaper yarn looks NEAT! Just the thing to do a set of placemats out of or something... maybe a wallhanging that'd get touched up with paints?
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1279 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 19:48 |
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Oh man, I know I have some fine copper wire somewhere, and now I'm dying to crochet with it! And I barely know how to crochet....*compulsively overreaches her grasp*
I read that article on spun newspaper a while ago and have been dying to try it, but some blogs said it was very tricky and that the ink does get all over your hands, so it might have limited uses and is maybe not a beginner project...but still! cool! I've also read about knitting and crocheting with recycled plastic bags, which looks like it could have really cool results--I've been talking about crocheting a mat and seeing how it holds up.
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The llama should have been shorn this year... I'm still unclear as to why we didn't, poor thing.
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I think it's too late in the year, now--it wouldn't grow back soon enough.
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1298 is a reply to message #1279 ] |
Wed, 15 October 2008 21:07 |
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| Charismitaine wrote on Wed, 15 October 2008 19:48 |
Oh man, I know I have some fine copper wire somewhere, and now I'm dying to crochet with it! And I barely know how to crochet....*compulsively overreaches her grasp*
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I'd just BARELY learned to crochet when I started doing this. In some ways, it's actually -easier-. I've learned SO much in the way of technique doing this, but when I started (not too long ago, either) I could barely do a single crochet. Jumping in headfirst is fun!
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| Re: One for all the fibercrafters! [message #1396 is a reply to message #1062 ] |
Thu, 16 October 2008 17:52 |
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between jodi excellent instructions for posting all things and black bears concise instructions in the tips and trick. look ma, i got a sig line. it is hard not to learn.
Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
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