[QUOTE=sturmhauke]
This is a different sort of craft, to be sure, but here goes:
What, you got a problem with giant bipedal jungle lizards? 
[/QUOTE]
What nyctea said!
Awesome! Tell us more. What’s the scale (as in how big is it, not as in small plates protecting the skin of reptiles)?
Well knit in public day is on Saturday…
Look at all the lovely pieces! I’m jealous of the quilters. I probably could do it, but I’m lazy.
I haven’t done much knitting lately either, just busy and it’s kinda lapsed. I should finish up my latest pair of Fetching from Knitty (these ones for myself) and I need to work at the Phoenix Rising shawl as the next Year of Lace kit will be arriving in a couple weeks… I’ll probably take my Fruit Loop socks with me (again, a Knitty pattern but no pictures yet… I’m a little over halfway done the first sock). I have way too many things on the go, because I also have a sweater on the needles for Velociraptor, a scarf that’s been there for ages and I am slowly picking away at and a couple other things… shhhh.
I’m Arsie over at Ravelry.
I crocheted this sweater for my daughter.
[QUOTE=Helena]
I crocheted this sweater for my daughter.
[/QUOTE]
Very very pretty! (The sweater and your daughter!!)
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca]
Really cool! What material did you make those out of? Did you design the creatures yourself?
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=freckafree]
What nyctea said!
Awesome! Tell us more. What’s the scale (as in how big is it, not as in small plates protecting the skin of reptiles)?
[/QUOTE]
Thank you! I didn’t sculpt it, I just painted it (it’s the same miniature, just from different angles). It’s a Kroxigor mini from the Warhammer wargame, in 25mm scale. In wargaming, that indicates the size of a man-sized creature’s square base; a mini using a particular base is also approximately the same height, not counting weapons or banners or whatever. The Kroxigor is bigger than that, using a 40mm base.
I bought a bunch of minis with the intention of playing the game, but then got caught up in painting a few with a lot of details, instead of painting a bunch with less detail which is what most wargamers do. I’ve painted less martial things too, like some Christmas ornaments. I suppose I could dig them out of the closet if you guys really want to see them.
I wish I could quilt. I look at AuntiePam’s pics & drool. Auntie, you da bomb!
Someone at work asked me why I knit/craft. It keeps me sane (or at least somewhat so), and also, when I can give a crafted item to someone, it’s like telling them I love them; giving a sweater or afghan is like giving a long-distance hug.
How about the rest of us/you dopers? Why do you craft?
Love, Phil
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
Was Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson the show? I love that show. Eleanor Burns though – Quilt in a Day – gets on my nerves, what what that huge grin and tossing fabric all over the place.
I do the tops on the machine and the quilting by hand, but I’m not very good at it. I can do tiny stitches – well, fairly tiny – but only in straight or wavy lines, and I can’t work with a hoop or a frame. I do like doing it, when I’m in the mood.
I think most quilters around here have their quilts professionally done by someone who has a long-arm machine. It costs about $100 for a twin to full-size quilt in a basic “meander” pattern, and two or three times that if you want special designs.
My best friend bought a long-arm machine, the Gemmel floor model ($16K). She’s not ready to open a business yet, but we’ve been told by local quilters that there’s more than enough business to go around. One long-arm quilter said she’s backlogged for 4 months.
[/QUOTE]
That’s the show I liked…she had great guests.
Wow…this is no longer your “Grandmother’s handicraft,” is it…
Well, this thread motivated me to get photos of my most recent crafts up on ravelry - I just finished crocheting a grocery bag, and I’m slowly but surely finishing a baby blanket.
Here they are: projects on ravelry
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
Do people still hand quilt or is it mostly done by machine?
[/QUOTE]
Of the people I know in my guild, I’d say maybe four of us handquilt. The rest send theirs out to be machine-quilted. I’m the only one who consistently hand-pieces; others hand-piece only when it’s a design that’s really tough to machine-pieces (such as the hexagons above!).
Holy poo poo. I’ve enjoyed your stuff there. I remember it well because a guy I had a crush on in HS last name was Arce. (Arsie).
Heh.
Small world in a cosmic manner.
I am oonagh on Ravelry. I have no pictures or projects or anything because I suxxor!
You are welcome!
Japanese craft books are so freakingly awesome. So. Freakingly. Awesome.
So what that I don’t speak or read the language. The pictures are orgasm inducing themselves. srsly.
feppytweed That is a beautiful pen. What wood is it made out of, walnut?
Holy crap I’ve sold eight bags.
My Mom’s 82nd birthday is today and I made her a rosary.
It’s my first attempt at beadwork. I chose green colors to represent her Irish heritage. It is a bit stiff, but then again, so is she. 
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest]
If you break it down, all knitting is is making loops and more loops with a piece of string and two pencil-like objects. There are only two stitches in knitting. Knitting and the opposite of the knit stitch, the Purl. These two stitches are everything that is knitting.
[/QUOTE]
:dubious:
Not to mention the thirty thousand ways of getting started called casting on.
This is why I think crochet is easier. All it is is a series of slip knots, slip knots going through other slip knots, and slip knots with extra loops along the way.
[QUOTE=Zyada]
:dubious:
Not to mention the thirty thousand ways of getting started called casting on.
This is why I think crochet is easier. All it is is a series of slip knots, slip knots going through other slip knots, and slip knots with extra loops along the way.
[/QUOTE]
I would expect an argument like that from a hooker like yourself !
[QUOTE=sturmhauke]
I bought a bunch of minis with the intention of playing the game, but then got caught up in painting a few with a lot of details, instead of painting a bunch with less detail which is what most wargamers do. I’ve painted less martial things too, like some Christmas ornaments. I suppose I could dig them out of the closet if you guys really want to see them.
[/QUOTE]
Please do. Checking out the really well painted minis is one of my favorite things ever. My father painted minis for most of my life, and growing up in a game store I always had a lot of respect for the folks who took the time to do it right. Largely because I don’t even remotely have the patience to do it myself, and because it was always so gorgeous. I wish I could paint minis the way some of these guys could, even the young guys who hadn’t been at it very long.
Thanks for the info on long-arm cross-stitch, nashiitashii. I will have to look into it more. It would be nice to branch out a bit.
My current cross-stitch is coming along very quickly, partially because I have a lot of time for it right now. I really would like to have it done soon, maybe by the end of the month.
[QUOTE=Helena]
I crocheted this sweater for my daughter.
[/QUOTE]
That is so sweet!
[QUOTE=Zyada]
:dubious:
Not to mention the thirty thousand ways of getting started called casting on.
This is why I think crochet is easier. All it is is a series of slip knots, slip knots going through other slip knots, and slip knots with extra loops along the way.
[/QUOTE]
Zyada insisted I post my take on knitting and crochet: Crochet is obvious - use the hook to make entangled slipknots. Knitting is magic - wrap yarn onto one needle, and start clicking it against the other until the fabric magically appears. (She says that’s why Dumbledore knits.)
[QUOTE=feppytweed]
Here is a pen I made Sunday on my grandfather’s lathe. Not too sure what type of wood it was.
[/QUOTE]
Wow! I’ve always wanted to own a handmade writing instrument. Do they need special care, to keep the wood finish looking good?
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
Wow! I’ve always wanted to own a handmade writing instrument. Do they need special care, to keep the wood finish looking good?
[/QUOTE]
According to my uncle, who makes, sells and gives away pens and sometimes pencils, not really. Now, it might depend on how it is finished, but my impression is that just ordinary skin oils in daily use should do.
I’m not sure any of us actually use our wooden pens very often, though.
I cross stitch and quilt. Currently I’m almost done with Titania, just have her wings to finish up (bead work on 32ct makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes).
I am teaching myself how to quilt. I don’t have any pictures here at work or I’d post them. It’s terrible, but I have 4, almost 5 tops done, and you can definately see my progression. I put one together at Christmas for my niece, but I didn’t really like the way it looked afterwards (she loved it though, so I guess that’s all that counts). The whole process put me off, so the other quilts I had planned to give at Christmas did not get done. I’ve decided that I’m going to take a class on putting them together.
