Getting There
The most fun part of crafting is … CRAFTING. I reserved 75% of this past weekend for making stuff – curtains, pillows, mitts, benches. Good times!! Stuff is really coming together. And it looks AWESOME.
Jeff has said on more than one occasion lately that he thinks I might not be satisfied until 75% of the stuff we have is made by me. I said no, 75% must be handmade, not necessarily made by me. Ha! Not really. I don’t think I have enough time to amass that kind of collection! Not that I won’t try. 
However, I can manage only a short post tonight that does not include my recent attendance at an Etsy craft night or the knife skills class, for I must return to typing up my self-review for my job. Next Sunday is my six-month review that ENDS my probationary period. YAY. Well, yay if I’m not fired first, I guess! Hard to believe I’ve been here in the Bay Area for six months as of Thursday.
TTFN.
The Observer
My demon cat, Callie, doesn’t like anyone but Jeff and me. For whatever reason, she loves me and indeed, will let me flip her over and scratch her tummy (most of the time). In fact, she follows me around watching me when I do things. I don’t know what I did right with her (aside from eternal benevolent patience), but this is a frequent sight when I’m doing things. I was just looking through my most recent batch of Ah Kimono fabrics from my fabric club, and I looked down and there she was.
And the fabrics are rather amazing too, right?
Can I tell you how FRUSTRATING it is to be literally a week away from finishing two big projects using my kimono silks, and yet be unable to finish because I cannot get out my sewing equipment yet? GARGGHHHHHH. For real.
Textile Art: Jewelry Finds 2 (Thread)
As promised/threatened, I have more fabric-style jewelry from Etsy. Again, these people specialize in this type of jewelry, to often amazing effect. Clever, ironic and often complex, I would actually take one of all of these. Were I not a poor nonprofit worker, that is. I have big dreams of expensive fabric jewelry. You know, it really is amazing. I take all the metal and gemstones out and can still totally blow my jewelry budget.
My own thread-based jewelry has taken a breather because the thread kept taking the skin off my fingers, so I decided we needed a small break from each other. Never fear. I will finish.
Anyway, thread manipulated well is a beautiful thing. I often wonder how long these things take to make, and what kind of work was put into them. Clearly none of these folks is a beginner at their task. Enjoy!
The pieces: L to R and Top to Bottom
Textile Choker by kjoo. One of my favorite pieces of jewelry that I’ve ever seen, made of crochet and felt. This must have been a ton of work. I like pretty much all of what kjoo makes. (Also in my favorite Etsy stuff there on the sidebar–>)
Soft Cotton wrapped bracelets by easternsky. These are much more practical for me than the choker, as they are cotton, and I am allergic to wool. Also: very pretty. I love the look of wrapping, and it looks soft, and I like the way the color variations come through. (Also in my favorite Etsy stuff there –>)
The “White Gold Crochet Chain” from STITCHEDinMPLS is very tongue-in-cheek, and I love tongue-in-cheek. I also love oversized crochet. It’s just a nice medium for a big chain, in my opinion. For me, for some reason, this would be wall art. Don’t ask, I like things like this, it seems like wall sculpture to me.
The thread woven earrings made by FunkyLobez (pictured here in the Cozumel colorway) remind me a lot of parabolic line designs like those here and here that I learned in high school. I was quite obsessed with parabolic lines at one point (still am, I like intricate math). These earrings are much like that, but in color they are amazing, and some of the colorways look like peacock feathers.
Consider this Vive La Reine tatted necklace. Now consider how awesome tatting almost always turns out. Like filigree, but with thread. I have not yet begun to learn tatting, but I have Ideas about it.
Sculpture plays a big part in Elin Thomas’ designs, which is easy to see from this crochet bracelet. Think that’s cool? Check out her crocheted sea anemone necklace for a bit of amazing … You still here? Go take a look.
Nice, eh?
