Friday, January 31, 2014

Why Pinterest is Horrid and Awesome

I'll be totally honest, I love pinterest. I can find recipes that even "I" can make, get hair tips for my unruly mop, and makeup tips to hide the too-damn-old-for-this acne. But the downside is that original content is hardly linked back to its source. I see so many images posted and shared endlessly only to end up on a dead end spam link. One "pinner" I followed only pinned those such images. I finally unfollowed as I was tired of having to constantly search for the instructions to whatever I was making/cooking/doing with construction paper and sprinkles. I was actually sucked in earlier. I pinned a cute little unicorn cross stitch with a snarky phrase underneath. Thinking it would make a fun gift, but lacking any source, I made my own chart for the wee beast. Hoping for a close up image, or a chart so I could put my slightly sloppy one to rest, I searched for the original source. Imagine my surprise when it showed up in someones etsy store. By this point, I had already finished most of it, and had redone the phrase to something more pg (the recipient has children, and I wanted it family friendly). I was rather disappointed in myself for not checking sooner. I did edit the source of my pin to the shop, but it didn't undo what I did. It didn't make those stitches go away or the chart to go up in flames. But the point remains that someones work was ripped off, by me, thanks to not being linked.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/159847451/whatever-bitch-unicorn-cross-stitch?ref=shop_home_feat_1

By the way, this is the link to the work I replicated. It's only fair to show off some publicity for my flub. So please, fellow pinners, check your pin. It's easy to find the real source. If you are using google chrome (not sure how to do it on others, I suggest you search for your browser), right click on whatever image you have on your pin. You will see an option about searching google for said image. Click that. It will open a new tab and show you a list of options. Might take a few pages, but it usually gets you to where you need to be. I have been let down only twice, and considering I have 1,400+ pins, that is a pretty good track record. And I also went through and found sources for that spam pinner I was following. So please don't fall into my mistake, please look for sources. 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Work in Progress Wednesday

Does anyone else mentally say "wed-nes-day" while spelling it just to make sure it's all right?

Anyhoo, updates!! Guess what? I finished a shawl! And it turned out quite lovely for my first attempt.


I had some issues with curling, still having some as you can see. I sewed little beads to the edging and it is helping considerably. The span on this is amazing, I think I wound up around 80"? I even blocked it like an adult, felt so grown up stabbing pins in to my mattress (only thing big enough for it). So what's next? My Boku shawl! I had to whip up a quick coffee mug cozy from the same yarn, I needed a better idea of how much I had to work with. I had that poor thing queued from 6 months ago, it was awful. But I finished it! 
This is the mug cozy, and my terribly unpolished nails. I wish that lovely green had wound up at the top, but thats how this stuff works. It turned out a big baggy on the bottom, I should have gone down a size, but my needles were again awol. This is getting to be a habit, whatever little gremlin is stealing my needles is being put on notice. Hopefully my next update will include my SECOND shawl of the year! Really quite excited, I have one more planned for the same pattern as the Boku shawl just to give myself some experience with large numbers of stitches before trying the Vlad shawl. Thats the one I really want to sink my teeth into...oh dear, one for the bad joke jar?


Friday, January 3, 2014

New year, new projects, new anxiety

This year I will make a darn shawl. Failed with my socks last year because I misplaced my pattern (that I had my notes written on) so they are languishing. On a roll with those, too. This year, I am making a shawl that I have ALWAYS wanted. No specific pattern incited lust in my fiber obsessed heart, but one for me. So to kick myself in the tail feathers, I projected three of them with yarn from my stash (go me!). One scares me to my little crooked toes. Vlad by Tammy Bailey is a beautiful pattern (ravelry pattern) which is offered for free. Lace. Chart reading. Fingering weight yarn. I'm getting chills. I've made exactly one pattern with a chart, and that took me a while. It was just a basic cable, nothing fancy, but it was big. Especially when you had to reverse it for the matching mitt (I recharted it and scanned it, you can find the project here). But this? This is the ocean after dipping my toe into the lake. What else am I doing? LaLa's Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman (ravelry pattern), because you know I can't beat myself enough by starting just one shawl. This one will use up my Boku yarn leftovers, I hate having nice yarn sitting there and mocking me. This one is a bit simpler, but no less daunting to me. After working on  GINORMOUS tree skirt, this shouldnt be an issue but it is. Last, but certainly not least, the Sunshine Shawlette by Lion Brand. I'm not a big fan of such mini shawls, but I'm working on this until I run out of yarn. From browsing the other projects, I've seen some very cute projects with thin yarn like what I'm substituting with, so I'm hoping for some lovely results.

What have I been up to besides torturing myself with yarn over panic? Doll clothes. My daughter received an American Girl doll and obviously needs a wardrobe. So, between Pinterest and Ravelry, I've gotten quite a library of patterns to make. I've already completed two dresses, a sweater, a shrug, and a pair of slippers. One dress was even SEWN. Yes, I used a sewing machine to make a dress. I'm scared too. This had to be my favourite one, though.


The February Doll Sweater by Jen Cooley (ravelry pattern) was based off a Zimmerman design for a baby sweater. It also inspired an adult sized womens sweater that I am also eyeing for myself. Will 2014 be The Year Of Big Projects? Go big or go home...probably not, but it's nice to dream isn't it?