Tag Archives: crafts

Mar24

Wow, I completely stink at this!!

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TWO YEARS!!!! Two stinking years and I haven’t written anything here!!!

Well, it’s been pretty crazy.

Basically, my back injury ended my Air Force career and I was medically retired last year… and I’m still pretty sad about it. I miss my friends so much it’s ridiculous. Call out to the Air Force and the VA, they have taken very good care of me and I have no complaints.

Secondly, on a whim brought on by boredom, I decided to use my GI Bill and go back to college. Since I retained my GI Bill from my active duty time, I began my first “brick and mortar” college career at Cape Cod Community College, which has an adorable campus and the most amazing staff. I’m really having a wonderful time and making some amazing friends while I’m doing it. Granted, I’m old enough to be their mother but I don’t think it really matters. They probably think I’m a crazy old lady since I normally wear my old sage green combat boots (believe it or not, they’re extremely comfy!!) and the old Harley Davidson hoody that I acquired from my husband (about 2 sizes too big for me but I practically live in it). The craziest thing of all was I was invited to become a member of the National Honor Society for academic excellence… ME!?!?! The one that has stood steadfast that a higher education is a worthless expenditure of time and money?!?!

Yep. Me…

Apparently all of the classes I’ve been taking over the years had an accrued GPA of 3.85 and somehow I became an academic person. I’m still kind of puzzled about that one.

Anyway, I’m still having a ball with college and will keep going as long as I can. I’ve gotten a few art and computer based graphic design under my belt and I’ve become pretty good at it but wondering what I’m going to do with it.

*transition to applicable subject matter…

So now for the big news! Hubby and I just bought laser engravers!!! He bought a more powerful one for engraving metal and relief carving wood. I bought one that can help me with the outlines of my wood projects (I hate starting and outlining a new project!!!). The BEST part is that both run on computer based graphics!!! The magic is coming!

We haven’t gotten them yet but I’m just throwing it out there that this blog will be coming alive again!!!

I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long but I’m back 🙂

May30

Playing with my knitting machine

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Playing with my knitting machine

I’m finally starting to come out of my latest adventure…spinal surgery!! YAY…not.  I was expecting the surgery itself to be way worse than it was, but it wasn’t horrific.  Granted, feeling staples brush against the vertebrae in your back is not a good time.  It’s been slow but the incision is finally healing.  The nerve damage from the blown disc pinching off my S1 and S2 nerves for 9 months will take longer to heal, if it ever heals at all.  I hope I finally heal completely because walking with a cane really sucks.

The worst thing about the whole thing was that I couldn’t sit for more than 10 minutes at a time (and then I had to sit in a reclined position), thus I COULDN’T KNIT!!!!  It really stunk but I found a way around it; I had the fore-site to elevate an old card table and dug out an old Bond Knitting Machine, that I’ve had for years, and set it up.  About two weeks after the surgery, I was standing and walking so I designed a simple baby blanket that I could make; it wasn’t exactly like knitting but it was the best I could do at the time. The good thing was that I was able to gauge it out to a hand knitting pattern.

If you’d like to have this pattern, it can be found at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

~or~

http://www.ravelry.com/stores/cape-cod-stitchery

long viewcable close upfolded close up

Apr18

Busy, busy, busy…

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It seems like everything that could have happened lately, has.  I’ve been working on getting more worsted weight patterns made but life sort of has gotten in the way; a few weeks ago was my precious husband’s birthday, the next day we had to put our beloved 13 year old German Sheppard, Minnie, to sleep because her poor body was just giving out on her.  Then barely after going through the anguish of losing her, and seeing how much our Jack Russell, Dexter, missed her too…I had to get spinal surgery.  Needless to say, it’s been a tough months so far.

In between the gaps of activity, I was able to get a few patterns done: Worsted Weight Diamonds and Worsted Weight Quilted Stars; both were originally chunky yarn patterns but I converted them to worsted weight yarn.  Chunky yarn blankets are lovely in the winter, because they’re soft and heavy, but way too warm for summer (however, they make lovely floor blankets!).

I’ve also have developed a new obsession…Portuguese pin knitting!  I love working with worsted weight yarn but lets face it, knitting a blanket with smaller yarn seems to take forever!!  But, once I got the hang of pin knitting, I was easily doing 100 stitches a minute, almost twice as fast as standard knitting.  I loved it so much, not only did I make a few knitting pins for myself, I made some to sell in my Etsy shop!

If you’d like to see the new knitting patterns, and the older ones that I’ve had posted for a while, please see them at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

 

Feb16

Chunky Yarn Baby Blanket in Wavy Lines

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My latest baby blanket design; this creation was a happy accident because I was going for a large basket weave but once I started knitting it, I noticed that the main vertical lines were waving on their own…and I love the way it turned out!!  I’m thinking that I’m going to make this one into an adult sized blanket but that will be a project for another day.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this knitting pattern, it is located at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

Thanks for looking!!

Feb6

Chunky Yarn Baby Blanket in Stars

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Hello everyone!  The good thing about winter is that there is plenty of time to knit and I’ve been busy.  My latest is a chunky yarn knit baby blanket that has the illusion of stars in it, or snowflakes (I’ve heard both…) in charcoal gray.

To  get a copy of the pattern, please feel free to visit my Etsy store at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

Thanks!!!

Dixie

 

Jan31

Knitted cubes, in 3D

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I thought I would share my latest design; a reversible knit and purl baby blanket knitted in a stunning spice red, chunky yarn.  Very soft and appropriate for an evening out with Mom and Dad!

This pattern is available, along with many others, at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

Thanks for stopping by!

Dixie

Jan18

Busy…busy…busy…

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It’s been a pretty busy couple of months for me, between the holidays and everything…thankfully, I was able to add two new baby blankets to my design collection of non-traditional baby blankets.

The first is a knitted, chunky yarn, mustard colored baby blanket, that’s large enough for a toddler.  It’s very soft, fluffy and quite cozy!

The second blanket is also knitted with chunky yarn but in a subtle denim blue, this one is also a good size for a toddler.

Both patterns, along with the other chunky yarn baby blankets patterns in my collection, can be found at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapeCodStitchery

Feel free to message me if there are any questions.

Thanks!!!

Nov25

Honeycomb and basket weave cable knit baby blanket

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Hello everyone!  I’m glad to say that I’ve rolled out another baby blanket pattern at Etsy and I’m very happy with how it turned out.

IMG_1039IMG_1024IMG_1026IMG_1032IMG_1036

It’s is knit with chunky yarn, on bigger needles, and it’s irresistibly fluffy and so soft!  Not only was it a pleasure to make, it’s an heirloom item that can be treasured for years, long after the little one has grown out of it.

If there are any questions, please feel free to comment or send me a private message.  Otherwise, please check out my Etsy store, Cape Cod Stitchery, not only for this pattern but for the others that have already been posted.

Thank you!

 

Jan21

Here are the latest projects in yarn.

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Even though I haven’t updated my blog in a while, I have been busy crafting.  Granted, I haven’t had a lot of time to do it but the least I can do it post them.cable baby blanket 3

Pictured to the right is my most recent creation, a cable knit baby blanket.  I’ve never been much of a knitter but have always been intimidated by doing cables so, since a friend of mine at work is preggers, I decided to take the plunge.  Much to my surprise, it was incredibly easy to do!  Since I’m not one for following patterns, I decided to design my own and this is what I came up with.  It looks incredibly difficult but I’m very happy with how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

flower granny square blanket This is a granny square blanket that I ended up doing for one of my co-workers before his daughter was born.  Again, not being one for following patters, after the lavender flower was created, I pretty much went on my own for this one.  I was so happy with how it turned out, I entered it into our local county fair, last year, and got a blue ribbon for it!  A local yarn shop liked it so much, they gave me a $25 gift certificate also.  I’m glad because I really love the store! http://www.sageyarn.com/

granny square blanket 1Again, this is another granny square baby blanket for another of my co-workers that had a daughter on the way.  When I asked him what colors his wife liked and what the color of the nursery was, he said that she’s a big fan of pink and yellow.  This picture doesn’t show the colors very well but trust me…it was REALLY pink and yellow!  Again, no pattern…just winged it.

tunisian crochet baby blanketThis is another baby blanket I made, during the creation process, in a different technique called Tunisian crochet.  It’s actually a very old technique that was used quite a bit during the 30’s and 40’s but was called an afghan stitch instead of Tunisian crochet.  By mixing up the colors, I found that it makes a lovely hound’s tooth pattern.  I also made the crochet hook because, at the time, I couldn’t purchase one in the large size that I needed.  You guessed it…no pattern!

hippy bag tunisian crochetThis is the final picture I’m posting.  This is another example of Tunisian crochet, in the hound’s tooth pattern, but this is actually and handbag.  I did make this with a commercially available crochet hook and it made a very tight and rigid fabric.  I call this my “Dirty Hippy Handbag”.  Once again, without fail, this one isn’t from a pattern either.

So, there you go!  I hope I made up for my absence by catching my blog up with my crafting activities.  Thanks for looking!!

Aug11

Another long absence but I’m back!!

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Remember when on the last day of December, New Year’s Eve, when you’re sitting around with your family and waiting for the new year to come, the discussion always heads towards “I hope next year is better than this year!”

Well, it hasn’t been so far.  Actually, it’s been one step left of brutal.

The first of the year kicked off with a massive snowstorm that hit the New England and then I deployed to the Midwest for four months.  The time within the four months consisted of:

1.     Unyielding snow storms and bone chilling cold that didn’t let up.

2.     Complete homesickness being away from my husband (and my dogs) for so long.

and the worst one…

3.     My precious father passed away before our eyes.

Needless to say, I haven’t been feeling all that creative and crafty lately.  However, as it is said, “when God closes a door, he always opens a window”; a window opened after being consumed in the fog of loss and grief for my Dad.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still hurting but a spark of my former self has returned, thanks to my husband, friends and family.

The first shot in the arm was that I decided to go back to college, thanks to the provocation of my friends.  I’m 6 weeks into my first class and I’m pulling a 98.2%; not too bad for an old lady such as myself.  The second is that it’s come to my realization that I’ll be eligible for retirement in the next 4 – 5 years and that I’d better start laying the foundation for what I’m going to be doing once retirement happens.  Knowing that once retirement occurs, my hubby and I will escape into the wilds of somewhere but a concrete fact remains that we are both technology geeks so wifi will be there…so I’m returning to the world of blogging.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with it but it’s time to give it a go again.

So, for my loyal followers that wondered what happened to me, I’m back and will do everything I can do stay relevant again.  Please forgive me, it’s been a really tough year…