Monday, November 9, 2015

Monday Mixup

Here's a collection of odds and ends that haven't managed to make any other posts...

Hats.  Specifically, what I'm calling Dammit Hats, because I'm knitting them for people who have cancer, DAMMIT.  While I'm glad to be able to make something that might help them feel better as they go through chemo, I'm sad and mad that they are going through this.  Cancer sucks.

This is my Dammit Hat for Ruth:
Pattern is Jen's New Sweetie Pie hat, yarn is Madelinetosh Vintage, colorway is Baroque Violet.

I was lucky enough to have a couple of good yarn options in my stash to make this hat - I like to go shopping there first for projects.  That isn't always possible; my next Dammit Hat is for a man, and my manly stash color options were pretty sparse, so I ordered this beautiful skein:
Madelinetosh DK yarn, colorway is Worn Denim.

I'm making good progress on this hat - it's a lot of 1x1 ribbing after the cool 4x4 ribbing on the wide brim, but I felt that it was a safe choice considering I had no idea what his head measurement is - ribbing has a lot of give, so it works well in these circumstances:
Looks rather strange right now, but I promise, this will take on more of a familiar hat shape soon.

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Creativity with friends, part two:  About a month ago, fresh off our Painting with a Twist success, CC, Loretta, and I decided to try out U Paint It, which is a paint your own pottery studio.  I thought this would be easier than the canvas painting, but it was much more challenging at the start, because we had to not only decide what piece to paint (they have everything from small magnets to large platters), but also what colors and design to do as well.  We were all stumped for quite a while!  I went in knowing I wanted to paint a couple of cat food dishes, and they had some that were the size I was thinking of, but what to do, what to do with them??  I saw a different piece with polka dots on it - really perfect polka dots, at that.  I asked the girl who was helping us how they managed to do that, and she showed me their secret:  stickers!  You put the stickers on your piece first, then paint over them, then remove them and after the piece is glazed, it looks pretty cool:
Perfect polka dots!

CC took the longest time to get started - she used painter's tape to create vertical lines on a coffee mug, which she then painted.  Her precision and attention to detail paid off - we all loved how it turned out, and I threatened to steal it when we went back a week later to pick up our newly glazed and fired pieces, but she beat me to the shop, dang it.
Start to finish with our pottery adventure!

It was really neat to see how vibrant our pieces were once they were glazed and fired.  This was a fun experience, and I can't wait to go back - but in the meantime, I've been looking at Pinterest for painting ideas, as I don't seem to be able to come up with many on my own.

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OK, I think I'm caught up now - have a great Monday!

19 comments:

  1. I love it that you are making the Dammit hats! You are giving women dignity back after they lost their hair after chemo.

    What a fun workshop that was!

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    1. Oh ... Paco not jealous you didn't make him a plate?

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    2. I will make Paco a dish one of these days but I have to preplan a design for him before I go in to the store.

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    3. Please show us what the result will be and if the boy-diva likes it :)

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  2. Great name for those hats with a lovely person with a lovely heart knitting them. Perfect.

    I haven't done the paint your own pottery thing in years. I wonder if we still even have a studio around here anymore? The paint your own canvas thing has gotten really big here though. Remember the beading stores? Funny how things like that are cyclical.

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  3. I love the color of your hats excellent choices for both the women and the man.
    Too bad there is a reason to have to knit Dammitt hats though.

    I am going to knit some hats up for the homeless for winter.

    Do you buy your yarn local or online and if online from where?

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    1. I buy most of my yarn online because we don't have a yarn shop in town, or it buy it in person when I travel. Two of my favorite online stores are eatsleepknit.com and foryarnssake.com.

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  4. Love the wool you pick. Your hats always look great. Where do buy your yarn?

    The pottery class sounds fun.

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    1. See the comment above for my online shopping preferences. :)

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  5. The hat colors are gorgeous. You have great taste in yarn. I would love to try the pottery painting, but I would have been the same--WHAT COLOR? WHAT PATTERN? I love the cat dishes you made, such fun colors. Do Kip and Henry appreciate them??

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    1. Kip and Henry appreciate the new dishes in that they now can dine further apart than with their old, double bowl dish...because Kip doesn't like Henry and used to growl at him the entire time he was eating.

      Pack is jealous but he does get to lick their bowls when the cats are done so it's all good.

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  6. I am the same way Shelley - I am a good copycat, but coming up with an idea on my own? Not so much! We have a place not too far from me - I think that would be a fun outing for Hannah, Jacob and me! :D

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  7. Does it take more than one skein to knit a hat?

    I love the painted pottery. Well, I have a thing for pottery in general, especially bowls LOL! We did a paint your pottery class and it was really fun. I did a mug. I've had it for 5 years now? And it goes through the dishwasher and looks as good as the day I made it.

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    1. One skein is usually more than enough to knit a hat.

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  8. You are so crafty! I love that you are making hats for cancer! What a worth while thing to do. I know they are made with love!

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  9. Oh I love the polka dot dishes!! Beautiful colors! :) How fun to go to something like that!

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  10. LOVE the Dammit Hats! I have a suggestion for you if you plan to keep making and giving them away. Make a Dammit Hat a bit longer than a regular hat. I spent almost a year of my life wearing Dammit Hats, and when you're totally bald, it's nice for the hat brim to cover the nape of the neck and most of the forehead, especially on days when you're feeling too tired to paint on some eyebrows!

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    1. Thanks for the sizing tip, I really appreciate it. I wasn't sure if I should be making them a little smaller since no hair is taking up space, or what...this is very good to know. Glad you don't have to wear a Dammit Hat anymore. :)

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