On my desk.... ish.

Well I've been busy browsing some beautiful photos from the Wednesday on my desk meme, begun by Kootoyoo, and I must say I'm having a little bit of desk envy. I tried to make one of those cute little mosaics of some of my favorites but it didn't seem to work. boo :( Guess I still have some blogging tricks to master. Well, anyway, my envy spawns from the fact that at home, I can't say I really have a desk... I mean, I do, but it contains my old, not really working desktop computer, and piles and piles of paper, rendering it rather unusable. My main workspace is the living room couch and floor and so things have a tendency to become very messy and unorganized. In fact, I hardly spend any time in my own room at all... it's become more of a storage area :/ And at school, well, my desk is all full of boring school-type stuff, and nothing lovely and crafty.

Well, yesterday in my beloved flamingo print dress (thanks to e-bay for the photo) I found myself in a 1950s housewife sort of mood where I wanted to clean and organize and perhaps make my desk and room into something usable once again! However, I was working most of the day (from 11am-12:30pm and from 3pm-10:30pm) and so didn't have the time. Today, I have had all the time in the world but haven't had that same punch of desire to organize, no matter how many photos of pretty desks and clean craft closets I lust after.

Alas, for now, even though It's not Wednesday, I did want to show you a picture of what's on my "desk," aka the couch, which is what I've been working on today rather than doing any sort of cleaning whatsoever. I'm pretty excited about it, but can't show you much more as it may end up being for a craftster swap I've just signed up for... though this is still kind of a trial run.


And speaking of swapping, head on over to Jezzeblog and check out her Swatch Swap which I think is an absolutely fabulous idea. I've only printed fabric once or twice before, but I had a great time with it, and if you do too, or if you've ever wanted to give it a try, you should head over to swap some swatches too!

Anyway, time to whip myself up a quick dinner and perhaps I will feel a bit more inspired after I eat...

The Houndstooth Hat, and other holiday fare

New yarn and goodies from knitpicks arrived lightning fast and I began on my Center Square. Once I got the hang of the fair isle (this was my first project with colorwork!) I decided I wasn't happy with how the colors were looking in the pattern. So, I frogged the thing and then this morning, started again, using a houndstooth colorwork pattern instead. I finished it about an hour ago, and I am incredibly happy with it! So this is also my first finished object in a single day ;) (and I still had time to beat my dad at risk, and loose at various other games, including a very close game of scrabble in which I had a 40+ point move! We also ate wonderful homemade pizza (pesto, potato, carmalized onions, and goat cheese) and cookies and other things... so overall, a very good day!) Anyway, here is the hat:




Oh, and another cute Christmas thing: on the way back from my french lesson yesterday I noticed a Christmas tree stand selling "Charlie Brown Christmas Trees" for $1 each. I thought it was way too adorable, and since it's been a few years since we've had a tree, (we don't really celebrate Christmas, though we used to get a tree when I was little and call it a "Hannukah Bush" haha) I thought why not? It was extra fun because my dad and I called my mom telling her we got a tree and she was a little angry because of all the work she would have to do... until she got home and say this:

needless to say, she cracked up ;) And my dad thought it was appropriate that our tree be smaller than our menorah (which was still out yesterday since we had a belated Hannukah celebration when I got home from school)
(The trimmings are all my doing of course. And yes... those are earrings ;) haha)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate! And to everyone else, I hope you had a fabulous day ;)

A Lack of Posting: brought to you by college

So, here I am. My first term of college is done, and while it's been fantastic, it left me with almost no time for crafting. I was so busy... there just wasn't even a moment. For blogging either in that matter. From classes that were hard, to the show I was in--yes, I am quoted in both articles ;), and working as a newscaster at the radio station, and acting in a student film, and new friends... I could go on and on. In the past 4 months all I managed to do craft-wise was to finish this unicorn for a swap:


and to start knitting my first sweater, thermal. I'm a bit further along than this poor picture portrays as I was stuck in Ithaca for an extra day after my exams ended due to snow. Beautiful snow. So what did I do? Knit of course.



brought to you by:


Anyway, while I'm going to miss my friends, my cast mates, and so many other amazing things, I'm excited for more knitting and sewing and crafting over this break. I hope to knit some mittens and maybe hats too, work more on more of my thermal, stitch up some gifts... perhaps... (suggestions anyone?) and maybe even make that dress I've been wanting to start since the summer. I don't know... there are always plenty of things that I intend to do, though one of them certainly is to blog about whatever does get created, and if I don't do this- yell at me! haha. But first... to unpack the exorbitant amount of stuff I brought back with me, including a lot of craft supplies who were sadly neglected up at school.... ah yes... I'll get to that...

My new children

The past week or two has been filled with lots of crafting tidbits combined with driving, work, and college preparation (accompanied by the necessary freak outs).

The weekend of the 21st (yes, Harry Potter weekend, and yes I did get the book at midnight and finish it before the weekend was out) was spent up in the Berkshires which lent itself to more driving practice, and you guessed it- craft shopping. While Joann's did not satisfy my palate in terms of fabric, I did come home with a Built by Wendy pattern, as well as many other supplies ranging from foam and felt to thread and cover buttons. Very exciting indeed.

However, other than Mr. Potter, the highlight of the weekend was spending time with my grandfather... and building the newest addition to my crafting family. A swift. When I arrived home I ordered a ball winder online and just this Monday I was finally able to enjoy some blissful yarn winding time.

she's a little crooked but she was made with love and care and I'm so excited by how these two new toys work together! Winding up beautiful little cakes of yarn is such a breeze... and such fun! Granted my setup is a little... erm, makeshift... right now, but maybe someday I'll have a table to use for these things.

Anyway. Tracking back a bit, last Friday merited my first trip to Purl Patchwork downtown to spend a gift certificate from my birthday. And what a fantastic place this is! I was sad that I deterred myself from purchasing from superbuzzy during the last update, and this really lifted my spirits. While the store is small, bolts of gorgeous fabric- ranging from Japanese to Amy Butler to anything you might desire- are piled high. It's such eye candy!
Anyway, I came away with a nice little addition to my ever growing fabric collection.

and yes, those are the ever coveted little Japanese hedgehogs... oh how they set my heart afire ;)

However, I did not stop at that. Saturday we took a trip up to Ikea for dorm shopping and came home with quite a nice little haul. I think my favorite thing was Ikea's "yarn store" which demonstrated storage and other furniture for small business... but it was so great! I didn't get to spend long mulling over fabrics because we had other clear purposes, but as you can probably tell from the picture above, I did not come away empty handed in that department.

With all these new fabrics in tow you can imagine my desire to cut into something at once. The Japanese fabric still being too precious to me, I broke into my piece from Ikea to create a cloth grocery bag.

This baby is strong! And he has a lot of character. Unfortunately his lining (from Germany) is quite bulky and so he does not fold into his pocket like he should. However, I love him and took him for a test run recently.

Something about carrying this baby around makes me feel very hip... hahaha. And I love how miserably he clashes with many of my outfits... I really do love it ;)

Well, this post is getting on now... but I promise I'll have more exciting things to show you soon. Including another new baby who excites me more than you can believe! Oh just you wait and see ;) hahaha

As we go on, we remember...

So, I went and graduated on you, how about that?


But this blog isn't about all that, what's most important are my crafty endeavors, eh?

So, I do have a few things I wanted to show you.

First, the bag (remember the one I was knitting on all of those spring break flights?) is done. The pocket isn't shown in this picture, but I finished knitting that as well. All that's left now is to felt it up and put it together. I'm excited :)


I also had a sweet 16 a weekend ago (it's been a while since I had one of those) and had no gift on the day of. So, I whipped up an ipod case (a little messy as I had no real pattern and had never made an ipod case before) and got her an itunes gift card. Overall I was fairly pleased with it. The pictures are awful though as I snapped them as I was running out the door.


I also have a new, many pocketed wallet, to show you, as well as a lace knitted "market bag" I started on, and some plastic fabric I ironed up. However, all this for another day as I prefer to take my photos in the daylight.

Tomorrow I go into school one last time to pick up my final report card and diploma (yes, they only hand us a diploma case at graduation). Then Thursday I leave for a week and a little in Berlin, so I may not post again for a while. However, I do hope to return with lots of crafty and thrifty goodies to show you and will finally be able to show you the great graduation dress which is sadly hidden under my robe in the picture above.

I leave you for now with a nice little graduation appropriate quote I found through some crafty page or another...

"Promise me you'll always remember... you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" said Christopher Robin. ;)

Across the country and back again

Well, Spring break is over and done, and now it is time to get back in swing with the rest of the year. I had a fantastic time both in Brunswick and San Francisco and was not without crafty things on my mind.

One of the highlights of my fabulous weekend in Brunswick with Mary was the fabulous flea market inside an old mill. There was so much to see and so much I wanted to get my hands on, but I managed a few especially stellar finds, The highlight being a potential dress for prom, Vintage Gunne Sax, for $12.50! I know for a fact the original price was at the very least over $100. It makes my thrifty bones tingle a bit ;)

(I'm afraid I don't photograph myself very well, and can hardly do the dress justice)

I also snagged a few beautiful vintage buttons for about $6 and a fantastic pair of black, gold plated cameo earrings (1920s-30s so the woman who sold them to me said).


I also picked up some fun fabric remnants and a bounty of colorful acrylic felt from a cute everything store in town and a few fabulous deals from the Ralph Lauren store in Freeport. Not to mention that Mary and I had a wonderful time.

Then, after a few days at home, it was off to San Francisco to meet the gang. We saw the sites- Chinatown, Fisherman's Warf, Ghirardelli Sqaure, Japan Center, Haight Asbury, the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito- and I picked up a few fun things. While I managed, barely, to pull myself away from the kitschy ceramics in Brunswick, particularly a cute squirrel salt and pepper shaker set, I could not resist this little bank in Chinatown for only $2.


I also found a few great pieces in the Haight area at a store called Buffalo exchange, the highlight being this Mark Jacobs sweater for a mere $30. Normally, I am not such a brand oriented person, but beauty and quality can just be so hard to resist.


We has an amazing trip, and got some exercise too while biking across the Golden Gate bridge!


Sorry this post was so much thrift and ramble, and so little craft, but the many plane rides did give me an opportunity to get some knitting done.

I am now well in to knitty's satchel, a project I started especially for these trips and am very excited about.

I also had a chance to test an adorable pattern for a stuffed turtle by everyone's favorite Hillary Lang, but I shall refrain from posting pictures just yet.

More soon now that the window escapades are through with and I am back home in the land of craft.

Round and about

I haven't been accomplishing anything lately. Crafts, school work, it's all in senioritis mode. Admittedly it's kind of nice to just go to school and rehearsal and come home and read lots of inspiring craft blogs... but I need to make that inspiration go somewhere. At least I was inspired to do something when my beginning crochet kit came in the mail. It's not much, but check out my first swatch!

I decided mastering crochet chain, single crochet and slip stitch was enough for one weekend.

Today however, I finally picked up my dpns and the random, slightly ugly dk yarn I have a million balls of to start knitting my first socks.

It's not much, but I'm excited. I'm 'taking' Silver's Sock Class and so far so good- I've mastered casting onto and getting started on dpns (I only used dpns once before- for my no-ears kittyville hat, and that was started on circs. It gives me some mindless knitting (at least until I get to the heel) to do during rehearsal for a while... at least until I order the yarn for my first sweater (ambitious again, yes?)

Really I should be working on the crafty detective swap... or that branching out on which I stopped after (unlucky?) 13 pattern repeats and have yet to pick up again. I hope it will be done in time for mother's day... problem is, it just requires too much concentration, that I certainly don't have at the moment.

Well, I do have one thing that is a little more fun:

I sent this pouch (and stamp I used for it) to my partner in the DIY kit swap- along with a lot of other stamp making stuff of course. The pouch has a nice little brown lining from some small thrifted piece of material. It's my first, and so far only, use of that huge barrel of upholstery fabric, and though it's simple I'm really happy with it. It's going to take a lot more of these to use of all that fabric though! Haha, well one of these days I'll be back in full craft mode again, I know it.

Branching Out

So, feeling a little guilty for starting my February break a day early, I turned on two hours of PBS's supreme court series, while finally biting the bullet and starting the branching out for my mom's birthday. I'll admit I was terrified to try my hand at lace... but, while it's challenging, it's not terribly hard at all, and I'm really happy with how it's going so far. After frogging the first repeat 4 times, I finally got in to the swing of it, and haven't had to frog anymore since (though the lifelines are there just in case) I know there are a few mistakes, but I don't know where they are, and I think the pattern looks great anyway! I've completed three repeats and am excited to keep going, though I may take a break now to work on something for a swap or clean my room. I am using recycled, kool-aid died merino wool from my first recycling and dying projects ever for this knit :)

Anyway, here it is:


and stretched to look more like it will look after blocking (I assume):


The colors are truer in the second picture, but neither are very good. You can get a better idea of the yarn used in my post about the recycling project itself.

Oh, and the pencil cases were a great hit with my friend :)

The magic of Goodwill

On the way home from rehearsal last night I stopped at Goodwill for a quick look around, to see if there was anything worth my while. There was! I got two pieces of 'fabric' and a lovely yellow, wool sweater.

When I got home, I set to work fixing a pencil case my friend gave me. She got it in China and loves it, but the zipper was pulling apart and one of the ends came apart as well. So I unpicked the whole thing, added a new pale pink zipper (it had a white one before, but I liked the pink) and sewed it back together:


you can see it on top of the first piece of 'fabric' I got at Goodwill, which turned out to be a shower curtain when I got home. I really liked it, and so contemplated putting it up, but instead made another pencil case for my friend (It's her birthday today):

I used the shower curtain fabric and covered it with clear vinyl so that it can be wiped off when it gets dirty in her bag. I made it in the same style as the one I fixed, but after I finished I realized my zipper isn't as nice because I didn't fold over the edges, ah well, I'm still quite happy with it, and it was my first time working with vinyl, so it was a little challenging, but not as scary as I expected ;)


Here is the other fabric, actually intended to be fabric, that I got at Goodwill:


I had also picked up a sweater, and when my Dad came in to tell me Guys and Dolls was on PBS, I turned it on, and started unravelling. I only did the front panel so far, but it's such a large sweater- I know I'm going to get a lot of nice things out of this!
Right after unravelling:


Drying in my bathroom this morning:


My partner for the owl swap also received, and so I have some things to show off from that:
group:

Bag lining and applique:

shirt:

key chain, mini-bag, and stamp:


This was my first two times carving stamps, and then stamping fabric (the lining and mini-bag) and also my first time doing applique. It was a great swap! :)
*Gallery*

anyway, I think that's all for now. Only a week until February break when I have so much to do, so many people to see, and so much to craft! <3

Found the Camera Cord

It was hardly hiding, just under my desk, though I'm so sure I looked there. Anyway, what's important is that I can post pictures again.

So, the kittyville hat. I finally decided against the ears, it makes it more wearable. Though I have a blue and pink monster fur hat with bear ears that I found very wearable for a long time, it just doesn't go with my new winter coat, haha. Anyway, I like it how it is, and I can always add the ears if it strikes my fancy. Done in the suggested mission falls, it's much purpler than it looks here:

excuse the pjs and the toilet in the background, it's hard to take pictures of yourself ;P

As a mentioned, I also did some yarn recycling. 100% fine merino wool, recycled from a $6.99 thrift store sweater. The dyed skein is a much richer cranberry in the darker spots and pinker in the lighter spots, except a few where it stayed rather grey.

It doesn't look like much, but that's because the yarn is a pretty fine weight, I would say probably fingering weight. The entire back panel of the sweater is still un-recycled and I had to get rid of some of the sweater since I didn't do an amazing job of getting it apart at the seams (especially on that back panel, which is why I haven't tried to recycle it yet, haha) Anyway, the grey ball is from the sleeves, and the red skein/blob is the front panel, died in the microwave with 3 packets of kool-aid. The color's not all that evenly distributed, but I'm happy with it- especially considering that this was my first time both at recycling and yarn dying!

Oh, and the fingerless gloves were received very well :) She said her mom complimented them too!

I also just received the happy hooker from amazon- one copy for me and one for Helen, who already knows how to crochet, time for me to learn another craft!

Last night I did my first cable, inspired by Helen who brought her first cable swatch to school on Friday- what can I say, I have to keep up, haha. Even though it's just a little swatch I think it's given me the confidence to attempt a project with them... when I get some of my current WIPs done... or not... we'll see ;P

Instead of starting on my mom's birthday gift, or the knit pear I promised Laura, or my first pair of socks, last night I started a t-shirt quilt!

After taking this picture I cut out all the designs with a 14"x14" template I made from file folders and started to iron on interfacing. The facing isn't cooperating though, it just won't stick, I don't know what I'm going wrong :\ Ah well, it stuck in a few places and if worse comes to worse I can always sew the rest on. I have a lot of time to finish this one though, I just want it to be ready for college next year. I'll probably need some more t-shirts, but I have some more from shows I've been in, though some I actually wear so won't cut up, and want to get another t-shirt from my school to chop. I vow to finish this project, even if it doesn't happen until the summer.

I think those are all the updates in the craft world for this evening. I think I'm staying in tonight as I'm kind of cranky with the friends about supposed spring break plans, and Mike has his job until 9 anyway, so maybe I'll get more done. I should do homework, but crafting is the greater good... or evil ;)

The camera cord is missing.

That means no blog updates, because really, what is a craft blog update without photos? Nothing, in my opinion. Recent news in short:

1. finished the kittyville, no ears. This has been done a while actually, but the ears were still being debated.
2. Helen came over which led to Recycling my (and her) first yarn. Mine was 100% grey merino wool from a goodwill sweater ($7- I know, pricey for goodwill, but still cheapo for lovely yarn!) It's a little skinnier than DK weight, not really lace though, I dunno.
3. Dyed my first yarn. One "skein" (3.5 oz) of the grey recycled + 3 packs of red kool aid + microwave and pyrex = one "skein" of variegated grey-pink-cranberry yarn. So soft and pretty :) (Though maybe has more grey left than I'd like ;P)
4. Finished everything for the owl swap. I'm so happy with the results. But of course, I couldn't post pictures of this anyway.
5. next project= using this yarn for knitty's branching out as a birthday gift for my mom? This might be a little too ambitious.

No pictures, so that is all for now.

All boxed up and ready to go

The mini-gloves are finished!
These were great because they were such a quick knit. The second glove (to the right) is a tad looser, the bottom ribbing is slightly shorter, and the top ribbing is slightly longer, but I'm still very happy with them. This is my first knitted gift, other than a chunky garter stitch scarf I made my Dad when I first learned, so I hope they are well received. The girl I made them for really wanted me to knit her something, so I think she'll like them.


and here they are, all boxed up and ready to go. The box is a tiny thing from a gift package we received this holiday, and the gift tag is from my one very experimental attempt at handmade paper. I repeat, very experimental. I tied it up with lace because I have way more lace than ribbon lying around, haha.


Now, no more knitting until after my exams next week... hah, right. ;)

In the beginning, Natch created...

a blog. So, welcome to my brand new craft blog, The Natchbox. Why The Natchbox? Well, I'm Natch, often known as Nathalie or Nat, and I'm just super witty, alright? ;P Anyway, now that I am practically a second term senior and have a little free time on my hands, I wanted to establish my own little place on the web where I post my crafts, etc. I love to sew, knit, and stencil, and am always experimenting and trying new things.

Anyway, I thought I'd start out with a few of my most recent finished objects and works in progress.

First, a reversible tote bag I made from a navy bed sheet, interfacing, and red star fabric I received in a swap. It was based on the tutorial found here. The pockets on mine are a bit short, and I had to switch threads from dark red to lighter red partway through, but overall I'm very happy with it. I took it to my Cornell interview today (navy side out) and received a compliment from my interviewer!

and a close up of the red star fabric and my wonky top stitching:


I also stenciled this shirt last weekend, inspired by a Mary Poppins bag challenge on craftster, which I probably won't get a chance to enter. I love Mary Poppins, so I decided to stencil a T-shirt instead. I made the stencil myself, based on a movie cover, and am quite happy with the result. I'm trying to decide if it needs something else, but I've already worn it and gotten some compliments, so we'll see if I feel like making changes.


Last but not least, I am working on these fingerless gloves for a friend's birthday on Monday. I finished one last night and cast on for the other this morning. They are a super quick knit, from this site, and I am loving the result!


I am also working on some things for a swap, but can't show any of that off yet.

Anyway, to a future of happy crafting and posting, cheers!