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While I was away, a package I had ordered arrived from Knit Picks, and I was excited to find it waiting for me. Then I opened it up, and this is what I found:
East Meets West Satchel kit
This tapestry-style purse is a knitting project with 21 different colors of wool in it. It came in a bunch of colorways, but I went with the blue one. The pattern is really more like a novel with full color illustrations. It uses techniques I’ve heard of but some of which I’ve never done.
My initial reaction after “what was I thinking?” was to wonder if anyone had managed to put this thing together. On Ravelry, I found 30+ posts about this project and none of them said “I am going bald from all the hair pulling” (my guess is that I’ll get to be the first to say that!). A couple of them were super detailed and full of helpful hints and suggestions, so I calmed down and am now a little more eager to give this thing a try. I’m afraid, however, it will not be a relaxing-in-the-evening kind of knit since the entire thing will require lots of counting.
Step one is easy though. I have to knit a gauge swatch to make sure I buy the right size circular needles for this. After that, the real challenge will begin.
Back in February, I started the Needlework Project From Hell. At the time, I claimed I was determined to get the thing done, and in fact, I worked on it steadily until I had all the embroidery and beading done. I had to use a magnifying glass to see what I was doing, and still managed to screw up a lot (as you can see in the photo). I decided to ignore the mistakes and bull my way through (and make the first side I did, which had the most mistakes, the BOTTOM of the pin cushion… 
).
The half on the left is the bottom half.
Because it was such agony to get to this point, I put the project away. I wasn’t up for more hair-tearing having worn myself out getting to this stage. Kelleen finished her cushion recently, despite having to beat the bushes because her kit was short by a couple of tiny, unique beads. So I finally got the little monster back out, and I discovered I had done the right thing in taking a break from it.
The assembly “step” (which made up one-third of the detailed instructions) had you whipstitch the two pieces together through an outline stitch made with thread the same color as the linen. Even with my magnifying glass, it was a nightmare. It took me four hours to put the thing together, and it’s barely 3 inches square. The funny offset that gives it the weird shape was the easiest part of the construction process.
The Pincushion From Hell
So, I have one more thing in my life of which I can say: it didn’t kill me, so it must have made me stronger.
As promised, an update regarding my studio makeover. I found a paper towel holder at the thrift store and was lucky: the holes for the screws lined up with holes in the support bar on my shelving unit. So I was able to hang the paper towels using bolts instead of screws. No holes in the wall, and my paper towels are within easy reach.
I’ve also been working in stages on my fabric storage. Whenever I’m on the phone for a while, I roll up my fabric. I think it’s going to work better than having it folded did. First, you can see all of the fabric at once (lots was getting lost in the stacks I had before), and it seems to take up less space, so I’ll have more room to play with. I’ve decided I need to find a way to hang my large scale Japanese print fabrics, though. When they’re rolled up, you can’t really tell what they look like.
I’ve also been collecting wire bins (at the thrift store) that will fit on the shelves to hold the scraps that are too small to roll. I think my favorite container so far is a recycled zippered plastic bag that a set of sheets came in. Not only can you see what is in it, but is boxed-shaped so it sits up. (It’s in the cube above the yellow and brown fabrics.)
I haven’t made any more progress than this because most of my studio time this week went to machine quilting a piece that I hope to put in our family’s art show this November. It’s a baby quilt for an inner child, and I’m having an interesting time figuring out how to hang the sucker. The obvious thing would be to just attach it to a larger square of fabric, but I’m not sure I’ll like how that would look…
Quilt for an Inner Child
The studio clean-up/reorganization will continue and I’ll keep you posted as I go.
I am fortunate enough to have an entire room (with a view) to devote to my many creative interests, which include quilting, soft sculpture, collage, and painting. I had a clear plan for everything when we moved in last January, and for quite a while my studio worked well. I used the book Organizing Your Craft Space by Jo Packham to think about what I wanted. Then I worked out a scale floor plan that included locations for my many plastic bins. Was I organized when we moved in!
While in many ways my new studio has been great, I have continued to read about studios and storage solutions in search of more ideas for my own creative space. My main source has been the special Studios issues put out by Cloth Paper Scissors over the last two years.
Fast forward to Tuesday (or really, the last few months). Things got out of control and I haven’t been able to look at the room let alone set foot in it. Here’s what it looked like Tuesday morning:
My sister, who makes glass beads, was just here visiting and we talked about the fact that we both needed to overhaul our studios. We’ve agreed to go through this process together, and I loaned her my magazines to read. I have already implemented some of the wise things she and my brother-in-law suggested to me while they were here.
The suggestion that surprised me the most was: get the books out of the room. The pictures of the many studios I’ve read about always have shelves and shelves of books in them, so I was keeping all my art/craft/inspirational books and magazines in my studio as well. When I was planning, I kept hoping to squeeze a chair in next to my shelves so I would have the cozy reading corner so many large studios have, but the chair wouldn’t fit.
Once my sister mentioned it, however, I realized I almost never use my books in my studio. I curl up on my sofa to read them for fun, when I am so tired that vicarious creating beats not creating at all. Once in a while, I need to look up the instructions for a specific technique while I’m actually working on something, but that is a rare event.
So, I have already moved almost all of my books onto a book shelf in my guest room, which just happens to have a comfy arm chair next to it already; my reading nook finally exists.
In the process of moving the books, I also did some picking up and putting away. Already, the floor is clear again, there is more space on my shelves, and my work table is (mostly) open. So I can finish pieces I’m working on for our family show in November, although I still have some decisions and changes to make to my studio. My goal is to post an update weekly, so there should be more studio news this time next week.
I’m just back from a wonderful visit with my lifelong best friend Kelleen. We have a tradition of starting an arts and crafts project whenever we’re together, and this time we went for needlework. We started out in Big Box Land looking for something small and easy just for entertainment value. Disappointed by the poor selection, we left empty handed. We decided to visit The Needlework Cottage and spent a happy time exploring the store. In the end, we found a little project we were both interested in: pin cushions. There were several beautiful patterns and we had a hard time choosing. In the end, I wound up with the one below, while Kelleen bought the “Cherry Blossoms” version.
Cute, isn’t it? Kelleen’s is just as lovely. What neither of us realized until we got home was 1) this sucker is SMALL! and 2) the intriguing Diamond Eye Stitch (the thing making the beige holey border in the middle) is a nightmare when worked on linen using thread that practically matches it in color.
In our innocence, we both rushed to get to the Diamond Eye Stitch, intrigued because neither of us had ever done anything like it before. We soon found out how important it is to get the stitches in the right spot. I worked the entire border at least three times over due to the many misakes I found myself picking back out. To add to the fun, this pincushion has the same pattern on the bottom, meaning twice the agony… I mean, fun.
Kelleen sorting the microscopic beads that are part of the kit
Once we realized what a challenge the Diamond Eye Stitch was, we both took the bit in our mouths and barreled on until we finally finished both sides.
I relaxed once the border was over with, convinced the vines would be much much easier. It wasn’t long before I realized that the counting for this part is just as difficult if not more so than for the DES. Even working in high contrast colors didn’t help. The uneven strand widths in the linen make it difficult to get the counts right. I ripped out as much as I could stand to, but I ran out of patience. I decided to put this messed up version the bottom, and hope that after three more tries on this part of the pattern, I’ll be able to do it correctly on the top.
Tiny, isn't it?
My determination to finish this sucker is still high, so I will be working on this daily with the hope that my determination will outlast the project. Wish me luck!
