Smile Creations Crafts's work for sale in Chesapeake City, MD

Yup, it's very exciting. My work is being displayed/sold at a shop called Vulcan's Rest in Chesapeake City, MD. My husband and I were wandering around in Chesapeake City a few weeks ago, and Dan found it (hooray for wonderful husbands!).

In addition to a huge selection of fiber, the owner likes to feature completed projects by local artists, and has thus turned her shop into a fiber and gifts store. If you happen to be there, look for my work. Some items she currently has for sale are:


Knit purses in several styles (pictured is one of them)

Crochet shawls (one in black/multi; one in shades of blue)
Knit jack-o-lanterns (just in time for the spooky season!)
Crochet flower pins - perfect to dress up a shawl, or to embellish a project of your own
Smileville Bears -- Molly (pictured) and Mac

Summer 2007 Knitting Contest

Since I knit all the time, but have a tendency to drop projects and begin new ones rather rapidly, I thought this contest, sponsored by Skeins Her Way, would be a great way to keep me on track this summer! Two women in my knitting group, reluctantMANGO and YarnMama, have already posted their knitting goal list for the contest. If you decide to lay it on the line and ante up a goals list for the contest, please be sure to mention my blog as your jumping point.

Here goes, my summer 2007 knitting goals:
1) Finish knitting my first pair of socks EVER! The cuffs are done; I'm moving on to the heels tonight.
2) Finish knitting the first item I've ever started for myself... a simple bandeau/tube top in raspberry Silky Look (Sirdar).
3) Finish the two knit purses that I have in various stages of incompletion.
4)Find a cute ribbon yarn pattern for little girls (preferably a shrug or wrap) and knit using some Anny Blatt yarn from Heaven (it was gifted to our group by an avid knitter who passed away).
5) Teach my mom how to purl, increase, and decrease using her Knifty Knitter looms.
6) Learn entrelac knitting so I can finally work on the shrug I promised my sister when I first learned to knit!
7) Knit and felt a purse using Lion Brand Wool. I bought the yarn, now to get brave enough to knit for felting!!

This may not seem like an ambitious list compared to others -- I am always thinking that I should be doing MORE -- but I am trying to keep in mind that I also crochet, sew, cross-stitch, and make wreaths. I'll keep trying to fight perfectionism!

Artist's reception at the Curiosity Shoppe Friday May 25th

I took a few pics with my cell phone during the lovely opening reception that Curiosity Shoppe held on Friday night for all the artists in this rotation. There were at least 18 of the artists in attendance, plus friends and family. The Curiosity Shoppe had two bands to play; one got shut down fast because they were playing on the outside landing/stoop of the shop and the Phila police said we were creating a public disturbance. But the other band, a male/female duo, played inside and were great! It was a really nice party that went on for quite some time. Dan and I had to leave around 11:30pm, but it was still going strong when we left.

Back to showing you the pics. They are a little fuzzy -- my cell phone doesn't do pics so well inside at night -- but you can see my Smileville Bears and some purses being displayed. The jewelry wasn't photographable as it's all displayed beautifully in glass cases, and for some reason, the pic I took of my crochet shawls on the mannequin came out all black. :(

Here are my bears (Da-lee, Lani, Oliver, Rupert, Sally, and Gramps) sitting on a vintage dresser below a mirror and two funky paintings.


Purses are all displayed on one large rack that has bars sticking out in all directions. Obviously, purses are a popular item to be making now as the rack was full of purses from many different artists. But below you can see my purple fringed bag (it's on the right side of the left pic) and my green bag (front and center of the right pic). They are both fashioned from toddler pants... so cute, if I do say so myself! :)


Other artists had done paintings, line drawings, fabric arts (hanging quilts, etc), jewelry, cards, magnets, and much more! Stop by the shop and check it out if you're in the area of 4th St. and South St. in Philadelphia!

Purses

Lately, I've been working furiously to complete some fun knit and crochet purses. I realized that while I have some purses in stock, I don't have any which are knit or crochet.

In the process, I have had my first (and successful, I'm happy to report!) experience with blocking. Blocking, according to a great DIY article on knitty.com, "makes your life so much easier. You shape the pieces into the way you want them to live, using steam or water. It makes your knitting more even and sets the stitches." For example, I crochet several granny squares, which I want to join together to make a purse. But when I finished crocheting the squares, they weren't exactly square. So I dampened them, stretched them about this way and that, and pinned them in a perfect square shape to a towel-covered piece of cardboard to dry. Voila! Two days later, I have actual squares!


Course, there is always more to learn. If you read the entire article on blocking that I've linked to the paragraph above, you'll realize, as I did, that putting your damp knitting on a towel to block means it will take double the time to dry. Now I know for the NEXT blocking project!