Second Chance Knitting

I first learned to knit, then I learned crochet and fell in love with the quick production and easy recovery should you make a mistake. Then nearly a year ago I thought I'd give knitting a try again, my mistake was picking up with socks. Working with 4-5 needles in one project got the best of me and I returned to the comfort of crochet. I've signed up on ravelry (which is everything yarn, crochet & knitting alike) where I documented a couple of crochet projects and was impelled to pick up knitting yet again based on some beautiful projects I found there. But I haven't mastered the site just yet and need some place to stash projects not on ravelry I'd like to tackle in the future.

Beginning with:
http://purlbee.squarespace.com/hand-knit-lace-scarf/

In all likelihood I will simply stash any & all project links I'd like to one day do here so this title will be moot; sewing, food, soap-making, etc.

Maryland State Fair

We went to the State Fair this year, for the 1st year in a very very long time. It was Bovie's idea and we went with him & Holly. I made Eric ride The Zipper with me, which is easily the best ride ever. I'm pretty sure Eric doesn't agree with me about that though, and I really wish I had a picture of us screaming our little heads off as we went round & round & round. We saw some prize winning flowers, fruits, & veggies, a few farm animals, ate fried Oreos, and I got a corndog.

Pipe Dream # 42

Sell house. Buy piece of land in middle of nowhere.
Live in this while building little cabin in the woods.





Sigh.

Nervous

I just absolutely adore this -- and think you should too.

Ta Da

As promised.

Before:





After:





I feel like it doesn't look so impressive when you take out all the photos of all the steps in between the before and after, I might upload those but since they're probably not as interesting to others this will suffice for now.

Steps, Obstacles, & More Steps

Okay, so really I have not lost steam on this new endeavor, just ran into a few unforeseen obstacles. Almost all of my supplies I had to order online through various sites. I suppose I could have ordered them all from one site but I was hesitant to commit a lot of money to a project that I might get bored with, which appears to be the trend with most undertakings of mine, and I shopped around for the best price on each of things I required to complete my first project. (Pictures coming soon, I promise.)

So I purchased the necessary implements step by step and was even lucky enough that my father-in-law has done some DIY upholstery himself in the past and lent me a few of his tools. He provided some webbing but it was not quite enough and I ended up ordering more online, as well as more horse/pig hair, and an invisible zipper foot. I only ended up getting the invisible zipper foot after I scoured the internet for a double cording foot for my Singer 5830C without any luck, and read on a few sites that double cording is possible (albeit a bit trickier) to do with an invisible zipper foot.

It would've been much easier to use a staple gun for attaching the fabric to the frame, but I felt I should be true to the trade and used tacks (carpet tacks in various sizes which I picked up for a buck 29 @ Home Depot). This worked quite well and I get a probably perverse satisfaction out of knowing that it's not a staple job, but I imagine it would've been a bit easier to hit my mark precisely with a staple gun rather than hammering in a tack that needs to be exactly 1/4" from the frame. That left all aspects completed except the double cording/welting.

I received my zipper foot in the mail and started playing around with different techniques and I just couldn't figure out a good way to do it -- no matter what I tried it kept ending up too loose between each cord and looking sloppy. So a few diligent google searches later, and I stumbled across this tidbit on Double Cording. No pictures, yet it was exactly what needed to happen and I've linked to it here so that I can always easily find it should my memory need refreshing. Now, I've finished one strip of the cording and now I have one more length of it to make before I can glue it to frame the fabric and cover the tacks and move on to project #2 -- which involves seat springs, this should be interesting.

Teach Yourself

So for a while now I've been interested in taking a class. I was flirting between stained glass, clay, upholstery, or any other similar class that strikes a fair balance between the technical and the creative. After months of debate (ie: procrastination) I settled on upholstery and contacted the nearest place where I might take a class (northern Baltimore Co., home base) sending pictures of the two projects I'd like to tackle. I have yet to hear back. Granted it was only a week or so ago and perhaps the lady who runs the shop is on vacation or has some other legitimate reason for the delay in response....but I'm impatient, so I went to library, got a few books out on the subject, and began tackling one of them myself.

After all, paying to take a class is really just self-insurance that you won't get frustrated on your own and quit your project, right? Your paying for knowledge that is available for free @ your local library, right? Well, that's what I'm telling myself. So far, I'm still in the stripping stage but I haven't lost interest yet which is a good sign. I even have a couple of photos so far to document the process (to be posted, eventually, one day). In the meantime, here's a photo of the type of chair I plan on tackling next should the current project prove successful.



I got two of these beauties @ a Saturday morning yard sale for $5 a piece -- firm. Mine are not in nearly as good condition as the one in the picture, with the upholstery literally coming apart at the seams -- but I see their potential. They're Viko by Baumritter, which after a tiny bit of research may even be worth something once I complete them. I was initially thinking a heavy canvas for fabric, but now I'm second-guessing that and leaning towards sticking with the traditional vinyl. But I probably shouldn't get ahead of myself and remain focused on project #1 for now.