September Philly Etsy Round-up

Now that the first half of the last season for Breaking Bad is over, I am thankful for this awesome print by Philly artist Scott Derby.  

"Knock Knock" 18x24 Poster: $50.00 

Fall is coming, and so is knitting and crocheting season.  Perfect for both, here is a pattern for a leaf to crochet!

Maple Leaf Pattern: $1.49

On the theme of fall leaves, here are some handmade buttons!

Set of 4 Maple Leaf Ceramic Buttons: $14.00

And getting ready for Halloween, what baby doesn't need a fleece dinosaur hat???

Fleece Dinosaur Hat: $20.00

Upcoming Event: Go West Craft Fest

I saw a postcard for this event in the South Street Whole Foods.  

So here are the details, in case you can't read my phone's snapshot:

Saturday, September 29, from 11-5.  

At the Woodlands (http://www.woodlandsphila.org/)

I'm very excited, since the Perseverance Jazz Band will be performing at noon!  Crafts and New Orleans jazz, just south of Penn's campus.  Sweet!

Crafting for a new cat!

I recently adopted a 4 year old orange cat from Rescue Express, thanks to a flyer put up at the South Street Whole Foods on South Street.  Even though they are officially located in Media, at least one of their foster homes is in South Philly, near my house!

So our household welcomed Seamus last week.

And do you see that nifty collar on him?  I personalized it!

First, I bought the collar from Accent on Animals, although I wish they had a green one in stock.  But I was impatient, so I thought a red collar for a ginger cat would do as well.

Just your basic breakaway collar with a bell, which Seamus does not appreciate.

Then, with some cotton embroidery thread and a quilting sharp, since I was too lazy to go looking through my craft room for a bigger eye needle, I backstitched away!

I also put my cell phone number, in case our new pal goes running, but of course there is no need to show my cell phone number to the internet!  

someone else please do this: the Phemale Phanatic costume

So I've been obsessed with Philly costume ideas, even though I am being something totally different this year.  Nonetheless, I don't want my creativity to go to waste; maybe someone else can use my idea to create something awesome.  Behold, my collage for a Sexy Phillies Mascot, aka....

• Green lipstick or facepaint
• Blue eyeshadow
• A Phillies jersey or tee
• White shoes or sneakers
• Green long sleeve tee 
• Green tutu
• Red tights

Now I pulled all these items off the internet with easy searches, but a lot of similar items are probably lurking in your closet and make-up drawer.  The long sleeve tee comes from Target, the red tights from ModCloth, and the shoes from Payless.  I also thought that a green feather boa wrapped around the hips, or sewn to a miniskirt, could serve in place of the tutu.

Bonus items for the costume:

A Green Wig

Green Arm Length gloves (instead of the long sleeve T)

Or a blue poof for your hair

crafty places in our city: make

Places to Make Stuff

NextFab Studio - Located on Market Street in University City, this organization is encouraging people to try new fabrication technologies, learn new skills, and understand what exactly is available for modern makers.  They will have a new facility in the undefinable neighborhood of "Southwest Center City," "Graduate Hospital," or "Gray's Ferry" depending on who you ask.  Although they boast a lot of tech-heavy arts in their curriculum, like Making your own 3D Printers and various digital graphic courses, they also have more traditional "craft" offerings, like wordwork, machine sewing and embroidery, and working with metals.

Spool - As mentioned before on this blog, Spool is now fully dedicated to sewing classes.

Also, Spool is right next door to Loop, which is a bonus for knitter/sewer hybrids who need supplies and/or classes.

Philadelphia Woodworks - Located in Roxborough, just a little ways from Manayunk, you can use a 5000+ wood shop to make projects on your own, as well as learn just how and what to do with their various tools and machines.

Craft Foundry - In the hipster-heaven known  as Fishtown, one can find a little shop dedicated to such niche crafts as bookbinding, paper crafts, precious metal clay sculpting, and jewelry making.

The Expressive Hand - Probably the most unique craft studio in Philadelphia, this shop blends pottery painting and American Sign Language.  You can drop in for classes, plan parties, or hang out during happy hours.  Besides pottery painting, this shop offers mosaic making, an intro to ASL, and glass fusing.

knitting my way into autumn

Now that it's unofficially autumn, with Labor Day behind us, I feel much more excited about the prospect of the cooler months.  Months filled with hot cider, pumpkins, and of course, lots of yarn.

I've announced a personal moratorium on buying new yarn until my stash starts to dwindle.  That means finishing up projects I already started as well as using small balls of yarn, not even half a skein big.

Here are two small yarn projects so far: a knitted bangle bracelet and a crocheted collar.

Both had their ups and downs.  For the collar, I was working without a pattern, which is what crochet is great for.  However, it also means ripping out a stitch here, a few more there, and then constantly trying it on to make sure the size and shape work.  

The upside?  I now have an awesome accessory following one of fall's coolest trends, IMHO.  Collars are everywhere this year!

Felted Square Collar from Anthropologie

Kate Spade Necklace from Nordstrom

Modeste Bib Collar from Anthropologie

The bangle bracelet was a little simpler, but also more boring.  Each row was 12 stitches of knitting, followed by a row of 12 purls.  Back and forth.  Over and over.  Luckily I got it done in one night, or I would have dropped the project, like so many others.  

Oh, and just to be clear, there is a wooden bangle under the knitting.  It had a crack in it since the day after I bought it, so I never wore it, but kept it anyway.  I also have another matching bangle, so I'm going to cover it with a variegated yarn this time.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, there is no special reason I'm using a double point knitting needle for this project.  They are the only needles I have in that size (I think a 5?) and since the piece is narrow, I can use these without the knitting falling off the other end.