My “New” Lifestyle Blog

June 15th, 2009 by Kiba | Posted in Site Updates | 1 Comment »

I’ve just finished what may be my last year of teaching.  I will miss my colleagues very much, and I enjoyed my students, but teaching is a very physically demanding job.  As such, there are lots of things I wanted to do and try but didn’t ever seem to have the energy.

In August, I’m entering library school.  Between now and then I’ll be getting married and performing in a play.  I’m already finding myself with a lot more energy (being able to actually get a full eight hours of sleep will do that) and am looking forward to pursuing many new interests.

Crochet remains my go-to craft, but I hope to try others.  I certainly have quite a few supplies for things like illuminated calligraphy and t-shirt stenciling.

In addition to crafting, I’m planning to pick up thrifting as a real hobby and to play more with my fashion.  Being a teacher restricts your clothing options somewhat, but graduate students can pretty much run the gamut in their style of dress without anyone declaring them unprofessional.

So this space, which I have heretofore been calling my craft/design blog, is going to expand a bit to be a LIFESTYLE blog, which incorporates craft, design, thrifting, fashion, cooking, gardening, and anything else that seems to fall under that heading.  I feel like these areas of interest do overlap, but one word to cover it all is escaping me right now.

Stay tuned.

My Crafty Life

January 24th, 2009 by Kiba | Posted in Crochet, General Craft | No Comments »

I haven’t been posting but I have been crafting.

For Halloween, I altered a shirt I found at Goodwill, as well as crocheting the Ladylike Lace Gloves from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.

For the holidays, I accomplished the following projects:

1. Least Crafty – putting photos in an album for parents.

2. For my sister, I made the Ruffled Corset Belt from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.  I also made her the Hot Cross Slouch Beret, which kind of matches the belt, from the Winter 2007 Interweave Crochet.

3. For my brother, I did my first freezer paper stencil ever.  I stenciled a black great white shark silhouette onto a turquoise t-shirt.  I was pretty sure he wouldn’t like it, but it was just a placeholder present anyway, as I’m actually getting him membership to an aquarium.  But he actually really liked it, and said that out of the articles of clothing he received for Christmas, it was the only one he’d wear willingly.

4. For my fiance, I continued my Chrono Trigger cross stitch coaster series.

I’m still working on a plaid scarf for a friend, and making the Short and Sweet from Stitch ‘N Bitch for myself.  I’m lengthening it considerably, as cropped things don’t look very good on my short-waisted self.  I really need to acquire a blocking board.

I’ve been experimenting with converting antique lace edging designs into chokers with pendants.  I’ve made two so far.  They’re quite lovely and a bit steampunk-y.  They need to be blocked as well.

I finished crocheting Fit to Be Tied from Stitch ‘N Bitch a while back, but have yet to line it and add the ribbon.

I finally finished my Jayne Cobb hat from Kim Werker’s design:

I also designed a hat called Wily Willow Charms, which will be getting its very own post in the near future.