Look what I found! Cruising around looking for something new in embroidery, I stumbled upon this site announcing a new magazine coming in Fall 2010. According to their website they will have nationally know writers and designers, but are also looking for new designers.

“Any use of needle(s) and fiber with either an updated traditional look or an edgy twist is of interest.“

The magazine is in tabloid format, newspaper style sized at 11″ x 17″ and will be mailed quarterly. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. We can always use a new, slightly edgier publication in the needlework and crafts world.

So click on the Spool Quarterly logo and take a look. Subscription information is available and orders are being taken on the site.

What are your favorite crafting magazines?

Yet something still drew me to knitting and it became like a yearning. Something I had to learn how to do. I liked the smooth texture of the knitted fabric; I loved all the beautiful sweaters I saw in magazines and wanted to make them. Crochet creates beautiful things too, but I found very few crochet sweaters that I liked.

So once again I picked up the knitting needles and my trusty copy of The All New Teach Yourself To Knit by Evie Rosen (Leisure Arts) and forced myself to learn. Third time’s a charm they say and this time more of the craft stuck with me. My determination to conquer it after all these years probably had a lot to do with it. After all, I was using the same instruction book, the same needles. Not much else had changed. I even managed to knit a few things that looked okay. Yay for me.

But the problem was that compared to crochet, where I could just grab a skein of yarn and a hook and casually make magic while watching TV, barely even paying attention to what my hands were doing, knitting stressed the heck out of me. I was a complete ball of tension every time I sat down to knit. Every muscle felt clenched; my palms were practically sweating. Why? Because of my fear of screwing it up.

You see, I learned how to make the knit stitches following the diagrams in the instruction book, but I didn’t really “understand” what I was doing. I couldn’t recognize and identify the stitches I was making the way I could with crochet. I didn’t know anything about why the stitches were on the needle in a certain direction, and I completely panicked if a stitch slipped off the needle.

But that was then.

A few years later, I have conquered my knitting fears (well, most of them!) and found a calmness, a confidence, a sense of “this is fun!” that I’m sure experienced knitters must feel when they work on a project. The secret? Learning to understand what knitting is (how it works physically on the needle), learning to interpret what I see on the needles (and allowing the stitches tell me what comes next), and exposing myself to enough new techniques that unfamiliar patterns no longer seem like a foreign language.

And I did it with the help of Fearless Knitting Workbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Confidence by Jennifer E. Seiffert. This book builds your confidence and your skills in small increments from the very first page. It shows you how to knit, but then continues the instruction so you understand what you’re doing beyond making a knit stitch or a purl stitch. You learn to see a larger picture through studying what the needles and yarn are doing and how the stitches combine to form fabric.

The lessons in the book start with something very simple (but versatile), like ribbing, and slowly build on that, teaching you how to read chart, work cables and more. A whole new world of possibilities has opened up to me now that I can “read my knitting.” I feel more in control of my knitting and and more confident that I won’t lose my place or screw it up. And I enjoy it. It is a relaxing craft once you know what you’re doing. And dropping a stitch? While not exactly something I look forward to, it’s no longer a reason for a minor heart attack. And if I do drop a stitch, I get to use my favorite tool to rescue it–my crochet hook!

Don’t let your fears hold you back. You can do this!

Happy knitting, everyone!

Photo credit: ©iStockphoto.com/felinda

http://simplystated.realsimple.com/simplystated/2010/03/organize-with-handmade-bins.html

Shabby Chic lip stick holder- it's a recycled vinyl record!

If a record no longer plays, give it a new entertaining purpose. This simple craft that allows you to recycle an old warped record into a useful, versitile, and nostolgic bowl.

Bowlscan be used as planters, catch-alls, potpourri, candles, and they make great gifts, too. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

If you cannot bear to part with your vinyl or do not have any records on hand, baskets full of vinyl history await the creative crafter at thrift stores.

When weeding through to find titles, I choose records with obvious scratches or wear and tear that indicated the record had damage rendering it useless (don’t worry, these imperfection disappear during the molding process or add character to your piece.)

If I’m not able to find a band that I knew I, or the recipient of my finished piece would like, I look for movie soundtracks, well-known icons, or funny titles to use instead.

Recycled Vinyl Record Bowl

Items Needed:

1 Vinyl Record (full album or small single versions work equally well)

Glass or Ceramic Oven-Safe Mixing Bowl

Cookie Sheet

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

On cookie sheet, turn glass or ceramic bowl upside down. Place record on top of the bottom of the upside down bowl. Carefully place items in the oven, making sure the record stays squarely on top of the bowl.

Planning is fun, but sometimes it just gets in the way of doing. I was reminded of this when I read a recent blog entry called Sometimes Getting Organized is a Big Fat Waste of Time at Small Notebook for a Simple Home.

We often have to press ourselves to begin the next thing, as though it is something we haven’t done before or wouldn’t know how to figure out. Sometimes you just have to jump in and start in spite of misgivings or feelings of confusion about how to proceed.  So, stop planning and go do something creative and fun!