Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Making time for Making

I thought that if I didn't have to work, I'd become a production powerhouse, plowing through DIY projects and learning new skills. But the reality of working from home, then becoming unemployed, has been very different.  At first I became depressed: winter blues and getting laid off, along with health problems do not go well together. Currently I have a freelance gig, so while a bit of income is trickling in, I still have a lot of hours to do "other" stuff.

Sadly, most of them go down the timesink of social media. I wake up and fool around on Pinterest, read my blogs, go through my twitter feed, catch up on Facebook and 2 hours have been spent. Sometimes I do all that when I'm supposed to be working, so my "work hours" of sitting in front of a computer multiply and when I notice, it is 5pm, I've been sitting in front of the computer all day and I still have to finish my freelance work. And the pile of dishes stares at me. And I still have dinner and lunch to plan for the next day, and cook. And whatever bit of picking up around the house I need to do.

This blog is in a way my excuse to make something productive out of all the time I spend on social media, mostly looking for inspiration and ideas of my next project, my next household DIY, the next craft I want to begin and recipes I bookmark for someday. I want to make all of those into tangible goods, and document them here. And not just the ones that turn out well.

I wish I had documented last week's efforts to improve my bookcase coat rack by sticking some fabric to the back of the bookcase using starch.  Let me just tell you that I should've tested with a small strip before cutting the fabric and then realizing it shrunk when it came in contact with the starch, and also that hey, starch lacked the sticking power. I kludged it by wedging the fabric between the backboard and the bookcase around the existing nails and by using some mounting tape. I will definitely be redoing it, since it taunts me every time I come into the house and hang my jacket. Bad enough that I don't even want to show the full thing, just the upper right/hand side corner.





I'm saving energy for re-doing it, since I'll need to buy new fabric... the one I used is unsalvageable, sadly.

And so, I-ll add it to my list of projects, which I'll also add to the sidebar, so that I can keep them in mind!

Currently on my work in progress list are:

  • knit garter stitch baby blanket 
  • knit lace alpaca shawlette
  •  a crocheted oval area rug made with a great variety of odd balls of yarn I got from someone's garage, mostly acrylics.
  • hand stitched strap from upholstery fabric for a purse I'd like to use as a cross body bag. 
  • a sewn and quilted laptop sleeve
  • fix bookcase mishap

On the next project list:

  • Constellation embroidery hoops
  • Blue queen size pieced and quilted duvet cover. 
  • pajama pants for my nephew
  • DIY loom (and loom knit scarves)
  • More knit lace shawls
  • sun print art


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