Cheekystitch

How to knit an Aran Fishermans Sweater and other Insane Projects Part 1

I was at a friends house a couple of weeks ago and one of get guests had a handknit chunky sweater, I swear you must have needed like 25 gauge needles to knit that thing, it was so thick it mad me sick. It was from The Gilded Age, an incredibly expensive line of high end rugged mens clothing I covet. ( apparently they will be coming out with a ladies line Im sure wont compare to the mens , because it never does)

So I set out to price the thing, turns out I couldnt even locate the sweater online, much less its price. Iits like the thing appeared out of no where to make me sad. Every 100$ cashmere i found  could potentially run me, hmmmm, I dunno 1200.

Like the good crafter that I am I set out to figure out how I would acquire my very own cashmere sweater.  So I decided to knit one, even though I have never knit anything more complicate than a scarf.

I decided on a pattern first, I looked at many many cheesy patterns, lamented that Japanese sewing patterns would be too much of a challenge to me. It difficult enough to decipher sewing patterns. I settled on the eternally stylish Irish fisherman’s sweaters, in my fantasy I saw myself wearing this an an old lady with a grandchild balanced on my knee, in my fantasy I’m also a cartoon, but whatever.

This was perfect, I got the pattern at Downtown Yarns in New York City. Its a Yankee Knitter Design pattern for and Adult Aran Sweater. The pattern seemed complicated, the sales woman assured me it wasnt anymore difficult that any other sweater. I choose to believe her.

Next was finding the cashmere yarn. The pattern called for about 13 skeins in my size, I use a size small. I looked all over the nets and luckily found somebody who was selling yarn on ebay for 16 a skein, which would bring my sweater cost to about 200$. its not cheap but its not 1200 either, and if i was buying a thin cashmere sweater in a store I could expect to pay that if not more. So that’s how I justified spending 200$ on yarn on a project I may or may not finish. if your like me you make preemptive strikes on craft/fabric/and art stores, I am well stocked but rarely finished projects. I have about 20 unfinished projects and a dozen or more possibilities.

So armed with needles, yarn, pattern I cant read, and a case of dyslexia, I go forth!

Listen to this Noisettes

“UK indie rock-ers the Noisettes
might have been armed with an unapologetic, rebel blend of razor-sharp
punk, classic rock, jazz and blues that drew heavy critical praise, and
an eye-grabbing English/ Zimbabwean beauty of a frontwoman with a
background in theater and the circus and an oh-so-cool government tag
(Shingai Shoniwa), but sadly, all these elements combined weren’t
enough to draw them much commercial fortune. With a sleeker
re-formatting of their eclectic style on their latest cycle, though,
the three-piece’s luck seems about to change.”

Via Mixtape Maestro

Raven Burgos

Get FED: Greensbury Market brings the (organic) meat home

Anybody that knows me knows I love eating animals. LOVES IT.

My friend Brad Started Greensbury shortly after his son Elvis was
born, Greensbury delivers fresh meat to your house, Sure some people
like things like
'flower of the month" clubs, but i don't hang out with
those people, im friends with vegans and people who run organic meat
companies, no middle ground. Buy From Greensbury, its local , healthy,
and run by a good dude.

GreensburyMarket.com

Green Porno: Isabella Rossellini wants you to watch her do it

I was working on a tv series when or PA left to go work on what she called" her favorite production ever. " They were just beginning to film this years Green Porno series Staring the great Isabella Rossellini Watch the video here Green Porno. there are 22 shorts i all this one is entitled "Why Vagina" she wants "Penises, species specific penises in her vagina"

Enjoy Green Porno

Raven Burgos

Weird: 82-year-old Cloris Leachman wears Cabbage for PETA

UMMMM yeah, ok. I love vegetarians, I live with one,have had sex with a few, I even did it for two months so that my then boyfriend would go down on me, otherwise he wouldn't. How is she alive without meat?

I prefer the one my friend Concetta aka Princess Superstar (Super-Vegan) did for German Peta ( ha German Peta)

Raven Burgos

New York City Apartment Gardening : Make your own Ecoststem Terrariums are Beautiful

I have gotten a hold of some beautiful antique ball jars and will be posting how to's and techniques for making your own little ecosystem. This is great book that can show you how to get started on your own

• different venues for cultivating your terrarium
• plants that flourish in these gardens under glass
• ideas and designs for creating your first terrarium
• how to care for and maintain the environment you’ve made

Martin has designed a unique range of imaginative terrarium
projects, including ones that are suitable for children, enliven the
seasons, incorporate plant propagation, and show off a nature
collection. Whether you are a gardener or city-dwelling nature lover, The New Terrarium
is the perfect way to spark your creativity, while helping you to bring
your favorite plants into your home and giving them a place to thrive."

Via crafster.org

Raven Burgos

How To: Make Your Own Reuseable Bag

How-to make a shopping bag out of fused plastic:
*For the small shopping bag you will need 8 fused squares for the body of the bag and two fused rectangles for the handles.
* For the large shopping bag, you will need 12 fused squares for the body of the bag and 4 fused rectangles for the handles.

-
Over lap the squares and sew them together using a zig zag stitch. 4
squares for the front. 4 squares for the back. (for the Large shopping
bag, six squares for the front and back)
* When you are sewing the
plastic together, do not go over the same spot a bunch of times or it
will weaken the plastic and make it break.
- Place the front and
back together, right sides facing in towards each other and sew a seam
down both sides and across the bottom.
- Cut off any excess material on the outside of the seam.
-
"Square" the bottom of the bag by creating a triangle with the two
corners, sewing a zig zap stitch from on side to the other and cutting
off the excess.
- Turn the bag right side out.
- Fold the the top of the bag in to create a simple hem and sew it down using a zig zag stitch.
-
For the handles, take one of your rectangles and fold the two sides
inward. Then sew a zig zag stitch down both sides. Repeat with
rectangle 2 for the second handle. (for the large shopping bag, sew to
rectangles together at the ends then proceed with folding and sewing)
- Attach one to the front and one to the back as shown.

And you have a reusable shopping bag!!

Favorite Blog: KINDRED, Offering Gorgeous fresh Wallpaper

You can sign up for a membership account and get fresh wallpapers send by over ten different artists. Heres an interview with Heather Pudewa the artist of my current wallpaper.

Artist: HEATHER "EZ" PUDEWA

You were given Pantone's color predictions for Spring to draw inspiration from. What colors did you end up selecting and why?
"I think I used a little bit of every color in this piece (I couldn't
help myself)… I just bumped up the brightness a couple of notches."

What does Springtime mean to you? "Spring is all
about new beginnings and growth. The world is bathed in color and light
and filled with hope and the promise of beautiful things to come. It's
a magical time of year!"

How did you try to translate that into your work?
"I really wanted to capture the fresh crisp colors of Spring, so I went
with tones that remind me of newly blossomed flowers…my favorite
thing about this season."

Raven Burgos

Kindred

How To: Fix a Cracked or Broken Eyeshadow in a Jiff

I wish I had thus tutorial when my  beloved shade of blue Nars eyeshadow exploded all over my Anthopology text book, there was a blue sheen that continued to haunting me the rest of Sophmore year this tutorial will teach you how to save eyeshadows from  certain death

You will need: a ziploc bag, rubbing alcohol, scissors, paperclip (or bobbypin), fabric, and a coin. Godspeed!

"Using your paperclip, break the eyeshadow up and pour into a ziploc
bag.  Tilt the bag so all of the eyeshadow is concentrated in the
corner of the bag.  Smash the shadow until it becomes a fine powder (I
used my chapstick).  Clean and sanitize the
original eyeshadow pan.  Place two drops of alcohol into pan.  Cut the
corner of the ziploc back and pour half of the eyeshadow into the pan. 
Add a few more drops of alcohol and mix using your paperclip.  Add the
rest of the eyeshadow and the necessary amount of alcohol to form a
thick smooth paste, like icing.  Smooth it out the best that you can
(doesn’t have to be perfect right now) and let the alcohol evaporate
until it has almost completely hardened, about 30 mins.  Take a coin
that will cover the the entire eyeshadow pan (a quarter usually works)
and wrap it in your fabric.  You should choose a fabric with a pattern
close to that of eyeshaows.  Firmly press the coin into your
eyeshadow.  Make sure to press hard enough to pack in the eyeshadow,
but not too hard so that the eyeshadow breaks and oozes out. "

Via The Beauty Stop

REAL LIVING magazine: Australias nay the worlds best magazine, save the ten bucks, go tot he blog!

Real Living magazine is pretty enough to make me lift my emotional ban on Australia caused by my perthy ex who bought me a boomerang, thanks guy.   its inspirational, Check out their blog for hits in between issues.

RealLiving

Raven Burgos