Looking over the fence

I thought it was time to push myself out of my comfort zone and explore some other craft avenues besides knitting.  Let's face it, I'm going to be spending a fair amount of time inside over the next couple of months, trying to avoid pollen, so I might as well make the most of it.

With that in mind I've signed up for a couple of exchanges that I hope will inspire me to try out some new skills and dust off some that I haven't been using much lately.

First up is BackTack 3.  I know I've said it a few times now but I really do want to get back into sewing.  Back in the day (in New Zealand that is) I used to make most of my own clothes and was never happier than when I was browsing in fabric shops or sewing away into the wee hours, with my parents yelling, 'Go to bed' from the bedroom next door.  I couldn't bring my sewing machine to England and I couldn't afford a new one when I got here so sewing sort of fell by the wayside.  However I am now tooled up and ready to sew.  This round has quite strict guidelines but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up within these.

Then, after the fun I had with the Kool Aid dyeing, I couldn't resist Dye-o-Rama.  I think this is going to be lots of fun.  Either that or a horrible mess.  Why bother knitting with Rowan Denim when I can just cut out the yarn and stain my clothes and furnishings directly?  I have some dye-your-own Opal on the way and am ordering a starter pack of acid dyes from Kemtex tomorrow.  I picked up a copy of this book when I was last in Borders and am looking forward to having a play.

Last, but by no means least, we have the Rowanette exchange.  This year's theme is 'Home & Hearth', which gives scope for lots of different projects.  Obviously this is knitting based but I have a couple of ideas marinating in my brain which will hopefully involve some of the techniques from this book - another recent purchase.

What do you think?  Enough to be getting on with?  Here's to a crafty summer!

Comments

[Kira]

I was very tempted by Backtack 3, but the timing was just not right for me!

I used to sew a lot more than I do now, but I am always nervous of cutting fabric. There is no going back once it's cut! Knitting always seems so much "safer" because the wool can always be recycled! I also like that I can sit in a comfy chair and knit; sewing always feels more like work. But I have recently been thinking of making some dresses for my daughter. Maybe next year!

Good luck with all the crafty projects (and avoiding that pollen!)

[dawn]

Good luck, though I can't imagine anyone getting pleasure out of sewing! I only sew under duress and gave away my sewing machine!
The dyeing sounds fun though.

[Tracy]

Summer hits the knitting industry! The fabric shops around you are rubbing their hands in glee. Crewel work is simply beautiful...I have a handy link for kits if you fancy a kit ;)

[Virginia]

You might like to look at this http://www.almostrandom.com/needlesnhooks/ for a nifty way to prepare your skein for dyeing. Much better than the one in the book, which looks to be highly impractical.