Finished Square!

I've finished my square for Dame Wendy:



It's the cable pattern from Aileen (a purse from pieknits.com) that I modified and repeated, with a crocheted border.
I think it looks great, and I think my Grandma would love it!

Tee hee - I think we all knew this already...

Although, I'm not actually OCD. But to be in Quality, like I am, you do need to be just a little on the anal/picky side!

You May Be a Bit Obsessive Compulsive...

Meticulous and detailed oriented, you have some irrational obsessions. Maybe it's your super neat closet or washing your hands a gazillion times. You probably know it's weird, but you just can't stop thinking about it. In fact, the more you think about your quirks, the more you have to do them.

What Personality Disorder Are You?

Just for fun...

It's actually not too far off...! Go figure.

What Nicole Means

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Knitting a square for an ill stranger

I was browsing knitty today and came across this post.
Ok, so I can't find it anymore - not even a search worked, but this is the original post on Dame Wendy's blog, and this is the one with more details.

Her friend's mom, Carrie, an avid knitter, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and can no longer knit, so she has decided to make her a blanket out of 9x9 squares. In order to get this done quickly, and to show Carrie some of the love and support that abounds in the knitting community, she's asked for volunteers to help her out by making a 9x9 square and sending it to her.
My Grandma, also an avid knitter, passed away from pancreatic cancer a number of years ago, and I've decided to make a 9x9 square in her honour. (Ok mom, you can dry your eyes now...lol)
As of now, Dame Wendy has about half of the squares spoken for, and I'm sure that she'd appreciate any and all of the knitterly love that she can get!

If anyone else wants to do this, and is local to me, we can arrange to put our squares together to mail to her in one package...

Check out what I've been up to!

I've been busy!

I made a storage bag for my yarn swift, complete with a little mini baggie for all the little parts (centre dowel, yarn post dowels, pipe and washers):


I reorganized my gift wrap, because I finally got the gift wrap organizer that has been backordered since before Christmas! (And I loooove it!!!)











And I made my first project bag! I still have to get a toggle thing to attach to the cord, but I love it! I'm going to add it to the things I'm selling at the craft show at the end of June, and if the girls at my SnB like it, I may just add it to my Etsy store, too!











I also managed to get a lot of laundry done this weekend, including all of my curtains, which, while they were down, I actually finished hemming (they've only been hanging on my windows for 4 years...)! Plus, I vacuumed out my car and armor-all'd it and windexed the windows.
All in all, it was a great long weekend!

Change of Name

So, I've thought long and hard about it, and I've decided to put all of my crafty business endeavours under one name:
Nicole Jeanette Creations.
This won't affect my knitting accessories, because they're already being sold under the Nicole Jeanette name, but it will affect my invitations and greeting cards, which I had been selling under "NJL Custom Papercrafts". I won't be retiring that name completely, as people already know me under that name, but I will be switching everything over from now on!
It just makes more sense, that everything I sell be under one name, and it will make the accounting/nitty gritty side of things easier in the long run!

Now to update/change the website!

Ram Wools too!

My Pattern Magnets and selected stitch markers are now available at Ram Wools!!! (1266 Fife Street)
They're going to be putting them for sale up on their website, too, so here's hoping they do well!
Woohooo!

Swift Details...as promised

Here's how I made my swift (photos in previous post):

Supplies:
- Two 4' lengths of 1"x2" (I used poplar)
- One 4' length of 7/16" dowel
- One 4' length of 5/16" dowel
- A short length of copper pipe (I used 4")
- Two washers with a centre hole of 7/16" (mine are 1/2", because those are the ones my dad had on hand)
- a Clamp
- a chisel
- a drill with 7/16" and 5/16" drill bits

1. Cut your 1x2 into the following lengths: Two 2' pieces for the arms and two 18" pieces for the feet
2. Mark the centres of each of those pieces and drill a 7/16" hole all the way through the 1x2 pieces. (We didn't have a 7/16" bit, so we used one smaller and wiggled the drill then used a file to enlarge the hole. It worked, but there are easier ways...)
3. Align the centre holes of the 2' pieces with the dowel, and square off the arms (the way the finished swift should be). Mark the 1x2's where the other piece sits, so that you know where to saw out the notch to fit the 2 pieces together.
4. Repeat step 3 with the 18" pieces.
5. Mark the vertical centre of all four 1x2 pieces between the marks made in step 3 (i.e. the 1/2" mark on the 1" side)
6. Cut out your centre notch using a saw on the two marks you made, and a chisel to remove the wood.
7. Mark out the holes for your yarn-support dowel (the 5/16") on the 2' pieces. I made mine 1" from the edge and 1 1/2" apart, four on each arm
8. Drill holes 3/4 of the way through the 2' pieces, on the 2" side.
9. Cut your 7/16" dowel to the length you'd like your swift to be high. I did mine 6.5", so that there is 1" of dowel sticking out the top of the arms.
10. Cut your copper pipe to the length you'd like between your swift feet and arms (mine is 4").
11. Cut the 5/16" dowel into 3" lengths. You'll need 4 pieces, but I cut 6, just in case I lose one along the way.

If I haven't missed anything, you should be ready to assemble your swift!
Fit the feet together, put your 7/16" dowel through the hole in the feet, and fit one of your washers on the dowel. Place your length of copper pipe on the dowel and fit your second washer on the dowel so that it sits on the top of the pipe. Now fit your arms on to the top of the centre dowel. Fit your 3" pieces of dowel into the holes along the arms, according to the width of the hank of yarn you have.

Ta-da!!!