Here is some information about me. My name is Michelle. I live in the East Bay Area of California, USA. I live here with my delightful husband- AKA The Husband and our delightful daughter- AKA Feebs. I come from a large family, who is both loving and dysfunctional and I love everything about them. Sarcasm is my primary language, English is secondary. I work in the county government sector. I love my job, even when I hate my job.
Now a little about my making. I have been a knitter since the tender age of 8. My grandparents had me at their house for a week, during Christmas, in 1988. My grandmother was a knitter, quilter, sewer, etc., and could make all the things. She used to call me her magpie because I talked non-stop. She got the idea to teach me to knit after she noticed how mesmerized and quiet I became when she would pull out her knitting. She decided that it was the best way to keep her sanity during the week I would be staying there. I loved everything about it and have continued to knit throughout my life. I became a KNITTER around 2001. That is when I learned how to knit garments, new techniques, and new challenges. I now knit ALL the things. I do all garments and accessories, colorwork, cables, lace (though it’s not my favorite), in the round, seamed. I knit ALL the things.
My Sister #1 and I taught ourselves how to crochet one summer when she was pregnant with my oldest nephew, so I was about 14. I can crochet a mean square or rectangle, but that is pretty much where it ends. One of my goals is to expand my crochet knowledge, with an idea to crochet a Dotted Doubles blanket and maybe a beautiful mandala top.
Sewing has been a to-do for me for many years. Only recently have I had the nerve to just sew the thing and not expect perfection. I realize that the only way I get better will be to actually do it. I have a fair amount of knowledge and understanding of techniques. Even if I didn’t, we are lucky to live in the era of YouTube. Anything you need to understand can be found there; I am sure of it. While I can’t see sewing becoming a Zen process for me, like knitting is, I want to get more comfortable with it. I want to make garments that look handmade vs. homemade. I want to proudly sport my me makes, not for the praise, but so that I can be comfortable in my clothes. I am a very standard size. I can buy anything off the rack, and it will fit. I do realize how lucky I am for that. I simply don’t follow trends or like to buy disposable, cheaply made items. I want the kind of clothes that I want, and I am not always able to find them on the shelf. It takes a lot for me to go shopping and I tend to keep my clothes for a looooong time. I have a Brothers CS6000i sewing machine, and a Brothers 1034D serger. Why on God’s green earth I got a serger, when it took me a solid year to get the courage to take it out of the box and try it, I will never know. I fully stand by the statement that buying craft supplies, and making things are two completely different hobbies.
Other crafts that I dabble in are cross-stitch, fabric dyeing (though this is more necessity than hobby), and candle making (which is a very new to me). Cross-stitch is something that I do very infrequently and is all about the product. I really have to want a finished object in order to do it. I have a dream of learning how to quilt and making a quilt or two in the future.
The Yarn Harlot calls her blog her virtual living room. I consider mine to be my virtual brain. It is cluttered and chaotic and sometimes the words won’t make sense. It also has to be treated with kindness and respect. This blog is for me to (hopefully) stay organized and keep a history of my making, new skills/ mistakes, and progress. I have no idea if anyone else will ever read it, and that is okay. If someone does, I ask that they be respectful and kind. I am snarky and sarcastic and end a lot of sentences with …. (that’s generally how you know I am being sarcastic), but I don’t ever intend to be mean or disrespectful. I guess I just ask for the same in return.
The format for this blog will be:
- A post for each finished object, with an honest description of how I feel I did on the project. I want to review the pattern and fabric used. I need to call myself out when I was being lazy or sloppy on something, so that hopefully I will do better the next time. I also want to make notes on new techniques that I tried and how I feel I can improve on them. Also, any project modifications that I want to document for future makes.
- A post at the end of each month with all finished objects completed for the whole month, cast-ons, and works in progress.
- Dream posts- projects that I am preparing to undertake or new crafts that I am researching/ stocking up for.
- Event posts- I attend 2-3 making events per year (Stitches West and Lambtown festival are the most common). I want to start going to more events as life progresses, especially sewing and quilting events.
- Miscellaneous posts- things that I simply must document. You never know with my brain….
So this is how it will all start, let’s see where it goes. I guess I will start with my January monthly makes post, even though we are half-way through February. Better late than never…
Loves,
M
p.s., when I refer to my family (especially my sisters) and friends with a number, I am referring to their chronologic order in the flowchart of my life, not their level of coolness.
Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff 