Last year I cited the lack of “misses” as a sign that I did not craft enough. This year I have opportunities to keep learning and improving my craft. The following projects have tested my patience, made me feel like I wasted materials and time, and pushed me to confront my conflation of mistake with … More Top 5 Misses of 2016
If you follow Crafting a Rainbow, you know that the #SewingTop5 is back! When I look back on 2016, I hope it will be known as one of my building years, personally and professionally. All of my #SewingTop5 posts will land this week, ramping up to the start of 2017! First of all, I want … More Top 5 of 2016!
Remember this almost-finished knitting project? It is done! And now I have a sneaky-geeky wrap to keep me warm in the office this winter. The cowl’s construction is straight forward – garter stitch with increases near the end to fan out the wing. If you are a beginning knitter, I recommend this project. It is … More Knitted Dragon Wing Cowl
Goodbye Daylight Savings! Begone! You are nice during the peak of summer, but in general you mess with my internal clock and leave me groggy most of the spring and fall. After staying up until the end of Tasukigirl’s ExtraLife fundraising stream, I fell fast asleep shortly after midnight only to be rudely awoken at 1:30am by rain … More A Sunny Sunday
October (in Seattle) was one of the wettest on record. We had a spectacularly beautiful pre-Halloween weekend last week, allowing for some yard work and bulb planting with my visiting parents. The first weekend of November was a return to autumnal form, bringing clouds, fog, and rain. I went to sleep Friday night knowing that … More A Rainy Saturday
On impulse I thought I might participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I got 700 words my first night and overall felt good about it. The story was shaping up to focus on living with depression and the power of sewing and knitting to climb out. But then Nov 2, Nov 3, and Nov 4 all … More NaNoWri…No.
The Pacific Northwest was preparing for a potentially record-breaking storm this weekend. I am equal parts releieved and disappointed to report that the storm did not live up to the predictions, at least not in my neighborhood. The lights flickered when I was making dinner, and the rain was coming sideways for an hour. In … More Sewing Through the Storm
I don’t even remember how I found it. Was I looking for patterns for a specific yarn or just looking for patterns? But there it was: a cardigan that I might easily see on one of my D&D characters. In the wake of Mad Max Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this forager … More A Cardigan For Resistance and Furious Roads
Let’s all say it together: “How can it already be October?!?!” Where did 2016 go? In some ways I feel like it was JUST Me-Made-May and the day before that I was setting my 2016 ReSEWlutions. The year has flown by with some major changes and I find myself with a surprising amount of alone time … More October – moving fast and sewing slow
Today many sewing projects are documented ad naseum – something that I rather enjoy. I love see in-progress photos from friends and strangers. It helps raise the curtain on the magic of Oz. My first sewing project had no such documentation. Something I rather regret. For all the of photo-taking that my mom and I did … More #TBT Remembering my first sewing project
The Fabric Alchemist 