Sunday, January 15, 2012

Ok, I Can Show You

In regards to yesterday’s post… you know I said I wasn’t going to show you pictures of what I’ve been working on? Well, today is a whole ‘nother day and I have things ready for the mail. I can show you pictures; I just can’t say what goes to whom (or is that who?).

So, without further ado… and with thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration…

The Bandana Cowl, a free pattern from the Purl Soho website. I found a couple of balls of Noro Silk Garden in my stash and decided it would be perfect for this pattern; I was right! I love this cowl; I’ll be sending it off this week, but I really don’t want to. The colours, as always, are absolutely gorgeous and the yarn is so soft and cushy. Silk Garden, after all, is 40% silk, 40% kid mohair and 10% lamb’s wool, a very nice combination. It took a little over one ball of the yarn and I worked it on a 5.0 mm circular needle. Maybe there’s still some Noro hiding in my stash.

The second inspiration also came from Pinterest. For someone who always has cold hands, I found, and repinned, these little cuties.

These are polar fleece, rice-filled hearts. All you do is heat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds; then you tuck them into your mittens or gloves. They should keep your hands warm for about an hour. I love instant gratification; I made three sets in less than an hour. Two sets are earmarked for gift giving; the third set is mine!

Then, the last thing I made yesterday, another almost instant gratification project, is this little beauty…

Again, this was inspired by Pinterest. There are numerous links to tutorials for this wrap bracelet. I made this one with waxed cotton, dental floss and pearl beads reclaimed from a too-small necklace I’d been given many years ago. The button closure is one I found in my button bag. I will certainly be making more of these, both as gifts and for myself.

Kristie commented that she’d joined Pinterest but really didn’t understand how it works. Well, firstly, you can just look at what others have pinned, checking out the various categories. If there’s something you really like and want to remember, you can repin it to a board that you can set up for yourself. You can call your boards anything you want. For instance, check out my boards. When you click on a pin, it will take you to a page with that pin; from there, you may find a link to the original webpage. In the case of the projects I’ve made, each page linked to a tutorial or pattern.

And yes, it certainly can be a time suck. In all honesty, though, for all the time I’ve spent there, I’ve found numerous recipes I’ve already tried; I’ve found new hobbies to try; I’ve found inspirations for hobbies I’ve put on hold for years. I’ve always maintained that in order to be inspired, you need to expose yourself to things that inspire you – Pinterest does that.

2 comments:

  1. Every one of your little "inspired" items are really lovely, AND useful.

    I think I had problems trying to figure out just how Pinterest worked, so I more or less lost interest. I was not at all surprised to see you had found, and tried, some of the recipes, knowing your love of cooking. But you did very well with the little treasures you have made and shown here too.

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  2. Thanks for this Ev! I am hoping to spend some time exploring the Pinterest site today. One thing I am not clear about, but maybe it is in the site's tutorials, is how copyright works. I know you can't use pictures from the internet without permission, so I am not sure why it's okay to put them in Pinterest. Or maybe I am still not clear about how it all works.

    I have that kerchief cowl in my queue, and some silk garden in my stash. Thanks for the idea of putting the two of them together!

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