Devil's Rope and Marigolds

Buy handcrafted items and get cool and unique things :) i will keep adding more tutorials and things to the store, and I do custom things as well, so just about anything that is there can be done in a different color, or a different fabric or fiber!! The banner should link to the store, but just in case, here it is written out: http://meylah.com/DevilsRopeAndMarigolds/

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Celtic Lace

Crocheted Celtic Lace Scarf by Shelley Sidle-Owens

New Dia de los Muertos

Black Cherry Dia de los Muertos Skulli by Shelley Sidle-Owens

Skully

World/Inferno Friendship Society

Knitting or Crochet Chart

This should be on my links, and it is somewhere on something I have done, but I just posted it for someone on the Stitchin' Misfits and thought since it is such an amazing creation for knitters, here you go:

Chart Generator

A Glimpse to Open

A Glimpse to Open spans 33 years of poetry in the life of American (but Norman-French by lineage), lesbian poetess and writer Danielle Sainte-Marie. It is a book meant to help open a reader to what it is like to live poetically; it is a glimpse of actively seeking and/or serendipitously finding, the mystical experience of being human. Filled with poetry, quotes she has written throughout her amazing life and even an essay on what poetry means to her, A Glimpse to Open is truly a book worth living with for many, many years.
As she once remarked, “When one has mystical experience, one no longer needs faith in the mystical.”

Get it here

Collage Clutch Purse

Cut Out + Keep has so many tutorials and projects of all types; I found this project one day & I turned a collage I'd already started into a small clutch purse. It is really simple- basically you need a sheet of plastic/paper protector, collage-making stuff (glue, sissors), a way to close it (sew on buttons, velcro, magnets), and a sewing machine to sew the purse closed (you could hand-sew it, but this would not be ideal).

You can fold it anyway you choose, and use any method of closing the purse. You'll be sewing a collage into the plastic protector, and you can see the inside (a little or a lot, depending upon how you fold it) so make it a double-sided collage. Also something to consider: you can put two paper protectors together & make a larger clutch purse. I didn't try that (yet) but that would actually fit a wallet and more things in there!! So try doing it, put it in the comments, and post it on Stitchin' Misfits on Facebook and Flickr, ok? Click here to get to my project, which should link you to the main project & there you'll find the instructions that I started with.

Berroco® Free Pattern | Albem

Berroco® Free Pattern Albem

This is another free pattern on Berroco's website, this one is a purse with cables and tassles! It is a knitted bag, and I think that this would be so cool to do the edging in a complementary or contrasting yarn. The tassles too, or at least the yarn that wraps around the tassles. For example you could knit it in dark purple and edge it with teal. Or do black & white/ navy & cream / green & blue....etc. The photo example is in teal-color yarn and it looks really good the way it is, in one color. Just had to share this awesome pattern...

Gretel Cable gloves

Fingerless gloves are great. I made a lot of them for people this last Christmas, these are mine! They are the cable for the Slanting Gretel Tee I used these as a swatch.

Shetland Shawl..... for Crocheters too

I think that a lot of people who crochet and don't know how to knit look at knitted sweaters, bags, shawls, patterns and wish they had a version of it in crochet. I've done this myself, and I can knit and crochet! But sometimes the pattern won't translate, sometimes it will and it just needs to be done......either way crocheters, here is a pattern for a crocheted version of the Shetland shawls found on Berroco yarn's website. It is a free pattern...yay Berroco!!

Follow the link to get started.
(Image from http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/shoal/shoal.html)

Vintage Celtic-looking doily pattern

Materials: KNIT-CRO-SHEEN, 1 ball, Steel Crochet Hook No. 7.

Doily measures about 11 1/2 inches in diameter.

Ch 12, join with sl st.

1st rnd: Ch 5 (to count as tr and ch-1), * tr in ring, ch 1. Repeat from * 16 more times; join with sl st in 4th st of ch-5.

2nd rnd: Ch 1, sc in sp; (ch 5, sc in next sp) 17 times; ch 2, join with dc in 1st sc of rnd (18 loops).

3rd rnd: Ch 1, sc under dc, * ch 5, sc in next loop. Repeat from * around, ending with ch 2, join with dc.

4th rnd: Repeat 3rd rnd.

5th rnd: Make ch-6 loops (instead of ch-5), ending with ch 3, join with tr.

6th rnd: Repeat 5th rnd, making ch-7 loops instead of ch-6.

7th rnd: Make ch-8 loops instead of ch-7, ending with ch 4, join with tr.

8th rnd: Ch 15 (to count as tr and ch-11), * tr in next loop, ch 11. Repeat from * around. Join to 4th st of ch-15.

9th rnd: Sl st in next 4 ch, ch 1, sc in next ch; * ch 5, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch, ch 6, sc in 5th st of next ch-11 loop. Repeat from * around. Join to 1st sc made.

10th rnd: Sl st in 1st ch, sc in next ch, * ch 5, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch, ch 7, skip ch-6 loop, sc in 2nd ch of next ch-5 loop. Repeat from * around. Join.

11th rnd: Repeat 10th rnd, making ch-8 loops instead of ch-7.

12th rnd: Repeat 11th rnd, making ch-9 loops instead of ch-8.

13th rnd: Repeat 12th rnd, making ch-10 loops instead of ch-9.

14th rnd: Repeat 13th rnd, making ch-14 loops instead of ch-10. Join and turn.

15th rnd: Sl st in first 3 ch, ch 1, turn and work sc in same place as last sl st, * ch 3, sc in center ch of ch-5 loop, ch 3, sc in 3rd ch of next ch-14 loop, (ch 5, skip 2 ch, sc in next ch) 3 times. Repeat from * around. Join and turn.

16th rnd: Sl st in first 3 ch, ch 1, turn and work sc in same place as last sl st, * ch 6, sc in 3rd ch of next ch-5 loop, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch of next loop, ch 5, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch of same loop, ch 5, sc in 3rd ch of next loop. Repeat from * around. Join and turn.

17th rnd: Repeat 16th rnd, making ch-7 loops instead of ch-6 loops.

18th rnd: Sl st in first 3 ch, ch 1, turn and work sc in same place as last sl st, * ch 7, sc in 3rd ch of next ch-5 loop, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch of next loop; (ch 4, sc in next ch) twice; ch 5, sc in 3rd ch of next loop. Repeat from * around. Join and break off.

Copyright 2000-2006 Celt's Vintage Crochet

Frida

Frida Kahlo had the talent and style that many can only dream of. Her works have been studied and admired by many, including myself. My mother was born in Mexico, and Spanish was her first language. I have always found a part of me that relates to her rebellious and activist spirit, and as my own back problems have gotten worse recently, I seem to relate to her even more so. PBS has a pretty good biography on her, here is the link
This is another fantastic link, found here on PBS's website

"I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality."

– Frida Kahlo

Eco-Fashion

Eco-Fashion, found on "goth girl goes to the country" by Deborah Lindquist click here for my favorite piece from her collection.

Matryoshka Dolls, or Russian Nesting Dolls

Russian Nesting Dolls are so cool-looking, I had one when I was a little girl, living so close (Alaska and the Soviet Union- this was the 80's- are separated by a small bit of water) The imagery of Russian art remains among my favorites- the Russian Orthodox churches and structures that are in Alaska are beautiful (I've only seen Moscow in images and photos). My little matryoshka dolls had a label on the bottom which said "made in the USSR", and I still have it in pretty good condition, actually!

 So I was thinking of doing a series of paintings, I've already sketched them out, and I was also thinking of making something else with the beautiful nesting dolls imagery. I also thought how cool would it be to make a little punk rock nesting doll? I didn't even know that nesting dolls had been done in anything but the traditional-old-school style with the yellow babushka, red dress with flowered apron and pretty rosy cheeks and painted lips.

 After I did a little online research I found -to my horror- modern figurines, like Micheal Jackson painted on these little nesting dolls. Very trippy. And there were some with some incredible cheesy-tacky landscapes painted on them. But I did find some of the traditional nesting dolls, like the one I had as a kid (jeez it wasn't that long ago!) and so I thought I could put together a few different crafts with the matryoshka image along with my sketches, maybe even an applique on a purse or something. Apparently I'm not the only one with this idea....Check out this FABULOUS "matryoshka madness" from Laura Sweet's awesome blog, If It's Hip, It's Here

Running in Circles, again!

I have now re-done the Running in Circles table centerpiece & would like to share it. Once I have the pattern converted to pdf, I will update as well. In the last photo in this post, its sitting next to a Tiffany lamp....pretty cool, huh? The lamp was so incredibly heavy that I simply couldn't lift it to set it on top of the centerpiece, not to mention the fact the it would have covered up most of the Running in Circles piece! The pattern can be found on Cut Out + Keep website, it is not in pdf format. Enjoy!!