My Tara

I I had the chance to go to the beach today. I was doing something else and ended up being close enough to stop for a few minutes. I had to stop for a minute and appreciate that I live where that’s even a possibility.

I am always amazed at how wonderful I feel when I get close enough to hear the waves. You’d think that I’d get used to it, take it for granted, but it’s always wonderful. I draw my strength from the beach. It renews me more than any other thing on earth.

It’s also easy to see my palette on the beach. The warm brown of the sand, the pink of the sunset, the greys and purples that transform the clouds, the green of the sea oats, and of course the soft greenish blue of the sea. It has been said that if you hold my art close to your ear, you can hear the sea.

Whatever inspires you, I hope you take the time to enjoy it.

My Latest Project is for Me!

Well, and my daughter. I ordered these from a really nifty seller on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6726425

Aren’t they the cutest things you’ve ever seen? She sells them finished, but I got the pattern. I can’t wait till my lunch break tomorrow to work on them. I’m going to make the bunny first. I have a really neat heather yarn that’s a soft rose and purple. I’ll post pictures when I finish.

If you’ve ever made any of these, I’d love to see pictures of them. Email them to me, and I will post them here.

Whatever you do, do something for yourself today!

What in the world is Paisleytude???

When I started looking for a name, I needed versatility. I was looking for a name that would lend itself to baby clothing as well as aprons, pillows as well as note cards. I also wanted a name that had meaning to me, something that made me remember where I came from, my family and roots. 

Paisleys are versatile design elements. They are equally at home on a silk pashima scarf or a cotton bandana. They can be found on a formal beaded gown or a quilted handbag. It all depends on the ‘tude. Somedays I am smart and sophisticated, somedays I am comfortable and calm. No matter how I feel, I always love paisleys.

But, that’s not what the word Paisley makes me think of. Paisley is the name of a very small town in Florida, when I was a child it was even smaller. My grandmother had a piece of property on a lake there when I was young. It was our little hide a way from the world.

When we started going there we didn’t have electricity, it never did have a phone. We went there to connect with family and to relax. Since I was a kid, I never even had to do the work the grown ups had to do which included unpacking the car and building a campfire. My sister and I along with whatever cousins showed up just swam and played games. Life was good, simple and good.

So, my Paisleytude is a return to basics, a longing for a more simple time. And yet, I love color and style, so I update the simple things from back then. Who says that an apron can’t be stylish and functional? Who says that kids are the only ones that get to have teddy bears?

Yes, Paisleytude is my attitude: simple and fun, yet stylish and fresh. I hope you find it as comforting as I do.

Simple Pleasures – Knitted Dish Cloths

I was born 100 years too late. I am a sucker for things that are simple and hand made. I love using things that I make. I love washing dishes by hand.

So, I love knitted dish cloths. 100 years ago, little girls were taught to knit. They couldn’t waste yarn, and they wouldn’t wear a scarf that wasn’t perfect, so they made dish cloths. Even experienced knitters would try new patterns on a dish cloth first, before using the more expensive yarn to make a large project.

I just make them, because I don’t need a pattern. I don’t even look down at my knitting half of the time, I just knit. I make them when I’m waiting in doctors offices, riding in the car, and watching tv. If I’m nervous, I knit a dish cloth, the feel of the cotton is especially relaxing to me.

The pattern for these is so easy:

Cast on 3,

 row 1 and all odd rows: knit across

even rows:   k1, yo, k to last stitch, yo, k1

Do this until you get 41 stitches on the needle.

Then, on the next even row, and all the even rows after that: K1, SSK, YO, SSK, knit across to last 5 stitches, K2tog, YO, K2tog, K1.

When you get down to the last 9 stitches, you have to do these rows for the even rows:

K1, SSK, YO, slip one K2tog PSSO, YO, K2tog, K1

K1, slip 1 K2tog PSSO, YO, K2tog, K1

K1, slip 1 K2tog PSSO, K1

Knit one more row, and bind off.

Well, it’s done.

For now, anyway. I finally got my home page up and running. I’m going to work on crafting now. I’d like to get more items on.

I have a few things finished, now I need to take pictures and write descriptions.

Let me know what you think about the site. Is it confusing? What kinds of things should be on the home page as opposed to the blog? I guess I just planned it to be a jumping off point for every thing else, but it can be more if you think it should be.

Thanks for looking!

www.paisleytude.com

Well, it’s not as easy as I thought.

I’m not very happy with domainsite.com right now.

That’s where I bought my hosting, and I’m thinking that was a very bad idea. Whoever heard of a web based company with hours of 10-5 Mon-Fri for support? I almost never have time to do things on the web during normal business hours.

Anyway, I’m having a password issue. If you for some stupid reason do decide to use domainsite.com, don’t throw away the first password they give you. If you change your password, you apparently still have to use the old one to upload to your web page.

And, if you figure this out at 11:00 am on Saturday, you won’t be able to even dream about getting it resolved until Monday at 10:00 am. Actually it could be worse, you could figure it out at 5:00 pm on Friday.

I’m stuck with them for the first 60 days. If you have any better hosting sites, let me know. I’m definitely in the market.

On a brighter note, because I couldn’t get it uploaded, I worked a little harder on it. Now when it goes up, it will be fully functional, which is always a good thing, right?

Look out world, I finally got my coding right.

I finally got my webpage to work out. Well, on my computer, and in IE. But, atleast my code is validated.

I will figure out how to upload it tomorrow. That should be exciting.

I will keep you posted. For now, can you guess what the name is? www.paisleytude.com, or course.

Now that I got the website good enough for now, maybe I can get some real life crafting done. I have an apron that I’m dying to finish. I’ll make sure to show you as soon as I finish it.

Why I make bears

As a child, I loved stuffed animals. I had four dolls, but over 40 stuffed animals. I was very picky about my stuffed animals, a teddy bear connoisseur. I hated that so many of them were poorly made or just plain ugly. I got frustrated that manufacturers thought if it’s a teddy bear, it should sell. It’s obvious when a bear is made by someone that’s just trying to make a profit.

When I make a bear, it is purely for my pleasure. I get a true sense of accomplishment. There are two problems with that. First, they are expensive to make. A yard of mohair for bears is around $100. The stuffing, joints, and eyes add to the cost. The other problem is, although I would personally love to have a room with nothing but bears, I just don’t have room for anymore at my home. If I kept all my bears, I wouldn’t have room for any other crafting projects, and that would be traumatic.

So, I share my bears with the world. I hope you like them. I will keep making them even if no one likes them, but it does make me feel good when someone appreciates them.

Hello world!

Hi!

Thanks for stopping by. This is my blog for all my creative endeavors. I hope you enjoy them. You can also visit my store at www.paisleytude.etsy.com