Liesl Made - Page 2 of 65 -

May 6, 2013
by Liesl
192 Comments

Giveaway Day : Handmade (CLOSED)

This is a bit last minute for me but I only just found out about Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day yesterday. I had completely forgotten that there was one in May as well. I’m offering up two giveaways, one is for supplies and the other (this one) is for handmade.

Up for grabs in this Handmade giveaway category is one of my make-up bags. I used a striped fabric patchworked in a herringbone pattern. It’s lined with an emerald green cotton broadcloth. For the lining, I used a heavy weight cotton to give the bag structure. It measures approximately 10″ long and 5 1/2″ tall. (Items are from a smoke free home but I do have a dog and a cat.)

To enter to win this bag:

Simply leave a comment to this post telling me what you love most about spring!

Rules:

You are welcome to enter both of my giveaways but only one comment per person per giveaway.

I will ship internationally.

Do not leave your email or URL in your comment. There are fields for both of those. (Your comment will probably get caught in the spam filter and I don’t want to have moderate comments or fish them out of my spam folder all week.)

I will be contacting the winner with the email you provide so please be sure it is correct.

This giveaway will close on May 10th around 8PM Eastern/5PM Western US time.

Be sure to check out my supplies giveaway here.

UPDATE:
This giveaway is now closed and the winner drawn randomly is Mary White.

May 6, 2013
by Liesl
252 Comments

Giveaway Day : Supplies (CLOSED)

Up for grabs in this Supplies giveaway category is a stack of fabric scraps and trims. There are some vintage and some designer scraps, ribbon and lace. They weigh a total of 8 ounces. (Items are from a smoke free home but I do have a dog and a cat.)

To enter to win these supplies:

Simply leave a comment to this post telling me what you are most looking forward to about summer!

Rules:

You are welcome to enter both of my giveaways but only one comment per person per giveaway.

I will ship internationally.

I will be contacting the winner with the email you provide so please be sure it is correct.

This giveaway will close on May 10th around 8PM Eastern/5PM Western US time.

Be sure to check out my handmade giveaway here.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed and the winner drawn randomly is Renee G .

May 4, 2013
by Liesl
1 Comment

18.52 – It’s Burning Up Her Mind

In 2013, I am aiming to do 52 self-portraits. I hope to capture a representation of where I’m at each week this year. I’ll probably often include a quote or lyrics or other smattering of current thoughts or feelings. My 52 Weeks posts can be seen here.

Title via Horse Feathers’ “Heaven’s No Place”

Extras on my tumblr.

May 3, 2013
by Liesl
6 Comments

Lately

So, it appears I’ve taken a whole week off from blogging. It wasn’t intentional. The week was just so full of ups and downs that I never worked in the time or energy to post. It’s always best to focus on the positive things so here is some of the good stuff that has been happening lately:

I was given a handful of vintage dresses. All have some holes or stains but I think I can fix/rework most into something wearable or else cut them up for new projects.

I’ve been spending serious time in the studio. (Black and white photo because basement lighting is terrible for photographs which of course leaves me daydreaming about a sun-filled studio.)

Listening to a lot of Andrew Bird. (Particularly this and this.)

Painted and hung a couple picture frames.

Trying to figure out what this is (pretty sure it’s Heal-all.)

These cats here have the life (no worries, full bellies, lots of snuggles and so much turf to explore.)

And as you can see, the weather has been gorgeous.

I had a burst of inspiration (and bravery) and fixed the mistakes I made in the sleeve of my buttercup top. Now, I’m inspired to finish it!

And I started my second hat for the twelve hats in one year challenge.

I hung a string of baker’s twine (gift from super sweet blogger) above my desk to hold photos and things.

My film camera has been getting a lot of use. (Hopefully I can share photos soon.)

My Dad gifted me one of his bobbin holders. He had some commissions from a quilter and made up some extra pieces. (He’s joking that he works harder now than before he lost his job.)

I got lots of birthday presents.

And the garden! Oh, that’ll have to wait for another post.

April 27, 2013
by Liesl
0 comments

17.52 : Lend Her Grace

This week’s self-portrait inspiration comes from Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott.” I loved this poem (and the art it inspired) when I was a teen. I’m far from my teens now but I still think a lot about how it’s so difficult for some of us to switch seamlessly back and forth between two worlds—the internal and the external. Still seeking balance. And grace.

(I’ve put a few of the outtakes on my tumblr.)

April 25, 2013
by Liesl
4 Comments

Hat One of Twelve – A Knitting Challenge

I wasn’t kidding when I said I was on a knitting high yesterday. So I hope you guys can stand a third knitting post in a row. I’ve decided to accept a hat challenge where you knit 12 hats in one year—one every month. I have a bag full of hand-me-down acrylic/synthetic yarns that I have been stumped on what to do with, seeing as they are single or even partial skeins. I figure making hats should be a good way to use some of them up. Once I run out of workable yarns I’ll buy some new ones to complete my year long challenge.

This challenge is being run by two lovely French ladies, Melody of Mandarine’s and Charlotte of Fille d’hiver. You can join in and share your creations at the Facebook Page.

Since this month is almost over, I opted for a quick, easy hat that I could finish in a little over than week. It comes from a book called 30-min Knits so your average knitter can whip it up in half an hour. But I’m a bit slow, mostly due to the fact I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it work without holding the yarn double. All three attempts can be seen above. (And all my notes and changes can be seen on the Ravelry page.)

Now, to choose 11 more hat patterns. I have a few in mind but still need more ideas. Have you used any great hat patterns? Are there ones in your queue you can suggest to me?

April 24, 2013
by Liesl
7 Comments

Yarn Along : Knitting and Reading

Liesl Made : Knitting and Reading Liesl Made : Yarn Along : Knitting and Reading

I’m on a knitting high. After finishing my sweater (thank you all so much for the sweet comments!), I got right back at my Jane Eyre shawl (as well as another project I’ll share tomorrow.) I’m really enjoying this project—to the point where I’m having a hard time putting it down. I think it hits that knitting sweet spot with large stretches of stockinette to do methodically and mindlessly and then 21 stitches of lace in the middle of each row to keep it interesting and stop your mind from wandering off too far.

This is the first time I’ve worked with a lace chart and my novice shows in the first eight or so rows. So in the beginning rows the lace pattern is a bit off and doesn’t really reveal itself until after that. Here is the link to shawl’s Ravelry notes and you can see a picture of the full progress there.

I’ve also just finished my last book and am about to start the next, which is obviously Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Like I said in my last Yarn Along, I’ve seen various film adaptations but never read the book. Can’t help but wonder which Jane Eyre I’ll finish first.

What have YOU been knitting or reading?

If you’d like, you can share what you’re knitting and reading every Wednesday with Yarn Along over at Small Things.

April 23, 2013
by Liesl
12 Comments

My Rocky Coast Cardigan

Well, it’s done—my Rocky Coast Cardigan! I’ve started other projects but this one is the very first big knitted project that I’ve been able able to wear or use. I even successfully blocked it.

It took me the whole six months of colder weather to finish (November to April) but the days have gotten a little chillier in the last week, so I’m hopeful I can get use out of it before the summer heat sets in. The wool Quince yarn is so squishy soft that there is no problem just wearing a t-shirt under it.

I didn’t veer from pattern except to make the body and sleeves longer. I also did the yoke and sleeve increases provided by the author but realized a bit too late that meant I should pick up and work the stitches for the next size up on the sleeves—which means the upper sleeves are a bit snug. There are a few nit-picky things I would like to be different such as the sleeves ended up too long for my liking and a few errors in the stitching pattern. It slips off my shoulders when I’m moving around a lot which is probably due to the fact that it’s simply too small (I forgot to factor in dreaded winter-weight-gain and that I have much broader shoulders than the average woman.) But over all, I’m so excited and pleased with it. It’s been learning lesson that has rewarded me with a lovely new sweater.

You can find my Ravelry notes here.

April 22, 2013
by Liesl
7 Comments

Blooms – Gathering, Pressing and Learning About Flowers

I have trouble remembering the names of flowers. My mother is great at remembering them and sweet when I repeatedly ask what this one is and what that one is. One of those photos above contains what I think is type of hyacinth. I’ve been told repeatedly what it is called but the name has escaped me once again. I have this weird urge to call it a ‘piano string’ hyacinth but that is just me making something up, my brain having a short somewhere between memories and imagination. (Also seen above is crocus, weeping cherry blossoms and andromeda.)

So to remedy that I’ve started a Bloom Journal. (Name is still pending. And clever ideas?) I’m using a Celtic-inspired journal that was gifted to me years ago. The pages are all a rough texture with leaves and petals pressed in them. I also made a little mock-washi tape and plan to make more, playing around with other patterns and colors. Hopefully, clipping and pressing and preserving and labeling will help me remember these names better. At the very least, it’ll made for a pretty journal.

I’m thinking I’ll check in with you all from time time about new additions to the journal. I’d also like to start up a tree journal, since I’m even worse at identifying trees.

Do you pick flowers, press them or preserve them in any way? Do you remember the names of flowers easily?

April 21, 2013
by Liesl
8 Comments

Lately

I’ve decided to skip Gratitude Sunday today and instead let you all in on what I’ve been up to lately. Just small spurts and snippets of joys and ponderings.

Liesl Made - New Desk

Liesl Made - Forsythia Liesl Made - Spring Look Liesl Made - Mystery Craft Tools Liesl Made - Fruit

Lately, I have been:

listening to – Iron & Wine’s Ghost on Ghost album; this song; and this one too; the rain; a fox right outside my window

making – mock washi tape; amends; home video DVDs to gift

wearing – a new-to-me secondhand maxi skirt (seen above); my hair in a short braid; newly handed-down-from-my-Grandma shoes

sewing – the hole in my jeans

knitting – a shawl; hats

watching – very little TV; tiny onion sprouts come up

reading – Sylvia Plath (still)

painting – my nails; an old table to be used as my new desk (seen above)

smelling – a dog in much need of a bath; stink bugs; the rain; hyacinths; patchouli or some such spicy-earthy scent

eating – the most perfect scones; fruit my Aunt spoiled me with (seen above); Amy’s Black Bean and Veggie Burritos

loving – this quote; this photo

finding – an old unused journal; joy in the cracks; that crochet hook thing and plastic things in my stash (seen above–any clues as to what they are?)

wishing for – a comfy secondhand arm chair; a sunnier studio; a trip to Ikea

feeling – proud that I didn’t freak out at things I normally freak out at; tired

learning – how to choose my battles; the names of flowers; how to block a knitted project for the first time

remembering – what makes me happiest (thanks to some bloggers); that this is my body and no one else has a right to make me feel insecure about it; that I want to make something will all those gourds in the barn

praying for – strength; the courage to let go and mourn; health, employment and contentment to find three friends, respectively

planning to – redo a lampshade; make white chocolate chip pumpkin cookies (as per request); revamp my Keds

keeping – onion skins for future dyeing adventures; some opinions to myself

wondering – what it’s like in Germany right now; how I get those CAPTCHA letters correct (90% of the time, I’m guessing)

and finally:

grateful – just because

Where/What/How have you been lately?

May 2013
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