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| These are but a fraction of our stuffed animal roommates. |
I come from a long line of female handcrafters. My first foray into crafting occurred when I was 4: my grandmother--a master cook, crocheter, and seamstress--taught me how to make a crochet a chain. I'm sure she showed me how to single chain as well, but it didn't stick.
Then when I was 17 I participated in a brief "Introduction to Knitting" course...that didn't go so well: my gauge was way too tight and by the time I ran out of yarn, the 20 stitches that I had started with had tripled. I came to the conclusion that knitting was not for me. One day my mom bought me a knitting kit from which I tried it again. I spent an afternoon teaching myself how to knit from the pictorial instructions in the kit, this time with more success. From that first chunky scarf I turned to books (namely Stitch 'n Bitch), magazines, the Internet, and friends to learn how to knit, crochet, embroider, sew, and make all sorts of other accessories, home decor items, and jewelry.
I find myself inspired by many things: beautiful yarn, bright colors, vintage knitting and crochet patterns, blogs that I read, people that I see in my neighborhood, costume design in films, fashion photography, the work of my friends, neat buttons, Japanese knick knacks, the absurd and the silly...
I am eager to try new knitting techniques and make items more elaborate than hats, wristwarmers, and neckwear. I'd love to expand my embroidery skills and do more than sew straight lines. I'd also like to learn how to craft my own patterns, something that I've started to work on.
I have an Etsy store--BoutiqueAliciaMarie--but I'm not a very active seller. I post my projects on Ravelry, Flickr, and Hand Embroidery Network, and I use this blog to write about and document my crafting endeavors, my weekly trips to the local farmers market, occasional cooking adventures, cultural activities, my obsession with all things old and Pyrex, and more.
