National Craft Month!

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time for crafting so far.. I had a ton of assignments and papers due the last few weeks. I finished the back and both of the sleeves of Shibuya last month, but the front is still laying around and waiting for spring break to come.

But that doesn't mean that you can't celebrate National Craft Month!
 
There is a really nice article on About.com by Sherri Osborn that lists more than 20 different crafts and interesting projects and techniques, including knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, weaving, pressing flowers, beading and how to make candles. All of the crafts are linked to pages that describe the topic more in-depth and give instructions and help. So get inspired and do something crafty and creative this month!

I love learning and experimenting with new crafting techniques! My only problem is that I tend to stop halfway through the process of one project and start a new one.. The widespread curse of UFOs.. If you like knitting and crafting, you will probably have enough "Unfinished Objects" laying around your home to understand what I mean.

Because I can't celebrate this year's Craft Month by showing you a new and exciting project I'm starting, I will share some of my UFO's!
 
Two of the more recent projects that still need to be finished are The Scent of Lavender by Stephanie van der Linden, started in January, and Perfection by Patricia Kristoffersen, started last December. I would probably be able to finish both of them in less than two weeks, but for some reason I just can't get myself to start. Maybe when Shibuya is finished..

The next one in line would be Captivating by Patricia Kristoffersen. It's a really stunning pattern, especially crocheted in black. I started it in March 2011 and have about half of the doily finished - much more than this picture shows. Unfortunately, I don't have a recent picture of it; the doily is in Germany right now. You can take a look at epawelko's finished Captivating, to get a better idea of how it would look.

Another unfinished projects would be my On the side.. Blanket!, started in January 2011. The pattern is 124-1 Crochet blanket in ”Delight” and ”Fabel” by DROPS design. I really love this project and can't wait to finally finish it. I have almost 50 squares done and should really continue working on it.. I think it's my favorite out of all the UFO's and people on Ravelry seem to like it as well. It received the most hearts out of all my projects, closely followed by Age of Brass and Steam.

The next two are cross stitch projects and so old that I don't even remember when exactly I started them. The first one is a table cloth I planned on making for my mother. It has a three-colored bamboo design, which I really liked when I first picked it out in 1999. Now, 13 years later (what?! wow - I feel really old right now..), I can't really understand the weird color scheme at all; why would bamboo be black, light blue/gray and yellow?!

It's a medium-sized square table cloth with two of these motifs stitched in opposite corners. There's not a lot missing from the second design and my mother still seems to like it, so hopefully someday I will manage to finish it. 

The last project is probably to most complicated one I have ever started.. I think I started it sometime in 2007 as a birthday present for my sister, who was a big Emily Strange fan at that time. I used an image and transformed it into a stitch pattern with the help of a cross stitch program. Unfortunately I really don't remember which one it was; I know I only had the two month trial version.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time, so I printed all the charts and color information before the two month were over. I guess I was right.. after about 5 years, it's still waiting to be finished.

I really have to finish this one. It's about 3/4 done and already looks stunning with all the shapes and subdued colors. The last few parts are the faces and eyes and the slightly more complicated detail work. I have all the thread and instructions here and would only need time and the right mood to actually continue.. "only"..

There are probably a few more UFO's hiding around here somewhere, but this is it for today. I hope you are inspired and willing to start some crafty projects for yourself and remember to stick to them and finish them! Digging out a 13 year old project will not make you feel too good..