Thrifty Thursday 02

My one and only find this week; a beautiful 1947 Singer sewing machine. I am in love!

Singer

Thrifty Thursdays

One of my hobbies and loves in life is perusing the many thrift stores in this area. Every week I’d like to share some of my lucky finds in a quicky post, my Thrifty Thursdays.

This week features The Goblin King via TeeFury.com found in a Goodwill. One of my favorite finds, everyone that knows me knows of my t-shirt addiction. You can never go wrong with David Bowie as Jareth on a Tee.

Teefury Goblin King

My only other find this week are some cutesy earrings from a local TS in Poquoson, for my expanding love of kawaii jewelry.

Kawaii Earrings

Oh Scrap! & Stash Busters

The Stash

Whether you’re a knitter, crocheter, or just love collecting yummy bits of yarn, chances are you have a mighty yarn stash, and/or bit spare yarn laying about. I for instance, keep making these one-skein project, that are really more like, almost one skein, and then I have luscious yarn-filled leftovers taking over my basket. Pretty to look at, not too functional. As a way to dwindle down my lefties, I am going to get started knitting  and crocheting some stash busters. In doing so I also hope to start coming up with my own little patterns. I’m thinking things like amigurumi. If there are scrapped projects you’d like to see, throw me a hook.

I think my first stash busting attempt will be in the form of cat toys. I have 3 spoiled fur babies always in the need of catnip toys, I’m sure they’re happy to be my guinea pigs…so to speak. If they come out well, I can make more for the needy cats at my local SPCA. I like they idea of helping others with my knitting & crocheting, especially our furry friends. Yarn bombing might be a fun option to explore, I haven’t done that one yet. I’d be curious to know if anyone has any Stash Buster Challenges out there. Another curiosity, would any be willing to #ShowMeYourStash ?

Crocheting Away

As an avid knitter I’ve always had a tendency to cling to the needles and shy away from the hook. Then one day a coworker and I were talking, and the short version being he requested a hat. I had only hat-knitting experience at that point in time. As I sat down that night I was determined it was gonna be a knitted hat. And then…I just didn’t feel like it. I had crocheted a few things before, nothing more than a scarf or such… This time, I decided to go with crochet. My search for simple crochet hats led me to this bottom-up hat from Lion Brand (sans the pom-pom). After giving the instructions a once over, I broke out my hook and some chunky yarn. Two hours later, I had an extremely warm and chunky hat. I also love that it took only one skein to finish. It was so fun and satisfying to finish a project so quickly, it’s got me thinking of what other one-skein projects I could do… possible blog feature, I could call it “one-skein wonders”.

Tweed!

Tweed Stripes Hat

Wanting one for myself, I picked up another skein of LBY and started another, this time using the recommended tweed yarn (SO pretty!).  I’ve been wearing it to work and receiving a lot of compliments (even received a request!) There’s a lot of great yarn out there and I LOVE my LYS, but I’m starting to discover how much yummy hard Lion Brand has. After this hat I was hooked. The pattern is simple and straightforward. The only modification I made was the amount of rows I crocheted for the brim of the hat, 64 would have been far too many, 50 was more like it. It all depends of course on your hook and yarn and the gauge you get with it. I made this again for my sister and she needed even less than I did. After that it’s a straight shot from there. Now I’m working on one more inspired by my cat Zoey, using homemade wool yarn from a friend of mine. I see this easily being a go-to hat pattern for many projects to come.

Zoey Cat!

The Curse of the Dreaded Second Sock!!

Socks, put that under the category of a new knitting first for me. Territory I’ve been wanting to venture into for a while now, I been dreaming of the day when my needles are skilled enough to knit those beautiful Norwegian socks. After perusing several patterns for a while, I decided to go with this fairly straightforward pattern for beginners from Lion Brand for my first sock experience. As with any recipe I find online, I followed the pattern with variations found in the comments of those who have made it before. Following the pattern for the most part, I did as one use suggest for the toe-shaping. She says:

I do think that the toe shaping is a little off. The decreases on the 3rd and 4th needles should be reversed.
As in:
Needle 1: K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1
Needle 2: K1, SSK, K to end of needle
Needle 3: K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1
Needle 4: K1, SSK K to end of needle

Because I’m impatient I made my sock a little shorter than suggested, which works out well because I like ankle socks. I enjoyed the experience of making my first sock, and I can’t wait to make more. Something is plaguing me however, and that is the Curse of the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome. The nice ladies at my YLS DID warn me that would happen. Why, oh why didn’t I listen? After finishing my first sock, I went back to my YLS (a cozy little place called Knitwits) and bought this book I am eager to try 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oaks. In one of my art classes I had met a woman who would knit multiple projects on circulars. With my next sock experience, I’ll be doing the same with help from this lovely book.

Yenn’s First Sock

Socky!!

Go Eat Braaaaains

Go Eat Worms has gone Zombie for Halloween! I’ve broken free of the dirt, and I’m craving braaaaains!  Halloween being my favorite time of year, I could not help but get into the spirit. Rustling of crispy leaves, and ghosts whistling in the wind, if you listen. The veil is thin and faeries make their mischief. I’m an October baby and autumn has always been my happy place, and it is a place. I’ve kept busy going to Renaissance Fairs, blowing out birthday candles, and sipping hot apple cider.

It’s been a busy fall and luckily I’ve managed to fit in some creative time. On twitter I stumbled upon a crochet challenge which was perfect for me; The Grim Wreather Challenge from the folks at The Crochet Crowd, and sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn. The goal is simple; make a Halloween wreath covered in yarn, with 4 individual crocheted items. In the past I’d been more into knitting, however after a crochet hat request from a coworker, I decided to delve more into the craft, and I’m loving it! It’s something deliciously simple I can do while watching my way through TV on Netflix. It’s almost zen-like. After perusing pinterest for inspiration, this is the wreath I created. It was a fun little project, I can’t wait to delve into more creative crochet soon.

halloween wreath

Stitchin’ Kitten Starts Knittin’

I’ve had a love of all things artistic and crafty ever since I can remember. Out of the many interests I’ve had, attempted to get into/be successful at but failing miserably (sports and music come to mind), arts and crafts has been the one area that really stuck with me. With the exception of some minor sewing projects, my intro to fiber arts began in tenth grade when I signed up for creative stitchery. The class explored knitting, crocheting, needle point, quilting and macramé. To this day, the needle point lay sadly unfinished at the bottom of a basket in my room, the plant hanger I made by macramé wasn’t made quite right and won’t hold a plant. The pillow we quilted actually came out fine (sort of), but the one skill that really stuck with me was knitting.

Now, I haven’t given up on those skills and would dearly love to pick them up again. For the record I’ve tried my hand at crocheting several times, it just hasn’t stuck with me as well. When that class was over I didn’t do much needle work for a while. For me it’s always been easier to really be into something if I had at least someone to share my interest with. Knitting, crocheting, weaving… they have always been done socially. Though I knitted here and there, it wasn’t until about 2005-06ish that I really got back into it. I have two people to thank for this: My (at the time) knitting partner in crime (though she is also a crocheter and all around rockin’ seamstress) Betty Johnson, and Debby Stoller for her book Stitch ‘N Bitch.

Betty was a driving force in that I now had, in part at least, the social aspect of it. She’d knit something, I’d knit something, we’d show off our goodies in the back room at work, you know how it goes. She also introduced me to the S’nB book. And although there are plenty of snazzy books on knitting, S’nB was the one that made knitting click for me. Since then I’ve done mostly the usual scarves and hats, and a few other ho hum items. I’m finally moving on to sweaters and socks now (about to finish my first pair). I’m becoming more of an avid knitter now than I’ve ever been so there will definitely be more projects to post about soon.

HorrorBlock, My First Unveiling

Horror Block — July

#HorrorBlock is a subscription box from the Canadian-based company Nerd Block. The jist of the service is you pay a monthly fee, get sent a box of goodies. In the Nerd Block you receive nerdy goods, in the Horror Block, you receive horror goodies, as one might suspect. This is my second box with them so far. I also received their very first shipment of box-sized, horror-filled goodness. So far I’m happy with the service; I’ve received pleasing fun stuffs each box so far. Every box automatically comes with a t-shirt of your size, and a copy of Rue Morgue magazine. Though I’m not a huge magazine reader, they are fun to peruse through from time to time. As a t-shirt addict, the service is automatically worth it for me. The rest of the box contains a spattering of toys, figurines, and other horroesque paraphernalia.

Horror Block — July

Horror Block — July

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this most recent Horror Block, being July’s box, I received the following knick knacks: A copy of Rue Morgue commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Crow (pretty nice edition, I must admit), The Frog Brothers Vampire Hunters t-shirt (a nod to the cult favorite The Lost Boys, one of my all time favorite flicks!), a Sharknado Vinyl Pop Figure (give in and watch it already, resistance is futile), a Nightmare Before Christmas collectible mystery figure (I got Jack Skellington, and again, I LOVE Nightmare Before Christmas!), a Walking Dead Zumbie String Doll Keyring, and Alien Pin Pack (I’m also a pin addict) .

I thoroughly enjoyed this (and the first) edition of Horror Block. So far I’ve received some really cool and amusing stuff. If the nice people at Horror Block see this, keep it up! I’m loving it so far, thank you for my monthly dose of happy mystery mail!

Have a subscription service and want to swap? Make an offer!

Go Eat Worms! An Obligatory Introductory Post

Go Eat Worms!

Welcome to Go Eat Worms! A creative outlet to keep my post-college brain from turning to mush. My name is Jenny and I have a love of all things artsy, crafty, nerdy, and cat-related. I have an AAS in graphic design from Tidewater Community College, and a BFA in Painting from Old Dominion University. Go Eat Worms! is my humble abode in which I can post whatever creative whimsy takes my fancy at the time. My artistic interests are quite varied; I’ve done anything from weaving to stained glass to sculpture. With a sad realization that I can’t do it all, I’ve attempted to concentrate my creations to what I do most: knit, crochet, book-binding, doodling, and occasional baking. In general my interests include your general nerdy stuffs: reading fantasy, graphic novels, watching horror flicks, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, some anime (Sailor Moon!), thrift store shopping, munching on home-made sweets, loving my cats, and just being goofy. I’m a little bit random and a lot bit weird. Go Eat Worms! is the embodiment of all this. Random and weird (0r not) I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I look forward to connecting with fellow crafters, nerds, artists, cat-lovers, and just plain awesome people. Feel free to send me a message!