Giving you a reason to celebrate Pay It Forward Day

Tomorrow is Pay it Forward Day, a day of purposeful random acts of kindness. (We — or at least I — should be RAKing every day, but PIF day is a good awareness-raiser and reminder.) What should I do for PIF Day? I'm stymied. But I need to do something.

Because random acts of kindness have serious power — power to cause ripples we can't see and may never know about, but the effects of which can last for years, even lifetimes. I know, because RAKs have pushed me forward and given me hope and inspiration I'd never had before. When I was active on Yahoogroups years ago, I met some beautiful, selfless artists, both hobbyists and professionals, and I owe them big time for championing my creativity and seeing beauty in even my smallest, first efforts at art, until I learned to value it myself. (In fact, I could use a little more of that championing now. My inspiration levels have been sporadic lately. ;))

I'm pretty sure that without the gracious, positive spirit that drove my artist friends — people I've still never met in person — to RAK and otherwise support me, I wouldn't believe in my crafting ability enough to have officially started a crafts business. I'd have dabbled, sure, and maybe sold a piece here and there. But it wasn't until I saw that other people valued me and my work that I considered my work might be marketable enough to work hard to bring it to the world. And while I'm certainly not rich (yet? ;)), or as creatively productive as I'm aiming to be, it would have been a pity if I had died without ever trying to combine inspiration and making a living. RAKs have helped me check that item off my bucket list, and it's in honor of the people whose positivity has supported me, past and present, that I want to pay it forward, too.

To me, the spirit of paying it forward/performing random acts of kindness is a little different from the spirit of donating to a charity. PIF and RAKs are more direct, more immediate, more personal: You choose a specific person and do something good for them right now, yourself. No intermediaries, no holding kindness in reserve until a disaster strikes and it's needed desperately. PIF and RAK are almost like preventative positive acts — do enough of them and they could help keep disaster from striking, or at least lessen the impact of the disaster if or when it does strike.

I still don't have much of a clue what I'm going to do tomorrow, but to encourage PIF/RAK spirit in other people, this is what I'll do:

For every comment I get on this blog post containing the story of a PIF or RAK someone has done this week (from April 25 through May 1), I will give a random, surprise discount to a future order from the Star and Crossbones Etsy shop.

So if I get 10 comments on this post that meet the below criteria, 10 random future orders from the shop will get a surprise discount.

Furthermore, I will give 15% off any item in my Etsy shop to each person who posts a PIF or RAK story.

For comments to count, you must:

a) Post the comment on this post.
b) Tell me about how you paid it forward or RAKed someone this week (from April 25 through May 1).
c) Use an identifiable name to post the comment and/or provide your Etsy username in the comment. To get your Etsy discount, use the code PIFDAY2010 and tell me the name you posted your comment under. Add the aforementioned information in the "comments to seller" box when you check out, OR convo me before you make your purchase and I'll adjust the listing for you.

One PIF Day discount code per person, if you please ... but one person can earn multiple surprise Etsy discounts for other people. I'll add one more surprise Etsy order discount for:

• each tweet that contains a link back to this blog post and includes "@starncrossbones" (so I can see that you tweeted about it ;));
• each Facebook mention that contains a link back to this blog post and tags Star and Crossbones (you use the same format — type "@Star and Crossbones" into the Facebook post and it should link to the Star and Crossbones Facebook fan page).

If you tweet or post on Facebook about my PIF Day goodness, leave another comment to let me know about it, okay?

Let the PIFing and RAKing begin! Remember, anything you do from April 25 through May 1 counts! Aaaaand ... go! ;)

Craft or Bust Week 16 Check-In and Roundup (April 18-24)

Notes & Announcements

Nothing much to say this week, except that I hope everybody enjoyed last week's awards post, and that I'm late in the day posting this. ;)

Roundup of Week 15: What We Crafted From April 11-17

• Jessica finished Yong's second mitten — woo! — crocheted the strap to finish her Harry Potter bag, turned the heels and made it into the gussets of her vampire socks, cast on more socks, hung lights for a play (with a slightly expensive mishap), and baked a pile-like carrot cake. ;) Read about the socks on her blog.
• Sarah went on an "epic" cross-country drive, set up an online shop for her future mother-in-law (link? ;)), had Great Patience with some filching of text, made a gigantic stash of wireworked and hammered jewelry findings, bought eyelets and a setter, and started playing with ideas involving lace appliques and necklace components.
• Halloweentango (Michelle) wrote a caption for the photography competition she entered recently, checked out spinning books from the loibrary, and won the CoB project of the quarter ... ;) Read about these and other things on her blog!
• LunabudKnits AKA Stephanie Stratton had a crazy week, but still worked on her "Russian wheel" enough to finish it! Hurrah!
• Velma started knitting a vest called Spunky Boob Cover (ha ;D) and got about halfway through it, blocked the stole she finished last month, and wrote a DIY lace-knitting tutorial that got fe4atured on Craftzine (awesome!). Read about it on her blog.
• Meredith M. worked on a Que Sera cardigan from Knitty and an Abrazo wrap from Twist Collective (and the second one involves a new technique for her: beaded lace knitting) and gardened.

Check-in for Week 16: What Have You Done Lately? (April 18-24)

What I did this week:
Sunday, I played some more with the blog redesign. Monday, no crafting. Tuesday, I bought some Clun Forest fleece from Maya at Springtree Road, finished spinning the fiery Shetland roving, and started spinning some cottony Merino roving from the stash. Wednesday, I received my Shetland fleece from Dew Dance Farm, wove a loopy wash cloth, washed some Shetland fleece, and spun some more cottony Merino. Thursday, no crafting. Friday, I wove yet another loopy washcloth, and Saturday, no crafting.

What did you craft this week?

(Don't forget to use the standard check-in format on the rules page!)

Fiber delivery on Earth Day Eve

A big box came in the mail today, stuffed with fiber from Laura of Dew Dance Farm. There's some colorgrown cotton (big thanks to Laura for throwing in an extra bit to top off the box!) and a little more than a pound of some super-clean-looking Shetland fleece.


Mmmm, cotton...


Nice fresh raw Shetland wool — on the sheep not too long ago!
The Shetland is going in the wash tub this week — this fleece is getting babied into a shawl if all goes well. The cotton? I have no clue what it's going to do, but if I can figure out which bit to plant, I may try to grow it alongside the Japanese indigo and the flax in my minuscule square of yard this summer.

Craft or Bust Week 15 Check-In and Roundup (April 11-17) — and First Quarter Awards!

Notes & Announcements

AWARDS!

CoBers, WE DID IT! We made it through the first quarter of 2010! :D Whether it was hard or easy, whether you succeeded at your goal(s) or not ... We made it, and here we are, with a fresh new, hopefully crafty quarter before us! :D

IN HONOR OF YOUR MIGHTY ACHIEVEMENTS, in honor of your willingness ITSELF to participate, in honor of your bravery in signing your name to the list to try to meet your crafty goals ... I present to you the Official Craft or Bust First Quarter Achievement Badge! You all deserve it!


And there are some other graphics, too. Right-click and download (or click the graphic to go to Flickr and download it) the badge(s) of your choice and display them proudly wherever you choose! It'd be nice if you linked them to the rules page, but like pretty much everything CoB, no requirement. (And if you need me to change a color to match your blog, or put your name on a badge, or something, let me know. :D)


And what you've all been waiting for (or, well, you know ... maybe I'm just being hyperbolic ;)) ... the PROJECT OF THE QUARTER!

This very first prestigious award goes to...

Michelle/Halloweentango's handmade journal with watercolor paper!

For you, a special badge:


And for all those of you (us!) who were nominated, honor to you, too! You also get your own special badge:


Trumpets sound! Confetti falls from the sky! Doves fly around with whirring wings!

Craft or Busters ROCK!

Feel free to post your proudest achievement(s) of the quarter with your check-in today. :D

Now ... back to crafty business. ;)

Roundup of Week 14: What We Crafted From April 4-10

• Courtney joined us again after a bit of a break! She repurposed a shirt that didn't fit into a bag that does. Read about it on her blog.
• LunabudKnits, a.k.a. Stephanie Stratton, has been painting a spinning wheel that will be going to Russia. Coooool. She's also been spinning some alpaca and has acquired a bunch of fleeces for The Blanket.
• Jessica finished the legs of her socks and made it into the heel flaps (oh, the endless heel flaps...), made it halfway through the thumb gusset of Yong's second mitten, made peanut butter cookies, and daydreamed about knitwear while looking at yarn on the Internet. (Hey, me, too! Well ... I've been looking at fiber and thinking of yarn, anyway...)
• Michelle a.k.a. Halloweentango did a Whole Bunch of Stuff that's on her blog, which she kindly requests you check since she didn't want to wear out her crafty fingers with a neverending update. ;)

Check-in for Week 15: What Have You Done Lately? (April 11-17)

What I did this week:

Sunday, I wrote a poem (I think the first of the year!). Monday, I wrapped up my Very First batch of Phat Fiber yarn samples. :D Tuesday, I took some photos of the front "yard," bought some fleece (...as if I need more fiber...), designed a mini yarn label for the Phat Fiber samples, and started spinning some Shetland roving from the stash. Wednesday, I did some writing exercises. Thursday, I worked on a new blog banner (yet to come!). Friday, I worked some more on the blog banner, a sidebar graphic, and a new blog template. I also wove some of the green linen scarf on my Cricket. Saturday, I finished the linen scarf, warped the loom again, and wove a wash cloth.

AND, because it's Awards Day, I'll share my proudest achievements of the quarter: This quarter, I am proudest of the fact that I actually crafted every single week, even when the week sucked. ;) AND (again with the AND) I am also proud that I have a sincerely great group of people crafting along with me, who are willing to come back here every week and cheer each other on, and share their crafty projects when they want to be shared, and who inspire each other. Seriously, guys. Thanks for crafting with me. I appreciate every single name on the roster and every single check-in. Extra special thanks to Velma, the first volunteer. If you hadn't signed on and proved I wasn't crazy-in-a-bad-way, I might be sitting here talking to myself pathetically instead of creating crayon-colored Illustrator graphics for a group of awesome people who happen to also be awesome crafters.

Thanks, everyone, for helping me have something to celebrate on this grand day in April. :D

Sooo...

What did you craft this week?

(As always, don't forget to use the standard check-in format on the rules page. ;))

Surprise flax for the fiber garden

Fiber garden. Does the idea make you drool? It excites me. I love gardening (though I've never had a true place of my own to do it), and I love the fiber arts. Not much is cooler than the marriage of two loves, and a fiber garden would definitely be that.

A few weeks ago I started collecting seeds in anticipation of planting season — although since I live in Florida, our growing season is completely wonky compared to the "normal" one that all advertisements and nearly all magazines seem to target. I'm actually a LOT late on some of the things I'm going to try to grow, but on the other hand, a few years back I tried to grow radishes, and they worked better "out of season" than in, even working with Florida's seasons. What can I say? I'm weird, and it affects my world. ;)

Anyway, I have some lovely Japanese indigo seeds from Light in the Forest Wools and Textiles, and there are some colorgrown cotton bolls with seeds still attached coming my way from Dew Dance Farm. My flax seeds from last year, however, were a casualty of the messy tiny porch situation; the bag fell on the ground near the hose at some point during the winter and a passing bug appears to have chewed its way in, kindly letting in the hose moisture. The seeds may still be viable, but then, maybe not. So I started looking for other sources for flax seeds. Seeds aren't terribly expensive, after all. I sent out a few Etsy messages, and one seller offered to send me a sample of a few seeds to try to sprout, as he sells/uses flax for non-gardening purposes and he wasn't sure whether they would work. I said, "Sure, I'll test a few! Thanks a bunch!" They came today.

And there are more than a few.


An entire package of flax seeds is rather more than I expected as a tester
Suffice it to say "whoa."

So. Big shout-out to The Dream Weaver Shop for their kindness and generosity. Bob at Dream Weaver even sent me a link to a shop that DOES sell flax specifically for growing in case these seeds don't work — what a super-friggin'-nice thing to do. Pop on by their shop and browse a little, 'kay? They've got tea, jewelry and incense resins — and lots of Nice. ;D

Oddly enough, though, their supplier appears to be right in my area:


Hurray, I need a camera that actually does macro!
See where it says "Port Richey, Fl"? That's virtually down the street from me. Small world? ;)

Starting fresh for spring: continuing to be creative in the second quarter

Flowering sunshine mimosa plant in the front "yard"
Now seems like a good time to post about fresh starts. It's a time of beginnings: of the year's second quarter, of spring. Of celebratory tax return spending. ;) And it's wedding season, too. Lots of freshness floating around, almost like at the new year.

Except we're far enough into the year to have had a chance to slip away from our 2010 resolutions — or intentions, or goals, or whatever you want to call them that seems most positive to you. ;) But it's still early enough in the year that we have time to catch up. HA!

I do have a bit of a peeve about failing to meet my goals, and bleep if I'm living peevefully this year.

One goal I really want to meet is to continue being creative. And "create" contains the idea of "fresh start" inherently, so that goal is a bit paradoxical (in a good, mind-stretching way). I want to continue creating regularly, so the act of creating itself isn't a fresh start, but I want to keep the feeling of constant newness that makes creativity so invigorating.

After all, creativity is by nature a series of fresh starts, or little discoveries. Forgetting that can stick us creative people in a rut where we feel pressured (by our own chosen identity, by others, by the need to finish a project, whatever) to keep doing the same creative thing(s) we've been working on, even if that isn't fulfilling us any more. At least, I have that problem sometimes. ;) Of course, I've also had the problem of not even feeling like I CAN create on a regular basis, much less be truly creative.

But Craft or Bust has utterly kicked that idea's butt. I absolutely can be creative on a regular basis (and apparently the formula for that has a lot to do with creating safe space, something I Really Am going to write about more later. Really! Later.) And now that I no longer have any excuse for thinking I can't output craftiness on a regular basis, the next step in being Truly Creative is to grow into my creative identity.

Which ties back into the fresh start thing. One of the things people do when the new year starts is think about who they were in the past year and who they want to be in this coming year. Being who you reeeeeally want to be isn't always simple or easy, of course. For one thing, you have to KNOW who you want to be, and then you have to be ready to be that person. I have a pretty good idea of who I want to be, but I was nowhere near ready to be that person when 2010 opened.

Now, I'm much more ready.

:D

So this spring I'm refreshing the "be who I want to be" idea. I'm not inventing a new me this season, though; I'm aiming to be more me, more fully me, more true to myself. I want to create, and sink into, a solid sense of personal artistry and crafty identity.

Thus! the theme of 2010, Quarter the Second, will be: Discovering and Deepening My (Creative) Identity.

And that means iiiiiiit's EXERCISE TIME!

Not exercise like jogging ;) — exercise like "for homework, answer these three reflection questions in at least one paragraph each." (I like that sort of homework, and maybe that makes me a nerd. A nerd with claws and pointy sticks! ;) Anyway...)

This spring, I assign myself to list Core Identity Traits: themes and ideas, personality traits and characteristics, that I think of as part of who I really am and want to be. Things I'm happy to be and have (when I am and I do), or that I would be happy to grow into. For example, I am/want to be/would be happy to be more:

• inspired
• artistic
• colorful
• natural
• quirky
• wild
• instinctive
• intuitive
• centered
• brave
• independent

Therefore, these are themes I can draw from and on as I become more myself.

Further, I assign myself this project: To design and create an art/craft object that shows my creative personality.

It need not be practical. It doesn't even need to be understandable to anyone outside my head. It may express me at an extreme, or use obscure symbols that mean nothing to most people. If I do it right, said project will fulfill one important requirement: It will resonate with me, as a designer, a crafter, an artist, a creative person, a human being with an identity and a place in the world.

This sort of project is absolutely essential to my creative growth, because even if it's completely nonsensical to people who aren't me and don't know me, it will give me a blueprint from which to build creative pieces that DO speak to other people in a way they can understand. Before I can speak to others truly, I need to know how to express my own truth to myself.

Barbara Bowen wrote in a blog post on the SmARTist Career Blog, "Authentic style is a combination of communicating an emotional truth and mastery of your chosen materials. The more you acknowledge and feel the emotional truths in your life, the more they infuse your art. Distinctive style emerges when you tell the truth about life, using materials that are so familiar that they’re like a language you learned as a child."

And so, to really come into my own as a creative person, to remember what it's like to be me and to be truly creative, I need to learn/remember how to convey my personal truth in my creative work. I need, after this long desert winter of the creative soul, to regrow my awareness of who I am and what I have to offer, so that when I create, live, and act, I do it distinctly as me.

The fun bit about that is that I also get to explore and do crazy things and indulge in creative projects completely for fun (something it's DEFINITELY easy to lose track of when building a business of your creative work — again, in my experience ;)). To make sure what I love, think, live and enjoy infuses my work, I need to give myself permission to rediscover what's fun and inspiring, even if it doesn't produce anything marketable right away. The investment in my creativity is bound to make me and my work more appealing in the future.

Exploring and having fun and rediscovering me will also help me look at my 2010 goals afresh, so I can refocus or even let go of goals that won't help me get where I want to go or grow into who I want to be.

Please feel welcome to share your own Core Identity Traits, if you want. Or talk about your own 2010 goals and explorations. I'd love to hear about everyone else's spring growth. :D

Craft or Bust First Quarter Project of the Quarter Nominations!

Craft or Bust Quarterly Awards: First Quarter Nominations

WE DID IT! We've all worked our crafty butts off this quarter — and even those of us who have crafted less than we'd like have at least dared to challenge themselves! You all deserve to be recognized ... so next week I'll post a big hullaballoo for everyone, in honor of your crafty awesomeness. This week I present to you, after our slightly extended nomination period ;), the honorary nominees for project of the quarter!

If you didn't have a project nominated this quarter, no worries ... you are still much loved! Maybe you'll have something nominated next quarter ... and you can always nominate your own projects. ;) Just remember that to be nominated, your project needs to be in the CoB Flickr pool, so I can post a photo of it up for everyone to see. :D

On to this quarter's nominations! The following projects were nominated for creativity and for showcasing the best work of the CoBer who created said project. I present to you ... the nominees! Taaaa-daaaa!


Color is a Lifestyle Socks by Velma


glam-15 by Helen


Lily of the Valley Pearl Necklace by Sarah


Monster TwitKAL yarn by Me! (Crystal)


Bobbins by Anna


Citron WIP by Elabeth


3/05/10 craft or bust by Carmen
VIEW PHOTO ON FLICKR HERE

DSCN0824 by Meredith C


first two-ply evah! by Michelle/halloweentango


Handmade journal with watercolor paper by Michelle/halloweentango



And now, the POLL!




Voting ends on Saturday night next week, so get your votes in! :D BIG HULLABALLOO for all you great crafters next week! :D

Craft or Bust Week 14 Check-In and Roundup (April 4-10)

Notes & Announcements

We do indeed have a new member, Helen, a.k.a., helen-style. Welcome, Helen. :D Here's her Livejournal, and her CoB goal is to keep crafting! ;)

Also, QUARTERLY AWARDS! :D :D :D .... are today, but later today. I know. I wanted to do them as part of this post. Buuuuut we only have one nomination for Project of the Quarter, and I'm thinking maybe some of you thought nominations were due today, as opposed to before today so I could post the poll today...? ;)

So I'll give you guys until, oh, 4 p.m. to get in your nominations, and then I'll come back and put up the awards/voting post in the evening. If I still have just one nomination by this evening, then I guess that one nomination will win by default! :D See last week's post for nomination info (that post is right below this one ... since I haven't written any other posts this week ... mumblemumble...).

Do me a favor and e-mail me the nominations. The comment system is currently acting funky, and I don't want to miss something. (If I leave someone off the roundup this week, or if someone other than Michelle nominated a project, also drop me an e-mail, since the comment moderation issues could have kept the comments from getting through. Thanks.)

Onward...

Roundup of Week 13: What We Crafted From March 28-April 3

• Jessica nearly finished the legs of her socks, and went on an adventure on Wednesday with two of her friends to the Ben & Jerry's factory, where she took some great photos!
• Halloweentango (Michelle) entered a photography competition (ooooh! Good LUCK! Your photos are lovely, so I know you have a great chance!), worked on a second handmade journal, repaired an old (and much-loved?) skirt, took photos of things to put in her Artfire shop, worked on an acrylic painting that has lain abandoned since last fall (nice!), and made some projects with handspun. Wow! Good week! Read about it on her blog.
• Velma spun more yarn, did a blog facelift for her seventh blogiversary (hurrah!), finished knitting her socks, and started knitting a vest. Read about it on her blog.

Check-in for Week 14: What Have You Done Lately? (April 4-10)

What I did this week:

Sunday was Easter. No craftiness that day. Monday, I washed some handspun. (That sort of counts? ;)) Tuesday, I listed six handspun yarns in my Etsy shop. Yayyy! My first yarn update of 2010! I also spun and Navajo-plied a skein of mohair (I think) that I got in a grab bag at the Florida Fiber-In auction last year. Wednesday, I started spinning some Corriedale batts I carded a long time ago, took advantage of the still-cool evening to knit on my Silken Scabbard, and wove a little bit of the scarf on my Cricket. Thursday ... no crafting. Friday, I finished spinning the Corriedale and spun a bunch of mini skeins. Saturday, I spun some more mini skeins and dyed them.

What did you craft this week?

(Don't forget to use the standard check-in format on the rules page! ... and don't forget to NOMINATE! something — or more than one thing — for Project of the Quarter! And post your achievements summary, if you wrote one. ;))

Craft or Bust Week 13 Check-In and Roundup (March 28-April 3)

Notes & Announcements

Woohoo. Welcome to the second quarter of Craft or Bust 2010! Inspirationalesque post coming soon, when I'm not so sleep-deprived and can edit it with more than 5% of my brain.

So now that the first quarter of the year is officially over, let's do some awards! I'll try to make this as simple as possible, and as always, if you have a better idea for something, feel free to drop me a line and let me know. Without further ado, I give you ... how the First Quarter CoB Awards will work:

• The period from now through Saturday, April 10 will be the gathering-of-info period for the awards ceremonies. Nominations and achievement summaries are "due" on this post or in my inbox by the end of Saturday, April 10.
• During the next week, write your achievement summary: Meditate on your CoB achievements, write a little self-pimpage for the Special Awards Ceremony Roundup. Tell us what you're most proud of doing during CoB so far, whether you feel you're on track, whether you want to adjust your goals, etc. You don't have to submit an achievement summary, of course, but it might be a positive thing to think back over the entire quarter so far, and I'd love to feature everybody's personal reflections in the awards roundup. :D
• Please send in your "CoB project of the quarter" nominations by the end of Saturday, April 10. We'll have ONE generalized award for this quarter, but there might be more categories next quarter, or I may invent some award categories on the spur of the moment if I see useful trends in the nominations. ;) Look through the photos in the Flickr pool and choose the projects you think deserve an award. Then send me this information (you can e-mail it to me or leave it as a comment on this post ... I don't care which ;)):
  
  • The name of the project you're nominating
  • The name OR Flickr ID of the person the project belongs to
  • The reason you're nominating the project to be recognized
  • The URL of the Flickr page with the photo you want to use to nominate the project
• You may make as many nominations as you want. Make sure you send in all of the above info for each nomination.
• The nomination information and the poll will go up next Sunday. (This is why I need the info by the end of Saturday. ;)) Voting will close at the end of the Saturday after that.

Please note when looking through the Flickr pool that I'm not sure yet whether Helen Volkova is planning on officially joining us, so if you do choose to nominate something she put in the pool, you may want to include another nomination, too, in case she doesn't sign up. :D

Did I leave out any vital info?

Roundup of Week 12: What We Crafted From March 21-27

• Jessica finished a glove for Yong, made muffins for her Russian class, worked on a slightly abandoned pair of socks again, and expanded her six degrees of separation board, which is slowly annexing a living room wall. ;)
• Elabeth dyed yarn, put iron-ons on baby shirts, and shared her secret to eternal youth. That's in last week's comments, but you can read about the rest on her blog.
• Halloweentango (Michelle) had a slightly problematic week (like me and Luna ... maybe it really was a virus! ;)) but rescued it by making a handmade fabric journal! Yay! Read about it on her blog.
• Velma spun oodles of art yarn. Read about it on her blog.
• Meredith C is back with us again (no worries about intermittent checking in — you can check in whenever, remember? ;D). In Week 11 she finished her Dropped Rib Vest (ooo), and in Week 12 she worked a bunch on her Leafy Lagoon tank (that sounds cute). Read about it on her blog.

Check-in for Week 13: What Have You Done Lately? (March 28-April 3)

What I did this week:

Sunday, I read some more of the Mary Thomas knitting book and plotted future designs. Monday, I knitted on my Silken Scabbard. Tuesday, I photographed some handspun, finished some art yarn, knit a couple of rows of the TwitKAL shawl, wove a square on my 10-inch frame loom, and spun a bit of a Spazzy Yarn batt. Wednesday, I took more yarn pics and started spinning another yarn for the shop. Thursday, the Internet went out (eek ;)), so I did lots of laundry and washed some yarn. Friday, there was still no Internet, so I did a butt-load more laundry, finished the yarn I started Wednesday, hemstitched the weaving that's been on my Cricket for a couple of months, spun yarn samples, and spun some of the wool/silk top I've been nursing for a while. Saturday, I finished spinning the wool/silk, took yarn pics, measured and weighed yarn, spun yarn samples, and played with the template designer on Blogger in Draft.

What did you craft this week?

(Don't forget to use the standard check-in format on the rules page!)