nny: (geek grlz rule 01001111.01001011)
[personal profile] nny
Do you do any craft type things? What do you make? What makes it awesome?

It has been advised that I try something less exclusively thinky than writing, see.

Date: 2008-07-18 10:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] apiphile.livejournal.com
Sewing, dude. It's all about bending shapes and making things you can, like, wear.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
That's definitely a thought. I'd probably need a sewing machine, though, and aren't those things kinda expensive?

Date: 2008-07-19 01:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] apiphile.livejournal.com
Handsewing toys is also kind of fun!

Date: 2008-07-18 10:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] toft-froggy.livejournal.com
I cook. I think that counts as a craft. I find it restful, it gets me out into parts of the city I wouldn't normally go to find ingredients, and I get tasty food at the end of it! And, yes, it's great to do something with your hands that isn't typing.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Hee! I'd love to cook, but my flatmates and I aren't really on terms to share food and I really have far too much weight to lose to spend too much time perfecting my cooking. Maybe I should find a weightwatchers cook book or something...

*grins*

(And I've totally bookmarked the post of pie to copy into my little book of cooking things. :D)

Date: 2008-07-19 05:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] toft-froggy.livejournal.com
I think I've actually lost weight since I got better at cooking! That way you aren't forced to resort to frying etc, and you learn how to prepare healthy things like fish and tofu and exotic vegetables! The food sharing thing is annoying, but I tend to just find recipes that I can cook lots of and freeze single portions of, which is great, especially when I'm busy.

Date: 2008-07-21 08:52 pm (UTC)
genarti: Knees-down view of woman on tiptoe next to bookshelves (oranges)
From: [personal profile] genarti
I agree -- I eat a lot healthier when I actually cook, by and large, because I go "Oh, I'll make this thing that includes vegetables! And then some protein would round it out, oh, how about this..." It makes me think about flavors and balance, and what would make an interesting meal.

Whereas if I'm lazy, whatever I buy or throw together is often -- not invariably, but often -- pretty heavy on the starch and cheese.

It's true that it's definitely easier to cook when I have people to share the work and the results with. There's something to be said for the lots-of-frozen-leftovers approach, though.

Date: 2008-07-18 10:39 pm (UTC)
naye: A cartoon of a woman with red hair and glasses in front of a progressive pride flag. (atlantis - whalewatching)
From: [personal profile] naye
I sometimes make scrapbook-type cards. (If you pass me your address, I could send you one!) It's not thinky at all, and you get to play with scissors! And glue and tiny pieces of paper and you can discover what you're actually making as you go along. You don't need a plan. It's very zen. (And then you can use the cards for writing in!)

It also lets you collect scraps of pretty paper and dried flowers and pretty leaves and such! Because it's project-material. It's great!

Date: 2008-07-18 10:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Dude, that would be awesome! What's your email address so I can send you my address? I'll send you a letter in return!

:D

Date: 2008-07-18 10:45 pm (UTC)
naye: A cartoon of a woman with red hair and glasses in front of a progressive pride flag. (pic#)
From: [personal profile] naye
My contact info's all gathered here: http://naye.livejournal.com/266869.html

Whoo! Will try not to take a month to get it to you. XD

Date: 2008-07-19 11:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Thank you! I think my problem, though, is that I don't really have much taste. I'm dreadful. XD And... I dunno, I have never trained myself to think about things visually, so often I'll have an awesome plan that doesn't work in practice because it was all textually rendered in my head. Maybe I should make calligrammes. Or I could pick up calligraphy again...

Date: 2008-07-18 10:40 pm (UTC)
ext_2068: (gen - i crochet - mine)
From: [identity profile] seticat.livejournal.com
I don't know if it's awesome, but I crochet 'rugs' out of yarn [basically a square] that the Humane Society puts in the cages of all the new incoming cats and kittens who will be looking for new homes. It gives them something softer to be on rather than just the metal cage bottom. And then when they 'go home' with someone, the rug goes with them so they have something familiar with them. I think it's cool.

As for anything else, if it's made with 'string' [as my husband calls it], I can make it: sewing, tatting, bobbin lace, macrame, embroidery and needlepoint of all types, weaving and dyeing. I've been in the SCA [a medieval recreation group] for coming up on 30 years and you learn stuff like that. :}

And then there's pretty much any style of cooking, canning, jam and jelly making. I also do beading and wirework for jewellery, music, etc. You name it and I've probably at least tried it.

You get to where you do a bit of this and that over 50-some years.
Edited Date: 2008-07-18 10:42 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-07-19 11:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
That's an absolutely fantastic hobby to have, love, and I salute you.

I'm also impressed the litany of all else. So many possibilities, I have no idea where to start! My instinct is to bury myself in a book about it, but that's procrastination again. XD

Date: 2008-07-18 10:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tropes.livejournal.com
I knit and crochet and I used to make my own clothes. It's really nice to do something with your hands while watching tv or something.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Yeah, maybe I should take up knitting for that reason - I always feel faintly guilty when I'm watching SGA because I feel like I ought to be doing something.

How d'you get started?

Date: 2008-07-19 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tropes.livejournal.com
HOnestly there are lots of videos online to help you. I can't learn that kind of thing reading aobut it. I have to be shown whether in person or on a video.

Date: 2008-07-19 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Kinaesthetic! Also: Have you seen SGA?

Date: 2008-07-19 09:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tropes.livejournal.com
NO. AM ABOUT TO. :D

Date: 2008-07-19 09:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
I AM WATCHING NOW

:D :D :D

Date: 2008-07-19 10:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tropes.livejournal.com
EEEEEEEEEEEE.

Date: 2008-07-18 10:51 pm (UTC)
ext_4917: (Default)
From: [identity profile] hobbitblue.livejournal.com
I love knitting and also got into crochet, and designing my own knitting patterns for toys was cool too. Anything with yarn is worth investigating, the colours, the tactileness and the various things you can do give you a wide range of fun stuffs, spinning and weaving are nifty too, or there's tatting, lacemaking... I think you'd like it. I certainly found it helped my brain wander in different ways.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
I certainly found it helped my brain wander in different ways.

That's definitely what I'm after. How did you get into it? I have no idea how I'd start!

Date: 2008-07-18 11:11 pm (UTC)
skygiants: Princess Tutu, facing darkness with a green light in the distance (mad hattress)
From: [personal profile] skygiants
I second the sewing thing!

I mean, I am usually too lazy to actually sew for myself, but it is such a feeling of accomplishment to have made a garment from start to finish. Seriously.

OH YES and cooking. Another feeling of accomplishment: buying people's love with cookies. Works every time!

Date: 2008-07-19 11:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
*laughs*

I eat too much anyway, though!

And sewing... actually sounds interesting, although I don't really have the spare cash to invest in a sewing machine right now unless I can find a cheap one on ebay.

Date: 2008-07-19 04:13 pm (UTC)
skygiants: Princess Tutu, facing darkness with a green light in the distance (twirly)
From: [personal profile] skygiants
Yeah, that is also my problem with going ahead with the sewing thing at the moment - I have a machine, but it is kind of tragically dead. *sheepish*

The beauty of making cookies (at least for me) is that by the time I've made the dough and sampled the dough throughout the process and so forth, I don't really want to eat them. I just want to shove them on other people!

Date: 2008-07-18 11:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] unamaga.livejournal.com
I make jewelry! It's hard work - more than I thought it would be in the beginning, since it seems kind of ridiculous - and I have permanent callouses on my fingers from all the wire bending and plier using, but it's rewarding and engrossing. It usually takes a lot for me to keep from going back and forth between projects and getting bored, but I've found this is intensive enough to keep me entertained.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
I'd love to see something you've made, if you have any pictures?

It usually takes a lot for me to keep from going back and forth between projects and getting bored

Same, totally. My counsellor actually suggested stained glass making, which was kind of... odd but awesome? I dunno, maybe I should take a class in something I can then carry on with myself.

Date: 2008-07-21 08:53 pm (UTC)
genarti: Knees-down view of woman on tiptoe next to bookshelves (in the kingdom of all-aglow)
From: [personal profile] genarti
My father used to do stained glass! I will forever be sad that he sold all his supplies when I was a kid, even though it was for the decent reason that he hadn't done anything with them in years.

But still, it looks so cool.

Date: 2008-07-18 11:17 pm (UTC)
gramarye1971: a lone figure in silhouette against a blaze of white light (Knitting)
From: [personal profile] gramarye1971
I used to do cross-stitch when I was younger, and enjoyed it, but haven't done it in a while because it doesn't feel all that 'practical'. (Although one of these days, I fully intend to cross-stitch my own Monopoly board. ^_^)

I do a bit of sewing, mostly for my own cosplay costumes -- the one I'm most proud of is my PotC East India Company uniform jacket, all hand-cut and hand-sewn. I also knit, and have made some nice things including a full-size afghan for my parents' wedding anniversary. I've been stalled on a few of my knitting projects recently, though -- probably because of the hot weather.

For me, it's all about making useful things that I've put a lot of effort into creating. I like knowing that I can mend my own clothes if they're torn, and recycle old clothing into something new instead of just throwing it away. I also see it as a connection to my grandmother, who made a fair amount of her children's clothing on a very tight budget. It's thrifty and creative and a bit of a challenge -- and best of all, it's a great way to multitask when you're on a bus or watching television.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
my PotC East India Company uniform jacket, all hand-cut and hand-sewn.

*INVOLUNTARY LUSTFUL DRIBBLING*

Being of use is definitely important to me - I feel guilty when I do things without purpose, which is why so frequently my fics are dedicated to someone in particular. *laughs*

I just get discouraged by being crap at things. Practice is hard.

Date: 2008-07-19 01:45 pm (UTC)
gramarye1971: a lone figure in silhouette against a blaze of white light (Knitting)
From: [personal profile] gramarye1971
*grins* Cosplay sewing is easier than regular sewing, but it can still get damned complicated depending on what you're making. But the payoff is amazing.

It took me almost a month to teach myself how to knit, because I kept screwing it up. But I had some plain practice yarn and a set of steel needles, and kept working at it when I felt like it and putting it down when it frustrated me, and after a while I got the hang of it.

Block afghans are good knitting projects to start with because they're made up of smaller blocks that are then sewn together with extra yarn -- essentially, practice squares that are then pieced together. I followed the Warm Up America guidelines of making a slew of 7"x9" knitted blocks with three different colours of heavy yarn (Rowan brand chunky, IIRC). It was really, really good practice to get the basics down before trying anything more complicated, and my parents adore the afghan. (My father calls it the 'narcotic blanket', because it's so warm and heavy that it will put you to sleep very quickly. ^_^) So a project like this is both practice and practical.
Edited Date: 2008-07-19 01:47 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-07-18 11:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darthrami.livejournal.com
I knit. I used to cross stitch. Occasionally (ie. when I have other people's tools) I make things with my hands.


I like it (well, the building, as opposed to the other things) because it's specifically NOT thinky. And you can see something concrete at the end. Knitting has that, too. I really love seeing what I've made, myself. My ADD just doesn't like the process...

Date: 2008-07-19 11:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
YES. Concrete results are amazing. I just... never know where to start, and I hate feeling crap at things. XD

Date: 2008-07-19 01:00 am (UTC)
bansidhe: Black and white image of a female obscuring her face with her palm. (Knit for Brains)
From: [personal profile] bansidhe
Like Blue and Rami, I'm a knitter.
And I cook! Baking is fun too, but it's got a little less experimentation wiggle room than cooking.
And, drawing. I doodle a lot, and it sometimes works out being really cathartic.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
I would draw but I'm so bad at it! This is the problem with hobbies; I'm a complete perfectionist and I feel like crap when I can't do things right. I need to get over that.

Date: 2008-07-19 01:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] havenstar.livejournal.com
I do a few crafty things.. but not sewing or knitting. I used to know how to crochet, and occasionally I sew stuff, but for the most part, it frustrates me, because I often can't get things to turn out the way I want. or it takes too long.

But one thing I do sometimes, and used to do much more when I was younger, is work with clay. not so much the gloppy natural stuff- that is messy, and you need a kiln for it anyway. but polymer clay, which comes in lots of colours or can be painted and can be cooked in your oven so if you make something you like, you can keep it. but sometimes I like to just play with pieces, just for the feeling of working with the clay and rolling it out and whatnot. it makes for good stress relief.

also I like to paint things.. decorate boxes, mostly. but, again, occasional frustration from things not coming out the way I want. but working with clay has never steered me wrong.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
That's definitely an interesting idea, actually. I used to do that a lot. Heee, I'd love to make a little tiny rodney out of Fimo.

*makes note*

Isn't it a little expensive, though?

Date: 2008-07-19 02:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cluegirl.livejournal.com
I do several crafty things, because I'm too ADHD to just sit still and watch TV, or read or anything. So I find that crochet makes an excellently calming and centering practice. It makes part of my mind stay occupied with counting stitches, and remembering the pattern, while being a very tactile occupation as well -- I'm very responsive to nice, soft yarns, so it's calming on that front as well.

Usually while I'm crochetting, there's a more abstract part of my brain that can run free, and take flying leaps on problems that I can't get a grip on straight.

I also enjoy sewing, but that can be a really expensive hobby, with a very high investment (a sewing machine,) necessary to get you started.

I'd suggest knitting or crochet, but if you do well with visual stimulation, consider counted cross-stitch, and if you're very dextrous with your fingers, look into more classical types of embroidery, or lampwork.

Date: 2008-07-19 12:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
I'm really not very visual at all, actually, which can be a problem with a lot of things and is part of why I'm so invested in writing; I feel like maybe I ought to take up calligraphy again or something but I really want to do something completely different.

Knitting sounds good, but I have no idea how to get started.

Date: 2008-07-19 05:16 am (UTC)
ext_3472: Sauron drinking tea. (Default)
From: [identity profile] maggiebloome.livejournal.com
I cook! It's very satisfying and there is a tangible end result of either yumness or goodwill (or both!), and there's never a shortage of interesting recipes on the internet. Also, when I fail at it hilariously, it goes on my livejournal!

Er, thus far I have become very good at... scrambled eggs. And stir fry of various kinds. But that is just because I'm lazy.

(I tried to make cupcakes once. Much lulz ensued.)

Date: 2008-07-19 12:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Hee! I cook, but only in order to feed myself. I'm overweight, and have this love/hate relationship with food; I can cook okay, although it's mostly just working with premade sauces and adding things to 'em. I just don't have enough people to inflict experiments on to make it worth cooking - maybe if there was more room in the freezer. :D

Date: 2008-07-19 06:36 am (UTC)
lazulus: (Crafty)
From: [personal profile] lazulus
Knitting! You can make big things, little things, easy things, difficult things and you can take your knitting pretty much anywhere!

Date: 2008-07-19 12:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
It's looking likely. How do I start? :D

Date: 2008-07-19 12:34 pm (UTC)
lazulus: (Default)
From: [personal profile] lazulus
Do you know anyone that can knit? I think initially being taught by someone is the best method but there are plenty of books that can help. Mel learnt from reading the first Stitch and Bitch by Debbie Stoller which has diagrams and info about how to knit. But I would definitely ask someone if they can teach you the basics and then start with a garter stitch scarf to get into the groove and continue from there. :)

Date: 2008-07-19 06:58 am (UTC)
ext_27865: (Default)
From: [identity profile] uninvitedcat.livejournal.com
I've got a gorgeous counted cross-stitch that I'm working on. Or if I want a complete change of focus I'll pick up my violin and pretend I still know how to play!

Date: 2008-07-19 12:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
*sighs lots*

I miss my piano, SO MUCH.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thingswithwings.livejournal.com
juggling! cheap, fun, and it works out the exact shoulder muscles that you get kinked up after being on the computer for hours and hours. I recommend Renegade Juggling (http://www.renegadejuggling.com) for equipment.

Date: 2008-07-19 11:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] villainny.livejournal.com
Hee, dude, that's awesome! I have no coordination at all, though, it has to be said. I totally blame the weird depth perception occasioned by the squint I had as a child, but deep down I admit I'm just totally clumsy.

Date: 2008-07-21 08:49 pm (UTC)
genarti: Knees-down view of woman on tiptoe next to bookshelves (the art of tangled fibers)
From: [personal profile] genarti
I knit. The lovely thing about it for me is that it's something to do with my hands when I'm reading or watching tv or on a long car trip. It's almost never something I do all on its own, but it keeps my hands and part of my brain (varying quantities, depending on how complicated the pattern is and how tired I am) busy while the rest of my attention is somewhere else. It's a good way to keep myself from getting bored.

Plus, now I will never ever hurt for warm fuzzy scarves or fingerless gloves.

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