Crafterbation

I have a strong affinity for asparagus. Not only is it one of my favorite vegetables to eat, but I think it’s one of the most attractive. So it’s only natural that I am in love with necklace.

For the most part I don’t wear much jewelry, but I’d def make an exception for this for this excellent necklace by esty seller GreenLeafandOwl. She makes her pendants from polymer clay which she hand stamps, paints and polishes. Check out her etsy shop for this and many more great pieces.

I’ve seen knit veggies popping up everywhere but none I’ve seen so far can hold a soy candle this incredibly intricate knit beet. The two-tone frills on the leaves, and the veining details are awesome. Wanna knit your own beet? Order the pattern booklet from berroco. via you grow girl.

Looking for some free veggie patterns? Make sure to check out these little baby rattle patterns from Jimmy Beans Wool. Almost everyone in my old Akron Stitch ‘n Bitch made a set of these about 2 years ago. I made an eggplant, a carrot and a cucumber for my honorary nephew Teigue, who was just baby at the time. We never had much luck finding rattles to put in them but they were fun and quick knits, nonetheless.

I know, I know. I posted a ton of bags last week, but I cannot get enough of this fantastic tote bag from those geniuses over at design*sponge. It pushes all my buttons in the best possible way.

They posted a great tutorial on how to make your own, following their simple pattern. I am utterly in love with that appliqué! It’s so simple but it’s perfectly captures a cross-section of root veggies still growing in the ground. I’d love to make one using some chocolaty brown, tweedy suit material for the “soil” and a pale blue canvas for the “sky.” Man, that would be so great!

I really liked Adrianne’s suggestion for doing some vegetable themed posts. Being a vegetarian for nearly half my life, and an avid gardener, it’s a no brainer that I love vegetables! I mean like love them, love them - to a frightening degree. My favorite “bracelets” are a set of asparagus rubber bands. PLU 4080, represent. (Yes, I did say frightening remember.)

I had this conversation with a friend one night about how much I wanted to make a t-shirt or something that just said “I love vegetables.” However we decided it wouldn’t be possible to pull it off without everyone thinking I was being all kitschy or ironic. Then we joked I could add at the bottom “(and I’m not trying to be ironic)” yet somehow that would seem even more ironic, so the t-shirt never quite panned out.

Also while I wouldn’t know it here in San Diego, where I from in Northeast Ohio (zone 5b), it’s creeping up on prime vegetable planting time. Early to mid May was always one of my favorite times of year as a gardener. The smell of fresh tilled dirt in the air, the tiny little seedlings, I love it all… but I’m getting a little off track here. My point was, it feels like a great topic to tackle this week. 

Got a great veggie or garden themed craft to share?

 To finish out this week’s reusable bag posts, I wanted to post a round up of some of my favorites that didn’t necessarily fit into one of my previous posts. If you’ve got a great one I’ve missed drop me a comment.

One of the most exciting and unique was this tutorial for reusable produce bags by Wendy of Wisdom of the Moon. Not only can you bring all your groceries home in sweet handmade bags, your produce and bulk items can get the same treatment! I can’t wait to start thinking about making a set of these. ;) Also check out her post on cheap and easy grocery sacks.

This one is a project that has been haunting me since the early day of Readymade. It’s a shoulder bag  made simply add a strap to that empty 25 lb bag of rice you’ve got laying around. Note: Thanks to their new archive, with a simple signup you can access any of their archived projects. Awesome!

A few more to check out:

• Follow the steps laid out by i have to say… to make a super cute and simple child-sized tote using a just a single dishcloth.
• I dig this tutorial for fabric bags modeled after those dreaded plastic bags on craftster by queenofdiy. They are fully lined, and even sport a little pocket to fold them up into.