Planet Nice Crafts

Hello Everyone! I finally had a moment to breathe and do a bit of Photoshop and writing. The reason why you haven’t heard from Planet Nice is that the life schedule has been in upheaval for the past 2-3 months. Here at Planet Nice we are at the whim of the major economic driver (aka full-time employment 😊!) as it supports the Craft blog and PlanetNiceOdyssey@Etsy. So, all I can do is give it my best. We have moved on from the celestial events of the early Spring to cicadas. Lots of them! There has been a background hum since May with some other noise effects thrown in there. I first spotted the actual 17-year cicadas on May 24; I noticed the emergent holes about a week or so earlier. 17-year Cicada in Chicago Area They haven’t been too pesty, it has just been noisy but in a few weeks I think they will have moved on back to the Earth and the annual cicadas will then have a turn. As adjustment to shifting schedules takes mental and physical energy, crafting or any creative time is m...

It being July 27, I think it is officially midsummer not according to daylight but due to the calendar. The community plot garden continues to struggle. It actually looked its best a week ago when we had the warmest temperatures of the summer, but then it went backwards after a monsoon-like rain a few hours after I had left that very day. Even the plants that are known to be easy to grow are struggling, now mainly due to poor drainage. Being the optimistic Planet Nice, there are already some ideas to improve the situation for 2020 including numerous trenches and sculpting of mini-swales. But enough of the garden plot’s woes, there was a bit of sewing happening last week. I purchased this summer dress a year ago as I liked the fabric and colors: It is a size small and I thought too it may be interesting to upcycle it to make something potentially more interesting like a trendy jumpsuit. After a recent re-examination, I made the decision that it would get the most use as a dress (...

Yes, that is the mission of Planet Nice – when you need to take a step away from Planet Earth, spend some time on Planet Nice. It has been a week since the Autumn or Fall Equinox, I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, lower humidity, fewer bugs, and less impact from allergies despite the furnace being turned on in the near future. Another positive is as the leaves fall and the sun swings south, the best crafting light will return to the workshop. There has been absolutely no crafting activity since the last post. Consequently, this post is mostly announcement related. After flipping through several issues of Architectural Digest and the book Perfect Palettes by Stephanie Hoppen (the designer of the blue decorating fabric pictured on the August 14 post here ), it was decided to try the smaller bean bag chair as the next sewing project using pattern Burda 8373 (also pictured in the August 14 post).   Why? There is A LOT of the blue fabric and the pattern offers the best ...

Hello Everyone! The humidity continues this summer – there has not been much of a break, and I have been trying my best to stand tough though I do get fatigued more quickly. Speaking of breaks, the three weeks to Fall semester is soon over as a week from today I will have my first day of classes. Does anyone complete as much as they really want? From a project perspective, the green hat was re-done successfully! I was meticulous about counting stitches and used more stitch markers leading to no mistakes so I was content at last. Here is a photo of the now completed hat: I can let you know of three differences compared to the previous hat: two rows added to the bottom band, more uniform diagonals, and lace pattern going higher. Also, there was only an itty bitty piece of yarn left. So, I am ready to move on to yet another hat with the previous purple yarn used for the fingerless mitts. Though Planet Nice Crafts is planning to continue with two more knitting projects,...

The last summer school assignment was completed last Friday so now I have three weeks before the Fall semester begins. It sounds like a long time but it will be filled with catch-up activities such as creating blog posts 😊. Knitting continues. Planet Nice Crafts did make the goal of having FOUR knitting entries for the Lake County Fair. Here they are: Yes, there are some additions that have not been mentioned before. The hat utilizing the 5-ply dark green cashmere yarn was completed since the last post; the pattern is “Milanese Lace Topper” by Tante Ehm with a modification. I like the pattern for this chunkier yarn, but towards the end there were several mistakes in the lace pattern SO I may rip it out and re-do it. Every row has lace stitches and keeping the pattern required uninterrupted concentration, unfortunately, with looming assignments and late nights, there were plenty of breaks in concentration hence the mistakes. It did have a photo shoot on the head mannequin...

Hello loyal readers! Now that the quilt is finished, time yesterday was spent on planning the next projects for Planet Nice. Thank you to those who took the survey – it was fun to collect some data and it did influence the decision process. The most attractive time periods of design were post-World War II or Mid-Century Modern and the big block between the two World Wars with Art and Crafts, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau. The most popular project types were women’s clothing and home accessories. There are endless possibilities here. After looking at the survey results, I started going through my existing supplies: books, fabrics, patterns, laces, kits, and everything else. I did want to have a project that was more portable this time, because I am hoping to make it to Needlework Night at the local library to spread the joy of Planet Nice! And, I would like to have a project that minimized the supplies necessary to be purchased. One of the motivations of Planet Nice is to start using ...