MIY Monday: College Student Solutions

Sorry this is so late. Lately I haven't even been motivated to update my blog, even though there are so many things I could share with you all. I also haven't felt up to MIY Mondays the way I was when I started. But I wanted to share this with you guys anyways, so here goes.

My MIY Mondays's Mission is share creative, innovative, fun and (hopefully) cheap ideas and projects for you home and life, as well as healthy and (hopefully) cheaper alternatives to everyday cooking, shopping and eating out. I hope you will join in my on my mission!




Today I wanted to share with you a few solutions to some problems I had when I moved into my new apartment. All of these were relatively cheap solutions (for me) because I either had the items already on hand or they were very cheap to purchase.


Problem 1: The only outlet close to my bed was on the other side of the door.

 Solution? Tape DID NOT want to stay, believe me, I tried masking, packaging, painters and scotch. No luck! Then I saw the massive pile of Command Hooks (I have a love affair with these things!) that I have collected over the past couple years.  The great thing about these is that you can remove them easily and keep the hook after you move, so all you need to replace is the sticky strip. The genius inside me decided to put them on the ceiling and hang the extension cord from them. Worked like a charm! I also have this happening in my living room with my modem so I can get internet on my Blu Ray Player!

Problem 2: There were no curtains and curtains are super expensive, even at Walmart.

Solution? The fabric aisle! I was able to get 4 yards of fabric (enough for 5 windows) for under $10! Take the fabric, cut it down (if you are perfectionist, do it neater than I did!) and use thumb tacks or nails to cover the windows. Problem solved! And so much cheaper than curtains (and you get the exact size and color you need!)

Problem #3: The walls are boring!

Solution? The cure for boring walls are endless! If you happen to be an art student like me, then the solution is easy, use your own art! The walls around my T.V. are high school art, and the walls by my futon are college art (left - spindle drawings, done specifically for that wall, right - painting I did in class). 

There is no greater feeling than seeing your own art on display in your own house!

Problem #4: The futon seat is really short with the back up, making it uncomfortable. 

Solution? Disreguard the mess on my futon, but the solution is to use pillows, in this case the armed kind that me and my roommates bought last year, to create your own back, so that you can lay the futon flat and make more room for your butt. And if it's still uncomfortable, a blanket or two should solve that problem!

Placing it against the corner gives me even more foot room!

Problem #5: As an art student, you want to be able to hang up your work and step back, without using tape (can tear the paper) or putting holes all over the wall (can make landlord mad!)

Solution? Ok so yes, there are still holes in the wall where I hung these, but far less if I didn't put them up at all. I was able to get all of the below cork boards from the thrift store for $1.50 each, far cheaper than buying rolls of cork from the office store. Upon hanging them up, I decided to prime them white so that if I use transparent paper I can get an idea what they'd look like and also so bits of cork are less likely to fall off when used. I really like the fact that I have a wall to hang my work for examining on!

That's all I have to share for MIY Monday, but before I go I want to share a recent painting I completed. I decided to experiment more with the knitting artwork, using a different surface and applying paint and gels. The surface on this is a cheap canvas panel, 8 by 8 inches, I had laying around. I don't use these in my classes because they are cheap and non-professional, but I decided to try it for fun. I really like the colors and results. I CANNOT wait to get back in the studio when school starts! I have so many ideas!

Goal: Make the balls blend in with surroundings. Pretty sure that's been achieved? What do you think?

Have a DIY or MIY Blog post you want to share? It doesn't even have to be on a Monday. Add your linky below, I'd love to see what you are up to!

And I am going to leave you all with a Photo of Sasha being silly!

~Lisa

She used to play in this tent as a kitten and we got it out this weekend and she somehow still fits and was having a blast! I will post a video when I have more time. Goodnight guys!

Home Again

Today's post isn't really about knitting, or really anything specific, I just feel like posting. 

For the past 3 weeks I've been coming home on the weekends to work since I cannot work in Manhattan during the week with my summer school class. As annoying as the drive each weekend is, it really is nice to be away from the drama of college and roommates and everything and just relax at home. I think the main thing I like about being home is my kitties :) So today I'm going to share more kitty photos with you.

I think Muffin is sick of me taking her picture!

And now she wants out (I love the lighting!)

Sasha and Muffin LOVE the catnip plant out back, they even have a spot that is pretty much dead because they always sit in it!

And then she got frisky and wanted my camera cord!

And let the fight over the spot begin!

Eating the grass :D

Dad got out the mop and Sasha got curious!

And this is where she spends her nights, on top of the mouse cage!

I really miss my kitties when I am at school, and I really wish my landlords would allow pets :( I want a cat so bad! But for now, I live vicariously through my parents stories of the crazy things these 2 do.

To end the post, I want to share with you a funny idea I had last night. We were sitting around and I just wanted to knit (something my dad gets annoyed by when I'm home, which is why I like being in Manhattan...) and he was trying to get me to do something else. I told him that "I wish I had a note on my head, so I could just point to it when you ask me to do something". I was just being silly, but decided to try it out and share it with you!

How much fun would it be to have that tattooed on your head, wrist, or just something you could show people when you didn't feel like doing anything else?

I hope everyone is having a good day! It's Memorial Day here in the states which means I get the day off from life. But I still have to head back to school tomorrow for my last week of class.

~Lisa

Happy Spring!

Well Spring has just begun here, even though Spring Break has just ended. I spent the last week at home, enjoying the much needed break from the crazyness that is college. Most of my time was spent knitting, and I managed to get quite a bit of work done on my newest project, Spring Green Abalone. I'm already in love with the color changes and I bet I'll have this done by the end of March. (Don't want to give myself a deadline, I have A LOT of school work to catch up on this week, plus Relay stuff...).

All that's left is the back, other side and then sleeves and border!

In other news, as I mentioned, Spring Break was last week. One of the highlights of my week was getting a chance to stitch and bitch with an old high school friend, Ashley. She is very new to knitting, still just doing garter stitch scarves with Hobby Lobby yarn, but it was so much fun to pop in a chick flick and knit and talk about life. I officially am in love with the idea of knitting with my friends.

Ashley is super excited because she finished the first section of color on her scarf!

My family also took a much needed break by taking a weekend break to Wichita, Ks and visiting the zoo. It was really nice because it was such a beautiful day and also a place we used to go every year growing up, but I haven't personally been there in years. It's amazing how many of the things came back to me as we explored, yet many things have changed. I really enjoy visiting zoos and seeing all the animals. It's such a nice way to spend time outside.

Aren't penguins awesome?

In fact, I wish I had gotten a chance to spend more time outside, but the weather had other plans. It rained all week, up until this previous Friday. I finally went outside yesterday and did a bit of knitting while watching my kitties play and chase birds. Sasha makes me laugh so much with her antics. Did I mention she liked to get into my suitcase and leave trails of my underwear from my room to the litter box while I was sleeping? I think it's really cute.

Sasha watching the birds!

With Spring Break coming to a close, I plan to conquer some of my homework, as well as many Relay things (3 weeks till Relay!) this week. Hopefully I'll get some work done on my Abalone, I really want to wear it this spring!

I wanted to thank everyone for the amazing comments on my last post, I have never received that many and I loved reading and responding to them all! I hope you are all having a great start to your Spring!

~Lisa

First FO's of Spring

I feel like it has been forever since I have shared a finished project with you guys. But I am proud to say that today I have TWO to share!

First up is my Effortless Cardigan, which many of you probably remember me talking and blogging about. I have been working on this since November, 2011 and I probably could have had it done sooner, but I lost interest quite a bit with other projects. But, I still finished it in a decent amount of time, given that it is my first large sweater type project. 

If you look close enough, it is a little bit big on me,but the size choices were weird on the pattern and I was not about to alter it on my first big project.  Overall, I think this will be more of a lounge around the house sweater than anything else, but maybe once fall comes again I will wear it out more; the color doesn't really shout "Spring!" to me.  I wish I could show you guys better pictures, but it was hard to get good pictures with out zooming in too much.

Did I mention that I can now cross something off my 2012 Fiber Resolutions? I have finished my first full sweater successfully!

The next project I want to share is something I casted on right after I finished up the cardigan. Everything But Vintage Socks.  I have had a ton of Berroco Vintage scraps in my stash and needed to use them up. Since Vintage is my go to worsted weight sock yarn anyways, why not make socks? I decided I wanted to use it all up in one pair, so I went for it and made knee highs! They tend to fall down when I walk, but that's probably because I increased a little too much. Either way, they're very warm and are full of memories. There are 4 pairs of socks, a hat, a pair of mittens and my sweater all knitted into a striped pair of socks! Oh and I forgot to mention that my kitties like them too :)

Since I can't NOT be knitting something, I began work on my next project last night. Using some Manos del Uruguay that Ivy sent me for Christmas, I began swatching this very cute and simple cardigan, Abalone. Although the knitting will be simple, it has a bit of seaming and shaping I haven't had any experience with, so that will be a bit of a challenge when I get there. But after the last cardigan, I am up for the challenge!

I hope everyone is having a great start to Spring! The sun here has disappeared and probably won't come out for the rest of the week. It's so sad, because I really want to sit outside and knit, but I can't in the rain. 

~Lisa

Kitties Love Knitting Too!

Spring break isn't for another week, but I needed a reprieve from school so I came home this weekend.  Along with eliminating the stress of homework, it gave me an excuse to see my kitties! I miss them so much when I'm in Manhattan, so it's always so nice to get some kitty time when I'm home.  

This is Muffin. We've had her since I was in 1st grade and even though I don't get to see her much anymore, she is MY cat! Proof that she is? She always sleeps on my bed when I come home. Usually right in the middle and then I have to adjust my body around hers because it's HER bed after all.  

Remember these socks I was knitting last week? I finished the first one last night (I will post pictures when both are done) and had it laying on the couch next to me to help me with the 2nd today. Naturally, guess who decided to join me? 

Yes, she sat ON the sock! So my new sock now has cat hair on it, making it even more so mine.  The funny thing? A bunch of the projects I have been working on in Manhattan magically get cat hair on them too.  Maybe my cats just shed a lot when I come home and I somehow take it back with me? Your guess is as good as mine!

(She decided to sniff the camera!)

This is Sasha.  She is more my sister's cat then mine, and we have only had her about 4 years now.  Anyway, this cat is crazy. She likes to do so very odd things, including watch our mice and take rides on my sister's head. 

Those are my kitties. I love them so much and cannot imagine my life without them.  What about my readers? Do you guys have any pets you absolutely adore?

As for the world of knitting, as I mentioned I finished up sock 1, and sock 2 is started. I am blocking my cardigan this coming week as well as working on more white balls for my art project.  Talk to you all again soon!

~Lisa