MtMW 2020 - Silver Linings
One of the silver linings about 2020 is that in our new house, I got expanded studio space. I'm able to fit 2 extra bookshelves, a record player stand, a cat tower, plus I have the whole closet to hang my shawls and store my stash of handknits.
Meet the Maker Week 2020 - Say Hello
Hello there! Loops of Gray is a single-woman shop run by me - Melissa! I am based in St. Louis, MO and have lived there my entire life. I make all sorts of things, but my specialties are handknit shawls, quilts, and 3D printed stuff. I can also crochet, embroider, cross-stitch, and do some general sewing.
MMtM 2020 Day 31: FAQs!
Thanks so much for joining me this month in sharing a bit about myself and what I make. I hope you learned some things and would love to know what questions you have for me! Feel free to ask me anything about knitting, crochet, yarn, quilting, sewing, fabric, 3D printing, designing, mental health, or anything at all! New yarn from @owool
MMtM 2020 Day 28: Planning
I use Trello to organize my various projects, from idea phase to completion. It's a lightweight project management too that lets me drag my items from column to column as I work on them, as well as add notes, attachments, and links. Here you can get a sneak peek as to what's in the pipeline.
MMtM 2020 Day 27: Future Goals
On the left is my list of short term goals and the right side has some longer term goals. I don't really have a good vision for where I want Loops of Gray to go, but getting things written down is a good start. A shaded square indicates in progress and a solid square means complete.
MMtM 2020 Day 23: Photography
I take all of my photos with my Google Pixel 2 phone (with the exception of this one! lol) and do almost no editing. Generally I leave it alone or do the "Auto" correction option in Google Photos. In extreme situations, I download the photo to my computer and open Picasa (a long-abandoned Google product) to use the "neutral color picker" to get the right color balance.
MMtM 2020 Day 22: Tools & Materials
Today I decided to show off my favorite tools that I use all the time, whether it be for knitting, sewing, or 3D printing.
MMtM 2020 Day 21: Change
What a week for change indeed! We finally moved to our new house and I've got most of my new office set up. I love the huge windows for natural light and how much space I have.
MMtM 2020 Day 17: Proud of
I think the project I'm most proud of is this Blues quilt I made for myself and my husband Brian in 2016. I designed the pattern myself. I matched the fabric colors to the Blues jerseys. It's the biggest quilt I've ever made (king size!!!). And I did it all on my dinky domestic sewing machine.
MMtM 2020 Day 12: Learning Curve
A couple years ago, Angela Walters hosted a #fmqchallenge and I tried a bunch of quilting designs for the first time. You can easily see at the bottom of the block how much I struggled with the arches, but by the top of the block I was getting the hang of it.
It was a lot of fun to see my progression and be able to add some more tricks up my quilting sleeves.
MMtM 2020 Day 10: Authentic Space
Guys, this is my real workspace right now. We are in the middle of moving and all of my things are packed up. My sewing machine, fabric, and yarn has been packed up for months. It has pained me to see so few of things that bring me joy. I have had to postpone projects until we move and I have my new space set up.
MMtM 2020 Day 9: Rough/Mock up
I start most of my designs on graph paper, either plain squares for quilting or special knitting graph paper (knitting stitches aren't square!).
MMtM 2020 Day 7: Me!
Loops of Gray is a one-woman show with the occasional help from my husband and mother-in-law. I am based out of St. Louis, MO and my full-time job is in IT.
March Meet the Maker 2020 Day 1: My Story
I learned to knit when I was 12, about 23 years ago, using an old illustrated book from my grandma's house, and have basically never stopped since then. I also crochet, sew, quilt, do 3D printing, and a little bit of a lot of other things. This picture showcases several of my crafts, including 3D printing the base for a UFO abduction lamp.
#shawleveryday2019 Day 45
In addition to knitting, I also do a lot of quilting, so I was super pleased to find a couple programs for donating quilts to mental health hospitals.