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Aren't lamps the best home accessories ever?
Definitely for me and my husband they are, we love way too much the feeling of living in a cave where lights are soft and reddish light bulbs keep the ambient warm (very synaesthetic).

We had been looking for nice used lamps around town but everything seemed too vintage or kitsch fashioned, and right in the middle of a trip, visiting the family, someone was getting rid of this lamp and I decided to keep it knowing that I might be able to transform it. And well, after reviewing the dozen corners of our house and still feeling undecided about where to have it, I placed it next to the bed on top of an old speaker and got my brains in some black thread No.10 I had around. Did this from scratch, I didn't use a pattern, I will show you in the next picture the mistakes (or improvisation) I made. You can tell is hand made.

Oops!

I still love it even though it has remarkable mistakes, ha! At the end I was very proud of being capable of crocheting thread without knowing what I was doing. I joined a few chains here and there and some SCs and DCs too. I do of course turn the lamp around to hide the awkwardness when I have a perfectionism crisis (that's my keeping things under the bed mechanism, what's yours?)

I'm not done with the show off. I also painted the base of the lamp with an improvised technique to have some golden and red dots very randomly showing. You can click on the images for a large view. The third photo shows how it looks now.

Filet Crochet Heart Doily

I made this Crochet Heart Doily for my dear friend Sarah De la Rosa, in exchange of haircuts (she has the hypnotic magical hands that any hairdresser desires to be gifted with). What I'm going to say about this pattern is, do not try it if you're a beginner. When I tried this I had been doing only yarn, for a long time maybe enough to figure the stitches and etceteras but, thread is different than yarn and it requires a lot of patience and very good sight (maybe that's why I don't do it very often). Reading patterns like this one could be a pain in the ass, so I recommend you to start with something easier, or just get familiar with thread and #0 hooks first. If you don't like to be told what to do and have a compulsion for thinking that of course you can do it (just like me) then visit Crochet Mania and print out the pattern. It did give me headaches so consider your attitude again. :p

Collar

This is me wearing a crocheted collar I made myself with leftover yarn I had in my basket. I try to make the habit of carrying hooks and thread (or yarn) in my purse when I know I'm going to get bored or trapped in a situation where all I can do is wait (like going to see the doctor, waiting for the bus or even traveling; this last thing I had to do a lot during 2009 cause I was moving to Austin TX with my husband but I still had some businesses going on in Mexico for what I had to drive across the border like ten million times in a year). This is one of the silly projects I do for the fun of it. I do wear it (not with the shades upside down though) when it's chilly during the daytime. For all those who get chilly right when the fall begins (I know it is ridiculous but that's how I am), recycle your yarn and get your hooks some SCs going on. Don't know how to do a SC? This video might be helpful.

You are SICK!

This is my cross stitch collaboration I submitted for Fag Tapes’ MISCELANEA Zine in Michigan. Published by Noise hero: Heath Moerland, in 2009. I totally improvised most of it but I did get some help from Subversive Cross Stitch patterns for the frame. I don't remember where I got the pattern for this specific font but I recommend you the free alphabet generator that Stitch Point has online (if you know others with more variety please share it on a comment). Cross stitching is very relaxing to me and it's one of those activities that are so mechanical that let your brain focus on something else. Best for "thinking over".