• About
  • Buy From Me
  • Facebook
  • Food
  • Repurposing
  • Patterns
  • Crochet
  • How-to

One of a Kindness

~ Crafty Crochet & Other Assorted Niceties

One of a Kindness

Category Archives: Reviews

Fibranatura’s Sea Song Yarn

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by JoyOoaK in Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cotton, crochet, fibers, fibranatura, needs more sausage, product review, review, sea cell, sea kelp, slouchie beanie, Universal Yarn, yarn

Sea Song Yarn

fibranatura Sea Song Yarn in thrush

A friend of mine requested several months ago I make him a slouchie beanie.  I told him I would later.  I just made him a hat four years ago, jeez.  So anyhoo, my birthday was in February, & what did he get me?  A book of slouchie beanie patterns.  Subtle.  His birthday is next month, & he’s going to be forty, so I figured I better get on that hat soon while Peepaw is still with us.

We discussed yarn options, & I decided it needed to be cotton or it wouldn’t be fit to wear in summer.  He wanted it brown to match his eyes.  He didn’t want it to be variegated & mocked me for my love of variegated yarns, which he greatly exaggerated.  I know, he’s hateful!

Since the only cotton in the only store within an hour of here that sells yarn only had one brown & that was the variegated, I was forced to order yarn online.  Yikes.  Always a tricky prospect, especially when your ordering a brand you aren’t familiar with.

I ended up at Herrschners where I found fibranatura’s Sea Song on clearance.  The price, the beautiful shade of brown (thrush), & the fact it’s a sea kelp & cotton blend won me over.

Fibranatura (a Universal Yarns brand) Sea Song yarn is an 80% cotton/20% sea cell worsted weight blend.  Sea cell is a kelp fiber.  Univeral Yarn has a large selection of eco friendly yarns, including organic cotton & bamboo.

Sea Song is wonderfully soft & smooth.  I love the feel of it.  It comes in some beautiful colorways, & has a slight sheen to it that reminds me of embroidery floss (possibly because I was crocheting with embroidery floss before I started on the hat).

Speaking of embroidery floss, another way it reminds me of that is the twist.  It is very loose, just like floss, so it splits easily.  I’m a slow crocheter anyway, so any yarn that slows me down because I have to take extra care with my stitches & keep having to rework them because I missed a thread gets a dark mark in my book.

Also, in less than half a ball, probably less than a third, I have found two breaks.  For a gift I can make this work, but by the looks of things so far (little catches & the broken threads here & there) I would not make anything to sell out of it.

I was really excited about this yarn, the color, the softness, the fact that it was made with kelp, but have been very disappointed with it, mostly because of the splits.  I could have overlooked the breaks, I’ve seen worse in yarn, but the splits are a problem.

Overall I would not use Sea Song again, & I’m not sure about trying other fibranatura yarns, but I don’t rule out trying other Universal yarns.

Anyhoo, just feeling a little frustrated & wanted to vent a bit in a quick review.  Hope this shines a little light for someone!

Oh, the hat is this really easy slouchy beanie at Jenn Likes Yarn.  The hat he wanted in the book was knit, & this was a pretty close approximation in crochet.  I could have just winged it, but I’ve been trying to work more patterns to learn new ways of doing things.  I’ve been winging it almost since I learned to crochet, & I feel a little stunted because of it.  I’m hoping to finish it tonight, if not then for sure tomorrow.  I’ll update you on the finished product.

I would love to hear about your experiences online yarn shopping, & any problem yarns you’ve run across, as well as some favorites you’d like to share.

Share is caring:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

My First Video!

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by JoyOoaK in Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

beading, craft caddy, crafting, crafts, Darice, jewelry making, JoyOOAK, making a video, One of a Kindness, OOAKindness, organization, product review, review, storage, video

So I have been thinking about doing a craft video, but was iffy about getting started.

Watching myself & hearing my own voice? -_- blah.  Plus, all I have is the built in webcam on my laptop & my digital camera shoots video, but I worried about the sound on it.  (Turns out it’s pretty good.)

Monday on the CrafterMind’s tweet chat we discussed videos, so it seemed the right time to bite the bullet.  I decided rather than jumping into a demonstration video, it would be easier to start with a product review.  I decided to go with the Darice Craft Caddy, because I own it & have been using it for a couple of years.

I had a lot of fun making my video review & I hope you enjoy it!

One of a Kindness – my first video!

Hopefully you enjoyed it, or at least saw the potential of it. Watching/listening to myself in the video wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.  At the bottom of this post, behind the cut (if you’re reading from the home page), I have added a transcription.

I ended up using both the laptop & the digital camera for shooting.  I used the laptop as the main & the digi cam for a side view.  In the future I think I will use the digi cam as my main & I don’t know if I’ll use the laptop.  I do like being able to watch myself as I’m shooting though.  I may still use it, but differently.

Anyhoo, here are some things I learned:

  • The main thing I will do differently next time is shoot my video in segments rather than one long shot.  I tried editing it down more, but the cuts were not very smooth.  This also kept me from using alternate shots.  Breaking it into smaller sections will make it easier to cut parts out & to add in shots from other takes.  I really would have liked for it to be about 5mins shorter at least.
  • It definitely pays to have your notes printed in clear, well organized text taped up by the camera so if you have to look at them you aren’t looking away.
  • Some good advice for lighting from the chat – shoot during the day, near a window of you can, & a good light bounced off some white poster board works nicely.  I wish I had had another light when I shot mine.
  • Don’t undervalue test shots.  I took cell pics while I was getting ready so I could see how things would look on camera.  I took more pics when I was checking for shadows.  I used my model head on a stand where I planned to sit to check the light.
  • Set dressing & declutter your shot.  I decided for the second day I would be more comfortable sitting in my usual crafting chair.  Unfortunately it’s a hideous, yet very comfortable, chair from the 70’s, & in an ugly corner.  I found the best softly colored sheet I had & hung it over the wall behind me (after running it through the dryer to knock out the wrinkles & draped a quilt over the chair.  The sheet had a medium pink & white flower pattern on it & the quilt had a small pink & white floral design on it, so I thought they worked well together.  The sheet had to go around a corner & over a sconce, so it didn’t hang perfectly, but on film it read like a curtain, especially at the window. I cleared my craft stacks from around the chair & dressed the top of the shelf next to it with craft books & related items.  The test shots showed you could still see the clutter on the lower shelves, so I cleaned them up too.
  • Be comfortable & be yourself.  However goofy, twangy, rambling, or, god forbid, even boring, my video might be, my personality came through.  I was far more comfortable in front of the camera than I thought I would be.  It’s painful to watch someone uncomfortable with what they are doing, and the discomfort of seeing/hearing yourself in the video is very short-lived once you actually start (at least it was for me).  When you are a one woman production crew, you are too busy worrying about lighting & editing to be worried about fat rolls & eye bags.
  • Give yourself permission to be imperfect.  Isn’t that what the first time is all about?  Making mistakes & moving forward smarter.

I would love to hear what you think about my first effort:)

Have you made a video?  If so, how was it?  What did you learn?  Any suggestions for my next video?  If you haven’t made a video, have you thought about it?  What sort of video would like to make?  What’s stopping you?

Transcription below: Continue reading →

Share is caring:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Henrietta the Ostrich Hooker
Welcome to my Work In Progress. It's not that I'm lazy. I'm just easily distracted. Ooh, shiny!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 280 other followers

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments
January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« May    

Categories

  • Contest
  • Crafting
  • Crochet
  • Etsy
  • Food
  • Goodsmiths
  • How-to
  • Pattern
  • Pinterest
  • Repurposing
  • Reviews
  • Uncategorized

afghan Alabama Alabama Accents apples bag bamboo thread beading books bunny Christmas clutch contest cotton cowrie shells crafting crafts crochet Crochet Concupiscence crochet hat Crochet Saved My Life desserts discount DIY dolls earrings eggs Etsy felting food free free pattern geekery gift certificate gifts girl giveaway Goodsmiths hair hair doodad hairpin handmade hat headband home decor jewelry JoyOOAK Kathryn Vercillo links literature math necklace needs more sausage One of a Kindness OOAKindness organizing origami ostrich otters patterns Photography Pinterest purse recipes repurposing sale seed beads stamping Star Wars summer t-shirt thread crochet vintage wire yarn yarn winding

Flickr Photos

Origami boot earrings, $5/prOrigami cowboy boot earrings, $5/prOrigami Cowboy Boot Earrings with Butterfly Charms, $5
More Photos
Follow me on facebook

Follow Me on Pinterest


Get Twitter Buttons

Blogroll

  • All Free Crochet
  • Craftster
  • Etsy
  • Fave Crafts
  • Get Inspired
  • Kimberly Geswein Fonts
  • Pinterest
  • Ravelry

OOAK Around The Web

  • My Pinterest
  • OOAK Etsy
  • OOAK facebook page
  • OOAK Flickr
  • OOAK Google+
  • OOAK old Google site
  • OOAK Picasa Photos Album
  • OOAK Tumblr
  • OOAK Twitter
If you would like to be added to the blog roll, email OOAK
One Lovely Blog Award

Disclosure: All of my opinions are mine. Any products I use are my own, paid for by me. However...

I am an Amazon affiliate so you will see links to Amazon, but only text links inside the posts. Links are added after a post is written, & I only link to items used in the post. I never link items for promotional purposes.

Just trying to make a few extra pennies where I can. I do have a father to support!

Creative Commons License
One of a Kindness is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
~All work & images on these pages belong to me, unless otherwise stated.
~If you would like to share something on your own site, please do not copy my post. Instead share a link back to it.
~You are welcome to link to me from your own site providing you do advocate puppy killing & baby eating.
~Patterns posted here are for personal use only. If you are interested in selling items for commercial or charitable purposes, or would like to use the patterns in another way, please contact me for permission.
~If you're not sure - ask:~)

crochet, crafts, crafting, yarn, Etsy, Pinterest, recipes, repurposing, origami, jewelry, handmade, accessories, earrings, headbands, necklaces, hairpins, hair pins, sales, discounts, coupons, One of a Kindness, OOAKindness, JoyOOAK, craft shows, Alabama, yarn, craft products, patterns, reviews, Christmas, xmas, holidays, holiday crafting, Christmas crafting, Yule, seasonal, thread crochet, thread, beads, beading, beaded crochet, crochet books, crochet patterns, embroidery, diy, photography, lightbox, hoop earrings, Goodsmiths, how-to, sterling silver

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: