birthday stash crafting...

My sister Janelle is having a birthday this weekend and I wanted to whip up a little something homemade to give to her with her birthday gifts. Since its a May birthday, I didn't think a knitted gift of hat and/or scarf would do. She got some knitted legwarmers and a hat for Christmas.  Instead, I headed to the sewing machine.

Janelle liked the fabric for the stroller bag I posted about yesterday and "hinted" that she'd like a zippy pouch for some essential items that she likes to carry in her purse and school bag.  I had some more of the stroller bag fabric in my stash, as it seems that each pattern I find recommends almost twice the amount of fabric that I really need.  I looked for a tutorial for a little pouch and was inspired by this tutorial. I didn't actually use the tutorial much, but liked the contrasting ruffle. I made up my own measurements entirely to make a pouch that measures about 11" x 7". It needed to be big enough to hold an iPod, cell phone, granola bar, and maybe her keys and some cash.  I lined it in the same yellow fabric as the ruffle and added a blue zipper for an additional contrast.  I think future pouches like this one will include a little pocket inside, but I didn't actually think about that this time until after I finished sewing the lining shut after turning it rightside out. 

Speaking of stash busting, here's a cute tutorial I found yesterday that I'd like to tackle some time soon for at least one of the upcoming baby births around here: A patchwork puzzle triangular ball! I think this project will use up a bunch of the smaller stash scraps I have stored up around here.

handmade flannel receiving blanket

On Friday night I wanted to work on something quick for the evening. Sometimes when I have an "epic" project or two going, I like to put them aside to make something that I can start and finish in one day or evening. I have three long term projects going on right now...none of them getting very close to completion.

Enter my list of craft links (projects I love and want to revisit and attempt). I found one quick project that I happened to have all of the materials (with a substitution or two) to attempt.  If you haven't spent any time on The Purl Bee site, you need to head over there right now and see the beautiful tutorials and patterns they provide- for FREE! (I'll wait right here for you...) I can spend a whole hours clicking through all of their patterns in sewing, crocheting and knitting.

Here's what I made, using this pattern for inspiration!

I got a piece out my flannel bundle, ironed it, squared it, and pressed the fabric to hem it all the way around. I had some really nice merino wool on hand, but it was too thick to do the crochet border. Instead, I did a blanket stitch all the way around.  This project took less than two hours, start to finish. I now have a nice receiving blanket on hand, for any future baby girl birth. (which is seeming unlikely since all of the expecting mothers in my life that have found out the sex are having boys...there's still one unknown out there- perhaps this one will be the girl). If you can sew a "straight line" and do a blanket stitch, this project is for you.  And here's a blanket stitch tutorial that seems very useful (no lame music- just text and photos.)

All you need to do it is some yarn and some flannel. You could even recycle some old flannel sheets to make a set of receiving blankets for the little bit in your life!

an evening of sewing...

This weekend I got a lot of crafting done. It helped that all sewing notions and some fabric was 50% off at JoAnn's last week.

I read a super awesome tutorial recently about making a camera bag out of an old purse or bag on hand. Asa got a new camera a few months ago. Then I got him a photography class for his birthday this month. I wanted him to have a cool camera bag, instead of the felted knitting project bag that he's been using.  Since we couldn't find the perfect bag that didn't cost a ton, I started going through our closets to find a bag that would be the right size and not too girly for Asa to carry his camera in. And then I found Asa's old school bag, one that he very rarely used and was about the right size for my plan. Also, because this camera bag is just a foam pouch that is inserted into his bag, he can remove the insert if he wants to use the bag for another purpose.

The bag BEFORE

Ashley over at Make It and Love It has several cool sewing project tutorials on her blog. She sews for herself, her children, her home and for gifts and her tutorials are chock full of easy to follow directions and amazing photos that show me just what I need to do.

Asa's bag is an old Isreali Paratrooper bag, so we wanted to find a fabric suited (and not girly) for the bag. We found many fabrics that were cool and fit with the paratrooper idea, but they were all really dark, and I wanted to be sure to have a light colored fabric so Asa could see what he was doing inside the insert.
This insert took under three hours to make and since they were having a sale at JoAnn's, I got the foam, this particular fabric, thread and velcro all 50% off and came in at around $10.00.  I even have enough foam to make one more of these custom camera bag inserts and enough left over material to make pouches for Asa's camera gear that needs protecting.

The completed insert

Brand new camera bag!

little cloth bags...

I have been a member of a craft group in my neighborhood for a few months now. I found these gals on Meetup and have had a great time meeting with them for knitting and sewing nights.  When I first started going to the She's Crafty Knit Nights, I would pull my work out of its handy clear plastic zipper bag, while some of my knitting pals would pull out some beautifully hand made fabric project bags. I was immediately jealous, and a bit intimidated. Not by their knitting skills (I was in awe of that), and not because they had the bags, but I did want to make one or two for myself and I had never sewn a zipper in my life...was I up to the challenge? I really felt that zipper sewing was "the next level" of sewing. I also was pretty much unaware of the existence of interfacing. What was I getting myself into?

I did a search for pattens for box bags and settled on a great tutorial for a project. I picked up a couple of fat quarters and a zipper and I got busy. Then I went out and bought some more zippers and more fat quarters and some interfacing...I'm nearly an expert now! These make great gifts for the other crafters in my life!

a couple of boxy bags and a pyramid and large folder

I've been spending much more time reading about crafts lately, too. I really enjoy seeing what others are up to!

Some dear friends of mine in Seattle spend time together for crafting pretty regularly (why do I have to live so far from them?). Anyway, they blog about it, here.  In a recent blog post, Sadie wrote about Click it Bags. I've been wanting to learn how to make one, since seeing my sister use the one that I got her at the Fremont Sunday Market when we were all at my dad's house recently. After exchanging a few Facebook comments with Sadie, I got myself hooked up with the pattern and the secret ingredient to these click it bags- the "click-it! closure"  The real deal can be found on Etsy doing a quick search for "flex frames," but the Seattle Crafty Girls Gone Mild are a recycly bunch, so they use portions of  measuring tapes to get the proper "click" in the bags. I whipped a couple of these up the other night, and I'm loving them! I think a few of my friends can expect one or two of these to come their way!

scrappy click it bags

where have I been...

too busy crafting to blog...

I wish I had a good excuse for where I've been...but I don't. I just haven't been writing much. I've been crafting up a storm lately and just haven't taken the time to post. I've been reading a ton of craft blogs and trying out some new ideas...but I haven't written about any of them either. I've been checking many knitting and sewing books out of the library and working on projects from them, but like I said...lots of craftiness, zero blogging.  I'm sorry, I've been bad. (there, that's done with)

I will tell you about some of my recent finished projects, by way of apology for my long absence!

I've been using my old hand me down sewing machine a lot lately and have made some flannel pajama pants, just in time for the 80 degree weather. I've also made a couple of faux pillow case dresses, which are much more seasonable.  The pattern can be found in the book, Small Stash Sewing, which I checked out of the library. The book has some very cute ideas and since its intended for use with fat quarters, you don't need too much laying around your fabric stash to make the projects. Grace's dress is made with left over table toppers from my Vermont Wedding.  It turns out I don't actually need 6 table topper squares of purple paisley in my real married life.

my first faux pillow case dress

Grace's new dress

I've finished one of my mega projects, a baby blanket inspired by the Hudson Bay Blankets from long ago. I used a pattern found here for the inspiration and I almost followed the whole pattern too. I didn't use the suggested yarn, instead opting for an acrylic that would be soft against baby's skin (it was a lot cheaper too). Because I used a different yarn, my gauge was way off, but I thought it didn't really matter since I was only knitting a rectangle.  I knew ahead of time that I would get a larger than crib-width blanket. I thought that would make it extra snuggly for a bigger kid too, however the blanket seemed to take forever to knit. I happen to have a short attention span for knitting and start cruising Ravelry for my next project when I reach the half way point of any project I'm working on.  I love getting onto that next project...but I stuck with this blanket, determined to finish it before baby's June arrival, and keeping in mind that I had 6 other newborn's to craft for before their May, June and July births. Its in the mail now!

Hudson Bay Inspired Blanket for baby Belgrade

...with a matching baby hat!

I've also been working on some knitting project bags. Photos of those o

a chain reaction...

I got this skein of yarn for free at J.P. Knit & Stitch when they were having their Go Green! Weekend. It was a 'free with purchase' sort of deal where I got to select one skein of yarn out of a huge bag of beautiful bright yarns.  I picked this purple flecked yarn thinking it would make a beautiful hat, even if it was just a boring stockinette stitch job.  But then I taught myself how to cable and thought this yarn was up to the task of holding up lots of cables. 

If you'd like to give this hat a go, here's the pattern!

This cozy little head warmer is for Barb, the neighbor and dog walker at Grace's house.  She's so sweet...I wanted to make her something handmade for her birthday and to thank her for being the only adult I talk to sometimes during my 10.5 hour shift.

one skein wonder...

Not too long ago I was invited to try out Crafsty's new workshop feature for free. This was Craftsy's version of a knit along, with the project directions provided along with great photos and a message board feature. Normally one would have to pay for a workshop, but since Craftsy offered it for free this one time, I decided to try it out.  This particular workshop was for a knit shrug that promises to use only one skein of yarn, so I knew it wasn't going to be much of an investment of my time or money. Its tiny, but cute and it was very easy to make. It only involved knitting, purling, and increasing.

Here are a couple of photos of the shrug, but none of me wearing it...the cuffs are too tight for my big ole arms!  I did change the pattern slightly in that I used a contrasting yarn for the ribbing at the cuffs and neck and back.  It was a quick project and it the directions were very easy to follow. I plan to make another one soon, but will use a bigger needle on the arm cuffs so they will fit better (the pattern called for changing needle sizes but I'll just use the same one as for the body).

For now, I'm taking names of thin armed friends who might like to try this on for size!

picking up stitches...

Here's a super cute sweater vest that I made for my nephew, Jonah. He is always dressed in layers, but I know that he spends a lot of time on the move so I decided to make this little cutie so he'd have full range of movement in his arms.

The pattern is a free Ravelry download, called the Lola Vest.  I'm going to rename it The Frankie, in honor of a former student of mine who wore a sweater vest every single day that I ever had him in class for 3 whole school years.  This was the first knitting project where I had to pick up stitches on edges.  I was very careful to make the stitches evenly spaced and I think it actually came out rather well.  It was an added challenge to make the V neck actually look like a V.  Mine doesn't totally look like the photo, but it did come out pretty cute! 

I tried it on Jonah today and it fits him pretty well right now, so I'm going to give it to him early, instead of waiting until Christmas! My next vest will be a cable knit one...since I was able to teach myself the cable stitch this weekend.

cloudy skies...sun dress...

Despite the lack of sunny skies, I finished that little sundress I had posted about last week.  It might be the cutest little sundress that I ever did make (and the only one). I had found the free pattern while shopping for yarn a few weeks ago. I love how it came out. I love the bright colors (and not a pink among them). I love the little button. I love how it took exactly how much yarn it said it would!  It is supposed to fit 18 months-2 years...and that's not gonna happen, but I happen to know one or two little girls that it will fit!

pretty sundress

shells and loops

I plan to buy a little shirt and some leggings to go with it, so it can be a winter time gift!  I might use the little scraps of yarn left over to make some crochet flowers for hair clips too!

hoot hoot...

I recently became a member of Ravelry. I had heard some ladies in the craft section of a book store talking about it so I went online and checked it out. Its a site for knitters and crocheters to share projects that they have made or are working on. I like the site quite a lot and have found many adorable patterns (some of them even for free).  I tried this little owl out and I love so many things about it!

baby and big sister owl

The pattern is easy to do, quick to do, and so stinking cute! The posted free pattern for is for a newborn, but its a basic pattern that is pretty easy to adapt for larger sizes.  Once the basic cap, ears, eyes and beak are done, it goes together really easily and I can make one in only 2 hours. I've already made three of these little owls, with orders for a few more already! These two hoots are on the way to new baby Marley and big sister Maela!

where did all of the crafts go?

A couple of weeks ago, Asa and I went to New Hampshire to spend some time with a couple of my friends from college.  It was a nice weekend away with lots of food, drinks, friends and kid time.  I was sitting in the living room crocheting that mesh bag when Kaitlyn asked what I was making. I told her all about my project and she followed up with a comment about a blanket I made for her.  I was shocked! She still had something that I made (she's 9 now!). And she remembered that I made it for her (it was given to her before she was born). And, she still slept with this blanket every night (its her Blankey, afterall!).  Kaitlyn's story about Blankey got me to thinking about all of those other gifts that have gone on to their new homes...but I'm lucky enough to have a few photos of these gifts getting used!

Kaitlyn and her sewn quilted tag blanket

Kaitlyn told me she had her handmade tag blanket with her at the vacation home and ran back to her bedroom to get it. I didn't know what she was going to come back with. It has been ten years since I gave it to her mom...I just couldn't remember what I had made that long ago.  I was surprised that she came with a sewn quilted blanket...I had forgotten about that sewing phase I went through.  I used to make these tag blankets and also I would make burp cloths with colorful ribbon edges.  I'm told her brother has a blue afghan kicking around too that I made.
I went through a few old emails to check out how my projects are holding up once they moved on...

Theo and his crocheted hat

Kenzie and her crocheted mittens

brand new Maggie and her snuggle wrap

And since some of my projects go straight to Jonah and Grace, I get to photograph them and store the photos for myself.

Grace in her piggie hat

Quick moving Grace Riding Hood

twin speed crochet hats

For a few more projects, you can click through to the album and see who's wearing what!

a blanket for baby leo

There have been a few new babies in the family lately.  Just before our wedding, baby Leo was born to my cousin Frank and his wife Kerry.  While I haven't met him yet, I wanted to be sure to meet him with a little something homemade and cuddly.  Since this summer has been so hot, there wasn't really a rush to get a baby blanket snuggled around him. But, now that it is going to be fall tomorrow...he'll be snuggled up on his walks with Mom and Dad.

blue and green for little red head Leo

I made this blanket pretty quickly this week. It went quickly because I used a heavier weight yarn and a bit bigger hook. Its also a small little thing, perfect for wrapping and covering him in his carrier and stroller without risking dragging it on the ground. This blanket is the same exact pattern at the multicolored blanket I finished two weeks ago. I hope Kerry and Frank, and especially Leo love this little blankie. He'll get to try it out today when Asa and I meet him at his grandmother's birthday party!

a little red riding hood

Hurricane Irene brought plenty of rain and wind to New England last weekend! Luckily for us Bostonians, there wasn't much damage for the storm. We didn't even lose power here in Roslindale. While we waited out the storm, I got started on a long awaited project... I had been dieing to start this new project but had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't start anything new until I finished a few of the projects laying around my yarn basket.    I had bought the yarn for this project for the bargain basement price of 97 cents a skein.  I wasn't sure how much I would need, but at that price, I wasn't afraid of buying a ton of it!  It turned out that I bought enough yarn to also make a hat or two this winter in addition to this completed red riding hood!

who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

I'm afraid that this picture doesn't do the cape justice. I plan to take a few hundred photos of Grace wearing the cape this week and again at Halloween time...so stay tuned!

little red hanging hood

my challenge has been completed...

This here is project number four! And its done! I'm displaying it here holding the red yarn for that Little Red Riding Hood that I've been chomping at the bit to get started!

Seattle-bound mesh bag

This is that mesh bag that I was crocheting out of a thin sock-type yarn. It was a nice light project to work on in the car on the way up to New Hampshire this weekend. Since our car doesn't have air conditioning, a light weight and small project is ideal!  The pattern was very easy, just single crochet, double crochet and chaining.
The top band is all single crochet, which means it took a little while. Because the yarn is thin, the stitches are pretty small. Once I got to the mesh part, which consists of chaining an double crocheting, it went along really quickly.  It came out just how I thought it would, which is a relief since I modified the pattern to make a bigger bag, using much thinner yarn than was called for.
The bag is going into the mail tomorrow to Seattle for a friend. I had promised to send him something homemade way back in January and am relieved that I can come through on that promise!

two down...

I've finished another project, working past my bedtime, even. I completed the hooded terry blanket "robe." And, while I made a few changes to the pattern, I do really like how it turned out.

pink fuzzy snuggly "robe"

I used a really chunky and fuzzy yarn, so it didn't take me very long to make this little snuggly.  The increasing and decreasing was done a little differently than the pattern called for, making it a diamond instead of a square. I put the hood on the shorter and fatter end that way it will be wider to wrap around the baby's shoulders.  I also added little ties so it can be tied up like a robe.  I think its so cute and cuddly!

burrito style baby wrapper

So, that's two projects down, only 4 more in the works...

and I'm off...

Once I got all of that work spread out in my tiny living room, I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed!  I'm also a bit embarrassed to tell you that I forgot all about two other projects that I found balled up in the bottom of my yarn basket.

more projects approaching completion

I started to make a mesh market basket a long time ago as a gift for someone. It was a chain letter sort of deal. I have 1 year to make something homemade and send it to this person. Thank goodness I found it after only 8 months, I still have 4 months to finish it!  It uses a very thin yarn and hook, so its not ideal for car crocheting.  I put it aside and just forgot all about it...and it got buried under all of the heaps of new yarn I keep buying.  I'll have to get cracking on that one too.

I also found a little hat I made with left over pink yarn. The hat itself is finished. The idea was to sew little ears and eyes and a snout on it to make it a piglet hat.  That has not happened yet.  I guess given these two omitted projects I should increase my promised amount of finished projects to four. That will be four completed projects before I start in on that red yarn. It is just screaming to become a Little Red Riding Hood!

a finished project : garter stitch green sweater

 But, I did FINISH something last night.  It was the green sweater.  It is not perfect, that's for sure.  But, it does look like the picture, except for the button holes.  The button holes are a bit rough on this thing... They do hold the cutest little owl buttons, but they are a bit sloppy.  I hope to improve my technique with future projects (or to just use tiny buttons that don't require special techniques to make holes for them).