Somewhere in the last few weeks I've managed to squeeze in some time to make a whack of needlecases. There's some of the pink mod and grey mod over in Scout's shop. The splityarn etsy shop has some blue mod cases and my personal faves, the Balance Bird cases. I had one yard of the Etsuko Furuya print and I made it last as long as I could. The print has been sold out in most places, so I don't know that I'll be able to make any more of them. Get 'em while they're still around!
I spent yesterday afternoon pretending it was fall. I wasn't feeling well, so I put on some comfy housepants, tucked my feet into some slippers and made-believe the A/C pumping was actually a stiff autumn wind. The truth of it was the temperature was still in the 30s (high 80's) and we've had barely a hint of fall. Not perfect Thanksgiving weather, but a girl can pretend.
A few months back, Mum had sent a care package of fabric and notions that I started sorting out and putting away yesterday. Included in the box were some of my grandmother's well-used crochet hooks (that's her on the left with her sisters.) My aunt had taught me to crochet when I was 10 or so as Gram couldn't see so well anymore but for some reason, the crochet bug didn't bite. Could it have been the endless hours of granny squares in fluorescent pink and yellow variegated acrylic? Most likely. At any rate, my Grandma's hooks needed a place of their own in my sewing room and yesterday afternoon I made one. I'd been saving the mod red and pink fabric for just the right project and I think this was it. If you'd like a variation of your own, they're in the shop and I'll also be donating a couple as Socktoberfest prizes.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
If it seems like it's been forever since I've shown a finished object, that's because it has. I realized yesterday that I hadn't sat down at the sewing machine since the end of January (that's the last time I posted anything on etsy too.) For me, that's crazy.
Part of the sewing slack stems from working on the house, but I know there's a teensy part of me that's not happy with my office set up. I've never settled into this space in a functional way and my desk is an "I'll deal with this later" collector. Today, I'm whistling through the mess and reorganizing as I go. I have art to hang on the walls, shelves to install and a garbage can to empty. I'm also discovering a myriad of partially completed projects that are *so* close to being complete. Starting now, it's Finish What You Started Week Month here at splityarn. Who's with me?
First items completed (they only needed a little glue) are some travel sized circular needlecases. I've already listed them in the shop for anyone short on time, but you know there's a needlecase tutorial for these, right?
The first half of Back-Tack has been completed and the gallery is up on flickr. I've been lustfully trolling through all the great fabric and notions packages that went out. There's an amazing assortment.
I'm starting to panic a little that I won't get my completed project out on time. I figure even if I'm a little bit late, USPS Prority Mail can come to the rescue. When you're buying a house you can't exactly time it around craft swaps, y'know? So not only am I packing, moving, painting and cleaning for the next few weeks, I'm also trying to make something fantastic for my backtack pal with the fun fabrics I received from Swoozie Ramblings (thanks Swoozie! They're working out perfectly.) Lookin' for a sneak peek?
About a month ago, I walked into Hobby Lobby and gasped aloud. I'd like to think I was quiet about it, but I know I wasn't. It might not even have been a gasp. I think it was more of a horrified, "holy crap NO! It's too soon!" I know that the cashier heard me and most likely one or three of the little Blue Hairs (little ol' ladies) that are always trolling the joint. The Christmas Craft Fairy had hit the store with her big, pine bough hammer. The entire store was bedecked in green, red, twinkle light and plastic tree.
I'm not sure why, *coughdenialcough* but it didn't really sink in that Christmas is on it's way until the Harlot started talking about it. Let's do a little math. There's 45 days until Christmas. In general, packages from Texas to Vancouver take 2.5-3 weeks to arrive. Add to that delays from the busy holiday season. That leaves me approximately 17 days to finish all my gifts and get them mailed off. GAH!
With that panic in mind, I started my mum's Christmas present today. She's been knitting for her entire life and all of her knitting needles are currently stored in drawers, the bottom of her knitting basket, the sewing room and other random places in her house. Her gift? A circular needle case of course! Two of them actually. I should have them finished by tomorrow afternoon. Note the beautifully mitred corners? Note the exquistely hemmed liner? Note the delightful quilting fabric that I stole from her fabric stash 5 years ago but am only just now putting to good use?
The best thing about this project is that you can make it with stuff just lying around your house. The only thing I bought was the book for $2 at Goodwill. If it had a cool enough cover, I would have just left it as is, but I like the fabric on this one. I'll try and keep it to 12 easy steps with plenty of photos. If you have any questions or suggestions, drop me a line. So here we go...
I spent a good amount of time knitting Big Blue Baby Brown Penny over the weekend. Mostly during those times that we were avoiding watching the Red Sox get spanked and during whatever football game was on (they're all the same to me.) I took some photos this afternoon but she pretty much looks like she did in the photo on Friday. A couple more inches and I'll be ready to pick up for the contrast colour bands.
I took the afternoon off from knitting today to put together a needle case for my circular needles. After finishing my roll up needle case for my straights, I'd been thinking of how to make a flat one for circs. I think it turned out well. It's a hardcover book that's been reconstructed. The glue is drying so I didn't put all my needles in for the finished object shot, but you get the idea. If anyone's interested I'll put together an easy tutorial for tomorrow so you can make your own delightful circular needle case.
