June craftiness

Are you looking for yarny crafts? Move along, nothing to see here...

This lazy guy? He turned 14 this month. Happy birthday, Xander!

Seriously, I don't think I've even touched any yarn this month. I have been sewing though and made another fun project bag using a thrifted skirt and man's shirt. No before pic on this one. You'll have to use your imagination. ;-)

There was plenty more sewing in June, but first, how about a little craftiness in the kitchen?

My black raspberry plants have been producing  an incredible amount of berries! I even got to pick most of them myself. I had some furry helpers after a few days. ;-)

One day's bounty!

Combined with some overripe organic nectarines.

The BEST cobbler I've ever made!

With the help in picking (and eating), it took me a few days, but I finally have enough for another cobbler. I hope the yellow raspberry canes I planted this year do as well as these in year two!


Early in June, we got a short heat wave. Gus handles heat about as well as I do so I tried my hand at some remedies without having to crank the a/c. First, I tried a damp washcloth. That worked pretty well, but we needed something for walks once it really heats up.

I picked up a package of SoilMoist from my local feed & seed store and got to work with my sewing machine. =) I'd seen plenty of neck coolers for people, why not for dogs?

I tried out the standard collar type first.Then ventured out with a bib style that would provide more surface contact. After searching, I saw some commercial ones of this style, but even using barely any crystals in mine, it still seemed too heavy for my little guy. A bigger dog would likely do very well with this style though. I'll stick with the collars for Gus. I always bring cold water on our walks (in a doggie-friendly water bottle of course) and he gets multiple opportunities to cool off, but I'm hoping these will make him more comfortable. He loves his walks so much, I'd hate to have to keep him in when it heats up.

These are super simple to make! When I make some more, I'll take some pictures for a quick tutorial if anyone is interested in making some for their own furry kids. Just let me know in the comments and I'll write one up. =) I keep a couple in a container with water in the fridge so they're ready to go when needed. DO NOT leave these on your dog unattended. The crystals, if ingested, can cause problems and no one wants that!

That wasn't all my sewing though! I pulled another shirt and skirt (in this case two skirts) combo from my thrifted clothing and got to work on a new library tote.

The white cotton skirt was originally cut and sewn on the bias. This was my first project with such a light bias cut fabric and boy is there a learning curve! I figured it out though and I LOVE the result!

What else has come off my sewing table this month? Another baby gift! The first was so fun (the pink/purple one I shared last month), I headed back to the stash for some greys and yellows and made a second:

This time, I used a solid piece for the back since I wasn't using pre-cut strips. I liked the grey/yellow combo so much...

I made a wall hanging for my little dinette. =) I'll likely make a couple of place mats to match.

That wasn't all my sewing though! With the heat upon us, Gus wasn't the only one getting hot on walks. Ashley Nickels also has the Sew a Reversible Sun Hat class on creativebug. Both the bib class and this one come with printable patterns. I dug around in the stash and found a couple of fabrics I wanted to use and got to work on my first ever fabric hat:

Cutting was easy, the piecing together of curves less so. LOL With a bit more practice, that'll get easier. I already want to make another!

I LOVE it!! I usually wear it reversed to the lighter side so it reflects more of the sun, but I wear it almost every morning on our walks so it's getting a ton of use. Works great for keeping the sun (and sweat) out of my eyes and so far it's washing up nicely. I just wash and hang it on my clothesline to dry, giving the brim a quick press to smooth things back out before putting it back to use the next morning.

So that's it for this month. Until next month, craft what makes you happy!

May craftiness

Another month has passed and the poncho that will not end is still... unfinished. I had high hopes, but I swear this thing is shrinking.

Plus, I didn't work on it much. ;-) Most of the finished objects for this pattern on Ravelry have been knit with 21-22 repeats of the pattern. The above has 21 completed repeats and even stretched, it's a good 10" from being long enough! This is why I don't knit sweaters often - they take forever! I do love how the two yarns are playing off each other and I know once finished and has had a nice bath and tumble in the dryer, it will be lovely and soft, but I have to admit... I am fighting the urge to frog this thing! I'm wondering if this yarn might be better in a different project. We'll see...

With the poncho on ice, I have started another knitting project that I can actually see progress on:

Socks! I looked and it's been a year and a half since I finished a pair of fingering weight socks. It's about time for another pair, yes? I'm not working on them often, but I can at least see some progress. ;-)

With my knitting mojo waning, I turned from the knitting needles to the sharper needle of my sewing machine. Now here, I can definitely see real progress! I started with a little something destined to be gifted to a little someone:

Over Mother's Day weekend, Amazon offered a deal for a full year of access to Creativebug classes for $25. I've taken classes from Craftsy, CreativeLive and other sites, but had been curious about Creativebug. I haven't been disappointed! I followed along with the videos (and printed pattern) and created this adorable bib. The first was so much fun, I've now made a second, but you'll see that in my June update along with more sewing from a different Creativebug class. :-)

Not too impressive for an entire month, huh? This is why it's a hobby. I do what and how much I want, when I want. No pressure. I do seem to be on a sewing kick now though so next month's post may have lots of fun stuff!

Until then, craft what makes you happy! I know I will. :-)

The Great British Sewing Bee is back!

This is one of my favorite shows! Season 4 is showing now on BBC2, but if, like me, you're in the US and don't have access, head over to YouTube to catch up with this season. :-)

Here are links to the first episodes:

Episode 1 - Basic construction

Episode 2 - Children's week

Episode 3 - Lingerie week

"I'm built for comfort, not speed."

No backstabbing or snarkiness, just lots of good stitchy fun. :-)

green your holidays with alternative gift wrap

So, I haven't had gift wrap in at least 4 years. I kind of hate it. I just can't bring myself to buy paper that gets used once, ever so briefly, and tossed. Depending on the paper you buy, it may be recyclable, but most comes wrapped in plastic so I skip it entirely and find other, usually more crafty, ways to wrap gifts.

Remember the handspun shawl I knit my mother for her birthday?

I used this great paper box I found at Goodwill awhile back. I think she loved the box almost as much as the shawl. lol She said she planned to use it in her sewing area. Of course, if she didn't plan to use it, it would be great for gifting something else to someone. I'm just happy to hear it's not headed to either recycling or the landfill. =)

Thrift stores are a great place to find inexpensive containers for gifts. I limit myself to $1 max to keep the cost down and have found some great boxes to reuse. Think outside the box though! I've found a few lidded baskets like these:

I spotted these little baskets a month or two ago and snapped them up, knowing I'd be in need of containers this Spring. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the round one started its life as a toilet paper roll holder. lol It's perfect for a caked up skein of handspun though! =)

A skein of handspun sent to my mother for Mother's Day this year. =)

I've sewn simple drawstring bags like this:

They work not only as a reusable gift bag, but if the recipient is a knitter or crocheter, they're great project bags too! These were made from purchased fabric, but these days I'd just find a clothing item at the thrift store to remake into a bag if I didn't have anything in my stash. =)

Don't care if the container completely hides the contents? Check out open baskets, pails or even vases or maybe a mug for something small? Is the recipient a cook? Use a baking dish as sort of a gift basket. There are so many items in the thrift stores that are in new condition that make great gifts or containers for gifts, don't cost a lot and help keep trash out of the landfill. =)

April craftiness

It's May already? This year is just flying by! Temps are warming up (I think we hit 85 the other day) and everything is greening up (before it turns brown again over the summer). I've been working on greening up my own space too. But that's for another post. On to the craftiness!

I've worked just a bit on my poncho, but not enough to show any real progress. I did have a couple knitting FOs though! First up, Brickless from the skein of handspun I finished in March.

Brickless, paid pattern by Martina Behm

It's already in it's new home. My mother loves lilacs so I sent this shawl to her for her birthday in April since the yarn is shades of lilac and green. =) I've had this pattern for ages, but hadn't gotten the urge to knit it until now. Not sure what took me so long. It was a lot of fun to knit and a super simple pattern to memorize. I just had to glance at the pattern to see how many to bind off for the different sections. I may make another of these some day for myself.

Next, I grabbed a skein of yarn I dyed myself back in the Fall of 2013. I kept holding onto the skein for the perfect project and thought I'd found the perfect match with the Shard shawl I snagged when the designed had a coupon code for a free pattern recently. Here's the skein:

It's color blocked with sections dyed in blue/green, blue/purple and grey. I've seen a few finished Shard shawls online and really wanted to make one. I'm not entirely happy with my result:

Shard shawl, paid pattern by Romi Hill

I in no way think this is the fault of the pattern, though I really think this needs to be a 2 skein shawl with more repeats than the pattern calls for. I only had the one skein and no way to recreate it so I took my chances. What I ended up with was an awesomely textured, tiny shawl. The depth is fine, but the length isn't something I'd ever use. I still need to block it and I'm guessing it'll grow some, but I don't think it'll grow enough. I'll decide after blocking what its fate will be. I may frog it or I may just move on and donate this one. Some people do like small shawlettes... Either way, I may very well knit this again with more yardage. The pattern is very easy to follow and memorize.

At the same time I started the Shard, I caked up another skein to try out a Pinch shawl. Two projects involving tons of short rows probably wasn't the best idea. lol

Pincha shawl, free pattern by Pinpilan Wangsai

What you see above? Yep, it still looks like that. I haven't frogged it yet, but I think I will. Nothing against the pattern. I've seen some awesome finished objects! But it's all short rows that you really have to pay attention to and I think I got my fill of short rows for awhile. ;-)

Not much sewing happened last month, but I did sew up a few very useful bags for my little backyard garden space!

I picked up a roll of landscape fabric and pulled out my serger that was already set up with some polyester thread and whipped out several planters in no time. I've been debating between doing containers or a raised bed or possibly just digging up a larger space in my yard than I used last summer to avoid the cost of materials and soil. I've been planting perennials (lots of berries!) around the edges though so space was dwindling if I didn't want to cut too far into doggie space. My yard is tiny and frankly, I wasn't excited about weeding and didn't really have the budget for a lot of materials so... containers won! ;-) And these were super easy! And cheap!! Win-win. I just cut off a section of fabric, folded in half and seamed up both sides. Then I boxed the bottom corners. I folded the tops down to give a smidge more stability. I played around with the sizing and finally settled on a good size then planted away until I ran out of dirt. Once I get more soil, I'll whip up a few more of these for the seeds I have started in little peat pots. The dirt in my yard is about half rocks (yep, lots of fun planting my trees) so containers mean mobility and good dirt. I'm sure the plants would thank me if they could. =)

So, not a ton of crafting last month, but it all made me happy. Okay, the one didn't so much but frogging it won't bum me out either. lol I'm hoping to actually finish the poncho in May and I already have a pair of socks on the needles... it's been ages since I knit socks! For me it's all about crafting what's making me happy though so it's all good.

Until next time, I hope you all craft what makes you happy! =)

March craftiness

We're halfway through April now, but it's not too late for a crafty update for March, right?

I slacked a bit on the knit poncho, not keeping up with knitting a full repeat a day as I'd started out doing in February. I've made some progress, but it's not nearly as close to being completed as I'd expected.

Lace Cotton Ponchette, pattern by windloop

Remember the fiber I found at the thrift store? It's now yarn!

638 yds, 249 grams

I love how this turned out! I used about 4 ounces of undyed BFL from my stash as the second ply to stretch the yardage. I love spinning big skeins so I have more options when I decide to make the handspun into something. I've actually finished a project with this skein already, but more on that later.

I also did a bit of sewing last month. Since I've cracked the code to finding the best secondhand deals, I've been picking up some items to disassemble and make into new items. Such fun! I've found some nice cotton men's shirts and had a few ideas floating around in my head I wanted to try out:

A thrifted cotton shirt & wool skirt and a yard of organic cotton from my fabric stash became a nice tote bag and drawstring project bag. =)

A wool suit jacket, cotton shirt, polyester tie & snaps were all thrift store finds and became a nice little project bag! Plenty of extras leftover for more projects too. 

The boys all hung out with me in the craft room while I sewed. I think they're enjoying their new bed. Notice, Phoebe is absent. lol She chose to sleep in the small bed on the antique sewing machine alone rather than pile in with everyone else.

It's not just eco-friendly to shop secondhand, it's a whole lot of fun too! =)

green your holidays, Easter edition

Easter is coming!

As a kid, our Easter egg hunts always involved hard boiled chicken eggs that we had collected from our own hens and then had the fun of dyeing ourselves. Our baskets were macrame over wire frames and the "grass" was fluffed out yarn ends permanently in place. While I'm sure the yarn was petroleum based (it was the 70s after all), they were sturdy and reusable year after year. I'm sure those baskets are still hiding away in a box in my mom's basement.

What, you don't have indestructible Easter baskets from your youth? Well, look no further than your local thrift shop for a plethora of options! This was the basket selection at one shop local to me recently:

Plenty of options and very reasonable prices too! So that covers the basket, how about a cute bunny to put in it?

Okay, the bunnies got photobombed by a bear, but there were even more bunnies that didn't make it in this shot. And how cute is that puppy in bunny ears?? Maybe you're looking for something less soft and cuddly?

There's plenty to choose from! Skip the plastic Easter grass and maybe use a pretty scarf scrunched up in the basket instead (they have plenty of those too!). Bandanas would work nicely for a boy. :-)

When looking for pre-made sweet snacks to add in, look for ones wrapped in foil rather than plastic. The foil can be made into a ball and once it's a few inches big (check your local guidelines for specific size requirements), it can be added to your recycling! Of course, making your own sweets can eliminate even the recyclable materials. ;-)

Shopping secondhand not only takes away the need for so many new products to be made which saves resources, but it also saves you cash (those stuffed animals were only $1-2 each!) and your money will go to a great cause. Sounds like a great way to celebrate Easter to me! :-)

February craftiness

February didn't see a lot of yarny crafting, but I did begin a new project! The warmer weather inspired me to cast on a light poncho for walks when a t-shirt isn't enough, but a jacket is overkill. ;-) Yes, we've already experienced days like this. I've even taken the boys on walks in just a t-shirt already! Hello, global warming!

So off I went in search of a pattern, beginning with those available for free or already in my current collection of patterns. If you knit or crochet and haven't checked out Ravely and their awesome pattern search functions, you really should! I was able to not only search for free/already owned patterns, but also choose the yarn weight (sport, in this case) and yardage range as well as the type of project (poncho). I found a pattern that caught my eye and realized I likely did not have quite enough yardage to complete the project with the stash yarn I had in mind. So what's a good non-new product-shopper to do? Get creative, of course!

My solution? I pulled two different yarns from my stash that I thought would play well together:

Aslan Trends Class in jungle green and Louet Euroflax in kiwi lime

After a repeat or two, I knew I'd made a wise choice. I love the fabric I'm getting! I considered swapping off the yarns with each pattern repeat resulting in wider stripes, but instead went with alternating the skeins every other row. This has quickly become my favorite way to knit with variegated yarns. Not only did this mean I wouldn't have a ton of ends to weave in (woo!), but alternating the skeins would break up any pooling I might get with the variegated colorways on their own. Because I chose two yarns with similar colors, the striping is subtle and the resulting fabric is simply variegated overall. Added bonus? The cotton/viscose yarn is soft and pretty - the bamboo lending some sheen to the project - but it's also super splitty making it a bit of a pain to work with. The linen is a bit rough on the hands, but not splitty at all. Alternating skeins gives me a break from each yarn's drawbacks and makes this a much more enjoyable project to knit. :-)

Lace Cotton Ponchette, free pattern by windloop

Gus decided to help with the photoshoot. ;-)

I still have many, many repeats to go, but I'm making progress! I've keeping up with an average of a repeat a day so far and am nearing the halfway mark. The linen will soften up considerably once it's washed too so this should be a comfy wrap with a nice drape when finished. All the details can be found here (including a couple corrections to the pattern).

What else have I been up to? I picked up a puzzle from Goodwill and definitely got my $3 worth putting all 1000 pieces together to form this:

Cafe at Night by Vincent Van Ghogh

For the record, impressionist paintings do not make for easy puzzles. ;-) This one took me 9 days, start to finish. For any puzzle lovers, check out the thrift stores! I see puzzles that are still sealed fairly regularly. My guess is they were unused gifts. Yay for passing them along for others to enjoy! :-) Selection is more limited than a store, but you can't beat the price! And if you're a gambler, go for one that's been opened but be forewarned that pieces may or may not be missing. A friend just got one that was missing 1 piece. :-/ But I've heard others have had good luck with pre-loved puzzles. Hopefully this one gets picked up again by someone. It's already beed disassembled, the box taped up and put in my donation bag. If you do have a puzzle with missing pieces, remember, they're paper and recyclable!

Good thing that got finished fairly quickly so I could have my sewing table back though because I also picked this up last week:

Goodwill puts everything with a specified color tag half off each week to move things out before they get pulled and shipped to their Outlet stores. I rarely find anything I need with the sale tags, but I also rarely look at the clothing. The thrift store near my house has a similar tactic, but they sell anything with the specified color tag for only $0.49! No matter what it was selling for originally. I picked up a nice picture frame recently from there that happened to have the right color tag and it's now hanging on my bedroom wall. I plan to eventually replace the current print in it with one of my own - just have to decide which image and have it printed. Anyhoo, I stopped in last week and decided to take a peek at the men's suit jackets to maybe find one I could repurpose into doggie wear. What did I find?

Yep. Cashmere. For $0.49. :-) I also picked up a 100% wool suit jacket for the same price. I'll soon have the best dressed dogs in town! You better believe I'll be browsing this section again down the road. I have the first nearly completed:

I started with the wool coat and used a harness I have for them as a jumping off point and made a few changes. Fits great! I just need to finish the fasteners. Amazingly, I didn't have appropriate buttons so I headed back to the thrift store this week to see what I could find in the ultra cheap clothing.

Cheap, secondhand buttons galore!

I found two dresses with lots of buttons - 11 from one, 10 from the other! While looking, I spotted the embroidered brown cotton skirt. It just screams bag to me. :-) It even has a nice coconut shell buckle I can reuse. So, I'm good on buttons now and will of course repurpose the fabric from the dresses as well.

Last Fall, I found a ridiculous deal on a feather comforter and duvet cover ($5!) and I finally pulled it out and got to work after finding a big pet basket (also $5) at the thrift store. Super easy project! I reused the original closure section from the duvet cover so I only had to cut out the oval shape and stitch it up. For the stuffing, I only had to run one seam down the comforter next to a stitch line already present (it was stitched in a grid pattern already) so I could cut off just the amount I needed.

Took a little patience wrangling the comforter through my sewing machine and made a bit of a feathery mess, but totally worth it!

There's room for both dogs and a cat... or Phoebe.

I'll probably make another critter bed with the remaining comforter and duvet fabric, but I doubt I'll be bringing home another feather anything. I think I'll be vacuuming up feathers forever as it is. LOL

In case you missed it, I also recorded a tour of my craft room a couple weeks ago. :-)