I've Been Sewing

I know I've mentioned Craftsy on this blog before. It is such a great place to learn new things. I love their format and the fact that you can access your classes forever!! 

They have a lot of sewing classes on Craftsy. The first sewing class that I took was a freebie!! It's called "Bag Making Basics" by Kristin Link. The class walks you through making a drawstring bag and a bucket bag. 

I made this cute little drawstring project bag using the techniques learned in this class. I am first and foremost a knitter and a knitter can never have too many project bags. 

The "W.I.P." is embroidered and stands for Work IN Progress. Most knitters would recognize this terminology and would not need to have this explained. 

There are a lot of other little abbreviations that knitters use on a regular basis such as LYS and FO ... But this is a topic for another future blog post.  I wonder is this type of thing found in other hobbies? 

I encourage you all to check out the classes on Craftsy. You are sure to find something that interests you. They have classes on drawing and cake decorating. Photography, calligraphy and bread making! And of course there are loads of knitting, crocheting and quilting classes. They even have classes on spinning! As someone who discovered the magic of spinning entirely online and as such am entirely self taught - the spinning classes in particular make me so happy. 

Living this far north and in a town that is very isolated, I don't have many opportunities to take classes like this. But  Craftsy makes everything so accessible.  I love it. 

I'm so happy with this little bag that it is already housing a new WIP. Any guesses?

If you guessed self striping socks - you are correct!! That seems to be all I want to knit lately - which is really a blessing given the size of my self striping sock yarn stash. 

It really is a little shameful. But, isn't this yarn beautiful?? It's called "Purple Haze" by White Birch Fibre Arts.  This dyer is on etsy and is definitely worth checking out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some bags to sew. 

A Mystery

A lot of designers host these mystery knit alongs.   A clue is given every so often and the participants go off and knit the clue.  I've seen several of these on the Ravelry boards, and while they have always piqued my interest, I've never participated.  But along comes a mystery KAL by my one of my favorite designers.  I just couldn't resist.   I know, its only 34 days or so before Christmas.  I have lots on my plate.  I have to finish knitting this hooded scarf thing, that my mother specifically asked for this summer when she was here.  The good news  is, that its almost finished.  I love when I'm enjoying knitting something so much that it almost knits itself.  Well, thats the way its been with this hooded scarf. 

 The yarn is shamrock by Knitpicks in the colour
Dougherty.  I was not expecting to enjoy this yarn or even this pattern this much.  What a nice surprise.  

I did some sewing this week too.  I visited Heather's  Ranger group.  We made some Little Dresses for Africa     I had intended to send them to the blog writer in this link.  But, one of the girls in this picture has a brother who is currently getting ready to go to Benin, Africa through Canada World Youth.  We will be sending them  to him, so that he can distribute them to needy girls in that part of the world.  The dresses turned out super cute and they were pretty easy to make too.                                                   

So, about that mystery.  I'm still not sure what it is.  I've just about finished knitting clue one.  And this is what it looks like.  At this point it could be anything.  A hat?  Maybe?  This could be the band.  Its only 3 inches wide.  Not mittens, I really don't think.  The genius part about many of Lee's patterns is that they are any gauge, so that practically any yarn can be used.  I'm using Paton's SWS for the stripes and Briggs and Little softspun is the blue background.  I'm liking it so far - whatever it is.

A sewing post - and a craft by Kev!

I swear,  Kev made something!!  But first, I wanted to show off the little bingo caddy that I made.  It actually turned out to be not so little.  I've sewn this project before, and I found it ran a little small, especially on the base.  This time I wanted it a little larger, so I just kind of made it up as I went along, using the pattern more as a recipe.  The pattern can be found here by the way.   I used some more of the fabric that I got from the 99 cent dress from Old Navy.  I love it, and I still have enough for another bingo caddy, maybe two, if I don't make it so friggin huge. Its hard to tell from the photos, but trust me...huge.  And here is a close up of the cute little needle felted beads that I put on the ends of the ties. 


This past week, I had to give a little talk about spinning to my Trefoil Guild members.  I brought my wheel in to show the ladies, and I also brought along my spindle.  I showed off  my handspun yarns and all my fibers.  And.....I had Kev make them each a spindle for them to take home and try themselves.  Here he is holding them all.  I am so proud of his work.  Each spindle is well balanced, and seems to spin great.  The girls seemed to enjoy the talk and demonstrations.  I'm not sure that I convinced any of them to take spinning up as a hobby, but I really tried. 

What I've been up to.

Its been a while since I've blogged.  So much for my resolution to blog more, but in my defence, I was ill.  Strep throat to be precise.  And at the worse possible time.  I went to visit Amy last week.  I had all of these plans to go yarn shopping.  I even had Kev convinced to go wheel shopping with me.  He even knew that I was talking about a spinning wheel, not actual tires or a vehicle.   All that I managed to do (in the fibre realm) was to buy some books and magazines.  I did get to take in some amazing performances by the students of Bishop's University.  Other than that, I slept.  And took medication. 

Prior to our trip, I got on a crochet jag.  Brought about by National Crochet month and our little CAL on Ravelry.  So here is a look at some crochet projects that I've been working on.

This is the Bella Dress from the most recent issue of Interweave Crochet.  I finally broke down and bought a subscription.  This was my first issue and I was not dissappointed.  This little dress features a fabric skirt sewn in after.  I just love the coordinating fabric.  It came from a tent dress that I bought from Old Navy on sale for 99cents!!  I guess I'm still in denial that Heather is having another boy.  I really wanted this dress to be for her new baby.  Maybe she'll still let me put it on him.





This is the Noro Catherine Wheel Scarf.  I'm making mine out of a ball of Zauberbal Crazy and one ball of Knit Pick Palette.  I love how its working up.  This was my go to project on our little trip.  Normally, I knit or crochet like a bandit while travelling.  Sadly, I hardly worked on it at all.  That just goes to show you, how sick I really felt.