WANT!!

Marfy pattern F-1961. I've been getting back issues of Tauntan's Threads magazine at the library to read sewing articles, techniques and stuff. My favorite part of the magazine is there pattern reviews. I don't' remember which issue it was, but they review this Marfy coat pattern. LOVE IT!! The thing that always gets me is when they show an actual pic of what the staff or pattern tester created. That's what sold me!! Someday soon....I'll have enough mad skills to create this for myself. :)

Long time no see...

Life has been a whirlwind in my neck of the woods. Even before my absence from blogland. Weekend after weekend of busy-ness, and not just two day weekends. Oh no...some as long as five days. But that's how summers are right?? I think we're making up for last summer of absolutely no traveling because I was pregnant. Well....here's what I've been up to...the 4th of July the boys were baptized. After a meeting with our pastor on how the ceremony will proceed and how to dress them, we decided on robing them after being baptized. A few days later I described over the phone what I designed after a little research and the pastor approved. SO...I set to work on my first ever muslin pattern....Here's toddler modeling his muslin while not being distracted from his movie. Believe it or not, this stripe fabric was cheaper than muslin. I had hit a 50% off red tag sale at JoAnn's. I was pretty stoked to work on my first muslin pattern to create a final product. After three days of stressing over both my toddlers and 10-mo-old muslin patterns, I finally got it figured out and got to work with the white linen. Here's the un-ironed finished product....
It's designed after the Alb. Why you ask?? I really don't know since that's the robe style of a pastor. (I do tend to create things on the costumey side...I'm not sure if this was truly okay or not though). They both turned out AWESOME and my craftsmanship on them are SUPERB!! (not to brag any) I used single fold bias tape on every seam and velcro to close on the top at the left shoulder. The finished pattern ended up being SO SIMPLE! Looking back I don't know why it took me three days to figure that out. Oh wait...because it was my first time and I've never pattern drafted before! haha!

Well, that's not all I've been up to...more to come this week...

Splurging...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! I don't recall the true reason behind the day, but it's been one that has been celebrated all around me since I was born...due to where I grew up. I grew up in an area that has a very large hispanic population. Now that I think about it, I find it funny that a few of my favorite drinks are actually margaritas and mojitos!! haha!

I FINALLY decided on an Amy Butler sewing pattern...it was a toss up between this one and her Sophia carry-all. I finally decided that I didn't want to deal with any piping around the edge, so I went with this:It even comes with a diaper changing pad pattern! Woohoo! Now...do I have enough of anything in my stash to make it?? The outside takes over a yard and the lining is over three yards!! YOWZA!! Hmmm...I guess I'll have to save that answer for another day...a day I can dig through my stash.I also bought some REALLY COOL laminated fabric to make more diaper covers!!! Yeeheee!!! However, it's already after sunset so I don't have good picture light....again, maybe another day.

Crazy Holidays!

I see that I haven't posted for over a month...which goes to show that I've been crazy busy with this holiday season. It all started in November with the Enchanted Forest Ornament Swap AND a mystery knit-a-long on Ravelry with Woolly Wormhead. It turns out I chose to knit Everglade which she now sells on her website. It is SUPER FUN to knit up, but I still need to finish it. That's one of my holiday knitting projects. However, I created a second hedgehog for someone...it just got mailed today so I won't say who. :) I've started testing another knitting pattern for the Ravelry group for test knitters. Turns out that I chose to work on Hermione's Beaded Bag, (hopefully this link will work for you non-ravelrers) inspired by the 7th Harry Potter book, SO COOL!! It's turning out to be more time consuming than expected largely due to my idea of beading the beads to create a pattern instead of just stringing on one color of beads. WHY did I do this to myself?? On top of that, I get to test knit Kudzu Kuffs, which are Twilight inspired knitted wrist warmers, also on Ravelry, also SO COOL, which I will be making for my mom for Christmas. Should I be mentioning this?? Mom?? How often do you read my blog?? This pattern will be available for purchase next year. I've managed to finish my gauge swatch, so now I'm ready to cast on. Don't think I'll get these done in the next 6 days, so I'm going to give my mom the pattern, needles and skein of yarn with however much I have completed by Christmas. I wanted to get a package in the mail to Wisconsin...however the items for that package are incomplete as well...yet another top secret craft project. :) Last, but not least, I wanted to knit my husband a beanie hat. I have the pattern, which was a free download (Mr. Tom's Beanie, another by Woolly Wormhead, THANK YOU WW!!), I have the yarn and needles, I'm just running out of time. Again, another gift of the pattern and yarn skeins. However, I did manage to find this woodworking project for him and it arrived pretty promptly in the mail. I hope he digs it and is excited to build it for baby. I want to encourage his hobbies, I just hope he finds wood working a hobby. I hope you all have enjoyed this non-picture post, I'm hoping the number of links makes up for that. Since it may be a while before I get on again...

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Contests and Giveaways

Well, I submitted my bracelet for the semi-precious gemstone contest last night. YEAY!! Wish me luck! I'll find out more around April 17. I think I'm going to put together a tutorial on how to make it, it was pretty fun and easy. Although, before I get carried away, I need to finish my Golden Compass Lyra Hat from this post. I need to keep my promises. I'm also almost done with my PIF...another big YEAY!!! I've been so excited to show it, until I get it to the lucky receiver, it's a top secret project. Here's a sneak peak though...

This isn't my picture, but it's a free pattern from another blog that I took a part of from and created something different. I'll tell all in good time.

On another note...it's looking as if our Etsy shop is dwindling. I'm considering letting all the items expire and posting new and different product. I've been looking into ideas of mine, some are saturated already on Etsy, some have none at all. I'd like to sell something that is desired but not overly sold already. We didn't get many bites, nor sales, with the jewelry and buttons, but they are both areas on Etsy where's there's plenty to look at. It would have helped if we added new product weekly. My mom, aunt and I all work full time and just didn't get to it as often as we should have. We shall see!

Happy Valentines Day!

A day late, but that's okay! I currently don't have a computer at home. I came to visit my parents who live 3 hours away and am using theirs to catch up. The little one and I had a full day with our friend, we had lunch, then went to a movie, then went to the mall to have a snack and play in the kiddie area. By the time we got home we were exhausted!

A couple years ago I went and saw The Golden Compass. Towards the end of the movie, Lyra, the main character, was wearing a knitted hat in the fight scene. Since I had an infant at the time I just HAD to find the pattern online and make one in blue for him. I ended up finding a few blogs that provided knitted patterns and upon making them, found that there were a few areas I was unhappy with. I ended up changing the patterns I found and created one of my own. Here's a pic of the current one on the needles...


It was for my friends daughter for Christmas, I believe it's a little too big and since it's not finished I'm saving it for next year. I'm currently working on writing up the pattern, hopefully I'll figure out how to add it to the blog as a downloadable pdf. But for those who would like a sneak preview, here's a list of materials:

LYRA HAT (from The Golden Compass)

Materials:
1 Skein Lion Brand Wool Ease, color: Natural Heather
1 Pair 19mm US 35 Knitting Needles

Gauge:
Using both ends of the skein and doubling up the yarn: 6 stitches and 7 rows to 4 inches of stockinette stitch.

Pattern:
STAY TUNED!


Here's another WIP I started a few years ago. I finally finished the main body of it. It was a free Red Heart pattern I got at JoAnn's Fabrics for a knit cell phone cover. At the time I started it, my mom had still had a really OLD phone that would have fit into it once it was hemmed up and a flap and handle were added. Recently she finally got a new phone so the size will not work but it is a good size for an eyeglass cover. I thought I would line it with a soft flannel fabric and still add the flap and handle. It was my first cable pattern. I wanted a challenge and it ended up being very fun!