Notion Pouches

As I've been using my own personal project bags, like I sell on Etsy, I have been wanting something to put my extra knitting needles and notions in. I have a cosmetic bag that I began using but I keep opening it to see what is inside. You see I have no short term memory so I keep forgetting what I put in there. Out of sight out of mind. It's why I drop things in my hand if I don't keep playing with them. This brain can be a real pain. These two needs, a notion pouch and a peek a boo side led to the creation of these notion pouches.

 

So I headed to the fabric store with an idea and bought zippers and vinyl. 

 

Further complicating things was I wanted to create something that didn't have seams that my knitting needles would catch in.

With these ideals and a basic idea I began my pouch first by sewing on a zipper to the vinyl. I ripped that out and added fabric before the vinyl. Sew rip, sew rip, that was all I did for two days during the time I had to work on the project. 

In frustration I turned to the Internet but nothing was like what I had in mind. The tricky part being the seams which left me full of frustration. This owl pouch was eventually tossed, minus the zipper which I saved and used on another pouch. 

I used 7 inch and 9 inch zippers trying out different sized vinyl pieces and ...

different heights, too tall, too short and finally just right. emerged. Now I have all sizes of pouches with nothing really wrong with them except they weren't just right like the blue one. That means I'll have four pouches at an inexpensive price of $5.00 and the blue one which will be the standard will go for $10.00.  Give me until tomorrow and I'll have them up on Etsy. 

Project Bags

 Yeah, a day for The Calico Bush shop. Not many of those have been available lately. My goal is for that to dramatically change so stop by the shop. I'm putting up items as fast as my fingers can fly across the keys. I've at least four more project bags to post in the next couple days alone. That's not mentioning the buttons and livestock bags I need to get up. 

And new items are still being made. Today, I'm going to attempt to creating a notion bag with a see through front and a zipper. Something I've been in need of myself. 

And Dawn, I can't get that double knitting out of my mind. I'm watching U-tube video late at night to see how it's done and figuring what Scandinavian pattern to try converting to a double knit pattern so I can create a warm winter hat.  Sorry, squirrel moment there. My mind wondered. Probably because last night was one of those nights I was watching double knit u-tubes.

The bulk of the day was taken up with grand kids and chores. Cute as they are, I did text my daughter toward the end of the day and said. "I'm done, she's yours." Our youngest, who is seven months old, acts like a premadonna some days and is a demanding handful. She wanted fed upteen times yesterday. The other three kids, aren't bad at all to watch but they do come in a package of four. Sometimes I get to sneak one or two out by themselves. Boy is that a treat.

Today is a luxury I'm going to fully enjoy. Have you noticed that the project bags you are seeing in this blog, which by the way I just put up in my shop this morning, have a theme? It's funny but when I go shopping, which fabrics stores are far and few between around here, (but JoAnn's is coming 40 miles away. I can hardly wait yeah!!!) (woops, another squirrel moment there.) I invariably always come out of the store with fabric in the same theme or basic color. I can't figure out why. One of the mysteries of the fabric world.

 

One time it was all fabrics with a brown theme, another time is was all blues. This time it ended up being pine cones. I could really go bonkers over natural theme fabrics. Don't see a great many of them though. That tells me something. Maybe we are a narrower audience.

 

Luckily, I'm a bit eclectic. I can appreciate and enjoy a large variety of artistry. It doesn't mean I want to take it all home. So in selection of fabrics for project bags, I try and carry a broad style of fabrics with a bit of class. One thing I don't carry is cutesy. Others are doing it and it is not my thing anyway so I stay away from those fabrics. What I'm trying to say is, if you don't see what you like, check back. Project bags are dependent on the stores selections and your style my just be what I happen to find on my shopping trips.

Lately, I have been in heaven sewing. One night I couldn't stop until three in the morning. I LOVE pine cones and the fabric just kept calling to me, "Don't quit now. See how pretty I'm turning out?" Think I'm crazy? Well, I'm here to inform you I lost it years ago and I'm having so much fun I'm not going to every be sane again.

Oh yeah, and by the way, this fabric comes in a large and a small  bag size.

Reversible Knitting

It's all your fault Dawn. You mentioned reversible knitting and I couldn't help but wonder. You had to know that would happen. My overly curious brain fires off questions about everything. So what did I do, look of course. But first the ladies room was calling so I took some reading material with me, a KNITS magazine that had gotten wet in the laundry room. I thought this was a good moment to glance through it and rip out the pages I wanted and toss the rest.

 Low and behold, there was an article about reversible knitting. It had to be a sign. But disappointment followed when I learned that there was just a lot of talk and no pattern. Talk is cheap and does nothing to still my cravings. What I need is a pattern. Particularly to this hat. It is WA>>>>Y cool. 

And so in my feverish state I left the thrown room and went toodling off around on the Internet looking for reversible knits, double knits and any other words I could think of that might describe the method. I came up with a few scarf patterns that didn't interest me and one beautiful Norwegian type sweater without a pattern but nothing like this awesome hat.

I'm begging you. Where is the patterns? I'll buy a book if it has lots of great designs. No, I'm not an afghan kind of gal. I prefer quilts or this one would trip my trigger but alas I didn't find a pattern for it either.

 I want Scandinavian sweaters and cool hats done in reversible knits. Does this book exist? If so, help. My brain is on overdrive thinking how wonderful thick warm hats done in this method would be against our biting winter winds.

Candy Corn Halloween Costume

Our oldest grand daughter wants to be a candy corn for Halloween. Now that one threw me for a loop since it was so... different that the witches, fairies, princesses and such that most little girls want to be. When she stuck to the idea for over a month, I figured she was serious. After a while the idea really grew on me. I realized she wanted to be something creative and different. 

I had to admire her individuality and wonder if she was our budding artist? But I haven't had long to mull over that thought as I've had to wrap my head around how to create the costume. Hm... something that is cute and won't let our grand daughter, who's being tested for learning disabilities (they run rampid in our family), feel more ostracized for. That's why the idea of a cardboard candy cane that slung over her shoulders was thrown out.

For inspiration I hit the good ole Internet and sat down with our grand daughter to see what she liked and disliked. "Yes, dear grand daughter ,the white Go Go boots and long white gloves are great but sorry, the are out of budget." So this is what I came up with. A little off from my original idea since the skirt pattern was more confusing than Seattle's I-5 in a down pour at rush hour. I've been there.

With patterns running up to twenty some dollars, I settled for a cheap one but did it have to be so completely confusing. I sew better than I knit. having made everything from underwear to coats, but multiple skirt styles being explained at the same time, this is for A, B, C, E. While this part is for C, E, F, and this part is for.... and before I'd gotten through the first section my head was swimming in confusion. When I looked at the outside of the pattern I thought it was created in a simple manner I'd done before. Nope, why do simple when complicated would do seemed to be their theme. Bu

But before this, not having read anything but the back of the pattern, I tried to guess how much fabric I needed of the two colors orange and yellow. None of the pattern's styles called for two colors so it was no help.

With the fabric store a three hour drive away, I sat down to cut the skirt out and discovered I hadn't bought enough yellow fabric to follow the cutting instructions. That's when I read and re-read and re-read the instructions trying to figure out what in the world I was suppose to do with the pattern pieces. I finally threw up my hands and used four of the pattern pieces and went my own way. I put the skirt together from memory of past skirts I'd made. It worked and that's all that counts.

Skirt complete I moved on to sewing felt candy cane pieces on to an inexpensive sweatshirt. Using that same felt fabric, I glued together smaller candy corn peices and attached them to pipe cleaners to be wound around a black head band so that they stuck up like antennaes. 

The candy cane costume complete, I moved on to finish the three -year-olds fairy costume. Her mom and I found the sparklies for it in the Christmas isle of Hobby Lobby of course three hours away. We live in the Toolies out here, miles from anything. The ribbon for the waist band was created by sewing two ribbons together. Did you know every color under the sun is in fashion for Christmas decorations? Okay, squirrel but now I'm curious, what colors do you use? Okay, that was way off the subject but but that's how my brain works, flitting here and there like a squirrel.

Of course this fairy costume has been created after weeks of asking her what she wanted to be and her giving me a different answer. Finally it dawned on me, she didn't care as long as it had wings. She confirmed that with, " I just want to fly Grandma."  The costume has a few unique touches, after all I made it and the grand daughter wearing it is much like me.

I'll show you pictures and we'll talk again, if I survive Wednesday. It's my usual day to babysit while our daughter works. The three year old, the six month old, and I have story time in the morning at the library. Then lunch for our skimpy eater and the chow hound plus hopefully a nap for our six month old or she will be CRANKY. 

Then a dash to the school with the two youngest to dress the two older girls for a party at 2:00. The real challenge being I have to somehow figure out how to hold the hand of the three year old and carry the six month old while holding two costumes on hangers plus food treats for the two different classrooms. I'm not an octopus as I frequently tell the children when they all want something at once. So please wonderful wise readers of this blog. How am I going to pull this one off? Anyone volunteering to come with me?  

The day will have just begun as after school is a Halloween party at the library while the three year old has ballet lessons. Then their mom and I will do supper and who all is going trick or treating I'm not sure. Hopefully this chronically fatigued women will still be standing and not look like something the cat drug in when my hubby comes home and needs fed.  He doesn't get home until the kid's bedtime.  I'll let you know how it went on Thursday.

What a Bone Head!

 Idiot at work here. Think I'm kidding. What would you call someone who was making socks toe up two at a time and used the book knitting one sock toe up instead? Yup, that is the book I had with me at the time and thinking two authors probably had somewhat the same take on the subject, I didn't stop. I kept going. I knitted the whole two gussets on two at a time toe up socks. I was wrong. Gussets done and ready to do the heel flap, the realization of my BIG boo boo stared me in the face as, home once more, I compared the two books.

Too bad, so sad but I'm not taking all those knitted rows out. It would be fifty some rows when you combine two socks for I increased from 30 stitches to 52 stitches with a 2 stitch increase ever other row.  I'm going to figure a way out of this problem if I have to do one sock flap at a time and then put back on the circular needle. That's later though, I'm spinning right now. 

I guess that is what happens when you grab and go in a hurry or grab and go and go and go. Five trips out of town, two of them ten hour trips in a week and a half and I had my socks with me but the wrong book the whole time.

I'll learn. The hard or wrong way of course for that is my M.O. Some say it makes me a good teacher. A sympathetic one anyway. I can definitely tell you that I've done worse most of the time. What a bone head. LOL Does it stop me, NEVER. I just take a break and then put my head down and keep moving. The destination has to be out there somewhere. LOL 

But I needed a bit of a break before I figured out how to get out of this mess so I've been spinning to calm my frazzled nerves. Not just the socks are jangling them. 

Out came the luxurious clouds of Blue-Leicester wool. It is what a gal at Interweave Press recommended for beginners. The wool is quite different than the typical Leicester wool. This wool has the long, long staple length but is buttery with a wonderful creamy sheen.

I have some wonderful camel down which I LOVE, LOVE but inch long fibers wasn't what I needed during a stress filled time of year so I'm so... glad I tucked away over a pound of this easy, relaxing wool to treadle my cares away.

Wish Projects

With teaching my grand daughter to do Tunisian crochet, I couldn't help but wonder. You know my mind doesn't hold still for even a moment. I got to wondering about how easy a sweater would be to create from this dense style of crochet. A baby sweater for our youngest grand daughter would be an awesome project. I'm not normally a crocheter as I contain my efforts to lace, and embellishment with crochet.  It's because I'm prejudice. I don't like holey things. I want warmth against our cold Wyoming winds. Now the bottom of a knitted sweater is pretty nice to add crochet to and around baby blankets because the flannel provides the warmth but I'm not a summer sweater kind of gal so for me crochet is out. 

 

Then my mind took hold of a thought. What could I do to encourage my grand daughter to keep crochet up as a past time? At least until I can teach her to knit that is?  I realized the answer was that she needs to see something to inspires her. So off I went in search of just such a sweater made from Tunisian crochet. This sweater by Carla JC at For Baby Creations was just what I had imagined, okay, almost. I hadn't imagined the bottom lacy feature or the cool strip that divides the yoke from the body of the sweater but the general concept was what was in mind.

 

Unfortunately, this pattern isn't available but, I'm tempted to try and create my own with the help of an expert, our daughter, Toni. It may not look just like this but what I make never does end up just like the pattern anyway.

 

I wonder Toni is up for such an adventure? First though, I need to find a Tunisian crochet hook and some yarn for the project. Knit Picks doesn't have any so where do I look?

Then again maybe I'll knit this hat first. It would look so... cute on our oldest grand daughter. And this hat even has a free pattern on Ravelry by The Yarn Owl called Nine Dwindling Cables. We...ll maybe not. This hat looks like lots of thinking and I'm already working on learning two at a time socks and from the toe up. Yeah, I'll copy the pattern and tuck it away for now.

 

 http://www.innerchildcrochet.com/patterns/files/appi_slopes.pdf

 

Now this one, I'm going to start when I get home. No beauty but it looks serviceable like me. It would make a good livestock chore cap, warm on the ears being double thick, and a visor to keep the snow from falling on my glasses obscuring my view.

 

Yup, this looks like a nice simple straight forward relaxing project. I'll dive in to something more complicated after I finish my socks.

 

How many projects do you have going at the same time? You can't have just one. It's like Lays potato chips.

What was I thinking?

I gave you the illusion that I was only making one pair of toe up socks but no... my story began with this book of Toni's. It's on an extended vacation from her house to mine . With this book I began two socks made from home-spun alpaca yarn on two sets of double point needles from the toe up.

You  probably know how that is working out. I've perfected the dumb founded look. The one where I panic because I've gotten so engrossed, merrily knitting along, that I've forgotten how many rows I've done increases on so I can knit a matching sock. This is despite of course the fact that I'm only suppose to be knitting a few rows and then switching to the other sock to knit a few rows. Hence, two socks on two sets of double point needles.

 

It's not my fault, completely that is for I was given a brain that repels numbers. I'm serious. They simply won't adhere. It makes me such a space cadet that when I do math problems, I have to write down every step. Because you can guarantee that at some point I'll forget what I've done and where I need to go and I'll either have to review or if I didn't write all the steps down, start all over again. Do math in my head. Are you kiding. Drove my poor kids nuts when I home-schooled them for they had to write down all the steps so I could help them with their math..

 

Of course they had learning disabilities of their own we had to find avenues around. It's contagious you know, spread by heredity on the mother's side. That's what the public school is telling our daughter as they begin testing our granddaughter. They are probably right for one of my daughters has the same numbers problem. I guess that means I can say it's all MY mother's fault. That blame game can go on and on.

  

So does the two socks knitted one and then the other have the same number of stitches on the same rows, hmmm, probably not, but they are both the same length measured with a ruler. Course one sock could have a couple tighter rows and need a third one to compensate. Who knows? I'm not counting super careful for I'll only have to do it again, and again, and again.

 

At least with the knitting two socks at the same time this is pretty hard to do. Of course you can forget to do increases on one side or the other. Yup, I ripped out rows a few times because of that. But over all things are going smoothly when I realize I'm going to have to create a heel and gusset and then...

up pops an advertizement on my e-mail for 40 % off sale on their books at Knit Picks. I just had to look. I HAD to -  40 % percent off was calling my name and who doesn't love a good sale?  Oh, sorry, I just said nanner, nanner, nanner didn't I?  I didn't share. My mother would have slapped me or use the wooden spoon on my behind.

 

Please forgive me. I checked. Yup, it's still on until the twenty something or other. Hurry and check it out for I do remember it was the early twenty something or was it the later? I told you. Numbers will not adhere to this brain. What's a girl to do? http://www.knitpicks.com/books/knitting_books.html

 

Go check out if I need another book of course. I DO! There is a top down sweater book. I've just got to try that. Sweaters carry there own set of worries for me but we'll talk about them later when I've finished these socks.

So anyway, the two at a time book arrives and like a kid, I couldn't wait to try it so I tossed aside the alpaca socks like a hot potatoe and pulled out two skeins of yak/bamboo yarn I'd stashed away for just such a day. Did I mention I have ADD?

Then I knitted those to the heel and disappointment of disappointments, I now have four socks that need heels. Oh the complications we ensue if we do not pursue one path instead of two. On the bright side I learn in a hurry really well the heel up method. But which one?  Out came the Sock Toe Up book.

 

It had three choises. After all I am in persuit of learning new things. Just which heel shall I try?   

 

The gusset heel looks like something that would wrap nicely around. Might be just the sock for our oldest who has narrow heels and can't keep slip on shoes on her feet because of it. Also I've never done it before.  Hmmmm...

Or I could do a slip stitch heel. That's the kind I usually do so it isn't anything new.

Or there is this short heel thing-a-ma-jig. There is something suspicious about it. I looked through two books and it is hardly ever chosen. What's wrong with it? Anybody know?

You are just going to have to check back to see what I've decided.  I can't get that 40% sale out of my mind to make a decision. 

I do know there is no 00 needle socks in my future. Dawn, what ever posessed you? LOL