sewing

Hats for Warmth Project, Te Ara Fingerless Mitts and Other Things.

/ LDSVenus / 2 Comments

It’s toward the end of the month and I haven’t posted. After finishing the wedding shawl I took a break from knitting for a month and just lost my knitting mojo and didn’t even finish the Christmas gift I was working on for someone I knit a gift for every year. Then the day after Christmas I lost my dad, so last year, with the pandemic and 2 Derechos we had and my dad’s passing, was just not a very good year for motivation.

I have finished a hat for what I call my Hats for Warmth project, which are hats to give to the homeless shelter. And I did pick up the fingerless mitts I was working on for that Christmas gift. I can at least get those done before she doesn’t need them this year anymore :p. It is the Te Ara Fingerless Mitts pattern by Rachel C. and is a free pattern. I am using some left over fingering yarn from the wedding shawl and will dye it some shade of lavender and am using my ChiaoGoo 9″ size 3 needles, it calls for a 4 but I knit rather loosely and tend to have to go down a size to get any gauge close to correctly. I need to get another set of those in a size 2, I have 1’s and 0’s for socks but tend to use the 0’s for the socks :). The sizing on this pattern has a lot of negative ease and looks small but stretches out quite a bit so unless you have pretty large hands I suggest the small size in the pattern.

I am using my Mandalorian progress keeper Mythosaur (an extinct Manadorian dragon that they use to tame and ride or kill wild to prove themselves) and the frog stitch marker like the one The Child (Grogu aka baby Yoda) ate in the series, was some funny stuff :p. The progress keeper and stitch marker set makes me smile and has helped pulled me out of the loss of my knitting mojo. The Mythosaur was a gift from AdoreKnit on Etsy. I have just ordered a new set of her stitch markers with a Mud Horn (Din Jarin’s signet by killing that beast and it becomes a symbol of his clan of 2 given to him by the the Mandalorian Armorer ) and a stitch marker set with a Mandalorian figure progress keeper and and a bar of Beskar (metal that makes his armor) stitch marker. Can you tell I love the Mandalorian series? They are making Star Wars fun again :). AdoreKnit markers are so much fun to use and they are well made, if you haven’t checked out her store, you should go look at all the stitch markers and progress keepers she has and she even sews some bags :).

I picked up some more yarn for the hats and some baby sweaters at Hobby Lobby as it was their bi weekly 30% off yarn sale week :). I have also been working with a younger family member on sewing. I’m not a sewist, but I can do basic things and can kinda sorta follow a pattern. I bought her a decent sewing machine for Christmas and she was excited to start using it. So far we have just practiced threading it, winding the bobbin, and using the stitches with white thread on black cloth so she can see what she is doing and what the stitches it comes with looks like. She bought herself a pattern for a toy to sew, but of course it needed a furry fabric so I have convinced her to wait to make it until we practice on more stuff first. I thought maybe an easy quilt square she can frame to put up in her room or give as a framed gift. Something with straight stitches and pretty easy to sew but looks amazing when done for some self confidence before moving on to harder things :). I’ve always thought quilting looks like magic with cloth :).

Hoping for a better year and wishing the same for you all as well.

Owl Knot Bag :)

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Owl Knot Bag a

Owl Knot bag b

Well a special family member loves owls and asked me for a bag to show her love for those little critters.  So we went shopping for the fabric and there were two she had a hard time choosing from so I bought them both and used the larger print for the outside and the smaller print for the inside, tho it’s reversible and she can change it if she wants :).

I am knitting on the Mother of All Shawl and only have 1 1/2 mini skeins to go.  Hopefully I will be done by Sunday :).  It’s really a fun and relaxing knit and is really pretty.  I haven’t taken an updated picture but will take a picture of it when it is finished and blocked. 🙂  Then I can get back tho those socks I am almost ready to turn the heel on.

Yarn Therapy Knot Bag

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Yarn Therapy Knot BagAnother knot bag is finished and in my Etsy shop.  This design was fun to embroider, tho because of the number of stitches in the embroidery and the number of color changes was time consuming, but I think it turned out pretty nice :).

The Jasmine scarf I’m working on is coming along, I’m closer to finishing it.  Hopefully it will be soon and I’ll post a picture of it before I mail it out to my friend.

Sheep Bag Added to Etsy :)

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Medium Sheep Knot Bag I finally had some spare time to embroider and sew a new bag for my Etsy shop :).  It is a cute little sheep, what better to grace a knitting/spinning project bag than a cute sheep :).  I have another bag I have embroidered and will finish sewing tomorrow to list in the shop, and fabric for two more large bags, cute stuff :).

This time of year, with Spring not far off, I sure miss getting ready to start a garden and growing all the wonderful things it produces :).  Going to try to get some squash plants to grow on my balcony again, maybe they will do better this year.

2 New Knot Bags & Knitting a New Hat

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Got Fiber Knot Bag

 

 

Stress Zebra Knot Bag

I put these two bags in my Etsy shop.  I’ve made the Stress Zebra Knot Bag before for a friend but this one is for my shop, it’s just so cute.  Don’t we all feel like this sometimes?  The alpaca design looked very good, but it’s a pain to sew out because  of all the thread color changes, even tho some of the colors are the same.  Still it’s a nice looking design.

Basia Hat for JadeThis hat, Basia, is a very nice knit and the texture design is pleasant to look at.  I’m making this for a special family member who requested a hat from me.  She said she wanted lavender, so I ordered the Lilac Jacquard acid dye for 1 of the polypay skeins I still have (only about 4 more skeins tho, have thoroughly enjoyed knitting them :P).  I love the way kettle dying comes out, instead of one solid color they are usually shaded, no complaints here :).  You can also see on the hat the beautiful stitch marker I got from MekaMika on etsy.

The mega snow storm missed us except for a trace of snow.  I won’t complain, I didn’t want 1 or 2 feet of snow :).  I love the El Ninos that come every few years, they make for a much more pleasant winter here :).

Let It Snow Knot Bag

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Let It Snow Knot Bag This will probably be my last winter bag, tho I’ve been known to change my mind before :).  I liked this embroidery because it has a swirl that looks like a winter wind swirling around some really pretty snowflakes :).  We finally started getting snow this month.  I’m ready for Spring already tho. 🙂

Time to get my eyes checked again, I think I need new glasses for close up work, sigh.

Still working on the comfort shawl, have about 1 & 1/3 skeins left to knit.  I know, I know, knit faster :P.

New Embroidered Knot Bags and It’s Fridgid Tonight

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Knitting Keeps me from Unraveling Knot BagObsessed Knitter Knot Bag

I decided to do some sewing this week end after removing some seasonal knot bags out of my Etsy shop.  I decided I needed to add some more embroidered knot bags.  The bag on the left is one I am sending to a knitting podcaster for review.  It will be a way to get some exposure for my bags :).  After she has reviewed it, I will put a link on my blog to her podcast :).  I have another one embroidered but not sewn up yet and two more to be embroidered.  The embroidered bags take  longer to make due to the embroidery so they are a little more expensive.

I’m working on a comfort shawl for a friend who lost her companion this week.  Loss is so hard :(.

The weather here has finally hit WINTER, ugh.  We are suppose to be around -4 tonight but we are having high winds and they said that would make the wind chill between -20 and -30.  But at least it will only be for tonight and tomorrow morning, then the winds die down and we will warm up just a bit.  We will have snow on Monday and Tuesday and then we will warm back up into the 20’s in the day and teens at night :).  Is it Spring yet?

One More Large Cardinal Knot Bag

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Cardinal Knot Bag 2  I thought I had blogged on this addition to my Etsy shop but I don’t see it on my blog so I guess I only thought about it and didn’t follow through, sheesh.  I loved this fabric because it was less busy and had those beautiful line drawn flowers in the background with some stamps that look like passport stamps, which adds background interest.

I’m working on another embroidered bag or two, hopefully will have pictures to put up in a day or so.

Large Winter Cardinal Bag and Maddie’s Hat is Finished

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Large Winter Cardinals Bag view 2Large Winter Cardinals Bag view 1

 

I finished another large bag this morning.  I love cardinals, they are beautiful and have a very distinctive song.  They add much needed color to a very otherwise dreary winter scene. When I saw this fabric I knew I had to make a bag, I have enough fabric to make another one for myself as this one is in my shop.

 

Kids Striped Stocking HatI also finished the hat that goes with the sweater I am knitting for Maddie.  It’s cute, hope she’s not getting to old to enjoy the colors I had chosen last year.

 

 

 

 

Large Winter Pinecone Knot Bag!

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I have made a couple of these larger knot bags but had given them to some special friends.Large Winter Pinecone Knot Bag view 2Large Winter Pinecone Knot Bag view 1

This one I can put in my shop :).   You can not see the sparkle on the fabric on the green boughs but it is stunningly beautiful.  Looks like snow,  I really wanted to keep this one for myself, but I have enough left to make a medium bag for me :).  This one is large enough for sweaters and shawls for knitters.

 

Yellow Orchid view 1OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASometimes when you are really busy doing for family, as the mom you wonder if your children really appreciate all you do for them.  I’m not saying that my children don’t appreciate the things I do, just as a mom you sometimes wonder because they are so busy with their own lives.  Well, my daughter showed me just how much she appreciated all I am doing for her with a beautiful yellow Orchid, just because.  It is so pretty, she even remembered my favorite color for flowers is yellow.  How’s that for remembering :).

Well “The boys” finally won a game last night against an old rival, the Redskins.  Was an exciting game even though I had taken an antihistamine and fell asleep before the end, so I found out this morning that they won. Hehe, I don’t generally fall asleep during a football game, but it happens :).