Needle Case and Zippered Bag

I always forget how hard it is to photograph black fabric until I try. This was the best I could do, under the circumstances (which was crazy snow storm, no sun in sight outside and thus lots of flash washing out the details). The background to this Christmas present is that my mother’s knitting corner is a disaster area consisting of two baskets, four paper bags, a lot of tangled yarn and no measuring tape or yarn needles. She has about seven crooked knitting needles of each size, none which match. At all. So I decided to make her this needle case with a small zippered bag for the small stuff, to help with the organisation of it all. I used this tutorial for the needle case and this one for the bag. I followed the latter to the last detail, but freestyled my little heart out with the former, as usual.

Here it is with the lid folded down. The lid piece was juuuust an inch too short, so I improvised a contrasting edge with the fabric I used for the inside. You want a lid that goes down over the lower edge of the pockets, or the needles WILL fall out every time you pick the damn thing up. Trust me on that one.

Slightly open. Should’ve opened it more for a better effect, shouldn’t I? Yeah. I should have. I didn’t, though, so you have to trust me on that there is in fact two rows of pockets – short ones for double pointed needles and tall ones for straight needles. I hate them, personally, but my mother uses nothing else.

All rolled up and ready to go. And yes, blurry. Sorry about that.

I love the birds on this fabric. It’s Ikea, by the way, and rather thick for this project, but it worked okay, since the lining fabric was super thin to make up for it.

I like this bag even more than the needle case – definitely easier to make all professional looking.

Edited: January 1st, 2010

Weaving Up a Storm

I really need to get some new stock made and posted, preferably before the madness that is NaNoWriMo. That gives me nine days. Should be doable, provided that I don’t get sidetracked by a) kitten, b) other crafty projects, c) the unpacking of the last two boxes.

I hate moving. I really, really, REALLY hate moving. Which is why it makes little sense for me to take a full month to unpack, but there you have it. At least I’ve only got one room to go now!

Knitting is easier than sewing, because I can do it when I’m out and about, so I finished a pair of socks despite my relative business.

Pattern: Minerva’s Tower.

Ravelry: link.

Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 50 grams, 211 metres/231 yards), 2 skeins burgundy.

I bought this yarn probably three years ago, knitted one sock, was rudely interrupted by a break up that made me not want to touch anything I had been working on prior to it, and stuffed it in the closet for an eternity and a half. When I was going to Edinburgh at the end of October I looked through my stash for a suitable solid sock yarn and found it.

Ripping that lone sock out and reknitting it into something like this was oddly liberating and just what I needed to do.

The pattern is written by my dear friend Corrina of Picnic Knits, and I love it to pieces, especially the fact that there is a small/medium and a medium/large size, of which I knitted the latter. I did not follow the directions for the toe, which I regret, but can’t be arsed fixing.

Wool socks are necessary when I weave, because you cannot wear shoes while doing it, and the weaving room is in the basement of a church with concrete flooring. It’s always freezing down there, and I lovelovelove having proper socks to keep myself warm!

Speaking of weaving… It’s a new thing of mine, and I love it. It’s very meditative and I put music on and get to work. The rest of the women taking this class are ranging from 55-85 in age, so I’m the young one, but I’m okay with that. I especially like that I can go there any time and work without having to talk to anyone. Why yes, I am a bit of a hermit.

And while we’re on the subject, a few weaving related pics:

In the last year I have gained a ridiculous amount of weight because of meds that are essential for my well-being. This of course means that none of my clothes fit anymore, and cleaning out my closet of all these shirts that were too short and too tight and just made me sad was amazing. So, when I started weaving I decided to take all these too small clothes and cut them into strips and make a long memory rug from it.

I have a lot of different colours, but red and green are the ones reoccuring the most often. So, to use that as a strength rather than trying to hide it, I sorted everything by colour before starting to weaving.

The second pic shows my loom all set up and ready to go. It takes quite a bit of time to do the warping and other stuff, but once you’re done, it’s so satisfying to sit down and weave.

I’ve woved almost exactly a metre at this point and used up all my reds. Between each one I have 10 cm of navy blue, to break up the different colours and bring them together. The little old ladies were dubious at first, but seem to be more convinced after I’ve done a few stripes…

I really like the result produced by striped strips of fabric! Most of them are red and white, but I also have a red and black one, and some in several green and purple shades coming up.

I can’t weave without music on, so my ipod always accompanies me. The others chat or listen to the radio, but I weave the best (and the fastest!) when I turn the music up and get going. Here it is The Indelicates that are accompanying me.

Edited: October 21st, 2009

Moving House and Running in Circles

Okay, let’s see. I am moving house and a wee bit scattered at the moment, so I have temporarily gone on hiatus, pad selling wise. I’m doing moving things this weekend and next, visiting with relatives in between and should be back in business by the first. Well, I am moving in on the 19th, so I damn well hope so!

A small re-done project of mine for while I drown in boxes:

Pattern: Cinnamon Swirls, one of my very simple patterns.

Ravelry: link.

Yarn: Tuva by Marks & Kattens (100% wool, 50 grams, 55 metres/60 yards), 1 skein red and 1 skein brown.

I first knitted this one months ago, wasn’t happy with it, still gifted it to a friend, STILL WASN’T HAPPY WITH IT, agonising, and finally snapped and knitted another version, reversing the spiral colouring and choosing a better main colour.

At Ravelry I have both the first version and the second up here, and as you can see the colour change makes all the difference in the world!

I have chosen Backyard Leaves Scarf as my OMG-ALL-MY-YARN-IS-PACKED-WHAT-DO-I-DO-project. I look forward to it!

Back in a fortnight-ish.

Edited: September 9th, 2009

Luna Moth Shawl

Edited: September 2nd, 2009

Procrastinating and… Not.

Okay. Project procrastination is done (for now). Tomorrow I am mailing off … a million things, but most importantly, and craft related-ly, the following stuff.

For little sister:

Pattern: Daisy from Knitty.
Ravelry: link.
Yarn: Paton’s Grace that I somehow acquired for a dollar a skein.
Notes: First I used this yarn for a Tivoli, before promptly gaining twenty kilos. Thus, I only wore it once or twice and spent the next two years gazing longingly at it. Then I got over myself, ripped it out and made this. I like to call it the Sunshine Jacket, even though its more mandarin oranges than sunlight. Check out Ravelry link for close up of OMG adorable buttons.

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Pattern: Seamless Baby Booties from Pickin’ and Throwin’ Blog x 2, Converse Booties from Alley Kat and Mary Jane Booties from How Stuff Works.
Ravelry: Seamless #1, Seamless #2, Converses, Mary Janes.
Yarn: Gjestal Bomull Sport in black, red and white. I bought three skeins and knitted until I ran out of yarn.
Notes: Am very dubious about the Mary Janes, they are so tiny that I think big sister will use them for her dolls instead. The red ones are Arsenal Booties and the Converses I converted to work in the round instead, because I believe that even babies (especially babies!) have a right not to have seams running down the sole of their feet!

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For big sister:

Pattern: Kate from Knitty and Pitter Patter Socks from Ravelry.
Ravelry: Kate, Pitter Patter.
Yarn: Qualitas Sock, small amounts of all three, for Kate, Sock It To Me in two shades of purple for the socks.
Notes: Because I had limited room in the parcel and/or am insane I made this one with 2.5 mm needles and sock yarn. She’s just 6.5 inches tall, when the original is a full 12 inches. The socks look… dis-proportional, but will have to wait for the verdict from the five-year-old before I decide if they were successful or not. Books by Astrid Lindgren. Every girl needs some Lotta in her life! (Yes, I like her more than Pippi.)

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Finally, I spent all day in close proximity with these babies. Soakers done, channels sewn on, backs cut out and pinned to the tops. Tomorrow I’m turning and top stitching (yes, really).

And mailing lovely Japanese print and cute little snowbirds out.

I believe that is all from the department of the clinically insane. (Unless you want to know the amount of anti-anxiety meds that I am needing just to THINK ABOUT my trip to Scotland next week.)

Edited: August 13th, 2009