New Book: Knitting Green Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects

I'm excited about this new book by Annd Budd called Knitting Green. (Ok... secret's out, I'm biased because my knitted Bike basket is on the cover, woo hoo! My first cover project!!)

By making things ourselves, we automatically help the earth (I think) because we're not supporting huge, mass-marketed, smog-spewing machines. And by buying patterns like these, you're putting more money into the hands of smaller designers, like me, which feels good, right? I hope so. I also hope that this book will help consumers (like me) learn more about sustainable materials and practices.

Take a look at some of the books projects below. The bike basket is knit using jute twine, lined with a beautiful oil cloth from Kokka Fabrics and finished with yellow purse handles and tabs to snap to your handlebars. I really didn't want to send ithis project in because it looked so cute on my bike! I also did a cute slipper pattern that will fit practically any foot in your family and makes good use of those leftover bits of yarn. You can see photos of the slippers on the last page, below.  Click here for more book information and to pre-order. The book will be available in May!

Knitting Green

Vote for Aunt Wilma!!

The Poppies are virtual Awards event put on by the people over at Poppytalk, which is a great blog, btw! Tons of makers of things like ceramics, clothes, soaps, knitting, jewelry, etc. have been nominated and you can go vote for your faves all week!

If you win you get a lovely award banner for your site or blog, free advertising and other 'virtual' swag. I'm listed in the Crafter section and would love it if you'd vote for me!!! I'll make it easy for you... just click below and

Vote for Aunt Wilma!!

Thank You!!!!

 

 

Mom's Handmade Holiday

My mom got all handmade gifts from me this year...

 

The Oragami Organizer from One Skein Wonders

 

The "Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag" also from One Skein Wonders

 

A chair cover of my own design

The chair before:

 

And finally, the Praying Mantis from Amigurumi Knits

Look closely...

Can you spy the awesome, Mod podge Magnum PI container I made mom for her birthday in 1987? Not bad for a seven year old!! Of course, my Aunt Wilma did help. On the back I wrote a very inspirational birthday message: "Have a Happy Time!"  surrounded by rainbows. I love that Magnum still has a special spot in mom's room, now joined by a much creepier gift!

 

 



Pincushions!

Does anyone else have a pincushion that looks like mine?  It's just too stuffed and doesn't work properly! I'm always grabbing more than one pin or bent pins and my favorite tiny, vintage pins get lost in the sea. I guess every now and then one must perform a spring cleaning of the pincushion, eliminating bulk and what not, but I don't and certainly don't plan to!

After discovering this problem, I thought I could will myself to put the pins back in a less-saturated way. But oh no... we get in a rhythm while sewing and these pile ups just happen. Over and over I watch myself stick the pin in the same spot, like a small child decorating the Christmas tree!

Another complaint: the upholstrey weight fabric I used was  too thick to quickly stab a pin into, so many a pin tumbled to it's death, forever lost to the land of playful kittens, dust pans and unhappy feet.

All this to say that I decided to make a new pincushion and ended up with two extra! I put them in my ETSY shop and if you want one, go get it!!

Did I mention that they're hedgehogs?? Yeah, they're cute little hedgehogs...

Mandy & Myrtle

Mandy & Myrtle aren't spoken for...

If you buy one in my shop and write me a note that says something like... "I read your blog and want a hedgie!!" I'll refund your shipping! FRee Shipping if you mention my blog! Woo hoo! Bargin.

Hop to it kiddos!! Your hedgie awaits!

Pile of hats...

I'm still obsessed with sewing, but just a little less since the i-cord border has entered my life. I can't believe I've never done it before! It makes such a nice, clean edge to these hats and a super cute way to add a splash of color. The black and white hat on top is made with bulky yarn and is quite helmety, but I'm into it. I added string ties to one of them and was thinking I'd eventually do it to the rest, but I'm not sure. I like how they look without ties, but it's certainly more practical to have them... for keeping the ear flaps in place and all. Hmmm...

Regardless, I have to decide which one I want, then I'll put the rest in my Etsy shop. I'm hoping to write patterns for them too.

Sewing = My latest obsession.

I didn't do all that much of it in Brooklyn, because it seemed to take up too much space. Also, my sewing machine was a bit too heavy to keep dragging out all the time. In a perfect world, I'd have a room big enough to have the machine set up and ready to go at all times. Of course there would also be a gorgeous collection of threads on the wall to choose from, stacks of beautiful fabrics organized by color and magical 'infinity' bobbins that never need re-winding, but let's get real!  Most of the time, my fabric is a mess or I don't have enough for what I want to do. Plus, I usually give up on the pattern early and do my own thing, only to realize that the pattern contained some important information/steps I should probably have paid attention to. (This coming from the girl who writes patterns for a living, duh.) Needless to say, I have a lot of unfinished sewing projects in my possession. These sewing disasters are far less forgiving than my pile of knitting 'mistakes' which can easily be pulled out and re-knit. It's definitely important that I keep hangDesign it Yourself Clothes by Cal Patching on to them though, despite the fact that I will NEVER actually finish them.  

Lately, the sewing bug has hit me. Perhaps because in Maine, I've been able to spread out. Or perhaps because I have a sewing machine here that can do more than just a straight stitch plus a mom who works at a bookstore and gets me awesome craft books and doesn't seem to mind me taking over the dinning room table for weeks on end... 

 

It started with Design-it Yourself-Clothes by the wonderful designer/maker/teacher (and my friend)  Cal Patch.   As someone who has wanted to make her own clothes for like, forever, I was really excited to get this book. I started with the first project, a skirt, and have already learned so much about darts, seams, translating paper pattern to fabric, thinking three dimensionally and on and on. It's such a cute book. The photos are light, airy and inspirational. Her voice is encouraging, humorous and extremely approachable. With each turn of the page, I couldn't wait to get started.

One day I decided to make the little elephant from Last Minute Patchwork Gifts:

Then I got One Yard Wonders and launched into a holiday making frenzy!

I made the car caddy & the origami tray seen on the cover for my mom.  For my six year old pal, Eleanor, I made an apron that turns into a little bag!

 

But perhaps the BEST thing to happen in my sewing life... stumbling upon an unfinished project left by my Great Aunt Wilma: a very "late seventies" cloth quiet book. She had all the pieces cut out, labeled and organized in envelopes. The pages were ready to go and all I had to do was attach everything, which in my opinion, was the easier and more fun part. Thanks Wilma!! There were enough materials to make two books, so I gave one to Eleanor's sister Clarissa, who is the perfect age for it!! From what I hear, it was a hit!

 

 

Tiptoe Cardigan for Spud and Chloë

My latest addition to the Spud and Chloë pattern lineup called the Tiptoe Cardigan! I think this is my favorite design yet! I loved working each section a little differently. Even the sleeves! For a hot second I thought it might be too busy, mostly because of teasing from a friend who shall not-be-named, but I'm glad I trusted my own instincts. Adding the fabric flowers really tied it all together and I had so much fun making little fabric yo-yos for this that I really haven't stopped since.

Tiptoe Cardigan for Spud and Chloë by Kim Hamlin

How cute are these??

I was just doing a little research on "reindeer stich patterns" and came across the cute DIY cards from a company in the UK. I want them all!! (click on individual photos for more info)

Holiday Themed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers:

Using beads!A tractor?!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foxy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 oh la la lady

 

 

 

Wise owls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't stop!!!

Early, gray waves and droplets.

Sometimes...you just have to go to the ocean.

And sometimes, someone has left behind little rock pile sculptures that make you a lot happier than you were before you got there. 

Determined to give even the tiniest rocks a rumble, each grey wave's retreat proved louder than it's initial crashing.

 

Coordination

When random things line up in unexpected, pretty ways, my heart goes pitter-pat. I like to pay attention and let such moments inspire me. In fact, this is why I wanted to start this blog in the first place... to point out that inspiration is all around. It's not necessary to seek it out, 'work hard' or over think to find it, it's just there.

Some might not think it's worth the few extra dollars to buy fancy patterned page markers over the cheap post-it kind. Some might find page markers in general a frivolous expense... but I use them liberally, so the fact that I now have pretty printed ones instead of florescent yellow (thanks mom!) makes me really happy. It's so small and simple, but it really does brighten my day.  Look...

The page markers completely match the book cover! It's so cute, I just want to leave it laying around so everyone can see how 'together' I am! (ha)

So then later on in the week I was putting away some yarn that I had lost interest in using. It had been sitting around in the drawer/basket/pile for so long I just wasn't inspired by it anymore. Since it was taking up prime real estate in my room, I decided to put it in a storage bin, but then an awesome thing happened. These five skeins lined up next to each other, in this exact order, I kid you not. A perfect color scheme for a baby blanket I had just decided to 'think about' making. And so it was...

And the stitch pattern swatch I have going...

Remarkably close to the page markers and book, wouldn't you say??

 

New Project: Quilt Restoration

Thank goodness for friends of your mom who cast off treasures like this:

A finished quilt top in need of a little love... Oh bliss! I love quilts that are mostly white with all these cute little pattern pieces. Now I can get right to my favorite part which is hand quilting the layers together.

First I'm going to iron the top piece so that all the petals are flat and take out the old ties. Then I'll get some cotton batting to make the 'sandwich' with the backing fabric. I haven't quite decided about the backing fabric yet. Should I go simple and get a nice quality, whole cloth back that's just white? Should I get a cute little patterned fabric, like flowers or polka dots? Or should I piece together a back using the old fabrics I have downstairs at my moms house? Part of me thinks that piecing the back together would be the most resourceful, 'quilterly' and congruent with the style already set forth. There aren't too many non-cotton fabrics, so I don't think the maker was cutting up old shirts and dresses or anything! I'm not sure if these are feed-sack fabrics, but they certainly point that way. Perhaps she got a bag of scraps from the fabric store?

I think I'll investigate the fabrics downstairs first, to see if any would match, then go from there. I also want to add borders on all sides of the quilt top, since the motifs are currently quite close to the edges. I don't want anything too distracting though, no patterns. I would go with white, but trying to match the current color would be impossible and would probably look terrible. So I'm thinking a subtle, muted solid color like a light green, gold or coral. Something unusual to satisfy the artist in me. This is so exciting!

I plan to quilt around the outside of each motif and at the same time, tack down any loose tips. This is probably not the 'right' way of doing it, but I thought it would conserve time and thread. If I'm going to be going around anyway... why spend hours tacking down loose tips before hand? Not to mention tying all those knots?

Any suggestions for what I should do in the center of the flowers?

Etsy Update

I just added two new lace cuffs to my Etsy shop. Hopefully I'll have more time to update the shop while here in Maine. I'm really into the color of these photos. I think I took them this summer when I had a crazy tan from being outside all day, almost every day. I also can't believe I took them myself, holding the camera with my other hand! Not bad right?