Recent crafting adventures

I've been pretty busy crafting lately, and have several things I plan to post about. I've just been so busy making things that I haven't taken the time to write about them!!
I've finished my knitted bowl, but still have to felt it. I find that I can never do things the "easy" way...like learning to knit on a straight project on straight needles...no, I have to start knitting in the round on Double Pointed Needles! It took a little bit to get the hang of it, but once I got into my project it went smoothly.

Now, I'm working on a pair of baby legwarmers on really little DPNs! I'm surprised at how quickly I'm picking it up and getting pretty efficient.

I've also been hard at work on building up a stock for a craft fair this November. A friend and I are going to have a booth together, and I've been trying to get a lot of things made to try to sell. These projects will go up in a series of posts about my products for sale.

I finally got my serger threaded and was able to use it! This is another post I have planned...but I made some more new diapers for Little Man and they turned out really cute! The serging is obviously done by a novice, but I'm very happy with how they turned out for my first projects.

Finally, I've been working on Christmas gifts. I've alluded to it before, but I'm planning on making a lot of the gifts for our family and friends, so while I've been super busy making things...I can't necessarily blog about any of them until after Christmas! Planning these has been fun and I'm pretty excited about some of the gifts I've made!

Along with the Christmas gifts, I have plenty of other projects planned. I need some ponchos/capelets/sweaters with fall coming up, as my wardrobe is pretty basic and they're the perfect way to dress it up and keep me warm at the same time. I plan to make this poncho in the yarn I posted about last time -- Universal Yarn Uptown DK. I bought a dark silver and can't wait to get started! I'm also planning on furthering my knitting skill with this poncho, though I haven't decided for sure about the yarn I'll use. I need to hunt something down in my stash that will be perfect! I have fabric laid out and ironed to make myself a new purse, as my current one is falling apart...so that will likely be my next project!

Scarves

Earlier this year, my sister-in-law emailed me and asked if I would be willing to make a couple of scarves for her. I was completely flattered by the request, and excited to do it for her! I had been wanting to try  a couple of scarf patterns, but as I'm not much of a scarf-wearer, there was little point in making them for me, so it became a perfect blend of circumstances.

I had on hand some amazingly soft and beautiful red EllaRae Extrafine Heathers yarn that was just begging to be something, and I found a perfect pattern for it. I absolutely LOVED working with both the yarn and the pattern. I did have to hunt down some more of the yarn, as the scarf took 4 balls, and I only had 2 to begin with, but that was the only hang-up with this scarf.

the whole scarf                                                              the stitch pattern in detail

I LOVE how the stitch pattern lends to the scalloped edge...and if I wore scarves, I would make one of these in every color!

For her second scarf, I have been wanting to learn Tunisian Crochet and, again, waiting for the perfect project to come along to learn/ practice it. Prior to starting the scarf, I did make a small dishcloth to practice the different Tunisian stitches, but generally speaking this was my first tunisian project. This was also done with a new-to-me yarn. It's Universal Yarn brand's Uptown DK that I found at my local yarn shop. It's acrylic, but goes against every "eww, acrylic" stereotype there is. It's so soft and was absolutely lovely to work with and it has a shine that I'm afraid my photos just didn't capture. I will DEFINITELY be buying more of this in the future!

full scarf                                                                        stitch pattern detail

Tunisian crochet came pretty easily to me. I did have to restart the scarf once because I was adding an extra stitch when turning, so I had one edge longer than the other. And I made the scarf quite a bit shorter than I wanted to, simply because I ran out of time to keep adding on and still be able to send them to my sister-in-law for her birthday.

I'm still lamenting the fact that I don't wear scarves much...because I would love to make more of both of these!



New tricks!

When Little Man was born, I quickly discovered the need for a baby carrier. I tried a few, found out I didn't like them, and finally found the amazing resource that is http://www.thebabywearer.com/, and that opened a whole new world for me. They have an entire forum devoted to DIY carriers -- wraps, slings, and everything else! I browsed the forum and committed everything I could to memory, so I could shop for fabric and make myself a carrier. In fact, this is also the point where I decided I needed a new, better sewing machine and got the one I'm currently using. I made a couple wraps, and realized how tedious it is to fold and iron a hem for a 3 yd piece of faric -- and that was just for a short wrap! If I wanted anything longer, I would need something easier. So I invested in a set of rolled hem feet for my machine, tried to use them once, failed miserably, and let them and my fabric that I bought for a wrap sit for well over a year.

A few weeks ago I found a tutorial for using a rolled hem foot, and decided I'd try again (plus I really needed to get some fabric off my shelves!) and this time, it went lots better. I still had some difficulties with not feeding enough fabric in, so my hem got awfully skinny, but I have a hemmed, functional wrap.

the fabric going through the foot...finally the right way!

My finished hem! (one of the better spots ;) )