raven's quilt

so this took me forever to finish, mainly because the shit has hit the fan around here as they say. the binding is just on there with that heat bond stuff. i will eventually sew it on but i have been too lazy. but here it is in all its glory.

the knitted puppy is coming along slowly and i'm drafting my first pattern for clothing! the top of the dress is proving more difficult than i anticipated. wish me luck.

what was i thinking?!?

i was moving my sewing desk today when i realized, its a craft in itself! i made my sewing desk with a pal over 2 years ago and it has served me well. i guessed on how big it should be based on my room at the time and i'm glad i made it so big. i bought the little baskets and then used those as guides for the shelves. its not the most beautiful thing, but its mine and i'm proud of it. we didn't have a table saw so we had to cut everything by hand. what that means is that it is all wonky. it work for me!

some crafting

so, the knitted puppy is slow going. i just can't focus on it right now for some reason, i can't really focus on much of anything actually. however, i forced myself to sit down and bust these out. i'm bringing home a new kitten on monday and wanted something both to make him feel cozy and to have a way to get him used to my other cats' scents. while i was whipping up his blanket the other 2 cats decided they were going to take it over, so i did what any good crafty pet owner would do, i made them some too. these are just the tops, i have to find something good for the back, and i don't think i will be putting any batting on the inside, they don't really need to so warm, as i suspect they will be laying on them,not under them. anyhoo, here we go:
first is luna's quilt. then, raven's (he looks so good against red)
and then, phinneaus'. these are 24''x24''. not all the squares line up but hey, they're not too bad considering i only spent a few hours on them, and most of that time was spent cutting out all the damn squares.

some changes

so, it seems i didn't make it to test the "sweater curse," i was unlucky enough to deal with the "sock curse" i guess. i got one sock done. ah well, he can have one sock, i'm sure as hell not going through the effort of knitting him another one now. he also only has one glove. maybe i should just frog them and use the yarn for something else.
its not all bad, now i have time to work on the puppy from knitted toys by zoe mellor for my niece (we decided she's having a girl, we don't know for sure yet, but here's hoping). i'm using neither the recommended yarn nor needle size and i was figuring that it would come out a little big, which would be fine, but it is coming out a little small. i bought way too much yarn for this project and it is knitting up pretty quickly so i am thinking about making one for my friends' baby's birthday.
in other news: my car still isn't running but i am hoping to get it fixed soon so i can get myself out of the house for a while and have some fun. the bus is not fun. i do, however, have great friends who drove almost 2 hours to pick my sorry ass up and take me back to their house so we could have some good times. we had a lot of fun and ended up calling our other friend because we missed him so much (yes, we were inebriated) and at some point came up with the craftiest (not crafty like me, crafty like boris from bullwinkel) plan to get him to move to california again. part of the plan involves telling him about the plan. wish us luck.
and last, but not least, a certain mom of a good friend of mine needs to get an etsy shop up and i am more than happy to help out, wink wink, nudge nudge.

one down, 85473 to go!

today i finished my reversible tote bag from this tute. i love how it came out.
most of the fabric i had in my stash, but the stuff i used for the straps i bought at the thrift store and it was too bright so i dyed it a little darker with some dark blue dye. i'm quite pleased with how it came out. i used snaps instead of the velcro for closing the pockets and i added some ribbon to tie the top closed in the middle. i used the contrasting fabric to make the pockets stand out a little more and i used black for the insides of the pockets. i think it looks kinda nautical so i'm considering making a stencil of a pirate ship or something pirate-y to put on the plain pockets. i messed up the straps so they twist a bit but i don't mind it all that much. this bag is really roomy and i don't quite know what i will use it for but i think it would be great as a beach or overnight bag. i'm sure i will find a use for it and i'm thinking of making another one for my sister for a diaper bag. now for some pics!

in knitting news, the bus has given me plenty of time to knit and i am almost done with the sock, but i have a friend coming to visit so i don't think i will get much knitting done. i got some yarn for one of the billion projects i'm going to start and i have so far only wound it into balls. i think i will wait to start on a new project until i finish another one. i am still waiting on the ebay yarn, the tracking number tells me that it is currently in customs (it's coming from japan) so i should have it soon, but i still don't know what i'm going to do with it.

the day of fouled up projects

i ordered yarn and it was supposed to get here today. the tracking thingy even says that it was in route to my house as of 6:32 am but it is not here! and the damn post office is right down the street from my house! i know it will be here tomorrow but i have today off and i was excited about getting started on this project.

i had started making a bag using this tutorial and i was planning on finishing it today (while waiting for my yarn) but i realized half way through that i ran out of fabric. there is some in the tub dying so it will match because i ran out of fabric of the right color. i went to the thrift store to look for something that will work but found nothing to match, though i did find some other findings and some fabric that was 1/2 off! on the way back home i "accidentally" passed by the 1/2 off table at the local fabric store (that is usually too expensive for my budget) and found some really cute fabric i decided to use as a backing for the baby blanket i will eventually make for my sister's baby. i also found a rack of 40% off fabric which was buy 3 yards get the 4th yard free, so i had to get some, and the lady was so glad to get rid of some of it that she threw in a couple extra yards for free!. i'm not sure what it will be, one is black and red, and one black and grey, so not so good for the baby but something cute for me! the third fabric is cream with black and red on it and would make a cute dress for a girl baby, if thats what she ends up having.

in other news, the guy who is supposed to look at my car was supposed to come over sunday but he never showed up and didn't call until 20:30. we rescheduled for today and he was supposed to be here around 15:00 but he still hasn't shown up and it is 20:10 already. i wonder if i am ever going to get my car fixed.

new beads!

so this is not MY craftiness but they are too great not to share. i got these beads as a birthday gift from my friend's talented mama. so here they are:

first up: the frog sting-o-beads. the frog has pretty purple eyes. there are 4 other beads on this string.


next up: octopus bead. this is a really pretty white with black spots octopus. there are 2 more beads on this string.the third string is the fishy string. there are 4 other beads on this string, my favorite being the long one, the colors blend so beautifully!.