Co-worker socks

One of my colleagues is leaving our office to attend graduate school full time. I knit up these Eternal Spring socks for her in our school color: UW Badger red. They turned out great!

"Exquisite Corpse" socks

My Aunt is an artist in Sudbury, MA.  Her studio is located in the next town over and she often has shows and does other activities with her studio mates.  Last spring break I took my older girls out for a visit with her and her family, and one of the days we had a chance to visit her studio.

While we were there, she showed us a series of sketches she developed with her studio mates based off the game, "exquisite corpse".  They eventually each created an art piece based off their sketches and put on a show - it was amazing to see their pieces in the studio! 

Inspired by the collaboration, chance, and randomness of this game, my girls and I designed and knit up a pair of exquisite corpse socks for my Aunt to wear and enjoy.

I put all my sock leftovers on the couch, covered them with a towel and asked each girl to select three colors/yarns at random.  I kept their choices hid from one another until after their selections were complete too.

These are the six colors, plus unifying calf, heel, and toe gray color.

And these are the resulting socks!

We sent them out to my Aunt with a letter explaining our work and a hope that she'd at least admire them, of not wear them.  They were a huge hit!  I think that we can say objectively that they are not the most attractive socks, but they have a story and meaning.



















In thinking about this project, there are many different directions you could take it - maybe switch up the stitch patterns, but keep the same color throughout, or switch colors and stitch patterns every time.  The possibilities are endless!

FO: Quilts for Daughters #3 and #4

My other goal for the summer - aside from clothes for myself - was to finish two more quilts for my youngest daughters.  Building off the design and look of the quilts for daughters #1 and #2, I went with a stacked coin method again.  The prints are all from my stash but I did purchase cotton on sale for the binding.

These two quilts are very similar to each other, which was a happy accident.  The original two quilts I made in 2009 were on the narrow side so I set out to make these wider.  Each color block measures 4.5 inches by 7 inches.  In my over-zealous attempt I made too many vertical strips; so many that I only had to cut and sew one extra to get a second quilt.  So while I set out to only make one for my 6yo I also finished up a second one for my 3yo.  It is certainly too big for her toddler bed and has been tucked away in the linen closet for a year or so until she moves into a 'big girl' bed.




















Something wonky happened towards the bottom of the first quilt (first photo) and I think it was because I pulled the backing fabric too tight when taping it to the floor to make the sandwich.  I caught my mistake for the second one and didn't have any trouble.  Luckily for the first one it seems confined to the second row only.

One back is all the same cloth (the waves on the far left in the photo below) and the other is as you see here - pieced with a few different pieces of fabric from the stash. 

The binding strips worked out great this time - I think after working on bias for armholes I really have the hang of machine sewing binding and bias on.  I hand stitched the backs, however, while catching up on episodes of "Suits".

My 6yo loves her quilt already and has been using it every night.  I think they are a success - and it is nice to walk by various bedrooms upstairs and see the quilts splayed out (but very rarely on their beds, smile.  They are kids after all.).

FO: Modified Lighthouse Keeper's Wife

 

 

After completing repairs on that stack of sweaters in the fall, I had still more left over yarn.  In fact, I had almost a whole skein of Cascade Eco+ and wasn't quite sure what to do with it.  I was hoping for a wardrobe staple, something warm, unassuming and simple. 

 

After a quick search on ravelry I came across the Lighthouse Keeper's Wife pattern.  I knew that I didn't have enough yarn to do the flowing front. or long sleeves, but keeping the sides straight gave me just enough yarn to reach to my hip.  It is a simple knit, akin to a sweatshirt with hood.  In hindsight I would probably like it a tad better with some waist shaping, but it's just fine for what it is: a quick knit that is functional.

 

Aside from stopping the front increases after the arm holes, I also modified to make the first and last five stitches on each rose seed stitch.  This keeps the fabric from rolling in on itself, and give the cardigan a smidgen of visual interest.  The sleeves are finished with just two rows of garter stitch.  The bottom hem is just a scant three rows of seed stitch - I ran out of yarn!

 

I gave it quite the test drive last week while I was home sick with an unnamed but totally wicked stomach virus.  I can report it held up better than I did (smile).

WIP's



new local yarns

I recently made two yarn purchases for myself. 

The teal is a locally spun and dyed fingering weight from Blackberry Ridge (photos from my tour of the mill are under the photos link on the left).  It is a wool/silk blend in the most stunning deep teal imaginable.

The green, a gorgeous merino/cashmere/nylon blend from Sun Valley Fibers, is purely a stash acquisition - but a smart one.  I got 1600 yards to be certain I have enough for a cardigan or sweater, once I find the right pattern.

Getting those new yarns spurred me to cast on a project for myself.  I picked out current, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald.  A lovely fitted cardi, with great trim and button details.  In a lightweight wool/silk I trust it will be a good lightweight sweater when paired with a long sleeve t-shirt.




current

My other work-in-progress is the aforementioned Versa.  The tunic is coming along nicely, but I am letting it sit while I really get into my cardigan.  I hope to finish it up by the end of the month.  The yarns for this top are all from the stash.  The blue worsted wool is left over from knitting up the tiny tea leaves for my 4yo last summer.

versa tunic (from the stash)

After finishing up these two projects it might be time to re-visit my stash and figure out what to keep, what to use up, and what to give away.  It has been well over a year since my stash challenge ended and while I feel I have a good handle on my current and recent yarn purchases, I still have a lot of left over yarn that is not being put to use.  And as my tastes and preferences for knitting evolve, I feel myself pulling farther away from projects that would suit the sitting yarns; the ones that I haven't picked up in a couple years.

I recently had a friend give me some fabric 'scraps'.  But let me say that these are not scraps (at least not to my mind), but lovely pieces of left over fabric from her collection.  And I am happy to have them as inspriation for myself and my future sewing.  And this gesture showed me that while it's admirable to use all that you have, sometimes letting it go to another creative person can be even better.  

FO: spring shrug

baby shrug, 12 mos.

This knitting basket of mine is overflowing with some nice leftover yarns.  I spied this lovely, left-over L.L. Bean-ish green and quickly cast on for a little shrug. 

I've picked up her summer wardrobe and put it into rotation, but the temps here are still chilly in the mornings and into the early afternoon.  Not time to show off her bare arms yet.  And a shrug is the perfect layering piece.  I knit her one about a year ago, so it seems a lovely moment to gift her a new one.

The pattern is Confection, by Tonya Wagner.  It is a delightful, quick knit with minimal seaming.  The 12 mo. size was probably a 2.5 hour project.

FO: Baby Things

I had a niece arrive in the world a week ago today.  And I knew I had to make her something.  I started with this holiday vest - but it turned out too big - more of a 6-12 mos. size - so that won't work.  But it is cute for the holidays and made with a great, washable wool.  I'm not sure where this will ultimately wind up; into the gift pile it goes.

And upon looking through my knitting basket for inspiration I spied a bit of Manos I had left over from a hat I made myself a couple years ago.

And it was just the right amount to make my new niece a hat.  This is another version of the Hospital Hat.  And even though it is 100% wool (Wool Classico) it isn't scratchy in the least.

I am off to finish the rest of the half-done items in my basket.  Is it bad luck to leave strings hanging into the new year?  If so I had better get cranking.  I've a scarf, socks, mittens, hat, another pair of socks, two oven mitts, and a toy lion in the works.  Looks like I have a really good year-end, round-up-the-knitting post coming!

FO: Norwegian Baby Cap

sweet baby cap

I finished up this sweet little Norwegian Baby Cap last week.  I intended it for my youngest, but it looks that she will outgrow this size in the near future.  So another hat will need to be knit, and hopefully before the holidays come and go.  This fourth little one of mine - not forgotten - but sometimes overlooked.  The l-o-u-d voices, demands, wants and needs of her older sisters drown out her very, very rare cries.  But her smile lights up the family.  And she is finding her place among and within us - a calm presence indeed.  She needs a little something this holiday season I think and a new knit hat will do just fine.

top view

tie detail

I knit up this same pattern a bit over a year ago, but just got around to making the i-cord ties, so here is a photo of that hat as well.  I stopped the every-other-row decreases early on this one, making a more rounded head rather than pointy.  I'm sure this one is destined for a very special little boy or girl.

sweet baby cap - v1.0

Stash Challenge 2010 Debrief

My stash challenge has come to a close, and what a year it has been. Time for a de-brief.

Let's quickly review were I was when I started.
When I started my challenge I was fresh of a new year's resolution made by myself and DH to work from our respective stashes for a year. This past year has found us making choices to cut back on our spending - both out of desire and necessity - and looking for all the ways that we can re-use, re-purpose, up-cycle and reduce. One obvious place to look critically was our creative interests. I am happy to say that we both took the resolution seriously. With one vacation-related exception I went over 365 days without spending cash on new yarn. He did the same and didn't purchase any new wood. We both spent a modest amount on supplies (needles, saw blades, etc.) but the raw materials we worked with we found, traded, were gifted, or had already.

I started 2010 with over 52 skeins of yarn, spread out to over 10,000 yards.

During 2010 I increased my stash by 11 skeins. 1 skein was purchased while I was on vacation in Arizona (it's llama down!), 4 were purchased with gift money or a gift card, and 6 were given to me as gifts, or were trades.

Here's what I made.
Over twelve months I worked diligently from my stash. I resisted the (many) impulses to purchase new yarns for myself, and new yarns for gift projects; just by counting up what I had I knew I had enough yarn to work from for quite some time. [This truly was step one. I counted and photographed everything I had and entered it into a spreadsheet, noting brand, fiber and yardage. This made it all real to me.]

The challenges then were twofold:
1) Finding suitable patterns for the yarns I had on hand; and
2) Making the projects interesting to me, apart from the joy of a new purchase.

During 2010 I knit from over 28 skeins of yarn, equaling over 5,000 yards of yarn.

My projects ranged from the big (a sweater for DH) to the small (acorn decorations) and everything in between. Here's a quick list:

1 sweater, men's large
5 baby/toddler sweaters
3 baby vests
3 pair adult socks
7 kids/baby hats
1 adult hat
1 baby blanket
8 mini sweater ornaments
a stash of acorns (felted)



And four projects still in the works: a pair of socks, a baby hat, a child's vest and an adult vest.

Here's what I am staring 2011 with.
At the close of the year I still have approximately 35 skeins of yarn in my stash. That may seem like a lot, but 10 are for the vest for myself, and I have earmarked another 16 for specific projects. The others I will be looking to de-stash, trade or otherwise use up in a worthy fashion.

If I maintain fidelity to my plan I will have cut my stash from 52 skeins (63 skeins if you count what I added during 2010) to a mere 16 skeins.

Lessons learned.
I had a lot of realizations over my year, and many I shared along my journey. But here is a quick summary of a few that are still with me as I move forward with my knitting.

1) I don't have to buy new yarn to enjoy knitting; but lets be honest...it may enhance the pleasure I get from starting a new project.

2) There are lots of alternatives to purchasing new yarn outright. These include holding on to gift money for a special 'yarn fund,' finding friends that are open to trading yarns, trading or selling yarns via websites (ravelry, ebay, etc.). And while I haven't had any personal luck at the thrift stores I have friends that have found and purchased Alice Starmore and Rowan yarns at deep discounts. That's enough encouragement for me to keep looking every time I stop in!

3) My tastes and preferences in yarns have changed since I started knitting. I am more discerning now and less likely to search out cheap sources for cheap yarns. While there certainly is a place for frugality in knitting (especially when knitting for non-fiber-minded friends and kids) if I am going to make a project for myself I am going to save up for the specific kind of yarn that I want to use, rather than find a less expensive substitute. This has the added benefit of supporting local businesses too. While I do practice on-line shopping, finding the right yarn at my local store is a good thing for my community and our local economy.

4) I have a more finely tuned sense of which fibers work for which types of projects. When I started the year I would have been just as likely to use a silk blend as a wool blend for any given project. I didn't understand the properties (physical and economic) of specific fibers or their adaptability for different purposes. After a year of research, reading, critical reflection and exploration (mostly on ravelry and at the library) I can easily tell when I would want to use alpaca for a project, or a superwash wool with nylon.

5) Left-over sock yarns rock. These turned out to be the most adapable yarns around and I have really dug into my left overs to make some pretty cool, colorful and unique items. These include my zig zag pram blanket, my sweater garland and the Norwegian baby cap. I used to wonder what would ever become of my many, many sock yarn left overs. Now I know they can be used for all kinds of things.

6) Just because I had one skein of something didn't mean I had to knit a one skein project. This may seem like a 'duh' comment to many of you, but I have a hard time pairing yarns that were not purchased together for the explicit purpose of knitting up one project. Without this last year I never would have taken out all my yarn, looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it again, and matched up different yarns and fibers for completely new projects. A good example is the Budgie baby sweater.

7) And lastly, just because yarn is on sale doesn't mean that I should buy it. I know that I will do this again in the future - a good deal is a good deal afterall - but I am much more likely to see a project and buy yarn accordingly, rather than see yarn and then find a project to match. I have realized that for me it doesn't make much sense to buy yarn with only a vague idea of how it will be used. I love yarn, fiber, color and texture and would love to live in a house surrounded by skeins and skeins of yarn. It would be like a museum dedicated to fibers. But I have a husband, kids, demands, challenges, other interests (sewing, cooking, etc.) and a pocketbook. For these reasons I need to keep my yarn purchases in check, and manageable.

At the close of my personal stash challenge I can say that I am proud of myself. I did it, I am happy with all my projects, and I learned a tremendous about about knittng, fiber and myself. Did I shake the desire to buy new yarns? No way. In fact, I have a pattern and new yarns already picked out for purchase. But I am starting a new year with a fresh perspective. I can practice restraint and my craft and creativity won't suffer. In many ways I'm better off when I think twice about my purchases.

Tiny Sweaters

During a recent trip to JoAnn's I got a pang of guilt about not really decorating for the holidays. I mean our house isn't bare during various festivities, but I certainly don't decorate to the extent that I could - especially with wide-eyed, wonder-filled kids on my heels.

I usually look at all the stuff they wedge in the front of the store about 6 weeks before every holiday - and offer for 70% off - and think to myself a couple of things. First, some of it is just too plain ugly or cheap-looking to bring home. Second, I realize that if I gave just a bit of effort I could likely make many similar things at home. Or third, if I did purchase x, y or z, I am certain that my kids would destroy it; appropriately seeing the commercialism of it all and treating the purchases like toys instead of future family heirlooms.

So I pass it all by and another holiday comes and goes and I still really don't have anything to decorate the house with. I haven't gotten to a point where I can purchase things from art fairs - although that is a hope for the future. And while I pick up things here and there from thrift stores, I haven't had much luck in making my finds match - or coordinate - with the feel and look of our home.

I did get on top of the game with Halloween this year. It was easy since the kids were so into it. We did some special themed napkins, lots of pumpkin crafts and made our costumes. Christmas is likewise pretty well covered - a huge tree in the living room really goes a long way!

But Thanksgiving has me stumped. I've been up in the sewing room playing with burlap, ribbon, fall-colored fabrics...all in hopes of making at least a table runner for the dinner celebration. But I haven't gotten there yet.

And, instead of making progress on anything related to the holiday that's coming up, I was side-tracked by ravelry and a vision of a cute garland of sweaters. [At least its a perfect winter decoration, right?]

My hope is to hang this garland on our front door - in lieu of a brightly painted snowman proclaiming "Merry Christmas!" - for the winter holidays. Each sweater is knit up from left over sock yarn (also used for this project), and I hung each one by a piece of gray yarn attached to a toothpick that is nestled inside the sweater. The pattern is a generous freebie you can find here. I love that they are real raglan sleeve sweaters! It was really the cable sweater the pulled me in, but I never got around to knitting one because I was into using up more of my variegated yarns.







Maybe the solution to my dilemma, errr...assuaging my guilt, is pacing myself - napkins one year, a table runner the next, a home decoration the next and so on. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so bad about not having the perfect mantle display, or table setting?

FO: Rainbow Hats + New Yarns!

twin rainbows

These last few weeks have been very busy for our family. Some combination of us has been been in the car and out of town overnight each weekend for the past four weeks. While this has wreaked havoc on our home, laundry, and sleeping we are all the better for having gotten away (or having spent time with Grandma and Grandpa). There were two weddings, a date weekend, and a bachelor party. All wonderful reasons to be away from the home. The car trips provided lots of knitting time, so when DH and I weren't trying to catch up with each other, and our life, I was able to put my needles together.

The hats above are the product of a trip to Milwaukee last weekend. The girls asked me to knit them "fall rainbow hats," just like the one that I wear. I was able to use the generously free pattern from Soulemama for a kids-size version of a hat I knit for myself a few years back (photos are pre-blocking). And while I chose a different yarn - one that is washable! - the girls are thrilled.

The photo above is of two hats, but I am currently knitting a third, with the remnants from these two, for my youngest daughter. She is patiently awaiting her hat which has been stalled momentarily while work on the dissertation resumes again full-time.

bold rainbow

tropical rainbow

The yarn for these hats was purchased at my LYS which has recently undergone a transformation. Same name, but new layout, new management, and new yarns.

I had a gift card for the old store, which closed for awhile in the summer, and I also had a full punch card. Since the yarn supply in the old store started to decline in the spring I held off on using the gift card. I didn't know the store was going to close, and I suppose I was waiting until more yarns came in. Luckily the new owner has agreed to accept gift cards that were issued from the old store, as well as provide a 20% discount for full punch cards. So I marched in and spent that gift card. With the additional percent off I was even able to buy myself some luxury hand dyed sock yarn.

I plan to cast-on the sock yarn tonight in an attempt to participate in the TTL Mystery Sock 2010. Given the gorgeous results from last year I am really excited to participate again!

The other two skeins of wool you see below are a gift from a dear friend. They are a congrats-on-finishing-your-dissertation gift; gifted in the spirit of 'now quit typing and start knitting again!' I am completely taken by the goldenrod color, and it looks so striking next to that gray. Oh the possibilities! The yarn comes from a local woman who makes her own yarn and also owns a local yarn store. I believe she also piloted a yarn share, CSA-style, this last year. What an amazing idea!

I always knew that fall would be the toughest season to survive without buying any new yarns, and I am so happy that I was able to indulge with something new in a budget-neutral way!


new sock yarn (madelinetosh)

gift yarn

FO: Budgie

Budgie

About 10 days ago I turned in a final, full draft of my dissertation to my advisor. While I haven't received any formal feedback from him yet, he did assure me that I will be done this semester. It will take some time to schedule a defense date, but would I be overly optimistic to think that I could have this whole thing wrapped up by Thanksgiving? Maybe. But that won't stop me from trying. At a minimum it will be another week until I get some feedback from my advisor, and once he approves the document my committee members get at least 3 weeks to review it before we meet for my final oral defense. So...I am in the final stretch, but there is still more work to do.

Of course once I turned in that copy my body shut down and I came down with a bad head cold that I can't seem to shake. While annoying, I don't mind. It has helped me slow down, really pay attention to my immediate needs and get back into the groove of relaxing and sleeping again.

While I was putting the finishing touches on my dissertation, I knit up this adorable sweater. In my never-ending quest to find creative ways to use up my one-skein yarns I happened across this pattern. I used some left-over Cascade (from this project), and my one remaining skein of a silk-blend Manos del Uruguay. The final sweater requires a zipper, but I have yet to find the perfect one. Eight-and-a-half inches is a tricky size to locate at our local stores. I'm thinking a nice cream-color zipper would be perfect...

I love how this sweater turned out, and I literally used every last bit of the Manos - I actually ran out with about two inches of the i-cord left to go and had to finish it off with some blue scraps I had laying around. The shaping of the sweater is beautiful and the stripes are too cute - I can see one or two more of these in my future as baby gifts.

Breaking the rules

"We're on vacation. It's a souvenir."
"I've been soooo good so far."
"All profits go to llama rescue efforts."
"I'm supporting small-scale, local businesses."

These were at least four of my thoughts when I was standing in front of the cash register.

In January I set a goal for myself: no new yarn purchases for 12 months. I should have seen my own downfall on the horizon after trading and selling for new yarns in March.

Rationalize it any-number-of-ways-to-Sunday, I fell off the wagon and bought myself some yarn.

We were out west on vacation last month and made a quick stop at a Flagstaff yarn store that carried locally-raised, hand-spun llama and llama/wool blend yarns from Azimuth Ranch. I picked up one skein (I didn't completely lose my senses) of this amazing local llama down/wool blend. Not sure what this yarn is destined to be, but I've added it to the stash and will enjoy looking at it for awhile.

In admitting my transgression I am reminded of this quote, "There is much to be said for failure. It is much more interesting than success."

Stash enhancement w/o a yarn budget

So, I'm three (almost four!) months into my personal stash challenge and I found two opportunities to get some new yarn without spending any new money.

First, I sold a skein of discontinued Rowan yarn on ravelry and was able to put that money towards a new skien of locally spun and handpainted yarn. I found 340 yds. of this lovely blue 3-ply light worsted weight yarn at a local lambing event. I can't wait to match it to a fun project.



Second, I had an opportunity to do some trading with a fellow knitter. I picked out three yarns from my stash that I thought she would enjoy and she picked out out a couple skeins for me along with a request that if I need something in the future to be sure to ask her. One skein was a great all-purpose washable cotton in a bright, light blue. The other is this lovely grey cotton/wool tweed sock yarn with flecks of peach and blue. Not sure if I'll actually use it for socks - it would make a great baby vest, sweater or hat - but I'm happy to have it in my collection. She had even knit up a gauge swatch so I could see how the fabric will look.



Lastly, here's a photo of one of the baby lambs we saw during our morning at the farm. It's spring around these parts!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lastly, thanks to all for your kind words and thoughts. As the blanket grows I'm starting to feel better. The sun it out today and it's going to be summer-like warm this week. Monday morning is looking pretty good from here.

In need of some color comfort

Our family received some very sad news early this week. I won't go into details - I try to keep this blog mostly about my craft - but it sent me in search of some comfort. I happened upon this zig zag pram blanket project/pattern in ravelry awhile back and was drawn to it now, while searching for something to help me through this tough time.

A simple project; the same stitches and pattern over and over again. A focused project; searching for, sorting and loving my left-over sock yarn. A bright project; something to remind me that the sun always rises. A colorful project; I can change colors to suit my mood. A meditative project; to help me process, reflect and heal.

The bonus is that this is a fantastic stash busting project! I think this would also make a fun scarf, or lap blanket in worsted weight yarn. Either could easily be done by increasing or decreasing the number of pattern repeats and/or needle size. I also happened upon another great stash-busting project for 100% wool worsted weight left overs: oven mitts [look on the last page of the book preview]. I'm sure you'll see one of two of these from me before the year is out.

FO: EZ baby sweater on two needles

What a darling sweater. I've been hearing about this Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater for some time. In my mind it resides up on a pedastal with her other popular patterns: the baby surpirse jacket, the tomten and her EPS system for perfectly-fitting swaters.

This was my first attempt at a EZ pattern and I really liked it. The directions are short and spare. The whole sweater pattern is sketched out in just two paragraphs. What I loved is that it let my knitting skills shine. I read the pattern and understood exactly how the whole thing was going to go together. I had all the necessary skills to knit this up. It was sort of like a mini knitting quiz. And I passed.

My only complaint about this little sweater stems from my own (mis-)caluculations and worries about fit. I had read some comments on ravelry that the arms seemed to run a bit narrow, so I decided to compensate for this by going up a needle size for the body and arms of the sweater. This did result in a roomier sweater, but unfortunately the sleeves are bell-shaped. It still looks cute, almost like the sweater was designed that way, but when I knit it again - and I will! - I will stick to one needle size for the whole garment.

The other modification was that I omitted the gull lace pattern that is supposed to be on the body and arms of the sweater. Since I'm not sure if this little one is going to a yet-to-be born boy or girl I thought this would be a nice compromise. I love the look and color and think it will suit either nicely. The buttons are hand-carved coconut and sewn on with matching thread.

The yarn is a warm and cuddly alpaca that I received from a swap last year. And believe it or not I knit up this sweater with about 10 inches of yarn to spare. I have to say that I am loving my stash-busting efforts. It is a bit more work. Ok, it's a lot more work. I used to see a pattern I loved and wander (run) down to my LYS and get what I needed to knit up my project. Now I am resolved to working from what I have. I need to consider my fiber, yardage and color first - then hunt down patterns that will work with what I've got. I've been doing pretty well so far and have another three projects lined up based on yarn I already have. I may just make it through this year without any new yarn purchases afterall!!

She wanted her own.

My youngest loves coloring, especially when her big sisters are around and doing it too. Recently there was a squabble over the colored pencil rolls and I knew it was time to make a third. I'm really happy with how this one turned out; my sewing and assembly skills are improving little by little.

The basic pattern is from LMPQG, but I made a roll that only has 12 pockets. I used a linen fabric from the stash for the exterior, fabric scraps for the interior, and an old flannel receiving blanket for the batting. The ribbon is also from the stash, and while it's not my first color choice, I was determined to use up what I have rather than run to the store to buy something new.





The pencils pictured are from Melissa & Doug. They are awesome. They are big, sturdy and shaped like triangles (to minimize rolling off table tops!) I highly recommend spending the extra couple dollars to a nice set, rather than the cheap ones on sale. I can't believe it's taken me this long to learn this lesson: it helps everyone when I get the nicer art supplies for the kids. Less frustration on their part, and fewer trips to the store to purchase replacement supplies on my part. While I spent a bit more on these sets I know that they will last for quite some time.

I made this roll earlier this month, but I would like to add it to the idea book challenge hosted by Rebekah. I own the book and pulled it off the shelf when it was time to make this little project.

Reusable food wrappers and pouches

I've been wanting to make sandwich wraps and re-usable snack baggies for our family for awhile. But I was totally intimidated when I started to read about them on-line and all the cautions about food safe plastic. Over the long new year's weekend I threw caution to the wind and with the help of this tutorial and this one I came up with the set you see above. So far I have three sandwich wraps and six snack bags. Each wrap has a coordinating baggie, and then there are three random ones to take with us when we run errands or go to the park, etc.

The lining for these is made from the un-used remnants of an old Ikea shower curtain (I believe it's made from PEVA and from what I've read this is a good alternative to vinyl or PVC). I did try to use the liners from cereal boxes - a suggestion I read about somewhere - but they ripped terribly and didn't hold up; not the way I need them to for me to use them on a consistent basis. Which is sort of the point, right? I mean why make a reusable sandwich wrapper that isn't durable enough to be re-used?

These were all made from my fabric stash - I didn't need to purchase anything to make them, with the exception of velcro. So, Rule Number One for the 2010 Stash Challenge - small accessory purchases like velcro, thread, buttons (me) or screws, sandpaper and drill bits (him) will be allowed, but must be discussed and approved first. We are also allowed to make purchases with any gifts we receive during the year.

And Rule Number Two quickly became apparent when after an afternoon in the sewing room I emerged with this set, and after an afternoon in the workshop he succeeded in cutting a few pieces of wood. Rule Number Two is that projects will be celebrated based on ingenuity, quality, creativity, and usefulness - not the quantity of projects we can make.