From The Craft Room

Archive for the ‘Products’ Category

I found these great fabrics today in a collection from Michael Miller Fabrics called “Knitmare on Elm Street.” I particularly want the brown fabric with the pink skulls and knitting needle crossbones (it’s called Knit Pirate). –> Of course, I can’t find this particular fabric at any of my local quilting stores, even the ones listed on the Michael Miller website. I’ll have to keep a lookout for these online at a reasonable price. It figures I missed the eBay auctions I was watching while I was at dinner where a yard of this went for less than $2. Oh, well. The main fabric is really cute, though I seriously can’t think of what I’d actually do with it. The book by the skeleton’s feet reads “Quick and Easy Knitting Projects.” PRICELESS!

He also has a really funny collection called That’s Sew Wrong that has a scissors and skulls complimentary fabric called Quilt Pirates. I think the combination of the two would make excellent sock project bags.

In other fabric notes, I found a cute panel at the store today. It’s based on the old Rosie the Riveter from WWII. It’s called Rosie the Quilter and she’s got a rotary cutter! Once again, not really sure what I’ll do with it, but I knew I’d regret it if I passed it up.

As far as WIPs, I’ve got way too many projects started. I resolved today that I am not buying anything for new projects until I complete some things first. I stopped by Purls of Wisdom down in Parker yesterday for some help in interpreting the crocheted sunhat pattern that I’m doing. That should be my next finished project to share. I got stuck while on vacation and hadn’t touched it since. I did buy a book called Getting Started Knitting Socks while I was there and am starting my goal of learning to knit socks. I need to do my Boobie Socks and use the cool sock yarn I purchased in Kansas City. I am determined to have a first sock to show The Yarn Harlot the next time I see her! I’ve got a couple of dishcloths, a couple of bags, my alpaca scarf…the projects started are too many to list! That doesn’t even include the books I have to read, the cross stitch projects, the quilting projects…Man, I’m going to be a busy woman!

Last May I participated in The 30-Day Organizational Challenge on the OrgJunkie site and got my craft room in order. I was so proud of how it looked and I kept it clean and organized for quite awhile…until I needed to get to some fabric. My fabric stash is crammed into a couple of plastic totes and some drawers and unfortunately, I can’t find what I need when I need it. Around Thanksgiving, I needed a particular fabric that I knew I had, but just couldn’t find. I dumped all the contents of the totes and drawers out into the middle of the floor in a panic. It’s mid-March and they are still there (and I never did find that fabric I was trying to locate). It was the one straw that broke the whole proverbial camel’s back. Ever since then, my room became once again the dumping ground for anything that didn’t have a home.

I decided I needed to deal with this right away and while searching for fabric organizing solutions, I came across these neat little acid-free plastic fabric bolt organizers. They’re available in two sizes for both full cuts and fat quarters. It would be a little pricey to get enough of those to deal with my current stash, so I’m looking into some other plastic alternatives. It’s a shame they don’t sell those at quilting stores in 10 packs or something.

Over on one of the groups I belong to on Ravelry, the message was posted that the Yarn Harlot is going to be at The Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch on April 4th. w00t!

If you have no idea who the Yarn Harlot is, she is Canadian Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. She writes a blog called Yarn Harlot and has authored many books on life and knitting. I just love her blog…go check it out.

I totally missed her visit last year when she was here. I saw it on the news, though. I decided, while watching that news segment, that I would learn to knit no matter what and would see her next time she comes to town. I did and I will. Yay!

I drove to the Highlands Ranch Tattered Cover one day after work a couple of weeks ago to see where exactly it was. Turns out there is a yarn shop in the same shopping center called String, A Knitting Boutique. It was an awesome store, the woman working there was so nice and I found the most beautiful royal blue alpaca yarn. Now I have to decide what I want to do with it (after I roll it, of course).

OK, self, when a shop owner apologizes for her ball winder being tied up by another customer and her not being able to wind your hank you just bought and you say, “That’s OK, I’ll wind it up when it get home” — DO IT! Seriously, wouldn’t you have rather been knitting for those two hours it took you to untangle the mess you made trying to knit from the hank? I originally didn’t do it because I thought for sure Marcus wouldn’t hold the hank while I wound (like my dad used to do for my mom). Turns out all I had to do was ask.

Along those same lines, self, shouldn’t you have learned that same lesson when you frogged the knit bag you were making when you decided it was going to felt smaller than you wanted and should start over? Really, you just wasted a good hour untangling that mess. Who knew already knitted yarn tangled so easily? How hard would it have been to wind it up as you frogged instead unraveling all and trying to wind after you’d already knitted 12 rows of the new bag?

I’m thinking a ball winder of my own wouldn’t be a bad investment. There are several on Amazon as well as being stocked at many of the yarn stores here. Anybody have any advice on yarn winders? Which ones are crap and I should steer clear or is the one you own totally awesome? Advice is greatly appreciated!

Geez, haven’t posted here since before Halloween. I wish I could say I’ve been off crafting up a storm, but this has not been the case. Work got crazy busy and while I got a lot of overtime and was able to buy Christmas presents for the first time in years, it didn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies. I also slipped into my pre-holiday depression that I’ve been experiencing the last few years and then caught a bug going around work and have been sick for a little over the last three weeks. I’m starting to finally feel better, though, so some new projects are in the works.

I did get a few more feet of crocheted popcorn garland made during the first couple of weeks of December, but not enough to make it to the tree yet. To help with it, I bought a cool little product called The Crochet Lite at Michaels (pictured at right –>) so that I could crochet in the dark. It basically has an LED or something in the handle that shines up through the hook. It definitely lights up enough so that you can see what you’re doing. I don’t like the feel of it as much as my regular metal crochet hook, but it’s usable. I’m going to bring the project out to my current project basket in the living room so that I will continue to work on it throughout the year. It’ll be on the tree next Christmas. Oh, yes….it will.

I did finish my bag from my knit class and totally forgot to post pictures here. I’ll have to write up a post later and post some pics. In the mean time, there are pictures of it over in my Crafts Photo Gallery. I started trying to make a second bag, but I got stuck. I’ll try to pick that project up again soon. I really want to knit myself a sweater and some socks.

Currently, though, I am trying to learn to machine embroider. My most awesomest boyfriend in the entire world gifted me a Brother PE-700 embroidery machine for Christmas. A co-worker that embroiders gave me her old copy of PE-Design software, a card writer box, some blank cards and some of her old designs to get me started. w00t! It looks like this is the year I’ll finally be able to live my dream of starting my own embroidery business.

I’ve finally been invited to join Ravelry. I’ve got to get busy and set myself up a profile over there.

I also just joined Etsy. I need to make some money and since paid blogging ain’t gonna do it anymore, I guess it’s time I put some of my skills to use and sell some stuff online.

OK, that’s about it for now. I’m really looking forward to making 2008 a really crafty year.