Project bags…maybe

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I mentioned in my previous post that I have a lot of fabric. Way too much for a person my age who doesn’t sew many BIG projects.

Earlier this year I made about 50 small, snap pouches and donated them to my church for anyone who needed a small, snap pouch, perhaps for the numerous rosary beads that were donated by another parishioner.

The first dozen

Each took two 4×8 pieces of fabric, one 4×8 piece of fusible fleece, a lobster clip, and a snap. Easy.

In joining the Self-Imposed Sock Club I thought I’d make project bags instead of using paper bags to hold the yarn and patterns. A bit more involved than the little pouches but I have plenty of supplies. The project bags would zip closed to keep everything contained. Maybe I’d even make matching notions bags!

I decided to take inventory of all the zippers in my stash. My discovery was quite startling.

I have 76 16-inch zippers and 118 7-inch zippers all in various colors. These are the regular “clothing” zippers. I also have handbag zippers that are more substantial. Once upon a time I had plans for those zippers but those plans have since changed.

Sewing twelve project bags won’t even make a dent!

What am I going to do with the rest of those zippers?

Patti nona

I’ve done it now!

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I agreed to join Regina @CosmicKnitter in a Self-Imposed Sock Club for 2027. Read more about it here.

The saying, “you can never have too much/many fill in the blank ” applies to lots of things. I am at that stage in my life when that is not true.

I have too much yarn.

And fabric.

And it’s time to use it or get rid of it.

Sorry, do you need some smelling salts?

So I’m on board with a Self-Imposed Sock Club in 2027. The plan is to gather the yarns and patterns for 12 pairs of socks, put them in an opaque bag, then pick one bag each month and knit those socks. I could sew a project bag for each month!

I subscribed to a club a few years ago that knit one pair every two months. The pattern was released at the beginning of the month so you didn’t know what it was until then. Sometimes I liked/loved the pattern and sometimes I didn’t.

I will choose patterns I like along with the appropriate color so I will have no one to blame but myself if I don’t like the outcome.

I’ve got the yarn…

Don’t judge.

The 64-quart tub in the middle is full of fingering-weight/sock yarn.

Leftover hand-dyed and other miscellaneous yarns.

Yarns purchased for various projects that were never begun.

Needless to say, I have enough yarn for twelve pairs of socks to continue this for a few years.

Now to pick twelve patterns…

Anybody want to join us?

Patti nona

Lenten socks

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I got hooked on some mindless games on my iPad and phone instead of doing something constructive so during Lent last year, I gave up two games that I was addicted to.

Except I found two more that were so-so but also addicting.

After Lent was over last year, I had no desire to play those games, so I decided to do the same with the new ones this year. I really have lots of things to do but no desire to put down my iPad or phone and do them. This year, to keep my brain and hands busy and away from the tempting games, I decided to knit a pair of socks for my BFF. I needed to be accountable and she was delighted to help out and receive them!

I wanted to use stash yarn and knit something that required some brain cells but was not too challenging. Enter the Broken Seed Stitch Socks by Hanna Leväniemi. This is the second time knitting this recipe. I had some Knit Picks Stroll in Midnight Heather (a deep, rich blue) and just enough leftover hand-dyed yarn (31 grams) to use as the contrast color…leaving only one gram of the hand-dyed yarn in the end. That was close!

Broken Seed Stitch Socks

I cast on February 17 with my basic 64-stitch vanilla sock pattern using the German twisted stitch cast-on, as it is stretchy for cuffs, and knit the sturdy, partridge-eye heel flap. I have been known to knit a pair of socks in a week or ten days, but these were a relaxing knit with a deadline sometime before Easter. I finished the last of the 25,618 stitches on March 26.

Even though I still haven’t gone back to any of those time-consuming/mind-numbing games and haven’t taken up any new ones, I just might make a pair of Lenten socks every year.

Stay cool this week!

Patti nona