Monthly Archives: July 2011

Misunderstanding and travel case

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I think I led a few people to think I altered the actual needle roll my sister made for me.  Not so.  I looked at her handiwork then made a case to hold our chargers for traveling.

Using the back panel of a perfectly-good-but too-small men’s dress shirt, a recycled bias strip from some pillows I got, and new fusible fleece, I made this travel case for electronic chargers for next to nothing.

This has four pockets in two different sizes, 4.5 x 4.5 and 3 x 4.5.  I wanted a contrast strip down the center but didn’t have enough fabric without piecing it.  I wish I would have figured out another method as I don’t like the imperfect seam across the panel.  Piecing striped fabric is too fiddly.

I know it’s just a utilitarian object but it can still look nice.

Finished size is 8.25 x 11.25 inches.

This was fun though I had to think about how to assemble this since I was making it up as I went along.

I also want to label the pockets so we can grab the right charger without taking them all out.

I’ll post a tutorial for this in case anyone else wants to make one.

FO Friday

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I have a couple of finished objects (FO) but no pictures to share.  They are still on my camera.

  1. Sewing Project #1:  My wonderful sister made a needle roll for me (see below) so I adapted her handiwork for a travel pouch for our phone charger, helmet chargers**, camera charger, and whatever other charger we need while traveling.  I will post pictures ASAP. 
  2. Sewing Project #2:  Using some leftover fabric, fusible fleece, and teflon fabric, I made a travel cover for my flat-iron/curling iron.  Fixing my hair is usually the last thing I do when getting ready to go someplace and I needed a way to pack the still warm appliance without burning myself or damaging anything around it.  I’ll most likely use this only when traveling but could be used all the time if you like to put yours away.  I will post pictures ASAP.
  3. Knitting Project:  I am this >< close to finishing the Fetching Mitts.  I will have enough yarn to bind off and make the thumb on the second mitt.  If you recall, I did not have enough yarn the first time around so I frogged (ripped) them out and reknit them.  I will be very happy to wear these…unless I decide to gift them.  Shown below are the original pair.  I will post pictures ASAP.

    Before

I do have a few more things I’ve been working on but they are secrets for now.

Sorry for the recycled pictures.  Posts without something to look at are boring.

And the mitts pictures above really are from the same ball of yarn and are the same color.  Must be the lightning as the one on the left doesn’t look as bright as the one on the right.  Hmm.

** Our motorcycle helmets are equipped with Bluetooth (coolest thing ever) so Mr. Aitch and I can talk to each other when riding separately or together.  We don’t talk a lot but it’s really important for him to be able to hear me when I’m on the back of the Harley and play the role as navigator.  I can share a little bit about our process next week…if you’re interested.

A renewed knitter

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A couple of days ago I posted about my best friend and how we knit washcloths on our mini vacation.

I did not get a pictures of our completed masterpieces but my friend sent me pictures of hers.

Pat's first washcloth

After her first successful project, she wanted to try another one.  So we went to a big box store and bought more cotton yarn.  I gave her a couple stitch markers, a pair of knitting needles, and the printed pattern so she could get started as soon as she had time.

Pat's second washcloth

She’s addicted.  She made yet a third one (no picture) from some of her leftover yarns from other projects and now wants more patterns.  Knitting doesn’t hurt her fingers and wrists like crochet did.

I’m going to introduce her to Ravelry.

Christmas in July

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Nothing like receiving a package to make it feel like Christmas, even in July.  The outside temperatures say HOT and the yarn says warm.

I ordered four skeins of  Knit Picks Stroll in fingering weight in the color Bare, one sock blank* also Bare, blunt point tapestry needles, a knit-picker, and Pints and Purls book.

A great book so far.  I’ve just skimmed through it and found several things I want to knit.  The projects are rated for “designated driver” to “four drinks” with the DD rating for knitting with fewer distractions and the four drinks rating for more distractions aka beer or other concoctions  Did you notice those sexy reading glasses?  Buy-one-get-one free for $2.98.  Can’t beat that price even if they aren’t exactly right.

Can you guess what my plans are for the Bare naked yarn?  I picked up these Easter Egg coloring kits for $0.25 each after Easter.  I want to dye or hand paint the yarn for socks or whatever I feel like knitting with fingering weight yarn.

I’ve seen all sorts of yummy colorways of sock yarn and I really want to dye my own.  I’ve never done this so if you have any techniques, suggestions, experience, or positive energy, please feel free to share!

The next few weeks are going to be a bit hectic (motorcycle trip and a party) so I might not get to this right away.

*sock blank description straight from the Knit Picks web site:    Our brand new sock yarn dye blanks are long double-stranded pre-knit stretches of machine washable, Merino/nylon blend sock yarn that you can hand dye using the dye method of your choice, and then knit directly from the sock blank to easily create your own colorways and self-striping sock yarns. Finished knit size is 33″ long by 9″ wide.