Two Things

First of all, I finally learned how to use my drop spindle!







The thickness is far from uniform and frankly, it looks like something a child has done, but I don't care. I made it! Also, I figure it can only get better with time, so around the time I actually have enough money to buy a spinning , I will have mastered the drop spindle.

In addition to learning the drop spindle, I also attempted to sew a little coin purse type thing, complete with a zipper! It started out fairly good:



While the lines were a bit shaky, I have to say I managed to match up the fabric fairly well and mastered the zipper. I was feeling pretty good considering I was doing it without a pattern. So I then sewed up the lining and sewed up the outside before I realized that I had no idea how to completely close it.





Well crap. So much for my grandiose project attempt. Perhaps tomorrow I will bunker down and finish it by hand. Maybe.

New Scarf

I bought this yarn while in Ashville, North Carolina this summer, but alas I cannot remember the name of the store. On the drive back to Pennsylvania, I started the scarf and then set it aside for some unknown reason. Tonight I picked it up, finished off a row or two, and added some fringe. Just a simple knit stitch and the yarn is made up of five separate strands.

Free Yarn

Last Saturday, I stopped by Yarns By Design for a trunk show they were having for a few days. I needed some new circular needles and picked up some lovely hat yarn:





I plan on making a hat with the above yarn, but that's not the point of this post. The point of this post was I spun a wheel and won a door prize of 9 balls of blue bamboo yarn! There was even free patterns for a shawl and hand warmers. This was particularly exciting because I never win anything.

Tons of Fun

I have become obsessed with DYI blogs of all kinds. So, I have decided to link them here in case anyone stumbles across this blog. Check the out!


Design Sponge
Everybody Loves Sandwiches
How About Orange
IKEA Hacker
Jars of Cute
Not Martha

A Finished Project

After six hours, much frustration, and the help of my mother, my first sewing project is completed!









The pattern came from the book Sew Everything Workshop and while it was listed as an easy project, I think that perhaps I should have started with a place mat first. Oh well! My next sewing idea is to make some little zippered purses I talked about in the previous post, though I think I might wait a day or two to attempt them.

One of these days, I will make that hat post.

Now For Something Different...

A week or so ago, I picked up a book on sewing at Half-Priced Books. Needless to say, this was right up my ally. I have since picked up a few other books and after leafing through them, I decided I was going to make a simple tote-style purse. There was a quick trip to Joann Fabrics and I found some fabric:





The fabric on the right is going to be the outside/shoulder strap and the one on the left will be the lining, perhaps a front pocket as well. While the pattern didn't call for interfacing, I bought some just to make the bag a little bit stronger.

I also dug the sewing machine out of the closet. I think I'll wait for my mother to explain it to me:





In addition to the fabric for the purse, I also picked up some more fabric and zippers to make little cosmetic bags/change purses/pencil holders/etc. Joann's sells these fabric samples that are marketed to quilters, but they were the perfect size (18" x 22") for my small projects. Plus, they were on sale for 96 cents, so I stocked up just a bit:







Mom's going to help me get started. After all, she did sew her own wedding dress.

FYI

On a non-crafty note, I have started a Tumblr. I'm not quite sure what exactly you do with a Tumblr other than post whatever you like, which is what I plan on doing with it.

In other news, I went to the library on Tuesday with Mom to get my books on how to make yarn flowers. The crochet book was there, but the knitting one was no where to be seen despite the fact it is checked into the system. I seem to have a habit of wanting books that are MIA in the library system.

Next post: baby hats.

More Flowers

I have a bunch of old knitting magazines sitting around and tonight out of boredom (so bored I am watching Boogeyman 3 free on Demand and yes, there is a reason this movie was free) I decided to go through them. Since they were just laying around, I thought I would just save patterns and what not that I could/would actually use. Well. To my joy, I discovered not one, but TWO books on knitted and crocheted flowers. Each book is about $16.50 on Amazon and I am greatly considering spending the money I don’t have to purchase them. My love of flowers is irrational at times. Just ask my mother about my half carat while gold diamond flower ring and near matching pendant.

Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers

Nicky Epstein's Crocheted Flowers

Drop Spindles

I was going to make an update on hats, but my drop spindles came in the mail! In my kit, I have both a top and a bottom whorl spindle, some delicate white wool, and some nicely colored wool that can be used to make thicker yarn. It also came with written instructions, but I am no good at reading those, so I've been watching How To videos on YouTube instead. I can do this in theory... in theory being the keywords here.



The spindles.



The fine yarn.



The fun yarn.

Decorative Flowers

Today, my mother and I made a trip to Half-Price Books to sell some books so we could make room for some more. They only gave me eighteen dollars, but that is not the point of this story. The point of this story is that the store had a MASSIVE amount of books for homemade projects. Not only was there a nice selection of knitting/crocheting books, but there were also ones on sewing, needle point, wood craft, quilting, and every thing in between. If you are the hands on type or looking to start, you should check it out, especially since the prices were nearing 75% off the suggested retail price. You really can't beat that. Well, you can beat that by not buying the book to begin with, but where is the fun in that? No where.

Since my mother is the best mother in the world, she bought me three knitting/crocheting books (and one about mental illness in royalty/emperors/other ruling officials, which is also very informative) and in the knitting book was a pattern for knitted flowers. At this point, I should tell you I love flowers. There are flowers on my bed spread. There are flowers on my purse. I even own several pieces of flower jewelery, so needless to say this was a great little find. And the pattern was simple! So once we returned home from dinner, I grabbed some needles/left over yarn and went to work.



Not the greatest choice of yarn color, but I feel it is a very good result for a first attempt considering I am rubbish at reading directions. I used size 10 needles and I believe the yarn is... alpaca? It was bought years ago, so I can't be sure on that one, but it is very soft. I thought perhaps a button in the middle to add a nice accent. Tomorrow, I think I will attempt to make it on smaller needles and in a color that flowers naturally occur, but I am still proud of my little attempt.

Needle Holders

For the past few days, I have been searching around Etsy for a case for my circular needles. Right now, they are just lying around haphazardly in my little set of drawers in which I store my knitting supplies and I have been thinking how wonderful it would be to have a case to keep them nice and neat. So I am searching Etsy and telling myself that I would spend no more that twenty-five dollars on a hand-made case when it dawned on me: I could damn well make my own. I did sew a gym bag and a pin cushion in junior high, both of which turned out positively lovely I may add. After a quick Google search, I located a site that has 30 free patterns for needle organizers. Huzzah! Now all I have to do is presumably pick out some fabric I love and pray the sewing machine is in working order.

Or I can do one of the No Sew options. Either way, I think I will just do it myself

Big Stick Lover

I really enjoy knitting (and more recently crocheting) with big needles. Yes, it is a bit more haphazard, but I think it satisfies my need for Instant Gratification. There is nothing like starting a project and finishing it a few hours later. It really keeps me going when I am working on a tedious project such as a hat on size five or six circular needles. So yes. I am a big fan of the big needles.

A week or so ago, I went down to North Carolina with my mother to Lenoir, North Carolina to visit some family friends. In the town, there was a nice knitting store called Chix With Stix. There was this lovely yarn by a company called 2 Bad Cats out of Maiden, North Carolina. As you can see, it is quite colorful:





A bit outrageous to some, but I like it. Now they had all sorts of yarn like this, most in similar hues such as all green or all blue or Autumn colors. It was truly beautiful. I bought two skein of it (similar, not the same) of outrageous rainbow colors. At first, I didn't know what to do with it, but eventually I settled on the idea of crocheting it long ways (using both skeins) so the various fabric changes would happen in long rows rather than chunks. I couldn't be more pleased with it. In my opinion, the scarf could not have turned out more wonderful as it is right up my mishmash/eclectic ally. It is so super thick, so it will no doubt keep me warm in the winter. I should really contact the store and ask if they could send me some more of this yarn as it was fun to work with, plus it gave me a great end result. Even my mother liked it!

Obligatory Introduction Post

I originally created this blog in order to follow my mother, but the more I think about it, the more I think I should utilize the space. Apparently, I am a sucker for getting the biggest bang for my buck... though there is no buck involved here.

So.

My name is Emily and I am currently a nursing student who has just completed her first year. It was a lot of work, so I am thankful I made it through alive. I also have a degree in music and was a former member of the viola section of the Johnstown Symphony. While I love music and always think it will be part of my life, it wasn't exactly paying the bills. Neither was my job in jewelry sales, so I decided to go to nursing school. So far, I have no real idea of where I want to end up, though I did enjoy the operating room, the emergency room, and the psych ward. If you knew me, this would seem fitting.

So yes. I enjoy reading (though I mainly stick to audio books these days thanks to my love of multitasking), playing the viola, watching medical shows (not the Grey's Anatomy type), learning useless trivia, knitting, crocheting, British television, vegetarian cooking, independent movies, good wine, good beer, etc. I think this blog will mainly be about my knitting, but I'll probably include some adventures of my nursing exploits.

And I'll probably talk about my cat Jeanne-Marie as well.