Knitting Knews

A funny thing happened on my bike ride last week.  I rode into town on a gorgeous spring day and accidentally bought this yarn.....I don't know how it happened!

Even though it was a particularly warm day, we are back to chilly, wet March days and I think another vest is needed for my wardrobe.  I've had this pattern for a while and, even though it looks like a fall vest, decided I needed to knit it.

The yarn is lusciously soft (why that matters for a vest, I don't know...) but I have cast on and am knitting away.

Marie, who designed the lovely Pressed Flowers Carry-All, has introduced a pattern series in celebration of the women in your life and the first pattern is Blackberry Buckle.   It is knit in the lovely Misti Alpaca which is so soft!  I love the wine cork toggles!  I think Marie's stories will be as interesting as her patterns.

My lace project is languishing a bit because I haven't had much couch time, but I have a bunch of BBC dramas lined up, so perhaps I will forge ahead.

The Wild Things In My House!

My 10 year old "wild thing" always enjoyed Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are."  We recently watched the movie by the same name.  Although it was both literally and figuratively dark, there is something haunting about it.  The music plays a part in creating the mood.  My husband loves the main theme song, "All Is Love" so for his birthday we purchased the soundtrack.  (I usually buy him CDs that he can enjoy in the car.  I buy most of my music on Itunes now, but I found the soundtrack for this movie on Amazon for $4 less!  And it copied right into my Itunes library.)  So we created a CD for him and pasted a picture of my son on the cover.  He then added his own version of the "wild thing."

Over-Sized Tote Bag and a Rice Bag

Thanks, Joanne, for a fantastic tutorial.  I love Ready, Set, Craft - it's such a sunny place to hang out.  In case you didn't see it, I posted a tutorial on how to make an over-sized tote on Joanne's blog.  Check it out and get ready for summer!

I finally got around to trying Suzannah's Rice Bag Tutorial!  Suzannah, from Adventures in Dressmaking, guest-posted on my blog some time ago.  I like that her rice bag has a little pillowcase - something that can be removed and washed!  We've enjoyed a neck warmer made from some type of hulls - corn or cherry - that has quite an odor.  I don't mind it but the kids and my husband object to it.  Plus, there is no way to wash it.  Last night when I felt chilly and wanted to heat up my bed, I threw it in the microwave....just to realize it sat in a puddle of  spaghetti sauce!  (I wish the cook would clean up after herself!)

I dug around the craft room and found all the ingredients!  Instead of canvas, I thought I'd try my t-shirt scraps.  (The uses for my t-shirt scraps never stop!)  Plus, since it is soft and stretchy, it would conform to the neck nicely.  I also found some scrap flannel to make a pretty pillowcase.

Suzannah's tutorial calls for a 1/4 yard of fabric.  I had a little more than 8" so I thought that would do.  I turned the t-shirt inside out, serged along the cut end and turned it right side out.

I measured the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 marks and stitched a line at these points to create four chambers.

Next, I filled the chambers about half full with rice, pinned the top and used a stretchy zig zag stitch to finish the edge.  (I did not use a bias tape as mentioned in the tutorial.)

Finally, I made a nice pillowcase out of flannel, making sure that it was slightly wider than the bag.  I love that this rice bag has chambers because all the rice won't flow to the end if you put it around your neck or over your shoulder.

Are you crafting up any excitement in anticipation of spring and summer?

Flower Cup Tutorial - Guest Post by Joanne at Ready, Set, Craft!

Hi there!  I'm Joanne from Ready, Set, Craft! and I am just thrilled to be guest posting here at Maiden Jane today!  I dabble in a little bit of everything crafty and do some baking, too - but paper-crafting is kind of my "thing."  I love rubber stamping, and am a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! - I do workshops and classes and share project ideas with my customers.  It's so much fun!

Today I'm excited to share a quick and easy project with you that I hope will get you "thinking Spring" as much as I am!  The great thing about my flower clips is that they are quick to make and use supplies most crafters have on hand, and it's definitely a project you could make with the kiddos.

Let's get started!

Supplies!  Two punches, a scallop and circle (any size will do!), scissors, permanent adhesive, paper scraps in a variety of colors, ink pads to match your paper scraps, clothes pins, and sponges.

Punch and cut!  Punch out one scallop (this will be your flower), one circle (the center of your flower), cut a strip of green the same length and width as your clothes pin (mine was about 3 and 1/4 inch long by 1/2 an inch wide), and cut out a leaf (I cut mine freehand - you could also use a stencil or die cutting machine)

Ink!  Sponge corresponding colored ink on each piece of your flower (yellow on yellow, green on green, etc.)  This creates a subtle textured effect and makes the flower "pop"

Stick!  Using your adhesive, glue each piece of the flower to your clothes pin.  The leaf first, then the stem, and finally the flower and its center on top of that.  Press down firmly to stick.

These are so quick to make that you can put together a whole garden full in just a few minutes!  A set of these would make a great gift...

You can use them to clip together receipts, to-do's, bills, etc...

Or to keep bags of candy or chips closed and your snacks fresh!  Please don't pay attention to how few robin eggs are left in this bag... I mean, a girl needs to snack while she crafts, right?  It encourages creativity you know!

You can even use them to mark a favorite spot in a catalog or magazine... to show hubby the newest decor items from PB you absolutely can't live without perhaps?

So what are you waiting for?  Grab some scraps, some clothes pins, and get started!  Thanks so much to Jane for having me here today - it's been such a blast!  I do hope you'll stop over to Ready, Set, Craft today to see Jane's over-sized beach bag tutorial - as a beginning sewer I'm always looking for new projects to try and this one is at the top of my list!

Rummage Sale Jewelry Box

We found this little jewelry cupboard at a rummage sale.  Annie grabbed her paints and away she went.  It's amazing what a little paint can do.

 

Finding Style

Etsy can be a dangerous place to hang out!  I am not one to wear much jewelry, but am amazed at the beautiful pieces that abound on Etsy.  Recently, a piece caught my eye and, in celebration of St. Pat's Day, I bought this lovely pendant from Glasfuzion, a wonderful seller and local to my area, too!

Also, I recently discovered Stylestance.  It's a blog about style with substance and I was thrilled to have one of my aprons featured.

Finally, here's my latest apron.  I just couldn't pass this fabric up!

Happy St. Pat's Day!

I've had a bit 'o good luck!
Etsy featured my Coffee Sack Apron Tutorial on their How-Tuesday Blog!

Playing With T-Shirts

There are some interesting trends re-purposing t-shirts.  Although I am not a trendy gal, I do produce a lot of t-shirt scraps when I make my quilts.  While walking through JoAnns one day, I saw this flier and was inspired to try my own version.

I was not sure what I would need, but picked up a few things in the jewelry area.

The first step in working with t-shirt strips is to cut the shirts.  My shirts had no side seams, so I cut off the bottom hem and made 1/2" strips.

Give the t-shirt strip a firm pull and it will curl in on itself to form a tube.  I usually pull it taught through my hands all the way around the loop.

I cut strips of black and grey t-shirts and began to play!

I folded the grey strips in half, opened the loop on the chain and inserted the t-shirts.  It couldn't have been easier!  The t-shirts are long enough to fit over my head, so there was no need to add a clasp.

I like this long chain.  Add the plain, long, black t-shirt strips for a layered look.  My daughter thought it looked dorky, so she doubled up the t-shirt strips for this look:

I wanted to use the shamrock pendant but it just seemed two small for all the various entanglements I was working up.  So I simply took one black loop, slipped the pendant on it, knotted it above the pendant and slipped it over my head.  So easy!

Finally, for my last endeavor, I also kept it simple.  I took the long black strips, folded them in half and put them on. 

My style is a bit plain jane, as you may know, but playing with the t-shirt strips allows you to be creative.  It would be a great way to jazz up some old pieces you have or experiment with thrift store finds. 

Pressed Flowers Bag

I finished my Pressed Flowers Carry-All, a wonderful design by Marie from Permission to Unwind.  The project begin with a foray into dying.  I had only dyed yarn once with Kool-Aid, which was quite fun.  But for this, I selected a Denim Blue RIT dye.  My messy hanks were tossed into the kettle and brewed until I was happy with the color.

The pattern is straightforward and was the perfect companion to the many concerts I attended this past month.  I was able to whittle away at the circular knitting.  When I got to the straps, I decided to finish them on my Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine.  I used Keyplate 2 and it worked quite well!

I'm so pleased with the result.  As you can see, it will fit nicely into my blue wardrobe.  Now come on summer!

The Ice is Melting

I was reading PDXKnitterati and she had wonderful pictures of the ocean views at her Crafty Mom Weekend.  (How fun would that be?)  The water can put me at peace.  I love the roar of the wind in my face, the crash of the waves, the constant cycle of the waves.

Here on the shores of Lake Erie we are starting to experience the tease of spring.  There is warmth, sunshine and breezes - rather than the cold, north-westerly winds bearing down on us.

We had quite an old-fashioned winter, with cold temperatures and snow on the ground for nearly three months straight.  We enjoyed sledding and ice skating in the back yard.  But now we are "done" with winter.  Before it leaves us, I wanted to take the kids down to the lake to see the ice.

As far as the eye can see, ice meets sky, perhaps all the way to Canada.  I imagine I am in Antarctica.  I am in awe of the stillness of the view.  My memory takes me back to summer -  combing the beach for glass, swimming, soaking in the sun.  But fur now, quiet.

The ice can tempt.  When we arrived at the park, two police officers were escorting two young boys back to their homes.  They had been walking out on the ice, as evidenced by their footprints.  It doesn't look like they ventured too far, but you never know the thickness of the ice and we had too many tragedies in the area to not shudder at what could happen.

During a visit to my brother's beach-front home on another shore of Lake Erie, the landscape was lunar.

The docks are silent.

And the only splash of color against the browns and grays of the landscape were these cars, awaiting their day to go back on the amusement tracks.

Are you seeing the promise of spring?