Another new bag and a mini Maximus cowl

It was that time again recently - time to make a new bag - and an idea had been brewing in my head for a while...

Usually my bags wear out with use, but this time the old one was still going but just didn't have the functionality I needed. You see we're going on a trip, and as much as I like the previous bag, the fact that I can't use it messenger style accross my body drives me mad. Especially when I'm walking any distance or when I'm wearing my minoru jacket - something about that jacket (maybe the big collar and raglan sleeves?) makes bags fall off my shoulder - grr!

After making so many bags (there are a stack to see if you're interested under the 'bag' category over on the right there >) I've come to know what's useful for me personally, so this time around I had a pretty tight list of practical requirements:
Something that could be worn messenger style...



Or on the shoulder...



With internal pockets for pen, phone, lip balm etc, ...



A key fob inside is handy and so is a zip pocket, and also an external zip pocket to quickly stuff keys into on the run.



Regarding the look of the bag I wanted something quite utilitarian looking but with some nice details. As I knew what I wanted I didn't use a pattern but made it by cutting a simple rectangular shape with cut away corners (not sure what the proper name for that is?) to give a hobo bag feel.



I used an old thrifted leather belt for the strap. I can't remember where I got the idea from, but I cut the belt while it was buckled and then attached each end to a side, handstitching it on with hemp thread. I hope it holds! Must remember not to carry any heavy kid water bottles in it! Using a belt sounds a bit naff and gimmicky but I think it comes off OK and does the job, plus adds the slight bit of grunge I was after. I do like a bit of grunge :-)



I had a great piece of grey linen I wanted to use for the outer, and even though it is cool toned and the belt is warm I thought they went together nicely, and decided to accentuate the warm/cool thing by adding brown taped zips (with silver coloured metal teeth) and brown toned fabric inside. It sounds like a lot of navel gazing but I really love experimenting and putting all the little details together :-)



All the materials I used are from my stash (yay stash busting!), some things I'd been hoarding for ages. I always cut off zips, buckles, buttons, sliders etc when I throw away an old bag (or whatever) and just put them away for another day. It's so satisfying being able to use them up one day, and feels great to not have to go out and buy yet more stuff, which is the positive side to stash hoarding I guess. And a friend recently gave me the inside fabric which I love (hello H if you happen to be reading! And thank you!).



The cowl I'm wearing here (note the warm/cool thing with the cowl & briar too :-) is the Maximus pattern from Chic Knits. I'm calling it my mini maximus because I ran out of wool and so it's smaller than the pattern specifies. It was such an enjoyable knit, on big needles, very quick and satisfying, if you're looking for a project I'd recommend it.

Midnight blue seven circle

I finally finished my winter knitting project (I'm a really slow knitter so one project each winter seems to be my limit :-). This is my second seven circle (first one here), a beautiful (and free) pattern from Melbourne designer Kirsten Johnstone.



I loved knitting this pattern again. I'd definitely recommend it to a beginner because it's so interesting, lots of casting on and off, not just the same old row after row that an ordinary scarf might be.



This time I used a beautiful midnight blue wool.Using a wool this time has made such a difference to the feel of the finished garment. I had made the first one out of an acrylic that I'd had laying around and it's fine, I like the colour, but it's not a patch on the feel and warmth of this one. I could go on and on about how much I love wool in many different forms. I sewed a merino cardigan recently which I'm hoping to blog soon too.



And in case you haven't seen how this clever design works, here it is stretched out on my arm. While I was knitting it (mainly while waiting for kids at dancing and swimming classes) I had so many people looking at me quizzically and asking "What is it??". It does look kind of weird until you slip it over your head and then it all makes sense. She's a clever one, that Kirsten!

An admission, mending and knitting

OK, OK, I'm going to admit that sometimes... just sometimes I think it's better to buy a ready to wear garment than make it yourself.

It's not often I feel this way but recently I'd been finding myself wanting a drapey cardigan - you know the type: soft and flowy with interesting drape giving movement and shape. I scoured Pinterest and pattern companies for ideas and patterns. It didn't even occur to me to go and look in the shops. These days I hate having to shop (except for fabric or patterns of course, which goes without saying ;-) Nothing was appealing to me and in the end I got out of my stash a mid weight wool and thought I'd sew a poncho type thing.

But then I went to my favourite charity shop to look for some woollen jumpers to felt and repurpose (more on that another time) and there lurking in the bottom of the crate was a lovely Country Road fine wool blend cardigan in soft grey in my size.



I quickly scanned it for any tears or staining and all that seemed to be wrong with it is a couple of small holes in the sleeves which will be easy to fix. And that is another issue that makes me so glad I sew - if I had to throw a garment away because it needed mending and I didn't know how it would be such a shame. What would our Grandmothers who were brought up with 'make do and mend' think of this I wonder? Maybe they'd be horrified at the way we throw away anything that's not perfect nowadays, or maybe they'd be happy that we have the option to buy new more often, who knows... but I do think its a shame not to pass these skills down to our children at least, which makes me determined to be more patient when teaching them!

- - - - -

And in other crafty news, something I have been loving working on lately is knitting another seven circle scarf. I love wearing my grey one (seen in the pic above) and had been thinking I'd like to knit another one this winter. Even though I am a novice I do enjoy knitting (though I only seem interested in winter) and I find it so much more sociable than sewing. I can sit in the lounge room with the Mr and knit of an evening rather than disappear to my sewing space. It's portable in a way that my sewing almost never is and just a lovely relaxing activity. And I just love this pattern, it's fun to knit.



So when I was fabric shopping with my crafty buddy Deb recently and she took me on a detour to a wool shop (bad influence ;-) I couldn't resist this lovely blue wool/cotton mix to go with all the blue I've been enjoying wearing.

Deb also introduced me to her favourite metal circular needles and I am in love - so smooth and lovely to knit with. Do you have favourite needles? A favourite pattern you love knitting? And are you a cop-out knitter like me and just knit in winter? :-)

Girls weekend away

Last weekend I went away for my first girls weekend away since having kids. It was a short distance away, the beautiful (but cold!) NSW Southern Highlands but it felt like worlds away - no little people asking for snacks every second, fighting with their siblings, complaining of phantom tummy aches etc. You know, just ordinary stuff but the stuff that means you can't enjoy a quiet coffee, go to the bathroom alone or have a full conversation. Well, there were plenty of long conversations on our girls weekend, some while relaxing in the hotel's huge spa, ahh!!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather, drank lots of coffees...

Talked books and more books (I started this one, recommended by this enthusiastic reader and fellow weekend goer ;-) ...

Went to a great retro shop that, in their own words, "Sells really cool stuff"...

Visited a fantastic local gallery and fell in love with the chicken and rooster portraits in the Birds of a Feather exhibition...


Wandered around a small town market and bought this beautiful skein of wool, with a view to making a little boy's beanie. I can feel a winter addiction coming on ;-) ...

 And lastly, on my way home, I stopped in at a handmade shop called Made by Others. Wow, I thought we were spoiled for this type of thing in Sydney, but this has the best collection I've seen. I couldn't resist buying an amazing pair of hand screen printed tights (how do you screen print tights??). It was very inspirational to meet the 2 owners and chat about the business. Whilst I'm sure there are stresses to the business I would love to have something like this - to be surrounded by all that creativity all the time would be amazing. I left inspired and vowed I'd go back.

Sadly there won't be much crafting going on here this week - having a night away from home has made me realise how bad the quality of our sleep has become with a 2 year old and a four year old in our bed night after night (not our choice, their habits). So if I am to try to change the habits and convince them to stay in their own beds I must go to bed early myself and be prepared for the possibility of wakeful nights returning them to their beds. Wishing you a restful week!

2011 - knitting

I really enjoyed my knitting last year, starting with the 'schoodie' pack from Olive & Me that I won from the lovely Kate, which made me remember and build on my very very basic knowledge of knitting. Then on to the challenging and incredibly enjoyable (and wearable) sev[en] circle from Kirsten's fab pattern. And then the lovable little knitted creatures. They provided enjoyment on cold nights sitting in front to the TV and helped to build my knitting confidence.

This year, while I don't think I'll feel confident enough yet to tackle a cardigan, I'll definitely try a 'looped loop' scarf and maybe a kids poncho.

Any knitting projects in mind for you for 2012? Do tell, I'd love to hear.

Quick crafty update

As the school holidays here start to come to a close I give a sigh of relief (I'm over the fighting and mess). Keeping me sane over this period I've been:

• Casting on for a dolls pram blanket:


... after being inspired by these beauties from The Purl Bee:


• Making a start on crafting for the school fete:


• Trying to keep the kids busy with various activities... this one lasting a matter of minutes:


• In love with this new piece of fabric that just had to come home with me after a recent trip to Ikea (points off for re-stashing). Lots of ideas spinning around my head involving this one:


And enjoying pinning kids clothes ideas for KCWC next week.

Hope your marbles are intact (not sure whether mine are) and you have a lovely weekend!

Another little friend

I'm such a sucker for my kids' requests... my big girl has been carrying around the little teddy (in my last post) since I made him, saying how much she wished she had one. So naturally I had to make her one... to order, of course: a bunny please, grey wool, striped tummy in pink and maybe blue. OK then.



To amuse myself I added a little pom pom for his tail. He's just as shoddily made and wonky as the last one (maybe I'm expecting my knitting to improve too quickly - but at least I don't have holes happening anymore :-), but when my girl woke and saw him sitting beside her bed this morning (yes, I'm that much of a sook) she was suitably excited. He was carried around all morning then reluctantly relinquished for school.

Sookiness aside, I'm enough of a realist to know that he will surely be forgotten sometime soon and end up under the bed getting cosy with the dust bunnies. But hey, I had fun, she had fun, win win! Now the little girl has requested a doll version (yikes!) and that means I'll have to make the boy one too.



On another note, apparently these little toys (pattern here) are perfect for using up scraps of leftover yarn. I have no idea how the pile above has ended up in my knitting bag, bought specifically for the little toys... um, maybe the knitting fairy bought it? Who could resist the beautiful gelato colours. Not me. Oh well. I've promised myself that when I'm done with this latest obsession I'll either make a throw blanket/toy play blanket for the kids or pass it on to the local charity shop for someone else to have so that it's not just hanging around. Fingers crossed ;-)



Lots of other creative goodness to be seen here.

Harriet's teddy

I have my friend Lamina to thank for my latest craft obsession - little knitted toys. Her post about making gifts for friends had me going straight to the pattern she'd used for her cute bunny and thinking about whether my fledgling knitting skills were up to it.



Technical doubts aside I couldn't help myself and decided to dive in with some scraps of yarn I had lying around and the kneedles I'd used for my sev[en] circle. When my little girl asked me what I was knitting I quickly thought and told her it was a little teddy for Harriet, the doll I made her a couple of years ago (a little on Harriet here). I thought it was safest to say it was for Harriet as: A. if it turned out dodgy (almost guaranteed to) it wouldn't matter and B. it would reduce the "Where's mine? Why is it for her/him and not me?" factor that's always a possibility.



Something amuses me about a soft toy having a knitted teddy (hee hee), and I enjoy setting Harriet & teddy up in amusing (to me) situations.



Those other than Harriet have taken to little teddy too so I will definitely be feeding my obsession and knitting at least 3 more.

Finished sev[en] circle

I almost can't believe I've finished knitting my sev[en] circle! All the reviews I read on Ravelry said it was a joy to knit, and I was a little skeptical as I'm such a newbie to knitting and thought it might be frustrating, but I've got to say I loved knitting it. The pattern designer, Kirsten Johnstone of Assemblage has such beautiful style. Check out her patterns on Ravelry if you haven't already.



And wearing it is just as good. I love the slightly crazy design (mine looks quite medusa-like to me). And it's so warm. It bunches around the back of my neck (great for those with short hair like me) and then drapes around the neck and chest.



Happy as I am with it, I did make lots of mistakes on it though - little holes (missed stitches??) all over the place, one section where I must have accidently twisted the needles and a totally weird bit that looks kind of stretched!! Oh well, hopefully those will lessen as I keep practicing ;-)



I'm looking forward to making another, now that I know how to do it. Next time I'd like to do one section in a contrasting colour. Still, I'd better not get too cocky... feeling slightly clever at having worked out this pattern, and keen to keep knitting, last night I tried to start another of Kirsten's designs, the Looped-Loop, and totally stuffed up the provisional cast on, even with the help of YouTube! Oh well, back to the drawing board on that one!

More creative spaces to gaze at over here.

Weekend craftiness

After falling in love with the Sev[en] Circle recently I spent far too much time researching it and daydreaming about it, and finally yesterday got my act together and bought supplies for it.

They're not great, but they'll do. Very average yarn and not quite up to scratch needles (blast that Spotlight, I wanted the pretty metal ones!), but if I'd not taken this step I'd still be daydreaming - sometimes I just have to push myself to actually start... then it's all OK - know what I mean?



So after starting (this pic), I couldn't stop and went to bed way too late last night but happily got the first ring done!

The pattern is not feeling so much like another language to me now that I've tried all the stitches and it's starting to take shape. I wanted to do this as my second proper knitting project (remember the first one?) because:
A. I love the design
B. I thought I would learn a lot on the journey
and
C. It's such an organic shape that I thought any mistakes would be less likely to show

So far all three are happening. Can't wait to see how it grows ;-)

Finished schoodie

Anyone lost a garden gnome?

Over the Easter break I finished the hooded scarf pattern that I won from the lovely Foxs Lane blog (thank you Kate!). It's one of a beautiful range of beginner knitting kits from Australian company Olive and me.



The pattern was very easy to follow and well written. Once I got the hang of it, it didn't take very long to finish and was really satisfying.



The finished product is very warm and cozy, and the hood can be worn down...



Or up, great for hiding ;-)

My only problem with knitting now is that I am head over heels in love with the pattern below, the "Effortless cardigan", which certainly would NOT be effortless for this novice!! So please, knitters out there, tell me how I go from my schoodie to that - what sort of project can I do as a step between? Or do I dive in and Google every step? Help!!



Have a lovely weekend friends.

Stitches of a different kind

I've been a bit unwell this week and so decided to get out the hooded scarf knitting kit I won recently and finally start! This is my progress so far. I think I'm about halfway through the hood section, and I'm really enjoying it so far.



The boy is also enjoying it - a little too much actually, we've had a few tantrums where he's held it then wanted to pull all of my hard work apart! Do your kids want to play with your knitting? I do have an extremely inquisitive 18 month old, but then, maybe he'll enjoy knitting when he's older. Anyway, so far it is relaxing and satisfying and all the things I'd hoped it would be.



The other type of 'stitch' that this post's title refers to is of a kind I don't want to have again soon. I've recently been guilty of doing that mother putting the kids first and not attending to herself syndrome. A strange thing on my face that started changing (I meant to ask the doctor about it one day) ended up being one of these little beasties. I had it cut out this week, and all's fine, but maybe if I'd put myself at the top of the list I'd have spared myself some pain and a small chunk having to be taken out of my face. It's a bit of a wake up call not to get too wrapped up in daily life and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes being a stay at home mum feels like I'm living in a bit of a fog, but I've got to remember to put my head up out of the clouds from time to time. Know what I mean?

When I developed a head cold the next day, the Mr insisted on taking the day off work to look after the littlies so I could rest. A morning in bed felt luxurious when there was all the usual stuff to attend to, but felt like the right thing to do. I think, as most mothers do, I put pressure on myself to be superwoman, but sometimes it all comes apart and I'm reminded to just take it a bit easier, let myself off the hook a little and take care of myself.

Have a lovely weekend.

Running before I can walk

I don't know about you, but when I come upon a new craft or hobby of some sort I start thinking obsessively about all the different things I could try.

I came across a lovely knitting book at my local library recently that's providing plenty of knitting/crocheting eye candy. There are many beautiful projects in it that I can only dream about at the moment, as I'm just learning, but it doesn't hurt to dream, and at the moment I'm dreaming of this beautiful grown-up poncho:



Projects for the home:



and for the littlies:



Of course it helps that they're all beautifully photographed in a well designed, contemporary looking book. Yep, I'm a sucker for a good looking book ;-)

I'm looking forward to making some progress on my hooded scarf on the weekend. Do you have any crafting plans? Have a lovely weekend everyone.

I won! Now for some action...

I've been thinking quite a lot about knitting lately... I know lots of people love it and are absolutely addicted to it (are you one?).

Apart from the odd little bit of playing around I've never quite gotten into knitting. But I think it might do me good, slow me down a little with the obsessive making. Part of the reason I love sewing so much is the instant gratification - I can run up a new piece of clothing quite quickly (albeit at times very dodgy quality!). But it's not restful, relaxing and almost meditative as I hear knitting can be. It would be nice to enjoy the journey a bit more rather than rushing to the destination, if you know what I mean. And getting to work with beautiful wools sounds divine.



So... when I saw that Kate from the lovely blog Foxs Lane had a competition running to win a beginners knitting pack from Knit Knit, I jumped in and entered, thinking that if, by some slim chance, I actually won it would be my sign to get cracking. And guess what, I actually won! (you can see Kate's hubby modelling here).

The pack includes absolutely everything I need to get started and the pattern is for a beautiful hooded scarf in a gorgeous kiwi fruit green coloured wool. And this, just after my post on the colour green! Another sign, surely! One of the things I love about the project is that it's not a regular scarf, so I won't be having flashbacks to the scratchy acrylic one I made years and years ago - this is lovely 100% wool and a beautiful style. And I'm already imagining mini versions for the kids with little pom poms attached around the hood - whoa! I'd better walk before I can run!



So thank you Kate and Knit Knit. Now I just need to push those ideas of instant gratification aside and embrace a new rhythm to my making. I'll keep you posted, but give me some time, OK ;-)