Cables Galore

Cables in Coastal, courtesy of Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock, my favourite sock yarn ever. The pattern is BFF socks by Cookie A, and very cleverly written with her use of increases and decreases within the cables themselves, they are just so tidy looking!

These socks turned out to be very squishy, a great fit, and so pretty in blue cables, I thought I could be my own BFF on this one!

Canvas art

It started with a new couch in a rich dark brown microfibre!
I thought a nice purply grey would be a lovely wall colour to go with it...but my choice turned out a bit blue instead. Still intending to paint it over grey, I moved on to wall art, and picked up three blank art canvasses.



In keeping with my screen printed theme I have going on right now, I decided to remove the canvasses from the frames and have Smoking Lily print them! It would be a fun, personal and creative project for me (and daughter), and lighten up the wall considerably. First, I had to pull out the staples on the back. I found a potato peeler worked brilliantly, it took less than 10 minutes to remove the staples from one frame.



I gently pressed the gessoed canvasses and headed over to Smoking Lily to make my design and colour choices. That process was nothing short of good times, thanks to Glenda and Erin! The following week they were ready for pick up, here's what I got:





I was delighted with how they turned out, and set about stapling them back onto the frames. As you can see, the folds were still present in the canvas so I just followed them to re-fold the corners which was very helpful.
Then to figure out how to hang them? I was not crazy about putting holes into my new freshly painted grey (over blue) wall.
I was, however, okay with using adhesive! That is, 3M Command Velcro Picture Hanging Strips for damage-free hanging.
I used two per side, adhered directly to the frame...



...then stuck them on the wall! With pencil, measuring tape and level, Miss M and I got these up, straight and positioned, and are feeling extremely proud of our project.
We love it!

Waste not!

Back in the fall, I thought my fabric stash needed to be downsized.
As I sorted through the pieces of colour, I had a walk down memory lane recalling projects made of the fabrics.
They were just too pretty to do anything else with but make more memories!

Remember these?



Their leftovers transformed into these gorgeous aprons, photographed here before I got the ties sewn on:




They were a colourful part of my Christmas gift giving last month!

A special kind of carry bag

This is one of those ideas that brewed in my mind for a long time before I made it happen. It is so gratifying to see one's concept become real!

It started with a pattern I saw at my local quilting shop for a tote bag, called the birdie sling by Amy Butler. Looked like a fun, easy bag I could make, using a beautiful fabric. I tucked the pattern away in my sewing area at home and soon forgot all about it. On one of my purging days many months later, I re-discovered it and put it back in my mental project queue.





I had some IKEA beige fabric sitting around for what I thought were going to be pillow shams for my Euro pillows. Turned out the colour was too dark, but I had 2.3 metres of it. It sat near the sewing machine, waiting for some inspiration to make it pretty.


One of my all-time favourite shops is Smoking Lily. They are known for their locally designed and handsewn (in Victoria) clothes, homewares, and accessories, all silk-screened with funky, quirky, and beautiful images that are incredibly unique, not to mention just plain FUN. The staff are fabulous! Super friendly and helpful, just being in the store is like a tonic. I always leave in a great mood. They print their cool designs on dresses, tees, wallets, skirts, belts, hoodies.....and will even do custom orders on items one may already own. Hmmmm, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Okay, you get it. 2 + 2 + 2 = silk-screened fabric for bags! :D
I set my plan in motion!


Enough fabric for five bags, I cut out the pieces for the main, outer bag. I took these pieces over to Glenda and Erin at Smoking Lily, and with their help, chose a print and ink colours. There are sooooooo many options, it was difficult to limit myself, but I did it! My order was sent off to the studio in Victoria.

Here they are freshly printed in "Chairs," in two colours. Love love love! I planned on two bags using the blue, and three bags in the pink. Each bag would be printed on both sides (same colour), so I had ten "sides" printed in total. From there I went shopping to select the coordinating fabric for the band and handles of the tote.


For the inside pockets, I looked at my stash of vintage linens, waiting for another go-around of use. I found this, a "hamper" with embroidered pockets! It's hard to see in my photo, but the words on the pockets are "laundry, kerchiefs, and socks." How sweet is that? Completely charmed, I cut it to use in more than one bag, to spread the love around, you know. I used many more bits and pieces of old runners, table cloths, and napkins to make the inside pockets on all the bags.


With all the components now assembled, I set to it! This is the only photo I have while "in sewing process," but as you can see I am pressing the plain coloured lining with vintage pockets added. All the pockets are interfaced and lined, and the bag itself has fleece lining in between the outer bag and fabric lining (constructed according to pattern, with the exception of the pockets - I added more!)

End product happiness! Here's what they look like when they're inside out, so we can see the vintage loveliness:




And outside out!
They turned out great, and the recipients were most pleased with their unique handmade-with-love Christmas presents!

Decadence in every stitch

Jane Richmond's Oatmeal proved to be as simple and comforting as the design name implies.
Add to it the use of Malabrigo Chunky (Paris Night), and the yummy factor got kicked up significantly!



Took less than a week from start to finish, what a joy to knit.
Details on ravelry!
Satisfaction in five skeins, my friends.

Goes like clockwork

Aptly named, this scarf went without a hitch.
Easy hockey knitting!
Made of Handmaiden Mini Maiden (50% silk, 50% wool), one skein each of raspberry, and cezanne.
Lots of leftovers for another one down the road.



(sorry for the bathroom shot, but the lighting seemed good)

Hair of the Mo

I used to think mohair was from something called a "mo." It took me quite awhile (ie. up til a few years ago) to finally figure out that the yarn is made from the hair of an Angora goat. Not to be confused with angora wool, which is made from the fur of an Angora rabbit!

At any rate, I love this warm and fuzzy stuff!



The pattern is from Vogue Knitting 2010/2011, a standard-fitting pullover. It is written for a cowl neck, where the cowl is knit for 8 inches in rib, and sewn on separately to the neckline of the sweater. It is then supposed to be folded in half so that it ends up being 4 inches doubled. I thought I would not fold it, but let it lie in gentle soft folds instead. Turns out I got very bored at the 5 inch mark so I cast off, then sewed it onto the sweater. Unfortunately the single layer of fabric did not sit well, so I tried folding it to the inside. I was told by my teenaged daughter that it looked like the ruffle of a clown.

So I ditched the whole cowl idea and instead picked up 60 sts around the neck, worked about 5 rounds in rib, then cast off in pattern! This works for me.



Other modifications include omission of the patch pockets (they looked like hip pads on me), and I did not turn up the hem. The turning ridge is still present, but I have now decided that it is a "design element."



It's a perfect fall sweater. Details on ravelry!