new year . . . new blog

I love blogger, but it has it's limitations. I have decided to move my main blog over to WordPress.com. WordPress has categories, I want categories, I need categories, with categories I can combine 3 blogs into one and you all can look at what you are interested in by choosing the category . . . sewing, knitting, those cute kids, etc. Please come and visit me here:

http://justsewcrafty.wordpress.com/

i found them

After searching and searching . . . I finally found them; the illusive Sewing Blogs. Ok, actually I found one and that one had a link to a small sewing web ring. Woohoo, now I can waste more time online. lol

i'm in love!

I have spent a large a large portion of the day (and a few hours yesterday evening) cleaning and de-cluttering the sewing/craft/computer room while listening to various (bad) TV shows. While taking a break I hopped over to The Blue Blog where Alison was extolling the virtues of her new iPod and talking of these wonderful new fangled things called pod casts. Holey Moley, where have I been?!?! I have spent most of the evening continuing to de-clutter while listening to Cast-on, I am hooked. I took a look thru the skins on my media player and found a cute one that made me laugh. (note what's playing)

sewing blogs?

Since I have been contemplating starting to do some sewing again, the kids keep growing (darn them), I thought I would take a look at some sewing blogs to see what people were sewing these days. Ummm, one problem, no sewing blogs. Ok, that's not true, I found a handful, but in the knitting world there are thousands of them out there. Am I just looking in the wrong places or have blogs just not taken off in the sewing world like they have in the knitting world?

Reflections in Yarn 05

1. List your finished objects, or just list your favorite FO: I have listed my FOs for '05 here. As for a favorite that is a hard one, but I think I really enjoyed making the Kitty Pi the most, I think it's more the idea of it. 2. List your works in progress: still on the needles: button, button baby sweater & socks for hubby, Esther Williams for Aunt Pris off the needles, but need finishing: KPS cardigan for Son that still needs a zipper and to have the ends woven in Though it doesn't look like much in progress, I am sad to say I have lots of zipper bags, yarn and pattern contained within, just waiting to be started. 3. What skeletons are in your knitting basket? I don't think I have been knitting long enough for real skeletons, maybe next year. 4. What's your favorite project? This year's favorite project was prolly these baby booties. I knit them up as a break from a pair of socks I had reknit 3 times, they went together perfectly and were just the thing I needed to regain my sanity and finish the socks. 5. What project(s) will you never knit again? I didn't finish too many projects this year, but I don't think there are any I would totally write off. Unless the experience was so excruciating that I have totally blocked it from my memory. 6. What was your major knitting accomplishment for the last year? Sock, socks, and more socks . . . . 7. What's your favorite yarn from the last year? Debbie Bliss Cashmerino . . . it's crack. 8. What's your favorite yarn overall? Cascade 220, you just can't beat it for the value. 9. What new knitting techniques have you learned? i-cord bind-off, felting, 3 needle bind-off, knitting from a chart, stripes in the round 10. What are your knitting goals for 2006?

• Knit a sweater for me.
• Work with a sock pattern until I can get it to fit my wide feet, high instep, and thick ankles.
• Finish at least one project a month.
• Not buy more yarn. When I started buying yarn I intended to keep my stash to a specific size, I want it to get back down to that size again. I have enough projects waiting for me I should be able to get quite a bit accomplished before needing to purchase any more yarn. Let's try for 6 months.
• Knit a shawl, or many shawls for holiday gifts next year if all goes well.

sewing goals

Since it looks like I have sewing on the horizon, and I have been thinking about my knitting goals for 2006, I figured I should make some sewing goals for 2006 also.

Sewing Goals for 2006

• Clean/organize my sewing room so I can actually sew in there. *gasp*
• Reduce my fabric stash by half. (sew it or sell it)
• Sew one thing for me each month.
• Use my embroidery machine (lots) or sell it.

That's all for now, but I may be adding more later. Looks like 2006 is going to be the "use it or lose it year".

The Great Fabric Purge 2005/2006 has begun. I will be listing fabric, and possibily other craft supplies, here. I have started by listing a bundle of quilting flannel, 24 co-ordinating fat halves, have a look.

I started going thru my fabric yesterday. I almost gave myself a panic attack, little bit of crazy leaking out. Guess I'm worse off, about this fabric hoarding thing, than I thought. I had shortness of breath, my heart was beating fast, my hands were tingling and I had this need to run away from the situation. I took some Rescue Remedy and I'm feeling much better now. I'm starting with the flannel, all that flannel for diapers I never made, ended up just buying CPFs. I probably have 3 large storage bins worth of flannel and I am aiming to get it down to 1 bin of larger cuts for pajamas for the kids. I forgot how cute some of these prints are, man, I should have gotten my act together and sewn up those diapers or made some baby quilts! I was talking to J on the phone while I was sorting and I found almost 7 yds of white birdseye, she offered to buy it, so Hubby is dropping it of at her place on his way home from work tonight. The Great Fabric Purging 2005/2006 is up 7 2/3yds ( I found a one+ yard piece of slinky in her colors I threw in).

The Winter Vogue Knitting preview is up, here. I like this sweater and this sweater, so far. I'll have to really look at the whole issue before I decide to buy it or not.

oh, I get it

I have seen these row counters and had no idea how they were supposed to work with 6 links and counting "upto 12 rows", but now I get it thanks to String or Nothing. I'm sure everyone else got it a lot earlier, but I never said I was a brain trust. Guess I just need to make a couple of these now, and put them to use.

Happy Chanukah!

Over at Knit Once, Purl Forever we are being encouraged to reflect on the past year . . . in yarn. I will post mine on Jan 1st, gotta have some time to contemplate.

house vs. home

I’ve been looking around my house, and I say house because lately it is not feeling like a home, and all I see is clutter and wasted money. Things are tight right now, they always are at this time of year, as Hubby has no overtime right now, and I always seem to block this fact out of my mind until December rolls around again and I’m left juggling. Things being tight make it worse to see all the waste. I am going to go thru my fabric stash and see if I can get rid of some of it, I’m not sure how though; e-bay, etsy, on the blog, garage sale . . . who knows. I just need to cull some of the craft supplies. I am a bit of a craft-a-holic . . . crochet, scrapbooking, sewing, tatting, knitting . . . what's next? The biggest problem right now is the fabric stash . . . heck, let's call it what it is . . . hording, I have to get rid of at least 1/2 of my fabric, now.

it's over

Today is the last day of the Esther William Syncronized Knitting. I was able to finish one hat during the official KAL and start another. I will finish the second hat this weekend so I can send it out on Monday to DH's aunt in NY.

I am far from finished knitting hats from this pattern. My daughter has requested one, in purple, for herself and one of my knitting friends has requested one for her b'day in February. Yes, I know, she should knit it herself, but she is afraid of anthing other than knit and purl. I have told her it is easy to knit up but I don't think she's buying it. "Easy for you or easy for me?" she asked . . . sigh. I will prolly end up making her one for her b'day, I have some pretty Mountian Colors Mountian Goat in pretty pastels and I will see how it looks.

tell me Tondo, Tondo, Tondo

I am now officially down to 1 item on my knitting list. Tonight I finished 2 neck warmers for Daughter's bus drivers, tomorrow is the last day of school before the winter break, just in time. pattern: Neckwarmer at the blue blog yarn: On-line Linie 60 - Tondo (100% wool) needles: US17 bright pink plastic Susan Bates notes: I used the neckwarmer pattern for the basis of my neckwarmers, but adjusted for the polar (or close to it) weight yarn I was using. On the bottom neckwarmer I actually sewed on 3 buttons so it could be worn 3 different ways.

monday update - holiday edition

7 of 10 done . . . unless more get added to the list. to be shipped out of town: 1 felted bags(done) 1 felted bag (done) 1 Esther Williams hat (ew KAL) 1 set of 4 dish cloths (done) NEW 1 set of 4 dish cloths (done) NEW local delivery: 1 felted bag for Mom (done) 1 Esther Williams hat (ew KAL) (done) 1 Cherry Garcia cabled neck tube neckwarmer (done 12/15) 1 Cherry Garcia cabled neck tube neckwarmer (done 12/15) 1 Kitty Pi for nephew's new kitten (done) and 2 felted catnip mice (done) Ok, the dish cloths are kind of a cheat . . . I knit up a bunch this summer and had put them away and forgot about them, until I was going thru some of my stash and there they were . . . instant holiday gifts.

esther williams - FO

I finished Esther Williams! I love this pattern! I will be casting on another one tonight, this time in the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. pattern: Esther Williams yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted - Victorian Pink needles: Clover Bamboo & size 3.75 crochet hook started: Dec 10 finished: Dec 12 modifications: none, except I couldn't find my E crochet hook so I used a F (3.75mm), turned out fine. I still need to lightly steam block it, but it's done in my book.

esther williams

I finally got my yarn so I could start EW. Yes, I said earlier that I already had my yarn, but then I got paranoid because is wasn't lamb's pride and I got it into my head it wasn't going to work. So, I had to get new yarn. I got it yesterday. Yesterday, I went out to get said EW yarn, and came home with Lamb's Pride in Victorian Pink and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran #300202 (light blue). Both for making EW Hats. Yes, I know I just got done saying how I was freaking out about other yarns not working correctly, call me complicated. I came home after getting yarn and set out to cast on, couldn't find my US8 - 16" circ. Nowhere to be found; not with the other needles, not in any of my various knitting bags, not in the kids toy box. I searched all over and finally found them in a project I had abandoned months ago when I was simply unable to count, it was a top down cardigan and I just could not get the numbers to come out right, no matter how hard I tried. I ripped the needle out of the UFO and cast on. (Hey, now I have one less UFO but more stash yarn . . . hehehe.) This morning I got right to work and knitted away while watching football (Go Seahawks!) and was able to get quite a bit done today. As soon as I am finished here I will be getting back to work (and Survivor). I do have to say that I LOVE this pattern; it is so pretty, but does not give up anything in warmth; it is so complex looking, but so simple to actually knit. Thank you, Laura, you have designed a great pattern.