Five Baht Elephant

my crafty home

Made: Barley Hats

BarleyHats-2

BarleyHats-4

No joke on the amount of knitting I’ve done in the past few months. No. Joke.

I have more finished things to photograph and write up, but I wanted to share these two hats that were sent to my friend along with the Fancy Forest Quilt last week.

BarleyHats-3

The story behind the hats… So back in the summer, Heather received a hat in one of her prenatal appointments. She asked me to make a matching one for Chad, her husband. I went to my favorite yarn stores, and I even looked at the Big Box Craft Stores, but couldn’t find anything that matched the hat she gave me. Figuring that the intent was matching father/son hats, I made a command decision (ha!) while wandering around Fancy Tiger.

The pattern is the Barley hat by Tin Can Knits which is very well written, even for a free pattern. I was able to make both the adult size and baby size with a skein of Madelinetosh DK in Optic – this nice neutral speckled with some grays and blacks. It is lovely and subtle.

BarleyHats

On my Amish skein winder, you can see the color distribution better. About that skein winder. I actually like it. I found it on etsy for like $20 and it comes apart and stores very nicely. About that ball winder – I’m not a fan. I bought it with a 50% off coupon at Joann’s and it does an OK job. It seems pretty small, and winding standard hanks (roughly 220 yards in DK) results in a sloppy looking yarn cake. It works well enough, but I’m definitely in the market for a better yarn winder.

Made: Fancy Forest Baby Quilt

FancyForestBabyQuilt-6

In spite of all the snow hitting the metro DC area, this little package arrived at my friend’s house yesterday. Just in time, and not on account of the weather – she’s about to have that baby boy. We’re crossing our fingers (she’s crossing her legs) to keep that kid inside until at least Tuesday!

Somehow, at the ripe old age of 38, it seems as if all of my friends are having babies. Which just makes me so happy. One popped out late summer, another one is due to arrive next week and two more babies are coming later in July. And on the family front, I’ve got one brand new nephew and another one coming next month! And more babies, means more baby quilts. Which I’m always happy to make.

The quilt is the Fancy Forest pattern by Elizabeth Hartman – baby size. Truly, I’m not sure how anyone would have the patience to make the larger size. Because this one, while adorable and cute finished, was a total bitch to make. So. Many. Pieces. As far as the pattern, it is very well written and the cutting instructions were really helpful. If you decided to make this quilt, follow the pattern suggestions! Even the one about separating the cut fabric into bags!

FancyForestBabyQuilt

 

After making the first two blocks, I got smart and made pin labels to keep track of the different pieces. These are just cut up index cards scotch-taped to pins.

FancyForestBabyQuilt-2

Once I had the pin labels, the remaining forest friend blocks came together relatively quickly.

I was snapping photos of the completed top when Miles jumped in.

FancyForestBabyQuilt-3

I quilted a simple rectangular grid across the entire quilt to keep things simple and consistent with the geometric-ness of the blocks.

FancyForestBabyQuilt-5

FancyForestBabyQuilt-4

 

There’s a story to the knitted hats included in the package I sent to my friend… which will be another post. That awesome boob card is made by Craft Boner and I picked it up at a local craft fair last summer.

 

Knitting Updates

I’ve been slowly working on these two knitting projects.

My Strokkur (started in January!) – I’m really about 4 rows until I am done knitting. The colorwork portion is complete, and I love it! I’m glad I went with the blue; spring green was my other option.

Strokkur WIP

My Daybreak Shawl. I started this in March, and ugh. It is taking me forever – sock yarn, small needles, large project. There’s a shit ton of stitches and it takes me about 30 minutes to complete two rows. But this is my take along project. It is simple enough to work on in the car, in the waiting room, at sports practices and at the coffee shop.

DW WIP

Made: Caravan Tote

caravan tote-2

I LOVE THIS BAG.

Its my favorite bag I’ve made so far. Intended as my new ‘sweater knitting bag’ I’ve yet to put my latest sweater project in it because I keep using it for other things!

What I like:

  • tote style – just throw my crap in it
  • the metal zipper – gives it a more professional-made look
  • leather straps and pull tab – see above comment + ease – making straps take time; I bought the leather from AllLeatherSupplies (etsy)
  • size – big enough without being too big
  • needle pocket – I sized one of the pockets to fit my phone and the ‘needle’ slots are just right for pens

What I would do different:

  • actually buy a snap setter for this particular snap – I bought these metal snaps from Springfieldleather (etsy) which are the same size as a snap setter that I already have, but the post length was too long for the setter. So… really these are decorative and not functional. oops!
  • install an interior zip pocket
  • add a key holder inside because my keys get lost in the bottom of the bag

caravan tote

The bag came together pretty quickly actually. Cutting the fabric and interfacing took the most time. I cut and interfaced the pieces in one afternoon – grouping and labeling the pieces as I went. However, when assembling the pieces, I got a little confused due to the pattern piece descriptions. I think next time I’ll number them and then mark up the pattern instructions with the numbers. I followed the pattern instructions including the type of interfacing. I omitted the grommets on the interior slip pocket; they’re intended as yarn guides, but I know that I won’t use them. However, grommets are pretty cool looking.

I was able to make this month’s Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild meeting where I showed it off. I love being part of this guild (and the FRMQG for the same reasons), not only for the eye candy and inspiration, but for the suggestions and tips. While I was up there, the other ladies mentioned finding leather belts at Goodwill to re-purpose for bag handles and Stephanie mentioned looking in the climbing section of REI at the ropes and tie-downs for straps and handles.

I’ve already got fabric and leather purchased for my next one.

Pattern: Caravan Tote by Anna Graham (Noodlehead)

Made: Sew Together Bag #10(?)

Yeah, so I think this is #10 for me. Yikes.

Most of this one was cut and put together when I made the seven others back in March/April for my friends. The real motivation to finish this one for me was to move all my makeup from the random bags under my sink into one bag. Nothing really new to say about it, so here are the photos!

Processed with VSCOcam with lv03 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with lv03 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with lv03 preset

Made: Divided Basket and WIP: Strokkur

I’ve been on a crafting kick – guess I’ve gotten my motivation to make things back.

We were in Telluride, CO this past weekend for little get away. JJ, Miles and I needed the time away from work, Denver and life in general. It was awesome. The drive to Telluride from Denver is over 6 hours, so I brought along two knitting projects. The one you see below is my Strokkur that I started back in January. I was having trouble keeping the entire project in my project bag, so when I came back I knew I wanted to make something bigger to hold it.

Divided Basket

The pattern is the Divided Basket by Noodlehead (Anna Graham). I’ve sewn plenty of her tutorial/patterns and they are really well done. Modifications I made to the written pattern were to use Pellon 72 – Peltex and batting to reinforce the exterior pieces. The Peltex and batting really give the basket structure. The sides of the bag do not fold in AT ALL – unlike my other project bags. Stitching all the layers was a bit tricky so I made sure I went slowly and didn’t force the fabric through the machine.

Divided Basket-3

One side of the basket has two pockets where I keep little knitting notions – stitch markers, scrap yarn, scissors.

Divided Basket-2

I dug through my fabric box and resurrected some pieces that I’ve had for an embarrassingly long time (i’m talking years here). The exterior is an Echino print that I’m pretty sure is out of production. The dotted fabric used in the lining is so old, I can’t remember where I bought it, let alone who makes it. The divider and trim on the handles are leftover shot cotton from another project.

Divided Basket-4

Here you can see the colorwork detail of the sweater yoke. Colorwork is fun – both the process and this particular pattern. The yarn is a traditional Icelandic wool – the yarn sticks to each other, so there is a lot of me stopping to untangle the yarn while knitting. The sweater sat in hibernation over most of the summer. This wool is quite warm, and just not particularly fun to knit when it is hot outside. But the cool mountain mornings in Telluride were perfect for hotel room deck knitting. And I’m just about finished with the sweater. I’m really excited to see the final result. More details can be found on my Ravelry project page: Strokkur.

Made: Baby Girl Quilt #3

I’m finally getting around to posting the photos of my latest quilt! I made this for a special little one – the daughter of one of my West Point roommates. They live about an hour away in Colorado Springs, and I was able to visit with them and hand it off in person. Baby Joanna is beautiful and I’m so happy she’s here!

This is my third baby girl quilt of 2015, and my fourth (I think??) quilt finish of the year. Wow. I think that’s a record for me.

Baby Girl Quilt #2-2

I bought two jelly rolls – Clementine by Heather Baily and Kona Blushing Bouquet – back in June during Pink Door Fabric‘s Open House. Honestly, I didn’t have any sewing motivation (or patience) for anything super complex so I settled on simple chevrons. I loosely followed this tutorial posted on Kitchen Table Quilting. The top came together super super quick.

Baby Girl Quilt #2

Pin basting is always more fun with beer. The Liliko’i Kepolo is from one of our favorite Boulder breweries, Avery. We’d had it in their tasting room, but didn’t think they sold it for take home. JJ spotted it at our neighborhood corner store/pharmacy and brought some home.

Baby Girl Quilt #2-3

I opted for some simple loopy quilting to keep it all together. The binding are just some strips from the Kona jelly roll. I machine-stitched it all the way around. It turned out better than my last few attempts! My quilt labels are the same, just change the names and dates.

My Kid is a Goofball

Goofball

(and I love it)

I carved some time, ok, truthfully I willed myself to do it – but I sat down at my computer, fired up Lightroom and got to work on sorting, editing and posting photos. I found this series of shots of Miles from January.

He’s at that age where he is pretty  much sick of ‘smiling’ for the camera – and it doesn’t matter which camera big Nikon or iPhone, he is just not interested. But he has no problem hamming it up.

He did it wearing snow boots in January.

He did it a week ago in Manhattan (Central Park).

He did it at a family wedding, even when I wanted him to NOT do it.

I know that I am biased, but seriously. I have a good looking kid.

He’s just been into being funny. And laughing this huge laugh. Other things he’s into, right now:

  • swim lessons every Thursday
  • going to Carol’s on Wednesdays
  • sleeping with a pillow on his head each night
  • begging me to sleep with him ‘this much’ and not ‘this much’ as he measures ‘much’ by spreading his hands apart
  • eggs, pancakes and spaghetti with butter (or Tobasco)
  • riding the bus and pretending to be a bus driver – he can name the streets in order from Colorado Blvd to the Capitol
  • elevators
  • maps – my car has a navigation screen that he likes to look at while we’re driving. In JJ’s car, he’ll want to look at the map on a phone. “Where the blue dot?”

 

Made: Seven (!) Sew Together Bags

Nashville
I met up with 7 ‘college’ friends a few weeks ago. (If you know me outside my crafty, then you’d know that ‘college’ for me was a miliary academy.) We flew in from Denver/Colorado Springs, Washington DC, Tampa and Atlanta for a short weekend in Nashville. We ate tons of good food – seriously, every meal there was amazeballs – bought cowboy boots, watched Diane Sawyer and Bruce Jenner talk about some things on TV, and talked and talked and talked. Oh, and well, 3 of us ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon on Saturday too – fun fun race. Side note, this was my 2nd half marathon this year and my quickest post-baby (2:02:09).

FOSTB

I wanted to make something for each of the girls, and the Sew Together Bag was the pattern I chose. It is just a great bag! Every time I make a Sew Together Bag, I’m amazed at the clever-ness of the construction. I just finished up seven of these bags last month, so I had a lot of opportunity to marvel at this pattern!

STB WIP

The exterior fabric comes from a fat quarter bundle of Mochi by Rashida Coleman-Hale, the lining and pocket lining fabric is actual Army fabric – the same stuff that the uniforms are made of; Fabric.com sells yardage and that is where I purchased mine. Zippers come from Zip It on Etsy.

STB WIP 2

Getting these sewn up was easier and faster than I anticipated. I did it assembly-style, which wasn’t exactly interesting. One day I cut all the pockets and lining. Another day, I cut all the interfacing. Then it was the exterior. Another day I ironed the interfacing. Then it was putting together the interior. And so on.

The final few steps were a bit fiddly, and I broke 3 needles sewing the long zipper tabs down. But when I got them all complete and lined up, a big huge smile came across my face.

Catch Up Post – Sewing Edition

I have a knitting update as well, but I won’t bombard you with the craftiness all at once.

I’ve been making a bunch of fun little things now that I’m on baby-quilt-making hiatus!

First Up: FRMQG Mini Quilt Swap

The theme of this one is Critters, Creatures and Mythical Beasts! Which sounded super fun when I signed up, but as I got closer to execution, just confused me. My partner indicated that she wanted a critter. And critters just creep me out. But bees? Bees are great. I like bees. They don’t scare me or creep me out. I didn’t like any of the paper-peiced bee patterns I came across, but I did like this cute little cross stitch pattern from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

Now, I haven’t cross stitched in years. Probably decades really. Most of my couch crafting time is spent knitting, however, I shifted focus to the bees for a week. And a week was all it took for me to finish this!

Look how cute:

xstitch

 

FRMQG Mini Swap

To make the mini quilt, I chose to frame the bees with cathedral windows. Like the flying geese quilt, making a cathedral window quilt has been on my to-do list for a few years. I love the look of this block put together. The construction is fiddly, time-consuming and layered. All that work is totally worth it though. The double layer of fabric means no batting or quilting or binding required! I love the gentle curves that frame the pops of color.

I opted to include a reversible box tote – same pattern as the project bag I made a few months ago. The mini quilt only measures about 12″ square, which is a bit smaller than the swap requirements. I made bias tape out of a super colorful floral print that I got in another swap. I sketched out some curves on the front exterior bag pieces and stitched the bias tape on the pieces before constructing the bag.

Next up are some selfish sewing projects. Appropriately titled project bags. Mostly for knitting. Can’t have too many project bags, right? I usually don’t have multiple knitting projects going at once, but I’m wanting to get away from that. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I want to knit something, but not necessarily the sweater I’ve currently got on the needles. Then other times, I’m all about the sweater.

project bags

I wanted a smaller drawstring bag for smaller knitting projects. I used some leftovers from the baby boy quilt I made last month.

And I really like these reversible box totes! My first one still holds my sweater project, but I wanted another one made out of Charley Harper fabric to hold a shawl project. I bought the canvas/heavy-weight version of this fabric panel and attached the interfacing to the lining fabric to add more structure to the bag. And this time I included pockets on both the inside and the outside.

Whew! That’s a lot of typing for one post. Here’s a link to the tutorials/patterns I used for these projects:

*Beekeeper Cross Stitch
*Cathedral Windows Tutorial, Handy cutting chart for differnt block sizes
*Reversible Box Tote – free pattern
*Lined Drawsting Bag Tutorial

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