String bags

I've been crocheting string bags. It's one of those situations that you might be familiar with, when you discover a pattern that's relatively simple and quick and all of a sudden you've made multiples? This rarely happens to me, because I tend to do one thing, learn lots about how I could do it better and move on to the next thing. It's possibly because I have a short attention span, but I like to think it's because I like to try new things...?

But these string bags? They're really very simple and they also look great, so I decided they'd be great presents. They're hooked using linen yarn, which has a beautiful sheen and is really strong, so they wear really well. And if you wash them, the yarn just gets softer and softer! AND, they screw up into a nice small bundle, so you can carry them around in your handbag so you never have to use a plastic bag again! Like I said, they're great.

My mother's Christmas present was finished on Christmas night, so in typical fashion for our family, she received it with the crochet hook still attached. Oops. At least it was finished before she went home! This one is in the Sea grass colourway.

This one was started and finished while we were away after Christmas, and is officially my first finished project for 2010! This used the French Blue colourway that my sister brought back from New York for me to make her a string bag. Done.

So that's 3* string bags so far. I have one more skein of linen still to be wound, but once that's morphed into a string bag of it's own, that might be the last for a little while at least. Or until I next 'need' to order from Purl....

*My first string bag here.

Edited to add: The super-easy pattern can be found here.

Super-satisfying crafty making

My birthday is so close to Christmas that I almost forget it, so I'm always impressed when someone other than family remember! One friend always remembers, and gives really fantastic presents.

This year, she gave me a broach making kit from Princess Kirsty Jane. I took the kit away with me thinking that given my (lack of) embroidery skills, it would take me a good few days of bits of time here and there. But no, it only took an evening and a little bit, AND I learnt 3 new embroidery stitches! The instructions were really straightforward and helpful, and there's space to include you're own creativity in terms of decoration if you like.

The end result was this ridiculously cute little owl. I can't add him to my 2010 tally because he was completed so quickly that I finished him before the new year, but the kit was so lovely to use that I thought I should share! She doesn't have a list of stockists on her blog, but I'm sure that if you emailed her she'd let you know how to get hold of one of her kits.

A new year!

It's been a while!

After a particularly hectic lead-up to Christmas, a few days in Sydney visiting family and friends and then a week of down time at Raymond Island, we're back, and ready to begin the new year! While the down time was more theoretical than practical (chasing a crawler around in the dirt is not exactly relaxing!), I'm feeling surprisingly refreshed and enthusiastic about the year (or at least the next few weeks) ahead.

In keeping with the theme of a new year and new beginnings, I made a few new year's resolutions (original, I know). We had to put making these on our To Do list though, as our New Year 'celebrations' were spent unpacking from one trip and packing for the next one. But we did manage to somehow find the time! Here are my crafty/bloggy resolutions:

1. Learn to spin. I'm babysitting a spinning wheel for a friend for the foreseeable future, so I figure this is the perfect opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill. I managed to find some carded fleece while away, so all I need to do now is find a willing teacher!?!

2. Complete an average of at least one project a week for 2010. One of the benefits I've found from blogging is a dramatic increase in productivity. So I figure that it shouldn't be too insane to try to capitalise on that! It may result in a whole lot of crocheted washcloths and christmas decorations (not-quite-but-very-nearly-instant gratification), but I still need more of both, so that's OK! This also gives me permission to have several projects on the go at any time, and also multiple projects of the same method (ie crochet, knitting, sewing etc)! I'm finding that when I finish one project, it takes me a while to work out what to do next, so I need more than one in progress. Or is this just a clever way of indulging excess? We will see....

3. Keep a list of all the books I read in 2010. I already do this, but if I keep a public list here, then maybe I'll read more than just crime fiction!!

I'm looking forward to this year!

Last minute creating...

A friend's little boy had a third birthday party yesterday, and she requested a Thomas the Tank Engine drawstring bag to store all of the Thomas bits and pieces he was (hopefully) going to receive. "Sure!" I said, thinking, "I've made a drawstring bag before*, this'll be a piece of cake!"

So off I toddled to the anti-best fabric store in the country to pick up a Thomas motif. Of course, they didn't have anything like I was after, so I improvised with some other less-ideal-but-still-Thomas fabric.

Having got what I needed, I promptly put it aside until the night before the party. Enter sewing machine crisis. I don't know about you, but I seem to have tension issues. I can't work out whether it's the top thread or the bobbin, but every time I think I've got it sorted, I bugger up the start of the next project. Fortunately I still had a friend's machine that I borrowed while mine was in for a service (yes, that was a couple of months ago but apparently she never uses it!?!). I KNEW this machine works properly!

Or not. Apparently the tension thing is me, not the machine. I managed to replicate the problem almost exactly! So after several unsuccessful attempts to avoid swearing, I took a deep breath, checked the instruction booklet, rethreaded the machine and tried again. Fortunately for everyone's sake, this time it worked. I'm not entirely sure what was different (maybe I'd twisted the thread around the needle the first time(s)?), but we ended up with a satisfactory drawstring bag.

It's a tad smaller than expected, but that's what you get for not thinking about seam allowance. At least I have enough fabric left over for another one if required!

The moral of the story? CHECK that the machine is threaded correctly, especially that the thread isn't twisted around the needle. Oh, and start it the night before the night before the party next time!!

*From Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing

We made it!

This weekend has been one of the busiest we've had in a long time! In addition to the usual Christmas-related silliness that happens at this time of year, my little one turned 1 on Friday! For this birthday, we took the relatively-low-key-morning-tea-time-in-the-park option, which worked fabulously. There was play equipment nearby to keep the older kids entertained, and there was proper coffee (supplied by us) to keep the adults happy.

And I made and decorated a cake!

Which I thought was yummy, and so did uber goober!

I managed to finish the cardi in time, too, but it was a decidedly chilly summer's day and the lovely short sleeves in the cardi weren't going to do the job. Oh well, there'll be another opportunity, I'm sure!

I also somewhere found the time and a (semi) willing sucker to help me wind my yarn, which means I've now started a time-pressured project. Hopefully I'll find the time to finish it!

My creative space

My creative space is a tad overloaded today! It's mostly a function of 'that time of year', slightly complicated by a first birthday tomorrow!?!

I've only included the Need. To. Sort. It. Now. stuff: there's oh, so many other projects going on right now too, but SOMETHING must be put on the back burner!!

So today:

I need to finalise a birthday cake for a party on Saturday. I think for this birthday, the book is about inspiration rather than replication - I'm sure I have that to look forward to in the years to come;

I need to make a cheesecake today for a Christmas party tomorrow night. No time tomorrow;

I need to wind a skein of yarn for a Christmas gift project that needs to be started yesterday; AND I really want to get this cardigan finished!! All that needs to be done is the final edging and weaving the ends in. No more than an hour's work, but where do I find the hour!?!

Oh, and the in-laws arrive this afternoon for a few days, which may mean more or less time. We'll see...

Is everyone else's creative space this chaotic in the lead up to Christmas? Visit Kirsty to find out!!

Return from Never Never Land

I've spent the last 11 days absent from blogland while visiting my parents in Northern NSW. My husband was in PNG for a little over a week, and as I'm not a particularly good single parent, I took my daughter to hang out with her grandparents.

Other than a few hairy moments - one involving my nearly one-year-old and the chilli above (this is the aftermath!), we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Hopefully it won't take too long for the grandparents to recover!

I very nearly finished a crocheted cardi which is so close I might even have pictures sometime this week. But that depends on whether or not I spend too long starting to catch up on the 500+ blog entries in my reader. Gulp!

One of the benefits of temporary family separation is presents! This is a bilum that I received from my husband, and given my current interest in crocheting string bags, it's particularly appropriate! The stitch detail is really interesting, and I think I'd like to find out more about how they're made. You never know, I might make one myself one day!