Taste Like Candy

Pattern: Candy: Stripes and Sprinkles by Tori Gurbisz (my project: Taste Like Candy)
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted
Colorway: Déjà Vu and Uva
Needles: US 7
Dates: April 30, 2013 to May 14, 2013
Skills: Basic knitting skills plus increasing stitches, picking up stitches, 1×1 ribbing and making buttonholes

Notes: Love this hat! This hat is knitted flat either with stripes or a brioche-ish type pattern. I loooooooove the Déjà Vu colorway as it is, so instead of striping it with another color I striped it against its self (just knit from both ends of the cake). This made for a cool look and it kept the colors from pooling up. And let me just say, the flat construction of this hat is awesome because it allowed for a WORKING BUTTONBAND!

EEEEEEEE! BUTTONS!!!! And orange buttons to boot. I opted for these bright babies because there’s a little pop of orange in the main colorway and the buttons just help it stand out a little bit more. I love them and it doesn’t hurt that my Dad helped me pick them out too!

I want to make this hat again because I want to do the sprinkle/brioche type stitch with another hank of Malabrigo Worsted (in Charrua) that I have that I think would benefit greatly from the stitch and look ADORABLE in this pattern.

So if you’re looking for a fast, cute and different type beanie this is for you. And seriously, can you have too many cute as a button beanies?

Oh, and check out Tori Gurbisz’s Ravelry designer page. I have a couple of her patterns and they all have a little creative twist. I like her stuff a ton and can’t wait to work up some of her other patterns – especially Ovate and Sweet Shoppe Shawlette. Check her out!

This is a Epic Kal/Cal project!
 (I thought this was on my YOP list but apparentllllly, no.)

Word Up

So I kinda love my Kindle…

When I first bought it, I didn’t take it out of the box for about a month. I would look at the box, go to touch it and then shy away. I finally told my friend that encouraged me to buy it that I wasn’t using it (due to it being in the box and all) and he pretty much called me a nut job. But once I opened that boxed and charged that bad boy up…

It was love at first book.

So sleek, so easy to read and so naked! Sooooo naked!

Enter fancy Kindle skin (and his buddy Book List)!

Here’s a clean view of the front…

And the back…

Cool, right!?!? (Just in case you can’t place the painting, its Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night.)

Although this change totally sexed up my Kindle, it still left it a little unprotected. All I could see in my head was me walking and reading with my Kindle (which I’m known to do – A LOT) and tripping over a water hose (which I’ve also done) AND DROPPING MY KINDLE (which, so far, I’ve managed not to do). But have you seen the prices of protective covers for these things?! Ridiculous!

Enter a Pinterest search and a DIY Kindle cover tutorial!

Adorable, right?!

Check out the inside!

Right!?

But wait! There’s more! Check out the extra storage pocket!

I’m so in love with this thing I can barely see straight. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

The majority of this cover was patterned after the Whipstitch Fabrics’ Kindle Cover Tutorial that I found on Pinterest (of freakin’ course). I added the pockets on the left – a feature I saw while looking thru pictures of other DIY’d kindle/nook/tablet covers. I figured they would be a nice place to store Kindle/Amazon/Starbucks/Panera gift cards and booklists (alwayssss thinking…).

Oh and by the way, this little project cost me under $5 dollars. I used some sew-in fleece that I bought on accident a few months ago. I already had the interfacing, cream lining material and thread in my sewing stash. The only thing I purchased was the elastic and the rippled (main) fabric. This project doesn’t take a lot of material and you could make one out of two fat quarters easily.

It’s also very quick to put together. I worked on cutting everything out and interfacing all the pieces over a course of a couple of nights. After that it was super fast – I put the whole thing together in one evening (an hour or two – I’m slow and I had some self created issues to work thru too).

Although I have no real reason to make another one for myself, I totally plan to make at least two more. One more for me and one for a friend of mine. Annnnnd maybe a couple of more for me…you know, so when I change books I can change holders. Variety is the spice of life right???

Mallard

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson (my project: Mallard)
Yarn: Red Heart With Love
Colorway: Mallard
Needles: US 9 & US 10 ½ – 16 inch circulars and 40 inch circular for crown
Dates: April 20 to 27, 2013

Notes: Although this is the 4^th time I’ve made this hat (first, second, and third versions), I still loved making it. Its fast, super cute and my go to gift hat pattern. This one is for my friend Rachelle who wanted a beanie for chilly mornings when walking her dog (is does get chilly in Los Angeles!).

Red Heart yarn…..I know, I know. You should know by now, I’m so not a yarn snob. I like it all! This stuff is actually really soft (and machine washable & dryable – which was key). It was the teal color that got me! The color is rich and beautiful and I think it will look great on my friend.

If you’ve never done cables this is a great beginner’s project. It’s a simple cable pattern and the cables are on a bed of stockinette (instead of purls). Just knit, knit, knit, cable, knit knit knit knit knit knit, cable, etc.

This is a Epic KALCAL project!

Keep Calm and Sew On

Timing is everything, right? Well the timing of my Brother sewing machine crapping out on me sucked. I was literally in the middle of a project/seam. Not cool. Not cool at all. Luckily for me, I never got rid of my old machine that my Dad bought for me for my birthday YEAAAARS ago – 10 years? 12 years? So to finish my project and to get thru until I got my new machine, I broke out my old Kenmore sewing machine (it doesn’t go backwards but whatevs).

Unfortunately, the Kenmore has an UGLY and dirty hardcover and the new Singer has a boring and soft plastic cover, so I wanted a new cover for them. I’d been looking for sewing machine dust cover tutorial for a while and just couldn’t find one to my liking. But, in the midst of my sewing machine hubbub, I came across this awesome tutorial from The Crafty Gemini here.

Cute, right!? This tutorial gives you all the basics you need to know to make a simple cover so that you can make it as simple or as super fancy as you would like. I went with the Keep Calm and Sew On fabric from Michael Levine because not only is it HILARIOUS, its perfect for this project.

I was going to use the material all the way around, but realized that it would have been toooooo much. Too, too much. So instead, I went stash diving and dug up this colorful fabric (which I used for Charlotte’s boxy bag for the bag challenge last year) for the top and side panels. I was so happy when I saw how closely the colors matched up!

Check out and follow The Crafty Gemini on YouTube – she’s awesome!!

Keep Calm and Stitch On y’all!

Out with the New

Remember last year when I got my new sewing machine? If not, feel my excitement here. I was soooooo excited because it was a super fancy, electronic, bells and whistle extravaganza Brother sewing machine with features I’ve never seen before. I oooooooohed. I ahhhhhhhhed.

Fast forward one month and a couple of weeks outside of my one year warranty…can you guess what happened?

If you guessed it started to crap out you win!

Mid project, I was sewing along and the needle started to shake and seize up. Then the damn thing stopped and beeped at me. BEEPED AT ME. I turned it off and tried sewing again.

More seizing, more stopping, more beeping.

I realized that something was seriously wrong immediately. And by “seriously wrong” I mean really expensive to fix.

Fast forward a couple of days…I called my local authorized Brother repair shop and asked how much it would take to fix my sewing machine – roughly. Guy on the phones says to me, “Well, the basic service fee is $169 and we always do the basic service. Anything else we have to do to make your machine work is going to be extra labor and possibly extra parts costs.”

Things only got better when I explained to him what was wrong with my machine and what type of machine I have, “Ooooooooo, it sounds like you have a MAJOR PROBLEM. You need to buy a new machine.” He called my model disposable. *tears*

To be honest, I figured that was going to be the case so I’d been looking at new machines the moment my Brother crapped out. I knew that fixing my machine was going to be costly and it simply didn’t make sense to spend more money to fix my machine than it cost to buy the damn thing to begin with. Soooooo…

Ta-daaaaaainsertjazzhandshereaaaaaaaaaa! My new sewing machine – a Singer 7258 Stylist

Yuppppppers. New machine.

I found this one on sale for $169.00 on Amazon.com (yup the minimum it was going to cost to fix my Brother machine).

But check this – before I ordered my new fanciness, I was going to try and take my Brother machine to the shop and turn it in for credit last Saturday. My Dad, at first, volunteered to drive to the service shop with me to look at new machines. But, when he heard I wanted to go super early in the morning and that I was already eyeballing the Singer for the price of getting my machine serviced, he offered to buy it for me.

AWESOMESACUE RIGHT!?

Everyone is a winner! My Dad didn’t have to ride to Huntington Beach and I got a new machine!

Keep calm and sew on people!

Bagapalooza

Hmmmmm, fabric stash enhancements have been made…

Yummy, right? I swear, fabric is a sweet, sweet drug.

But unlike my yarn stash (which is slowly getting out. of. control.), I actually can use up my fabric fairly quick.

See! Already making a dent!

So first I whipped up some adorable boxy project bags for both Eve and I (mine on the left and Eve’s on the right). I combined two patterns together to make these little boxy numbers: Boxie Pouch Tutorial and Cosmetic Bag Tutorial. I like the no guts of the first pattern but I like the corner construction of the second pattern. I also made them nice and roomy – these guys are roughly 10.5″ long, 9″ wide and 4.5″ tall. So rooooomy.

I also made some of these too!

I originally made both of these for me because I was just testing out the pattern for future gifts and contest prizes, but Eve really fell for the red floral pouch. So hers it will be!

I have to say, I reallllllly like this pattern – DIY Pouch Sewing Tutorials – and its results. It was recommended to me by Amy Beth from The Fat Squirrel Speaks and its perfect – not a modification needed. I used home decor fabric (bird and vine) and outside decor fabric (red floral) for the outsides and twill for the lining without any interfacing. They whipped up super fast, which is good because I’m not the fastest seamstress in the world. But you can easily knock one of these out in an evening with the most basic sewing experience. (Do it!)

I used the measurements for the large version and they came out 13″ long on the top, 7.5″ long on the bottom, 5.5″ wide on the top and 7.5″ tall. A great size for a number of different knitting/crochet projects and any other trinkets you may want to stash into it. I so see myself making a ton of these in the future. TONS. TOOOOONS.

Must make all the bags!

Sokkies

Pattern: Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley (my project: Sokkies)
Yarn: Red Heart Heart & Sole with Aloe
Colorway: Rustica
Needles: Clover US 2 DPNs and then a 48″ circular
Dates: January 23, 2011 to February 16, 2013
Skills: knit, purl, long tail cast-on, picking up stitches, short-rows, ssk & k2tog decreases

Notes: Love these socks. Not the softest or prettiest yarn, but I love them nonetheless (I love the random magenta stripe!). Nothing fancy here for theses honeys, 3×1 ribbing and basic sock construction. A great first sock and a great and fast knit up for a last minute gift.

I started these on DPNs and knit up most of the first sock on them. But then I put them down for a year and change. During that year I learned how to knit socks using the magic loop method on one giant circular needle by doing the VeryPink.com magic loop tutorial and pattern (my project: It’s Like Magic Y’all!!!). Changed my life y’all. When I decided to finish these I promptly went to Joann’s Etc and picked up the longest US 2 circulars they had and moved them over to them.

Booooooom!

New socks.

Now that I’ve completed my first pair of socks on circulars with actual sock yarn I feel like the (sock knitting) world is mine! Which is good, you know, seeing how I have a shitload of sock yarn stashed away in my closet.