I'm knitting...I think

I ran across this blog post last week, about her recent knitting projects and her process of learning to knit and was isnpired to give it another go. I went back and forth with this idea throughout the weekend and come Monday I had wrestled the "you can't do it" demons into submissions and decided to cast on again.

Angela at Fussy cut said she was a crocheter too, so that made me think that maybe I could learn too.
I learned to crochet about three years ago and was immediately hooked. I loved the versatility and the soothing nature of working with yarn. I made blankets, scarves, bags, sweaters, hats and anything else I could get a pattern for. This love of crocheting lead to my love of sewing in a round about way.

I still love to crochet, but I always found myself admiring the look of knit projects. Although there are some beautiful crochet stitches, for apparel especially, knitted items can be exquisite.



I have long admired the look of the heringbone stitch...I mean look at it

I longed to learn to knit but was repeatedly bombarded with the "if you learn to crochet first, you'll never learn to knit" and "knitting is much more difficult to learn that crochet". So I belived it, I would never be able to knit and that was that.

This winter I remember seeing a Pin for this gorgeous cowl, and being sad I couldn't do it.







So, I gave it a shot for a couple of days and although I did learn how to cast on, knit and purl it was tedious and it just felt awkward. I was able to complete the stitches but not in any comfortable fashion. It was tedious and ugly.  I tried for a couple of days and then let those "you can't do it" demons get to me and I crocheted something instead.


Then, I ran across Angela's post. She said she was a crocheter and learned to knit, her stuff was gorgeous AND she said she enjoyed it? WHAT?! I wanted it to be true but, was sure she was some crafty genius and it would just not apply to me. It simply couldn't be true.

So, I kept reading. Contential knitting? I was intrigued. I followed her links to http://www.knittinghelp.com/ and watched the tutorials contential knitting. Maybe I COULD do this. I spent Monday absorbing all that I could on the internet...Thank goodness for youtube. Tuesday I spent working on knitting and purling. Wednesday I figured out how to bind off and practiced the seed stitch. So, I was convinced I wanted to try and put this all together and start my first official project.


So, I set off for JoAnn's and purchased my very own circular needles and a skein of Bernat's Chunky roving yarn. Then I realized that I had no idea how to use them. So, another reference to http://www.knittinghelp.com/ and I cast on the circular needles.

So I've been rocking it off and on all day. It's far from perfect and doesn't even begin to look as polished as my inspiration but that 's ok. I'm still learning and I am feeling like maybe I CAN do this. It's amazing what you can learn from the internet. I do hope that I can keep improving and maybe really learn something I had written off as impossible :)

Project organization

Up until recently, I haven't had an issue keeping my corner of our spare room neat and tidy between projects. However, now due to various circumstances (maybe several being some killer fabric sales) my stuff is kind of taking over the room. So, it was time to try and get some things in order. Starting with this riduclous mess I call a scrap box.

Here's a pic mid organization, please don't judge...I know it's terrible!

 

This was a ridiculous mess of fabrics, some just crap that I bought when I didn't know any better, peices of random flannel from pj bottoms and all sorts of stuff. So, the sorting began. A lot of this was donated to the art therapist at work for the kiddos to have fun with, but what I felt was still possibly usable I organized by color and put into baggies.

My tres chic scrap organization

Now that I finally have a handle on the scrap situation, I decided it was time to out them to use....somehow. I'm not at all a quilter, and probably never will be one. I just don't think I have the patience for all that cutting and piecing (I HATE cutting fabric), maybe one day I'll decide to go for it but for now I'm happy with pojects that don't require some serious geometry skills. I've seen lots of hexi projects all over the place and I really do loove the way that they look. So, why not give it a shot, all I have to lose are some scraps.

I consulted Pinterest and our friend Google and found some printable hexies and a great tutorial to get me started. An hour or so later, we have hexies!



I started with the orange bag, and I plan to keep moving through the colors until I have some of each. Then what? I have no idea yet. They are cute though :)

Yay Productivity!

I took advantage of a quiet weekend to work on some things that have been put on the back burner for some very patient loved ones.

My poor hubby and one of my dear friends have been asking for bags for some time but,other things kept coming up and I never got around to them. I was able to get them BOTH done this weekend!

My hubby's bag was rather boring and blah as far as I'm concerned but he insisted he just wanted plain black canvas with no extra frills or hardware. Really?! No wonder I kept putting it off. I did sneak a few extras in, like the embroidered tag and the key clip. I just made a basic messenger bag (there are oodles of tutorials out there), added a front pocket, a separation panel in the interior, added a key clip on the inside and an adjustable strap. Pretty much as boring basic as it gets. I will say that after you get more than a couple of layers of canvas in the machine, it becomes the sewing equivalent to wrestling an alligator. There were parts where I had to go through three layers of canvas and a layer of cotton, I am really impressed my machine made it through!

A dear friend has been asking and waiting oh so patiently for a bag for a few months. After Christmas, we finally picked out some fabrics and I got it done this weekend. She picked out some aqua chevron and an orange Joel Dewberry print that I've been hoarding for some time. It's easily one of my favorites ever, but she's totally worth it. I followed Sweet Verbena's tutorial, which I love. I think I've made at least 6 of these in the last year.

A new coat for a new year

First project of the new year, COMPLETE! I bought the olivia and oliver pattern by peek a boo pattern shop a couple of weeks ago after seeing this post here. I HAD to attempt this for my three year old.

I'm so, so happy with how it turned out! This pattern is fantastic! I've only completed a couple of garments, maybe one of which was actually wearable. This pattern was so straightforward and her pictures and tutorials made this a breeze! I can't wait to make another. The best part? This PDF pattern goes up to a size 8, do I can make a new one each year!

Love, love, love this pattern!