Another little one

Yet another little crocheted bag with tatted edging in the works! 

winter works

The cold and snow has had me a bit down this winter ..... where is spring???? Anyway, an idea came into my head one day as I was looking for a new gig bag for my soprano ukulele. I noticed these hemp gig bags made by Eddy Finn and thought that it might be fun to spice one up with a bit of surface decoration. I have to admit it's been years since I've embroidered, so I thought of the project as a way of practicing some stitches I had long forgotten. As you can see from the pics I also added a bit of my tatting that I found kicking around and sewed on a few shiny things here and there.

And of course I can't finish there.... I ordered the concert size uke bag and I'm starting once again!

Here's the finished work!

More bags

Below is a pic of two bags I just finished up this weekend. These are also two of my favorite colors! The purple one is done with Lizbeth size 3, needle tatted and crocheted, lined with dark purple felt. The green one was made with Lizbeth size 10, shuttle tatted and crocheted, also lined with dark purple felt.

Hmm....yeah, I make lots of bags...freaky!

The Blue Bag Project

I like to make all kinds of small bags.... probably because I can usually get them done fairly quickly, not to mention that I'm a bag-o-holic, so it's just something I enjoy! Over the last few years I've been working on combining crochet and tatting in various ways and I really like the way it looks.... plus it's a great way to use tatted edgings since I love to tat, but I'm not exactly a lacy collar or cuff kinda woman.

crocheted bags with tatted embellishments

People often ask me about a pattern for these, but since I don't follow any and I'm just too lazy to write one up, I decided to do a photo essay (with a little video added in) on how I go about making these. Just click the link below to the Blue Bag Project. I hope someone finds it helpful!

The Blue Bag Project

The Blue Bag almost completed.

doing the craft fair thing

I hadn't done a craft fair in a while, so I decided to do a local one last weekend. Here are some pics I took of my table.

I've been into making a line of party bags lately... for proms, weddings, parties, etc!

Along with my standards little bags, I did a series of American Girl hats with matching backpacks.

A close up of a tatted bag, lined in felt.

A bunch o' little bags and crunchies!

my Christmas vacation

My woven potholder tote!
I used an old button and a looper for a closing.

During my brief break from my day job this holiday season, I actually did a bit of crafting and made this potholder tote bag! No, it's not a bag for toting around potholders, but a bag made up of squares that I created on a potholder loom using loopers.

I used a standard metal potholder loom (eighteen pegs) and 100% cotton loopers from Harrisville Designs. They're quite thick and sturdy and the color selection is great. the body is made up of eight squares (four on a side). The handle, sides and bottom are made of half squares. I made the half squares by just looping at half the number of loopers as usual (nine) and weaving through loopers in both directions. It creates one edge that's a bit different from the others... but that didn't bother me.

Instead of sewing them together with thread, I decided, because of the weight of the final piece, that I'd use loopers to sew them together. I cut the loopers, used a fairly big needle and joined the seams with using loopers... it just seemed sturdier that way.

one side sewn together

I went for a multicolor look for this project since those were the loopers I had on hand. What I like of the Harrisville loopers is that you can purchase bags of loopers of all one color, so if you prefer to work with a certain color combination you can do that.

Although I ddon't care much for sewing together pieces/motifs//squares etc ... in projects, this one was not too bad and I would probably do this one again.

close up of bag

pouches, pockets and wee bags

When I don't know what else to make I make one of these ... yep. I use them to hold any number of items: coin purses, ocarina and whistle pouches, for credit cards, etc...

various crocheted pouches and pockets

marketing bag redo

My crafting mojo has been all over the place lately, so during times like these I usually take up some project that doesn't require too much brain power. For some people that's dishcloths. I must admit... I've never crocheted a dishcloth! Not that I have anything against them, mind you, I just would never use one myself so I guess I'm skeptical that others do. I also remember my mother using dishcloths and bleaching them every so often so I'm not sure how well any crocheted cloth would stand up to that.

Oh, I'm a sponge/scrubber kind of dish washing woman, btw. But that's neither here nor there. How did I get on the topic of dishcloths? Oh, yeah... some people love making them when they have leftover yarn, a quick easy project to throw in your bag, etc...

I tend to make purses, pouches, bags big and small. Yes, I am a bag whore (you too can join the Ravelry group by said name if you're so inclined and feel safe and warm with others who share your addiction).

So.... not knowing what else to do I crocheted up this market bag using Peaches & Cream 100% cotton:

Well, I don't know what I was thinking, but I made it too long (one can of beans and it was dragging on the floor) and the way I did the handle made it hard to even get that can of beans in there. I was not pleased.

So ... I unweaved the ends (I never knot anything, but do weave in long ends) and took out about a third of it. I also changed the handles (four rows of slip stitch each) and now I'm very please with the result.

And oh yay! I think I have enough yarn left over for some dishcloths!!

project containers and such

A favorite pastime for many of us fiberholics ( I use the word many cause I hate to think that I'm alone here!) is collecting usable bags/containers/gadgets to store and carry our craft and crafting tools around with us ... it's a big part of the fiber addiction! I must admit that a certain percentage (not as yet determined mathematically) of my fiber studio space is taken up by various kinds of bags and such.

Of course, the size of the project will dictate the size of the project bag needed. Back in August I blogged about a great bag I picked up at the CGOA conference.. compartments and pockets and zippers .. oh my!! Here's a couple pics of what I'm using right now, which means ... for this week anyway:

The little cloth covered, wooden framed, foldable thing looks like what my grandmother used to use when she crocheted. This one, however is much smaller. It's only about 5.5" in height, with a width of about 4.5" x 3.5". I can't remember exactly where I bought it. I think it was in a "dollar store" when I was living in Spain. It's just big enough that I can fit the filet scarf into it, fold it (somewhat anyway) and slip it into my work bag for my commute to work. I like that it sits on a table and is just big enough to hold the few things I often need at hand, in this case: a ball of thread for the little filet crochet scrarf I'm working on, a couple tatting shuttles, assorted needles, scissors, bobbins, tape measure and (if you notice the little bag hanging off the side) smaller things like a couple needle threaders (I'm good at breaking them!), stitch makers, paper clip, and a button or two.

Here's the inner view:

I'll save mention of my handbag collection (blush - yeah, like you couldn't guess) and my collection of little bottles for beads (woohoo for hotel condiments served up in those little glass bottles) for another post! And... just to set the record straight... I own fewer than ten pairs of shoes!!

Some little things

Haven't had much time to blog lately as life takes over the way it can from time to time. As of late, I've had a short attention span, and have been focussing on smaller projects that I can complete in the matter of a day or so.

A few weeks back I went felting crazy! The results were interesting:

I learned a lot about felting in the process, but needed a break from my felting mania, so I turned as I often do to other projects. I did a series of little "pockets" that are sized for a digital camera, an iPod Touch and credit sized:

Here I experiemented with combining threads and using a tapestry crochet technique. I used size 3 cotton thread for the two pockets on the left, and size 5 cotton thread for the two on the right - I think those are my favorite size threads for crochet! I'm working on finishing up a hat with size 5 purple thread now - pics to come!

Last, but not least, I've started a scarf using a broomstick lace technique. I've used a size 3 cotton thread and a 35mm broomstick lace needle. Here it is in the works:

Felting My Way Though Life

I now have felting fever! In all the years I've worked with fiber I had never thought much about felting, well,  until know, that is. Got hooked when I did my very first felting project just last month after returning home from Chainlink '09 in Buffalo.


My first attempt after that turned out like this:

 

I was happy with the bag itself, but the straps and closing I was not happy with at all!I should have crocheted the straps horizontally instead of vertically, same for the closure.

My next attempt was a bit better. Here's the bag2 (done in tapestry crochet style):

pre-felted bag,  11" x 17"

felted, 10.25" x 12.5"

Still, I wasn't happy with strap or the closure. The bag was still wide enough that having the strap on the ends gave it that curved in look ... annoying, and the closure ended up too off-center after the felting for me to put up with, sooooooo.....

I decided to re-felt! I cut off the off-center closure and the strap (an advantage of something felted... no unraveling!), crocheted two new straps, stitched them on and bag in the hot water wash it went!

 

after second felting, 9" x 10.5"

I also crocheted a closure separately and felted it along with the bag. That way I can sew it on exactly where I want it.

It's been a learning experience! I, of course, am not dissuaded. On the way home from work I picked up some more wool ... here we go again!