Friday, August 26, 2011

Rowan Lima Yarn

I want to take a minute to talk about Rowan's Lima yarn. We've had it in the store for a little while now and I think that not everybody realizes how completely AMAZING it is. I knit up a pair of legwarmers with it last year and thought.."hmm...yeah, well it's soft and nice, but eh".

Here are the legwarmers:

It wasn't until I started knitting a sweater recently...



that I realized how unbelieably amazing this yarn is!!! First of all, it's so soft, made out of baby alpaca, merino & linen. And the really unique thing about it is that it's chained! I thought it was a little weird at first, but look at this texture!!


 
It's BEAUTIFUL!! Anyways, I think that Rowan Lima should be given a chance because it is incredible. :) Also, it's going to be the softest, most beatiful (and warm!) sweater--perfect for fall and winter coming up!

Yum!

I forgot to post this!! Last week, I finally took one of my strawberry pies from the freezer. I had two of them in there that I made with freshly picked strawberries from Lake Linden. And oh boy! was it delicious!!!


Thursday, August 25, 2011

And one more cute little bag...

Isn't it fun?! I cut 5"x10" pieces...interfaced the outer panels so it would be a bit more sturdy, then sewed together. I inserted a little loop, too.



 So here are all the bags with this fabric from recently:

I am becoming addicted to zippers!! Wheeeee!

Oh, and here's the newest creation:

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Accessory/Project Bags

I've been getting stuff done lately!!! Finished my tank top, finished the baby quilt, finished a knitted store sample, and made these two cute bags! Well..three becaues I made two of the drawstring bags! Yay!

This first one with the flowers is a cute little accessory bag from this FREE pattern. I like the shape of it and it was very simple to make.


Second, I made this drawstring bag using this FREE tutorial. It was so easy to make! I didn't realize it would be so small, though. I suppose if I had actually read the description before making it, I would have picked up on that... It's a mini drawstring bag. Hehe!


And here is the knitted store sample I mentioned above...I guess I forgot to post it here! Silly me.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tank Top-Simplicity 6466

I made a new tank top! The pattern is Simplicity 6466.  I made a size 12 and View E. I read a lot of reviews about this pattern and they all said the same thing: that the skirt was way too big. I originally wanted to make this out of some beautiful charmeuse fabric from JoAnn's, but I decided to go with some pretty cotton instead. That way, I could rip out and cut and waste fabric without feeling too guilty. After making this, I agree with all of the other reviewers. The skirt was WAY too big. I ended up cutting approx 4" from the bottom before hemming and after putting the top together, I trimmed another few inches from the width. By doing this, it made the back a little bit wonky, but at least it fits without making me look pregnant. I also added darts at the top of the side seems (right at the armpit) because it was gaping a lot at the bust.

 I also shorted the straps by approx 2 1/2". I did widen the straps, too. I cut them 2 1/2" wide so that they would better cover a bra strap. I decided to buy an invisible zipper instead of a regular zipper. I just couldn't figure out why you would want a regular zipper in a wearable garment...I am very happy with my decision. :)





Before cutting the 4" from the bottom of the skirt, I tried it on and realized it would have made a PERFECT regular skirt instead of a shirt! At that point, however, I had already made the top portion. I am debating if I want to use my nice charmeuse fabric as a skirt instead of another tank top...I'm leaning towards YES! :)

Monday, August 22, 2011

Baby Quilt

Baby Hobie was born last night! Which is perfect timing since I finished the quilt on Saturday night. Anyways, here is the quilt. It's for Cindy, a really good friend that I marched with in the Michigan State University Marching Band. Hence....MSU QUILT!! Yay! Go State!

The center S is appliqued. It was a very easy quilt using this pattern.

And perfect timing for football season!!! Go Green!

The backing is fleece from JoAnn fabrics. It's a really warm quilt.



I was having a hard time getting the music note fabric to show up in the pictures...but all the black in the pictures is actually this:

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Quilt

So...I started a new quilt. It's going to be the best quilt ever.

Here's a sneak peak at the middle square:


Also I had to include the back of the block...just because the applique looks so cool from the backside!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New Sweater!

I just finished a new sweater! It's from a booklet from Classic Elite here.

I used All Seasons Cotton from Rowan.  





Modifications:
CO 35 sts using size 3 for the ribbing, then increase to 38 on a size 5 needle for the lace pattern. Increase as written (72 sts).

Picked up the body in the round, 150 sts on size 3 needles and did the ribbing until I liked the length of it. Then bound off.

This fits perfectly. I am so glad I made the adjustments. I think this is the most wearable thing I've ever knit. I love the length, fit, everything! It's perfect!!! Also, check out how awesome my butt looks in my new jeans from Kohl's. :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Baking and Eating Adventures

Well, Matt was out of town last week backpacking on Isle Royale with his dad and some friends. Which meant I was all alone for a whole week with NO contact AT ALL from him. :( (No cell phones on the island) So...one day I went thimbleberry picking. I ended up with four cups which is AWESOME. My friend had shown me a great place to pick them where there are just hundreds of thimbleberry bushes.


I made some jam with the thimbleberries I picked. It was very easy, since it was just freezer jam. I boiled 4 cups of thimbleberries and 4 cups of sugar.

And I ended up with these containers:


Of super delicious jam. YUM!!!


A few weeks ago I also made a rhubarb sauce. I bought some Tupperware popsicle molds and poured the sauce in the molds to make popsicles! They are very yummy. The sauce consists of rhubarb, vanilla and sugar that was melted in a sauce pan. 


While we were downstate last week, my mom stopped at Tim Hortons and bought me a present. Isn't he cute???

Too bad I ate him...

Monday, August 15, 2011

Wedding

Last week, we went downstate (for a whole week, it was awesome!) to go to a wedding. Here are some pictures from it:







Notice my dress? Oh yeah...that's the one I made...with a matching hand bag. Hehe

Amy Butler's Blossom Bag #2

Thank you, Aunt Carol for my new Janome 9700 embroidery sewing machine!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Anyways, as a thank you, I have made this Amy Butler Blossom Bag for my Aunt who so kindly gave me her old sewing machine. Here it is! (I embroidered her name on it with my new machine)






Also, I made the handles longer on this one because I kind of wish the handles on mine were a little bit longer. I think the ideal handle size would be exactly in between the two sizes listed on the pattern.

Here is the link to my first Blossom Bag that I made: First Bag