Yearning

Thoughts of this past weekend made Monday morning at work practically cruel and unusual punishment.

There was a lot of delving into this...

there was some return to this (obviously I was a bit rusty, one of my points is too near the edge, bah)...

there was the pure glee that came with finally getting to drop another stitch on this (that's two!)...

and it didn't even bother me that I cut out half a pair of pajama pants for the older child and then realized I didn't have enough fabric for the other half (my how she's grown!)...

Yes, today at work was torturous with memories of a delightful weekend past, and ever so slow as I counted each hour until the bliss of having all next week off for spring break.  At the beach.  With as many books and as much knitting as I can fit into the car without being yelled at by the hubbie.  Hurry up week!

Unlimited Opportunities for Obsession

That's the thing with sewing and knitting and such, there are always new aspects of all these crafty endeavors to learn, and plenty of already obsessed people to push you over the edge of reason!  For example, my dear mother, who has decided to buy a spinning wheel  and so forces me into deep conversations about fiber and all its possibilities (I'm still trying to convince her to get an alpaca, how is she resisting THIS FACE).  This, in turn, gets me thinking about how I can join in the fun without spending the bazillions of dollars that she is, which naturally leads to lots of research into spindles and hand spinning.  Throw in some birthday gift certificates, a lot of encouragement from another Kate, and winning a 40 percent off coupon at my favorite yarn store and a new hobby is born.  Here is my new spindle! (called trindles by some? difference?) 

Along with plenty of alpaca corriedale blend to get started on.

Now friends, you know it doesn't stop there.  Books must be ordered.  Fancy spindles must be shopped... these are gorgeous... and you know the minutes are being counted down until this weekend, when I will be making yarn!  Making. Yarn!  Should I mention that my ball of fiber is sitting next to me on the couch snuggled up under my arm like some sort of fluffy adoring animal?  That I just offered Jay a squeeze and assured him it would bring him inner peace?  That I made him choose between about five edited pictures of that alpaca/wool to help me decide which showed off its fluffy soft sheepiness the best?  Yeah, should probably keep all that to myself.

Handmade Party!

I love that quite often at family birthday parties in my family there are handmade gifts being given.  Not only that, but being given and really appreciated!  This past weekend I finally got to give my mom her Birdie Sling (I suspect that she coordinated her outfit ahead of time)

and she finally got to give my Uncle the quilt she has been working on for ages to commemorate his recently published book.  He is a civil war historian and of course needed a quilt made out of reproduction civil war era fabrics.  I think it turned out great!  The quilting on it is just lovely, but I'm afraid you can't tell from my picture.  Great gift mom!

Birthday Birdie Sling

This bag definitely had its challenges, but finally I have made the Amy Butler Birdie Sling for my mom's birthday.  Only a month and a half late, not toooo bad.  I had my mind set on using this Japanese Echino fabric to make this bag, but when I went to buy the yardage it was sold out everywhere.  I spent weeks looking at different fabric combinations, finally decided on what to do, and then the Echino fabric came back in stock.  At our actual birthday party, my mom got a picture of the cut out pieces of the bag and a promise of a speedy completion. 

There was a very frustrating incident that made it a little less speedy which I had never had happen before.  This was my first time working with linen, so I don't know if this is common, but when ironing the lining pieces of the bag to the fusible fleece the glue on the fleece came through the fabric.  It looked horrible.  This was definitely a low point in my efforts to get this done.  It was a waste of very expensive fabric, meant another trip to Joann's to buy a different product to see if it would work better and a whole evening's worth of sewing time lost.  Hunting down the specific pelon product suggested on the pattern proved to work much better, which baffled me because the pelon fusible fleece looked like it had more glue on it than the other fleece I had been using.  Luckily it worked, I think if I had had to find another lining fabric this bag would have been crammed in a dark place in my craft closet for eternity and my mom presented with a lovely gift certificate to the yarn store.

The first Birdie Bag I made also used actual bird fabric, I don't know if I will ever be able to make this bag any other way.  Happy Birthday mom, hope you enjoy your super cute bag!