Felted Denise Needle Bag

Denise Bag - Front, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

This is the bag I made from Cat Bordhi's free pattern to carry my Denise needles around. I love how this bag came out even if it is a little too big. I am especially proud of the pockets because I had never really done zippers before. Cat's instructions made it pretty easy though.

The yarn is a strand of Manos del Uruguay held with a strand of Cascade 220. I think they felted together beautifully. Hand-sewing in the zippers and pocket lining actually took almost as long as knitting the whole thing.

The best compliment I received on this bag was from a male cousin who knows nothing about knitting, he said that it was a waste to put knitting needles in it. :D

Confessions of my Childhood

I have to confess that as a child I was not much of a crafter. My early forays into the world of crafting were largely kits that someone gave me as a gift. One of these that I remember really fondly was shrinky dinks. Now, I admit, I don't remember having this exact kit, but I loved the Smurfs too, so why not?

As a teen I got into the idea of making gifts for family and friend and that was also when I discovered the glory of the glue gun. I can remember many gifts for m y mother or grandmother that involved gluing ribbon onto little wreaths or bears or whatever.

Sometimes I cringe when I remember my early efforts in the world of crafting, but I guess every great artist needs to start somewhere.

Mosaic Mania Continued

I ran across this picture in my files. This is a little doll/toy bench that we (my hubby and me) refinished and then I mosaiced the top. My mom had this sitting in her garage for a long time so I got the idea to do this for her as a secret project while we were visitng her last summer (2006).

She has a bear collection and several of them make their home on this little bench now.

I'm not sure you can tell from this pic, but I actually painted the main tiles as a scene that spanned 6 tiles. Then I used broken tiles to fill in the sides. My DH built a new lid for this that could support the weight of the tiles, grout, etc.

*Warning* Non-Craft Post *Warning*

Self-portrait2, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

I had a chance to get away from it all (read: the kids) and go to San Francisco with my husband for a few days. While he toiled away learning something in a seminar I explored the wonderful city by the sea.

I rambled around on foot mostly and took advantage of an awesome public transportation system. I have tons of pictures and am not sure which ones are the best to share here, but I'll try. I plan to make at least two other posts about the trip because it was just so wonderful.

The city itself was beautiful with lots of interesting architecture. One thing I found fascinating was the number of buildings at odd corners that were triangular. There are so many diagonal streets in SF that I guess it was necessary.

I also got a huge kick out of Chinatown. I have made a brief visit to Chinatown in NYC but this was something completely different. This was like stepping off the train in another country almost. Once you left the main tourist street, Grant, it was a totally different place. Many stores didn't even bother with signs in English. Every conversation I passed was in Chinese, at least I think it was :) . The buildings were all packed together and yet each one had it's own color scheme and decorations. It was very cool.

(More pics coming to this post soon)

Ravelry Rocks! (Part 1)

I have found knitting Nirvana. Now, this may seem like an exaggeration to some, but I mean it. Knitting Utopia is now mine!

Ravelry.com is still in beta testing so you have to get on a waiting list and get invited to join. Trust me, this is totally worth it!

I'm not sure I can even describe for you in words how cool this website is. First there are the Forums. In the forums you can post a question, comment, concern about anything at all fiber/knitting/crochet/weaving/spinning/etc. related and usually receive an answer/response within minutes. I have literally had a technical issue solved for me within five minutes so I could continue knitting. You can also find reviews, usually with at least 2 points of view :), of almost any product you could want. Certainly there are people offering opinions on every yarn you never heard of and also the ones you have. I feel like I am always in the loop in the knitting world because my friendly neighborhood Ravelers (ravelry members) post about everything I need to know.

Well folks, since I am trying to blog every day this month, or at least 30 times I am going to make this a multi-parter since I have so much to say about the glory that is Ravelry!

In upcoming episodes we will address the My Notebook section, the Pattern and Yarn sections and of course the De-stash group. Stay tuned.

My First Crochet Project

Lion Cotton Tote, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

I guess I should qualify the statement in the title with the word successful. This is my first successful crochet project. Several years ago I tried to make a crochet afghan with dismal results. A friend of mine actually ended up finishing the thing for me, nice person that she is. I could not make the edges straight to save my life so I gave up in frustration.

It just so happened that a few months after I took up knitting another friend of mine wanted to take a class at the local Michael's store to freshen-up her crochet skills and she wanted me to go with her. Now, the teacher of the class would have done knitting with me but I thought it would be easier if we all worked on the same project. We decided on this free pattern from Lion Brand, the All-Occasion Tote (you will probably have to log-in to access this pattern, but it's free).

And the result is this tote bag. The funny part is that my friend never made it past the first few inches of her bag before putting it at the back of her work basket :) I guess I'll have to finish it for her and complete this karmic circle.

I will say that I have no plans to do this puff stitch anytime in the near future,the yarn-overs were a real b*tch, but otherwise I think it turned out pretty great.

Birthday Turtle in Parts

Birthday Turtle in Parts, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

Yes, this is the turtle I am making for my daughter's birthday. Luckily I have more of it done than I did when this picture was taken.

I ordered this book, World of Knitted Toys by Kath Dalmeny, and my DD found it on the table. DD promptly sat down and started cataloging what I would make for her from this book.

Needless to say with her birthday coming up I thought I should make her something by hand. The turtle was the one she liked best, so here we are a couple days from the event and all I have is a stack of parts.

Oh well, she is used to stuff like this by now. She knows she will get it eventually. I'll try to remember to post a finished picture.

Chunky Tote

Kitchen & Yarn Stash 033, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

A finished object, hooray me! This chunky little tote is a pattern from a Vogue on the Go book called Bags and Backpacks and the rectangular shape of it really called to me. It's made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in colorway
Denim Twist. I knit this with 2 strands held together.

This was fun to knit because it was done on size 17
needles so it went really quickly. It was also cool because the pattern
was knit sort of like an origami pattern, imagine a capital letter T,
then sewn together.

I love the handles I found on sale at JoAnn's too. The shape is just right.

My only real complaint is that I don't feel I did a very good job with the seaming, I won't rip it out, I'm too lazy :), but I do want to make another one and do a better job. I was a little reluctant to hold 2 strands together as called for in the pattern, but as you can see this little tote stand up by itself. I do like that part about making such a thick fabric.

I bought yarn and handles to make another one already, :) The next one will be charcoal with black handles.

Yarn Crawl Stash 1

Kitchen & Yarn Stash 037, originally uploaded by tanyalizbeth.

This is the finest of my Yarn Crawl purchases from my first yarn crawl.

All the LYS's in my local area got together and had this cool even where you bought a passport and got it stamped at each store you visited. If you showed your passport you also got a free ball of yarn at each store.

This lovely yarn is going to be a hat for a certain sib of mine, not to me named since it will be a gift. The pattern I chose is this free one that I like, the New York Hat.

This is Rowan Wool Cotton and it is really soft and yummy. The color is a perfect, manly olive color. I will, of course, post a photo of the finished hat once the sib in question has received the gift.