Again?

I know what you're thinking. I've seen these pillowcases already. I must have seen these pillowcases. Sweet Jebus tell me this is repeat blog post and not yet more pillowcase sets.

Yeah, this girl's got a serious case of crafting OCD. I figure I've made at least a dozen sets now (I gave two as gifts this Saturday alone!). That is a whole whack of fabric. Hmm ... I wonder how many metres are on a bolt.

Bonus - the fabric is its own lovely wrapping. Tie it with a strip of selvedge and it's a sweet little bundle ready to go to its new home.

Crafty holiday

A few friends and I got together recently to celebrate a belated birthday and Christmas. A crafternoon, as we like to call it. For each I made a present. Yup - more pillowcases, but I just want to share the handmade pillowcase love! The bunting fabric and co-ordinating fabric were scooped up at my favourite fabric shop Greenwood months ago, amazingly for me with a plan and a person in mind. (Literally they had to move all the bolts to free the last bit of bunting fabric covering the table.)

I found the pattern for these scarves in the Moda Bake Shop. Just an FYI: I don't know in what reality they are making these projects and estimating the time it takes, but it's not the same I inhabit. This one is listed as a 30-minute project. Right. But project length aside, they have some great ideas and the tutorials are easy to follow. Not that you really need a pattern for this project, but it gave me the idea for the charm packs I've long had stashed away. They're backed with flannel to make them super soft and cozy.

I saw a neat post about surprise balls, and tucked the idea away in my brain. Basically, you get rolls of crepe paper and wrap layers around small gifts. As the recipient unrolls the paper, the gifts appear. The light went on - roll presents in the scarves! Below are the scarf present rolls as well as the pillowcases rolled and tied with ribbon.

The presents I made paled in comparison to the lovely hat my CFF Tara knit for me. She is one talented and prolific crafter and I'm sure lucky to be a recipient of her work. And here's a take-home lesson: there is such a thing as crafting karma. Pass along a nice pattern and it may come back to you finished!

Pretty sparkly

Mornings, to put it mildly, are not my thing. But I couldn't help be happy on the weekend when I woke up to see a gleaming white wonderland, like something out of a fantasy movie where everything is covered in sparkles. Hoar frost is a rare morning treat so enchanting that I went for a walk with my dog, popped inside for my camera and headed out on another walk. My dog didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't complaining about the extra go around the neighbourhood.

I like this photo best. This poor little evergreen was dead, its needles long faded from green. But with the frost they became a lovely muted copper, moving gently in the breeze like a plant flowing in water.

One last leaf clinging to the branches:

The rustic pine in my backyard:

Thankfully my dog stood still while I perched on a stone wall for this one:

A step forward, then many back

During the crazy windstorm recently I braved the weather to rescue the bunting hanging around my front porch. Being out in the sun and rain all summer sure took a toll. I can't believe how much it faded in just a couple months. But I like my sun-bleached bunting even more now. Rather than being tucked away safety like many sewing projects, the bunting was used and loved. And it will go out again next year, partly because I have trouble finding my house now. So it's not only pretty, but practical.

Yesterday afternoon I was determined to finally pick up a knitting project started too long ago. I like knitting a lot - the click clack of the needles is very calming. But I also feel like a huge knitting dummy. I think that's why I gravitate to sewing and cross-stitch - I can see and understand what I'm doing. It's like I have knitting dyslexia. That's why when I was set on a relaxing afternoon of knitting, I was very disappointed to find I made a mistake starting several rows back. I braced myself and did something I have never before - yanked out the needles and started ripping. I even got it back on the needles with no huge problems. But I just couldn't figure out the edges and how I was supposed to knit those with the markers gone. So now I'm waiting for a knitting rescue by my mom, the guru of all crafts. She'll get me on track again.

With my knitting ambitions stymied, I turned to a lap-sized strip quilt. The top and bottom were both done, so it was ready for batting and pins. I forged ahead, maybe bolstered by my knitting failure and in spite of having to move a very heavy table to make enough room to lay it out, and got the sandwich pinned together. Sadly my crafting was derailed entirely by a migraine, but I'm glad I accomplished something, even if it was just a small step of a bigger project.

Halloween craziness

When a woman at the leash-free park said my dog Alexi looks so elegant that she should have a unicorn horn, a seed was planted. How could I resist making her a unicorn for Halloween?

Plus I figured it would be a quick project - just roll some paper and add a ribbon tie. But how wrong I was. Turns out tape doesn't stick to tightly rolled glitter paper. Neither does glue. Even shaping the thick paper into a horn was no easy task. Finally I got out thread, needle and pliers. Presto, a unicorn horn!

I'm not sure if it was the unicorn horn or being forced to stand for several minutes, but she wasn't so impressed with the whole experience.

So, yeah, I'm now one of those people who dresses their pets for Halloween.

Filling in the gap

My bunting bunting found its home in my craft room, right above my sewing machine and the only spot free of the clutter that spread all over the rest of the room like creeping ivy.

Found and finished

These fingerless gloves were knit a couple years ago. But my attempt to sew them together was, to put it nicely, an utter disaster. Frustrated, I ripped out the sloppy seam and tossed them in a drawer. And there they've sat unfinished and abandoned. Until yesterday. Suddenly I remembered the cheery gloves so close to being wearable and decided it was time. Even more important, I remembered the guidebook on knitting tricks my mom gave me (maybe to get a bit of a break on my crafting questions).

The photo on the front promises a nifty technique for an invisible seam. I was doubtful, but rolled up my sleeves, threaded my needle and followed the instructions. Then came the swearing. But unlike my usual craft-induced profanity, this was an unadulterated expression of joy. Magic! Yank the thread and the seam disappears. Rarely is finishing a project fun, but I was actually sorry to be done zipping up the seams. What a thing of beauty. And today I could finally wear my pretty new fingerless gloves, perfect for the unwelcome chill and - gasp - hail.