Hooray for me!

A couple Christmases ago, I begged for a sewing machine. I dreamed of sewing up all kinds of good stuff (darn you, supereggplant, for making it all look so easy!). When it actually showed up, I realized that I'm not so mechanically inclined. I should've known; I can't even drive a stick-shift.

So over the years, my sewing machine has spent 99% of its life in the closet. Then the other day, we were at Craft Warehouse. I'd never been to one before, since they only have them in the NW. Well, they had a great selection of fat quarters that I was determined to find a use for (besides making quilts).
 
It just so happened that my sister-in-law's birthday was this week, and we didn't have a gift bag to put her stuff in. I Googled a pattern for a tote bag, and who was the second link, but none other than supereggplant. I found the confidence to pull the sewing machine out of the closet, and right on top of it was this ribbon that happened to match the material!

It was a sign that all would go well. Aside from a minor flub, I was able to dish out this bag in just a few hours, and I'm really happy with it! I can't believe how quickly you can create a bag, when compared to how long it takes to knit a similar item. I'm ready to tackle another sewing challenge!

  

Yarn explosion!

After this post, it may look like I seriously do nothing but buy yarn. I'll admit I've been going a little overboard lately, but there are some great deals out there right now. Has anyone else noticed this?

Besides, I'm starting to prepare for the holidays, and I swear I'm going to start early. I always have the intention of knitting a bunch of stuff, but run out of time (I think I'm a faster knitter than I really am). So I'm starting to hoard all the nice fluffy alpacas, soft wools, and other beautiful yarns that will turn into gorgeous scarves, gloves, and hats.
 

Last week, I won 2 ebay auctions. One was this lovely tan alpaca that will be a soft and warm scarf. The other is the lofty, squishy merino that I've wanted to try out. I managed to score 10 balls on ebay for real cheap. Woo hoo!
 
Then this morning, I headed over to my LYS for their summer sale. Here's all the good stuff I came home with. Boy, that's a lot of scarves-in-the-making! I got the Berroco Suede to make the Sacha slippers (sans embroidery).  




And because I'm such a supereggplant/actionhero groupie, I bought The New Crewel so that I can learn yet another craft. As if I didn't have enough on my plate, I also got some material to make a drawstring bag. At least, that's the plan. I'm so intimidated by my sewing machine, I don't know if I will get around to conquering it. But aren't they fun?!
 
Oh, and I also got my Rowan magazine and free gift. I actually didn't want to receive this issue (I thought they would begin with No. 40), because I flipped through it at the store and decided that most of the stuff was really weird. Oh well. I started on the Dolly bag last night, while watching Hell's Kitchen. You donkey! 

Aloha!

 

When my sister was here, she gave me this cute Hello Kitty tote bag as a gift. Like so many girls, I have a bag/purse obsession. I want to take this one with me to Hawaii in September, so I bought a Hello Kitty luggage tag to put on it (it's too flimsy to actually put on my suitcase). It's tropical themed, even!