Knitting Dragonflies

After knitting several Big Bags. I decided to try a crochet one. I’m not an advanced in the crochet world. And have trouble following crochet patterns. I thought that maybe it would be faster to crochet a big bag than knit it. I was inspired by a girlfriends purse, one of those crochet ones out of the shiny cord. I wanted the bag to be simple and fast. Sturdy and fun. My first attempt was with a single crochet stitch, later I frogged this and used a half double crochet. I like this stitch as it seems to be sturdier and quicker. This is what I came up with . Any combo of yarn can be used, be creative! The colors and size of the bag are up to you!    Size 14 L x 11 W inches          Size 11 L x 11 W inches Both of my bags shrank about 1.5 to 2 inches on each side after felting in a top loader Crochet Hook: I used a size K, look at the recommended size on your yarn label and use that size or close to it. Yarn: Any kind of yar...

The Etsy seller for July is Sykin, who has two etsy shops, graphic design, and web design! Sykin Twilight Shop , (the first etsy shop to exclusively carry Twilight inspired items, who knew that vampires would ever become so popular??) and Sykin’s NW Wonders , (handcrafted items & photography from the Pacific Northwest) She blogs at http://sykin-at-etsy.blogspot.com/ Bio I'm a 26 year old wife, full time worker, and mother to a little boy named Kyler and a little girl named Emma. I design jewelry (inspired by books, music, etc) and hope to start designing clothes and other miscellaneous sewing items as well. Please feel free to browse through my shop and send me a message if you have any questions. I do take personal requests on jewelry, graphic design, web design, etsy design, etc. Don't be shy! My graphic work can be viewed at http://www.fraying-fabric.net/ A varied and creative woman! Twilight inspired Cullen Eyes Long Necklace $15.00 Bella Twilight Hat made by A...

I didn’t get all of my fleece spun up. But I made good headway. I foolishly thought I would be able to return to work and spin up over a pound of fleece! Well a girl can dream. Dogs sleep, I spin… I finished the Parrot Fish BLF 4.6 oz, approx 260 yds, yellow and turquoise mix. I like the colors, this is the first roving that I have spun that was bi-colored, and I am pleased with the result! The BFL from Orion 4.4 oz, ? yds, I have approx 11.6 more oz of this fleece to spin up, but the good news is that it is lovely to spin and I will have enough of it to knit something with, I’m hoping a sweater. I think  the deep brown of his fleece is unusual. Not much else to report, a visit from family this weekend, so we were all busy. My brother’s new girlfriend knits! Say no more!! Get the preacher! I have been playing around with watercolors a little, having some fun. Here is a sample of colored pencils with a bit of watercolor wash.  I really have been wooed by water...

Both of the photos used here are from the gluebook group on Flickr from petalthrow Exercises to unleash creativity and get your mind flowing are plentiful. I try to keep a list of them to use when I feel like I’m in a rut, and need a new perspective on things. -Read some new blogs, some that are not in your area of interest, I never fail to come up with something to add to my list of things I want to try when reading blogs. Bloggers are tremendously creative people. Likewise with podcasters. 1-Start a journal! Sit down and write nonstop for 15-20 minutes per day, about anything, as fast as you can, don’t think and see what happens. You will be surprised. 2-Start a gluebook, Yahoo gluebook group , gluebooks ideas , more on gluebooks , Flickr gluebook group 3-Turn OFF the TV, seriously, it is a big time and brain suck. Turn it off and you will be surprised what happens, with your children also. - The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp , I highly recommend this book! - Pikaland...

I got a delayed start on my Tour De Fleece spinning! I’m going to try and make up for lost time! I returned to work after recovering from an injury, and I am behind on everything and exhausted. (and forgot how much work drama sucks the energy out of me!) So no spinning on the beginning date of the Tour. I did decide I would spin up: 4.6 oz of BFL from Parrot Fish and a pound of BLF/BL from Breezy Manor from “Orion” it is nearly black, and so pretty! Well it is the middle of July now, and me with very little spinning, I’ll have to make up for it next year!  Progress so far….   4 oz spun and plied, I have just started on the dark brown BFL. Hope your spinning is going better than mine!!

I knitted this pattern once, and loved it so much I decided to do it again! I use my first bag constantly, and love the size, which is 16 long x 14 wide. This time I want to knit it in some vibrant colors, and make the stripes really stand out! I’m in the mood for some happy colors! I know another bag, I like to have a variety of sized bags to carry my flotsam and jetsam to work and around. Pattern: Baby’s Got a Brand New Big Bag from Maia Discoe  (pdf link), (love this pattern, I’m thinking of making a purse sized one soon, maybe decreasing the stitches by about 60 to 70%?) Yarn: Black, leftover from some projects, yellow, hand dyed by me, multi color orange, red and yellow, hand dyed by me, and some orange Malabrigo Needle size: 10.5 circulars OK, so a little further.. Before felting and after Felting was done in my top loader, measurements before were 17 inches wide x 19 inches long, after felting measurements are 15 x 15, which is an estimated of felting shrinka...

Continuing my felted bag obsession I found this pattern, Mini Skulls and Crossbones Tote, from Adrian Bizilia . Very cute but I wanted to use a different motif. I chose this one, a Fleur de Lis knitted chart from About.com.  Look on Ravelry at all of the different bags, from happy faces to peace signs. All so cute! Still in my destash mode, I found these two colors that seemed to go well together. And I was off with what I hoped was a quick project. I did have a problem with tangled yarns, until I talked to Eternal Arts and Craft blogger, and decided to wrap the yellow into little bobbins. That make it a breeze. I wished I had tried that at the beginning.Below is bag pre felting. I also felted this in the front loader. The original measurements were 13 in vertical x 10 in horizontal, after felting it shrank to 10 in vertical x 9 in horizontal. So that holds up to the current estimate of an average 30% shrinkage in height and 10% shrinkage in width. Modifications...

Summer is here! I was looking around for something to put in my hair to keep it under control while outside in our high humidity and hot weather. I’m letting my hair grow (at least for now), and the humidity turns my hair into a frizz bomb. I was searching for something to tame it, yet be stylish. When camping it would be nice to have a good looking alternative to a bandana. You know how head bands either squeeze your head and stretchy bands migrate off you head. Well I remember the Calorimetry pattern from Knitty winter 06 and wondered how it would knit up in cotton! I love it! I did make some alterations due to the cotton yarn, and added ties instead of a button to accommodate for shrinkage of the yarn. But this head band just gets better every time I wash it! Soft and the ties allow for a good fit. I used smaller needles and adjusted the number of cast on stitches. I would also make this in other types of yarn, I’m thinking a cotton/linen blend, I found this CotLin at Knit Pic...