Secret Birthday Sewing and Gifts Revealed.

   I made my dear daughter several things for her birthday.  They included three shopping bags.

   Two made with this fun pineapple fabric with a fun lining on each outside pocket.

  

    One made with this fun blue and white plaid and I gave the outside pocket a wonky look with a fun lining.

 

    I also made her a 16" pillow cover with snowflake fabric in a star pattern.

     front

     back

    Lastly, I made her a 16" pillow cover with the fun snowfolk on it.

   

    I bought her some needle nannies from etsy sellers, some cross stitch needles, a set of steak knives, a book about aprons called "The Apron Book" by EllynAnne Geisel, and I also made her six white wool dryer balls.

    We went out for dinner the day of her birthday and had a lovely meal at a local owned Italian restaurant.

All The Colors

   I started another colorful crochet blanket this past week.  It's a ripple afghan.  This is a super simple pattern I got from a Mary Maxim Booklet called The Best of Mary Maxim Ripple Afghan Book.  I found that pattern booklet on Amazon.  The booklet has about 10 beginner to intermediate ripple afghan patterns in it.  I chose the classic ripple pattern.  I love the sharp peaks and valleys.  It's made with single crochet and I'm using tons of color in it.  Each row takes me about 25 minutes.  I'm adding whatever color wherever and however many rows I want.  I will be keeping track of the colors I use and in which order and I'll publish that list when I finish the entire afghan, just in case someone is interested.  This afghan will be made with all Knitpicks Acrylic Brava Worsted.  This is the beginning.

    Consulting my project list, I see it's time to start birthday sewing.  DD's birthday is in November and I want to make her a couple of things.  I will start those this next weekend.  I'm planning two projects, one will take a couple of hours to make and the second one will take about double that time.  I don't mind making things for DD, she is completely worthy of any homemade items.  She uses whatever I make for her and always takes time to tell everyone that it is handmade by her Mom.   So no photos of these projects until they are gifted.

      I'm also planning to make to make DD a birthday cake this year.  I stated a tradition several years ago and I would make a rum cake for her birthday each year.  She loves the cake and it is so easy to make.  I skipped last year because I didn't feel up to it, but I'm making one this year and I even bought the rum already.  I had to get the rum first because it's usually that last ingredient I think of and I end up having to make a special trip to the liquor store because I only go into the liquor store to get rum for this cake every couple of  years.

   After secret sewing is done I will get started on my souvenir fabric tote bag projects using the fabrics I purchased in Hawaii.  Here is a picture of the pieces all cut out.  Yeah.  I don't know why it took me so long to start these.  I can't wait to use them.   I'm using Crafty Gemini's Must Have Tote Bag Pattern with the only difference being I'm using two fabrics for the tote bag instead of one.  This tote bag pattern is the best.  I have been using it for years.  It costs three dollars and you get a picture tutorial and a link to a video tutorial.  Thank you, Vanessa.

   

Quilting Book Purchase

    I couldn't resist getting a used copy of Playful Petals by Corey Yoder from the Alibris.com website saving about 47% off the Amazon.com new book price including shipping.

    I love the cover quilt.  I've done a little fusible applique for wallhangings and door decorations but I haven't made anything larger than that using this technique.  It should be a fun book to have in my library.

Practice Sock Knitting And A Doily Update

   So I finally started my practice socks.  I'm making the practice socks from the Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Sock book by Melissa Morgan-Oakes.

    Sock knitting fascinates me because knitters who make socks make it sound so super simple.  There are several ways to knit socks, you can make them cuff down one at a time or cuff down two at a time or toe up one at a time or toe up two at a time.  The possibilities seem endless to me.  When I found out you can knit them two at a time on one needle, I wanted to learn.

  The practice socks in this book are great because you get to practice all the different techniques you have to learn to knit socks.  This is my progress so far, this is the cast-on and where I start the increases for the toes.  I had to re-knit the cast-on several times to get it right.  I'm using Peaches and Creme cotton yarn with size 8 (5.0 mm) Knit Picks Harmony wood needles with a 40" cable for these practice socks.  I'm not in a hurry to get these done.  I may have to re-do them several times before I finally finish them.

    My crochet doily project that I started at Christmas has been frogged.  The pattern that I bought was not written very well and I had some trouble on round 5.  I tried to contact the designer to ask her about the directions in the pattern through several different channels but I never heard back from her.  I figured out the problem with round 5 and fixed it, then I got to round 12 and the instructions were really vague and I knew that I wouldn't be able to work around it, so I took my work apart to reuse the thread and I'm deleting the pattern from my library.  By the way, that pattern was the Gossamer Doily by Priscilla's Crochet (Priscilla Hewitt).  It was a really pretty doily.  I paid $1.00 for it but that was $1.00 wasted.

    So I bought a new doily pattern from the Leisure Arts website yesterday.  It's called Daydream Doily by Ocie Jordan.  I hope to start that pattern in a few days.

Bargain Book Shopping

   I love used bargain books.  I shop on the internet on Alibris.com and find great bargain books to add to my collection and to give as gifts.

   Today I found four books, two cost $.99, one was $1.39 and the fourth one was the most expensive at $8.40.  Shipping is $3.99 for each book.

   Here are the four books I ordered today.

    "It's Quilting Cats and Dogs" by Lynette Anderson, will be a gift for my secret santa in a swap on the Quilting Board.  I already have this book and I just love to look at the lovely pictures of the cute projects you can make featuring sweet puppies and kitties.

Falling In Love With Civil War Quilts and Reproduction Fabric

     I just bought my first book on Civil War quilts by Kathleen Turner "Civil War Sewing Circle."  Looking forward to making the Union Stars Quilt in this book.

  Link to the Amazon listing for the book is here.

  I'm going to start collecting my fabrics for this quilt.  I saw one on Google done in red, white, and blue.  It was very, very, very pretty.

Making Needlebooks With 100% Wool Felt

     Last week I received 10 different 6" x 8" sheets of 100% wool felt in shades of blue, purple and green that I bought from an Etsy seller.   I bought the small sheets to make needle books and they are the perfect size.  I love needle books and I really like the 100% wool felt for needle books, it's pretty stiff and wool is great for needles and pins.  I wanted to make one for my Secret Santa Swap partner and after I made hers, I decided to make one for myself and one for my daughter.  I used embroidery floss to put the front and back together with the classic buttonhole stitch and also to make the lazy daisy decorations on the front.  The ribbon closure is grosgrain ribbon I had in my stash.  Here a picture of the prettiest one.