Skip to main content

Crafty Goodies

Bijou Basin ranch Order!
I'm not sure when the Fourth of July became synonymous with buying a lot of STUFF, but apparently that is a thing now. All last week, I got tons of e-mails for July 4th sales.  Most were deleted, but I couldn't pass up my client's flash sale, which was on the actual holiday only.  I ordered these two skeins of Bijou Bliss to make Ysolda's Hendreary Hat - I would have been crazy to pass up 25% off my entire order! Plus, 10% of all online sales from the beginning of last month til the end of the summer will be donated towards High Park Fire relief efforts.  I'm a sucker for a good sale, and the photos and reports from all of the wild fires burning in Colorado right now are just so awful, I'm glad there is a little something I can do to help.  Bonus: they included a QR Club pin with my order!

I also fell victim to (yet another) irresistible Craftsy deal - this one was for a Westminster Fabrics reusable bag, made from recycled water bottles.  How cool is that?  For $4.50, I snapped up this cute birdie bag... little did I know how awesome it would be.  Check out the interior: it's got a spot for you book or pattern, a few sleeves for a bottle of wine or your beverage of choice, and plenty of space for your project and a snack!


Finally, the recent WEBS catalog that arrived at my house enabled two non-yarn purchases (and gave me a chance to add a few needle tips to my Knitter's Pride Cubics set).  The first is a pom pon maker, which is something I never envisioned myself needing, wanting, or purchasing for that matter.  However, there are some hats in my queue that feature pom pons, and while I used to leave them off because I thought they were goofy, I'm willing to cross over to the dark side and give it a try.  For $7.45, I got this handy little doo-dad that will make the process quick and painless - which is great, because if I had to invest any real effort in making a pom pon DIY-style, I doubt it would ever come to fruition.

The second is the Color Grid by Gail Callahan ($7.95), which is supposed to help me combine colors and plan colorwork projects.  Since I'm totally obsessed with colorwork everything right now, but often shy or, let's face it, completely clueless about what colors to pick for a multicolor project, I thought this would be a good thing to add to my arsenal.  Most of my stash is monochomatic and tending towards the neutral side of things, so hopefully it will also help me expand my color horizons in general.  That's the plan, anyway!

Finally, I've been wanting to pick up a few of these needle tips to add to my Cubics Special Interchangeable set - I've been totally addicted to using it for hat- and cowl-making, but I only have sizes 6-10 in the specially-engineered shorter tips.  Ergo, I added size 4 and 5 Nova tips to my order, and bang zoom! I've got a pretty nice range of sizes to choose from.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b
Post a Comment
Read more

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends,  so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with  this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks).  The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a
1 comment
Read more

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

Last weekend, I finished the first sock with my Waterlilies yarn , and just for yuks, I tried it on even though it was basically just a tube sock. Much to my surprise, it fit really well, even without a heel. Who knew? So, that got me thinking: what if I just didn't add the heels?  I never thought a tube sock would actually fit nicely, but I genuinely like the fit, so...why spend time to add the heels? As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... Let's say I decide not to add heels once the second sock is done - there will still be placeholder yarn for the afterthought heels, as you can see above, so should I leave it in and just weave in the ends? Or should I remove it, put the live stitches back on needles and at least graft them together using more of the Waterlilies yarn? I plan on mulling all of this over as I knit the second sock, and I'd love to hear your opinions of what you think would look best (or if you think this whole "n
3 comments
Read more