Still Frozen

Well, hello friends! Can you believe it's Monday again already- and that November is over halfway over? I really don't know where the time goes.

According to the weather report this morning, our deep freeze pattern should be breaking up tomorrow. Yay! I'm over this cold snap... the pond even iced over last night! The warm(er) weather here (the low for tomorrow is forecast at 34 degrees, so warm is a relative term) is definitely going to be welcome. My thoughts go out to the folks who aren't warming up yet.

The extended cold weather is a great excuse for staying inside and working on projects, however. I'm putting together a list of holiday crafts for upcoming posts, as I start planning out my own gift-giving agenda. Do you have any go-to items that you enjoy making for your friends, this time of year? I'd love to hear about them! Either drop me a note here or on Facebook and tell me what your favorite handmade gifts are, either to give or receive.

Who's Up for a Knit Along?

Like clockwork, once the weather starts to change even the slightest bit, my hobbies shift as well. I'm itching to knit something these days, and it's too warm during the day to work on something huge. So, while I was surfing Ravelry for ideas, I started thinking about organizing a knit-along (otherwise known as a KAL) and making it a group thing. Who's with me? (Fellas, I'm talking to you, too. There are lots of guys out there who knit, so don't be shy! Think about it- how impressed would your lady be, if you knit her a gorgeous gift?)

My goal for our KAL project is that it will be easy enough for beginners to work through, yet still interesting enough for an advanced knitter. We'll have updates on FB, and our new knitters can get help from anyone in the group, including me, if they run into trouble. I'd also like it to be a small enough project, that it could be wrapped up in no more than 3 weeks. With the holidays coming, this would be a great way to kick off the making season!

I'm a huge fan of scarves and cowls when the weather gets cool. So, I've picked out two possible projects for our KAL, and I'd like to hear your feedback. If you're not on Ravelry yet, you'll need to sign up (it's free) to access the patterns. Not all of the patterns available on Ravelry are free, but the ones I've picked out below, are.

My first choice is "A Noble Cowl" by Emily Kausalik.. I knit this cowl a few years ago, and I get compliments on it every time I wear it. I love the way it fits, and it's definitely a wardrobe staple for me. Also good to know: it was the first pattern project I ever tried, and it wasn't hard at all. If you're a newer knitter, this is a great project to get you used to following patterns and what-not.

My second choice is this "Spring Moebius Cowl" by Haley Waxburg. I haven't knit this one before, but after reading through the pattern, it's just a series of knit and purl rows, so it looks super easy to make- perfect for someone who has never knit before, even.

What do you think? I'm also open to suggestions, if neither of these are grabbing you. Go ahead and browse the patterns on Ravelry (you can even view my Ravelry profile, here) and post a link to the Facebook page, if you see something else that you like more. Let's plan on choosing our final project by Friday, September 26th- this way, we can gather our supplies over the next couple of days and be ready to kick off the KAL on October 1st.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Feed Sack Tote

Good morning, everyone- I hope you had a great weekend!

For Mother's Day, I made my mom a couple of tote bags using woven plastic feed sacks that seem to pile up pretty quickly around here. I used a great tutorial that Rebecca from The Garden Roof Coop wrote for Community Chickens, which can be found here.

Now, I'll preface this by saying that I'm not great at following online instructions for sewing projects. I'm a visual learner, so I tend to look at the photos, skim the actual instructions, and then wing it until I get stuck. Don't be like me. Rebecca's instructions are clear and easy to understand, especially when you actually follow them. (Next time, I'm going to print them out so I can do just that!)

All in all, it was a nice and easy project that I'm looking forward to doing again. The second bag (the green one on the left in the last picture) was completely freehand; I wanted to try for a shoulder strap and a slightly wider bag. I think once you make one, you'll have ideas on how to customize future bags as well.

I also whipped up a table runner for her, inspired by a baby quilt over at Cluck Cluck Sew. The runner took me about 4 hours to sew, start to finish.

I'd picked up one of those rolls of pre-cut fabric strips a while back, so it was just a matter of arranging the fabrics and sewing... no fussing around with cutting and all of that. Loved it! I'll definitely be getting more of them to have around, for last-minute projects or for when I just feel like sewing something and don't have anything specific in mind.


Do you like to make gifts for people instead of buying them?