Ornaments again

 Polar Pup

 Owl

 Polar (my dad bought this one)

 Scraggly tree

 Star bright

Red bird

There is a lot I'm working on...but some are presents, so I can't tell you. anyway... I feel too busy to blog or read other people's blogs. I'm also hoping to work on music more soon. I just sold a CD to Canada, so that is exciting! And I sold 6 ornaments already at Knack in Multnomah Village Portland.

 New ornaments I took to Knack today! They are $8. I also can make custom ones if you are interested.

 This cat is fuzzy.

 Blue koala.

 Pink beaded one....ha.

 Fishies in the sea.

Hearts!

Latest Ideas

Well well... I'm still in the middle of a lot of projects (as always).
I started a cowl, using what I think is called Linen stitch. (That is not my yarn, just an example.) I'm using Noro Kureyon I bought for the lanesplitter skirt that I ripped out a while ago. So far I like it, but I'm a little worried it will be too stripey color-wise. The cool thing is the front and backs are different but in a good way. I'm hoping to take it with me on my little Thanksgiving roadtrip.
also the gray blanket has made progress: Yay! I'm reaching the end of my yarn quickly. It has more red stripes and I'm excited to finish it soon.
and today I *GASP* went to the yarn store and bought a skein of brown (tweedy?) yarn in hopes to make a pair of gloves (and if i like how it knits up, maybe a hat) to go with my vintage coat I love sooo much.
I also bought orange and yellow yarn for a knit stuffed toy that I'm excited to make as a christmas present. But for now it will be a surprise. I love supporting my local yarn shop Northwest Wools. Although they are tiny, they have a lot of great yarns!

I guess I will also randomly mention that everyone is having kids, or getting married, or having birthdays, and it's hard to keep up with the gift giving... so...I'm doing what I can for the people I am closest too. Also I am hoping to someday have time to embroider some things so when I move out I will have dish towels, etc. haha.

Holiday Ornaments!

 The first batch! Available at Knack in Multnomah Village.

 Still in progress.

 Shell side.

 Tummy side.

T'is the season for Upsidedown Cat to make Christmas ornaments. I had a lot of fun making them last year for family, friends, Knack customers, and a few other people.

This year I was invited to make them again for Knack. It is so fun, because each is different, and besides making animal ones, I am making more experimental ones this year. I'm not sure if all the experimental ones are working, but... we'll see if they sell. Yay! Also this year it is different, because I do have a job. The money is of course welcome, but there's less stress about making so many of them, etc. Anyway, Here are pictures, some finished, some still need work! If you're interested in a custom one, let me know! :)

Peach Pineapple Pie

I am in the middle of too many projects, as always. How do I get myself into this stuff?
Haha.

As Fall is here, I begin to think about Christmas gifts to make, and new gloves to knit for myself, etc, etc.
I have been trying to finish projects before I start new ones, but... It's been hard.
I am making headway on the gray blanket, but it is a big blanket. I'm not sure if I will have enough yarn to get it to the size I want. 
I have been ignoring the Green Socks. Slowly working on a secret sewing project. I'm really excited about it, but I can't show pictures for a few months till I give it to someone.

My newest project is making Christmas ornaments to sell. Last year I made several and sold them in a local shop. I cut out some circle shapes a few nights ago, and now comes the hard part, sewing the animals, and making them cute! It's really fun to make them, but I feel like I'm starting late... I'll let you know if they are available soon!

I'm also still hoping to make a quilt or two this winter, finish some clothes sewing projects, and... I haven't figured out everyone's presents yet, but I'm hoping to hand make a lot of them.
So... We'll see what happens, and I will try to post pictures of finished projects, etc.

Beach part 2

So...avid readers may be wondering how much I accomplished on my beach trip.
I worked on two projects out of the four. I made a heart dishcloth. and worked more on the big grey blanket.
We were busy playing Rummikub and having fun at the beach!

 Grey blanket with 1 red stripe so far...Knit on circular needles.

 Can you see the hearts? The yarn is a cream/natural color.

Hearts hearts! from this pattern.

I didn't touch the green socks, or start on the embroidery project (which was a good thing).

I am hoping to hand make for Christmas. I do this every year, but this year, I'm really hoping to do it for all my gifts, though possibly Mike will get a present or two that aren't handmade - we'll see if he's lucky.

Also Halloween is swiftly approaching, our party is Saturday. I think my costume is costing $4.99, as I had some of it, bought 1 item, and can borrow some of it too. I also need to make something else for it, and hopefully it will be awesome and funny. It sort of matches Mike's costume, and that will be the funny part. Anyway, pictures later!

Today one of my tasks is to turn the cuff of my sweatshirt. I managed to get bleach on it, so instead of navy, the cuff is pink.

At the beach

I'm taking too many projects to the beach. But I don't care, I know I will get some of it all done, and at least I won't have an excuse, as I'm bringing a knitted blanket project that's super easy to knit, I can knit it while watching movies, or if I need a break from harder projects.

I'm also bringing the green socks project. I started the heel a few days ago. I hope to finish the sock or at least get past the heel.

I'm also bringing this Heart Washcloth pattern and some cotton yarn I had in my stash Red Heart Eco something. It is sort of a natural cream color.  I assume it is a fast project.

Also... an embroidery project... I got awesome vintage State Birds embroidery patterns, and I have yet to use them...so I have a cool thrifted flower pillowcase, and I may put some on there. all the birds are so cool, I may have to eventually make a quilt or something.


I'm excited to post after my trip and show my progress...but it's only 4 days, so we'll see.

PJs

I finished a pair of PJ pants for myself. the pattern was easy... but very wide legged, even after I took them in a little from what the pattern called for. The pattern is   Simplicity 4023 
Instead of making button holes on the waist band for a drawstring, I just used elastic, way easier! I'm really happy with how the pattern turned out, though I hemmed them more that 4 inches.  I'm hoping to make some flannel PJs sometime this winter.

Check out the contrast stitching I did on the hems. Fancy!

Tonight I worked a little more on altering the swimsuit/dress I started this summer. It was too big on me. It fits better now, but I need to shorten the straps, and hem it still. I love the fabric, and I'm excited to swim sometime!

Lala

Today I cut out fabric for some PJ pants. I'm excited to make them, I know pants can be hard, but they are PJs, so it's not like it really matters if they are perfect. I will sew them later this week or next week I hope.

Also... I'm finally much more excited about some socks i have been knitting.  I have been trying to make a pair of socks for my sister for, oh, a year. And somehow the first pattern I tried, i got so confused on it, it was hard to set down and pick it back up again. So, then I came up with another pattern, Twisted which is free on Knitty.com. So i have maybe 3/4 of an olive green sock in that pattern. A few days ago I found another pattern I really liked, Simple Striped Socks, a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. I started knitting them maybe 2-3 days ago, and they're going so fast. In addition to the olive green, I'm using (I think) Noro sock yarn. I bought the yarn last year, and tried to make socks while I was in Kenya. I finished a black pair for my boyfriend sucessfully, but never finished the first one for me. A few days ago, i took apart that first sock and meanwhile got inspired to put the two yarns together for the striped sock. The colors are a little off in this picture, but i'm finally more excited about the project. I think i will finish the Twisted sock, and either give her mis-matched socks, or make two striped ones if I have enough yarn.

Today I met with my friend Sarah for our first knitting group. It was really fun, I knit on my socks, and she started a turtle... Sheldon.
I look forward to knitting with her again soon!

2 Quick Orange Projects

Today (in probably a half hour) I made a little pumpkin. I'm sure i could have stuffed it better, but I think it is pretty cute! Perfect as a centerpiece on the table. ha.

 Pumpkin Pattern

Also two days ago I started a pincushion. I really liked the pattern, and it seemed easy. It was indeed easy to make. It's made of two crocheted flat pieces that you then stuff and then using yarn wrapped around, it makes the petals! 

 The Pattern!

These would make really fast gifts, say if you needed a gift for a sewer, or even a little girl.

TA DA!!!
PS: i usually don't crochet, but looking at wonderful patterns on ravelry helps me get inspired about everything. Also, I recently had computer issues, and i no longer have Photoshop. so...sorry if the photos aren't cropped or whatever.

Labels

 Labels. lots of labels. I started saving labels when I was making tie skirts with my grandpa and my dad's neckties. After that somehow i started to save more labels, perhaps interested in the "Made In .... " as i became more conscious of where clothes came from.

 I have been sewing the labels i have to red fabric. I'm not exactly sure what it will be. i guess a wall hanging, but i'm not sure. (i generally like useful projects.)

I'm about half done, but i have taken a break for a while. It has been fun to catalog. I have been organizing them by color.

Another form of label I have collected. I'm realizing to have a more organized sewing stash, i need to get rid of things. These may seem small, but I was saving some of these old embroidery labels. I'm not a hoarder (haha) but i do need a craft/sewing room. and as i may have mentioned, i'm trying to organize, get rid of, and not bring in too much more material before i have used things  up. This is partially why i'm blogging again, to hopefully show finished projects, etc.

Knitting Needle Holder

At long last, i have made a knitting needle holder. I had been planning to make one for years... i was looking at patterns a while ago, but never made one. Today while trying to organize my room (an on-going issue i am working on) I decided making a needle holder would help.

so... i started in a few hours ago and i'm soo happy with the result, though i may make a few minor additions. I know i have more needles to add. and the 2nd row is a little too tall, because my double pointed needles are barely peeking out of the pockets. anyway... i love it.

I used fabric from my friend Alissa. she had them as curtains or a bedspread or something. the flowers are vintage, and the stripes are Ikea. I used my sister's sewing machine which has fancy stitches. I love how it turned out.

Bag.

Basically i'm getting a little obsessed about sewing... getting library books, reading blogs, dreaming about learning to sew better. Today i'm working on a purse. I really like the pattern, though it's turning out a little bigger than i expected.i started sewing it on monday and today finished the lining, pocket, and the straps. the pocket was sewn in a very interesting way.

anyway. I'm really working on trying to get through my stashes of yarn and fabric. and trying to not buy more. ha. i know it is working, but seems slow, and sometimes i need to buy something to finish a project, and then i risk seeing other awesome stuff i want to buy.
so... here is a finished project! Simplicity 2685 view B. I like it, though it was bigger than i expected. i learned by just how it was constructed.   

Sidenote: i passed my driver's test today. it has been many years of trying to avoid learning, but this summer i have become more confident, and i passed today! (if you know me, you'll know that last year (or was it two) i failed.
i drove myself to the bank today. i know it might be a while till i feel confident to go across town by myself, but i'm really happy! yay!

Wow, what is this???

Hello all... for those who have read Pretend Like You're knitting... welcome to stage 2: "Pretend Like You're Sewing"
So.... Why a new blogger blog?? Because I like blogging on Blogger more than on my Weebly site. And, because My knitting blog i had for so long. and i'm hoping now to focus more on sewing and stuff. Hopefully i will not bore you to tears!

anyway... i guess i should charge my camera!

Here's what I have finished lately:
Madeline Mini Bloomers by Colette Patterns (shocking i know, but they're super cute and quick to sew.) I made another pair a few months ago. This time i made them in white with weird blue polka dots. And, instead of ribbons for the legs i used elastic, which worked better for me.

Pot holders: I used this batting that is more heat-proof. Simple, super easy to sew, and they would make really good potholders.

I'm also working on a secret project for a friend. I have some more embroidery to do.
I'm also working on another top secret project with a friend. so... more about that later.

I also finished a dress that i converted into a skirt. I cut the dress off at the waist, added wide blue fancy elastic, and i defined the pocket edges with bias tape.

I also have been cutting out some patterns, and cutting a lot of scraps for rag rugs. if you don't know...i have lots and lots of fabric. I am getting through it slowly, but now is the time to figure out future projects and stuff. I was thinking this morning how many projects i have planned (that i already have the materials for)

- Denim quilt (squares cut)
- black and white quilt (triangles cut)
- T shirt quilt - i have squares cut and recently got some interfacing to stabilize it.
- Black white and red dress (fabric bought)
- Purse (i just bought a pattern and cut some of the fabric.)
- Swimsuit (halfway done! I guess i should get to it)
- Knitted grey blanket (gifted to me, half made - i guess i should think about what i'm going to do with it)
- Wool Pendleton quilt (patching over mismatched patches- it will be a good winter project)
- Knit socks for my sister - ugh...why do i neglect them?
- Knit green/blue socks for me - also neglected for about a year.
- Pajama pants - i think in this stripy bright blue fabric i have.
- and one thing i'm really excited about: A clothing label wall hanging/thing. basically i've saved a lot of clothing labels. you know like THIS.
So i think i will sew them on some fabric backing...in a square or circle. i haven't decided yet if it should be a shadow box or something...but i will figure that out. a lot of them are from my grandpa's old ties. also from clothing of mine (like all the t shirts i cut up for my quilt).

More photos later!