Tie Dye Surprise

I got a little surprise in the mail this week...a drawstring tie-dye bag!

I love the colors!  And, I love bags!  I feel like I can never have too many.  They're useful for so many things!  Especially knitting and crochet projects.  That's why I put some yarn in it for the picture.  I just happened to have some colors that look great with it.

Benita, from the "Basically Benita" blog, sent the bag to me.  I think it was in exchange for some crocheted rocks I'd made for her a while back.  She dyes bags and other items to sell.  She also sells wonderful fibers for spinning.  She specializes in getting and selling different types of fiber and even has a way to try out different kinds on a regular basis through her "Fiber Binder Club".

Here's a photo of her business card so you can check out her website and HERE'S a link.

Thanks, Benita!  I love it!  :-D

Christmas Sewing

Our holidays were chaotic and crazy and I ran out of time to do so many things.  We never even got our Christmas tree decorated.  But, I did manage to finish most of the gifts I'd planned to make.  That included a few sewn ones.

My daughter has always knitted, crocheted, sewed, woven, spun, etc.  But, now that she's grown up and experiencing the stresses of life, she has a bigger appreciation for those things and the relaxation and escape they can provide.  However, her knit and crochet projects mean she needs to borrow tools from me.  That's fine...until I need those things for my projects.  So, I decided it was the perfect time to get her started on collecting her own tools.  I sewed her a crochet hook/knitting needle case and a project bag.  And, I was able to do it with left over fabric from her quilt.  So, I knew she'd love it!

It was a bit challenging finding pieces of fabric that were big enough and that looked great together in these projects.  But, I did it.  I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  And, best of all, she loves it!

I gave it to her with a set of crochet hooks in the most commonly used sizes, some stitch markers of various kinds, yarn needles, and a little case to store them in.  I'm also going to buy her some knitting needles but needed to wait to see what she already has and what she wants.

 

I made a project bag for my friend Tammi too.  

I love the blues in this fabric!  And, it goes well with the knitting needle case I made for her last year.

I'm not sure how or when she did it...but...my daughter managed to sew a project bag for me!

What a special gift!  The fact that she made this for me, with her hands and love means so much!

And, believe it or not, I'd already planned to make a project bag with this fabric.
I love it!  And, I've already put it to good use.  

Project Bags

One of the ladies in our Thursday night stitch group has been making project bags.  They're really cute!  She uses two coordinating fabrics on each one and the fabrics are unique and so cool!  She made a bunch recently to sell at a fiber festival.  The next week, she brought what was left over to our knit night and I just had to have one!  Here's the one I bought...

It's about 14" tall.  A nice size for medium sized projects.

I love the birds and flowers on the fabric.

And, the colors are so pretty.  It's fully lined and nice and sturdy.

When the top is folded down, it stands up on it's own.  That makes it very nice to pull yarn from while working on a project.  Her small bags are like fabric yarn bowls when they're folded down.

They're super cute!  She's working on some new ideas.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

She's been selling project bags in her daughter's etsy store but is planning to open her own shop.

I'll be sure to post the name of it as soon as I find out.

Shortly after I bought the one above, I visited one of the blogs I follow and comment on regularly,

"Curlerchik Knits", and found out that I'd won two more project bags!  

Wow!  I love bags!  I love project bags!  And, I love these bags...

Aren't they adorable?!  This blogger is not only a talented knitter, but a very talented seamstress as well.  She whips up clothing so quickly and makes it look so easy.  Her birthday is this month and she decided that it would be fun to give instead of receive.  She's having give-aways all month long.

The sheepy one is so cute!  It's a small bag and perfect for small projects like socks.  It's about 9" tall.

This one with the cute, puffy clouds is about 8" tall but it's bigger around than the sheep bag.

It'll be great for small projects like the lacey knitted scarf I'm working on.

I've been reading and commenting on her blog for years now and to win these bags made by her is special!  Thank you, again, Curlerchik!  I love my bags!  Happy Birthday!  :-)