moss stitch diamonds

One, soft and snuggly yellow baby blankie done. Hooray! I can finally check something off my "Crafts in Progress" list. I just finished my recycled sweater tote as well, but those photos are looking somewhat, um, orange. Granted, it is probably the most orange project I've ever made. But still. So I'll be re-shooting those!

Pattern: Moss Stitch Diamonds Baby Blanket, by Barbara Breiter
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, Pale Yellow (0322), 2 1/3 skeins (364 yds/skein)
El-cheapo yarn, but it's soft and machine washable = great for babies!

Barbara Breiter's website, http://www.knittingonthenet.com/, is awesome. Tons and tons of free stitch and project patterns, and most of them extremely do-able, even for a beginner like me. Great place to get ideas for blankets--baby, lap, or full-size. What's up next? I've reached the "I signed up for a craft fair in November, what am I going to sell?" panic stage. So I'm busily starting to crank out more bracelets and felted purses to that aim. I need to perfect my technique for blocking my purses in order to produce anything commerce-worthy though... right now they're a little lumpy! LOL. To be continued....

spotty progress

Finally, I've gotten back to those placemats I started so long ago. Here's a peek at the reverse side ... one down, four to go! Then the true challenge: binding.

I'm seeing red ...

All over! New buttons, new coral beads, and a new retro necklace.

vested interest

Oh, how I want to make this vest designed by Barbara Breiter! The colorwork is a slipped-stitch "mosaic" method. Have I ever tried that? No. Have I ever knitted a sweater of any sort? No. Do I still want to try? Yes. And the long list of projects I've already been dreaming of? Groan. But just imagine this in brown and blue/pink or any other fun color combination!

ribbit!

Last night I finished my very own Purl Frog! It's filled with lentils, and is surprisingly posable. I hand-sewed mine, since I'm not quite ready to handle such tight curves on my sewing machine yet (just straight lines, thanks!). I thought mine was too chubby, until I saw this photo in the Purl Bee blog. Too cute!

(Photo: Purl Bee)

new growth

Peppers, tomatoes, and ideas--oh my! I haven't had time to really sink into it yet, but it appears that Amy Karol's sewing book totally lives up to the hype. And Nicky Epstein's flowers? Fabulous.

beaded bling

pink romance charm bracelet
Originally uploaded by snapdragoncrafts

I've been cranking out a lot of these beaded charm bracelets lately--using beads as charms allows for so many more bead combinations than the simple one-strand beaded bracelets I usually make. This one is my favorite so far. I really love the flower-print heart beads, and have had to ration them as I tend to want to use them in every project! You can see more of my beaded charm bracelets at my flickr page.

summer sunset bead charm bracelet
Originally uploaded by snapdragoncrafts

thrifted treasures

A few goodies I found at the thrift store yesterday ...


















Fun flower print pillowcases, a pretty flowered bed sheet, a large shallow basket, and two adorable baby-blue tea cups! The orange-flowered pillowcases are perfect for lining the recycled-sweater tote bag I've been working on:

















I just can't decide between the yellow daisies or orange roses!

local craftiness

I absolutely love how the ladies at Sing and Shout Crafts displayed their earrings at a local farmer's market. What a great idea! The black and silver combination is gorgeous, but I'm having visions of white framing blue-green striped fabric... mmm....

(Photos: Sing and Shout Crafts)

things are bloomin'

In my patio garden!