snapdragon crafts: May 2015

FO Friday: tote-ally crazy

It's official: I've gone tote-ally crazy with this project! But man, does it feel good. Final count: 18 tote bags finished. That's 36 yards of fabric out of my stash people! Happy dance!! The sad thing is that I could easily make at least ten more of the remaining cotton canvas stash. However, I'm going to take a break for now. I have a couple of other ideas as to how I can utilize what remains (e.g. new cushion covers for patio furniture, placemats, maybe even some curtains) that I want to think about for a bit first. Phew! What's next? Quilts. I've got a king-sized quilt top super close to being finished, and some throw-sized quilts ready to get started.

Love Your Library, vol. 17

Are you tired of seeing these yet? Fourth time knitting this pattern, and finally I'm making one for myself! The first three Riverbanks were gifts for other people ... this gorgeous blue is a new MadTosh colorway, Mandala. It reminds me a lot of Malabrigo's whale's road colorway. Deep, complex, and stunning. And also making my fingers blue! Just a little anyway. But totally worth it!

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FO Friday: still going ...

My progress continues! The fabric above finally uses up the six-year-old stash from my sewing class (look familiar?)

WIP Wednesday: acrylic stashbustin'

May the acrylic stashbusting begin! Starting with something fast ... scarves for charity using super bulky yarn!

Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA (two skeins)
Needles: Size 13s
Pattern: cast on 12 stitches and knit in seed stitch.

Love Your Library, vol. 16

My third Riverbank is finito!

Pattern: Riverbank (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: madelinetosh merino DK (colorway: alizarin, used about 1.2 skeins)
Needles: Size 7 Addi's
Mods: Skipped the eyelet rounds on the second repeat of the sequence. Just repeated the previous stitch patterns I liked the most and played it by ear. Also didn't switch to smaller needles for the ribbing sections.

Hope your May has been as productive as mine!

FO Friday: tote edition

So, I mentioned earlier this week that my fabric stash was one of the three "stashes" I wanted to whip into shape this summer. So I decided to start with the "low hanging fruit," and in this case that was putting a dent into the MASSIVE collection of print cotton canvas I'd amassed over the years. It started when I first learned how to make this tote bag pattern SIX years ago in my first beginning sewing class. Making those first tote bags was so much fun that I have gotten into the habit of browsing the cotton canvas whenever I'm in a fabric store, and letting myself purchase a yard here and there when I see a print that catches my eye. I should stop kidding myself. One yard? No--more like four yards! I started with my newest acquisitions, so this is eight tote bags going straight to the gifting pile. Two will be end-of-the-year teacher presents, and the rest will become my go-to birthday present for sisters, sisters-in-law, next year's teachers, etc. I'm super excited, as I've been able to make these without purchasing any new fabric for the interior. This pattern uses approximately one yard for the exterior, and one yard for the interior, so we're looking at 16 yards busted from the stash right here! Woohoo!

summer stashbustin'

I know it's only the beginning of May, but for me it's the beginning of summer. (that's what happens when you work in higher education at a university on the semester system) Finals are over, my grades are in, and that means only a few short sweet months of summertime crafting. I always start off overambitious, and this summer is no exception. You are looking at only one of the three major "stashes" I'd like to make a dent in this summer. Two large storage tubs of my acrylic yarns, including some very dubious purchases I made prior to discovering the world of wool yarn. (the other two stashes? an overflowing dresser of gorgeous sock yarn, and a fabric stash that contains at least three or four quilt's worth of fabric ready in wait) I thought I'd start by outlining plans/ideas for the acrylic stash first so I can compare my progress at the end of the summer.

Project #1: No surprise here, as you saw the cast on for this project last week. My third garter squish blanket!

Project idea: More sidewinder beanies! The Hobby Lobby yarn is reflective so it's like "safety yarn."

Project idea: A couple more leaf baby sweaters to have on hand for gifts.

Project idea: a baby garter squish blanket.

Project idea: a boy baby sweater out of the maroon, a tank top out of the cotton ease.

Project idea: a cowl/hat out of the blue-turquoise acrylic. Not sure for the weekend yarn.

Project idea: ?!?!?! Scarves for my daughter? A fuzzy stuffy animal?

Project idea: ?!?! Not sure yet. TBD.

Project idea: another garter squish blanket!

Project idea: scarves for charity.

Last but not least is the remaining stash of "good" baby yarn. This is the stuff that I still love and don't question my taste when purchasing it. If I don't get to knitting this up that's okay with me.

Love Your Library, vol. 15

Riverbank numero tres is almost done! I'm really loving this Madtosh Merino DK. Soooo yummy to knit with! The depth of the Madtosh colorway is really hard to photograph, but brings me so much joy. Think alternating pinks, grays, and purple-blues. Loving it! I predict this one will be done within the next couple of days! How's your love your library challenge going?

going crazy for garter squish

It's official--my second garter squish blanket is done! The grand total? 3,600 yards out of my stash. WOOOOOOOOOO! Using size 13 needles created a much better finished product this time. I love, love, love the first garter squish blanket I made, but I have noticed that the large garter loops made with size 15 needles lend themselves to being snagged/pulled very easily. Size 13 needles creates a more firm loops, but still soft and snuggly. I cast on 150 stitches for this one to make up for the smaller needles size, and it is still very ample in size. It easily covers two people on the couch! And also stretches the length of a standard couch. For full details of all the yarns I used in this one, visit my Ravelry project page.

When you're on a roll, why not keep on going? So yes---this is the start of my third garter squish blanket. This one is intended for my little guy's "big boy bed." I've had this blinding orange acrylic in my stash for over a year with intentions of making him a blanket with it. I'm toning it down a notch with this charcoal gray Lion Brand Homespun. Although now that I look at it, it's going to be a bit Halloween-y isn't it? LOL. That's okay. We LOVE Halloween in this house!

But wait, there's more! Yup, it's my third Riverbank. This is the one I mentioned starting in yesterday's Love Your Library challenge post. This time I'm using madelinetosh merino DK in the Alizarin colorway. It's more purple-grey and less pink than this picture would lead you to believe ...

Today I'm linking up with Tammy's Stitch-Along Wednesday, Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Love Your Library, vol. 14

That's right folks--my Riverbank is done! And it knit up just as fast as the first one almost a year ago. Super simple, beautiful texture, sophisticated unfussy results. LOVE. And since I have more of this yarn in different colorways in my stash, I'm going to keep a good thing going and cast on for another one!

Pattern: Riverbank (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: madelinetosh merino DK (colorway: firewood, used about 1.5 skeins)
Needles: Size 7 Addi's
Mods: Skipped the eyelet rounds on the second repeat of the sequence. Just repeated the previous stitch patterns I liked the most and played it by ear. Also didn't switch to smaller needles for the ribbing sections.

It's another month, which means a new topic!

May: Time to Purge Do you have patterns you're holding onto even though you know you'll never knit them? Books you never open? Time to do a critical look at our physical and electronic libraries and purge the items we are no longer interested in. (short-time only free patterns, I'm looking at you!)

How's your personal Love Your Library challenge going this week?