Admissions from a delinquent crafter…

I’ve been very delinquent in my crafting posts (my crafty sis has been on holidays for 2 weeks and just gave me a kick in the butt). 

I’ve hardly done any crafting in the past few weeks, with the exception of a little bit of knitting on my secret knitting project.  I don’t have the results to show though, since I had to rip out about 3+ hours of knitting the other day once I noticed a mistake that was done 3+ hours before.  I don’t think I will ever learn.  

I am really bad about not checking my knitting regularly.  This is how it goes.  I knit happily along and sometimes I try to multi task (e.g. knit while I’m watching a movie) and then every once in a while I’ll spread out my knitting and see if I can spot a mistake.  Inevitably I do and it’s usually several inches down in my work.  G-r-r-r-r!  (Grandma Elsie used to make the cutest G-r-r-r-r sound, rolling her r’s, when she was frustrated about something.  I’m pretty sure she’d use a G-r-r-r-r sound for a knitting mistake.)  At this point, I rip down my knitting to fix the mistake.     

So, progress is slow.  Here’s a cryptic photo of my secret knitting project.  

I’m not showing too much because the project still has to be a secret.  And it’ll probably be a secret for a few more weeks at the rate that I’m knitting.  I’ve got to find ways to fit more knitting in. 

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my crafty sister!  Here's to another year of fun, wonderful adventures, and lots of crafty inspiration!

Other good news - my camera has been recovered.  

Skiing in Sunshine with my artsy and crafty sisters!

Leaving me in her crafting dust

OK, my crafty sis is leaving me in her crafting dust.  Check out these awesome pants that she whipped up this week!  

I love the japanese animal print as a contrast on the cords.  The pattern is a sweet pattern from Oliver + S.  My niece is going to love having those pockets to stash all of her treasures in! 

Wool Felted Hats

More pics of the hats, from my Crafty Sis...

Aren't they cute!  They are made from an old yellow wool sweater, that was felted by putting it through the wash.  

Here's a pic of the cozy fleece liner.

And the hat in action!

Crafty Sis

I forgot my camera at my Crafty Sis’ place when I was visiting last weekend.  So, with no camera and me fighting a cold ever since I got home, my crating has been slow. Since I can't post my own pics I'm posting some crafty pics from others.  Check out the cute yellow hat that my Crafty Sis made for her daughter!

  

She upcycled it from an old wool sweater.   She appliquéd a felt heart on the hat and added a fleece band to the inside so that the wool isn’t so scratchy.  What a great project!  Yeah Crafty Sis!  Aside: That photo was taken this morning.  It's hard to believe that 5 days ago we were outside in t-shirts and flip flops!

Crafty Inspiration

My crafty sister sent out a picture a while back with my new niece in a moss bag.  The moss bag was a gift to my sister, after the birth of her third daughter.  I was made by the mother of one of my sister's friends.  Doesn't my wee niece look cozy?

This piqued my interest.  I decided to do a bit of internet research to find out more about this First Nation handicraft.  This is what I found out: 

The moss bag was used as a child-rearing device by most North American indigenous societies.  A moss bag was made of hide and filled with dry moss, cattail down and sometimes buffalo chips were added. Babies were wrapped in a moss bag and the soiled moss was emptied and replaced when needed.  The moss bag was tied to a cradle board and the mother would tie the cradle board to her back and go about her work, or she could lean the board against something. 

The moss bag also played an important spiritual aspect in the Metis and First Nations culture with the mother being the symbol of creation and the child being the symbol of spirit.  It is believed that due to the restrictive function of the moss bag that the children developed a natural disciplined and secure character.

What a beautiful gift.

Dressew, how I love thee...

I was back at Dressew today - the fabulous sewing resource store in Vancouver, that I only discovered 3 weeks ago (after having moved to N.Vancouver nearly two years ago)!  I snuck a few photos to show you how good it can get...


Trim, ricrac, and zippers, ...oh my!

How good is this!!!


I bought some trim...

and some mesh for a project that my crafty sis has planned

(each roll is about 1m x 1m)and some other sewing notions.  

What a fabulous shop!