De-stashing, Creating and Packing

In my on-going attempt to de-stash supplies from my craft studio I made a couple of drawstring bags.

I used an old shirt for the top one.  I loved the colors of it so much that I couldn't let the fabric go to waste.  I used ribbon in my trim stash for the drawstring.  The other bag is made from a fabric scrap. 

I made a crochet chain with some brown cotton yarn for the drawstring on that one.  

I think they could be useful for lots of things.  However, I'll soon be using them as shoe bags in my suitcase for a three week road trip I'm going on with my daughter.  They'll work great to keep pairs together, keep the shoes clean, and keep surrounding clothes clean as well.  I have some fabric bags I've saved from sheet sets I've bought too (the sheets often come in bags made from the same fabric and have a drawstring at the top).  All together, I think I have enough for all the shoes I plan to take.

I've been thinking a lot about the supplies I have, ideas of how to use them, and things we could use for our trip.  One night, it hit me.....I'd knitted a market bag years ago that would work great to hold dirty laundry in my suitcase to keep it separate from the clean clothes and help my suitcase stay organized.  I happened to have another large skein of Handicrafter Cotton yarn that would work perfect for another bag.  That way, my daughter would have one too.  I mentioned the idea to her and she loved it.  That's all I needed to get started.  One week later and here it is...

I knitted it with a circular, size nine needle.  I added a few extra rows of knitting below and above the section with holes and at the top, above the handles.  It's nice and stretchy and should work out great.

And, best of all, my daughter loves it!  :-)  Oh, yeah...and I have a little less yarn in my stash.

Although, it didn't use the whole skein.  So, I still have enough left for something else.

My daughter finished up her Spring semester and is now home for the summer.  She's been busy sewing like crazy!  She loves to sew!  And, she's excited to make things to wear on the trip and over the summer.  In less than a week, she's already made two skirts and has a dress almost complete!

I'm planning to do a little sewing too.  I hope to have some stuff to post soon.

We usually camp in our RV when we travel.  However, we'll be taking the car on this trip and staying in hotels.  We don't like to drive for lots and lots of hours at a time.  So, on the way to our main destination and back, we've broken up the trip with lots of stops in fun places and to spend time with family in a couple different places.  We'll be traveling through nine states!  I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time.  I'm hoping it'll be awesome and that we'll make lots of great memories!

Summer Splendor

My Summer Splendor doily is done!

I crocheted it with a size "H" hook and about 1.25 skeins / 800+ yards of Handicrafter Cotton.

I enlarged it a bit by repeating rounds 18-22 several more times and using some treble crochets

and improvisation on the final rows.  It helped.  However, if I were to make it again,

I'd start enlarging it earlier on in the project to make the larger size I wanted.  

The warm temps this week are perfect for blocking.  I blocked it outside so it would dry quickly.  

Our round patio table helped me to keep it even as I stretched it out to the size I wanted.  However,
I had no way of fastening it down to the table and it dried to a smaller size.  I had wanted it to be big enough to reach the edges of our kitchen table.  Oh well.  I love it anyway.

It looks great over our solid red table cloth.

I've been wanting to make a chunky, cotton, lacy doily for our table for a while now.

I can't believe it's moved from my imagination to my table!

Fun and Funky

I've had a couple huge skeins (710 yards each) of natural color Handicrafter Cotton

in my stash for a few months.  I've been thinking of several project ideas for it

...weaving and/or a chunky doily/tablecloth.

I started a couple doily patterns but ruled them out because they didn't look good with

thicker yarn.  Then, I found the "Summer Splendor" pattern that seemed like a good match.

And, so far, so good.  I'm liking how it looks with worsted yarn and an "H" hook.

The pattern is well written and there are sections that make it easy to enlarge, if needed, to

make it fit my table.  I like how it's looking and a little blocking will make it even better.

I'm so excited to finish it and use it over fabric table cloths.  I think it'll be pretty.

The thickness will work nice as a hot pad for our plates to protect the table underneath.

I love the natural/off-white color cotton, the frill of the lace, and that the

thick yarn makes it a little different.  It's doily with a twist or attitude.
It's fun and kind of funky!  :-)