The last month I...

I am really embarrassed that another month went past and I did not blog. So, I will give a quick update on what I did the last month. I was in London for a quick visit the last week of July. Sadly, there was no time for any shopping, but I am going back in November and will make sure I shop then!

Oh, and Arthur Bales had a SALE the week I was away in London. Bah!

This is what I bought when I got back. Some lovely lilac and pink fine corduroy for bags and a small piece of Valori Wells' "Nest - Ol' Paisley" corduroy fabric. I have this earmarked for a jacket, but need to go get some more fabric first. I also bought some gorgeous Indie yarn by Sirdar.

After I bought this Sirdar Indie pattern book at Arthur Bales, I had to get some of this gorgeous yarn too! Look at some of the awesome patterns in this booklet below.

This cardigan is knitted in Indie # 157 Crazy Horse. Although I am not planning to knot this cardigan, I am planning to make something else in the booklet with this stunning yarn.

This beautiful shade is called Indie # 155 Prairie. The combination of brown, green and blue is simply stunning!

I have been rather lazy in my sewing room...lots of inspiration, but no real will to do anything. In my next post I will share some of the inspiration I am talking about....

Crafty Stuff

I wanted to share a more recent picture of our little baby, Jessie. With lots of love (and don't forget spending quite a bit at the Vet!) she has grown tremendously the last few weeks. I remember weighing her at the Vet a month ago and we were so pleased that she had gained 200g, weighing 2kg then! Last night we weighed her on the bathroom scale and she is a whopping 8kg!I could not resist taking this picture! This is a first, Jessie sleeping on my cane chair in my sewing room. She was very affectionate last night, just wanting to cuddle up to me, so I put her on my chair for a snooze. Adorable. She looks like a rabbit at the moment when she runs - she is all long legs and ears!

This lovely surprize arrived in my post box yesterday! Thank you so much Karol-Ann! My lovely blog friend from the UK sent me a whole bunch of knitted and crocheted bag patterns from her old magazines. This top picture is my favorite. It uses the Rowan Biggy Print yarn and as you know, I am into the super-chunky yarn phase now.

I know, I know, I have enough stash to open my own shop, but I saw this lovely bag pattern on http://www.craftpassion.com/. This drawstring bag is made from paper raffia and I happened to see some at The Crazy Store yesterday at a very good price and decided to try it. I started on the bag last night, but changed the pattern. Raffia is not easy to crochet! Maybe it's the type I bought, not sure. It looks really nice though.

I first went to Fiona's Fabrics in Randburg looking for Raffia and saw this new stock. They have just put out some lovely 100% cotton (from India) fat quarters. They call it Flat Fats and there are rolls as well, normally called jelly rolls I think. You can choose between green, pink or blue and there are some odd ones, like the yellow polka dots. They sell for R20 each where all the quilt shops charge R35 a fat quarter. I see lovely FQ bags or some smaller projects like pin cushions.

Earlier this week I was on my way to see a customer when I saw this African Artist selling wire and beads animals next to the road. What caught my attention was the sheep! I immediately wanted the smaller one and then forgot to stop on my way back. Yesterday I took the same route to another customer and on my way back stopped. Isn't this cute?

These Artists are just amazing. Look at the cute hoofs and tail! Its based on a wire frame and they add seed beads. This is the smallest sheep he had and it stands about 30cm high.

Just look at the detail in the face and ears. This is the literal translation of "beady eyes"! They have even re-created the "wooly" look with the way they attached the beads.

I don't think I have mentioned yet that my sewing room is going to be completely revamped? This will be happening very soon. In fact, I am starting to clear out the room this weekend, painting will happen next week during the evenings, then the carpenter will be coming in to install a built-in closet and shelves. I have been spending a lot of time on planning my new room, including a decent cutting table. Imagine how nice this sheep will look in my new room! I will take some before, during and after pics of my room to share with you. If you know of any great sites where I can get more inspiration ideas for my new room, please drop me a note.

Hope you all have a great, crafty weekend!

Been shopping in the USA!

It took me two days to finish packing to return from the USA. I was so scared some of my precious stash would be lost in transit. I had a few minutes of pure panic standing next to the carousel waiting for my large pink suitcase to appear, and finally, it did! I had a great time shopping for stash in Chicago and I am so thankful to my dear friend Juanita for patiently taking me out on two nights to shop at Jo-ann's, Michael's and two local yarn shops. So, I will be sharing my new stash over a few blog posts coming up.

The first shop I always visit when arriving is Hobby Lobby. Above is a picture of some of the yummy cotton fabric I found this year. I cannot wait to start making some bags! The top three prints are all from Brother Sister Design company. The bottom pink and brown print is my favorite and was just $2 a yard! Not sure of the designer of this one.

I also bought these fabulous jersey knit fabrics. Lots of tops coming soon.

A selection of fat quarters I found unable to resist. I can see some stunning bags already!

I was very disappointed with the yarn selection at Hobby Lobby though. Most of the yarn they stock is acrylic and novelty yarns. I only purchased the two skeins above. The brown is from Lion's Wool and is called Fishermen's Wool, a whopping 465 yards on one skein! The pink is from Red Heart, a 100% acrylic but I loved the colour.

The magazine section at Hobby Lobby was very disappointing this year. I only purchased the Crochet Today magazine there. The other two magazines I found at Barnes & Noble.

This is all I purchased at Michael's, a lovely pink needle case for my knitting needles. My friend Juanita had these amazing discount coupons for Jo-ann's and Michael's and I saved so much money using them! I think she got them from the newspaper. Thanks Juanita!

In my next post I will share my experience of visiting a Jo-ann's superstore for the first time as well as visiting two amazing local yarn shops!