Knitting Project Bag

 My blogging buddy in the UK made a zippered pouch utilizing the Pythagorean theorem
With this method the sides stand straight-up-vertical instead of sloping up towards the zipper.

I ended up with a tall zippy pouch with a somewhat narrow opening that would be perfect for a knitting project bag.

This, of course, was never my intention, as I rarely knit.

But it's tall-ish and has plenty of room for that sweater/shawl plus an outside clear vinyl pocket for knitting stuff.

To offset all that tallness. I added a riveted leather strap and to made the proportions work very nicely.

I cannot re-create this.

On the outside I used some awesome fabric from Ikea - yes! Ikea sells fabric.
The lining fabric is a gospel quilting cotton that I bought too much of for a fabric swap.

The two fabrics pounced on the sunny yellow zip because we're all tired of grey, drizzly days.  (or, the infamous minnesota blizzard, if you're over that way).

For some mid-weight structure, I quilted the inside lining. As I was winging it, I free motion quilted after I attached the zipper. this is not a recommended technique.

Finish measurement is about 9" long x 5" wide x 8" tall.
I didn't add enough sub-structure so my sides don't stand up straight and vertical, but they are.

 And, here it is. In my hand.

And, In my etsy shop, RunningWithHandmade

Flock And Fiber Festival Canby 2014

Yesterday, I met for the first time, one of my favorite Oregon bloggers, Teresa Kasner.
She writes over Corbett way with stunning views of Mt. Hood, Crown Point & Multnomah Falls - where she does volunteer work every week.
She is a gorgeous photographer and showcases a lot of iconic Oregon scenery.

She made some crocheted bunting that I just love. She used it on her annual family camping trip and it made the canopy very bright and happy.
She has shown Multnomah Falls in all seasons. This one is from last Fall.
She also likes to photograph flowers which I enjoy seeing.

She treks over to Canbyland for the Flock & Fiber Festival most years and I suggested we meet up.

The Flock & Fiber Festival is all about flocks of sheep, goats, alpacas, etc and their fiber.
How to spin it, dye it, knit it, crochet it, felt it.



Felted purses. I liked the felted 'leaf' flap with the burn outs.


Teresa coveted these baskets.


While I need to pull out my felting supplies and do some needle felting.



For the Bunting Queen, Benta,  over in the UK - apparently this trend has made it's way to Oregon. Quite a few booths featured bunting for decoration.

Vendors were selling wool, roving, felted creations, knitting paraphernalia - stitch markers, hand-turned needles - anything to do with sheeps, goats, rabbits, alpacas and llamas.
 
The Spinners were set up outside where the sun finally broke through the clouds and people in their wool jumpers suddenly got hot.

I rather liked the dude on the right with his hair-do.

Teresa brought her husband and two grand kids along. Her husband used to raise goats and told a few stories about how they get the horns off while still babies. These goats with the horns escaped that.
Her husband also flew helicopters in the Vietnam war and afterwards on the oil rigs and I enjoyed those stories too.

It was fun to watch the boys with the goats and alpacas. I miss having small children around.



These boys reached right in to pet these goats and alpacas.











This is for my bloggy friend Gene Black. The denim strips were woven along with some shiny silver  mylar and yellow ribbon to create this large shawl.

The Flock & Fiber Festival is a free event that comes to Canby each September at the fairgrounds. You can register for classes online or just come and watch the animal judging and vendor booths.
People come from far and wide with their creations to show off and talk to fellow fiber artists.

The spinner below in the video was telling me about the "2:00 pm   Spinner’s Triathlon Competition – Central Lawn" on Sunday.

 I've always gone on Saturday after work but next year, I think I'll make time for the Spinner's Triathlon - a fun way to show off your spinning talents.

If you've ever wanted to spin fiber into yarn....

Garage Sale Jackpots

My Giveaway is here.
Just a few more hours to comment. 

One of my new favorite blogs had a unique idea for her comments. She asked her commenters to tell of something supernatural or otherworldly that had happened to them. She started it off with a haunted house story from when she lived in Dayton (OR). In fact, what grabbed me was the fact she grew up in Oregon City. Now, she lives on Awaji Island in Japan. If you'd like to enter her giveaway or view the scary stories, it also closes tonight. She's giving away a cool tote.

Last Friday, I went garage saling in Molalla - just south of me and kind of, sort of, on the way home from work. I found all sorts of treasures and most of them will be organized to be re-sold.
---But that's so I can support my habit.

Vintage Jack and Jill Magazines from the 1940's.

All of the sewing whatnots came from one garage sale in a big bin that I bargained a deal for. The books from another sale.

 Underneath all those vintage Duchess and Princess embroidery hoops are about a thousand knitting needles and crochet hooks. I could be exaggerating but seriously, - a bunch.

Haven't decided if I will keep the WISS pinking shears. I'll test them beforehand. I already sent one box off to Iraq for the IBOL guy. This is a charitable (on the side) arm of someone who is serving in Iraq. The idea is make bundles of fabric, or notions, or yarn, and distribute to Iraqi women around Ramadan. It's a backdoor effort that could open some doors for our service personnel in Iraq. My bundle was one of about 500 that went to Fallujah. I may save quite a bit of this for his next push which is this summer. If you are interested, you can keep posted of the dates by reading his blog.

excerpted from his post on May 2, 2011.
 "4.  OMG, OMG, OMG.  June will bring the next round of IBOL.  The big push, pre-Ramadan (which kicks off around 01 August, depending on the moon — really).  Why is it OMG?  I won’t be IBOL.  Yep — sealed the deal.  We’re pushing stuff to Afghanistan.  Maybe a little bit more to Iraq, we’ll see, but we have AWESOME plans for Afghanistan.  Get ready to get giddy, it’s gonna be a ball.  If you’ve enjoyed the secret projects, or enjoyed helping Iraq, or found solace or goodness or reward in helping with IBOL, I suspect you’ll find the same or more when you hear how this is going to play out."

Once you 'make' the deal, it's surprising what is 'tossed' in as part of the "take it out of my house, please".
All of these books were added. A bevy of Chickenscratch patterns, Embroidery stitches, cross-stitch patterns, Scherenschnitte, etc.

Gallon ziploc of embroidery floss. That means I tossed two gallons of floss.  For two reasons - no tags, and tied in knots. I kept out just the bundled skeins with color tags attached. J.P. Coats, DMC, Whites, Star, Lily brands.
There is also a quart ziploc full of glossy rayon floss.

Flock and Fiber Festival

It's this weekend!
I've been to the Flock & Fiber Festival several times now and there is always something different as well as the same. It's held at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby.
Here's the schedule.
Some borrowed photos from Julie Lawson.

If you knit, crochet, felt or just create- this is a hands-on festival from the people who raise the animals. 
See the beginning product make its way into the dye vats, the spinning wheel, into a gorgeous rug, or a stunning sweater.
Animal judging, cook-offs, and classes are all part of the fun.

Where Did May Go?

My thoughts lately have not been lining up with my photos. 

My thoughts have been getting dragged down by the "it's all about Kathy" world.

 Meanwhile, I am still creating things.   Sometimes it goes quite slowly.
 

I needed to take a few weeks off from journaling and reaffirm what I am journaling about.

What are my goals for this journal? You know - deep, profound thoughts.

I made thank you postcards for my fat quarter swappies utilizing some of the fabric I received.
I took the paisley and sandwiched card stock in between this fabric and a second fabric. Then I free-sewed around the paisley pattern to hold things together and zigzagged loosely around the edges. I simply wrote on the back with a sharpie and labeled them on the front. 

While doing eight of these -  four per card stock sheet, I remembered one of my neighbors has been dealing with a newish diagnosis of colon cancer. So- I took more of the fabrics and sewed a patchwork card to let her know - she's a sewer, so she gets it, that I was thinking of her that day.

I thought to wait to post the finished photos - and the process to create these fun projects.
 May has always been a busy month, and for now, here's a sampling of what I have been working on. 

Random Valentine's Week Projects

I saw this tutorial via One Pretty Thing for a knitted Big Heart Dishcloth. I had some red acrylic yarn and about two hours later - impressed with how easy it is to knit a dishcloth.

I ran out to Michaels and bought up all their solid color Sugar 'n Cream cotton skeins to send to my 4-H groupies for their Thursday meeting. While they are learning to knit and purl, this project seemed easy enough for a beginner and interesting with Valentine's Day coming up.
(unfortunately, their meeting was canceled and they will resume in a week or so - I will post photos if they can squeeze in another project.)

I am on my second dishcloth - about 3/4 of the way done. The second time is much faster.

 

 

Cotton works better for dishcloths. I used my #7 needles. 

 

Valentine Cupcakes for work.

 

January Books

Picking up books at the library again.
Found this gorgeous gem - I wish I could knit better. The photos in this book are what Winter is for - to dream a bit, to get some projects percolating, to figure out who one can pay to knit one of the fabulous projects in this book.
hmmm....there is this 4H group who is into knitting right now...

If you can get your hands on this book - look at the clothes underneath the knitted focus.
Look at the dress on the cover - with that little yellow fabric embellishment on the shoulder straps, the black on white print of the dress with the yellow accents.

Then - there is the whole styling of the photos.
Look and dream.