springtime and rainbows

I am so glad its finally starting to feel like spring! I'm itching to start my rainbow of socks but I want to finish up a few other projects first.

In the meantime, I've had rainbows on the brain, and bad. While talking to a colleague yesterday, I did this.

Lined up like little rainbow soldiers.

And then, on my lunch hour, I accidentally bought these:

I went to Winmil Fabrics, intending to buy some fabric to use to line a bag. I found what I wanted (gray linen) but I also kept looking at this print, which was stocked in at least 9 colors. I'm not sure what I'll do with these, but I bought a yard of each. 100% cotton at $2.98/yard? Can't be matched! And Winmil is the kind of place that doesn't necessarily keep things in stock, so once they're gone, they might never be seen again.

Now that it's spring, and days are longer, I'm hoping that I can get more decent photos. I hate blogging without a picture. My camera is a decent little point-and-shoot, but not a terrible fancy one, and it's now 3 years old. I can get good photos in the daylight, but not at night. Yeah, I could build a lightbox, but I just don't want to. I'd rather knit and spin.

So, since I was home this afternoon, I took a bunch of photos of knitting and spinning. Now I have fodder for at least 2 more posts!

sock sacks and woolly gatherings

Well, it seems like you liked the sock sacks that I posted yesterday! Thanks for the compliments.

Since several of you mentioned that you would want to buy one if they were available for sale, I'm considering making some to sell, to augment the wheel fund.

Here's the deal, though ... I work full time, and go to grad school (50% of full time schedule). And I coach 6+ hours per week. And I have a 90 minute+ commute to work. Which is to say that my crafty time at home is limited -- I do most of my knitting while carpooling to work (Thom drives in the morning, the longer leg of the commute!), or at lunch, or in the late evening before bed.

So, I'm going to make some bags when I have time and post them for sale, here or through Etsy, when I get around to it. I won't be able to take many custom requests. Of course if I know you in person or online, and you are really damn charming, I'll probably bend that custom request rule just a bit :)

sacks I have sewn

In fact, I may be at the sewing machine this weekend. I just found out that the school assignment that I thought was due on October 24 has been moved to the 31st. Therefore, I may find myself at a certain well known sheep and wool gathering later this month. In which case, I may want some extra cash on hand!!! Let me know if I'll see you there. Umm, I mean IF I end up going ...

Bag O' Snails

Earlier this week, the Mafia mentioned that she wished she had a project bag for her current WIP. Since she has been mad busy recently, yet still finds the time to listen to me whine -- with sympathy when appropriate and a swift kick in the pants when needed -- I though she could use a wee giftie.

I present ... Bag O' Snails.




Stash-diving at its best! The ribbon came off the wrapping of a present from Susan. The snail fabric was left-over from making boxer shorts for Thom. The brown and beige swirly print was left-over from making couch pillows this summer.

Fun, and quick -- less than 20 minutes! I didn't measure or iron a thing, and didn't obsess about details. And, I think it came out pretty damn cute!