They like me! They really, really like me!

Well, before I get to the exciting news, I suppose I should first make some excuse for my disappearance from this site. I have been busying myself with other things as of late, mostly researching various ways to have my knitting designs published. I'm also engrossed in a series of books, which takes up a lot of my time at work. And most recently, I've been considering beginning TGKA's Master Knitting Program. I do have a small project on the needles right now, a simple "Yarn Over" lace shawl, and I'll be starting some "mystery projects" for my husband's anniversary gifts. (He might be reading, so I can't be too specific.) I'll try to post pictures soon, and will definitely post pics of the completed gifts.

Now then: I found out this morning that I was one of the lucky winners for Saun's blogiversary drawing! Saun has such a defined style and talent with her needles, I can't help but be drawn to her site (even if I don't always post)! I am so excited. . .it has been a long time since I won anything, much less something this cool! A huge THANK YOU, and I can't wait to receive the goodies! Woo hoo!



Next, I have to share that I taught my first knitting class last night! A really sweet co-worker of mine and her daughter came to my house and I helped them learn how to cast on and perform the knit stitch. To my delight, they didn't even become deliriously confused! Yay! Another co-worker of mine is bringing her needles this weekend and I'm to teach her, as well. Then we'll continue (hopefully) regular classes. Wish me luck!

I will try to post some pictures next week. This weekend for Memorial Day my law firm is hosting a huge lake party at my boss' house in Orlando. Water sports, volleyball, and a mammoth cookout are the order of the day! Then we'll probably pop over to Disney World for a bit of fun. Ahhhhhhhh. . .

Till next time,
Sarah

IT'S FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, dear friends, my kimono is, at long last, finished. I absolutely love it and have gotten tons of compliments on it already. . .and I haven't even worn it yet! Yay! I've also finished writing the pattern. Whew! All that math is just so taxing on the brain. Also, unfortunately for all of you, I am going to be submitting this pattern for consideration for Knitty's fall edition, so I can't post any pictures of the finished product here. If you want to see it though, I guess I could E-mail it to you. All that I need to do now is go on a photo shoot! We have a great Japanese Gardens here that I think would make for some cool shots.

Oh, and I named this piece "Stargazer" after my favorite flower. : )

And yes, I've been extremely lazy with the blogging lately. Not that anyone has noticed. . .

What should my next work-knitting project be? Hmmm. . .

Till next time,
Sarah

Reuse, Recycle, Recraft!

Wouldn't it be great if there were resale craft stores? You know, somewhere where you could buy or sell old or used craft items? Vintage patterns, books, scrapbooking pages, sewing machines, fabric, yarn balls, knitting needles, quilt squares, that bag of king-sized batting you only used half of, that half-finished cross-stitch kit . . . I think that would be the mecca of crafterdom, I do. Ebay is great for that sort of thing, of course, but a LOCAL store you could walk into and unload your stuff just like that would be convenient. It would certainly help me to let go of some of that "but I might use it sometime" stuff that piles up on me, knowing that it would find a good home with someone who would treat it right. Besides, shipping costs can kill even the greatest of deals on Ebay, and it would be super-cool to be able to look through everyone else's crafty stuff all condensed into one place. And at "Goodwill" prices! Fifty cents for a pile of fabric scraps, a dollar for that leftover batting. . .Yummy!

Kimono's almost done! Updates as soon as I can get my *insert choice word here* camera to take a decent picture. . .

Till next time,
Sarah

A rose by any other name. . .

Would probably be a "mose" or a "nose", if you are one of my callers.

I figured, since everyone else in the blog world is on a rant, I might as well vent a little, too.

While my job is not hard (answer the phone, sort the faxes and the mail, read other people's blogs, etc.) it is sometimes quite trying to talk to STUPID PEOPLE on the phone all day long. This is a conversation that's been repeated at least once a day for the last two weeks:

Me: "Okay, I'll give them your message."

Them: "Thanks. And what's your name?"

Me: "Sarah."

Them: "Tara?"

Me: "No. SAR-ah."

Them: "Kara?"

Me: "No. *hissing* Ssssssssssarah."

Them: "Is that with a T or a K?"

Me: (WTF?) "With an ESS. As in SARAH."

Them: *confused as hell* "Oh. Okay. . .thanks, Farrah."

Me: *cheerily* "You're welcome, Dick."

[beat]

Me: "Oh, it's Rick? Sorry. . ."

Quilts for Campers

For awhile now, I've been trying to find a worthy charitable cause to donate something crafty to. As a Christian, I believe that God wants me to love him with all of me, and while I have found many ways to serve God and donate of my time, money, and talents, I have never found much use for my craftiness. I've looked into Knit for Kids, the Mother Bear Project, and the Knitting for Charity site. I even thought about sewing some blankets to donate to the Hurricane Katrina victims. All of these venues offer some great resources for crafters who want to donate their talents to the needy. But something just wasn't clicking about these projects for me.

Yesterday, something clicked.

Each year in Texas, the church I attended there sponsors a camp for abused and neglected children in their local county. This camp is a nationwide effort by Royal Family Kids' Camps to provide lifelong positive memories for some of the 3 million plus cases of child abuse in this country annually. (What's that? A camp can't really make a difference, you say?) For many reasons, this is a cause that is near and dear to my own heart. While in Texas, I attended this camp as a counselor every year I possibly could. (In fact, my mother and fiancee had a hard time of it talking me out of attending camp the week before my wedding!) I meant to attend this year, but in the end camp week conflicted with hubby's vacation schedule, so here I will stay. Out of 150 camps nationwide, there is not one single camp operating in the state of Florida, while RFKC's vision is a camp in each county in the US.

Back to crafting.

I've been wondering for awhile now what I was going to do with all of this:


And this:


Each of these containers is approximately 2 feet by 3 feet and each one is about 2 feet deep. These boxes are both, as you can see, full to overflowing with fabric. (I used to work at a craft store. . .must. not. purchase. more. fabric!) Because of my hunt for a cause to donate to, my desire to purge my fabric stash, and also because of Project Spectrum (Green? I don't have any green yarn! What am I gonna make that's green?), the idea occurred to me to turn all of these fabrics into quilts for the campers who attend RFKC in my hometown in Texas. Poifect!

So off I go to volunteer my services, which, thankfully and to my delight, were immediately and very cheerfully accepted by the camp directors, and it turns out there are around 200 campers expected to attend camp next year!

Um. . .wow. Ok. . .Awesome!

So, needless to say, this little "project" will keep me busy for quite some time. I am going to call it "Quilts for Campers" so stay tuned for updates. If anyone out there has any fabric remnants they'd like to donate, or any ideas on what the fastest way to make a multiple-square quilt is (rag quilt? tacking?), I'd love to hear from you!

Till next time,
Sarah

Stitch is in Stitches!

I've been wanting to post this one for awhile. This is probably what I consider to be my crowning achievement design-wise; maybe tying with the crocheted twin-size American flag blanket I designed for my brother when I was 13. What do you call intarsia for crochet? It was genius. Back to this design! This is a messenger-style bag designed for a friend and coworker whose fiancee has a love affair with the movie Lilo & Stitch. Apparently she has almost 100 stuffed Stitch dolls and loves to collect Stitch paraphernalia. He approached me about doing something Stitch for her, and after discussing everything from a pillow to a full-blown quilt, we settled on a messenger bag.

I give you: Stitch!



I designed everything about this bag, from the bag shape, to its construction (knitted fabric, wool felt, plastic canvas, and fabric lining) to the intarsia chart for Stitch's face. It took me three tries to get my knitting graph paper to match the gauge for my yarn. It also took an unbelievable amount of time to put together after the knitting was done. Oh, and this thing is HUGE. I told Scottie I wouldn't go near making one of these again for less than $200. (He paid handsomely.)

Here's a shot of the perfect lining I found for this bag: blue-grey Hawaiian print, complete with palm trees, surfboards and hibiscus flowers. Oh, the cleverness of me!



If anyone is interested in purchasing the chart for Stitch, please E-mail me at SarahLois@msn.com and let me know. I've been thinking about starting an Etsy store, so if anyone wants this chart I will go ahead and make it available there.

Till next time,
Sarah