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Last Month

My first mini-quilt for November was this kantha cutter piece, from which I removed half of the quilting stitches, folded each layer out in a fan to show the different fabrics, and restitched. Very meditative. I also started working on an art quilt in November, and to keep my fingers more flexible I began crocheting one-skein projects during my breaks. I made this no pattern scarf out of a skein of self-striping yarn as my first side project. This winter hat only took about two-thirds of a skein of variegated yarn. I tackled making a miniature version of bienenstich kuchen (German bee-sting cake) as a dessert for my guy. A bit of a difficult recipe, but I'm glad I gave it a go. I made this looooong scarf from one jumbo skein of variegated yarn. My second mini-quilt of November was a stitch and beading practice piece. I crocheted a winter hat from dollar store yarn (which was really nice to work with, actually.) I used half of my scrap yarn balls to beg...
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Scrap Solution

With all the crochet projects I've been doing this year my scrap yarn ball basket is full to overflowing. I wanted to try a project I could make out of scraps and that I could add to in the future, so I found Jayda in Stitches' Scrapgahn tutorial and decided to give it a whirl Basically you make rows of half double crochet out of two strands of light and dark yarn held together. Simple, right? Other than knotting in more yarn as I used up each scrap ball I wouldn't even have to pay attention to it. Yes, well. When my first attempt started to slant in at the sides I realized I was being a bit too cocky and assuming I knew everything about crochet again. I ripped out two days of work to fix that. Here's the second attempt. This pattern does make a pretty thick blanket, but it's not quite as sturdy as Jayda's three-strand big beautiful basket. I like the stripy effect that comes from knotting in new colors, too. I could keep going and use up...

Fabric & Yarn Lot

My fabric and yarn wannabut lot arrived; let's see what I got for my minimum bid. A ton of fabric (I will measure and report on the exact yardage in another post. There are three pieces that are linings that look like silk but are actually polyester; I love those for crazy quilting. There are some sheer curtain pieces, and I also found a brand new flat sheet for a twin bed still in its fabric case. That will work great as quilt backing. Twelve full skeins of yarn, plus nine scrap balls, all in new condition. Only one of the skeins doesn't have a label. The yarn is clean and odor free, too. Definitely worth the $8.99 I paid for the lot.

2026 Gear Shift

Since I couldn't find a crochet pattern I liked enough to do for twelve months, I changed my mind on next year's calendar project. I needed slightly less ambitious, too, and that would be a project I looked forward to that would make me happy. I was looking through my photo archives for inspiration and I noticed how many bags I make every year (all of those in the pictures are bags I've made in the past.) I always enjoy making them, they're not difficult and I can manage one per month. Generally I use up a lot of scraps to do the patchwork and I can bead them as much as I like. All that combined to made me decide on making twelve tote bags for 2026. Each will have a calendar month theme that is either personal or holiday-related. For example, since I'm turning 65 next year that month would be all about officially becoming a senior. I'm relieved that I made this decision, so now all I have to do is gather materials for the first bag. Januar...

The Cabinet Arrives

My vintage DMC floss cabinet just arrived, and it's in great shape. I can't exactly date it, as information on the internet is sparse. The company switched from a bell to the horse head in 1961. Actually the thick plastic drawer fronts and waffled particle board inside suggest the cabinet is a bit newer; maybe circa the late 70's or early 80's. I do know from pics on the internet that in its original condition there would have been dividers in the drawers, too. I can't express to you how much I've longed to find one of these cabinets for my sewing room. I also always assumed that I'd never be able to thrift one at a price I could afford. There's a bit of cracking to the wood case on one side that my guy is going to repair for me, but otherwise the cabinet is in marvelous shape and I couldn't be happier. As to what the cabinet is worth: I've found the same model selling for $48.00 on eBay. Due to the minor damage I'd ...

Jumble Jam

The jumble lot of yarn I won at the thrift auction before I could write it up in a wannabuts post has arrived; let's see what was in that jumble. It looked even prettier in person. Twenty-one skeins, and all but one had labels. Most were newer craft store yarns, but some of these can be pricey. There are five skeins of brand new Studio Classic by Nicole that Premier has already discontinued. These seem like the Just Yarn worsted they sell at the dollar store, just in larger skeins. The big white and silver skein of Caron Christmas Glitter retails for $14.98, and the Bernat Baby Blanket costs $9.98 new. The yarn is all clean, odorless and only two had been used, so I'm fine assigning a resale price of $5.00 a skein. That works out to $105.00; I paid $12.00 for the lot, or about fifty-eight cents a skein. A nice bargain that I didn't have to shop Black Friday sales for. :) Image credit: the first pic in this post came from the original auction listing a...

Wishing You

Happy Thanksgiving!