Stash Blaster: Week 6

Egads!  It's Tuesday night all ready??  Yikes!!

First things first, the winner of the January Stash Blaster giveaway is Mandy of Loverbunny Designs with her Camp Out Fingerless Mitts.  She won this fun little coin purse (pictured below) that I made which will be filled with some of my favorite notions.

Congratulations Mandy!  I'll be sending you an email shortly.

For last week's project I decided to make Baby Tuckey a bonnet from Vintage Knits for Modern Baby.  I used a skein of Belmoral Shetland wool that I received (along with other yarn & fiber) as trade for spinning some buffalo roving for the owner of Wyoming Wool Works in Dubois.

I chose this pattern to be my first from this book because I loved the modern take on an older style cap and thought it would look great on either a boy or a girl.  It still needs a button and I'm glad to have a lovely stash of vintage buttons to choose from.  The pattern was well written and I was able to complete the bonnet in a few hours.  The one complaint I have is I couldn't find a stitchionary in the book and since there can be different abbreviations for stitches I got a little confused on one of the decreases.  Luckily I was able to figure it out and continue on.

Modern Baby Bonnet for Baby Tuckey

I also started a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt using my Simply Color jelly roll.  If you haven't seen the Instagram mania for this quilt you must, just search #scrappytripalong and see what all the hubbub is about!

There's also a new yarn up in my Etsy shop today.  I'm not much for pink normally, but I added a couple splashes of purple and a tiny bit of teal and really love how the color turned out.  It's approximately 86 yards of sport to DK weight and would make a great child's hat or pair of mitten, or maybe even a pair of wristers for you!

'So In Love' handspun yarn

So that's what I've been up to, how about you?  It's your turn!  Grab a Stash Blaster button from the sidebar and link up your finished project(s) from the past week. Remember, that your link-up will also enter you into this month's giveaway drawing.


***A quick note on comments:  I love and appreciate each and every comment I receive so much! And I respond to every comment, with one exception.  If you are not a Blogger user than you are most likely a "no-reply blogger" which means that your comment comes through to my email with a return address of noreply-comment@blogger.com.  Sadly, that means I can't respond back.  So if you're not hearing from me after you leave a comment be sure to follow this brief tutorial so that I can reply!

Stash Blaster: Week 5

Well, January is over and February is already in full swing.  How did you all do blasting your stash?

I think I did pretty well.  I finished at least 1 project each week (see them here) and didn't increase my stash by much.  I had already warned you that I'd be stocking up on Lizzy House's Constellations and Pearl Bracelets, and thought I'd throw in some feathers for good measure.  

I also bought Megan Nielsen's maternity/nursing lingerie set pattern.  Yesterday I picked up a gorgeous raspberry colored knit (pictured below) at Walmart for the nightgown and also to make a baby wrap to carry Wiggles around in.

Plus my Plucky yarn from December also came the same day.  It's a gorgeous tonal teal/blue called Skies of November that I'm sure you will be seeing knit up very soon!

Raspberry knit

Week 5's completed project was a pair of baby mitts that I made from a mini skein of wool that I spun and kettle dyed a lovely green.  I made up my own simple pattern, making them similar to a pair of toe up socks, but without the heel of course.  ;)

Another project I made last week was a giant duffle for our friend, Ash, who will be going to manage a ranch in Russia for the next 3 years.

I allowed Cord on the couch for size comparison

The bag was inspired by Studio Cherie's Travel Duffle (which I someday need to make), but by the end of it the only similarity was the shape and the webbing handle.  Really, it's just a big box bag with a pocket on the outside.  

And when I say "big" I mean BIG.  It measures at approx. 26" x 14" x 16"!  My Holiday in London duffle fit easily inside it and there was still tons of room.  And the Holiday in London is not small either.

Plus the entire bag was made from my stash!  I even had a heavy duty 54" zipper that I'd thrifted recently.

The outside is denim with a cotton lining, bandana print outer pocket, and 3 1/2" webbing handle.  I did forget to add zipper tabs, but the bag works just fine without them.  I even got to use my new serger to finish off the exposed seams on the inside.

Jake loves this bag, so I'm sure I will be making another one in the near future.  :)

**********

I've also been dyeing and spinning more things for the shop...

100% Wyoming alpaca, will be listed in the shop later this week

Handspun & kettle dyed 100% wool, "Tide Pool", for sale here

 ...and even sold my first skein of handspun yarn!!

Handspun & kettle dyed 100% wool

Now it's time for you to link up!  Any crafty projects that you finished between January 27th and February 2 are welcome.  Also, I will be drawing a giveaway winner for all projects linked up during the entire month of January (weeks 1-5).  I'm still deciding what the prize will be, but I've got some good ideas kicking around my head.  And don't worry, it'll be good!

Please be sure to also share a link back to here on your linked up post.  There's a button on the sidebar that I'd love if you used too.  Thanks so much for playing along!  I love seeing what everyone else has been making and it really helps me to stay motivated and on task too.   :D

Stash Blaster: Week 3

I have a button!!  I've been scouring the interweb trying to find a tutorial that I can understand and finally found this one at Between Naps on the Porch.  If you are html impaired like me this is the perfect tutorial for ease of use and explanation as to what I'm actually doing.  That being said, the button works for me, if for some reason it doesn't work for you please let me know and we can troubleshoot together.  :)

This week I decided to pull out my recently thrifted crock pot and attempt some yarn dyeing.  I was so excited with the results of my first attempt that I grabbed some roving that I'd stashed and kept going.

100% wool roving, dyed and ready to spin

Keep an eye on my shop for new hand dyed handspun yarns later this week.  And perhaps even some roving for you spinners and needle felters!

I also knit up a little cap for Baby Tuckey using some leftover yarn from my Blair cardigan (which I still need to re-bind off and find the right buttons for).  Even though this hat is green it reminds me of a pumpkin, I think it's the knot on top, so I named it the Pumpkin Head hat.  It's super stretchy and long so it should fit Jelly Bean for several weeks, perhaps even months!

Seaglass Pumpkin Head

Next to a can of pop for size comparison

Full length view

Now it's your turn, link up your projects from the past week so we can root each other on and continue blasting our stash!

If you haven't finished any projects this week that's ok, show me what you've been working on.  But be on the look out for a giveaway in 2 weeks.  All linked up finished projects completed during the month of January will be entered into the drawing.  They can be 15 year old WiPs, just so long as you finished it in 2013!

Spinning Yarn

Ever since I learned to knit last year I've been interested in spinning too.  Earlier this year I bought a drop spindle & some roving from Brown Sheep.  I got a quick lesson from one of their employees, came home and started spinning.  I loved it, but it just took a really long time to finish!

This summer we went to the state fair and there was a woman demonstrating on her spinning wheel in the quilt building.  Jake got to talking to her while I looked around & when I found him she offered to let me try her wheel for a bit.  I caught the fever!

We looked at wheels online for a few weeks, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted.  Then I discovered that many shops rent spinning wheels!  At the Scottsbluff fiber fair I rented a SpinOlution Bee Travel Wheel.  It's a nice wheel, but wasn't right for me.  

Kromski Minstrel

I returned that one and rented a Kromski Minstrel instead.  I love it!!  This is definitely the wheel I will be getting, and hopefully Jake will be spinning on it soon too!

I've also found some great indie dyers who come up with beautiful colorways...

The Tenth Doctor from Storied Yarns (left) and Demon from Midnight Designs

Waiting to be plied

The buffalo roving was spun for a shop in Dubois (Wyoming).  It was kinda tricky to spin because of the short kinky fibers, but it was fun.  I hope to be able to sell some of my handspun yarns in the future.  I think it would make for a great SAHM business.  We'll see how it goes!

Buffalo yarn

Roving in my queue