Stitch Rabbit

Sneaking In A Little Sewing

 

While it's been all work and (mostly) no play, I have managed to sneak in a tiny bit of sewing.. I finished off another denim mat for the house. Just in time too, with all the mud being tracked in. This mat was re-purposed with some of our oldest work jeans, so I didn't feel badly that it was muddied in a matter of minutes.

 

I also found a bit of time the other night to dip a skein or two into a pot of plant dye. This skein was dyed with avocado skins and iron, and left for a very short time in the pot to keep it light.   So fun!

Keeping It All Together

I spent a good day organizing my knitting and sewing notions and materials and I wanted to show you a few things that keep me organized so I spend less time looking for scissors and more time click-clacking the sticks.

 

My studio is downstairs, in the one sort of finished room in our unfinished basement. It's where I sew and keep all my sewing and crafting materials. It's also where I store the majority of my yarn stash.

But I don't knit downstairs. I knit upstairs in our life, in my bed, on the couch, in the yard, in the car, at Frankie's school... knitting is part of the every single day.

So most of my knitting and notions are upstairs. And it can get a little yarn-crazy. The kids know Rule Number One is don't touch Mama's knitting. I keep it stashed in baskets all over the house. I like orphaned wire ones the best, I find them often...

 

Some baskets are knit themselves. I have a tutorial like this one that I made, or if you really screw up a hat in a heavier yarn and it's too big, just turn it over and stuff it with some things. Works like a charm!

 

I keep my most-used needles together with this really awesome needle case I made a few years back and store the rest in jars. I also use the amazing Addi Click circular needle set and I love, love the interchangeable needles. Projects get put into individual baskets around the house to keep them separate from each other.

 

Notions!! I keep all my notions like stitch markers, pins, darning needles, scissors and everything else you could possibly need for knitting stashed in a couple of zippered bags and usually tucked in one of my knitting baskets.

 

 

Probably my favorite wire basket of yarn is the yet-to-be basket.. the inspiration... the most recent "lost yarn that I found and brought home" basket. If it doesn't get used for a must-make-right-away-because-this-yarn-is-so-nice project it goes downstairs to the (ahem) bigger stash for when I need a specific yarn for a pattern I fall in love with.

I get the feeling I'm sounding a little crazy...

Anything else I buy and love but don't have a use for yet usually ends up on display somewhere in the house... like these buttons I picked up last week... as long as they are out in plain sight they keep me thinking on the perfect project to use them for.

 

Quick Cowl For The Kids

Very simple cowl, knit in the round to keep the kids cozy this winter. It's the yarn I want to talk about!! I picked it up at a yarn shop in Toronto called The Knit Cafe earlier this year - I only bought one skein. It was pricey but I was not willing to leave the shop without it! It's Anzula's For Better or Worsted and it's so, so nice to knit with. If you see it, I suggest you pick some up. Feel free to drop a skein or two at my door while you're at it.