Things have felt rather heavy for me this week. There have been some sadnesses, some questions, some discussions, some concerns. Nothing serious but a combination of things that have weighed me down.

While I’ve been needing extra rest these last few days, it has been hard to let go of some things. Harder to be still and leave certain tasks for another time. Harder to trust. Harder to wait.

This afternoon found me at a loss. Feeling rather tender and emotional and needing to get out of my sulk. Something took me to the basement past my poor neglected sewing machine and I found myself cutting out fabric for an idea I had in mind.

Despite my touchy sewing machine, my beginner sewing skills and the extra time spent with the seam ripper, it was a wonderful refreshment. A change in attitude and thought that was just what I needed to get over myself and my frustrations. – Rather surprising as I certainly had a lot of frustration while trying to figure out how to construct my project.

After a dinner break, and a consult with my wise husband, I had a solution and soon after that a finished knitting bag out of the cut-off of a hemmed curtain and some quilting cotton I had on hand.

In the end it was one of those sewing conundrums where I thought too hard and suddenly none of it made sense.

Thank goodness for wise hubbies, the freedom of creativity and crafting successes at the end of a long day (or week).

I added a little tool case from the quilting cotton lined with a thrifted pillowcase…a little later in the evening as you can see from the change in lighting.

Just as my knitting feels a little more organized, my mind feels a little less cluttered. Some of that weight has been passed to much more capable shoulders, and some of the peace I felt I was missing has found me again.

Phew.

Wishing you all creative freedom, crafting successes and peace in abundance.

Much love, R

I love thrift shopping. I love finding just what I needed/wanted/never knew I needed until I saw it. And I love getting it for a deal.

Since I’ve started sewing it’s been even worse…now there is vintage fabric and sheets to search for along with the notions, books and wool I’ve been collecting.

My husband does not feel the thrill of the thrift like I do but he is very patient with waits in the car with five children, or listening to me deliberate over a certain floral pattern which he loathes because vintage is not his thing. Considering there are seven people living in this rather small and currently overflowing home, he is very, VERY understanding of the steady trickle (stream?) of used books, buttons and crafting dreams that follow me into this space after I’ve been let loose in a second-hand store.

The kids, well, I am still working on them. They have mixed emotions where thrift stores are concerned. If someone is looking for a Halloween costume or a certain volume of Magic Tree House, they are more willing participants and if they are less than enthused I can always tempt them with a browse through the books.

This weekend my lovely family was so kind as to wander with me through not one but two second-hand stores. They helped me search for buttons, encouraged me to buy one more sweater, picked out some fun reading materials and quietly accepted the florals despite their revulsion to them.

There was only one small casualty during our time out…

…careful it isn’t pretty…

…maybe stuffing four loaves of bread into the fridge for a slow rise was not the best idea. This guy didn’t do so well.

But these little guys cheered me up.

So now that I am even more fully stocked than before I have to get going with some projects…ideas anyone?

Maybe I will start with a slice of cinnamon bread.

*We’re planning some fun Valentine’s Day projects this week in the jay’s house – hope you’ll pop in for another visit!

I have a serious weakness for wool. It is not unheard of to find me lovingly caressing an irresistible skein of alpaca or stroking an especially delicious hank of merino but I have a special weakness for sweaters. Particularly of the feltable, thirfted variety. I was gathering a rather obscene stash of the lovelies (obscene because I was collecting not using) and promised myself (and Dan) that I wouldn’t buy any more until I had actually made something. Cutting into them was harder than I’d expected but I finally found my courage and began chopping off arms and cutting them open (yeesh, that sounds gory).

Definitely the quickest project I tried were sweater hats. I had three in stockings on Christmas morning and much to my joy they have been getting a lot of wear around here. A couple little heads have been missing out on the fun so I whipped a fourth up last night. They only take about an hour, including the applique.

I’m certainly not the first to attempt the sweater hat but I thought I would share the process here in the hopes that you will give it a try.

Keep in mind, I am a beginner sewer so if I am confusing or need correcting please feel free to comment.

I started with this sweater (arms long since chopped). I bought it used for a couple of dollars and put it through a hot, soapy load in my washing machine. It felted beautifully because it is pure lambswool. To felt properly it must be as close to 100% pure as possible – I’ve heard others say it can be 90% pure but I haven’t taken that chance and it must not be superwash wool (if the tag says you can wash in warm water or a machine it is likely superwash and won’t felt). I have also felted cashmere and while it is beautiful the fibers don’t always shrink as well (perhaps depending on the quality of the cashmere).

I used one of the boy’s existing hats to gauge the proper size, adding some length so it would fit longer, took a deep breath and cut along the bottom of the sweater so my hat will have a nice rim.

With the right sides together and using a chalk pencil, I marked down the middle.

Rather than sew a single seam, I like to add some shaping so it fits little heads a little more snugly. Using not-so-exact methods I cut out a notch using my chalk line as a guide marking the middle of the hat.

By hand or using a sewing machine (isn’t she lovely?), sew up to the beginning of the notch.

Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end to add lots of strength to the seam.

Backstitching just before the notch descends.

Repeat on the second side – from the rim to the beginning of the notch again – and this is what you have.

See what I mean? The notch is still open.

Now pinch this open seam shut and sew closed.

I used a pin to hold it closed because it gets a little shifty at this point.

Remove the pin and continue across the opening, remembering to backstitch again.

Turn it inside out (right sides out, in this case) and there you have it – a hat!

My favourite part is doing the applique. I tried out a few ideas I had, picked one, dug through my wool scraps, changed my mind, dug through my scraps again and finally settled on a rocket ship.

I made a rough template and cut my wool to match.

I laid it out…

…with lots of help from little brother who insisted the button needed to go back into the button tin.

I dug through another thrifting weakness of mine for the right colour of floss to match my wool.

In this case I decided to go all matchy-matchy with my floss and thread colours.

I distracted little brother with these so I could get my button back.

Then attached my button as a window.

Using a simple running stitch and three strands of my six stranded embroidery floss, I sewed the rocket onto the hat. I tried to make the stitches tight and close to hold it on there despite possible (or probable) tugging fingers.

Using the same running stitch and three strands of red floss I attached the flames below the rocket.

This little head says he is very warm. He kept asking, “Is it done? Is it done?”, then settled down to read a book all snug in his jammies and hat. All it cost me was a few dollars, about an hour of my time and some tangled embroidery floss.

There is one more little head that needs a hat – her requested colour of pink is a little harder to find in wool sweaters but I’ll just have to do my part and add thrift shopping to my list of things to do this week. Darn. Then maybe I’ll have to find another sweater to make a bigger hat – I think I’m a little jealous of all the toasty little noggins.

Here’s a little peek at the other sweater hats we’ve been wearing.

The rosette I knit from this pattern here. There are about a billion crocheted rosette patterns but as much as I try, crocheting defeats me so I was happy to find a knit version.

I hope you’ll give it a try to warm some of the little heads around you. So simple, so quick and so loved.