Favorite Tools: Pencil Box

This pencil box was a gift from my Auntie Annie, many years ago.  It's made of cedar wood and smells wonderful every time I slide open the lid.  As an art major in college, this went everywhere with me.  In fact, everything currently held inside, are things I used every day in classes.  See that blob of rubber eraser?  They're usually a nice grey color, even after many uses.  It's hard tell in the picture, but it's pure black.  Not a speck of grey in sight.  In one art class in particular, we did a lot with charcoal.  The poor eraser never recovered.  It's still as stretchy as ever, though. Sadly, this pretty little box has been packed away for too many years.  It's time for it to find a special place, next to my other favorite tools.

Cable Knit Hat

I forgot to make note of when I started this hat, but I’ve been working on it for a few months, a little at a time. It’s the first thing I’ve knitted in the round. I like how it looks, and I learned how to do a double decrease. The only thing I would change is I would make it a little longer. I wanted a hat that would cover my ears, but this doesn’t quite make it. I was so happy to finish it, that I was not about to frog it halfway to make it longer. Maybe I'll give it to iBob and I’ll make another one for me!

E's Birthday Scarf

I made this scarf for E's Birthday in January.  It's knitted from a yarn called Pomp-la-Doodle.  I found this “yarn” a little tricky to cast on. It took some getting used to, but was easy to knit. It hides mistakes well. :) This pattern said it makes a short scarf at 35 1/2” long. However mine ended up being 32” long, using the whole ball. I even knit a little tight, so I thought it would have been a little longer. It’s a bit too short for me, but thankfully E loved it!

Basket Weave Blanket

This was my first EVER "thing" I knitted.  It's been done for over a year, and I finally got around to taking a picture of it.  It was a good practice in knitting and purling.  I got the pattern from the Lion Brand website, but made it on a much smaller scale.  It fits perfectly on Bubble's doll bed.  There are mistakes in it, but I don't care.  And neither does the doll, who is currently snuggled under it.

Kids Duffel Bags

I saw this tutorial on making a Retro Duffel Bag.  I decided to make one for Bubbles and JB.  I thought it would be perfect for a weekend trip to Grandma & Grandpa's.  I made mine bigger than in the tutorial so it would hold all their clothes for the trip.  I wanted to use up some fabric from my stash, but didn't have any heavy weight fabric that I wanted to use for this project so I used some heavyweight craft fusible interfacing.  It was a pain to work with, but in the end I'm glad I used it.  the duffel's are very sturdy.  I also used the tutorials instructions on making your own handles, again using stash fabric.  The only thing I would add, if making one again, would be to add a little loop pull tab at either end of the zipper.  It would make it easier to zip open and closed.  It seemed like it took forever to get them done, but that was because I only had a few minutes at a time to work on them..  In actuality, they came together quite quickly.  Tutorial on Saltwater Kids found via MADE.

Favorite Tools: Stapler

I know that no one reads this blog but me, but I felt like making a section on this blog called "Favorite Tools".  One of my favorite tools in my studio is my PaperPro Prodigy Stapler.  It's amazing!  I can EASILY staple through 25 sheets of paper using one finger!  REALLY!  Lulu loves to use it when she makes her handmade notebooks (fancy paper cover with sheets of plain paper inside all stapled together).  There is no way a regular stapler would be able to handle that.  Now it's hard for me to use a standard ol' stapler that you have to fist pound in order for the staple to get through 3 sheets properly.