Tuesdays are for......

Tuesday May 15, 2007

Tuesdays evenings are for S’n B! Yippee! Sanctioned time to spend knitting and chatting up a storm with my favourite clucks! I always look forward to Tuesdays – you never know who will show up and what we’ll talk about, but its always a guaranteed laugh!

Last night was OKG, and we learned a great deal about embellishments, in particular I-cord and the making of a little rolled flower. The flowers were the coolest pattern (so is I-cord, but I mastered that some time ago, and the immediate novelty is gone!). The flowers, pure genius, and the more I looked at them the more I saw them as little felted flowers. For my very sturdy but very boring felted book bag. A row of little felted flowers across the lower edge of the flap. Or a few pinned randomly across the flap.

And we all agreed that this little rolled flower would be charming as is on a children’s jumper or tunic, either edging the dress or around the tab buttons. I see some experimentation about to happen! And dozens of little felted flowers popping up everywhere just in time for spring! And just in time too, as I was in a seriously creative slump, and about to die of boredom.

Fortunately in an effort to stem to tide of boringness, I swooped in on my local library and was able to scoop up some great books to ignite the imagination, immediately resulting in a dozen natural cotton 2” x 6” garter stitch rectangles destined to become napkin rings when the mis-matched natural colored buttons are added.

I do love making quick little projects on a whim – they keep me motivated for the larger items without taking too much time away from them, and are cheap enough for me to have my fun and not break the bank. My only rule is that they must have functionality. No point in making something if it is not useful or will never be used. Nothing to say however, it can’t be different, quirky, and unusual. I love natural elements and enjoy twine, string, tree branches, and grass and am always looking to duplicate or incorporate these elements into my home décor. And I love old things, especially buttons, so the natural cotton and collection of odd buttons perfectly suits my mood these days.

And I have used my sewing machine, again, this week. The Bernina and I are becoming fast friends after such a prolonged and painful introduction – I made a basic cloth book bag, again from scrap material at hand. It might be just a bit too plain Jane, so I am considering some simple appliqué embellishment. I needed to keep my library books separate from my OKG books and my own book collection. Hard to do when they’re all lying about, as I tend to read several at once. So a few book bags should solve the problem. I need one in my car too. This is also to support our family effort to be much less reliant on plastic bags. We have purchased re-useable grocery totes for daily shopping, and I got a very positive reception from Wal-mart and Chapters the other day while shopping with my own tote, and so will be making a point of trying to have totes in the cars at all times. I am hoping that Ontario goes the way of California and bans plastic bags completely. Yes, it will be an adjustment but looking around at the thousands of bags scattered everywhere, on the roads, parks and green spaces after the winter, a ban would be well worth it.

I seem to be on use it up or get rid of it kick. It must be spring, and I am tired of the clutter and endless UFO’s lying around. I need to clear it out or use it up, and I can’t bear to get rid of my fabrics and fibre, so getting creative and using them up, is the only way to go!