a little sewing

A friend of mine was recently called to Young Women. On the way home from church that afternoon I remembered seeing a Young Women Personal Progress book holder that I wanted to make with my oldest Girlie in the autumn when she starts attending YW.  So I was excited to get to make one for my friend right away!  I don't like to wait on projects.  Probably because when I wait they don't get done.

You can find the pattern at  Chocolate on my Cranium.  I did make an adjustment to the pattern so I could add the Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth.  My fabric and interfacing pieces were 14x24 inches and my pocket guide lines were at 5 1/2", 11 1/4", 12 1/2", and 17 3/4".

hello my name...

...is Jess and I'm a yarn addict.  I use to buy yarn when I had a project and then stash away the leftovers Then I started to get yarn for near future projects... and stash it away.  I progressed onto getting yarn for projects I wanted to do someday... and would stash it away.  For years now I've been getting yarn without any project in mind... and stashing it away.

A few years ago I started thinking that I need to stop buying yarn and get some of those "someday" projects done... I didn't notice my stash getting smaller.  See I was getting some of those projects done but still stashing away lovely new yarn that I just had to have.  So the next year came with a phrase/question to ask myself when I was looking at new yarn... "don't you have something like that at home?"  I even taught it to my Littles and asked them to parrot it back to me when I was looking at yarn.  That became the year that my stash of interesting/unusual yarn grew...I didn't already have it at home.

Last year I decided to I wouldn't get yarn unless it was for a specific project. Now I did do a lot of projects from my stash but I still found reasons to get more yarn... that specific project clause. 

This year I told myself I am not going to get any new yarn at all.  I told my Hubby and  Littles... they laughed at me.  That made me more determined to make it happen... a reward should keep me on track.  If I manage to stick to not getting new yarn all year in January I can indulge in new yarn.  I thought it would be difficult but it wasn't I've managed to not add to my stash... until last week.

I started making hats with some leftovers.

See the hat that doesn't have noodles on top yet?  And that bit of green on the band?  I didn't realize it was the last of the green.  I thought I had some more and cast on this hat next....

Yep, you notice how it has a green stem and leafs... I looked for something from my stash...I really did... a different shade of green... another color... type of yarn.  Nope, it wasn't going to work.  I really wanted that particular green.  I thought of waiting to finish it until next year.  NOWAY! I'm not going to procrastinate.  I don't want another unfinished project in my life.  I'm going to finish it now.  I broke down and got my first skein of yarn this year with  less then 4 months to go on my year of not getting new yarn. 

So here is my thought... If I keep this yarn on my needles and use it all up on projects for others before the end of the year it's like I never got it...right?

mermaid treasure

We celebrated a friend’s birthday last weekend and had an awesome time. The birthday girl loves mermaids and the color aquamarine. It is not just aqua. You can ask the birthday girl or make the mistake of calling the color aqua like I did.

We decided to make her a mermaid’s treasure chest and fill it with mermaid treasure.

It was so much fun making this gift my girlies want to make their own next week when the boys are at Scout camp.

chrome duct tape, super glue, and jewels

When you mix these three things with a couple little girlies you get some creative fun. My girls and I decided to fix up their ugly brown framed mirror after they finished their studies. I always forget the before pictures and hope that one day soon that will change. But thanks to my boys we have some during and after pictures.

It was a very simple project. We covered the frame with the chrome duct tape and super glued the jewels to it.