West Mitten Crafts is now on Twitch!

Do you ever wish you could take part in our crafting adventures?  We're pleased to announce that you can find me streaming some of my crafting activities on Twitch.  I have been recording from 6-7 a.m. Eastern, and plan to continue this schedule Monday-Friday each week, with the possibility of some weekend recordings too.  Stop by while I'm recording and send a message in chat that I can respond to, or if you're like most people that would rather be sleeping, watch one of the videos I already recorded, they're available to watch for two weeks.

Shop Update

We're running another sale in our Etsy shop!  Today through Labor Day (8/29/18-9/3/18) you can get any of our available items 20% off, no coupon code required.

Sewing

I finished my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  This was made in size medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics.  This sweater fits great, but I prefer smaller necklines, so my next two versions will utilize some of the alternate pieces that Patterns for Pirates offers to switch it up.

In order to make the next two versions, I cut out the pattern pieces for the Patterns for Pirates Relaxed Raglan Add On.  I also cut out the Colette Patterns Sorbetto pattern as well.

I also made my second Squishy Project Bag by Erica Arndt from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and the whole process was streamed on Twitch.  It took three morning craft sessions to finish this project, which included a bit of ripping out stitches because I thought my way was better than the way its recommended.  Some day I'll learn.  I did make the strap two inches longer to make it easier to fit over my hand, but otherwise made the pattern as written.  I expect that I'll make more of these in the future.

Knitting

I have been working on my Two-at-a-time socks and Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie.  The socks are my standard sock pattern out of Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway, and they have about one inch of ribbing at this point.  It does seem like they are taking forever, but I've only picked them up a few times and the progress is being shared over the two socks, so technically I have two inches of sock done.

The scarf is getting long (its 4' long so far), but I'm planning on knitting until I run out of yarn, so I'm guessing its about halfway there.  It is being knit out of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway.

Stacey's update

Hello!  Thanks for checking in on us.  We have been horribly absent from the blog, and even from crafting in general for a while.  I did manage to read 56 books so far this year though!  I have returned to my beloved crafts, and wanted to share my makes so far.

Knitting

Shortly after our last blog post, I decided to attempt the Oaklet Shawl by Megan Goodacre again.  I originally started the shawl back in October of 2013, and had made a fair bit of progress before I noticed that the eyelets were a bit wonky and stopped working on it.  Four years later, it was officially ripped out, as I still had no idea how to fix it, and would not have been happy with it as it was.  It was very pretty though, aside from being skewed on one side.  Apparently, I've become a better knitter in the past five years, so it was a joy to work on this time.  The shawl was knit out of Malabrigo Yarn Sock in the Alcaucil colorway and the knitting was finished on April 29th, and the blocking and weaving in of ends was completed earlier this month.

Stacey's Oaklet Shawl

I then worked on a pair of socks for Lee out of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply in the Bullfinch (861) colorway that I picked up at the Sin City Knit Shop in Las Vegas last December.  I used my generic sock pattern with Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel and Asymetric Wedge Toe by Reena Meijer Drees.  These socks only took 5 months, and were made within a year of purchasing the yarn, so I'm quite proud of myself.

Lee's From Vegas With Love Socks

Earlier this month, I decided that I wanted to go to knit night again, which requires that I have a project to work on, so I grabbed a ball of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway that Lee had selected sometime last year (I have not been doing a good job of keeping my Ravelry stash updated).  I cast on a One Ball Knit Scarfie by Lion Brand, and that has been getting a bit of love every day or so. 

Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie

With Lee's scarf cast on, I suddenly had the urge to cast on more things, so I grabbed some Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway that I got as part of a Knit Crate package years ago.  I decided that with it taking just 5 months for Lee's socks, I should up the ante and knit my pair two at a time.  Maybe it'll be faster with no second sock syndrome, maybe slower if I get confused and start using the wrong strand of yarn for each sock.  They definitely require a bit more mindfulness, so they aren't my quick grab project (its a good think I've also got the scarf to work on).  

Stacey's Two-at-a-time Socks

Crochet

After the shawl, I worked on two pairs of Baby Strap Flip-Flops by Bethany Dearden for a friend.  These were fairly quick projects, though I had to watch Bethany's youtube video to get some clarification on the pattern.  I managed to hand these over without taking pictures, but they were pretty darn cute.

Sewing

After starting Lee's scarf, and having the needles create quite a few new holes in the first project bag I ever made, I decide to make a better project bag.  I looked online and came across the Squishy Project Bag pattern from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I went through my stash trying to find some bits that were big enough and would go with the pink zipper that I had, and whipped this pretty little bag up over a few mornings before work.  I love the size of this bag, and am glad that I listened to Lee and quilted the outside.  He thinks I should have used a contrasting thread color for the quilting, so I'll probably try that on the next bag I make.

Closed Squishy Project Bag

Open Squishy Project Bag

I sewed up a tee shirt using the Kwik Sew K3766 pattern that I had sitting around using some knit jersey that I had tried to make a waterfall cardigan from last year.  The hems are a bit wavy and the fabric is a bit stretchier than I like for my shirts, but it fits well, I like the neckline and shoulder seam placement, and it's very comfortable.  I'll definitely make this pattern again, once I can figure out what kind of fabric is appropriate for tee shirts.  I'd love some suggestions...  And the shirt is currently in the laundry, so no picture right now (otherwise the motivation to get this out here might disappear again).

Yesterday I cut the pattern and fabric for my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  My chest and waist measurements fell on the low end of the medium size range, but my waist was almost in the extra large size range.  Since it was the relaxed version, and not fitted, I decided to cut a straight medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics and hope for the best.  I stitched up the front and back to the sleeves this morning, and pinned the neck to the body, so hopefully I'll get that stitched up tomorrow morning.  I'm happy with the sleeve and body length, so I think I'll just hem them and have a finished sweater.  If the finishing goes as well as the rest, I'll definitely be making another one (or five).

Progress on the Relaxed Raglan

Cross-Stitch

I did work on the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery for a few days, but haven't been picking it up nearly often enough.  Maybe I'll finish it in 2020?

Extending the woodworking season and a finished sock

Knitting:

Stacey attended her first knit night this past week, and made a lot of progress in just two hours on her first sock out of  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.

Knit Night Sock Progress

The knitting didn't end there though.  Stacey kept knitting while we watched some television shows in the evening and cuddled with the critters, and she finished the first sock. 

 

Finished first sock!

Then, she started the second sock... that's right, no second sock syndrome here!  She even made it to into the heel, so about 3/4 of a sock was knit in just one week, which is amazing, since Stacey normally takes about a month to knit each sock.

One week's progress on second sock.

Sewing:

While folding some laundry, Stacey noticed this gaping hole on one of Lee's favorite sweatshirts.

I don't think this cuff will hold on much longer.

So, the sweatshirt was rushed off to the craft room for some emergency surgery.  The surgery was successful, and Lee was very happy to put it back to use.

 

Woodworking:

Lee and his father installed a heater in the garage last weekend. There was a pellet stove in the garage, but it was kind of a hassle to run. Having a natural gas heater with a thermostat should make the garage much more usable. 

Since there is a heater in the garage now Lee put it to use and spent some time out there staining the bookshelf that he was commissioned to build. 

Ironing paper, a self-striping sock, and a finished shirt

Happy Thursday!  We hope you've all made it through last weeks crazy weather unscathed.  We've been lucky enough to just have a really cold spell, so we've been rocking our hand knit socks, hats, and scarves earlier in this past week.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  Purchasing items after following a link in this post may provide us with a commission, at no extra cost to you. 

Knitting:

Stacey has continued working on her Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire socks out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight.  She has managed to only do the three necessary heel turns on the first sock, so hopefully this pair won't be a repeat of the last pair of socks.  The yarn is incredibly sproingy, which is not a real word, but a perfect description.  Stacey is loving the different striping patterns that are coming out in each section of the sock, and is showing a fair amount of restraint in the purchase of many more skeins of Socks that Rock yarn. 

Sewing:

Stacey decided to reconstruct a tee shirt using one of Lee's old and too short tees and her recently acquired Kwik Sew K3766 pattern.  The instructions for the pattern are very well written and easy to follow, but of course, were not followed as written.  As the fabric was coming from an existing shirt, the neckband and sleeves were reused as-is.  Stacey's measurements fall right between the Medium and Large sizes, so she opted to make the Large as she prefers to have a bit of extra room in tee shirts and the fabric has a bit of stretch to it.

This shirt actually came out really well, to our surprise (based on previous clothing sewing attempts, not the pattern!).  This will definitely be used (following all instructions) again, as soon as some more tee shirt fabric is obtained.  If you have any recommendations for comfortable tee shirt fabrics or favorite places to purchase fabric, let us know in the comments.

Just for fun, in case anyone who reads this is just starting out and wants to know that they're not alone, I'm sharing a couple of memorable thoughts from this project.

First, I actually read all of the instructions before I started.  Then I read through them as I went to make sure I didn't miss any steps.  There's a section at the beginning to iron the pattern paper to remove the creases so that you can cut out your size correctly.  My thoughts: Wait, am I really supposed to iron this pattern paper?  *Reread instructions.* What setting do you iron paper with?  Wait, is this paper or some kind of very thin fabric?  *Reread instructions again.*  Ok, lowest setting.  And we're ironing.  (a few minutes pass)  Gah, this is taking forever.  Second iron setting.  (a few more minutes pass)  Hmm, I guess that worked.

My second and third thoughts: Noooooo, I ran out of thread! and Really, I ran out of thread again?

Happy 2018

We hope everyone had an awesome holiday season!  We did a bit of traveling, so had limited time and resources to devote to crafting, but here's what we were able to accomplish since the last blog post.

Sewing:

Lee's winter coat developed a nice big tear under an arm, so Stacey patched that up.  

Knitting:

Stacey started another set of socks using the Sweet Tomato Heel and the Asymmetric Wedge Toe, as her Hermione's Everyday Socks and Knit One Vanilla Socks fit really well.  This yarn for this pair is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.  She did decrease down to 72 stitches to make the socks a little bit snugger around the foot.

Soapy Goodness:

While on vacation, Stacey was lured into some shops by some adorable soaps, bath bombs, and other skincare products.  With an awesome bath tub in our hotel room, she decided to try the Detoxify your Mind bath bomb from Nectar Bath Treats, which was quite nice and very moisturizing, so on another expedition out, a Brightside Bubble Bar and Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb were purchased from Lush.  With the fancy jets in the hotel bath, the bubbles from the bubble bar were awesome.  Upon our return home, a bath bomb making session was in order.  We made a batch of bath bombs in an ice cube tray and used a Grapefruit Bellini fragrance oil for them.  We also made some Grapefruit Bellini scented sugar scrub for an extra decadent bathing experience. 

All the sewing...

This week was dominated by Stacey's sewing projects.

Sewing:

Cross-back apron for Lee:

Stacey spent the weekend sewing up a storm.  She started with the cross-back apron mentioned last week for Lee, who had chosen this awesome Tula Pink Spirit Animal Lunar Otter N Chill fabric (affiliate link), which we have dubbed Space Otter.  The apron was super simple and straightforward to cut and sew and will work perfectly.

Tote bag:

Her next project was a Whistlepig Creek Productions #1144 Six Pack Stack Reversible Fat Quarter Tote, which has been gifted, and should have been received by the intended recipient.  The pattern was purchased from a local-ish quilt and knitting shop back in 2014, and was used in the first sewing class Stacey participated in, marking the start of her sewing adventures.

It is supposed to coordinate with a dark purple luggage set with bright blue and hot pink circles.  We're hoping that this goes well enough.  It was a bit of a struggle to find fabrics in the right color ranges, as they aren't the currently popular shades, but the proprietor of our local quilt store was extremely helpful in finding these fabrics.  I tried to offset the colors a bit to make the bag not seem to crazy, so the bright blue is on one side, and the pink is on the reverse.  The purple and black fabrics are a bit more mellow, so they are on both sides.

 

Stacey stopped paying attention while cutting at one point, and cut the pockets the wrong way in the fabric so they ended up shorter than the pattern called for.  The same thing happened with the straps.  She likes the look of the slightly shorter pockets, that seem to take up half the depth of the bag.  The handles are definitely still usable, but a few more inches on them would probably be better.

She also cut the corners at the bottom to make the box shape a little bit too large, a misreading on her part.  This error actually lines up the bottom of the pockets with the bottom of the bag when it is standing up, which has been perceived as a vast improvement in the look of the bag.

The bottom seam where the bag was turned right sides out was hand-stitched using the ladder stitch technique.  Look at this, you almost can't tell it was hand-sewn!  This shows a marked improvement in Stacey's hand-sewing technique since she started sewing a few years ago.

Stacey's cross-back apron:

Stacey then worked on her own cross-back apron, which she managed to cut out with the print upside down.  C'est la vie.  There wasn't enough fabric left to cut it out again, and it's just going to get messy in the kitchen anyway, so she just went with it.  Since the project was already mucked up, Stacey decided to try out some different stitches on the various seams of the apron.  The bottom hem was just a straight stitch.  The outside seams were done with the seam/overlock setting.  The armhole curve and inside strap seams were done with an S curve stitch pattern, which, in hindsight, may not have been the best idea as the clipped edges in the curve are not fully sewed down.  That can and will be fixed if needed in the future.  The top front seam was done with a rolled hem to encase the edge.  All-in-all, it fits and it'll hopefully prevent some clothing stains from kitchen messes, exactly as intended.

Slouchy headwarmer:

The next sewing project this week was the Patterns for Pirates Slouchy Headwarmer, which is one of their 2017 Holiday Freebies.  Stacey whipped this up out of remnants of the girl scout green lycra.  This project took about 20 minutes, including the hand-stitching at the end.  This is a super easy and versatile project, as it can be worn as a headband, hat, messy bun hat, or a cowl.  As usual, the tutorial from Patterns for Pirates is excellent.

Knitting:

Stacey continued working on her second Knit One, Crochet Too Ty-Dy sock in the Cherry Cola 1233 colorway, and managed to get to the toe decreases.  The stitch-marker is where the sock was last time it made it into a blog post.

Cross-stitch:

Dorothy now has a dress, and there's a rainbow on the Wizard of Oz block of the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

Woodworking:

Lee spent some time in the workshop making a new crosscut sled. The old one went with the table saw it fit when he returned it to his father. The new crosscut sled has some improvements over the old one. This one features a stop block with a tape measure, two T slot tracks and an insert where the blade meets the front rail. The stop block is used to make accurate repeatable cuts without having to markup and measure each piece. The two T slot tracks can be used to clamp your material to the sled so you don't have to hold onto it or to attach a miter gauge that can be used to cut angles. Lastly, the replaceable inserts are used to get a clear view of where the blade will cut. When lining up your material to be cut its important to know where the blade will hit the front rail, the old sled got a little worn out which led to not knowing where the blade would cut without lining up each piece to the blade itself. Now if it gets a bit off, the insert can simply be replaced. 

A sock in pieces and a shed

This week we put a lot of our crafting time towards projects to make our lives easier.  Stacey has been watching The Great British Sewing Bee while she works on her cross-stitch project, and Lee has been watching Star Wars - The Clone Wars while playing video games and watching woodworking videos.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  Purchasing items after following a link in this post may provide us with a commission, at no extra cost to you. 

Cross-stitch:

Stacey finished the top banner and the frame for the Wizard of Oz block in the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

Knitting:

Stacey continued to try to fix her first Knit One, Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks in colorway Cherry Cola 1233 sock.  She decided that ripping back short rows is not fun, and picked up the stitches from the cuff and the stitches from the foot, and removed all of the heel rows in the middle.  While this took quite a bit of time, the sock looks salvageable again.  Yay!

Sewing:

We are constantly searching for towels to wipe our hands on in the kitchen.  We'll go to grab one we put down two minutes ago, and poof, it's not there.  Where is it?  On the other side of the kitchen or on the other person's shoulder.  The worst part is that we normally have three kitchen towels floating around at any given point.  The solution to this problem is not more towels of course, but to make aprons that we can wipe our hands on that are attached to our bodies so they can't grow legs like those pesky towels.

Stacey likes the look and the idea of the currently popular cross-back apron, so she decided that is what she would make.  After lots of sorting through useless pins on Pinterest, and attempting to mock up her own version, she came across Cynthia Fong's Linen aprons for the whole family pattern at fabrics-store.com.  Ann Martinson's comment on the post helped her figure out how the apron is supposed to fit, and she determined that the adult size listed would work for her.  Lee, being 6' tall, needs some adjustments to have the apron fit, which was easily done based on Ann's explanation.

Here are our drafted patterns, drawn out on tracing paper.  Aside from the adjustments made for Lee's apron, both also had the armholes raised up by 7", as we're not fans of low cut armholes.

Maybe next week we'll have one or both of the aprons finished to show you.

Woodworking:

While not specifically woodworking, our next project was woodworking-adjacent.  We assembled a shed in the back yard to store the lumber cart and other things that simply take up too much room in the garage workshop but are still needed, and should be nearby.  Saturday was a balmy fifty-ish degrees (as long as you were in the sun, which we were not), so we figured it was the perfect time to get this done before winter fully kicks in.