Crafting Overload

I have been doing a lot of knitting and sewing the past few weeks. My friends Ching Sia and Andrew are having a little boy. His name will be Alexander Grahm and I'm so excited and hope I get to see him at some point during his first year. They live in Malaysia so it will be a push. But to welcome little Alex, I have been knitting and sewing and embroidering and this is what I have for him so far.

Burp Cloths hand knitted with a iron on decal which I attached by sewing. Made with Sugar N Cream cotton. I am doing a full week of these. I have five done, two to go.





Wash cloths made out of the left over cotton from the burp cloths. All seven are done.







Hats! The weather in Malaysia is mostly tropical but babies still need hats for the cooler indoor climate. These are also made in cotton.



These burp cloths were sewn with a cotton collegiate fabric (Ole Miss) on one side and terry cloth on the other. The shape lends itself well to being draped over the shoulder. Both mom and dad of the new baby were my classmates at Ole Miss.



This fleece blanket and pillow combo are also made from Ole Miss collegiate series fabric. The back is solid red.







I am still working on these. I bought two sizes of onesies and will be embroidering them with different pictures and sayings just for baby Alex. I'm really excited about these so you'll be seeing more on these in the weeks to come.




My goal is to finish all of these projects up in the next couple of weeks so I can box them up and ship them off to Malaysia. I've sent letters and postcards over there, but I'm not sure how long it will take a box to get to them. Alex is due in January.

Too Much Going On

There has been a lot going on in my world the last couple of weeks. The main thing is that I am gearing up for Nanowrimo 2008. I will be attempting to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. It's going to be a push considering I'm starting the month off with Stitches 2008 and ending with hosting the family for Thanksgiving. But I will be writing and I will be striving for that goal. You'll see additional changes to the blog as we approach the start so check back often.

My Needle Storage

During my time away from home, I found out just how impractical my knitting needle cases were. I was traveling with two suitcases and fitting the rolled knitting needle case or the book style case for circulars did not work. I spent more time worried that something would get crushed and my needles would get damaged. When packing needles, the best thing for them is to be as flat as possible.

Which led to last weeks' sewing project. As you know from my previous post, I have a lot of zippers to use so I knew my new cases would need to incorporate the zippers. Not to mention I like having the zipper as a closure to ensure I don't loose needles as I sometimes would in my jelly roll case.

So, what would the ideal travel case for my needles look like...



Just like this. And as you can see I made a case for straight needles, sock needles, circular needles and even a small pouch for accessories. I love them and have gone crazy sewing them up.






I've been toying with the idea of starting an Etsy shop so I will be making a bunch to list and we'll see what happens. In the meantime, I am willing to share! The first five people that post a comment and send me your mailing address, you will get your very own straight needle case. Please send your address to my email at aldorris@bellsouth.net to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing your comments.