Well folks, today is the day. Novice Knitting is moving on up and re-branding as “Getting Crafty“. While I still love to get my knit on, I’m really enjoying other crafts as well and I just didn’t think that belonged on a knitting site. Getting Crafty will still feature a lot of knitting, but will include other crafts as well. I hope you’ll all join me over there where hopefully there will be much more frequent updates! Come on over and check out the new place and update your feeds!

Yesterday at lunch I went on a spur of the moment trip with my mom to a rug and home fabrics store nearby that is going to be closing soon. I wasn’t expecting to buy anything until I came across some great deals on this upholstery fabric. At 20% off of the already marked down prices I just couldn’t resist.

As soon as I can finish up the other six(!) projects that I’ve already got going, these are going to be turning into some fabulous bags.

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Here I am again feeling the need to apologize for not updating. I’m not sure why I feel that way really. It’s my blog, I should be able to update (or not update as the case may be) when I please. That said, I’m going to make an effort to catch up on what I’ve done the last couple of months.

As far as knitting goes, I seem to have lost my drive a bit. I want to knit. It just feels so time consuming these days. I suppose that’s why I have about five unfinished projects going. I’ll start something and then lose the drive to finish it. I guess that’s why I prefer hats, scarfs, and other quick projects as opposed to knitting sweaters.

Just before Christmas, I decided I wanted to give some handmade gifts. I was a little too ambitious with my plans and didn’t get them all finished, but I did actually complete a couple of knitted items. Hubby’s mom had requested a pink scarf a while back when she saw me knitting the pink Grace Beanie last summer. So, I pulled out my leftover yarn and knitted her up a quick scarf. Then, for lack of any better ideas, I found some camo colored Red Heart yarn at Michael’s and decided to knit my father-in-law a hat to keep his noggin warm. He’s big on hunting so I thought the camo colors would be perfect for him. (Yes, I’m aware the picture quality totally sucks and you can’t really make out the colors.)

With all of the holiday rush, I barely finished those items in time to get them mailed out. Instead of fooling myself into thinking I could actually get anything else knitted in time, I decided to do a little sewing for the third gift.

My sister-in-law was due to give birth to my niece about a week after Christmas, so I wanted to make her a nice tote bag for all that baby stuff she would soon be carrying around.  With my procrastinating, I ended up staying up until about 4:00 Christmas morning finishing the bag up.  The pattern was actually very easy, but apparently sleep deprivation is not very helpful when you are trying to follow even an easy pattern.  I love how the bag turned out am hoping to find the time to make myself one soon.

Projects that I will hopefully finish soon:
Baby blanket started nearly a year ago! (um, baby will be here hopefully in 7 weeks or less!)
Baby bib started last summer sometime (not really sure what the holdup is on this one, just bored with it)
Baby hat (should seriously have finished this one already)
Birthday gift for a birthday that has already passed (started, um, yesterday)
Scarf for myself (not yet started)

And if I can ever get all of those done, I picked up some really cute chunky yarn (Yarn Bee Mosaic in Sunrise - for $.99 a skein!) last night at Hobby Lobby that I’m just dying to play with.  I’m thinking it would make some cute hats and/or ponchos for my baby girl and my two new nieces.

This blog seems to be dying a very slow excruciating death at the moment, so even though this isn’t knitting related, I’m posting it anyway. Hopefully I’ll get back to some regular knitting soon and will have something interesting to post.

A very, very long time ago I followed a link somewhere that led to another link somewhere that led to another link and eventually I found a pattern for this super cute little tote bag. I would link to it but I have no idea where it originally came from now. At the time, I had just gotten a new sewing machine and was really wanting to learn to sew so I copied the pattern and had grand plans of giving the tote bag a shot.

As usually happens with my big plans, I never got around to starting it. You see, it required me going to a fabric store and actually purchasing the fabric and supplies needed to make the bag and I never managed to find my way there until last week. I decided Thursday during my lunch break to check out one of the local fabric stores. I was on a search for some cute Halloween fabric so that I could make Zach a Trick or Treat bag that he wouldn’t drag on the ground. I was apparently a little too late to find Halloween fabric, but along the way I fell in love with some coordinating flannels and decided they would make the perfect little tote bag.

I couldn’t wait to get started on my project and started cutting the fabric that night. By the time I got all the pieces cut and the interfacing ironed on I had to quit and go to bed. I couldn’t wait to get home and start sewing on Friday. I didn’t actually get started until about 9:30 that night, but after many toddler interruptions and a couple of sewing machine difficulties, I finally finished it. My seams are far from perfect and I could have possibly measured a little more carefully, but I absolutely love my little bag. Plus, I’m very impressed that I made the whole thing from start to finish. It is my first “real” sewing project and it actually turned out okay!

I also bought enough material that I can make a second one (because I figured I would manage to screw up the first somehow) so I’m thinking of trying again and possibly doing some experimenting with the size. We’ll see how it goes!I meant to write about this earlier this week, but somehow let it escape my mind. A very, very long time ago I followed a link somewhere that led to another link somewhere that led to another link and eventually I found a pattern for this super cute little tote bag. I would link to it but I have no idea where it originally came from now. At the time, I had just gotten a new sewing machine and was really wanting to learn to sew so I copied the pattern and had grand plans of giving the tote bag a shot.As usually happens with my big plans, I never got around to starting it. You see, it required me going to a fabric store and actually purchasing the fabric and supplies needed to make the bag and I never managed to find my way there until last week. I decided Thursday during my lunch break to check out one of the local fabric stores. I was on a search for some cute Halloween fabric so that I could make Zach a Trick or Treat bag that he wouldn’t drag on the ground. I was apparently a little too late to find Halloween fabric, but along the way I fell in love with some coordinating flannels and decided they would make the perfect little tote bag.

I couldn’t wait to get started on my project and started cutting the fabric that night. By the time I got all the pieces cut and the interfacing ironed on I had to quit and go to bed. I couldn’t wait to get home and start sewing on Friday. I didn’t actually get started until about 9:30 that night, but after many toddler interruptions and a couple of sewing machine difficulties, I finally finished it. My seams are far from perfect and I could have possibly measured a little more carefully, but I absolutely love my little bag. Plus, I’m very impressed that I made the whole thing from start to finish. It is my first “real” sewing project and it actually turned out okay!

I also bought enough material that I can make a second one (because I figured I would manage to screw up the first somehow) so I’m thinking of trying again and possibly doing some experimenting with the size. We’ll see how it goes!

Well, I suppose it is time for an update over here, seeing as I haven’t posted in nearly a month.  The truth is, it has probably been that long since I’ve done any knitting.  I’ve detailed things more over at my personal blog, but basically between pregnancy, two bouts with a nasty stomach virus, and keeping up with my two-year-old, I’m just wiped out by the end of the day.  By the time I get Zach to bed at night, I’m pretty much ready to crash myself.  Since that is usually the only time I get to knit, the knitting has been pushed aside.  It is kind of looking like some of the baby gifts I wanted to knit are not going to get done unless my energy picks up soon.  The good news is that I only have a few more weeks to go to get through the first trimester, so hopefully it will get better and I can pick up the needles again.  If not, I guess I’m going to have a lot of baby gifts to buy in the upcoming months.

I’m a little embarrassed at how long it has been since I’ve posted here.  My goal is to post a minimum of once a week and I’m not really keeping up with that.  I did go on vacation for a week though, so at least I have an excuse.

While I was on vacation, I successfully completed the Grace Beanie!  I made both of the hats to the left while riding in a car and they both turned out well.  The pink one on the right is the gorgeous Grace Beanie.  I used Red Hearts Baby Clouds for both hats.  Now I just have to figure out which lucky babies on my list are going to be the recipients.  I’ve got another Grace Beanie on the needles now in a lighter weight yarn and it is turning out really well so far.

Speaking of babies, I found out last week that I am expecting again.  We are very excited to bring another little monster angel into our family.  I also found out that a good friend of mine is expecting as well.  She’s just a few weeks ahead of me, so we’ll get to experience everything together.  How fun is that?

I’m guessing that I’m going to be knitting a whole lot of baby stuff in the near future.  I might even try a baby cardigan if I start feeling really brave.