New craft excitement!

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I haven't posted anything about my knitting lately. Although I've added new untouched yarn to my stash and a new set of DPNS, and even some point protectors (since my rubber bands kept breaking) I haven't been knitting. I don't know if I knit a stitch this weekend. This is because I've been.....sewing!

I've never really sewn (with a sewing machine) before. I think this is for two reasons: I've never owned one, and I've never had things I wanted to sew. Being at home for a while solves problem one; I can use my mom's sewing machine. Problem two was solved the other day when I tripped over the circular needles that were living on my floor for the fifth time in one day. I needed a way to hold them, and soon. I was looking around the blogosphere and I found some beautiful cases for sale and some very nice hand made ones. Ultimately, I decided to follow the pattern in the back of Stitch 'n Bitch and make myself a nice hanging holder. I headed out to JoAnn's and got three different kinds of fabric: one that was a dark brown, one that was a periwinkle blue, and one that was a blue and white paisley. I only needed two (the brown and the paisley) for my circular case, but the back of SnB also had patterns for a totebag and a straight needle case, so I thought extra fabric would be a good idea.

Last night I finished my circular needle case. It's far from perfect, but it does the job well, and I like it. When I was debating what my next project should be, I decided on a DPN case. I only have five sets of DPNs but I somehow always manage to have lost whichever set I need. I modified the SnB pattern for straight needles to accommodate my needs. I'm almost done - all I need to do now is sew the patterned bit to the pocket bit. I suspect hand sewing is the way to go here, for various reasons. I also need to hand sew over the velcro for my circular case. Once both are done, expect to see pictures.

I'll get back to my regularly scheduled knitting soon. I'll have to if I want to finish all my holiday gifts!