Anybody keep their Tinker Toys? I need some to make a Tinker Toy Yarn Swift! Let me know if you have some. I’ve got lots of goodies I could send you as a trade!

A tutorial for a Hobbit Sock Doll. How awesome is that? I want one!

I’ve uploaded photos of two items that my Gram gave me yesterday. Be sure to check them all out.

the AntiCraft Issue 3: The Changing Garden of Mr. Bell for Beltane 2006. I Am Doll Parts gives me an idea! When we were little, Amy and I watched Carrie on TV. The end where the hand comes out of the ground scared the pants off of both of us. We screamed in terror! I think a lovely plant in a lovely pot with a doll part arm reaching out is a great idea in honour of such a scary movie. ha ha ha ha I wish I’d had this idea sooner. I’d have done it for her birthday in April.

A Maiden’s Glory is something I’d like to make and great for any spring birthdays you might have coming up. You could make a bracelet in the same fashion as the necklace or put these may flowers on purse straps or to jazzy up jeans, socks, jackets, hats, eyeglass cases, etc. Be creative.

I love Life and Death. It’s a fabulous twist on the Duct Tape Purse. Make yourself a Duct Tape Wallet to put inside. Check out Duck-Tivities for some more great crafty items to make with man’s best friend. And then I found this: some paint chip wallets! Paint chips and duct tape. What more could a man want?

Ok off to the new MagKnits. Bears, sweaters, wraps, baby socks, illusion scarf and more. Enjoy :)

Now, where did I put that duct tape??

Ok, this is a title I made up, but really, hop on over to Scrap Smart and do a product search for Knit and Crochet. Lovely stuff. I love the quotes!

Wonderful images and quotes and a CD and album to create your own Heritage Knit and Crochet Album. If you love scrapbooking and knitting and crocheting, I think you’ll love it. I’ve been meaning to get an album going. I’m feeling some inspiration coming on.

Ok crafty ladies. I’ve heard that Lewiscraft is closing down. All of them. Out of business. This means they are having huge sales! Get down to your local Lewiscraft today! (and pick me up some Patons Classic Merino, will ya? lol I don’t know when I’ll get to go! But enjoy!

Check out CraftiBlog, the adventures of a Mother/Daughter team. I love it. Awesome patterns and ideas.

A Good Yarn has a bunch of free knitting images. There are lots of things you can do with these. Here are some ideas…

• use in a knitting scrapbook or journal
• jazzy up the blog a bit
• print and use them on Christmas cards
• print and use as gift tags for handknit items, gifts of accessories or yarns
• print on shrinky dinks and make stitch markers!
• print and frame them for your craft room
• make your own knitting t-shirts

Let me know if you come up with your own! We’ll add them on!

Craft Creations is a UK magazine. They post a whack of free projects from every issue! Lucky for us! I love the stuff in there. From cross stitch to paper crafts and fimo, foil and more. Fun stuff!

I love how babies of the 70's and early 80's think. My DH found this last night while power-surfing in front of the TV. Although I'm not a quilter yet (I'd love to be), I'm thinking those can be easily done up in knit or crochet! And guess who wants one? lol

We're making the Tiny Pinatas from not martha. My sister is having 25-30 at the ceremony and dinner and 80-100 at the reception. I think 25-30 pinatas is sufficient. Her colours are blue and white (and silver I think), so this will make really pretty pinatas! I was also thinking of using some velum because it is translucent and would be so pretty! It's a little stiffer, but worth a shot.

For the reception, I'm making tiny guest soaps. I don't remember where I got the idea, but using the melt-and-pour soaps and a tin foil-lined baking sheet, you pour the soap onto the sheet and when it sets, you can cut it. I am going to cut it into little squares. You could use cookie cutters and get some really fun shapes. I could do triangles and have my sister make up tags with some celtic knots. I actually love this idea.

If anyone is interested in coming over for a day of crafting and helping me make these items, please email me. The more the merrier, I always say.

Well, I need a nap. I started back to work today and afterwards walked up Queen St. (Yes, I went to Romni Wools. Knitting post to follow later this evening.)

DPN case and the lovely Bike Buckets Cool!

Circular Needle Case Tutorial

Knitting Needle Roll

Crochet Hook Case

Crochet Hooks Cover

This Nursery Caddy would double as a fantastic sewing/crochet/knitting gadget caddy.

Steel Crochet Hook Case 

Aluminum Crochet Hook Case (I've made 3 of these!)

Afghan hooks, Cro-hooks or Knitting Needle Case (I've made 2 of these!)

Since I was only able to attend on Friday, I didn't get as much shopping time as I normally would. (This is probably a good thing.) I did get to attend 2 of Jennifer Aikman-Smith's workshops, however. The first, was Beyond the Basic X. Wow. There are so many other stitches out there! We learned the crown stitch, the butterfly stitch and the leaf stitch. I loved learning new techniques. I find it easier to learn new things like this if I am shown how, rather than if I read it in a book. The other class was about getting ideas for what to do with your stitchery - framing isn't the only thing you can do. Of course we all know that, but I'm not into dorky cross stitched sweatshirts either! It was neat to see all the great ideas. I think we were inspired and came up with some ideas of our own.

I attended one knitting workshop with Judy called "Tubular Cast-On". Ok, I love love love this method for casting on. It would be suitable for socks, mitts, legwarmers, wrist cuffs and I think I would even like it in sweaters too. Denise Powell, a member of the Downtown Knit Collective taught this workshop. We were all given a big ball of WW acrylic Paton's TLC. Judy left me hers as well! It creates a lovely stretchy edge. Try Tubular Cast-Off as well! I will add these links to the Tutorials section.

Judy left me some Paton's Merino wool that she got in her Mosaic's class. Amber, Jo and Megan bought me a big purse with the symbol for Capricorn on it! I love it!

Judy and Mom both got hooked on scrapbooking and already have special projects in mind. They stocked up on cutters, shape cutters, pages, stickers, etc. It's so funny to watch someone else get hooked on a new craft! At the moment I am unable to upload more photos. Ross promises to fix that later....

The Spring CSNF approacheth. For the Spring show, they do not have "classes" but rather have lectures, workshops and demos. The spring show is April 22-24 at the International Centre in Mississauga. Buy your tickets in advance (now) in order to be able to attend the workshops. The workshops are free (some have a material fee), but the deal is it's first come - first serve. The advance ticket purchasers will get all the free spots in the workshops! Most of the workshops are for 20-25 people and Jennifer Aikman-Smith has one 40-minute workshop.

There are lots of great knitting workshops! I am hoping I'll be able to  get into some of them.  There are also free in-booth activities that are always fun!

Mom says she's coming for the show! Now we just have to coordinate which workshops we're interested in! :) I wonder if Amber will come too!

I love things like this. Letters to Esther is a collection of letters written to Esther Munro of Geneva, Indiana spanning from 1900-1960. It is so interesting and fun to read! I've often wanted to put together something like this. Actually, I may even have some letters from a dear soul who adopted me as her "granddaughter" a few years ago. She has since passed on and I miss her. I think putting together a book of "Letters from Gramma" would be fun and a nice way to remember her. I could do it scrapbook style. I love this idea. :)

Jamma has already got a head start (ha! Pardon the pun!) on me! I'll post an update tonight!

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Update: Ok, this is from work so no pic yet and just a quick jotty note! I've completed round 14 and now I must make the flower. I still haven't decided how to do that. I had to frog round 4. My hat is a little ... big.... but it's ok.... I guess.... A smaller hook might be in order. I'm thinking of doing a wine coloured flower. Picture forthcoming! It is a very pretty pattern.

I've picked my yarn. I swear I'll take pics tonight and beg Ross to upload!  It's a red and burnt orange and white fuzzy kind of yarn. I'm guessing it's thicker than a light worsted-weight, since it's textured, so I'll try using different hooks until I get it right! For the flower, I haven't really decided. Maybe an orange flower or perhaps a deep red. I'll figure it out when I get there! Jamma, have you picked your yarn? Maybe we can get started tonight. Or tomorrow morning. Pick a time!

I love love love these at Michaels. The jeans might be a bit much for my 34-year-oldness, but I'm "feeling" the cell phone holder and belt. They "shizzle my wizzle"? Something like that anyway. LOL

Ross would die if I did this, but I think my Gram would love it!

Everyone is wearing skull hats with flowers adorning them. I just found the perfect pattern! You'll also need this and this. I think we should do a crochet-a-long, Jamma. What do you think?

3 of them I like. 2 of them -  not so much! I'll get pics of them later. Gotta bug hubby... he has a system for uploading the photos from the camera and he doesn't want me to mess it up.

Once again I am inspired. This time I've been inspired to make potato-stamped note cards! Love them!