Fiber and Needlework Update

After repeatedly blowing off a number of fiber and needle work projects that have gotten nowhere I have found that over the last few weeks I got my motivation and inspiration back. First I finally finished the scarf for my mom that was intended as last years X-mas gift but was only just started by that fateful day. Gives a new meaning to X-mas in July.

Next I finally gave in and washed, sorted and organized my stash of fabric and notions. I made plans for what fabrics needed to be made into what garments and by the time I was done I was overwhelmed so I decided to start with the simplest 2 projects first. That lead me to printing out the Lazy Days Skirt from Oliver+S and quickly whipping it up. The hardest part was deciding which ribbon to use.

As you can see I went with the solid purple. It looks vary cute and K loves it. I see more of them in our future.
Next project was created out of desperation. If I was going to get more motivated to complete/start other knitting projects and get ready for this X-mas I was going to need to make it easier to see at a glance what needles and notion I have and make it easy to take them with me. I already had a very large needle case that came with a set my grandmother gave me so what I really needed was something that could hold my double pointed needles, my crochet hooks and have plenty of room for future needles. After browsing some online patters and ready-mades I dove in to some miscellaneous fat quarter I had and came up with this. Not made particularly precise but I will do for now. Things I would have done differently would be to remember to attach the ties before sewing the whole thing, adding extra fabric to re-enforce the bottom, making a few smaller rows, adding a pocket for small notions, and making the whole thing in 2 pieces, the pockets and a separate cover to keep the stitches from showing on the outside. Here is another view of it with the flap down to prevent things from slipping out and partially rolled. The ties are a little awkward but I really like it and it works well.

Lastly, I have decided that I want to learn sock and this time I will keep at it until I do. My strategy for success includes leveraging the fact that i finally signed up for Ravelry, using the correct yarn, having the right dpns, and, most importantly, starting with kids socks (they are smaller and quicker to make progress on). In fact, in the time it took me to finishing composing this post, I have already done one. I don't want to put pictures up yet as they are a gift, but soon I'll show you all of them.