The Knitting Bag - A Closer Look

I have been patiently waiting for Three Kitchen Fairies blog-aversary to tell you a little more about Amanda’s Knitting Bag so I would have a reason to link to her awesome giveaway (one of the prizes is a copy of the pattern).  The idea for this bag originally came about because of my friend Amanda’s birthday.  I wanted to make her something and I had this great stitching of the Octo-bunny from Badbird’s website and had to think of a way to incorporate it. 

Obviously my first thought was to put it on a bag front.  But I know Amanda has a lot of bags she’s made herself, so I didn’t want it to be just another bag.  I wanted it to be functional.  She knits and I thought wouldn’t it be great to give her a project bag to carry current projects in?!  So that’s how this project came about.

I wanted to make sure there were lots of pockets for all the different needles you might need on a project, because for those of you that knit you know that sometimes you need a few sets of DPNs or circulars and the such.  I also wanted there to be a little pocket to hold some small scissors, cable needles and place markers.  Bringing that all together got me to this bag.  I love it.  I’ve made another version myself, but I still need to take some photos, so I’ll add those to Flickr soon.  In the mean time, here are some bags that testers made!  Click on the photo to go to their post about their bags.

This first one is Amanda’s:

And, this second one is Megan’s (she cleverly put pockets on both sides):

 

 

Three Kitchen Fairies was also a tester for me, but I don’t have a final image to show you…so hopefully she will post photos to her website soon.  (Although I did see pictures of her final bag I should say, and it was very cute!) 

 

For those of you that are more comfortable with Etsy, I will be listing the patterns on Etsy later today (maybe tomorrow) in my shop.  You will just have to wait for me to email them to you.  But of course you can always purchase them through my website (paying via PayPal)  and download them yourself once payment is confirmed (which is usually just seconds later). 

 

The pattern itself is a departure from my old style.  Instead of lots of photos, it’s easy to understand, broken down instructions with drawings and graphical explanations.  I reformatted the whole look of the pattern and it’s more like the usual patterns you pick up in your local quilt shops.  Everything is broken down into sections, and each part of the process is broken down into small steps.  I find it easy to get lost in a long step and like to keep things short and to the point.  Thank you to everyone that has bought a pattern so far, your support means a lot and helps to keep me creating!

A New Look + 3 New Patterns

The new website is {mostly} live now!  I still have to finish up all the quilting links (none of those work at this point) but other than that, I think it’s ready to go!  (I even have a new About page!)  I love the new, clean look of it, and how it feels more cohesive than before.  I was never totally happy with the last site I built, but I am 100% thrilled with this one!  My favorite part is the new patterns page!  I am now offering my patterns for sale with direct download after purchase.  I love having this option myself when buying patterns, so I’m so happy to have found a great way to offer this to everyone.  In honor of this, I have 3 new patterns for sale! 

Amanda’s Knitting Bag	Log Cabin Needle Book	Ukulele Mini Quilt

I’m just going to give you a brief look here and will let you check them out more fully on the new website (clicking the pictures will take you to their page).  Clicking on the thumbnails within the pattern listing pages brings up full-size images for viewing.  I have not included all of my patterns, as those not listed will either be retired or revamped and later relisted.  Also, at this point, these new patterns will not be sold in my Etsy shop.  Possibly down the road, but having you be able to directly download the pattern is so much easier and instantly gratifying!  I will be offering my Other Bag pattern that was in the Spring 2011 issue of Quilts and More soon, and I hope a few quilt patterns as well.  I think in my next post I will talk a little bit more about each pattern, as I have a few photos from testers I’d like to share!  For now, it’s back to work for me, finishing the rest of the website! 

A New Website on the Way!

I’ve been busy working on a new website design (not blog, but website) and am ready to implement a bit of it.  Some of my links here will not work for the time being as I shuffle things around.  Most of my PDF links on the free tutorials are hosted on my main site and will be down for awhile.  I will try and have it all updated by the end of the day.  If you find you can’t download one of my free tutorials, just check back later.  I’ll be sure to post when it’s all up and running again!

The most exciting part of the new website is the release of three new patterns!  Yea!

Creating Again

I’ve been doing some sewing…and some pattern writing. It’s been awhile since I released a new pattern, but I have a few planned. Right now I have a fun project bag out to a few pattern testers – thanks to those of you that responded on Twitter! Hopefully I will be able to have it out next week. I also have two smaller patterns planned, both of them paper pieced. I’m also hoping to do something with a few of the quilt designs I have sitting on my hard drive. I think I have 40 or so right now. I figure it’s time to make up a few of those and release them. I actually have fabric for eight of them all ready to go, organized in bags with the drafted patterns. I have another that’s been on my cutting table and design wall for a few months now (time to finish up) and a couple more tops done and waiting for quilting. So this is my nudge to get those done. This blog is a great way to keep me creating…especially when I say I’m going to do something in words. I feel the need to actually get it done.

I wanted to take a minute to give a quick thank you to everyone that has stopped in to my blog after seeing my piece in Artful Blogging. Everyone has such kind comments and so many can relate with my own experiences, and that is what makes blogging all that more fun – sharing like experiences with each other. So thank you to everyone that takes the time to read and leave comments. As I’m sure most of you know, sometimes it’s just the thing you need on a bad day (and even a good one).

Haircut Time

I got a haircut today.  It wasn’t the plan to have so much chopped off, but my hair was way damaged for some reason.  And wouldn’t you know, with all the dry ends removed my hair is wavy right now.  It sure makes it easy to style it!  My hair dresser, whom I’ve seen for years, was like: did you get a perm??  No.  My stupid wave on the back of my head is just super wavy now.  That’s what you get when you have kids.  Wavy hair in one spot on your head.

Do you like my obnoxiously big sunglasses?  They are super fun.  I love them.

I made some fun stuff for a friends birthday and I’m working on patterns for them now.  So I’m hoping in the next week to release those and share some pictures!  Until then, have a great {Independence Day} weekend!