Monday, December 17, 2012

{Christmas Crafting} Knitting Needle Roll

I have grand plans to make the perfect knitting needle / crochet hook rolls for Christmas presents. 




I've made a few different rolls in the past, trying out different patterns/methods each time and I just have not been satisfied. The construction was too juvenile looking, or just poor in general. 

A lot of them just didn't have enough space either.  I wanted the knitting needle roll to fit all normal sizes of of my straight needles, in both the 9-10inch and 13-14inch sizes. 

After MUCH measuring and re-measuring, and looking at various styles/designs of rolls online, I finally narrowed down the size and shape of the knitting needle roll. It did take a little bit of time to cut out all of the pieces, too. I chose my new obsession linen for the main fabric, and then the really pretty blue-ish fabric for the accent.



I designed the pattern so that I could use my AMAZING BINDER ATTACHMENT as much as possible. It is seriously amazing. GET ONE. 
 









I was actually REALLY proud of myself for  thinking through this entire pattern before I jumped in. I looked at the construction of others online in order to get the order of operations down. 




One way that my pattern differs from any that I've tried, is that I added a flap to one side that really makes it a lot nicer to roll up and tie.






Here are a few pics of the finished roll. I am totally obsessed with it. I absolutely love the pattern and I think it turned out amazing. Boasting much??









I gifted it to girlfriend of mine last night at a Christmas party, and she loved it! Of course, not before I had the chance to fill it with my knitting needles. I will definitely be making one for myself. I have every intention of making a roll for Straight Needles, Circular Needles, Double Pointed Needles, and Crochet Hooks. Those will each require different shaped and sized rolls, but now I have my strategy down and can easily alter the pattern. I am so excited!











How much would you pay for something  like this? I would love to make them and sell them and would totally love your input. Thankssss.

HOLLER & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

{Christmas Crafting} "Squares on Point Quilt" for Baby

The final gift to round out all of my coworker gifts this year is a baby quilt for one of the partner's in our firm, who had his first baby last May. 

I wanted to make an easy quilt with a simple pattern, but lots of color and a big impact. I also wanted to us up some Anna Maria Horner flannels and some great Linens that I got at a local estate sale. I decided to use my Squares on Point quilt pattern that I developed for a class last month. 

This quilt kind of came together as I went, and I actually ended up using 3 different linens. A nice grey linen for the quilt top, a nice dark navy linen for the backing, and then for a great punch of color I used my new favorite color on Earth, for the binding.




I just love this fabric. It is soooo nice to work with!! Seriously, go buy some Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels.
 



 





I actually worked on this entire quilt while I was teaching the class for the quilt. Given that I could only pay limited attention, I opted for super simple quilt lines. 







I don't think that I have ever been more proud of my binding job either, this quilt was ALMOST perfect!! Seriously, I actually did a really good job. I'm not boasting, I'm just happy that I finally have the hang of it.
 











For the backing, I used a dark navy linen. I wanted something super durable because this will likely be tossed on the floor and crawled all over. 
 





 Some more glamor shots for you!











I hope you enjoy!!

HOLLER!