Da green beanie

A green beanie has been on my to-stitch list for about three winters. Alas, I had not found a) the right yarn or b) the right pattern (or c) the time, if I'm being honest). Then it was like it all came together... A Coffee and a Yarn (fabulous yarn shop for those of you in Sydney) were having a yarn swap night, where you could bring along your unused balls of wool and trade them with other knitters. So I took along some yarn that I had bought long ago for some project that I never made (come on, I know you have them too) and swapped them for this fantastic green ball, and some other wool that I am planning to knit into leg warmers.



Then I came across Debbie Stoller's (bless her) All-day Beret pattern on Ravelry and knew it was meant to be!

It really didn't take me too long to whip up, about a week of knitting-in-front-of-the-TV time (and I even made a mistake and had to back track at one stage). By the way, the mistake was just due to me not paying attention and this is actually a pretty easy knit.



If you're looking for a beanie knitting pattern, I recommend you give it a go!

Grey check dress

In a recent clean out of my fabric stash I found this *almost finished* grey check dress. 'Brilliant!' I thought, 'all I have to do it hem it!'. So I hemmed the dress that I had started making years ago, and tried it on. Not so brilliant. The zip was wonky, the arm holes and neck line gaped, and it was generally made quite poorly. No wonder I had abandoned the project - it was going to take serious re-working to be wearable.



I decided to persevere with it and I'm glad I did. I unpicked and re-stitched the zip about three times to get it right. I unpicked and re-stitched the arm holes and neck line, adding darts to make sure they fit properly. And then finally... it fit! Hooray!

I am also pleased to have proof that my sewing skills are better than what they were four years ago. You don't notice that sort of improvement until you come across a project like this.



The more office-friendly version, with black cardy.

Fabric serviettes

Boyfriend's mum gave me a gift voucher for the Organic Mamas store for Christmas. I knew straight away what I wanted to make, but it only just made it to the top of the 'to-stitch' queue. Serviettes.


In our house we tend to use paper serviettes, which I realise is pretty wasteful. Better to have fabric serviettes that you can use, wash, and use again.


I had hoped to use the rolled hem foot on my sewing machine (remember my plan to find out what all the feet do?) but the fabric was too thick to go through the curl. So I had to use the old fashioned fold-and-pin method.


It's a very sturdy organic cotton canvas.


A simple project but a good one. I made six napkins and had enough fabric left to make a matching tea towel. We go through a lot of tea towels in our house. These will be well used.

Etsy help is available

If you visit the fantastic Unanimous Craft website, you might know about the services offered by the site's owner, Rosalie, to Etsy sellers in need. Let's face it, there's a lot of organising to do, and a lot to stay on top of (facebook fanpage, twitter account, listing items... the list goes on). Sometimes you get into a routine of doing what you're used to, instead of what is actually bringing you sales. This is where Rosalie can help.

Rosalie recently gave me some crafty business advice, from an independent perspective of my photos, through to using keywords effectively and how to better use Etsy circles. I'm still working through my 'to-do' list, but already I am seeing more traffic to my store. This can only be a good thing, right?

If you think you could use a bit of help getting Etsy organised, check out Rosalie's services here.

The shrug is finally finished!

You may recall that I started knitting a cardigan/shrug... oh I don't know, a gazillion years ago? Well, amazingly, I have finally finished it.




Thankfully, I'm really happy with how it turned out (because you're never sure until you get it off the circular needles). I love the ruffley collar. And the stripes!



This was made from angora bunny wool that I bought in Scotland. It is so soft. Our cat loves to curl up on it (no Snorky! that's not what it's for!).



In other news, the egg cozies that I made for the ABCD meet-up were such a hit that I have decided to make some for the Stitchybritt store. They make great Easter gifts and are available right now... but only until Easter! After 24 April they will be gone!

And the winner is...

Time to announce the winner of the Stitchybritt blog-iversary giveaway! So who will win the Stitchybritt handmade teacozy? I have decided to use the draw-a-name-from-a-hat technique for this giveaway. This is actually one of three matching hats I use for juggling practice...



Thanks to everyone who entered. Fingers crossed... and the winner is...



Steph from Moobear designs! Congrats!

I have just been checking out Steph's website. Steph makes children's clothing with a conscience - lots of cute designs using organic and upcycled materials. Skip on over and take a look.