So Long Adorn

I wasn’t going to post about this on my vacation but wanted to say my piece to divert further e-mails about the subject.

It’s true- the last issue of Adorn was the Winter’ ‘07 issue. Everyone who worked on Adorn put a lot of love into it, but it’s hard to make a magazine and make ends meet, and ultimately, it didn’t work out. If there are magazines you love that you don’t want to see disappear, I have one word of advice: subscribe. Buy every issue. That is really the only way to let the magazine-makers and advertisers know that the audience is out there. 

Thanks so much to everyone who read, subscribed, contributed and spread the word about the magazine. It was really fun to make each issue happen, to seek out new crafters who hadn’t been published before, and to see how readers translated each project into their own inspiration.

If you’d like to buy back issues, you can do so here. If you have a question about your subscription, try the customer service number listed here. We had a good run.

Fits and Starts

Not much posting lately. I’ve been making stuff- just not necessarily stuff I can/feel like showing yet. I did finish the lining on my sewing bag, though.

It has a pocket for scissors, a pen, and whatever else. I took it to Bernina Club last week, where I made this heart potholder.

It was a good first time use of my walking foot (love!!) and a bias-tape refresher. I was by far the youngest person there, but I love being in a room full of people who love to sew.  Plus, I always pick up new tricks at classes. I just love how much time I have to actually take classes here. Plus, I get to take these classes for free for a year as it was included in the cost of the machine. Yay.

I actually have even more free time as of last week since my temporary job has ended. I have other projects to focus on, so it’s probably a good thing, but I do feel sad not having a reason to leave the house every morning. 

It is finally warming up around here (35! Break out the t-shirts!) and I can’t wait to get out and do some more walking. All told, his winter has been so, so, so much less hard than I thought it would be. It is lovely to be here with Paul, and the snow is completely beautiful, the sun shines, and it’s dry. I’m telling you, that makes a huge difference in actual cold-feel and the numbers on the thermometer don’t always tell the full story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cold! But overall it doesn’t feel as brutal as a New York winter. There are other things I miss, but not the depressing bleak dark-at-4:30 days.

And the winners are…

According to the random number generator, the winners of my giveaway are Liz Elayne (who picked a cake hat) and Jenny Harada (who gets to pick a necklace- I’m emailing you now!). Thanks for playing everyone. I’ll be back later today with some banana nut bread from the weekend.

A New Hat

LuluBeans asked if I had a chance to make anything from the lovely yarn I ordered before the holidays. I started with this gorgeous stuff:

 
And ended up with this:

 

A super simple K1, P1 ribbed hat. The yarn was so pretty that  I didn’t want to do anything complicated, and I knew I’d get more mileage with knitting than crochet.  The project made a perfect plane-ride companion. I may end up adding some type of brim since it’s a little short for Montana winters (I ran out of yarn. Plus, it’s embarrassing to put hats on your head with needles sticking out of them on planes. Not that I didn’t do it anyway– but I find this method less reliable  for determining fit with knitting than crochet).

I love the way handspun yarn looks and feels (especially this, because the vintage fabric spun in keeps it from itching my sensitive skin).  The only hard part about working with handspun is running out, understandably. I think in the future I’ll do a mix of handspun and basic yarn to make it last. I could see it being really pretty as an accent row.  

I’ve been going to bed thinking about all of the things I still need to post. I haven’t even unpacked my suitcase yet, or fully dealt with this:

 

These are just the fun packages- not the bills. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a card, a little christmas something, and my ornament swappers. There were a couple standouts that I’ll share…just as soon as I get around to it. 

Holiday Wrap Up (Part 1)

Paul is sleeping under many quilts right now. We made it home last night, just barely, but my luggage did not. I’m hopeful that it just went on to Alberta since we only had ten minutes to transfer (thank you airport cart man!), because I finally let myself buy some cute fabrics. And I want them! Oh, and you know, all of my jewelry and clothes and xmas presents. 

My camera cord is also in the missing bag, so I’m just going to show off some photos of presents I took before Christmas. I did not formally take the handmade pledge, because I knew that I was going to buy some books for Paul. However, I did manage to give handmade everywhere else. We aren’t big gift givers in my family, so I didn’t really have to stress myself out. (I am, however, thinking of all the cool things I can make for next year if I start tomorrow.)

 Without further ado:

2 sets of hot mitts by me with handmade (in Montana!) wooden spoons. I bought them from Harry Felton at the Holiday Bazaar, because they were so smooth and lovely and perfect to accompany the mitts.  I also had to buy one for myself, of course! (EDIT: If you want some guidance on making the mitts, check out this post.)

At the same fair, I purchased a couple of locally made teas, salve and lip balm. I used them for my gift in our white elephant swap, and my very pregnant sister picked them.  I got a pretty cool sewing notions box in the exchange (which I had to steal from my mom!)….which is also in the suitcase.  Perhaps when I get it back I can post some “Gifts in Action” shots.

That’s about it from this front. I had a nice, quiet, relaxing holiday. My phone totally died, so I couldn’t really call anyone, and I just spent time with my family and Paul’s family for the most part. I finished a lot of projects at home- a knit hat for me, three new cake hats for the shop, the beginnings of jewelry… I even sewed up a few quick gifts on my mom’s machine (I must go buy a  new one!). I also spent a lot of time wishing I was so relaxed when I was at home, with my craft room and craft supplies! Hopefully I can get cracking on some of my ideas today.

In other news, Kerry of Beaded Forest is giving away some fabric! Head over to her blog for a chance to win. She also has a lot of really fun projects posted, too– I especially love the otter she made for her father.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day. I made bread pudding for my family, and it’s in the oven right now. Mmmmm. The recipie is in the comments here, if you need a winter treat.

Sew-in Labels Help

EDIT: Found some at namemaker.com. Thanks!

 It seems that I’m finally out of my “made by” labels that I sew into the hats I sell (good thing, they were a misprint but I got them so close to a craft fair that I just went with it). Do any of you have a treasured source for woven labels? Or any other suggestions for that matter? Part of me wants to try printing on fabric and making my own tags so that I can have more flexibility with fonts, and I kind of don’t want to have to choose between flowers or knitting needles on the side.

Thanks in advance for links and suggestions.