West Mitten Crafts is now on Twitch!

Do you ever wish you could take part in our crafting adventures?  We're pleased to announce that you can find me streaming some of my crafting activities on Twitch.  I have been recording from 6-7 a.m. Eastern, and plan to continue this schedule Monday-Friday each week, with the possibility of some weekend recordings too.  Stop by while I'm recording and send a message in chat that I can respond to, or if you're like most people that would rather be sleeping, watch one of the videos I already recorded, they're available to watch for two weeks.

Shop Update

We're running another sale in our Etsy shop!  Today through Labor Day (8/29/18-9/3/18) you can get any of our available items 20% off, no coupon code required.

Sewing

I finished my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  This was made in size medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics.  This sweater fits great, but I prefer smaller necklines, so my next two versions will utilize some of the alternate pieces that Patterns for Pirates offers to switch it up.

In order to make the next two versions, I cut out the pattern pieces for the Patterns for Pirates Relaxed Raglan Add On.  I also cut out the Colette Patterns Sorbetto pattern as well.

I also made my second Squishy Project Bag by Erica Arndt from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and the whole process was streamed on Twitch.  It took three morning craft sessions to finish this project, which included a bit of ripping out stitches because I thought my way was better than the way its recommended.  Some day I'll learn.  I did make the strap two inches longer to make it easier to fit over my hand, but otherwise made the pattern as written.  I expect that I'll make more of these in the future.

Knitting

I have been working on my Two-at-a-time socks and Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie.  The socks are my standard sock pattern out of Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway, and they have about one inch of ribbing at this point.  It does seem like they are taking forever, but I've only picked them up a few times and the progress is being shared over the two socks, so technically I have two inches of sock done.

The scarf is getting long (its 4' long so far), but I'm planning on knitting until I run out of yarn, so I'm guessing its about halfway there.  It is being knit out of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway.

Stacey's update

Hello!  Thanks for checking in on us.  We have been horribly absent from the blog, and even from crafting in general for a while.  I did manage to read 56 books so far this year though!  I have returned to my beloved crafts, and wanted to share my makes so far.

Knitting

Shortly after our last blog post, I decided to attempt the Oaklet Shawl by Megan Goodacre again.  I originally started the shawl back in October of 2013, and had made a fair bit of progress before I noticed that the eyelets were a bit wonky and stopped working on it.  Four years later, it was officially ripped out, as I still had no idea how to fix it, and would not have been happy with it as it was.  It was very pretty though, aside from being skewed on one side.  Apparently, I've become a better knitter in the past five years, so it was a joy to work on this time.  The shawl was knit out of Malabrigo Yarn Sock in the Alcaucil colorway and the knitting was finished on April 29th, and the blocking and weaving in of ends was completed earlier this month.

Stacey's Oaklet Shawl

I then worked on a pair of socks for Lee out of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply in the Bullfinch (861) colorway that I picked up at the Sin City Knit Shop in Las Vegas last December.  I used my generic sock pattern with Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel and Asymetric Wedge Toe by Reena Meijer Drees.  These socks only took 5 months, and were made within a year of purchasing the yarn, so I'm quite proud of myself.

Lee's From Vegas With Love Socks

Earlier this month, I decided that I wanted to go to knit night again, which requires that I have a project to work on, so I grabbed a ball of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway that Lee had selected sometime last year (I have not been doing a good job of keeping my Ravelry stash updated).  I cast on a One Ball Knit Scarfie by Lion Brand, and that has been getting a bit of love every day or so. 

Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie

With Lee's scarf cast on, I suddenly had the urge to cast on more things, so I grabbed some Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway that I got as part of a Knit Crate package years ago.  I decided that with it taking just 5 months for Lee's socks, I should up the ante and knit my pair two at a time.  Maybe it'll be faster with no second sock syndrome, maybe slower if I get confused and start using the wrong strand of yarn for each sock.  They definitely require a bit more mindfulness, so they aren't my quick grab project (its a good think I've also got the scarf to work on).  

Stacey's Two-at-a-time Socks

Crochet

After the shawl, I worked on two pairs of Baby Strap Flip-Flops by Bethany Dearden for a friend.  These were fairly quick projects, though I had to watch Bethany's youtube video to get some clarification on the pattern.  I managed to hand these over without taking pictures, but they were pretty darn cute.

Sewing

After starting Lee's scarf, and having the needles create quite a few new holes in the first project bag I ever made, I decide to make a better project bag.  I looked online and came across the Squishy Project Bag pattern from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I went through my stash trying to find some bits that were big enough and would go with the pink zipper that I had, and whipped this pretty little bag up over a few mornings before work.  I love the size of this bag, and am glad that I listened to Lee and quilted the outside.  He thinks I should have used a contrasting thread color for the quilting, so I'll probably try that on the next bag I make.

Closed Squishy Project Bag

Open Squishy Project Bag

I sewed up a tee shirt using the Kwik Sew K3766 pattern that I had sitting around using some knit jersey that I had tried to make a waterfall cardigan from last year.  The hems are a bit wavy and the fabric is a bit stretchier than I like for my shirts, but it fits well, I like the neckline and shoulder seam placement, and it's very comfortable.  I'll definitely make this pattern again, once I can figure out what kind of fabric is appropriate for tee shirts.  I'd love some suggestions...  And the shirt is currently in the laundry, so no picture right now (otherwise the motivation to get this out here might disappear again).

Yesterday I cut the pattern and fabric for my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  My chest and waist measurements fell on the low end of the medium size range, but my waist was almost in the extra large size range.  Since it was the relaxed version, and not fitted, I decided to cut a straight medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics and hope for the best.  I stitched up the front and back to the sleeves this morning, and pinned the neck to the body, so hopefully I'll get that stitched up tomorrow morning.  I'm happy with the sleeve and body length, so I think I'll just hem them and have a finished sweater.  If the finishing goes as well as the rest, I'll definitely be making another one (or five).

Progress on the Relaxed Raglan

Cross-Stitch

I did work on the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery for a few days, but haven't been picking it up nearly often enough.  Maybe I'll finish it in 2020?