'Tis the Season

Ahhhh.....late summer.

The Little Ones have returned to school.  Life resumes a regular schedule.  Bedtimes are again enforced.

This is my New Year.  It's a chance to start fresh.  In addition to getting the kids geared up for school, I cleaned out my home office and re-organized everything.  Very refreshing.

My August New Year comes complete with resolutions.  This year, I want to challenge myself try new techniques, including but not limited to:

• Insert an invisible zipper
• Sew more with knits (two successful projects this week - more on this in a blog post soon!)
• Make something wearable using Tunisian crochet
• Learn the knit and purl stitches with the double-ended crochet hook
• Take a knitting class
• Make a project from Lily Chin's Mosaic Magic.

I'll keep you posted. 

In the meantime, one of the ladies from my Ravelry Crochet Club mentioned the Attic24 blog a few weeks ago.  Wow.  Such inspiration!  The author is Lucy, she's english, and she writes in a delightfully english tone.  She sounds like the kind of person you'd pop over and visit for tea unannounced whilst our kids scampered off to do whatever.  Someday, when I cross that overseas trip off my bucket list, I am soooo going to try and meet up with her.  I'd like to meet her and thank her in person for the free patterns she designs and the joy she shares with the world in her writing.

Anyhow...

Today's blog post is directly related, because both patterns are available on Lucy's blog, attic24. 

The Blooming Flower Cushion and the Granny Stripe Afghan

The flower cushion was just pure fun. It embodies summer and joy and it makes me happy to see it sitting there on my furniture.   Below is a close up, and a view of its stripey backside.

The rest of the yarn was made into this Granny Stripe afghan.  Moment of truth here: I usually find afghans tedious and boring after about one day.  This one was not boring at all!  In fact, it was a scientific study of color that I've never done before.  With 14 colors at my fingertips, this was pure color exploration in putting combos together that I never would put together ordinarily.  I discovered some truly wonderful combinations that will surely show up in future projects.

Oh, and another lesson learned.  Fringe is the enemy.

I thought putting a fringe edge on this beast would be an easy substitution to working the remaining yarn ends in with a needle.  WRONG!  Adding that dang fringe took about 3 hours. (yes, I am bitter toward it still.)  A better plan would have been to work in each end immediately upon completion of each row, so I didn't have a mass of loose ends mocking me at the end of the project, saying, "na na na boo boo.....now whatcha gonna do with US?"  Gah.

Fringe aside, this is one my most favorite afghans to date.

Playing Nook-y

Last week the coolest gadget ever entered my life - a Nook Color.  Now keep in mind that I do not have a smartphone, use Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, or any other cyber-stalking tools, so I'm easy to impress with such gadgetry as an e-reader.

Not only does the Nook read books, it went out and fetched my email for me!  It's like a virtual dog that doesn't need fed and doesn't crap in the yard.  It also has loads of books and gadgets and gizmos to entertain the kids, plus lots of apps I have yet to fully explore.  It also surfs the internet in speedy fashion.  I'm enthralled!

What the Nook doesn't do, however, is come with a protective cover.  *sigh*  Of course not.  How else would They get you to drop another $40 for such an important accessory?  Well go ahead and put your wallet away, because I've designed a cheaper (and prettier) option.

This is a simple little project for a Nook sleeve.  The measurements are specific to the Nook Color, but this is easily adjusted to fit any size e-reader, tablet, or other gadget.  I'll explain how to adjust the pattern at the end of the tutorial.

Nook Sleeve Materials List

• 1 fat quarter (or 2 coordinating fat quarters if you want the lining different from the outside)
• 1 large button
• 1 elastic ponytail hair tie
• 1/4 yard extra firm sew-in interfacing
• Scrap of quilt batting OR fleece, at least 7" x 20"
• Thread

Step 1 - Cut the pieces. 

From the fabric, cut one outer piece 7" x 20" and two lining pieces each 7" x 10." 

Cut both the interfacing and the batting to 7" x 20."

Step 2 - Set the lining pieces aside.  Layer the remaining pieces with batting on bottom, interfacing in the middle, and outer fabric on top.  Line up the edges and fold this whole thing in half so the fabrics are right side together.

Step 3 - Sew the two long sides 1/4" from the edge.  Make sure to backstitch at both the beginning and end of the seams.

Step 4 - Turn it right side out and push the corners out so they are nice and sharp.  If any batting or interfacing hangs out the top, go ahead and trim everything so it's even.

Step 5 - Sew on the hair tie in the center of one side, on the right side of the fabric. 

 

Step 6 - Lay the two lining pieces right sides together, and sew the two long edges with 1/4" seams.  Do not turn right side out.

Step 7 - Slip the lining onto the sleeve by sliding it over the outside.  The right sides of the fabric should be together.  Line up the top raw edges, and tuck the hair tie down between the layers. 

Step 8 - Carefully stitch around the top with a 1/4" seam allowance.  When you reach the hair tie, back up and go over it twice.  You don't want that tie pulling out of the seam later!  If your machine has a partially removable table for sewing sleeves and such, it makes this step much easier.

Step 9 - Pull the lining up and press it flat. 

Step 10 - Turn the raw edges of the lining 1/2" to the inside and press.  Stitch the opening closed with 1/8" seam allowance.

Step 11 - Push the lining down inside the sleeve and give the whole thing a good press. 

Step 12 - Sew on your button, and slide your Nook Color inside!  Voila!

Note: to adjust the pattern, simply measure your device and add 2" to each side.  For example, my Nook measures 5" x 8."  Adding 2" to those numbers gave me 7" x 10" - the size of the lining pieces.  The other pieces could also have been cut to 7"x 10", but I choose to just cut one large piece and fold it over instead of having to sew a bottom seam.