Oh lord, the crafty bug has hit with a vengeance here at Casa SewJIllian.

Oooooh pretty

Can I just say I have never in my life been attracted to sewing "accessories"? It's just not me. I often feel that they end up looking home made, and that obviousness is not me at all. At least I try to ensure my makes do not appear cottage crafty, if you know what I mean?

But look what happened! Eek - it's a tote bag bonanza.

I have been waiting this week on my yarn to arrive for my next project. And for the first time in a long time I've had a bad case of the itchy fingers. No, not some horrible form of dermatitis. An itch, an urge to create something.

I really am not much of a winter sewer. I'm not known for my patience with technical makes and I always see winter garments as way too demanding - think trousers and jeans, jackets and shirts, lions and tigers and bears oh my!

Waiting on this yarn gave me an idea. I seem to have found my winter craft groove... well at least for now. Knitting - makes perfect sense. It's cold, I want warm stuff, I'll knit it. And I love that knitting is totally portable. I can steal a moment on a train, waiting at M's ballet class, and just get on with it. Lovely...

But you know I'm gonna need something to tote around my knitting projects and associated paraphernalia. I'm kind of sick of using those ugly supermarket eco grocery bags. You know the ones I mean. Functional, but not that attractive. Enter stage left, a simple reversible tote.

I did think of simply drafting my own pattern (not that you really need one), but that earlier mentioned laziness set in and I found this tutorial. Super!

I used it as a basis for the two girly totes above. Both bags use drill and/or duck cotton as I wanted some stiffness and durability for these babies.

The Pucci inspired print is my knitting bag, lined with an awesome vintage couture newsprint fabric.

I also love me an internal pocket for keys/credit card/ tape measure etc, so I chopped out a square of the outer fabric to create a patch pocket for the lining.

The ballet print one is M's obvs. Upon seeing mine M demanded her own "library bag" and so it was done.

Check out that patch pocket. Awwww cute ballerina.

Happy model

Then the lovely P was so impressed he asked "How about a cool sleeve for my iPad". Well P, how could I say no? For this I think I'll draft my own pattern. Squeeeee!

And now I am totes toted out. Ok yarn, where the hell are ya?

KNIT: Oops, I did it again!

Thought this knitting lark was a passing fancy? Nah, I'm hooked. Get it, get it? "Hooked"! Ummm, actually that would be crocheting, and crocheting and I are not friends.

But me and knitting? We be buds, best buds, BFFs and everything.

So I was forced to do it again. A lovely Swirl Hat for my darling M's 3rd birthday. This was my first attempt at "lace" and it's surprisingly easy.

That there above is a pic of the blocking process. But it turns out that balloon was a bit too big and stretched out the pattern a little more than intended. It's lost some of its bounce, its zest for life, its all a bit flat really. So I'm gonna have to re-block. If I can get it off M's head...

Nawwww, how cute is that face?

She's really quite taken with it!

Another success. Boo-yeah! And with that success firmly in hand, here goes.

Turn away now if you are a hard and fast sewist, only I'd hate to bore you.

Project number 3, an adult sized garment. A real actual piece of outerwear! The Cape Cod Sweater by Thea Colman. Well, I had my heart set on that and the yarn is in the post.... but I really don't wear pullovers very often. Sydney winters are just not cold enough and I tend to swelter. But now a cardigan, that's a different matter. I live in those babies, so what about the Miette by Andi Satterlund or Caramel by Isabell Kraemer? I do love me a good wrap cardi. Hmmmm, what do you think? 

You know there is a definite potential developing for me to become a winter knitter and summer sewist.

Oh, and all those links to the patterns are via Ravelry: an awesome site for connecting with other knitters and crocheters and a ridiculously amazing resource for all things knitting. I am not sponsored by the site, just personally recommending it.