You know how sometimes you have a few extra minutes during the day to just relax? For some reason a couple of years ago, I decided I don’t need those any more. I chose instead to fill up those minutes with a new project. This time, it was going to involve yarn AND paper, two of my favorite mediums. It turned out to be way more project than I could handle and I put it aside for a while, then the lovely Caro of Splityarn fame came to my rescue. She’s my knight in wooly armor, that one. This was definitely a two-person job and Caro was the best co-conspirator a gal could ask for.

So almost two years later (seriously, two years!) I am proud to announce that the project is complete and will be ready for public consumption soon! Hopefully by the third week in August. Think of it as a mix tape of vintage style, made with love just for you (and you, and you. Yes, you, too.)

I give you:

Knitting It Old School — 43 Vintage-Inspired Patterns!! We crammed this thing just as full as we could get, then we sat on it to make room and stuffed even more in. It’s available for pre-order now!!

Caro and I are delighted beyond words, so we’ll just be over here squealing for a little bit. It’s taken a long time, but we amassed some of the most amazing designers and commissioned some of the ass-kickiest designs you’ve ever seen. If you’re reading this blog, you’re going to love it. Love. It.

The cover design is by Marnie MacLean , the first knit-blogger I ever followed. Funny how that works out, isn’t it? The sweater is called “Saucy Convertible” because you can wear it a few ways. The model is named Camille and she and the other models we used are absolutely adorable. This book is colorful, light-hearted, and most of all, it’s chock full of retro goodness. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re feeling classic or kitschtastic. I swear.

Seriously.

Last year, someone at Lark Books saw the pillowcase pinafores in my Etsy shop. (I’ve haven’t made them in a while, they were really cute but not big sellers.) Anyhoodle, they asked me to submit the pattern for a book about using pillowcases to make various things. I sent the pattern I had drafted along with two of my favorites (please note that I didn’t actually embroider them, I bought them that way, all full of vintage cuteness) and dudes, check out the book cover.

Those are them! The book is called “Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase”. They sent me a copy, which I received on Friday, and I couldn’t believe it. SO excited! I had no idea it was going to be on the cover. I was happy dancin’ all over the place. It was just the boost I needed. Things have been kind of stressful, the economy is hitting home and I’m getting that crazy look that means I’m wondering which of the cats we’d eat first, if it came to that. (Yes, I’m given to mild hysterics when it comes to finances. Chi-Chi, I’m looking at you, butterball.)

Mmmmm, tasty!

I had noticed a surge in sales in the shop a couple of weeks ago, and it turns out that’s when the book was released. They put the shop address in my designer profile paragraph and people have been coming by, it’s been so great!

This book is really beautiful and there are some great ideas and patterns. And I’m not just saying that because I’m in there. I have a major vintage fabric fetish and that includes linens and pillowcases. The photography is really gorgeous and they really do justice to all the colorful embroidered pillowcases featured in the book. Honest and true, if I didn’t have a pattern in it and had just seen it in a store, I’d totally buy it. If you’re looking for some fun ways to use old pillowcases or just regular fabric, check it out!

I’ll be doing an embroidery even for the opening of the new Madewell store on Newbury Street in Boston on Thursday, 2/19 (today)! The address is 329 Newbury St. I’ll be there from 6 to 8pm, embroidering jeans for customers. Usually people stick to names or initials, but I can write whatever you want in 8 characters or under. I even started doing little flowers, bees and ladybugs. I try to accomodate, so pop by and see me! Be warned, they specialize in the skinny jeans. They’re great-looking and have lots of really fun, bright colors, but they’re – y’know – skinny. However, they also have great lightweight jersey scarves, really cute tops, sweaters and skirts. My favorite dress is from there, actually.

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In other goings-on, I recently got some amazing fabric designed by Project Runway winner, Jay McCarroll. I love this stuff. Between the colors, the crazy creatures and the fact that they’re easy to mix-n-match, it’s like he made them just for me! Thank you, Jay! Let me know if I can make you a beer can outfit or something in return for your kindness.

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And look at these little pink ants wandering around on some logs. And wee shroomies. Awwww . . .

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I couldn’t wait to start playing with it and came up with my first batch of little snap wallets. They’re the perfect size for credit cards, business cards, or even knitting notions. I’m working on some iPhone sized ones. Since I don’t have an iPhone, I need to make one out of foam core first. I know, it’s sad.

Here are a few of the wallets. I’m really happy with them. They’re available in‚ the Bags and Pouches section of‚ Etsy shop. If you see some fabrics that you’d like to mix and match in my shop, let me know and I’ll whip up a custom one for you!

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And here are some I made using some cute vintage fabric.

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Today I’m going to share a bit of my fabric stash. It’s like my coming out party! I recently got a few new pieces that I can’t wait to play with!

Can you stand it? Mice-A-Roni fabric! I mentioned briefly in the last post, it’s from the 70s and based on those Wacky Packages I love so well. I think this will end up as zippered pouches.

The pink fabric with chocolate apples may end up being iPhone cozies. I need to work out a pattern, but what could be a cuter cozy?

The big-headed kitten flannel is super soft, though I’m not really sure what it’s going to become. I’m a little hesitant to make a baby blanket out of it with all the crazy new CPSIA laws coming around the bend. It’s causing a lot of kerfuffle among crafters and small businesses that make handmade kids’ toys and clothes. New requirements for testing materials are really cost-prohibitive and could put a lot of people out of business. Hopefully an equitable resolution will be found that can keep kids safe and allow small businesses to carry on.

And here are more big-headed creatures. I don’t know what it is about the big heads. Honestly, if there were live creature with noggins of this magnitude, they’d probably be pretty frightening. And they would most assuredly be falling down all over the place. That little bluebird would never make it off the gound.

The pink polka-dotted fabric is pantsuit polyester all the way. I need to figure out a way to use it so it can best fulfill its kitsch potential. Kitschtential?

I also got this amazing piece of vintage Waverly Glosheen fabric called “Forest Friends”. Waverly Glosheen is one of my favorite vintage fabrics. The colors are always vibrant, the images are bright and fun, and the fabric itself if a joy to sew with. It’s a thick, rich cotton that takes stitches like a dream. They always look straight and perfect.

This image shows about 2 feet of the pattern that probably takes up about a yard. I only have a little over a yard, so it’s not going to be cut. This one is bound for a frame so I can hang it and enjoy it all the time.

Here are some details closer up. You can click the photos for a larger version. This piece is one of three “prize” bits of fabric I have. I’ll show you the other two sometime soon!

And check out this vintage ribbon trim. I’m going to make plain, solid zippered pouches with a strip of this ribbon along the bottom. Simple and cute, kind of outside of my somewhat chaotic norm. I think the lining will be red with white polka dots.

And last but not least – zippers! I always get the mystery assorted packs from Zipperstop because I can’t commit to specific colors. Something always ends up matching something, so it always works out. I love the candy-like quality of all the colors together.

Apparently I’m not the only one who finds them irresistible. These were only out for maybe 20 seconds before Dot took a liking to the green ones.

She’s nothing if not reliable. Oh, Dot. It’s a good thing you’re adorable.

Check it out, I changed my blog header! I’m kind of giving the place a little facelift and a new focus. It’s languished for too long, and I’ve let it fall out of my routine.

As you can see, the new header doesn’t have knitting in it. It’s just got a generally crafty feel, and so do I. It also has Chloe’s tail in it. That wasn’t the original intent, but it made it’s way in there while I was photographing the fabric and embroidery and it was too cute to crop out.

I’m still a knitter, but I’m also a crocheter, a sewist, an embroidered, a cross-stitcher, a . . . whatever you call someone who cuts out bits of paper and sticks them to other bits of paper. I just like making stuff. So from now on, that’s what I’m going to blog about. Making stuff, or just doing stuff.

For instance, did you know that I do custom embroidery for Madewell? It’s a hip new offshoot of J.Crew. I like the clothes a lot. The do the skinny jean thing, so those are hopeless for me, but the tops, sweaters and scarves are great! I’m starting to amass a large collection of their scarves.

Every once in a while, I go in and embroider things onto jeans that people purchase. It started when my friend Julie of Subversive Cross Stitch asked me to represent her during the grand opening of the Soho store. Here’s the sign I cross-stitched for the event:

It was huge, like 18″ or 22″ or so.

Since then, I’ve switched to embroidering because dayum, cross-stitching takes too long. I’ve been doing it at the Natick Collection store and should be there sometime in February. I’ll let y’all know next time!

I also just joined Caro’s 365 Self-Portrait project on Flickr. Here’s my page. I’m up to day four and so far, so good. Here was today’s:

That dealie on my noggin is a vintage quilt bag that I just made. I need to add the drawstring, but it came out really well.

I’ve also been putting a lot of work into my shops. I decided to use both the Big Cartel one and the Etsy shop. Big Cartel limits you to 100 items, and baby doll, I’ve got way more than that left over from Bazaar Bizarre. As much as I don’t want to blog constantly about the shops, they are kind of a big deal to me. I’m trying to keep up with the bills so my husband doesn’t have to go back to work. At least not for a while. He took a year off to focus on his artwork and he also does the cooking and laundry. His year is almost up, but he’s actually a good cook and I’ve forgotten how to do laundry . . .

I’ll only post about that when there are updates so you don’t get shop overload. I do have some great fabrics to blog about. I just got some from the 70s with a Wacky Packages print. It’s Mice-a-Roni! Tell me, who doesn’t need a Mice-a-Roni pouch? No one. No one doesn’t need that.

It’s going to be a great year!