I finally found the time to make this skirt from this pattern:

Farbenmix is a German company, thus the European sizing. Their patterns are pretty straightforward and leave you with lots of room to personalize the finished piece. You can access step-by-step, illustrated instructions in English for many of the models. They also feature examples of many variations for each pattern to inspire your inner designer. And, for all you craft fair participants and etsy shop owners, they allow you to sell your finished piece based on their pattern as long as you are selling individual items and not churning out mass produced clothing. This is a list of their retail partners including some American online shops.

P.S. No, this is not a paid endorsement, I just like their stuff.

As of 4/25/08 1:42 p.m. EST all swap slots have been taken. But don’t despair, we’ll have another one soon.

FYI, as of this morning there are three more slots left for the softie swap.

Some more tutorials:

Gecko Girl’s Cherry Amigurumi

Jhoanna’s very cute Ruby Doll

Darncat’s Pandy Bear

This year has become my ‘Year of the Bag.’ In the past, I’ve usually bought a bag a year or maybe every other year. Then Kristin La Flamme’s bag pattern
caught my eye and since then my household has been inundated with bags, purses, and pouches.

Currently, my favorite pattern is the basket bag designed by Lisa Lam on her blog U-Handblog.

It is the perfect size, amenable to countless variations and a great gift. I make mine out of felted sweaters, but you can obviously use any kind of sewable fabric. If you are thinking of pledging handmade gifting this year, this would make a fabulous present.

The posting has been light this week since Jen and I are in Atlanta attending the Americasmart Gift Show. If you’ve never been to one of these, you’re missing out because it is total eye candy! We’ll be meeting with vendors, especially those who started out crafting in their basements and grew their business to the successes that they are today. We’ll be posting pictures and all that jazz, so check back to read all about it and find some cool stuff to drain your wallets

I wanted to share with you a little project that has changed my knitting life…

My knitting used to look like this:

Sure I have a huge knitting bag with ALL my knitting in it, but what about taking the wip with me somewhere. Oh quick, grab a ziplock.. Sound familiar?

So I came up with this easy drawstring bag. Now I can stuff my knitting in anywhere and the drawstring keeps my yarn coming out nicely from the top. It only has one seam. It is one big piece of fabric folded over and stitched up the side. Tada.. This is a bag I’m working on for my future sister-in-law (apparently I can’t stop knitting bags - help!)
you likes?

No new crafts today, but the crew here at Crafty Daisies would like to show off some of our ongoing projects, some that will be finished in no time, and others that may or may not see an end.

Heather is currently working on an afghan for her husband, Mykle. He requested a really wide once because the one she made him previously was too narrow and he couldn’t wrap up in it. So this one is made to the equivalent in width of a king size blanket, which is a perfect size for him but is taking fffooorrreeevvveeerrr to make. She is alternating rows of single crochet and double crochet for a tight knit, and plans on bordering it with dark brown to finish it off.

Jen loves making this felted bag so much that she has practically memorized the pattern and currently has 2 in the making. She can’t wait to felt this - the green color is so bright and the trim is a swirl of pinks, turquoise and gold. All that’s left to do is going back to the craft store to buy more green wool. The bottom needs to be sewn together and gusseted, the straps need to be finished and sewn on, and then it will ready to wash. But then who to give it to…?

Candace is not a fan of the knitting, but when she found this yarn for cheap, she bought eight skeins of it and decided to make a baby blanket. What started as a gift for a friend who’s expecting a girl, has now turned into a blanket she will keep for herself and her future daughter (if she’s blessed with one, otherwise back into a gift it shall turn). Not only b/c the colors are so great will she keep it, but also b/c it is a slow-going project. But as all knitters know, it’s an easy pick up and put down WIP.