nine bags to sew

1. Go Anywhere bag // from Noodlehead
2. Pleated, lined handbag // from Warehouse Fabrics Inc.
3. Buttercup bag // from Made By Rae
4. Messenger bag // from no time to sew
5. 241 tote // from Noodlehead
6. Braided Belt messenger bag // from Cold Hands Warm Heart
7. Two Tone fabric totes // from Make It and Love It
8. Phoebe bag // from artsy-crafty babe
9. Cargo Duffle Pattern for Robert Kaufman // from Noodlehead

I love bags. I put everything in bags. I put my bags in bags. I also love to sew. I do it very rarely and I am not very good at it at all. But practice makes perfect (or so they say....) so this year I would really like to sew more and practice those skills! These are nine bags that I really like and would love to try my hand at. If you couldn't tell, I am also really fond of Anna's designs (Noodlehead).

One of the reasons I don't sew very much is because, as I said, I am not very good at it and I find it disappointing and discouraging to finish a project, step back, take a look, and find it uneven or lumpy with crooked seams and hemlines. But every new bag is a chance at practice and a project you will be happy with, so I am going to try sewing all these so that by this time next year every project I pick up I can sew with the confidence that when I step back to take that look I will be pleased with what I see.

nine things to knit

1. paulie by Isabell Kraemer (photo © Isabell Kraemer)
2. Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang (photo © AnAbundanceOfLisa)
3. Bears Rainbow Blanket by Purl Soho (photo © Purl Soho)
4. Mystery + Manners by SpillyJane (photo © SpillyJane)
5. Podster Gloves by Glenna C. (photo © Glenna C.)
6. Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by tante ehm (photo © kararstanley)
7. Emmanuelle Sweater by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark (photo © Knitscene/Harper Point)
8. First Snow Mittens by Aet Terasmaa (photo © Aet Terasmaa)
9. Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer (photo © Carina Spencer)

I admit, I tend to drift towards mittens. I still wear the pair I made five years ago pretty religiously (except for that one winter two years ago when I thought I lost them!), so it is kind of odd for me to make so many. But I just love them! I love the process of knitting mittens and I also know that I will wear them when I am done because they always turn out. Not to mention, I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love a pair of homemade mittens as a gift.

This year I want to do more sweaters. And failing that, at least one. I am just terrified I will spend the money and dedicate the time and in the end I will produce something that doesn't fit and looks awful. But then again...

Today is actually my first day off in the new year, which is kind of fun because although I worked the 1st and 2nd, I now have a three day weekend to enjoy! I thought that today I would share some of the things I hope to do in 2014.

I got the Kinfolk cookbook for Christmas and I hope to try most, if not all, of the recipes in it this year. I like the recipes that I have found in Kinfolk because they always make me try something new. Just flipping through the book I have seen some ingredients called for that I would probably never have tried on my own. I try to make a new recipe at least once a week, although this seems to happen more in the summer than in the winter...Probably because I am less likely to want to go out in the cold for any ingredients I don't already have. I will be sure to share and let you know which recipes make it onto my 'will make again' list!

Knitting, knitting, knitting. Something I dearly love but...I...am....so...slow...at. Mostly, I think, because I tend to jump around a lot with projects. I also plan to finish and actually wear a sweater this year. I will! I must! I want to share my progress and projects because I find that a lot of the patterns I end up really liking and want to use are ones that I have seen on other blogs. I think there is always something inspiring about seeing the finished work of something someone took the time to make with their hands. I love Ravelry and it is my go to for finding patterns when I have something specific in mind, but sometimes it's the projects I stumble randomly upon that I like the most.

And finally, there is the pile of books I hope to make it through in the first part of the year... not to mention all the books I have waiting on my Nook!

I think I struggle with having so much I want to do that I overwhelm myself and end up doing nothing. I forget what book it was in, one of the classics I know that, but one of the characters divided up her entire day... from 10-11 embroidery, from 11-12 knitting, from 12-1 lunch... that is not, of course, her exact schedule but I think you get the point. Perhaps I should try that??

Hello to a new friend: 2014

I am one of those people who is always a bit melancholy around the new year... I am always feeling disappointment over the things I had wanted to do and never got done, sadness the the pure and simple joy of the Christmas season is over, and, being the nostalgic person I am, the bitter-sweetness of all the things that have happened that would now be nothing more than memories of "a better time." I have to constantly remind myself that it is a case of "the grass isn't always greener."

That is why I am going into the new year with the thought firmly in place that there is nothing to be sad and wistful about! 2014 is going to be so awesome it will be like meeting a new person who becomes an amazing friend!

The year dawned grey and snowy... My favorite kind of weather for the long, cold, Wisconsin winters!








I already have plenty of plans and ideas and hopes for the new year, so here is just a sort list of my New Years Resolutions:

1. Do more! And by that I mean actually make some of those bookmarked crafts and recipes; get out there and learn my camera better and take all those photos I wish I was!
2. Read more books and spend less time on the internet. I read a lot as it is, but with all the time I spend just clicking around imagine what more I could actually read! Last year was a little light on the nonfiction, so I want to remedy that too!
3. Take more pictures
4. Be more organized
5. Work harder at maintaining friendships, something I have been bad with since high school.
6. Finish getting my "dream body." 2013 was a great year for that, and this year I am going to finish what I started!
7. Spend less money!! So I can buy that dream house out in the country.... ok so that is a dream that is still many, many, MANY years off, but starting now is always good!
8. Complain less about work. Face it, a job is a job... Go in with a smile, do your job, and go home with some money in your pocket to do all those things you actually want to enjoy!!!