Baby Blanket or will knit for Bag Saga 1

OK so I am knitting this baby blanket for my sister's friend. I think it is going along fine but it is due back in San Antonio by next Thursday. If you don't hear from me in a day or so, please excuse me...LOL Those of you keeping track, I live in North Texas and SA is in South Texas. NOT around the corner. I guess I am asking for prayers here. I am a beginner knitter and not secure yet in my abilities. PS....it is suposed to be wavy *cackle*
Let me know what you think. Sis I am trying real hard to get this done....keep the faith.
Until then, I will be knitting. PS again....I found a lot of great deals at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section. I will tell you more later. Of course there will be pictures. Someday I hope to put things on Ravelry. Where do some of these people get all of the time they seem to have to be as organized as they are??? Figure that one out & I will buy you a snow cone!

Market bag idea

OK so here is my exciting idea. I am trying to use more market bags than plastic or paper at the grocery store. I have a lot of pillow cases so here is what I did to this one.

Pillow Case Market Bag

Measure down from top opening of pillow case 20 inches and cut across. Set aside. Take the bottom and measure 5 inches and cut across. Repeat 1 more time. These 2, 5 inch pieces will be the handles. the closed end of the pillow case will also be used so set aside for now.
Turn the 20 inch piece inside out. sew a 1/4 inch seam across the bottom closing the bag up. Now take the bottom closed off part and prep for the next step. Iron the closed off part. Fold the top in so 1/2 of the fabric is now inside. Repeat this step. You will now have a casing for the bottom of the bag to re-enforce the bottom. It should remind you of quilt edging. Place the raw seam of the bottom of the bag inside this casing and sew a straight seam across the top edge to seal it off and one more time 1/4 of the way from the first seam. Now you have no raw edge on the inside of the bag and the bottom should be very nice and sturdy. Now this next step will make the bottom of the bag square. Fold the corners of the bottom seam flat with the side. You should have a triangle formed when you match the side and the bottom seam flat together. Measure in from the tip of the triangle along the bottom seam 2 inches and mark with a fabric pen or do as I did and iron it back 2 inches as a mark. Sew a seam along this line. do this on the other side as well and you will get a square bottom. Now make the handles. Trim off the old seam opening up the fabric to one long piece. The old seam is the only waste on this project. Turn wrong sides out and fold in half lengthwise press the fold. Sew along one of short edges and then down the open side length wise. Turn right side out and press. turn in 1/4 inch of raw edge and press handle flat. Sew the handles to the cuff open part of the pillow case making sure they are evenly spaced. I folded the bag in fourths and pinned them in place making sure they were not twisted. I also sewed them along the top edges and along the seam of the cuff of the old pillow case (see picture)
That's it!!! Press the bag and take it with you to the market on your next trip.
My pillow case has a small hole in it on the side not photographed so I will be crocheting a flower to sew on it...LOL This is why I chose this particular pillow case. I know a lot of people have old ones laying around so...get busy and make your own recycled bags and save on plastic. If these get dirty...toss them in the wash. Have fun & tell your friends!!!
Be well and may peace guide you every day!

Swap Bot Received!!

Today my swap gifts arrived and I love them. It was food themed so I got cloths with apples and pears on them. This was my first swap on swap bot so I was anxious. I hope you can see the patterns. I see them because I know they are there....LOL
My next swap in in the dishrag tag and a crochet flower exchange. I am currently making the flowers as I have to make 10 of them. However it is blooming fun..hehehehehe
It is so hot here lately, I saw the devil all packed up and hitchhiking out of Texas. He looked a lot like a man I use to associate with....I tell no tales here!!
Not much else to say today but stand by because tomorrow I have an idea I am working on and can't wait to post about it!!! YOU may enjoy it too. I am trying to be more green and the cashier at Kroger gave me an idea and she didn't even realize it. More to come...stay posted!

Pot Scrubber

Today's ramble includes a pot scrubber I made. There has been a lot of chatter lately about using nylon in dishcloths and here is my answer. I did not buy it by the yard from a bold of tulle but from a roll of about 25 yards. I popped off the ends and removed the cardboard. I then cut it in half (width wise) and then each piece in half (WW). Therefore, I got 4, 25 yd pieces that were one long strip each. I made this pot scrubber using the pineapple stitch I told you about in my post a couple of days back (in my Kitty Purse) . It will be a gift so I have not tried washing dishes with it, but I can say it will do a fabulous job. The rolls of tulle are either in fabric stores in the bridal section or I bought mine at Hobby Lobby in the Fabric Dept. It was about 5.00 US monies and comes in a LOT of colors. You just carry it along with your regular thread. Any stitch could be used for a dishcloth can be used for this method.
Give this a try. It is so easy. I think you could make a foot scrubber out of this too but I doubt you would want to use it on any other skin. You may be tougher than me though...LOL
OK so the heat. UGH someone turn off the sun please. It is time for cool weather to start coming in. We are whipped here in Texas from the heat.
Let me know if you try the nylon tulle idea. I enjoy exploring new ideas.
Be well and blessed in all you do!!!

Baby Hoodie

OK I can finally post the pictures of the baby hoodie I made. The Mom has received it and it finally came together as I had hoped. I made the gift tag from the invitation. My Mother wanted to see the finished product and there it all is!!!


The tutorial I will post from this project is the tie cord. It is easy, simple and makes a sturdy cord. This is called the Flat Faux Braid:

ch the number of stitches you will need for length. 3 sc in second chain from hook and 1 sc all the way to last stitch where you will sc 3 times in same st. Now sc in each chain up the back side of the ch to the end where you will sl st in first sc. now if you look at the center of this cord you will see what looks like a ladder.
Insert hook under first bar of ladder and up through next space. yo and pull yarn up to top of cord. yo and draw yarn through both loops on hook . Essentially you will be sc in the ladder bars all the way to the end. at the end, fasten off and weave in ends.
You can see the cord in the detail picture of the hoodie pics above.
Let me know if you need help with this. Give it a try....easy peasy!!!
It is very hot here today so I am off to get a cold bath and play in the bubbles before I am forced to get dressed!
Blessings to you all and may peace be your guide.

Hello Purse!!

I hope everyone who sees this is well and blessed. I am and I like to know others are. We had a storm come in on Wednesday night and knocked down fragile trees and out goes the power. The computer modem was fried and it was very hot until the ac came back at around midnight.Thursday I spent the night getting back online and sacrificing to the freon gawd. LOL I missed that ac in this heat!!!
I am posting my latest purse creation and will do a tut for the stitch I used. The name of the stitch is the pineapple stitch and I LOVE IT!!!! It is very cool.
This picture is the close up of the stitch. It is easy and gives a great look.
Basic Instruction: insert hook in stitch indicated yo pull through, insert in next stitch yo and pull through, yo and pull all 3 loops on hook. the next stitch is insert hook into the last stitch you used on the previous stitch , yo and pull a loop through, insert hook in next stitch yo and pull through, yo and pull through 3 loops on the hook. In other words, you will dive into each stitch 2 times.
In days of yore, this stitch was used with different colors on each row so you could see the horizontal bars better. Variegated yarns work well too as in my project. Here it is...My Hello Kitty Pineapple bag. I still need to line it and give it a solid bottom. I am trying to resolve that issue with how would I wash it? LOL I am thinking maybe some sort of plastic?? What do you all think?The bottom is oval and a bit whankie in the picture but will look better when I am done and that picture will come soon. Isn't Kitty cute???? I love her and try to use my craft skills to make one of a kind items for my own uses.

No one ever leaves a comment (except scriggles....ty my dear friend!!!) Leave me a comment if you like this bag or need help with the stitch. It is easy and you should give it a go!!! Many Blessings!!!!