Bit of a delay for shop updates.

I tried to finish a bag last week!  However, between my lack of comprehension in classwork and various appointments, I had very little time during the week to work on bags.  And Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns was released last Friday!  I've been looking forward to this since last spring and have played in each beta weekend I could so the release meant that it was time to go crazy with the gaming.  And I did.  It was amazingly awesome!

So while it was a gaming weekend of awesomeness, it was not a weekend of shop productivity.  Finals are coming up in my classes so I have a lot of studying and projects to do but I will be trying to get back to a new bag a week.  I have found that I can get a decent amount of hand sewing done while waiting for a virtual machine to install the OS so there is hope.

Here's a little preview of the one being worked on currently -

Awesome day!

My Etsy store was linked on Fashionably Geek!  This is so exciting for me and there has been a huge increase of views in my store.  I am normally at the computer checking things right away in the morning but, of course, not today.  I was trying to get some work done before rushing off for an appointment and errands and time slipped away as it does so frequently.  And so it was an incredibly awesome surprise when I did get around to checking!

So thanks for making a fairly stressful day so much better than it had any right to be!  This is the most views I've had in one day and it convinces me to work harder to get new things listed!

Large d12 bag live in the store!

I completely missed my typical Monday update.  I've been trying pretty hard to list a new item in my store every Monday afternoon and it just didn't happen this week.  The bag was ready but I wasn't apparently.  It is listed now though!

This bag is made from a cotton sateen fabric and I think it might be my favorite for the large d12 bags.  It's a durable fabric but has a really nice sheen to it and it sews up wonderfully!  I've used silk dupioni without a problem but I'm still a bit worried about it being so thin.  I've been using a bag made out of it for several months without a problem but I keep looking for problems.  I'm not at all worried about the sateen.  I think I'm going to have to find a lot more colors!

Last day of complete independence.

I very much enjoy working for myself.  I love to set my own schedule and do my work at my pace without interference.  There really hasn't been anything that I don't like about this with one exception - I'm not very successful.  I work hard and work longer hours than I have at any previous job but I'm really not good at actually selling things.  Not enough people see the listings, not the right color combinations, people don't want to spend that much...  I'm not sure why but it has become increasingly obvious that it just isn't working for whatever reason.

I've been working through a few things over the past two months and during this time, have decided to go back to school for a nine month course and then I hope to find a regular job again.  During this time, classwork will come first and then I will be working on bags.  I still have several embroidered and waiting to be sewn so I will get through at least those!  Class starts tomorrow so I will be finding out shortly how much time I will have to work on bags but I am hoping to keep updating my Etsy store every Monday.

Of course, things could change again.  I have been known to change my mind multiple times and there is one thing hovering in the future that could really mess things up.  But for now, this is the plan.  I'll still be happy to take custom orders but I've extended the time I think it will take to 5-7 days once I have the materials in hand.  This makes it so even if classwork is crazy, I should still have the weekend.  Each of the small bags takes about 12-14 hours to make and the large bag takes longer so it can take several days to make if I only have an hour or two each day.

The top one of the chocolates is done and listed in my shop but the rest will be coming!  There are linings for 5 d20s, 4 small d12s and 2 large d12s in this picture.  A purple one with bright green numbers is about half done so that one is next!

So much embroidery!

I spent last week embroidering enough bags that I could take my machine in to get cleaned.  I typically spend one day a week embroidering, two days if I try to make progress on the Borg bag, so it felt like the embroidery would never end!  So I was packing up my machine when I decided to find out how much it would cost and called them up.  Now it has been awhile since the last cleaning because I felt the last people who did it were incompetent but $265 for a simple cleaning seems a bit much to me.  I didn't take my machine in.  There's another store that isn't a Viking dealer but will service all brands so I'm going to call them up when they open and see what they will charge.  I've never taken my machines to anyone but a Viking dealer so I'm not sure how comfortable I am with going elsewhere but I will at least look into it.

With so much time going towards embroidery, I only finished one bag to list this week but it's a fun one.  The colors are so vibrant that they really pop.

Crazy week

This has been a week of trying to get things done that I've put off for awhile.  It was only partly successful.  I didn't get to everything that I had hoped to and some of what I did didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.

We had the carpet cleaned but the guy was really late so that messed up that day.  And then it took more than 24 hours for it to dry when he said it would take 3, maybe 4, hours.  It didn't even improve the looks of the carpet and it was kinda crunchy after.  So while it was good to give that room a good clean (everything dusted, walls washed, blinds cleaned, fan wiped down...) and we rearranged all of the furniture, I don't think the actual carpet cleaning was worth it.  It was a perk for renewing our lease so I didn't really pay for it but I missed out on the gift card that was the alternative perk.  Totally going with the gift card next time.

I also looked into taking some classes again but I spent a lot of time preparing and figuring out a bunch of stuff related to that and I still don't know if I can take them.  I'm sure the time will be worth it but I feel like I didn't get very much done this week because the prep work took so much time with no immediate result.  I'm apparently all about the instant gratification.

Last week and into this week was spent going through my yarn stash.  I need more space and I thought I might be able to consolidate that stash and create the space I needed.  Unfortunately, that led to the complete re-cataloging of my yarn and didn't end up creating any space.  Fortunately, it was a lot of fun going through all of my yarn and Ravelry is updated with everything.  It will be much easier to pick a project now and find the yarn once I've decided on something.

So, lots of fairly long projects that don't feel like they've benefited me.  I know it was good to do all of this but I just don't feel it was good.  Weird.  I think I'll do some instant gratification things this next week.  Not sure what that will be but maybe something will come to me.

Peacock thread

I visited 10-12 quilting stores in the past couple of weeks looking for Row by Row patterns for Mom.  I also took the opportunity to check out the stores because quilting stores have some of the most amazing fabrics that make great linings for my bags.  So I took notes at each store and bought a good pile of fabric.  I do love fabric shopping.

One store had an amazing selection of embroidery thread and it's pretty close by so I think I may have found a new source for thread.  I have noticed that my machines can be fussy about the thread I run through them, especially the metallics, so I got one spool to try out.  It was hard to decide and I was going to go with a true metallic and then I saw this peacock thread.  This was the first store of the day so I spent the rest of the day looking for the perfect lining fabric and I found one that was okay but nothing that was perfect.

This past week, I was out looking for something else and found a fabric that I thought might work so I picked it up.  It didn't work for the other project but when I tossed it on my table, it landed right next to my peacock thread.  Now I'm trying to decide what color the outer bag should be.  Black could work but I have some teal dull satin that matches the lining almost perfectly.  Black would allow the thread to be the star but the teal matches so well.

Birthday yarn!

Mom warned me that she was going to send me some birthday yarn and wow, did she ever.  I reached into the box to pull out the first bundle and knew that was yarn.  The next three were also yarn.  There is enough yarn to keep me going for a long time!  Now to decide on projects for all of it...

New d20s coming!

I started on a new small d12 last week that I am calling the Kirk bag.  I had a bit of trouble finding exactly the right color of embroidery thread for the handle and found a new one yesterday so I have to stitch that out this morning before I can finish up the bag but it's close.  This one probably won't be going up in my shop but it's fun.

The new d20s are for the shop.  I have two stitched out currently and will be working on a third (green numbers on black fabric) as soon as the new Kirk handle is stitched out.  I also have a couple of large d12 embroidery files set up that I hope to stitch out today.  Well, the one large d12 has enormous files that take about 2 hours to stitch out each number.  Just for a bit of comparison, the small bags typically take less than 2 hours to stitch out all of the numbers so that one will take a couple of days but I hope to get started on it today.  These two should be listed by the end of the week.

Hard week.

Unfortunately, our dog, Caelis, started showing signs of not feeling well on Friday and went downhill very quickly.  We adopted him from a shelter when he was about 1 year old (he was a stray so not sure) and were lucky enough to have him in our lives for over 12 years.  He had a lot of medical issues during his life so we really were lucky that he had as long a life as he did but it was still too short.  It's been really tough this week and will continue to be tough.  He was such an integral part of my life and everything reminds me of him - I can't imagine a better dog.

This picture is one of my many favorites.  He seemed to always have a toy within easy reach, most of the time several toys nearby, and always happy when his people were near.  He brought so much joy and silliness to our lives and I hope that he somehow continues to find things to make it the Best Day Ever!

GW gaming

I know it's bit silly to be working on GW when there's so much to do in GW2 but I really wanted to.  I'm odd at times but I still love GW, even vanquishing.  Last time I was in, I was 3 mini-pets away from finishing Devotion.  Well, it's been awhile and several of my characters had their birthdays and I finished it!  Plus, I got several minis that I've been wanting.  Too bad I can't use them in GW2 because I would love to have the Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh.  =)  Still not even close to the full 50 but one point closer!

Currently working on Tyrian Skillhunter...34 left to go!

Line socks

Every time I go to a convention or travel, I try to find easy socks to knit.  When traveling, I can go a bit more complicated but nothing too crazy.  But for Comic-Con, super easy is the way to go.  There is frequently a lot of sitting in line but sometimes you have great people waiting with you so attention is divided.  Or the line moves suddenly without warning so you don't have time to put away instruction sheets.

These socks are super easy.  So easy that I think I might look for another project for now and leave these until I need line or travel socks again.  =)

Post SDCC...

Like every year, SDCC was a blur.  There is always so much to see and do and I always miss so much!  I allow myself one day to recover and then I try to get right back into things.  However, I had an eye appointment yesterday and the series of tests that they threw at me wiped me out even further!  So, today will also be at least a partial recovery day.

I've been working on listing some of the bags from the Art Show on Etsy in my new SDCC sale section.  It's Avengers and Spider-Man today.  More will be listed the next three days.  And yes, these are priced higher because of the extra work and custom materials used for each bag.  Regular bags will be mixed in with the rest of the themed bags still needing to be finished starting next week.

The first versions of my large d12 bags have been marked down to clearance prices for a limited time in the Beta section.  My original bag is still going strong after several years of use but the new bags are what I want to focus on now so it's time to clear out to make room for the new.

And that's about as far as I've gotten with planning.  I've been so focused on SDCC for so long that I'm feeling a bit lost.  And free to start gaming again.  Pretty excited about that.  =)

Just because I like pics, here's a pic of most of the bags I took to SDCC.  I was trying to arrange them at home so set up would be easier at the show but I didn't have enough room to get all the bags in the shot.  Loki can barely be seen and Wonder Woman didn't make it in at all.  But it shows most of them!

Beast!

This is probably my favorite bag so far!  I absolutely love it!  Mostly because I love silly but this is awesome.  This bag is based on Beast from the X-Men.  So of course it has to be furry.  =)  It is made from a wonderfully soft blue minky fabric and I'm thinking I will have to make a Cookie Monster bag now too.  Blue minky, white letters, cookie lining and I'm thinking googly eyes for the 6 and 9.  It's coming.

Legendary precursor!

Working on the bags for SDCC have taken up most of my time so I haven't had much time for gaming but I still try to get a little bit of time in.  And somehow, this happened -

I've been trying for over two years to get a precursor from drops or the mystic forge and the forge finally dropped one!  I may have screamed.  =)

There are several other gifts to forge now and thankfully, I'm most of the way there.  Two items might take awhile but the hardest part is taken care of.  Time to run all of my characters through Orr trying to collect as much ancient wood and T6 mats now!

New cards

New cards have been ordered for SDCC!  I have no idea how many I will need so I'm hoping that I ordered the right amount.

I ordered four designs, one to hand out each day.

Puny god.

It was mostly just coincidence that I made Hulk and Loki together but then it made me laugh so much seeing them together that this picture had to happen.  It was quickly thrown together so I hope to set things up properly later to make it really work.  Hulk is the new version of the large bag and it is solid and huge and really just perfect for Hulk.  =)

Inner bags ready!

Finished sewing the inner bags for several more bags and getting ready to start finishing them up!

Avengers!

Three bags are now done!  It doesn't seem like much to me considering how many I'm hoping to take to San Diego Comic Con but it's a start.  I've been doing as much as I can while waiting for linings to arrive so I have several others in started.  All of the lining has now been ordered so as soon as that arrives, I will have a lining sewing day (or two or three) and then it should be a bag a day.  I'm also down to the last ten to embroider so my table is looking quite a bit better.  My shelves, however, are overflowing in small pieces of fabric threatening to fall.  It's a good thing in my world.

Quick pic of the first three!

 

Once again...

I have once again underestimated time to get things going.  I have changed my mind about how I want the inner bags to be constructed so there's another delay while waiting for fabric to arrive.  But that's it!  No more changes are allowed or I won't have a single bag ready!

All of my time is going into prepping for the show so updates to the shop have been virtually nonexistent.  I had been hoping to have a few d20s up by now as well as the new large d12s but the show takes priority.  The show is over July 12th so regular updates will begin again shortly after.

I am preparing the shop for the new items.  The large d12s that are listed have been moved to the Beta section and reduced in price.  Trying to clear out the older models to make room for the new!

And now it's back to the embroidery!

New lining!

The new lining came in and it's much more vibrant!

The fabric isn't as easy to sew and I do prefer to work with cotton but this has the color that I want.  I have this bag half sewn and it's looking good so far.  I've placed another order to get the last of the samples in to make sure all the colors are going to print the way I want (monitor colors don't always match up to reality) and then I can place the big order.  All the work recently has been on preparation and I'm excited to move on to construction this week.  It'll be so nice to see the bags start to line up rather than just having a lot of digital files and piles of fabric.

Lining partial fail

The fabric for the linings came in and one was a complete failure.  Looks terrible and needs to be redone.  Another was pretty bad but might be usable once it's actually sewn up.  The other three were usable but they lack the vibrancy that I was looking for.  I thought it would be okay but needed to ponder for awhile and worked on a different bag.  As I was working on the bag, I saw the differences between it and the new linings and decided they just wouldn't work.  Too faded and old looking.  So I've put in another order with a few tweaks to see how that turns out.  

I really hope this one turns out because I'm spending this week designing the rest of the linings.  If the printing doesn't work, then all the work I'm doing this week doesn't help the bags at all and I'll need to spend a lot of time shopping again.  I really like the linings that I've come up with so fingers are crossed!

First bags for SDCC started!

The first set of bags are embroidered and waiting for the linings to arrive!

And I received notification that the linings for these have shipped, 3 days earlier than expected!  Now to get the next set going.

Crazy grain.

And I may have discovered the main reason I hate buying small pieces of fabric...

The lines printed on the fabric are printed on grain.  When it was wound on the bolt, the grain was so skewed that this looked like a straight cut at the store.  Good thing I use small pieces and can still make this work.  I've had some pretty crazy cuts before but I'm more used to working with large pieces of fabric and there's more wiggle room when dealing with five, or more, yards rather than a quarter yard.

Fabric shopping

Last week, I went to LA to do a bit of shopping.  I had finished the designs for the bags and it was time to find all the fabrics I need.  My goal was to find a different fabric for each bag so that each bag was unique beyond just the thread color and numbers.  I went through what I had on hand first and found 22 out of the 66 I needed.  66?  Yup, I needed 66 unique fabrics in total.  And I thought shopping for Six was bad.

After shopping for several hours during what might have been the hottest day I have ever spent in LA (my car claims it hit 100 and I believe it), I came home with 41 pieces!

A few of the 41 were unplanned but so perfect I had to get them so I'm still missing a few pieces but I got pretty close.  If I get all of these done, then I'll worry about the missing few.

3.5 sock trip

The recent trip to visit family was very productive for knitting.  I like to take socks to knit when traveling because they fit nicely into my knitting bag and they're small projects.  Doctor Who scarves and blankets take up a lot more space.

So during the trip, I finished this pair of socks -

And finished a sock and half of the next -

It will take awhile to finish that half of a sock now that I'm back to normal but I think my wrists will appreciate knitting getting back to normal.

d20 prototype

And the prototype is done!  And it is surprisingly sturdy.  I expected to have to add triangles in the opening to brace up the sides to prevent it from sagging out of shape but it is holding up nicely.  I put all the dice I own into it and it still wasn't sagging.  Now to put it to the test to see how well it holds up with abuse.

I'm back!

I was gone for nearly two weeks to visit family and that was great!  It is fun to get away from everything for awhile.  I brought along my phone so I could check email and the store but that was it.  But now I'm back and it's time to get back to the bags.  Lots of plans were developed during the trip, some new fabric purchased and testing of the bags.

My new tank of a knitting bag held up incredibly well.  I don't like the snap placement but everything else was fantastic!  I had my knitting in the inner bag the entire time and the cell phone on top most of the time.  Never had any worries about it.  As soon as I finish the four bags I am working on, I will work on a new large bag to work out snap placement and I hope to have a selection of them in the shop by the end of May.  I have to order more supplies but I'm pretty sure I can have a few of them ready in time.

I also brought along a little dice bag to see how it would hold up to the abuse of a plane ride (and maybe the dice were used in some games...) and it came through great!  It was tucked into my carry on and got squished a couple of times but still held it's shape and looks no worse for the wear.

And here's a look at some of the fabrics that I purchased for new bags -

Snowflake Baby Blanket

It's done!!  And with time to spare!  Okay, not really.  It should have been done in January but it's done with time to spare for the second deadline I had set.

This is from blocking it but it's the best overall picture I could get of it.  There just isn't that much open space with good lighting and a good background in my apartment.  I can fake it well enough for small items but blankets, even small blankets, are tough.

The back was the difficult part for me so I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  I had all kinds of problems trying to figure out how to deal with the floats.  The concept was easy to understand but it was difficult to figure out how to actually do it.  I think I knit a bit weird.  Mom taught me to knit but I developed my own system that doesn't seem to match up with anything that I've seen in various online tutorials.  So it took awhile to figure out how to get this to work for me.

And the steek.  Have you ever spent months working on something every single day and then just cut it?  The idea terrified me.  However, I got to that point, grabbed a pair of scissors and cut into it with barely a second thought.  And it worked.  Of course it worked.  I'm not surprised it worked but so very happy that it did.

And now that this huge project is done, I think a need a new huge project.  Probably with another steek.

Built like a tank!

The new bag is finished!  I haven't had much opportunity to test it out but I like it so far.  I'm using a new material to hold its shape and it is really good.  It is really sturdy and only distorts a little when I put heavier objects in it and I think most of that is less than ideal snap placement so the next one will be much better.  While I think the material is great, it isn't without potential problems.  The edges are a bit sharper than I'm used to and I think it might cut through the fabric.  I have a couple of different ways to solve that all ready to go in case it does end up being a problem but it will mean more testing and delay the release of these bags in my shop.


With the new material, there was some testing and learning with it.  This bag is a bit smaller than intended (each piece is about 1/8" smaller than normal).  The smaller pieces and different snap piece makes it a bit of a tight fit for a 400ish yard cake but it does still fit.

I am testing out the new inner bag that I've developed for the small dice bags.  It doesn't close tightly - there's just too much fabric - but I think it will be difficult for things to fall out.  That's part of what I will be testing shortly.  I like the idea of the bag so far because I can put my knitting in the bag and have regular purse stuff on top and easy to get to with the knitting protected from keys and such or switch it around so regular purse stuff is secure in the bag and knitting easy to access.

This bag is made from a slubby grey/black shot silk dupioni with lighter grey rayon numbers in the Dalek font.  The lining is Floral Daleks in Kona cotton from Spoonflower.  The yarn is Twisted Red Label in Fleur from Tanis Fiber Arts - regular store is here.

New knitting bag started!

I finished all the bags I had cut out and got started on some new ones!

The grey is a large bag and will be my new knitting bag that I will be testing for the next couple of weeks.  The interfacing is new and I want to see how it will work.  I'm also testing out the inner bag to see how it works for a knitting bag.  If all works out well, then I can start making new bags for the shop.

Progress is being made.

Three new bags are listed!


It's my favorite shot now because it shows the lining as well as the outside.  =)

I have two more bags ready to go and hoping to have another done tomorrow so three new listings soon!

I ran out of snaps on Monday and got the new ones in on Wednesday.  All the new bags will have these new snaps I think.  Need to weight test them a bit but they hold better than the old ones so far so I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with them.  And these are available in four different colors so I'll be able to match them to the bag a bit better.

Just three more bags to go and then I can embroider up a new batch!  So far, it's looking like the next ones will be green, purple, grey and blue but nothing is set yet.

New bags for the shop!

It's been an interesting couple of weeks.  I think I'm starting to get into the new rhythm but it will be changing again soon so I'm taking it for a minor victory only.

Last week was about finishing a few things and experimenting a bit.  I finished two dice bags that had been started and they are currently listed and available at my Etsy store...


And I have been working with new fonts.  I like the standard that I've been using because it looks the most like the dice I have but I have a few ideas that would work well with a different font.

Both of the orange ones (11 and 12) and the grey (4) are the old font that had been embroidered previously but the others are all new.  This week has been about finishing the bags that I started last week.  The pink (1) is done but I finished it too late to take pics so that will come later.  The burgundy (7) is also done and listed.

If I keep up at the current rate, I should be able to get four bags done each week.  Of course, that will be changing as I find new things to try out and also get back to the larger bags.  I want to see how the inner bag will work in the larger bags and that means prototype time and a new knitting bag for me.  However, my cutting table is piled up with pieces for all these little bags so I have to finish them first just to make room for new projects.

Roller coaster kind of a week.

Well, more like a couple of weeks.  Big changes have been in the works for awhile and it seems like everything is finally starting to come together with a few side detours thrown in.  It has been crazy and nothing is set yet but it's starting to get there.

The one thing that I can say is that I have an application in to have my bags in a show but I don't know if I'll be accepted or when I'll know.  If I'm accepted, I will hold on to some of the new bags rather than listing them on Etsy so I can be sure to have enough for the show.  If I'm not accepted, then everything will be listed on Etsy as soon as I find out.  This has made me start coming up with many new ideas and I'm very excited to get started on them.

I've ordered a new interlining to try out and while I don't think it will make a big difference for the small bags, I think it might be a great thing for the large bags and allow them to carry heavier items without distortion.  I've also place a small order with Spoonflower to see how it will work for linings.  I have some ideas for themed bags and this will allow me to design the perfect lining.  Having the fabric printed does add a lot of time to the process so I don't think I will go this route for every bag but having this option really opens up the possibilities.

Supplies should start arriving this week so updates to follow!

Leaving the orange for awhile.

The orange and purple dice bag is almost done!  There are still two more orange ones that I have embroidered but I'm going to wait on those until I have a few other colors done.  While working on the orange and purple bag, I was embroidering two new bags!

This is a shot grey taffeta that I've had for awhile.  It's a synthetic rather than silk so I'm excited to see how it works.  The embroidery seemed to go better so I'm thinking some red/black shot taffeta will be turned into a bag sooner rather than later.

Knitting break

I know I need to get that baby blanket done but it's been harder and harder to knit on it.  Not exactly sure why because I think it's fun to see the progress and it's not hard to knit but the enthusiasm has been lacking.

So when my parents were in town this past weekend, I had Dad try on a sock that has been done since September.  I thought I had the gauge all wrong and it was going to be too baggy so I didn't want to make the second one until I had the sizing figured out.  Well, Dad said it was good the way it was so I got started on the second sock.  I think this is just the break from that blanket that I needed.  It's been moving so fast!  The knitting on these isn't exactly normal so it's hard to say how far along I am but I think it's about a third of the way done in only two days!  (The pic is of the finished sock because the in progress one just looks weird and has needles sticking out all over.)

Baby blanket

This started off in plenty of time.  Found out that people were expecting and I got started immediately.  They didn't know if it was a boy or girl at the time but I really loved the dark blue and white and thought it was neutral enough that it wouldn't matter.

I've done colorwork before so I thought this wouldn't be a problem  Yeah, overconfident much?  Turns out that this was much more complicated and had crazy long floats that I had to figure out how to deal with.  After at least four false starts, I finally settled on a technique that gave good results and wasn't going to take years.  Of course, it took so long to not be frustrated and finish other projects that also needed to be done, that the baby has now been born and the blanket isn't even half done.

Oh well, I'm making pretty good progress now and I hope to have it done before we make the trip to meet the new little one.

New sweater pics!

I started this sweater back in October 2013 (first post on the blog) thinking that I would be able to finish it quickly.  Due to other projects getting in the way, it took far longer than it should have.  But it is done, has been done for a few months, and I wear it all the time!  Unfortunately, I'm almost never happy with any pics of myself but I think one managed to turn out not so bad.