Gifting

We have been encouraged to bring gifts to our son's foster family when we pick him up, and I knew I wanted to give them some things that I had made as a way of personally connecting with them.  I love presenting gifts in fabric bags, they are re-usable and much more sturdy than the paper gift bags that are all the rage these days.

For the foster family's children I thought little drawstring bags filled with American candy might be a fun gift.  There are 3 biological boys in the foster family, so I picked some fun boyish fabrics to fill with candy

For the foster mother and the adoption specialist from the agency in Korea I made these reversible gift bags with pretty feminine fabrics.  These are based on the Morse Bag pattern, with some minor adjustments to the height and width to make them a better gift bag size.

Since making these I've been compelled to wrap every gift I give in fabric!  Its a fun, unique, and sustainable way to present a gift.

Monster Cup

Ok, I've been dreading this post because I will finally have to admit how geeky I am. I have had a fear all my life of being "the geek". Here are some examples of what I'm fighting against: I was never good at sports and mostly liked to sit around reading fangasy novels (geeky). I wear glasses (geeky). I push them up with my index finger when they slip down my nose (geeky). My undergrad is in chemistry (geeky). I asked for a palm pilot for my one year dating anniversary (geeky). I married a computer programmer (geeky). I spend most of my free time playing with yarn, the sewing machine, or other various crafts (geeky). If I'm not crafting I'm playing board games. Well, that's not so geeky, or at least it wasn't...

My husband recently introduced me to a new game, Arkham Horror. I initially refused to play it because it is a role playing game (or RPG for you gamers out there), and I just plain refused to add the final straw to the camel's back and forever plunge myself into geekdom. However, one night, to humor my husband, I played a round with him. It was fun. I didn't admit it. But the next time he suggested the game, I didn't say no. Then it was fun and I admitted it. The next time, I suggested playing the game. Finally this weekend we played with a friend. The next night we played again, and my husband pointed out "we're officially geeks". Say it aint so! I say all this tongue in cheek, as I still don't consider myself a geek. What qualifies as geeky behavior changes as you age. I consider myself trendy and in touch with my artsy side ;)

Now, to relate this all back to fiber arts: I made this bag to hold some pieces of the game (monsters). Aparently people use a cup to draw the pieces from in a typical game so its called a "monster cup". Mine's just a drawstring bag.







I used a silk/wool blend (Tahki Yarns Chelsea Silk, shade 180) that was given to me by another blogger friend. I did a sc spiral for the bottom and knit in the round for the body. The top has a k1, p1 rib to bring the bag in and a few holes worked in to accomodate a crochet chain drawstring. I was really satisfied with the way it turned out. It works great and was a fun little project to use up some yarn I just didn't know what to do with, but just had to use! The yarn is really beautiful and I would most defnitely consider using it again in the future for a larger project, but it apparently is no longer made. Bummer!

I Got Bit by the Fat Bottom Bug!

So I finally gave in and made my very own Fat Bottom Bag.... LOVE IT! The pattern is so easy, great for sitting in front of the TV and only half paying attention. Thanks to other Ravelry user's projects I found a great tutorial for lining the bag. The pattern leaves so much room for personal taste and creativity that I don't think I've seen two that looked the same (unless it was planned that way, of course). The pattern was well written and easy to use!


My FBB is made with Paton's Decor wool/acrylic blend in black and lined with a silky polyester flower print fabric from JoAnn's. The handles are bamboo. I made a little tube of the lining fabric to decorate the front and added a button and flap closure. So cute! This one is for my friend Alison, but I have plans to make at least 2 more of these: another for a friend and one for ME! This is definitely one of the projects I'm most proud of.

Bright as a Rainbow Bag

This bag was made using the basic idea from the No Assembly Required Market Bag. I modified it to fit my desires to use it as a project tote. I added a button closure and an external pocket to hold my project notebook and hook case. I also lined it with fabric for stability and lengthened the straps (and moved them) to make it a shoulder bag. Its super bright, but was a good way to use up some yarn I may not have used for any other purpose! The best part about this bag is it cost me $0. The yarn was all inherited from a relative, the button too. The fabric lining is an old bed sheet that had gotten torn. My first project in a while that I didn't have to run to the craft store for any accessories!